As my left hand caresses the back of Almas, my right hand was in the water for a good reason. It was my way of ignoring the muffled, rhythmic screaming of pain from afar.
Almost an hour later, Uziel came back after taking a shower on the bath that Almas made for the prisoners after linking a small water vein there.
"My lady, what was that? It was amazing! There were holes in the ceiling and the water just won't stop pouring down"
"That doesn't really matter, does it. Anyway, what happened? Did you drag the corpse to the chamber?"
"Yes I did my lady. What is that chamber for?"
"It is so that the corpse doesn't affect the prison. It would be bad to let such a nice prison to get stinky, right"
"I understand!"
No matter what happens in the future, if a point comes that I entrust my life to him will most likely won't be enough to trust him to the point where I tell him that Almas, an innocent looking rat, likes to eat human corpses.
I can already imagined how frightened he will be.
...
The next morning, a messenger came and delivered a verbal message.
Not many do verbal messages nowadays as it can be easily changed by the sender. It is only possible if the person who is delivering the message is trustworthy enough and if the message is really confidential.
"I will come after a month"
That one sentence was the message that was sent to me from brother Nicholas.
Knowing him, he must have done it because he might be stop by brother Roman.
Because of that, I made everyone gather for a meeting.
"Tomorrow, I will leave and go to the viscounty of Kruger. The one who will be responsible for taking care of the things here for the next few weeks will be Samuel and Uziel"
Everyone was taken aback. Not because of why I am going somewhere else but the fact that I am leaving the town in the care of a ten year old boy and a knight who came from Mheodure, a hostile neighboring kingdom.
"My lady"
"Yes? What is it, John?"
"Are you perhaps planning on passing the management to the two once you go back to Vanifi?"
"No. It will only be Samuel. The reason why I am adding Uziel is because he is more knowledgeable in terms of negotiating with others and he also has a keen eye in ascertaining things. While Samuel can help Uziel to get to know everyone here. That way the two will be able to cover for each other's flaws while they learn from the other"
The anti-social Uziel will need to associate himself. And Samuel will have to learn how to talk business here as he is unfamiliar in that field.
"My lady, splitting the authority in two is prone to danger. What if they were to argue about something crucial where people's lives are at stake?"
An imperial knight, John's left hand, said with an emotionless face.
"Alexander!"
"John, sit down"
Alexander is the pessimistic type so what he is saying right now is quite mild compared to other times. But that does not mean the impact of his words are any different.
"I am splitting it in two because of that reason. I am not a prophet so I can't rule out the possibility of an attack in the town, however, if there will be an attack after I left, Uziel's quick thinking and Samuel's leadership are the perfect things needed in such situations. Any other question?"
"...."
Everyone shut their mouths as they knew I would make a comeback to any complain they have. Besides, even if they were to complain, this is my territory so I make the rules.
"I will take this silence as a 'no'. On to the next part, I will take Sir Emmanuel and the imperial knights with me to be my bodyguard, except John"
All the imperial knights stood up simultaneously. Excluding John from protecting me which is a direct order from the empress is nothing but a blow to John's pride as a knight. And his underlings who respect him will be offended.
"You all, my lady did not gave you the permission to stand up. Kindly sit down"
Uziel said.
The knights reluctantly sat down as they came back to their senses. Had they stood still like that it would have make me infuriated even more.
A knight raised his hand.
"Yes, what is it?"
"With all due respect, baroness, may we know the reason why you are excluding the vice-captain?"
(Note: The knight here is addressing her as 'baroness' because he is a knight who have sworn loyalty to the empress as an imperial knight. Meanwhile, Samuel and the others are using 'my lady' as they have sworn loyalty to her)
"Simple, because it was him who asked to be left behind"
The imperial knights turned quickly to John's direction, they were all looking at him with eyes that were saying "Please tell us what the baroness said is a lie"
In response, John simply closed his eyes and nodded.
The imperial knights once again stood up and bowed in an almost ninety-degree angle.
"We apologize for our rudeness earlier. We have been too hasty and wish to ask for your forgiveness"
The imperial knights said simultaneously.
Well, it is a good thing that they respect John's unusual behavior. Even I was caught off guard when he ask me if he can stay behind before the meeting began.
"It is fine. Everyone makes mistakes. Just make sure not to do it again in the future"
After that, all of us had small talks about what to improve in the town and how to build the walls that will be constructed in the near future.
...
After the meeting, I was in my room happily petting my rat.
Ping!
"You have got to be joking with me, right?"
[A new rule has been added for the [Transmigrators]