AK - The Alchemy Kingdom

Chapter 155: Phase two I

One month ago

Welcome to AP, Councilors

Master, you finally arrived! I already figured the Lightness Rune, can you teach me another one? You have to see the improvements I did to APs security Arrays

Karl almost jumped from the wind horse. After two weeks, practically riding non-stop, he felt pain all over his body. Fighting against the agony, he forced a smile and greeted the Minister of Defense and his awkwardly excited disciple.

Lew, why are you suddenly so formal? Anya, I just arrived, calm yourself a little, we can discuss your studies later

The Minister was caught off guard by Karls question and instinctively relaxed his posture. Although he was an advocate for fewer formalities, the respect to hierarchy was essential in training the intelligence and the military, so he slowly lost his carefree demeanor.

Alfeur also exchanged greetings with everyone and then they moved to APs Office and pub. The Minister of Construction would lose the chance of supervising the biggest project in their newborn Kingdom. After a year of experience, his subordinates could keep the construction on their Capital and he would be of better use here. Unfortunately, they only had a dozen of free horses, so only the two Councilors and a small security team had arrived early, the rest of the workers would take another two weeks to get to AP.

Even so, their plan didnt have to wait since another team had come one month ago to help install the surveillance system around the forest and a dozen construction workers were permanent stationed on this side of the mountains.

The group passed through the huts and workshops slower than they planned. Karl was yearning for a hot meal, yet he couldnt help but stop to admire the differences in the place that was once a simple hamlet and now looked more like a village. Of course, the pain on his hips didnt help either.

Wow This place has doubled in size. You even have a food stall Is that a blacksmith workshop? Whats that shop with a nice entrance? And that one with a red sign?

Lew started coughing awkwardly while trying to get visual help from Alfeur, but unfortunately, the middle-aged man was also excitedly waiting for his answer. With some difficulty, he regained his posture and answered.

Yes For a hidden location, we grew quite well. I must confess that I allowed more Adventurers to find this place than we initially planned and Keller didnt save on efforts to create some kind of market Although our blacksmith isnt as good as Arnold, she fixes things pretty fast. Initially, she and her apprentice felt bored because they didnt have enough work, but once we started getting more customers and ores from the mine things changed, now Keller is even trying to bring another apprentice to help

The food stall was opened by one of the aides that came to help in the pub. Apparently, his mother has a stall on the Capital and he decided to try his luck here. He's getting most of his food from the pubs kitchen anyway Fortunately, Rachel didnt kill him. On the contrary, she was pleased to reduce the pressure on the pub

The entrance with flowers and a beautiful mat is Mrs. Mathildas garments and repairs shop. Together with her son, they sell some clothes and also offer repairs. The Adventurers dont buy much, but they always have some repairs to do on their beasts skin armor. The Mages are probably her best clients, although there was some initial disdain, they couldnt resist having their garments fixed and even buying new robes, they are, after all, too proud to walk on ragard clothes. The owner is married to one of Kellers security Guards. You should go to her shop later, shes quite nice and can help you get something more Appropriate

Karl didnt understand what he was implying until he looked at himself and compared his clothes with Lews. Even though he was using a coat made of beasts skin, the cut of his coat and trousers was very loose and irregular. The AK crafters didnt have the best skills since they only had experience with straw fibers. Karl decided to pay a visit to that shop later, then, he turned to Lew, who was acting oddly, and pressed his previous question.

How about the red sign building?

Eh Thats a store for private matters of the Adventurers, better if you dont ask more nor go there Cough Cough Anyway, did you noticed how many huts we have now? Counting with the previous 20, we now have 39 huts of bigger and smaller sizes to accommodate different types of customers. Once Spring comes and we solve this situation, we could have up to 120 Adventurers coming

The Alchemist ignored Lews strange behavior and finally put some effort into getting to the pub faster. After freshening up and eating to their hearts content, they started to discuss their next movements. Lew was the first to speak, he trusted his fellow Councilors but their plan seemed too crazy and bold, even by AKs standards.

Are you sure we can get this done in a month? I mean, we are almost ten kilometers from the river

Alfeur exchanged an agreement nod with Karl before speaking.

We planned for a month, but we might need an extra week Our tools and expertise improved a lot during the last year. Without the pressure of escaping the beasts and the poisoning, we finally had time to focus on testing and upgrading. If we dont meet any incidents, we should be able to excavate the ten kilometers in a little more than one week. The true problem comes from building the lake and filling it. We actually dont know anything about diverting the river and creating a reservoir. My father might have known more, but Marlen and Omero only remembered enough to say its possible Although we could fill the lake in only a few days, that might cause a problem for the river, so we need to do it as slow as possible I know we have a tight schedule, but for now, Im more concerned about my workers' safety. The possibility of earth digger beasts

Lew didnt like the we might need more time than planned attitude, some of the most important values he was working to drill into the heads of his subordinates was estimating time accurately. However, he couldnt just interfere in other Ministries, even less when the Minister himself was the source of the unprofessional behavior.

I see Regarding the security, Ill station military teams and a few agents to stay with the workers through the entire time. If any beasts appear, they have the proper equipment to block the beast and protect your workers until we solve the problem. Either way, ask everyone to pay attention to strange noises and tremors, the agents only need a couple of seconds to erect the barrier, but seconds could be the difference between life and death Karl, what about the Alchemy side?

Aside from the essential, all Alchemy resources are on standby for our use. A team of Alchemists should arrive with the workers in two weeks, but most of the Arrays have to be drawn by me because of their scale How about the specialized crafter, did Keller got him?

Karls confidence made Lew feel a little calmer, not that the following month would be any less stressful.

According to the shadows message, they already left the city with the crafter and should be arriving in ten or so days Is there any way we could keep the lake operation a secret until New Years?

Although Lew was looking at Karl, Alfeur was the one to answer.

We could give priority to other parts and leave some parts for later, but eventually, it would become too hard to hide it

The Alchemist agreed with the Minister of Construction, but also added another option.

You could direct the Adventurers to take a specific route and we could adapt the concealment to prevent them from seeing a clear scene outside the barrier

Like this, they agreed on the last parts of the plan and phase two finally started.