From Londoner To Lord

The carpenter nodded. "It is, milord." He added, "And there should be no problem cooking meals for that many people here, since the kitchen and storage room of the longhouse block are also ready."

"That's good to hear." Kivamus looked at Gorsazo. "Calubo told us that there were twenty-six stonecutters at the quarry, so we have to keep that many bunks empty for them. That leaves us with ninety-eight bunks. So we should prioritize shifting those people here first who have been living in the most congested houses, and the other villagers who have only taken in one or two homeless people can keep them for a while longer." Explore new worlds at My Virtual Library Empire

Duvas nodded. "I'll refer to my notes where I had written down the name of every villager who had been housing someone else. I'll sort them according to what you said, and I'll send someone to let those people know that they can start shifting here from the morning." He added, "Also, now we won't have to pay grain and coal to those people who had been housing the homeless until now, so it will ease up the spending of our grain stores on them."

"That's true," Kivamus said, "but make sure to keep providing it to those people who are unable to shift their temporary tenants to the longhouse block for now."

The majordomo gave a nod. "And what should we do about the free meals we distribute after shifting people to the longhouse?"

Kivamus thought about it for a moment. "It's just a small amount, since the laborers are already earning their meals. The only difference will be that their food will now be cooked together in the common kitchen of the longhouse block, instead of them cooking it separately at their homes. But I still think the time is right for us to start scaling down the free meals now."

He continued, "Here is what we'll do. Instead of providing cooked meals directly, we will provide an equivalent amount of wheat and vegetables free of cost to the longhouse block - enough to feed all the elderly and children who are going to live in it. This way that free grain we provide will be added to the stores of each longhouse block, so that they can cook the regular meals in their kitchen for everyone who is living there."

Kivamus added, "Making the elderly and the children walk everyday in such cold weather from the longhouse block to the manor isn't a good idea anyway. So this will help to prevent that as well. This will also ease the pressure on our maids to cook that much food, which will free more of their time for other tasks. However, there will still be some of the elderly and children who are going to be living with other villagers even now, because of a shortage of space in the first longhouse block, so we will still keep cooking a small amount of extra food to provide to them regularly."

"I'll do as you say," Duvas said with a nod. "I'll tell the servants to transfer a few sacks of grain and coal to the longhouse block in the morning. The wheelbarrows would be quite helpful in this."

He added, "I'll also designate a reliable person as the storekeeper for the longhouse's storage room like we discussed earlier - preferably one of the elderly villagers since they don't have to work as a laborer - so they can stay at the block for most of the day. Only he will have the key for that room, so that he can ensure that the grain storeroom of the block will be safe, and he'll also keep a track of what is remaining there, so that they can ask the manor to provide more grain or coal in case the storeroom is getting empty."

"Good!" Kivamus asked, "What about the new braziers I had asked to be made for the block?"

"Cedoron had sent someone to tell me that they'll be ready by tomorrow," Duvas answered. "And as we discussed, these will only use an iron tray with wooden supports, to save on some iron."

Kivamus nodded. At that moment, he saw the old priest of the village with his patched robe ambling slowly towards them. He had put the cowl of his robe on his head to prevent the cold from seeping in, but his long white beard made him recognize the priest easily. Others immediately gave bows of respect to him.

"Bless you all," Father Edric spoke with a raised hand. Reaching closer, he looked at Kivamus and pointed to the inside of the longhouse block which was visible from where they were standing. "You have done a good thing for the villagers. It will ensure everyone has a roof this winter." He added with a grandfatherly smile, "May the Goddess bless you and give you the strength to keep providing for the villagers."

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Kivamus gave a short bow as well in respect. "Thank you, Father Edric. I'll keep trying to do my best for them."

"I know you will, milord, I know you will." Father Edric continued, "Well, I should meet with the other villagers too. May the goddess bless your path in the future." And with that, the old priest slowly walked towards the gates of the longhouse block, with other villagers immediately surrounding him to ask for blessings.

As Kivamus turned around to leave, he saw that standing quite apart from the small crowd gathered around the priest, there was one little girl - probably no older than five - reaching out a hesitant hand to touch the rough bark of the Bilona tree. She might have been homeless in the past, Kivamus thought, with the way she gazed with wonder at the newly constructed building. But then he smiled, knowing that it was now a thing of the past for her.

This was the future of Tiranat - these children, full of hope and promise. He had a responsibility to ensure that they had a bright future, a future free from want and despair. Then he got an idea while looking at a worker who was pulling down a rope which had been put on a branch of the bilona tree.

He looked at the carpenter. "You must have a few extra planks remaining with you, right?"

Taniok hesitated. "I had only cut enough planks to complete all the bunks, but there might be a couple of them still lying around. Why, though?"

"I want you to make something else tomorrow," Kivamus replied. "Don't worry, it will barely take any time. Just take a sturdy plank, and after making sure it's smooth and in a good condition, make two holes at each end of it."

He pointed inside the longhouse block. "Then loop two strong ropes around a horizontal branch of the tree, and attach the end of those ropes with that plank to make it a seat. This way children can play with it as a swing." He added, "Most of their parents go to work during the day, so they might get bored otherwise. But this way they will have something to distract them, and it will be a safe play area where the children can be left to their own devices without their parents worrying too much about them."

Taniok nodded slowly. "It's simple enough. I'll build it tomorrow."

Kivamus looked around for a moment, and finding the middle aged foreman for the north, he called him closer.

Yeden jogged towards them slowly, and asked, "What is it, milord?"

Kivamus said, "There is something I want you to do. Tell a few workers to gather some dirt in a wheelbarrow tomorrow morning, then put it around the trunk of the Bilona tree at its base. You should gather enough dirt that it is around two feet high from the ground, and perhaps three feet wide. You can use some smooth stones at its edges to give it strength if needed. This will become a place for the older residents of the longhouse block to sit in the winter and soak in the sun - whenever it does come out."

He added, "And in the summer, when the leaves come back on the tree, this will be a place for them to sit around in the shade, while keeping an eye on the children who will have to stay at home while their parents are out working."

Yeden gave an immediate nod. "I'll do it in the morning, milord. It's easy."

Then Kivamus looked back at the carpenter. "Your next task is to build an isolated jail room in the manor. Duvas will give you the details, but in short, while it only needs to be big enough to hold five or six people at a time, it should be sturdy enough that escaping from it shouldn't be feasible. And you can simply use the logs for this, instead of planks, to finish it quickly."

Taniok frowned. "Are you sure about that, milord? The previous baron wanted everything built only from planks in the manor."

Kivamus chuckled. "Yeah, I am very sure. I don't care about the aesthetics as long as something does what it is meant to do."

Taniok nodded. "While the planks have to be cut either by me or my apprentice, the cutting of logs by other workers hasn't stopped at all. We already have gathered a big pile of them ready to use as the walls for the second longhouse block. So it should be easy enough to move some of them to the manor using the log-mover." He added after a moment of thought, "I think I can build the jail by tomorrow evening, and if not, then certainly by some time next day."

"Good." Kivamus continued, "After that, you have to start working on the second longhouse block. There is no point in building the gatehouses until most of the village wall is already complete."

He looked at the foreman of the north. "How long is that going to take from now?"