In a standalone cottage in Wood Fort, Art held a private letter and said to Cooper and Odo Angus, who were seated around him: "Baron Galvin mentioned three things in his letter. First, the Sap army sent to the Court for battle suffered heavy casualties in the Eastern Front, and a leading Knight was severely wounded on the battlefield, causing Baron Galvin's territory's army to shrink significantly."
"Second, Sap Fort has recently been harassed by a group of bandits of unknown origin. Baron Galvin led the castle guards to repel the bandits attempting to breach the walls, but those fellows always appear around Sap, eyeing Sap Fort covetously. Baron Galvin sent people to Eliminate them once, but those fellows hid, making it impossible to wipe them out. Recently, several more groups of bandits have gathered around Sap, with the intention of jointly attacking Sap Fort. Baron Galvin has already sent an urgent letter to Tinietz County for assistance, but there has been no reply from the County, so he sent someone to ask me for help."
"The third thing is that he sent a warhorse to congratulate me on my promotion to Knight. Additionally, Baron Galvin subtly suggested in the letter that I go to Sap to hold an engagement ceremony with Miss Lottie."
After speaking, Art handed the private letter to Cooper. Cooper glanced at it and passed it to Angus, then looked at Art and said: "My Lord, I wouldn't normally interject regarding the matter of assistance, but since Lord Galvin wishes to ask for your help, he must truly be unable to handle it himself. You are about to marry Miss Lottie, and Lord Galvin will become your father-in-law. This request, I'm afraid, you cannot refuse. Moreover, you also serve as a Patrol Officer, and Sap is under your jurisdiction, so you should lead troops to assist, both in terms of emotion and reason."
"As for the engagement with Miss Lottie, that is certainly a good thing. You also said that after returning from the expedition, you would go to Sap to propose to Lord Galvin. Now that he has taken the initiative, it's time for you to act."
Art touched the faintly aching arrow wound on his shoulder and replied: "I will certainly help with the assistance. After all, my caravan might still need Baron Galvin's care in the future, and besides, it is indeed my duty. However, regarding the engagement with Miss Lottie, I still need to prepare more."
"Are you worried that there isn't a proper house in Wood Fort right now to serve as your and Miss Lottie's bridal residence?"
"Hmm, I can't possibly make her live with me in this thatched hut, can I?"
Cooper smiled and replied: "My Lord, you don't need to worry too much about the bridal residence. Even if you go to get engaged with Miss Lottie now, it will still be forty days until Miss Lottie can be brought to the Valley for the wedding. During this time, I can't build a military camp or a castle, but I can certainly lead people to build a few new rooms for you without much problem."
Art had some questions and asked: "Is forty to fifty days enough? Miss Lottie's residence in Sap is quite luxurious."
"My Lord, we cannot build a luxurious mansion for now, but the territory currently has craftsmen and laborers. If we can temporarily postpone other construction work and concentrate all our craftsmen and laborers, we should be able to complete a two-story Lord's Mansion with a wood and stone mixed structure within fifty days, similar to the structure of some simple mansions. It would be right here in this standalone courtyard, by tearing down this house and my small wooden hut opposite, and expanding it. The first floor would be the Lord's Hall, offices, kitchen, servant quarters, and storage room; the entire second floor would be your and Miss Lottie's bedrooms and resting areas. We also brought back many exquisite artifacts from Talburg, and these can all be placed in the newly built Lord's Mansion."
"No, no, if you tear down your house to expand the Lord's Mansion, where will you live?"
"My Lord, I can live in the granary in Wood Fort for a while, and after all the construction is completed, I'll build a small house for myself. Anyway, I'm just an old man by myself, so anything is fine."
"That won't do. You are the Civil Affairs Officer of my Valley Knight Territory. How can I let you live in a granary? How about this: when you build the mansion, dismantle that stable, and you can build a wooden house in that spot at the same time, to be your future residence."
"This standalone courtyard will be your own mansion in the future, how can I take up your space?" Cooper refused Art's suggestion.
