Free Web NovelChapter 258: Back to Work
Lucas was just about to ask Audrey for some more details on both her garden, and her ’friend’ Kaden, when a runner, dressed in light armour, suddenly came up to him and whispered something into his ear.
Upon receiving the runner’s message, Lucas’ expression immediately turned serious as he nodded, "Understood. Return to your post, we’ll be there soon."
Saluting, the runner turned around and quickly left the banquet hall. freewebnovёl.ƈom
At the same time, Lucas shot Commander Crest a glance, one she acknowledged with a nod before standing up.
"Did something happen?" Audrey asked, a clear tone of nervousness in her voice.
Up until half-a-month ago, Audrey had never really experienced any kind of danger. Most of her life was spent inside Iron Rock, which was guarded by many strong soldiers, and even when she ventured outside the city limits, she had either been with one of her Spirit Initiate relatives, or accompanied by a large number of powerful guards, oftentimes both.
As such, when tens of thousands of refugees flooded into the city, and waves of Wild Beasts began attacking the walls, it was only natural that the sheltered girl began feeling a bit anxious.
No harm had befallen her or anyone she was close with yet, but over the past few days, while accompanying her mother, who was in charge of the Carlson Family’s smithing industries, Audrey had seen plenty of injured and wounded people, some of whom were in serious condition having lost limbs or being permanently crippled.
It was a frightening sight, but one Audrey’s mother insisted she see, telling her daughter that it was a necessary step for her to grow and mature.
Still, although Audrey had been told that Lucas was sent here as an envoy by Marquess Balfour to handle an important task in the city, she hadn’t quite connected that with any kind of danger until just now.
Despite him being even younger than she was, Lucas now had the same expression on his face that Audrey had often seen the strongest members of her family make over the past 17 days before they went off to fight.
Needless to say, the thought of her new friend leaving to face a horde of rampaging beasts frightened Audrey greatly.
Noticing this look of concern, Lucas relaxed his frown slightly and patted the young girl’s shoulder, "Don’t worry, nothing bad happened. It’s just that the ships we were waiting for have arrived, so I have to get back to work."
"Oh..." Audrey breathed a sigh of relief hearing this before nodding and trying to smile, "Okay. Good luck, Lucas!"
Smiling back at her, Lucas replied in turn, "Thank you, Audrey." freeωebnovēl.c૦m
With that said, Lucas quickly trotted over to the head table, said his goodbyes to Count Carlson and the rest of the important people around him, and then made his way out of the hall together with Allina.
.....
Before Lucas even made it back to the guest villa where he was staying, he had torn open the uncomfortable tunic he had been wearing, drawing a somewhat disapproving look from his partner, one that was mixed with what he could swear was a bit of envy.
Unlike Lucas, there was no way Allina Crest could ’undo’ the uncomfortable straps and ties of her dress; not because she was physically incapable of doing so, but because it would have resulted in her becoming half-naked.
Allina might not have a problem bathing together with her new little brother, but exposing herself for the public to see was definitely a no-go, no matter how much she disliked the constricting feeling of what she was wearing.
Rushing back to their rooms, Lucas swiftly changed back into more functional wear before dashing off to the stables behind the mansion.
Meeting up with Allina, who was back in her armour, the two of them rode off towards the city’s main dock which was just a couple of kilometres downstream from the Count’s Manor.
There were 2 major ports in Iron Rock; the main one, where Lucas and Allina were heading, was by far the bigger and could accommodate over 30 large vessels at once. This port was where people, refined goods, and metal products were mostly handled.
The second port, which was located on the western banks of the Belton, was about a third the size and mainly used to receive raw imports from other cities like grain and timber.
Several smaller docks also existed, but they could at most hold 1 or 2 small ships and were basically used as transportation points or fishing spots.
Upon arriving at the main port, Lucas and Allina were greeted by the sight of 10 warships, each of them offloading soldiers of the Raging River Legion.
Quickly realizing that the Vice-General had arrived, the Seventh and Ninth Regiment Commanders hurriedly made their way through the crowds to salute Allina and report on the status of their troops.
A few introductions were made before Lucas took over, issuing instructions to the Commanders and their Captains about the distribution of troops throughout Iron Rock.
It took a moment for these two newly arrived Regiment Commanders to get used to the idea of a boy giving them their orders, but with Allina standing beside him, offering her silent support, neither of them tried to raise any objections.
