Chapter 14

A little over a month after they began construction, in the month of January, year 1660, the city was mostly repaired. With the techniques that Jean helped implement, as well as the sheer number of people working on the reconstruction effort, the repair of the city progressed very smoothly. Almost all of the people in need of a home had more permanent housing, most of the roads and bridges were repaired, and the gatehouse’s mechanism was fixed, allowing the portcullis to lift. For the most part, all the work that needed heavy oversight was done, so the Baron decided to allow the native Holensburgers to do the rest by themselves. He wanted to foster an attitude of local participation in government, and the Holenstadter's want to be free from the Empire, so they would most likely be amicable to that idea.

The Klarwasser mercenary company was in the process of packing up their supplies to prepare for the march home. Since they were working in Holensburg for close to six months, their housing was much more permanent, and therefore the process of dismantling everything was quite slow. They needed to take everything apart, their housing was unnecessary and it blocked a major road into the city. Their plan was to ship materials to Bickenstadt and use it for their own infrastructure. The Baron was sitting at his desk thinking about what he should do before he left.

“So...how should I go about this…”

He was idly writing down things he could do to keep the families from revolting again before he was ready for it, and to tell them that he was on their side without directly saying that he planned to rebel against the Empire incase their side of the plot ever got found out. He had been trying to come up with something for several hours now, but nothing he had thought of was acceptable.

“I’m not getting anywhere with this…”

The Baron said out loud to no one in particular. The Baron sighed heavily and stood up from his desk. He realized that he hadn’t eaten in hours, he had woken up and immediately gotten to work. Bothering the chef seemed like a good idea, he most likely had something for the Baron to eat. The Baron barged into the kitchen and knocked down a chef’s assistant holding a tray covered in food, sending it everywhere. A short, stout man wearing a chef’s hat and coat looked over at him and began to scream.

“Che cazzo pensi di fare!? Thata food wasa supposed to go to the Baron!”

The Baron apologized profusely to the servant he ran into and helped him pick up the things he dropped.

“Vaffanculo Stronzo! You havea done enougha! Nowa the Baron willa go hungry!”

The Baron stood up straight and turned to face the man who was berating him in a thick Italian accent.

“I am the Baron von Bickenstadt and Holenstadt, I apologize for…”

He turned to look at the man yelling at him and saw nothing. He looked around the kitchen for a moment, confusion written all over his face.

“Downa here youa dim brute!”

The man was as tall as a child, though about twice as wide, and sporting a thick black beard. He was wearing a chef’s hat and wore a beard net to keep his hair out of the food. His skin was tanned and leathery, covered in countless burns and boils from oil that had splashed onto his face.

“You’re...a Dwarf?”

“What!? Youa never seena a Dwarf before?”

“No, uh, I mean of course I have, It’s just...I wasn’t expecting to see one here.”

It was beginning to sink in that this Dwarf in front of him was Italian. He had a very exaggerated accent, he would sound like Mario were his voice just an octave higher.

“I just came down here to see if there was food, I’ve been working since I woke up and have not had the chance to eat just yet.”

“You’rea the Baron? Whya you comea down to my kitchen? Eh? Go away! Be gonea with you! You’va ruined the meal I wasa gonna send you. Go on, bidea your time and staya the hell out of my kitchen.”

The Baron’s eyes widened and he inhaled sharply, a small smile emerging on his face.

“Say that again please! The part before telling me to get the hell out.”

The Dwarf went back to mixing the soap he was preparing.

“What? Bidea your time?”

“Yes! That’s perfect! Thank you so much!”

The Baron excitedly ran out of the kitchen, leaving the bewildered kitchen staff to clean up the rest of his mess.

“Buona liberazione”

After a couple more days had passed, the Klarwasser Mercenary Company was ready to march home. After spending nearly a year in total away from home, the men were eager to get back to their families. Jean was speaking to the Baron, asking about what he will do when he gets to Bickenstadt.

