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It has been a month since my father approved the renovation plans and sent for the craftsmen. In that time, having nothing better to do, I started working on my secret lair, making sure to dig away from the mansion and toward the more wooded area of the estate.
Now, I'm not a civil engineer, but what I do know is that if I want to avoid having a big ass sink hole in my back yard waiting to happen, I need to dig pretty deep. So I abandoned the idea of my basement being my secret lair and just let it become a normal basement, built a proper door and stairs for it and everything.
What I did do instead was dig a ten-meter shaft down, wide enough to accommodate a stairwell and a future cargo lift that I have yet to design. All of this was hidden behind a foot-thick wall of compressed earth, essentially making it a slab of stone, and if I want access to the stairwell, I would need to use earth magic to open a way for myself. I will leave the figuring out of the mechanism to open it without magic to future me, present me is busy digging and compressing earth.
As I was at the bottom of the shaft, halfway through digging out the first room of my secret lair and resting after exhausting my mana while compressing earth, I caught the echoes of knocking on wood. I used the mana I recovered and used instinctive air magic to catch and amplify the sound.
"-ng Master, Young Master, your father requests your presence. The craftsmen he sent for are here." I heard the voice of one of the house staff.
"The time has come." I muttered to myself as I dusted myself off and made my way up while using some air magic to project my voice to the house staff, letting her know that I would be there shortly.
***
After meeting with the foreman leading his team of craftsmen, we took him and his crew to my workshop to observe the prototype setup and see how it works. After some demonstrations, questions, and answers, we gathered in my workshop, and I showed them my blueprints and plans for the mansion.
As the foreman and his crew examined the presented material, they asked me some clarifying questions and even pointed out some glaring mistakes that I missed, but other than that, they all seemed rather excited to work on this project.
The meeting ended up becoming a planning session as we made corrections and modifications to the blueprints. And just like that, lunch rolled around, and we took a break.
By the end of the day, the craftsmen had loosened up around us. My guess is that it's because, despite being a noble, I showed up dirty from excavating my secret lair, and the way Dad spoke, not having that haughty voice that a lot of the nobles I know use.
I guess it also helped that Dad broke out a few casks of beer for them during dinner.
***
While the plumbing was being installed, life went on as usual, if not a bit noisier from the holes being knocked in the mansion's walls, floors, and ceilings, and craftsmen shouting at each other to communicate.
I spent that time working on my secret lair, and when I could not stand the dark and stuffy underground, I volunteered myself to take Dad's place when touring the territory to check in on the different villages and towns, especially the new regions.
The moment I volunteered myself, I saw the joyful look in his eye, and he passed me a stack of papers. They turned out to be complaints, irregularities to be investigated, and reports to follow up on, and just drop in unannounced on the towns and villages to make sure there is nothing suspicious going on.
When I asked what the spot checks were for, Dad said, "It does not happen often, but every now and then, you may manage to walk in on something they do not want outsiders to see. I experienced it once while I was still a squire following my knight trainer on an assignment. Rode in on a village that was taken over by a cult that worships shooting stars or some such nonsense, was about to sacrifice a travling merchen they captured and everything. They tried to kill us to leave no witnesses, but the average villager is a piss-poor fighter, and after killing a few of them, the rest surrendered."
Well, fuck me... Dad may not realize it, but from what I've learned from Professor Sageira, if the cult was the real deal, if the sacrifice was successful, they might have actually summoned something dangerous that isn't supposed to be in our world.
What is worse is that cults like to target border villages far from the centers of a country's power. That makes the territory of a border noble like mine prime real estate for them to set up shop. I had better keep an extra sharp eye for any fishy activity.
The day after volunteering myself to tour the territory, I met my escorts for the tour. Two of my father's knights and a dozen men-at-arms, all armed, armored, and mounted. And all staring at me in confusion?
"No disrespect, Young Master, but why are you dressed like that?" Sir Ector, one of my father's longest-serving knights and fellow knight from their previous knight order, asked.
I looked down at myself. I was wearing my adventurer gear, which was leather armor with metal plates riveted to it. The metal parts protect my vitals and most other areas while keeping things flexible, while wearing a cloak to conceal most of my other arms and armor. "What?" I asked.
"What Ector means to say is that you are underdressed, and perhaps underarmored." Sir Lucan, another of my father's long-serving knights, said.
"Ah, I get what you mean, and I forgot to inform you all. I plan to perform this tour incognito. So I am going to need all of you to go get changed and come back looking like adventurers or mercenaries." I said.
I wonder what shenanigans towns and villages get up to when their boss (my father and whoever represents the Ironcrest house) is not around.