The World Dragon's Heir - Chapter 562: All Nighter Again

Chapter 562: All Nighter Again

A long night was an understatement, Dominic realized as Alexis returned from an afternoon nap to take over from him.

With the extra clerics here, the new couples were happy to hold their weddings in the middle of the night, and the main floor of the Manor had turned into a bridal themed party while everyone waited their turn, or celebrated their weddings.

The full traditions of a Noble wedding night might not have been adhered to, but Dominic did notice that the spare rooms were completely occupied, and it was not uncommon for the newlyweds to vanish into them for a short while whenever one came open.

There was a constant stream of laundry coming and going from the basement, fresh sheets for a dozen rooms twice an hour, by Dominic’s estimation.

But that was a small price to pay to keep the newlyweds happy, and Dominic knew that many of them intended to be awake until first light when the transport could safely send them to their new homes.

There were also many who had retreated to their various dorms to get some actual sleep before heading out again.

It might not be ideal, but sleep was important, and they had a long day coming for them.

Just before midnight, Dominic returned to the hall to swap positions with Alexis, and found that everything was just as he left it, only the faces were different, and a bit more intoxicated.

Not enough that he was concerned about anyone causing a scene, but lively enough that those getting married in the middle of the night wouldn’t feel cheated out of the support of their peers.

The morning came far too early, Dominic decided.

The staff brought out breakfast at first light, so everyone could be ready to go when the vehicles were prepared. But he had been up half the night, and now it was time to update the register of occupied Manors, and head back to the refugee camp and inform them of the tabulated numbers.

While that was not the ideal morning, when he would rather be getting some much-needed sleep, nobody wanted to spend another day waiting to find out their fate either.

So, he found a group of Trolls to accompany him and mounted his new warhorse for the ride immediately after breakfast.

Julio was up early, and he had given Dominic the list hours ago. That would cover everyone who arrived before dark last night, and then later today they could update the list to send more people to the others who were leaving this morning.

They were done with the Barons now, thanks to the extremely rushed schedule.

That meant at least one house in every territory should be occupied by the end of the day, and they could guide the new arrivals to where they wanted them.

It was free housing that the refugees didn’t need to build, and it came with household goods that they hadn’t managed to bring with them when they fled their homes.

There wasn’t much more they could ask for.

Especially when the houses were likely to have at least some food growing in the fields and gardens. Perhaps not what they were hoping would have grown, but as Dave would say “enough for soup”.

The refugees were getting to their feet as they saw Dominic and Dave approaching. Some had started to take down their camps, but most didn’t trust that they would actually be going anywhere today, no matter what Dominic had told them.

“Ladies and Gentlemen, good morning. I do hope that you’ve eaten well. If not, let me know, and I will have a sack of oatmeal delivered to make porridge.

I have with me a list of Barons who settled into their new homes last night.

They are willing to start accepting new residents today. I also have an outline of other locations, but the commoner housing situation hasn’t been verified, so I can’t give you numbers until their Barons arrive today.

However, some of the estates are more than sixty kilometres away.

Even if you leave on foot today, it will take at least a day for some of you to reach your destination. So, I will make sheets to show what is available.

If you do not read, you can ask your neighbours, or the mages that are on duty. They are all educated.

First off, we have a need for farmers. They are the highest priority for the Barons, followed by smiths and millers. Some estates have special requests, so if you have experience working a vineyard, please come forward now.”

The refugees looked around for someone who might fit the bill.

Only one family came forward. “My Lord, we worked the vineyard west of the old Capital.” The father insisted.

“Perfect. This estate is where you’re going. You’ll see the old vineyards on the hill. I am informed that they are mostly intact. It’s thirty kilometres, so you have a fair walk, unless the bus is going to make trips to deliver everyone.” Dominic explained.

They hadn’t thought about that. The bus driver was intending to try to get a job with the Merchant’s Guild. He had a bus, and two sons with Warrior type Magitech Trade Skill Cores.

They would make good guards, and he could strip the bus for cargo, or keep the seats for passenger service.

“Actually, come speak to me. I think that we might be willing to make an arrangement to keep you in the area with your bus. There are a lot of people moving around the region, and not all of them will have carts and wagons.” Dominic added.

Convincing a bus driver to run a regular route through the territory shouldn’t be too hard once they started to improve the roads. And he could use the data from today’s personnel transfers to tell him what routes were the most important and easiest to repair.

Two birds with one stone.

There was still far too much to do, and he really was ready for a nap.