The old gardener-turned-farmer straightened, wiping his palms on his trousers. "Good morning, Lord Lucan."
Lucan stepped closer, glancing over the fields. Some of the crops had already been harvested, while others still stood green and full. "They're growing well, aren't they, Cedric?"
Cedric smiled. "Very well, my lord. I planted them with the children only a few days ago, and they were already grown to harvest. Remarkable."
He hesitated, then added, "You've helped again, haven't you, lord? I still remember when you made a seed sprout in a second."
Lucan nodded, unbothered. "I did. But I left the care to you. If I forced their growth too much, they'd come out… not good for eating or any use. They need time and tending, even when if they are grown fast."
Cedric inclined his head. "As you say, my lord. I don't mind your help. As long as I still have a part in the work."
Lucan's lips curved faintly. "You always will, Cedric."
Lucan looked over and said, "Cedric, you need to tend the crops. Soon we'll need more land for farming."
"Yes, lord. I agree. We'll need more farmland and workers too," Cedric replied.
The afternoon settled into quiet. A low breeze rolled through the shelters. Lucan sat at the long table near the central fire—the first thing he built when he came here.
He was watching the flames when a familiar system chime echoed.
[Blueprint Unlocked: Medium Shelter]
A shimmering panel appeared before him, showing a wooden frame, thatched roof, and stone foundation. Beneath it scrolled the requirements: Lumber ×200, Rope ×20, Nails ×100, Stone ×80.
Lucan studied the rotating 3D model. It was twice the size of their small shelters—big enough for families.
"So, the system upgrades when something becomes inefficient," Lucan muttered. "Time to build these."
He dismissed the screen and glanced over the camp, already thinking about where to construct them. Standing, he walked toward the others gathered by one of the shelters.
There sat Nors, Evan, Kenny, and the children—Alian, Lyra, Johney, Jack, and Alicia. Lucan's gaze passed over them all.
Seeing him approach, Nors stood. "Lord, sit with us. We were just discussing what to do next."
Lucan gestured to the children. "Alian, take your friends and play elsewhere for a while."
"Yes, Lucan sir." Alian took Lyra's hand, and the rest followed.
Once they were gone, Lucan faced the men. "Nors, these small shelters won't do anymore. We need to build an upgraded version."
Nors nodded. "Yes, lord. These are too cramped. But we've no idea how a larger one should look or be built."
Kenny added, "We'll need a proper plan or sketch before we start."
"Lord, if you're talking about upgrading the shelter, it means you must already have a plan to build it," Evan said, his voice flat with realization.
Kenny and Nors looked toward Evan. Hearing him speak the thought aloud made it surprisingly believable—if Lucan suggested construction, he always had the specifics ready. Lucan offered a small, knowing smile. "Yes, I have the blueprints for them. They're actually for medium shelters."
"Medium shelters?" Kenny questioned.
"We will need significantly more wood for medium shelters then," Nors noted, shifting his weight. "The small shelters are fine, but if we were to try and build the bigger ones today, we simply wouldn't have enough lumber."
Lucan nodded once. "If we don't have enough wood, we'll hold off for now. We can start building them tomorrow, along with my own cabin. I need a proper office where I can talk to people."
"A cabin, Lord, that will serve you well," Nors agreed immediately. "It will make for an excellent place to meet with others and conduct your work."
After the brief discussion, Nors, Lucan, and the others got back to checking the existing materials. They inventoried the wood, counted the nails, and assessed the condition of the ropes that could be reused.
As they worked, the steady, rhythmic clang of hammering could be heard echoing faintly from the direction of the smithy.
As the sun began its final drop toward the horizon, a familiar sound drifted in from the fence line: the rumble of a heavy vehicle. Footsteps—the steady, powerful rhythm of a horse—followed.
In a few seconds, a carriage came into view. Marcus, Elias, and Leo were riding on top, surrounded by materials visible only as dark shadows in the fading light.
Lucan, who had been walking the perimeter, checking on his men, saw the carriage approach. He walked directly toward the fence area.
After a short walk, he could clearly make out his horse, Chetack, along with the Hunter brothers and Leo, and the goods they had been sent to purchase.
Lucan watched them begin to climb down. He went to tend to Chetack first. Marcus was the first to speak after hopping to the ground. "Sir Lucan, we were able to secure this amount of material. Because we didn't have any more space on the carriage, we couldn't purchase everything."
Lucan listened and waved a hand dismissively. "It's not a problem. Your job now is mostly to run to Vaishali, so you can go any time you need. But good job today."
Elias and Leo then climbed down. Leo spoke first, sounding amazed. "Lord, I had no idea Vaishali was such a huge market."
"Yes, Lord, he was too excited seeing all the fancy things," Elias added with a small grin. "He had the look of wanting to purchase them, but he didn't say a single thing about it."
"Hey, you can't just tell the Lord that," Leo protested, stopping Elias from speaking further.
