'Til Kingdom Comes - The Banished Prince Vol 3: The Prophecy

Reimbursement

We went forward once we had visited the adventurers guild as we headed down to the windmill which we had not visited for quite some time.

The windmill was still operational and there was still the number of pigeons resting on the rafters. The grain huller machines had been increased to three now since Marcel had gone to get a few more from the Engineering guild in Corral.

With the number of grain huller machines, at least the grains could be processed once they had gone through the drying process on the grains drying kiln.

It seemed that the work done for the milling and hulling was still ongoing as usual since the harvest at all the 500 crop fields were still ongoing as per normal.

It would be at the end of autumn where the farmers would Cultivate the winter wheat as a formality and let the ground rest for 3 months before the wheat begins to sprout in the first week of Spring.

By then, every farmer would be busy tending to the farms and the cycle continues for the next 9 months.

"Good morrow everyone. Sorry to be barging on without knocking and disrupting your operations somehow. How are you guys getting along?" I greeted Eagle and some of the core members of the Shadow units that had arrived with Eagle in the initial phase.

The Shadow unit members were delighted by our visit and some of them began to play with the twins as they brought them to the rafters and watched the pigeons that were being fed.

The twins were delighted at the sight of the birds and knew that these birds would love to be in a warm place like the rafters in the windmill.

"What do you have in your mind, Your Majesty? You wouldn't be coming here if you do not have intent and something urgent to mention, am I right, Your Majesty?"

Eagle was spot on when I approached them and I sat down in some sacks of grains that were waiting to be milled along with Heather. These sacks of grains once had been milled, would be stored in their individual vats and be brought to the Granary.

As it was still in the first part of the morning, the workers were busy drying the grains at the grains drying kiln before shifting them to be hulled and milled for the bakery.

"Yes, Eagle. Frankly, I was advised to meet you to bring up the matter of reimbursement for you and your fellow Shadow unit members."

"I know you had informed me for the umpteenth time that you are doing this because of your loyalty to the Old King and as a way to reimburse the failure of not being with him when the kingdom fell."

"But these are mainly your ideas and I was wondering what about the rest of the Shadow unit members would think based on their own personal preferences."

I paused a while to let this sink in as Heather was sitting beside me to give me the encouragement that I need.

"Ahem... First and foremost I would like to thank you for bringing up this matter once again. Frankly speaking, any forms of money to us does not mean anything but cause we get what we need right here in this town."

"There is no need for us to have coins to purchase any provisions or supplies as the proprietors knew us and would give us what we wanted. In short, we do not have to pay a single penny ever since we had stayed here and had never been a shortage of food or other whatnot."

"As for the repayment that you had in mind, I guess you keep those coins and idea away since it's solely my idea to do so."

"The rest of the Shadow unit members knew of our cause and were willing to sacrifice the coins for the sake of loyalty towards the Macleod household."

Eagle finished his sermon once again and I knew he would not be moved by the number of coins since the Shadow unit members already had what they needed here in this town.

Besides, not only them but the militia also enjoyed the same benefits and would never be a shortage of food and supplies when they were posted at their Barracks.

Although the current militia enjoyed a payout of 10 silvers a month while their family members received theirs accordingly, they still enjoyed benefits like hot meals being delivered to them regularly.

On top of that, each barrack was equipped with a standing Icebox so they could store their provisions and would not spoil easily.

Remembering what the other Audemars was doing back in the realm where he had fused some of the metal plates and also the gems stones into the pieces of armour, I suddenly had a great idea.

"Eagle, I knew that the Shadow units had their own pieces of armour on all the time and cloaked with their own garb over it, do you mind if you could pass me a set of the armour that they are wearing?"

"When I was in the realm, I saw something that sparked my interest and I would like to try them out with the spare pieces of armour that you have on hand. It would be used to enhance its durability and believe me, it would definitely be much better than what you have in right now."

I realised that the Shadow unit members do not wear their armour in public and always had a cloak over them. This is to make them look conspicuous and the Shadow unit members, as well as the militia, had worn the same pieces of armour as well.

If I could duplicate what the other Audemars had done, I am sure I would be able to do so too.

"Sure, I have a few sets of armour pieces here with me and u could spare you one. What do you intend to do with it? Did the other Audemars you mentioned really could enhance these pieces of armour?"

Eagle was intrigued as well since only he knew that I was able to access the realm after a single meditation process. Besides he was also greatly interested in what I could do to these pieces of armour that he would be passing to me.

"I will bring it to the domain for you, Your Majesty. I will see you in a while bit." Eagle replied to me and we excused ourselves as the twins were giggling when the birds were flying about on the rafters and then pecked on their heads when some of the Shadow units held some grains there.

"Thank you, Eagle. Besides... Do you know anything about enhancements that were made in weapons and also armour pieces? Do you believe in them that it would make the weapon more powerful and the armours more protective?"

I asked as I was about to leave and Eagle just laughed at me since the enhancements were used to make the weapons more flashy and precious. It got nothing to do with enhancements once the gemstones were socketed in them.

It seems that Eagle was unable to see the enhancements made to the pieces of armour and weapons since he doesn't have a system.

As we walked out of the windmill, Heather asked me, "Dear... Do you think it is appropriate of not paying the Shadow unit members at all ever since they had come here to pay their loyalty and dues to the old King?"

"Actually, its not right if I think of it, but the offer had been refused and I was afraid to push on and think that it would be some kind of insult for Eagle if I keep in pressing him. It would make him feel as though he and his Shadow unit members were hard-pressed for money after their service."

I replied but were interrupted by the excited twins as they were blabbering about the birds that had come to peck on their heads since there were a few grains there placed by the playful Shadow unit members.

At least we would be able to understand them as they were telling us what had happened earlier and was excited to relate in their own words. It was cute the way they describe the birds and how it was fed as we walked down towards the grocery store as it was close to mid-morning.

As promised to the engineers, it's time for my 2 rounds of clearing the obstacles today before lunch and after dropping the twins off to the domain helpers who had reported to work.

I went over to the Coliseum and once again I picked the sack of sand and strapped it on my back and today I got to see a few more participants — soldiers who were on afternoon shift and Itching to try out the Obstacle courses when it was finally commenced.

I went to the starting line and saw that the timer on the panel of my information system had been reset and once again I took off down the first 650 yards run down.

Seeing me running with the sack of sand behind my back, the soldiers were also deeply encouraged to follow my pace (those who ran behind me) as I cleared the wall with ease this time.

After I had cleared the obstacles and ran down the last 450 yards I could feel my body was somewhat lighter (definitely I had lost a few gallons of sweat along the way since it is my fourth attempt...!) and my strides were getting longer than usual.

I wasn't out of breath like the time I had attempted at first but I was sweating by the kegs literally. Hahaha.

After I had cleared the first round I rested about 5 to 10 minutes before I go for another round. I could feel my legs pumping faster, the upper body of mine was strained due to the low wall and the vertical rope that needs me to pull myself over and up.

The lower body of mine was literally pushed to the limits and by then it was somehow getting used to it already. After the second round, I sat down heavily and was totally shacked out after that set of strenuous exercise. 4 times in a row right after breakfast and there's another 6 more to go today...!

I checked the timing that was blinking at the top left-hand corner of my information screen panel and saw that it had been improved tremendously and even though there's nothing for me to celebrate, I had clocked 8 minutes and 17 seconds...!

Even it had shown some results but I knew I had a long way to go...!