After forty-two laps, I was beyond exhausted, my large body drenched in sweat, my left arm on fire. Every time a citizen came through they stopped in complete astonishment, sometimes gathering in groups to stare, until a frown sent them scurrying about their work. I lived for the nod of approval from Carradock each time I arrived back at the gate against which he leaned, often in conversation with other soldiers. Also, for the thought of a long, long warm bath.378Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9yNMqGMgc9
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A castle servant, the one from breakfast, was ahead of me, twisting her apron in her hands and looking everywhere but into my face.378Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxRblQyJsd5
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'Wha'?' I wheezed out.378Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1XQpYyJHaD
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'Chef–' she flung her hand out in a gesture towards the keep, where a short man in what looked like a grey baker's outfit '–wants to know what to prepare for dinner.'378Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuaxCYUgsYW
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'Dear lord.' I came to a stop, worried my aching legs would not want to resume. 'It's not important. But keep it simple.' My predecessor had obviously enjoyed eating extensive meals with several courses. 'Just a couple of slices of roast meat and …' What would an athlete eat? Food with plenty of protein and vitamins. 'Wait. Grilled fish. Nuts. Fresh vegetables, like tomatoes and carrot, that don't need much, if any, cooking.'378Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaigsxWKMNT
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I wasn't really hungry just now, my body was too stressed, but no doubt my appetite would revive later.378Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYCdLqphlWC
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'Ahh…'378Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWJgLPfYBNL
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'What?'378Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnXc1WFmVfe
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'Chef won't be pleased.'378Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8Af2zg3ysm
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I stared at her. 'Hands up if you are king.' I put my own hand up. 'That puts me in charge.'378Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1fh45MxZ1r
378Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4kncjNL1G6
Once she had turned away, alarmed, I returned my focus back into my final few laps. Although it was distracting I when I turned a corner and was facing the keep: there I could see the chef remonstrating with the servant. He kept looking over at me, as though in appeal, but I wasn't having any of it and focused on moving one leg, then the next, and on keeping hold of that enormously heavy sword.378Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtvDuLuhHgW
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I wasn't allowed to settle into my rhythm again though, for with a clatter of metal-hooves on cobblestone, a small group of riders came into the barracks yard. Some were soldiers of mine but one was carrying a green pennant (deep green, with a golden wolf's head) and dressed in expensive-looking clothes.378Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbTBDjU5niu
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'King Carlos?'378Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtg09YXUPKX
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Either I looked dumb, having forgotten my name here, or else the new arrival was dismayed by my appearance.378Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4WqzSbfptq
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'King Carlos?' he tried again.378Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFViORJi5lf
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'Yes?'378Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2F1GnCqS7a
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My impression that this was a man who was attentive to his looks was reinforced as he dismounted and made his bow. No one had a beard as neat his without some effort.378Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlIxewinDOo
378Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOPK3AFK29q
'Lord Oseso, ambassador to his majesty King Wace of Southway.'378Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHmsjs4zJWn
378Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡomRlcrEGGP
'Pleased to meet you.' My politeness was automatic. I felt no warmth towards this man. Quite apart from the fact his rich, fur-lined cloak and black, oiled hair alienated me, this was the enemy.378Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjH1p7fM3sj
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A crowd was gathering as soldiers and civilians moved closer to hear the ambassador's words.378Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyd79XcjV97
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'Perhaps we can take some refreshment in private?' Lord Oseso suggested.378Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBLkWRwC9fp
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I shook my head. 'There's nothing you can say that I would hide from my people. Why are you here?'378Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ71zfA5ch8m
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'Are you sure?' There was a knowing sneer in his gaze, inviting some kind of complicity from me.378Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEsfCJ4ibcC
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'Get on with it. I'm busy.'378Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡM0UFd4SyFI
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Supressing a smile, the ambassador from Southland shrugged, as if to pass off any blame. 'King Wace, in his generosity, offers to make Greyland a dependency of Southway. You,' he gestured to everyone, 'are spared conquest. And you personally, sire, will be given a comfortable retirement, dining on the finest food of our realm in the company of delightful personal companionship, in return for implementing the decisions of his highness on your interface.'378Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1fHdJMnhCu
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A silence fell over the square and even the crows stilled their caws, as if to listen to my answer. I let my heart and breath settle.378Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnbatWftI41
