Chapter 95 — Virodai

The camp's administrators had all been summoned to discuss the road ahead in Gao Song's tent.

Amber sat rather restlessly in the seat beside Rebecca, squirming every so often to glance around, as though searching at any moment for a chance to slip out. Once she realized Gao Yang had no intention whatsoever of letting her go, she could not hold back a mutter: "Look, if you want to hold a meeting, hold a meeting—why drag me into it? I don't understand any of what you're talking about."

"I'm keeping you in sight mainly to stop you from going out and wreaking havoc on other people," Gao Yang said, then ignored the grimace Amber flashed the next instant and went straight to the point. "I've called you all here because I want to make one thing clear first: the crisis is not over."

Rebecca's eyes flew wide, and she stared blankly at Gao Yang: "Huh? Didn't we already drive those monsters back?"

"That's exactly the point," Gao Yang said with a shake of his head. "We drove them back once. Does that mean they'll never come again?"

Everyone at the scene exchanged glances, and Norris the farmer, summoned to a gathering like this for the first time, instinctively shrank back his neck. It was not Gao Song's words that had frightened him—in fact, he had not caught a word of what Gao Yang had just said. The honest old peasant simply felt utterly out of place here in his present station; every person around him was someone he would have had to look up to in the old days, and now they were all seated together with him, which made him extraordinarily nervous.

Hammer, sitting beside him, was doing rather well by contrast. Though the blacksmith was of common birth as well, years of responsibility for smelting iron and steel for the lord had given him a great deal of experience dealing with nobles, and at this moment he appeared perfectly composed.

Hedy noticed Norris's nervousness, but said nothing of it; instead she picked up Gao Song's thread: "My ancestor, did you not already confirm the integrity of the Great Wall? Its self-repair capacity..."

"It has indeed repaired itself, but I'm not certain it won't break again," Gao Dai said. "Everyone, let us be clear on one thing: we have just resolved one crisis, but this is in no way a thorough or reassuring victory. The Great Wall is no creation of the gods. Even if it is a miracle, it is a miracle from seven hundred years ago. The monsters that wandered out of the Gondo Wasteland this time are proof enough that this wall is not omnipotent. The wall is aging now, so we must prepare for the possibility that it will fail again."

Amber pinched her chin and muttered: "Then let's just run away..."

"Run where?" Gao Yang glanced at the half-elf. "If the Great Wall collapses, the corruption will spread across the entire continent. And besides—do you think everyone is like you, able to dash hundreds of kilometers at the first sign of trouble and survive in any random nook or cranny?"

Then he waved a hand. "I'm reminding you only because I don't want you growing too lax in your vigilance—not because that Great Wall, which has stood for seven centuries, is about to come down. I confirmed last time that it is still operating normally on the whole. The breach should be only a 'small problem.' Given the original design drawings and the durability of elven craft, there should be no possibility of total collapse for at least a few decades, so there's no need for excessive alarm."

Only then did everyone present breathe a sigh of relief, and Sir Philip spoke up at once, his tone earnest: "Even so, our victory this time owed a great deal to luck. If there had been a few more enemies, if the traps had been a little less effective, if those monsters had been a little luckier when they triggered them, the outcome of the battle could have been completely reversed. The individual quality of aberrations far exceeds that of humans, and as their numbers grow, the aura they give off alone is enough to kill every living thing over a wide area. For every one they add, the pressure on our warriors more than doubles. Our victory... is not so very reassuring."

The honest young knight concealed nothing of his inner thoughts, and this was precisely what Gao Yang had meant to say: "Exactly. We must not be blinded by this victory. Our camp is still very weak, in every respect. For now we have only survived here—we are far from having established a firm foothold. That is why I've gathered you all, to tell you my plan going forward."

Hedy spoke up curiously: "Your plan going forward?"

"Build walls, store grain, increase the population, increase steel output," Gao Cen said, tapping the table lightly as he went. He looked first at Rebecca. "How is the firing of 'cement' coming along?"

"Mmm... not a success yet," Rebecca said, a little dejected. "Actually we're getting somewhere. Using a porous rock quarried near the iron mine and clay, we've made something very similar, but finding the optimal ratio, temperature, and firing time will take a lot of testing. Lately the kilns have put almost all their effort into firing crystal, so 'cement' has been very slow."

In other words, a glimmer of dawn had actually appeared?

Gao Yang felt a quiet surge of joy. He looked at the somewhat unconfident Rebecca: "Good. Finding the direction is the biggest progress. Your first priority now is to work out a truly usable cement formula as quickly as possible—the sooner the better. Also, production of 'Rebecca crystal' cannot stop. Keep at least a third of the kilns firing crystal at all times, and assign a group of people to washing and sorting. The new warehouse southwest of the camp is yours—use it to store those crystals."

With that, he looked at Norris. "And how goes the land clearing?"

The old farmer stood up instinctively, then sat back down somewhat awkwardly. A few seconds later, he gathered his words: "To the east and west of the camp we've opened a hundred lits of farmland each, planted with sweetroot and fireleaf greens. The druid lord's magic and the potions he mixes are extraordinarily effective—the crops grow frighteningly fast. We might even harvest before the Frost Moon comes, and there'll be surplus enough to feed everyone..."

Gao Yang cut him off: "You're the agriculture supervisor. You don't need to call people of your own rank 'lord.' In fact, you don't need to address me that way either—call me lord or by my title, either is fine."

Norris glanced nervously at Gao Cen and assented repeatedly: "Yes, yes, Duke... my lord."

Beside him, Pi Yun's face fell: "It's rare anyone calls me that—can't you let me enjoy it a couple more days..."

"Duke," Norris spoke up again, "there is one more thing I hope you will permit."

"Just say it."

"The land on the north bank of the Whitewater River—I hope we can bring it under cultivation as well," Norris said. "I took men to look at the soil there. It's all good, and there's little broken stone. It's only that it requires crossing the river, so it was left out of the initial clearing plan. But I think making use of it would be excellent. With the monsters attacking this time, many people are worried—the farmers especially worry about the land south of the Whitewater. If we could open a patch on the far bank as well..."

Norris stopped there, as though unsure how to continue, a trace of unease and hope on his dark, wrinkled face. Gao Yang answered quickly: "Agreed. Clearing the north bank goes into the second phase of the clearing plan. But before that, we need a bridge over the Whitewater—a few wooden rafts won't do... Hedy, make a note of it."

"Next, population," Gao Cen said, looking at Hedy. "What are your thoughts on that?"