Chương 94: Chapter 2.31: On Land

The unnaturally large sun burned down on them from the west above the Cindrathi plains as his closest allies and Antonius rode up a gently sloping path into the forested hills. Favius let out a sigh of relief as Brutus raised a hand and turned to Marcus's assistant.

"Looks like we're at another crossroads." Antonius murmured something and consulted the map of the estate lands which they had been using to find the sites Favius had picked out from Serran's much more detailed maps. It's funny that I missed such an obvious solution. Just get treated leather and then you use hot metal to burn the map into it. If you want to make something that can be transported and is immune to weather, that's hard to beat.

"Should be up those hills," said Brutus before narrowing his eyes. He looked at Favius.

"And I think I can hear your river." Favius smiled and kicked his heels into the side of his horse as the two men led their horses onto the smaller, more overgrown path. Favius groaned and shifted in the saddle. This fucking thing. He looked down and over his shoulders, one hand holding the reins while the other held one of the four horns that were sticking out all around the padded leather seating surface. Never thought that riding a horse without stirrups would be so uncomfortable.

He groaned and shifted and only dignified Urania's giggle with a single glare as she rode up beside him.

"Come on, Favius," she teased.

"You said this would be a fun day of exploring the estate's lands." Favius rolled his eyes.

"You got no right to talk." He gestured at the blanket with two grips which she sat on. His sister smirked.

"Well, sometimes it does pay to be younger and a lady." She thrust her chin up and pulled ahead of him. Caliga laughed behind them. His thoughts wandered as he studied the forest, a mixture of oaks, acacias, and occasional spruce. As they crept up a particularly steep bit, he clicked his tongue.

"Not sure if this is still a road or already a riverbed." Brutus snorted.

"The distinction does become academic in many cases, Cousin." Caliga sniffed as they reached the top of the first hill and pointed into the woods.

"See, there's your river." Antonius pulled up, turned his horse around, and looked over the plateau. The underbrush was moderately thick, and Favius assessed it. Well, if the map is right, there's a valley further up, but this... He looked around, pressed his thighs into the horse, and tried to gain some height.... looks like a soft slope. And with the river here... He kicked the horse gently towards the stream, following Brutus's example.

As the horse lowered its head to drink, chewing on the bit in its mouth, Favius studied the rushing white water. Maybe one and a half meters. He looked up towards a gentler segment of the creek. Or even two. We'll have to see. He closed his eyes and let pneuma flood from his memories into his mental insight. An impression, not quite a memory of the map, flashed into his mind. It's not quite photographic memory. More like lossy photographic recall. But yeah, this plateau. With the slope and the river... He smiled.

Has future potential. Antonius cleared his throat.

"May I assume that the Young Lord is still unwilling to tell this humble servant why he is so insistent on a minor creek coming out of a valley being nearby any and all prospective workshop sites? After all..." He shook his head.

"I still think there's merit to the Majordomo's suggestion of building the workshops adjacent to our docks on the Loran River." Brutus sniffed.

"Bah. We aren't far from the docks. The roads need some touching up, but it would only be a third to half an hour for a team of oxen to pull a wagon from the piers to the site."

"Still," sighed Antonius, visibly deflating. Urania and Caliga exchanged knowing smiles with each other before Urania winked at Favius. Yeah, I'm not starting an industrial town without a setup for water power. He looked at the girls. And Urania even figured it out without me telling her. Well, I guess she did really pay attention to the screw press thing. Still, it's scary how far she can go with a little bit of implication.

Favius looked around one last time and took in the fresh spring air with a smile at the budding oaks and acacias. He nodded up the creek.

"Let's go and check out the valley. So far this site looks good." Caliga nodded.

"And the forest isn't that bad, right? I mean, we're obviously gonna cut it down, but not having to lug the wood around..." But as the horses set off to follow the pitiful excuse of a road which was becoming more and more of an overgrown wild path, Antonius shook his head.

