Back to the Other World, Ramon's Report

The next day, in Sam's new apartment.

Sam slowly wakes up, staring at the white painted ceiling, and quickly sits his body up, searching his surroundings.

'Oh yeah, I purchased this apartment' Sam, who hasn't been used to luxury in a long time realized that he hasn't slept this well in a long time.

Sam got off his bed and quickly got changed into a random set of pajamas, he went to the kitchen and began making a hearty breakfast with the ingredients that were already in the fridge when he arrived here.

He wanted to eat well, as today he decided that he was now going to stay in the other world for a long period of time, and by a long period of time he meant months, maybe a whole year if the situation is necessary.

To him, Earth wasn't his true home anymore, it hasn't been for a long time. He wants to focus on his settlement, make sure everything is working, and that he is as ahead as he can be before Earth discovers the portal and begin its conquest.

After eating a hearty breakfast, Sam then walked into the middle of the room and got ready to teleport to the other world.

"TELEPORT!"

[[SYSTEM NOTIFICATION: Teleporting player in 10… 9…]]

Soon, a white flash covered Sam's vision and his body dematerialized in his room, and he disappeared, leaving his house completely empty.

SHUA!

Soon, Sam arrived back in the other world, right where he teleported from last night and walked out of his courtyard house.

As soon as he came out, Ramon arrived and quickly rushed to Sam.

"Lord, I have returned! I got news to share with you!"

Sam looks at him and tells him to stand up and walk with Sam as he heads toward the village elder.

"The area around the village is secure, only a few animals to hunt and no traces of bandits."

"No traces of bandits?" Sam questioned.

"Yeah, I found a camp of theirs nearby but it looks deserted and there are no signs of horse tracks meaning they have been gone for more than a day."

Sam nods his head, "We got to be careful however, I might start building a wooden fence around the village for now."

Ramon nods, and soon they arrive near the village elder who was seated on a wooden log near the logging camp.

"Lord, you have woken up!" The village elder smiles and stands up with his wooden stick to help.

"Ramon, you know where the bandits went towards? East, north, south?" Sam inquired.

"I don't know for sure, but it looks like they are heading north to the kingdom-affiliated villages."

"Kingdom affiliated?" Sam raised his eyebrow, the village elder who saw that then begins explaining to Sam what Ramon meant.

"To the north of us, pretty far north might I say, is the Kingdom of Drakonvale. It's a relatively big kingdom, with many villagers in the region being part of the kingdom meaning they give the kingdom a tax on whatever the village produces. This village used to be part of the kingdom many years ago, alongside the other villages nearby."

"Used to be? What happened?"

The village elder sighs, "I don't know. We haven't heard from the Kingdom since the last king died, and we haven't had anyone take our produce as tax from them also. When I last visited the other villages, they said that they haven't been giving the kingdom tax in a long time either, meaning that they probably forgot about us."

Sam begins to ponder, "Are we still affiliated with them?"

"Who knows, even if we are, they don't really care about us so we don't care for them."

Ramon then interjects, continuing his report, "On the topic of kingdom-affiliated villages, if the bandits raid them then they would have the ire of the local militia. If that is the case then it would no shocker if they come back to the vicinity and raid again."

Sam and the village elder then looked at each other, "How's the logging camp going?"

"Amazing my Lord, we got enough wood stashed up to create much more buildings!"

"Um, Lord, one last thing before I go!"

"Yes, Ramon?"

"Before the bandits headed north, they raided a village along the way. I found a camp of theirs in the village and in it a couple of kids, women, and a few men. I haven't approached them yet, thinking it is best for me to return and report to you, how should I go about it?"

"Are you sure that the village was raided?"

"Saw smoke while traveling, headed there and saw the burning village in the distance, countless bodies on the ground with no one to bury it… I felt useless again."

Sam tapped Ramon's shoulder in condolence, "We will avenge your family, I promise. For now, your task is to introduce yourself to these villagers and tell them to join our settlement!"

"Yes, Lord!"

"Village Elder, bring 3 men to the Shrine that aren't needed. We need to turn them into builders and start creating new homes for our future members."

"I shall get it done!"

Sam then walked towards the logging field and saw the stack of wooden logs in an open field.

"You guys sure are working hard!"

The men who were cutting down trees stopped and walked toward Sam with a smile on their faces.

"Lord! We are honored by having you check out the logging field, we are working as hard as we can to complete the task you gave us!"

Sam shook his head with a smile, "You don't need to feel indebted to me, just work hard for the village, we are all counting on you!"

They all cheered and went back to work. Sam turned his head and walked towards the shrine, ready to convert some villagers to builders and start construction on the new homes.

"Lord, here are the three who volunteered!"

"Thank you for trusting me to help you out! We really wish to repay the debt of burying our loved ones!"

"Yeah, I do not mind even rushing into a fire pit if you asked me!"

Sam smiled and explained what to do and quickly converted them to builders.

"Alright, you guys need to build some new homes next to the houses we got already. Make as many as you can. Stone is hard to find, and we don't have any in stock which means you have to make the homes as basic as you can with only wood, which sucks but it is the best we can do at the moment!"

"No problem! With these skills, we can do it with ease!"

"That's the spirit! Head down and start working, if you need to talk to me just come by and I'll answer whatever help you need!"

"Yes, Lord!"

Sam smiled at the Village Elder, "You know, I can't keep calling you Village Elder if you call me Lord."

The Village Elder chuckled, "You may call me whatever you like, my real name is Jim but no one calls me that these days!"

"Can I call you Old Man Jim, seems appropriate enough"

"Lord! That is too personal, I do not deserve such an honor!"

"Relax, I am just a villager like you, trying my best to build this settlement up and help people in need!"

[[SYSTEM NOTIFICATION: You have gained a follower "Old Man Jim", to gain followers, you must reach a loyalty status of 90%, which would allow them to become your follower and they gain more experience as you level up in the future!]]

Sam who didn't realize this was a thing was shocked with his mouth wide open, this meant that in the future he could have exclusive followers that would be as overpowered as he was if he recruited them and treated them right.

'Is this how the other lords in the future grew so big? Recruit the best and level up with ease?'

"Lord, are you okay?"

"No, I am okay! I will start heading to the farm and check on the progress over there! See you later, Old Man Jim!"

"Again, Lord! Do not call me that, I do not deserve such a title!"

Sam laughed before walking off towards the farm.