episode_0040

They began the actual village upgrade operation.

Even if it only reaches City Level 3, a certain level of livelihood can be guaranteed.

Our starting village is currently at Village Level 2, but it is much more underdeveloped compared to other villages of the same level.

The reason is simple. It’s because it’s a starting village.

This is not an actual existing world but a world within the game.

How much attention would the game developers pay to a tutorial village where adventurers are just setting off?

If they were crazy perverts, they might have scattered Easter eggs everywhere, but the game company I know isn’t like those guys.

For example, there could be hidden ultimate boss-killing weapons near the starting village or the NPC you first met in the starting village turns out to be a villain, creating these fan-service settings.

They casually mix various mundane settings from here and there, create a plausible celebrity advertisement to attract attention, so let’s not get our hopes up.

Alright, let’s start by looking for talented individuals.

Under the name of the administrator, a notice was issued requiring all skilled individuals to register at the guild.

In addition to promising special treatment when conducting related businesses or opening stores in the future.

As a result, people began to gather at the guild one by one.

Blacksmiths, carpenters, leatherworkers, jewelers, textile artisans, architects, smelters, doctors, hunters, miners, bakers, brewers, potters, navigators, civil servants, horse trainers, and so on.

A truly absurdly diverse group of professions came and went, putting their names on the “Craftsmen List.”

Since I don’t know anything, verification is difficult, but I’ll be able to find out immediately when I call them for related tasks later.

Especially among the refugees from the Republic of Jilke, there were high-skilled professionals such as accountants and lawyers mixed in. Their country seems to be a significantly more advanced society compared to here.

“Um, excuse me….”

The administrator sitting next to me, interviewing people coming to the guild with a desk in hand, glanced at me with a puzzled expression.

Thinking that help was needed, I turned around to see a woman sitting in front of the administrator’s desk.

With short hair and a somewhat delicate physique, she exuded a very somber atmosphere.

Our administrator was also somewhat somber, but this woman gave off a different vibe that overshadowed it.

I realized for the first time that even somberness comes in different types.

“Mr. Jack… please help me….”

The administrator looked at me as if she was about to cry right away.

“Why are you like this?”

“She’s talking about my profession….”

Standing up and approaching closer, I saw something written on the registration form. Assassin…?

The word “Assassin” was written in the registration field.

So, she’s a former assassin?

Glancing over, the woman lowered her head, opened her eyes wide, and stared at me.

Meeting her gaze, I had to admit.

Whether she’s an assassin or not, her eyes are definitely not those of a normal person.

“You’re an assassin? Excuse me, but where are you from?”

“I’m from the Republic of Jilke.”

Her low, chilling voice sent shivers down my spine involuntarily. She fit the typical stereotype of an assassin.

“So you were an assassin in the Republic of Jilke? Hmm… I see….”

The woman didn’t respond, just stared at me with a terrifying look.

With that kind of gaze, even the leader of the Remugen Mercenaries, Adelheid, or that crazy commander would have to back off.

“Alright, I understand. Please put your name down here and go. We’ll call you back later.”

She received the pen, filled in the remaining spaces, got up smoothly, and left the guild.

“Phew….”

After the woman left, the administrator breathed a long sigh of relief, smiling wryly.

“An assassin, really, they’re taking the joke too far….”

“We have no way to verify, so let’s just register for now and check again later.”

And thus, the classification of the village’s human resources was successfully completed.

Together with the administrator, they spent another day categorizing these people by field.

The personnel issue was settled, and next up was civil engineering.

The most crucial thing now is securing materials.

By cutting down trees in the village, we cannot build facilities for the third-stage city upgrade.

Therefore, we plan to purchase related materials by contacting merchants from other Odellin cities.

We need to procure various things, but the problem is that it costs a lot of money to transport them by land.

We should consider using the river flowing through the village for waterway trade.

If we establish a suitable dock and prepare a boat, we can easily trade without the threat of monsters or river bandits.

Once we can dig the waterway to bring materials from Odellin City easily, the village’s civil engineering will become much smoother.

After contemplating, I decided to gather the people registered as carpenters earlier.

There are three former carpenters gathered by the riverside.

“We plan to build a dock and a boat to make round trips to Odellin City. Is that possible?”

