Chapter 278- A steady fire

A steady fire

Two days later, Chu walked past the east gate of the farm while tightening the leather straps of his left gauntlet. Lowering his neck, he cast aside all politeness as he tugged with his teeth. The ponytailed older brunette and beak-nosed elder accompanying him, however, never voiced any objection. Such actions by those donning armor had since long been accepted as the norm.

"Halter, let Jill organize a protection team if you decide to venture inside the forest for lumber at the ruins. Toll will switch with Rose at the nearby forest to help guard the goblin woodcutters. Since spring has nearly gone, the predators in the forest will become frequent and brazen."

"Don't worry Boss, before I plan anything I will discuss it during our evening meeting. I know you want Toll and Rose to remain close to the farm in the event of any problems. One of the stone cutters working with me said a woodcutter from the village got mauled by a Jaga when working in the nearby forest. I won't take chances until you return."

"Good, don't forget your training and keep your crossbow handy. Rose, pay close attention to the movement of the villagers. They may want to use our protection to come over and harvest lumber or even hunt. As it is now, we cannot allow it. We have too many secrets that cannot see daylight until we become stronger."

Chu reasoned while turning to the girl beside him. The large-scale project being undertaken swallowed manpower and kept calling for more. Already he had made arrangements with the Trading Post and Chief Drey of the village to requisition and prepare for more slaves. The more skilled workers he collected, the better for him in the future. As long as they agreed to his terms, their life as a slave would end.

What he seriously lacked was a dedicated garrison. Previously, everyone on the farm substituted as guards and fighters according to the roster. Now, this arrangement in the ever-increasing population displayed its flaws. The village garrison aided him for the time being, but they could not help when the majority of work centered near the farm. The idea proposed by Jill with the wolf cubs required time to develop.

"Rose, check Marie later. Have her browse across the worker files and see if we have any retired guards or soldiers. If so, find out if any are willing to join and train as a militia. We can arm them with wooden spears and bows to guard not-so-secretive places like the Industrial Complex and patrol near the new walls."

"Ok, but as you said, they will only have the basic weapons. I also want to keep them as temporary helpers. This way we can select the best performers"

"Good idea. Probation can not only cause them to work hard but with a little incentive push them towards becoming loyal. Discuss it with Jill but don't allow them too much of a leeway. We don't want a rebellion on our hands."

Chu advised. During the meeting last night, he addressed some of their concerns and made a few arrangements. With the basic knowledge and notes of management structures and explanations, he handed over this project to his over thirty or so household personnel. Project time schedules and timelines, block models, and stacks of note-filled sketches occupied the large dining table in the barn.

Armed with all this information, Halter and the others could follow their desires to their heart's content. After a brief chat with Halter, Chu and Rose rounded the corner and entered past the large heavy doors into the stables. Voices drifted from further inside. A few figures stood halfway down the sunlit corridor.

"Sorry Clod, but you can't expect me to clean the stables today, right? We will have to leave in a little while."

"What do you mean today? You were supposed to be cleaning it for the last few days. Do you plan on leaving it like this?"

"Well, I did have it all clean and all but then Chu got that letter. You didn't expect me to be cleaning when I had to pack for travel? I'm sure you can roster up someone to handle this chore. Tell you what, I'll even purchase some seeds in Karst when we head back."

Ming replied as he fixed his saddle resting on the nearby fence. He continued talking to the burly straw-haired farmer while walking to a nearby stall and unhinging the fence door.

"Look, I'll even throw in a few coppers so you can buy a little trinket for Rose. Personally, I think the Trading Post has some of the best-polished beads around."

"I don't want..."

A quiet voice joined in,

"Amm, hey, brother Ming. Why are you taking my horse?"

Yin interrupted. During the conversation, this brother of hers just up and casually embarked on a bit of horse rustling. Somehow she only now realized what he was actually doing. The natural talking and smooth action nearly had her fooled. Her words also woke the others. to this form of silent theft

The culprit, however, seemed to possess no shame.

"Ah, so it is. So it is. Well, I've already taken her out. I don't see why I can't ride her."

"No, no, you can't take Daffodil with you, brother Ming. She is the only horse I am accustomed to riding. Besides, I'm using her to teach Hope to ride."

"Well, it's not like I won't bring her back. Say what, how about you let me take her out for a spin for three Maple lollipops?"

"No, you can't...."

"Five Maple lollipops then! And I also promise not to tell Chu about how you and Hope have been sneaking out at night to roam around the farm."

Ming answered the little girl. Before Clod could reply to this shameless individual, the person received a slap to his head. Chu retreated his hand while Rose rolled her eyes.

"Put Daffodil back into her stable. You know full well that we need her at the farm to relay emergency messages if need be. And clean up this stable before you join us on the road. How come everyone completed their jobs except you? eh? Meet us when you're done. Clod watch him..."

***

"I still don't know why you didn't let me take Daffodil. Her speed might have been useful, like if we want to make a quick escape."