"Why not? You are my Civil Affairs Officer and my Chief Steward. There's nothing inappropriate about you living with me." Art insisted on being neighbors with Cooper.
Cooper thought about it again and could only nod in agreement: "Alright then, I'll build a small shed next to your mansion for now, and once your mansion is finished, I'll have someone build a wooden house for myself."
"Hmm, if that's the case, it's acceptable. However, during the construction of the Lord's Mansion, other building projects cannot be completely stopped. At least the chapel and the parish school should continue to be built. I cannot let Father Hamish and those orphans crowd with the Soldiers every day. As for other construction, it can be slightly delayed. If there aren't enough laborers, new recruits can be sent to participate in the construction, and additionally, before spring plowing begins, a batch of idle farmers can also be drafted to Wood Fort for construction."
Cooper nodded in agreement.
"Odo, there isn't much time. I'm worried about Sap Fort. I plan to take the Sergeant and the Sentry Cavalry to Sap tomorrow. If troops are needed for assistance, I will send someone to allocate them. Our legion Soldiers are almost reorganized, and next is Soldier training. We are currently mainly training Soldier shield formations. The three-man battle formation will still be useful in future skirmishes, so the three-man battle formation cannot be abandoned. The legion training will be carried out according to the method we discussed before, and the specific training will be discussed and implemented by you and the officers. I might be away for about ten days this time. I want to see your training results when I return."
"Yes, My Lord." Odo accepted the order.
The next morning, after breakfast, Art, accompanied by Angus and six cavalrymen from the Sentry Cavalry, hastily left the Valley and galloped towards Sap Fort to the west.
As they passed the edge of the dense forest north of the Valley, Art stopped to inspect the chosen site for the North Pass military camp. During his time back in the Valley, Cooper had brought Old Carpenter Bard here to survey the area. They had chosen the location for the North Pass military camp on the gentle slope to the right of the carriage road's exit from the dense forest. This spot was only about fifty paces from the carriage road and about ten paces from the edge of the dense forest, a flat area on the right gentle slope.
"My Lord, we have already cleared all the trees within a hundred paces in length and width nearby. The cut timber is stacked to the side for future use. Right now, Gerr and I are leading them in digging the foundations here, outlining a general military camp area. When we build the military camp later, we can first erect the camp walls, and the army can set up their tents inside, then slowly build barracks, construct watchtowers..." The Construction Officer Lawrence was still recovering from his injuries, and Vice Steward Gerr was good at managing captive laborers, but he knew nothing about craftsmanship. Therefore, the construction of the military camp was temporarily overseen by the Craftsman Vice Steward Bard, with Gerr assisting in labor management.
"The construction of the military camp cannot be rushed. This is the North Pass of the entire Valley, and also the main garrison for the army in the future. We would rather build our military camp slowly than hastily, and it must be built securely. Especially the camp walls, it would be even better if they could be built with stone."
Bard nodded repeatedly, then raised an objection: "My Lord, building the military camp securely is not a problem, but it's unlikely to build the entire military camp wall with stone, because this area is mostly dense forest and wilderness, and stone is hard to find. Moreover, shaping stone is time-consuming and labor-intensive, I'm afraid—"
"If stone construction isn't feasible, then use earth and wood. Fill the space between two wooden walls with clay mixed with straw and small stones. I've discussed this method of earth-and-wood construction with Cooper before; he's seen such construction methods. You can ask Cooper for more details."
Bard, being an Old Carpenter, was only skilled in craftsmanship. While he had some knowledge of construction, he hadn't seen much. He didn't fully understand Art's proposed method of earth-and-wood mixed construction, but he still replied: "Since My Lord and Old Butler have already devised a construction method, I will go and ask Old Butler for more details. However, I guess the construction period will be longer with your method."
Art stood on the gentle slope, looking over the treetops below the slope at the wilderness beyond the dense forest, and said: "That's not a problem. Before the military camp is built, the army can temporarily encamp in the wilderness outside the dense forest..."
"That's fine. Since we're going to build up earth, I'll have them dig the outer wall foundations of the military camp deeper..."
