The Revitalized Patrol Station
The day after Elina joined us, she set off early in the morning to greet the lord at the Tryon family mansion.
After finishing the morning farmwork I had been helping with, I returned to the patrol station and began pondering a certain issue.
"I need to prepare another room."
The patrol station, which could be called our base of operations, was a two-story building.
The living space was on the second floor—by the way, there were four rooms in total.
One room was being used as a storage space, so it wasn’t in a condition for someone to live in. Since my room was already occupied, that left two rooms available.
Both rooms seemed to have originally been prepared as guest rooms, and beds were already set up in them. Though they were quite worn out, the villagers had told me, "Just let us know, and we’ll fix them up anytime," so I decided to take them up on their offer this time.
By the way, due to the sudden nature of Elina’s arrival yesterday, I hadn’t had time to clean up the rooms properly. I let Elina sleep in my bed while I spent the night on the sofa downstairs.
Elina had considerately offered to share the bed, but that would’ve been inappropriate, so I politely declined.
So, I asked the villagers to repair the beds.
As soon as I did, the news spread like wildfire throughout Curtis Village, and villagers began gathering in front of the patrol station one after another. This must be what they call the rural information network.
The men suggested not only repairing the beds but also reinforcing the floors and walls and replacing the furniture. Meanwhile, the women began preparing to clean the patrol station.
Of course, I joined in as well.
—But it turned out to be quite the heavy labor.
To gather the wood needed for the new furniture, I headed into the forest with several villagers… but I had no idea cutting down trees would be so exhausting. I’d always imagined it would be tough work, but experiencing it firsthand made me truly understand how grueling it was.
Honestly, I was confident in my physical strength since I’d been training regularly.
But even I was completely worn out, so I have nothing but respect for the professionals who do this for a living.
We loaded the lumber onto a cart and had the oxen pull it back to the patrol station.
By then, the village women had already made significant progress with the cleaning.
The windows, which had been cloudy, were now sparkling clean, and every nook and cranny had been thoroughly scrubbed. They even started working on a flower bed and a small vegetable garden.
"Young people’s diets tend to be unbalanced, so it’s good to grow your own vegetables here."
"If you need seeds, just let us know. We’ll share whatever we have in the village."
"Thank you so much for everything."
They were so generous… I really couldn’t thank them enough.
After that, the furniture-making began using the wood we’d gathered.
According to Village Chief Ganun, most of the furniture used in the village households was handmade like this. No wonder everyone was so skilled, even if they weren’t professional craftsmen.
We took a lunch break in the middle of the work, and as we continued—
"Senior!"
Elina returned after greeting the Tryon family.
When I turned around, I saw not only Elina but also several carriages… It seemed the lord had come for another inspection.
I headed over to Lord Doyle, who had stepped out of the carriage, and bowed deeply.
"Lord Doyle, what brings you here today?"
"My work was done early, so I thought I’d come see how the village is doing."
As always, he was a free-spirited man.
But there was no doubt that his care for his people was among the greatest in the kingdom.
As proof, the children, who had somehow heard of Lord Doyle’s visit, gathered around him in no time, quickly surrounding him.
"It’s good to see you all looking so lively!"
"We just saw you the other day!"
"Hahaha, I suppose that’s true."
No matter how many times I saw it, it was hard to believe this was a conversation between a lord and his people.
The nobles I’d interacted with before never showed such warm smiles to their people—not even to their own families. The nobles near the capital were always caught up in power struggles. Even in their own mansions, they couldn’t let their guard down. You never knew where a spy might be lurking—betrayal could even come from within the family.
The first time I saw this, I was taken aback, but I’d come to feel that this kind of relationship was how things should be. Of course, getting too familiar could be dangerous, but both Lord Doyle and the villagers seemed to understand that balance well.
Even Brough, the butler standing behind him, showed no signs of intervening.
It was proof that a solid trust had been established.
"Wow!? The patrol station looks so clean now!?"
While I was watching the heartwarming scene between Lord Doyle and the children, Elina’s voice suddenly rang out right beside me.
Oh, right.
I needed to explain the newly renovated patrol station to her.
By the way, the village men were discussing throwing a party to celebrate the completion, saying, "Let’s drink the night away!"
… Are we drinking again?
What do you think about this chapter?
