Chapter 56: The Dawn of a New Day!
On the following morning, as the first threads of dawn were breaking across the horizon, most of the Fertile Lands Territory's residents had already gathered in a courtyard chosen in advance inside the territory.
Nearly everyone was present — soldiers, farmers, craftsmen, and members of the various other professions. Only a small number of those with serious wounds had been excused, their condition preventing them from attending.
And despite the large gathering, complete silence blanketed the place.
Not a whisper or side conversation could be heard, as though everyone had wordlessly agreed to honor the moment. An air of solemnity and grief wrapped itself around the courtyard.
Then the sound of quiet footsteps came from a distance.
All eyes turned toward the source, and the moment the gathered crowd recognized who was approaching, they bowed in respect.
Kaiden nodded in acknowledgment of his people's greeting, then continued walking at a steady pace toward the front of the crowd. Unlike his habit over the past days, he had woken this morning a little before sunrise, spending some time discussing with Casper the location of the funeral, its details, and its various arrangements.
He stopped at last before the gathering.
Directly in front of him, three open wooden coffins stood in a row.
Inside, the three soldiers who had lost their lives in yesterday's battle lay at rest, their armor still covering their bodies, with each man's personal weapon placed beside him to be buried alongside him.
That had been Kaiden's own decision.
He wanted everyone to see the true price of the peace they enjoyed today.
He wanted them to remember that there were those who had carried weapons and fought to their last breath for everyone here.
In truth, Kaiden had never seen the residents of his territory as mere non-playable characters or tools conjured by the system to serve him. True, the manner of their appearance was different from the humans he had known in his previous world — but they possessed the same emotions: joy, grief, fear, anger, hatred, and hope.
They were flesh and blood.
And they died.
So he had treated them as human beings from the very beginning.
Today Kaiden wore a completely black outfit, and for the first time he had put on the robe that had come with it. The dark color lent his appearance an additional gravity — especially with the composed expression that had settled across his features.
He looked at those gathered before he spoke, his measured voice reaching everyone present.
"Yesterday we fought a fierce battle in defense of our territory. Most of our soldiers sustained wounds of varying severity — and some of those wounds were so serious that even the Health Recovery Potions were unable to heal them fully. Without a solution, some may face permanent disabilities. We emerged from that tunnel victorious — but as you can see before you, there are those who paid with their lives for that victory."
He paused for a moment before continuing.
"And this will not be the last battle we fight. More battles and wars await in the future — both defensive and offensive — and those battles will be accompanied by more sacrifices."
Silence fell once more.
Every set of eyes was fixed on him.
Kaiden continued in a steadier voice:
"What I want to say is this: in this harsh world, we must remember two things. First, that we honor those who gave their lives so that we may have peace and prosperity. And second, that we pay tribute to their memory by standing united and working with everything we have to grow stronger — so that we may face the challenges ahead."
He watched resolve gradually take shape in the eyes of those before him.
Then he nodded, announcing:
"Let the burial ceremony begin."
The soldiers stepped forward quietly toward the coffins.
The lids were draped in deep crimson cloth. The territory had no official banner yet, so Kaiden had chosen this color as a temporary symbol of the sacrifice and blood that had been shed in defense of everyone here.
During the ceremony, Kaiden noticed a number of militia soldiers silently wiping tears from their faces.
After a moment's thought, he recognized them.
They were members of Gerald's team.
It was no surprise that the weight of their commander's death fell on them more heavily than on the others.
The ceremony continued for some time before the bodies were finally laid to rest.
When the funeral concluded, the crowd began gradually dispersing. The dead would rest — while the living had to press on.
That had been the nature of life in his previous world, and it was no different in this one.
Afterward, Kaiden made his way to Sidra's tavern, which had been operating since the early hours of dawn. He sat at one of the familiar tables and waited for his breakfast, deciding to postpone the daily summon and quest generation until after the meal.
In the meantime, he opened the log of golden notifications he had received after the battle.
There were many of them.
As he reviewed them one by one, a notification regarding a new title caught his attention.
He opened its information interface with curiosity.