By the time the 2,000 soldiers from the Raging River Legion had been organized and begun marching out into the city, another warship sailing from the opposite direction had reached the docks, this one containing the administrative staff that had been deployed from Herald City to coordinate the evacuation.
Stepping off the ship, Laura and Joel saluted, with the former asking, "Where do you *urp*"
Covering her mouth, Laura took a second to breath before trying again, "Where do you need us, Boss?"
Looking at his always reliable manager, seeing her sway somewhat unsteadily, Lucas very much wanted to tell Laura to rest for now and then get started in the morning, but unfortunately, there was no time for that.
As for Joel, he didn’t seem sea-sick, but he wasn’t nearly as good a leader as Laura was, even if the latter was having trouble staying upright.
Hardening his heart, Lucas ordered, "I’ve already selected the locations we’ll be using as Evacuation Centres. Get the teams ready and have them assemble in the yard just outside the port’s main entrance within half-an-hour. I’ll have people standing by there to take you where you’ll be working for the next few days."
"Got it, *urp* Boss," Laura nodded, before covering her mouth, trying to hold herself together.
Pursing his lips, Lucas sighed before adding, "Make it an hour, Laura."
"Sorry, Boss," Laura wilted slightly. She really wanted to say she was fine, but it was obvious to anyone who saw her she wasn’t.
Choking down her discomfort, literally, Laura turned around and signaled to her own subordinates to hurry up with the disembarking.
As she was doing so, Lucas quietly whispered to Joel, "Take care of Laura..."
"Will do, Boss Lucas," Joel nodded discretely before moving to join his co-worker.
.....
"You want to split up?" Allina asked one last time for confirmation, her brow raised slightly, "Are you sure that’s wise?"
"You’re the only other person who knows the entire evacuation plan here, Big Sis. We’ll get twice as much done if we do this," Lucas reasoned, "You can handle organizing the ships here at the docks, while I deal with the setting up the Evacuation Centres."
"I understand that, but..." Allina hesitated, clearly worried about something.
"If it’s about Young Master Lucas’ safety, I can take over that role for you," a new voice suddenly called out.
Turning around, Lucas and Allina were surprised to find a familiar old woman standing there, along with a group of elite Carlson Family guards.
"Supreme Elder, what a surprise," Lucas greeted politely, not having expected to meet Elizabeth Carlson here after she had been conspicuously absent from tonight’s banquet.
"I despise those unnecessarily stuffy events," the old woman snorted, seemingly guessing what Lucas was thinking.
Elizabeth gave no further explanation, but from the way she was acting, Lucas guessed she had some bad experiences in the past. Now that she was the highest authority in Iron Rock and no one could tell her what to do, she clearly decided to just do as she pleases.
Whatever the case, it wasn’t his problem, and her presence also alleviated a few of his major concerns, so Lucas put on a smile and bowed, "I would be delighted to have you accompany me tonight, Senior Elizabeth."
"You’ve quite the sweet talker, Young Master Lucas," the Supreme Elder commented, her tone turning teasing, "Is that how you managed to get so close to my little Audrey in just one night?"
"What? No!" Lucas’ face cramped as he waved his hands and tried to explain, "Lady Audrey and I are just friends; besides, she seems interested in someone else..."
"Oh? Does that mean if she wasn’t, you’d be willing to pursue her?" Elizabeth narrowed her gaze and asked pointedly.
"Of course not!" Lucas denied forcefully, but then thought he might be coming off too dismissive, so he hastily added, "I think Audrey is quite lovely, but I also have someon... I mean, I’m far too busy right now to think of..."
Watching Lucas flounder soon drew a burst of laughter from both Allina and Elizabeth. The other adults nearby also looked like they were stifling their amusement, not wanting to offend the boy who was technically their temporary superior.
"Haha, so you can look flustered," Elizabeth Carlson commented, obviously having fun with the whole situation, "That’s a much better look for a boy your age than the one filled with stress you constantly wear, Young Master Lucas."
"Uh... um..." scratching his head, Lucas realized he had been played and let out a sigh, "thank you for your consideration, Senior Elizabeth."
"Good," Allina clapped her hands to bring the brief distraction to a close, "I’ll deal with the port, you deal with the city as you suggested, Lucas."
Composing himself, Lucas nodded, "Got it. I’ll need a Battalion from the reinforcements to assist me."
"Agreed," Allina concurred, "I’ll send them together with Laura and Joel. Good luck."
"You too," Lucas saluted before walking off together with Supreme Elder Elizabeth and her entourage.
