The word permeated across the horizon. The title of King, as if recognized by the land and air, hummed to rejoice. It echoed the words of glory and hail, of justice and resistance. As everything was processed by Alexis, a sound suddenly echoed in his mind.
[Congratulations! A Town has been added to your Loyalty System! Unlocked Settlement Loyalty!]
Hearing that, Alexis rejoiced in his heart. Although he did think that Vinya was already loyal to him, seeing a proof sent by the Loyalty System is an even better assurance. Clicking the panel for the Settlement Loyalty, Alexis saw there that Vinya's loyalty is at 83%. It wasn't absolute loyalty, but it's better than hive minds.
While he was looking at the stats of the city, he heard another notification.
[Congratulations! Because a settlement is already loyal to you, the system and REDACTED wishes to reward you!]
[You have received Otherworldly Migrants (1000), Iron Mine x1, Sawmill Blueprint x1, Upgrade Spear Chance x1, Free Settlement Pillar Upgrade.]
One by one, except for the Upgrade Spear Chance that he was familiar with, he read the descriptions of the items given to him.
[Otherworldly Migrants: Summons a migrant from a far away place to live in your settlement. Loyalty may vary.]
[Iron Mine: Summons an iron-rich mineshaft at the designated area.]
[Sawmill Blueprint: Blueprint of a sawmill enhanced by the system. Contains manuals for lumber production.]
[Free Settlement Pillar Upgrade: Upgrades the Settlement Pillar to the next level without need for resources.]
Alexis definitely did not consider using the 1000 Otherworldly Migrants in one go. Not only because of the stupid amount of resources that would be needed to sustain that many people, but also because of their Loyalty. They can be absolutely loyal or would plan to usurp the throne as soon as they could get the chance.
As for the Iron Mine and Sawmill Blueprint, he just needs to look for a proper spot to place them before using them.
The Free Settlement Pillar Upgrade, however, is by far the greatest gift that he had gotten in this batch of rewards.
It's been a while since he had considered upgrading the Settlement Pillar. Resources were tight back then, so the upgrade was set aside. But now that a thousand settlers is just around the corner, he ought to get that already.
Still, he won't use the free upgrade yet. The upgrade from a wooden cottage to a stone house is fairly cheap, so using a free coupon for that is such a waste.
In front of the people, he thought to himself, "What if I do the upgrade in front of the people?" Ever since becoming the Goddess' representative, people became more or less reverent to him. But that was only because he was so. What if he makes a miracle of his own? Although it might still be associated with the Goddess, it would still be somehow connected to him.
With that in mind, he suddenly turned around and left, puzzling the people who were cheering still. Some followed him, and that prompted the majority of them to follow.
Reaching in front of the wooden cottage, he saw Leisandra, sitting peacefully with a cup of tea in hand. When she saw him, she stood up worriedly, "Dear husband, are you okay? What happened to the Horbidians? I know that you were worried about them discovering my presence here, but I could've just disguised myself."
Seeing her silvery eyes softly look at him, Alexis felt his heart was full. Gently stroking her hair, he smiled and comforted, "You need not worry anymore, my love. The thugs have been dealt with."
Leisandra suddenly blushed. She then muttered, "That's… well and good."
[Wife Satisfaction: 95% - 99%]
Alexis almost gawked when he saw this. What's with the ninety-nine percent? Why not a hundred? Truly, Alexis did not know what triggered the sudden increase in satisfaction. He could surmise that maybe it was the stroking of her hair, so Alexis did just that.
After it lasted about a minute without anything happening, Alexis finally heard a notification sound.
[Wife Satisfaction: 99% - 98%]
Alexis:"???"
"Stop that!" Leisandra laughed as she swatted his hand off her head. Behind him, the citizens of Vinya had their faces wincing, cringing with what was happening. Sheepishly chuckling, he then opened the panel of the Settlement Pillar.
After seeing that enough resources have been gathered, he raised his hand mysteriously. "Oh heavens and the earth, heed my call! Turn this cottage into a greater vessel of Vinya's glory!" As soon as he said the last word, he clicked "Upgrade."
A strong gust suddenly ran through all of the people present, no, the entire territory of Vinya. Even Eluminon, who was staying quite a distance away, felt the massive amount of energy congregating in the town. With a wave of his hand, he vanished from his position and reappeared near the cottage.
"What is happening?" Eluminon asked. One of the citizens of Vinya looked at the towering elf and said, trembling, "We have no idea. The King just suddenly bailed on us and walked here. Now, something is happening after he said something about the heavens and the earth answering his call."
Eluminon roamed his eyes on Alexis' hand then at the vortex of energy. He knew that the power wasn't coming from Alexis, but with what was happening, it looked like he was, in some way, responsible for the situation.
The elf continued to observe. As for Alexis, even he was marveling at what was going on. From the stockpiles of resources, stones and wood and other necessary resources began flying over and combining in front of their very eyes.
After about a minute, the vortex of energy subsided. When everything settled, a stone house appeared in front of them. It can't be called "just a stone house" because its walls were engraved with very intricate details that cannot possibly have been made by man, or any mortal being.
The people gasped in shock and awe. They couldn't believe that their King had made something like this! Before the men could marvel any further, Eluminon slowly, yet shakingly, walked towards the stone house. He ran his hand through the walls and shuddered.
Alexis was about to approach the elf to ask what was going on with him when the elf suddenly bursted with supremely divine light, temporarily blinding those who were gazing at him. A loud roar came from the elf, before the light began gradually receding. Eluminon, when revealed to them, was gasping for air, sweat trickling down his entire body.
"T-That…" Eluminon opened his mouth to speak, but he cannot articulate his message properly. After calming himself for a moment, he began panickingly elaborating, "Each carving, each crevice held more impossibly intricate patterns. Only a god can do something like this!"