"You didn't even have to ask!" Roderic snorted.

  “Of course we are,” Vusato added with a grin. “I’ll make sure the craftsmen are here first thing in the morning."

  “Good,” Alden said. “You both should be present as well."

  “We will,” Roderic said. “But what are these weapons you’re going to make? Can you tell us anything about it?"

  Alden nodded. “The first one is called a crossbow. It’s like a small bow—but just as powerful as a bigger one—and it’s designed in a way that anyone can learn to shoot an arrow just as well as a trained archer within a few days at most."

  “How is that even possible?” Roderic asked, confused. “It takes years and years to train a good archer."

  Alden grinned. “That’s why it’s called a machine. Anyway, that’s the first weapon, and we should be able to make a working prototype within a week or two. Once we can make it in bulk in the coming weeks, you can give it to all our guards, so anyone can take watchtower duty, instead of us depending on just our three archers. We can even give it to trustworthy villagers, and they can use them to shoot bolts—which is what the smaller arrow of crossbows is called—at monsters. Those bolts won’t be effective against larger monsters, but it should deal with those wolf-type monsters and other ones of that size easily. The crossbows don't even need too much iron, so that's another good thing."

  "It certainly sounds very useful," Vusato commented.

  "It is." Alden continued, “The crossbows will also help us defend the village from any other predatory nobles. News about my father’s passing will spread around soon, and other barons like that bastard Marachi may start feeling adventurous, thinking I'm just a kid not up to the task of leading a barony. Last time he took the coal mines from us, and this time he might want even more. But if we have crossbows in the hands of all our guards, that bastard can’t touch a hair on our heads—unless he gets mages to help him."

  “He does have a mage in his village,” Roderic said.

  “Of course he does...” Alden shook his head. “My point still stands. The crossbows are extremely effective against humans, except perhaps those wearing plate armor. But that’s not our primary problem in the coming months. And that’s where the second weapon I've planned to build will come in. It’s called a scorpion. It is just like the huge ballistas mounted on the walls of Garitus City, but smaller, so we can mount them on our watchtowers. They are still very powerful, and they should be able to take care of the small to medium-sized monsters much more easily than an archer or our swordsmen could."

  He continued, "However, these scorpions are much larger than crossbows and will need a lot more iron, so it will not be cheap to make them. But as long as we can make half a dozen of them to mount on all our watch towers and perhaps the roof of the manor—which is the highest spot within the village—they'll do their task well enough. Although we might not be able to make the metal parts of scorpions from just iron, and will probably need to make steel for it, but I have plans for that as well."

  “You know how to make steel?” Roderic asked in surprise. “We only have a few swords in the manor made of steel—it's very costly."

  “I do know how to make it,” Alden said, “but I don’t think we can make steel in any large quantity with the village's current technology level. Of course, if we had a mage here, it might be a different story, but as of now I don’t think it is feasible to make it in bulk. Perhaps iron might still be good enough for scorpions, but I can’t say for sure. Either way, we have to try first. And for that, you need to bring the craftsmen here in the morning."

  Once Vusato nodded, Alden added, “Don't forget that you both cannot mention a single word of this to anyone else."

  “I swear,” Roderic said. “I will do anything which can help protect the village. And keeping my liege’s secrets is not something you even have to ask for."

  The majordomo swore on it as well.

  “Good. Eventually, when people start getting more curious about how we know these things, we'll just make a plausible excuse. Something like I read these things from the huge library of the Duke's castle in Garitus City. Only nobles are allowed inside that place, so nobody will be able to question our claims easily.” Alden stood up. "We'll talk in more detail about these weapons tomorrow. I am feeling exhausted right now...”

  Vusato stood up as well. “Of course. By the way, we need to inform the Duke of the baron’s passing. We need to tell him that you have taken over, and there are no contests to your claim, so he can give us his official sealed proclamation that you are the next baron."

  “I’ll send a pair of riders to Garitus tomorrow morning,” Roderic said. “You can draft a letter, and I’ll make sure the guard delivers it to the duke."

  “I’ll have it ready by the morning,” Vusato said.

  “Great,” Alden said. “Let’s get something to eat now. I also need to check up on Caelan and Lira."

  [This story is officially posted only on my Patreon.com and Royalroad.com profiles. If you are reading this on any other site then it's pirated, and shame on you for supporting piracy. Remember, you can read it for completely free at 'https://www.royalroad.com/fiction/149050/isekaid-as-a-lord-of-the-manor']

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  ***

  In the morning, Alden was sitting inside Lira’s room, feeling exasperated, with Caelen standing near the door.

