Chapter 7 Exploring Bideford Town

Ryntum mansion has four floors with a length of 200 meters, 60 meters wide and 25 meters tall.

On the first floor, starting from the right to the left is a servant dormitory, food and resource storage kitchen, dining room, banquet hall, tea party room with access to the back garden and art collection room.

The second floor is where the administration-related stuff is located such as the lord's office, territory archive, treasury, library, meeting rooms and throne room are located. Except for the library, all place needs the lord's permission to enter.

The third floor mainly consists of guests rooms

The fourth floor is where the room of Ryntum's members is located.

....

Riz heads toward the library on the second floor. The mansion's library is pretty spacious and a large collection of books can be seen.

Without wasting any time, Riz starts to search for the history of the Ryntum family. It will be weird if he didn't know the basics of the family. A few minutes later, he finally found the book about it.

On the first page of the book, there is a baroque shield-shaped emblem with dark red in the background and a sword in the middle pointing upward.

Ryntum family was founded by Rayleigh Ryntum 183 years ago after Rayleigh make a major contribution by turning the tide of war in favour of the kingdom during the Barlian War in the year 116 of the Paign Era. As a result, the kingdom is able to obtain a large amount of territory.

To recognize Rayleigh's achievement, the king at the time bestowed the title of 'viscount' and Bideford territory to Rayleigh. Rayleigh then choose the surname of 'Ryntum' as a family name and founded the House of Ryntum.

Since then, the Ryntum has made a lot of contributions, especially in the military. For this matter, their status has been promoted to 'count' during Riz's grandfather's reign, Renault Ryntum.

Riz then tries to find information on the Bideford territory to get a better understanding.

Searching for the territory's information is really hard. Riz spent a lot of time but was only able to find some basic information.

'Sure enough, who in their right mind would put the territory's confidential information in public? Now let's see....'

Riz starts reading the file.....

Bideford County is located between Gyalcakes County in the west, the Royal Territory of Napuna in the east and Baroks Duchy in the south. On the north of Bideford is the sea where the Givry River, the only river in the entire Bideford territory flow.

In terms of size area, Bideford County is the smallest territory in the entire Kingdom of Bagyarosia.

Compared to the neighbouring county, Gyalcakes County is at least two times bigger than Bideford. Gyalcakes has seven cities. Four of the cities are under the direct rule of the count.

The other three towns are under the management of three barons under Count Gyalcakes, Csorvar, Coreton and Newbigle.

The total population of Gyalcakes County is over 60,000 people. That's three times the population of Bideford!

During Renault's reign, in order to strengthen the newly promoted Ryntum's status as a count, Renault arrange a political marriage for his son, Richard with the eldest daughter of Count Gyalcakes, Maria.

"No wonder Maria acts all high and mighty, she probably thinks that Bideford is not worthy enough for her but she can't go against her father's decision". Like on earth, women have less power and voice in making decisions.

Bideford town is located near the Givry River. It has a population of around 20,000 people. It is the only town in the entire county. However, Bideford town is located on the main trade route between the west and east.

Therefore, Bideford town could be said pretty well off. People of Bideford engage in mainly engage in farming and raising animals. This is because half of the southern part of Bideford County is grassland.

The main exports of Bideford County are agricultural products such as wheat, barley, rye and oats. Bideford also exports a lot of livestock products such as meats, milk, wool and animal skin.

"So the animals and crops here are the same as on Earth", as Riz continue reading, he found out there is something different.

"Hmm!!?, looks like this world has a dragon, leviathan, unicorn and phoenix but it has been a long time since their last sighting. The last place where the dragon was seen is on the island of Vakia"

Riz then closed the book and says, "That's enough for today. Let's explore the town"

....

"Where are you going, young master?" Edward asks as he sees Riz prepare to go out.

"I just want to explore the town"

"At least bring Charlotte with you as a guard".

"Charlotte? Guard?". Riz asked.

"Yes, Charlotte has been trained since her childhood to be your maid and guard".

"Alright, hurry up and call her for me". ordered Riz.

"I will prepare the carriage for you, young master".

"No need, I'll just walk to the town", says Riz as he might as well treat this as some light exercise.

His body is like of that a person who never exercises in his entire life. No muscle at all.

....

Riz wait for Charlotte at the front door.

"She's late", Riz complain while waiting for Charlotte only to see Charlotte coming in his direction. She is making a small jump and humming at the same time.

"It looks like she is happy to go for an outing", Riz thought.

When Charlotte sees Riz is looking at her, she immediately stops whatever she's been doing and returns to her serious professional career-woman mood.

Riz chuckled when he saw that but didn't say anything.

"Let's go", Riz said.

....

The town is not that big and complicated. Riz first heads to the square in the centre of the town.

There he sees many people engage in trading. Riz go around to take a look. There are food, clothing, jewellery, weapons, various tools, live animals, herbs, and books.

Anybody can take their goods to sell at the market but they need to pay taxes. Only rich merchants can afford to set up stalls.

Most people trade using copper coins. 100 copper coins are equal to 1 silver coin and 10 silver coins are equal to 1 gold coin. The unit currency for the Kingdom of Bagyarosia is called "Ros". 1 copper coin has a value of 1 Ros.

So,

1 copper coin = 1 Ros

1 silver coin = 100 Ros

1 gold coin = 1000 Ros

Riz is a little bit surprised when he sees books being sold in the market. Books are expensive due to it is made using parchment.

Riz looks at the book that cost 5000 Ros (five gold coins). "Is there anyone who would buy a book? It is so expensive", he turns to his left side and asks Charlotte.

"Sometime a rich merchant would buy it but that rarely happens", Charlotte replied.

There are many important buildings in the town centre area such as a church, town hall, merchant guild and craft guild. Commercial buildings are also located here in the centre near the main road.

Riz then leave the market tour around the town. He can see that although it is a bit messy, the town is quite well-planned. The residential and industrial areas are properly separated.

The town has five entry points. Two at the west, one at the south, one at the north and one at the east. The craft workshop and industrial-related building are located near the south and east gate. The agriculture and food processing building are located in the west since fields are located in the west of the town.

Although the town is small, it is really above Riz's expectations.

....

As Riz and Charlotte are touring the town...

"smash"

Robert throws a cup at the mysterious figure cloaks in black. However, the mysterious figure dodges it with ease.

"I thought I told you to kill that brat!!!", Robert says in anger.

"I am very sure that I kill him in the forest", the mysterious figure replied.

"Then why he is not dead yet!!?? Are you sure you're capable? You can't even kill one brat", Robert glared at the mysterious figure.

"You better be careful about what you're saying or you will be the one who ends up dead." The mysterious figure snapped.