After the military reorganization was completed, Damian arrived at the academy for non-magical children in his territory. The older children had mastered basic arithmetic—addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division—and could write thousands of words.
These children, aged fifteen or sixteen and on the verge of becoming adults, would graduate next spring.
Unlike the playful eight- or nine-year-olds, these older children had experienced hardships and knew the value of knowledge. It wasn't easy for their families to send them to study, so they studied diligently, completing their education in a year.
After mastering the basics, Damian placed thirteen graduates at the army headquarters. These individuals became the first group of fully trained staff officers.
Those who were strong and capable of practicing magic began training with powerful spells and were trained to be military staff officers. Those with less talent could still serve as basic logistical staff because they mastered fundamental mathematical knowledge.
In his spare time, Damian also taught them drawing skills and assigned them some drawing tasks, asking them to mark contour lines.
Once this group of people was trained, Damian could refine the personnel system, establish logistics, combat strategies, and other topics, and form a complete and efficient command organization.
His personal students, who belonged to noble houses in the north and had been happily sent for training, would be returned in three years. They would all be trained to obey, which would pave the way for Damian to become the Mage King.
There were many children without much talent for magic. Unless they made significant contributions to magical research, Damian would not invest magical resources in them.
Initially, they were all learning knowledge in primary school and practicing in the territorial hospital.
Once they learned magic to treat minor injuries, they could sign a contract with the territorial hospital and become official hospital staff.
Magic was slowly becoming essential for people's development, as it should have been from the beginning for the sake of evolution.
...
Three long months had passed since Damian returned to the city as a count for his people.
Every year, when it snows, Damian is very busy. He fears that if something is missing in the work, the new citizens will freeze to death.
This year, he had received six thousand refugees from lost territories and children who had been adopted from all corners where there were human cities or small towns.
A few days later, information arrived that the demons had built a military station at the northern entrance, about thirty kilometers away. Damian wasn't worried about this, as he had his walls well protected and the night watch always active.
The city's defense installations at the military station were relatively simple to build, with thick beams coated in mud on the outside and rammed earth walls on the inside. Trenches were dug outside the city walls, and a moat was excavated to introduce water.
The three-way crossing where the military barracks were located was a strategic point. Assigning this place to Damian increased the burden of all the other responsibilities he had obtained due to his great desire to conquer.
After reorganizing the army, Damian sent the Third Infantry Legion to station there. Fifteen thousand new citizens were hired to reclaim the arable land in the valley.
On the slopes on both sides of the valley in Damian's territory, there were many wild orchards. Since this place was a key point for the orcs to station troops, it had not been developed.
Now that this territory was in Damian's hands, it was time to take this land and develop it properly. The large areas of wild fruit trees on both sides had development value.
The harvested fruits could not only be sold for money but also mixed with sugar to make preserves.
Additionally, Damian requested the construction of a winery in the valley to use the mountain's fruit resources to make fruit wine and enrich the varieties of fine wines in his collection.
Making fruit wine is not very complicated. The winery had trained seven or eight qualified winemakers, and in recent years, after some exploration, they developed fourteen fruit wine recipes.
Since the fruit wine packaging was more sophisticated, glass bottles produced in the territory were used.
The fruit wine produced in Damian's territory was five times more expensive than white wine. One silver coin could buy four bottles of fruit wine.
The fruit wine was not sold in retail stores, but when purchased, it came in an exquisite portable wooden box. The packaging was of higher quality than market wines.
The taste of fruit wine is sweet, the alcohol content is not high, and the cost is slightly higher than that of liquor.
This type of wine was mainly aimed at the mid-to-high-end market.
Noble ladies and young women often held banquets. If the fruit wine from Damian's territory could be used as wine for noble banquets, it was estimated that they could make a lot of money.
If they couldn't open a market among the nobles, even if sold at a reduced price, significant profits were still estimated.