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'Firstly, we are not conquered yet. Secondly, we all know what it would mean for our kingdom to be run by an invader…' I raised my voice for all to hear. 'People dragged off to work wherever your ruler wanted; our soldiers used up in his battles to spare his own troops; our wealth drained into your coffers; starvation and ruin here.' I knew what I was talking about, it's what I intended to do to them.378Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0A2EPqW2ag
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Lord Oseso shook his head. 'Careful what you say next, this offer won't come again.'378Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡf8MufGsEqZ
378Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYoApKOR6St
'Good. If we see you again, you'll be executed as a spy. Greyland will never surrender and you can tell King Wace that unless he withdraws from our territory, it is he who will suffer conquest.'378Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1RAHYo4Qlu
378Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9210GFav5I
'I'll tell him of your empty threat and he will laugh. And he will remind you of it when you are in chains at his feet.'378Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuNnoG4HtRq
378Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVuZykQzNGr
'That is disrespectful.' I was furious and at least a part my anger was drawn from the uncomfortable feeling, fear even, that he was going to be proven right. I walked over to him, using my height and bulk to lean down and snarl. 'Vincit qui patitur, he who endures conquers. And Greyland will endure.'378Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡE986cFs52o
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Perhaps he saw the determination in my eyes. Perhaps he understood how close I was to striking him with the sword in my left hand, which no longer felt heavy. In any case, the ambassador's head dropped and he stepped back, then turned away to find his horse and remount.378Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5X0YYncxtp
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'Blindfold him and lead his horse. Don't let him look around as he leaves.'378Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLfwtJhPHFG
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'Yes sir.'378Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIIKYDujbC5
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'Right, then everyone, back to work. We're going to have to work extremely hard, myself included, to endure and escape conquest.'378Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtUQxxuaHLh
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Muttering broke out among the people and it was hard to judge the tone. Certainly, it was not the cheering enthusiasm of a people rallying to their king. But among the soldiers especially there were several faces that looked brighter and more supportive than they had.378Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeUWKbIvK07
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'Now, Carradock. I was on lap forty-four, was I not?'378Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡt0gEba173G
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'Forty-three sire.'378Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNuIoC3Du2Q
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'Damn pedant.'378Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCMSVDKzrsf
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The last few laps were painful. It did help, however, that I could study the town menus and take my mind from the constant complaints of my body. That gave me one measure of the effect of my responses to the ambassador from Southway, which was that the score for Happiness under the people menu had risen from 14 to 16. At least it hadn't gone down, so on the whole, they seemed to approve of resistance rather than surrender.378Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhAkZP2eV6c
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It was the military menu that got me thinking again.378Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZOeFfOCUls
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Military378Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8GtmhyaXSw
Light infantry: 32378Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡh17KPD2Fmm
Heavy infantry: 12378Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQbpd8OFvbZ
Archers: 18378Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡedsfwZa7o0
Light cavalry: 24378Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaHvzPrLa5e
Heavy cavalry: 4378Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡU2361JlLGc
Ballista: 1378Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOUZ8IPVzMW
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Hospital: 17378Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPhuopKVU8i
Military upkeep cost: 42 gold, 5 silver378Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBmfEvzKC3h
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Currently training: 1 heavy cavalry378Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ98KcMWrE82
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Buildings: keep level 2; curtain walls level 1; towers level 1; town walls level 1378Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1EcrMVWDK5
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Currently building: tower machicolations, 3 days
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Why was I training heavy cavalry? They were costly in terms of iron and tactically useless. We would be holding defensive positions for the foreseeable future and while I hoped the day would come when I rode at the head of a line of formidable heavy cavalry, that was a long way off. Although it meant losing whatever raw materials my predecessor had invested in the project, I cancelled the heavy cavalry from the training queue and instead added fifteen archers to it, at a cost of 10 iron ingots and 15 gold and 15 of the unassigned townspeople.378Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEGxqEWJ1RI
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That left me 12 unassigned townspeople to think about. Before setting them to various tasks, I needed to know about building a trading vessel. When I tried to call up information about ships, I got a frustrating message.378Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiBebXyb1si
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Shipbuilding378Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡidAXYzfhmh
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Unknown.378Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPo1M7OmMKP
Create a Shipwright to unlock this option.
