His team was all around him, waiting for him to speak.

Jacob had summoned all of them for lunch. Many of the presents already spent most of their time together or shared meals.

But Jacob needed them all here.

“So, it’s been a while since the last time we were all gathered here,” he started, “and since I gathered all of you once again, you might have an idea of what I’m going to say.”

“Are we going on another expedition?” Geneva asked with visible excitement in her eyes.

Jacob smiled.

“Yes, but it’s going to be a mix of an expedition and a round of diplomatic missions.”

“What do you mean?” his Aunt Linda asked.

“There are multiple Ancient Ruins all around the region. Most of them are at the Cockroach realm, but some are made for Mantis realm cultivators. Thanks to the practice you all got, you are much stronger than any other person at your level. So, we will go raid all these places.”

“Shouldn’t we leave some of them to the weaker people here so that they can practice?” Lucius offered.

“That’s an excellent point! Yes! We are going to bring lots of people with us. This is going to be the training these people need to become warriors. You all will act as leaders. After the battle with the Charybdes, you have gathered enough experience to be considered so. I will still instruct all of you in what you will be doing, but we are going to expand our army.”

“Army?” Marina asked.

“Army,” Jacob nodded, “we need an army to start cleaning off the region. We need to start many, many projects. There is crafting, electricity, increasing the number of Alchemists, teaching people Inscription Patterns. You name it. But the first thing we need to do now that people have become stronger is to build a force capable of offense and defense. Higher leveled Demonic Beasts are appearing, and we need to be ready for them.”

“Electricity?” Marcus only heard one word. “Oi, boss, can’t wait to shave with an electric razor. I’ve been cutting myself all over with those dawn axes. I think I went close to slit my own throat the other day.”

“You have been using a Qi reinforced blade to shave yourself?” Jacob felt like crying.

“Lucius said I could do it!” Marcus pointed toward the Mage.

“I did not expect him to take it seriously,” was all Lucius said in his defense.

“Anyway!” Jacob tried to bring the conversation back to its main point. “Helena will stay back. We already talked about it. She will coordinate the defense of St. Peter in case any Demonic Beast or human is attacked.”

Helena softly nodded toward him. They hadn’t spoken much after Frederick’s death. It had torn them apart, and Juliet was now closer to him than ever – if that was even possible, given the Ancestral Bond.

“Who knows the King Arthur’s story?” Jacob asked.

“The guy from the Disney movie?” Joseph said, confused.

“No.”

Jacob then looked at his Aunt Linda.

“King Arthur would disguise himself as a peasant with Merlin’s help. Jacob wants to do the same to see how people in the other towns would treat him.”

Aunt Linda was the most well-read person among the group, bar none. Her great culture and the intimate understanding of her nephew made it possible for her to grasp his aim within moments.

“Exactly. There are no people in the Mantis realm in most towns. Even if there were, there shouldn’t be anyone capable of threatening my life. So, I’ll go in disguise for a couple of days per town, and you will scour the region around for Ancient Ruins, Spiritual Herbs, and monsters. If you find some Ancient Ruins, you will come to me, and we’ll organize a quick expedition. The plan’s pretty simple, and we should be done in about a month or two.”

Jacob went on.

“We draw a strict border 5 kilometers from the valley. We don’t go into the valley for any reason. Is that clear?”

Everyone nodded. After Jacob had sent the first exploring teams out, he had made abundantly clear that monsters had spawned based on population density. St. Peter existed in one of the most deserted places in Italy. The closest ‘big’ city was L’Aquila, which had around 70.000 inhabitants. That meant that before the 3rd or 4th realm, it was a no-go zone for all of them.

“So, leave around one-third of the men here, especially those who already served as sentinels. An equal portion of Magic and Qi users should stay back. Helena will stay back and keep cultivating. She will be able to take care of anything. Once we go back, we will bring every person willing to come and do the work with us. Questions?”

“What about the Contribution System?” she asked.

“It’s ready. I checked it before. Luis Albert has done a terrific job. This should avoid us having to force people to do their jobs. If they want comforts and food, they will comply. The principal included future updates to it, the ones related to crafters and other projects. We will release them as soon as we are organized enough. Now that the Charybdes is not a direct threat anymore, our first priority is to create an environment governed by laws and where humanity can prosper.”

Killing off monsters would be easy. Even Demonic Beasts now needed time to prosper and multiplicate, but Jacob had to confront the greatest issue for humanity, the same one that ruined them in his past life.

Wars.