"-To defeat the Huns! Did they send me daughters, when I asked for sons!" Malcolm sang to himself as he cleared the top level of the large house by the lake. They had decided that as the only remaining building that was still standing, that they'd use it as their townhall. And since Malcolm was now a lord, they argued he should take up residence there.

"You're the saddest bunch... I ever met!"

He chose to settle on the top floor and leave the bottom floor for official town business. Though now it was also serving as temporary lodging for a few dozen of the townspeople. The room had stunk like the rest of the house, of mildew, and rotting flesh. But thanks to some of the flowers Milly picked from the forest and using every little bit of his elbow grease to clean the wooden floors, and stone walls, the place was looking and smelling livable.

It was a large room, made even larger due to the lack of furniture. Even then, it was at least twice as large than his crappy apartment back in Minnesota. Not to mention that it’s completely rent free!

Malcolm made note to travel to Azmar's Bay to order new furniture and goods when he had the chance. He knew it’d be awhile before they’d be able to make their own.

"But you can bet before we're through!"

"Uh, your lordship?" A young dwarf woman, who had introduced herself as Rimda, poked her head through the bedroom door. Her eyes widening as she witnessed her new lord dancing and singing to a push broom.

"Mister, I'll make a man... Out of you!!" Malcolm finished as he spun with the broom."

He came to an abrupt stop when he noticed Rimda staring at him. Her round face turned a bright red as his eyes drilled into her.

"Uh, I can explain..." Malcolm began. His face growing hot due to embarrassment.

"I'm so sorry, my lord!" Rimda bowed so hard Malcolm thought her head would smash into the floor. "I'll wait down stairs! I'm sorry!" She then quickly shut the door and Malcolm could hear her booted feet hurriedly clunking down the stairs.

Your Singing Skill has increased from Level 2 to Level 3! Training your voice to please the ears of others is a fruitful yet treacherous journey. Continue to increase this skill and learn all its usefulness. Your future as a bard is bright!

Charisma +1

"Well, at least I didn't get embarrassed for nothing..." Malcolm rested the broom against a wall and made his way out of the bedroom.

He had had been singing almost non-stop since he started cleaning up the old building. His mother had shown him when he was little how singing to yourself while cleaning could help things go more swiftly. He at first mumbled and hummed under his breath, but once he received a prompt that he had learned the Singing skill he began belting out all his favorite childhood songs.

You'll never know when such a skill could be useful, especially in this chaotic world. He remembered quite a few games where the Bard was crucial

Darion had been helping him clean, but once Malcolm got to "I won't say I'm in love" and began playfully serenading the poor elf, Darion threw a fit and left him to clean the rest. Poor Darion, he's too thick headed to enjoy the classics.

Descending the stairs, Malcolm spotted Rimda standing in the center of the room. There wasn't much else in the room, besides the Mana Totem with its swirling designs. Once Saria had saw the strange structure she had gushed over its rarity and gone on how she'd only seen one before in her entire life. Apparently, the White Coven had one, Saria told him that the totem easily powered their entire college.

Power an entire school? Malcolm glanced at the magical totem pole. It was barely seven feet tall, and about the thickness of a telephone pole. Could this thing truly power this entire town?

"Ah, Rimda!" Malcolm pushed his thoughts to the side and smiled at the dwarf woman. "Let's just forget what happened a moment ago..."

"Actually, my lord." Rimda said hesitantly, she shifted her eyes away from his. Malcolm had noticed that a lot of the townspeople did this lately, ever since he had become Lichmarked his eyes had charged to a sharp silver. He couldn't blame them for being unsettled by his new soul piercing eyes. "I actually liked that song. What was it? I've never heard lyrics such as that..."

Malcolm's smile widened, his sharp teeth flashing slightly. "It's a song from my old world. It was first sung to build the morale of an entire powerful army to defeat their enemies!"

"Amazing!" Rimda locked eyes with him for a moment before looking away again. “I liked it. You have quite the talent for singing, my lord.”

Malcolm chuckled. "Thanks, so did you come here for? I doubt it was just to praise my singing ha-ha.”

Rimda looked at him confused and then jolted straight. "Oh! That's right, I've come to ask for assistance."

"Assistance with?" Malcolm waved his hand in the air to encourage the woman to get to the point.

"Oh, well you see it's only been me and two others who have volunteered to help out with building the longhouse..."

"And how is that going?" Malcolm arched an eyebrow.

After the first night, they had gotten together and started stripping the rundown homes for supplies to build a longhouse big enough to fit the others.

"Well, we've thatched the roof together so now people can start moving in, but it's going by slowly. We need more help! Everyone is just shuffling around! If I had at least two more experienced helpers, we could be halfway done on a second longhouse! We need more builders! My lord, we need..."

"I get it!" Malcolm held up a hand to halt her. "Can you please round up everyone in front of the town hall? I will let everyone know that we need help."

Rimda's expression shifted. "My lord I'm not sure that'll get them to..."

