11 Problems

The peasants all stood up, seemingly in high spirits.

"Very well."

Leon nodded, feeling satisfied.

Those 50 villagers were the base population of Autumnvale from then on out.

They were now the main force driving the village's future development.

This was not a game. While Leon only needed to fight battles with his newly created troops, he still needed a certain number of people to look after the village. They needed to make the village, which currently only had the Town Hall, bigger and stronger.

The 50 villagers also solved the safety problem they currently faced.

With the 15 kingdom of Cailux knights gone, Leon and the ruins had faced a huge predicament.

The escaped goblins would have no intention of simply let things slide. They would have regrouped and tried to take back the ruins that had once been their home, militantly clashing with Leon.

The Ruins of the Solace kingdom was still at the forefront of danger.

The 10 Raged Barbarian and 20 Barbarians were too small of a force to deal with such a threat.

The addition of the new villagers considerably relieved the lingering threat.

At the very least, if they were to be put in a tight formation with their shovels in hand, it would be impossible for the goblins, who did not even have iron weapons, to break through their defenses.

We still need further development. Leon was planning in his mind.

According to the system's page, the only building the village currently had was that simple, shabby Town Hall.

As for the other buildings, such as houses, walls, cannons, archer towers, and traps, all of those would require funds and time to construct. The process would be complicated because he will be constructing real buildings.

There was nothing Leon could do about it.

Funds and time were the two things he needed the most.

The goblins were not going to give him time.

Furthermore, the only funds available to him were the 430 gold coins that he saved before going to his fief.

There was one other thing that made Leon feel exasperated.

That world had several currencies—Bronze, Silver, and Gold, which was of an even higher value.

And only the gold coin currencies were exchangeable for the gold coins required by the system.

The burden is heavy, and the road is long, he thought.

Leon could not help but shake his head with a bitter smile.

...

The bright, beautiful moonlight enveloped the entire place.

Without any means of temperature regulation, the chill throughout the mountains quickly grew apparent.

The night was no longer young.

Yet, the Ruins was still as busy as it was during the day.

It was impossible for 80 people to just camp outside in the mountains.

The Town Hall was the only building in the village and because it only has one floor, it was not that big of a building.

Fitting all 80 people inside was impossible.

Leon quickly made arrangements.

The 10 raged barbarians were assigned to rest within the town hall while the 20 barbarians and 50 villagers were told to set up camp outside around the Town Hall.

Leon had brought a good number of living supplies in the three carriages.

Those supplies included huge tents that could fit plenty of people, as well as wool clothing to keep everyone warm. All of that was enough for the 20 barbarians and 50 villagers to get through the night.

Leon had his reasons for making such arrangements.

Rather, he had his priorities.

Regardless, the 10 Raged Barbarians and 20 barbarians were all that formed his current main combat force. Losing even one of them would have created quite a heartache for him.

They all had a lot to do with how his future forces would be developed, which meant that he could not afford to treat them as expendables.

But because the town hall can only accommodate few people he can't let the other 20 barbarians inside.

As for guard duty that night, it was also taken care of by the 30 barbarians.

As such, they needed more rest to be able to deal with any potential crisis that might arise.

The 50 villagers, who were all outside the Town Hall, had superior numbers. Even if there was any danger, they could quickly band together when prompted by the troops on duty, forming tight formations to protect themselves and prevent any huge casualties from happening.

Reality was usually cruel.

The so-called protection was, at times, little more than petty compassion and kindness.

Leon was far from pedantic.

He, on the other hand, knew the value of the concept of gaining the highest benefit with the lowest cost.

"Alright, hurry up people!"

Leon hurried his people to get the tents set up as soon as possible to prevent any unforeseen circumstances from happening.

Campfires were lit at the same time. They used tent materials and wood found in the Goblin Tribe to start them. The fires raged and burned brightly, giving off heat to somewhat ward off the chill of the night.

The Ruins camp was almost finished being set up.

A woman villager briskly walked up to Leon and said, "My Lord, your room is ready."

"I see." Leon nodded.

His room was on the corner of the hall of the Town Hall, which was guarded by 10 Raged Barbarians. The 20 Barbarians were getting ready on the front of the town hall to ensure that nothing untoward happened to him.

They originated from the system, so they only existed because Leon existed.

As such, he had nothing to worry about when it came to their loyalty.

He looked at the dazzling stars in the sky. The chill around made him shudder.

"Best be careful."

He said that to the villager as walked into the Town Hall.

He walked up to his room at the corner of the hall. Leon's room was at the very end. The place had been tidied up by the villagers.

The room had a window, which coincidentally faced the lake.

Leon gazed out the window. Light from the night sky shone soft light on the lake. It glittered as the water danced from the gently blowing wind. The beautiful scenery was mesmerizing.

