The first day of school went surprisingly well. With dozens of mercenaries from Tomorrow's Development stationed across the campus, there were no major incidents—though for the Sarkaz mercenaries now turned "students," it was a painfully rough beginning. Teaching them was far harder than teaching mischievous children.
During breaks, arguments erupted. After lunch, a few mercenaries drew blades and swords right in the playground. In class, some students couldn't resist dozing off—while one particularly creative troublemaker decided to slip an explosive into his sleeping classmate's desk, successfully jolting him awake… and sending him straight to the infirmary.
What kind of school is this? Gehenna Academy?
Felix leaned back in his office chair, watching as Ines escorted W into the room. He didn't look surprised in the slightest.
"So, Miss W," Felix said calmly, "would you care to explain why you planted a bomb in a desk? As far as I remember, students aren't supposed to use Originium Arts on campus."
W pouted, hands shoved deep into her pockets, the perfect image of a delinquent student.
"Look at your kid," Felix said dryly.
"?" Ines blinked, clearly confused.
He corrected himself. "I mean, look at the mercenary you're supervising. Where's her respect for her classmates—or her teachers, for that matter? If the person in that class hadn't been Hoederer, who managed to block the explosion with his greatsword, someone could've been seriously hurt. You'd be paying their medical fees right now."
Ines cast a tired glance at W, who merely snorted in defiance. "He was badmouthing Babel and trying to provoke me first."
"W," Ines said sternly, "there's no longer a difference between Babel and the Military Commission. We're all Kazdel's mercenaries now—there's no reason for internal division."
"But I was pissed off! He was acting all smug and mysterious while dozing off in class. Who else was I supposed to blow up?"
Felix wasn't particularly shocked. Friction between the two former factions was to be expected. For now, he let them clash; once the dust settled, he'd step in. That was always his way.
Don't be fooled by how distant Giles and the other former Military Commission members seemed toward Tomorrow's Development. They hadn't actually withdrawn from cooperation—in fact, every one of them had shown up for classes today. That alone revealed their stance.
"Competition is fine," Felix said evenly, fixing W with a calm stare. "But I prefer fair competition—not petty sabotage behind others' backs."
He added, almost casually, "If it were Her Highness Theresa, she would have chosen the honorable path to victory. Don't you agree?"
"Tch… of course I know that!"
With a roll of her eyes and a flick of her tongue, W bolted from the room, leaving Ines staring after her in weary silence.
"The faction squabbles," Felix continued, "don't need our interference unless they escalate to real violence. They'll figure out their own boundaries."
"Understood."
The first day of lessons concluded smoothly enough. Felix didn't dwell on it. After school, he made his rounds through the makeshift clinic. The former Babel doctors stationed there had quickly adapted to life in Kazdel's mobile city. Each now worked under the watch of two fully armed players—making accidents virtually impossible.
Ever since the tragic incidents of the past, Felix had been especially vigilant about security.
There, he came across Shining and Liz. Seeing Margaret walking alongside them didn't surprise him—he knew how close the three were, almost like sisters. Since joining Tomorrow's Development, Margaret had needed less of his care; she spent more time sparring with Verdant Knight and Degenbrecher, or traveling with the Followers team.
Felix had no intention of intruding on their bond. After treating a patient, Shining noticed him and gave a gentle nod.
"I heard from Margaret," she said softly. "And… I could feel it myself. The sorrow of Her Highness's passing. I offer my deepest condolences. Her departure is a tragedy for all of Kazdel."
Her voice was almost a whisper.
"I need your help, Lady Shining."
Her golden eyes turned back to him. She nodded solemnly. "There's no need to stand on ceremony, Mr. Felix. Everything you've done so far has been for the Sarkaz people. Why would I refuse to help?"
"Kazdel's climate alternates between damp and dry in summer—it's a breeding ground for disease. I've heard the eastern and western camps are running dangerously low on medical supplies."
"You've heard correctly," she said, her tone dimming.
She knew all too well what he meant. Years of war had already left their resources scarce. The eastern front, bordering Victoria, was still an active conflict zone. Now that the Military Commission had established its base within Victoria, most of their elite forces had followed General Theresis into Londinium.
Those left behind—while not entirely weak—were far from elite. A mix of ordinary mercenaries, temporarily led by nobles of rare bloodlines. Daily supplies were already stretched thin, and as for medicine… their only option had been to write to General Theresis for aid.
But those letters likely never reached Londinium.
Although the General had secured a foothold there, the situation remained tense. Many of Victoria's dukes and earls still despised the Sarkaz—and intercepting Kazdel's messengers was, in their eyes, only natural.
Because of the growing shortage of medicine, the mercenaries stationed on the eastern and western fronts were forced to take on contracts from the Scar Market just to survive. Months ago, when the Frontier District had been swarmed by assassins, most of them had come from those same two regions—mercenaries and killers alike, driven by desperation. Back then, even staying alive had become a daily struggle.
"If I were to supply the medicine to you," Felix said thoughtfully, "and you were to distribute it to them in my place… do you think they'd accept such a gift from someone they see as their enemy?"
"Enemy?" Shining shook her head softly, her staff resting in her hands. "I do not see it that way. Your actions are acts of compassion, sir. Please—allow me to be your envoy, to speak for you, and tell them what kind of leader Mr. Felix truly is."
Felix smiled faintly. "My thanks."
He needed voices to spread his name. The residents of Kazdel's mobile city rarely left its walls, and while the players' communication network was efficient, the Scar Market had remained eerily quiet since Felix's arrival. Perhaps it had something to do with Ascalon cutting down their former leader in a single strike.
Now, Felix wanted his deeds to travel beyond these walls—to win the hearts of the Sarkaz people through word of mouth.
