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The development of the territory was progressing smoothly. With Otto’s help, those who opposed me were whipped into shape. The remaining nobles were too busy cowering in a corner to mount any meaningful resistance… Those that actually wanted to, anyway.

Naturally, those who showed their support for me, and were basically clean, were all treated well.

Six months had passed since I came to Kesek. The defeated soldiers had mostly been sent back to Ertalon, meaning the human plague on the north was about to be over as well.

Correspondingly, there were now stirrings amongst some of the refugees; several groups of them were starting to long for their hometowns.

At the end of the day, it was impossible for Kesek to simply resettle a million refugees in such a short period of time. Even if we phrased this as an opportunity to break new grounds for them, it was inevitable that some would still long for their old homes.

Soon, the flow of refugees turned. Those who couldn’t settle into Kesek left the province, numbering roughly 300,000 by my estimates.

The production facilities for the second generation magitek knights were completed two months prior. The requisite psychic engravings were also fully developed not long after. Tests were completed just a week ago.

The results were quite impressive, even if the five-star mesmer we hired to conduct the tests were nowhere near that overlord mesmer. Mesmers were a rare bunch to begin with, so finding a more powerful mesmer wasn’t likely. With how hard it was to survive as a mesmer, I wouldn’t be surprised if the entire kingdom did not possess a single mesmer above seven-stars.

Throughout this entire period, Meister Amori labored tirelessly, toiling away like a mechanical golem. In fact, the only reason he hadn’t stayed in his workplace was because the production facilities just weren’t ready. When the lab and the factory were finished, he promptly moved in.

As the meister’s good friend, Meister Belud had to give it his all as well.

It was only through the dogged efforts of these two that the new generation was born a mere month after the facilities were complete.

Other than completing the psychic defense engravings, they also added in the floating bits. On top of that, there were talks of how to reduce the weight of the magitek knights, so as to boost its speed further.
Because of the holistic nature of this upgrade, we ended up spending a lot more effort than initially intended. So hard was the question of “how do we lighten the outer frame without impacting its durability?” that even beer became tasteless for the old dwarven meister.

I was dragged to many a conference on how to engrave those psychic defenses as well… within the same day.

I had to delegate most of my management duties to Otto. Since two months ago, he had managed to rake in a tidy profit for me. Thanks to that, I now had the confidence to start hiring troops, of which the refugees would form a significant part.

Because of my righteous image amongst the populace, there were more than enough volunteers to fight for my cause.

On the first day of recruitment, the stage nearly collapsed from the sheer weight of the applicants.

In total, I recruited 20,000 soldiers, whom I planned to spread at least half of them throughout the province after a quick training.

Those who were recruited were at least one-star, with the highest amongst them being a seven-star. Doubtless, they would be a great help in protecting the masses of Kesek.

However, it wasn’t all smooth-sailing for Kesek. Two days ago, I received news that did not bode well as a whole. On the border between the neighboring province of Canadoro and Ertalon, there were reports of troops being massed on the Ertalonese side.

In other words, the already impressive amount of soldiers being stationed there was further reinforced.

Half a month ago, the daily supply convoy from the capital abruptly halted. The reason given wasn’t all that special, something along the lines of there being enough supplies to feed a 200,000 strong army for two years.

In order to store these supplies, Meister Amori had to devote a great deal of his already-busy schedule to oversee the construction of a giant warehouse.

It almost sounds like we are stocking food for the winter… Speaking of winter, it’s already winter, huh… It has nearly been a year since I’ve arrived in the Western Human Realms…

As I sat in my warmed carriage, Ansom asked me, slightly perplexed, “Commander, where are we heading off to now?”

“Outside the city for a stroll.”

I lifted the window blinds and peered outside. Snowflakes drifted gently through the air, their arrival a herald for the coming winter. Beautiful, and yet lethal at the same time.

The city was dyed white from the snow. The streets were sparsely populated, and those who were outside were all decked out in the thickest winter clothes they could muster.

Our carriage was headed for the outskirts of the city. Simply put, I wished to see how they were faring.

Half a year ago, the flood of refugees into Kesek increased our population by at least 300,000.

The conditions were dire then, and had it not been for His Majesty’s aid, over half of them would have died of starvation.

As a countermeasure, I provided them with as much work as I could, encouraging them to seek new frontiers outside the city at the same time.

Now that six months had passed, the outskirts of the city was dotted with countless new villages.

My trip today was to see for myself how these new villages were faring.

“You mean to hunt?”

“Hunt? Have you ever seen me go out hunting?” Ever since I arrived in Kesek, my time had been devoted to these few activities: paperwork, magitek knights, and paperwork. Even on the off-chance that I was able to leave the estate, I would immediately be swarmed by the loving masses.

“I merely wish to check on how the rest of my subjects are living outside of the city. Food, crime, etc.”

“Commander… is there a need to go this far for the commoners? I do not understand…”