[Name: Windmere

Type: Large Village

Population: 0

Population Loyalty: 0%

Houses: 1200 (0 occupied)

Prosperity: None

Attractiveness: None

Population Growth: +0/Week (Increase attractiveness and prosperity to gain more residents)

Lord: Ethan GoldenVeil

Knights: 0

Average Level: 0 𝐟𝗿𝐞𝚎𝚠𝐞𝚋𝕟𝐨𝚟𝐞𝕝.𝕔𝕠𝚖

Guard: None

Average Level: 0

Guard Loyalty: 0%

’Stone Wall with Battlements and Parapets’ Status: 12090/12090

Treasury: 0 gold coins

Upgrade requirements: 1,200/2,500 houses, 0/10,000 inhabitants, 10,000 gold coins, Lord at Viscount level or higher]

Ethan’s eyes scanned the information screen floating before him, and a genuine sense of satisfaction spread across his face.

Without a doubt, the nearly forty thousand gold coins he had invested in the city had been worth every coin.

The corners of his lips curved slightly as he walked through the open gates, entering Windmere with calm steps.

His eyes swept across the city around him, the stone streets stretching out in silence, still awaiting their future residents.

The more than a thousand houses showed excellent craftsmanship, with solid walls and careful finishing. On average, each one offered enough space to comfortably accommodate four or five adults.

For Goldenveil, which had long been struggling with a population growth that far exceeded its capacity to build new homes, this was practically perfect.

Instead of simply cramming the surplus population into the barracks and forcing them to wait, Ethan could now transfer them directly to Windmere, where they would have homes of their own, privacy, and dignity.

Ethan took his time inspecting the entire city, walking every street and alley, from the still-silent barracks to the Lord’s mansion standing at its center.

Satisfied with everything he saw, and especially with the region’s mana density and aura—lower than Goldenveil’s, yet still five times greater than what that place had before—he finally departed.

When he arrived back in Goldenveil, he went straight to the residence of Aerick, who had already officially stepped down from his post as vice-leader of the guard.

Surprisingly, the one who had taken his place was an elf, the father of Vaelith, a young elf and friend of Cain who possessed a very high base loyalty.

Naturally, to receive such a position, the father himself also possessed a very high base loyalty, and at that very moment he happened to be at Aerick’s residence.

Thalion, as he was called, had been one of the elves who took full advantage of Goldenveil’s absurd aura density, advancing to the third stage almost the moment he set foot in the city.

Now he sat at the table with Aerick, conversing in a gentle tone while the sweet aroma of wine drifted through the room.

Between them rested a bottle of second-tier green wine, a gift from Ethan himself.

"It’s a shame you have to leave the guard, Aerick. The younger ones will miss you," Thalion remarked, raising his glass elegantly to his lips and savoring a slow sip.

He spoke and behaved like a nobleman.

"It’s necessary, and it’s not as if I’ll be far away anyway," Aerick replied, seated beside his wife. He flashed a gentle smile before taking a sip of wine himself.

"I’m just glad Doran had already chosen a replacement. Many of the young men have seen war up close, but they’re still far from reaching a level where they no longer need training."

Thalion nodded silently, his lips parting as he prepared to reply.

Before he could, however, a firm knock echoed against the front door, cutting the conversation short.

Both Thalion and Aerick recognized the aura behind that knock instantly, rising to their feet almost in unison.

Aerick’s wife, confused by their sudden change in posture, walked over to the door.

When she turned the doorknob, her eyes sparkled with surprise.

"Oh, Lord Ethan! It’s a pleasure to have you here!" she exclaimed with a broad smile, stepping aside to let him in.

The young Lord merely nodded with a cordial smile in return, crossing the threshold the next moment.

His gaze fell first upon the elf with gleaming golden hair, then upon Aerick, whose face still bore the marks of the day’s fatigue.

"My lord!" the two greeted in unison, bowing respectfully.

"It’s time to begin transferring the population still in the barracks," Ethan said in a calm tone, waving his hand for them to rise. "Aerick also needs to take a look around the city he’ll be leading on my behalf, doesn’t he?"

Upon hearing those words, Aerick nodded immediately, his heart suddenly beating strangely fast inside his chest.

And so, Goldenveil began its preparations.

The more than seven hundred people who had arrived in Goldenveil that day, drawn from the pops cards Ethan had used, joined the over one thousand still residing in the barracks, along with the hundreds of miners trained throughout the winter specifically for iron extraction.

Totaling nearly two thousand, they were all escorted to Windmere.

There, under the command of their new lord, they began organizing themselves, claiming the empty houses one by one as they prepared to begin their new lives.

At first, Windmere would be heavily dependent on Goldenveil, but as time went on and the population integrated, the city would likely gain enough capacity to sustain itself.

They would need jobs, businesses, food production, and much more—not just the iron mines.

With that in mind, Ethan showed no hurry, giving the town time to organize itself at its own pace.

It took no more than three days before the miners finally began entering the mine.

Since the instant construction skill had already equipped the site with everything needed to extract and transport the iron, coal, and other ores found there, the miners faced no difficulties.

With a reliable manager in charge and over a hundred miners working per shift, it didn’t take long before the mine’s storage facilities began receiving their first batches of resources.

Once Ethan built a refinery in the city, this iron would be turned into steel and then forged into weapons and armor that would form the backbone of the Goldenveil army.