Chapter 2: A Letter from Afar

[Task 1: Build the Hanging Gardens]

From the moment Bruno first opened the Wonder Building System, every time he saw this task, he felt a tinge of melancholy.

Is this... some kind of joke?!

Starting off with a hellish difficulty level?

Ah, this damn system!

For Bruno, this wasn't a game, and the Hanging Gardens couldn't simply be built by planting a few trees or hammering a few nails.

Most people are somewhat familiar with the Hanging Gardens of Babylon, one of the Seven Wonders of the World. However, this miracle, whose very existence is still debated, left Bruno utterly clueless about how to proceed.

When Bruno focused his thoughts on the task description, a golden flash appeared, followed by a lengthy introduction about the Hanging Gardens of Babylon, exuding the aura of a Baidu (it is similar to google) encyclopedia entry.

After quickly skimming through the verbose text, the only sentence that stood out was the final one: "The true appearance of the Hanging Gardens remains shrouded in the mists of history..."

Bruno wanted to curse. He felt as though ten thousand alpacas were stampeding through his mind...

Without any reference or instructions, how the hell am I supposed to build this?

Not to mention the immense manpower and resources required to construct a wonder, Bruno didn't even know what the Hanging Gardens were supposed to look like.

As he pondered, a series of knocks sounded at the door.

Bruno got up and opened the door to find the old butler, Ford, hunched over, standing at the entrance with his personal attendant, Shabi, behind him.

"Come in."

Bruno turned and walked straight to his desk, sitting down.

Old Butler Ford was a veteran of the castle, having once served as Bruno's father's personal attendant, accompanying him on his travels.

Bruno's father, Adam Stuart, was a former imperial general who had earned merit in suppressing the rebellion in the Exeter Province. As a result, he was granted the hereditary title of Earl of Idar by the Regency Council.

Old Butler Ford had followed Bruno's father into battle, even slaying enemy chieftains. He was now one of Bruno's most trusted and relied-upon confidants.

"My lord, this is a letter from the Regency Council."

The elderly butler, now in his fifties, handed over a letter.

The seal bore the double-headed eagle emblem of the Regency Council, surrounded by a faint magical aura—a method used in this world to ensure the confidentiality of correspondence.

From the memories of the original body, Bruno knew that the Regency Council of the Norman Empire was the highest authority in the land. Especially with the royal family's influence waning, the council, composed of five powerful nobles, held immense power.

Bruno took the letter, feeling a sense of unease. The Regency Council was quite far from small nobles like him in the remote regions, and they rarely interacted. He couldn't tell whether this sudden correspondence was good or bad.

As Bruno read the letter, Old Butler Ford and Shabi naturally retreated to the doorway, awaiting their lord's instructions.

"The Regency Council is recruiting tens of thousands of laborers across the country to build a divine statue. Even our earldom is required to provide fifty commoners who are followers of the Church."

After finishing the letter, Bruno spoke gravely.

"Build a divine statue?" Old Butler Ford frowned. "Isn't that the Church's business?"

Bruno shook the envelope. "But it's issued in the name of the Regency Council."

"Can we use serfs? If we forcibly recruit commoners, we might have to mobilize the family's private troops," Old Ford said solemnly.

Bruno glanced at the letter again and shook his head helplessly.

Commoners were different from serfs, who were bound by personal dependency. Commoners were free people who owned their own land and only needed to pay a portion of their taxes to the lord.

As for commoners who followed the Church, most were relatively well-off. Only a fool would willingly travel far and wide to do hard labor.

"Archbishop Mels dreamed of entering the divine realm, feeling the teachings of the gods..." Bruno read word by word. "Recruit ten thousand commoners to build a divine statue, to repay the gods' grace and redeem our sins..."

Wait...

Building a divine statue?

But... who in this world has truly seen the face of a god?

It's nothing more than a figment of human imagination.

But if that's the case... could I also build a so-called Hanging Gardens based on my own imagination?

Bruno felt that his idea had some merit.

With a thought, the familiar text once again appeared in Bruno's vision.

["From the first stirrings of life beneath water to the great beasts of the Stone Age..."].

The same old startup animation. After a moment, the system finally loaded.

Glancing past the status panel on the left, Bruno eagerly reread the task about building the Hanging Gardens.

It seemed... the system didn't require him to follow any specific standards...

So... this was actually an open-ended question?

Although it still seemed incredibly difficult... at least it left him some room to maneuver.

"My lord?"

Old Butler Ford noticed Bruno's gaze drifting and waved his hand, calling out softly.

Shabi, standing nearby, quickly whispered, "A few days ago, when you weren't in the city, I served the earl. He often fell into deep thought. You see... our lord is truly a noble of great wisdom!"

"Is... that so?" Old Butler Ford was momentarily stunned. He looked at Bruno again and, indeed, the earl seemed to be deep in thought, strategizing.

"Our lord is working so hard... at just seventeen or eighteen years old, he has to bear the responsibility of governing an entire territory..." Old Ford suddenly felt a wave of emotion. "Shabi, tell the kitchen to prepare more black pudding for dinner. We must ensure the lord gets proper nourishment."

"Yes, I understand," Shabi replied promptly.

Exiting the system interface, Bruno looked at the two whispering men.

"What are you talking about?" Bruno asked with a smile.

"My lord, the old butler noticed how busy you are and instructed me to have the kitchen prepare more black pudding."

The smile on Bruno's face suddenly stiffened.

"That won't be necessary... just prepare more white bread... Actually, I'll go to the kitchen myself later."

"But my lord, you can't go to where the servants..."

Before Old Ford could finish, Bruno raised his hand, cutting him off.

"It's settled..." Bruno changed the subject. "As for recruiting commoners, there's no need to rush. Old Ford, I'll give you three days to conduct a census in Idar."

"A... census?" Old Ford was confused.

"A census. It means registering all the commoners and serfs living in Idar. Not just their names and ages, but also their occupations, addresses, relatives, and other relevant information."

The census was a carefully considered decision by Bruno. Although Idar was now his fief, he knew almost nothing about its specifics. He could only estimate the population roughly.

After all, the original owner of this body was an utterly absurd nobleman who only cared about daily pleasures and paid little attention to the affairs of his territory.

"But what's the use of this?" Old Ford asked, puzzled.

"Of course, it's useful," Bruno replied.

"For example, take this recruitment of commoners. If we had detailed information about all the commoners, we could first filter out the idle troublemakers and layabouts... Similarly, we could identify talented individuals through the census. In short, although it seems troublesome now, it will be of great use in the future."

"As you wish, my lord," Old Ford said thoughtfully.