The Humble Start of an Empire

"Look at that. All in three months. Pure Vathrian ingenuity." King Adrian was on his balcony again eating his meal. This time, the view below him did not only show wooden settlements like a few months ago. Buildings and houses were being built in the surrounding area. The Vathrian territory was expanding day by day.

"It's all thanks to your wise leadership, my liege." Right next to King Adrian, Braum was standing on guard.

"Not really. All of these wouldn't be possible without them department heads working tirelessly for the last couple of months....and they'll continue working for months to come." King Vathrian said while sipping his drink.

'And also, we're following my guidebook perfectly....even with the sudden arrival of the elves. Rather, they helped me fast forwards my plans' King Adrian thought. He was still following the plans he drawn up when he was fifteen years old.

On the table in front of him, there was a report document.

"By your estimates, how long do you think 'till we can reestablish the local economy and have all the institutions running normally again?" King Adrian turned to Braum and asked.

For the past 3 months, everyone was solely focused on rebuilding the city, there was no trade between the citizens as all the food, shelter, and other commodities were taken care of by the government. But King Adrian knew that this couldn't last for too long as he wanted to continue to grow the kingdom....and money is always a good incentive.

"My liege, I estimate that we will operate normally again by winter...6 months from now. After we secure the local infrastructure, each institution will run as they were back in our previous world." Braum replied.

"And then we can finally have the funeral and celebration of the royalties and the dead citizens that we left behind..." King Adrian muttered while looking towards the distance.

"Yes...Your Majesty." Braum's voice was also softer than usual.

"Winter is also the time we promised the elves that we would begin sending undercover agents to the human kingdoms to find ways of liberating the captured an enslaved elves." King Adrian tried to shift the conversation to another topic.

"Indeed...officially," Braum replied while smiling a devilish smile.

"*sigh* right. Officially. we already sent some undercover agents to find information about the elves and also other information we could use. We still have to focus on reestablishing the kingdom first, that's why I promised them we'll do it by winter." King Adrian responded.

King Adrian stood up and turned to Braum. "Right, what's my agenda for today?"

Braum took out a notebook from his pocket. "You have a meeting with the Department Head of Infrastructure and City Planning. She'll come to your study room later to discuss the progress with the town construction." Braum said while reading the agenda.

"Where is the department head now?" King Adrian asked.

"I think Miss Moka Rose is currently in the newly built building of her department, it's located north of the castle," Braum replied.

"I don't want to wait. Let's go there right now. Assemble my guards." King Adrian ordered.

--

Moka Rose, the department head of infrastructure and city planning was currently in her office studying some documents. She was a woman in her 30s with red hair and fierce look. Her potentials suitors were many but none could withstand her intimidating personality. Her office was spacious with bookcases and also sketches of a city layout on the wall. She was writing some documents when a knock came on her door.

"Miss Moka Rose, King Adrian is here." A government worker opened the door and opened the way. The King was standing behind the door with Braum and some knights following them.

Moka Rose stood up abruptly from her desk. Her cold look melted away in a moment as she was caught off guard by the sudden arrival of the king.

"King Adrian! How may I be of service? I thought I would go to the castle later?" Moka did a salute with her right hand on her left chest.

"Yes. No worries, I just did not want to wait for any further so I came here right away." King Adrian entered the room with his men.

"I apologize for making you wai—" Moka was about to bow but the king raised his hand. "No need. It's not your fault. I was just becoming bored sitting in the castle and want to be productive." King Adrian replied with a nonchalant voice.

A knight grabbed a chair and placed it in front of the King. King Adrian promptly sat down comfortably.

"Ah, yes. I just wanted to report to you the progress of the town construction. If you may please lay your eyes on the wall." Moka walked to the wall where her sketches of the city layout were placed. King Adrian turned to look at her direction.

"As Your Majesty may have already noticed, I followed a very a similar layout to our previous capital city Dathria." The sketches showed an already finished city with different districts. "Since construction has only just begun, I painted the unfinished parts grey while the finished parts red," Moka explained.

"Scratch that layout." King Adrian replied.

"Huh?" Moka was startled again.

"I was not fond of the city layout of our previous capital city. I think the current construction is still alright but I wanted to make some changes to the final design later." King Adrian said firmly.

Moka started to frown an spoke up."But...with all due respect, Your Majesty, the previous capital city was the combined efforts of generations of architects and department heads....the layout was—"

Moka's rebuttal was quickly denied by King Adrian. "I am not trying to discredit them. I just wanted a faster development time....Vathria in our previous worlds took hundreds of years to be the prosperous state it was in. We may not have that time anymore. We have to develop FAST. Understand me?" King Adrian ordered.

"As you wish, Your Majesty. But if it weren't for the elves helping us with knowledge of this world's building materials....or should I say their secret building materials...I'm afraid it would've taken us a year to arrive in our current state." Moka responded.

"That is precisely why I wanted to establish a friendly relationship with them....unlike some people in my government." King Adrian eyed Braum next to him who was standing. Braum started coughing.

"And the current development of districts?" King Adrian inquired.

"Yes...we are now prioritizing on finishing the housing district first since we have to make sure everyone has a home. The government district, which is here, is also under development." Moka answered.

King Adrian stroke his chin while thinking of something. "Hmmm...I don't think it's too productive to just discuss it here." King Adrian stood up from his chair. "Walk with me." He continued.

--

King Adrian, Moka, Braum, and his knights were currently walking about the town. The citizens were starting to gather up around them but the Knights kept them away.

"I'm sorry, citizens! I'm here for work!" King Adrian said while smiling.

"All hail King Adrian! For us to develop this much in three months!" A citizen shouted.

"Don't overwork yourself, Your Majesty!" Another citizen shouted.

"Trust me, I won't!" King Adrian replied while laughing.

The group arrived in an area near the castle where the construction workers were currently building a road.

"So this is the first piece of road in our new kingdom, huh?" King Adrian folded his arms and analyzed the road.

"It is, Your Majesty. The material for the road is from another material the elves told us...they call it 'Tae'. They're similar to the 'Dae' we use for our buildings but this one is darker in color and more stiff in nature. They are also able to withstand corrosion which is why they are the perfect material for the road." Moka explained.

King Adrian stroke his chin again. "I've heard of them but what are they truly made of?" He asked.

"They come from sediments that come from the mountains, the elves have a special magic spell that turns them into a paste that we could freely shape. We have sent around a thousand citizens to the mountains to retrieve them to accommodate our construction scale." Moka replied.

"We'll put magic street lamps once we finished building the roads and sidewalks, yes?" King Adrian asked again.

"Yes. As it turns out, there are similar stones in the mountains to the one we have in our previous world that we could use as the illumination source." Moka said.

"So I have heard. What about the sewage system?" King Adrian inquired. A sewage system was part of why Vathria was so civilized and advanced.

"Er...we still haven't started construction on them," Moka replied honestly.

"Make sure you do after the construction of the roads. Contact me again once you have begun. Was that all?" King Adrian said.

"Yes, Your Majesty. Thank you for your time." Moka did a salute and bowed down.

King Adrian turned to Braum next to him. "What's next on my agenda?"

"Your Majesty have another meeting with the head of agriculture and maritime...er Mister Niko Branstein is still on the farmlands. It's quite far from here...and we don't have any means of transportation yet. Should we wait in the castle, Your Majesty?" Braum asked.

"Are you kidding me? We'll walk." King Adrian replied while smiling.