Nine people. Three men, four women, and two children. A woodworker, a blacksmith, and the rest were unknown.
All that for almost every single one of his remaining troops. By the end, the Conquistador only had two monsters, both of them being the brand new converted monsters he had gotten earlier. They were occupied by holding every single dropped weapon and armor that his older soldiers had left behind. Nothing could go to waste, not when they could be heated up and re-built for better equipment.
With that, their very short trek back to the base was complete. They were greeted once more by the villagers, all busy at work and his soldiers holding guard. All of this was being monitored by Mandeline, who seemed to be talking to someone while gesturing towards the bunch of wagons that were sitting uselessly.
“Yes, we need to dismantle them.” She sighed as the man glared at her, before shaking her head. “Look, I understand that doing such a thing is rather tiring and insulting. I know, doing all that work and then having to rip it all apart is awful. But it is a necessity for future progress, that’s–”
“Oh, lay off it.” The man growled, “There is no reason to do any of that! The lumberjacks are out there right now, risking their lives to chop down a bunch of trees for us to have more wood to work with. What is the point of destroying all of our hard work that is still viable for use when we could simply keep them in storage temporarily?”
“That’s…”
He couldn’t help but hum at that. Some random, lowly subject questioning the thoughts of his assistant? While yes, he didn’t quite get why she desired to dismantle all the wagons, the point was that her words were law. You would follow them no matter what, as they were a part of the demands of her lord, that being him.
It didn’t matter whether he wanted them destroyed yet. The point was that he should have obeyed. Either way…
“So, pray tell, what is the reason for dismantling those poor wagons?”
The two of them flinched as they swiftly turned towards him. His assistant put a hand to heart, clearly gasping out of shock. The offender seemed to step back a bit, all his bravado evaporating in an instant.
Mandolin took the time to take some deep breaths, before smiling.
“M–My lord! Why, the wagons being dismantled is all for future progress, of course!”
“Again, how so?”
“Well, that is simple.” With that, she smiled as she gestured towards the empty wagons, “We need defenses. If we tear down the wagons, then we can use the parts to create a barricade that can cover the front of the building. That way, we have a method of being able to hold off any ambushes that come our way.”
“Oh?” He cocked his head. “Do you not have any trust in my soldiers?”
“W-well, that…” She looked away as she rubbed her arm, “No offense to you, my lord, but those monsters that assaulted us earlier… None of you… thralls, could do anything to them. If we are faced with another horde of those, then–”
“Pardon?” With that, he gestured towards the beasts that he had converted earlier. They were busy looking over some of his subjects, those of which were busy at work chopping down wood to become kindling. “Are those beasts now not under our control now?”
“Um, yes.” She paused, before gulping, “But that is nothing compared to a horde. If we are faced with a giant army, then we would cannot do much.”
“You could just barricade the door and wait for the threat to pass.”
“But we have so many materials and goods still outside.” She gestured towards all the equipment and goods that were strewn out in the street, “If we could just set up a space for defenses, then we could have the people get the chance to evacuate.”
His assistant did have a point regarding all this. Though, was the best option really dismantling all the wagons? They would still be useful as a means to transport goods and people back to the main base. In fact, the more buildings they took over, the more transportation would be necessary. Thus, while her decision had good intentions, it was ultimately not the best way to go forward.
No, it would be best to simply wait.
“Let us wait for the lumberjacks to come back with the wood.” He sighed, before looking back at the group. “For now, get some information from them. There’s a blacksmith and a carpenter. Make use of their skills and ensure their families are well-kept and everything. We need them to be happy when they work for us, understood?”
“Um… Yes. I understand.” She nodded, “I’ll make sure to have all of that set up.”
“You do that.” He nodded, before pausing. “Ah, one more thing. Is the food ready?”
“Uh. I–I don’t know?” Mandolin winced as she was given the death glare treatment, “I’m sorry, my lord. However, I’ve been so busy today running around and making sure that everyone was doing their necessary tasks. I–I couldn’t keep track of everything all at once. I–”
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“Ah, enough.” He waved her off, “Simply get the job done. I’ll check out the kitchen myself. If they don’t have anything ready, then there will be some harsh words with you later.”
“U… Understood.” She gulped, before focusing her attention towards the new arrivals, “I’ll make sure they’re comfortable… and get the necessary information to get everything up to speed.”
“Good. Now, off to your job.” With that, he walked off towards the kitchen, intent on seeing if the cooks had done their job. He could see from the corner of his eye as she held her head in her hands, before going to the group with a smile on her face to get the job done.
In any case, he needed something to eat. At this point, he’d even settle for the flesh of his soldiers… no, that wasn’t right. He wasn’t that desperate yet.