"Don't worry, I have an idea. I’ll get you more than enough help."

Malcolm had been putting together a plan to keep the people working since the first night. He knew everyone would continue to work to get their own situation more comfortable, but then what? He held a private meeting with Saria, Darion, Berlung, and Kaslier to discuss a way to encourage people to continue to build up the town.

It was a short meeting; the answer was simple. Money. People wanted to be paid for their work and use that money to make their life more comfortable. Malcolm was more than willing to pay them all, especially after he and Darion found their way to the townhalls basement.

There they found a massive iron door with runes carved into it, they were stumped on how to open it until a prompt appeared in front of Malcolm. With a nod the door swung open and they both dropped their jaws in shock. The room was huge, Malcolm guessed it had to be about ninety feet deep and fifty feet wide. The walls were covered with shelves, most held precious gems, others had ingots of metal.

What had stunned the two men were the chests that laid at the far end of the room. There were six in total, each large enough for Malcolm to fit inside, and each was overflowing with coins. Mostly gold coins. Not to mention some of the ingots on the shelves that lined the walls had sparkling yellow rocks on them. Raw gold!?

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You have discovered The Town Vault! This highly formable vault is where the town’s wealth is held. Whenever you set a tax that money will appear here on a shelf or a chest. New options now available.

Malcolm sighed as he thought back on the discovery. All my life I had wished to win the lottery, and it took me dying and being reincarnated to finally hit it. If only mom could see me now...

A light knock on the front door shook him away from the sudden surge of emotion.

"My lord? I've rounded everyone up." Rimda said from the other side of the door.

Get a hold yourself, Malcolm. He sighed. Mom wouldn't want me to dwell. She'd slap me upside the head if I sat here wallowing in my emotions while people relied on me. A smile creased his lips. Right, let’s go.

Straightening, Malcolm walked out of the building and stepped out onto the porch. He greedily breathed in the sweet fresh air and looked out to the rejuvenated town before him. Most of the old homes had been knocked down and scrapped, the pathways had been cleared away, and the longhouse was near completion.

Malcolm smiled down at the crowd of people standing in front him. "It's come to my attention that a few of you have begun slacking off on the duty we all have in making this place a more comfortable living spot."

He could see as a few of the people shifted uneasily and expressions were beginning to sour. Malcolm pushed on, trying to negate the arguments that people no doubt had on the tip of their tongues.

"I can understand why!" He raised arms. "No one likes to do hard work for free. So now you won't!" He took a deep breath and continued. "As I am sure some of you know, I have been bestowed the legendary title of Lord of The Waste! And now as an official lord you may swear your fealty to me, by doing so you will become an official citizen of New Arcadia! I would like for you to take up a job to help the development of the town. We need skilled Builders, Farmers, Hunters, and Guards!"

The crowd came alive with that. Everyone began talking and shouting out questions to him.

"So, we are to work for free!?"

"This is a work camp now?"

"I'm all for making things comfortable, but isn't this temporary..."

"Work for free? Must be outta yer rabid arsed mind!"

Malcolm raised his hand to silence the crowd, but when that didn't work, he stomped his foot on the porch. The sound rung out like a Judges gavel. He rested his hands on the porch rails and glowered down at them until they quieted.

"I'm not a tyrant!" Malcolm rolled his eyes. "Of course, I will compensate you for your work. Three silver! Three silver per fortnight will be paid to any who sign up for a job."

With that the crowd erupted in cheers and shouts of surprise. The previous night Saria had told him that the common wage for peasant level workers was twenty to forty copper, and if they were lucky, they'd land a job offering a silver. People in this world barely made enough to scrap by, unless you were lucky enough to be born in a recognized family.

Malcolm wanted to make sure his people had more than enough to provide for their families and were eager enough to display that enthusiasm into their work. Malcolm knew exactly what it felt like to get paid minimum wage and treated like crap. The solution was simple, treat your employees decently, and give them an actual livable wage.

"And what if we don't pledge fealty?" An older elf man raised a hand. "Can we still sign up for a job and get paid?"

Malcolm eyed the elf. His black hair was slicked back, his eyes were grey, and half lidded which made him look bored with everything around him. Malcolm could tell by the wrinkles around his mouth that he was more likely to frown than smile.

Name: Rafael Pautz. Race: Wood Elf. Level: 8. Health: 100%. Disposition: Meh.

"Excellent question, Rafael!" Malcolm addressed the elf. "If you decide not to make New Arcadia your home and instead just want to make some money before moving on. That's completely fine. You will be paid for your work but won't be eligible to the benefits that people who do decide to become official citizens will have."

Rafael's eyes widened a fraction, making him look just a bit less bored. "Benefits?"

"Oh, did I forget to mention those?" Malcolm smirked. He searched the crowd and found Saria giving him a knowing nod. "As some of you already know, New Arcadia is positioned on a cluster of elemental Leylines, making it a place of power. By unlocking a Leyline I can make this place more powerful and become a master in that element. Once I'm a master of an element that gives me the ability to unlock that element for others."

