The new armor wasn’t great. The weapons that were delivered were substandard. All in all, perfectly within his expectations. And yet, he was still left sorely disappointed.

The Conquistador needed to get some genuinely skilled handymen in order to get something done. The march to the Usurper had to be done with an army, one outfitted to take on any threat, no matter how powerful they were. His group were armored and equipped with some weapons, but that wasn’t worth much when they weren’t capable of using those tools well.

He did have a variety of monsters that were under his control, some that had their own weapons, others that did not. From ones that were somewhat tolerable, like the humanoid monsters with misshapen proportions, to the absolute horrendous. Some of those that had shapes that were similar to a deer-human hybrid that had its back so crooked it made a sharp turn.

Yet despite all of that, they were his. They were all under his control, each and every single one of them. None of them would dare to disobey him or even fathom the thought of attacking him. They had no possibility, not when he had changed their spirits to become subservient to him.

That was the sole reason why he outfitted them with some armor. Before, they were all nude, the only defenses they had being the thick skin and hair that were spread all across their body. But now, they were all covered up with bits of metal plate that defended the more important parts of their body, that being the torso, legs, and the head.

Though, there was definitely room for improvement. The armor pieces did not cover up the entire body, merely portions of the more important body. They did not seem similar to the knights in shining armor that he had read in the novels. No, these were far more similar to the ram shack bandit armada that roamed the countrysides, the ones destined to be killed without a bit of difficulty.

That was not meant to be. Here and now, he needed things perfect.

Thankfully, there were a few things that worked to his benefit here. The foragers had returned and had found some plants that were somewhat edible. They claimed the taste would be awful, but that was something they’d need to fix. They had their roles, and they would need to ensure that the resulting meal wasn’t nauseating or foul. He had to admit, he was a bit excited about this. Finally, something that wasn’t the vile raw flesh or blood that had been forced to dine on for some time.

Though, there were some problems. The dish presented to him was not presented well. There was nothing appetizing about the brick of brown and green laid in front of him. The black char marks that were all over the darn thing did not do anything to make him feel excited about cutting out a slice, either. If anything, he was utterly tempted to give up and dine on some random small beast once more.

But alas, desperate times call for desperate measures. He went ahead and sliced himself a bit to dine on. A single piece found itself on the wooden fork that his subjects had carved for him, which he then took a sniff of.

There wasn’t a single aroma to this mystery meal at all. The Conquistador couldn’t tell if they had put in any poison or any type of dangerous material. Thus, he had one option: to get someone else to eat this dish.

“Woman.” He called out to the person who had massaged his shoulder earlier, “Come over and taste this for me. Make sure that this is not inedible. I want to ensure that this was seasoned properly.”

“U-uhm… Y-yes, my lord.” Nervously, she began to walk up step by step, before taking the piece into her own hands. She took a deep breath, before nibbling on the piece. She chewed for some while, before swallowing.

The Conquistador kept an eye on her throughout the process. The help hadn’t gone pale, foamed at the mouth, or dropped dead. Though, all poison never acted quickly. They were all quite slow-acting according to the texts that he had read. Therefore, he would need to wait for a bit before seeing if this dish was truly safe.

“So, how was the taste?” He asked as he leaned onto his hand, “Is it something worthy of my palate, or would I be better off eating something else?”

“W-well, my lord, the taste was rather… alright?” She seemed to be at a loss for words as she struggled to find something to say about the dish, “It isn’t bad, but it also wasn’t anything fantastic. You… um, well…”

“I’ve heard enough.” He sighed before going ahead and taking a bite from the brick. He chewed for a while, before the flavors truly began to hit his tongue.

Like she had said, there really wasn’t anything to write home about. The taste was something similar to that of eating some porridge without any salt or pepper. This definitely needed far more seasonings, something that he would bring up to the cooks next time around. But, for now, this was tolerable. Finally, something that wasn’t the disgusting hot raw flesh.

He went ahead and feasted on this vegetable brick, finishing all of it off without much problem. When the meal was completed, he went ahead and put down his fork before wiping his mouth with some cloth. Then, and only then, did he turn back to the rest of his subjects.

They all looked rather hungry, with the way they were all staring at the empty dish with longing. He cocked his head at that. Shouldn’t they have gotten fed by the cooks? Why were they all acting like they had nothing to eat?

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Well, that was something he could get the answer to. He got up from the table and went to the cooks. The four of them looked down at the ground, nearly scared and shivering i their boots.

“I will admit this: the meal was not bad. You need to season far more, there was barely any flavor to the dish. Take this as a lesson for next time, understand?”

“Y-yes, my lord!” All four of them nodded feverishly.

