"Okay, Alfred let's start on Phase 1 of our expansion," said Thaddeus excitedly.
"Sir, we should wait until the villagers are asleep outside the city."
"Then I'll get started on the walls. Map out where the existing wall ends."
Tonight, when Alfred would relocate the existing homes and wall. For Phase 1, the current wall was moved eastward and required a newly built 10-mile wall.
The current wall only covered 2 miles. Leaving the settlement unprotected on its eastern and southern borders. At least until he could build new defensive walls that covered the remaining 10 miles to the river.
Starting south at the river, Thaddeus began constructing a new wall. Every 30 minutes, he'd rest to let his mana pool replenish and then start again. He worked until evening and finished the South Gate and adjourning walls.
If he kept her current pace, he'd finish the new walls in 14 days or sooner if his earth magic skills increased.
It was late when Thaddeus quit, he slowly walked back to the inn to eat. His character was close to having a hungry debuff.
When he walked in, he noticed the somber mood. Sitting down at an open table, Phoebe had a barmaid bring him a beer and tonight's dinner, pot roast with mashed potatoes and gravy with green beans.
As he ate, he saw the villagers looking worried. He motioned for Phoebe.
Putting down her towel, Phoebe walked over wearing an apron.
"What can I do you, Thaddeus?"
"What with the mood?"
"They're worried about tonight's relocation," she explained.
After finishing his meal, Thaddeus stood on a chair and announced, "Have no fear about tonight's relocation. Most homes will only move a few feet. Right now, our village runs alongside the highway.
With the expansion, the highway will be pushed eastward. The villages will still run alongside the highway but instead of running north to south, the new village will run west to east."
"Might our homes collapse when they're relocated?" asked one of the new residents.
"No," Thaddeus replied.
"What if we don't like where we're relocated?"
"You'll still be near your same neighbors. I'm simply rotating the highway and your homes. Instead of the highway connecting to the bridge, it will now connect to the central plaza," Thaddeus reminded them.
Thaddeus continued to answer questions until every resident was satisfied. Then he met the new resident and asked them how they had their new homes, forge, and carpenter shop.
Rather than log out, Thaddeus stayed in-game to supervise the expansion. At 2 in the morning, Thaddeus rotated the existing village 60 degrees and relocated the farms outside of South Gate.
After everything went smoothly, he went to sleep.
Waking up early, Thaddeus left his cottage only to find himself inside his grove. He could feel nature resonating and restoring his fatigue.
Moreover, he enjoyed the peace. No one around to call him Baron or Sire.
Looking around his cottage, he found a small creak meandering behind his house with bright green moss growing along the rocks.
This was the peace he dreamt about when he sought to homestead.
Feeling rejuvenated, he used his magic to expand his grove.
"Sir, I'm afraid you've reached your level limit. You can no longer expand your grove until you progress as a Druid."
"And…how do I do that?"
"You must progress as a Druid"
"Alfred, how do I do that?"
"Sir, you must progress as a Druid."
"Alfred, I think you're glitching," Thaddeus laughed, deciding he would find the answer on his own.
It was still early when Thaddeus made his way to the village. He walked to the South Gate. As he walked, he made a cobblestone road large enough for two people. With Priestess Thera's instruction, he progressed quickly as an earth mage. He didn't have a lot of spells, but he could expertly use earth walls and erosion.
Working at an even pace, he finished the wall connecting the South Gate to the Prairie View. Tomorrow he'd continue building the wall to the Prairie View Gate then to Ironwood Gate and finally to the North Gate.
Rather than walk to the village, he walked to farms. There he saw Arthur, Sean, Mathew, and farmers marveling at the fields they worked hard to restore.
Thaddeus' four fields and barn now sat outside the South Gate, adjacent to the soon-to-be-built southern highway.
"Good afternoon," Thaddeus called out when he arrived.
"Sire. This is a miracle," Arthur explained.
Thaddeus wants to say it was only a game, instead, he announced, "From now all this will be farmland. Other than my farm, I'm granting farmers the opportunity to claim land for yourselves."
