That afternoon after lunch, I went out with Sebastiene, Marionne and Klent to meet the tactician Seb spoke of. We used the portal to travel directly to Effer Village and arrived there with no problems. When I stepped out of the portal, all I could see was a beauty I could only see in pictures and paintings back on Earth.
Effer is a small village near the western boundary of Westreon. The beauty of this village is indescribable. It is situated in a valley in the middle of two mountains. It has just a few houses situated closely from one another. It overlooks a large beautiful lake through which reflects the brightly shining sun. Around the lake, are fields in which grow flowers and plants of attractive and bright colors. The climate surrounding the village is pleasant as the trees surrounding it kept the temperature pleasant. It is a perfect paradise as there is no trace of city life here. The sky is always pure azure; and the clouds are as white and appear as if huge pure white cotton bales are floating above merrily. Beyond the valley are the undulating mountains covered with pristine forests. I would just love to spend my time here.
As we stood there marveling the beauty of the village in front of us, two weary looking guards approached us.
"You there!" One of them shouted. "State your name and your purpose for coming to Effer village!"
Sebastiene smiled and straightened his posture as he slowly pointed on the brooch pinned to his left breast pocket.
The guards took one glance of the Moon brooch on Sebastiene's clothes and they immediately quivered. The guards exchanged glances, their eyes filled with shock.
"You are in front of the eldest daughter of House Castellan, lady Melody." Sebastiene smiled pointing at me with his open hand.
The men looked at me and immediately recognize the silver hair and purple eyes.
"Eldest lady, please forgive us for not noticing earlier." The guards turned to me and bowed respectfully. "Please allow us to escort you to the gates."
"It's good that even if they are far from the city, they still know how to treat a Castellan or else." Sebastiene let the words hung.
The guards shuddered at Sebastiene's mumblings, obviously frightened. Klent chuckled and went forward to talk with the guards, easing their nerves a little.
"Is there any place here we could eat?" He asked the guards casually.
"T-there is an inn inside that travelers often use but with lady Castellan, the village head would be the most suitable place for you to rest." The guard answered.
"First young lady, would you like to meet with the village head first or go to the villa first?" Klent asked skipping towards me.
"I would meet the village head head first." I answered the over excited Klent before turning my head to the guards. "Take us to the village head."
The guards visibly gulped before nodding and going through the gate.
The village was really pretty up close. Houses made of wood, fences surrounded with flower and light color paints. The street was made of some kind of bricks and there were lampposts on each side every few meters. Children ran around playing and adults were working. There were a group of ladies who gasped at the sight of Sebastiene, in his butler's uniform, and Klent in his knight's armor. They blushed and giggled among themselves when Klent threw them a wink.
"Idiot." I heard Sebastiene and Marionne whispered together.
We followed the guards to a house with an old man sitting on a chair, sipping tea in the lawn.
"Good day village head." The guards greeted the balding old man whose eyes were almost covered by his long graying eyebrows.
"Aaron, Kalvin, weren't you two supposed to be guarding the gate?" He asked standing up and walking towards us.
"Who do we hav-.. Lady Castellan?!" He exclaimed when he saw me.
"Hello, village head." I replied unbothered.
The village head immediately paid obeisance to me and invited us into his house which I decline and just sat on one of the chairs he had on the lawn. The guards went back to their post after bowing to me once more.
"To what do we owe your visit today, my lady?" The old, kind looking village head asked. "Oh!,I am Joel Deitrich, the village head of Effer village."
I smiled at the old village head and invited him to sit down. His wife came out to bring us tea and greeted me before going back into the house. She was mute and only manage to curtsy to me.
"I'm here to visit the Enin villa and just decided to show my face to you." I answered forwardly.
"Hohoho! Are you here to visit the lone wolf of Enin?" He asked.
"Yes, I heard that he was smart and plan to invite him to work for me." I replied monotonously.
"I'm afraid that it would be difficult to even meet him, my lady." The old man said with his eyes downcast.
"Why is that so?"
"Lord Klaus had been keeping to himself since he came to this village, not even once did he showed his face. He wouldn't even allow any visitors in the villa and only he lives there alone." The village head explained.
"He doesn't have any maids there?" Klent interrupted.
The village head shook his head lightly.
"Even his maternal cousins are not allowed to visit him." He said sadly.
"But he is there." I asked. "Alive. Right?"
"Yes he is alive as lights could be seen from inside the villa at night, but no one had actually seen him." The village head answered with a sigh.
"I see." I nodded to myself. "By the way, village head, while I am at the villa, can I bother you with something?"
My question made the village head look at me puzzled.
"Whatever you ask, I will obey, my lady." He replied after a moment.
"I would like to have a copy of every person's name in this village, age, gender, occupation and if you can, please write it as per family." I told him. "I would also like a copy of the village's accounting books, especially the taxes."
The village head looked at me worriedly.
"Do you plan on raising our taxes, my lady?" He hesitantly asked.
"No." I shook my head lightly. "I'm looking into which villages need help and which ones can help. Also, we are planning to make trade be available to all places across Westerion so we needed data about each village and towns across the territory."
"Oh! Then I will prepare all the things you ask as soon as possible, my lady!" Sir Joel excitedly replied.
"Then I expect your report to be sent to House Castellan as soon as possible." I smiled before changing the subject. "Is there anyone who can guide us to the villa?"
"I can guide you there, my lady." The village head volunteered. "I will guide you there."
After talking and waiting for the sir Joel to change his sandals into boots, we headed for the villa on the side of the mountain.