Chapter 18 - Goblin Extermination (17 Jan 25)

A week later, Harold woke up to the smell of food.Harold woke to the savory aroma of roasting meat, his stomach responding with a familiar pang of hunger. It wasn't just the smell of food that roused him; it was the promise of sustenance. Memories of past lean days when the air was empty lingered in his mind, a sharp reminder of their progress. A couple of hunters had brought down a bear, a significant victory in their ongoing struggle. The meat, though not much, was now a consistent presence, and the man still bragged about it each night, their shared triumph symbolizing more than just food but hope.He swung his legs out of bed, pulled on his boots, and headed downstairs. Breakfast was already being handed out, simple bowls, more carved wood, passed along a line that actually moved. He took one, nodded his thanks, and ate standing up while people flowed around him.No panic or shouting today. Usually, people were demanding an extra serving, and others had to step in to shut it down.Bowl in hand, he moved toward the newest addition to the hall. The extension had gone up by the end of the second day. Too fast, honestly, but it held. This was the room Beth and Josh had insisted on finishing first. It was solid construction, though, and Josh earned a good perk from it.His office/ council room. Harold was the first one there.A rough map was spread across the central table, weighed down at the corners. It wasn't pretty. Charcoal lines, smudged notes, distances estimated rather than measured. But it covered about five kilometers in every direction, and that was five kilometers more than they'd had a week ago.He leaned over it and traced the markings.Creeks. Tree lines. A couple of elevation notes. One goblin den, circled and underlined twice.Today was the day that the problem went away.Hale's soldiers would handle it. They were all moving to the den, so all the adventurers had been told to stay close to the budding village. However, not everyone was content with the directive. Harold overheard an adventurer mutter his frustration about being held back, his voice thick with irritation. 'Could be out there making a real difference, but we're stuck here babysitting a village.' The words hung in the air, a subtle reminder of the tension simmering beneath the surface and the price they're all paying for maintaining security.Harold took another bite and kept studying.Beth and Josh came in first, both of them moving with the easy confidence of people who had been busy for days straight and were still winning.Beth set her slate down immediately. "Framing crews are ahead of schedule. Your hall's extension perk paid off. We need to find a source of metal, though, not recycled goblin swords."Josh grinned. "You look well rested, your highness, all comfy in your big fancy bed over there. Always gotta make sure the king has his cushion, eh?"Harold looked up, smiling, in good humor this morning. "Well, thank you, peon, you will be well rewarded for your work."Beth just shook her head, "You both don't need to make the same joke every morning."Mr. Caldwell arrived next, carrying numbers instead of food."We're stable for now," he said without preamble. "Food intake is matching burn rate. Hunters are pulling more than expected. In my original estimates, I didn't account for perks; I didn't realize how much of a difference those small percentages would make. The Lord and crafter perks are stacking in a way I haven't figured out yet. Storage is holding though, but we need to formalize it.""And money," Harold said.Caldwell smiled thinly. "Already thinking about it. I'm working on a treasury. Hard to make coin when no one has coin, but that'll change. There's been some interesting forum posts about trades, but everyone is struggling to just survive right now."The brothers entered together after that.It had taken him a week, but Harold finally learned their names. They were doing solid work organizing the adventurers, keeping rotations fair and tempers from flaring. Sarah wanted nothing to do with it. She'd made that clear and stuck to exploring and fighting, which suited her.Margaret came in last, followed by Hale.They stopped talking when they noticed Harold watching them, which answered exactly none of his questions and raised a few new ones.He let it go. Harold set his bowl aside and straightened."Alright," he said. "Let's go around the table. What are the updates for today?"The map sat between them, rough but real. The village was no longer reacting, and they were starting to make moves.Beth went first, because she always did."We're putting up two more sleeping halls," she said, already flipping to the right page on her slate. "Same design as the first. Big, ugly and efficient."Josh leaned back in his chair, boots hooked around the rung. "Each one sleeps about a hundred and fifty if people don't spread out like they're at a resort.""They're not permanent housing," Beth continued. "They're warmth, cover, and a wall between people and whatever wanders too close at night. But they're also a glimpse of our future. Last night, some kids were chalking their names on the beams, imagining rooms that belong to them when all this is over."She tapped the map with the corner of her slate. "We're placing them here and here on purpose. Down the line, these can be converted into administration buildings. Records, logistics, storage, that kind of thing."Josh nodded. "Foundations are set with that in mind. We're not boxing ourselves in.""How fast?" Harold asked."Frames are already up," Beth said. "Roofing by tomorrow if nothing goes wrong."Josh smirked. "And