Thaddeus decided to expedite his defensive strategy with a new threat on the horizon. He began building a 2-story wall from the fort slightly eastward to the mountains and then down to the rover. The western wall was more difficult because of the forest.
The walls battlements to be large enough for two people to comfortably walk across, and stone steps led up to the wall. It was crude and hastily done, but I would provide enough of a deterrent.
Five days was not long enough to create a defensive wall around the city. But Thaddeus made great progress. He finished a quarter of the eastern wall. But he kept having to stop to let his mana regenerate before casting again. It was a slow and grueling process.
However, building walls was only the first step in his plans. He also needed to build a defensive force. The second step was to build a mercenary lodge inside the village. A mercenary lodge would allow him to recruit experienced, albeit expensive, soldiers.
A Mercenary Lodge was expensive to purchase and maintain, but the lodge attracted wondering mercenaries. Like the Adventurer’s Guild, the lodge doubled as an inn and a place to accept quests. Moreover, the Mercenary Lodge and Adventure swore liege to the settlement lord.
Yet when he went to build the Mercenary Lodge Alfred interrupted, “I’m sorry sir, your settlement is too distant to attract mercenaries.”
“Eh, what do you mean?” Thaddeus asked disappointedly.
“Sir, no mercenaries will come if you build that Mercenary Lodge because your settlement is too isolated. The only way to attract mercenaries would be to have a teleportation pad,” Alfred explained.
His long desire to leave a quiet life in the frontier had come back to bite him. Living in near large urban areas did have some perks, like the availability to recruit mercenaries. Still, he preferred his isolated frontier territory, but now he was forced to change his plans.
‘Maybe I should have joined the Mythical Guild?’ Thaddeus thought dismissing that thought a moment later. It’s better to be autonomous than to be a vassal. ‘But what am I going to do?’
He thought of other options, but nothing came to mind other than to pay the Mythical Guild for players. But that would lead to more problems. Most likely the players that came would be high-ranking ones, much higher than him. With no way to keep them in check, there was nothing to stop them from seizing the village. But what other options did he have?
While he thought, he waited on the newly built battlements for his mana to recharge. When the mana recharged, he continued to work on the wall. As he worked, he looked at his villagers. He could tell by their faces they were happy to see walls going up around the village. Several villagers picnicked not far away pointing and smiling as rocks shot up from the ground to form the walls. Some even cheered or clapped when he finished a section. Seeing him work was a great source of entertainment and relief to his villagers.
When he finished it was late at night, but the villagers all came up to him and told them how much they appreciated his sacrifice. Seeing a noble work so hard inspired them and encouraged them to work as hard as his lord. Yet as hard as Thaddeus tried to explain his villagers didn’t need to copy him, the more the villagers swore to follow his lead.
As the villagers swarmed to congratulate him, a guard on the new battlement yelled there was that a large group of people was carrying torches. Today was the last day of June and the new villagers were expected to come tomorrow during the auction. He planned to welcome them when he returned. So, Thaddeus wondered who this group was approaching his village in the dead of night.
Thankfully at night, it was impossible to notice the incomplete wall. From below the hill, all the group saw was the fort with a 2-story wall. If they didn’t walk to the east or west of the fort, they wouldn’t notice the wall was unfinished. This meant if these were Felix’s men, he needed a way to convince them to stay in front of the fort.
Thaddeus rushed up the walls and looked stood next to the guards. He could see a large group approaching with tens of torches. He could hear the creaking of wooden wheels. As the group walked to the walls, Thaddeus could tell they looked haggard and injured.
“State your purpose!” yelled the guard.
“We’re settlers. We were attacked on the highway here by a group of bandits days ago. We have several injured, we request the assistance of a healer,” begged a middle-aged woman.
“My lord how can well if they are settlers or invaders?” a guard asked.
“Worse, yet. What if we let in a spy?” suggested another guard.
“With Felix and Earl von Calvin’s army on the way we need to be cautious,” advised another solider.
“Nonsense, we should let them in?” Priestess Thera said walking up the stairs to the battlements with Brand, Arthur, and a struggling Jameson.
“Is that you or the goddess talking?” asked Jameson.
“If they had malintent, I would have felt it?” Thera said
“We should let them in, it’s the hospitable thing to do?” Arthur suggested.
