Akira sat in his new office on the third floor. There was currently only a large wooden desk and a few chairs in the large stone room making it feel extremely wide and empty.
A fire was burning in the fireplace to his right warming up the stone room as well as lighting up the dark corners of the room. Fluffball was sleeping
“So you really are just the conscience of the castle?” asked Akira, still in amazement.
“Sire we have many things still left to take care. Although most of the more severe ones have been taken care of,” said Samuel.
“Still?” asked Akira.
He had been making decisions for over an hour now.
“To give you a break let’s talk about the village overview information. Please open up the information window,” said Samuel.
Akira opened the village overview tab and found several things inside.
[Village 2nd tier, Population: 24,000+, Treasury: 0, Safety: 30%, No ally or enemy.]
“As you can see there are several things to look at. But in my opinion, the two most important things listed are safety and treasury.”
“Safety and Treasury?” asked Akira as he looked at the information.
“Safety is at 30%, and treasury…0,” said Akira as he scratched his head in embarrassment.
“Yes, it is quite pitiful, but this is no surprise since the village has just started,” said Samuel as he pulled out a leather pouch of coins from his own bag and placed it on top of the desk.
Akira picked it up and opened the pouch and saw a large pile of golden coins each with a finely drawn wolf head stamped on both sides.
“There are 300 Wuf coins in the bag. That should be enough money to keep a village of this size running for a short time. You can use it to fund building projects and buy the necessary supplies,” said Samuel.
“Wuf coins? What country did these coins come from?”
“These are Kodria village’s own coins and all other coins you receive from now on will be converted to Wuf coins.”
Akira took a look at the copper silver and gold coins that were in his own coin purse and found that they all had wolf heads on them as well.
As for the security status, 30% is not good at all that is just asking for trouble. It would have probably been lower without the Castle keep adding to the security of the village.”
“How do I make sure it stays high?” asked Akira.
“A strong military, special defensive buildings, a lot of guards patrolling the village. Making sure that the village is sanitary and the people have enough food. The first two cost a lot but if the last three things mentioned are lacking they will have a heavy effect on the security of the village.”
“You can also see under the information of the city the current requirements needed in order for the village to rank up. Right now you will need to complete the 2nd Tier requirements in order to rank up to a 1st tier village. And from a 1st tier village to a 3rd tier town and so on and so forth. Honestly, the village tiers are rather easy to accomplish, so you shouldn’t have any problems,” said Samuel.
“So that’s how this system works? So there are higher ranks and each of them has three tiers?”
“Yes, that is correct. If you check the requirements to upgrade you will see that certain buildings needed to be built along with other requirements.
With each new tier, new buildings will be unlocked for you to use in making your village stronger.
As the village levels up the castle keep will have more options such as adding walls, towers and have more large weapon placements.
Also, I may have forgotten to tell you but with each specialized building that can be built, you can decide who is and isn’t allowed to enter it. If they are not allowed to enter it will act as if it was locked.”
Knock Knock!
Akira looked up and saw the four Grand elders standing at the door.
“So this is where you were! We’ve been looking for you to discuss something!” shouted Àaron in a cheerful mood.
“Please come in and sit down,” said Akira as he pointed to the empty stools near the desk.
“I rather stand than sit on something painful-looking like that,” said Seoc as he eyed the stubby hard stool.
“What can I help you with?” asked Akira.
“Right now we only have 50 gold left after selling all the furs and other items to buy the supplies for the new village. It will not last more than a month so we need to figure out what we’re going to do in order to bring in more money,” said Carl.
“Ah, about that, you don’t need to worry much right now I have enough gold to cover us for a while,” said Akira.
“If that is the case then we can move on to the second matter. We would like to open a bank to offer out loans. The main office will be in the keep using one of the first floor offices. Can you spare any money for this?” asked Seoc.
“I can give you 100 gold coins. But isn’t that a little early there is nothing here for anyone to buy or sell,” said Akira as he took out ten stacks of gold coins and pushed them over to the grand elder.
“Right now the housing is quite cramped. If we start building smaller cabins for families and set the price at a reasonable price I am sure there will be a few that would want to buy one,” said Hegir.
“What’s this? I have never seen a coin like this before,” said Seoc as he picked up one of the coins.
“It’s the new coin of Kodria village,” said Samuel.
“Kodria village, I saw that name on the flags that were put up outside. Was it you who picked that name and put up the new flags?” asked Carl.
“Yeah, sorry for not asking for your input. It’s sorta like our clan and the village’s new coat of arms,” said Akira.
“No need for you to apologize. I think the flag and the name fit just fine,” said Hegir.
“Same,” said Àaron.
“While you are here can you help me with deciding on a few other things?” asked Akira.
“Sure, we have time,” said Carl.
“Samuel can explain,” said Akira pointing to the elderly man who was around their age.
