Chapter 42
Chapter 42
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 41
Chapter Title: Fortress Upgrade
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I slept for three straight days.
My visible injuries had been healed by the power of the songpyeon, but it seemed my body and mind had still accumulated a heavy burden.
"Report."
"We'll start with the damage assessment."
Thousand Man Commander Swordsman, Head Maid Flower, and the two knights along with the mage.
These were the people who could be called my retainers, gathered to report on what they'd organized over the past three days.
In the end, the number of soldiers who died in the battle against Khan Slasher was 150.
"Ninety were elite soldiers with classes, and sixty were regular soldiers."
There had been a significant number of wounded as well, but with healing potions, heal skills, and above all, the effects of the songpyeon, most had made full recoveries.
All the territory residents were now inside the earth fortress, organizing supplies and standing guard on the walls.
Inside the earth fortress were all sorts of equipment and tools the goblins had been using, which had all been recovered and were now being repurposed as needed.
"Monsters?"
"None can be found anywhere nearby anymore. However... a blue orb has appeared on one side of the central square."
"Good."
"Pardon?"
Instead of answering Swordsman's puzzled look, I thought to myself.
'Looks like it's following the game system exactly.'
Once the guild master clears a neutral dungeon up to Hell difficulty and wins the siege battle to become the castle lord, that dungeon takes root in one part of the castle.
The dungeon's contents remain the same. Clear Easy, Normal, Hard, and Hell difficulties to gain clear EXP and rewards.
The only differences were...
'Clear rewards get a slight boost, and the castle lord collects taxes from it.'
The dungeon's base entry fee is 100 gold. The castle lord can impose a tax ranging from a minimum of 1% to a maximum of 10% on that fee.
"Anything unusual?"
"We gathered four parties of five volunteers each to challenge the dungeon. They cleared Easy, Normal, Hard, and Hell difficulties respectively and compiled the rewards."
"What? Hell difficulty?"
I asked in surprise. Hard might be manageable with some leeway, but Hell was impossible at the soldiers' level. Not to mention it was a dungeon with hobgoblins, rare-grade monsters.
Swordsman replied calmly.
"It was us."
Swordsman, Flower, Steelstone and Hundred, and Smile all nodded.
Come to think of it, that made exactly five.
"Oh man, the executives themselves..."
I let out a sigh, but I had to acknowledge it was necessary. It was dungeon intel we needed anyway, and if not them, only I could have challenged Hell.
"Alright. Challenges deserve rewards. Tell the volunteers they'll get equipment and skill books. And keep gathering攻略 info. We'll need to keep clearing the dungeon for level-ups and farming from now on."
"Farming...?"
"Gathering dropped gear and gold."
"Understood."
"And gather all territory residents in the central square within three hours. I'll change the castle's form and then decide the residential zones."
"Change the castle's... form?"
"You'll see."
I sent Swordsman out first, then spoke to the two knights.
"So, how are you feeling?"
"It's embarrassing. We didn't last long at all..."
"It was no different from you fighting alone, my lord."
Steelstone and Hundred had participated in the battle but hadn't accomplished much. Each had taken a single sword strike and retired, blocking Khan Slasher's movements for about a second each.
Even that was no small feat, leaving them with near-crippling injuries. Without the rare songpyeon's power, they wouldn't have recovered.
'At least they didn't die or end up crippled. That's a miracle.'
Our current situation was one of desperately lacking talent. I wanted to absorb some knights or administrative staff from Baron Red Axe's house, but they'd either been wiped out or fled somewhere—only some soldiers and able-bodied men had been taken in.
In such circumstances, losing the only two aura users would have been a disaster.
"You all felt it in this battle... Our territory lacks the power to handle monsters. Similar fights will keep happening... and at this rate, you'll just be a burden to me."
"......"
"......"
I didn't press further at the two knights' silent agreement.
"So we need more aura users."
"Yes? That's true, but... humans who can awaken aura are one in ten thousand."
"That's how it was. But is it still? Now that you can invest stat points in mana?"
At my words, the two knights snapped their heads up.
"You're saying the elite soldiers... can awaken mana."
"That's right. From now on, pick out promising soldiers and train them. Try various methods. Repeatedly activating skills to get used to mana could work. Once they awaken mana, I'll pass on easy-to-learn internal arts."
"But... aura cultivation methods are secret techniques. Is that alright? They'll inevitably leak out."
"We can't afford to worry about that now. Remember: among the monsters that have appeared, orcs are on the weak side."
After finishing with the two, I turned to Smile.
"You heard? Pick smart ones and teach them math and the concept of circling. I'll write down the fastest, easiest circling methods to learn. Make time for it."
"My goodness... My lord, do you have access to some abyssal library or something? How do you have secret techniques that even normal houses struggle to obtain one of...?"
"You've got a long way to go, so raise them properly. I'll teach spells based on results."
With that, I dismissed the two knights and the mage.
'I need to secure more ability users.'
