Management

The sharp crow of a rooster heralding a new day reached Ethan's ears, stirring him up from sleep.

Opening his eyes, his hand moved to his face on instinct, to block out the sunlight peering into the room.

He tried to sit up, but his body felt heavy, sluggish—like a heavy weight pressing on top of him.

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

As his vision adjusted, he saw Anna smiling while lying on top of him, her head propped up on her hands.

"Morning, Chief."

An awkward silence permeated the room, followed by a piercing scream.

Jolting up abruptly, Ethan threw Anna off his body.

Hitting the floor with a soft thud. Anna blinked, rubbing her arm, she slowly stood up.

"Ouch."

Dusting off her dress, she 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 must've been watching for a while. How long has she been here?!'

"How long have you been staring at me?"

Anna replied, a smile on her face. "A couple hours."

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

Tilting her head, her lips curled into a smirk. "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 waved his hand as he climbed off the bed, "You know what I don't even wanna know. Shoo, go on shoo."

Stretching lazily, he stole a quick glance at Anna while prompting the appraisal feature of the system.

[Target Identified]

Name: Anna Rivera

Class: Nill

Alignment: Cross Village

Threat Level: Nill

Elemental affinity: Lightning

'Anna Rivera. That's strange, most of the villagers I scanned yesterday didn't have any surnames.'

Opening his mouth to ask Anna, he reconsidered, choosing to stay quiet and investigate himself.

Noticing Ethan's pondering gaze, Anna asked, "Is.. everything alright?"

"Yeah everything's alright."

Feigning a look of confusion, Ethan asked in turn. "Why do you ask."

Shaking her head, Anna walked toward the door. 'He seems a bit strange ever since the poisoning attempt.'

Walking outside, Ethan inhaled the dew filled morning air. Then proceeded toward the meeting hall, walking past Romelu moving uncut stone blocks at the construction site.

The sounds of a hammer banging against wood coming from Jord sitting by the side.

They both glanced up. "Morning Chief."

Nodding in acknowledgement, he responded, "Morning Romelu, Morning Jord."

While walking through the village, Ethan 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 sacks, hurling it to the store house. Others waved, murmured greetings as he passed.

Entering the meeting hall, he saw Ludwig and Helen already seated.

"Good morning, elders."

"Morning, Chief."

Taking a seat, Ethan asked, "Where's elder Morris?"

Ludwig chuckled, flipping a page without looking up. "That old bag of bones Morris is probably still snoring louder than Torren's forge. The years haven't been exactly kind to him."

Shaking his head, he refocused his attention on the book he was reading.

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

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

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

The door creaked open, and in came Morris shuffling his foot across the floorboards.

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?"

Looking up briefly, Ludwig replied, "Good to see you alive, Morris. Barely." Muttering the last part to himself.

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."

Walking to a row of cabinets, Helen muttered as she shuffled through stacks of parchment.

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

Returning to her seat, she set the parchment in front of Ethan.

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

Flipping through the reports, Ethan's face turned 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 with a tired shrug. "Told you it wasn't much. Last harvest wasn't so kind."

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

Seeing the elders nod of approval, Ethan decided to drop the bombshell. "I'll also 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? 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 The Vale fully—most 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 black wisp coated the tip of his fingers undulating eerily.

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 Ethan's fingertip in awe.

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

Rolling his eyes, Ludwig muttered, "Spoilsport."

Turning his gaze to Helen, Ethan opened his mouth but no words came out.

Noticing the shift, Helen waved her hand 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. "Always."

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

Ethan flicked his fingers, making the wisp 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 a myth, you'd know that, if you read any other book apart from income reports."

To which Ludwig retorted, "I would have read other books if they had numbers on it."

"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.

Sighing, Ludwig adjusting his glasses. "Just don't die out there, Chief."

"I'll be careful.. and how are arrangements for my late father's burials."

Watching the elders musing expression, Ethan marveled at how easily the words 'late father's burial' had slipped out of his mouth.

Exhaling, Morris' voice broke the silence. All preparations are done and the ceremony will be held tomorrow."

"That'll be all then, I'll take a team into the forest when the burial has been finalised."

Standing up, Ethan made his towards the door.

"Be careful when you're out there, Chief."

Pausing by the door Ethan nodded. "I will." Pushing it open, he stepped outside.

Trudging along the dirt path snaking through the village, he scoffed, "Why isn't there a daily login in this game."

As the sun settled over the village, Ethan knocked on the door of a quaint wooden cottage.

The door groaned open, revealing an elderly man with white hair littered all over his auburn hair.

"Maester Roland."

Looking at Ethan in surprise, the old Maester said, "Chief Ethan. I heard about your recovery I would've made the trip but –" Gesturing at his hips, he continued with a light chuckle. "They seem to always disagree."

Groaning, he gestured inside the house, "Forgive my manners, please come inside Chief."

As they settled down opposite each other separated by a small wooden table populated by books, herbs and spices, Maester Roland asked, "To what do I owe this visit Chief?"

Sitting up, Ethan said, "I had a little chat here and there with the villagers and I couldn't help but notice most of them didn't have a last name. Why's that?"

Maester Roland nodded with a knowing gaze. "Ohh, that. Your father didn't tell you?" Seeing Ethan shake his head, he continued, "He most probably didn't know the full extent of it. Like most folk..."

Maester Roland shook his head to reel his thought back in. "Your observation has something to do with the Dexa Numena…"