Chương 15: Tom

Tom had been gathering his men these past few days. The new Lord of Blackstone Town was a problem, a problem he would have to take care of soon. His orders were specific. This was not a place nobles should rule. His superiors lay claim to these lands, and Tom would be damned if he didn't follow their orders. I will be able to rise in rank soon, he thought. Maybe they will make me the de facto leader of this town. The door to his office suddenly swung wide open. A thin and lengthy man stepped inside.

His head was bald, and his clothes were ragged. It was his right-hand man.

"What is it?" Tom said, in a low, rumbling voice.

"The butler left a moment ago. He went out to hunt. Considering the time it took Gerald to bring anything back, he will likely be gone for at least a week or two," his right-hand man informed him. Tom grinned. This was his chance.

"How many of our men remain?"

"More than a dozen. I know they are loyal. A few others are still wavering."

"Kill those wavering," Tom said after a moment of thought.

"We can't have anything leak. We will move in a few days. In case the young noble has a talisman to send out a distress signal, it would still take the butler a few days to come back." The man across from him seemed to hesitate for a moment.

"Speak," Tom said.

"What if the butler is too strong?" His right-hand man asked. It was a valid concern.

"I did my research after hearing who the new Lord is. He is the expelled son of Leonard Harvings. A drunkard and a wastrel. I doubt his butler will be much stronger than me," Tom said proudly.

"The butler is probably just here to wipe the man's ass." The man across from him nodded, and Tom continued to relay his orders.

"You will take care of Gerald. He might be peak Stone Rank like me, but with his injuries and the bad matchup, you will have no problem in killing him. I will send a few guys to capture his wife just in case."

"Roger that, boss," the right-hand man said.

"Anything else?"

"No, you can leave," Tom said, and once the man left, he leaned back in his leather chair and sighed.

"This was going to get bloody," he muttered. Then he went over the plan inside his mind multiple times. Killing a noble was a great offense. But the Lord was just an expelled heir. They could make it look like an accident. The same way they did with the previous town's Lord. Then they would have to discreetly take out the opposition. As Tom continued to think about his plan, he grew more and more confident. It was then that a loud, booming voice pulled him out of his thoughts.

"Blackstone Town!" It was Ivor Harvings's voice.

"Listen to me! For the past week, we have been feeding you two times a day. I thank all of you for your trust. You have been eating poisonous weed just because of our word. Now that you have regained your strength, it's time to move on to the next step. We will be sharing the method of creating this kind of food. Everyone who receives food will also receive the instructions. Make sure to spread them. There is enough for everyone. I thank you for listening." Tom sneered.

It was one of the worst speeches he had heard. The man was an amateur. His worry ceased. The plan would work.

-Ivor- I sprang down the wall with my cheeks burning. I should have written down a speech, or at least prepared mentally. Of course, I didn't. Why? Because I was a dumbass. Anyway, I went back to my mansion. Fast. I entered, and there sat Magret, Emily, and Jen. They played what looked like this world's version of chess. Right now it was Emily against Jen, while Magret watched intensely. A notebook in her hands.

"Who is winning?" I asked.

"Draw," Magret said.

"I am winning," Emily corrected, and Jen nodded. I left them alone and went towards the office with the safe. Julie was still there. By now it was her room. After healing her husband, she just stayed here. Julie sat in the leather chair and scribbled down notes after notes while mumbling to herself. The office was filled with other kinds of herbs I knew nothing about. I was glad she was feeling at home. Stolen story; please report. Although this was my office. Well, I would allow it for now.

"Found anything interesting?" I asked, resulting in a surprised yelp.

"Ahh, yes," Julie rummaged through her notes before pulling out a ledger.

"Here, my Lord. I have written down everything I have learned in the last two decades. It's not much, but it should be a good amount. All the pastes, and potions. The herbs used in them and their ratios. All of it. I even wrote down the properties of the herbs and how they interact with one another. With Herb Knowledge, this was much easier. I have also already formed a few new creations. All in there." Another person calling me Lord. I could get used to this.

"Wow," I said, impressed.

"Good work, Julie. How is the aphrodisiac for the Locusts going? How is your progress there?"

"I need about a week before we can start testing," she said after a moment of thought.

"Afterwards, my progress might either reset to zero, or all I will need will be a few days before we can truly kill them." I nodded and took the ledger she pressed into my hands. I scanned through it. It was a lot.

"How many people inside this village know how to read?" I asked.

"Not too many," Julie said.

"Most people in higher positions know how to do so, but it was something you learn on the job rather than knowing beforehand."

