Chapter 12 Journey
But no matter how Bonita persuaded her, Vivian just pursed her lips and didn't answer, hurrying towards the castle. Only after hearing about the horse sent by Gervis did she take a look at the white horse in Bonita's hand.
Before leaving, Gervis had ordered the servants of the Baron's Castle to send this horse to Vivian, but on the way they met Vivian and Bonita who were heading to the castle, so Bonita led the white horse over.
In the original owner's memory, what Vivian wanted most was a horse, because her dream was to become a knight.
However, although Nashen is a lord, there are only three horses in the manor. One is a war horse given by Gandalf, which can be used in battle and kill enemies. It is Nashen's lifeblood. The other two are ordinary old horses used to transport the goods in the manor. Naturally, they cannot be given to Vivian for fun.
The Countess gave three horses to Gervis, and Gervis had his own mount, so minus the two that Thomas and Jimmy rode, there was just one extra horse.
Gervis was unable to comfort Vivian for the time being and could only give her a horse, hoping that the horse could protect the girl.
…
After riding for a whole morning without stopping, Gervis and his party had reached the edge of Gandalf's territory. The road became more and more difficult to walk on as they moved away from the castle. There were no villages or farmlands on both sides of the road, only clumps of weeds and small woods.
Although Gandalf's territory is also in a plain area, the world is too sparsely populated, and many places are deserted and undeveloped. The development of each noble territory relies on radiating from the castle. Unless some places have special development value, such as minerals, the farther away from the lord's castle, the more desolate it will be.
From Gervis's current location, it would take more than ten minutes to walk out of Baron Gandalf's territory.
When you leave the Barony of Gandalf, there will be a buffer zone of three to five kilometers. This is a product that evolved in this world in order to avoid disputes between nobles.
In name, any product within the buffer zone does not belong to the lords of both sides, but to the feudal lords to whom they are loyal. For example, the buffer zone between the Barony of Gandalf and other vassal nobles belongs to Earl Alice.
However, the buffer zone is only a narrow dividing line, and the feudal lords who own the ownership rights will not actually manage and develop the buffer zone.
This led to the unspoken rule among the vassals that was derived from this provision: in the buffer zone, the lords of both sides could each take half for development and utilization.
Both sides can obtain any resources near the edge of their own territory, but they cannot station troops or build villages. This can greatly reduce the possibility of conflict between the two sides and also gain additional benefits. If a conflict really occurs and things get out of hand, the actions of both sides can be regarded as illegal mining, which will not only bring no benefits, but also the profits that have been taken may have to be spit out with interest and handed over to their own lords.
Seeing that it was already noon, Gervis ordered everyone to prepare to rest and continue their journey after lunch.
They found an open flat area and everyone except Gervis started to get busy. The three guards were responsible for guarding, but Gervis only asked them to explore the surrounding area briefly and then let them rest on the spot.
After traveling for a whole morning, Gervis knew that they must be very tired. This place still belonged to his father's territory, and the woods were not dense, so there was basically no possibility of encountering danger.
You can eat dry food for lunch, which is some bread and dried meat. The combination of the two not only fills you up, but also provides enough energy, so you don’t have to worry about the taste.
However, there was a cook named Jimmy among Gervase's group, so Gandalf specially ordered someone to kill a sheep in the morning, clean it, cut it into pieces and give it to Gervase's group to take with them, enough for them to eat for two meals. If the weather wasn't so hot, they could have taken more.
He found a stone to sit on and took out a piece of paper with a long list on it. This was the list of goods that Gandalf gave him. Because Gweis had his own territory, he would start a family on his own in the future.
However, Gvis's current territory is extremely poor, so Gandalf prepared some urgently needed items such as food, seeds, and iron for Gvis.
It will take time to collect these supplies, and it will take several days to transport them to Gervis's territory. Once the supplies arrive at Gervis's territory, he can count the number by checking the list.
"This is the separation fee!" Gervis smiled. Fortunately, he had a noble father, otherwise he would be penniless and it would be difficult for him to feed his group of people in the territory. Although there were more than 2,000 people in the territory, Gervis didn't think that those poor serfs could give him much money.
"Sir, thank you for your hard work! Wash your face!" Thomas had handed a wet towel to Gervis without him noticing.
