As the winter of my seventh year in this world set in, I started the new year by drawing sketches for the gothic styled church I had to build to please Rae.
I didn’t want to take resources away from more important jobs for this, but the sooner we pushed this under the rug, the better it would be for us in the long run.
And after a few days, I was able to draw up something that pleased Rae.
Though actually making this intricate structure would be anything but an easy job. And most definitely not a short one either.
The quickest time it would take us to construct this monstrosity was 2 years—and that was with sending two whole groups to work on it.
And that was also an optimistic estimate—but I hoped my optimism was at least somewhat realistic as not having 70 people for a year or two was going to suck.
But sacrifices were needed to be made!
Not because I wanted to, I would quite like my empire to remain as atheistic as possible if the only god we could pray for help to was Rae, but I sadly didn’t see that as possibility.
Though in the grand scale of things, 2 years was really not that much. And I could always just make more construction groups later this spring.
Hmm... maybe I should just stop focusing on the construction of the capitol now that I’ve got a few officials for it?
I mean, while seeing my own little village grow from a handful of people to the biggest in this world has been enjoyable, I feel like I need to focus on more of the macro of things rather than the micro of them.
So, yeah. I think I’ll just choose a person to make the head of development for the capital, and leave it to them.
Though, I’ll be asking for reports every so often. Wouldn’t want them turning my city into shit after all, would I?
And, after a bit of screening of the 3 officials that were helping me manage everything, I chose one of them to be the minister of the capital’s development.
He now had full control of how and when the construction groups worked, and how many there were. I would’ve liked to actually leave the dealing of the construction workers to the developing private sector, so I didn’t have to worry about recruitment so much, but for now we had to recruit our workers ourselves.
Which was not really that fast as... well, most people didn’t want to do manual labour that much.
Perhaps in the future when some mages start appearing around the world, the construction industry may move from one that relied on manual labour to one that was a mixture of manual labour and magic, but oh well.
After I stopped focusing on micro-managing the construction groups, and left it to the minister, I started using my free time to bother the exploration official and Jay more and more, and start trying to develop some magical spells.
Of course, I wasn’t very talented at it. And couldn’t even count on the help of others as I was literally the only person who could cast magic in the whole empire right now.
But I started messing around with it in my free time anyways. Who knows, perhaps in a few months I’ll finally be able to cast a proper fireball?
...Most likely not, but I hope I can!
Though before I could crack the mysteries of magic open, the spring started and 60 people made their way to the villages of the two mayors I planned on making barons.
The mayors had been notified of this already, and when they were ready for it, I’d send them altars that could summon 100 people rather than only 10 a year.
I wanted their villages to become their own towns after all.
Though... not many villages were keen on having altars. Apparently, they were just fine with relying on mother nature to increase their population.
Not that I minded them really, after all even if their villages were small, they were still contributing quite a lot to the empire in the shape of natural resources and food.
I never intended on stopping the food production around the capital completely, but I would be discouraging people from becoming farmers as... we simply didn’t need more of them around here.
And me discouraging it around the capital just meant that more people would want to either get a new job, or leave the capital and join a pre-existing village or found their own so... win-win for me!
After a few days of waiting, I completed the quest I was hoping to complete for a long time!
Quest A Small Town completed! Rewards, 20 Exp + 2 Research Points
have been granted in the Empire System!
Quickly I opened my empire system to see if there was a new quest that had replaced a small town, and there was!
A Big Town – Have a total of 10.000 Homunculi, and 10 towns with at least 100 people living in them. – Rewards: 20 Exp + 2 Research Points
“Hmm... 10k people. Not undoable by any means, but I doubt that I will be able to make it in the next decade. Perhaps the next decade and a half, but most likely not much shorter than that.” I muttered, and then proceeded to open my research tab, and looked at grant title once more.
Emperor Skill Grant Title – Allows you to grant titles and fiefs to individuals that’ve caught your eye. The titles range from basic noble titles, like Mayor and Knight, to more advanced ones, such as Duke and grand duke, and, if you are feeling spicy, king and queen. The titles have requirements that need to be met to be granted, but also provide boons upon those who have them.
Titles can be passed down to only 1 blood related heir, if there are no blood related heirs, the title will not be passed down to anyone. – Costs 3 Research Points
“...Rae, you have not really said anything to me about how these titles would work, have you? I just know that they will provide some boons to those who I give them to... but what are those boons?” I said, turning my head to the gremlin goddess who was looking at the system window from behind me.
