Chapter 167 - 114 : Year 25 - 31 Trail And Error

Chapter 167: Chapter 114 : Year 25 - 31 Trail And Error

In the months following the birth of their third son, Lucian continued working to restore House Veymont. Nearly three years had passed since he became Count, and much of the house’s standing remained intact.

The castle still stood, its name still commanded respect, and its territory remained among the more important noble Households in Enwitra. Merchants and travelers continued along the roads leading to the city of Veymont, visitors still came to the castle, and the five major mines continued to bring income into the territory, though not all at their former capacity.

To an outsider, little might have seemed to have changed. Lucian, however, knew how much the house had lost, and how different it was from the one his father had commanded before the war.

The war had not brought House Veymont to ruin, but it had stripped away much of what had once made its position secure. Experienced soldiers had been lost, along with horses and equipment, while several mines and roads needed repairs that could no longer be put off.

The family had also used part of its remaining wealth to support the families of fallen soldiers and those who had returned too badly wounded to work as they once had. Lucian had no intention of turning his back on these obligations, but meeting them placed further strain on the house’s finances. There was more to be done than its remaining resources could cover at once.

At first, Lucian believed that a few years of careful management would be enough to restore much of what had been lost. The land was still there, the mines continued to bring in income, merchants still visited the city of Veymont, and the surviving vassals remained loyal to the family. House Veymont had endured difficulties before, and he saw no reason it could not recover again if he managed its resources carefully and avoided unnecessary risks.

His first task was to understand how much of the family’s wealth was actually available to him. The value of its lands, mines, and other holdings made House Veymont appear wealthy on paper, but much of that wealth was tied up in assets rather than ready money. He needed to establish how much remained in the treasury, what income the estate could reliably provide, and how much of the available funds was already committed.

Lucian and Lucy spent their evenings reviewing House Veymont’s finances with the help of Master Corren, the house’s receiver. An experienced official who had served the family for years, he oversaw the central accounts and gathered reports from the estate clerks and mine overseers.

The war and its aftermaths had complicated his work. Some rents remained unpaid, while other holdings had supplied grain, timber, or labor in place of coin. His records distinguished what had reached the treasury from what was still owed, though some payments remained uncertain.

Lucy proved invaluable during these reviews. Years of managing the household, including the difficult period when Lucian had been away at war, had taught her which expenses could be reduced without lasting harm and which would only cause greater trouble if neglected. She knew how the household depended on a steady supply of food and other necessities, and she understood that an apparent saving could easily become a greater expense later. As Countess, she was bringing that same practical judgment to the wider affairs of the estate.

One evening, after they had gone through the returns from several estates, Lucian leaned back and rubbed his eyes. "The income is better than I feared in some places, but the money never seems to be there when we need it. Every time we set something aside for one repair, another demands attention."

"Part of the difficulty is the timing, my lord," Corren explained. "Some of the rents we are counting on have yet to arrive, and the supplies received in place of coin cannot be used to pay wages. I have accounted for what we hold and what remains outstanding, but I would advise against committing money that has not yet reached the treasury."

Lucian nodded, then glanced at the records again. "Even so, we cannot keep putting everything off until the money arrives. Some of this work is already overdue."

"No, we cannot," Lucy agreed. "The mines need timber and workers if they are to keep producing, and the roads must remain usable if their goods are to reach the markets. The farms also need enough support to return to normal production. We could save money by delaying some of these expenses, but we might lose more in the long run if the mines produce less or the harvest suffers."

Lucian considered her words before returning to the figures. "Then we should begin with the work that will help the rest of the territory recover, rather than trying to repair everything at once."

"And leave something in reserve," Lucy added. "We cannot know what else might go wrong, and we should not leave ourselves with nothing to meet it."

Corren made a note of the priorities they had discussed, pointing out which costs could be estimated with confidence and which depended on payments still to come. He would need updated reports from the relevant estates before drawing up a more reliable plan, but the discussion had given him clear direction.

