The golden sunlight of a new morning pierced through the cracks of the decaying wooden windows in the Lord’s Manor of Verdant Territory.
Though the light chased away the darkness of a brutal night, it could not dispel the heavy tension suffocating the villagers' minds. The threat from 'Rufus,' the tax collector, still echoed in their ears like a curse.
"Three days... only three days to buy everyone's lives."
Lloyd sat on an old wooden chair in his nearly empty study. His long, slender fingers tapped rhythmically against the desk. His deep blue eyes stared fixedly at a torn paper map of Verdant Territory spread out before him.
The former World Champion was thinking harder than he ever had in his life.
In the gaming world, being choked out of resources by an enemy in the early game was nothing new. If this were a normal playthrough, he would have just entered a cheat code or hit the restart button.
"But this world doesn't have a 'Load Game' button, does it..." Lloyd smiled bitterly, letting a gamer joke slip out softly to relieve the stress.
Knock, Knock, Knock.
A knock sounded before Frank’s towering figure stepped into the room. The youth was dressed in scrubbed-clean peasant clothes. The wounds from his clash with the Iron-Armored Bear yesterday were hastily wrapped in bandages. In his hands, he carried a wooden tray holding hard bread and a bowl of clear soup.
"Breakfast, My Lord," Frank set the tray on the desk as gently as possible. "You haven't rested at all since last night..."
"Thank you, Frank, but now isn't the time to sleep." Lloyd picked up the hard bread and took a bite. His temples were still throbbing since his mana had only recovered by 15 units. He didn't dare open the system window carelessly unless absolutely necessary.
"My Lord... what should we do?" Frank asked, his voice laced with anxiety. "If we send them the provisions, the villagers will starve. But if we don't... Baron Reinhardt's army will surely come to crush us."
Lloyd chewed the bread slowly before swallowing. "Baron Reinhardt doesn't want our wheat or bear meat, Frank. What he wants is an 'excuse' to seize this land and turn it into a strategic fortress."
Frank frowned. "If that's the case, no matter what we do, they'll find a reason to take our territory anyway?"
"Yes, if we play by his rules," Lloyd pointed at the map on the table. "Therefore, we have to flip the board... We won't refuse to pay the tax, because that is rebellion. But we also won't pay with food provisions and leave the villagers to starve."
"Then what will we use to pay, My Lord? Our treasury is empty."
"We will pay with a 'Promissory Note' and offer 'high-value processed goods' instead," Lloyd replied, a cunning glint in his eye—the kind usually seen on cutthroat businessmen. "I recall that Baron Reinhardt is currently amassing his military forces. What he lacks most are construction materials and weapons. If we offer to supply him with 'Processed Magic Lumber' and 'Monster Parts for Armor-Crafting' in quantities valued at three times our overdue tax... do you think he would dare refuse?"
Frank's eyes widened. "Three times! But we don't have any of those things!"
"We don't have them yet... but that's how we buy time," Lloyd explained. "The Veltine Empire's trade laws highly favor production contracts. If a local noble submits a highly profitable proposal to a regional Lord, the regional Lord cannot reject it without good reason. Otherwise, the Central Noble Council will scrutinize him for obstructing the Empire's interests."
Lloyd slowly stood up. "Baron Reinhardt will be forced to accept this contract and extend the tax deadline by at least a month to wait for the goods... and one month is more than enough time for me to completely turn this territory around!"
Frank's jaw dropped. His brain could barely keep up with this complex political maneuvering, but he could feel the overflowing confidence radiating from his Lord.
"But our only problem right now is..." Lloyd let out a long sigh, pointing out the window at the dilapidated state of the village. "To process lumber or monster parts, we need a standard 'Sawmill' and 'Workshop'. And we need to build them within three days to prove we actually have the capacity to fulfill the contract."
Frank's face immediately fell. "Our villagers are just farmers and the elderly, My Lord. They can handle a hoe to till soil, but if you ask them to build large, standard buildings... they'd collapse on the very first day."
"That is exactly why my head hurts." Lloyd massaged his temples. "In the [Tech Tree] , unlocking these buildings requires more than just wood and stone. It demands a skilled 'Builder' to oversee the construction."
Lloyd turned and grabbed an old nobleman's cloak, draping it over his shoulders. "Let's go, Frank. We need to survey the southern outskirts of the village. I want to see if there are any old ruins we can repurpose. If we can't build them in time, we'll have to rely on repairing existing ones."
"Understood!"
The late morning sun grew harsher. Lloyd and Frank walked all the way to the southern border of Verdant Territory, which connected to the trade routes leading to the Free Merchant Republic's port cities.
