"Hey, Claude, you're going home again?"
Since he had been going back and forth every day, the garrison soldiers at the southwestern end of town were all rather familiar with him.
Of course, that was also because Claude knew how to conduct himself. He patrolled the wood early in the morning and would toss a few frozen rabbits and pheasants to the garrison soldiers.
Although the Garrison Barracks soldiers were under military control in the town and their meals were not bad, they still welcomed the free game.
The one who greeted him was a second lieutenant named Abraham. His squad was in charge of maintaining order in the southwestern part of town.
When he saw Claude driving his carriage down the mountain path of the wood, he waved and gestured for Claude to come to him.
"Good morning, second lieutenant."
Claude drove the carriage over and pulled off the scarf covering his face. "Today's the last day. It's the new year tomorrow. Why are you still so busy? What are you doing?"
Abraham shrugged helplessly. "We don't have a choice. The higher ups ordered us to be more vigilant the closer it is to the new year. We have to prevent pirates from attacking Whitestag during the new year. That's why we have to set up barricades and barricades at the entrance of the town.
But look, it's so cold that we can't dig. We have to sweep away the snow and warm the ground with fire before we start digging. We might not be able to complete our mission today. "
Taking a cup of steaming black tea from Abraham, he smiled and said, "Go ahead. I knew you didn't call me for anything good. If there's anything I can help with, just tell me. I'll do my best to help."
Abraham gave him a thumbs up. "Aren't you the foreman of the wood?
I wanted to ask if you have any of the lumber we cut down.
If you do, I'd like to borrow some. It'll be much faster to build walls and barricades than to dig up dirt. "
Claude shook his head regretfully. "You'll know if you ask around. Normanley Wood hasn't been cut down for more than two decades, nor has it produced any wood. While there are some old lumber left, it's far from enough to build walls and barricades.
Without the baroness's permission, we can't cut down trees in private. I can't help you with this. "
"Sigh, looks like we can't escape our fate of digging the ground."
Second Lieutenant Abraham was also very disappointed. "Originally, we wanted to cut down the forest next to the town, but the town hall didn't allow it. They said that it was the town hall's property. We could cut it down, but we had to pay for the wood.
We don't have the budget to buy wood. The soldiers are already complaining that we have to set up defensive facilities around the New Year. If we have to pay for these materials, it'll be too much … "
Claude looked at the four or five soldiers who were using shovels to dig up the soil warmed by the fire and put it into sacks. They used the sacks to build a barricade and a wall that was half the height of a man.
But so far, there were only a dozen sacks filled with soil. No wonder Second Lieutenant Abraham wanted to borrow wood from the wood with a frown.
"Are the barricades and walls you were told to erect permanent?" asked Claude.
Abraham shook his head. "Of course not. No matter how stupid those bastards are, they wouldn't give such an order.
Building permanent defensive facilities required engineering design and procurement budgets, as well as professional construction teams. It wasn't something that could be done by piling up dozens of sacks of soil.
Anyway, we'll be retreating after your garrison is formed. The defensive facilities will be left to the garrison. Whether it's good or bad is none of our business. "
Claude gave it some thought and said, "In that case, there's no need for you to have your men dig the soil.
It's winter now and it snows from time to time.
You can actually use the snow to build barricades and walls. Squash the snow into blocks, pour water on them and freeze them. They'll be harder than iron.
Not only will the barricades and walls be built faster, they'll also have better defensive properties. In a real battle, guns won't be able to penetrate the blocks of snow. "
He finished the black tea in one gulp and handed the empty cup back to Abraham. "As for the durability of the barricades and walls made of snow, I believe they'll last until the end of February before they thaw.
By then, Whitestag's garrison will have been fully formed and your garrison will have retreated to the prefectural capital. Whether the defensive facilities are in good condition or not is none of your business. "
Abraham looked pleasantly surprised. He hugged Claude and said, "Thank you so much, Claude. You're really my good brother. You're so smart! I really don't know how you came up with such a good idea. I'll tell the soldiers to stop digging and do as you say!"
Claude continued to drive the carriage home. Abraham's praises and compliments made him feel very happy.
However, he also felt that the quality of the royal army was a little too low. They couldn't even come up with such a simple idea.
Even though they're a modern army armed with muskets, they were trained to have wooden heads. They only know how to follow orders and not how to be flexible.
However, the scene he saw when he returned home made his good mood disappear. Angelina told Claude the whole story as she cried.
Early in the morning, Arbeit barged into the house and struck the snowhound with a wooden stick when it wasn't paying attention, knocking it to the ground.
Then, he rushed up to the third floor and rummaged through his parents' bedroom and snatched all of his mother's jewelry.
His mother tried to stop him but was pushed away and fell to the ground, unable to get up. Then, Arbeit ran off with all the jewelry without a trace.
Claude was furious. He really wanted to go to town to look for Arbeit, but he had no choice. He had to settle his family down first.
The snowhound's hind leg was broken by the stick. His brother hugged the snowhound and cried so hard that he couldn't catch his breath.