"Thank you, Thomas!" Gervis took the towel and thanked Thomas with a smile on his face.
I sighed in my heart, in the feudal social system, there is unfairness between people. Some people are born as sons of nobility, destined to enjoy the service of others, while some people have to live a life of being exploited since birth.
Fortunately, I traveled through time and space to the body of Gervis, otherwise I would definitely burst into tears.
"Thomas, can you read?" Gervis suddenly asked.
"Yes, sir! I learned literacy, arithmetic, and how to manage castle affairs in Rose Castle!" Hearing Gervis' question, Thomas' smile became even brighter, his posture became more humble, and he quickly told Gervis about his expertise.
"Oh?" Gervis was a little surprised. He didn't expect that any servant in Rose Castle would be so good. In this world, the literacy rate is terribly low. Except for the nobles, most people can't even get enough food, so of course they can't read. Take Gandalf's Baron Castle for example. Except for the butler, other servants are basically illiterate.
Gervis certainly didn't know that every servant in Rose Castle was carefully selected and trained since childhood, which was not comparable to a small baron castle.
"Then keep this list. I'll leave it to you to take care of the list and the goods!" Gervis was very happy to have a capable subordinate. In this world of knights and nobles, every noble needed a capable butler to take care of the ordinary affairs in the castle, including the recruitment and training of servants, the arrangement process of holding various banquets, and the consumption and procurement of various materials in the castle. Without a capable butler, the castle would definitely be in chaos.
It was a test for Gervis to give this list to Thomas. If Thomas could complete this task successfully, Gervis would not mind letting him be the steward of the castle. After all, according to Thomas, what he learned in Rose Castle was entirely to prepare him to become a steward.
"My dear sir, don't worry, I will arrange this matter!" Thomas' heart was burning with excitement. He felt that his dream of becoming a butler was about to come true.
…
As Jimmy sprinkled the various ingredients he brought on the lamb that had been roasted to golden brown, the aroma instantly filled everyone's nose. Except for Gervis and Jimmy, the chef, the other four were all swallowing their saliva. Not to mention Jimmy's barbecue skills, even the lamb was something they could only eat once or twice a year, so it was no wonder that they were greedy.
"Sir, it's done!" Under everyone's eager gaze, Jimmy finally finished roasting the mutton. The surface was golden and the aroma was overflowing.
Gervis did not wait for Jimmy to cut the meat for him, but walked quickly forward, took the knife, cut the roast lamb himself, called several people to his side one by one, and then handed the meat to them personally.
Gervis knew that this was a good opportunity to win people's hearts. These people would be his support for some time to come. Although they were being used by him now and would certainly not dare to disobey his orders, there was a difference between being ordered by others to be loyal to him and making them be loyal to him willingly.
Although Gervis did not expect to gain their true loyalty by sharing the meat once, it was a good start.
Especially when he saw the gratitude on their faces after they received the barbecue, Gervis felt it was well worth it.
Gervis didn't know that as a noble, he was courteous and humble, and personally distributed the meat to his subordinates. The portion was so heavy that it caused quite a stir in the hearts of the people who were eating the meat.
Except for some titled knights, for ordinary servants like them, this kind of thing is absolutely rare in this world. The nobles who have rigid class structure and possess supreme military force have long abandoned this method of winning people's hearts by being humble and courteous, and instead use simpler inducement and military intimidation.
Of course, each method has its own advantages. Gervis has no money and weak military force now, so he can only adopt this strategy.
If he has money and strength in the future, he will not refuse to use simpler methods. After all, a person's situation determines his choice.
…
It took Gervis three days to get from Baron Gandalf to the Dead Leaf River. Gervis didn't feel any hardship on the first day, but on the second morning, he found that his muscles were sore all over his body, and his inner thighs were rubbed by the saddle and felt very painful and hot.
What Gervis couldn't stand the most was that the meals for the next two days were nothing but dry food. In order to facilitate storage, a lot of salt was added to the bread and dried meat. Every time Gervis ate, he could only soak them in boiled hot water before eating. Otherwise, he had to drink a lot of water after eating the dry food, and he had to add water seven or eight times along the way.
Finally, when standing on the bridge over the Dead Leaf River, Gervis' eyes became moist. After enduring so much hardship, he finally arrived at his own territory. It was not easy!
(End of this chapter)
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