The dirt road here was rough and riddled with potholes from passing wagons.
As Lloyd scanned the area for a suitable location, a commotion echoed from a horse rest stop beneath a large tree by the side of the road.
"You stupid Orc! I told you to unload the wooden piles from the wagon, not stand there staring blankly at this broken wall!"
The fierce shout came from a middle-aged man dressed as a foreman. He held a short leather whip in his hand, looking absolutely furious.
Lloyd and Frank stopped in their tracks, observing from a distance.
At the rest stop, a group of over a dozen hired laborers were taking a break. They seemed to be a traveling construction crew moving from city to city for work.
But the most eye-catching figure in the group was the one being berated... He wasn't human. He was an 'Orc'.
This Orc was significantly chubbier and larger than the typical Orcs Lloyd had seen in games. He stood well over 190 centimeters tall and easily weighed over 110 kilograms. His grayish-green skin was caked with cement dust, and his coarse black hair was tied into a sloppy braid that fell down his back.
"M-My apologies, Boss," the plump Orc replied in a slow, gentle voice that completely contradicted his appearance. "But... this village's stone wall... its foundation structure is abnormal."
"Abnormal, my ass! Your job is to carry rocks and haul wood, not criticize other people's work!" the foreman bellowed again.
The Orc paid no mind to the insults. Instead, he stepped closer to the ruined stone wall of Verdant Territory. He raised a thick hand and gently traced the cracks between the stones, handling it as delicately as one would a masterpiece.
"The soil here is sandy loam..." the Orc muttered to himself. His eyes weren't blank; they were darting rapidly, as if calculating numbers in his head. "The original builders used granite, which was way too heavy, for the foundation without laying a wooden support base... The uneven weight distribution caused Shear Stress at the left corner. Once it rained heavily, the soil subsided... and the wall collapsed like this."
"What alien language are you babbling about?! Notch!"
The foreman marched up and viciously kicked the Orc's shin, only to hurt his own leg, causing him to hop around in pain.
"If you're going to keep being lazy and acting crazy like this, the moment we finish the job at the next city, you're fired! Orcs are made for manual labor, not playing smart-ass architects! Get that through your hollow skull!"
'Notch' obediently lowered his head. The enthusiasm from a moment ago vanished from his eyes. He adjusted his baggy, dust-covered clothes before silently turning around to haul a wooden pillar off the wagon without a single word of protest.
Frank, standing behind Lloyd, knitted his brows tightly. "What a cruel employer... treating him like a slave and cursing at him on top of it. That Orc seems so innocent. He didn't even do anything to provoke him."
But Lloyd hadn't heard a single word Frank just said.
The young Baron's deep blue eyes widened. A faint smile, brimming with excitement, crept onto the corners of his lips. The headache from his low mana vanished completely.
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"Did you hear what he just said, Frank?" Lloyd whispered, his voice trembling slightly with thrill. "Shear stress... foundation structure... soil assessment... That guy calculated the cause of the wall's collapse just by looking and touching it for ten seconds!"
"Uh... I don't really understand those words, My Lord," Frank scratched his head.
"In this world, most people think Orcs are only good for brute strength and have low intelligence..." Lloyd stepped out of his hiding spot, his eyes locked onto Notch's massive back. "But what he just did wasn't the behavior of a dumb laborer. That was the work of a 'brain' processing structural engineering faster than a supercomputer!"
Without hesitation, Lloyd strode straight toward the group of construction workers. Frank, startled, hurriedly jogged after him to provide protection.
"N-Noble Lord, do you have business with us?"
The foreman immediately changed his tone and demeanor the second he noticed the noble's cloak on Lloyd—which, though old, bore the Weston family crest on the chest. Seeing the giant, menacing Frank radiating killing intent right behind him made the middle-aged man's knees nearly buckle.
Lloyd didn't even spare the foreman a glance. He silently walked past the trembling man. Amidst the paranoid stares of over a dozen laborers, the young Baron stopped right in front of 'Notch', the plump Orc who was currently balancing a massive wooden log on his shoulder.
Notch lowered his head to avoid eye contact. His massive body trembled slightly—an instinct of an oppressed race. He braced himself for insults or the sting of a whip from a human noble, who typically viewed Orcs as nothing more than beasts of burden.
But what Lloyd did was stare at him with eyes full of anticipation.
"System..." Lloyd whispered in his mind, fighting through the pain beginning to form at his temples once again. "Activate [Inspect] ."
Ding!
