Fifteen minutes later all of the spirit plants were scanned into the database. Ben added these newly scanned spirit plants to the list of plants to be grown at the current Spirit Farm from now on.
Ben swallowed a hand full of mana recovery pills as he made his way up into the fortress and walked into the Ground Forces Barracks. He was greeted by a human and an Elf who sat in the security room monitoring the barrack's perimeter cameras.
He nodded to them as he continued on to the end of the first-floor hallway. He remembered when he had first looked through the barracks that there was a storage closet next to the gym near the end of this hall.
He opened the storage closet door and found a small room measuring eight feet wide and fifteen feet deep. Using his [Tunnel] tool he cut a descending ramped tunnel into the floor of the closet and made a small room at the bottom of the ramp underneath the Barracks.
Not wanting to waste any time he left the floors and walls dirt and rock for now. He connected a light switch to a light on the wall and built a scaled down Market like the one he had made in his store.
Ben was getting fed up already with having to march troops across the fortress settlement to provide them with clothes every time he purchased them so he made an additional Market right underneath the barracks.
Without waiting for it to be built he went back upstairs and entered the recruitment room. Ben brought up the recruitment menu and purchased ten human males with the Mounted Knight class.
He led them out into the hall over to the security room and had the human male who was in there follow him into the new makeshift basement. Ben asked him to show these ten new recruits how to use the market so that they could withdraw some clothes and to find an empty room for them upstairs.
These ten recruits would only be stationed at the Barracks for a short time before Ben took them over to the store and had them live upstairs. They would become his security force that could drive away troublemakers and protect the store at night when he wasn't around.
Leaving the Barracks Ben walked over to the home he had built for General Justinus. He was glad to see lights on inside because he needed to speak with the general before he went back to Goldcrest.
The general answered the door wearing the military clothes that Ben had made for the troops and appeared to have been awake for some time already.
Ben smiled and the general opened the door and began to speak without pause.
"Goodmorning General Justinus, I am sorry to disturb you so early in the morning, but I will be leaving the fortress soon and needed to speak with you."
"It perfectly alright my lord. I have just finished breakfast and was preparing to use the system-link chair to learn from the lessons." Justinus replied after listening to Ben.
"I wanted to inform you that I just recruited ten additional Mounted Knights that will be used to guard my store in Aregard kingdom after they have received some training. I would like you to take them under your command for now. I know without having horses or any lessons for your men to learn there hasn't been much for you to do as far as being able to train them yet. I am about to head over to the military school and arrange a few classrooms so that your knights can at least begin attending lessons. In a couple of days, I will return to issue you and your men the weapons and armor that are being produced along with their military clothing and equipment."
"Perfect my lord, I will begin their physical training when we have the new gear. General Victor was kind enough to provide me with some of his military clothing for now so that I would not have to wear civilian clothes when I address the recruits"
Ben listened to Justinus with a wry smile and apologized. "I am sorry that you have not been given your own military clothing and gear yet general. I need to have it all made with everyone's specific measurements so it takes a few days for it to be properly made to fit each person. At least as of today, you can have your men begin to attend classes and they will begin to improve upon the basic military knowledge they began with. Once you and your troops have your equipment then you can attend lessons and use the training grounds along with General Victor and his Elven archers."
"It is fine my lord, do not worry I still needed a few days to absorb my lessons. I am currently learning how the different stages on the Training Field are to be used. The Drill Instructor lesson is teaching me how to train the troops to climb ropes, cross gaps with ropes, rappel down vertical obstacles, maneuver around obstacles, physical exercises, moving in formations, and hand to hand combat. There were some areas of the lesson that involved fighting with a spear that made a loud noise and produced smoke. I asked General Victor about it and he agreed we should ignore that section of the lesson. It seems those smoke producing spears are some type of weapon."
Ben chuckled when he heard the description of the Rifle Training section of the Drill Instructor lessons.
"It is a weapon called a Rifle that shoots a small piece of metal over long distances. You and General Victor were right to ignore it. The archers will be using the bows I designed for them and short swords. Your men will wear full body armor and be issued long swords, shields, and spears for now. You and General Victor may also want to attend the classes that your troops are taking when you finish your private lessons. It will not hurt to learn those skills to improve your own combat capabilities and to also know what your men are capable of." Ben explained to General Justinus.
"I will do just that my lord. I will see General Victor later today and will inform him of your instructions."
"Excellent, well I won't hold you up any longer I am headed over to the Military School now to arrange classrooms and lessons for your men and then I will be gone for a few days."
Ben left the Justinus to his lessons and went into the Military school and opened the school menu lesson section.
Using the money that he had earned hunting higher level profound Beast in the forest Ben did not have to worry about skimping out on the Knight's lessons.
