The World Dragon's Heir - Chapter 357

Chapter 357: Renovations
It was late in the night before the sounds of renovations inside the courtyard chosen as the Royal Residence finally stopped. Dominic was a bit scared to see how gaudy and overdone the interior would be, as the courtyard was not large, with the sleeping areas on the second floor, and the main floor being mostly an open social area with hidden bunks for a guard detachment along one wall.

But they had spent half the day redecorating it.

Fortunately, that meant both Princes would be in the new unit starting now, which would move all of the actual business discussions out of the most travelled areas of the Manor.

It was more like having friendly neighbours than a house full of guests.

Unfortunately for Dominic, he would not have time to enjoy the situation. There were caravans coming from both sides of the city, and the excited look on the face of the Duskblade Sect Elders said that they had more news for him this morning.

“If those convoys are who I expect them to be, then I won’t have much time to talk today, so let’s start with a recap. What have you got for me this morning?” Dominic asked as breakfast was brought to the table.

“We have radios ready to place in the Manors, and good news from the sawmill. They ran all night to cut boards for us, and our Acolytes will be assisting the carpenters to get desks ready.” Elder Manif explained.

“Now that is the best way to start the day. I believe that the office will be the best spot for it, and you can set up the antenna tower today.” Dominic agreed.

Alexis nodded in agreement. Both her and Castellan Julio worked in the office most of the time, but it was also well suited to station a maid in the room to listen for messages.

Any spot they picked had to be somewhere that they could hear and record messages at any time of day, so the office was the best option.

The only place that had staff in it for a larger percentage of the day was the kitchen, but it would be nearly impossible to hear a radio in there most of the time. Just the thought of trying to stop everything in the kitchen to listen to a faint signal was ridiculous.

At least the office was usually quiet.

“What else do we have?” Dominic asked.

“The scryers spotted a Goblin tribe a few hours from town. We intended to send a team out after them later.” Elder Manif added.

Alexis smiled. “I will take a few men and accompany them. I am certain that the mages will appreciate a few Royal Paladins.”

And Alexis appreciated the chance to get out of the house to kill Goblins.

She appreciated it a lot.

Dominic ignored the way that she was already making plans and sending her Royal Guard to prepare for an overnight outing. He would be the one stuck at the Manor today, likely with two different Guild Convoys to deal with.

Not that he wasn’t looking forward to them. Having the Adventurer’s Guild here would save them countless headaches in the future, and the Merchants should be here to pick up the first shipment of magitech fireplace inserts and lights.

That would give them a much-needed influx of money to pay the workers their next month’s wages, and to cover materials orders for the new buildings.

“If you will all excuse me, I have work to attend. Please, finish your meal.” Dominic announced when the maids gestured that the convoys were close.

Alexis gave him a kiss on the cheek, then a push toward the door.

“Don’t wait up, we might make it an overnight trip to ensure that there are no other monster tribes too close to the town.” She offered.

“I would expect no less. Talk to Beth before you leave, I’m sure she has something fresh for you.”

Then Dominic was out the door, pulling his boots on as he went.

The soft shoes everyone wore around the house, or in the Palace, were very comfortable, but terrible to work in, and Dominic knew that at some point today he would be helping load or unload cargo.

Wistover now had so many stone roads that you didn’t really need to wear boots just to go out into the town anymore, but Dominic was so used to wearing them that he had never gotten to having more sturdy shoes made.

The first caravan to arrive was going to be the Adventurer’s Guild convoy, and it was a big one.

He had expected a handful of staff to work the new Guild House, and the casino underneath it. But it looked like they had brought an entire company of ragtag mercenaries with them.

And farmers?

Yes, they had definitely brought farm equipment. They must have picked up some refugees to fill out the convoy for coin. That would make sense, as the Adventurer’s Guild often ran protection for convoys of all sorts.

Dominic smiled as he remembered his first trip out of town, and the group of interesting characters that were in the caravan guards. Like the chain-smoking cleric that was driving the forge wagon, and Bella, the gunslinger.

He scanned the caravan as he reminisced, then blinked as a familiar face popped out of a wagon window and waved at him.

“Bella? Good morning.” Dominic called, a smile creeping onto his face.

Then, he saw a large head covered in freshly done braids appear behind her as Wiz tried to see what his wife was waving at.

“Blacksmith! Good timing, my sword is getting dull!” The big warrior shouted.

Dominic laughed. They must not know that he had been promoted. But what were they doing so far from home? Even if they took an escort mission, it would normally be to the Capital and then back to Aramos Village, so they were only away from the farm for a few days or a week.

If they took this round trip and went right back to the capital, they would still be gone nearly a month, with the usual stops of a caravan.