The World Dragon's Heir

Chapter 436: Keep Your Trolls

The trolls nodded happily. "There are witches in our group. Not as cute as the Garden Elf, or as strong. We visited some of them today."

Betty smiled. "I suppose Dominic wouldn’t be looking for magic or prying into anyone’s personal business. But it’s good to know that there are at least a few who can make potions."

The troll looked confused. "Not potion witches. Sparkly stick witches."

"Oh, Techno Witches. That makes sense, then. Those will also be helpful around town, as they can fix things that others think are not fixable."

The troll smiled at her. "Yep, yep. They fix all the things. We’re Dave, and you can call us when you need to move heavy things. I saw you by the soldiers today with a heavy wagon."

"I will let the others know."

"Oh, before we go. If your Coven Leader knows a spell similar to Bee Swarm, but with Locusts or something similar, I would be interested in purchasing a spell gem from her." Dominic added.

The witch looked confused. "What would you even need that for?"

"Combat, of course. Having bees is good. But having locusts would work too."

Betty smiled. "I will let her know. And warn you not to forget that the spell can also be used to pollinate the crops. If there aren’t enough natural bees in the area, you can supplement them to get the crops growing well."

Dominic hadn’t known that the spell had a valid and practical purpose. He had assumed that it was there simply to harass trespassers with a swarm of bees.

Somehow, that made it less fun.

Alexis and her group were back before Dominic and his group returned to the house. They had gathered all the information that they needed, and they had an even more extensive list for the residential map than Dominic did.

All his stops had been farms, so it was just a list of population and location that he had made. As they had said when they arrived, they didn’t have any special trades that they wished to share.

Though, he likely should have asked if there were magicians in the family, as the Trolls had said there were Techno Witches on the farms.

"Good, you’re back. Now, we can talk about how you plan to teach fifty trolls who can barely read their own name to be Ducal Guards." Alexis declared the moment that Dominic was back inside.

"Well, they’re pretty good at memorizing rules, and they figured out patrol routes for the wall all on their own, I’m thinking that they’re halfway there.

They might never be elite swordsmen, but they can beat a Hobgoblin to death with their bare fists.

My thought is that I should give them a rulebook, a uniform and some new clubs.

Once they have that much, they’ll be able to figure it out from there." Dominic suggested.

"You do know that the Ducal Guard is supposed to do things like welcome guests, protect them in public, and attend formal events, right?" She countered.

"So, we can keep a few who are not trolls. I still think that fifty Mountain Trolls is the best defensive force that we could have hired to defend the Manor itself.

Plus, you said welcoming guests. They love welcoming guests."

The maids giggled quietly. Yes, the Trolls did love welcoming guests, and strangers, and everyone else.

Colonel Wilkes cleared his throat to get their attention. "You know, they can be taught formal rituals, right? They’re not as dumb as they sound when they are speaking. Once you’ve taught them something or given them instructions, they will follow them perfectly nearly every time.

I went to check on them earlier, and talked to their mother for a while. She knows their limitations, and she is confident that they can do the job.

The only warning that she had was that you can’t ask them to let people bully them.

If someone insults them enough, they’ll just squish them."

"See, perfect." Dominic agreed.

The maid shrugged. "He’s got a point. You can’t fault a Mountain Troll for doing what comes naturally, and if someone is dumb enough to upset an armed troll that size, the world is better off without them."

Alexis pinched the bridge of her nose. "You know what? I’m going to go talk to the Mages and have them send someone over to train the Trolls. If anyone can do it, it’s them. Then, they can send over a few handlers to do the formal parts that aren’t possible for a three-metre tall troll."

"I knew that this would all work out in the end. It’s not such a big deal. Besides, they’re great defenders. They can use earth and nature magic, so they can make boulders to throw at attackers. That’s got to be nearly as good as extra cannons." Dominic added.

Alexis relented with a smile. "Fine, keep your Trolls. I’ve already ordered them new uniforms from the Tailors anyhow. You can take care of the rest of their equipment."

"Does it have name tags? Dave wanted name tags."

Alexis rolled her eyes at him. "Oh, I am well aware of Dave’s desire to have name tags on the shirts. And that the ones for the cooks need to be stain resistant, and that the cooks are Larry, not Dave. And that they can speak to goats."

"Sheep too, apparently. They were quite fond of the flock. But don’t forget that they like soup. That’s a very important fact." Dominic agreed.

The maids laughed at his serious response, and the way that one of the trolls stuck his head in the open door at the mention of the word soup.

He retreated to his post just outside the porch when he realized that the people weren’t discussing dinner, and Dominic winked at Alexis.

"See, it’s the magic word."

"Alright, I believe you. Now, you should catch up on the Duchy’s paperwork, your desk is a disaster zone, and that’s with me doing the majority of it for you." Alexis chided him.

"Right, paperwork. I forgot that it won’t go away just by ignoring it."