  “It’s for your own safety, Lira!” he insisted. “It will be way too dangerous in the winter here. You have to go to Garitus."

  Lira, who had seemingly regained some of her strength, was adamant. She crossed her arms and glared at him. “No. I’ll never go there without you both. I’d rather die at the hands of monsters than live alone in that place."

  “Come on, Lira… I just don’t want anything to happen to you here. You can return to Sarnok right after the snow melts."

  Lira huffed. “I won’t go! I won’t go! I won’t go!"

  Alden sighed, seeing his sister acting way more childishly than she was, and looked at Caelen for help.

  His brother hesitated for a moment. “Lira… you’ll be much safer in Garitus. I know—"

  “You’re one to talk!” Lira retorted, shutting Caelen up.

  Alden exhaled. “You both are the only family I have left…” He tilted his head at his brother. “This idiot is too dense to understand, but you are smarter."

  “Hey!” Caelen interrupted.

  Alden looked at his sister. “I don’t want to lose you both too…"

  “And I do?” Lira scoffed. “What if I come back in spring only to see both of your half-eaten corpses?"

  “We won’t die, Lira…” Alden tried to smile. “I’ll do my best to protect the village."

  “Then I’ll be safe here too, won’t I?” Lira smirked.

  Alden shook his head and chuckled. “You’re way too smart for your own good. You both are…"

  “Do we really have to go?” Caelen asked. “You know I can help you with things."

  “I can help too!” Lira added enthusiastically.

  Alden tilted his head. “And how exactly are you going to help me?”

  “Uh…” Lira lost her words. “I can… I can…” She deflated after a moment, gazing downward. “I’m sorry… I know I am useless… but I don’t want you to leave me too.” A tear fell from her eye. “After father and mother died, you two are the only people I have left.”

  Alden’s heart broke seeing her like that. He moved closer and hugged her. “You’re not useless, Lira. Never think like that!"

  “But I… I can’t even move around… I need a maid to help me just so I can walk…" She finally looked up again. "I realize I'm too young but I really want to be helpful! I know it won’t be easy for you to lead the village with Father gone.”

  Alden held her shoulders and looked at her. “You will be able to move around soon, that’s a promise. If I’m right, and I’m pretty sure I am, then changing your diet is all you will need. You’ll start to see changes within a few weeks, and in a few months you'll be as healthy as any kid your age. But if that doesn’t work, I promise I’ll find out what’s wrong with you and fix it. If I have to drag an elven healer from their damned Queendom of Elywonar, I’ll do it."

  Lira giggled suddenly.

  He looked at her in surprise. “What…?”

  “You just cursed,” Lira pointed out sagely.

  “Oh… uh… sorry about that." Alden chuckled. "But you know what I mean. I’ll do anything to protect you and make you well again."

  “I know…” Lira looked at him for a moment, before she broke into sobs. “Then why do you even want to send me away? Nobody cares for me like you do. I need the help of a maid just to move around... I’ll only be treated as trash in Garitus, especially when Father isn’t there with us. You know that!"

  Alden felt like he had just been slapped, suddenly realizing the truth in her words. He never thought of it like that before. Even if he went along with his siblings, with their father not present this time, the duke and other nobles in the fortress city would probably not treat any of them properly, with many of them only trying to seize their barony, considering him to just be a kid. And if he and Caelen weren’t present there too, then Lira would really be alone there, with no one to help her if anything happened.

  Garitus was probably the safest place in this region of the kingdom—perhaps other than Fort Raltra—but monsters still broke through their mighty walls now and then. If one of those giant monsters—the city-killers—smashed through their walls, then none of the local guards and mages would give a second thought to evacuating or defending someone like Lira, considering her to just be a cripple. There was also the matter of his uncle—the bastard Lidoroc. What if he sent an assassin after his siblings in Garitus? Knowing that Lidoroc was already a kinslayer, Alden wouldn't put it past that bastard to try to kill kids, just so he had a better chance at becoming a baron.

  On the other hand, if Lira and Caelan stayed here in Sarnok, at least he knew that everyone would do their best to protect them and the other villagers. Without having the protection from mighty walls like those of Garitus City, Sarnokian people depended on and cared for each other, knowing their neighbour might be the one to save their child from a monster when they were out mining iron.

  Sarnok also wasn’t going to be the same as it had been in the past winters. With him at the helm, he knew that he could and would use his knowledge to devise all kinds of ways to protect the village. It would take a long time before they could deal with one of those giant city-killer type monsters, but with the help of scorpions, they should be able to take on any of the medium-sized ones.