Day 4: Evening
As the fires of the continuous furnace burned hot, fueled by the dismantled palisade wood and the first, small batch of ash briquettes, Kael returned to the Healer's hut for the nightly population audit. This was his most crucial metric: the measurement of whether his system was actually saving lives.
Healer Mara was waiting, her face drawn, but her eyes held a flicker of newfound conviction. She presented Kael with the expanded medical register, now meticulously organized as commanded.
"Report, Mara," Kael stated, reviewing the parchment.
Mara pointed to the columns: Stomach Sickness (SS) and Fever (F).
"Four days ago, we had twenty-three active cases of Stomach Sickness, my lord, and four new deaths per day. Since the boil was enforced, and the contaminated well secured—three days past—we have only logged two new cases of SS, both mild. And only one death, an elderly man who was already frail."
Kael felt a cold sense of triumph. The science had worked. The disciplined application of hygiene and heat had immediately crippled the epidemic that was poised to destroy the population. The [CRITICAL DANGER ALERT] regarding mass sickness was rapidly receding.
Kael pointed to the Dependent column. "The children? And the elderly? How are they adjusting to the liquid ration?"
"They are accepting it better, my lord," Mara admitted. "And the liquid is easier on the bowels. The sickness is receding fastest among the very young. Your purification ritual is strong."
Kael accepted the credit with a simple nod. He knew it was the boiling of the water, not the ritual, but the faith Mara placed in the process reinforced the compliance needed for sanitation.
The Future Population
Kael then shifted the audit from immediate survival to long-term sustainability. He asked for the population breakdown again—the three hundred souls.
"Mara, based on current health and age, how many men and women can we reasonably expect to be fit enough to work the fields and the construction projects three months from now? Not just survive, but work."
Mara ran a weathered finger down her register, calculating the variables: age, chronic illness, and the current state of malnutrition.
"If the food holds, and the sickness remains suppressed, we can maintain the one hundred and fifty souls currently in the Core and Contingent groups," Mara estimated grimly. "But that includes perhaps fifty who are borderline. We need a minimum of one hundred and fifty capable bodies to plant and manage enough acreage to feed three hundred next year."
The target is 150 viable workers, Adrian calculated. If the population drops below that threshold, the harvest will fail regardless of my farming methods, and the barony dies.
Kael had a new, calculated target for his entire operation: Maintain the worker threshold at 150.
"Mara, the most important task now is maintaining the health of those 150 people," Kael stated. "You will track their health daily. Their caloric intake must be prioritized, even above the children, because they are the engine of survival."
Kael then looked at the briquette production quota delivered by the Dependent group.
"And the Dependent group is now entirely essential, Mara," Kael added. "Their hands are providing the fuel and processing the food. Their utility proves they are worthy of the survival effort. No further exceptions to the quota. We are all soldiers in this siege now."
Kael left the hut, satisfied with the data. He was not saving Ashfall with a sword or a spell, but with a ledger, a protractor, and a relentless focus on logistics. The siege had begun, and the numbers were finally beginning to turn in his favor.