Chapter 25: Building Roads
Meanwhile, deep in the Bone Forest, at the Valley Base.
Sunlight crossed the edge of the valley, falling onto the newly reclaimed field ridges.
The old Chief of Bone Village supported his body with a wooden stick, gazing at the field not far away, and sighed.
A villager stood by a newly dug pit, his voice filled with helplessness.
"Mr. Skeleton, I beg you, please come out. The seed is this, the grain of wheat, not you yourself."
In the pit, a Skeleton Soldier lay flat, arms crossed over its chest in a standard posture.
It even adjusted the position of its pelvis, seemingly looking for an angle to better embrace the soil.
Beside the Chief, a young man named Buck nudged him with his elbow, keeping his voice to a minimum.
"Chief, it's been five days. They still can't learn it."
"Yesterday, another squad of skeletons planted a whole bag of hoes as seeds."
"They still go over to water them every day, as if waiting for little hoes to grow out of the ground."
"Be patient, Buck."
The old Chief patted the young man's shoulder.
"At least they are working, right? And we are living quite well now, at least there's no threat to our lives."
Buck didn't speak again.
Indeed, aside from occasionally planting themselves or their tools into the ground, these skeleton laborers were existences beyond the imagination of any farm owner.
In another area of the valley, the atmosphere was different from the fields.
Two former squires of Iron Fortress, Lloyd and Rosen, were staying in a wooden cabin.
They jokingly called this place the Evernight Territory Royal Academy.
On the wooden table in the middle of the room, a beast skin was spread out.
Rosen was holding a piece of charcoal, sketching the outline of the Vollachian Empire on the skin.
"If we run now, there should still be a chance, right?"
Lloyd was grinding charcoal powder on the side, not even lifting his head.
Rosen's hand paused, adding a black line on the map that shouldn't be there.
"Run? To where? Back to Iron Fortress? Viscount Andrew's bones are probably being used as firewood by the Lord Ruler by now."
"Then to the Imperial Capital?"
"Are you crazy?"
Rosen put down the charcoal and looked at him in shock.
"Haven't you seen the strength of those monsters? They cannot be killed."
"With that kind of power, even if we hid in the toilet of the Imperial Palace, we'd be dragged out."
"By then, we wouldn't be teachers; we'd be fertilizer directly."
Lloyd fell into silence.
The image of that white sea of bones surfaced in his mind, of those shattered skeletons reassembling themselves.
That feeling of invincibility still appeared in his dreams every night.
"True..."
Lloyd gave up struggling, leaning his body against the wooden wall.
"Besides, our current task is simple. Just teaching. Food and housing provided, and we don't have to go to the battlefield to die."
Rosen also exhaled, picking up the charcoal again, his tone carrying something else.
"Honestly, don't you think... these skeletons are actually kind of cute?"
Lloyd was stunned.
"Look at them. So simple."
Rosen pointed his chin out the window, where a few skeletons were studying a weed.
"No twisted thoughts in their heads. Yesterday, I taught a Skeleton Soldier how to write."
"I casually praised it, saying 'You are the Lord Ruler's most capable officer.' Guess what happened?"
"What happened?"
"It was so happy it walked with its chest puffed out straight all day."
"When walking, every bone in its body was clicking and clacking, as if afraid other skeletons wouldn't know its pride."
Lloyd imagined the scene and couldn't help but let out a laugh.
"Yeah, much easier than serving those noble lords."
"Alright, stop complaining. Hurry up and finish the lesson plan."
"Who knows when that Lord Ruler will return. If he finds out we're slacking off..."
"We'll both have to go be neighbors with those Radish Skeletons."
"Exactly! Hahahaha!"
The laughter of the two men echoed in the small cabin.
There was bitterness in this laughter, but also a kind of peace they hadn't even noticed themselves.
They seemed to have started accepting this absurd yet tranquil life.
Meanwhile, Iron Fortress Territory.
Kaito stood on the highest tower of the Lord's Castle, his vision covering the entire conquered city.
Inside the city, no one remained.
Silence ruled everything.
The wind passed through the streets, rolling up a few discarded notices, making a whistling sound.
"Secretary of State."
Kaito's Soul Fire fluctuated, his voice spreading inside the tower.
Greed's figure appeared behind Kaito without making a sound.
He handed over a scroll of parchment used for records.
"My Lord, all supplies in the city have been inventoried."
"We did not find reserves of grain, cloth, weapons, etc., but we discovered large-scale strategic resources."
"However, the source of the greatest harvest this time is not the warehouses."
Greed's hand pointed to the mountain outside the city. The mountain was covered with traces left by mining.
"This fortress is named Iron Fortress because it sits upon an entire vein of iron ore."
"According to my preliminary survey, that mountain... its composition is almost entirely high-quality iron ore."
"The part mined by the previous Lord was merely the surface layer of the vein."
Kaito's soul core contracted once.
An entire mountain of iron ore.
Weapons, armor, tools, building materials... the cornerstone of an industrial empire was presented directly before him.
Kaito possessed tireless, imperishable laborers.
Now, he also possessed a near-infinite material foundation.
A realistic problem quickly surfaced in Kaito's consciousness.
Transportation.
The Valley Base in the Bone Forest was hundreds of miles away from Iron Fortress. Between them lay a primitive forest.
Whether transporting ore or finished products, it would be a massive project.
"To get rich, build roads first."
A simple logic from Kaito's previous life became the only answer at this moment.
Kaito's will flowed through the soul network.
"Except for the Arcane Legion, all troops will remain in Iron Fortress to assist the Secretary of State in cleaning and renovating the entire city."
"Arcane Legion, move out with me."
The order was given, without question.
The skeleton legions distributed throughout the city for cleaning work immediately began to reassemble.
Except for the four hundred Skeleton Mages, the other three thousand-plus skeletons, led by their respective Generals...
Quickly took over the defense and reconstruction work of Iron Fortress.
Kaito, bringing Skele-Lust and the four hundred Tier 3 Skeleton Mages under his command, walked out of the city gate of Iron Fortress.
Their goal was clear: to open up a road wide enough for heavy carriages from Iron Fortress to the Valley Base in the Bone Forest.
Lust, the Tier 4 Skeleton Archmage, followed respectfully behind Kaito.
Her adjutant led the entire Arcane Legion, following in strict formation.
~~~
Note: yo guys i just want to let you know that this is not a re:zero fanfiction and i am really sorry i just finish reading the 100th chapter from raw and i think it's not a re: zero fanfiction it's just want to be like re:zero well in my defence the title is misleading and nobody in comment saying that it's not the re:zero fanfiction everybody just praising how good the story is sooo i'm really, really, really so much sorry about wasting some of you're time i just see if any of you continue reading even after that if not i will just delete the book thank you for listening to this rant.