– PoV: Quinlan –
*Cough! Cough! Cough!!!*
Blackjack was finally laid on the ground and he started wheezing for air with a great deal of desperation. Once he got his bearings the charred man glanced up at me and scoffed, “brother, you’re one cruel motherfucker. You honestly remind me of my late wife. You would be a match made in heaven but she was kinda ugly so maybe your pecker wouldn’t work considering your wives’ beauty.”
I didn’t feel much for this man. He was going to live and have a nice life in the future, but for the crimes he committed against the poor innocents of the Blackthorn barony he would have to suffer a bit. It would leave a bad feeling in their mouths if I had him healed and treated like he deserved as my strongest subordinate.
I didn’t respond so he kept rambling and cursing me out. Instead, I glanced at the gate and saw a middle-aged woman frozen completely as she glanced at the landscape. She was the first to step through voluntarily.
I understood her shock. This land was truly beautiful. The perfect place for a new start. Naturally, this was not my stronghold location. That would be my personal domain, my luxurious home. Once Ronan and the other slaves were done with construction they would also be moving somewhere else. I only planned to keep my most trusted and important subordinates there, as well as a lot of serving staff and high-tier guards.
I chose this place because Blossom found it while surveilling the forests around my home. A good hundred miles separated the two locations, so the local people would not stumble upon my home by accident.
It was a clearing located in the forest biome. I was no ecologist so I didn’t know if it was normal, but for miles no trees grew – save for a few fruit ones – creating a perfect flat ground to start a city surrounded by nature. It was nothing short of a paradise carved in the middle of nature’s embrace.
The air was rich with the fragrance of wildflowers and the freshness of untainted wilderness, I don’t want to sound overly dramatic but it was a scent that honestly invigorated the soul.
At the heart of the clearing ran a wide river and its waters were so pristine and crystal clear that every pebble and speck of sand at its bed was visible. Schools of fish darted through the water and their silvery scales caught the light of the bright sun. The gentle sound of the current mingled with the soft rustling of leaves, creating a soothing symphony that brought peace to all who heard it, like the soldiers who I ordered to march into the gate. They were all gawking around like they just found heaven. None of their previous worries were left on their features, replaced by childlike wonderment.
The soil was a deep earthy brown, so much so that it was almost black in its richness. It was incredibly fertile, the kind that practically begged to be cultivated. Even without the touch of human hands, it yielded in abundance. Wild berry bushes grew in great numbers along the edges of the clearing. A few trees that were heavy with fruit dotted the area. Their branches were bending under the heavy weight of apples, peaches, and pears.
The grass was soft and lush, the kind that made you want to take your boots off to experience it with your naked feet. Perhaps the elves were right all along… Though they were barefoot even in the swampy stuff, so no. They were still psychos as far as I was concerned.
The grass was like a vibrant green carpet that invited one to sit or lie down and lose themselves in the serenity of the place. Birds chirped melodiously from the treetops, making their songs mingle with the distant calls of wildlife that roamed the forest.
The entire clearing was surrounded by the dense forest, making it seem as if its large trees were standing akin to ancient sentinels guarding this untouched haven.
Blossom’s discovery had been a true gem. It was a sanctuary, the perfect foundation for a new beginning, where beauty met utility and nature offered its bounty freely. It was no wonder people who came over the gate had been stunned into silence. Anyone would have been. This was the kind of place dreams were made of.
As for why I was doing this ‘creating my own city’ thing in the first place?
I was a primordial. I knew from my seniors that we were meant to rule over our races, thus I was just doing my part. Of course, that was nothing but an excuse. I couldn’t care less what my race was supposed to do or not. I wanted to rule over people. Creating my own nation felt like the right step to take for me. Maybe I wouldn’t be doing this if the king was competent, but the Vraven Kingdom was a certified shithole. The people deserve better in my opinion.
Be the change you want to see, as they say. If I don’t do this, who will?
In exchange, I will be enjoying the fruits of their labor soon enough.
Furthermore, most of these people were the families of soldiers, or at least combatants since calling Wraithclaw muscle as ‘soldiers’ was a rather generous gesture on my end. I’m saying this to ascertain that it was not like I just received a lot of useless baggage. About 800 combatants survived the scuffle, they will begin training soon enough as in their current states they were rather useless to me.
Some of the others were skilled craftsmen and the like, they will be responsible for leading the construction of this place. Iselda will be helping them, since she was not that needed in my home project yet, as she was the interior designer and the exterior of the main mansion was not even started. In fact, she’d been designing the blueprints for this settlement for the entire past month.
As for the funds, sadly Blackjack was hopeless when it came to money. He splurged a lot of the coins he made from his little criminal drug enterprise, mainly on the mansion which was nearly completely destroyed in our clash.
I still got a good 20 gold coins’ worth of silver and bronze coins, since the destitute villagers never paid for the drugs with gold. I don’t think they ever saw one in the first place.