146 – Professing Loyalty to the Lord
The next day after returning to the castle, the 476 serfs, who spent the night camping in the wilderness, slowly arrived at the Flower Town. After eating their fill for a few meals, although the serfs still looked very bad, but at least they improved greatly in terms of spirit.
In the afternoon.
When the sun was tilting to the west, serfs lined up on the main road of the Flower Town and waited quietly.
Escorted by the Knight squad, Liszt rode Blackdragon to the front of the queues. Thomas followed suit with Tremblingwoods in tow. Now, whenever he went out, Liszt would bring Tremblingwoods along. It was quite fun to intimidate others with a big dog.
“Sir, the quality of these serfs… It"s very bad.” Marcus scanned the serfs with a glance and frowned.
“There are indeed very few adult serfs. However, there are a lot of children, which, if nurtured well, can become Knights in the future.” Stated Liszt simply.
As they talked, Gort met up with them: “Sir, the serfs finally came to the Flower Town, and none of them was lost.”
“Well done. Even though there were some losses on the sea, but I don"t won"t there to be anymore losses on the Coral Island.”
“In this case, should we have them profess their loyalty to you now, Sir?”
“Alright.”
When serfs saw their lord, they had to profess their loyalty, which was basically selling themselves into servitude as slaves.
After being instructed by Gort. Old Grandet immediately faced the serfs and shouted in Windlect: “Lowly serfs, standing before you is the the lord of the Flower Town of the mighty Tulip Family bloodline. Now, kneel and profess your loyalty to Sir Lord!”
In the blink of an eye, the serfs knelt on the ground and loudly butchered the expression in Serpentine they just learned: “Sir Lord!”
It wasn"t orderly, but was certainly loud.
The cries of nearly 500 people, even though it was only a group of ragged, emaciated, and weak serfs, still had a significant impact.
Liszt was already accustomed to such a scene. In the Flower Town, he came across such kneeling and shouting on a daily basis. Thus, he just looked at the serfs with a smile on his face. The kneeling serfs had their heads lowered, not daring to look at their future master.
After a while, Liszt, who had prepared a script beforehand, started saying: “I accept your profession of loyalty. From now on, you are a part of the Flower Town. Work hard and you will be sheltered by me.” Next, he looked at Old Grandet, who served as the interpreter.
Old Grandet immediately interpreted: “Sir Lord accepted your professions of loyalty, and said that you are part of the Flower Town from now on. Work hard and you will be sheltered by Sir Lord in the Flower Town. Understood?”
“Understood.”
“Yes.”
“Thank you, Sir Lord.”
“I will work hard.”
The serfs responded spa.r.s.ely, as many of them still didn"t know what to say. They just remained kneeling.
Liszt then said: “Old Grandet, have them get up.”
Thus, the short serf reception ceremony came to an end.
Without lingering around, Liszt returned directly to the castle. Marcus proceeded to lead the knight squad back to the thorns woods to guard the logging team. Gort and the other officials began to busy themselves, as they had to make the living and work arrangements for the 476 serfs within a short period of time.
Fortunately, there were many wooden houses built in the town and the settlements.
There were many wooden houses in the yet to be complete commercial area, workshop area, and residential area that could be provided as temporary lodging.
Food was even less lacking. Although there may not be much bread and vegetables, but there was enough seafood. And even if there wasn"t enough, the fishermen of the oyster settlement could just comb the beach a few times to make up for any shortage.
“We have to complete the distribution of serfs as soon as possible. The autumn harvest is coming.” Said Gort loudly.
“The resource census has yet to be completed. There are too many women, children, and elderly among the serfs. Thus, the original arrangements are inappropriate. We have to adjust them.” Responded Isaiah.
While watching the serfs barge into the wooden houses and prepare to spend the night, Blair chuckled and said: “Children and nursing women should be put aside first. Other serfs who can work can be sent to the Thorns Ridge to transport wood or stones and repair the roads.”
Gort interrupted: “This is not a sensible distribution plan.”
“What I mean is that we shouldn"t make any arrangements before the resource census is completed.”
“Well, it"s not a bad idea. It really isn"t easy to make arrangements in a short time, and we cannot have them do nothing, so we might as well send them to the logging team.”
……
At the banquet, Gort conveyed Liszt Blair"s suggestion.
Liszt approved and added: “Arrange the craftsmen to do some light work. Don"t arrange any work for weak and sick serfs. Instead, have them take a good rest.” From among those serfs, he cared the most about the craftsmen.
The skill of craftsmen was this world"s technology. Craftsmen were an indispensable of a prosperous fief.
Suddenly, he thought of something and said: “Later this evening, before going to rest, compile a list of the craftsmen, which should include what their craft is. I will have the castle"s servants a.s.sist you with the collection of data. I hope to see it tomorrow morning.”
In today"s Flower Town, Liszt"s authority was rock-solid.
By the next morning, after he got out of bed and finished walking Tremblingwoods, a thick stack of thick bast paper was placed on the dining table. After taking a bath and changing into loose clothes, Liszt sat down at the dining table, ready to enjoy his breakfast.
Timely, Carter told a servingman to bring the breakfast.
A cup of very fragrant, fresh milk tea, a piece of pineapple bread and milk bread, a fried egg, a large piece of fried magic beast meat, a vegetable salad, and a few fruits, this was his standard breakfast.
The breakfast was worth at least a dozen silver coins, with the magic beast meat being particularly pricey.
However, as someone who recently became well off, he was unwilling to treat himself badly. Leading a plain and hardworking life wasn"t his style. If he could enjoy himself, he would.
He picked up the cup of milk tea and took a big sip
“The milk produced by the castle is still better. I think that the environment of the Flower Town must be suitable for raising cows.” He licked the foam off the corners of his lips and made up his mind.
“Shylock already bought 3 calves, and an extent of the pasture is occupied by horses, so no more cows can be raised, Master.”
Liszt"s tone was firm: “When the Thorns Ridge is developed, the dairy farm must be expanded by at least 1 fold! I must raise more cows!”
Due to the increasingly tastier milk tea, Liszt specially investigated the dairy farm, yet found no reason for the improvement of the quality of the milk milk products. At least, it was not due to the cows being with calf, as previously speculated. Compared with the milk from outside, the gap in taste could be clearly felt.
The milk from the Flower Town"s dairy farm not only was very fragrant, but also was more refreshing.
Later, Liszt guessed whether the reason behind this was the new pasture – maize gra.s.s. However, after an experiment, it was discovered that it wasn"t related to maize gra.s.s. Thus, he became convinced that it was the climate of the Flower Town that was suitable for raising cows.
After taking a bite from the pineapple bread, Liszt diverted his attention to the stack of thick bast paper on the table, and casually checked the information about craftsmen.