Fearing complications from a prolonged stay, Art went to the quarry that afternoon to recruit (purchase) Soldiers.
The quarry was built against the mountains, with several hills half-excavated, their steep fault lines carved into multi-tiered steps. On each step, miners swung hammers and wielded chisels to extract stone blocks.
These large, extracted blocks were carried by groups of three to five porters along narrow, winding paths beside the steps to an open area at the foot of the mountain.
At the open area, a dozen stonemasons cut and chiseled the blocks into long stones, which were then transported by waiting iron-plated horse-drawn carts to various construction sites.
Watchtowers were erected around the quarry, partly to prevent theft of the long stones and partly to prevent miners from escaping.
According to the quarry foreman, the entire quarry employed over 120 miners.
Due to their low status and harsh lives, even the ugliest widows were unwilling to marry them, so most miners were single.
Art and his companions, led by the foreman, rode their horses to the miners' barracks at the quarry.
Inside the barracks, several resting mine bosses saw the quarry foreman approaching with a few people and quickly stepped forward to greet them.
The foreman said to the approaching mine bosses, "These are people sent by Bishop Olov. They are tasked with temporarily selecting a group of miners from the quarry to form a caravan to the south to procure materials needed for the church's renovation for the Bishop."
Art smiled and nodded to everyone in greeting, while Ron and Kazak unloaded a barrel of light beer from their horses' backs and carried it into the barracks, placing it on a wooden table.
Art pointed to the beer on the table and said, "Thank you for your hard work, mine bosses. This beer is my small token of appreciation from Bishop Olov."
While Art was inviting the mine bosses to drink, the quarry foreman pulled aside a trusted mine boss and instructed, "Later, gather the miners here for this Lord to select."
The mine boss turned his head, glanced at Art and his companions, then leaned close to the foreman's ear, hesitatingly whispering, "Sir, most of these miners are slaves and forced laborers sent to the Monastery from various places. Wouldn't it be inappropriate to just take them away like this?"
The foreman's eyes widened as he stared at the mine boss, impatiently saying, "Whether it's appropriate or not is for me to decide. Besides, these are just temporarily assigned to do heavy labor. With Bishop Olov's people watching them, they won't run away. They'll naturally return once the task is done."
"Only a fool would believe they'd come back. Looks like I'll have to report more deaths from illness or sudden demise again~" The mine boss grumbled a few words to himself, but intimidated by the foreman's usual tyranny, he obediently carried out the order.
After instructing the mine boss, the foreman turned to Art and said, "My Lord, you must select quickly. I still need to expedite the quarrying of the long stones here."
Art smiled and nodded in agreement.
The sound of copper bells jingling echoed over the quarry, and miners gathered in groups of three to five towards the wooden shed.
Soon, seventy to eighty miners stood in the open space in front of the barracks.
Seeing that most of the miners had arrived, the foreman gestured for Art to proceed.
Art placed his right hand on the hilt of his sword, stepping onto a small wooden platform in front of the barracks.
Ron and Kazak stood straight behind him, and Art's clear voice rang out: "Brothers, miners, I have been sent by Bishop Olov to temporarily recruit a group of laborers and guards to accompany my caravan to the south to purchase goods.
You all know that Provence and Lombardy are currently at war in the south, so traveling south with me will be dangerous.
However, I will not let you risk your lives for nothing. Anyone willing to come with me will be fed and clothed along the way, and will receive a weekly wage of five fenny.
Your daily duties will simply be to drive my carts and transport goods. If we encounter bandits or brigands, you just need to grab a stick and help make some noise."
A stir went through the miners below. Many of them were slaves and prisoners who had toiled in the quarry for years, enduring daily sun and wind, swinging hammers and breaking stones, doing the heavy labor of beasts, and eating food fit for pigs and dogs.
There was no harder life than this, and without much incitement from Art, several miners were already eager to volunteer.
Art's voice then resounded at the opportune moment, "However, since this is work for Bishop Olov, I will also be making selections.
First, you must be young and strong; the old and weak are not wanted. Second, you must be single; those with wives and children are not wanted.
Third, you must be brave; the timid and cowardly are not wanted. Those who believe they meet the conditions, step forward.
I am only recruiting ten people, and once that number is reached, no more will be accepted."
Before Art finished speaking, a miner, twenty-five or twenty-six years old, wearing loose hemp trousers and bare-chested, had already stepped forward.
Art nodded to Kazak and Ron. Both jumped off the wooden platform and walked to the miner's side.
Kazak pinched the miner's sinewy muscles and pried open his mouth to inspect his teeth, much like buying livestock.
Having passed Kazak's initial selection, the miner then came before Ron.
Ron, having experienced battle and bloodshed, no longer had the shyness he had six months ago.
