These Side Characters Have More Important Things To Do

On the next day, Ren Xiyang once again went out with Kel and Maria to distribute the bereavement entitlements. He was a little surprised not to see prince waiting for him.

—Though upon realising that he felt this surprise, Ren Xiyang had to bite back a wry smile. In less than two weeks, he had already started expecting the prince’s presence, almost like a Pavlovian reaction.

The lack of the prince’s presence—and therefore the lack of Count Aegean’s presence—was a good thing. Unlike the few hours spent in Redmond, Ren Xiyang, Kel and Maria spent the entire day travelling to all the relevant local towns and villages in the fief.

By the time they returned to the Rosewood summer manor, it was evening.

Aaron was waiting for them at the manor doors. He had been promoted to steward, while the new scholars Ren Xiyang had hired had taken over teaching duties.

Aaron showed relief upon their return. “My Lord, there are people waiting for you. Knights and footmen from the Capital have arrived, along with some goods you requested.”

Ren Xiyang nodded. He could sense the unfamiliar heat-patterns of the new arrivals. “Kel, Maria, take a break, have dinner. Aaron, lead.”

“Yes, my Lord.”

Aaron took Ren Xiyang to one of the dining halls on the ground floor. There, two knights and three footmen—all men—were having a sumptuous dinner. A few large boxes were stacked in the corner.

“Knights, footmen, Earl Rosewood has arrived,” Aaron announced.

The knights and footmen quickly jumped to their feet. “We meet Earl Rosewood!”

The brawniest knight spoke, “My Lord, my name is Sir Allen Copper, and this is Sir Tielo Russet! We have been sent by Solicitor Carmine to act as your attending knights.”

“And these three footmen are your personal guards,” Sir Tielo Russet added. “Gale, give the Earl the letter.”

“Yes sir.” One of the footmen named Gale quickly retrieved a narrow box from the pile of boxes. He opened it, revealing the neat letter scroll inside.

Ren Xiyang accepted it.

Salutations Earl Rosewood,

Accompanying this letter should be knights Sir Allen Copper and Sir Tielo Russet, along with footmen Misters Gale, Hill, and Payne. They are part of the Rosewood’s branch of the Imperial garrison; however, they have been released to act as your personal guards.

Accompanying them are the Rosewood estate and fief account books from the last five years, along with the salary books containing all the current employees. I have also attached a complete list of the deceased servants and their salaries. They are also carrying a sum of 1000 gold coins for the Earl’s immediate usage.

I have also prepared the funerals as per your order. They can be held in a week’s time at earliest. Please advise via letter.

If there is anything else to request, do not hesitate.

Your faithful servant,

Solicitor Charles Carmine.

Ren Xiyang’s eyes turned complicated towards the knights and footmen. They were all weaker than him…he could literally defeat them with his eyes closed. And their primary skills were combat, which Ren Xiyang didn’t need. He’d prefer another personal assistant than a ‘strong’ man. More people meant more people he needed to manage.

“I don’t need any guard. Join the other Rosewood guards in protecting the manor. One of you can send my return letter to Solicitor Carmine.”

“But my Lord, we are your attending knights, and our purpose is to serve you!” Sir Allen Copper protested.

“You can’t defeat me,” Ren Xiyang said flatly.

Aaron, standing quietly, struggled to keep his face blank. It was true, these knights and footmen—all non-mages—were no match for the Earl even if they tried to attack him from all sides at once.

“But my Lord, at least keep up appearances,” Sir Tielo Russet said weakly.

“I don’t care,” Ren Xiyang countered. He swept his eyes over the five men. “Do you know what the best way to serve me is?” he suddenly asked.

Sir Allen Copper suddenly felt nervous. “Please enlighten me, my Lord.”

“The Rosewood estate will start giving out a free lunch for those in need once a week. You five men can ensure that everyone lines up in an orderly manner.”

Multiple expressions flashed across the knights’ faces. This was absolutely below their station. They were knights, not petty charity guards!

“You can either take this task or join the Rosewood guards. Aaron, help me carry these boxes to my suite. Men, have a good evening.”

“Yes, my Lord!" Aaron rushed forward and took the heavy boxes and followed the earl up to his suite.

And so, the knights and footmen were left in the dining hall.

“This—that—the Earl—” Sir Allen Copper spluttered. He couldn’t pull together words to express all the complicated feelings in his heart.

“What are we going to do?” Gale said nervously.

The men all glanced at each other. “Maybe we should choose to…”

 

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Administration, inextricable from bureaucracy.

Ren Xiyang had a lot of admin to do.

After dinner, Ren Xiyang started flipping through the items that Solicitor Carmine had sent him. The Rosewood fief indeed had a small military unit that was part of the Imperial forces. This unit stayed in the Capital and were entirely financed by the Rosewood fief.

Ren Xiyang left them be, suspecting that their existence was one of the conditions of having a fief.

Instead, he skimmed over everything else, from the accounts to the current employed staff, to gain a quick overview of current state of the estate and fief.

In the next morning, Ren Xiyang did his usual morning exercise and farmland-inspection and then returned back to admin.

He wrote an affirmative letter for Solicitor Carmine, along with a whole new series of tasks for Solicitor Carmine to do. He handed the letter to Aaron, who in turn passed it to the footman Mister Gale to take back to the Capital. Then he returned to the books once more.

As he read, there were several questions at the back of his mind that he wanted answered.

—What kind of people did they have already? He would prefer not to fire people who needn’t be fired, but now that he was Earl Rosewood, the strategic vision of the fief had changed, roles had to be reshaped and people needed to move around. With the people he currently had, what different kind of people did he need to employ?