if it does, we'll yell louder."Harold nodded. That was about as good as it got.Caldwell cleared his throat next."Food's stable," he said. "Not comfortable. Stable. We've got reserves for a few weeks if nothing spikes."He slid a page across the table. "Hunters are pulling their weight. Farming's started, but won't matter for a while yet. Biggest improvement is that the crafters are actually crafting."Harold raised an eyebrow."All the summoned recruits come with tools," Caldwell explained. "They just need space and raw materials. Tools were never the biggest bottleneck. It was places to work and something to work with for them."He grimaced slightly. "Raw material's still thin. Adventurers can't push out and secure new areas yet. Not without proper weapons. It's a vicious cycle.""Which we're breaking slowly with all the crap goblin weapons." Harold said."Exactly," Caldwell replied. "For now, we ration expansion and avoid waste."Hale leaned forward when it was his turn."We're averaging six to ten soldiers a day from recruitment," he said. "All arrive with basic kit. Swords, shields, armor. Nothing fancy, but usable."He glanced at Harold. "I've kept them drilling Roman-style for now. Shields, formation discipline, rotation under pressure. No pikes or spears yet.""That was intentional," Harold said.Hale nodded. "Figured building the settlement mattered more than experimenting. Barracks are halfway done. The tower will be finished today. Full structure another week.""And the goblin den," Harold asked.Hale's expression hardened just a fraction. "Today."Margaret waited until the others finished. When she spoke, everyone listened."For someone listed as a crafter," she said mildly, "I seem to be doing a lot of watching people."She slid two names onto the table."These two lied during intake. About skills and their intent. I had adventurers shadow them. Both watchers rolled stealth perks early."Josh blinked. "Lucky.""Useful," Margaret corrected.She didn't soften her voice when she continued. "One tried to steal food. The other attempted to rape a woman."The room went very still. Eyes averted while others held someone's gaze a touch too long, silent judgments and acknowledgments passed among them. There was a palpable understanding that even in this harsh world, some lines should never be crossed."The thief was dealt with," Margaret said. "The second was put to death immediately. No delay. No discussion."No one argued."There's no patience for that," Harold said quietly.Margaret nodded once. "I'll keep filtering. Patterns are emerging already."Harold leaned back and looked around the table. He let the room settle before speaking."We did good work this week. Margret confirmed that one of the hunters got the first kill with a trap, then one of the adventurers heard about it and repeated that effect. Some kid named Jace. We've gotten perks for cooking, construction, labor, stamina, strength, tool strength, water filtering, and, somehow, because of that cesspit we dug, we got a rare one for how quickly it deteriorates. None of the big world first, though, we need to get industries going so that we can get those. Which, by the way, one of the older ladies got a perk for sewing after weaving some grass together. Might be something to run down Margret.""Alright. My priorities today." Harold moved on.He rested one hand on the table, the other tapping the edge of the map."First, I'm going to walk the work crews. Check morale, check bottlenecks, make sure no one's improvising something that'll bite us later." He glanced at Beth and Josh. "If I find anything stupid, I'll send it back to you."Josh smirked. "Please do.""Second," Harold continued, "I want eyes on our water source. I know a couple of people have pulled fish from it, which is promising. And frankly…" He paused, then added dryly, "I'd like a bath."That got a couple of faint smiles around the table."Hale," Harold said, turning slightly, "let me know when you step off for the goblin den. I want to be there."Hale nodded. "You'll have notice.""I'm also creating a new mission for the adventurers today," Harold went on. "Priority target is iron. Find a source. I don't care if it's a vein, bog iron, or something ugly and inconvenient. We need metal."He shifted his attention to Caldwell."We need a surplus item we can sell on the forum while that function is still available. It only lasts three years, and we're not wasting it." Harold tapped the table once. "Any food surplus gets sold as long as we maintain at least a week's reserve. We'll need money eventually, but you can take barter for that, as I know everyone is hurting for money. Barter for things that will fix our bottlenecks. Nails, tools, that kind of thing."Caldwell nodded, already writing."I also want you to start designing a pay system," Harold continued. "It won't be much at first. Just enough to get money moving hand to hand. I've got a plan for something we can sell that won't be available anywhere else for a few months, but it'll take about a week, maybe more, to spin up."Caldwell looked up. "I'll have drafts by tomorrow.""Margaret," Harold said, turning to her, "you're with me today. I've got a task for you."She didn't ask what. She just nodded.Finally, Harold looked at the brothers."I need you two to focus on team composition," he said. "Group adventurers into teams of 4-5 who actually work well together. No lone wolves unless their perks lean into that. No egos, but honestly, don't restrict them too much. Adventurers are meant to go out and actually adventure; they will do more by doing that than if they are stuck here. Tell them they need to stick close for at least