City of Desire [Kingdom Building]

Click!

I walked out of the bedroom and saw Shaun waiting outside.

"Congratulation, Lord Silver," he congratulated.

"You too Shaun," I replied, and man the man smiled. I am not the only one who had leveled-up.

He too had leveled, and his smile proves I am right.

A moment later, my expression turned serious.

"Has he woken up?" I asked.

To which he shook his head and disappointment couldn't help but fill my heart.

Stone is important; the sooner, the woken up. The more relieved, I would feel. I hope the enemies didn't get to know about it, but I won't be able to hide it for long.

I will be able to hide it at most for today before the enemy gets a whiff.

"Any messages?" I asked, to which he smiled and handed me the stacks of it. I took the cards and began to read them one after another.

The skill makes reading really fast and with the level-up. I could now, read even faster.

Most of them are Greltheaven, but some are from the other cities. I read through them all and handed them back to Shaun, who burned them immediately and put the ashes in his bag.

Click!

With the messages read, I stepped out, but I didn't walk toward my office, but instead to the wing where the stone was.

The guards stopped as we reached the boundary, and only Shaun and I moved ahead.

Click!

A few seconds later, he opened the door and cast a spell that made everything visible.

Hun!

As I looked at Stone. I couldn't help, but become surprised.

The bronze energy is covering him far thickly than yesterday. So, much so that not a single part of his body could be seen, only the bronze energy.

I stayed there for a few seconds, before walking away with a sigh.

Soon, I stepped into my office; Ina was already there, working.

"Master Silver," she greeted.

I nodded before turning to my desk, where there were a lot of files waiting for me.

"We have gathered and compiled all the information on the state of the city and its people,"

"Two batches of goods have also arrived, and the third one will reach the city by the afternoon."

"There are also, Mr. Hendriks, Chief Hardt, and others who have come from Greltheaven. They all are seeking your time," she informed.

I am not surprised about them coming. I was informed of their intension by Carla and Robin, last night.

"I will meet them this evening, but won't give them more than ten minutes on each of them," I replied after a moment of thought.

I wanted to go out and check the things that had come personally, but I decided to look at the information first. It will give me a clear, idea of what I am dealing with.

So, I turned to files. There are a lot of them, but I know, I have to pick the yellow on the top.

She knew my priorities and laid out the files that way.

I picked up the yellow file and opened it. It had started with demographic details.

The population of the city is forty-eight thousand seven hundred and thirty-two.

Which is less of than half of its peak.

Among them, 34% are of the age one to five, 32% of them are of age six to twelve 18% of them are of age thirteen to eighteen and only 16% of them are at the age of eighteen and above.

They have killed and turned over 80% of adults.

It isn't surprising. They only turn people to good physical states into undead, which only adults have.

There are now forty thousand children in the city, with the majority of them in a terrible condition. Sick, starving, living in a terrible condition.

I shuddered, just reading the information. I can't imagine, how much those people had suffered.

"The conditions were terrible. Many starved to death, while some chose to eat poison with their familiar and even hanged themselves to escape the misery," informed Ina.

I could sense the rage in her voice that, she was barely controlling.

Even I am feeling the deep anger, that I had nearly torn the paper, I was reading.

I took a deep breath and controlled myself, before reading further.

The undead give them food, but only enough to survive, not enough to live. I can't imagine why there were so careless. They are not the island.

Keeping the population healthy and fit are on their first priorities, but here they did the opposite.

Many are suffering from the deceases. Especially children, most of them, are malnourished.

I read page after page, controlling my emotions, before coming to the section where there was information about people, professions, and classes.

Most of them have a Miner Class, with the second being a Serf or Citizen Class.

I have finished reading the whole file, before turning it to Ina.

"This is not a place for children," I said to Ina. "It's really not," she replied.

There are around forty thousand children in this city. With around thirty-two, thousands of them are of age one to twelve, need to be cared most.

