Lucas spent the rest of the afternoon scouting out potential Evacuation Centres. These places had to be large, easily accessible, and preferably highly visited already.
Finding suitable locations wasn’t difficult with the help of the Carlson Family’s Head Steward, the problem was occupying them. For the places owned directly by the local Count, Lucas could simply use the authority he had been granted by Mathias and Elizabeth to seize these properties, but for the privately owned businesses, it was significantly trickier.
This was especially true when Lucas set his sights on the largest marketplace in Iron Rock. Of all the possible locations to set up an Evacuation Centre, this was by far the most ideal as it saw more foot traffic every day than any other location in the city.
The owner of this market, however, was not the Carlson Family, or even a force from the Rockwell Kingdom; it belonged to the Rising Sun rchant Guild.
It took Lucas more than an hour of bargaining to get the Manager in charge of this Guild outpost to agree to ’lend’ him half of the building, and it had not co cheap despite all the haggling he had engaged in.
Nevertheless, Lucas persisted, criss-crossing Iron Rock multiple tis over the course of the day.
In the end, he managed to secure 8 locations to use as Evacuation Centres, which Lucas figured would be enough for the initial phase of the plan. If more were needed later, he would deal with it then when his ’reinforcents’ had arrived.
Right after Lucas finished signing a deal with the owner of what appeared to be an open-air theatre, and he was about to head back towards the Carlson Manor, a group of cavalry that included Commander Jensen rode up to him and dismounted.
After saluting Allina, his superior, Jensen inford them that they had made contact with the ships carrying the Seventh and Ninth Regints of the Raging River Legion and had ordered them to divert to Iron Rock as planned.
As long as nothing went wrong, these troops would arrive in the city soti tonight.
Adding 2,000 elite soldiers to the forces in Iron Rock would be a big boost to its defensive strength and it would also give Lucas so much needed extra manpower; so, overall, the young boy was quite pleased with this news.
Once Commander Jensen was done with his report, he stepped back and allowed a young man to step forward.
Eying this newcor, Lucas guessed he was in his late teens or early twenties, and judging from the elaborately decorated armour he was wearing and how his facial features were 70% similar to Mathias’, it was fairly easy to figure out his identity.
There was also the fact that this youth had what appeared to be a Fifth or Sixth Step Core Formation Realm cultivation, which at his age could only be explained by him being the son of a powerful noble house.
Performing a quick bow, the young man proceeded to introduce himself, "I am Ian Carlson, seventh son of Count Mathias Carlson. I have been instructed by my lord father to summon you back to the Manor to attend the Elder Council’s eting."
In response, Lucas nodded politely, "Thank you for delivering the ssage. Since our work is temporarily complete, we will return right away."
"Good," Ian nodded curtly before turning on his heels, walking back to his horse, and riding off together with his guards.
Watching this group depart, Lucas raised his brow slightly, wondering just what he had done to offend this young man.
Although there was technically nothing wrong with Ian Carlson’s words or actions, they were hardly polite, much less gracious.
Lucas also sensed so slight irritation in the young man’s voice and he did not miss how the Count’s seventh son never once t eyes with him, instead just speaking to Allina who was standing beside him.
"Seems like he doesn’t like you very much," Commander Crest quipped.
What was obvious to Lucas, would naturally not be missed by Allina.
"Seems that way," Lucas nodded as he made his way over to the Cloud Treading Colt he had borrowed for the day.
Why Ian had sothing against him, Lucas had no idea, but while he didn’t like being looked down on, he wasn’t so insecure or immature that he would take offence to such a minor slight.
Hopping up onto his mount, Lucas muttered just loud enough for the 2 Spirit Initiates accompanying him to hear, "So long as he doesn’t cause any trouble, he can think whatever he wants of ."
"And if he does cause trouble?" Allina asked, her brow raised every so slightly.
"Then I report it to his father and let the Count discipline his son," Lucas said flatly, "I don’t have ti to deal with so brat."
Whipping the reins, Lucas rode off in the direction of the Manor.
As for Allina Crest and Jensen, the two of them exchanged a glance before grinning wryly. Although Lucas said he didn’t care about what just happened, it was obvious to both of them that he was feeling a bit peeved.
If that wasn’t the case, the Lucas they knew wouldn’t have spoken so poorly of soone he just t.
It was little monts like this that allowed them to rember that Lucas was still just a 10-year-old boy who had yet to fully mature. Quite frankly, it was refreshing, considering how he normally acted.
Not delaying any longer, the two Spirit Initiates mounted their own horses and spurred them forward, quickly catching up to their young leader.
.....
The eting with the Carlson Family Elders went remarkably smoothly, probably a result of the Supre Elder’s presence.
Ordinarily, Elizabeth Carlson didn’t even attend such etings, so the fact that she deed it necessary to be here and seat herself next to Lucas silently inford the gathered leaders exactly what her stance on this matter was.
With the support of both the Count and the Supre Elder, Lucas only needed 15 minutes to lay out the outline of the evacuation plan, another 10 minutes to answer questions, and then 10 more to divvy up the workload for the next day.
A few of the leaders in the eting hall tried to raise objections at various tis, sotis about costs, sotis about logistics, or even about propriety, but most of these were promptly shut down by Lucas or Allina with logical argunts and hard facts, with Mathias or Elizabeth stepping in only when necessary.
It was clear that so of the Elders present didn’t appreciate being dictated to like this by people they considered outsiders. This was especially true when it was Lucas who was speaking as he was literally a boy, but either out of fear, or respect, they all eventually choked down their indignation and nodded.
Forget the fact that their own family’s Supre Elder was backing Lucas, just knowing that Lucas spoke on behalf of Marques Celestina Balfour was enough to cause even the stubbornest mbers of the Carlson Family’s Elder Council to think twice before rejecting him.
If there was one thing that caught Lucas by surprise about this eting, it was the presence of another special envoy other than himself.
Loyd Drax, a Low-Rank Spirit Initiate and eldest son of Earl Drax, was also in attendance tonight; however, unlike the other noble son Lucas had t today, Loyd listened to what he had to say with great interest.
From the beginning of the eting until its end, Loyd didn’t speak a single word, or ask a single question, he simply observed Lucas curiously, like he was looking at so kind of strange animal.
Honestly, Lucas found it a bit creepy, but knowing he couldn’t show any weakness here, he did his best to ignore this penetrating stare and carry out his mission as quickly and efficiently as possible.
Once Lucas finished with his presentation, Count Carlson brought up a few other issues related to Iron Rock and the County as a whole, getting status updates from his advisors regarding food distribution, public order, finances, and so on and so forth.
This portion of the eting lasted another half-hour, during which ti Lucas sat back and absorbed all the information he could, figuring it would be useful to him in the coming days.
And so, an hour after the eting started, it ca to a close.
Before Lucas could breathe a sigh of relief, however, Mathias made a surprising announcent, "In order to properly welco our guests from afar, and to promote friendly relationships between us, I have arranged a small banquet for tonight. I do hope you will attend, Lady Crest, Young Lord Drax, Young Master Lucas."
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