Lorran watched Helones with a worried expression.

"I'm sorry,sire.Begin...what?"he asked,still puzzled.

"Ruling,Lorran!"Helones said loudly."Or do you have something else in mind?"

"Oh...yes,sire...I mean no sire.I mean,yes for the ruling part,but of course it is not in my power to..."Helones raised his hand,laughing heartly.

"Calm down,Lorran.I know what you meant"Lorran came out of his confusion and let an apologetic smile escape from his lips."Of course,sire".

"Lorran,can you find me the accounts of the manor for every year since its establishing?Maybe it can help us find the perks these lands have,or what kind of goods it is known for."

"Yes sire.I already sent your squire Deveron fetch us the manor's ledger.He should arrive at any moment.

"Good" said Helones.As he waited,he started observing his hall.The walls were made with grey stone,while the floor was built with oak planks.The entire hall could hold at least a dozen men on special ocassions,while the wooden table,which seemed to be the most well maintained furniture in the room,had ten chairs,not including the lord's small throne.Truth be told,the hall had seen better days.The walls were covered with moss,and the floor made enough noise to annoy a person,when someone set their foot on it.Every corner was covered with webs,filled with dead insects.Helones shivered when he witnessed a big spider eating a smaller one.He was not fond of arachnids,and the first thing he would do as a petty lord of Ungrey was to get rid of every spider or other insect inside the manor house.

"When was this manor house built,you said?"Helones asked.

"This manor house was built exactly two hundred and six years ago,sire.It was built by the Rens as a hunting lodge for their family,but a century later they gave it to a knight,whose name I can't remember for the moment.Was it Vermon or Varmin?It does not matter."Lorran continued"What matters is that two years ago,the last member of the knight's family died and no one was left to take care of the manor.You know the rest better then me,sire."

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Indeed he did.Helones had killed two knights and three sergeants that day.His deeds were seen by Count Ren's son,Gerland.After the battle,he knelt before the count and his son,and was given the title Baronet of Ungrey,a small manor south of Lissern.Maybe it was his skill in battle that got him his new title.Maybe it was by the will of the Maker,who struck with his hammer at the skies to signal Helone's rise to power.It did'nt matter.What mattered was that Helones would do everything to make his name known to every man in Arberia,and beyond it.

"Sire"Helones turned to Lorran to find him with a book in his hands and a boy no older than twelve to his side."This is the manor's ledger,sire"

It was an enormous book with a leather cover.As Lorran sat beside Helones,he blew to the book's cover.Clouds of dust rose from the leather,while Lorran opened it.Helones saw some numbers and letters with a corner of his eyes,waiting for his chouncelor's voice to be heard.

"Yes,it's all here.Ten barrels of ale,three barrels of wine,five barrels of fish,10 longbows.It's all here,sire."he said as he moved his finger to the page he was reading.

"So?"Helones asked,waiting for a summary.

"Well,sire I have to say that the last two years have been hard for the manor.The production is half of what it was three years ago.Three years ago 92 families lived in the manor.Now there are only 65 families.Before the war,it was a prosperous piece of land that produced different goods,weapons,grain and many other materials."Lorran took a deep breath and kept reading the ledger.

"What about the soldiers?How many could the manor raise three years ago?"Helones asked.If he wanted to have a prosperous manor,he would need to have strong men to protect it againts bandits and invaders.

Lorran continued searching the ledger,and after ten minutes he found what he was asked to find.

"When the former owner of the manor went ro war,he took with him four heavy knights,twenty spearmen,thirty men-at-arms and fourty longbowmen.All in all,ninety-four men.This must have been the maximum the knight could raise,not including the guards of the manor,and the keepers of peace."Lorran finally said,taking another deep breath.

So Ungrey had been a prosperous manor three years ago.Now it was but a shade of its former glory.Helones would change that.But in order to change that,he had to act as soon as he could.

"Good,Lorran.Now let us explore my lands.I want to see what we could make a benefit for the manor.Maybe along the way we can start improving the manor indirectly.With the coin I have,we can only do a limited amount of improvements,but it should be enough to start rebuilding the manor"Helones rose and headed for the door.He got on his horse and rode towards the village,with Lorran galloping behind him.

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