Chapter 333: Royal Infrastructure Group
Dominic laughed at the panicked look on the man’s face. Being sent to plead with a Princess to modify her request was never a fun situation, and he didn’t know Alexis on a personal level, only her reputation as strong-willed and violent.
"Don’t worry about it too much, she is quite reasonable. However, she is currently meeting with Prince George, and they have a lot of catching up to do. They were close in her childhood, you see." He explained.
The Engineer nodded. "Yes, I recall that he was often in the Capital. That is quite alright, we will work on the plans for the next few days, and then propose the full renovation of the Manor to her requested specifications.
That was the mission assigned to team one."
Dominic patted the man on the shoulder. "You have been given quite the honour, redesigning an entire Manor to suit one of the King’s favoured daughters. But I am certain that you are up for it.
If you need, you can take the time to explore the grounds, just watch out for the goats. They are a bit territorial."
He would warn them to watch out for the Blink Cat, but if they couldn’t figure that much out on their own, a warning wouldn’t help them.
"By the way, how many men did you bring, in total?"
"One hundred men, all Mages or Techno Wizards. We also brought tools, some materials, and other essentials for our stay here."
Dominic sighed. "Then we have an additional problem. We don’t have a hundred residences open yet. There might be half that many open units in the apartment blocks, but they’re mostly made for singles or couples who do not yet have children.
The units for small families were snapped up right away."
The Engineer shrugged. "It’s not a worry. They can set up bedrolls on the floor until they build another apartment block. It’s better than spending the first week in a tent, especially if the apartment has a proper privy and a shower.
You should see some of the horrid conditions that we exist in while doing road work through rural holdings."
Dominic chuckled. "A nice wet bed along the roadside while you wait for a storm to pass?"
"Don’t forget the mud, the layered animal dung ground in and pushed off the old road, and the angry travellers who have to bypass us while hurling insults as we work." The engineer agreed.
"Or when they make us rebuild bridges that are still under siege, or try to engineer our way through the southern swamps, despite the fact that they have been told that there is no realistic way to set a roadbed." One of the other men added helpfully.
Dominic laughed. "They didn’t ask what was realistic, they asked for a road."
The two men both rolled their eyes. "That’s exactly what the minister of infrastructure said to us when we told him that the road was impossible."
"How did that end?"
The engineer shrugged. "The road now runs around the perimeter of the swamp, and there is no direct route from Hertbury to Biverlow."
"Alright, I will let everyone get started on their work. Julio has a list of vacant units that they can choose from, and you can decide how they are to be arranged while the next round of housing is decided.
Will there be families joining the men?" Dominic replied.
"Some of them. Normally, a portion of the men choose to stay behind, while the majority move on to the next project.
Some jobs lose more men than others, either to injury, illness or marriage. It’s somewhat inevitable. The work pays decently well, and the signing bonus can be enough to settle with a wife in a newer house or small farmstead.
That’s all most common men are after, anyhow." The old man replied with a casual shrug.
"Ah, so the team is mostly men from small towns, who didn’t find a wife at home?"
"Precisely."
Dominic smiled at the few men who remained after the others departed to get started on their tasks.
"How about we go see the Princess? She should be ready for us by now." Dominic suggested, after seeing that one of her maids was waiting by the door.
They were just about to respond when Julio came running in.
"My Lord, there are more visitors incoming. A whole flotilla of airships with the Axbridge Royal Emblems on them." He gasped.
Dominic sighed. "How did everyone make it here without anyone noticing?"
The Castellan just shrugged. "If they flew straight here from Witheton, there are no towns along the route. Well, no major ones. So, they likely flew right between Causter and Lympsbury above cloud cover, and nobody reported their presence."
Dominic sighed. "Gentlemen, we will have at least one more project to add. We are going to need long-range monitoring abilities, so we can at least see people coming.
And Julio? Please inform the Princess that she needs to contact the King. Unless she is going to be our Envoy for this meeting, they will have to send someone. I will go meet our guests."
"We brought mechanical horses as gifts for yourself and the Princess. You can collect one from the airships on your way by. The cargo handlers will certainly still be busy." The engineer suggested.
"You know exactly what a man needs. But I have forgotten your name."
"Marcos, Your Grace. Royal Engineer Marcos."
Dominic nodded and walked away, then once there was nobody watching, he began to jog toward where the first batch of airships had landed.
The cargo handlers were marshalling in the new fleet, but it was much larger than the group from Cygnia.
They had a total of fifty ships, all massively oversized. Dominic’s keen eyes could tell that they were not attack vessels, but bulk troop carriers. So, Axbridge had most likely brought a force equivalent to what Mitfield had sent, and now the hosts were the last to arrive.
A bit embarrassing, but at least they weren’t lacking for a ranking host. With a Princess and Duke, they had Noble courtesy covered, even if they were lacking in facilities.
Unless the King of Axbridge had come in person.