"In 14 days, we'll have a stake race. As long as you pay rent and taxes, the property is yours to do as you please," Thaddeus said explaining his policy.
"What a benevolent Baron Brown," admired Matthew.
"Sire, I'm impressed by your concerns for us farmers. This entire time, you planned to help us. To think this whole time, I thought you were only concerned with the village and not farmers. Sire, please punish me. I don't deserve to be a councilman," wept Arthur.
"It's fine. For now, I have finished cultivating my fields. As punishment build me a fifth field there against the wall!" Thaddeus ordered.
At first, he tried to refuse to punish Arthur, which meant he was indifferent, which supposedly was a harsher punishment.
The farmers recommended whipping him, but Thaddeus thought that too extreme. Finally, he decided to have him build a farm.
"Oh wait, plant these cotton seeds," Thaddeus paused remembering his inventory. "The rest of you take care of these animals."
Soon hundreds of cattle, chickens, pigs, and 30 goats appeared from his inventory.
Even Thaddeus was surprised. He knew Cargill and John Deere gave him livestock, but he never looked at the amount.
"When did you buy so much livestock? You even bought cattle! Truly, your wealth is immense," Arthur kowtowed.
Unlike most livestock which cost slivers, cattle cost tons of gold. The reason being cows were more expensive to feed and raise.
Goats and sheep were hardy creatures, which could eat almost any vegetation, and had little trouble giving birth. Shepard could leave goats and sheep alone for hours and they fare well.
Cows required doubled the grazing acre of goats and sheep, only ate grass, and were tender animals. Cows were more likely to get sick or have obstructed births. Only, the wealthiest farmsteads had cows.
Putting on a Cargill shirt and John Deere hat Thaddeus, turned to his live stream to thank his sponsors.
When he finished, he handed the new farm equipment and instruction manuals to the farmers and left.
Walking to the Sleepy Coyote, Huey finally messaged him back.
"I knew to ask me soon, but not this soon. Did you solicit migrants from the capital during the Civil War?"
"No, I there's a large group of refugees handing my way," Thaddeus explained.
"Oh, that's cool. Good for you. Here are the scrolls I can sell you," Huey displayed.
Lord's Manor
Adventurer Guild Hall
Battle Arena
Marketplace
Merchant Guild Hall
Crafter Guild Hall
Mercenary Lodge
Masonry Shop
Quarry
Airport
Mage Tower
Bathhouse
"Oh, and don't think I forgot about my debt at the auction. I can you Brutal Crossbows and rare alchemical herbs," Huey added.
Elderberry
Eucalyptus
Wormwood
Cloud Bergamot
Witch hazel
Skullcap
Ginseng
Butchers Broom
Mugwort
Blood Root
Stinging Nettle
Holy Sage
Mandrake
Moonlight Lilies
"I guess being in the number one guild has perks," Thaddeus said trying to drool.
He wanted to buy everything, but he had to budget wisely with the mortgage.
"Hey Alfred, if I buy Merchant Guild, could I speed up through the settlement mercantile skill tree?"
"No, sir. While you may purchase the Merchant and Crafter Guild Halls, those buildings will remain entries until you unlock the achievement in your skill tree. I suggest purchasing those buildings later," he advised.
"What about the Adventurers Guild Hall, can use that?"
"Yes, sir. Although, you need to appoint a Guild Master to accept quests. Once quests are posted. Adventures will come to your territory to accept quests. Furthermore, having an Adequate Guild increases your tourism rating."
"Okay Huey, besides the Town Hall, I want the Lord's Manor, Adventure Guild Hall, and 10 Brutal Crossbows. But give me a minute to message Sabrina about the alchemical herbs."
"Who is Sabrina? Did you recruit an alchemist? And why do you want the manor scroll, what happened to your cottage?" Huey investigated.
"Sabrina's my girlfriend. I moved to my cottage. And stop asking questions."
"Oh, your girlfriend's an alchemist. Lucky you. Does she have a sister, maybe a friend she can introduce me to?"