“Hmm... they are not really that impressive really. They won’t make each of your nobles into monsters of their own right, but it will... let’s say enhance their natural abilities.”
“Explain further.”
“...You can’t give me orders.”
“Rae, if you don’t start explaining what you mean in the next five seconds, I’ll spend my points elsewhere and you will never get the pleasure of watching squabbling nobles in my empire.”
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“...Well, what I said was on point, really. If you grant someone a title that they deserve, they will just get better at things they were already good at.
“A once-in-a-century talent in magic will become a talent that appears every 110 years instead of a hundred. People talented in mathematics will become almost computer like. A strong person in a village will become the strongest in a city.
“But the effect of the enhancement to their natural abilities of course increases with their rank in the nobility. And no, you won’t be able to contain a powerful noble by demoting them to a lower rank, and they can always go up the ranks by being overachievers, and going above the requirements needed to go a rank higher.
“Though dukes and archdukes won’t become kings or queens unless they’ve had an intention to rebel at you beforehand, and even then, they can delay their rank up until it’s the time to strike.”
“Hmm... then will they be getting access to some kind system that tells them when they are ready to rank up, or if they have ranked up?”
“Nope. I was just planning on assigning angels to each of your nobles honestly, and just ordering them to tell the nobles when they’ve ranked up or even make some kind of show of it if they want. They can sometimes get ahead of themselves when given free reign but... they usually know when to stop and, frankly, just ordering them around is easier and faster than making a whole system just to tell some inbred fucks that they are now allowed to get more inbred.”
“...Right... will these angels be guardian angels or...?”
“Nope, they are just going to be stalking the nobles, and alerting them if they’ve ranked up.”
“...Wait, won’t dukes and archdukes that plan on going against me feel like they’ve been given a mandate of heaven if an angel appears, and tells them that they can now become kings and queens? Won’t that be a problem for me?”
“I don’t think so... I mean, unless you’ve managed to piss off one of my angels, they are not going to try and make someone think that they are my new champion.
“I’ve ordered them to make it clear to any king/queen candidate that they are being the given the option to ascend up the ranks once more, but doing so will anger you, and will not be something I support.
“But also, not doing so will not really give you any challenges as you built up your empire. I am already going to have my fun watching your empire grow, and consume this planet and solar system, but what about when you make a bad decision?
“What if you go to a war you shouldn’t’ve? What if you start passing stupid policies that hurt your empire so bad that I can’t even have fun watching it?
“You need some people, crazy and not, to at least challenge you, or at least push back against you so that you don’t become complacent.
“And I also need to do this because my siblings are not all interested in direct warfare like I said before, and would be more than happy to just send constant waves of assassins to kill you or cause your empire to shatter slowly from within.
“You have to develop to be a better leader, and an emperor, otherwise your empire will be destroyed before we start getting to the good parts of the game!” She said, and though at the start she was just talking like normal, towards the end she started talking with more enthusiasm.
Though I wasn’t sure if that enthusiasm was all for mine, and my people’s good as she talked about “the good parts of the game” towards the end, whatever the hell that meant, but the reasonings for her leaving this clear hole were... sensible.
I really did need to become a better person and an emperor, and I wasn’t going to do that by sitting on my throne, and scribbling numbers on papers.
I needed to learn how to do political manoeuvres as well as military ones. I needed to learn how to spot lies or inconsistencies in people’s actions. I needed to become better at spotting corruption, and gain the ability to make good judgments on people so no corrupt people would gain high positions in the empire.
And perhaps change my mindset too but... I wasn’t too sure if that was necessary, but it sure felt like it was going to be.
I’ve never liked the people who worked for the “greater good” as it most often meant treating a select few people as sub-human and allowing others to barely get by.
But there may be cases where I need to actually think of the greater good, and decide who or what to save.
Which one is more valuable, 10 civilians or an injured mage that can save 100?
Mathematically, saving the mage and healing him up is always the better option, even morally I disagree.
And currently I’d say that I’d choose to save the 10 people as 10 lives are simply more valuable than 1, but what if I actually have to do decide on that in the future?
Would I really save 10 people, and push away the chance to save 100? Or would I save the guy that may or may not live another day to save 100 people, and leave the 10 people that I can definitely save to die?
...Too much for me, for now. But hopefully I can grow a backbone in the future and answer that question without a second’s thought.
After a few moments I moved my hands, and clicked on the research, and then went to my system window and saw it next to my other emperor skills.
