With its population and funds greatly increased, High Cliff Castle began a massive construction boom.

Previously, they lacked both people and money, so the all-important city wall was nothing more than a ring of wooden stakes planted in the ground for decoration.

Now that all the preparations were in place, it was naturally time to start building a proper city wall.

High Cliff Castle didn’t support idlers. The Giants, those simpletons, were all sent to the Kas Mountain Range as manual labor, tasked with hauling the huge stones needed for the city walls back to High Cliff Castle.

After discussing it with the Feder Craftsmen all night, Levi decided to build a wall eight fathoms high around the slope of the hill.

This was undoubtedly a massive undertaking. With High Cliff Castle’s current population, it was unrealistic to expect it to be completed in anything less than half a year.

So, the initial plan was to build a wall five or six fathoms high for the time being, and gradually improve it later.

Knightly Novels might be filled with magnificent Heroic Epics, but reality is just a morass of sordid schemes where the survivor takes all.

The importance of a city wall was self-evident.

There was also the issue of the small wooden cabins, which had been built for convenience and speed. Such housing was not practical in the Wilderness; it consumed too much lumber and could not meet the demands of High Cliff Castle’s growing population.

Moreover, sealing the gaps in these wooden structures was difficult. The winters in the Wilderness were bitterly cold, and once the season turned, these houses could hardly resist the icy winds that seeped through every crack.

Levi had long planned to upgrade them, but he had lacked the time and manpower, which was why the project had been delayed until now.

His plan was not to demolish the existing cabins. Instead, he would reinforce them by plastering the interior and exterior with clay. This was a practical solution that would solve the winter insulation problem without requiring them to tear down the cabins they had worked so hard to build.

Considering that the future lumber supply would be insufficient to meet High Cliff Castle’s housing needs, Levi decided that future houses would be built using a combination of wood and brick.

He had already explained the key points of firing red bricks to the Feder Craftsmen. At this rate, the first batch of red bricks would be ready in just half a month, and they could see how they turned out.

After all, firing red bricks wasn’t actually difficult. This group of craftsmen had been in construction their entire lives; they just needed the idea presented to them to grasp it quickly.

It was purely a matter of a conceptual block.

The first step is always the hardest. Once that step is taken, any subsequent innovation or improvement becomes much easier.

Cement, however, was a bit more difficult. While it was possible to produce it with High Cliff Castle’s current capacity, it would be hard to mass-produce.

The grinding process alone would consume a huge amount of manpower, so the Lord put the idea aside for now. He would decide whether to pursue it later, depending on the situation.

Although the Giants weren’t very bright, they were more than strong enough. Pulling carts was a suitable job for them, as it required little skill. Even if the wheels got tangled up in weeds, they could use their immense strength to simply drag the cart along.

Whenever they tried to slack off, the High Cliff Castle Warriors serving as overseers would lash them viciously with cowhide whips, prompting a long, mournful wail.

But upon reaching their destination and being rewarded with two large barrels of some unknown food, they would become happy again, completely forgetting their earlier pain.

Looking for a break from work, Levi dragged Zat and Hog down to the river to slack off.

A few days prior, he had found time to have the Feder Craftsmen carve a deck of playing cards from wooden tiles. After he taught Hog and Zat how to play, the two became visibly addicted, playing a couple of hands to pass the time whenever they were free.

Of course, men couldn’t possibly play cards without betting something. But since these two were so poor they couldn’t scrape a single coin together, the Lord could only bet the hair on their heads.

But Zat, that bastard, was completely bald. In the end, they could only bet the hair on his *other* head.

The two rookies were freshly hooked and at the peak of their addiction. They played honestly, not knowing how to cheat, and were on the verge of losing all their hair to a certain unscrupulous Lord.

"Lord!" Sam, the little old man, came jogging down from the hill, shouting all the way. "That Kobold learned Magic!"

"No more playing, no more playing. Time for business," Levi said, smiling as he casually tossed his terrible hand back onto the pile.

Staring at the two jokers and four deuces in his hand, Zat, who had thought he was finally about to win a round, felt the blissful smile freeze on his face.

Hog rubbed the bald patch on his scalp and broke into a relieved grin.

"Tell me exactly what happened." Levi clapped the dust off his hands and stood up from his small stool.

"I was just teaching Old Neil Magic, and I didn’t expect him to actually cast a spell," Sam said, still a little out of breath.

"Oh? What kind of Magic? The Healing Technique?"

Levi asked, delighted. He hadn’t expected Old Neil to actually learn Magic.

’This proves my decision was completely correct! Brilliant!’

’When I get back, I’ll start a Shaman class,’ Levi thought. ’The students will be chosen from the Kobolds and Beastmen, which are known to produce Shamans. I might even let the Federation People try learning.’

’If even two or three of them learn Magic, it’ll be a huge win for High Cliff Castle!’

"Uhh, Lord, it was... the Land Fertility Technique!" Sam said cautiously.

To be fair, he hadn’t been slacking off or holding anything back. He had taught the old Kobold, Old Neil, the Healing Technique exactly as the Lord had requested, but Old Neil just couldn’t learn it to save his life.

Afterwards, he figured he’d try a desperate remedy—treating a dead horse as if it were still alive—and had Old Neil try learning the Magic recorded on the Stone Slab. Unexpectedly, he actually succeeded this time, but unfortunately, it was the Land Fertility Technique.

And this Magic was nothing compared to the much more practical Healing Technique.

The difference between the two was immense.

A Shaman who knew the Healing Technique would certainly be treated as a guest of honor in Debei, but one who knew the Land Fertility Technique could only hope to become a serf and till the fields.

"The Land Fertility Technique?"

Levi scratched his head. This result was the opposite of what he had hoped for. But after a moment of thought about the Magic’s applications, he broke into a smile. "Things don’t always turn out perfectly. The Land Fertility Technique is also excellent."

Levi had heard of this Magic. It was said to increase crop yields by about thirty percent. If combined with the farm fertilizer he had developed, High Cliff Castle would no longer have to worry about its food supply in the future.

"So where is Old Neil?"

Levi asked, puzzled.

’Normally, after learning Magic, a Kobold with his personality would have already run over to lick my boots and deliver the good news.’

"His Magic Power was completely depleted. He fainted and is now resting in bed."

Sam answered dutifully.

After all, for a novice Shaman, a single spell could easily deplete the small amount of Magic Power they had gathered through meditation and cause them to faint. This was a very common occurrence.

Some of the duller Giants who awakened to Magic would even startle themselves, begin casting spells haphazardly, and die from severe Magic Power depletion.

What happened to Old Neil was quite normal in comparison.

"Let’s go see High Cliff Castle’s newest mighty warrior."

Beaming, Levi started walking up the hill.

Levi understood why Sam, a veteran Shaman, would look down on a "trash" spell like the Land Fertility Technique. ’After all, he isn’t a Lord,’ he thought.

’In a way, this Magic is even more useful to High Cliff Castle than the Healing Technique.’