4 (3)

Traces of last night’s fierce battle were scattered everywhere. Every werewolf that had occupied the swamp had been killed. A few fled alive, but they had taken irrecoverable damage.

The swamp was riddled with holes on all sides, and each pit was packed with werewolves. They all looked like porcupines.

Soldiers dragged those werewolves out and loaded them onto carts. A few carts were already full and set off toward the city.

The soldiers who reached the city would return here with more carts.

Why were the soldiers doing this now? Sometimes monsters themselves became food. You couldn’t eat goblins or orcs, but a few species were edible.

Werewolf meat was tougher than ordinary livestock, but if cooked, it was certainly edible.

The bulk meat would be distributed to the citizens starting today.

Temporarily, the city’s food stockpile had increased by +1.

For at least a few days, meat could replace wheat, so this situation would surely help accelerate population growth.

While most soldiers were hauling werewolves, Louis rode his horse and inspected every corner of the swamp.

‘For now, the sugar tile has been cleanly purified. With a few fences, citizens could work safely inside.’

Louis had expected at least some casualties, but he cleared the first quest cleanly.

Without a single injury, they had eliminated all the werewolves.

But this wasn’t the end—if anything, it was the beginning.

‘A good start, and the follow-up linked quest. Difficulty 3. At least 1,000 points.’

The quest Louis was aiming for:

Eliminate all monsters within 3 tiles centered on the sugar tile.

Louis looked in that direction.

From here, the swamp thickened step by step. Deeper in lay true marshland.

Movement was hard from the terrain alone; all human traces had vanished. Since Proia was built, this marsh had never been breached due to its danger.

In a way, they might have to advance like a land-reclamation operation.

‘If so, we’ll have to set fires and wipe out the marshland.’

He hadn’t decided yet, but Louis ran through several scenarios.

Kalbang approached him.

“Ah, there you are, my lord Louis. The soldiers are delighted to have meat, and the citizens will be even happier.”

Proia, once hit by famine, still lacked proper wheat supply, so the influx of bulk meat would go beyond mere delight. Either way, support and popularity for Louis would only rise.

“Kalbang. Your plan was precise. Thanks to you, we wiped out the werewolves without losses.”

“Haha, think nothing of it. Since we’re in the same boat now, could my pay go up a little?”

“Once we finish this as well.”

“‘This’… sir?”

Louis left a portion of the forces behind and returned to Proia.

Perhaps because the meat had been delivered, the citizens were in an uproar.

People kept chanting Louis’s name, and the streets were packed to see him return.

Compared to his first term, the scene had changed drastically. Back then there had been no welcome at all; people looked ready to throw stones, and citizens who crossed paths with him turned their backs.

Citizens turning their backs meant an implicit refusal to be ruled.

Anyway, the first thing Louis did upon returning to his office was assign citizens to restore the sugar plantation.

Proia’s population was 4 in total. Once he allocated citizens to the sugar plantation, there were no idle hands left.

In the swamp Louis had seized, wild sugarcane—the raw material for sugar—grew in tremendous amounts. Practically, there was hardly any “restoration”: with a few related buildings erected, it could be put into operation at once.

‘Five days? No, within a week we’ll have output.’

The secured sugar would be sent straight to the port city ruled by Louis’s second brother.

Through the port’s various trade routes, they could sell sugar, process it there, or consume it locally.

This was precisely what set sugar apart from other valuable resources.

‘If we don’t sell and consume it locally: Food +1.’

The total gold from the sugar tile was +2. In other words, he could cut gold by +1 and supply it as Food +1, Gold +1.

Of course, with his finances tight, Louis had no reason to do that now.

In any case, all four tiles belonging to Proia had now been normalized.

Louis closed the city info window and asked the girl waiting at his side,

“Max?”

Before marching out with the troops, Louis had ordered the girl to report on Max’s condition.

It wasn’t espionage—just something simple to keep an eye on, which even an attendant could handle.

To Louis, it had been a casual order tossed off; to the girl, terrified of offending him, it had been nerve-wracking.

Even now, she spoke with her voice trembling.

“…As you instructed, I watched carefully, but he hasn’t left the mansion. Rumor has it he was so shocked by that incident he’s barely eating.”

“…I see.”

Max had suffered severe psychological shock. The incident itself had been traumatic, but worse was his despair over the end of his political life.

The tasks Max should have handled piled up on Louis’s desk, but Louis didn’t mind at all.

If Max stayed hidden like this, it helped greatly.

When Louis said nothing, the girl breathed a sigh of relief.

Louis’s hands grew busy.

