Chapter 72

Without escalating the argument, Sergey walked over to his scouts.

"Today we'll survey the territory on this side of the river. Tomorrow, on the other. Try not to miss anything. Examine the land carefully. This side of the road is marshy in places. That means we have our first valuable resource — peat. That's good. We need to look for others. Collect any interesting stones. We must thoroughly survey everything."

Meanwhile, Olga went to her people, pulled out writing materials, and began sketching a map of the area.

"Measure everything here. We must try to preserve as many trees as possible."

She liked the new place. True, the men had already urinated everywhere here. What a habit they'd picked up lately! They'd piss on every bush and wander around contented, laughing like little kids. They're just goats! I could kill them all!

In the morning, they set off for the town in the same composition.

"Serega (Sergey), do you ever sleep at all?"

"At times, here and there. Last night, for instance — with a maid," joked the scout.

"But seriously?" Alexander persisted.

"And seriously, if we return now, I'll collapse into sleep. And if anyone wakes me up — I'll kill them."

"Agreed. What did you learn from the maid?"

"That she likes taking it in her mouth."

Eugene laughed.

"An underslept vampire is a particularly nervous and irritable creature, dangerously so in its natural habitat," he mimicked the voice of Nikolay Drozdov.

Sergey, grim-faced, couldn't help but laugh too.

"I didn't learn anything interesting for you. Just the usual town gossip and some information about the city that the warriors didn't know. It'll be useful in my work. By the way, I won't be going with you to the baron. I'll drop by a tavern where his son often frequents. I'll try to strike up a conversation with him and inadvertently scratch him."

"A sound idea," Alexander approved his friend's plans.

This time, they were let into the city without delays.

Unfortunately, today they not only had to conclude an agreement with the baron but also deceive him. The taxes he specified were quite humane; the city knights or the count extorted much more from the peasants, but the hunting taxes were exorbitant.

They needed to reduce the number of hunters in the village. Starting business relations with deceit was not desirable at all. Alexander comforted himself with the thought that he would reimburse it when possible; although deep down, he knew he would not only reimburse but catch up and reimburse several times over.

"How many people do you have?"

The baron's steward, a cunning, brisk figure of indefinite appearance, sat at the table with papers and filled them out. The baron's bureaucracy was on a grand scale.

"Two hundred eighty people, including myself," Alexander decided not to mention the prisoners.

Next was a breakdown by women, men, and children. The number of livestock was determined. Four horses in total! Magical abilities? We don't have any of those. Damn it, you little pimple, instead of magical abilities! And a series of other questions.

After the survey procedure, the contract itself was drawn up. Or rather, it had been drawn up yesterday as soon as the baron received word that the location chosen by the strangers suited them. Today, they simply recorded the total number of people in the new village and asked how he wanted it to be named.

"I don't see a reason to change the name. Let it remain as it is."

"Then we'll record it as Forest," the steward pronounced.

Finally, the contract was signed. Between Baron Savoyardi and the free elder Es'Blood, an agreement was concluded regarding residence on the baron's lands, payment of taxes to him, adherence to the laws of the barony and duchy, as well as loyalty to the baron as the lord of the local lands and compliance with his directives that corresponded to local laws. The parties guaranteed the observance of each other's rights. The boundaries of the settlement were strictly stipulated.

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