"What are you talking about? Can we just finish this transaction? Besides you're in the Mythical Guild, I'm sure you do all right."
"You'd be surprised how many women, want to date me just to get to Odin or someone on the attack teams, or simply want money. It's hard to date. Plus, most of Vulcan's staff are retirees. You have to help me; I don't want to be alone forever. All, I do is work," complained Huey.
Ignoring Huey's desperation, he read Sabrina's message that would tell him to buy them all. His lovely, greedy, girlfriend loved all things alchemy but was too poor to buy expensive alchemy ingredients and equipment.
When he told her, he was offered a list of rare ingredients to buy. Her eyes lit up greedily at the chance to work with such rare herbs. She also decided to move up her arrival plans.
"I heard back from Sabrina; I'll take all the herbs."
"Thanks, expensive. The town hall, adventure guild hall, lord's manor, and rare Alchemy cost 140 gold. With your 10% discount that comes to 126 gold. Would that be cash or card, sir?" Huey joked.
"Done, sir." Alfred
"Oh, Thad. Nice job, getting agriculture companies in-game. I hear our sponsors are working out a lucrative deal. Take care," Huey said goodbye.
Walking into the inn, he saw the villagers animatedly discussing the overnight changes.
When he sat down in his usual seat, Phoebe came and handed him a cold beer.
"I must admit, I had doubts, but everything looks the same. Plus, I like green. Some of the barmaids are thinking of going for a walk later."
"I'm happy but remind them to be safe until the walls are finished."
"I'll remind them. Don't worry. Be right back with your food."
Lunch was a heavy serving of chicken and dumplings served with cabbage and carrots.
As he ate villagers told him, about how they hardly or didn't notice last night's movement at all. Moreover, they all had positive things to say about the new green or Central Plaza.
After finishing the meal, Thaddeus felt his bulging belly.
"You want another serving, Thaddeus?" Phoebe asked happily.
"No, it was delicious as always," Thaddeus said leaving the payment on the table. Walking out the door, he shouted to Phoebe, "Oh, if you see Andrea, please send her to me."
Thaddeus returned to South Gate and began working on the wall.
Two hours later, Andrea and Hunter arrived with a mid-day snack, jerky.
"You wanted to see me?" Andrea asked in the usual manner.
"How long have you been a member of the Adventurers Guild," Thaddeus asked.
"Over 12 years, I joined as soon as I legally could. Why?" she asked curious of his motives.
"I'm thinking of opening an Adventurers Guild in Woodhaerst, and I want you to be Guild Master," he replied honestly.
"Why me?"
"I know you and Hunter are close, but you're the only adventurer in the village."
"Fine, I'll do it. But no one's going to come out here unless the quests are worth it," she advised.
"I'm okay, with paying a little extra for quests. If it means adventurers traveling to the village," Thaddeus agreed. "Now, where do you suggest I place the Adventurer Guild?"
Adventurers would boost Woodhaerst's abysmal tourism rating of 44 points. With a rating that low, only nearby villagers would infrequently tour his settlement. Each adventurer visiting his village would add half a point to his tourism rating.
"Build the guild here, by the South Gate. The guild should be near the bridge. And this will be the new bridge to the Dragon's Domain, correct?"
"Yes, that's correct," Thaddeus said walking just inside the gate and opening the build scroll. Soon a three-story Adventure Guild stood heroically by itself.
"I'll get started then," she said walking inside with Hunter and her wolf cub.
The next two weeks flew by. Every morning till noon, and from noon to night, Thaddeus built the new walls. He'd wake early and go to sleep late to make sure the walls were finished in time.
After he built the Adventurer Guild, he placed the Town Hall in the Central Plaza across from the Church.
The Town Hall was a large four-story building that towered over the village. Its towering height made it a landmark in Woodhaerst. In the Town Hall were offices for the mayor, council members, and judge. There was even an auditorium to hold council meetings.
The Town Hall was so large, there were more offices than needed, which was fine. In the future, Thaddeus's settlement management would include a Ministry of Finance, Ministry of Defense, Ministry of Agriculture, and Ministry of Education.