[Mana Remaining: 13/100]
A golden light flashed across Lloyd's field of vision. A beautifully detailed information window overlaid the Orc before him. The data displayed made the former World Champion's heart pound so hard it nearly burst from his chest.
[Target Unit Information]
Name: Notch (No Surname)
Race: Orc
Age: 34
Current Profession: Hired Laborer (Level 12)
[Hidden Talent]
Rarity: SR
Talent Name: Genius Architect
Status: [Unawakened]
[Base Parameters]
Strength: 90
Endurance: 85
Mana: 5
Intelligence: 95 (Hidden: Maximum level understanding of structural engineering)
[SR Talent Details]
Once awakened, this unit can identify the structural strengths and weaknesses of any building with the naked eye. Reduces construction time by 50% and increases the durability of buildings he constructs by 200%.
[Awakening Condition]
The unit has been despised by society and his opinions have never been heard.
Requirement: Someone must 'ask for his opinion' and genuinely 'acknowledge' his intellect—not as a laborer, but as a 'Master Builder'.
Lloyd secretly swallowed hard, his eyes gleaming.
'A genius intellect... hidden in the body of an Orc with only 5 mana,' Lloyd thought in sheer excitement. 'This is incredibly rare! The RNG Gods must have taken pity on me for landing in Hell Mode and delivered the ultimate base-building unit right to my doorstep!'
With Notch, building a 'Sawmill' and 'Workshop' in three days to negotiate taxes with Baron Reinhardt was no longer a pipe dream!
Lloyd closed the system window to save mana. He took a deep breath, adjusting his expression to one of serious authority, before addressing the Orc in a clear, resonant voice so everyone could hear.
"Earlier, I heard you talking about... 'shear stress' and the foundation structure of that wall," Lloyd pointed at the ruined stone wall. "You said the soil subsided because the granite was too heavy and lacked a wooden support base, correct?"
Notch flinched violently. He hurriedly dropped the wooden log, letting it hit the dirt with a loud thud! The plump Orc frantically dropped to his knees, rubbing his hands together in terror.
"I-I deserve death! I spoke out of turn, Noble Lord!" Notch stammered, his voice shaking. "I'm just a stupid Orc! I don't know anything about human architecture! Please do not punish me!"
Seeing this, the foreman rushed in to interject. "That's right, Noble Lord! This Orc is out of his mind. He's always spewing nonsense trying to act smart. I will teach him a lesson right now!"
The middle-aged man raised his leather whip, ready to strike Notch's back.
Grab!
Frank's thick hand shot out and clamped around the foreman's wrist like an iron vise. Frank applied just a fraction of his grip strength, making the man cry out in agony. The leather whip dropped to the floor.
"My Lord is currently having a conversation..." Frank warned in a low growl. His fierce glare drained all the color from the foreman's face. "Do not interfere."
Lloyd paid no attention to the commotion. He stepped right up to Notch and dropped to one knee, bringing his eyes perfectly level with the cowering Orc. This action, utterly devoid of noble arrogance, left every single laborer completely stunned.
"I am not here to punish you, Notch," Lloyd said, his tone gentle yet laced with respect. "I am here to 'seek your consultation'."
The phrase 'seek your consultation' froze Notch's body instantly. His eyes snapped wide open, and he slowly looked up at Lloyd in utter disbelief.
In his entire thirty-four years of life, whether in his Orc tribe or wandering as a hired hand for humans, people only called him stupid, lazy, and useless. Never once had a single person... especially a high-ranking human noble... ever used the word 'consultation' with him.
"W-What do you mean, My Lord?" Notch asked faintly.
"That wall," Lloyd pointed back at the ruins again. "If you had the decision-making authority... if you had the wood, the stone, and the manpower in your hands... how would you design and repair it so that it never collapses a second time?"
Silence blanketed the area. No one dared make a sound. Notch followed Lloyd's finger to the stone wall. His dark brown eyes, which were once dull and lifeless, now ignited with a spark of sheer passion.
The brain that had been suppressed for so long began to work furiously.
"I-I would..." Notch started to stutter, before taking a deep breath. "I would dismantle all the bottom-layer granite! Loose soil like this cannot handle localized weight. I would use highly flexible 'Red Pine', driving them down as a mesh grid of piles for Load Distribution. Then..."
The more he spoke, the more eloquent and confident Notch's voice became. His large hands began sketching invisible lines in the air, visualizing the structure for Lloyd to see.
"Then, I would build the wall using lighter sandstone alternated with wooden beams, creating a Triangular Truss Structure. It wouldn't just prevent the wall from subsiding, but it would also withstand external impacts three times better than before!"