The group left the edge of the dense forest and continued west, camping overnight in the wilderness. By noon the next day, they traversed the narrow, rugged mountain path with overlapping peaks and arrived at Sap Fort, located in the Valley.
Because bandits had recently attacked Sap Fort, the farmhouses and dwellings around Sap Fort had all been plundered by bandits. Therefore, the gates of Sap Fort were tightly shut, and the surrounding fields and roads were empty. The sheds and stone houses outside the village were all burned and looted by the bandits.
When Art and his eight riders were still a mile away from Sap Fort, the enemy's horn sounded from within Sap Fort, and over twenty castle guards, armed with spears and weapons, rushed to the top of the camp walls.
Art led the way to within two arrow shots, ordered a halt, and had Roan hold up his heraldic banner to report at the camp gate.
Roan, holding the banner, galloped to the base of the wall and reported Art's identity to the guard captain on the wall. The guard captain on the wall, upon hearing that it was a Knight coming to assist, did not rush to open the gate. Instead, he left the wall and returned to the village to verify with Baron Galvin.
Soon after, Baron Galvin led several attendants to the top of the wall. Upon seeing that the person reporting at the gate below was indeed Art's personal attendant, he quickly ordered the camp gate opened and personally came down to greet them.
After more than half a year, Lord Galvin appeared even more portly, but his usually smiling face could not hide a hint of worry.
"Art, I knew you would come." Lord Galvin warmly embraced Art, then saw the six or seven cavalrymen behind Art and asked, "You didn't bring an army?"
"Lord Galvin, when I received your private letter, I was worried about Sap Fort, so I immediately rushed over with my men. My army has just returned from the northern campaign and is currently reorganizing, resting, and intensifying training. I came ahead to scout the enemy situation. If a large army is indeed needed for an attack, the army can arrive at Sap Fort within three days." Art explained.
Galvin felt much relieved upon hearing this and quickly made way for Art and his men to enter the castle.
Roan and Galvin were already acquainted. Art also introduced Angus and Lusignan to Galvin, who, upon learning their identities, naturally became even more cordial.
Upon entering the castle, several castle guards and over twenty temporarily conscripted peasant Soldiers stood on the walls. They had achieved victory in the recent defense against bandits, so their morale was high. Moreover, Baron Galvin was quite generous at critical moments, not only providing ample food, wine, and meat daily but also giving rewards to the conscripted peasant Soldiers. Coupled with the fact that they were defending their homeland, these twenty or so peasant Soldiers indeed had a fearless demeanor.
"Galvin, are these all your newly recruited castle guards?" Roan asked Galvin, who was walking at the front of the group.
Galvin turned and smiled, replying: "Some time ago, Sap was besieged by bandits, and all my guards remained in the village to defend against them. These days have been a bit calmer, and most of the guards have been sent to escort my caravans. The ones currently garrisoning the castle are mostly young, strong farmers from my territory."
"Lord Galvin is skilled at managing his people. Even the ordinary young commoners under your rule are strong men. I've been to many places and seen many castles, but places as prosperous as Sap are rare." Walking on the clean roads within the fort, looking at the wooden houses and dwellings on both sides, Angus couldn't help but praise the prosperity of Sap Fort.
Galvin smiled and replied: "You are too kind, everyone. These past few years, I've been involved in trade and earned some money, so I don't need to ask too much from my commoners. And some commoners also engage in trade with me, and there are even some gentry who have made money, so they are a bit more affluent."
Amidst their cheerful conversation, the group had already arrived at Lord Galvin's Lord's Mansion. Those behind Art again praised the luxury and exquisite beauty of Galvin's mansion, making Baron Galvin smile brightly.
"Everyone, please enter the Hall to rest for a while. I will have servants prepare some simple food for you to fill your stomachs. This evening, I will host a simple banquet for everyone."
After arranging for the others, Galvin came to Art's side and whispered: "Art, come with me into the inner quarters. I have something to discuss with you—"
Art turned and glanced at Angus, Roan, and the others. Angus gave a smile, then led the others into the Lord's Hall...
Art could only follow Lord Galvin into the inner quarters of the mansion.