“I trust the villagers to tell us if something afoul?” Brand recommended.
“Open the gates!” Thaddeus ordered.
The gates were wooden with cast iron in hinges. The gates swung and the group of people entered single file. The five guards lined up on either side inspecting the people as they entered. Unlike the past when new settlers entered excitedly, these guests entered with sad, sunken, bloody faces, many limped through the gate with tears of loss.
“Thank you, Lord Brown, for granting us entry. My husband Joseph led us here. When the bandits attacked, he fought them and killed one but was wounded. He led 25 people to fight to protect our supplies, but only nine came back alive. Now my husband’s life hangs on by a thread. I beg you, Milord, please save him,” begged the woman.
Thaddeus nodded in understanding. He counted 48 people, losing 16 meant they lost a quarter of their group. He could clearly understand their grieved expressions. He and Priestess Thera followed the woman to the back of a wagon. There a man lay badly bandaged with blood and sores all over his body. The man smelled bad and looked more like a corpse than a wounded man.
Thera cast [Greater Heal] to heal the man. Then she healed the rest of the settlers.
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“Thank you, priestess. But we are too poor to pay for your services,” the old woman said in with desperation. She looked ashamed to receive such help without the ability to pay.
“Worry not, the first service is free,” Thera smiled warmly.
“Guards, see they get a house,” Thaddeus said.
“My lord, we do not have houses for all of them,” said a builder.
He was right, with his focus on the wall. He left the construction to the builders. The village did not have enough houses for 48 people. After a thought, Thaddeus ordered, “Give the houses to the families, put the young men in the barracks, and the rest in the bunkhouse.”
“Some of the villagers can house the single woman and children,” Lidia announced.
In the dark of night, the villagers worked together to settle the new residents. Several people were so exhausted they didn’t ask about wages and taxes. They simply need a secure place to sleep and food.
Before going to bed and after all the new settlers were housed, Thaddeus visited Phoebe and Phillip, Brand, and Lidia to pay for the new villagers’ meals the next day. They were moved by his kindness and swore to not overcharge the new residence for food.
By the time Thaddeus made it to his new heirloom bed, he was surprised to find the village hadn’t increased to Level 2. With 48 new villagers, it was more than enough to meet the 100-person threshold to advance to Village Level 2. With that, he’d gain another common building scroll. Something he desired, since he used his last building scrolls to build Molly’s Weaver’s Shop and Cassian’s General Store.
In the morning, Thaddeus debated whether to focus on the wall or houses. Both were pressing needs for his village. He weighed the need for defense versus accommodations, but in the end, the defense won. Last month, Thera told him he needed to defer more responsibility to the villagers. Something he struggled with, but in the end, he complied. However, now that the village needed more housing, he’d leave it to builders and villagers to see that task completed.
When he left his house, he saw a blinking notification in his vision.
System Message: 8:59:31 hours until the auction
Looking at the timer, the auction would start at 2 pm. Which gave him roughly six hours to work on the eastern wall. He hoped to connect it to the river before he teleported to the auction. He worked diligently. Until about 8 am when the new residents awoke.
He was nearly halfway done with Joseph, his wife, and the rest of the settlers walking up to him. Thaddeus motioned for them to wait until he finished a section.
“Good morning, are you well rested and fed?” Thaddeus asked.
“Lord Brown, thank you for accepting us into your village. I’m sure you were worried whether we were bandits in disguise or if a spy sneak in with us. I can you, the people gathered here are neither. Our caravan left Pine Grove and journeyed here on foot. Despite your concerns, you healed us, sheltered us, and paid for our meals. None have been treated with such grace. We heard of your great tales but did not think such stories of your benevolence were true. We pray you accept us as villagers?” Joseph said saying kneeling on the ground. When kneeled so did the rest of the settlers.
“There is no need for such displays. I gladly accept you,” Thaddeus said encouraging them to stand up. He noticed he received a new message and quickly read the message he was hoping to receive yesterday.
System Message: Congratulations, Woodhaerst has advanced to Village Level 2. Reward: +1 WILL, +100 EXP, + 1 common building.
He quickly shared the message on his live feed, his viewers cheered happily to see him advance. Although, Thaddeus was thrilled to live stream he did appreciate his fellow city viewer fans. For most novels, city building happened in the background and was rarely central to the story. Some fantasy novels added city building to one or two books in the series but mostly focused on the main storyline. The few books, manga, and comics where it was important were favorites of the genre.
