I built a manor in the Middle Ages

Chapter 64 Miller's Day

A gradually warming mountain breeze blew in from the west, dispersing the white clouds, passing over the foothills, flowing through the stream, and finally stopping at a wooden door with fangs hanging on it.

As soon as the sky was getting light, Miller slowly opened his eyes from the ground. The dark room covered his retina, and he blinked twice before he could break through the blurry vision.

He stood up and folded up the thatched mat. This was his temporary bed. The two stone beds in the house were given to his parents and sister respectively. He could only sleep on the floor. However, he had also slept on the floor in the thatched hut in the old village before, so Miller did not have any difficulty adapting to it.

Miller's hands were covered in the ash at the bottom of the straw mat, but he didn't care. He pulled a rope from the side, pulled it hard, rolled it into a bundle and stood it upright next to the fireplace.

Picking up the wooden barrel and pushing open the wooden door, Miller walked quickly towards the back of a majestic wooden house in the dawn.

He needed to fill the bucket in front of the cabin with water before daybreak.

He walked around five wooden houses that were as tall as him and came to the well. He skillfully wrapped the capstan around the wooden bucket. This job should have been done by his mother, but for some reason, Miller particularly liked watching the bucket being slowly pulled up from the well. So he pestered Mr. Ryan to make him a slightly smaller bucket. Running to fetch water every morning became one of the few entertainment activities he had in the day.

Miller admired Mr. Ryan very much, a man who was only a few years older than him but had become the master's attendant.

According to Mr. Lane, he was originally just the son of a carpenter. This made Miller admire the son of a carpenter from the bottom of his heart. While he was sleeping on the floor, the son of a carpenter had already lived in a wooden house, slept on a comfortable bed, and had black bread and cheese every day. This was unimaginable in Miller's world.

As for Master Luc, shouldn't a master just eat bread and drink goat's milk?
Carefully lowering the bucket, Miller gripped the vine rope, stepped back a few steps to get away from the dangerous edge of the well, then grabbed the winch and turned it hard.

The cool well water was slowly drawn up, and Miller staggered to pick up the bucket. Not long after he walked away, he saw his father coming out of the house carrying a hoe. When he saw Miller, he smiled kindly.

Weeding every morning was my father's must-do farm work. After coming back from weeding, he would dig a cellar with Mr. Ryan. In the afternoon, he would continue to build the road and brush and feed the master's warhorse.

Building a road is a new idea proposed by Master Luke recently. According to my father, the master wants to build a flat dirt road without weeds. My father doesn't know why he wants to build a road. He only knows that he should listen to the master in everything.

Every evening before going to bed, I could always hear my father talking to my mother about the mill by the stream and the wheel that looked like a big wheel.

My father always praised it as a great masterpiece and said that although the master's estate was small now, it would definitely become bigger and bigger in the future because the master was very rich. When he said this, my father would knock on his bowl and say excitedly that after all, even a bowl of wheat porridge had salt grains.

Miller went back and forth twice to fill the wooden barrel with water. His mother also got up and started feeding the chickens and sheep. His sister Julie came running over and stood in front of the wooden house, waiting for Luke and others to get up.

Miller looked at his sister with some envy. Ever since his sister was taken in as a little "maid" by the master, he would feed some food to the greedy sister whenever he had nothing to do. Every time Miller saw him, he couldn't help swallowing his saliva.

"Good day, Mr. Ryan!"

Suddenly, the sister behind him spoke sweetly in the direction of the cabin. Miller quickly turned his head and saw Ryan walking out of the cabin neatly dressed. Although he was also wearing linen, he had a pig leather belt around his waist and a dagger on the belt. Mr. Ryan practiced swordsmanship every morning and looked very impressive, at least that's what Miller thought.

"Good day, Julie. You're just in time. Come in and help the white cat clean up its damn hair. It's all over the place."

As Julie entered with a smile, Ryan turned to look at Miller, said hello, and went to get the horse. Miller knew that this was what the master did every morning, besides archery, he would go for a horseback ride. After getting the water, Miller would start the morning's work of catching insects.

The hen has hatched a brood of chicks, and the food gap has increased. In order to catch more chicken food, Miller often has to go to the back of the mountain and the fields to dig some earthworms and grasshoppers.

He brought his own tools and went to the back mountain. He found a place where he thought there were bugs and started digging. When he had filled half of his small bowl, he could hear the conversation between his father and Lord Ryan from the cellar not far away.

After a period of excavation, the scale of the cellar was basically formed. In order to better preserve it, some red bricks that had never been heard of were fired under the leadership of Mr. Ryan, and the floor and walls of the cellar were all paved with bricks.

After filling a ceramic bowl with insects, Miller returned to the cabin to give it to his mother, as she did not go out to herd sheep that day.

"Miller? It just so happens that your mother was just called by Ryan to help with bricklaying. Come over and give her a hand."

Yes, master!

Miller saw that Luc was holding a sheep, holding a knife and scissors in his hands, and waving at him.

Miller hurried over and said nervously, "Master, is there anything I can help you with?"

Miller lowered his head slightly, not daring to look directly at Luc. He always felt that Luc's eyes were very sharp. In fact, after the day Luc saved his family, Miller could not forget the arrow that Luc shot that grazed his mother's head. It was not that he held a grudge, but that there were some sequelae.

"I heard from Ryan that you inherited your father's strength. Although you look skinny, you're actually quite powerful. Show it to me. Look at this sheep. Hold it down and don't let it move. I need to trim its hooves."

Hoof trimming?
Miller was confused, but didn't think much about it. Master Luke was holding a little lamb in his arms, so it shouldn't be difficult to hold it down.

The man was holding the lamb, exposing the top of the sheep's hoof. Then he saw Master Luke pick up the scissors and start cutting along the slightly raised layer of hard keratin on the outside of the sheep's hoof. Miller held his breath and concentrated, only hearing the subtle sound of the scissors rubbing against the sheep's hoof keratin.

Master Luc's technique seemed extremely skilled. His scissors moved precisely along the contours of the sheep's hooves, and each cut was just right, without hurting the lamb's hoof meat, while also trimming the excessive keratin cleanly and neatly.

With each opening and closing of the scissors, the hard keratin was gradually trimmed off, revealing the original shape of the sheep's hoof. The lamb seemed a little uneasy in Miller's arms, struggling occasionally, but Miller followed Luc's instructions and held it tightly, preventing it from moving significantly.

Although the hoof trimming process may seem simple, it actually requires great skill and patience. As Luc worked, he explained to Miller the significance of each step and how to judge whether the sheep's hooves needed trimming by observing their condition.

With the completion of the last cut, Luc put down the tools in his hands, nodded with satisfaction, reached out and patted Miller on the shoulder, indicating that he could let go of the lamb. Miller then let go, and the lamb immediately jumped and ran away, as if testing its new hooves.

"Well done."

Luke smiled kindly. Miller, hearing the encouragement, raised his head slightly and found that the master's eyes did not seem as sharp as he had imagined.

(End of this chapter)