Chapter 136: Future Plans
Raven took the pocket watch from his inventory, flipped open the outer case, and checked the time.
"It's already 5 P.M. Let's use these tents as our temporary shelters," He said as they reached the town square.
Then, he took the notebook from Marcellus's hand and gave it to Rebecca.
"There are 52 victims' names written in this notebook. Return to Giaris City tomorrow with Sir Marcellus and find information about the victims' families."
"It will take more than a few months to find all the victims' families, My Lord."
"No. Once we publish the news in our newspaper, people will voluntarily come searching for their missing family members. The best way is to publish the names," Florence interjected.
"That's a good idea." Raven nodded at her words, then turned his gaze toward Lucas Company.
"Can we have a small talk, Site Manager Luke?" Raven asked, looking at the middle-aged man with blond hair and blue eyes. He wore a bowler hat, a pince-nez, and had a cigar in his mouth.
"Yes, Mr. Holmes," Luke nodded and tossed the cigar away.
Raven nodded and looked at the other members of Lucas Company.
"Follow me. And bring your architect and two engineers to the mansion." Saying so, Raven started walking toward the mansion.
Soon, Raven, Luke, and the other three entered the mansion and followed him into the main hall.
But Raven didn't stop. He continued walking toward the staircase and moved upstairs.
"Where are we going, Mr. Holmes?" Luke asked as they followed him.
"Up," Raven said, pointing his finger upward and guiding them to the open terrace.
It was more like a flat roof with iron railings.
The whole ruined town came into view.
"Mr. Luke, what should I do in this situation? How much money do I need to spend to turn this ruined town into a normal one?" Raven asked while taking a few chairs and a large table from his spatial ring and arranging them on the terrace.
Luke stayed silent while observing the surrounding ruined houses and then spoke.
"It's not about money, Mr. Holmes. There are a few things you must do if you plan to make this town a safer zone. First, a stable route must be created. This town lacks a good road for transportation. Although Baron Gideon's Frostvale Town is closer, just 25 km away, it has no nearby train route. But if we choose Baroness Elara's Ythendale Town, a train route from Watchel passes through it to Margrave Blackwater's territory. We can easily transport goods from large cities that way."
"How far is Ythendale Town from here?" Raven asked.
"Around 30 to 32 km, Mr. Holmes," Luke answered.
In truth, Emanuel had also suggested something similar when Raven asked for his opinion.
"Can you estimate how much it would cost to make a road from here to Ythendale?"
"It depends on the type of road, Mr. Holmes. Also, you'll need approval from Baroness Elara to build on her land, and you might have to buy the land." Luke picked up a notebook from his Gladstone bag and began writing some calculations.
"If it's a simple gravel road, it will cost around 30,000 gold coins. But the price could double or even triple for a cobblestone road, depending on the terrain."
Raven pondered for a moment.
"Let's go with the cobblestone road. As for Baroness Elara's permission, I'll visit her territory within a week."
A surprised look appeared on Luke's face. He hesitated, then asked,
"How are you planning to pay for the road, Mr. Holmes? Gathering 60,000 to 90,000 gold coins isn't easy. If you have that much, I suggest investing it in your territory first."
A chuckle escaped Raven's lips. He touched his spatial ring and took out a long rifle, startling everyone.
"Don't panic. I brought out this weapon to show you its worth," he said, handing it to Luke.
Although Luke had never worked in the artifact-related business, he wasn't a clueless man.
He instantly recognized the Aether weapon's name and model, and his eyes widened.
"This is one of the artifacts I brought from the Mystic Cauldron shop. You know how much a Rare artifact costs, right?" Raven said, taking back the rifle and storing it again.
"I apologize for doubting your capabilities, Mr. Holmes," Luke said, removing his hat and bowing his head.
"No, your doubt is reasonable. Moreover, I won't mind if you ask more questions. After all, you're not a mere employee but the owner of Lucas Company," Raven replied, waving his hand.
"You knew?" Luke's gaze sharpened.
"Of course," Raven said with a chuckle, taking a map from his inventory and spreading it on the table.
It was the map of Azmar Territory.
"Let's get to real business. I want to make this territory safer. Any suggestions?"
Luke observed the map for a while, then said,
"First, we must clear out all the monsters, Mr. Holmes. Then, we need to strengthen the town walls. The current wall is only 3 meters tall and is nearly collapsing. Moreover, Azmar Town only holds around 300 to 400 houses. It's barely more than a village and lacks a proper layout."
