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Chapter 3 Plans
While the screen had accompanied him since the very beginnings of his memories in this world, Schaf had no possibility of confirmation, nor did he have a guarantee that the screen told the truth to him.
It could have been a hallucination due to his yearning for the past.
Besides, the words on the screen were not precise enough. Much testing was required to see how big of an impact these blessings were and how he should build his territory around them.
If the blessings were capable of elevating the resources within his territory or the goods produced by his craftsmen or artisans by a significant degree, then not planning around the blessings was a foolish mistake.
While technology usually advanced at a steady pace, Schaf was not sure whether or not Westeros followed the same principles. After all, magic and mystic forces influence the world of Westeros.
Dragons, flying humongous beasts that could fly and incinerate castles, existed. So did necromancy with zombies, giants that towered over houses, and possible witches, sorcerers, and warlocks.
'Now... being a tiny lord, ruling over my small piece of land at the arse of nowhere with no trouble sounds quite good.' Smiled Schaf as he tried to sit comfortably on the cushions he used in order to use the chair for adults.
"Corban!" Shouted Schaf with a loud, childlike voice. Immediately, the sounds of footsteps could be heard as the elderly man hurriedly walked into the room.
"What can I do for you, my lord?" Asked the elderly man with a slight bow.
"Do we have a census?" Spoke Schaf as he pondered where he should prioritize his focus.
"A... a census? My Lord, I have never heard of it." Answered Corban with slight confusion on his face.
Schaf slightly frowned, as this would make it much harder to gain workers. If he had a census, he could simply force every family that was slightly bigger to contribute one able worker and let him work for a salary on his projects without impacting the overall performance of the farm or trade that the family practiced.
"Then how did fa… the past lord gather enough workforce to build stuff?" Asked Schaf with an unhappy gaze that looked rather adorable.
"He simply asked me to gather the smallfolk and then pay them in accordance to their contribution." Replied Corban with a confident tone. "What do you want to build?"
For a moment, Schaf pondered. While this didn't seem organized, it would work. The question he asked himself was whether or not this would be good in the long term.
For that, Schaf didn't have to ask himself about impossible, solvable moral dilemmas. Instead, he faced Corban, the administrator, and stated his will.
"Corban, I would like you to go around and create a household registry. Something that I call the census. It doesn't have to be precise and count every cattle, dog, or chicken the smallfolk possesses. Simply write down their family name and what they are composed of, such as child, youth, able-bodied, or old. Also write down their occupation and where they live."
Pulling out a piece of parchment and a quill, Schaf quickly drew an example table of what he wanted. Consisting of family name, a bigger column for the number of people, the occupation of the people, and where they lived.
For a short moment, Schaf thought about whether or not he had everything. A quick thought made him divide the place where they lived into two sections: village and village district.
A moment later, Schaf scrapped the idea of such precise counting and simply left it at where they lived.
Showing Corban the example, Schaf smiled at the table, which would hopefully give him enough information about the smallfolk that he ruled over.
"My Lord, there is a problem with the household registry that you want." Spoke Corban with a hint of hesitation in his voice.
Turning towards the administrator with confusion, Schaf pondered about it for a short moment.
'Was the table too complicated? Was something missing? Or was it not possible due to a lack of resources?'
"What is the problem, Corban?" Asked Schaf as he mentally checked his connection to Corban, which was still there. He could even feel the connection to Arrel, who probably did the usual patrols around the territory.
"Smallfolk don't have family names, my lord. Family names are reserved for noble houses." Explained Corban with a simple tone.
Baffled by the newfound knowledge, Schaf didn't know what to say.
"But instead of using family names for the household registry, we could use the building in which they live. Most of the people living in your territory are quite familiar with the town. For those living in the hamlets of Woolsheep town, we could use their preferred calling of the hamlet in order to differentiate between the hamlets." Suggested Corban with a helpful tone.
Nodding at the helpful advice, Schaf changed the table by scraping the family name column. Now only the number of people, occupation, building, and hamlet/Woolsheep town remained.
Giving the example table to Corban, Schaf smiled. "Thank you, Corban, for the advice."
"It is an honor, my liege." With a slight bow, Corban took the example table and walked out of the room.
With him soon being able to gather a basic understanding of the potential workforce he could garner without impeding the process of the smallfolk working on the farms, Schaf now needed to decide where he would put his focus first.
As his territory possessed a natural harbor that could protect ships from harsh weather and slow down their withering process, building a small port and spreading word would immediately give him the possibility of free-spirited maritime merchants stopping at his town.
He could also build small fishing vessels that could improve the nutrition of his people, provide jobs, and ensure food even with a bad harvest. Schaf could also experiment with the minor sea blessings of the old god.
On the other hand, building roads was necessary for the long run and would provide immediate benefits. It could take months or even years before a maritime merchant would try out his harbor once he spread word. Not to mention the competition with the White Harbor of House Manderly.
Roads would ensure that people could travel better, faster, and with less energy spent. Meaning that his people would start to travel to the hamlets surrounding Woolsheep Town or from the hamlets to Woolsheep Town.
He could then capitalize on the trade and the travel by taxing and creating some sort of festival with food, games, and dances. Building community spirit and earning money.
The decision wasn't easy. Schaf leaned towards the roads, as they would provide an immediate benefit and were certainly still usable later on. A small port built with wood, on the other hand, would degrade over time and would be useless when not used.
