Chapter 128: The First Step
The estate had begun to wake when Kael entered the records chamber.
Dust floated through the narrow beams of morning light.
Shelves covered the walls from floor to ceiling, each packed with ledgers, tax records, land surveys, supply lists, and old correspondence.
Lily followed behind him, carrying three fresh sheets of parchment.
"You asked for the estate accounts."
Kael nodded.
"And the provincial records."
"I brought those too."
She placed them on the table.
Kael looked at the stacks.
"How long will this take?"
Lily gave him a tired smile.
"Considering what you’ve been doing for the last five days?"
She pointed at the papers.
"Probably the rest of your life."
Kael laughed.
"Fair enough."
He opened the first ledger.
For the next several hours, they worked.
Kael examined the estate’s yearly income.
Then it’s expenses.
Food.
Horse feed.
Weapons.
Armor.
Repairs.
Servants.
Taxes.
Military provisions.
Everything had a cost.
He ran his finger down the final column.
"We can’t build a large organization with this."
Lily nodded.
"But we don’t need a large organization."
Kael looked at her.
"Not at first."
She pointed toward the map.
"Start with the villages closest to us."
Kael studied the map.
There were six settlements within a day’s ride.
Two had experienced recent monster attacks.
One had suffered repeated bandit raids.
Another sat along a road used by merchants.
The remaining two were peaceful.
For now.
Kael marked the first four.
"We need people."
Lily nodded.
"Who?"
"Not soldiers."
"Mercenaries?"
"Maybe."
Kael leaned back.
"They already exist."
"Then why not hire them?"
"Because I don’t know if I can trust them."
Lily smiled.
"Neither do the people hiring them."
Kael considered that.
He had spent enough time around soldiers to understand the difference between discipline and skill.
A person could be extremely strong and still be useless in a group.
Another could be weaker but possess excellent judgment.
He needed both.
"Then we’ll test them."
Lily nodded.
"And give them different ranks."
Kael picked up a fresh sheet.
He began writing.
Not names.
Not titles.
Requirements.
Basic combat ability.
Knowledge of weapons.
Ability to follow orders.
Judgment under pressure.
Knowledge of the land.
Ability to work with others.
Lily watched him.
"You want the test to measure more than strength."
"Yes."
"Good."
Kael continued.
"There should also be a difference between someone who can fight a beast and someone capable of leading others."
Lily pointed toward another blank page.
"Then make leadership part of the test."
Kael nodded.
He wrote it down.
The pages slowly filled.
By afternoon, Kael had reached another problem.
"What happens if someone accepts a task and dies?"
Lily went quiet.
Kael stared at the parchment.
He hadn’t considered it deeply enough.
People would be taking dangerous work.
Some would not return.
He didn’t want to pretend otherwise.
"We need to make the danger clear before they accept."
Lily nodded.
"No hidden dangers."
"No."
"And if the person dies?"
Kael looked toward the window.
"Their family shouldn’t be abandoned."
Lily looked at him.
"You want compensation?"
"Yes."
"That will cost money."
"I know."
Kael looked back at the ledger.
"Then the payment for every task must include a small portion for that."
Lily smiled.
"You’ve already thought of that."
"Not until now."
"You’re getting there."
Kael wrote another rule.
A portion of every completed reward would be placed aside.
Not for Kael.
Not for the estate.
For those who did not return.
He stared at the words.
The organization wasn’t simply going to send people into danger.
It had to take responsibility for them.
That mattered.
Later that evening, Torren arrived with news.
"The first three soldiers have returned."
Kael immediately looked up.
"From the monster outbreak?"
"Yes."
"Any wounded?"
"One."
"Bring him to the healer."
"Already done."
Kael stood.
"How bad?"
"Not life-threatening."
Kael nodded.
"Good."
Torren hesitated.
"There is something else."
Kael waited.
"The outbreak was larger than expected."
"How large?"
"Seven villages were affected."
Kael’s expression hardened.
"Seven?"
Torren nodded.
"Some villages lost livestock. One lost several homes."
"Deaths?"
"Three."
Kael looked down.
The room became silent.
He had spent days designing a solution.
Meanwhile, people were still dying.
Torren continued.
"The provincial soldiers arrived too late."
Kael closed his eyes briefly.
That sentence was becoming familiar.
Too late.
Again.
And again.
He opened his eyes.
"How long would it have taken someone from our estate to reach them?"
Torren thought.
"Half a day."
Kael looked at the map.
Half a day.
That was the gap he wanted to close.
Not with soldiers.
With trained people already nearby.
He took a fresh sheet of parchment.
At the top, he wrote:
First Trial.
Lily looked over his shoulder.
"What does that mean?"
Kael looked at the village map.
"We test the idea."
"How?"
"We find a problem."
Torren laughed.
"Considering the province, that won’t be difficult."
Kael smiled faintly.
"No."
He folded the parchment.
"It won’t."
The next morning, Kael summoned the estate steward.
A middle-aged man named Orin entered wearing a dark brown robe and carrying a ring of keys at his waist.
He bowed.
"My lord."
"I need a list."
"Of what?"
"Every independent fighter, hunter, caravan guard, mercenary, retired soldier, and capable traveler operating within the surrounding villages."
Orin blinked.
"That is quite a list."
"How long?"
"Several days."
"Good."
Orin bowed.
"I’ll begin immediately."
Kael stopped him.
"And Orin?"
"Yes, my lord?"
"Don’t choose them because they’re strong."
Orin waited.
"Choose them because people trust them."
Orin nodded.
"Understood."
He left.
Kael turned toward Lily.
"That is the beginning."
She looked at the empty parchment.
"Of what?"
Kael thought for a moment.
He still wasn’t ready to give the idea a name.
"Something that doesn’t exist yet."
Lily smiled.
"That’s a rather dramatic answer."
Kael laughed.
"Maybe."
He walked toward the window.
Outside, the estate was beginning to return to normal.
Servants worked.
Horses were being prepared.
The three remaining soldiers trained.
For the first time since Kael’s return, the estate felt alive again.
But beyond the walls, the same problems remained.
Monsters.
Bandits.
Broken roads.
Travelers disappearing.
Villages waiting for help.
Kael had no intention of solving all of them at once.
He only needed to solve one.
Then another.
Then another.
And if the first step succeeded...
He would take the second.