Chapter 38
Chapter 38
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 38
Chapter Title: Terra Village
-----------------------------------------------------------------
I'd created a total of four outposts.
Centered around the goblin and orc territories we'd annexed, there were two to the west and two to the north.
Among them, I planned to build a new village at the outpost to the west—
specifically, the one in the southwest.
Southwest Outpost.
I'd gathered the key personnel there.
First, Hans.
I'd put Hans and the slave soldiers in charge of defending the southwest outpost.
Second, Russell.
He'd use the merchant group to transport materials needed for village construction.
Third, Isaac.
He'd oversee the reclamation of farmland.
And me.
I was focusing on the village construction.
"The road's crooked! If you don't build the roads right, the whole village will look off!"
The new village under construction.
I planned to build it as a planned city from the ground up.
That was why I'd laid out roads and divided it into zones.
Residential zone, commercial zone, agricultural zone, and so on.
"Hey! You there, mercenary! Aren't you working hard?!"
The people mobilized for village construction weren't just slaves.
I'd even thrown in retired mercenaries.
While they were turning over the soil at the new site,
the sun that had hung high in the sky sank toward the west.
Evening time.
We ate dinner together and began the meeting.
"Hans, how's the defense situation?"
"No issues."
Hans and the slave soldiers had thoroughly guarded the perimeter.
It hadn't been difficult to defend in goblin territory to begin with.
"Russell, materials?"
"Plenty. The main material, lumber, we can procure right from the forest. The rest is being shipped from West River."
One of Monster Island's advantages was the abundance of trees.
Thanks to that, it was easy to source what we needed.
"Isaac, farmland?"
"We've finished reclaiming some areas. But it's a large plot, so it'll take time to complete everything."
Once the reports wrapped up, I stood from my seat.
"As you all know, time is short. Building this new village is just the start. There's plenty more to do besides. So we need to step it up."
"Understood."
"Got it."
As the meeting was winding down,
a knock came at the door.
"It's Inon. May I come in?"
While I'd been focused on city construction,
Inon had expanded the mercenary band.
He'd said he'd visit in a few days, and it looked like he'd arrived today.
"Come in."
Inon entered and greeted us.
Then he took a seat at an empty spot.
"I explained it before, right? From now on, Inon will be working with us. It's his first time here, so have him introduce himself."
"Understood, my liege."
In that instant, everyone from Isaac to Hans flinched.
The atmosphere in the room grew heavy along with it.
'Because of the word "my liege"?'
That made sense.
The weight it carried was different from 'Heir' or 'Master.'
While Inon spoke, I watched my existing retainers.
Isaac just seemed a bit surprised, nothing more.
Russell, meanwhile, looked lost in thought.
And Hans...
'He must be pretty shocked.'
He stared piercingly at Inon with a rigidly stiffened posture,
all the way until Inon finished his introduction and sat back down.
"Now that that's settled, get along with him, everyone. Inon, how's the mercenary band?"
"I've doubled the numbers. Though that doesn't mean our strength has doubled."
"Doubled?"
"Yes, doubled."
"Just doubled?"
"...?"
Inon looked puzzled.
Doubled.
I'd thought it'd grown at least three or four times over—at the bare minimum.
And yet, just doubled.
"Why only that much?"
"It's the number I can control..."
"No. That's not it."
Inon's specialty was swordsmanship.
Which apparently made him weak in other areas.
"Why do you have to control everything yourself?"
"Because I'm the captain."
"Do I look like I'm doing all the work myself?"
Inon glanced at Isaac, Russell, and Hans in turn before speaking.
"No, you don't."
I pulled out a blank sheet of paper from the desk.
And wrote my name on it.
Elwin.
I drew several lines downward from it.
At the ends, I wrote agriculture, commerce, military, and mercenaries.
"Agriculture: Isaac. Commerce: Russell. Military: Hans. Mercenaries: Aine, Inon."
The organization chart was complete in an instant.
"My job is to oversee the whole thing and set the goals. The rest is handled by them."
"..."
I set the organization chart aside and pulled out a fresh sheet.
I wrote Inon's name at the top.
"You need to abandon the way you've been doing things."
I drew several lines branching from Inon's name.
And at the ends, I wrote 'Squad.'
