Today Max woke up a little late than usual and as he arrived in the city of Reinhardt it seemed that this was not just the case for him but with the entire city, with the seeming exception being Chanakya and Alexander.
After Max greeted both of them and gave the Chanakya the task to round up the citizens and ask each of them what job they can do, after this he went inside the city center and started constructing the new buildings according to the plan they had made yesterday at night.
The first building he constructed was the garrison, the garrison was a building that had a fixed number of soldiers that would patrol the area they are placed in, the host cannot build new garrison units even if he wants the number of garrison units is fixed, their coverage basis is based on citizen like in level 1 the coverage of the garrison building is 100 citizens meaning that as long as the city's population stays below 100 citizens the garrison can provide all the security to the city and make sure that there are no crimes committed in the city. But the units of the garrison have no free will thus they will behave like robots and will maintain order no matter the cost. On the next garrison level it can support 500 citizens. The garrison cost 500 gold and 500 wood and the time to build was 2 hours.
The next building was the stable which would finally grant the city the ability to build cavalry units.
The cavalry units would function the same as all the other types of units and just like barracks the stable would provide all the housing for the cavalry units that would be built. This was a very crucial upgrade for the city as far as its military strength goes. Since in the last few training battles the army's speed of victory had declined and the rate of injuries had increased this was mainly because at first the army was matched with a little weaker opponents but as it kept getting powerful, the opponents also started getting tougher. It was like how a player may quickly level at the beginning of the game but after a while increasing the level keeps getting harder and harder progressively.
Now with the cavalry they will have a whole new unit to use. The cost to build the stable was 500 wood and 500 gold and it would also take 2 hours to build.
Next he built the blacksmith workshop, the blacksmith workshop was a very unique building since although it was built by the host, it was maintained by the system meaning that the host was not in full control of it. The blacksmith shop would work as a system shop in the real world meaning Max could go their armors for all the soldiers or craft new weapons for them, or even have the blacksmith build some tools for the citizens like better axes or plows, etc for a fee. But there was a small catch to this which was, the fact that the blacksmith shops income could never be taxed by Max meaning it would create an economic leak in his planned economy. But this was the price he would have to pay after all he could not negotiate with the system, the best thing he could do was create economic policies around it. The blacksmith took only 100 wood and 50 gold to build and done in just 10 minutes.
The next was upgrading his current barracks which would double his current army limit from 10 to 20 and would unlock a new type of unit raiders and siege weapon. The cost was 1000 wood and 1000 gold and it would also take 2 hours to complete.
Thus since Max was out of citizens for now he went to Chanakya to check how his work was progressing. By this time Chanakya was almost done with the list and he gave Max the results, it seemed he wasn't that lucky about 20 of them were farmers and five of them were servants. Thus they would be useless for now. Although a little disappointed this result was excepted since people who could do jobs like blacksmithing and building and medicine were very rare since unlike modern-day earth people in this period had no formal education system and the trades and their experiences were passed by a teacher to only his apprentice. This was a very inefficient method. Thus a formal education system was very necessary, suddenly Max remembered seeing a building called a war academy and another building called University.
Thus, Max quickly opened up the device and saw the buildings and these functions, first the war academy was building where the current weapons and units could be researched and upgraded like after the war academy researches the required technology the archers could be equipped with longbows that were far lethal and superior than normal bows. Next the university was a learning type building, once constructed citizens could be enrolled in the university to learn about things in a variety of fields like wood building, blacksmithing, medicine, trading, etc. But these were long-duration courses meaning to learn these things the citizens would have to go to the university constantly and thus they would be available for any other tasks. And once started if citizens were taken out halfway they would forget anything they had learned up to that time.
This was a godsend, thus after two overs were over Max immediately choose to build the war academy which would cost 1000 wood and 100 gold and the university which would cost 1000 wood and 1000 gold, as for the third building he chooses to build the command center, the command center would serve as a military center of the kingdom, this is where all the important decisions would be made, it would also serve as the war meeting room for all the personal and where all the military plans and secrets would be kept (think like a pentagon). It would cost 500 wood and 500 gold, and all of them would also take 2 hours to build.