Meetings like these gradually became part of how Lucian governed. Corren brought the figures and the experience of an official who understood the estate’s finances, while Lucy helped him consider what the numbers meant for the people and work that kept the territory running. Their perspectives did not always lead to an easy answer, but they helped Lucian judge which needs could not wait and which would have to be dealt with later.

The mines became one of Lucian’s main concerns. House Veymont still held its five major mines, a gold mine, two silver mines, a copper mine, and an iron mine, along with several smaller workings scattered across the territory. They remained an important source of income, but the war had left them in varying conditions. Some passages needed new supports and repairs before work could safely continue, while other mines had fewer workers and faced rising costs for timber, tools, carts, and provisions.

Even a mine rich in ore could bring in little profit if the cost of extracting and transporting it consumed too much of the returns.

Lucian therefore had each mine inspected and its current accounts compared with those from previous years. Where repairs could help restore production at a reasonable cost, he approved the spending. More expensive undertakings, such as deeper excavations that might take years to repay their cost, would have to wait.

He also questioned the officials overseeing each operation, looking beyond the amount of ore brought to the surface to understand why production had changed and what could be done to improve it.

Most of the decisions were small. A weakened passage was repaired before it became unsafe, a worn cart replaced before it delayed the transport of ore, and work on a less promising section postponed until the mine could afford to develop it properly.

None of these measures restored the wealth lost during the war, but they helped keep small problems from eating further into the mines’ returns. Lucian was gradually learning that a mine’s productivity depended on more than the ore beneath the ground. It also relied on its workers, tools, transport, safe passages, and a steady supply of materials, all competing for the same limited funds.

Lucian also looked for ways to earn more from the ore the mines were already producing. House Veymont had long relied on established merchants to transport and sell much of its output, allowing them to handle the difficulties of moving heavy goods and finding buyers.

Lucian wondered whether selling some of the ore directly to buyers beyond the city of Veymont might allow the family to keep a larger share of the profit.

He began with a small trial, choosing a shipment the house could afford to risk without disrupting its ordinary expenses. The initial figures looked promising, but the journey revealed costs he had underestimated. Transporting the ore over a longer distance proved expensive, and the buyer had strict requirements for its quality and quantity.

The established merchants already had reliable contacts, credit arrangements, and transport networks, allowing them to spread these costs across many shipments. House Veymont, by comparison, had to bear most of the expense itself.

By the time the sale was complete and all the costs had been settled, little of the extra profit Lucian had hoped to earn remained.

Master Corren had prepared the final accounts, setting the sale price against the costs of transport, tolls, and other charges incurred along the way. Once the buyer’s deductions had been included, the figures showed how little of the expected profit remained. After answering Lucian’s questions, the receiver left the records with them.

Lucy studied the figures for a moment before speaking. "The loss is small enough not to hurt the household, but we’ve spent money learning that this arrangement is harder than it first appeared."

"I thought we could sell directly and keep more of the price for ourselves," Lucian replied.

"And perhaps we can, once we understand the trade better. But a good price means little if the cost of getting the ore there eats up the difference."

Lucian looked through the accounts once more before closing the record. "Then we shouldn’t risk a larger shipment until we know how to make the figures work. We can leave the regular sales to the merchants for now."

He set the experiment aside rather than risk more money on it. The trial had brought little extra profit, but it had shown him what he needed to understand before attempting anything similar again. A higher price alone was not enough; he would need a reliable buyer, a workable route, and a clear picture of the full costs before sending out another shipment.

He took the same approach to the roads, giving priority to the main routes connecting the city of Veymont with the mines, markets, and larger estates. These were the roads that kept trade moving, carried news between settlements, and allowed soldiers to reach where they were needed. Leaving them in poor condition would only make the territory harder to manage and cost the house more in the long run.

Repairs to smaller, less-used roads would have to wait until the treasury could afford them.