Truly a Headache

Gawain Cecil returned safely, bringing with him documents signed by the King and news of support from the royal family.

Viscount Andrew, who had been waiting in Tanzan Town for nearly three months, felt he had made the right decision. The founding hero from seven hundred years ago had not disappointed him; he wasn't just a brute, as he had initially feared, but a man of both cunning and strategy.

He just hadn't expected the founding hero to choose the Dark Mountains as the starting point for revitalizing his family.

As a minor noble stationed in the southern borderlands, Viscount Andrew was naturally familiar with the Dark Mountains. In fact, the original Cecil Territory and Leslie Territory were located north of the Dark Mountains, and on clear days, one could see the magnificent natural barrier simply by looking up. The mountains blocked the unhealthy air from the Gondor Wasteland and, due to the abundance of monsters and frequent strange occurrences within them, struck fear into the hearts of many. Even the most daring hunters rarely ventured into the Dark Mountains to eke out a living, even though the lords of the south had opened up hunting rights in the mountains.

The original Cecil Territory was located slightly northwest of the Dark Mountains, with Tanzan Town to the northeast. Gawain's chosen "New Cecil Territory" was southeast of Tanzan Town, forming a rough triangle. However, the "New Cecil Territory" was closest to the Dark Mountains, with its southern edge even directly extending into the mountains.

A tributary of the White Water River, which flowed past Tanzan Town, would flow into the "New Cecil Territory." From a transportation standpoint, the new territory was a good location. It could easily receive supplies from Tanzan Town, and if the territory developed in the future, trade costs would be significantly reduced.

But that was only if Gawain and his people could truly establish a foothold in that barren land.

In Viscount Andrew's castle, the gaunt and meticulous noble appeared worried. "If I may be so bold, Your Grace, the first settlement you've chosen is not exactly... suitable. While there is much land there, it is too close to the Dark Mountains and lacks protection from civilized society. The beasts in the mountains are a significant threat, and every Mist Month, an Unclean Wind blows over the mountains from the Gondor Wasteland. While strong soldiers might be able to withstand it, the weak commoners and serfs certainly cannot..."

"You should have seen the map and known that while the places I could choose were vast, the conditions were all similar," Gawain said dismissively. "Among the areas bordering the Dark Mountains, the land I've selected is the best. The Unclean Wind can be resisted with medicine and magic, and I will find my own solutions for defense. As long as we can survive the first year, we can begin mining ore from the Dark Mountains, and the territory will be able to stand firm."

He couldn't exactly say that he chose such a place because the National Fortune Treasury from seven hundred years ago was buried within the mountains, could he?

At the very least, he had to wait until he had opened the treasury and obtained everything before outsiders could know about it. And even then, it would have to be limited knowledge. Complete concealment was impossible; those resources would eventually need to be used. Once they were brought out for construction, even a fool would guess the truth.

He could only ensure that the fewer people knew about it before those items were put to use, the better.

Seeing Gawain's firm attitude, Viscount Andrew naturally couldn't say much more. He merely reminded him, "These are your decisions, and I will naturally support them as much as possible. But please remember our original transaction."

Gawain smiled slightly. "Don't worry, the Cecil family never owes a debt. If you're truly worried, shall I pledge a few of these old trinkets I have on me to you?"

Rebecca, who was sitting at the table reporting her experiences in the capital to her Aunt Heti, immediately looked up, her eyes lighting up as she looked in Gawain's direction. The ancestor thinks the same way I do! Does this mean I've inherited the family tradition?

Heti lightly tapped Rebecca's forehead. "Stop looking around—continue. At the banquet hosted by the King, you were busy eating the entire time?!"

"I was also drinking—I'm an adult, I can have a little..."

Looking at this slow-witted girl, Heti was filled with despair. "My heavens..."

As for Viscount Andrew, he naturally couldn't accept Gawain's "kind offer" and quickly waved his hands. "No, no, no. I trust the Cecil family's credibility and the founding hero's promise... So, when do you plan to depart?"

"The sooner the better," Gawain nodded. "We'll leave once the supplies are ready. The support promised by the King will take at least another month. I need to get my own people settled in the new home first."

For those who had survived the disaster of the old Cecil Territory, their three-month period of recovery was over. The return of their lord from the capital meant they had to prepare immediately for their new lives.

Even though the vast majority of them had no idea what their new lives would entail.

Knight Philip and Knight Byron were dispatched to purchase essential supplies and materials for building the new territory in Tanzan Town—food, tools, tents, medicine, and many other necessities they couldn't have imagined.