—How much money was the estate and fief currently bringing in? Was it enough to pay for certain initiatives and plans Ren Xiyang had in mind? Was there any embezzlement and corruption? And if so, could he determine who he should fire?

According to the Rosewood estates’ personal account books, the Rosewood family had a steady income from rent, which was more than enough to sponsor their lavish lifestyle. The Rosewood fief also collected taxes every year, some of which went to the fief and some of which went to the Imperial family and Sedaverian government. The fact that the Rosewood fief and estate had money was the primary reason why Baron Cordovan and Duke Schauss wanted to take it.

However, the amount of money required to support a single family’s opulent lifestyle was not on the same level as the amount required to support all the inhabitants of a fiefdom. Furthermore, Ren Xiyang didn’t have an intuitive understanding of various costs and projects tended to go over budget.

And then there was the charity lunch that Ren Xiyang wanted to run regularly…

 

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As the sun rose towards its peak in the sky, something was happening at the outskirts of the Redmond town. Rosewood carriages and carts came by, dropping off employees and big barrels of something, multiple times.

Numerous tables were set up in the middle of the street along with bench-like seats. Rosewood guards surrounded the area where all the barrels were stored, with a line of tables forming a physical barrier.

Multiple groups of kids watched in interest. After some goading, one child was pushed forward.

“Madams, misters, what’s happening?” the kid asked, constantly glancing back at their friends.

Mrs Cooks smiled. “This is on Earl Rosewood’s orders. We’re to be giving out a free lunch to anyone who needs it.”

The kid opened their mouth. “Um-um—I want—need a free lunch!”

“Then you’ll need to line up. See those two tables on either end? Two lines, go to any line you wish.”

“Yes, Ma’am!”

The news spread quickly. It didn’t take long for two messy long lines to form behind two tables on either end of the table-barrier that separated the people from the barrels. Everyone soon realised that those barrels contained food!

Many of those people pressed against their starving stomachs. The Church of the Saintess gave out a free lunch once every week on the rest-day. Unexpectedly, they didn’t have to wait an entire week for another meal, which was great!

“—Make way for the Earl! Make way for Earl Rosewood!” two knights shouted.

In the end, Sir Tielo Russet and Sir Allen Copper decided to join the Rosewood guard. When they heard that the Earl was heading out to town, they assigned themselves the task of accompanying the Earl.

Ren Xiyang humoured them…because when they arrived at the lunch event location, they were sent to help the other Rosewood guards to keep everything orderly anyway.

The townspeople who lined up couldn’t open their eyes wider in their attempts to look at the new Earl as much as possible. Sure, they had seen him around town before with the prince, but every opportunity was a rare opportunity!

Ahh, the new Earl was just as small as he was a few days ago, and his hair just as black, and his eyes just as red.

Ren Xiyang wasn’t here for fun, though. He was here to work too.

“My Lord, do you want to say a word to everyone gathered here?” Sir Tielo Russet asked fawningly.

Ren Xiyang pursed his lips and then inclined his head in agreement. He may as well take this opportunity. He walked forward.

“Hello everyone. Since you’re gathered here, you can be among the first to hear this.”

Eyes widened. To-be-diners suddenly felt special. Many of them were in lowest levels of society, and yet, here they got to be among the first to listen to the new Earl?

“The laws in the Rosewood fief will be changing.”

Stomachs dropped. That didn’t sound good.

“Firstly, the death penalty will be abolished,” Ren Xiyang said. “However, new laws and rules will be put in place to deal with crimes such as murder, physical and sexual assault, harassment, child abuse, child marriages and so forth. I hope that everyone can remember to respect and have empathy for others, because cooperation is what builds nations.”

Once Solicitor Carmine received his letter, he would be very busy figuring out how to implement these changes for the Rosewood fief.

Ren Xiyang’s words were met with silence. He inwardly smiled wryly. “Until then, enjoy your lunch.” He stepped back and motioned to the employees.

“Yes, my Lord! Come, come, the first thing you need to do is to wash your hands…”

The first few diners stepped forward hesitantly, but once everyone saw and understood this new process, it became a lot smoother.

For this free lunch was very different from other free lunches.

Firstly, they were all forced to wash their hands with soap and water. And then, the bowls of food they were served looked…different. They recognised bread and soup, and the soup was served generously too.

But what was in the soup? There were much more vegetables than they expected, little pieces of minced meat, and unusual cubes of something whitish that the Rosewood servants called ‘tofu’ that was very soft on the inside.

And there was also a ‘chilli’ sauce that they could choose to add. Chillies existed in town, but it more of rare delicacy rather than a commonly known item. Despite the Rosewood servants explaining it, there were some people who put too much and had to drink a stomach full of water.

But the soup was just the right level of warm that it tasted good but didn’t make them feel too hot in the sun, and it was delicious, and importantly, it was free!

Ren Xiyang’s job was to cast a basic water-purification spell he had learnt from Rian the day before, as well as boiling the hand-washing water to sterilise it, before lowering the temperature, all under two minutes. He was also in charge of heating the chilled soup to eating temperature as it was served. As a fire mage, he could both add and remove heat from items.

Fortunately, there was enough food for those who lined up, though next time Ren Xiyang knew they would have to prepare more. However, there wasn’t enough bowls and cutlery, and some had to be hurriedly washed once diners were done to be used by the next person…but the people didn’t seem to care.

He wondered if they’ll care more once they learned about germs too.

 

 

 

 

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Ren Xiyang: The expression when people find out about germs, though… *chef kiss*

Rian: Wait, what?

 

 

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Also, did you know that LinXueLian did some drawings of Ren Xiyang and Rian too? So fashionable!