Follower! (Part 2)

Three days quickly passed by.

With over one hundred experienced sailors, the planning and construction of the port went smoothly. That morning, more than ten fishing boats went fishing down the river. Starting that day, the port would be able to supply a certain amount of fish to the town on a daily basis.

The expansion of the temple was still in progress, and the second batch of Greek infantry was still undergoing training in the town military barracks. In the past couple of days, not only had Murphy gained a "genius navigator" as a follower, but he had also gained the new General Hamilton, an outstanding and capable "instructor," as a follower. Murphy was starting to get an idea of what the followers within the auxiliary system of the game were. For now, anyone who was recognized and recommended by the auxiliary system as potential followers were generally talented individuals in their respective industries. They were all incredibly outstanding, and it was precisely because they were so outstanding that the auxiliary system rated them highly and evaluated them as worthy of being a General's follower.

Murphy had always been lukewarm toward the aborigines.

He didn't deliberately get close to them, but he didn't ignore them either. Although Lady Elizabeth had a charming face that made people's hearts skip a beat, intuition told Murphy that a woman like that wasn't someone he should mess with. Even when she deliberately tried to get close to him, Murphy was careful to keep a proper distance between them. These aborigines would be useful in the future, so he had to learn how to maintain an appropriate relationship with them.

The prettier the girl, the more dangerous.

. . . . . . . . . . . .

"Instructor (an outstanding instructor who knows the best and fastest way to train soldiers, while also being cost effective) army mobility +5, military training cost -20%."

This follower had obviously been discovered and groomed by Hamilton during military training.

The second batch of troops had roughly 240 people, all of whom were strong men selected from the group of sailors. Most of them already had some combat skills, so they were able to achieve twice the result during training, while only putting in half the effort.

On the Strategy Map, the gnolls were frequently becoming more and more active. It seemed like the other clans living nearby were now aware that a formidable enemy was around. In the past few days, at least three to five gnoll clans had gathered together, one after the other.

Fortunately, Murphy had already eliminated the largest one among them, which had more than 300 matured gnolls.

The blacksmith shop had been set up, but due to a lack of iron ore, the worn-out weapons had to be smelted. In order to properly set up the town's blacksmith shop, Murphy had to find a sufficient and stable source of iron ore. Within the town's territory, there was currently only one open-air coal mine, and Murphy had yet to extract its coal. If he could get a proper source of iron ore, in addition to this open-air coal mine, he would be able to do a lot more!

Just as Murphy was about to calculate the amount of resources the town had left, General Hamilton's herald came to the Governor's Mansion and respectfully reported, "Your Excellency, General Hamilton has asked me to invite you over."

"Hmm? I'll be there soon." Hamilton had outstanding management talent. During this period of time, Murphy had left all the basic operations of the territories and military training to him, and he had handled them very well.

But he had no idea why he had invited him over now.

Was there an issue he wasn't able to handle?

Leaving the task at hand to the treasurer, Murphy tided up his clothes and hurriedly left for the military barracks.

The treasurer that he had recently promoted had average capabilities. His ability to calculate data statistics was only slightly better than any ordinary town resident's, and he had yet to reach the level where the auxiliary system would recommend him as a "follower," which was why Murphy still had to do many things himself.

When Murphy arrived at the military barracks, the three teams of Greek infantry were vigorously training in the square. The three infantry teams that had previously been trained had basic combat abilities, and as long as they got some actual combat experience, they would be qualified soldiers. There were currently eight troops in town: six teams of Greek infantry, two teams of General Guards, and a team of Spartan infantry. In total, it was a military that had the strength of 609 people.

Once the 240 newly-trained soldiers came up to standard, the town of Athens would have a military strength of about 850 people.

Nearly one-third of the population was in the military!

Murphy had to train as many soldiers as possible in case the gnolls decided to strike. The large gathering of gnolls outside Athens told Murphy that an intense battle was coming, just like how rising winds forebode a coming storm!

After patrolling the military barracks, Murphy realized that the newly appointed General Hamilton wasn't in charge of the military training. Instead, the person in charge was a tall and firm 40-year-old middle-aged man. He had strong muscles and a solemn expression on his face.

This man gave off a really strong soldier vibe and looked like a steel-hearted soldier who had a lot of experience killing in battle!

"Your Excellency." Just as Murphy was touring the military barracks, the new General Hamilton trotted over to his side. This soldier with a face like stone respectfully bowed down to Murphy and said, "I'd like to promote someone to Chief Instructor. He has much more experience than I do when it comes to training soldiers!"

"Chief Instructor?" Murphy was dubious and suspected something, but said, "You can sign this kind of designation yourself. There's no need to get permission from me at all."

Chief Instructor? Was it the middle-aged man who was currently training the soldiers?

"He… he's my father…" Hamilton said slowly, looking at Murphy with a rare expression of embarrassment on his face.

"Your father?" Murphy finally understood what was going on. He laughed, then patted Hamilton, who was half a head taller than him, on the shoulder and said, "I know that there's a saying from the East that states 'A tiger father will not beget a dog son.' Since he's your father, I feel even more at ease with him training the troops."

A hint of gratitude appeared on Hamilton's face. He straightened his back and said in a deep voice, "My father is a real soldier. He's better than I am at training soldiers and teaching new recruits how to fight!"

At that moment, the auxiliary system's alert sound rang in Murphy's ear!

"Ding! Following the promotion of Culis to Chief Instructor, Culis will automatically be classified as the Lord's subordinate."

"Chief Instructor—Culis (He is a real soldier, and the wounds that cover his body are like medals of honor! He has extensive experience in wars and battles. He knows how to tutor new recruits and teach them ways to stay alive on the battlefield.) Army mobility +15, can assist the general in commanding the army, military training cost – 30%, military training speed increased by 20%, military training experience +1."

"Ding! The relationship with General Hamilton has strengthened. Received Hamilton's gratitude."

. . . . . . . . . . . .

Trying to suppress the joy on his face, Murphy gave Hamilton a strong pat on his shoulder and said, "Train them as fast as you can. We'll soon be facing a huge battle!"

"Yes, Your Excellency!" Hamilton stood straight and said with a deep voice.

Did the position one had determine their abilities?

Even if you were highly capable, you couldn't display your abilities unless you were in a position that corresponded to those abilities?

Murphy thought about this for a bit. It seemed like within the auxiliary system, there were still many things that he had yet to explore and discover for himself!