The items to be prepared piled up like mountains. Even Heti, who had been assisting in managing the territory's affairs, and Byron, an old retainer of the Cecil family, didn't know where to start. No one knew what was required to build a territory from scratch. In this regard, only Gawain could offer some help. During the great pioneering period seven hundred years ago, the ancestors of Ansu built their homes from the ground up. Gawain's memories of the preparations needed for the pioneering period were valuable experience.

Of course, due to the seven-hundred-year time difference, Gawain's experience and knowledge might not be entirely applicable, but the basic principles were mostly the same.

Regardless of how tools developed and changed, the problems that pioneers faced in the wilderness remained the same: food, clothing, shelter, and medical care, as well as protection.

As for funding, Viscount Andrew had returned the gold and silver valuables of the Cecil family previously, and with the money that Knight Philip had preserved, although it wasn't abundant, it was barely enough to prepare the initial supplies.

The refugees from Cecil Territory moved around the town, purchasing supplies and hiring vehicles. This naturally attracted the attention of the locals. They had already heard the news of the founding hero's revival and recently heard about the Cecil young lady's return from the capital. Therefore, they naturally knew that these "outsiders" who had been living in town for three months were finally leaving.

Most of the lower-class citizens of Tanzan Town didn't care about the comings and goings of these "outsiders." However, the fact that the "outsiders" were buying a lot of things before leaving made the town's commercial guilds earn a substantial profit. This immediately reduced their complaints about their own lord. Before this, the lord had requisitioned many makeshift shelters for the outsiders to live in, and those impoverished refugees couldn't even scrape together a few copper coins, which had greatly dissatisfied many businessmen.

While the two family knights were busy preparing supplies, Gawain had Heti and Rebecca compile a list of all the Cecil vassals, asking them to create a detailed roster of the more than eight hundred survivors.

"It needs to be precise, including each person's name, age, gender, health status, and specialized skills, grouped by family. Also, create a separate list for carpenters, stonemasons, and blacksmiths. Oh, and if possible, assign a number to each person for easy reference."

This was the task Gawain assigned to his great-great-great-great... granddaughters. He thought it would be easy but was surprised to find both of his N-th generation granddaughters utterly confused.

They had never heard of basic data registration and didn't know how to create such "forms."

"You haven't even done basic population registration?" Seeing Heti and Rebecca's blank expressions, Gawain felt more bewildered than they did. "Then how do you keep track of the population in the territory?"

Rebecca answered with a pure expression, "The territory around the castle is managed by Aunt Heti, and the few knightly fiefs are managed by the knights themselves. We basically know how many men, women, old people, and children there are. As for who is a blacksmith or a carpenter, people living nearby generally know each other, so we can just ask around."

Gawain: "..."

What the hell? Just ask around? The legendary rule by sight, govern by expression, conquer with a shout?

Noticing the changing expression on Gawain's face, Heti immediately became nervous. "Esteemed Ancestor... when you and the former sovereign founded the nation, did you use those forms you mentioned to count the population?"

Gawain quickly sifted through the information in his mind and, after a moment, looked dejected.

Damn it... it was even more chaotic back then.

The Gondor Empire collapsed overnight, and the prosperous and developed central region was completely annihilated. Those who were fortunate enough to survive the first wave of impact were all from remote areas. And that ancient empire was a typical unbalanced society. Its development, in Gawain's opinion, was even close to being deformed. Since the magical technology in this world relied on Magic Power Foci, and natural Magic Power Foci were limited, all the advanced technologies of the Gondor Empire were concentrated around the most powerful Magic Power Focus on the continent, "Deep Blue." As for the remote areas with thin Magic Power Foci...

They were incredibly backward.

So, when the Magic Tide erupted with "Deep Blue" as the center, all the advanced technology and high-level intellectual population of the Gondor Empire were sacrificed. Those who survived were then repeatedly screened by the continuous energy radiation. By the time the pioneers led everyone to safety, human civilization had essentially collapsed...

To put it bluntly: the Four Kingdoms were established by a group of elementary school students leading a bunch of illiterate people.

However, in this world where supernatural power existed, the power of the top individuals could, to a certain extent, offset the overall decline caused by the backwardness of civilization. That's why the Four Kingdoms could be established with the help of pioneering individuals with explosive combat power and withstand the pressures from all sides at the beginning of their founding.

But, but, but!

It's been seven hundred years! Seven hundred years, and these unfilial descendants haven't made any progress?