"I must correct the Young Lady on that. While having timber available is certainly useful, timber ought to be dried before construction. Merely cutting it down..." He shook his head.

"... results in bad buildings." His sister hummed, and soon they reached a rocky outcropping. Favius whistled, seeing the path into the valley. It wound close to a gorge maybe three meters deep with a small waterfall. Unauthorized usage: this narrative is on Amazon without the author's consent. Report any sightings. He looked up the other side, where a straight cliff went up nearly ten meters, and towards a wooded hill into whose side the path was carved. Even that thing, it's like five meters tall.

And the gap, it's only what, ten to fifteen meters. A wide grin spread over Favius's face as their horses slowly and carefully made it up the path. This is almost ideal. The other sites... Building a dam would have been difficult, but with this... They continued, and soon the forest got sparser and became nearly pure oak. There were clear signs of cultivation, the underbrush consisting of tree stumps that were clearly regularly harvested for sprouts. Coppicing, as Antonius called it before.

I think this was done to willows on Earth, but here it's how they make firewood. Urania clicked her tongue.

"So there is actually a village here." Less than a minute later, they reached the edge of the forest. Favius's eyes narrowed as he surveyed the valley. It was long and slim, maybe only three hundred meters across at the broadest. He looked from side to side. The river on one side, gentle sloping and... He squinted into the distance. Maybe something like fifteen hundred meters long. He nodded. This would make for an ideal reservoir.

He studied the maybe two dozen hovels, thickly thatched roofs that poked out far, keeping the plastered walls dry. Freedmen peasants were working fields, children were running around the village, women were gossiping and gardening. Looking up the slope, he saw several herds of sheep and goats where oak faded into pine. Favius shifted again. God damn it. If there was only a single spot on my ass that hadn't gotten abused by this saddle. He looked down at the sides of the horse. Inventing stirrups. But no.

I don't know much, but I'm fairly certain that stirrups were what allowed cavalry to challenge heavy infantry and the Republic, especially Cindrath... He sighed. Brutus smirked at him.

"What, little cousin? Seems like I need to adjust my training schedule to include regular riding sessions." Favius pressed his eyes shut and groaned while his sisters giggled.

"I guess there's no point in asking you not to."

"Well, you could order me, but I would be obliged to regularly remind you of my negligence in fulfilling my duties." Favius rolled his eyes before refocusing on the villagers. Antonius again interjected.

"Young Master, going by your expression, you're pleased about this site?"

"Yes," replied Favius.

"All of this. It's almost perfect. Fixing up the road, cutting away the forest, the slopes..." He gestured around them.

"And this valley." Favius squinted.

"But those villagers. Do they actually own the land or..." He trailed off, and Antonius nodded with a polite smile.

"No. This close to the main estate, all land is owned by the familia. They are merely freedmen living on this land for rent."

"So it wouldn't be a problem to... remove the village." Antonius raised a single eyebrow, but Urania snorted.

"Oh, now after all that talk about being nice to lowborns, you want to evict villagers."

"Urania," Favius began, but there was no stopping her. She glanced over at their protector.

"I don't think it would be difficult. I'm sure Brutus could do it right now if you just asked nicely." Favius pressed his eyes shut, an icy shiver running down his spine at the memory of the full experience of the man's aura. If I actually ordered him to slaughter an entire village, I'm not even confident he would even question it. Well, he probably would, but there's always a chance. Favius swallowed again before glaring at Urania.

Caliga and Antonius studied him with raised eyebrows while Brutus simply stared into the distance.

"Why would you want to do that?" asked Caliga. Favius sniffed.

"Well, in the long run, the village needs to go, but..." He turned to them.

"Obviously we are going to compensate them and resettle them elsewhere." Antonius massaged his chin for a moment.

"Ah," he said.

"You're worried about security? That those villagers might steal from or spy on the workshops?" Favius looked down at the rushing river.

"Something like that," he answered with a smile. Before the situation could drag on further, Brutus cleared his throat.

