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Delaying the decision too long wasn’t good either.

By the Civilization System’s nature, quest difficulty climbed as time passed.

Setting aside the personal goal of raising Swordsmanship to Level 3, neither the Food nor Finance objective was impossible.

Proia had three farmland tiles that produced food. If he pursued the population quest, Louis could even divert sugar—normally sold to other cities—into citizens’ rations.

Doing so would, in effect, let every tile Louis owned produce food.

If upkeep became a problem, he could shutter one or two Colosseums.

Two issues would arise at that point. Even closing two Colosseums, the budget would still be negative.

Since the sugar tile would be reassigned to food, gold intake would become impossible.

The biggest issue was Unhappiness.

Louis had a reason for running three Colosseums.

It was the clergy. The world had many religions, but the major blocs numbered only three or four.

The Duchy of Eron was fairly tolerant and didn’t impose one creed, but Louis’s current city policy clearly ignored all religions.

Clergy wanted many things, but their foremost demand was simple:

‘Build religious structures.’

Most citizens cared more about food than faith, and Louis’s support was high, so complaints hadn’t boiled over in public.

It was the active clergy who showed extreme discontent.

They had always bristled at the Colosseum.

The Colosseum forcibly boosted city Happiness, but that boon usually didn’t apply to clergy.

The Civilization panel showed clergy support at 14%. In rebellion against the consul’s policy, they neglected rites they would otherwise conduct; naturally, citizen discontent rose.

Thus Unhappiness followed.

Even so… Louis’s stance was firm.

‘Religion is a luxury—for now.’

In short, while the food quest was doable, Louis judged it would trigger extra problems beyond what the panel showed.

Yet Louis valued population most, and in truth he wanted to invest here.

If he poured all current points into a Granary, it would grant +30% yield and explode food production.

The 30% bonus would last three months before the quest bonus wore off.

In three months, he might—just barely—push population to 6.

Second, the finance quest. To clear it, the treasury had to reach 13 gold.

The current treasury was 3. To reach 13, he needed 10 gold immediately—and even if he had it, the fix had to be immediate.

Current maintenance was -1.

‘Spending points on Social Policies feels wasteful…’

Social Policies were powerful and worth the points.

But after careful thought, Louis judged there was no need to invest in them now.

He wanted to solve three problems at once.

Tight, yes, but with a smart plan, not impossible.

‘Swordsmanship, a Wonder, and finances.’

Louis leaned toward Finance over Food. The reason was simple: the Forest Wurm carcass in storage.

If he could sell it well to the Mage Tower, he could hit the goal while saving points.

Could he sell the Wurm well?

By his reckoning, yes—

Thanks to Jerome.

Jerome was only a 1st-circle mage, but he had mastered the basic spells—Fire to ignite, Dig to open ground, Grease to make it slick.

That included ice magic.

If they preserved the carcass, they could deliver it in prime condition.

He would haggle on freshness.

He didn’t know the price, but even if his father skimmed 50%, Louis figured raising the treasury to 7 would suffice.

The missing gold could be made up within 6 turns by upgrading buildings—especially the Market—to flip finances positive.

Why? Because he could leverage the tourism effect the Colosseum generated.

His Colosseums produced 2 Tourism; as a result, merchants from nearby cities were increasingly willing to travel to see the games.

If he upgraded Proia’s Market so they had somewhere to spend, a surplus could appear every turn.

That would save a lot of points versus dropping 1,500+ into Social Policies.

‘If it all clicks, I might fix this not in 6 turns but in 3.’

The food quest offered a single path; the finance quest allowed multiple angles.

Once the finances were solved, he could frankly use the cushioned treasury to buy food in bulk—that’s the power of money.

‘Whew… I can make it on time.’

Boromir arrived exactly at the appointed hour—only to find Louis already waiting, and he couldn’t help feeling sheepish.

“My apologies for being late.”

He was on time, but the words slipped out reflexively; he also resolved to come thirty minutes early next time.

At Boromir’s voice, Louis wrapped up his thoughts.

“…You’re here? Let’s begin at once.”

“Yes, my lord.”

It was night. With no proper lighting, nights in Louis’s age severely restricted activity; sparring in the dark was hard.

