Nate was the stationmaster of the relay station. This job was a very lucrative position in the Purcell clan. A stationmaster distributes aid to the slaves and deduct a part of the harvests if necessary. Further, they are responsible for raising atleast 12 Wind Chasing Horses or Flame Colts that were used to pass messages among relay stations. Their feeds are more refined than the feeds of the common scaled wildbeasts. This feed was what Nate usually embezzle.
The situation in the relay station of the Ica plains was a very common occurrence throughout the duchy. It was almost regarded as an open secret because the stationmasters were usually a clan member, in which many benefits through the embezzlement.
Although the Purcell clan was handling the situation poorly, it doesn't mean they don't care. As long as the normal operation of the relay station was maintained and the amount of the slaves dying was minimal, they won't say anything about it. The clan will enforce a heavy punishment if these were not met.
It was for this reason that although it was quite a petty job, it was still a lucrative post. Working as the stationmaster for several years will also enable you to return to Casa City as a pensioner when you reach old age.
As the nephew of the Foreign Housekeeper of the Purcell clan, Nate's position has been arranged, since he lacked the talent as a practitioner. It was so that he can earn some gold coins and have a comfortable retirement life in Casa city.
Although he can't go back to Casa City often since he was responsible for manning the relay station everyday, at least his life was comfortable. He knew he lacked the talent as a practitioner, so he did not have any thoughts of pursuing it. He just wants to do the job for several more years so that he can retire in Casa City comfortably.
Nate smiled while thinking about his clan who lives in Casa City. Six years ago, his wife lives with him here in the relay station. But after having a child, he took them to Casa City for the child's education. The child now goes to Casa City Demon Military Institute. Although the child can't be a magician, having a healthy body makes the child a good warrior material.
As he thinks of his mischievous son, Nate becomes happier. He was humming a song while walking out of the room, going straight to the kitchen. He got a small pot of wine along with two dishes of vegetables and then loudly said: “Garson, Carol, come and accompany your elder brother to drink 2 cups of wine”.
Garson and Carlo are Nate's deputies. They were also relatives of some elders in the Purcell clan. Just like Nate, their positions were both arranged, thus making the relationship between the three of them fairly good.
Suddenly, they heard bursts of hoofs coming towards them. Nate was surprised for a moment. He then listened carefully to where the sound came from. The sound didn't came from the direction of the old fort of the Purcell clan, Fort Benniu, instead, it came from the direction of the Ica plains.
His face sank, he did not fear the sound of the hoofs if they came from Fort Benniu. It meant that commodities were to be delivered to their relay station. What he fears were the sound of the hoofs that came from the Ica plains, as this meant there's an emergency or accident that had happened.
The Purcell clan gives great importance on the Ica plains, thus, no matter what happened, the Purcell clan should know of it immediately.
Nate threw the pot of wine he has in his hands and immediately directed his two deputies saying: “Prepare the flames horses quickly, there maybe an accident in Ica plains”.
Garson and Carlo frozed for a moment, then quickly moved and prepared the horses. They knew that Nate had been the stationmaster for 8 years. Although he didn't get any promotion, his high familiarity with how it works within the Ica plains made them follow him without hesitation.
Just before they move, Nate's heart sank. In the distant horizon, he can see a man madly whipping his horse moving quickly towards the station. Judging by the looks of it, he knew that the situation was a lot worse than what he had imagined it to be.
As soon as the man reached the gate, Nate immediately asked: “Tyne, what happened?”
The pale-faced Tyne responded: “Senior Nate, my district is in a bad situation. A large-scale pest infestation is happening right now. Please report it immediately to the clan, otherwise the grain yield this year would be greatly reduced.”
Nate was stunned and it took some time before he collected his thoughts and said: “How could a pest infestation suddenly occur?”
The paled-face Tyne replied: “I have no idea, yesterday it was all normal. But this morning, we found a large number of huge white insects gnawing on the wheat plants. If they are not eliminated, the consequences would be unthinkable. If possible, I hope the clan can send a high level magician and an army of a thousand warriors.”