"Entrust each squad to reliable people. Let the squad leaders handle routine requests on their own. If something big comes up, they band together as one. Then scatter again. Do it organically."
Whether operating in small groups
or as one unit,
it was all under the name of the Innocent Mercenary Band.
In other words, the mercenary guild would record it all as the Innocent Mercenary Band's achievements.
Inon nodded with an expression of understanding.
"From now on, expand like this. Any questions?"
"To do as you say, my liege, we'll need a lot more mercenaries. Verifying them all myself will take too much time. So please ask the branch manager for help."
"Kaiman-nim?"
"Yes."
As the mercenary guild branch manager, he had access to plenty of information.
If Kaiman helped, we could definitely save time.
I immediately wrote a letter to Kaiman.
"Here, take this."
"Thank you, my liege."
Once the meeting ended, my subordinates left the room.
But Hans stayed seated, unmoving.
"Something to say?"
"From now on, I'll call you my liege as well."
"You know what that means, right?"
"Of course."
The title of Heir implied following it because I was the lord's son. The true object of loyalty was my father, the lord.
But 'my liege' meant pure loyalty to me alone.
"I appreciate it, but no."
"What!? How can you..."
"You're a knight of the Frontier family. It's different from Inon. If you call me that, it could invite needless scrutiny."
Hans rose from his seat with a regretful expression.
"Don't worry about titles. I know exactly how you feel."
"Thank you... Heir."
The next day.
Before Inon departed for West River,
we visited the center of the village together.
"Take a good look."
"At what?"
A wide open plaza lay before us.
It stood in stark contrast to the construction booming around it.
"I'm going to build a temple here. A temple for the Goddess."
I couldn't build a temple on my own, so I'd sent someone to the continent.
Once the temple architect arrived, we'd start construction.
"As expected of my liege."
"Yeah... something like that."
Taking Inon as a subordinate had left me restless at night.
Not because the Goddess had done anything, but because I was worrying alone.
This place was different from Earth.
It was another world where divine power existed.
And gods even punished humans directly.
"So, a priest is coming too?"
"No, that won't do. You know this is Monster Island, right?"
"Ah..."
At the mention of Monster Island, Inon nodded.
For the priests, this place was filled only with bad memories.
Once the tour ended, Inon bowed his head deeply.
"I'll carry out your orders without fail, my liege!"
"Good luck."
Inon strode away with a resolute figure.
And I...
"Guess I need to get moving too."
Mountains of work were piling up.
.
.
One month, two months.
Time flew by.
We named the village 'Terra Village' after the Goddess of the Earth.
In the village center, we built residences and commercial facilities.
We erected sturdy walls around them.
And outside, we formed farmlands.
I paid special attention to the wooden walls, since this was the Frontier's front line.
In other words, humanity's front line.
"Demonic energy cleared from the farmlands too. Next up..."
As I pondered what to do next,
Hans approached.
"Heir."
"Something wrong?"
"Well..."
What Hans said was this.
I didn't have much time left.
I needed to seize the troll territory before Gibson's coming-of-age ceremony.
But I'd already spent two months on village construction.
And it still wasn't finished.
"The slave soldiers have stopped subjugating monsters and are guarding Terra Village. Monster subjugation is left entirely to the mercenaries."
He was right.
Sure, if the mercenaries handled subjugation sufficiently, there'd be no issue—but they weren't.
'And the trolls are progressing even slower.'
The so-called strong mercenaries,
those settled in other regions, hadn't come to Monster Island.
Instead, the relatively weaker ones were the ones operating here.
As a result, troll subjugation was dragging compared to goblins or orcs.
'The village is still under construction... Should I move out?'
I weighed the remaining time and situation.
And decided to act.
"You're right."
"Then we'll pull back some personnel from construction and focus on monster subjugation..."
"Do you know why we're building this village?"
"...No idea."
I hadn't even told my subordinates the reason for building the village.
They wouldn't betray me, but information could leak unconsciously.
"To secure the troll territory."
"What do you...?"
Village construction.
Especially in goblin territory on the southern coast—it didn't seem connected to securing trolls at first glance.
"You'll understand soon enough. So guard this place well."
"Where are you going?"
"Time to move. We don't have much left."