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'Hey, you!' I called out to a skinny youth, who was hanging around near the steps of the keep watching me with earnest eyes as though I was last man in for a cricket team that was over a hundred runs behind. And I couldn't tell if he wanted me to fail or succeed.378Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQ5jtGOpmxy
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'Sire?'378Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0nWBNGY4rR
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'Get the Chief Carpenter for me.'378Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0wbIBrHfV4
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'Yes, sire.' The lad got up without any urgency and strolled down a shadow-filled street.378Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxz3JZyo8MI
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I was on lap forty-six when the carpenter arrived, he was a bald, confident looking man, with intelligent brown eyes.378Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6b2NRVU3B5
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'Walk with me,' I grunted.378Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjrCC3zKSeq
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'Sire.'378Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡw892h3kINv
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'Can you make us a trading ship?'378Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKCJFuKjXiN
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The question came as a surprise but he took it well, hardly faltering in his step. 'No sire.'378Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSuNP1CEv7d
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'What if I researched Shipbuilding One?'378Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbefbvPMtm2
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The man looked at me, surprised, then down at the ground. 'As you know, sire, I only have access to a limited menu in order that I can view my tasks... I couldn't be sure about research, but Shipbuilding does sound like it will make the role of Shipbuilder available to you.'378Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWkr4XFATp1
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'And I can then assign someone to it?'378Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡajfYPPZDqa
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'If it becomes an option sire.'378Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSZFPsGNpkt
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'Would you like to do it?'378Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrAuRbQX1r0
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'Me? It's up to you sire.'378Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoDDcshTZ1M
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'Yes,' I said, a little impatiently. 'I know that. But I'd rather people enjoyed their work than hated it.' This wasn't just coming from my innate sense of politeness, it was practical too. I wanted that town happiness score to rise and surely by assigning the right people to the right jobs, at least when it came to specialist roles, that was going to help?378Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEd4a0gJpZ3
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We walked the entire length of the barracks square and turned back towards Carradock before the carpenter answered. 'I think I would like that sire.'378Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbyNfTTwbxM
378Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ824fy3fCov
'Right so, find someone in your workshop who wants to be the Chief Carpenter and I'll make you Shipbuilder in…' I checked the research menu, dropped Navigation (there was no penalty, but I risked having to restart it again from the beginning), as it still had five days to go, and swapped to Shipbuilding 1, 'four days.'378Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡntjKZoV81T
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'Thank you sire.'378Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiH088x32SQ
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'Now tell me this. I see a lot of people in the town. But not very many on the menus. Why is that?'378Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzK1dSqvY7T
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Again, the carpenter looked astonished. Then a little wary, as if I'd set a trap. 'People want to join the menu, sire, to serve the goddess... and you. But it's limited, isn't it? They can't get on unless you've been able to make room.'378Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8YF45pqalV
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That wasn't an answer that clarified very much, but I gave him a grunt to signal he could go back to work. It was as much as I could manage. As for the twelve unassigned people in the town, I decided to leave them for now. Soon I'd want shipbuilders and sailors.378Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrmOEg4xJig
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Forty-seven.378Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIUzILmNg0L
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Forty-eight.378Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyjYvmYhCvw
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Forty-nine.378Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgxkEQD16fo
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Fifty.378Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYDaIpw3vhN
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'That's me done for the day.' I spoke to Carradock with as much nonchalance as I could muster. As if I could do another fifty, although every muscle was groaning.378Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiiZ15C1O4i
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'Well done Sire.'378Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJKd1q28Dvq
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That acknowledgement lifted me all the way back to the keep.
然後按「加至主畫面」