Nate was startled after hearing what Tyne said. Asking for a hundred warriors was the usual request to respond to a pest infestation. But right now, Tyne was asking for a high-level magician and a thousand army. Nate looked at Tyne and said: “Are you saying the problem is really severe?”
Tyne smiled and said: “Senior Nate, the situation at hand right now is worst than you think it is. I suggest telling the clan to start preparing a strategic plan to counter the infestation”.
Nate silently agreed. He knows that Tyne was a warrior of the Purcell clan in the past, was injured and later assigned as a supervisor. Precisely because of his past that Nate knew he is reliable. When Tyne said that there's a need for a strategic plan, it meant the problem was really serious.
After thinking things over, Nate said: “Alright, I'll immediately leave for Fort Benniu to deliver this news. You should hurry and go back. Organize a pest control team as soon as you can.” Tyne agreed and sped off towards the village.
As soon as Tyne left, Nate instructed Garson and Carlo to deliver the news to the different relay stations around Ica plains. Immediately, all three of them sped off, going on different locations.
Nate knew that the problem was severe, so he headed towards Fort Benniu with haste. It takes 2 days for a horse to travel from Nate's relaystation to Fort Benniu. However, in times of emergency, you can reach it in a day if you continuously run without rest.
Fort Benniu was an old fort that always has three elders, five thousand warriors and one hundred fifty magicians stationed. This fort was also the home large number of clan members along with their servants. As such, the Purcell clan considers this place as one of the foundations of the clan.
Among the five thousand warriors in the fort, two thousand were stationed inside the castle. The rest were stationed on military compounds outside the castle. These military compounds formed the network of information and communication, passing news all over the fort.
The walls of the fort were two kilometers long, five meters thick and fifteen meters high. the wall was built with a deep foundation on a land covered with Riga grass. The layers were all tampered firmly and topped by a layer of rice milk, making the wall very strong.
Although the fort was not a key city in the Duchy of Versailles, it was still relatively a busy place. Even if the Purcell clan were very strict with regards to trading, quite a number of merchants from the Duchy of Versailles still sets up shop here.
Presently, there were about five million people throughout Fort Benniu. The people living in the castle are the Purcell clan members along with some people that has a good relationship with the clan.
Today seems like another normal day within the Fort Benniu. The castle door opened in the morning, with trades and businesses starting up along with it, making the fort quite lively. At the end of the day, a melodious bell was heard throughout the fort, signaling the closing of the castle doors.
However, while the doors were being closed slowly, the sounds of a rapidly running horse reverberated throughout the fort suddenly. People couldn't help but look at the direction where the sound was coming from. That direction was where Ica plains was.
Before long, a flame horse emerged along with the rider shouting : “Urgent Report! Urgent Report! Do not close!”
People living in the castle clearly knew that the person is a messenger or someone who works at the a relaystation. They immediately stopped closing the door and slowly opened it.
As soon as the messenger reaches the gate, two guards wearing horned helmets welcome him. The messenger actually didn't stop and yelled:”Urgent report! Urgent report! Move out of the way!”
Usually, when a messenger delivers a report, they stop in front of the gate to be inspected by the guards. However, this messenger went straight to the fort while shouting. The guards didn't dare to intercept him and stepped aside immediately.
The messenger was actually Nate. He knew that the pest infestation was severe, thus he didn't mind stopping at the gate and went directly to the fort.
No one dared to block the speeding Nate. He has traveled a whole day without rest and was clearly exhausted. As he stepped down from his horse, he almost fainted in front of the inner city guards. The guards saw this and they immediately helped him.
Notes:
-Tyne was the supervisor of the small village back in the last chapter.
-I changed the font and the font size, I do hope to hear what you guys think about it, thanks.
-This chapter was MTLed. Translation and editing was done solely by me. Please leave a comment for constructive criticisms and advice. Thank
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