Raven nodded and voiced his thoughts.
"True. This town only occupies around 25 hectares. This is considered a big achievement for a small Knight Household like Holmes House. But I want to transform this town into an industrial city like Giaris."
"Hmm, we should extend the town's area to 3 square kilometers first," Luke suggested.
"A town with 2 to 3 square kilometers will only hold around 5,000 to 8,000 houses if we include infrastructure like factories, public buildings, etc. But I want to create a city with hundreds of thousands of houses," Raven furrowed.
"To create such a grand city, we need tons of money, manpower, and land. Your entire territory isn't enough to make such a city, Mr. Holmes," a young man with brown hair remarked while observing the map.
At that moment, an absurd idea popped into Raven's mind.
"How much would building walls around my entire territory cost?"
"That would cost several million gold coins, Mr. Holmes. But it would be a waste of money. I suggest focusing on housing first."
Raven nodded, understanding. He knew building such a city would cost hundreds of millions and require time.
"Let's build a town wall covering 3 square kilometers. Make it 7 meters tall and 5 meters wide," he said after some thought.
Luke nodded, then asked another question.
"Do you have any specific plans, Mr. Holmes? You know this territory is at the eastern edge of the Empire. Most people prefer moving to Giaris instead of relocating to a rural area. Plus, the Azmar incident has scared everyone away."
Raven was well aware of the issue.
"This can't be solved overnight, but I have a few plans. First, I want to construct a Magic Tower at the town center."
"Magic Tower? What is that?" Luke asked in confusion.
"It's a place to study magic-related things," Raven answered briefly.
"You mean you want to build a Wizard Academy like Crow's Misery?" he asked in a hushed voice.
Raven nodded.
"Yes. But this Magic Tower will be open to all Walkers, not just Wizards."
"That's an interesting idea, Mr. Holmes." Although Luke wanted to ask where he got the confidence to open a Wizard Academy, he held back.
"Second, I plan to make this place the Health Capital of the Empire," Raven said with a smile.
"Health Capital? You want to build hospitals?" Luke asked, narrowing his eyes.
Most hospitals were charities funded by the Wizard Alliance or high-ranking nobles.
Due to poor sanitation, overcrowding, and undertrained staff, most had high death rates. That's why the wealthy preferred healing potions.
In the public's eyes, hospitals were only for the poor.
"Not everyone can afford alchemist potions. I'm planning to invest my money in the health sector," Raven said. Then he added, "Of course, I also plan to make business deals, but that will take time."
Luke nodded and looked at the two civil engineers.
"I want you to draft a blueprint for an industrial town with a Magic Tower at the center. Ask Mr. Holmes about its size and height."
"Yes, Sir." Both nodded and began noting things down.
"We need to lay out a drainage system, too," Raven added.
The architect then spoke.
"That will be part of the blueprint, Mr. Holmes. We'll make the manor and its surroundings the Main Street. Then we'll divide the town into three sections: Town Hall, Main Square, and Market Street.
In the Town Hall section, we'll include schools, government offices, hospitals, a police station, and residences. We'll place working-class homes, inns, and a public park in the Main Square. Finally, Market Street will house shops, mills, and factories."
"How long will it take to build the road from Baroness Elara's territory?"
"We have about 30 crew members for roadwork. With enough materials, it'll take around 3 to 4 months. As for the Town Wall, we can gather 300 skilled workers." The architect did a quick calculation.
"It will take about 1.5 years. Including all town constructions, it could take 2 to 3 years."
"2 to 3 years, huh?" Raven nodded and said,
"You can begin road construction from Ythendale in two weeks. During that time, we'll focus on clearing out monsters and wild animals."
"That eases my worry, Mr. Holmes," Luke nodded.
Raven also voiced his opinion on laying out the town with engineers for over an hour, and noticed the sky had darkened.
After that, he and the others went downstairs and moved to the first floor.
Unlike before, the whole mansion appeared dark and gloomy. If not for the Aether lamp in Raven's hand, others would've lost their way.
"You guys can go and rest in the tent. I'll explore the mansion and join you later," Raven said as he glanced around.
Meanwhile, Luke and the others nodded and walked out of the mansion, leaving Raven alone in the main hall.
Suddenly, the lamp in his hand dimmed, and the fire inside was extinguished.
Before Raven's eyes could adjust to the darkness, a whooshing noise came from his left side.