So, for the next two hours he decided to explore the buildings he had just now constructed, first he went to the barracks and checked out the upgraded building, the improvements were not that world-changing, just the building was a little bigger and it now looked like it was built much better and from high-quality material not to mention the fact it looked a little better aesthetically, then Max checked the new unlocked units the raiders and the siege weapons. The raiders were very fast-moving troops, each of them came with a horse and they could be used for very quick attacks or even scouting but on the other side they were not that strong. The next was the siege weapon, after all, Max would need this if he wanted to win on the conqueror's amp, the siege unit unlocked was the ballista, Max immediately choose to build the ballista but was a little shocked by its maintenance cost of 10 gold each and their training cost of 5 hours. Ultimately he decided to build 2 infantry, 3 archers, 3 raiders and 2 ballista.
Then he went to the blacksmith shop, where he talked to the blacksmith and learned how all the system worked, while he was there he also placed an order for brand new weapons for all the soldiers including the ones he had decided to build now, he had also decided to place an order of 10 brand new ploughs for the citizens since he was going to have them start farming soon. The total cost came to 1500 gold coins and all the products will be delivered to him by the day after tomorrow.
After this he waited for all the new buildings to be completed. Then as all the citizens were free,
Max prepared for something he had planned since yesterday, it was the plan to convince the new citizens of Max's legend. First, Chanakya had gathered all the new citizens outside the gate and told them various legends he had created about Max and his supposed family, he also spends hours resolving any questions that they might have, he had also instructed the system citizens to play along and even encourage such legends.
In the end, most citizens had almost believed the legends of Max but Chanakya could still see some hesitation in their eyes, it was like they wanted to believe but they weren't convinced beyond a shadow of a doubt, thus to remove the last inkling of defense from their hearts Chanakya took them to the city center where he said Max was going to give some kind speech.
As, the citizens gathered, Max got ready for his performance. First he started with a speech.
"Dear citizens, you may not know me very well, but you may know the fact that I am the ruler of this humble settlement we have here, today my minister Chanakya on my orders has informed you of my true origins, at first I didn't want to reveal to you my secret information but over the past few days I have come to accept you all as my true citizens and like a king is a father to the kingdom, the citizens are like his children and I cannot continue to hide the truth from my children I should be ashamed of myself since my gifts can be used to provide you with a better life. But let us forget the past and look forward towards the future, you are the forgotten people the people abandoned by their kings and lords in the time when they needed their help the most and thus because of them you have been forced to leave your home and become refugees roaming from land to land, I too am like a man banished and forgotten by the rest of the world and thus, since fate has united all of us let us all the nomads of the world build a kingdom together more powerful than any other, where no one would go hungry and no one would be forgotten. So, today I urge you you forget the places you have left behind and make this the new home for your children and their future generations, but some of you may doubt my claims, after all how would not even 200 people make a kingdom that can fulfill meet our ideals. For them I will give a demonstration of my power"
Then Max opened the system and choose to upgrade the city center, unlike other buildings the city center would require all six citizens and would cost 2000 gold and 200o wood to upgrade but in exchange it will be constructed immediately. Thus, Max chooses to upgrade the city center, suddenly the city center was surrounded by wind and then the place where once stood a mostly unimpressive building, was a castle, given it was a much smaller castle than most lords, but it was still impressive.
The citizens were so shocked that all of them instantly kowtowed and started telling long live king.
Max was very pleased seeing this and after a while said
"Citizens calm down"
all of a sudden all the citizens stood back up and stopped yelling
Even Max was taken aback by their behavior, but this was to be expected since it may not be very special to Max but making a castle out of nothing was something only God could do in the mind of these citizens, and thus they had immediately removed all doubts from their minds and started worshipping Max almost as a god. Unbeknownst to Max today he had created the biggest religious extremists the world will ever know, in future, it was said that these people were fanatics to such a degree that if someone even said a single bad word about Max they would cut that persons head off instantly without even a little bit of hesitation, but this was a story for another time.
Max spoke again
"People you may have been told about my powers from the minister and although it may seem godlike to you I am still a human and I alone cannot accomplish everything and therefore I would need your help, so join me in helping us create a better today for ourselves and a better future for our children. But this would involve a lot of hard work and thus I will give you a choice, you have till tomorrow to decide if you want to stay in Reinhardt or not, if you decide you do not want to stay in Reinhardt then you can leave and you will be given enough rations to last till Winterfell and remember if you do not leave tomorrow then you would become permanents citizens of the city and you will have to do what you are told and you cannot leave the city at least for a little while."