He didn't expect admiration or worship, but even as a Sankta by birth, earning the recognition of the Sarkaz people filled him with a quiet sense of pride.
Three days later, construction of the new residential district was finally complete. The low-rise houses took on a distinct Western design—small villas modeled after Victorian-style homes. The Sarkaz, long influenced by Victorian culture, had always preferred such architecture. Each unit offered private space roughly the size of a single bedroom—simple but leagues better than the cramped, worn-down housing inside the mobile city.
Most homes within Kazdel were extremely rudimentary. Floors were little more than packed dirt; stepping inside felt no different from standing on the street. In poorer areas, some houses even had open sewage running through them. Over time, even the most fastidious Sarkaz had given up trying to keep their homes clean.
But these new player-built residences were different. Some of the builders had construction blueprints from Victoria, complete with drainage systems to ensure sanitation. Electricity, however, was another matter. Despite being a "mobile city," Kazdel still relied on candles for light and coal for winter warmth. Power grids, air conditioning, or central heating were things of myth.
The first wave of residents—two thousand households in total—was chosen by lottery. Among them were Kazdel locals, merchants, doctors, and adventurers who had been living within the city. They were the lucky ones, the first to receive keys to their brand-new apartments.
For many Sarkaz mercenaries, it was their first time seeing such a place. They'd heard tales of Victorian villas from comrades who had fought abroad, but standing inside one was another experience entirely. They wandered around, touching everything with awe, almost too afraid to sit on the pristine furniture.
Though dressed in fresh Tomorrow's Development uniforms, most of them were still covered in grime and soot. The villas had no bathrooms inside, so the players built a massive public bathhouse in front of the residential complex—a request submitted by the Strategy Division and approved by Felix himself.
That, however, was only the beginning of Felix's next big plan—real estate development.
Back in the "previous life," during version 3.0, players had discovered that their accumulated funds were enough to buy property in major cities. Naturally, they did. Soon, enterprising players began opening restaurants, tool shops, and supply stores, conducting full-fledged business with NPCs—and earning actual in-game currency from them.
Kazdel, meanwhile, was broke. Painfully broke. Every new structure, every medical supply, every resource cost money—and lots of it.
During a meeting not long ago, YangyanXF, the leader of the Strategy Division, had cautiously asked whether it would be possible for players to purchase property within Kazdel's mobile city. Their goal was to buy a building to serve as their headquarters.
Felix not only agreed—he expanded the idea.
"As long as you have the money," he told them, "you can buy any plot of land or building that isn't designated for public use. The city's open for business."
The Strategy Division wasn't exactly poor. Though they prided themselves on releasing free, high-quality guides, maintaining elite raiding teams required substantial funds and top-tier equipment—all earned through endless hours of grinding. They weren't millionaires, but their pooled wealth easily reached into the hundreds of thousands.
After some discussion, they decided: rather than buying a private office tower that only their members could use, why not invest in something that would generate steady income? A business that could pay for itself.
And so, after a few rounds of brainstorming, the group of anime-loving tacticians came to a conclusion.
They would open an outdoor hot spring resort in the heart of Kazdel's mobile city.
Felix had already estimated the land value of Kazdel's mobile city. Though the place looked like a pile of junk, it could still fetch a decent price. For about a million LMD, the members of the Strategy Team successfully acquired a plot they believed to be a prime location. They then posted job notices at the local guild hall, hiring a group of idle players to help with construction.
The project was completed surprisingly quickly, and before long, the open-air bathhouse named "Adventurer's Hot Spring" grandly opened its doors.
Many members of the Strategy Team were anime fans, some of whom had even visited Japan's famous hot springs. They knew exactly how to recreate the atmosphere. In addition to the baths themselves, the facility offered cold drinks and light snacks. Of course, the business was expected to lose money at first—the team had to spend a small fortune transporting food ingredients from the Frontier District. Fortunately, a few players with high-level cooking skills took on kitchen duties.
However, the greatest expense wasn't the food—it was the water.
In reality, hot springs go through strict purification processes before they're safe for bathing. While Kazdel did have lakes, jumping into them was out of the question—most of them were likely contaminated by Originium. Bathing in such water would only worsen Oripathy, and the chance of infection was as high as ninety-nine percent.
Thus, the team had to transport clean water from afar, which cost another small fortune. Figuring out how to recycle that water proved to be an even bigger challenge. They reached out to their close friends stationed in Higashi for advice. The reply was that Higashi operated both "Infected" and "Non-Infected" hot springs, and the disinfection process, along with the required medicinal powders, was similar to real-world methods—each step costing yet more money.
After weeks of tight coordination and exhausting effort, the bathhouse finally opened. Entry was set at 500 LMD, a modest sum—about the reward from a simple quest. Both players and Kazdel's citizens could afford it, though maintaining the hot spring was far from cheap.
The grand opening immediately drew attention from curious onlookers. To the players, it was nothing unusual, but the Sarkaz looked at one another in confusion. This kind of bathing culture was completely foreign to them. At most, they were used to wiping themselves down with dirty towels or bathing in muddy water. A proper public bathhouse was something they had never seen before.
Some Sarkaz mercenaries balked at the entrance fee, thinking it expensive. Yet, watching the players casually pay and enter made them hesitate. Perhaps this was a custom from beyond Kazdel—a glimpse into the world they might soon step into. After all, learning about other nations' cultures was part of progress.
Eventually, someone had to be the first to take the plunge.
The first Sarkaz customers were warmly greeted by several charming Sarkaz adventurers working as attendants. Even before stepping into the baths, they were greeted by shelves of goods—most imported from Higashi.
There were plush toys, figurines, and even dozens of finely crafted katanas on display.