Lord: Starting with Contract Half-Elf Twins

Chapter 18 Construction Begins

After moving into his new home, Allen immediately began planning the construction and development of his territory.

The real world is not a game. Buildings in your territory take time and resources to construct, bit by bit. You can't take risks and choose the most profitable building mode like you would in a game.

There is no chance to start over in reality.

Although three goals were set in advance, they cannot be achieved overnight; we must proceed step by step.

Before that, Allen needs to reward his core supporters.

Enter the [Territory] interface and open the map of the current territory area—the northern cliffs of Sapphire Bay.

Zooming in on the map, the small palace marker at the very center is Allen's [Junior Lord's Hut] building.

This is currently the only building within the territory.

The Lord's Hut serves to define the territory's boundaries. To expand your territory, you need to upgrade the Lord's Hut.

However, there is a cause-and-effect order here. Allen must first ensure that there are no "uncontrollable" factors within the territory he is about to expand.

Allen shifted his gaze from the Lord's Hut to the viewpoint below the cliff.

At the very bottom of the cliff, there is a phantom cave marker, representing a "natural structure" within the territory.

Allen focused his mind on the cave marker, and a new interface immediately popped up.

[A hastily dug cave is inhabited by 42 kobolds. Because it's not their original habitat, they are struggling to adapt to their new life.]

"There were only 30 or so before, but now there are 42? It seems the population has recovered very quickly."

Allen muttered to himself, "However, a considerable number of them are newborn cubs. I've been conscripting strong laborers for a long time, and without strong laborers to hunt, Flintclaw probably wouldn't dare to hatch too many cubs."

Allen was initially quite wary of the kobolds, not expecting his diluted dragon blood to be their sole source of loyalty.

Even the Flint Claw that escaped alone was carefully observed for a period of time before it was truly recruited for its own use.

After officially recruiting Flintclaw as a follower, Allen was able to understand some of the kobold language.

For the past month or so, Allen had been secretly observing the kobolds while feeding them and directing their work, confirming that the kobold tribe was truly loyal to him.

Having accepted the kobolds as their official subjects and acknowledged their contributions during this period, they...

Allen naturally wanted to ensure they had a good enough living environment first.

How can a family reproduce and thrive if they don't eat or live well?

Allen, who had traveled through time, knew that the key to productivity lay not in elite units like Solina and Flintclaw, but in "people" who only had ordinary templates.

Allen's career depends on them!

[Consume one crystal to generate a customized building blueprint?]

Allen chose [Generate] without hesitation.

On the map, the illusory cave markers slowly rose and disappeared, and then a new architectural blueprint appeared in Allen's mind.

This building is not a fortress or a house that stands on the ground.

Instead, it is a complex cave structure resembling a labyrinth, containing a variety of dedicated cave spaces.

It has everything: a rest room, hatchery, grain storage, ore storage, drainage area, and more exits.

It can not only accommodate more kobolds and plan their living arrangements, but also leave plenty of room for maneuver.

As the kobold race multiplies and expands in the future, all that's needed is to replicate and expand upon this cave system once more.

What's even more ingenious is that while kobold caves are typically dug downwards, they are now backed by a cliff, allowing for expansion into the interior of the cliff above.

In this way, it is also cleverly connected with the Lord's Hut.

From now on, when Allen summons the kobolds, he won't need to have them climb up from the side of the cliff.

Instead, it can be reached quickly and conveniently from inside the caves.

[Building blueprints generated: Kobold's Nest]

Sigrún has taught at the Iceland University of the Arts as a part-time lecturer since and was Dean of the Department of Fine Art from -. In – she held a research position at Reykjavík Art Museum focusing on the role of women in Icelandic art. She studied fine art at the Icelandic College of Arts and Crafts and at Pratt Institute, New York, and holds BA and MA degrees in art history and philosophy from the University of Iceland. Sigrún lives and works in Iceland.

Name: Nest of the Kobolds

Category: Civilian Buildings

Effect: A meticulously planned cave structure for the kobolds' production and daily life.

The living comfort of the kobolds has slightly improved; the hatching rate of cubs has slightly improved; and work efficiency has greatly improved.

Output: Fertilizer (manure)

Sigrún has taught at the Iceland University of the Arts as a part-time lecturer since and was Dean of the Department of Fine Art from -. In – she held a research position at Reykjavík Art Museum focusing on the role of women in Icelandic art. She studied fine art at the Icelandic College of Arts and Crafts and at Pratt Institute, New York, and holds BA and MA degrees in art history and philosophy from the University of Iceland. Sigrún lives and works in Iceland.

Allen was very satisfied with the result of the drawings.

In particular, as an additional source of output, ordinary residents' buildings would collect excrement for composting.

This is a necessary resource for agricultural buildings.

If some pipeline modifications can be made later, perhaps biogas can be used.

However, Allen neither confirmed nor denied this.

Because there are too many prerequisites for using biogas for production, it's not something that should be considered when construction is just starting.

After reviewing the architectural blueprints, Allen immediately decided to begin construction.

He then contacted the talisman telepathically and informed it of the matter.

Flint had already witnessed Allen's "special orders" and knew how exquisite the lord's huts built in this way were.

Seeing that the "special order" this time was a blueprint for the kobolds' dwelling, he knew that this was a new reward from the Dragon Lord and was immediately overjoyed.

In addition, this construction does not require handling additional stone materials; it is simply the kobolds' old business of digging.

Flint Claw quickly directed the kobold laborers to get to work.

The kobolds were already busy, and Allen believed that with such low construction difficulty, it would be completed soon.

Allen turned his gaze back to the map of the territory: "Next up are the most important food production buildings."

If we're talking about producing food, nothing beats farming.

This was Allen's instinctive reaction as a Chinese person from Earth.

Allen lived in the countryside for a few years when he was a child, so he has a good understanding of all aspects of farming.

However, after much deliberation, Allen decided to temporarily abandon the idea.

The reason is that, although the vision of farming seems wonderful, upon closer inspection, there are quite a few prerequisites for farming!

Intensive farming requires the reclamation of large plains, and mountain reclamation is much more difficult than plain reclamation, and the yield is also much lower.

Without iron farm tools, relying solely on stone tools would further reduce efficiency.

Moreover, while Allen can rely on the kobolds to build and mine, it's unrealistic to expect their tiny brains to learn farming.

Seeds were also a challenge; without crop seeds, he could only plant weeds.

When Allen was playing the game, he often came from villages and towns of humans or other humanoid races, so he naturally overlooked the seeds of farming.

But now, without any inheritance, the only way to get seeds is to buy them from the human kingdom.

He was in a completely deserted wilderness, with nowhere to find crop seeds.

Finally, there's time. No matter how fertile the land, it takes a considerable amount of time from sowing to harvest.

After summarizing, Allen realized that farming, which he originally thought would be very easy, was not something that a newly developed territory could afford to do!

"Let's choose other buildings that can quickly obtain food first..."

Allen sighed; he really wanted some stable carbohydrates.

He ate wild fruits, roasted wild animals, and meat soup every day, but the seasoning was always lacking. His tongue was almost numb from all the food.

He misses rice and steamed buns terribly right now, or even potatoes!

Allen temporarily suppressed his desire for farming and shifted his gaze to the northern and western parts of the territory.

The northernmost part is a range of forested mountains, teeming with wild animals.

To the far west lies the ocean of Sapphire Bay, teeming with marine life.

One can hunt, and the other can fish; both are good choices.