System Window:
Name: Damian Tier: 2
Hp:121/121 HpR: 1
Mp: 21.664/21.664 MpR: 1
Skills: Mana Sense, Mana Manipulation, Mana Eyes, Weapon Mastery
Emperor Skills: Homunculi Creation, Absolute Order, Grant Knowledge, Grant Title
Blessings: Chosen Of The Goddess Rae, Heal
Party Members: 0
“...Still a long way to a million, huh?” I muttered, but didn’t dwell on my... totally stellar progress, and clicked on Grant Title instead, and saw a new and... a pretty simple tab open in front of me.
Titles:
Knight +
Mayor +
Baron/ Baroness +
Viscount/ Viscountess +
Count/ Countess +
Marques/ Marchioness +
Duke/ Duchess +
Archduke/ Archduchess +
Prince/ Princess +
King/ Queen +
Knowing what this was all about, I immediately clicked on the plush sign next to the knight to see what the requirements for it were.
Knight Requirements: Must be knighted directly by a noble other than a knight, or must’ve studied under a proper knight as a squire.
“That’s... pretty easy, isn’t it?” I asked Rae.
“Yeah, and it’s supposed to be. I was actually planning on forcing you to make a knighting ceremony, but not really necessary. Though, you can still, and probably, should do it whenever possible.” She said, and I nodded. Seeing the loyalty I’d gain from making a glamorous event.
Then I moved onto mayor, and clicked on the plus.
Mayor Requirements: Must be appointed directly by a noble above itself in ranking. Must be assigned to a settlement that has at least 10 people. As long as a mayor has control over a single town, they cannot advance and become a baron.
Then I slowly clicked on all the pluses—and immediately stopped when I saw the requirements for a baron.
Baron/ Baroness Requirements: Must be appointed by a noble direct above itself, or must’ve ranked up from a mayor themselves. Must have at least 5 settlements, and 100 people under their rule. These numbers are arbitrary and may be changed depending on the situation.
“...These numbers are arbitrary and may be changed depending on the situation?”
“Yeah? Do you expect a baron you give a title to right now and one that will appear after you’ve started colonizing other planets to be the same?
“No. Of course becoming a baron will be harder, and require more things when you leave your planet. And so will all the other requirements for the other titles.
“And... these are also the guidelines I’ll be giving to my angels, so don’t fret over it much.”
“Oh... well, you better not forget to increase them in the future then. I don’t want one of your angles to make a mayor into a king overnight.”
“Eh, don’t worry about it.” Rae said, and I continued clicking on the titles, revealing their requirements.
Viscount/ Viscountess Requirements: Must be appointed by a noble directly above itself, or must’ve ranked up from a baron themselves. Must have at least 20 settlements and 1.000 people under their rule. These numbers are arbitrary and may be changed depending on the situation.
Count/ Countess Requirements: Must be appointed by a noble directly above itself, or must’ve ranked up from a viscount themselves. Must have at least 50 settlements and 10.000 people under their rule. These numbers are arbitrary and may be changed depending on the situation.
Marques/ Marchioness Requirements: Must be appointed by a noble directly above itself, or must’ve ranked up from a count themselves. Must have at least 100 settlements and 100.000 people under their rule. These numbers are arbitrary and may be changed depending on the situation.
Duke/ Duchess Requirements: Must be appointed by a noble directly above itself, or must’ve ranked up from a marque themselves. Must have at least 1000 settlements and 1.000.000 people under their rule. These numbers are arbitrary and may be changed depending on the situation.
Archduke/ Archduchess Requirements: Must be appointed by a king or the emperor, Champion Damian. Must have at least 1000 settlements and 1.000.000 people under their rule. These numbers are arbitrary and may be changed depending on the situation.
Prince / Princess Requirements: Must be appointed by a noble directly above itself. No further requirements.
King/ Queen Requirements: Must be appointed directly by the emperor, Champion Damian, or must have rebellious intentions against him. Only dukes and archdukes can become kings, but these conditions may be changed depending on the situation. No further requirements.
“Hmm... interesting.” I muttered as I read through all the requirements, and it seems that my position is not even on the list.
But more interesting than that, it seems that I can just... appoint princes and princesses? That may be... problematic if others learn of it.
Afterall, if other nobles learn of it, they may get me to appoint an heir, and then kill me, and install the prince as a puppet emperor, and reing over the empire themselves.
That may be dangerous... I need to be careful about these things but, for now, I only need to call the barons, and the mayors back to the capi—wait a goddamn second, I have no accommodations for them... well, fuck.