The next day when I woke up, it was like I was covered in the softest thermal blanket in all creation. I tried to move the girls off me, but that was near impossible for me unless I wanted to touch something I shouldn't.
Eventually the girls started waking up one by one. It took awhile but eventually I was able to move. I slipped out of the tent without anyone noticing so that the girls could get changed in peace.
Asterian was just outside, looking at the sunrise. The sky was painted with colors of bright oranges, reds, and some purples. I sat beside Asterian and watched as the sky painted itself again and again. This world may be driven by the competition, and the battles to be had, but if you just sat there a minute, you could truly notice all of its beauty.
After about half an hour the girls came out of the tent. Didn't know how they did it but they all looked fresh as morning dew. They looked as though they slept in a 5 star hotel and not outside in a tent.
They all one by one came up and gave me a peck on the cheek, to which I tried to keep my face from turning red, but judging by their giggling, it didn't work out so well.
Once everyone was out and assembled I took down the tents and we got moving, as I had long since reverted the surrounding earth's temperature to normal. We entered the marsh. This visit would be a lot less tense since we technically owned the place.
It took us a week to get through both the marsh and the forest, but we eventually made it back. Lurrel took the maids under my service, and Lillith took the knights to help guard the castle.
After everyone had gotten settled I called a meeting in the war room. Everyone took their designated seats while Asterian, Katy, and Yumi stood behind me. Katy and Yumi had been assigned to me, per their request. They would follow me everywhere, including if I were to leave the kingdom.
I had Lillith start her report. "As you requested my king, we immediately got to bolstering our forces. Our footmen number 5 legions, our archers 2 and ½ legions, and our mages reached 10. 2 fire mages, 2 water mages, 2 air mages, 1 earth mage, 1 earth and void mage, 1 light mage, and 1 life mage. In addition, we were also able to train 250 cavalry men." she summarized.
It was pretty good considering the timeframe they were given. I then looked outside at the area surrounding my castle. It was quite a distance from the rest of the capital, and the walls and defenses were pretty primitive. It looked more like a wooden square with a shallow river around it than a fortress. The defenses were not even the most basic Motte and Bailey model.
Seeing me look outside, Lilith followed my gaze. "Pitiful, aren't they?" she says.
I nod my head, "This is nothing more than a large wooden box, a poor excuse of a fortress.".
The others, noticing that the conversation has branched off, look outside as well and frown. They know as well as I do that the walls would not hold for even a day should we fall under siege.
"Fetch me some paper and a quill," I start, "and Reynard, get our finest stonemasons and wood workers. We will need them. Also, get me a few blacksmiths."
Katy and Yumi run off to get me my paper and a quill, while Reynard and Gilbert go and get the artisans I asked for.
Soon they all returned with what I had asked for. I grabbed the quill and started to draw a concentric type castle layout. In terms of defense, it was the best. 2 strong stone walls with plenty of towers to station archers. I also expanded the inner bailey a bit to make room for more storage areas as well as some emergency shelters. All in all, with the model I proposed, we would have enough rations and defenses to survive even a 5 year siege.
Everyone in the war room looked at the layout in awe. It was a majestic design if there ever was one. Although the artisans looked a bit scared due to the sheer scale of what they were building, they were excited to take part in building something so fantastic.
I turned to the various artisans. "I know this will be a lot of work, and cost a lot, as well as take time. How much will this cost, and how long would it take to build?" I asked them.
They collectively looked at each other. The head of the stone masons looked at me and confidently said, "It will cost about 100 platinum, and I say it will take us about 2 years to completely finish, unless we get some extra help.".
"What if we enlisted the help of the military, I should be able to pull about 2-3 thousand men to help?" I told him.
"In that case, it might be a year and a half. Although numbers do help, men get tired, and unless we had 600,000 men, I don't see us finishing it within the year." she explained.
I nodded my head, nothing I could do about that.
"What if we pulled the necessary manpower from my Rakshasa?" Asterian chimed in "they can add the manpower, and probably more if they take the form of something like a giant.".
That's right! I had completely forgotten about the Rakshasa. Not only did they have the numbers, but also more power than any one man can wield.
"Excellent idea Asterian. I would think we could pull 600,000 from their numbers, while our men handle some of the more complicated work. In short, we handle the brains, and they handle the brawn!"I say.
"In that case my king, we could have it all finished within about 6 months!" The head stone mason cheered. The rest of the artisans all threw their fists in the air and cheered.
The blacksmith head then stepped forward. "Apologies for asking your majesty, but I fail to see where us blacksmiths fit in in all this. I see an awful lot of stone and wood, but almost no metal." he questioned.
I smile, I wasn't sure if this concept had been introduced to this world, but now I was sure it hadn't. "You and your team will be adding in metal to the doors, and hinges of course. That is to be expected, as well as arments. But, I will also have you be creating something entirely new." I smiled.
"What might that be?" they asked collectively.
"The first, will be a portcullis, a large metal gate that we can pull up and down using something called a pulley system. It is essentially an extremely strong and sturdy line of defense that any enemy will find very difficult to get passed," I begin, "the second, is a ballista, although this model will be ten times more deadly. It uses a crank system to allow the team operating it to shoot large metal bolts faster than a normal archer can shoot arrows.".
The blacksmiths stood there in shock. Such an idea never occurred to them. I grabbed another few pieces of paper and sketched out the designs. I then handed it over to them and they looked it over a few times.
"We can have the portcullis and 5 of the new ballistas done in the 6th month's time. But all our work will cost 50 platinum." the head blacksmith proclaimed.
"4 will be fine, use the rest of the time to craft swords and arrowheads, I want a new type of arrowhead to be forged as well. A spring loaded arrowhead that when it buries itself into the enemy, two blade-like pieces extend out, making it impossible to remove unless cut out.".
The blacksmiths and even Lillith stare at me in horror. Such an arrow is too cruel on the battlefield. If one was hit, it would almost assure death. This is why barbed arrows were banned in my world, as they were far too cruel, but none of that mattered here.
"I expect all of you to do your best work!" I shout, "Dismissed!".