Marc appears in the hall on the second floor. Him, the soldiers and the boys holding the supplies. Besides them, there are more than 20 naked Altiorens sleeping on the floor.
"Damn, this run was expensive" Most of the equipment lost was shields and axes, but some spearmen died in combat. Marc will have to provide more armor. But at least the soldiers don't die in this dungeon, they just take a nap for a few hours.
"Reinforced gates, archery posts and mudholes are going to need new strategies. Losing half of our soldiers is unacceptable. We are going to need more men." Marc speaks to one of his captains, Rodrik.
"Yes sir, we are aiming to never lose more than 10% of men for the battle to be considered successful. Adding men helps our goal, but creating strategies will be my focus for the week." He responds
"So I failed today"
"Yes sir, but this is the time and place for failure" Rodrik was an old sailor, one of the few to venture out to sea. He has a no-nonsense attitude. If there is a problem, he will solve it. "I suggest that we stop climbing the tower for today and get ready to fight better tomorrow"
Fictional heroes face challenges on the fly. With minimal preparation, but a lot of wisdom and luck, the heroes solve the challenges. Marc is not smart and all his luck is in getting the system. He can solve everything with the system. But what is the point of living, then? He can just sit on the couch and watch things work out exactly as he wants. But that is not Marc's goal, he wants to grow with his experiences, and at the moment he will do this by listening to his subordinate. "Let's go back for today then. But don't forget that one day we are going to be in a situation where it is not possible to back down. We have to prepare for that."
Rodrik smiles, something rare. "Any sailor worth something knows that a man who dominates the predictable knows how to cope with the unpredictable. We didn't win on our terms today, but our soldiers persevered in an unpredictable situation. And from now on things will only get better." Marc smiles, he has a good team of men here, with smart leaders.
It's not as exciting a dungeon day as Marc expected, but he can still alleviate his frustrations a little bit.
When marc was going down the tower he saw the supply boys coming down the stairs with great difficulty, so as not to knock the beans down.
Usually, he goes up while the boys go down, so he never saw that moment. Marc uses his power to turn a part of the stairs into a ramp. The boys thanked them and went down quickly.
Marc has not had breakfast yet and goes to the street to buy an orange juice and a bread with egg. Juice shops are very common in the city, as it is very hot in Newpath. Food, on the other hand, not so much. there are some bakeries, but there are no restaurants, most people eat at home since the city is small and rural. But that will probably change, since there are several people working as secretaries, teachers, etc. All day jobs that didn't exist before.
He sits in one of the many squares he made and enjoys his light brunch.
We have a lot of beans. A feijoada would be great today. But I still don't have any pigs. They are hens and fish in town, only.
Marc opens the system. He adjusted the value of points when it comes to items from Earth. The points are worth more or less a dollar. Hundreds of times less than before. Marc did it because he was buying things in bulk that he didn't need. Although it was useful to buy toilet paper, everyone in the city received a good donation of toilet paper. A pair of pigs for breeding costs almost 800 points. That's when they are the cheapest couple. The young man thinks for a while. And buy pieces of meat. Bacon, pepperoni, sausages, ribs, steak, shoulder and ham. 80 points of meat. A waste. But the feijoada is worth it. He returns to his mansion/city hall. There are two cooks who work for him there.
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"hey, what is that smell?" asks Liu.
"I don't know Secretary Liu, but it looks great! Is it the Lord who's cooking?" The Secretary of Agriculture, San Amure asks back. Before she can answer Marc comes down the stairs with a huge iron pot, his two cooks come behind him holding pots too. "Hey guys, go up there and get a bowl, today we have feijoada, rice and braised kale!"
In a few seconds everyone appears with bowls, it is not uncommon for the Lord to bring food to the Secretaries. "my god, this is delicious!" "What is this meat? Chicken?" "Chicken is not red so it must be some sea fish" Liu tries it on and involuntarily she closes her eyes. It's divine, food worthy of a lord.
"Sir ... how do you do that?"
"With pigs"he scored another spoonful "is a fat and animal. That we don't have yet." The minister of agriculture stops looking at his bowl and says "Sir, give me some pigs and I will do my best so everyone can eat this feijoada at least once in their life "
"Hahaha, you think small! A pig is an easy animal to raise. Everyone will be able to eat on Wednesdays for the rest of their lives if they want to ... oh, Wednesday is feijoada day in my customs."
"Why don't we have these pigs yet?" Liu knows that the lord can create things out of nothing. "Unfortunately, pigs are not a priority with my powers. We will need to travel to the other villages and hope they have or go to the main port and exchange things for a pig."
"Sir, look around. I think it's time to prepare a secretary of war. We need pigs" seems silly, but pig is a great resource for these people. But, the need to prepare a war secretary is because we receive threats from the main port. Apparently, there is a Haiyu family member working in an important position there. And in exchange for favors, he managed to put the patriarch against us. So far nothing has happened. But the lord of Ironwood has made it clear that he is the heir to this land and expects us to pay fees to him.