“We still need to figure out the governing system of the village and what it will be in the future when it grows. Laws to govern the village need to be created. A tax system needs to be decided upon and implemented when convenient so that the treasury is not just leaking gold. The…”
And so Akira and the grand elders spent the rest of the day hammering out the details of the governing system, laws, taxes, and future plans for the clan.
It was decided that Akira would be the lord of the city while the grand elders would be the advisers who oversaw the internal runnings of the village.
“…as I was saying you need to spend money to make money,” said Samuel.
“But if I waste it on pointless stuff, that is not going to help the village. I need to keep some money in case there is trouble in the future where we need the extra gold,” said Akira.
“So stingy. Then don’t spend it on pointless things and your problem is solved. Either way, you shouldn’t have too much trouble with earning money if you trade with the wandering tribes.
I am sure if you keep following the plan I have set out for you, Kodria will become one of the most important places on Foradverold. With importance, people will keep coming to the village to live, work, and trade! Which will bring in more wealth! So you need to keep spending the gold to grow faster!” said Samuel.
“Sorta makes sense,” said Àaron while scratching his head with a face that screamed ‘I have no idea what is going on’.
“There are other villages around here? I thought there was nothing this far south?” asked Hegir.
“Not anywhere around here, and I wouldn’t call them villages. Just small wandering tribes that live off of hunting and gathering. A few even delve into dungeons and gather rare materials from the monsters and the caves to sell back at the trade villages north,” said Samuel.
“I suggest that we call it a day for now and finish whatever Is left for tomorrow,” said Carl.
“Good work everyone,” said Seoc as he stood up from the short stubby stool and let out a few groans.
“You need to get better furniture in here, my butt has gone completely numb and my back is killing me,” said Àaron.
Akira waved the elders off and headed to his own large suite down the hall.
Upon entering the large suit that he was currently sharing with his sister he found Mileena standing near the living room fire with what looked like a luxury dark blue robe that had the Kodria crest on the chest and sleeves.
A towel was draped around her neck with her wet hair hanging over it.
“Ahh-! This sure does taste good,” said Mileena as she drank down a fresh glass of moomer milk.
“That’s your third glass. You know… no matter how much you drink it will not help grow them,” said Azura.
“Who said I was drinking this to make them grow!? I was just thirsty! And you had more than me!” said Mileena.
“Welcome back Akira,” said Maya who was sitting on a wooden bench near the fire reading a book.
“No! Don’t tell me you heard that!” moaned Mileena her face turning beat red as she looked at Akira.
“Mileena… you have a milk mustache,” said Akira.
With the back of her hand, she quickly wiped the milk away.
“So how was the hot spring bath?” asked Akira.
“Amazing!” said Azura.
“I feel so refreshed! It’s such a great thing to have in such a cold place!” said Mileena.
“It was fine,” said Maya as she turned a page of the book.
“So you guys took turns using the bath?” asked Akira.
“No, we all used it at the same time, just someone fell asleep,” said Azura looking at Mileena.
“You should have woken me before you left. I almost became a prune!” said Mileena.
Akira entered his own room and tossed his unnecessary items onto the ground and gathered some soap and a washcloth from his bag before exiting his room again.
“If you’re going to use the bath, do you want me to wash your back for you?” asked Mileena.
“You vixen! Stop trying to corrupt my brother!” said Azura.
“No, I can do it myself thanks,” said Akira.
“Make sure you open the large windows, they give a truly nice view,” said Maya as Akira exited the noisy suite.
As soon as Akira entered the bathroom the sound of flowing water could be heard. Everything in the room was covered in a warm misty fog.
He had not designed the bathroom so he was surprised at the size of the ‘Bath’. Could it even be called a bath? It was as large as a pool and was even larger than the royal bath he had used at Jezebel’s castle.
After a quick search, he found the large wooden shutters that were closed high up on the wall.
He walked over and opened them up, shivering as the cold air rushed in.
From the wide-open window, he could see the village below. Several small lights from their windows lit up the dark night with smoke escaping their chimneys.
“Well it is a somewhat nice view but not that amazing,” said Akira.
The misty fog that had been trapped in the bathroom was quickly escaping out the window making it so that he could see everything more clearly now.
With the air getting cold he quickly stripped out of his armor and clothes putting them in a basket that was already in the room.
After a quick scrub outside of the hot spring pool, he immediately jumped into the water shivering from the cold air.
“Ah-… this temperature is great. It’s warming me up from the core…” said Akira as he let out a sigh. His muscles started to relax as the heat seeped into them.
After swimming around the pool a few times he looked towards the windows and stopped moving.
What he could see was the night sky full of unfamiliar stars twinkling brightly. As he watched the night sky a shooting star flew past.
Akira quietly made a wish.
While he stared up at the sky he mulled over all the changes and troubles that he had experienced in just a few years.
There was so much that he had to do that it was a little overwhelming but at least he had some idea which way to go as well as the help from the four grand elders. If he followed the path that the system set he could continue to build the village up into something truly special.
“With the founding of this village, I am done running!”
