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"Ten thousand?" Chargul chuckled "We'll have this road built as we walk, as long as the various commanders know what to do." He realized he wasn't quite familiar with Aelyrian military titles, so he figured commanders probably covered the type of people he was referring to. No doubt Eyvind was smart enough to understand how a civil architect could fail at knowing military titles and appropriately accommodate for such a lack.
"Still, as these men may be needed in the war effort, I will once again state that having lumber cutters, of any kind, from the gagdeteers would come in enormously handy once these men are needed elsewhere. Not to mention their alternative use as siege weapons. Do not worry, I shall handle that amongst the commanders of the regiment. Ride on, I'm sure other fronts need you at this time, we will work good and hard here." And as a former slave, Chargul knew the meaning of hard work. If he found any soldiers resting without permission, they would be punished. Harshly.
Leaving Eyvind to ride off, Chargul's first order of business was to calculate how long it would take. With ten thousand men, that effectively multiplied the work done by a hundred. From a sixth of an Aelyrian mile to sixty. Obviously, the men could not possibly wander that fast, but they would be able to make it to Everdark Keep in a single day and still have at least six thousand troops ready to proceed the next, with four thousand troops making it the next. The entire road network to the Hills of Peda and all the way on the western front would be finished before, similar as to what Eyvind had so boldly stated, winter.
And that was a good thing.
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