Thud. Thud. Hikari stepped out of her chambers.
The sound of her heavy boots on the pavement.
She was back at the estate.
Click. She strapped a dagger to her back and one of her swords. It was all she needed for protection.
She straps on the hearthstone shard to her chest. She could feel its mana gently flowing into her.
Her running outfit. Loose tops and skirt. The only exception was her boots. The pair that she wears to the front line.
She stretched her arms and legs.
The sun was barely up. The morning air was chilly.
Thud. Thud. She marched. She has a long day ahead of her.
Herdial is a major supplier of agricultural goods. Most pressing of which is draft animals. Steam tanks also do the trick, but they are sent to the fields of Elai and Elis to prop up the loss of draft animals to monsters invading the farmlands. Without draft animals, plowing becomes that much more difficult. There's also a lack of men. Lost to Carla and other fronts. The soil in RazenHeir and Carla territory is generally soft. It rains too much. Which makes them difficult to plow and cultivate.
Rey's voice in her head.
Stab. Hikari sticks the pair of plows into the ground. They were meant for horses. But they were a tad too small for her.
The sound of mud churning beneath her boot as she dragged the saddles.
She stopped. There was a boulder stuck in the ground in front of her.
She let go of the plows and placed her hand on the stone.
"Shatter."
The stone broke into pieces.
She grabbed her shovel.
It was more of a sweeping pan improvised by the farmers for her.
She tossed the pieces of stone to the side and continued plowing.
You are going to have to cultivate new farmland. Much of the Carla territory has ghouls roaming about. It will take many more months to find a permanent solution to the red mist. You need to create some new farmland closer to the RazenHeir territory which is safe. To that end, you need to cut down some trees. Don't just burn the forest down. The timber sells very well. Plenty of rebuilding needs to be done. Plus, we need the wood to craft the butt of muskets.
Hikari drew her dagger and sawed a marking to the side of the tree.
She can't risk setting the surrounding alight, so she just has to rely on her brute strength.
She swings in a horizontal low arc.
Her sword was off the mark just slightly, causing the sound of splinters and crushed wood.
The tree fell nonetheless. It didn't so much as fall as getting brutally knocked off its trunk.
She grabbed the tree by the trunk and carried it on her shoulder.
A troop of her pit crew showed up pulling a cart.
She unloaded the tree. The men sawed off the branches.
Off they go. They were one sixth of Hikari's morning run away from the estate town where the timber could be processed.
Hikari began sawing another tree.
"Too slow."
She kept her dagger and pulled out her sword.
She swung, allowing the raw momentum of her sword to hit the bark.
The heavy chunk of metal crashed into the tree.
Splinters flew in all directions.
The tree was knocked off its stump.
If there were other lumberjacks around, the splinters would have killed them.
Crunch! Slash!
Holding her sword with both arms.
She knocked tree after tree off their stumps.
Her sword smashes through the bark with one swing.
A farming patch was cleared just like that.
She keeps her sword and stretches her arms.
"That was actually a good drilling session. Too bad I can't always destroy the forest like that."
You are going to need seeds. There's a lost caravan somewhere close to the Herdial border.
There's some fertilizer as well. I doubt the ghouls find that appetizing.
Hikari leapt through the air.
"There."
From her elevated position, she notices an abandoned caravan along the country road.
Boom. She landed.
There was not a living soul in sight.
She could make out bones of horses protruding out of the ground.
The ghouls had already picked the place clean and moved on.
But at least the goods seemed intact.
She could smell the stench of the fertilizer stored in the grain bags.
Thud.
As she approached the caravan, a swarm of brown rodents hiding in the caravan scurried away.
"Ivory berries, the rodents got to the seeds."
She began loading the bags of fertilizer anyway.
The bags that contained seed were all chewed into and emptied out.
There was just one chest remaining.
She picked it up. It was locked.
There were scratches and bite marks all over the wooden surface.
She could sense the rodents line up in the bushes nearby watching her.
Their excited squeaky voices.
"I guess this is what I'm looking for."
There's a lot of infrastructure that needs to be built. Much of the Carla territory had been ravaged by war. You are going to need to do a lot of rebuilding. Just provide the muscle to move the timber and stone to where it needs to be. The farmers can handle the rest.
Wooden planks and steel nails for buildings.
Crushed stone and tar for the roads.
Two columns of carts that would have required at least a dozen horses to pull.
She has the strength of at least a dozen horses.
The cart wheels creaked and chattered as they were dragged along the uneven stone road.
One cart broke off. Stone and tar for the road being laid.
Another one broke off. Wooden plank and steel nails for a storehouse and some fencing.
One by one, the carts peeled off. Bringing their goods to wherever they were needed.
The last cart reaches its destination.
Hikari stretches her arms.
She bent down and stretched her thighs and calves.
"That was a good workout. Maybe I should do this instead."
[Physique 1000+ -> 1000+ (+30)]