Chapter 78: Digesting the Great Gains of the Tide!
The darkness of night slowly faded, and the first threads of sunlight fell, announcing the arrival of a new day. But this time, without a protective dome surrounding the place, making the scene feel far more real. Kaiden looked out at the crowd gathered around him, then turned his head toward fifteen closed wooden coffins arranged with precision.
The dawn breeze caressed the red shrouds, the edges of the fabric stirring gently with the wind. Kaiden turned his gaze back to the crowd and began his address with a calm question:
"Do you know why the shrouds are closed this time?"
He didn't wait for an answer, answering himself instead:
"They're closed to preserve the dignity of these latest victims. Some of the bodies were burned so badly we couldn't identify who they were, and others were torn apart so completely we never found all the remains. Most likely, they ended up in the beasts' stomachs."
Muffled sobs rose from among the crowd. Some of the voices were women's. The bonds with the dead hadn't been limited to friendship alone — over the past days, things had developed between some of them. And though it hadn't gone beyond admiration and vague feelings yet, those connected to them couldn't hold themselves together upon hearing the Lord's blunt description.
Kaiden paid no mind to the scattered sobs and continued in the same calm tone:
"Yes, this is how their lives ended, tragically... They died with honor, carrying out their duty of defending the Territory. They died so that we could live to see another day in this chaotic world."
Kaiden took a deep breath, gathered his thoughts, then his voice grew firmer:
"So, I believe that as long as this Territory exists, and as long as those who knew them remain alive, their memory will stay alive in our hearts. That's why I've decided today, as Lord of the Fertile Lands Territory, to erect a memorial monument, engraved with the names of those who died for our future, the date of their deaths, and the battle in which they fell, to immortalize their memory."
Kaiden's purpose in saying this wasn't only to motivate the Territory's residents, but to deepen their bond with him. He wanted to plant in everyone's minds the idea that beyond the walls lay an extremely savage world, and that the price of their safety was being paid by the soldiers.
In truth, that wasn't all. Kaiden had a deeper plan for the near future. Not everyone would remain treated equally — he intended to establish a social system built on merit and the value each person contributed to the Territory, with clear class distinctions. At that point, fighters, each according to their rank, would sit at the top of the social hierarchy. So he wanted everyone to understand, from now on, the danger these fighters faced.
After the burial rites concluded and the memorial monument was raised, Asil took charge of engraving the names of the fallen soldiers, starting with the name of Gerald, the swordsman.
...
Once everything was finished, everyone dispersed and returned to their work. Kaiden had a lot on his plate. First, he had a post-battle meeting, but before that, he needed to inventory all the battle's spoils, especially the blueprints, which required construction to reveal their usefulness.
Kaiden began sorting the blueprints where he stood. The total count of Common-rank blueprints came to fifty-three, broken down as:
Twenty-eight wooden house blueprints.
Thirteen different workshop blueprints.
Eight archer tower blueprints.
Four warehouse blueprints.
It's worth noting here that, up until this point, Kaiden had never received a duplicate blueprint for any workshop before. It seemed that, unlike other blueprint types, workshop blueprints were only granted once. If he wanted more of the same type, he'd have to build it himself from scratch and hand it over to a professional. He wasn't short on professionals, but building a workshop with its equipment from the ground up still posed a challenge due to the limited available workers and weak technology.
Still, it was a problem he needed to find a solution for. Several workshops were approaching their maximum capacity limits, like the blacksmith's and the butcher's.
Kaiden scratched his chin, which had grown some stubble over the past days, deep in thought, and decided to hold another meeting today with the administrative officials. He had other matters to discuss with them anyway, so the meeting was necessary regardless.
Shaking off his thoughts, he felt a tingling in his limbs. He didn't mind — the mild ache would fade once he started walking. Kaiden began a construction wave for all the listed blueprints. By the way, one of the workshops turned out to be a barbershop. Kaiden decided he'd shave his hair and the beard that had started bothering him whenever he found free time today, if possible.
...
Kaiden let out a tired sigh. Building all the Common-rank blueprints took roughly an hour, but despite his exhaustion, he felt satisfied watching his land fill up with buildings. Later, after summoning new residents, things would be even more prosperous. It's also worth noting he distributed the archer towers across different points within the Territory. At the very least, common flying beasts no longer posed a threat by slipping past the wall defenses.
Once that was done, Kaiden turned his attention to the twelve blueprints he'd gained from killing the Rare-rank beasts. These blueprints were clearly a cut above.
First, there were four defensive blueprints. Two of them were giant ballistae, like the ones positioned beside the gates and atop the Lord's Hall. The other two were far rarer.
Fire Eye Tower: at the center of its peak sits an eye-shaped core that automatically charges itself with the Fire element. The tower has two operating modes: firing fireballs, or firing fire plasma. The latter option consumes a larger amount of energy, but deals higher damage.
Lightning Bow Tower: a tower topped with a long bow, with a core at its center that charges the Lightning element. It fires concentrated bolts of lightning. Like the Fire Eye Tower, the Lightning Bow Tower has two operating modes: single shot, and lightning rain.
"What incredible blueprints," Kaiden smiled lightly. With these blueprints, the Territory's safety would increase several times over.
Without much thought, Kaiden built them along the four sides of the walls. Each one was built in the wide space between one gate and the next.
As for the remaining blueprints, they were also solid:
Livestock Pen blueprint.
Cheesemaker blueprint.
Mountain Goat Stable blueprint.
Beehive blueprint.
In addition to four Soldier Barracks blueprints. Kaiden looked over this blueprint's details and found it was a large three-story dwelling dedicated to soldiers. A single barracks could house and care for twenty-five soldiers, and included its own dining hall on the ground floor, plus a courtyard equipped as a training ground.
It has to be said that despite losing fifteen of his forces, he'd gained an enormous surge of Origin Points and blueprints from this tide. Nearly nine thousand five hundred meat units now filled three warehouses. As for the Rare-rank beast corpses, they'd yield him a large quantity of mid-tier potions, sinews he could use to craft numerous bows suited for the Emerging Heroes, and other benefits besides.
...
After building all the blueprints mentioned, he still had the special building blueprint he'd gained from completing the quest, and the gold treasure chest. Kaiden looked at the blueprint first.
End of Chapter 78.