Of course, good days have arrived, and for Shen Mu, he can indeed breathe a sigh of relief now.
After inspecting the Castle District and confirming there were no abnormalities, Shen Mu returned to the Noble Residence in the Town Area, planning to get some good rest and sleep for a day.
After all, compared to the castles in New Rivadin and Deherim, which are primarily for military use, the living environment is quite harsh, and good rest is impossible.
Therefore, Shen Mu usually stays in the Noble Residence when there's nothing urgent.
Moreover, in the Noble Residence, Manid, whose other half is used as the administrative office, can directly come to him if he has construction plans.
After all, Manid's current, or rather, primary responsibility is to ensure that all vacant land in Deherim is utilized to build houses so that all Blue Star Humans and Mount & Blade Soldiers have a place to live.
It's worth noting that although over 10,000 Blue Star Humans have squeezed into Deherim, nearly half of them are still living on the streets, having only set up simple tents.
An even larger number, over 20,000 Blue Star Humans, are still residing in the open space between the low walls and city walls around Deherim.
This is because the Holy Light Torch Tower has now completely dispelled the death spirit rules.
Furthermore, at night, within the Holy Light Torch Tower's range of influence, it will automatically burn any Undead Monster that dares to step into its illuminated area, automatically killing these Undead Monsters that pose a serious threat to Blue Star Humans.
That's why those over 20,000 Blue Star Humans were confidently arranged to live in the open space between the low walls and city walls.
However, this long-term arrangement is not sustainable.
After all, the thousands of acres of land between the low walls and city walls will be needed for planting wheat, and the planted wheat seeds need to sprout quickly and grow into wheat seedlings.
If these more than 20,000 Blue Star Humans continue to live en masse in this wheat field, it would obviously impact agricultural production.
Shen Mu would certainly not do that.
That's why he urged Manid to quickly build more town houses to solve the housing problem for these Blue Star Humans and Mount & Blade Soldiers.
There's no other way. If houses aren't built quickly, and if his Faith Power isn't used to complete the houses as soon as possible, then keeping those Blue Star Humans outside the city walls for too long will make them feel unvalued, and in the long run, it's inevitable that some special psychological issues will arise.
It's understandable when you think about it, as these Blue Star Humans previously lived in the Orc Tribe of the Diesel Company whenever the Black Tide occurred.
They were always protected by city walls.
Now that the Diesel Company has been dealt with and the Orc Tribe has been annihilated, these Blue Star Humans, who have all pledged allegiance to him, find that their treatment is worse than when they were under the Diesel Company's rule, which would certainly make them quite angry.
They might not say much, but as soon as any special situation arises, or if there's a war with another force, these Blue Star Humans will clearly show signs of leaving. At that point, if they can't even provide Faith Power, that would be truly awkward.
Shen Mu is currently very concerned about his Faith Power, so he absolutely cannot let these Blue Star Humans leave.
“It seems I really should adjust the living environment for those Blue Star Humans, especially the living conditions. That’s a crucial part of food, clothing, shelter, and transportation. If it’s not handled well, it’s easy to offend those Blue Star Humans.”
So, Shen Mu adjusted his steps and first went to Manid's administrative office.
However, this administrative office was not solely occupied by Manid and his Mount & Blade Soldiers working.
Some vacant offices had been cleared for Zhang Caidong, Zhang Bo, Sun Zhiru, and other senior managers to conduct their daily work.
Of course, they couldn't live here; only Mount & Blade Soldiers could reside in this administrative office.
This was Shen Mu's strict distinction and requirement.
Of course, outwardly, Manid was the one who stated that there weren't enough spare rooms in the current administrative building to accommodate them, and that more rooms would be provided after future expansions, allowing them to also reside within the administrative building.
While that was the official explanation, those Blue Star Humans understood that having just surrendered, they hadn't fully gained Shen Mu's trust. Although Shen Mu had granted them considerable power, he would absolutely not allow anyone with ulterior motives near his living and sleeping quarters.
Everyone just thought about it and didn't say much.
“Lord Shen Mu.” Manid, seeing Shen Mu approach, put down the quill he was writing with, respectfully stood up, and bowed to Shen Mu.
“Hmm, Manid, I’ve come to take a look.” Shen Mu nodded, and at the same time, he glanced at the still-empty offices belonging to the Blue Star Humans outside, frowning slightly: “Where are they?”
He was referring to the executives who had surrendered and acted as his internal informants.
“Oh, them, they haven’t returned since going to your Noble Residence today, Lord Shen Mu. It seems they’ve gone to discuss things within their own small circles.” Manid clearly knew a lot, so he smiled and said to Shen Mu: “Your enfeoffment of them as Ten-Man Commanders has made them quite excited, so they are deciding who will become the new Ten-Man Commanders.”
“Is that so.” Shen Mu nodded, understanding why those Blue Star Humans would be so excited; after all, this was equivalent to becoming a Spiritual Realm Commander.
It’s important to know that to become a Spiritual Realm Commander now, one can only do so by receiving the spiritual realm mark inheritance.
It’s worth noting that if it were an Undead Monster, in the first few years after they first appeared, the chances of becoming a Spiritual Realm Commander through spiritual realm mark inheritance would greatly increase, and there would be many opportunities to become a Spiritual Realm Commander.
However, at that time, people did not understand the inside story, so many innocent people died tragically in that disaster, and not many became Spiritual Realm Commanders.
And now, becoming a Spiritual Realm Commander is already quite difficult. To obtain the spiritual realm mark inheritance, one can only go to the more dangerous places shrouded in darkness to search.
