Sword of Dawnbreaker

Chapter 248 - 247: Gawain’s Daily Work

Gawain sat in the study of the feudal lord’s mansion, looking at the latest reports from the Kant territory and the Leslie territory.

More than half of the report was about the establishment of trade routes. Patrick, whom he valued highly, had already shown his worth. Under the efforts of this "merchant scholar," the southern merchants who originally had trading exchanges with the Kant territory had been successively linked together. In this process, a large number of traveling merchants were brought under Patrick’s command—not much money was spent on this, but instead, payment was made with alchemical potions in stock. In a short time, Patrick succeeded in making a significant number of merchants voluntarily become distributors of the "Cecil Potion," and they took the potions on the road with them.

Due to the nature of these merchants traveling between territories, they often dealt with people like mercenaries—cheap low-level mercenaries were happy to accept the employ of traveling merchants to help them fend off bandits and beasts on the road. During this process, the affordable yet effective Cecil healing potions came to the attention of these financially constrained mercenaries.

No one would be stingy when it comes to protecting their own life—a compound capable of treating diseases and wound infections and a weak healing potion that effectively stops bleeding together cost less than three silver coins, so even the most down-and-out mercenaries could afford them. As a result, before those traveling merchants reached their destinations, the healing potions produced by the Cecil territory had already begun to spread among the mercenaries throughout the southern borders.

Mercenaries who frequently went out on adventures and often got injured in need of healing would be the initial and most stable source of consumers for the Cecil healing potions.

On the other hand, a new order for mining equipment had arrived from Leslie territory, along with a request for the Cecil territory to send over a few more "Magic Web technicians" to help them expand their Magic Web.

Gawain looked at the handwritten letter from Viscount Andrew Leslie, and a smile slowly appeared on his face.

The first batch of technicians sent to the Leslie territory helped Tanzan Mine lay the basic Magic Web, allowing the mine to leverage the powerful Magic-Powered Engine to haul mine carts and crush ore. Before that viscount could fully exploit the production efficiency of these magic-conducting machines, he actually had no further need to expand the Magic Web—now he hoped Gawain would send another batch of Magic Web technicians over, indicating that the viscount had already tasted the great benefits from the Magic Web.

What would he do? Perhaps lay the Magic Web in his castle, or maybe cover the entire mine, or even... take this opportunity to learn the technology of laying the Magic Web.

In any case, it was all within Gawain’s expectations.

He called for the technical lead responsible for laying the Magic Web—a rune craftsman originally from the royal capital, but now a "Naturalized Talent" determined to stay in this land—and assigned him the task of leading a team back to Tanzan Town. After giving the instructions, he warned, "I estimate that this time, Viscount Leslie might attempt to bribe you to get you to disclose the key techniques of laying the Magic Web..."

The technical lead immediately put on a serious face, "I will not be swayed by money, Sir Byron!"

"No, I want you to accept the bribe," Gawain shook his head, saying something that startled the technician in front of him, "Of course, act a bit conflicted and hard-pressed."

"Sir... what does this mean?"

"The Magic Web is quite a simple thing, and eventually, someone will learn it, so I don’t mind passing on the Magic Web technology, but one should always collect a tuition fee," Gawain said while writing the reply to Viscount Andrew Leslie, "Raise the price of the bribe a bit; the technology is valuable."

After the technical lead left, Gawain called for Aunt Heidi.

As soon as the latter entered the study, Gawain straightforwardly said, "Inform the ’Population Introduction Commissioner’ in Tanzan Town that there will soon be a large number of cheap slave laborers from the mines and unemployed free miners appearing in Tanzan Town. Try to recruit all these people; our factory is very short of hands."

Aunt Heidi looked confused, "Huh? How do you know, ancestor?"

"Viscount Andrew purchased a large amount of mining equipment, and at least two-thirds of the miners will be unemployed," Gawain said with a smile, "According to the habit of traditional aristocrats, they won’t maintain labor that is no longer useful—moreover, there is no excess land around Tanzan Town to absorb the population released from the mines."

After Aunt Heidi also left, Gawain finally finished the tasks at hand. He stretched a big stretch, ready to take a little break.

But just then, he suddenly heard a slight clicking sound from the windowsill, followed by a crisp sound of a spring and mechanical structure being released. Gawain whipped his head around and instantly saw a mechanical device on the windowsill jumping into the air!

The fully automatic anti-Amber warning device had been activated!

Without a word, Gawain reached out and pressed down on the head of a half-elf, who had clumsily fallen off the windowsill and come out of shadow manipulation to reveal her true form, "You never use the door!"