Khan Slasher would come charging back here. I had no idea why it came all the way up 100km to cause chaos. I hadn't had the chance for a proper conversation with it.
"But I suspect... it was after the castle."
The timing was too coincidental, right after the siege ended.
It acted just like it wanted the [castle] that appeared after the players succeeded in the siege.
'I need to build up my forces. To the point where they can handle a sword master even without me.'
Just like me, the soldiers might be able to use skill books. If they learned [Internal Energy Injection], even soldiers' attacks would force some expenditure from a sword master. If they learned [Sword Beam Manifestation], regular soldiers could threaten a sword master's life.
'But that kind of spending is unsustainable.'
Skill books aren't 1,000 or 10,000 won—if they were, maybe, but they're not options I can choose lightly. Even if regular soldiers could manifest sword beams, they'd be cut down without landing a single hit on a sword master.
'In the end, growing capabilities with class bonuses is the best way.'
Having sorted my thoughts, I finally looked at Flower, the last one remaining. She seemed to gather her thoughts for a moment before speaking.
"Women who were kidnapped inside the castle have been found."
"As expected."
They were the ones I'd seen during my solo scout. They'd vanished without a trace when the leyline was captured, which had been a mystery, but it seemed they'd been dragged into the dungeon.
"There must be something unusual, right?"
Flower hesitated briefly at my words.
But since I suspected what it was, I didn't press.
'It killed all the men but kept the women alive on purpose. The intent is obvious.'
Sure enough, Flower said what I'd expected.
"Over half of the kidnapped women... were subjected to horrible things by those green monsters."
"As I thought."
Otherwise, there'd be no reason to kidnap them.
"How many?"
"A total of 714."
"For now... separate them from the other residents and monitor their condition for a month. Report any changes immediately."
"Yes, my lord."
Only after Flower left did I begin organizing my next tasks.
'In a way, it's good news.'
Our territory already had a skewed gender ratio, and the current situation had made it worse.
Incorporating these 714 would solve that to some extent—no, it would actually tip it toward more women.
'The problem is if any of them are pregnant.'
If that's possible, things get complicated.
And it's not just limited to my territory. The whole continent would descend into chaos.
'But what if none of the women are pregnant?'
That would carry its own huge implications.
"Well, not something I can solve right now."
I sat on the jade throne and opened the guild window.
"As expected."
A new slot had been added to the guild window.
[Castle Management]
Clicking it brought up a go board. Naturally, only one castle was activated.
"No need to agonize."
I poured in 5,000 diamonds—500,000 won.
[Upgrading Shabby Earth Fortress (Common) to Neat Brick Castle (Advanced)!]
Rumble rumble rumble!
The ground shook. Without stopping, I added 15,000 more diamonds.
[Upgrading Neat Brick Castle (Advanced) to Fine Stronghold (Rare)!]
Boom!
The ground shook again. Not only that, the rather shabby lord's castle floor turned to marble, and the wooden windows became large glass panes with a view outside!
I excitedly tried to hit the next upgrade, but I couldn't.
"No way, the cost jump is insane..."
The next upgrade required 50,000 diamonds.
Five million won.
An amount I could only afford after next month's salary.
"Sigh. Guess I'll grab the options at least."
I expanded the lord's castle, added an advanced shop, installed a rare-grade goddess statue for castle buffs, and reinforced the gates and walls.
Deep moats and spires came as bonuses.
"Ah... And not sure if this'll help, but."
I installed the [Extra-Large Fountain] from the public structures.
Naturally, most of it was paid with diamonds.
"Ah, screw this. This is seriously messed up."
I was broke.
The bonus and club resolution money was already gone without a trace.
"No way... what is this?"
"My god, the castle..."
Outside was in an uproar. Clutching my aching heart at the empty balance, I left the office. The soldiers guarding it bowed with expressions full of awe.
And as I exited the lord's castle...
"Woooaaah!"
"My lord!"
"Oooh...! God almighty!"
"Savior of this world!"
The lord's castle was at the city's highest point, so all the gathered residents could see me emerging and erupted in cheers.
Real medieval castles wouldn't be built like this, but this wasn't a real medieval castle. It was the flashiest, most beautiful one, ignoring all defensive conveniences.
A castle from the game.
"...Whoa."
And at the sight of that castle... I was momentarily speechless.
A white city.
The city nestled within the walls took the form of a citadel city or fortress city, already dotted with dozens of buildings. The ground was flawlessly paved with white tiles, interspersed with sizable trees.
Whoosh!
Water sprayed from the extra-large fountain. The goddess statue at its center emitted a soft glow.
"Woooaaah!"
"My lord! My lord!"
"Oooh... how is this possible...!"
And over two thousand people gathered in the central square, looking up at me with eyes of awe.
"Ah."
The bitterness of being broke eased into a profound satisfaction.
My chest tickled, a whirlwind of emotions hard to describe.
"Ah, this..."
My castle. My territory. My people.
"Makes me want to work..."
Precisely, to earn money.
Faster.
More.
The day I began running down the inescapable path of pay-to-win.