The World Dragon's Heir

Chapter 738: Lympsbury Report

Four days after the new hires got their domestic help, the first reports from the military approaching Lympsbury came in.

The mages had opened a portal during breakfast, and sent a runner through to give their official reports in person, instead of simply opening a small one to pass through a letter to Dave at the Manor gates.

"Your Grace, we have a report for you," the Knight announced as he entered the main hall, where Dominic was waiting for him.

"Perfect timing. What has the order found?"

The Knight took a deep breath, and brought out a prepared report, along with what looked like a prepared speech.

He was clearly nervous, but he had made preparations to ensure that he didn’t forget anything that should be in the day’s report, even though Dominic or one of the hired staff was about to go through the portal with him to meet with the Nobles and collect their reports in detail.

"The order has found that the farmers southeast of Lympsbury had a lower than average expected yield for their crops during this wet season. Reported estimates were that ten percent of land was not seeded for the season due to weather, and yields were thirty percent below dry season averages expected by both the farmers and the Nobles.

However, those numbers do not put them into the severe drought or crop shortage category.

Bare subsistence after taxes is set at a standard of fifty percent of standardized yields. Crop variety is mediocre, but acceptable, with a higher than average pasture crop return for livestock.

However, there have been increasing reports of banditry and theft by stealth that the Barons have been either slow to address or ineffective at stopping."

The Knight stopped to take a breath, and Dominic nodded.

"That was something that I did expect, and part of the reason that it is your order on patrol, not just the data collectors. Have you found any sign of the cause of the banditry? If it is displaced farmers from Kinewen Province, we can encourage them to go back and move back into their farmsteads."

The Knight took a deep breath. "I’m afraid not. It appears that the majority of the issue is with bandit groups led by deserters from the old City Guards, who were disbanded when control transferred from Dagos to Cygnia.

They have organized groups of loyalists to their cause, and they are hiding in the more remote regions, while using their knowledge of the region to loot the remote farming villages.

The new guards are not as well-trained, and in numerous instances have not been enthusiastic about hunting down deserters who may have grown up with them.

It is the recommendation of the Lord Commander that a military incursion be sent to clear them from the region, or the continued patrol of the Knightly Order be delayed until the issues surrounding Lympsbury can be addressed."

That was the part that he had been nervous to deliver.

They had no set schedule, but he knew that it could be months before they found and eliminated all the larger bandit groups. But they would never find them all.

The locals would take some of them in, or would be pressured into hiding their presence. But in the city, they could blend with the locals, unless they were Dagos Nobles, who the commoners of Lympsbury would simply turn in to authorities for the bounty.

"Alright, I see the issue.

We do still have an entire regiment of Cygnian soldiers here in Wistover, who can be dispatched to assist. Have the Knights gathered intelligence on the possible locations of the bandit groups?"

"A few of them, Your Grace. We eliminated three groups, totalling nearly two hundred men, already. However, that only covers a portion of the issue in one quadrant around the city."

Dominic sighed. "Two hundred bandits is only a portion of the force in the southeast? That’s not even a moderate bandit issue. It’s very nearly an invasion force, if you consider the total number of bandits that are likely to be surrounding the city, and harassing the farmers.

We have soldiers already on patrol as well, and their reports say that they are finding very few bandit groups within Kinewen Province, with nearly no reports of them from the farmers who either remained on their properties or returned to them after the disaster.

I had expected the north to be the worst issue, as the Dagos Nobles only left during the flooding.

However, it appears that many of them might have actually come south to join bandit groups with their Manor guards, instead of returning to Dagos."

The Knight nodded. "The King and the remaining Nobles within Dagos believe them to be deceased during the flooding. We have verified that with the representatives of the Merchant’s Guild as well.

They have been asked by King Gustav to look for bodies or signs of burial for his missing Nobles, so that their resting location can be properly recorded, and dignified burials provided, if necessary."

Dominic hadn’t thought of asking Rill about that. He hadn’t considered that the Nobles who lost lands in Kinewen during the flood had already turned to banditry before he had known that they were even missing.

"Alright, that is another ongoing issue, and a matter of political sensitivity.

Asking a group of common soldiers to take care of it is not going to be optimal. Soldiers talk, and if we send thousands of men out hunting rebel Dagos Nobles, it is going to start talk of the war not being over.

However, I believe that the Knights have a modicum of discretion, and understand that these men, perhaps women as well, are no longer Dagos Nobles, they are deserters who have been stripped of their titles and lands."

The Knight smiled slightly. That was the response that his Commander had been hoping Dominic would give them.

"As your order will be busy in Lympsbury for some time, I will make arrangements for the advisors to send staff to the other cities directly. There will be some coming with your order as well, joining the patrol to record any issues that the locals report.

It appears that your order has done a wonderful job of it so far. However, I am also certain that they will not complain about having someone else do the paperwork portion of the job once they collect the reports."