Proofread by: Daylius and Vikingstad

Holyknight:

Hey!Hey! Did you hear?

Girllover3: Hear what?

Holyknight: Duh! About the new skills that are being taught at Draklake Village?

Dragonrider: I heard rumors about it. But the new skills are not that special right? Painting, sculpting and music. Well there is cooking lessons, so I guess it is alright.

Earthmagi24: Yeah. Why are they teaching useless skills like that? Cooking is good, but why the rest.

Warriorgod: That’s right. Who would wanna learn sculpting and all. The chief is an idiot.

Firequeen: Idiot you say. Did you know that the village of Draklake was nothing more than a slum like village two weeks ago. In two weeks he changed the face of the entire village. It hardly had fifty people and now look how many people are rushing to Draklake in a day. And you call the chief stupid.

Inukami: I was there. I mean on the first day the village was opened to the outside world. There were very few houses and shops other than the school and forge. And now the village is being expanded to let all of those that come fit in.

Traderangel: The chief is handsome too. Some even say he is a player.

Thormerchanthero: No. That guy is a player. We confirmed it yesterday when we were given a quest by him. He addressed us merchants as players.

Veteranarcher: What? He is a player and he is a chief? How did he become one? And you even got a quest from him? I am jealous. Wait! I heard there was some kind of festival. Have you guys donated anything?

Goddesstrisha: Yes. The festival is in two real days. I donated 3G. I heard it is going to be one of the biggest festivals in the game. Really looking forward to it. My classmates are gonna do a maid-cafe.

And so the dragon lore site was in an uproar. The news about the new skill lessons did not attract much attention. But the festival and the expansion of the village was being discussed widely. In chat, in school, in offices and almost everywhere in the world the news about a player becoming chief of a village was spreading like wild fire. This news ignited the hearts of many who then decided to either create a new village or subdue one. Some guilds began to increase their strength by recruiting new players and thus form a new village.

The bigger guilds, though, had other plans. ‘Dragon’s Bone’ guild, the largest so far with 89 members with only +90 level players decided to bring Shiv under their guild thereby making the village and its profit their own. The leaders of the guild were busy making strategies while the chief of the village was busy with the preparation for a festival, after all his mother and sister were coming.

The village of Draklake was in an uproar. For the first time after the new chief took charge, the town was busy preparing for a festival. The villagers and players were all trying their best preparing things. Ames was busy coordinating the different groups, Bella was in charge of the feast, Norn in charge of the decoration, Gery was in charge of various entertainment programs, and Rihthor was busy preparing outfits as per the list Gery had given him. Blina was the one that was the head of the discipline group and finally Lylda was hunting for meat along with the other hunters. The mood around the village was joyous and light. People were running here and there decorating the places, some were practicing their acts, and a stage was being prepared under Ames’s watchful eyes. The different classes of the school were performing their own acts like dance, drama and so.

For the villagers and the players this was a first. A festival of this scale and that too in a remote village was something they were witnessing for the first time. All the money that Shiv had earned and the village income too was spent on the festival. The players contributed too when they heard about a festival and feast. Some gave a few silvers while others gave as much as 5 golds. Almost all the players gave money for the cause and thus a sum of 3706G was being spent on the festival.

New stalls were being opened, paintings and sculptures were now being sold. These were no normal paintings and sculptures, all of these gave a bonus to those who owned them and thus there was already a queue in front of the various sculpture and painting shops. Shiv had deliberately used the festival to showcase the greatness of painting and sculpturing thereby promoting the two jobs. This not only helped the village to earn more income, it also attracted people towards the village. As news spread out about the painting and sculptures, high level players too began to visit the village. This strategy was a great success as the very next day, the department of painting and sculpting was fully booked for the next 3 weeks. Shiv had by then increased the tax rate from 0% to 2%. This was welcomed by all of the villagers and shop owners for they knew the tax rate in the other villages was a staggering 19% which increased often.

Shiv had promised that as long as the village had other means of producing income he would never increase the tax rate above 10%. This gained him even more respect and trust from the villagers and players as well. The players were also asked for tax if they wanted a house of their own, a citizenship facility was initiated which made them the citizen of Draklake not Bredon. Some would ask what the advantage was in being a citizen. There were a few advantages and disadvantages.

The players who became citizens were bound to join the army in case a war broke out. That was the one and only big disadvantage. The advantages, however were many. Citizens would get better quests, more contribution points, better items for cheaper price, would be given a house to stay at, a place to set up shop if they needed and the interest rate of 2% like the villagers. They had the freedom to go for adventure whenever they wished for.

