Homesteading in a fantasy world

The next month went by quite fast, but it was a busy and fun time. Building the compound, teaching others, and training them was really enjoyable.

The main building was a behemoth of a structure. Unfortunately, we couldn't build it larger than three stories, as that was not allowed in this city.

While the front of the building looked at least a little bit inviting, this place was not meant to entertain a lot of people who weren’t from the company. It was meant to be functional—a place where our company could operate out of and our members could feel safe and united.

For that reason, most of the lower floor was taken up by the kitchen and cafeteria, but also a bar area. The second floor was mostly meeting rooms but also storage areas. The top floor had most of the offices, but currently, a lot of them will remain empty. The basement housed the armory and the indoor training areas.

The second-largest building was something close to a barracks. It had more privacy, but the rooms were still small and had bunk beds. It would still be more comfortable than a true barracks. The basement was mainly for storage. The third largest, however, which actually had the largest footprint, was a two-story workshop/stable.

It had a semi-open side where the smithy was, and on the other side of the building were the stables. The middle was currently a large open area that would be filled with a lot of work tables so people could work on their own projects.

There was also a place where we could store our carriage, and people could work on it if needed. There was a chance that we might want to get more than one carriage in the future, but right now, this workshop area was only meant for one carriage.

The second floor was more storage, and so was the basement. Into the basement would go heavier things like metals and stone. Into the second floor would go resources that weigh less, like leather and stuff like that.

The last building was a sauna. It was large and also had a small pool. Having two sources of recreation would help quite a lot. Currently, it was winter, but there would also be an outdoor pond and a lot of the area would be covered in grass.

Inside the compound, there was also a large area for training and, near a wall, a place where animals could be trained, but currently, it was only meant for Francis.

There were still a lot of finishing touches that needed to be made, especially building all the furniture, but we were slowly getting everything done.

It was on a quite cold morning when I was doing some paperwork in my new office in the company compound's new main building. The knock on my door came as a surprise to me. "Come in?" I said in complete confusion.

Arabella walked in, greeting me. "Good morning, Rich. I would like to talk to you about company business if you have the time?" I gave an affirmative nod and indicated for her to sit, which she did.

"As you know, today I will start interviewing people who have shown interest in joining the company. If the interview goes well, they will be joining us here for a week of evaluation.”

“Therein lies the problem. The training you are giving is, well, let's say intense. I’m afraid... I think if they saw that, many would not be willing to join us. So I’m here to ask you to take a break?"

"Are you sure you’re not just asking that so you would not have to train?" She schooled her reaction well, but it seemed that she wasn't going to deny it. "I would be lying if I said that wasn’t part of the reason, but I genuinely think it would be better for recruitment."

I took some time to think this over. The current training I was doing was not meant for people who were just starting out, and because of that, Luke was getting an easier version than the rest. But first impressions are important, and even if we explained it as an advanced training method, it might still colour their opinion on whether they wanted to join. "Agreed. Is there anything else?"

She shook her head, so I continued the paperwork I was doing. It was only so long I could dodge the paperwork I had back at the capital, so now I had to catch up on everything. I shouldn't have done that; doing small bites every day is better than facing a mountain of paperwork that seemed never-ending.

Perhaps I need a few more assistants, but the things I’m looking over are actually important. This is also a good way to understand how the United Freeholds is doing as a whole and what the current projects and future estimates look like.

Overall, things are going pretty well. Winter is always a quiet time. There isn’t so much snow this year, so things are a bit more active. The food we got last year is being put to good use, and since there's more than we can use, we have been able to sell off quite a lot to get important resources or straight coin.

Building up the country's coffers would be important. Like every other year, when spring comes, there's a lot of expansion planned.

It also seems that the flood of refugees is never-ending as the constant wars force populations to move constantly all over the world. Being in Connection is a glimpse into how things used to be all around the world.

There are families here who have lived in the same place for generations, doing the same as their parents and their parents before them. Things were upgraded slowly as it was a hard life, but overall, it was a good living.

Now, in the many fallen kingdoms, the petty kingdoms fight for territory. Most of those wars are not pleasant ones, with proper rules of engagement.

These are wars for survival because if you lose, your life and the nation you are trying to build and every relative you have, would be put to death. It's a good thing that I have been able to stabilize the political situation around the United Freeholds.

The Queen's nation is currently busy dealing with the increasing number of people who are unhappy with their rule, but that's not unique to their nation. Most of the new rulers don't really know how to rule a nation and the populace underneath it. Some push too hard; some are too lenient; both ways would bring quite a lot of trouble down the line.

Because of our population increase, we have also faced some troubles, but we are slowly developing a proper system of laws and punishments. Last month, during one of my visits to the capital, I personally handled two executions.

They were public affairs but needed. Even with our screening, some people just break when there's too little or too much pressure, and things like that can rarely be avoided.

While I did not enjoy doing this, it was important. We gave a lot to our citizens, and it is in the nature of people, when they get something, to try to get more. So, it was important to show that there were limits, hard limits, and people who exceeded them would be punished severely.

There was also a reason why there were basically no prisons in this world. Keeping people who are past a certain power level is incredibly difficult and expensive, meaning most of the time, executing the offender is the best option.

We still had a city lockup where most of the people who got into a bar fight or had some other minor infraction went to for a few days. Overall, however, we had a lot less trouble like that.

It seems that the combination of choosing who comes to the capital, the way people can choose how to work, and the overall benefits we offer was good enough to keep almost everyone happy. Hopefully, this will continue to be the case even in the future.