As soon as he finished speaking, Notch froze. He blinked rapidly, looking around at everyone's dropped jaws, only just realizing he had accidentally shown off his knowledge in front of a noble again.
"I-I apologize! I was spewing nonsense again..." Notch quickly lowered his head, bracing himself for the inevitable scolding.
"Brilliant... Absolutely brilliant!"
A sound of clapping broke the silence. Lloyd stood up and applauded slowly, wearing the widest smile he'd had since reincarnating into this body. "Load distribution via mesh piling and triangular truss structures... That is advanced engineering!"
Lloyd stepped forward and patted Notch's cement-dusted shoulder without an ounce of disgust.
"Notch, you are not a stupid laborer, and you are not speaking nonsense." Lloyd looked the plump Orc dead in the eye, completely serious. "You are the greatest 'Architect' I have ever seen... and my Verdant Territory is in desperate need of a Master Builder with a brain like yours to help design an entire new city!"
Those words were like drops of divine nectar falling onto a soil that had been barren for a lifetime.
Notch's eyes widened. Clear tears welled up in the eyes of this Orc who had endured a world of hardships. His lips trembled. The feeling of being accepted, the feeling of someone finally seeing the 'value' of his intellect—it swelled up in his chest until he could barely breathe.
Ding!
The system window flashed brilliantly in Lloyd's mind.
[Condition Met: The unit's intellect has been acknowledged and their opinion sought as a 'Master Builder'.]
[Status: Awakened]
[Hidden Talent: Genius Architect (SR) fully activated!]
A faint aura of knowledge and intellectual power radiated from Notch's body. His previously sluggish posture straightened up. His gaze turned razor-sharp, brimming with absolute confidence in his profession.
"M-My Lord, I..." Notch sobbed quietly. He dropped to his knees once again, but this time not out of fear—it was out of profound respect. "If you are willing to place your trust in a lowly Orc like me... I, Notch, pledge my life and intellect to build the strongest city for you, My Lord!"
"Rise, my Master Builder." Lloyd smiled in acceptance before turning sharply to the pale-faced foreman standing next to Frank. "I want to buy out this Orc. How much is left on his contract?"
The foreman scrambled to answer. Despite his fear, his greed remained intact. "U-Uh... Noble Lord, this Orc eats a lot! He still has two years left on his contract. If you want him... you have to pay at least ten silver coins!"
"Ten silver coins?! You greedy bastard!" Frank roared. "A normal farmer working a full year doesn't even make five silver coins!"
"I-It's the standard price for non-human labor!" the foreman argued, his voice trembling.
Lloyd raised a hand to stop Frank. He didn't have a single copper coin to his name, let alone silver. But in the mastermind's head, he possessed another resource that would become completely worthless if Baron Reinhardt seized the territory.
"I don't have silver coins to pay you," Lloyd stated flatly. "But I will pay you with one fully intact 'Iron-Armored Bear Hide' instead."
"An Iron-Armored Bear?!" The foreman and the other laborers gaped in shock. "Something like that... a single hide sold at the capital's auction house would fetch no less than fifty silver coins! D-Do you really have one?"
"If you don't believe me, follow me to the village square and get it yourself," Lloyd replied nonchalantly. Trading one bear hide for an SR-tier construction unit was a massively profitable investment in this game.
Just as the foreman grinned greedily and nodded vigorously to accept the deal...
Frank, who was standing guard behind Lloyd, narrowed his eyes.
The heightened senses granted by his awakened [Holy General (SSR) ] talent picked up on an anomaly. Among the group of laborers currently buzzing with excitement over the bear hide, there was a skinny man pulling his cloth hat down over his face, refusing to make eye contact with anyone.
The man was slowly and inconspicuously backing away from the group. And in the moment he thought no one was paying attention, his hand—hidden beneath a tattered sleeve—flashed a complex, rapid, and systematic series of 'hand signs'... sending a signal straight into the darkness of the dense forest behind them.
It wasn't the gesture of a simple laborer. It was military sign language!
Frank immediately closed the distance to Lloyd's back. He leaned down and whispered into his Lord's ear in the most tense voice possible.
"My Lord..." Frank whispered without taking his eyes off the mysterious laborer. "Do not turn around to look just yet... but it seems there is a 'spy' planted among these workers."
Lloyd froze. The smile on his face slowly vanished. His deep blue eyes instantly gleamed with an icy chill.
The wolves had just left, the tax collector had just turned his back, and now... a new, far more dangerous 'piece' was beginning to move in the shadows of Verdant Territory!
(End of Chapter 6)