Ming grumbled from on top of his trotting horse. He had recently caught up to his traveling companions. Chu snorted while answering.

"How many of us are here? Did you want the horse to blaze off with all of us in tow?"

"Well no, but we do have three wolves, so I thought some could ride on them while two could ride on the horse. With her talisman tattoo, no one could outride us."

"You really have some bold ideas, don't you? Maybe I should share your plan with Dyna when she returns from scouting?"

Miki smirked from the side. She wore her cloak which covered her customized leather armor underneath. On the side of her saddle hung her crossbow and a small quiver of gleaming bolts. Her body arched sightly while she used both her hands to collect her cascading black hair. She then tied them together behind in a ponytail.

"Do you have to pose like that in the saddle? Do you know what would happen to you if you wandered into a full tavern and acted like that?"

"Like how?"

"Nevermind. Chu, talk to Miki, I don't like how she is looking down on me."

Chu sighed while moving his body to the rhythm of the trotting horse. The rays of the setting sun behind them seemed to pave the road in gold. The open grasslands and ambling travel along the road toward a quest caused his heart to skip a beat.

This was very close to what he wanted.

A whistle reached his ears before he spotted Lucy riding towards them from over the grassland. She soon came to a trot beside them.

"Dyna found a small grove not too far from the road. We can camp there for the night. She left Lykos to guard her horse while she went off to find us dinner."

"Why do we have to leave the road? It's not like we have seen any travelers on it since we departed."

Chu nodded to Lucy before turning to the boy.

"Remember, this is a covert mission. The last thing we want is for someone to remember spotting us on this road. Especially the wolves. I dare say only we have such unusual, red-tinted specimens. Come on, let's make an early camp, we have much to discuss..."

***

Erin Willows peeked into the radiating cauldron and then sighed in disappointment. Inhaling a few breaths to steady himself, he placed an iron cap over the flickering bluish flame underneath. Confirming it had extinguished, he turned to face the only other occupant in the room. Before he could say anything, the older girl raised her freckled face from studying her scroll.

"Heh, heh, let me guess, another failure, right?"

"Grandmaster Sue, I mean Older Sister, I tried my best again, but the results..."

"Haa... younger brother, you need to have more confidence in yourself. Did you know how many times I failed when I first started brewing potions and pills? I swear to you, I was ashamed to say it looked either like charred wood or thick porridge. What is important for us at this time is all this."

Sue said while she patted the stacks of parchments on the desk beside her. A few weeks passed since their first meeting. Yet, he felt he had failed this easy-going but high-ranking older sister.

Just when he decided he should resign himself and let her choose one of the more talented apprentices of higher ranking, the door opened.

"What Grandmaster Sue says is correct. It is not all about successfully creating a pill, but knowing how you did it. Only when you are certain as to the process does the repetition pave the way for a natural success."

"Well said, Old Bing. Boy, you should be thankful that Grandmaster Sue has selected you as an assistant. Not to mention those talented apprentices, do you know how many Master Alchemists would kick you out to work with her?"

"You should listen to Old Earns, you young puck. If Grandmaster Sue didn't tell me she was the one who said you could address her like that, I would have strangled you myself. You better not have any ideas on her."

Grandmaster Bing retorted while staring daggers at the shivering teen. Snorting he turned towards the girl as his threatening tone disappeared to one like a grandfather doting on his young granddaughter.

"Lady Sue, may we?"

"Sure, Grandmaster Bing, you came in time. Little brother Erin just completed another concoction. I did not have a chance to record the results but I am sure you will be surprised."

Sue replied. Since she requested this room, these old men made it their business to drop in at every opportunity. Grandmaster Earns shuffled across to the small cauldron set over a little iron container. Blocks of wood raised it to a foot under the cauldron.

"Bing, look at this?! The pill has amalgamated even better than the last without any charring. I dare say if the heat is raised one block more, it might be sufficient to create the stamina pill."

"I agree, but this alcohol flame is truly a gift for alchemists. Not only does it create a constant flame, once properly recorded as to its use, but pill-making formulas will also now become much easier to follow for success. What is hurtful is that those old coots from the Tower have the knowledge to make this liquid for the flame."

"We can't claim everything for our guild. What rotten misfortune we had when Grandmaster Sue fell into the hands of the Tower. Luckily, you befriended her in time. Didn't Elder Shi also travel to Frost City? Just as we plan to create a standard unit of measurement for Alchemists, why don't we have the Tower Mages act as sole distributors of the alcohol for Alchemists? This way we can be assured the quality can be the same across the Empire."

Grandmaster Earns said. He was already amazed at the use of this measurement and recording process that the girl used during this experiment. If the early Alchemists had used this during their recipes instead of writing how many stalks and seeds to use, the success would have increased while the wastage of precious materials lowered. He sighed while looking at the freckled young lady scribbling on a parchment.

"I don't think this young lady knows how earth-shaking her contribution is to the field of Alchemy..."

****