In any case, he managed to get to the kitchen without much problem. He looked around to see all the cooks hard at work. Some of them had been setting up the ovens, cooking up some of the same bricks that he had eaten in the village. Others were busy keeping the flame going, ensuring that the meals would be able to cook at a consistent pace.
The Conquistador couldn’t help but smile at the sight. He walked forward, approaching one of the cooks.
“You.”
“Y-yes?” The man flinched as he turned towards him with shock, “Is there anything I could do for you?”
“Indeed.” He nodded, “You can start by getting two of the dishes ready for me. I will be eating right now, so get some of the food ready.”
“Y-yes!”
With that, the meal was ready for him. Without a single bit of hesitation, he went ahead and took the time to feast. To be honest, he himself was shocked by how starved he was. The two bricks that were served to him were all devoured in less than a few minutes, something that was quite impressive even for his standards.
Of course, the full stomach led to him being so full that he needed to take a small siesta to sleep off the fogginess he was feeling. He headed back to his room, before changing and wiping himself down. With that all done, he got himself all comfortable in his cloth bed, allowing the warm blankets to cover him up.
At this point, he was feeling the weight of all his food. Those two bricks were making him incredibly drowsy and bit by bit, his consciousness began to fade. He started to fall asleep, ready to get a good night’s rest and a nice dream to make his day even better.
That was the plan, at least until someone started knocking on his door. He growled as he got up and stormed towards the door, before yanking it open.
What he found was Mandeline with her hand up, ready to knock on the door once more. She flinched and stepped back, wincing as she looked at his rage filled face.
“What is it?” He snapped as he put his arm against the doorway, “I was about to sleep. You better have a good reason for disturbing me.”
“I–I–Um…” She gulped, looking away from him as sweat poured down her brow, “You mentioned you needed to see me later, and that you wanted to have the information on the new refugees. So, I came to… inform you.”
He raised an eyebrow at those words. He opened his mouth to reply, before pausing and going back through his memories.
That was true, wasn’t it. He had asked for all of that information. Well, might as well get all of this done and then warn her not to interrupt her next time. Hmmm… Although…
He shook his head. No, that thought process was one that was not right. He needed her to work and make sure things were going accordingly to plan, not to act as his personal bed warmer. Why, if he needed something like that, he’d merely have converted one of the single women amongst his subjects to server such a role.
No, he needed her as an assistant. For now.
“Tell me. What should I know?”
“Well, all the refugees know a lot about the town, so they should be able to translate the map and show us where exactly we are.” She explained, which earned a nod from the Conquistador to continue, “The blacksmith has gotten started on getting new weapons and armor built. He’s using the stuff that you brought back, but we should have some useful armaments tomorrow.”
“That’s good.” The Conquistador couldn’t help but crack a smile at the news. Finally, someone doing things right for once. “Make sure that he focuses on my armor first. Tell him that I want my equipment to be shiny, regal. Present and well-designed to demonstrate my role as the savior.”
“I… Will…” She drawled out, before coughing. “An–anyway, the carpenter has gotten to work on building up the defenses I mentioned before. Unfortunately, we did have to use the wagons for this, so…”
“A shame.”
“B-but he promised to make some new ones!” She waved her hands frantically, “He said that he could make them better than ever! They’ll be far more balanced, have no problems going along the streets, the whole works!”
“Then make sure he creates a luxurious wagon for me.” He frowned. “Make sure that there are enough seats for four people. Understand?”
“Y-yes! I’ll be sure that he understands and that he makes you a magnificent wagon to rest in!” She nodded.
“Good.” With that, he stayed there, waiting for further news. However, she seemed to stand there, nervously looking away and shuffling fer feet around. He couldn’t help but groan, before slapping his hands.
“Anything else? Or are you wasting my time?”
“N-no! The other refugees, I got some more information on them. There’s a tailor, two of them used to be farmers, and the women were all weavers of some sort. The two children, they know how to work with wood.”
“Hrm.” He closed his eyes as he took in all of that information. Not the best range of professions, but usable. He’d need to figure out how to use these people, but one thing was certain: they weren’t that great as of now. The tailor would be good for later, when they had the materials to create clothes and all, but for now, not usable. Farming… Was that even possible in this corrupted world? The women would have to figure out the kitchen, that much was for sure. And the children…
He shrugged. Well, children were children. He could leave them be for now, at least until he figured out another usage for them. For now…
“Good job. Go and get those tasks done. I am going to sleep now, wake me up only when there is an emergency.”
“Y-yes my lord!”
With that, she dashed off, leaving him alone. With that, he finally had the peace and quiet to go back to his bed and sleep off the rest of the night.