Chapter 319 — Santis's Home

"The Xuanque City is not worth clinging to. It has never treated its people as its own," Santis found his tongue suddenly working well. "We have no land here. Even if we own a house, the church can find some pretext to take it away at any time. Better that the whole family comes with me to Cecil. I'm already an advisor to the lord, and the lord has me teaching at the academy he founded. Mother, when you get there, you can work at the alchemy works—they need herbalists who can identify all kinds of raw herbal materials. Father, you can go to the lord's residence; they need a cook. Pepe can attend the academy, and so can Miles—and he can even go to the machinery works and study under a wise master artificer to learn how machines are made... Our whole family can live decent, respectable lives there."

Husband and wife looked at each other. Clearly, resolving to leave the place where they had lived half their lives was a hard decision for them—but there was still something in Santis's words that moved them. Seeing this, Santis pressed on at once: "The whole reason I've come back this time is that I've been ordered by the lord to recruit a number of scholars to build up the territory. And I'm also to bring back the families of the craftsmen who went to Cecil Territory with me in the beginning. Those craftsmen decided long ago to bring their families over too—so I'm not the only one making this decision."

"...I must first take my leave of Count Taut," Santis's father finally said with a nod. "I can't simply walk away without a word."

Santis's mother glanced at her husband in some surprise. "Jon?"

"Our son is right. We should try life somewhere else," his father said through gritted teeth. "Last week... the McIntosh family had their fields and barns outside the city confiscated, because they worship the Goddess of the Night and won't convert. My dear, I have an uneasy feeling—the mood in this city is changing. We'd best take this chance to leave."

His mother, who had spent a lifetime accustomed to following her husband's arrangements, lowered her head. "...All right. I'll do as you say."

An hour later, after waiting for his younger brother to come home and telling the family of the arrangements, Santis returned to the carriage bearing the Cecil family crest. The three carriages rolled down Cross Street, which already had more than two hundred years of history, turned a corner in the square, and headed for Crown Street in the central district of the royal capital.

"Where should we begin?" Gipri, who had never been to the royal capital, asked Santis's opinion most humbly. Eloquent as she was, and trained by the Military Intelligence Bureau though she had been, in this unfamiliar environment she decided to first hear the experience of a "local snake."

"I'll write to the friends I know who more or less fit the requirements. At the 'Odd Jobs Guild' you can hire couriers—they can deliver a letter anywhere in Saintfrost Rest within a day. Later, send another messenger to the Mages' Association; with the Duke's crest as credentials, you can post a notice recruiting mages. Miss Gipri, I'll also trouble you to take the Duke's certification documents to the 'Scholars' Hall' beside the Silver Keep—that's the organization of the royal capital's scholars. You can post information there to recruit scholars; perhaps they'll be interested in the Gondor relics unearthed in Cecil Territory, and in the rare plants and animals of the Dark Mountains..."

Santis assigned the tasks one by one. At last he paused, then turned to "Swiftfoot" Pierce. "Mr. Pierce, please make a trip to the Artisans' Guild as well. No credentials are needed there—you can spend one Ansu silver shield to post a notice recruiting craftsmen, mainly runesmiths and skilled mechanists. Post it at the pay rate for 'magitechnicians' in the territory. Also make clear that the recruited craftsmen will first undergo training in Cecil Territory, but that even during their apprenticeship they will receive two-thirds of the pay. I believe the income of a magitechnician in Cecil Territory will be enough to tempt no small number of people."

Gipri watched Santis—calm-faced and clear in his every word—and suddenly could not help laughing. "Mr. Santis, you seem to have changed somewhat."

"Have I?" Santis was taken aback for a moment, then smiled. "I suppose I've finally come to understand the meaning of the Duke's sending me here..."

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