However, it would also enable him to use the greatest wisdom that he possessed. Building ships.
For a short moment, Schaf hesitated. He wanted to build ships. They were his passion in the past. He could also start on two projects at the same time. As the lord of the territory, the projects that he wanted to build would be built.
Taking a deep breath, Schaf shook his head. Regardless of how much he wanted to build ships, building roads in the beginning would lay a solid foundation for future projects.
Dipping a quill into ink, Schaf pulled out a page of parchment and started to write out the plan for the roads. First, it had to connect Woolsheep Town to all of the nearby hamlets. The roads did not have to connect to a single farm or people living in solitude. Secondly, the roads had to start in Woolsheep town and expand akin to arms.
Before Schaf could write the third point, he stopped. Planning everything in detail would restrict him and, in every case, not work as he wanted to. It would be better to write points that he wanted to do and then do them as best as he could.
'A large plaza for festivals is a must. Also, the roads must connect to the natural harbor and future port of Woolsheep town.'
After noting down the plan of building a large plaza for Woolsheep town and the prioritization of a road to the future port, Schaf looked at the notes he had written and stayed silent. This would be the general plan for the development of his territory in the near future.
Now, his body asked for sustenance, and he knew it would be foolish not to listen. He was a young, growing boy.
With small steps for an adult and the confidence of a medieval noble, Schaf stepped outside his working room. He had truly earned the feast that he was about to indulge in.
The first person greeting him was Corban, the elderly administrator of the territory.
Stopping for a short moment, Schaf smiled. He had given the prior command that one of his two followers would always accompany him. Either Corban, the elderly administrator, or Arrel, the de facto master at arms of House Woolsheep.
'It seems that the weird control mechanism I possess doesn't limit their thought process.' Thought Schaf with a hint of relief. Having smart, loyal puppets was certainly better than having dumb, loyal puppets. 'On the other hand...'
"Come with me!" Commanded Corban towards the eight men he controlled. They all simply nodded and picked up their weapons.
With Corban and eight armored men in tow, Schaf walked towards the kitchen of the small castle.
'You gain some, you lose some. At least the commanders still possess their intelligence and wisdom.' Thought Schaf as his group bypassed some of the castle servants, who slightly bowed in order to show respect. Mostly towards Corban.
Bypassing the stables, Schaf could see how a middle-aged stable hand rushed towards Corban with a flattering facial expression.
"Ser Corban. Sorry to bother you. I wanted to report the current situation of the stables to you. There are no problems, and the horses are all healthy. One of the mares even gave birth to a healthy foal last week."
"Good to hear that, Jon. I think this will make our Lord quite happy." Replied Corban with a smile.
Only now did the stable hand turn his attention to the young child. "Obviously, Ser Corban. It is an honor to bring prosperity to the house of Woolsheep."
"Continue to do your good work." Praised Corban with a nod before excusing himself. "However, I have to excuse myself as the kitchen awaits me."
Seeing that Corban smiled and praised him, the stable hand named Jon happily moved back to his work.
With thoughtful eyes, Schaf watched the stable hand leave before turning his attention towards the kitchen of the small castle.
The head cook was an old lady called Gwinchell. Seeing that Schaf approached the kitchen door alongside Corban and his men, Gwinchell quickly walked outside and swooned over Schaf.
"Is everything alright, my young lord? What has brought you here?" Asked Gwinchell with a kind smile as she looked at Schaf.
"I am hungry." Replied Schaf in a blunt manner. He wanted food.
"We also would like to have some food." Added Corban as he pointed to him and his men.
By now, the commotion in front of the kitchen had caused the kitchen workers to try and get a glimpse of what was happening. The kitchen servants mostly consisted of women. Schaf could see a couple of familiar-looking middle-aged women, one or two men responsible for stocking up inventory, and one or two children who looked like apprentices trying to learn the craft.
Food was brought out and served on a wooden table that was carried out of the kitchen. The food consisted of steaming hot stew, white bread, and dried meat. Jugs filled with water were brought out. The tableware consisted of wooden spoons, wooden bowls, and wooden plates.
A small knife was used to cut the bread and the dried meat. However, considering the young age of Schaf, Gwinchell personally cut the dried meat into small strips.
Smiling Schaf quickly began to feast on the food. The stew tasted amazing as he dipped the white bread into it. The strips of dried meat were salty yet enhanced the natural flavor of the bread and the stew.
Before the meal was finished, the sound of hooves clattering on the ground could be heard as nine men rode into the small castle.
"My Lord, we have returned from our patrol. Nothing out of the ordinary." Reported Arrel as he dismounted from his horse.
Quickly, the kitchen servants brought out more food as the stable hands, including Jon, took over the horses.
"Please prepare nine fresh horses for me and my men. We are going outside soon." Stated Corban as he took another spoonful from his wooden bowl.
Nodding, the stable hands lead the tired horses towards the stable.
Before Corban could finish his meal and depart on the task of creating a household registry, another idea popped into the mind of Schaf.
"When you go out, Corban, could you purchase twenty sheep? I doubt that creating the household registry can be done within a single day."
"Of course, my lord." Spoke Corban as he finished his meal.
The last preparation Corbans made was to fill the saddlebag with parchment, ink, and multiple quills.