But tonight the grounds were bright, almost glaring—

Because a line of handmaids Louis had brought held torches aloft.

A cleric stood by for possible injury, and water was prepared.

The cleric’s face, of course, was full of displeasure.

Still, power was power; refusing a ruler’s request courted disaster.

‘Tonight’s focus is…’

Sword experience. Louis’s Swordsmanship was Level 2. You raised it through training or real combat.

Real combat gave the most experience, but it was unsafe.

The best safe gain was one-on-one coaching from someone stronger.

‘Just as he corrected me…’

Louis ran through the forms Boromir had corrected. The night rang with the blades’ keening.

The echo—and the sense of eyes on him, even if they were “only” slaves—sharpened Louis’s nerves.

After a long bout, Louis disengaged.

“My lord Louis.”

An attendant offered water. Louis drank, then swiftly opened his info panel.

The EXP bar had ticked up faintly—which pleased him—but the amount was, in truth, paltry.

‘Without real combat, raising Swordsmanship in time is impossible.’

The window was 6 turns; with Louis’s meager sword talent, the assumption that he could hit Level 3 in that time was a dream.

Boromir began explaining shortcomings, but Louis half-listened, lost in other calculations.

‘That settles it—the Finance quest.’

If he chose the Food quest, he could grow population cleanly, but at this rate, the first condition—Swordsmanship 3—was very unlikely.

‘Invest on two fronts.’

1,800 points was no small sum—proof the monster-hunt quest had indeed carried risks.

The current conclusion: invest consecutively in Leader Traits and Buildings.

“…Lord Louis, shall we continue?”

“Not tonight.”

“Understood.”

The next day, Louis mustered one of his own units and stood before them.

Having been promoted once, the spearmen had shed their recruit air and become solid soldiers.

Their discipline was taut. Louis spoke.

“As you know, Proia is preparing to grow. First, I honor your fearless deeds.”

Faces brightened.

“In my heart I’d use you solely for one purpose, but though things are better than before, Proia is still far from easy. So I ask for your help in peacetime duties—will you lend it?”

The answer came at once: the whole unit shouted in unison.

‘Good.’

Details could go through Boromir. With Dekal’s troops handling basic security, Proia’s safety was adequate; there was no need to throw all forces into policing and make citizens uneasy.

‘We have ample marble and the labor ready. Now we just need to build.’

One regret: soldiers were overall ill-suited to construction. To compensate, Louis needed a foreman with talent for building.

There was a solution: raise Talent Insight to Level 2 to unlock extra info.

Essential if he wanted to cut the maximum build time.

Louis promptly invested 300 points in Talent Insight.

‘Construction.’

‘Done?’

As if on cue, Boromir approached with a stranger.

This was the engineer Louis had hired from the port city—the man who would serve as chief superintendent for the Library of Alexander.

His name was Hector; pricey—his fee skimmed 1 gold from the treasury.

“An honor to meet you, Consul. I am Hector.”

Hector was a seasoned middle-aged man sporting a peculiar mustache.

To verify that Talent Insight applied, Louis read his panel.

Construction Talent 5. Construction Skill 9.

The numbers alone, compared against “talent,” let Louis infer that—contrary to first impressions—Hector had labored fiercely to hone his craft.

Dekal, a Sword Expert, had swordsmanship around 14 (mana aside); by that yardstick, Construction Skill 9 was quite high—the rough minimum needed to build a Wonder.

“Welcome.”

Confirming the skill was active, Louis continued with a few points.

“As mentioned, we’ll need to use soldiers as laborers.”

“Yes, I understand. That’s fine. For this kind of work, brains matter more. What’s critical is the groundwork—the design.”

Hector spoke earnestly; in fact, this was why he’d accepted the contract—Louis had promised to furnish the plans.

Because design was crucial, if the result disappointed, the designer took the blame while the contractor simply went home. In such odd, outsourced arrangements, responsibility usually fell on the one who drew the plan.

“Of course. The plans are ready.”

Louis had the plans—for the Library of Alexander. A lifelong omnivore of knowledge, he could sketch a passable design.

That alone was enough; with patience, he could transcribe the blueprint presented by the Civilization System.

Louis moved to show Hector the plans.