The players that were not citizens were not given any place to stay. They would have to pay rent, if they wanted a house. The tax rate for non-citizens was 3%. New NPCs from other villages were made citizen for free while the players had to pay 1G to be one. This process required a lot of paper work to be done and so Bella was given the job. Thus the village income was almost doubled. Of the two thousand players, four hundred agreed to be citizens and so instead of houses apartments were made. Each apartment two floors which had 10 rooms each and therefore 20 apartments were made in the outer region of the village.

Shiv had already planned for this when he had ordered Ames to create a new wall. The wall was finished in a couple of days with the help of hundreds of players. Once the wall had been finished, Shiv halted the construction process and ordered the men to begin work for the festival. He had intended to conduct just a feast but then decided to go for a festival as he thought this would make the village more popular. Shiv had sent his hunter group to the next villages to buy as much food items as they could. He had allocated 1000G for the food. And thus the curtain to the first festival in Draklake was raised.

---***---

The day of the festival had come. Shiv had inaugurated the festival with a glass of juice as he was still under aged. Moreover he did not want his family to find out that he had alcohol. The village soon got busy with various events. There were people all around the village singing, dancing, having a great time. More and more people came in from different villages to take part in the festival. The shops selling food were busy with large number of customers, the stage had various acts being performed on it. The shops and stage generated more revenue as minutes passed.

When the entire village was having fun, the chief of the village was standing in front of the gate waiting for his family. Beside him was a nervous Bella.

“Why are you nervous Bella?”

“Of course I am nervous. What if they don’t like someone like me?”

“What is wrong with someone like you?” Shiv asked confused.

“I am not really part of your family”

“Silly girl you worry too much” Shiv patted her head smiling at the nervous Bella. Suddenly they hear somebody’s voice from afar.

Shiv sharpened his ears while Bella tensed up. Suddenly Shiv eased up and started smiling.

“Bella! They are here”.

This caused the young girl to tense up even more, she was almost shivering.

“Nii-san” Shiv heard a shout coming from the front. And then a girl much taller than his real sister came out from the dark followed by a beautiful woman. The girl who shouted ran towards the boy and hugged him tight laughing and crying at the same time.

“Oi! Oi! Little sister why are you so tall? What happened to my little sister?” Shiv asked mocking the girl who was hugging her.

“Don’t call me little, you idiot brother” the girl pouted and separated from the boy. Shiv smiled inwardly thinking ‘cute’.

“Have you forgotten your mother Ryu?”

“Mother” Shiv called out and walked towards the beautiful woman with long black hair. He hugged her and said,

“I missed you mother”

“Me too Ryu, we missed you too”

Seeing the two hug, the girl too joined them, hugging the two, while Bella watched the family re-union with teary eyes. She felt left out and sad but remained silent so that she would not ruin their re-union. Then,

“What are you spacing out for Nee-san, it is a family re-union. That means all the family should be hugging. Why are you still not here?” the little sister asked Bella, smiling.

“Come here child” the mother called out. Bella slumped forward, her head bent down, she slowly walked forward still unsure about what to do. It was then that Shiv held her hand and pulled her towards him. He then hugged her and kissed the girl’s forehead. Following Shiv, the mother and the little sister too kissed her on her forehead. Bella froze from the sudden kisses she received.

“We are family after all” the three said in unison. The girl fell to the ground, with her moistened eyes and looked at the three, her new family.

---***---

“Hello to everyone here. Thank you for making this festival a success. Now let me introduce you to two very important people.” Shiv was on top of the stage with the other females and Ames. Shiv then stepped back and then one of the woman stepped forward.

“Hello! I am Miyuki, a merchant and this boy’s mother. It is nice to meet you” Miyuki did a simple introduction. Her beauty was doing the rest. The entire male players gathered were eying Miyuki with lustful eyes which did not go unnoticed by Shiv and Ames.

“Hi friends, I am his little sister, Tina. You can call me Tina-chan” Tina said striking a cute pose which was again accepted with lecherous gaze from the males.

“Ames! I wonder, what should we do to those who bear ill intention to the chief’s family?” Shiv said loud enough for those assembled there to hear.

“Pour boiling water over their *beep* and then make the wolves bite off their *beeps*. At least that must be done chief, after all they are your mother and sisters, including Bella”

“That seems a nice idea, then Ames ask Norn to heat his forge. Seems like we will need gallons of water to burn all of these men’s *beep*” Shiv said. The two were smiling at the crowd in front of them with eyes that said, ‘I will burn you if try anything suspicious’

“Demons” the crowd called out in unison.

---***---

The day after the festival, the village returned to normal. Shiv, Miyuki, Tina and Bella were in their house having breakfast when there was a knock on the door.

“Chief it’s Ames. The merchants are ready with their plans. They are waiting for you at the village square”

“Good Ames. I will be there soon. What about the construction works? How long will it take?”