But from what was just said about places shrouded in darkness, they are extremely dangerous. Trying to find a spiritual realm mark inheritance there is no different from seeking death.
After all, they are all ordinary Spiritual Realm Humans, with not much power of spirit world rules, and they even lack the ability to harm those Undead Monsters.
Look at the Skeleton Soldiers, who are now equivalent to cannon fodder. For Shen Mu, two Swadian Commoners with pitchforks could easily smash them to pieces.
But for those humans, unless they lit a bonfire to scare these Skeleton Soldiers, they could only cause a tiny bit of extra damage to undead creatures due to fire.
However, truly defeating these Skeleton Soldiers is quite difficult. Even the great fire of Blue Star World cannot truly harm these Skeleton Soldiers; it can only cause them minor injuries and impede their movement.
If they are caught by these Skeleton Soldiers, they will still die.
Therefore, becoming a Spiritual Realm Commander, having their own Spiritual Realm Followers, and being able to directly confront those Undead Monsters is a hope in the hearts of these Blue Star Humans.
In the past, they had no way to become a Spiritual Realm Commander; it was truly impossible, and they were helpless, with no means whatsoever to find the spiritual realm mark inheritance.
Now, they heard that Shen Mu, this Spiritual Realm Lord, could turn them into true Spiritual Realm Commanders, and what's more, they would command human soldiers and armed humans similar to themselves.
Of course, they would be extremely excited and quickly went to tell their friends in their small circles, urging them to prepare as well.
After all, even though it was already decided that those 10 people would become Shen Mu's Spiritual Realm Commanders on the second day, there would be 10 people who could become Spiritual Realm Commanders every day on the third, fourth, fifth day, and even beyond.
Eventually, it would be the turn of the person they recommended.
And as long as the person they recommended became a Spiritual Realm Commander, it would be equivalent to being brought into their core inner circle, becoming one of their own. Then, they would recommend them to the inner circle of their superiors, making their own people more numerous, thus forming more interest groups.
Slowly, these senior managers would be like tree roots, entwining countless small circles of their own to help them act and earn some benefits for themselves in Deherim, this town of Shen Mu's.
There are always interests where there are people, and they do not shy away from this.
After all, they gained their own interests when they chose to follow him, so now that they see Shen Mu's power growing, they are naturally willing to continue following him to gain more and more benefits.
Especially for them.
Becoming a Spiritual Realm Commander is an even more core interest, so they will absolutely not give up and are quite excited to get a piece of the pie.
Shen Mu understood this, and thus he also knew why Manid found it so amusing. After all, for those true Mount & Blade Soldiers from the continent of Calradia, Ten-Man Commander is merely the lowest rank of enfeoffment.
It’s not even an enfeoffment, just an appointment, making them a Ten-Man Commander to lead 10 soldiers.
It is the lowest combat unit.
Although there are still Centurions and Chiliarchs above them.
However, these so-called positions are merely commoner-class positions, appointed as such only because they lead more troops, unlike the knightly titles truly held by nobles.
They cannot be confused with titles like Baron, Viscount, or Earl.
Moreover, the so-called Ten-Man Commanders mostly command low-level soldiers.
The best soldiers are merely third-tier soldiers like Swadian Light Infantry.
For those nobles who truly command elite troops, such as 4th-tier Swadian Infantry or 5th-tier Swadian Sergeant, 4th-tier Swadian Heavy Cavalry, or 5th-tier Swadian Knight.
These are the troops that the noble lords truly rely on.
What Ten-Man Commander, what Centurion.
Such titles are simply not worth mentioning; they are merely honorary titles used to deceive the commoner class, the petty bourgeois class, and the merchant class.
If they were truly valued, these nobles would have long since promoted them to nobility like themselves, even the most proactive, or even those with a somewhat unacknowledged knighthood, that is still a noble class.
However, even a squire's title would not be given to true commoners, but only to noble bastards or distant noble relatives who have fallen out of favor.
This is the solidification of class.
“Alright, we don’t need to discuss too much. The reason I came here is also to hope that you, Manid, can build more town houses so that more Blue Star Humans can move inside the city walls,” Shen Mu said.
“Understood, Lord Shen Mu, I will also quickly build more town houses,” Manid nodded. This was already something he was considering, as he had previously noticed the extreme scarcity of housing in Deherim.
However, at this moment, Manid also saw Shen Mu's brow furrow slightly and said hesitantly, “Lord Shen Mu, I have a suggestion I’d like to discuss with you.”
“Speak,” Shen Mu nodded.
“It’s like this, Lord Shen Mu, the number of military and civilian units that have moved into Deherim is simply too many. According to previous settings, our New Dhirim could only accommodate a population of around 20,000.”
Manid reported seriously, “But now, including Mount & Blade Soldiers and commoners, as well as these Blue Star Humans, the numbers are simply too, too many.”
“Hmm, that’s true,” Shen Mu nodded.
What Manid said was indeed the truth.
“My idea is whether we can divert some of these Blue Star Humans, or our Mount & Blade Soldiers or commoners, to other places,” Manid suggested.
However, this suggestion suddenly made Shen Mu think of something: “I still have an additional opportunity to build a castle that I haven’t used yet.”
Thinking of this, Shen Mu mused, “Manid just brought up this suggestion. Perhaps I can use this opportunity to build a castle and divert some of the Blue Star Humans or Mount & Blade Soldiers, which would partially resolve the housing crisis.”
These were all thoughts in Shen Mu’s mind.
And the more he thought about it, the more correct it felt.
Housing is already so tight now, so he should open up a third base soon. (End of Chapter)