a month before they leave, if they even want to. That will give us the time to stabilize. Then I'm moving a guild hall for you up on the schedule. But it'll be a while.""That'll be on you, Beth and Josh."He paused. "Until they have real arms, no one moves alone."Both brothers nodded at the same time."That's it," Harold said. "Let's get to work."Chairs scraped back. Slates were gathered. The council broke apart smoothly, each person already moving toward their next problem.Harold lingered a moment longer, eyes on the map.Then he stepped away from the table and went to see how his village was holding together.Harold pulled Margaret aside before she had a chance to get too far ahead. "Thank you for dealing with those two criminals and thank you even more for keeping it quiet."She already had a slate in hand and a look that suggested she'd been awake longer than she should have been. "I have no patience for that type of behavior here," she said."I need a favor," he said quietly.Her eyebrow twitched. "That's never just a favor.""I want to start producing healing potions," Harold said. "Not just for me but for the village."That got her full attention. Margaret didn't answer right away. She was already thinking."Last time," Harold continued, "potions didn't go mainstream until over six months in. A couple of adventurers bought a recipe out of a natural-species city, and everyone scrambled to catch up. By then, too many people were already dead.""But," Harold said, "I already know a lot of the recipes", Harold said with a wolf-like smile."You want to break that curve," Margaret said."Yep," Harold said.She nodded slowly. "I'll put out feelers. People who will listen to, people who won't talk too much, it would be better if it were from the people who have already taken the oath. If they haven't, then I will make them take another one.""And people who don't panic when something goes wrong," Harold added. Then shrugged, "Sometimes they explode."Margaret gave him a look. "That narrows it nicely."They split there, each moving toward their own list of problems.Harold spent the rest of the morning walking.Not inspecting. Not supervising in any formal sense. Just being seen.He stopped by the tree line where crews were working in steady rhythm. Trees fell cleanly, hauled out by teams who already knew where each log was going. Some were being stripped and split on the spot, planks stacked neatly instead of tossed aside. They were still short on axes and saws, but the work was being done. One ingenious soul had set up a stone to sharpen tools right at the site.Someone wiped sweat from their brow and waved when they noticed him."Morning, my lord," they said, then went right back to work. They were working industriously. Everyone is eager to not sleep in the open. There were raids every night, none of which was as bad as the first night.Near the forge, the blacksmith was already busy. Nails were laid out in neat rows, still warm, while a pile of damaged tools waited nearby. Two other crafters stood close, watching his hands, asking questions when they thought they could get away with it.He caught Harold looking and grunted. "Gobin metal doesn't go far. Better once we get real ore.""You'll have it. Let me know if you need more help. We are all relying on you." Harold said.The blacksmith snorted. "I hear that a lot."Further down, a handful of adventurers lingered near the quest board, pretending they weren't hovering."We're adding more today," Harold said as he passed.One of them perked up. "Really?""Yes, and new ones," He replied. They tried to look casual but failed. Most of the adventurers were made up of military or former military people, or all younger people.Harold smiled and kept moving.Near the edge of the clearing, Hale caught him by the elbow."Come see the soldiers," he said. Not a request.They walked together toward the barracks. Drills were already underway. Shields locked. Lines rotating. Footwork steady and unglamorous."We got the same recruitment today," Hale said. "More soldiers we're able to fold in instantly. For a total of 56 soldiers. They all have common soldier perks, nothing fancy, but they listen, and they understand the drills, even if they are rough."They watched in silence for a moment. "Alright, Hale, eliminate the Den. We need the first Den clearance for the village. The perk for that is very substantial.""Yes, my lord," Hale said before he stepped off. Gathering his sergeants around him and getting the soldiers moving in the right direction.Harold just rolled his eyes at the respect. He had told him not to say that every time. He just said something about the chain of command needing to be respected.A runner passed by, breathless, shouting something about forum posts. Harold caught just enough to know it wasn't his problem.Other settlements were already spiraling. Arguments. Power grabs. People were selling half-formed advice like it was gospel. He'd seen it before, and he had no intention of stepping into that mess. Someone called his name.He turned and found a woman standing awkwardly near a work crew stripping branches from trees, hands clasped tight. Her roughspun tunic already had a hole in it from the labor, and Harold just added another thing to his mental load of things needing to be done."I just wanted to say… thank you," she said. "For this. For keeping things… steady and safe."Harold blinked, then nodded. "You're welcome."She smiled and hurried off, embarrassed.He stood there for a second longer than necessary, then exhaled and moved on.The village was loud. Messy and incomplete. But it was working, and he would take every win he could get.