After leaving the blacksmith, Cass and his father turned off the main road and started walking in the direction of the shoreline. Along the way, Lucius was greeted by all of the residents they passed, and some of them even gave Cass a small bow.
'Old man, before you got to the blacksmith, you said I need one of my wives to be like step-mother, does that mean I should have 2 wives too, like you?'
'No, Cass, you should have more. The only reason I have only 2 wives is because I was turned from a commoner to a noble by royal decree. Before that, I had no connections and no opportunities to meet lots of women besides what the military gave me. I met your mum in the military because she was serving in the kingdom's magic corps, and we were stationed at the same border post.
When I became a noble, Adeline's brother, who was also serving in our outpost at the time, introduced me to his father, who was the regional lord I would get my lands in, so it made sense for Adeline to join me. But you were born a noble, you will be expected to have quite a few wives when the village starts growing. Luckily, you will be a Baron, barely a noble like me, so you can marry noble girls or commoners without much of an issue. Just make sure that you treat them all the same.'
'Is it necessary, or can I just have one wife if that is what I prefer?'
'Well, there is no rule that says you must have more than one wife, but you will be looked down on if you don't have at least 2. Only nobles are allowed to marry more than one person in this country, so how well you manage your wives is one way that other nobles you interact with will judge you. But, make sure that they have some skill or another that can help you out in the future. You are the one we are counting on to continue growing this village.'
Cass nodded along as he listened to his father. On Earth, having multiple wives was something that almost never happened. The only people with multiple wives were usually princes and kings from countries rich in soil, but Cass's country was never like that.
The idea of multiple wives was certainly appealing, as someone who never had a real family growing up in his past life, he could now build a huge one for himself. There was also the fact that he would be able to sleep with multiple women without consequence, which also made him grin.
When they arrived at the small but functional dock, Cass could see small boats with 2 man crews floating far out in the ocean. Nearby, there were 2 buildings, one was a small bungalow cottage similar to all of the others in the village, and next to it was a large wooden hut with a small chimney coming out of the top, which Cass guessed was the smoke house he had heard about. Lucius walked up to the bungalow and thumped the door a few times.
From inside, a woman's voice was heard: 'If you've come to collect your fish for the day, the boats haven't returned yet, come back in a couple of hours.'
Lucius replied with a loud voice 'Nimri, it's Lucius, I've brought the boy'
After the sound of scurrying footsteps, the door suddenly flew open, and a yellow-haired woman dressed in clean and functional clothes stuck her head out while holding onto the door frame from either side.
Cass noticed that she had two yellow pointed ears with white fur inside protruding from the top of her head, and a long yellow and brown striped tail that seemed to be coming from the base of her spine. Cass' suspicions of her being a catkin were further confirmed when she leaned in close to him and took a huge sniff through her nose.
'Yeah, Lucius, he smells pretty similar to you, definitely your kid, he even has your hair too. So, kid, wanna learn how to catch and smoke fish with me? Your dad wants me to take you out on the boat once a week so that you can learn how to do it. I'll teach you net, pole, and spear fishing, and show you how to make the smoked fish taste really good.'
'Sounds like fun to me, I really do like the smoked fish that we keep in the house as a snack, is it you that makes it?'
'Yep, it's me and my husband who make it, he's out on the boats at the moment, but you'll get to meet him too. On the days we go out on the boat, you need to be here before sunrise so we can get the best catch, then we will gut and clean the fish, and then take it to the smoke house. Whether we use rod, net, or spear depends on the time of the year, sounds good to you?'
'We have a deal,' Said Cass, extending his open hand in Nimri's direction. Nimri shook it and then disappeared into the house for a moment before returning with a small piece of cloth in one hand and a barbed spear with a long rope in the other.
'This will be your fisherman's blade and fishing spear, at least until you make one for yourself at Orin's place.'
She unfolded the cloth to reveal a knife which Cass recognised as a filet knife immediately. It seemed to have been of poor quality, but the shine on the blade showed it had been sharpened and taken care of. 'We will keep these in the tool house for now, but when you get your own, you will be responsible for bringing them with you'.
Lucius turned to the catkin woman and smiled at her 'I appreciate this. If he gives you any trouble, let me know. I will send him over to you starting next week.