Leon was unable to help but say, "This is indeed beautiful."

This was the first time he had witnessed such a beautiful sight since he entered the Solana Greenlands.

Unlike the harsh and burly forest the beauty before him was soft and gentle.

However, he quickly pulled his thoughts back and took a good look at his room.

He knew that he would have to stay in that room for a very long time in the future.

The room was approximately 107 square feet. It was furnished with a wooden bed and wardrobe, as well as a crudely made table and chair. All in all, the layout looked primitive and cramped. The accommodations were only slightly better than what commoners would have.

The single bed had a linen sheet on top of it. There was also a blanket made of wool and cotton neatly folded at the end of the bed.

Everything looked to be the standard style of the commoners house.

While the room looked crude, it was well-kept.

At the very least, there was no odor around.

It looks decent.

Leon felt satisfied with the room. Besides, the option to sleep on a wooden bed without worries in a protected room was far better than sleeping in a cramped tent.

Despite being the youngest son of the king, he had still experienced harshness in life.

He placed his sword neatly on the table. He took off the linen robe, which served to shield him against the dust, dusting it for a bit before hanging it on the wardrobe.

However, Leon did not take his clothes off. He also kept his short sword at his side.

Despite being in a room that was close to 10 Raged Barbarian, he deemed it best to be on guard. At the very least, if anything unforeseen were to happen, he would not be caught off-guard and end up in a panic.

Leon spread his blanket out and went to bed.

He slept soundly, possibly due to having made a long, arduous journey, as well as having to fight a bloody battle on top of that.

The crisp chirp of birds was heard, which woke him up.

Chirp, chirp, chirp.

Leon slightly opened his eyes, still drowsy from the restful sleep.

Two birds were standing at the window. He did not know what kind they were, but they resembled sparrows except were a dirt-yellow color. The chirped as they hopped about, pecking at the ledge with their beaks.

The light of the morning sun shone through the window. The sun had risen.

"Hmph."

Leon took off his blanket. The early morning in the Solana Greenlands still felt somewhat cold.

He put on his linen robe and looked outside as he stood at the side of his bed.

A sea of trees was spread out before him. The dark green leaves of the trees seemed to be out to swallow everything.

This was how the Solana Greenlands was.

The crystal clear spring water reflected the bit of light. The shallow depth, which was not even a couple of feet, enabled him to easily see the soil and rocks beneath.

Leon unconsciously said, "Beautiful indeed."

He frowned and found that the fief he had was still a dirty one.

The goblins' messy tents lined the sides of the lake. There was garbage from living nearby for years, as well as excrement, scattered all over the place in messy piles. Those beings had no concept of hygiene.

They were defiling the beautiful land!

When he saw villagers already hard at work cleaning up the garbage, his mind was put at ease.

That area was to soon become the place where they would settle down. The sight of messy garbage littering the place was an eyesore to the villagers, who were inherently people with an affinity for cleanliness and loved the sight of a beautiful field. They promptly went on to clean the place up because it was all too much for them to stomach.

Knock, knock.

There was knocking on the door. A voice from outside said, "My Lord, breakfast is ready. Would you like some now?"

It was the Women villager from before.

"I'll get it right away," Leon replied.

He closed the window and walked out of his room. A woman villager was respectfully waiting for him outside.

Leon asked, "What's for breakfast?"

"Bread slices and soup made of dried meat cooked with cabbage," the peasant replied.

"Dried meat cooked with cabbage?"

Leon was rather shocked. He walked down the stairs to the lower floor and said, "I don't remember bringing cabbage with us." He paused and seemed to have recalled something. "Does the Town Hall have cabbage?"

"Yes, My Lord."

The villager nodded and said, "There were 500 loaves of bread, 250 pieces of dried meat, and 100 cabbages in the storage room."

"That many?" Leon frowned slightly.

The bread, dried meat, and cabbage were all calculated in hundreds, so they were huge numbers.

However, the villager hesitated for a bit before adding, "All of that can only last for 10 days."

Leon was baffled. "Ten days?"

The woman nodded and said, "Indeed, My Lord. We need to search for more food, or we will run out of food in 10 days. Even if we conserve whatever food we have, we'll only be able to last about 15 days.

They went outside the Town Hall. The greenery around the lake was still as lush as ever.

However, Leon was no longer in the mood to admire it. He frowned and asked, "How could we eat that much?"

The 50 villagers were tidying up the ruins. They were cleaning up the goblins tribe's toppled tents, as well as the garbage and excrement they left behind.

The 10 Raged barbarianswere patrolling with their dual axes in hand.

The 20 Barbarians had spread out around the ruins, setting up guard posts.

"Alright."

Leomn nodded. He looked rather severe. "I guess 80 people would eat quite a lot of food."