Lucan stepped closer to examine the material, recognizing the bundles of nails, the thick ropes, and other quality goods that would be essential for construction.
Lucan turned to Leo. "Leo, you were in Vaishali before, weren't you? Didn't you know Vaishali was so large before?"
Marcus and Elias looked confused by Lucan's question; hadn't Lucan retrieved Kaela with Leo from Vaishali? How could Leo not know the scale of the city?
Leo considered the question for a moment, then replied. "Sir, it was because I didn't get the chance to look around and see Vaishali properly."
His meaning suddenly clicked for the others. They all nodded in unison, finally understanding. Lucan then addressed the three of them. "Will you unload this, or shall I help, like before?"
At the question, the three men looked at one another. A flash of memory crossed their faces—Lucan making the carriage's contents disappear instantly last time.
He could undoubtedly do it again, but if he did, what value did their effort truly hold? They all spoke at the same time: "No, Lord, we can do it."
After breakfast, Lucan helped the others mark the construction area. The new medium shelter and the cabin had already been planned. Now they only needed to start the work.
As time passed, the hunter duo and Leo unloaded materials from the carriage. By the time everything was sorted, Lucan and the others returned to the campfire to rest.
Nors looked at Lucan and asked, "Lord, we start building the medium shelter tomorrow, right?"
Lucan nodded. He took the bowl served to him and ate quietly. After finishing, he gave a short greeting to everyone present and went back inside his shelter.
He sat on the leaf bed, waiting for the system to appear.
It appeared the next second.
[Daily Report – Day 14]
[Population – 17]
[LP – 152]
[CP – 995]
[Threat Level – Low]
[Morale Level – Medium]
Lucan read it carefully. Threat hadn't changed at all, that was for the better. He kept the report in mind and made a plan for tomorrow.
Then he lay down, closed his eyes, and fell asleep.
***
The morning came. Lucan woke up and stepped outside. Fog covered the area where the medium shelter would be built, and smoke rose from the campfire where Dalia cooked breakfast. People moved around the camp, busy with their work.
Lucan and the others sat in a circle around the fire. Dalia handed Lucan a bowl of simple porridge first, then served her family. Kaela helped by passing bowls to everyone.
Elara and Ronan finished early, followed by the children. Afterward, the old men, Nors and Cedric, walked toward the farm. Kenny and Evan finished too, but stayed back, waiting for Lucan. Kaela then went to practice mana control.
After breakfast, Lucan, Kenny, and Evan returned to the building area and found two people already waiting near the marked ground where the first medium shelters would rise. Marcus stood with his arms folded, calm and watchful, while Elias paced with restless energy, as if his body wanted to start working before his mind even decided.
Lucan's attention moved past them and settled on the empty space that would soon become a shelter.
'Status screen', he commanded silently.
The familiar panel appeared, and his eyes went straight to a feature he hadn't used yet.
[ Project Queue: Inactive ]
Description: Add building tasks that need to be completed. The system will allocate Community Points (CP) to accelerate construction, crafting, and cultivation. Efficiency boost is optimized and non-fatiguing, improving worker output and coordination.
Lucan didn't waste time reading it twice. He understood enough.
He opened the queue and added three tasks:
[Project Queue: Active]
[Medium Shelter ×2]
[Cabin ×1]
The moment the tasks locked into the queue, a subtle shift passed through the group—like a silent wave settling into their muscles. It wasn't pain, and it wasn't magic glitter. It was a clean, unnatural readiness. As if their bodies want to do something as fast they can.
Elias's eyes widened slightly.
"Sir… I don't know what this is, but I feel like I can work without stopping."
Kenny nodded quickly, almost too eager.
"Lord, let's start. My body feels lighter"
Marcus didn't speak, but his grip tightened around the wood he was holding. Evan said nothing either, though his gaze flicked once toward Lucan, sharp enough to suggest he understood exactly where that sensation came from.
Lucan checked the numbers at the edge of the screen.
[ CP Allocation: 40 ]
[ 10 CP per worker ]
Estimated boost duration: 5 hours
After-effect: accelerated fatigue for 2 hours once the boost ends
So the system wasn't creating energy out of nothing. It was simply pushing their output higher and delaying the cost until later.
Lucan accepted the trade instantly. The benefit outweighed the penalty, and the penalty was manageable.
"Start," he said, simple and final.
They moved toward the marked ground and gathered the first pieces of wood. The rhythm of work began immediately—faster than it should've. More coordinated than it had any right to be.
Lucan stepped forward to join them—
He bent down to pick up the wood—then a shadow slid over him.
Lucan paused.
He lifted his head.
A figure was walking straight toward the site, a heavy log resting across one shoulder. The sunlight behind the man turned him into a dark outline, hiding his face.
Lucan narrowed his eyes and raised a hand to block the glare, trying to see who it was.
Before he could make out a single clear feature, the man was already in front of him.