I built a manor in the Middle Ages

Chapter 145 Where did the red rock come from? !
The new wall is not just a taller and thicker wooden wall. Luc intends to build a wall that can defend against the enemy, so it must have shooting holes and military paths.

A firing port is a type of battlement.

"I've never heard of such a decree."

Luc frowned. He used to be an outstanding warrior in the territory of the County of Auvergne and knew people of high status, but he had never heard anyone mention that he had to report anything. Even his former baron had secretly opened the battlements, but no one came to attack him.

"Maybe the laws in the two places are different." Ryan scratched the back of his head.

"It's possible."

On a divided continent, not only between kingdoms, but even between earls, laws may not be the same.

"But it's more likely just a pretext for territorial annexation."

Luc sneered. Falsified propaganda was common in the Dark Ages. "The very existence of the Knight's Castle is illegal. There's no need to worry about it."

After thinking about it carefully, Luc turned around and put the matter behind him. After all, whether a castle would be recognized in the end depended on whether the owner had the ability to defend it, not on that illusory decree.

"The canal will be almost halfway built in three or four days. When that happens, go and inform Old Eike that the lower half of the canal, bordered by the middle of the farmland, will be about a foot lower."

"No problem, sir."

The irrigation canal was a complex and massive project, and the current progress was far from complete. However, with the Frost Moon approaching and snow settling, the frozen ground would be difficult to dig. Luc planned to use the remaining time to dig the foundation of the wall in front of the Knight's Castle. In winter, it would be much easier to slowly build the wooden wall than to dig a ditch.

"I've been busy repairing the ditch these days. Has anything happened at the manor?"

Without a warhorse, the places Luc could go to immediately shrank tenfold. The areas that he could easily travel back and forth to in the past were now trapped in the Knight's Castle due to their remoteness and complexity. Ryan became his eyes and ears. After all, a follower would not be ridiculed for riding a mule all over the mountains.

"Everything is going well at the salt mine."

Ryan first pointed out what Luc was most concerned about. Salt was of paramount importance and it could not be overemphasized.

"But when I went there yesterday, Eugene asked you to send another miner. It would be too much trouble for him to mine alone."

Luc had a set of hammer, chisel and hoe, which was the first complete set of iron tools he had obtained shortly after killing Henry. Now they were all given to Eugene to work in the mine.

This is also the reason why One-Eyed Gil was sent to guard the place. With the ironware, only a soldier with military power like Gil could guard against the bandits with a bad record.

Luc rubbed his temples. Eugene's request was not excessive, but there was really no good candidate at the moment.

"Master, why don't you let Geller give it a try?" Ryan hesitated for a moment and spoke tentatively.

"Who?" Luc was a little confused. He couldn't remember this person for a moment.

"Gerla, your honour, you may not remember him. He is from the same village as little Maiman. He used to be in the lumberjack team, and now he is making charcoal with Hans."

"I've met him because of little Maiman. He's quite honest. You know, little Maiman's family is the smallest. Before he became a carpenter, Gerer often took care of him. He was building a charcoal factory a while ago. Although he's not as strong as Hans, he does just as much work. I think he's perfect for working at the salt factory."

As Ryan talked about Luc, he gradually remembered this serf. In Hugo's household register, Geller seemed to be the only Lombard.

"Okay, go and arrange it. If he's willing to go, give his family extra eggs and cheese every week."

Gler is not a slave, so if you want him to do the hardest job as a miner, you must reward him generously.

"Also, Hougle is the main one, and Eugene is the auxiliary one."

"understand!"

After the situation at the salt mountain was arranged, the following things went much more smoothly. As for the livestock, the sheep and female goats grew very fast since the male goats were separated, but gradually Luc also discovered some problems.

That is, compared to goats which are easy to raise, sheep are simply too precious!
Let’s not talk about anything else, just talk about eating. Sheep need to eat all the time, yes, they need to eat all the time, without a break.

