Chapter 45: New House
It took everyone another hour to collect the rest of the Nightmare Stones scattered around the Fortress.
Once everything was done, Edgar stood in front of the small mountain of stones.
’Hmm, how should I use them in a way that profits me the most?’
Edgar, for better or worse, needed more people in his Fortress. The lack of workers was really becoming detrimental.
’The first thing that I need is to make the Fortress the most secure place in the area.’
This was the only way to entice people to visit the Fortress and eventually live here.
Though bringing people might not be that easy, given his reputation and the secrets that he held.
’I wonder if the Yamhad Clan will help me with this...’
"What are you thinking, Young Master?" old man Oswald asked, walking beside him.
"What should I do next?" Edgar replied, rubbing his chin. "And I need some advice from you."
The old man bowed slightly. "I am at your service."
Edgar remained silent for a few moments before speaking.
"Uncle Oswald... what makes people leave one Fortress and move to another?"
The old man looked slightly surprised by the question.
"Hmm..."
He folded his arms as he thought about it.
"There are many reasons. Hunger, safety, debt, or simply because their lord treats them poorly."
Edgar gave a thoughtful nod. ’It’s just as I expected.’
However, the old man wasn’t done. After a few seconds, he added,
"But most importantly, people need ways to earn money."
’So, commerce...’ Edgar nodded inwardly. ’I also need to add taxes and bring in merchants.’
The old man didn’t say anything about reputation, fearing it would hurt his young master.
However, Edgar was already aware of it.
’The things we do for workers...’
The blonde boy walked toward the open stone slab and looked out at the pile of Nightmare corpses.
He also found Andrew roaming among the bodies.
"Andrew!" Edgar yelled. "How long do you think it will take to bring them all to the ⟨Tower of Souls⟩?"
Andrew stopped dragging a Fox Nightmare by its legs and wiped the sweat from his forehead.
"Hmm..."
He looked at the endless sea of corpses before scratching his head.
"If it’s just the four of us..."
He counted on his fingers for a moment.
"...About fifteen days."
Edgar frowned, even though he had expected such an answer.
’Most of the corpses will spoil before that.’
The smell of death was already too much. Edgar couldn’t imagine what it would smell like in a few days.
Sighing, he began to think of ways to speed up the process without additional workers.
’...Hm, what if I used the ⟨Wall Cage⟩?’
As the idea popped into his mind, Edgar quickly formed a plan.
Without wasting another second, he walked back onto the Fortress Wall and stood on the patrol path just above the stone slab.
Using twenty Nightmare Stones, he created a ⟨Wall Cage⟩ there.
Then Edgar walked inside the Fortress and toward the ⟨Tower of Souls⟩.
Aligning it with the ⟨Wall Cage⟩ above the stone slab, he created another one on the ground.
’Alright, time to test it.’ Edgar thought as he climbed back onto the patrol path.
Edgar pulled the main lever.
CLANK!
Six chains shot out from the hollow pillar and buried themselves deep into multiple Bull Nightmare corpses.
Taking a deep breath, Edgar pulled the lever back.
The massive Bull Nightmare corpses lurched violently before being dragged across the ground.
Their heavy bodies plowed through the dirt, leaving deep trenches behind them.
Andrew’s eyes widened.
"It... it’s moving!"
Within seconds, the corpses had crossed a long stretch of ground and stopped at the foot of the Fortress.
Edgar immediately activated the second ⟨Wall Cage⟩.
WHOOSH!
Its chains shot forward and embedded themselves into the Bull Nightmare corpses almost instantly.
The Bull Nightmare corpses were dragged across the Fortress courtyard until they stopped directly before the ⟨Tower of Souls⟩.
Black tentacles crept out of the darkness and dragged the Nightmares inside.
The whole process took only two minutes.
Edgar smiled and looked at the boy, who stood agape beside him.
Andrew turned his head and mumbled in disbelief, "You can do that..."
The blonde chuckled and ruffled Andrew’s hair. "Do what I did, and your work will be a lot easier."
Edgar then spent some time explaining the mechanism of the ⟨Wall Cage⟩ to Andrew before leaving him alone.
’Alright, time to build my new house now.’
Edgar thought as he walked toward his ruined house.
Without wasting any time, he willed the system to create his new house.
Sixty White Nightmare Stones flew into the air and shattered instantly.
Cracks spread across their surfaces as streams of milky-white liquid flowed toward the ruins of Edgar’s old house.
The broken timber slowly dissolved into the liquid.
Shattered stones crumbled into white particles before being absorbed into the flowing stream as well.
"..."
Edgar watched silently while holding his breath.
Unlike his previous constructions, this one required much more refined construction.
The milky-white liquid gathered together and slowly formed a thick stone foundation.
The foundation sank nearly two meters into the ground before solidifying.
’Even the foundation is being built...’
It seemed the system understood structural integrity better than he did.
Stone walls soon began rising from the foundation.
One by one, rectangular blocks arranged themselves perfectly.
The walls continued climbing until they reached nearly six meters in height.
While the house was being built, Edgar shifted his gaze toward Andrew.
The young boy was rather enjoying himself while operating the ⟨Wall Cage⟩.
Edgar, however, quickly noticed another problem.
’Even if we brought all of the corpses inside, the tower could only refine fifty in seven hours.’
If things kept going this way, nothing would change, and the corpses would rot away nonetheless.
’Hah, what a pain...’
Edgar drew in a deep breath and decided on his next course of action.
’I need to create another ⟨Tower of Souls⟩ and...’
He looked at the black tower that was already standing there.
A system prompt quickly appeared before his eyes.
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Upgrade Level 1 ⟨Tower of Souls⟩
Cost: 100 Nightmare Stones.
Choose the Upgrade Path: