The Abandoned Duchess Seems to Want a Peaceful Life - Chapter 27

Chapter 27: A Craftsman's Wish

"Are you thinking of buying the charcoal?"

"No, I intend to burn it in the village. Once the brick kilns are free, I can convert them."

Some of the corn drying sheds had finished their work, and they were being used as drying places for the timber cut from the forest.

Charcoal was an excellent material. It could be used as it was to improve soil, and the ash left when it burned away had many uses: as a substitute for detergent, as fertilizer, and for removing harshness from food. The wood vinegar produced while burning charcoal could be used against pests; truly, nothing was wasted, not even the smoke.

And the Enkar region had the great forest called the Forest of Moltre close by, a land with no shortage of timber. It was well worth getting an environment for charcoal production in place.

"If possible, I would like to keep charcoal in stable production from now on."

"Hmm... Lady Melfina, I have a favor to ask. If you would be willing, could you take in a few craftsmen as villagers?"

At the sudden proposal, Melfina blinked in surprise.

"Not dispatched, but moving here to settle, you mean?"

Ricardo nodded gravely.

"...I once asked for someone to come even just to repair blades and tools, but at that time I couldn't find a craftsman willing to come. I understand that, since the Enkar region has few people, but is there someone who would move here and take on work?"

If it were only for this winter, or on the condition of until the famine eased, Melfina could understand.

But to settle for good in a land with only this small village, and work there, would require considerable resolve even from a craftsman.

"Ah... that may be because it was a time when craftsmen's work was concentrated, but I suspect, Lord, that you applied through the guild?"

"Yes, of course. I had no one to call on individually, either."

In any town or village of some size, it was a matter of course for craftsmen to belong to a guild.

One could even say it was because the only way to become a craftsman was to enter an apprenticeship through a guild and be trained until fully qualified.

Even if a craftsman was commissioned and did a sloppy job, going through the guild meant you could have another craftsman redo it, or have the guild punish the one who did shoddy work, so it was common for clients to ask the guild for introductions.

"For a craftsman, having work to earn a living is important, but so is a record of the work he has done."

Ricardo himself now liked the eccentric lord before him and wanted to work for her, but the reason he had taken this job in the first place was largely that there was a famine, and that he could eat without going hungry and add to his savings before winter.

Had that not been the case, he did not know whether he would have felt like accepting when told it was a job building houses at the very edge of the country.

"If it were a big town where you could take on a large volume of work at once, that would be another matter, but sharpening hoes and sickles is poor pay, and ordinarily no one would want to go."

"Then why would they move here at all? Wouldn't they lose the chance to build a record?"

"Returning to what I said before: going through the guild, you will not find craftsmen who can do the work the lord wants. But precisely because this territory has no guild, the craftsmen you want may turn up."

A guild was something like a mutual aid association for people of the same trade. It was an organ for protecting and developing their status and skills, and it monopolized and managed work as a whole.

Craftsmen could not make a living as craftsmen if they left it, and that was exactly why they straightened themselves up, refrained from sloppy work, and honed their skills. At least, that was Melfina's knowledge.

"So, the ones you can introduce are craftsmen who cannot go through a guild?"

What immediately came to Melfina's mind were cases of someone who had caused trouble with a guild, failed at a big job, or committed a crime.

"That is what it comes to. Even if there is nothing wrong with them, there are craftsmen whose relations with the guild are poor and who are not given work. It is not a problem that began today, but if I can, I would like to give craftsmen of real talent an environment where they can work in peace within a stable life."

"In that case, would you be their guarantor, Ricardo?"

"Yes, I will bring craftsmen whose character I can vouch for. —In this matter, the guild cannot be relied on."

Craftsmen in this world were obliged to register with a guild. Perhaps for that reason, the latter half was said in a low, small voice.

Craftsmen who clashed with a guild for various reasons had nowhere to go despite their skill.

They could move to another town, but within the same territory, rumors would spread in the end.

In this world there were wandering clergy and wandering craftsmen, and adventurers confident in their skills often operated across territories, so unless one was a serf bound to the land, moving to another place was not so difficult.

If you moved from your original place and lived at the new place for a year and a day, you were recognized as a resident of the new land.

In this case the destination was Enkar Village, so there was no problem with that. The remaining question was whether, in the place where they currently lived, anyone would try to bring them back over debts or trouble, but from Ricardo's tone, that seemed not to be a problem either.

"Then I will prepare workshops and houses here. I will pay for them from my private funds. Would you do this for me?"

"The workshop I understand, but you would even give them houses?"

"Yes, it's a welcome proposal for us as well. A pioneer village inevitably has few specialist craftsmen. If possible, I would like them to settle for a long time, taking on apprentices from the village while they work and training the next generation. Craftsmen are the bearers of technique, and they must be treasured."

"On those terms, plenty of craftsmen would come gladly. My word, if I weren't a master with apprentices to look after, I would like to come myself!"

"Oh, you would always be welcome, Ricardo."

Ricardo was already a master in Soarasonne, so naturally he was not serious.

After they had laughed together for some time, they worked it out with Ricardo: he had candidates in mind for a potter and a blacksmith, and would also approach a few carpenters.

"Maybe ten years from now Enkar Village will be called a town of craftsmen."

"A town with a famous dish, with the lord's liquor, and where craftsmen gather. Well, well, that is quite a dream."

At Ricardo's roaring laugh, Melfina giggled too.

The future was still unseen and unclear, but she hoped that ten years from now, and beyond, would be days in which she could keep believing in a bright future.