CHAPTER 243: ORDER IS IN

While Julio took care of settling the new arrivals, Alexis came out to inspect the trade goods before they were unloaded.

She wasn’t sure if the Merchant’s Guild had gotten the order right, as it had been placed through Julio and then passed to Dominic, so the ’relay effect’ could have altered the instructions from what she was actually looking for.

"Your Highness. It is a pleasure to make your acquaintance. Would you like to inspect the textiles first?" The Merchant asked.

Alexis nodded. "Yes, that would be perfect. Then the Farrier can inspect the livestock you brought, and either Lord Dominic or the Castellan can verify the magical items I requested."

Dominic frowned. They didn’t have a huge budget to order magical items, and especially not when they could have the Techno Wizards here make them.

However, what Alexis had ordered was not something that just anyone would know how to make. She had requested a magitech incubator for chickens, which took up a large crate on its own, and then there was an electric fence generator.

That was something that Dominic or Pops could have made on their own, but it was understandable that anyone who wasn’t a Magical Engineer would think that it was more complex than it was.

"One of the families relocated their sheep farm, and we brought you two stable hands for the horses and chickens. We were going to bring more household staff, but the warning that you gave the Merchant’s Guild in Skipington dissuaded the boss from sending any of the fallen Noble girls.

None of us wanted to be the one on the hook when some airhead tried to rise above her station and got herself executed as an unauthorized concubine." The Merchant explained.

Alexis chuckled at his words, which he hadn’t thought that she would be able to hear.

She didn’t know what Dominic had told the Guild, but they had certainly taken it to heart. It was good that they didn’t send a bunch of pampered girls looking to sleep their way back into the Nobility, though.

Especially given that they were likely to be Dagos Nobility or raised by Nobles that many would view as traitors from Wavemates.

Neither of them would fare well attempting to seduce Dominic.

While Alexis was inspecting the fabrics, carpets and drapery that she had ordered, a pair of young women came over to speak to her.

"Highness, might you be looking for house hands? We’re good with the chickens, odd jobs and cleaning. We paid for a ride to Castle City, but once we were on the road, we learned that it might not be the best place to end up." One of the girls asked.

Alexis turned and inspected them.

Both were in their mid or late teens, dressed in heavily worn servant’s uniforms with their former emblems carefully removed. But it was the desperation hidden behind the hopeful smiles and fake confidence that convinced her.

"Alright. Talk to Tena at the Manor. She’s the head gardener, and she will find you work. Help them bring the chickens up with you." She agreed.

A quick mental calculation said that they still had servants’ rooms left in the Manor, enough that Beth could hire her whole kitchen staff out of the newly arrived families if she wanted.

Other than that, they should have more than enough other workers now.

As the new arrivals exited the trucks, more space began to come available, and the farmers began to arrive with their wagons full of food products.

The most abundant were the potatoes and turnips, but there was an entire wagon full of carrots and onions, and a few baskets of Dragonberries.

Alexis saw them and laughed. "You can’t sell those. They’re poison to everyone without dragon blood. They smell wonderful, but they’re a restricted product in Cygnia."

Dominic looked up. "Oh, I will take those. Be careful with them, as even licking the juice off your fingers could knock you out."

The woman who had collected them looked horrified, staring at her hands, which were stained with berry juice. One of the men offered her a clean rag, and she quickly scrubbed her hands clean, then passed Dominic the basket as if it might bite her.

Dominic smiled as he put the basket in his storage cube for later. He didn’t know if there was anyone else here who could safely eat the berries, but they wouldn’t spoil inside a magitech storage item, so he could simply keep them for a special occasion.

They were in Cygnia now, and while the berries were wild, they were also illegal. Keeping them growing in someone’s yard could bring the farmers a world of trouble if someone who wasn’t as understanding as Dominic was wandered through.

He was going to have to work out a plan that would relocate the bushes, and not eliminate them so that he didn’t turn his favourite pie filling extinct.

"Come talk to me later about where you found the berry bushes. But first, it’s more important that everyone gets their trade goods sold to the Guild so that they can get back to the work of establishing their new homesteads." Dominic instructed.

"Of course, My Lord." The locals answered in unison.

Nearly every house had Dragonberry bushes planted outside. Because it wasn’t only Dominic that counted them as their favourite pie filling. Originally, most of the residents of town had some measure of dragon blood, and they all had their own recipe for the pie.

There might still be a few in town who had dragon blood, but likely a much smaller amount, and the only sure way to let them test it was to have them eat the berries, and see who passed out.

Though, there was a saying that a third of any nation was distantly related to the Royal Family through the Concubines and Chamber Maids, so he couldn’t rule out that the majority of Wavemates lineages might actually have at least a few drops of Dragon blood in them.

Alexis smiled as she saw Dominic clearly plotting to save his favourite dessert. They could certainly manage to keep at least a few of the berry bushes around. Everyone would know now that they were toxic, so the commoners would simply treat them as ornamental.

At least until it really sunk in that they were in Cygnia now, and the laws were different.