Management

Ethan moved his hand to block the sunlight peering into the room.

He tried to sit up but his body felt heavy, sluggish—like he'd just run a marathon.

Blinking, he rubbed his eyes, trying to adjust to the light—

Then he saw Anna smiling, lying on top of him. Head propped up on her hands. Staring.

"Morning, Chief."

An awkward silence permeated the room, followed by Ethan screaming, "Ahhh." Jolting up abruptly, throwing Anna off his body onto the floor.

Anna hit the floor with a soft thud. She blinked, rubbing her arm, before slowly standing up.

"Ouch." She dusted off her dress, then shot him a glare. "You really don't know how to treat a lady."

Ethan's eye twitched. The way she was lying, head resting on her hands, meant she had been watching him for a while.

How long has she been here?!

"How long have you been staring at me?"

Anna replied smiling. "A couple hours."

Staring at Anna's casual expression, his lips twitched. "Don't you have anything better to do."

Her tilted her head, smiling subtly. "And who's going to watch your cute expression while you sleep."

"Have you done this before?"

Her smile widened. But she didn't answer.

Shuddering Ethan waving his hand as he climbed off the bed, "You know what I don't even wanna know, shoo go on shoo."

___________________________

Walking outside Ethan inhaled the morning air, he proceeded towards the meeting hall, walking past Romelu moving uncut stone blocks towards a construction site, the sounds of a hammer banging against wood coming from Sigrid sitting by the side.

They both glanced up, "Morning Chief."

Nodding in acknowledgement, he responded. "Morning Romelu, morning Sigrid."

As Ethan walked through the village, he took in the early morning bustle.

Children chased each other near the well, their laughter mixing with the rhythmic hammering from the construction site. A few villagers loaded potatoes inside sack, preparing for trade. Others waved, murmuring greetings as he passed.

Opening the meeting hall he saw Ludwig and Helen already seated. "Good morning Elders."

"Morning Chief."

"Where's elder Morris?" He asked as he sat down.

Ludwig chuckled, flipping a page in his book without looking up. "That old bag of bones? Morris is probably still snoring louder than the village forge. The years haven't been kind to him."

Helen sighed. "You shouldn't speak of an elder like that, Ludwig."

Ludwig adjusted his glasses, smirking. "I'd say it to his face if he were awake."

Ethan leaned back in his chair. "Well, let's get started. We've got resources to manage, and—"

The door creaked open. Morris shuffled in, yawning loud enough to shake the rafters. He cracked his back with an audible pop before glaring at Ludwig.

"Did someone call for an old bag of bones?"

Ludwig smirked. "Good to see you alive, Morris. Barely."

Morris sank into his chair, waving a hand dismissively. "Barely is all you need at my age."

"—a village to oversee. Good morning elder Morris"

"Morning Chief."

Ethan leaned forward clasping his hands atop the desk. "Alright, let's get started. First on the agenda—resource management. We need to know what's left in storage and what we need to prioritize."

"What food resources do we have left. Our people need to be fed if we want to keep them working hard."

Helen walked to a row of cabinets, muttering as she shuffled through stacks of parchment.

"Let's see… No, that's the construction materials report… Ah, here we go—food storage."

She strode back, setting the parchment in front of Ethan.

"That's the breakdown of last month's food expenditure," she said, pushing up her glasses. "And what we've got left—though I'll warn you, it's not much."

Flipping through the reports. His face turning grim with each flip, muttering he looked up. "About three weeks' worth of food—maybe less if we don't manage rations properly."

"Helen replied, "Told you it wasn't much."

"I read the tax and income reports yesterday and I have a few ideas on how to improve things."

"I'll lead an expedition into the forest to find a stone quarry or a mine—something we can use for trade."

Morris leaned forward, frowning. "Chief, you sure about that? After what happened with Gareth, we don't know what's lurking out there."

Ludwig snorted. "Worried about ghosts, Elder Morris?"

Morris shook his head. "Bandits. Beasts. Maybe worse Orcs." A collective gasp rang across the room. "There's a reason no one's mapped those woods fully—they don't come back."

Ethan met his gaze, voice firm. "We don't have a choice. Sitting here worrying won't feed the village."

"Besides." Ethan smirked raising his hands a tiny flame lit up at the tip of his fingers dancing wildly.

Morris gasped, nearly pushing his chair back. "Incredible! You awakened magic. It seems the gods are finally smiling at our village." Ludwig nodded his eyes fixed at the fire in awe.

"Care to explain, how it happened Chief?" Helen cut in.

Ludwig, muttered. "Spoilsport."

Etha stared at Helen, opening his mouth but no words came out.

Waving her hands dismissively, "Fine if you don't want to explain then don't." Sighing she continued. "Just keep the good of the village in mind."

Ethan took a deep breath. "I know."

Helen crossed her arms, staring at the flame. "From the little I've heard magic is powerful, but also volatile. Can you control it?"

Ethan flicked his fingers, making the flame vanish. "Working on it."

Ludwig whistled. "Our Chief's got magic now? Next thing we know, he'll be summoning dragons."

Morris snorted. "Dragons are extinct, you'd know that, if you read any other book apart from tax reports."

"Chief, if something happens to you, the village will be leaderless." Helen frowned, fingers tapping against the desk.

Morris nodded. "We should send scouts first. Let them map the land before you step into it."

Ethan leaned forward. "And what if those scouts don't come back? Every day we waste, our food supply shrinks. We can't afford to waste anymore time."

As the elders fell into silence, Ethan exhaled slowly. He had spoken with confidence, but deep down, he knew Morris had a point.

The forest was an unknown. And unknowns could kill.

Ludwig sighed, adjusting his glasses. "Just don't die out there, Chief. Paperwork's a pain."

"I'll be careful...that'll be all then, I'll take a team into the forest. I'll be back before lunch." He said standing up and making his towards the door,

"Be careful out there, Chief."

Pausing by the door Ethan nodded. "I will." Pushing it open and stepping outside.

___________________________

"Why isn't there a daily login in this game." He scoffed as he trudged along the dirt path.

[It's called Rise of empires, not already built empire.]