Raven instinctively stepped back to dodge the attack from the left.
At the same time, a whisper echoed in his mind.
"Come closer… *******" A sharp pain appeared in Raven's head as he tried to listen to the voice.
"Ugh!" He groaned in pain as he felt something was wrong and quickly took the spear from the inventory.
A sharp pain shot up from his foot as he prepared to face any unexpected attack.
It was a mouse!
He reflexively kicked his leg, sending the mouse flying through the air until it crashed into a nearby table.
"Squeak! Squeak!"
The mouse let out a sharp squeal and suddenly grew in size.
It started to shapeshift into a goblin-faced imp with a sharp tail.
But what startled Raven was that his vision began to blur.
[Oh? A curse-type spell, huh?] Zera spoke in his head.
'My head feels like it's splitting open.' Raven could feel a foreign power invading his mind, attempting to devour his memories.
It was more like this strange force was digging up his most precious ones.
Raven tried to stay focused, but couldn't. Useless thoughts and old memories kept distracting him.
[Snap out of it, kid.] Zera's voice jolted him awake.
At the same time, Raven noticed his eyes had adjusted to the darkness, allowing him to see the demonic imp.
'Thanks, Zera.' As he muttered, the edges of his spear began to radiate a sun-like glow, blazing like fire.
He then shot the demonic imp a sharp glare and spoke,
"It's rude to look into others' personal things, Nok'Varin. Didn't Trelkazar teach you that?"
His cold words made the imp freeze.
"H-How do you know my name?" Nok'Varin stammered.
But the imp's expression froze.
At that moment, Raven had already entered battle mode and launched his first attack.
With a sharp exhale, he pulled back and hurled his spear in a perfect javelin throw—its tip aimed dead center at the goblin's head.
Nok'Varin leapt to the left to avoid the strike.
But then he noticed his shadow twisting eerily in the moonlight, taking the shape of an unfamiliar young man.
What startled him wasn't the man's form, but the strange vertical eye on his forehead. It glowed with a reddish light, tiny electric arcs dancing around it.
Before Nok'Varin could react, a powerful lightning ray shot from the eye, struck Nok'Varin's forehead, and burst his head open like a watermelon.
As Raven's face twisted back to Thomas's appearance, the headless body of the demonic imp danced briefly in the air before collapsing pathetically.
"Thankfully, it didn't have any powerful spells other than mind manipulation," Raven muttered as he squatted beside the twitching corpse and placed a hand on it.
"Devour," he said.
…
[Bloodline Devourer System activated!]
[Rank-2 Dread Mimic's Bloodline has been found!]
[Analyzing the purity of the bloodline...]
[Calculating...]
[The corpse has 75% purity of Rank-2 Dread Mimic's Bloodline Essence!]
[It is possible to absorb some of the Dread Mimic's Bloodline Essence and its abilities.]
[Would you like to use 'Bloodline Devouring Ability'? Yes/No.]
"Yes!"
[Bloodline Devouring Ability is commencing!]
[Host already possesses Blood Demon's 'Mimic Morph' Bloodline Spell!]
[System has decided to extract the corresponding Bloodline Spell from the 'Dread Mimic.']
[Dread Mimic's 'Shapeshift' Bloodline Spell has been selected!]
...
[Host also absorbed part of the Dread Mimic's Bloodline Essence!]
[Host's vitality has increased by 4.0]
[Host's strength has increased by 5.0]
[Host's agility has increased by 6.0]
[Host's body is undergoing mutation!]
[16 hours and 4 minutes until mutation is complete!]
...
'Ha, not this again.' Raven quietly stored the Dread Mimic's corpse and moved toward the nearby sofa.
Then, he lay down and silently endured the painful process.
Unlike other spells, Raven felt like tiny worms were spreading throughout his body, trying to crawl out from every part.
It was both creepy and terrifying.
An hour after the mutation began, Jacob and Quincy arrived at the mansion to check on him.
After confirming he was only resting, they quietly left.
Meanwhile, Raven patiently waited.
Morning arrived.
Raven could sense Quincy and the young knights entering the main hall, cleaning the hall, kitchen, and other rooms.
But he still couldn't move a muscle.
Thankfully, everyone assumed he was just tired and left him alone.
Eventually, evening came.
At that moment, Raven felt the strange mutation had ended.
...
[Mutation Completed!]
[Host has obtained 'Shapeshift' Bloodline Spell!]
[Host's body status has been successfully updated!]
...