"The sun is but a handspan over the ridge. With these horses, I'd rather get off the mountain while there is still good light. Have you seen enough to decide?" Favius nodded. Well, today was a success. We inspected all the sites, and it's going to be this one, right?

"Most likely," Favius said.

"But let me think about it while we get back to the estate. This is a big decision. It's not like the other sites didn't have any merits." With those words, Favius again pressed his heels into the horse's sides and pulled the reins with one hand while holding onto one of the horns of the saddle with the other. He sighed.

"And I'm sure gonna be glad to get off this contraption." Brutus chuckled.

"You know, Cousin, sometimes silence is the only thing keeping you from digging yourself a deeper hole." Favius groaned as they got closer to the river again and passed through the forest.

"Gods, I would have really thought that my insight of endurance would have helped me, but even with pneuma at this—" Brutus sniffed.

"Who says your insight didn't help you? After all, we've been riding for over nine hours by now without you being accustomed to horses." Favius shifted and winced at the burning of his raw thighs. Well, he has a point. If I pulled this kind of stunt on Earth, especially with such a saddle... And soon, in the light of the setting sun, they reached the main road where the creek made a ford where it met the Loran River, which was itself a tributary of the Eron. A few minutes later, they reached the busy barge docks.

Favius grinned at one of the river barges lying by the pier. Well, at least I should be happy that our little Loran River is deep enough for barges and has an ox path by its side. Otherwise, the logistics would get seriously awkward. With those final thoughts, he focused on suppressing the pain in his butt and thighs, and less than an hour later, they arrived at the main estate.

Favius moved carefully as they washed and put on fresh clothes, deep in thought and only half listening to Urania bickering about horse smell. Coming out of the baths, Brutus gestured to one of the attendants.

"Favius, remember what I told you about oiling your body like a southerner looking for a lover?" Favius gave the man a pained expression.

"I remember you rambling on about something," he groaned. Brutus sniffed.

"Well, I was about to help you, but with that attitude..." Favius let out a long-suffering breath.

"Oh please, mighty Magnicultor, enlighten this lowly Cultor with your great wisdom." Brutus sniffed and gestured at a small earthen jar the bathing attendant brought him.

"This is oil infused with healing herbs. Rub it over the sore spots and they will be much better by morning." Brutus smirked.

"This is the kind of stuff cavalrymen kill for on campaign." Soon they left the bathhouse, and Favius could already feel a pleasant numbness in his legs where he had applied the oil. Well, not even gonna think about what you need to put into a salve to have that kind of effect. He smiled as one of the various attendants led them into a dining room. Marcus, Serran, and Antonius already sat around the well-appointed table. Favius closed his eyes and took in a long, deep breath.

"Oh gods," he groaned.

"This smells so nice." Caliga grinned at him.

"True." She narrowed her eyes suspiciously at her father.

"Not sure if this is a celebration or if it's just a long day riding outside." Urania was the first to settle down.

"Who cares? Let's just eat." Marcus laughed.

"It seems that you had an eventful day. I hope..." He looked at Favius.

"... that it was also successful." Favius studied the wooden chair and nodded gratefully at an attendant who put an extra cushion on it.

"Well," he began. But Marcus shook his head.

"A moment, please." The door was opened again, and two servants carried a sizzling copper plate laden with a large piece of pork into the room. It was dripping with fatty sauce and spices, and Favius could instantly smell it. The spicy ozone tang of pneuma hit his nose. His mouth began to water. Oh, looks like he shelled out for a good spiritual meal. His sisters and even Brutus made appreciative noises.

As soon as Marcus, with an indulgent smile, gestured for them to dig in, the pork fell apart on Favius's tongue, and he hummed in pleasure. After a quarter of an hour of silent eating, Brutus and Marcus exchanged nods, and Favius felt the electric bite and violent intent of his protector's presence spread around them. Marcus's eyes settled onto Favius.

"Well, son, I hope you learned enough to conclude your considerations. After all, we need to discuss far more than just where to construct the new centerpieces of our familia's future."