I want to send them to Greltheaven, but it does not have enough capacity and resources.

They would need houses, carers, schools, and other things, which are not cheap and quick to establish.

Currently, we can only manage a few thousand of them. We do not have the capacity for the tens of thousands.

Taking them to Greltheaven isn't possible, but keeping them here is bad as well.

It's really a huge problem and I am not seeing any solution to the front of me.

"We do not need to do everything at once. We should do it step by step," advised Ina, understanding what is stressing me and, as always, right.

"Shaun, message Locke and tell him, that I want to talk to him in fifteen minutes," I said to him.

"Connect me to Carla," I added.

I stayed in my office for nearly two hours. Reading the files and talking to people.

Click!

"Let's go," I said, and walked out of the office with Ina. A minute later, we were in the carriage moving out city hall compound.

"This new skill of yours seemed quite powerful, Master Silver. What does it do, if you don't mind me asking?" she asked after a minute of silence.

I am not surprised that she could sense it. Anyone Lv. 30 could sense it and those who are working on public infrastructure, irrespective of their levels.

"Its name is Public Works," I replied, and a shock appeared in her eyes.

She understood immediately what the skill was and what could it do.

"Congratulations, Master Silver," she congratulated. I didn't say anything to that, other than smiling.

After a few minutes, the carriage stopped, and we came out and entered the warehouse building. There are tens of crates holding cannonballs and other ammunition.

We used quite a lot of cannonballs.

If the undead had attacked, we wouldn't have been able to attack them as we did when we attacked the city.

A few minutes later, I walked out of the warehouse and checked other places including the hospitals where more healers have appeared, along with resources that will help them heal better.

Soon, the carriage had reached the main square of the city, where there was a long line of people with soldiers handing them the food.

Most of them in the line are children.

We have set up camps in all areas of the city to provide food.

There is barely any food in the city.

A few months ago, things were a little better, before the undead cut the food nearly every week; in the past month, most people ate barely once a day.

"Lord Silver, Stone had woken up," informed Shaun suddenly cutting me from my thoughts.

The tension, I didn't think, I was holding disappeared from my body.

He is the strongest powerhouse, I have, and I need him.

Without him, it would be hard to hold back the undead.

Especially here in Panar, where there are no hidden preparations that could save the city against the powerful enemies.

I wanted the carriage to move faster, and it could, but I didn't.

The streets are bad, with holes and trash everywhere. In some places, sewage is leaking through the streets.

Amellus is coming tomorrow, and he isn't coming alone. He is bringing workers and stuff, that will be needed to fix the city and its infrastructure.

The first one will be the wall, obviously. I need it fixed as soon as possible.

I wish I would be able to see it happening. See how my skills work with my own eyes, but it won't happen.

My skills will remain here, but I will leave. I am here for two days, three at most.

I need to return to the Greltheaven. It is not wise to stay away from it for too long.

If everything goes smoothly, I am going to announce the name of the Governor tomorrow. They will be responsible for all work and well-being of the city and its citizens.

Finally, the carriage reached the city hall, and I got out.

"He is waiting for you, in your office," informed Shaun. I was surprised but didn't say anything and walked toward my office. 

Click!

"Lord Silver," Stone greeted me as I walked into my office.

I looked at the man and saw all the paleness had vanished. So is tiredness that was flowing out of eyes yesterday.

 I couldn't even see the slightest weakness from him. He is looking vibrant like a fountain of youth.

Even slightly younger, with a faint bronze sheen coming off his skin.

"Stone, how are you feeling?" I asked.

"Good, my lord. I have completely recovered," he replied, and making me feel even more relieved.

I had expected him to recover fully, but him saying, made it a truth.

"Good, with you by me. I am confident to face any enemy," I said, and the man smiled.

 

[Class Change: Elderblood Commander- Elderblood General]

Elderblood General Lv. 35

Elderblood General Lv. 36

[Skill Gained: Generals Command]

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