Chapter 10: Construction

Everything was progressing very smoothly.

Except for the little girl named Erin, the other three had experience working in the castle. They quickly divided their work and living quarters. Marfa would lead these servants to live in the servants’ quarters below the castle. She was responsible for the meals of others and organizing items. Although this middle-aged woman looked like a coarse and rude village woman when wearing rough cloth clothes, when she changed into that old servant’s uniform, she exuded an indescribable air of competence. Those rough, callused hands could not only easily wash away the dirt on clothes, but also cook well. Although the ingredients were simple, under old Marfa’s control, they were exceptionally delicious. Even Ophariel expressed her approval.

The woodworker went out to chop wood at dawn and would return to the castle with full loads of firewood by noon. Then he would arrange and classify them according to their uses. The hunchbacked gardener also displayed surprising talent. Although Ophariel had some complaints about his appearance, after seeing him clear the overgrown weeds in the garden in two days and trim the bushes into beautiful sculptures, she tacitly accepted his presence.

As for Erin – that little girl had now become Julian and Ophariel’s attendant. She was responsible for cleaning their rooms and doing some odd jobs for them. Although she was young and not very skilled, because the girl really needed this job, she worked very diligently, which to some extent made up for her lack of experience.

Julian was very satisfied with these four people, and these servants were also satisfied with their current work.
Although almost all of them had experience working in this castle, because those nobles, regardless of their status, always brought many of their own subordinates and servants, in such a situation where one more or one less didn’t matter, they couldn’t get much remuneration. Julian’s current remuneration of three gold coins per month was already a big deal for everyone. Although the workload was much larger than before, these people obviously didn’t intend to abandon this good opportunity because of this.

In their view, this lord was indeed quite strange. It was the first time they had seen a noble come here alone without bringing any servants. Even if they weren’t familiar with the world of nobles, they understood that this was unusual. Moreover, even from Marfa’s perspective, she couldn’t figure out the identity of the young lady who often wrapped herself in a black cloak and accompanied the lord. If she was the lord’s fiancée, the feeling between them didn’t seem quite right. And Julian’s introduction of her as his adjutant also left everyone puzzled. They had heard of and seen things like butlers and stewards, but an adjutant? What kind of position was this?

Although they didn’t know what this so-called adjutant was, Ophariel obviously had mastered all the work in the castle. Every day after getting up, she would inspect various parts of the castle, then have breakfast, and then shut herself in the study to discuss with Julian. In the servants’ view, this beautiful lady was a serious and responsible person. Although she usually appeared very gentle, once she discovered a problem, she would criticize without any mercy. In comparison, that lord seemed not to care much about this castle. In fact, the servants rarely saw him. No one knew where this lord was and what he was doing every day.

Julian was very busy.

“You mean… to repair this road anew?” Old Clark tapped the ashes from his pipe and looked at Julian sitting in front of him with a puzzled expression.

“My lord, is this necessary? In my view, there’s nothing wrong with this road now…”

“Indeed, this road is still usable,” Julian didn’t show any reaction, he just shrugged.

“It’s just that its quality is really too poor. I still remember the scene when I first came. The condition of this road… Holy Grace above, I almost had my stomach jump out of my body from the jolting… If, if I had a choice, I would absolutely not walk this road a second time.”

Saying this, Julian spread his hands.

“Look, how can such a road make others want to enter our small town? I estimate that they, like me, probably won’t want to walk this road a second time… So I want to build a road, build a flat road. This is my order as the lord. Of course, I will provide you with the necessary funds. I hope you can completely repair this road within a month.”

“That’s certainly no problem,” since the lord had given the order, Old Clark didn’t say anything more. After all, he was just a small town mayor, and frankly speaking, he also knew that the condition of this road wasn’t very good. But because he was old and hadn’t traveled far for a long time, the old mayor wasn’t very clear about the actual condition of this road. Now that it needed to be repaired, and the lord was willing to pay for it, what was there to hesitate about?
“My lord, I don’t quite understand,” leaving the mayor’s house, Ophariel followed behind Julian and raised her doubts.
“This road is still usable now, why must we spend money to repair it? You know, this cost us fifteen gold coins… At present, this is not a small number.”

“A usable road and a good road are completely different concepts, Miss Ophariel. In my former homeland, there’s a saying,” Julian didn’t seem to mind. He strolled through the small town, admiring the scenery while answering.

“If you want to get rich, build roads first. If you can’t have a good road, then everything is in vain. People are lazy and addicted to enjoyment, and that’s why they become diligent.”

“…Please forgive my rudeness, but I feel that what you’re saying seems somewhat contradictory?” Hearing this, Ophariel widened her eyes in surprise. She couldn’t imagine how these two were connected.

“Isn’t it? It’s because they’re too lazy to walk that people invented carriages. It’s because they crave enjoyment that they build comfortable and warm rooms. If everyone was willing to endure hardships and be content with the status quo, society would not progress and develop. Just like here…” Saying this, Julian pointed at the small town in front of them.

“You know, even a small mosquito is meat. If those merchants can come here comfortably and easily, why wouldn’t they develop their own business here? Although this place indeed doesn’t meet the conditions for a commercial hub and transportation center, how many cities on the continent truly meet these conditions? Do those merchants not open shops in other places? Imagine, they sit in carriages, jolting all the way to this godforsaken place, but get less than a tenth of what they expected. Who would want to invest then?”

Julian said, looking at the dilapidated houses around.

“Spending so much effort, but getting so little in return? Miss Ophariel, you understand without me saying, people always want to make money easily. Even if the process isn’t so easy, it’s good to have an easy start… Convenience, that’s the most important thing. Haste makes waste. You have to eat one bite at a time. First you earn paper, then you earn money.”

“What you say indeed makes sense,” after careful consideration for a moment, Ophariel suddenly realized that she had fallen into a misconception. Indeed, they needed a large amount of funds to fill the current gaps, and because of this, when considering the situation, Ophariel instinctively paid attention to those parts that could have large returns in a very short time, completely ignoring the initial small income. And Julian’s words proved that he didn’t want to fill the gaps immediately. On the contrary, he was using another calm and detached attitude to deal with his current situation.
Honestly, it’s hard to imagine that this is something such a young noble could think of.
Ophariel looked at the back of the young man in front of her, not hiding her confusion at all. She believed she had enough wisdom and knowledge to help this young lord, but now, Ophariel began to slowly reflect, wondering if she had been too anxious and instead overlooked the small details.

If Julian had managed to convince Ophariel on this matter, then on another matter, Ophariel just couldn’t understand no matter what.