Moreover, in several novels, manga, and comics that featured city building the protagonist started with a preset town. Which made Thaddeus wonder if he was creating this town for a future protagonist to rise.
Thanks to his viewers he learned about the city-building genre, common themes, and motifs. A lot of the information they provided was helpful. Some of his viewers were other lords hoping to copy his success. But, by in large, most of his viewers were other Heaven’s Gate players who enjoyed watching his simple, frontier life. The majority of his live streams were him crafting, forging, tanning, or talking to the villagers. Compared to the 95% of live streams which feature exciting, action-packed adventures, his live stream was just a slice of life.
“Thank you for accepting us as residents Lord von Brown. The villagers have already told us about the wages and taxes. We never expected such amenable wages and low taxes. Here is a list of each person and their preferred jobs,” Joseph said handing him a stack of paper he bought at the general store.
“Oh, you can read and write?” Thaddeus said surprised looking at the list.
“Yes, milord. My parents worked in Redwood before retiring to Pinewood. My father was an imperial soldier who taught me to read and write. He’s the reason I became a soldier,” Joseph said.
“Why did you come here?” Thaddeus asked in surprise. Being a soldier was a great job that paid better than he could ever offer.
“The impending civil war! I’m sure I’m not the only person looking to escape. Tensions are high across the empire. War feels like it can break out at any moment. When I saw the recruitment notice, I decided to move here with my family,” he explained.
“Oh, I see. Then Joseph, given your experience, I’m going to appoint you Captain of the Guards. Your family can stay in the keep, the ten men you list here are approved as guards, the five for builders, and five farmers are approved. Now, where’s the community of miners,” Thaddeus asked.
“Here, milord. My name’s Igor and this is my family,” kowtowed a tanned, middle-aged, emaciated, man with gray hair, and a slight bend in his bad.
Thaddeus looked at the entire family kowtowing, they all looked malnourished and were missing several teeth. But their bony bodies revealed their muscles from working hard labor. These were people unaccustomed to kindness. In the hierarchy of laborers, these people were used to being on the bottom rung. No doubt they saw his kindness as some kind of ploy.
“Igor, where are your people staying?” Thaddeus asked.
“We slept in the bunkhouse, milord. We apologize for sleeping indoors. We have already moved out and set up our tents to sleep outside, ” Igor said apologetically, refusing to make eye contact with Thaddeus.
“No, I want you to stay in the bunkhouse. You shall live there until your new homes are built,” Thaddeus said.
“Milord, surely you are mistaken. We are of inferior birth. We are humans descended from the vanquished Duergar Clan. Our ancestors served as slaves for 10,000 years after our clan’s defeat. We dare not live in homes for fear of retribution. It is better to give those houses to animals than to us. Hiring us is kindness enough. Thanks to you we shall no longer starve,” Igor kowtowed, tears of thankfulness welled up in his eyes.
Thaddeus looked around and saw how wearily the people looked at the Igor community. He understood prejudice, after all, he was a halfling. But the way people looked at Igor’s community was on another level. They looked at his people like they had lice or some contagious disease.
“Igor find Hunter and ask him to lead you to the mine. You need to carry ore from the mines to the Trading Post. With 20 people you should be okay able to make one trip today. In the future, I want you to make two trips a day. Give me a list of what supplies you need, and I’ll see that you get what you need,” Thaddeus said.
With the auction today, he needed the ore and crystals sold to help him purchase items. The more they sold today, the more funds he’d have. Moreover, the mana crystal and skill book were already sold. Normally, he’d auction the items on the player forum. But this time he was in a hurry, so he listed each item with an absurdly high buyout price. To his surprise, all the crystals and skill books were bought out, even with the auction around the corner.
With that infusion of gold, he was sure to get a VIP seat, but he wasn’t sure there would be very many items for lords. Since the majority of players focused on fighting and adventuring, he was positive most of the items would be geared toward those players. That meant the items for people playing at settlement lords would be even more valuable.
With the new villagers settling into their new jobs, Thaddeus worked on the east wall until noon. After lunch, he toured the village, spoke to the villagers, and prepared for the auction.