After introducing the mattock to his population, Rino started to see small but significant changes in his subordinate's mindset. The hoe was no longer despised, and some farmers opted to remove the other tool heads, customising their mattocks to their specific needs.

This was exactly what he wanted. People started to understand that the hoe was simply a tool for those who needed it. Farmers were not any less important than seamstresses, miners or secretaries. Without them, there would be no offerings for the cat statue gods. Without farmers, there would be no taro beers or fried potatoes. Without them, there would be nothing for the cookhouse to work with, no wheat for the millers to grind and no festivals to look forward to.

Little by little, the mindset shifted, and everyone started taking pride in their assigned duties. Yet, the tool was still called a mattock even if more of those started looking like common axes, pickaxes, shovels and hoes.

Ping!

===

Daily Quest #31

Objective: Build Pathways

Time Limit: 30 Days

Tutorial here.

Reward: Town Speed Buff

Claim your reward here.

Penalty: Deduct 24 hours of sleep upon failure and [Curse of Overtime] until quest is forcefully completed.

===

Ok, the new quest was pretty dope. Rino had to admit, the gods knew what they were doing. Building a pathway wasn't difficult. In fact, Rino already had all the materials required for it. Pathways were built from stone bricks or any kind of brick, cement and maybe fences.

However, he had a feeling that the gods were starting to understand him better as an individual when they gave him such a generous timeline. This wasn't a simple transportation enhancement project. It was more than that, and the gods knew it.

Rino had most of the things he needed up and running in the operation sense. However, there were still things that were missing from the full picture of a prosperous town. The first was the lack of order in the town, and his subordinates often rested wherever they found cosy.

It was unacceptable. Even if the undead did not require sleep, Rino could not deny them a place to relax. The Nightless Underpass gave townsfolk a chance to visit Noir Province for short holidays, but it wasn't enough. Rino wanted them to have a way to unwind after a huge project. Ever since his discovery of that hot spring bath, Rino had an idea.

Noir Province had its own hot springs, and perhaps it was only fair that Rino built something for the hardworking subordinates in Town Zera. At the back of his mind, the concept of currency exchange returned as Rino sat down in his cosy stone cottage to plan.

Putting together a list of building projects for the town renovation and potential pathways, Rino noticed that a large part of what he aspired for this town was already accomplished thanks to the chain of daily quests.

===

Town Zera's Building Project List:

Leather tannery (done)

Farm (partially done)

Mines renovation (done)

Living quarters for workers (not started)

Hot spring (not started)

Blacksmithing house (done)

Crafting guild (not started)

Marketplace (not started)

Windmill (done)

Animal Barn (done)

Compost area (done)

Magic Tree (done)

Town outposts and roads (not started)

Defence array (done)

===

Looking at that list, Rino could safely assume that most of his work could be finished in two weeks if Rino paused the other ongoing production cycles. The offerings could be kept to a minimum, and the miners could help with constructions instead. He wanted to prioritise the living quarters for workers and the hot spring bathhouse to be completed within the first two weeks. These two amenities were probably the more exciting ones on the list.

Originally, Rino had plans to create the crafting guild near the clay mine because of Ubel's base of operations. However, most of the crafting skills are required in Town Zera, where the forge was. Compared to transferring wet clay, it was harder to transport completed ceramics and moulds that could be fragile and took up more space. Rino looked at Town Zera's updated map and picked a spot that would serve as a good crafting guild location. Ideally, he should put it near the river.

Thankfully, the stone cottage that Rino was in could be extended. He thought it would be wiser for the new crafting guild and pottery shenanigans to be shoved beside the cookhouse. Thankfully, there was no need for the crafters to use any waterwheels. The pottery spinning plate could be powered by foot and the speed controlled by the potter. Rino had no idea how things were made from clay, but Ubel's new culinary tools and actual pots looked a lot better than the clumsy clay bowls the hobgoblins made when Rino was still living in his humble farmhouse.

The farm project was progressing smoothly, and the farmers were keeping to the planting, harvesting and land expansion schedule allocated to them. Rino only had one issue. The crops he had in Town Zera were still too few in variety, and the number of plant life found around Noir Province far exceeded what they could cope with.

If Rino was honest, that small spud field he started within Spudville outside his farmhouse wasn't enough to feed his growing population. To reach ten thousand occupants in Town Zera, Rino wondered if these fields would be enough. In fact, he already knew the answer.

He always wanted to do a side mission but had few opportunities because of the tight deadline in between difficult quests. He sent the genesis fairies for a gathering mission in the jungle of dread once before. There, they discovered many species of edible plants but could not bring everything back.

This time, Rino knew that he had many capable fairies and townsfolk who could go on that foraging mission. The food sources they had should not be limited to staples. As a growing community with a diverse palette, it was time to introduce other things into their diet. Rino wanted to see vegetables, herbs, spices and fruits in their meals more. Even without the offering to the gods, his townsfolk should at least enjoy more flavour in their consumed meals. The undead might not need food to survive, but this was a luxury they could afford with the plus side of not gaining any weight because everything turned into mana for Rino.

Rino only had one small worry. Delicious food can give birth to gluttony, and while Rino did not mind, it might impede productivity. Indulgence in anything could never be a good thing. He knew this from first-hand experience in his previous life. Yet, he also understood how difficult it was to climb out of that rabbit hole. Rino never succeeded in bringing himself out of that hole he fell into. None of the magicians in his tower did. In fact, they only encouraged each other to jump into that abyss of thirst for knowledge. Like moths drawn to a flame, it ended up destroying everything.

Sure, Rino might be the catalyst for world destruction, but he couldn't be blamed entirely for what happened. If he never found out the truth behind those space rocks and looked at the future of humanity, he might have been content playing the role of a bright genius.

For this very reason, Rino wanted to properly prepare this world for what was to come. Knowledge was a double-edged sword that could be used to kill and heal. Rino did not want to inspire a never-ending cycle of hatred and stupidity. In his years as a court magician, Rino often witnessed how stupid parents gave birth and raised even more stupid children who thought they were better than their parents. This was a common misunderstanding.

Instead, he wanted to let everyone be fully aware of their shortcomings when they happened and recognise their accomplishments when they achieved a personal breakthrough. Rewards were important for that. Punishments weren't needed because failure was a punishment in itself.

The idea of a marketplace sat firmly in Rino's mind as he circled an area far from the fields, magic tree centre, river, windmill and tannery. It was the perfect spot for social activities to happen and a party venue for festivals. More importantly, Rino wanted to build a bank in this area to issue tokens for his town folks to reward their efforts. The bank should also collect tokens to regulate currency circulation.

Rino was still thinking about the best way to introduce the concept of play alongside work. He did not want his townsfolk to turn into pleasure-seeking idlers or materialistic whores. The idea of working hard and playing hard was difficult to teach without the concept of moderation.

Perhaps it was a little too early to be introducing these things. Judging from the situation in Noir Province, Rino knew that Fowler and his party belonged to the pleasure-seeking gang who could not be trusted to get the job done without a proper whip. Erika was the whip there to ensure those lazy bums got to work. However, Rino was slightly concerned about Sheila and Kamiya's gang because these leaders were very strict. The discipline in these two teams made Rino feel like a slob in comparison. He wanted them to learn how to loosen up a little.

Eventually, Rino placed the marketplace construction on hold for now. He reserved the site for building a large community space just by the space reserved for residential purposes. It should not be difficult to develop the area at a future date when he thought through things properly to decide on the economic system.