CHAPTER 242: GOOD FRIENDS TO HAVE

It was six days before the Merchant Guild’s next caravan came trundling down the road, much larger than Dominic had expected.

They had no fewer than thirty trucks, tractors pulling trailers, and other vehicles in the convoy, plus dozens of men on horseback accompanying the convoy as guards. It wasn’t just a hired refugee caravan, they had rerouted a full convoy through Wistover on its way to Castle City, instead of keeping it on the main roads.

Dominic went out to meet them in the village, where the convoy was pulling to a stop in the central square.

The Merchant Guild representative this time was not the same man, but they recognized him immediately, and the Merchant came out with a huge smile for him.

"Your Grace, you honour us with your presence. I have brought the order for the Khalil Mercantile store, and I’ve got a few more hopeful new arrivals, plus your order for the Manor.

Did you have anything that you would like to trade us to be shipped further into Cygnia?" He asked.

Dominic nodded. "Indeed I do. The new villagers have been working hard to gather the wild foodstuffs, and now that our own pantries are beginning to fill, we have some excess that can be sold if you have bulk produce wagons empty.

The King requested that food relief be sent to Castle City if we had anything to spare, and despite our recent arrival, we still do."

The Merchant smiled. "I was hoping that you would say something like that. I have three wagons empty right now, and a carrying capacity of fifteen tonnes."

That was a pretty significant amount of food to be shipping from such a new estate, the Merchant knew. But it was considered polite to have more space than they could possibly need.

Plus, it was good for business if someone surprised you with an especially good crop.

Dominic chuckled. "Well, we could load the entire fifteen tonnes with bulk potatoes, as we’ve had a rather bountiful harvest of them. But I suspect that other farmsteads would like to sell to you as well."

The caravan hadn’t been missed, and everyone was sending in their goods now, with the tractors making a loop to hook up wagons.

A few men exited the convoy and came to stand behind the Merchant Guild member, waiting for his introduction to the local Duke.

"Duke Dominic, these are the heads of family for the migrant workers we’ve brought. All are debt free and came with their whole families. All were solvent when they left their homes, choosing to live in a region with a more amenable sort of Nobility." He explained.

{Every one of them is Wavemates Resistance. True and loyal to the Dragon King’s Lineage. They are all led by skilled workers, and they’ve shown no reluctance to living under the rule of the King of Cygnia, so long as it’s within your Duchy.} He explained.

Dominic nodded. "In that case, you can all register with Julio, my Castellan. He knows what houses are most suitable to each of your families’ specialties and what farms have the best chance at filling a pantry with crops even before you turn the land.

Welcome to Wistover."

{I am not looking to fill the village with Rebels. My marriage with the Princess was a chosen match, not a political union, and I don’t want trouble with the King.}

The Merchant smiled as he ushered the family heads toward Julio.

{Of course, Your Grace. The Resistance has no intention of fighting against the Cygnia Kingdom, so long as they allow the Dragon King’s successors to live within Wavemates.}

That wasn’t as reassuring as Dominic had hoped, but he could sense a lot of magic coming from the people in the carriages.

"Did you have everything that we ordered for the Manor?" He asked.

The Merchant nodded. "Of course, Your Grace. Nothing on your list was difficult to find. We’ve also brought you one more coal-powered tractor for the Duchy.

Did you have more of the same trade items you bartered to the last representative? The head of our Guard detail is most eager to get his hands on that sort of item."

If the man could afford that, he either had quite the savings, or excellent credit with the Guild.

Dominic nodded, and took out two Rare Grade mana revolvers, which should cover everything that they had ordered, including one tractor.

The Merchant handed the two revolvers to the head Guard, who sighed wistfully as he held them.

"Thank you, Lord Dominic. I have worked years to afford these when I managed to find them. Ironic really, that most would sell a house suitable to become a Baron’s Manor or an acreage on the edge of the city to obtain one, and one Duke has provided four to the Merchant’s Guild so far.

Good times are coming to Stansia Province, I can feel it now." He joked, speaking in a quiet tone that wouldn’t carry far.

Dominic winked at him. "Rebuilding back to the former glory of the Wistover Manor might take some time, but we will get there. Now that we’ve got the essentials, we should be able to host guests without embarrassing ourselves."

That notion made the Guard laugh.

Out of all the Noble estates they had passed, not counting the ones that were abandoned, Wistover Estate was already doing better than average. They had full pantries, food to sell, good water, and steam tractors working the fields.

Not just one, either. There was a small one in the hay field, but there were three large ones as well, and the Duke had just purchased a fourth.

Just on the amount of magitech equipment that they had working the estate, they were already obscenely wealthy compared to most of the Dagos Barons.

Plus, one of the new arrivals in this trip was a carriage maker who specialized in steam trucks. With a new cobbler and a few families of farmers, including a sheep farmer who had brought a whole flock with him, Wistover Manor was quickly overtaking the average in every metric.

But more than that, there was magic here. The Duke, the Duchess, the Royal Guard who accompanied her, even most of the farmers had more than a little magic at their disposal.