Chapter 2 – Inspecting the village

William woke up to a harmonious “Good morning my lord”.

It was Maria who woke him up, a beautiful smile adorned her cute face and he welcomed her.

She helped the lord out of bed and attended him in the bath, later she helped him into his clothes.

They were not the same he wore yesterday, today's clothes weren’t for travel. It was a mixture between office and noble labor clothing. Simple but well made, it fit the young mayor perfectly.

He went down to the food-covered table and ate breakfast. With his stomach filled and an open and refreshed mind, he stepped out of the manor.

Today the lord would have a look around the village and watch over the elders’ shoulders.

This was so he could make himself a picture of the village’s current situation and what had to be worked on.

The manor he lived in was positioned, just slightly off the village's center. It was part of the noble district. It this all of the elders, the mayor, and any higher class people lived.

Encircling the noble district was a wooden palisade. This was so, in the case of an emergency, the inhabitants could flee into the safety of the wall.

William then left the noble district. He went through the western gatehouse out of the wall.

Now he stood at the village's center, just outside the nobles’ walls. There in a large free space,, a market was build up. Vendors sold their daily goods, food was cooked and cloth was sold.

Though a lot was happening, the villagers didn’t look happy and the vendors looked at the small coin they made. It was depressing, a thing William had to change as soon as possible.

They went through the market, the people greeting them. But behind his back they looked at him with disdain.

Around the market were the houses of different crafts. A small tailor, a cook, and a butcherer, small general goods, and some other crafts.

Intermixed were a small tavern and an inn. They housed the few visitors the village had and were the late-night meeting place for the people.

Leaving the main square through the main street various houses lined the sides. These were the more wealthy professions that weren’t able to get into the noble district.

Such as farmers, woodcutters, gatherers, and a hunter were some of these people. All of them were villagers that risked their lives going out of the settlement’s borders.

The main street continued on into the forest from where William came from. Though he and his guiding maid took a right from the guildhall.

This building was very important, it housed the local adventurers and monster hunters. They killed the local monsters and took care of bandits.

They, together with the militia and guards, build the village's main defense. When they came around the corner they meet an elder of Tron.

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Sir Albert is currently talking with a guardsman. Once William arrives behind Albert, the elder turns around and greets him.

William is always slightly scared by him, he has a very powerful aura around him. But Albert also reminders him of a nice and caring grandfather, just very strong.

Albert continues his talk and goes on with his tasks. Meanwhile, William inspects the guardhouse, the guild and listens to the conversation.

Guard officer: “Sir Albert, lately a higher mana density has been noticed in the forests around the northern mountain.”

Alber: “Does someone know the origin or reason of the higher density. Could it have anything to do with the mine?”

Guard officer: “Sir, we are currently searching for the origin, but the increased amount of monsters is making the situation very difficult.”

Albert: “Send a quest to the guild and let them help you speed up the process”

The Elder dismisses the guard and William quickly intervenes. He askes Albert about what happened and what is it with the mineshaft.

Sir Alber: “My liege, this is nothing that would concern you, please, this is only a minor problem for the guards.”

This angers William, he hates being denied information. But he understands that this would be completely normal for you standard noble.

They don’t concern themselves with the lowly problems of the peasants, as long as they are safe and comfortable.

But William himself is not someone like this, he wants to know what is going on around him.

William: “Sir Albert, with all due respect, I as you liege order you to tell me what is going on.”

For a second a small smile is visible on the elder's mouth and his eyes widen slightly.

Sir Alber: “Of course my lord, the forest surrounding the haunted mine has shown an increased amount of monsters. And together with faster growth of the plant life an increase in mana density can be assumed”

They both continue talking for a while. Exchanging information about mana and monster population.

Sir Albert is again and again surprised by the amount of knowledge his liege has about the science of mana.

After a while William lets Albert go, having gained enough information. The elder had still a lot of things to do and William wanted to continue having a look around.

The maid finished the guide through the main streets. They were the surrounding region of the noble district and were aptly named the merchant district.

This area was the second wealthiest and protected by random archer towers and the guild and barracks buildings.

Maria the maid wanted to finish the tour here. Though William ordered her to continue the guide him through the peasant and slum districts.

They too were an important part of the village and would provide him with much-needed information.

An intense smell was ever-present in the peasant and slum district. It came from the leatherworker, alchemist, and cheesemaker.

Though the slum stunk itself, without any profession needed. On the way, they also saw a small chappel and the slavers market.

This was something a bit unique about the village. It held two buildings of worship. The large one in the merchant/noble district and a smaller one in the peasant/slum district.

Though to be true the later one wasn’t actually smaller. This was because a slave market was built around it.

Here the god Kuronoth was being worshiped. He was the lord of domination, slavery, fertility, and sins.

He wasn’t a god of the dark pantheon but was a very dark grey. This was not something illegal in the kingdom he was in, because they worshiped gods and goddesses from neutral to dark.

The light pantheon was the enemy of this kingdom.

Having arrived at the slave market, which also worked as a brothel they met another elder. Quilm was currently at work, inspecting the new slaves and managing the brothel.

He welcomed William and invited him to talk a bit. Quilm then told him what he was doing currently.

He was working on a deal with a slave merchant from the next city. They would provide Tron with slaves and in return would get monster slaves.

I asked from where they were able to get monster slaves. A product quite rare, a mix between human and monster. Quite powerful in fighting and good for hard labor.

Though Quilm maneuvered out of William's question, making him believe that they came from no nefarious origin.

William was a master in the trade of diplomacy and so immediately noticed what was going on. He didn’t further poke the bee nest but would inspect the origin at a later date.

Having inspected all the districts William made his way out to the farms. Wanting to inspect the surrounding area. For safety, a squad of guards accomplished him on his way out.

He had three more elders to talk with and the surrounding area to inspect before he could finally craft up some plans for his village!!!