---
Title: Beginner Lord Slayer
Description: You have succeeded in defeating another Lord during the Beginner Protection period, proving that your ambition for conquest surpasses your fear of risk.
Effects:
+5% damage against forces belonging to Lords of the same rank or lower.
Intimidation effect against Lords of a lower rank than yours increased by 20%.
+2 Prestige attribute points.
Note: The Lord must be present alongside their forces during an attack for the first two effects to activate.
---
Kaiden raised an eyebrow with admiration.
The title's effects were better than he had anticipated.
A five percent damage increase might not seem large at first glance — but in reality, it applied to all of his forces, meaning a tangible increase in his army's overall combat power.
The increased intimidation effect was also an excellent advantage.
The lower the enemy's morale, the greater the likelihood of them making mistakes — or even surrendering under the right conditions.
But what genuinely piqued his curiosity was the last effect.
+2 Prestige attribute points.
He had never heard of this attribute before.
The moment the thought occurred to him, a new explanation window appeared before him.
Prestige
Description: A hidden attribute exclusive to Lords. As Prestige points rise, the likelihood of summoning higher quality residents increases slightly, base loyalty levels gradually climb, and additional effects may emerge depending on the Lord's total Prestige.
"Oh… I see."
Kaiden nodded as he finally understood.
It was a hidden attribute — which was why he hadn't noticed its existence before.
Now that he knew its benefits, his admiration for the new title had grown even further.
After finishing with that, the time had finally come to open the numerous treasure chests he had obtained yesterday.
His spoils from the previous day had been truly exceptional.
A Bronze Treasure Chest acquired by the expedition team upon their return. A Black Iron Treasure Chest he had found himself in the depths of the earth beneath the Lord's Hall. A Golden Treasure Chest from the quest reward. And finally, the War Spoils Chest he had received after his victory over the Liclron race.
Thinking about it now, Kaiden understood why treasure chests existed hidden beneath the ground. It seemed there were entire races living in the earth's depths — exactly like the race he had faced yesterday — so the appearance of treasure chests down there was no petty trick of the system as he had previously assumed, but a logical feature of this world.
In any case, it hardly mattered. He rubbed his hands together, wishing himself fortune, then decided to follow his usual rule: start with the lowest quality and work his way up.
So he first took out the Bronze Treasure Chest.
---
Opened — You have received:
- Wood × 70 units
- Iron × 20 units
- Grilled Chicken × 1
- Apprentice Perfumer's Workshop Bundle Blueprint × 1
---
"Perfume-making?"
Kaiden murmured with a feeling of helplessness. He was no expert in the field, but he knew enough to understand that perfume-making relied heavily on flowers and aromatic plants.
And therein lay the problem — his entire territory didn't contain so much as a single flower.
Fortunately, he could purchase whatever flowers the craftsman would require from the World Market. Otherwise Kaiden would have been launching research into extracting fragrance from thorns — which was very nearly all he had.
In any case, Kaiden was pleased with the Bronze Treasure Chest's results. He believed he would earn considerably through the female human Lords by means of the workshop he had just acquired.
He then moved on to the Black Iron Treasure Chest.
---
Opened — You have received:
- Wood × 300 units
- Stone × 300 units
- Iron × 90 units
- White Flour Sack × 2 (40 kg per sack)
- Land Improvement Voucher (1 Dunam) × 1
---
"Another voucher… finally."
A smile of satisfaction settled on Kaiden's face.
True, this voucher's area was only half that of the previous one he had obtained — but it was still a precious find. He still had many fruit tree saplings waiting to be planted, and now he no longer needed to worry about finding suitable land for them.
As for the two sacks of flour — they were a good gain as well.
Just that morning he had obtained a blueprint for an Apprentice Baker's Oven Bundle from one of the monsters, but he hadn't built it yet since the wheat harvest was still in its early stages, and he had yet to obtain a mill or any facility capable of grinding the grain.
True, eighty kilograms of flour wasn't a large amount — but it was an excellent start.
And now…
The real prizes remained.
Kaiden took out the Golden Treasure Chest and the War Spoils Chest and placed them together on the table.
---
— End of Chapter Fifty-Six —
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