After saying this Max took his leave and went inside the castle, meanwhile, Chanakya had realized that this was going to be a significant moment in the history of their kingdom, thus he had started recording Max's speech in a very neat and formal looking paper.
As Max went in the castle Alexander and Chanakya followed him in along with the soldiers and soon the citizens dispersed. After Max reached the inside of the castle he called Alexander and told him to deploy all the soldiers outside in hiding and see if anybody tries to escape during the night and you can interrogate them if you want but then just kill them and take off his body as quietly as possible. This was Max's contingency plan after all as much as he wanted to believe in himself he knew that not everyone would be convinced by his words and some people would try to escape and there was no way he would allow for the news of his powers to leak to others no matter what he had to do and in the case, he turned out to be wrong there wouldn't be any loss will there.Thus, after discussing with Chanakya a little Max dispersed him too. It was still only 4 pm and he had some time left before he had to leave, and about Winterfell, increasingly day by day he was getting tired with the constant commute, after all, he wasted 4 hours daily and there was nothing he could do in Winterfell but here there was so much work to do this, consideration would have to be given to this matter in the future.
Max started checking out the new castle, the castle was build in the interior style of mansions today, just after the hallway after the entrance was the throne room, on the left side of the hallway were meeting room and Chanakya's castle and on the right side there was a very large banquet room, while in the upper floor there was a master bedroom, two other rooms and a maids room.It seemed the functionality of the city center had also increased from just the government building to both a government and residential building, also the building now had more defensive capabilities and it also had two guard quarters and two servants room in the back thus giving it more secure. But Max was surprised by the lack of staff at the castle. Max enquired about the system about it and he was informed that the staff was not a part of the cost and they would require additional gold of 500 coins and their daily maintenance would be 100 gold coins. In return for this the host will be provided 20 high-level guards, 20 servents, and 3 maids. But remember these guards cannot go out of the castle but will defend if the castle is attacked.
Max decided to hire the staff and click the confirm button.
Instantly 20 guards, 20 servants, and 3 maids appeared in front of him. As they Max they all bowed to Max and then immediately the guards started taking their positions and the servants started doing their duties. It was like they all had came programmed by the system.
Max opened the system and asked the system whether these guards, servants, and maid would always be loyal or will they attain free will after some time. The system replied that these people would always remain loyal to Max but they could only do the jobs they are assigned meaning the guards cannot go and fight in battles, therefore, they cannot gain experience, however, they can be upgraded using gold coins once the prerequisite is met also they will not be counted in your total military units.
Servents cannot do anything other than the tasks of the servant meaning if the host commands them to do something like attend university they cannot do that and they would not count towards your citizen total, however, maids are an exemption they exist to serve you, therefore, they can do anything that you want, that can be anything. However whether they are considered citizens or not would be your choice.
Max was somewhat both relieved and sad by this situation since he had lost 20 potential citizens, and at this stage they could have been very helpful. But in exchange, he did not have to be worried about being poisoned or betrayed one of his servants, after all that is how many kings had died throughout history.
After Max quit the screen he saw that the maids were still standing in front of him with their heads bowed, it seemed that unlike guards and servants they did have specific instructions programmed in them, they would do whatever Max wanted.
"Raise your heads," said Max
The maids raised their heads, when he saw the maids Max was little flabbergasted, the maids looked just like the actress he had a crush on in earth. It looked like the system knew his preferences well and wanted the maids to perform the functions of maids that were the most common in these times.
"Introduce yourself," said Max
The one in the front and who looked the oldest said "My name is Maya, my lord, I am the head maid, the one my right is Nicole and the one on my left is Sarena" said the head maid
Max looked at the maids, the one called Maya looked just like Maia Mitchell, the one called Sarena looked just like Peyton List and the one called Nicole looked like Luna Blaise.
They were all dressed not in the sexy french maid costume that had become so cliched but rather like how a maid would dress but rather in a gown that reached till their knee for better mobility, the gowns looked like they were a little inferior in quality. But looking at them it was the personification of the truth that he had realized long ago, the one that advertising companies prayed that people would not realize which was, it does not matter what a beautiful person wears, they will remain just as hot even if they were wearing dirty rags and the maids in front of him were some the most beautiful woman he had ever talked to.