“Good. Then let me ask you this: have you all not given out any food towards the rest of the people? They have worked hard to outfit the soldiers with weapons and armor, so they do deserve some rations.”

“W-well… That…” They all looked rather embarrassed by that point, almost as though they truly had no answer for the question.

“Come now, I won’t get mad!” He laughed as he put a hand on one of their shoulders. The man that received his good gesture flinched, before gulping.

“W-we were so focused on preparing your meal that we… did not prepare anything else.”

“Ah? Is that really all?”

They squirmed once more, before nodding. The Conquistador hummed as he started to think on the topic. Hmmm, what to do…

Well, he could push on this. That was one thing he could do. Another was to simply use his blessing to force them to all get to work, cooking the meals for everyone else and getting the truth. But honestly, what was the point in doing any of that? They had prepared his dish first, which was all that truly mattered.

“Alright. Like I said, don’t worry! I’m not mad, though I will suggest you get to work on getting some of their meals all prepared. Why, if you need, I do have a few beasts under my control you could butcher and feet them with! All like how you did earlier, of course, before I came and educated you all on the correct way of things.”

“Y-yes… My lord, thank you. We–”

“Get on it? Yes, splendid!” With that, he lifted his hand off the man’s shoulder. The person gave out a deep breath, before his knees began to buckle, and he nearly fell to the ground, before being supported by his allies.

He had to admit, watching all of this was rather amusing. Though, he had to admit, there was something more that he had to do: get information.

“Though, one last thing. Pray tell, do you lot know of any skilled blacksmiths?”

“Sk-skilled blacksmiths?”

“Why yes!” He gave them all a grin, showing his white pearly teeth, “I need to have some competence with my weapons and armor, of course. The current batch, while decent, simply just won’t do for my future endeavors. Why, if you happen to know anything, then I can promise some grand rewards for your generous information.”

“I–” One of the cooks swallowed, before looking on grimly, “That kind of information… We…”

“Oh come now!” He shook his head, “Surely you know someone? After all, you must have had some well-made knives if they were capable of achieving such fine butchery with the beasts. Unless you’re trying to hide something, then…”

The cook that had spoken up previously seemed to hesitate. He opened his mouth and closed it, not sure of what to say regarding the offer. However, before he could say anything else…

“I know of one.”

The Conquistador turned to the one who had talked. This cook was a man, one with scars all over his body. He had a slightly concerned look on his face as he took a deep breath, before speaking up.

“There’s a few blacksmiths I know that were in a settlement nearby here, at least before the war began. I don’t know if they’re still alive or not, but that’s the best lead you’re going to get.”

“Truly?” He grinned. Another settlement? If this place had several blacksmiths, that meant there had to be a proper mine to make use of. Either that, or there had been a huge surplus of metals to utilize to craft things. More than that, there were even more subjects he could get at this pace.

“Yes.” The man nodded, “That is the only information I know regarding your request.”

“E–Eldge, why are you telling him this?” One of the other cooks hissed angrily, “You’re going to make him stronger! Is that something you want to do?”

“If I don’t give him what he wants, then he would’ve merely controlled us!” The newly named cook hissed back, “Do you understand? This is the only way we can all survive!”

“Why, that’s–”

“Oh, that’s enough information as is.” The Conquistador mused, the two that were bickering freezing up. “And with that, I’ll be assuming that there’ll be the opposing army present as well?”

“Y-yes, my lord. At least, I think…”

Interesting. Despite all of his attempts at being a coward, Eldge failed at all accounts. For one, it was clear that the whole goal was to get him to fight with the Usurper forces, possibly losing several men or perhaps his own life in the process. That meant two things: the army had to be competent, and that there would be others similar to him present. However, there were a few things that the moron failed to realize.

For one, he was far more experienced than before. He had fought with others that could pull victory right out of thin air, something that he could prevent now. Another was that he could merely take control of the Usurper forces with his divine blessing, using his own power to increase the size of his army. Lastly, was the funny bit that if he needed shields to defend, then these useless louts would be the first to go.

Then there was the point that he’d be getting access to genuinely skilled blacksmiths. They could achieve what he wanted: the crossbows, the weapons, the armor, everything. All of that would be possible if he had access to those people. In fact, if there was an army, then that meant this settlement had to be decently sized.

Who knows. Perhaps there’d be an alchemist that could recreate gunpowder for him, allowing him to have access to arquebuses and cannons. Though, he doubted that.

For now, he’d need to check on the progress of the wagons. If they were all ready, then they could start moving out. After all, there was nothing this place could offer him anymore.

It was time to move on forward and get things done.