A Guide to Kingdom Building

Sarda, Year of Severus, 18, I.R., the 83rd day of Spring, Broken Spring

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"How's the wine doing?" Nullus asked Aelderman Hostea.

"The wine you say?" old man asked. "It's frothing just fine."

"That's great." Nullus smiled. "Just a few more days and we can definitely taste our efforts."

"Indeed." The aelderman smiled back. "We could finally survive the harsh winters if this continues."

"Do not worry, Aelderman Hostea." He patted the aelderman's back. "We shall."

Pleased the old man invited him over to his house for a simple breakfast. Nullus couldn't refuse such offer, he was also very hungry at that time.

Nullus already had his breakfast at home. A warm cup of boiled, a loaf of stale bread, and a small piece of butter which was his usual go to breakfast. Unfortunately, he lacked the amount of bread needed to satiate his hunger.

Luckily, Aelderman Hostea had some newly baked bread and freshly churned butter early that morning. He entered the aelderman's dining hall and sat on a chair offered by the old man.

The smell of baked bread made Nullus' stomach grumbled in delight.

"Your bread smells delicious, Aelderman Hostea!" He complimented. "From its scent, I could tell something else was done to the bread to make it more palatable!"

"Oh, young man! Midea taught us some new techniques she learned from Arteria." The old man brag.

"Midea, huh?" He raised his eyebrow.

Nullus never trusted Midea for a moment. He thought of her as a spy from the Principalian court. The emblem he saw inside that giant machine was questionable. The emblem of the royal house could mean that she didn't come there by accident. Everything the royal house does always come with a purpose, and with the prince involved, it most probably was.

"Look, I know you have some reservations about the woman, Nullus." The old man said as he sipped some warmed ale. "But I must plead with you to trust her. She is a nice lady with good intentions." He added.

"Good intentions, huh?" Nullus thought to himself.

"The bread is ready!" Midea gleefully announced. "Grand pa, I made them extra—oh, it's you." She clicked her tongue.

Nullus squinted at her. Despite the old man's effort telling him how mature and composed she was. He finds her actions quite the opposite from his descriptions. In reality she was carefree, loud, and has a short temper.

He recalled interrogating her weeks ago and ended up arguing with her after a few questions. She was bull-headed and annoyingly talkative. He wasn't sure how the old man came up with such ludicrous claims about her personality.

"Now, now. Both of you calm down." The old man smiled. "Let's enjoy the day with a good bread."

Nullus nodded silently and took a sip at the warm wine. Midea sat silently at the other end of the table facing him. It was an awkward yet fulfilling breakfast. The soft bread and freshly churned butter complimented each other.

After the hearty breakfast, Nullus left the aelderman's house and went directly to the fields. Since the watermelons where already harvested, he thought of getting some other form of crop he could plant the field. But what?

Basing on their previous winter harvests, they had butternut squash. Nullus sat on a small rock protruding from the ground and tried to recall the challenges they had during that time. There had a lesser yield due to poor irrigation. But after the system he created, he was confident that it would be the least of their problems for the winter.

Nullus planned to create a small greenhouse from the coins they will have from their wine. If it ever succeeds. During his previous lifetime, he has used those greenhouses to create a year-round supply of food and flowers in the kingdom he lived in.

Just as he was about to leave the farm, he noticed Midea looking at the water screw. He called her out while approaching the surprised woman.

"What are you doing with my water screw?" He asked.

"Nothing." She immediately stood up and wiped her hand on the side of her skirt. "I was just checking this fine invention—"

"Don't think for a second I don't know who you are." Nullus interrupted. "Spy."

She looked at him confused. "Spy? I don't know what you mean. I am not sure why you keep calling me that!" She sighed.

"Do I really need to repeat what I told you before?" He asked. "You have a Principalian seal. As far as I know, only officers and knights have those." He added.

She looked at him, interested at his last comment. "Well, well. I always wonder why you know about that?"

Nullus didn't answer the question. He walked away not saying a thing.

"See, you're more likely the spy here!" Midea blurted out.

"Well, it is possible that you might have stolen that huge thing you destroyed." Nullus smiled. "I wonder how much the Principalia would pay me for ratting you out?"

Midea's face reddened. "I am NOT a thief! Nor a spy! Nor anything bad you think I am." She clicked her tongue.

A few moments later Squeakers came running towards them.

"Knights!" He shouted. "An army of knights are coming!"

Nullus met the kid and asked him again. "What do you mean, Squeakers?!"

"I saw them beyond the scorched fields." He said. "They have big flags raised in front of 'em!"

"A banner?" Nullus looked at Midea suspiciously. "Here? What does the banner look like?"

The child was confused and scratched his head. "What's a banner?"

Nullus scratched his head. He forgot how simple-minded Squeakers was.

"Ughhh… I mean the flag." Nullus explained. "What was drawn on the flag?"

The kid scratched his head, trying to think of what it was. "I saw this big horse…standing in its rear legs."

Nullus tried his best to recall who the sigil was from, but he wasn't familiar with the Arterian sigils as much as he thought he did.

"A horse standing on its hind legs?" He scratched his head.

"Lucresia." Midea suddenly interjected. "That's a damned Lucresian banner." She suddenly ran away and crossed the stream to the other end of the forest.