The World Dragon's Heir

Chapter 515: Getting Them Wet

Once the runner was gone, Dominic had the airship crew assemble.

“Ladies, I am trusting your sense of direction on this. Once all your airships are tied down and secured away from the docks, escort these ladies to the Sheriff’s office.

Here is a map.

Sheriff Nate will arrange for the ladies to stay among the commoners, who will provide them lodging for a minimal fee. He knows who has space, and who is unsuitable to allow a young lady to stay with.

That’s what we can do for those who didn’t bring supplies.

My apologies for not having enough housing, but with over a thousand new arrivals, and Wistover already overcrowded, we’ve been hard-pressed to get supplies.”

The ladies looked relieved that Dominic at least had a plan that was better than having them share a bed with one of the other debutantes.

That was how a lot of these events ended when the guest list was long.

Either they would share a bed, or they would cycle their schedules, so one would go to bed as the other got up to get ready for the day. That also gave them opportunities to meet different men who were also splitting their schedule.

The ladies who needed rooms left, and Dominic turned to the ladies who were from Titled Families.

“Would anyone be horribly offended if I had Dave escort you to the Manor? He’s quite personable, but not the best with detailed questions.”

One of the ladies shook her head.

“I am certain that it will be fine. My father, the Duke Tarleigh, often hosts such high attendance events, and while Tarleigh is thirty thousand strong, we still struggle to house everyone,” she explained.

“Wonderful. The veiled maids will meet you near the gates. Dave, just two will be enough to escort me, the rest of you can take the ladies back. Help them out if there are any deep puddles.”

Dave nodded eagerly. “Got it. No letting them get too wet. No, no letting them get their feet too wet. By the time we get there, we will all be wet.”

Dominic was about to ask what the troll meant, but a crack of thunder marked a rapid increase in the rain, and sent all the ladies digging for umbrellas in their storage cubes.

“The weather has been entirely too predictable this week. However, we have the courtyard covered for outdoor events, so you may enjoy the party in comfort.

Now, everyone else, please follow me.

Quickly, if you will. The rain won’t let up any time soon, so it’s best to get you all settled.”

In their finery, running was not an option, but Dominic led the ladies as quickly as possible to the warehouse, where a member of the infrastructure team was waiting for them, along with a few members of the Merchant’s Guild.

“Your Grace, we came to offer the ladies anything that they needed. We got in a shipment of tents and bedding just this morning. If they are short on anything else, the main warehouse is just at the end of the street, only a few hundred metres away, past the gentlemen’s apartments.”

That caught the ladies’ attention.

“Gentlemen’s apartments?”

“Four to a dorm, somewhat crowded, but we did our best to repurpose the small apartments into housing for the men, so that the titled ladies could all fit in the Manor grounds.” Dominic explained.

The ladies smiled. That meant that they passed right by the men on their way to every event.

“How deep is the mud? Should we plan to attend with knee boots?” One of the ladies asked.

“Ankle boots are fine. All the roads in town are stone, thanks to the Royal Infrastructure team.”

The ladies looked relieved, and Dominic saw a few curious gentlemen gathered near the door, eager to ’help’ in any way that they were needed.

“I am hoping that everyone can find a room in this warehouse. There is a second level, so please set tents for privacy with minimal walking space, and share space where possible.

By the door, there are buckets of nails to anchor tent ropes to the wooden floorboards.”

That was the cue for the Noblemen to swoop in.

“Ladies, if we can relieve the Duke of the duty, we will gladly help you set up your quarters. We have extensive experience in the subject, as we were stationed along the Dagos border with the Regular Regiments.” A tall blonde bachelor offered.

Dominic backed away as the conversation turned to flirting, and the rest of the nearby Noblemen came in to help set tents.

“Merchant, can you help them arrange the space? If they need to expand into the next warehouse, just let the guards know and help them move.

Be aware that we do have entirely too many more ladies coming to the region.

More than we will be able to house, even with the new buildings going up.”

The Merchant chuckled. “Might be wise to get the boys married up as quick as you can and into farm houses and Barony Manors. It’ll get them out of town and free up space.”

Dominic nodded, and added hand signals to his response.

“I’m sure that some will find their perfect match soon, we don’t want to rush them just for the sake of housing. Marriage is a lifetime commitment and all. Everyone wants what I have with the Duchess.”

{I need to go inspect the Manors and farm houses further out. There will still be bodies in many of them, and the preservation magic might have left them in questionable states.

I can’t send them out to houses until I know what is habitable.}

The Merchant nodded and smiled, as if what Dominic had spoken out loud was all of it.

“Yes, we are all quite envious.”

{If you can’t do it yourself, send the Adventurers with directions on how to clear the houses and reactivate them.}

That was actually a fairly decent idea. And the Adventurers had surely seen some atrocities in the past.