Max was starting to get a little bit uncomfortable by this and he told the maids to go do whatever they wanted. He then left the city center and went to the stables.The stables currently had a limit of 10 units, meaning he could build 10 cavalry units but he was informed that the maintenance cost of a cavalry unit was 10 gold per unit. Max decided to build 10 cavalry units. They would take 5 hours to build.
While sitting in the meeting hall Max thought about the order he had given to Alexande, he wondered whether he had done the right thing but in the end he knew he believed in two-way loyalty, meaning if the citizens trusted him and were loyal to him, he would be loyal to them, treat them like his own family and devote his life to making their lives better but if they did not he didn't give a shit about them either, they would be just like any enemy or threat in front of way and would be removed by any means possible.
Meanwhile Alexander had not questioned him, in fact, he was pleased by this, after all, he was from a time when kings were considered gods and anybody who defied them became traitors. He was glad that the king was not a weak king who would tolerate disrespect and show mercy.
At last even though both Max's and Alexander's ideology was different they both agreed on the action he had decided to take tonight.
Then Max left the city and went to Winterfell
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It was a night illuminated only by the lucky moonlight that had managed to break out of darkness prison. A man was stealthily sneaking out of the city, hoping to escape the city just like the moonlight. He was one of the refugees that had come to the village for food and even though the city had been strange till now it was mostly normal. But today something crazy had happened. The ruler of the city had suddenly claimed to be the last of a legendary race of people and started making up stories about all kinds of things. At first he had laughed it off as some kind of game that the lords played and most people were thinking just like him but then suddenly the lord to prove his powers had made a castle out of nowhere.
This had shocked him to the point that he felt like he was losing his mind, that moment had frozen in his mind like that for time, he had stopped thinking for some time after that, he didn't even remember what the Lord had said after that or what he did, he just remembered copying what all the other people were doing.
When he got to his house, he was scared very very scared, he was just a normal man who was a farmer till a while ago when his farm was destroyed by the lord of the land when he had failed to pay the taxes, then he was forced to flee his home and wander around as a refugee begging for food, it was then he had seen lords everywhere were the same living wasteful lives when they starved, and their ladies always having pity on them and feeling sorry for them but never bother to help them.
All this had made him lose hope in life, all he wanted to do now was keep himself fed and survive in this world, he did not care about how this lord was different from others, for all he cared they could all kill themselves and it wouldn't make a difference to him. But by the way, the lord had talked today he knew that he would attract trouble to himself very soon and who knew maybe he was just crazy.
The man didn't want to find out, so after he had arrived in his house he told, all the other refugees about running away and told them to join in. But all of them refused him, he tried to convince them but they had believed whatever the lord was saying.
The man was shocked it seemed that these people had forgotten how they had been betrayed, how they had been treated. But this made this resolve even harder.
As the night approached, he packed with him all the food he could gather, and stealthy escaped the city.
Now he had somehow managed to get out of the gate and had started to run as fast as he could.
He had just entered the forest, he was feeling a little relieved now, and was started to slow down.
All of sudden just as the man had slowed a little was starting to his breath, an arrow came up straight and pierced his head.
Blood started spraying from his head and the man now laid dead on the ground still trying to catch his breath.
Alexander came out of the nearby trees with a bow in his hand, he looked at the man that laid in front of him, and said "Oh no, it looks like I got a little angry and forget about interrogation, but well he would have just lied anyway"
Alexander spat of the man's corpse and cursed "Fucking traitor".
He walked away and whistled to his man, look, sharp men, who knows how many traitors we have in our city.
It seemed that the night was pleased with the offering it had received today and nobody else came out of the city that night.
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As Max was lying awake in his bed the citizen count in his device dropped from 31 to 30.
It looks like I failed to convince someone, Max put down his device and decided to go to sleep wondering how many citizens he would lose today and what would be the consequences of that.
Notes-
Date- 22nd November
Day- 22
City- Reinhardt
Resources-:
Food- 700 units
Wood- 4500 units
Gold- 4000 coins
Daily Maintenance- 300 gold coins (200 Military units, 100 Lord's Staff)
Citizens- 30
Troops- 31(7 Infantry, 8 Archer,3Raiders,2 Ballista,10 Cavalry and 1 General)