His mother collapsed on the bed, saying that her back hurt and she couldn't get up. Even though Angelina was fine, she didn't know what to do.
Fortunately, Claude was back and she finally had someone to rely on, so she wasn't panicking anymore.
After arranging for Angelina to make breakfast for everyone, Claude drove the carriage to the apothecary and invited the old herbalist over.
The snowhound was fine. With the splints on, Claude prepared to give it a perfect-quality beginner healing potion. It would be able to jump around in two or three days.
The one in trouble was his mother. The old herbalist said that his mother's external injuries weren't too serious. It was just a sprained waist and she would be fine after a few days of applying some medicine.
Her mental state was too heavy and she was constantly in a daze. Her body was extremely weak and she would need some time to recover. She also had to eat some good food to nourish her body.
After sending the herbalist off, Claude went to the kitchen and steamed three bowls of egg custard, one for each of them. He fed the snowhound some medicine and gave it a beef bone to chew on to replenish its calcium. That way, it wouldn't be so easily beaten up by others in the future, especially when it was done by Arbeit. How embarrassing it would be if anyone found out about it.
Using the excuse of going out to buy something, Claude drove the carriage all over town in search of Arbeit.
After asking the soldiers on duty at the entrance of the town, they confirmed that Arbeit hadn't left town.
Claude then went to the jewellers and grocers, and inquired whether Alberto had not pawned his jewels at their shops in the morning.
There were only three jewelry shops in Whitestag, but there were more than ten shops.
Claude spent more than two hours going through all of them, but the news he got was that Arbeit didn't go to those shops to pawn the jewelry he stole from his mother.
Where in the world did he run off to?
Since Arbeit dared to break into the house to steal his mother's jewelry early in the morning, it was obvious that he was in dire need of money. Otherwise, he wouldn't have resorted to such drastic measures.
All he had to do was eat and drink at Sir Fux's place. As Sir Fux's personal secretary, it wasn't a problem for him to make ends meet.
By the way, Arbeit didn't say anything about himself after his father was captured. Claude wondered if he was still working at Sir Fux's place.
Claude drove to Sir Fux's manor in the southeast of town and asked around. An old butler told him that Arbeit had applied for a long leave to deal with his father's arrest.
Since he was the head of the Ferd household now, Sir Fux readily agreed to his request.
Ptooey!
When Claude returned to the carriage, he spat on the ground.
Arbeit pretended to be a proper person in public and used such a righteous excuse for his leave, but would anyone in charge of a household do something like that?
Where did that person go to help with her father's arrest?
Perhaps he could put himself in Arbeit's shoes and imagine where he would go after he had the money.
The scene of Arbeit haggling with a prostitute on the side of the street only to be ridiculed appeared in Claude's mind.
Well, it was possible that he would continue fooling around on the old street after he had the money.
However, the first time Arbeit swindled some money from his mother, he took around 15 thales, which was more than three crowns in total.
That amount of money was enough for him to fool around on the old street for a month or two. Even if he did it four or five times a day, it would be enough for him to have fun for half a month. After all, the prices there were very low and the most beautiful and expensive prostitute only cost one riyas a time.
In the end, in just three or four days, Arbeit ran out of money, so he ran home to cheat his mother of her jewelry. After being exposed by her, she taught him a lesson and chased him out of the house. He actually dared to break into the house early in the morning when she wasn't home with a wooden stick and snatched her mother's jewelry.
What gave that coward the courage to do something like that?
Eating, drinking, whoring, gambling, and drugs were the only things Claude could think of.
However, based on his understanding of Arbeit, he wasn't a particular person when it came to food and drinks. He would even eat food that tasted bad and could only fill his stomach in order to save money. When it came to drinking, he would only drink cheap alcohol. He was rather stingy when it came to spending money on food.
What was left was whoring, gambling, and drugs. While it was true that he was lecherous, 15 thales was enough for him to have fun on the old street for a while. There was no way he would spend all his money in three or four days.
Claude didn't feel weak when he taught him a lesson last night, so that shouldn't be the reason he had so much money.
As for drugs, that was even more unlikely. This world hadn't developed to the level of a rich society like his previous world. Hallucinogens like ecstasy and the like didn't exist and couldn't be bought. So, that could be ruled out.
What was left was gambling. That was the only way Arbeit would lose all his money in three or four days and have no choice but to go home and think of a way to trick his mother.
However, Claude didn't know where Arbeit was gambling. Was he gambling in an underground casino or with a few of his friends?
If it was the latter, Claude wouldn't be able to find Arbeit at all. Who knew where they would hide at night?
But after some thought, Claude felt that the underground casino was the most likely option. Arbeit didn't pawn the jewelry he stole from his mother in the town's jewelry stores or grocery stores.
If they were gambling with friends, they wouldn't use those jewelry to make up the numbers. Instead, the underground casino handled the pawning of items on the spot. It was highly likely that Arbeit sold his mother's jewelry to the underground casino for cash.
Perhaps he owes the casino a loan, which was why he had the courage to barge into the house to steal his mother's jewelry … Claude analyzed the possibility coldly.