“Baron...Do you ’ave ‘ousing for me? Where will I live while I am working for you?”

“Oh. I never really thought about that. All of my men already have housing, being native Bickenstadters. Uh, you can just live in Castle Bickenstadt for the time being. I’ll have the servants prepare a room for you when we get back.”

“Bon! And what will I do when I get to Bickenstadt?”

The Baron looked confused.

“We are on vacation when we get back, we have been campaigning for almost a full year now, after all.”

“Well...I ‘ave no been campaigning. I wish to continue working. Is there something for me to do when we reach Bickenstadt?”

“Oh, well, I guess we can do some public works projects. Our roads are in need of repair as of late, and we need to extend our docks and shipyards, as well as generally fixing up infrastructure around the entire province. I can appoint you as the head of the task force handling all of this if you want.”

Jean’s eyes began to sparkle. He looked at the Baron like a child who had just received a new toy from their father.

“Truly!? You would do that for me!?”

“Of course! It needed to be done anyways, and since your work in Holenstadt lives up to the fairly high Elven reputation for infrastructure, then I would want it done as soon as possible. All I ask is that you learn the architectural stylings of Bickenstadt and the surrounding towns and villages and keep your buildings as consistent to the surrounding projects as possible.”

“I love nothing more than learning about new styles of architecture! This is the best assignment I ‘ave ever been given!”

Jean embraced the Baron like a child hugs their parents. The Baron awkwardly patted Jean’s shoulder.

“Glad you are pleased with your assignment.”

After the Baron’s forces left Holenstadt, the great families and a representative of the Ironworkers guild met to discuss how to move forward. They had purposefully excluded the Komorowski family from their discussion.

“Well, after the show the Empress put on of destroying our city, we do not wish to stay in the Empire, of that I believe we all can agree.”

Said the representative of the Aleksandrowicz family, Aleczandr Aleksandrowicz, to which he received a nod from everyone present.

“We should revolt! And we should do it soon!”

“Krysia, I completely agree, but I believe we should be a little wary for the moment. Let us wait until the Empress has mobilized the Grand Imperial Army elsewhere. It will be harder for her to respond to us, giving us even more time to prepare! Does that sound like a plan?”

Everyone in the room nodded, with the exception of the Ironworkers Guild representative, Krakowic.

“I do wish to leave the Empire, but what guarantee do we have that you will not destroy our guild? As much as we dislike the Empire, their policies have protected us from you lot so far, to an extent.”

“We can revolt against the Empire with or without you. Why should we work together on this one?”

The Ironworker’s representative smiled slyly.

“Because if we receive no guarantee of our safety we are prepared to throw our lot in with the Empire, cultural assimilation or not. Are you prepared to slaughter two million or so of your own people just to spite a group who works to protect our common man? Are you able to withstand the the Empire’s guys without the help of a third of our population?”

The other representatives looked at each other and quickly discussed what to do in hushed whispers.

“...Well…”

“Don’t worry! Take as much time you need! It’s not like we’re discussing treason or anything, we've got all the time in the world.”

“...Fine. We will guarantee your guild’s safety. We will not destroy you as soon as we get the chance.”

“We will have to discuss terms at a later date, specifics to write into law that'll make sure you will not go back on your word.”

“Fine, fine. But let it be known, you will receive no preferential treatment. And now, we shall discuss stra-”

A servant entered the room, making Aleczandr pause. He looked over at the servant angrily, but quickly caught himself. He smiled pleasantly, but the smile never reached his eyes.

“My good sir, what could possibly inspire you to interrupt our meeting?”

“We-we just received letters from the Baron! I-I-I w-was told to deliver them to all of you immediately!”

The servant passed around the letters and quickly shuffled out of the room. The representatives opened their letters.

“Does...does yours say what mine says?” Aleczandr showed them his letter. The other representatives nodded their heads and showed each other their letters. In big bold letters was written a single phrase. Bide. Your. Time.