This ti, when Ethan left the prison, he wasn’t covered in blood. Quite the opposite.
A soft smile played on his lips as he waved to Doran, who had been listening from outside the whole ti, signaling for him to take care of the body.
"We must prepare to expand the guard, my lord," Doran said, his voice firm and respectful.
Ethan nodded, folding his arms as he gazed up at the gray sky hanging low over the village.
"I know... Next month, I’ll improve the barracks. Through the winter, we’ll intensify the militia’s training. I want at least five hundred n ready to fight by the ti the snow lts, even if they aren’t active mbers of the guard."
He paused for a mont, his gaze drifting toward the distant tree line.
"Healthy, childless won can train to beco archers as well. But they will not be sent to the front lines."
Doran nodded in silence at his words, though a flicker of confusion crossed his weathered face.
The notion of training even the won left him uneasy, but, in the end, he could only agree with his lord.
He, too, had no wish to risk their lives on the front lines.
Fighting the enemy face to face was a man’s job, after all. Even so, they could serve well enough in the rear, tornting the foe with an endless rain of arrows.
Soon after, Ethan stepped out of the barracks, the gentle smile fading into sothing bitter as the icy autumn wind bit at his face.
This would be Goldenveil’s first and most important winter under his command, and he couldn’t afford to falter for even a mont.
That damned Alistair had inherited a town of four thousand, complete with strong defenses, reliable food supplies, and control over two other settlents of five hundred souls each.
Since then, those numbers had swelled to the point that the barony of Whitefall now boasted a population of seven thousand.
Ethan didn’t doubt for a second that his rival could muster three, maybe even four thousand soldiers, depending on how old or how young he was willing to stretch the draft.
He knew he surpassed the other Golden Lords in talent and developnt, yet Goldenveil’s ager population remained a big disadvantage.
He needed to grow that population as quickly as possible, and with it, his army. Only then could he hope to defend what he had built.
With a soft grunt, he stopped in front of a small tent and bought bread from an old woman whose gentle, aged eyes followed him with a grateful smile.
After a brief nod, he set off toward his mansion.
Upon arriving, he handed the loaves to the five maids waiting at the door, keeping only one for himself before heading up to his office.
The space was, naturally, very different from his previous one.
Perched on the top floor of the mansion, it was graced by a large window that offered a view of all of Goldenveil. Its walls were lined with shelves cramd full of books and scrolls.
Two large sofas circled a low conference table at the center, and in the far corner stood an elegant black leather armchair, pulled up to a desk buried in docunts.
Ethan settled into the chair and began sorting through the pile. For the most part, the papers were drafts of the legal system being crafted by Ron’s hired man, amounting to roughly a hundred pages in total.
He hadn’t reviewed them yet, but he would soon go through each one.
First, though, he let his gaze fall on the Goldenveil information screen.
[Na: GoldenVeil
Type: Small Village
Population: 1051
Population Loyalty: 88%
Houses: 490 (490 occupied)
Prosperity: Good
Attractiveness: Good
Population Growth: 26/Week (Increase attractiveness and prosperity to gain more residents)
Lord: Ethan GoldenVeil
Knights: 0
Average Level: 0
Guard: 50 Light Infantry
Average Level: 25
Guard Loyalty: 90%
’Stone Wall with Battlents and Parapets’ Status: 12090/12090
Treasury: 14,420 gold coins (-330.50/month)
Upgrade requirents: 490/250 houses, 1,051/1,000 inhabitants, 100 gold coins, Lord at Baron level or higher]
[Goldenveil’s population has reached 1,000 people, and you can now establish a barony! Make the upgrade to unlock new unique system features and establish your own territory!
Price: 1,000 gold coins]
Before anything else, Ethan clicked to upgrade Goldenveil, spending a hundred gold coins. A faint pulse of golden mana rippled through the city, raising its aura and mana density by roughly five percent.
He then checked the requirents for the next upgrade.
[Upgrade Requirents: 490/1000 houses, 1051/5000 inhabitants, 1000 gold coins, Lord at Viscount level or higher]
He could easily tell that elevating the village to a full city would require at least ten thousand inhabitants.
Still, he didn’t dwell on it for long. Without hesitation, he clicked to form the barony, spending another thousand gold coins and watching his wealth plumt to just thirteen thousand.
The next mont, just as had happened with the city upgrade, a pulse of mana spread outward, this ti far stronger than before.
Over eight hundred square kiloters were swept up in a golden glow, and regions as far as sixty kiloters from Goldenveil were drawn into the territory, their mana and aura rising to match the base density set by the domain’s level.
That ca out to about half of Goldenveil’s current reading, which was still far richer than anything found beyond its borders.
[You have successfully founded the Barony of Goldenveil!]
[You have unlocked a new system feature: Luck and pity]
[You have unlocked a new system feature: Geopolitical Map]
[The Instant Build skill has been improved! Monthly upgrades: 2 → 3]
[Na: Barony of Goldenveil
Territory: 800 square kiloters (Build and further develop your territory to continue expanding.)
Population: 1,051
Capital: Goldenveil
Cities under command: 0/0
Villages under command: 0/3
Fortresses under command: 0/5
Knight Orders: 0/1
Knights: 0
Average Knight Level: 0
Regional Army: 50 infantry soldiers
Average Regional Army Level: 25
Defense Level: Miserable
Control: 15%
Regional Loyalty: Extrely High
Stability: Low
Natural Resources: Extrely Rich
Monthly Regional Revenue: -330.50
Regional Treasury: 0
Taxes Received from Settlents Under Control: 0]
Ethan’s eyes lit up at the sight of so many system notifications, and he nearly leapt out of his chair in sheer excitent.
There was so much to examine, but what drew his attention first was the geopolitical map option.
Without hesitation, he clicked to open it, curious to see whether it would resemble the resource map.
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