The World Dragon's Heir - Chapter 555: Many Weddings

Chapter 555: Many Weddings

“Lord Dominic, the trucks are prepared out front. As soon as we have twenty marriages finished, we will send the first pair out to deliver the new Barons to their territories.

The closest of the refugee groups are under a hundred kilometres away from the city, and getting close to the lands that have Barony Manors remaining on them.

We’ve arranged the men who are closest to the refugee influx to be the first of the morning so that they can get into position to intercept and gain as many residents as possible.

The strategic planning has been underway since the early hours of the morning, and while the boys are a bit drunk, they’re all well practiced in operating that way.” General Merlot joked as Dominic quickly finished a morning coffee.

“Excellent. Where is your spot in line?”

“I picked a territory near the Cygnia line, so I’m mid-afternoon. The early reports from the airships say that almost all of the refugee groups are coming directly for Wistover. They’re not trying to dodge you, or settle without conferring with the local Lords.

That’s a good sign in general. But we need to start cleaning house, so we’re ready to receive them.

None of those farm houses have been used in a decade, even if they’re still intact.

It’s just a good thing that you didn’t try to settle the other side, those estates are a mess after the monsters and the mages.”

“Agreed. And the number of monsters there is too high to be safely settling any civilians. We might put a military outpost there at some point, where the hunters or Adventurers can stay and relax between missions.

But that’s something for later.

First, we need to get all of you settled into your new homes, and deal with these refugees before they start to show up in Castle City half starved.”

The General laughed. “That’s a running theme, it seems. Everyone makes it as far as Castle City, then runs out of food and hope. They don’t think about going all the way across the wilderness to get to Wistover.

They’re truly in rough shape, though. Even with the supplies that have been sent from the city here, they’re still rationing.”

“We’ve done what we can. Honestly, it’s more than I think most people would have expected us to manage the first season after we settled here, with so few people.

But with this new wave, I’m more worried that we will have too many people and not enough structure.

If they aren’t farm folk, and I know that most of them aren’t as they’re mostly refugees from the Kinewen area, they’re going to struggle here. It’s not like we’ve got any shops hiring.”

Merlot rolled his eyes. “Most of them wouldn’t be qualified for any of the jobs that we have anyhow. All the jobs that we have within the city proper take magical affinity on a level more than the average person possesses. The average human person, that is.

There’s a good reason not everyone goes to a magical academy.

So, even if they settle in the city, and you somehow find enough room to get them all housed, they’re going to end up having to do all the menial jobs around town because they can’t work in the factory as anything more than a cleaner.

But look at it this way. Their old home is gone, washed away by floodwaters.

If they were coming from further east in Dagos, they were in an even worse state before the floods started, so they barely had anything to lose.

But this is a chance for them to start over, and we just need to manage it in a way that doesn’t lead to total chaos.”

“I like your optimism. Alright, let’s get this show on the road.”

Dominic took his place at the front of the room, next to a junior cleric.

“The old man will be here soon. We couldn’t wake him.” He whispered.

“That’s fine, just give the speech, and they’ll be happy.”

Indeed, as the bride came down the aisle, waving happily to her friends, she wasn’t even aware that the Preacher was not the same man as last night.

In fact, even if she had noticed, it wouldn’t have been a big deal, as it wasn’t her home’s childhood priest anyhow.

As soon as she was up, the music changed and the groom came down the aisle.

His pace was much faster than hers was, and he wasted no time before taking her hands and turning to the preacher for him to begin.

What followed was possibly the most nervous recital of the wedding passages that Dominic would ever hear, and then a loud cheer as the bride and groom kissed.

They didn’t walk away, the groom swept her up in his arms and strode out of the room while all his friends laughed.

They were staying at a shared house in town, so he wouldn’t be going back there today. But they had time before the bus was loaded, so he was likely carrying her out to the garden to show off for the couples still in the getting to know each other phase, and the indecisive ones.

“Your Grace, might we alter the ritual some?” One of the men asked.

“It’s your day, as long as your wife approves, I approve.”

General Merlot gave Dominic a look that said he had uttered a very dangerous phrase. But the Groom came up to wait on the stage, while his bride came down the aisle.

It was an odd departure from tradition, but the original had been intended to show the Groom claiming his prize, while this one was more like the bride volunteering herself.

It also let her focus on him, and not the crowd, as she walked down the aisle.

There were hushed whispers all through the room as the other Barons watched, and Dominic began to suspect that many of them wanted to do the same thing.

Or, their wives did.