The World Dragon's Heir

Chapter 559: What They Needed

It was strange to see people so excited about a single platoon sized military meal pack, with its preserved ham and hard tack biscuits.

But many of the refugees had been struggling to survive on rodents and potatoes even before the flooding drove them out of their homes. Anything was better than that.

Dominic saw that the rest of the refugees were coming their way, being led by a flying mage.

That made it pretty clear that they had been vetted and found to be acceptably safe, or the Duskblade Sect would have taken care of them.

Dominic set down the fireplace, then began building a grill and oven with [Fieldstone Wall]. It didn’t have to be too large, but long enough to have three or four pots set on top would be best.

There were a lot of refugees coming, and Dave would be greatly distressed if there was not enough soup.

As soon as he had the stove set up, there were large pots being brought out, and filled with water by an older man who winked at Dominic as he pretended that the broken magitech orb in his hand was for water creation.

He was actually just casting the spell. But in Dagos, mages were only not truly accepted, even if they were working for the Nobles.

The trolls were quick to run off and bring back various vegetables from nearby fields, grown to maturity in seconds with magic.

When he was motivated, Dave was very good at growing food.

“Alright, if you get started on enough for everyone, I will see what I can do about arranging numbers. Give me a moment to speak to the town guards.” Dominic explained, then headed to the transport with the guards.

“Do you guys have a radio in there?”

The driver nodded. “Indeed.”

“Can you put out a call to have the Barons who have arrived check the houses on their property? I need to know how many people we can send each of them, and what sort of specialists they need out of the new arrivals.”

The driver nodded. “That shouldn’t be hard. They’re already chatting about it on the secondary channel.”

“Perfect. Get at least a rough number out of them, based on the houses they think might be good, so we can start sending them people in the morning.

The second bus should be on its way now, and they’ll all be settled in tonight.

It might be a short turnaround, but getting everything going at once will be a good test for them. Arranging their home and a Barony full of new farms will stress them enough that everything afterward will look easy.”

The driver laughed, and then started to explain the situation on the radio.

The response was immediate. The men left the ladies to decorate the manors, and rushed out to count liveable houses on the property.

The enthusiasm level was extremely high as the second group of refugees approached, moving faster as they got close, and the wind blew the smell of stewing meat their way.

They were nearly running by the time that the cooking area came into sight, before collapsing near the soup pots.

“No need to run, lots for everyone. Bring out bowls, and we will get you fed.” Dave insisted.

“I am arranging for the Barons to take you in tomorrow morning, so take your time setting camp after dinner, but don’t unpack everything, you’ll be moving on to permanent residences within the week, if you’re planning to stay in Wistover.” Dominic added.

“Really? All of us?” One of the men asked.

“I think we can find somewhere for everyone. It might not be doing what you had hoped, but if you can adapt, you’ll find that Wistover Duchy is accepting of everyone who wants to make a decent life.

We’ve got good crop land, no drought, plenty of magic, and magitech farm equipment.

Not enough for the whole Duchy yet, but we’re making more every day.

If you have those sorts of skills, come to me tonight, and I will arrange for you to stay in town. If you have resources to start a shop and want to stay in the city instead of setting up with a Baron, let me know.

Other than that, the Baronies are freshly settled with Cygnia Nobles who are magitech friendly.” Dominic explained.

There wasn’t too much response to that. The refugees needed time to think, and food. But after a few minutes, the first few started to make their way over to the bus, where Dominic was listening to the radio broadcasts from the Barons.

It sounded like the second group of them had reached their new homes, and the Manors were in reasonably good shape after they had found and reactivated the Magitech circuitry within the house.

The self repair function was everywhere within the territory, from what Dominic could determine. Only a few had not managed to find the panel, or had found the panel to be damaged beyond repair.

That put a bit of a damper on their arrival, but the Sect was already sending people to them to get the magitech back online, so they could be comfortable for the night.

“Good news everyone. We have twenty Barons now at their houses, with their Knights and Lords to arrive in the next few weeks.

They have reported a total of over two thousand houses for the common folk that are ready to move in with nothing more than cleaning and minor repairs.

That should be enough for the entire group to have their choice of suitable housing.

If you would come this way and make your mark on the category of housing you would like, or your job if you have a trade, I will prepare everything and come back in the morning with the good news.

If there are larger families here, and you want your extended family together, let me know that as well.

However, I do recommend splitting up extended families, so that your closest neighbours will not be immediate family.”