"Y-you don't mean..." Rafael stuttered.

"I do mean." Malcolm placed his right hand over his heart. "I swear that as I grow in power, so shall you! For anyone who chooses to become a citizen of my town, I will try to unlock the magical element within them!"

The crowd went wild. Even Rafael threw a fist up in cheer.

After they quieted, Malcolm began talking in monotone like a disclaimer in an infomercial. "This offer is only given to those over the age of fourteen. I do not guarantee that you will be able to learn magic if you don't have enough affinity to learn the element."

Some faces became less happy, but overall everyone still had smiles on their faces.

"Any more questions? No? Alright, everyone wanting to become a citizen of New Arcadia line up by me!" Malcolm then motioned for Saria, Rimda, Darion, and Kaslier to come to the front of the crowd. He then gave them slips of paper and a quill. "Go to Rimda if you wish to be a Builder. Saria, for all Farmers. Darion, for the Hunters. And Kaslier, for those who want to be Guards!"

Nearly an hour later, the last person in Malcolm's line approached him. To his surprise it was Rafael. The wood elf was a few inches shorter than Malcolm, and his grey eyes glared up at him like he was trying to estimate Malcolm's worthiness.

"I'm glad you decided to join me on the journey to making this town a true statement..." Malcolm began to say but Rafael raised a hand to stop him.

"Enough, you've already convinced me." Rafael droned. "No need to give me the spiel." He took a knee, then spoke a quick oath of fealty and Malcolm humbly accepted it. Getting to his feet, he locked eyes with Malcolm. "I'm putting my trust in you, if I see you making a bad decision that'll put my family in danger. I will make my voice heard. I promise you that."

You have increased your town's population! Population has increased from 3 to 158!

Oh no! Your town is almost crowded! Current limit is 200. Build more structures to increase your population limit.

New Achievement unlocked! You have unlocked the Benevolent Leader achievement! By promising your people that as you grow in power so shall they, this makes them see you as trusting and compassionate. +50 to Town Happiness.

Warning! If you go against your word you will lose their respect, and some may leave you town.

Town Morale has increased! Town Loyalty has increased! Your people work with smiles on their faces! You have earned a temporary boost to Work Productivity by +25%!

Malcolm closed the prompts and looked at Rafael then smiled. "I think I'm going to like you." He offered his hand to the man.

Rafael looked surprised but then grinned back at Malcolm and took his hand. Malcom watched as the man rejoined his family, he tried not over think the fact that Rafael’s wife hadn’t sworn fealty. I’m sure she’ll bend the knee when she’s ready…

"Lord Malcolm!" Rimda rushed over to him. "That was amazing, my lord! I now have three more experienced builders! Simply marvelous!"

The small dwarf woman was basically jumping for joy as she relayed her news to him. She then handed him the paper of names and another few papers of listed items.

"What's this?" Malcolm looked through the long list.

"Oh, well since I only had three people in my line. I had some extra time, so I went and made a list of building supplies we'll need." Rimda beamed.

You have been given a Quest!

Title: Grocery Shopping!

Objectives/Info: You need more materials to grow your town! A list has been made by your lead builder that shows in detail exactly what you need to further expand your town. Buy all the requested supplies!

Rewards: 1000XP. Boost to Town's Productivity.

Accept: Yes or No?

Malcolm nodded and read the list. He was already planning to head to Azmar's Bay to pick up supplies. They couldn't repurpose everything from the old remains of the town. "A flock of chickens? You need that for building as well?"

Rimda giggled. "Oh no, my lord. As I was making my supply list one of the farmers came by and started requesting farming animals, seeds for crops, and equipment we desperately need."

Malcolm marveled at the well detailed list of items and let out a low whistle as he saw the estimated cost that Rimda had conveniently marked on the last page. Over five thousand gold! Malcolm thought to himself. Well, I' do have plenty of gold in the Vault... There was also his own personal equipment to worry about, as well as putting aside enough gold to cover the promised wages. Being a ruler is going to be tough.

"Great thinking Rimda!" Malcolm folded up the list and placed it in his bag. "Would you mind becoming my secretary?"

Rimda giggled even harder this time. "Oh, my lord! You are so funny! But if you'll please excuse me, we are starting to plan to set up the next longhouse! So, if you can get those supplies to us as soon as possible, that'd be great!" And with that, she hurried off.

"Well," Malcolm said a bit deflated. "I'll take that as a no." He then turned to the others. "Who's up for joining me to Azmar's Bay?"

"I'm game!" Darion nodded.

"Count me out." Kaslier shook his head. "My days of adventuring are long behind me. Besides I signed up to be a farmer, so I have that to get to. Safe journeys!" With a wave he stalked off towards the designated farming area.

Malcolm frowned, but then turned to the others. "Well, I guess that means it's just us three! Kaslier would just whine the whole way anyway." he chuckled.

"Actually," Saria said with a wince. "I'm staying as well."