He exuded an aura of authority in front of this miner, who was a head taller than him, and looked up to ask, "Fellow, what is your name, and why are you here?"
The miner answered without reservation, "My name is Obert. I was originally a slave and was resold to this place."
"Have you killed anyone?"
"No, but I'm not afraid to kill."
"Good, you've been selected. Go over there to register."
The miner Obert left the crowd and walked to the wooden table under the shed.
The quarry foreman, holding a quill pen, drew a circle around Obert's name on the parchment.
The second miner who came up tried to curry favor with Ron and then boasted about himself.
Ron didn't even ask much and directly eliminated him because, according to the standards Art had set for Ron beforehand, anyone who was glib-tongued, had a street ruffian's air, or was too violent and difficult to manage was to be rejected.
The third miner, who was punished with hard labor for accidentally killing someone in a fight, successfully passed Kazak and Ron's tests.
After being "registered" by the foreman, he stood beside Obert.
Then came the fourth, the fifth…
The standards Art set were not too strict for these miners. A small portion of the miners below stepped forward to be selected.
However, Ron had barely selected and eliminated fewer than thirty miners before the ten-person quota was filled.
This was the maximum number of miners the quarry foreman allowed Art to take, and also the maximum number Art intended to recruit.
Because the Patrol Team currently only had eighteen people in total, and these miners were different from ordinary laborers.
Most of them were not good people, and recruiting too many would negatively impact the Patrol Team's overall combat effectiveness and discipline.
Therefore, Art did not intend to put all ten of these people into the Patrol Team; he would continue to select from these ten people later…
While waiting for the selected miners to return to their shacks to pack their belongings and prepare to leave, Art and the foreman went to a place out of sight of the others.
Art placed three large silver marks and six small silver deniers into the foreman's hand.
The foreman weighed them, took out a fine-quality silver mark to examine it, and then happily put it into his money pouch…
In the evening, Art and his two companions, along with the ten miners, returned to the small inn north of Lucerne and settled in.
Art treated the miners to a hearty meal of meat stew, oatmeal porridge, and rye bread.
That night, Ron and Kazak planned to take turns on watch to prevent the miners from escaping, but Art stopped them.
These people would not run away; most of them were registered slaves and forced laborers, and if they escaped and were caught, they would face even more brutal punishment.
And Art had promised to feed and clothe them, and even give them some extra wages, so they should not leave voluntarily.
Indeed, early the next morning, when Art opened his door, he saw the miner named Obert and several others waiting in front of his room.
"My Lord, thank you for granting us abundant food and warm lodging. Please assign us the tasks we are to do today," Obert said, bowing to Art.
Art looked at the group of bowing miners before him and said, "I think you probably already guessed that I didn't temporarily recruit you for trade.
You have already been bought by me from the quarry. As long as you serve me well, you will not return to being mine slaves in the future.
Although I bought you, I don't intend for you to remain my slaves forever. In the future, I will select suitable people from among you to join my Patrol Team.
Once you become a Soldier in my Patrol Team, you will no longer be slaves or forced laborers.
Even if you are not selected for the Patrol Team, as long as you serve me diligently and faithfully for two years, I will restore your status as freemen."
A wave of pleasant surprise swept through the miners' hearts. They had thought they would only gain a slightly better situation than being mine slaves at the quarry, never imagining they would have a chance to regain their freeman status~
"May God bless you, esteemed Lord," the miners all knelt, touching their heads to the ground.
Art told all the miners to stand up.
"After breakfast today, I will select a few of you to accompany me into the city to purchase goods.
The rest of you will stay and rest at the inn. I will arrange your food and lodging, but do not wander around freely to avoid causing trouble."
After speaking, Art led the miners downstairs.
Ron had already arranged everyone's meals. The miners' table had a large barrel of pea and wheat porridge, while Art, Ron, and Kazak's table had meat stew with refined salt and bread.
Everyone ate with relish.
That day, Art, along with Ron and a few miners, spent the entire day wandering around Lucerne.
He spent 2,000 fenny to buy a wooden, iron-rimmed four-wheeled carriage and a sturdy young mule.
He also purchased a batch of supplies such as grain, smoked meat, farm tools, salt, and coarse linen, and bought a set of coarse cloth tunics for the ten raggedly dressed miners.
Art once again lamented that money was not enough; over 3,000 fenny were gone in a single day.
However, unexpectedly, the miners who received new coarse cloth clothes did not feel happy.
They believed that the more generous their new master was, the more dangerous the road ahead would be.
After staying in Lucerne for four days, Art led the group of over ten people out of Lucerne's south gate and embarked on the journey back south.
To deal with potential dangers on the road, Art bought ten long competition poles from the Lucerne arena.
The ten miners, who had no weapons, each received a long pole for self-defense.
However, this journey south was not as perilous as the last, and in less than five days, they had already reached Tinietz.
