Chapter 81: One Problem After Another!
"Not easy, that's true. But not impossible either." Kaiden spoke up, and he already had a general idea he shared right away.
"If the enemy is genuinely fast, we need to think about disrupting its rhythm. Unfortunately, we don't have any suitable defensive weapon capable of that job yet." He figured the Lightning Bow Tower could pull off something similar, but he only had one of them built. What about the other directions? He organized his thoughts and continued.
"So relying on defensive weapons right now is still off the table. But we still have another approach. Josh mentioned that even one archer couldn't hit it... what about two? And if two isn't enough, what about three?"
The moment they heard the Lord's suggestion, everyone's eyes lit up. They found the idea made a lot of sense. At that point, Laura spoke up again, her voice carrying a touch of excitement.
"What the Lord is saying is exactly right. How did we not think of this?" She shook her head, surprised at herself, then continued eagerly: "With a bit of focused training on teamwork for a small squad of three archers... I can't guarantee we'd kill a beast with high defense, but we could definitely stop a fast beast that doesn't have other advantages!"
Everyone present nodded. They pictured a fast beast charging in arrogantly, met by three archers with strong mutual coordination. A chill ran across their scalps. If that beast didn't have unbreakable defense or some kind of instant teleportation ability, it would be dead for certain.
"I think this'll work. And bowstrings aren't a problem anymore either — we now have a large supply of beast sinews at the right tier." Kaiden turned to Laura and gave his order in a firm tone: "Laura, once the bows are ready, I'll assign you three Emerging Hero-rank archers for focused training specifically on handling fast enemies!"
Upon hearing the Lord's words, Laura immediately stood and gave a military salute, fist against her chest.
"I guarantee the task will be completed, my lord!"
"I trust you." Kaiden nodded with satisfaction before moving on to the next point in a more serious tone. "Alright, next up: regarding beasts with deceptive appearances and powerful abilities... we need to find a way to identify them so we don't get caught off guard by their looks before they ambush us!"
The meeting continued for a long stretch. Kaiden wasn't just listening to everyone's suggestions — he was actively steering the discussion to make sure it stayed on track. He shared his own perspective as someone from the modern world to help find logical solutions to many of the problems raised.
Around this time, a lavish breakfast was brought in, filling the table with an assortment of dishes. But that didn't pause the meeting — the heated discussion continued right alongside the clink of spoons and the quiet sounds of eating in the background.
Roughly an hour after the meeting began.
"Alright, that's everything for now. Everyone back to your duties." It has to be said that despite his mental exhaustion, Kaiden was thoroughly satisfied. Holding this meeting had been the right call. Even without being a military expert himself, he understood that once the outcomes of this meeting were put into practice, their combat strategy would improve by more than double.
Once everyone left to attend to their duties, Kaiden asked Casper to bring in the administrative officials. As for himself, he leaned back in his lavish chair and rubbed his temples wearily. One meeting had just ended, and now another was about to begin. Managing a thriving Territory was anything but easy.
Still, he knew the meeting with the officials was absolutely necessary. Not just because of the quest requiring a planning strategy, but because the matter had become urgent. Especially after building all the blueprints he'd gained from the tide, the disorganization across the Territory had become unbearable and was affecting the flow of work.
Kaiden didn't wait for the officials to arrive. He still had some work left. The moment he stepped out, he summoned today's batch of residents.
[System Alert: Congratulations! You obtained a Special Unit during the Summon: an Emerging Mage with Plant element affinity.]
Kaiden didn't notice the notification at first. He was completely stunned looking at today's batch.
"What in the hell is going on?! Where are my soldiers' weapons?!" He was utterly shocked. Fifty people stood before him, none of them carrying weapons or wearing armor. If it weren't for the difference in muscle build between Elite Soldiers, Emerging Heroes, and villagers, Kaiden would have assumed today's entire batch was made up of ordinary farmers.
"Did something go wrong with the summon, or what?" He forced himself to stay calm and think through the cause. Soon enough, he arrived at a possibility he didn't want to consider.
"I hope I'm wrong..." The conclusion he'd reached would change everything if it turned out to be true. It seemed the support period had genuinely ended, and lords would be left to fend for themselves from scratch, with nothing handed to them.
"...Things are about to get a lot harder for lords from here on out." Kaiden sighed wearily. There was nothing he could do to change the outcome, so all that was left was to accept reality and adapt to it.
Casper wasn't here yet, so Kaiden had to sort this batch himself.
"Villagers, line up over here..."
"Militia soldiers, over this side..."
It didn't take long for Kaiden to finish sorting today's batch. The result was:
30 Villagers.
9 Militia soldiers.
8 Elite Soldiers.
2 Emerging Heroes.
1 Emerging Mage.
The villagers weren't affected by any of this, since they'd always shown up in worn-out clothes with nothing else to begin with. But the combat units were genuinely pitiful to look at, especially the Emerging Heroes. Kaiden was used to seeing them arrive in gleaming full-body armor, carrying themselves with pride and dignity. This was the first time he'd ever seen them show up in tattered rags, looking like fleeing refugees.
While he was reading the new mage's information panel with a mix of shock and admiration at his rare affinity, one of the farmers came running toward them, panic clear on his face. He stopped in front of Kaiden, gasping furiously for breath.
"Pant! My lord... huff... my lord! The crops... there's a problem with the tree saplings and the crops!"
"Huh? A problem with the farming? When did this happen?" Kaiden was stunned. And how could he not be? Barely two hours ago, while building the blueprints, he'd walked past the farmland and given it a thorough look. The planted crops had been close to harvest, only a few hours left. And the tree saplings had been lush and full of life — he'd even greeted the farmers. There hadn't been a single problem! What could have happened in just two hours?
"Damn it! This day refuses to pass without more problems." Kaiden gritted his teeth in fury. First the soldiers, and now the farming sector — not to mention the blueprint shortage from yesterday added to the list too.
He turned quickly to the newly summoned batch and told them to find Casper to get themselves sorted out.
"Zeidan, you're coming with me." He gestured toward the mage with the plant affinity.
"As you command, sir!" Zeidan was a slender young man with bright green eyes, feeling a mix of nervousness and excitement at being summoned by the Lord so quickly. Kaiden had glanced at his information panel for a moment and sensed he'd be useful for this situation. He called him over, and they set off without delay toward the farmland to see the problem for themselves.
End of Chapter 81.
Hello everyone, I’d like to let you know that the posting schedule has changed from 5 chapters a week to 4 chapters. I apologise to everyone – as you can see, I’m under a lot of pressure. Other authors have already set up several tiers on Patreon, and I still only have 14 chapters in the pipeline; I’m barely managing to keep up… I’m really struggling at the moment, guys. Once things improve, I’ll go back to uploading more chapters and reintroduce the system where each subscription gets an extra chapter. See you on Saturday.