Chapter 375: Paper Manufacturing
"The number of undead has increased significantly? Have you detected any signs of a large scale undead horde preparing to attack?"
Phield’s heart skipped a beat.
Could that Corrupted Divine Chosen who escaped be seeking revenge already?
With the foundation of his territory now under threat, even he found it difficult to remain calm.
"Nothing like that," Kai replied, gesturing as he spoke. "It’s just that there are many more scattered undead than before. Our ore transportation routes and farming operations have both been seriously affected. Around three slaves have already been killed in undead attacks."
If Clover or Agnes were behind it, they would never send scattered undead to attack.
The massive undead horde of twenty to thirty thousand from before was still deeply etched into Phield’s memory.
"I’ll deal with it."
Phield nodded.
"The army will gradually return in waves to reinforce the defenses. You and your men should get some rest. Leave everything else to me."
"My lord, when the next war comes, please allow us to fight beside you. We’re willing to stand on the very front line!"
Before leaving, Kai bowed respectfully once more.
The wolfkin warriors around him made no attempt to hide the fanatical admiration burning in their eyes.
"Very well. You have my word."
After Kai departed, Phield remained where he stood, lost in thought.
His eyes gradually narrowed as he instinctively looked toward the direction of the fortress.
"Could it be..."
"Has the power of the Tidebind Lattice of the Surging Realms weakened?"
"Why would the undead pull back their defensive lines? Why wait exactly two years before launching another invasion? Are they gathering strength, or waiting for the right opportunity?"
The more he thought about it, the stranger everything seemed.
His grip tightened around the reins.
"I need to shift my focus to the Northern Frontier."
"No matter what, I have to wipe out every undead Divine Chosen in the area and build defensive walls first."
After settling the wounded, Phield spent some time looking after Rosalia.
Since he would soon be returning to the border fortress, he postponed inspecting the territory.
Instead, he quickly dealt with the accumulated paperwork concerning the Divine Chosen and finished the backlog of administrative work.
The population of Nightfall Domain had now reached roughly twenty four hundred people.
Most of the former slaves had already been freed, becoming ordinary citizens who paid taxes and participated in the local economy.
"I need to establish proper identity records and household registration."
Phield organized the scattered scraps of cloth paper before setting them aside.
"When the population was small, it wasn’t a problem. But now there are so many free citizens that everything feels disorganized."
"I also need to develop proper paper. Large scale paper production will require waterwheels for power."
At present, paper throughout the Empire consisted either of parchment as expensive as gold, or crude papyrus and rag paper that were inconvenient to use.
Only one specialized commercial territory in the entire Empire possessed a rag paper mill.
There were several papyrus mills, but papyrus was notoriously fragile and could be torn apart with barely any effort.
"I should first deal with the growing number of undead."
He paused.
"No, gathering the raw materials for papermaking comes first."
Having made his decision, Phield immediately summoned his steward, Kaor.
"Has anything significant happened in the territory over the past few days?" he asked calmly.
"My lord, your rule has been both fair and merciful. Nothing truly serious has happened."
Kaor thought for a moment.
"If I had to mention one problem, expanding farmland has become increasingly difficult. Without the protection of city walls, the farmers can’t safely leave to work. Undead are everywhere."
"I’ll take care of that."
Phield handed him a list.
"Do we still have any of the wheat straw left over from the last harvest?"
"A little."
Kaor glanced over the list before looking confused.
"Neither cattle nor horses particularly like eating it, so it hasn’t been used up very quickly."
His eyes moved down the page.
The list contained what appeared to be nothing but worthless rubbish.
Weeds.
Tree bark.
Old hemp clothing.
Wheat straw.
"My lord, if you need wheat straw, the next grain harvest is almost here. We’ll have plenty more soon."
"That’s right."
Phield suddenly smiled.
"The rye is nearly ready for harvest. With this year’s yield, we’ll be able to support many more people."
The thought of Nightfall Domain’s second harvest arriving soon eased much of his frustration.
"Collect all of these materials and soak them in water."
He paused before lightly tapping the table twice with his finger.
"I almost forgot to mention something."
"The border fortress now belongs to us."
"I’ll need manpower to help inventory all the supplies there."
"...What?"
Kaor froze.
"I secured the fortress through negotiations," Phield repeated.
Kaor stood there in complete disbelief.
Then his face flushed bright red with excitement.
"What? My lord... are you saying the border fortress of Bull Territory?"
"Oh, Goddess above..."
"What am I hearing?"
"A fortress!"
He nearly jumped into the air.
"A celebration!"
"We absolutely must hold a grand celebration for you!"
"This is a victory worthy of being recorded in history!"
Completely unable to contain himself, Kaor paced excitedly around the room.
"It’s been far too long since the Ross family achieved a victory like this."
"Everyone will be proud beyond words."
"I have to tell Tate and the others immediately!"
Kaor rushed out of the room in excitement.
"That old fellow."
Phield couldn’t help laughing.
He placed the quill back into its holder before stretching lazily.
"First, let’s clear out the surrounding undead."
"It’ll also be a good opportunity to see what Firomina is really capable of."
He summoned the little chubby dragon, Ophelia, and brought Firomina along as well.
"Ophelia, how is your undead horde recovering?"
"It’s going quite well."
Ophelia folded her arms across her chest.
"Ordinary undead are easy to replace."
"It’s the enhanced undead that keep giving me headaches."
"What kind do you actually need?"
"The assortment we had before was far too chaotic to be truly effective."
Phield considered the question carefully.
"Half defensive types."
"The other half should focus on speed."
"Once firearms appear, human soldiers won’t need to serve as disposable infantry anymore."
Losing so many skilled workers in every battle simply wasn’t sustainable.
"Firearms?"
"A type of powerful ranged weapon."
"They’re much stronger than bows or crossbows."
Phield frowned.
"Actually... with this world’s current level of technology, firearms really should already exist."
According to legend, the walls of the Purple Gold Empire had been blasted apart by firearms.
So why didn’t the Sacred Griffin Empire possess them?
Could the existence of magic have suppressed technological progress?
As he spoke, Phield made a grasping motion before using both hands to sketch a long cylindrical shape in the air.
"Hollow on the inside... capable of firing..."
"You worthless little lord."
Ophelia suddenly blushed furiously before glaring at him.
"Are you trying to harass me?"
"You spend all day talking nonsense."
"I’m not listening to another word."
"I wasn’t lying."
Phield sighed helplessly.
"You’ll see them for yourself someday."
He couldn’t be bothered explaining any further to someone so stubborn.
"Let’s clear out the nearby undead and find out where they’re coming from."
"If possible, we’ll seal off a few of the openings."
"Fine."
Ophelia nodded.
"But don’t forget to bring barricades or large rocks."
"Load them onto wooden carts."
"My undead can transport them."
Once the plan was settled, everyone immediately got to work.
Phield ordered the slaves to haul piles of miscellaneous materials outside the city, where Ophelia’s undead took over the transportation.
They had barely walked beyond the walls of Starnight City when the red skull markers covering Phield’s minimap reached an astonishing density.
This area lay just outside the city.
It had once been fertile farmland used to grow wheat.
Reclaiming it was absolutely essential.
"I wonder how Alexia is doing."
Phield looked toward the distance.
"Perhaps it’s time I went to support them."
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