Chapter 26 - Report

I walk toward my office, where I see Richard already inside my office with all the paperwork I need to do.

"Good Morning, Richard."

"Good morning, my lord. Do you want to have some breakfast now?"

"No. I will have breakfast with my mother. Please tell me when my mother wants to have breakfast."

"Of course, my lord."

"So, what in this paper?"

"The first ten papers are reports about the army patrolling around within a radius of three meters around the castle."

"The rest of the paper?"

"The next ten paper is the report about the harvest we got from the land in the inner wall of Sea Dragon Castle."

"I see."

I then put that report away from the army report.

"And the last one?"

"The last ten is the report about the trade and letter from the noble from the oversea."

"Very well. Good work, Richard."

"It is my pŀėȧsurė, my lord."

I look at the report in my hand. The first report is the report of the army scouting the land in search of monster nests. Lucky for me, there is no monster within three hundred meters of the Sea Dragon Castle. However, there is a report of a monster coming from the mountain a few hundred meters from their location.

"Richard"

"My lord?"

"Tell the master of arms to send a few dozen of his men to check the mountain in the southeast from our castle."

"The silver mountain?"

"Yes. There is a report saying that the monster is coming from silver mountain. Usually, the monster will stay in the mountain area as there are many caves for them to hibernate, but the soldiers say that the monster is coming from the mountain. Do you know what that means, right?"

"Yes. It is either there is a more powerful monster making a nest in there and kicking the weaker monster out of its new nest or…"

"Someone is kicking the monster out of their nest. I don't want a bandit to steal the food we really need in this wintertime."

When I mention bandits, I can see Richard's face change into anger for a second before it changes back to his professional self. Richard is one of many victims of the bandit. His wife almost died in the hand of a bandit but lucky for him, my father came to the rescue and killed all the bandits.

"I will inform the Master of Arm at once."

"Good."

When I see Richard walk away from my office, I continue to read all the reports in front of me. I know that Richard will inform the Master of Arm about this situation.

The Lionheart family has a council. In this council, there are five seats that take care of different things. The Master of Arms is the one that takes care of the army. He is the one that arranges the training of the army, the one that prepares the army if there is an emergency, and the one that checks the equipment the army wears if they are good enough in case a war is coming.

Master of Sea is the one that takes care of the harbor. He is the one that oversees any merchant coming to the Sea Dragon Point and the one that enforces the tax for any merchant that comes to this city.

The Master of Ship is the one who manages the ship and the one that takes care of the sea. He is the one that guards the sea against a pirate, enemy ship, and also a sea monster. He has the same power in the military as the Master of Arm.

The Master of Coin is the one that handles the treasurer. He is the one that monitors the money flow. Monitor where all the money gets out and the one that oversees the tax income. He is the one that monitors the money, and when there are some people that did not pay his/her taxes, he will be the one that reports it to me. The treasure is not only a coin but also food and a valuable gem.

Lastly, the Master of Night. Richard is the one holding this position. He has two positions, the Head of all Servants and also the Master of Night. Master of Night is the position handling the spy network. It was a public secret that the head of a servant is also the Master of Night. The reason is that this position is not only the one that manages the spy network but also the one that protects their lord from enemy spies and ȧssassins. There is no one more deserving that position other than the personal butler of the lord himself.

Richard already trained his son to be his successor. The one that wants this position anyway.

The winter should arrive a month from this day. With the ward's help around my land, the plant should be ready to be harvested before the winter comes.

I then take the last stack of paper on my table and begin to read it. The first is the letter coming from Lord Lomun saying that he wants to buy some of our grain. After reading it for a few seconds, I begin to write a letter to my uncle Lomun that I will send a merchant to sell them grain at a lower price than the market.

Many of the letters are letters from the Northern Lord who wanted to buy the grain from me. I want to help them all but the grain we have…. I guess I could upgrade my ward to increase the plant's growth rate in my land for now. I don't want to make the ward permanent so as not to gather a jealous glance from the other lord, especially the lord from the southern side of the continent.

Or I could create a private farm for myself. Richard already knows about my ability to use magic, after all. Yeah, let's do that, but I still need to 'create' a fertilizer to fool the public eyes. I don't want someone to speak about me having magic. Yet. I want to expand the inner wall farm so the others know where I get all the grain I sold to the other lord.

I could make the rest of the northern lord to be dependent on the Lionheart house for emergency food, especially in the winter, in exchange for a favor and, of course, money. I gain their favor and goodwill with me, selling them a lower price than what they usually pay.

It is good to have an ally, after all.

I begin to write a letter to all the lords saying that I will send some convoys to sell them our grain and vegetables. After I finish writing the letter, I look at the last letter on the table.

"Hmmm? From the king?"

Looking at the stamp on the letter, I know it was from the king or at least coming from the palace. When I open up the letter and read the letter's content, I widen my eyes a little bit.

"I completely forgot about the Winter Eve party."