The carpenters gave various opinions on my proposal.

Commonly, they agreed that it’s possible, but it will take time and require a lot of materials.

Also, they mentioned the need for laborers to help. Well, we can just call upon the knights for that.

“Then, we will provide the necessary support, so let’s start working right away.”

All the wood in the village has been converted to the planned dock site.

I selected skilled knights to assist the carpenters.

Great. Everything is progressing well.

Meanwhile, the search team sent to scout Mesotphin’s garbage dump returned empty-handed.

Given the abysmal drop rate there, it was an expected outcome.

Even in reality, there were many discussions about probability scams and such.

Nevertheless, regular scouting of the garbage dump has been scheduled.

Despite the abysmal odds, incredible items that cannot be evaluated like the Shadow Coat from before might still appear.

Reports of suspicious findings have been coming in from the reconnaissance team searching the resources around the village.

They sound like potential ore veins, but since no one has knowledge in that area, there is uncertainty.

I dispatched a former miner to investigate alongside them.

If there is an ore vein and depending on the type of mineral, our village’s fate may once again be at stake.

Liberonne and Mirella, the knights, are collecting stones to pave the ground while traveling all around.

The method is simple: when they find a large rock, Mirella’s crowbar and Liberonne’s hammer smash it.

Then, the knights load the broken stones onto a cart, bring them back, and flatten them to pave the ground.

Ideally, it would be great to bring cut marble, but it’s unbelievably expensive.

“Backer Angel.”

Liberonne, who precisely split a rock the size of a house in half, approached me.

“Why?”

“It’s part of the knight’s training, but it seems we need preparation for irregular warfare. Once we upgrade to a city, these authors will all become guards. Since most missions will take place within the city unless it’s the regular army, proficiency in irregular and urban warfare is necessary.”

“That’s true. But how?”

“The Holy Knights do not educate on such matters, so it would be best to hire other experts.”

Other experts… Maybe I should go to Odellin City and request assistance from the guild.

Here in the empire, there is a special imperial unit directly under the emperor, akin to a real counter-terrorism unit.

If we ask the guild, they might be able to provide people with that background.

As I descended the mountain after parting ways with Liberonne, I noticed some suspicious activity at the entrance to the neighboring village.

A horse was coming in with two people riding on its back.

However, the riders’ conditions were odd.

One was completely slumped over the horse’s mane, and the smaller person sitting behind seemed about to fall off at any moment.

They looked like travelers who had suffered significant injuries?

Hastily running down the slope, I shouted, “Are you okay?!”

I, who was running in a hurry, stopped abruptly at a distance where the face of the jockey could be seen.

“You, you!”

The small jockey sitting behind pointed at me.

A small and cute face full of scars on a petite body.

He was the second commander of the Leugen Mercenary Corps.

Then, could it be that the person lying in front is… Adelheid!?

Suddenly, Adelheid leaned slowly to the side and fell to the ground with a thud.

“Don’t come any closer!”

The second commander, who almost fell from his horse, covered Adelheid’s body with his whole body and sharply shouted.

“You don’t look well, to the store…”

“Give me the antidote! That’s all I need!”

“Antidote?”

What are you talking about? Antidote? Huh?

Adelheid, who had collapsed on the ground, with a face flushed and eyes clouded, was breathing lightly.

Clutching his lower abdomen and rubbing his thighs, he crouched like a shrimp…

It seems that the pig aphrodisiac has taken effect on humans!

“For now, let’s take him inside. If you’re not going to keep lying there… Uh… What’s that?”

From the outskirts of the village over there, a group of armed cavalrymen can be seen coming this way.

The face of the second commander, following my gaze, turned pale.

“It’s the Imperial Army…!”

Imperial Army? Why are they coming to our village?

“Hey…!”

The completely flustered second commander bit his lip and turned to me.

“H… help me…! If they catch us, the commander will be executed…!”

“Hmm….”

“I’m sorry for last time. Please help us… Save the commander… I’ll beg like this… I can die, but not the commander….”

I was taken aback. The second commander wiped his hands and shed tears like chicken droppings.

“I’ll carry him.”

I ran up and sat down, and the second commander helped me lift Adelheid onto my back.

Running to the store with the second commander, I looked back and saw the vanguard of the Imperial Army entering the village.