"yes, we will need to organize the military and create a local defense force" The lord prepares another dish for himself "We are going to expand the army. In 20 men. But in addition to the army, I want the Police force. The police are under the responsibility of the public security secretary, who will be chosen as all secretaries. But the army will have two commanders, a general of my choice and me.
I will ask some soldiers to transfer to the police force, but essentially they will work differently. Police enforce the law, patrol, and defend the citizen. Soldiers go to war and specialize in the killing."
"How much should we expect? Our resources are running out."
"Only 5 policemen for now, but they will receive a little more than the soldiers."
"Sir, are the cops going to patrol the rural area? Some farmers are seeing monsters in the forest."
"Yes, the policemen will train twice a week in the dungeons, study the laws 1 day and work the other 3 days, one day just off. The rural part is on patrols, we will need horses to do everything faster. I can use my power for that. "
"Sir, the builders are ..."
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In the late afternoon of the same day, Marc took advantage of lunch to have meetings with all his secretaries, solving the problems that are arising in the town.
Everything will be resolved over time and with trained people. But one thing remained in Marc's mind, war. A real war. Soon he will march with his soldiers to a distant village and conquer it. This will bring many challenges, distance communication, a reliable body of government, more soldiers and unify the people.
And the first step is a legitimate reason for war. Just 'wanting' is enough to invade a country, but maintaining a civilization is necessary a legitimate reason. Marc is having trouble creating that reason.
This is a violent society, and the commoners usually don't care about the decisions of the nobles. But they care about stability. And there is another problem, there is one more village and one city on this island, if they discover my imperialist and conquering intentions they will unite against me.
"Sir!" I hear Isabela calling me, she is my beautiful assistant.
"Monsters just attacked a farm near the forest. Nobody survived to indicate which beast is responsible" she is pale and frightened.
Marc is furious "Where?"
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The farm plants tomatoes, peppers, and leafy vegetables. Right at the entrance, Marc sees an overturned bucket and parts of a bloody dress. A neighbor is inside the house, guiding Marc.
"The second floor is the... children's room. It's a terrible sight, sir"
Marc looks at the stairs, has bloody paws. "No nails, just soles. A feline. But why kill everyone? I don't understand that!" The man says.
"Who lives here?" the farmer is smart, he is a spawn citizen. One of the first, Marc remembers him. Rupert or something.
"The widow Fin, two small kids, and a grown girl. The girl was about to leave the house, talking about getting engaged to one of your supply boys. I find her chewed shoe there" the man says in a somber tone.
"Fuck! Why did this happen?" Marc thinks out loud.
"Weird behavior, even for a monster. Usually, they attack to eat or defend the territory, this seems like a grudge. Like the beast hates this household." The farmer says.
"Who is the boy? The one engaged to the girl" Marc responds, this is way too creepy. Something is very wrong.
"He lives by there! Also, the son of a widow." The farmer says, thinking.
"You think there is a connection?"
"Monster hates widows? Almost all the women from the old village will have to hide, then." He still thinking. "But why both widows live here? It is so far away from the town, most old villagers are closer."
"Come with me, to the boy's house, let's find out" This guy is good.
A few soldiers finally come, Marc makes a sign for them to make a patrol in the area.
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"Fatty is still at school. He will be arriving soon. But, can I help you my lord?" the woman is in her forty's with teary eyes.
"Can you tell us anything about the Fins?" Marc asks.
"She was a great, great woman. Endure so much for all these years, now we thought would be our time of peace." She says between sobs.
Marc buys a few tissues, and give to her "What do you mean? What she had to endure? For what reason?"
"We used to work there. But... the lord brother... he just... ow god...he....they killed our husbands, and force us... they forced us to...." She started to crying a lot.
Rupert interrupts her "Ma'am, are your children..."
She nods "Both my young ones, Tianxi, is from my late husband. And... all of hers are fruits of pains."
Rupert and I exchange glances. This wasn't an animal attack, was a murderer.
"Thank you ma'am, we will solve the problem, and soldiers will be patrolling the area."
Marc and Rupert walk out of the house in silence.
"Sir..."
"This wasn't an animal attack."
"I was thinking this too, but what is the motive?" Rupert asks
"Maybe the guy was attached to the children, and now he found a different woman living on the house. Maybe he was just a fucking asshole and wanted some pity revenge against us. Doesn't fucking matter. You will discover that latter."
"Me? Sir, I'm just a farmer... Still finishing school... I'm on the reserves yet."
"Do you want to be part of the army?"
"Yes, I do!"
"Good, but I need you here. You are a smart guy, I need a smart police force."
"Police force? What it is? I never met one"
"Because you are the first, and already started with a murder to solve."
Rupert is just watching Marc back. Processing the words. He wants to celebrate. but as the lord says, he has a murder to solve first!