Next Step Plan

Chapter 50 Next Steps (Please add to your favorites, read on, and vote!)

Simon was stunned as he watched the wisps of dark air drift into Alphonse's palm.

He had no idea what this meant; Alphonse was becoming increasingly incomprehensible to him.

Having absorbed the necromantic energy, Alphonse raised a hand to the soldiers. "The traitors have all been executed. You only need to remember one thing: my orders must never be disobeyed! With a snap of my fingers, you will awaken!"

With a crisp "snap," all the soldiers regained their senses.

Alphonse then added, "Jeru will henceforth serve as the captain of the spearmen."

Standing at the front of the line, Jeru responded happily.

He was already the vice-captain of the Sword and Shield Guard, and now he's been promoted.

No one objected.

The spiritual suggestions left by the Soul-Capturing Technique have been engraved in their hearts.

The reason for choosing him was simply because Alphonse only had a strong impression of him, and he was also Simon's apprentice, possessing first-level battle qi.

"From this day forward, you are a knight of the Tartarus family."

Jeru quickly jumped onto the platform, knelt on one knee before Alphonse, clenched his right fist, and pounded it against his heart. "I, Jeru Ryder, hereby swear to be loyal to the Tartarus family. I will uphold the code of chivalry and fight for the honor of the Tartarus family, even at the cost of my life!"

This move actually caught Alphonse off guard.

Oaths are not to be taken seriously. Thompson was a knight of the Tartarus family, he must have sworn an oath before the old baron, but he still betrayed him for money.

But what should we do next?

Simon had retrieved his longsword, quietly wiped away the blood, and leaned forward to whisper, "My lord, you can just tap Jeru's right shoulder lightly with your sword."

After saying that, he shoved the sword hilt into Alphonse's hand.

Alphonse, as he had instructed, tapped Jeru’s shoulder with the spine of his sword.

It seems a bit informal, but as long as you admit it, it's fine; you've gone through the motions.

"Jeru, take some men and clean up the bodies of these traitors, then raid their homes, confiscate their property and bring it back. If they have families, drive them all out of Coldwind Territory."

Alphonse never intended to eliminate the entire family, nor did he want to harm women and children. Even in his previous life, he believed that matters of the martial world should be left to the martial world, and he rarely issued orders to exterminate entire families.

"Yes!" Jeru responded loudly and immediately ordered his men to carry out the order.

Alphonse turned to Simon and asked, "Captain Simon, are there any craftsmen in the territory who know how to build houses?"

"Yes," Simon nodded. "Plancy, who lives to the east, is a construction worker."

"Have someone ask him how much material is needed to build a brick kiln. Once you have the answer, see where to buy a batch of building materials."

Alphonse had considered the matter carefully; he wanted to build two large warehouses to store ore and gold-eating ant excrement. Buying all the building materials would not be cost-effective.

Why not build a brick kiln? There's plenty of clay on the mountain, and firing red bricks doesn't require much skill.

In this other world, red bricks already existed.

Moreover, we can try firing cement in a brick kiln; the only thing lacking is the temperature of the flame.

With red bricks, even if cement cannot be produced immediately, mortar can be used as a substitute to build warehouses.

Mortar is a building material made by mixing lime with sand and water. It can fill and bind the gaps between stones or bricks. The walls of Coldwind Territory are built in this way.

Its durability is definitely not as good as cement. Cement is more suitable for building structures that can withstand heavy pressure and harsh environments.

Furthermore, cement has a certain degree of fire resistance, which can withstand high-temperature fires, as well as the erosion and weathering of chemical substances.

"My lord, are you planning to burn bricks to sell for money?" Simon hesitated for a moment. "This is not a good option. The common people in the surrounding territories mostly live in wooden houses, so bricks are not easy to sell. The places where they are needed are mostly in the city, and there are quite a few brick merchants. Competing with them will be troublesome."

"We can use it ourselves; I'm going to build two large warehouses." Alphonse simply told him directly, "I've discovered iron ore veins in the mountains."

"There are iron ore veins in Coldwind Territory?" Simon was pleasantly surprised. "The old lord once hired experts from the Miners' Guild to explore the area, but they didn't find any veins."

"The iron ore is buried very deep."

"Wouldn't it be difficult to collect them?" Simon still had doubts.

"Don't worry about that. We don't need to gather people to mine. I can control the monsters that live there. They can help with the mining. We just need to find people to transport the ore down the mountain."

Gold-eating ants can mine minerals, but it would be too much of a burden for them to carry the ore to the foot of the mountain. Moreover, the movement of large numbers of monsters could easily cause panic among the people.

Simon had already witnessed Alphonse's extraordinary abilities, managing to control over a hundred soldiers with ease, so he figured that dealing with monsters shouldn't be a problem either.

This must be some kind of mental magic, right?

Simon was overjoyed that Hanfengling had finally ushered in a development opportunity.

"I'll take care of it right away!"

"Wait, there's one more thing. Go find a carpenter and make a full-body wooden sculpture of a human body. It doesn't need to be too detailed, just a general outline will do, but it should look more like a human body than the ones on this training ground. You should carve out the arms and legs." Alphonse pointed to the wooden dummy used for practice on the training ground.

The wooden dummy used for soldiers' attack practice was really crudely made; it only had a torso and a head, but no arms or legs.

"Okay!" Simon readily agreed.

Alphonse also has a great use for the wooden figures. It would be too time-consuming and laborious to teach the guards their skills and guide them one by one on the path of internal energy circulation.

By creating a wooden dummy, marking each meridian and acupoint on it, and having the soldiers memorize it, and then explaining the method of circulating true qi, a lot of trouble can be saved.

Night fell.

The moon hangs high in the sky, casting its cool light, while a gentle breeze rustles through the trees, outlining their swaying shadows.

On a late autumn night, Eagle's Head was also tinged with a sense of tranquility.

Most of the townspeople went to bed early to rest, with only the occasional barking of dogs heard from the corners of the streets and alleys.

Baron Bey's manor was still brightly lit.

Baron Baian was embracing two scantily clad girls and groping them, which made the two girls coquettishly complain.

Although the weather had turned cold, the roaring fireplace kept the room warm and cozy.

The life of the nobility was so simple.

Aside from women and fine wine, there really wasn't much other entertainment.

Suddenly, a strangely dressed man, whose entire body was shrouded in a black robe and whose head was completely covered by a hood, pushed open the door and walked in.

Baron Baian's expression turned serious, and he waved for the two girls to leave.

"How much longer do I have to wait before I can make my move?" the man in black robes asked.

The increase in favorites these past two days has been so low, I'm starting to wonder if I wasn't even featured. If you've read this far, please give me some support! If you have any votes, please cast them! Thank you so much!

(End of this chapter)