This increased Mary's workload a lot. On the western hillside which served as the grazing area, Mary changed places many times. Every now and then she had to cut a large bundle of fine grass to feed the sheep in case of rain or at night. Now without the help of little Charlie, she complained even more.

"How about this, bring those two little bitches back to Mary. The puppies are over a month old and can almost herd sheep, so Mary can have an easier time." "Indeed, after all, she still has to take care of donkeys, mules, pigs and chickens." Ryan touched his chin. The strong woman was indeed very capable.

Speaking of the chickens, since we replaced the new roosters last time, the chickens have started to reproduce again. Now there are about twenty or thirty chickens in the chicken coop clucking all day long, and sometimes the noise is so annoying.

"The piglets have grown a lot fatter recently, and their wildness has faded a bit. They haven't had another litter yet, and if they did, their wildness would probably be completely gone."

Domestic pigs are both difficult and easy to raise. They are easy because they will eat whatever people eat and are not picky eaters. They are also difficult because they are hard to fatten up, after all, ordinary territories don't have that much food.

But Luc's estate is different. At least a few pigs won't eat him up.

After talking about the livestock area, there was basically no change in the agricultural area. Even though almost everyone was building houses and digging ditches, there were still some old people and children there. Apart from Miller guarding the watchtower, the others were busy weeding and trying out fertilizer.

"By the way, sir, the hops are growing very well!"

As the only new seed in this autumn's plowing, Ryan has been observing it very carefully. When he mentioned it, he smiled and said, "I think we will definitely be able to harvest a large number of Humulus lupulus in the spring!"

Luc smacked his lips without commenting, saying that hops are not rye, so it would be difficult to get a good harvest.

After chatting for a while, the two called old Eike over and talked about other things, such as charcoal, the grapevines on the other side of the river, and Dusi's textile factory management. It was not until dusk when Mary came back from the west with her sheep that they had finally talked about the entire estate. The more they talked about the bigger the matter, the more complicated it became.

"Master, Mr. Ryan, and Butler Old Eck, good evening!"

Mary drove her flock of sheep past the three people and saluted each of the most distinguished people in the Knight's Castle.

Luc responded with a smile. Perhaps it was out of nostalgia that he always had a good impression of those who had followed him the earliest.

"Mary, you're back late today."

Old Ike glanced at the sky. Usually, Mary would come back just after dusk.

"Yes, old housekeeper. I drove the sheep further north today. As you know, sheep are very greedy. Besides, it's almost Frost Moon, so the tender grass in the old patch is not enough for these guys to eat."

"Then you better be careful, be careful not to encounter wolves~"

Ryan raised his eyebrows when he heard this. He had not forgotten the first time he caught goats in the west. He heard that the master had once fought a pack of wolves alone, and he couldn't help but scare Mary.

Mary's face turned pale when she heard this. If she really encountered a wolf, she, an unarmed woman, might not be able to come back alive.

"Okay, just don't go north from now on."

Luc glared at Ryan, who was showing a bad taste, and turned around to comfort Mary. Mary's face looked much better, but she still kept making the sign of the cross.

Seeing Mary's frightened look, Luc smiled and said that the only part of the Knight's Castle that had not been explored in depth was the west. In addition to the many hills in the west, there were also many resources on the north and south banks of the valley, so there was no need to explore the west. As for the east, that was the road to Cooper Castle, so he had to go.

"There's nothing special over there, just mountains and mountains. Beyond one mountain is a higher mountain."

“But there is one thing.”

Mary suddenly remembered something and took out a reddish-brown stone and handed it to Luc, "Master, I found a stone of this color in the stream at the foot of the mountain over there."

"There are a lot of these rocks. They're almost everywhere on both sides of the creek bottom."

"Stone?"

Luke took it doubtfully, held it in his hands and looked at it. At first he didn't feel anything, but as he observed it longer, an absurd yet true guess suddenly popped into his mind.

Luke's heart trembled violently, and he slowly raised his hand and said, "This is..."

“Iron ore?!”

(End of this chapter)