Amber pounced forward with a howl, "Who sets mouse traps on a windowsill?!!"

Gawain pressed down on the girl’s head, effortlessly suppressing all her resistance: "What mouse trap? That’s a warning device—if you weren’t crawling through the window, you’d avoid getting trapped!"

Amber stiffened her neck, trying to maintain the last bit of dignity as a thief: "I didn’t get trapped! I just got startled!"

It’s hard to say what kind of dignity she has to maintain...

Gawain glanced at this shameless half-elf: "How long have you been listening outside the window?"

"Ever since you shamelessly asked the Magic Web technicians to scam money for you," Amber said, her mouth running as she spoke, even wearing an expression of admiration, "Hey old fellow, I’ve discovered that you can do quite well even without being a noble, with your skills of conning people... alright, alright, I’ll stop talking..."

Gawain retracted the fist he was about to strike with, looked this girl up and down, and then started discussing serious matters: "I heard you brought back a large group of people?"

"About a hundred scoundrels, all people I’ve known since back in the day, but this isn’t everyone," Amber said with a proud expression, "I’ll tell you, there are more people, they’re just scattered across several nearby territories, and since it’s winter, those bastards are holed up in the Black Tavern, drinking themselves to oblivion, and I have to yank them out one by one—but I don’t need to go personally, I’ve already brought in the people I’ve trusted the most from back then, and they’ll do the recruiting."

Gawain looked at Amber with some surprise: "Then... your influence back then wasn’t small?"

"Actually, these people can’t all be considered ’my influence,’" Amber realized Gawain was an outsider in this aspect, so she explained with a smile, "These ragamuffins and scoundrels don’t have any stable organization, they just make a living on the streets and alleys, bundle together in the gutter, they’re just loosely gathered for warmth. I merely traveled all over back then, so I know more people. It’s a sparse network, and I’ve only tied up a few knots for you, but if they’re willing to put in effort, they can help you find more manpower."

Gawain seemed to understand: "Alright, I get it now. Anything you need me to do?"

"Definitely," Amber nodded, "I want to send my most trusted people to other territories to gather manpower, but you need to know how much trouble they’ll face crossing other aristocratic territories—they need proof documents and guarantors, to show they’re acting on behalf of Duke Gawain Cecil, so they don’t end up hanged by the local nobility because of their activities."

In this era, people are tied down to the land they grew up on, every civilian is private property of the nobility, and ordinary people are almost never allowed to leave or enter any territory freely, otherwise they’d risk being hanged—if one wants to become a merchant, mercenary, or adventurer, they need to obtain proof documents from the nobility, and even with these documents, if the issuer is not influential enough, the holder might still face harassment and extortion by noble soldiers along the way (in fact, this is a main revenue source for many noble private soldiers), this is the reality of this era.

But if they not only have proof documents but also issued by someone influential in the aristocracy, then they can travel unhindered.

While Duke Gawain Cecil is no longer the chief guardian of the southern borders, his name still holds significant sway over this land. At least, in situations without a conflict of interest, the conservative nobility must show enough reverence for this name. This reverence for the higher nobility is a crucial element in maintaining their dignity, so anyone with a pass issued by Gawain Cecil can travel unhindered in the southern borders, and generally doesn’t have to worry about being harassed or extorted by local nobles—this is also an important guarantee for Gawain’s trade routes to open smoothly.

Gawain hardly hesitated before agreeing to Amber’s request: "No problem. But make sure those receiving the pass are trustworthy, and before they set out, you must ensure they understand their mission and the importance of discretion—I don’t want them flaunting my pass around and creating a stir."

Amber giggled: "Don’t worry, the ones I’m bringing out are veterans, they may not excel at anything else, but they excel at keeping a low profile. They can carry the Duke’s pass and still appear like they’re fleeing, asking them to flaunt it around would be as good as asking them to die."

Gawain: "..."

It doesn’t seem like there’s anything to be proud of, yet Amber’s expression as she says these words looks as if she’s saving the world...

And then Amber began to marvel again: "A pass signed by the Duke... if it were an unconditional travel document, who knows how much it could be sold for on the black market. You might be the first aristocrat ever to issue such a document to ragamuffins."

"I’m not the first," Gawain waved his hand, "Back when we first conquered the northern parts, Charlie alone issued over a hundred proofs and permits to the local highlanders. By today’s standards, those northern highlanders were uncivilized barbarians at best, not even ragamuffins—yet they are the ancestors of today’s Northern Mountain Corps."

"Wow—do you mean I could lead a regiment in the future?"

Gawain glanced at this opportunistic half-elf, raising his hand: "So, should I hit you directly, or go through the process?"

Amber: "..."