As he worked through approvals, he recalled the linked quest.

Eliminate all monsters within 3 tiles.

Before entering the city, Louis had dispatched scouts, and he learned something new.

Because the marsh’s geography made it hard to approach, the lands Louis needed to clear had become monster dens.

There were already three kinds to handle.

The Green Skins—an orc-and-goblin coalition.

Gnolls in a separate area. And there was one more type, but it hadn’t been found yet.

Louis suspected the quest required four kinds in total.

Leaving types aside, they still didn’t know how many there were.

Even if the werewolves were smashed completely, monsters with terrain advantage wouldn’t fall so easily.

‘If we slip up… we could take heavy losses.’

Mishandled operations ended that way—like any military action.

Still, he didn’t want to quit this quest out of fear.

The reward was roughly a minimum of 1,000 points.

And the most efficient way to protect the sugar tile—the only revenue source—was to cull all nearby monsters…

‘What are we lacking?’

Given the situation, where should he spend the 1,400 unused points?

Before fully sizing up the enemy, Louis had planned to open the Tier-3 Social Policy, Monarchy.

Monarchy was excellent, and it would turn the finances positive—but now that it seemed the monsters weren’t pushovers, Louis didn’t need to pick Monarchy.

After wavering among several options, Louis soon narrowed it down.

‘…We need soldiers.’

Not a social policy, but a facility to gather soldiers—a Barracks.

If so, he would have to split the population.

He would convert half of the 1 population assigned to the sugar tile into soldiers.

Since soldiers were recruited mainly from men, citizens would suffer immediately; Happiness would surely drop with this decision.

However, only for now; once the monsters were cleared, life would surely improve, and they could fill the drained marsh to create additional production tiles.

Louis quickly opened the Buildings tab in the Civilization System. Soon he found a lone entry sitting among the dimmed blanks.

‘Barracks.’

The Barracks required 600 points. But that alone wasn’t enough.

Recruiting and training soldiers required a training period.

That tended to be quite long, but Louis wanted to clear this quest quickly.

Only after finishing it could he finally build the Wonder he’d invested in—the Library of Alexander.

The solution was to reinvest points into the Barracks and raise it to Level 2.

The Level-2 Barracks special effect, New Recruit Intake, drastically shortened training time.

Originally meant to supply usable troops quickly during wartime—so what?

Louis boldly invested 1,200 points into the Barracks.

Louis now had 200 points remaining.

Recruits were weaker than regular soldiers, but the key was raising an army quickly.

‘Good. The construction requirements aren’t much.’

Building a full-fledged barracks would take time, but for now, tents and a large enough drill ground would suffice to activate the Barracks effect.

For the three weeks until recruits assembled, Louis’s task was to gather as much intel as possible.

“What? You’ll recruit soldiers yourself?”

“Yes.”

“Isn’t my force sufficient?”

“If we want fewer casualties, we need more.”

“More than that, why are you set on clearing that area?”

“For Proia’s long-term development. And that aligns with Father’s will—and, ah, the eldest brother will like it too. Reclaim the marsh, produce more sugar. With more sugar, I’ll open direct trade with my eldest brother.”

Sugar produced high calories in small amounts; it was one of the efficient rations for soldiers holding the front.

Increasing output and opening a dedicated trade line didn’t harm Dekal in any way.

Even so, Dekal remained negative.

“Do you know military science? Soldiers raised in haste are of little use.”

Dekal didn’t know about New Recruit Intake, so Louis’s move looked like a rookie bouncing around for quick results.

Dekal had come to respect Louis somewhat—administratively, he was better than Max. Even Dekal himself had gotten hooked on the Colosseum; there was little to add.

Frankly, Dekal was hopeless at administration, but in military matters he was a professional. He had even handled a legion before, and he recognized at once that Louis’s plan was overreach.

“…I’m confident.”

Dekal fell silent.

Well then—let the cocky upstart who’d been riding a hot streak make a big mistake here.

He could mock him later, and if Louis damaged Dekal’s troops, he could rage at him then.

While Louis floundered, Dekal would act as consul here and enjoy the Colosseum.

With a sly smile, Dekal said,

“Do as you please. I won’t be asking for my troops back. But be prepared if the losses exceed reason.”

Seeing the sneer, Louis understood his rough intent—but that was fine by him.

With Dekal’s consent, Louis’s next steps were clear.

He immediately appointed Boromir and Kalbang as temporary drill instructors and posted a public notice to the citizens.

For commoners, being a soldier wasn’t such a bad profession. Dangerous, yes… but it offered a chance at advancement and a steady wage for one’s family—a clear merit.