He created three courses for the knights to attend. Once they had completed the course one lessons they would then have access to the course two lessons. Only when they finished the course two lessons would they have access to the course three lessons.
Ben did not want to overload them with too many lessons at one time and he also tried to assign the more basic lesson in the first course and have them progressively become more advanced toward the third course.
________________________________
[Knight's Lessons Schedule]
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[Course one]:
Introduction To Horseback Riding
Fighting in Heavy Armor
Sword Proficiency
Spear Proficiency
Shield Fighting and Defence Techniques
[Course Two]:
Intermediate Horseback Riding
Compass Land Navigation
Cavalry Formations
Cavalry Tactics
Hand to Hand Combat
Grappling
[Course Three]:
Advanced Horseback Riding
Equestrianism
Reining
Jousting
Buzkashi
________________________________
One of the perks with buying these lessons was that he could assign them to any class type. Ben also decided to make a second course for the Elven archers and added the [Sword Proficiency], [Hand to Hand Combat], [Compass Land Navigation], and [Grappling] skills to it.
He did not want the classic Medieval style archers that could not fight against melee troops. They would all be properly armored with lightweight Mythril armor so if they could learn to fight with short swords and their bare hands then they would be just as effective or even better than regular untrained melee infantry of this continent.
Ben did not plan on sending his archers out to fight as standard infantry but if the enemy somehow made it past their front lines he did not want his archers to be defenseless.
After arranging four classrooms to teach the knights lessons Ben checked the time in the system interface menu.
It was now 8:12 am and he had enough Mana to cast his [Zoom] spell and return to his store. One minute later he was standing in his office and he could hear his employees were already beginning to serve the early arriving customers.
Ben changed his armor over to his noble outfit, swallowed a few mana recovery pills and left his office. He found Cordelia who was helping one of the salesgirls deal with a female customer who looked to be purchasing a few outfits.
Cordelia smiled and walked over to Ben when she noticed him entering the clothing department.
"Well good morning your majesty. How can this humble subject be of service to you today sire?" She said with a giggle as she curtsied
Ben looked at her confused.
"Your Majesty? Sire? I don't get it what are you up to Cordelia?"
"Oh? You haven't heard yet? You are once again the talk of the city. That manor you built in the noble district has had crowds of nobles standing outside the gates drooling to get a closer look at it. They say it put the king's palace to shame and that you should be crowned the second king Aregard! Of course, they are jealous and there are whispers that some nobles think you are rising in power and wealth to quickly and feel the king is favoring you. I think because you are a cultivator these rumors are the only way they can lash out at you."
Ben had a pained expression as he listened to Cordelia. He lowered his head and began rubbing his temples.
"These damn nobles are too much. Second king my ass! I knew that estate would draw some unwanted attention but for these idiots to claim my palace is nicer than the kings, even if that were true you should know better than to say so dammit!"
Cordelia laughed with a twinkle in her eye.
"You obviously are not aware of the Goldcrest nobles true nature. They all live to let the kingdoms commoners know that they are indeed nobles and are a jealous vicious pack that will undermine each other if it will help them in any way. Our previous employer Remi used to sell furniture to the city's nobles so we all got a first-hand lesson on how they truly behave when they let their mask of nobility slip off."
Ben just sighed and shook his head.
"I guess I should have known after having that run in with Godwin Cherbella who sent actual mercenaries to vandalize my store in an attempt to run me out of Goldcrest so that he could continue to control the food market in Goldcrest." Ben mused with a scowl.
"I need to somehow squash these damn rumors. I am on good terms with the king and the royal cultivator and I want it to remain that way. I have no desire to be the king. I only want to run my store and open up a few more businesses in the city later on."
Ben explained his intentions to Cordelia and his thoughts were interrupted when someone spoke up behind him.
"I am sure father will be glad to hear you do not desire his throne and cherish your allegiance to him. Now that I think about it with his recent worries and complaints he may be a little disappointed you will not relieve him of his kingly burdens."
Ben heard the person behind him speak before seeing them and the voice seemed familiar. He turned to look who had spoken and was shocked at who was standing before him.
"Princess Alessandra!?" In his shock, he spoke her name a little too loud and it drew the attention of the customers and salesgirls.
The princess was wearing the dress and jewelry that Ben had gifted her and she looked stunning. If she were to introduce herself as a Queen of a foreign kingdom people would not doubt her just on her appearance alone.
When the people in the store saw it was truly the princess they all stopped to bow or curtsy toward her in respect.
Ben bowed and began to look around for her guards and seen she looked to be alone.
"Where are your guards princess do not tell me you came here alone?"