"I see," I said. My concern wasn't the Townspeople stealing this knowledge, but rather if I could share it. But I guess this wasn't a possibility for now.

"Can you give me a list of all of the herbs you need for healing pastes and potions? Anything that can help you during and after battle?" I asked.

"I need their descriptions. Sketches would be good too. Only those herbs that could be found around the Town and at the edges of the Verdant Expanse." Julie nodded. The list arrived at my room a few hours later. I found Samuel inside the courtyard overseeing the cooking. We still had a few rounds of weed left over and were distributing them to those who were still too weak. The line of people was still there, but smaller. I suspected in a few days barely anybody would remain here. They would cook themselves.

And since Gerald was on the other side of the mansion, I wasn't worried about any troublemakers. They knew better.

"Samuel," I said.

"My Lord," he nodded.

"Come with me," I said and pulled him to the side, somewhere where nobody would hear us.

"Julie suspects she needs two weeks at most to create the potion for the Locusts," I informed him.

"That fast?!" He exclaimed.

"If our current theory works out, then yeah. Else we will start from the beginning," I said.

"However, this is not why I called for you. Here, take this. This is a list of herbs that grow around the edges of the Verdant Expanse. Those herbs are all used in healing pastes or anything else that could be useful during or after combat. I need you to distribute this information somehow. We need to stock up on those now."

"For the incoming beast wave?" Samuel asked.

"Everything," I said.

"The pests and who knows what else. We could sell those pastes and potions later on. They are easy enough to create without any skills. For now, we need to focus on surviving, however."

"What about traps and walls? An army?" Samuel asked me. I stayed silent for a moment and thought about it.

"Let's wait for Sebastian first. Officially, he went out hunting, but his true purpose is figuring out more about the beast wave." I said.

"Best would be gathering as much raw material for stuff like this right now. Sharp stones. Wood. You know better than me. How are people recovering? When can they start working?" He nodded.

"I will gather the material. Most people can already start working, but it's only low-effort tasks such as cooking or gathering herbs. I will let them know. In not more than a week, people should be in good enough shape for more. Then we can let them know and start the real recruitment, not just for the guard but lumberjacks and builders. I will get a few herb gatherers already. The list is very detailed, and the sketches are well drawn."

"Julie did a great job," I nodded.

"Okay, then let's get going. With everything set, it's time to set everything in motion." With that, Samuel and I exchanged a few more words before I began walking towards the other side of the courtyard. It was the place Gerald and my five conscripted guard members called their home. A few other troublemakers had been caught and were training here too, but they weren't part of the guard. At first, five guards were meant to be just that: people who would fight in the beastwave as their punishment.

However, they have proven themselves to be more useful. They trained hard. They even asked if they could continue working as guards to atone for their sins. They just asked to be fed and housed. I disagreed. Gerald agreed. He convinced me to let them work for me and see how they do. I liked that approach. I didn't mind them joining if they truly were good people in bad circumstances. It would be my duty to make sure that those bad circumstances would never repeat themselves. I watched their training from afar.

They were sparring. Gerald was instructing them on things they did wrong while praising the stuff they did right. Eventually, he noticed me and arrived at my side.

"What can I help you with, my Lord?" He asked.

"We might have found a solution to the locust problem. I need them to start digging multiple holes away from the town, preferably in the direction of the mountainside but away from the mining site. Are they up to it?"

"They have no other choice," Gerald said.

"How many holes and how deep should they be?" I had thought about this for quite some time. Julie and I even discussed it. We decided to test out multiple methods.

"Of varying depths and lengths. As many as you can get done. They don't need to be super deep as we will cover them," I said.

"In a few days, more townspeople should recover. Coordinate with Samuel to see if they can help with some light digging. Don't overwork them." Gerald nodded, and I allowed him to get back to training. I could see that the five people who were primarily part of my guard sparred against the other troublemakers. They were better, mostly because of their combat classes but also because of the hard work they had been putting in. Gerald's method might be working. I went back to the mansion.

The three cleaners were still playing their game. Margret was taking notes, and this time Emily was winning. I didn't disturb them and went towards my room. I could feel it. The next Simulation was here. The last few days, the sense of doom grew more and more certain until today, it just felt like something snapped. It felt weird. Not pain, just a sensation inside my mind, and I just knew the Skill cooldown was gone. So, I didn't try using it until I wouldn't be needed for the next few hours, maybe even days.

I didn't know how long I would be out there for, nor did I know if the time dilation would be the same. I sat down on my bed in a comfortable position. A second later, I lay down, then I activated my skill. [Life Simulation]