"No, they are outside the store and I left one in the hallway. Having them surrounding me whenever I leave the palace gets a little tiring after a while. They group up around me to the point that I find it hard to breathe." She replied with an exhausted sigh.
Cordelia remained standing behind Ben stunned to see the kingdom's princess was standing not more than five feet away from her. Commoners hardly ever saw the royal family and if they did it was at a distance.
Ben turned and saw the awestruck look on her face and laughed to himself.
"Princess let me introduce you to my Sales Manager. This is Cordelia she is a knowledgeable young lady and knows all the products of my store almost as well as I do. If you ever are looking to for another dress, jewelry, or even new foods I am sure Cordelia could serve you splendidly if I am not around."
The princess looked past Ben with a smile to the beautiful young lady standing behind him. Cordelia also wore a resplendent dress and jewelry that Ben had given her as part of her uniforms. Even though it was not as formal as the one the princess wore it was still beautiful.
Now that Cordelia had started using the soaps, shampoos, and eating spirit food her hair had a vibrant shine and her skin was smooth and clear.
The princess looked her up and down nodding in approval.
"Nice to meet you Cordelia I am Princess Alessandra. I will have to stop in sometime in the future and have you show me around."
"It would be my honor, Princess. I am one of your biggest fans and have always admired you. It is impressive that you are so young and beautiful while also being talented in swordsmanship and cultivation."
"Hmmm, I like this one Duke King. You better hang on to her or I might steal her from you" The princess said laughing as she had fun teasing Ben.
Cordelia only looked down a bit embarrassed by the princess's compliment.
"So before you run off with all my employees is there any way I can be of service to you today? Ben asked with a smile knowing full well that the princess was only having a bit of fun at his expense.
The princess put on a cute pouting look as she replied.
"I have heard you have a wider selection of spirit foods now. The food I bought from you in the city market is almost all gone. My father, mother, and the royal cultivator have all began to peck away at my supplies in the kitchen and just about eaten them all up on me!. Hmph!"
Ben couldn't help but laugh out loud at how cute she sounded even if it made her sound like a spoiled princess.
He escorted her over to the food department and waved for Cordelia to follow along with them. He knew Cordelia looked up to the princess and it made for a more relaxed atmosphere with another female escort.
The princess could relax and not have to worry about rumors starting from her being seen touring the store alone with Ben.
After she had bought a large amount of food and once again had her guards begin to load up the royal spatial ring Ben pulled her aside and asked her to inform the king that these rumors are nothing but baseless lies spread by jealous and conniving nobles.
The princess agreed and told Ben not to worry these things were bound to happen. Even if the nobles had more than most they would always want more and some would stop at nothing to achieve it.
Ben admitted that he wanted to put an end to the rumors before they got out of hand but was unsure of how to go about it. The princess reminded him that in this society power kept the subjects of the kingdom in check. A little demonstration of his authority would quickly end any schemes among the nobles.
When the princess left Ben went into the basement and began production of the Knights clothing, footwear, and gear. Down in the quiet basement, he sat down at the table and began to think of how he could apply some pressure to the nobles.
I need to get them all together so that I can put the fear of God into them. If they want to go against me then I will need to remind them that I am a Duke and a cultivator.
After some thought Ben remembered Cordelia had said the nobles were outside his Small Palace every day wanting to get a closer look.
Some are probably just curious but I am sure a good portion want to get inside so that they can judge how much wealth I have and if the king is favoring me. If they want to come in then I guess I will just have to invite them inside then. Ben thought with a wicked grin.
'Athena, Can you give me a list of all the nobles that live in and around Goldcrest City?'
*Ding!* [Would you like to have that information directly inputted into your memory or do you want me to display them on an interface screen?]
"Go ahead and directly input the information into my mind. It will come in handy to know all their names and any information that you have on them.
Ben felt the distinguishable pressure in his head for a few seconds. When it ended it seemed like he was raised in this city and knew the name of each noble family where they lived and what type of businesses their families dealt in. There were even rumors about some families good and bad deeds that he could recall as if it had always been common knowledge to him.
Once he knew he was familiar with the noble families, Ben went over to the Printery workshop and designed a formal invitation for a dinner and a ball housewarming party. The invitations were printed on thick black paper and he used real gold to print out the inlaid words.
The invitation invited them to his Estate for a night of entertainment. Each noble had their entire family's names printed out letting them know that he knew who they were and where they lived.
As a final touch, he added a red border around the invitation and added his noble crest stamped on the bottom of the invitation in gold.
The party would be held in four days. This would allow the nobles time to prepare and he would also need some time to prepare.
It looks like I am going to need staff for my palace sooner than I thought I would.
Ben left the basement and went back out onto the sales floor to greet and help customers for the remainder of the day.