“It will take 4 weeks chief. Twenty apartments as the one you asked for will take time chief”

“No worries. Just finish them soon. And the travelers must be given room in the finished apartments. Have you prepared the rooms as I have asked?”

“Yes chief. The rooms in the lower floor will be given to those who are alone. The rooms in the upper layers will be occupied by two.”

“Good. Ames, don’t forget that the last five apartments should have three storey”

“I remember chief.”

“Good. Then you may go. And ask Doval to start the decoration works. Do warn him about not using the sculpture students”

“Very well chief. Have a pleasant day” Ames waved a bye at the family and exited the house.

“Then let us go. We have a strategist to choose”

---***---

The four were on their way to the village square when they met with another girl.

“Kate! Where have you been? Why did you not come for the festival?”

“Eh! My father was having some problems so I could not log in”

“Is that so. Meet my mother and my sister”

“Hello dear, I am Miyuki and this is my daughter Tina” Miyuki introduced themselves to Kate.

Kate smiled at them and bowed gently. Before Tina could ask anything Shiv said

“Ok then let us go. They are waiting for us”

Miyuki smiled at her son, she very well knew why her son was in a hurry.

---***---

“So you guys have come up with a plan eh? Then let me hear it.”

One by one the merchants began to explain their plans. The explanation was being done from a little away from the group so that others would not include points from other’s plan. The plans of most of them were based on the same thing, increase the area of farming. The same thing again and again. Shiv got bored in seconds but he kept listening to them nevertheless. And so hours passed, only two more were left.

The next was a little boy, his appearance suggested that he was one. The boy had blonde hair and had blue eyes. It seemed like a character out of an anime. Shiv looked at the boys eyes for a while then gestured him to begin.

“My name is Randal, a special kind of merchant. As you have requested I have come for a solution for your food shortage. I believe every one of the previous merchants would have suggested expansion of the field, crop rotation and all. I think this is the right way too”

When Shiv heard this he sighed. ‘Another one with the same idea’ is what he thought. He lost his interest but still listened to the boy’s idea.

“But the problem cannot be solved with that. From what I have gathered, the fields are pretty far from here, near the freshwater stream. I understand this setup was made to make irrigation easy but at the same time this causes a great problem too”

Shiv eyes widened. ‘Finally somebody with some brains’. He smiled inwardly and his ears and eyes focused on the boy.

“Being a little far from the village, the fields are prone to be attacked by wild animals or monsters. Some come to feed while some come to rest on the field. Since the fields are not part of the village perimeter, the monsters are free to enter the fields. Till now the village had adequate food to feed itself and so they did not take any actions against them. The monsters destroy almost a quarter of the food, which if prevented would feed a lot of people”

“So you want us to build a wall around them and appoint guards?” Shiv asked indifferently.

“Not at all. Building a wall is simply a waste. In the future if the village needs to expand the field, then the wall will become a nuisance.”

“Is that so? Then what do you suggest Randal.”

“I suggest we build an aqueduct. Then make another wall outside the village. The new area to be dedicated purely for farming. This will ensure it safety as well as more food production. The aqueduct will provide water for irrigation as well as other needs.”

“Good. Good. Anything else?”

“No Sir. That is all”

“Mother. Do you have anything to ask him?”

“Ah, yes. I have been wondering for a while. Why are you dressed like a boy?” Miyuki asked looking at the boy, who was shocked by the sudden question. The boy was sweating and his eyes were looking at random directions. Shiv smiled seeing the boy tense up.

“What are you saying? I am a boy” the boy tried to resist.

“Is that so? With that level of disguise did you expect to fool us?” Shiv asked smiling. “Mother, since she is a liar should we ban her from here?”

“No please no” the boy’s voice changed, the boyish sweet voice became feminine and the voice sounded as if she were singing.

“So that is your real voice. Who are you? Why are you disguising as a boy?”

“My name is Randal, I come from the Hwan kingdom. I was being chased so I ran away from there.”

“Chased?” Kate asked, shocked. She too was from Hwan and so found it hard to believe.

“Yes. The kingdom has been eliminating players and NPC’s outside the capital. My party members were executed and then banned from the kingdom.”

“What? Banned? Why?” Kate asked.

“I do not know. All I know that the new king had ordered for the execution”

“A new king? What happened to the old one?”

“The old king was assassinated by a group of players. Their leader then crowned himself as King. The players and NPC’s were being executed to keep the news spreading out”

Shiv was speechless. A player who assassinated the king and then became king.

‘Executing people to prevent leakage. To go that far, something is not right. Now I understand why there were assassins among Doval’s group when he first came to the village. This is going to get troublesome’

“Bella, bring me Ames and Doval”

“Yes brother, right away” Bella rushed off. Shiv then turned to the little girl.

“Well, I like your plan, though it has problems here and there like you have not explained to me the structure of the aqueduct, how you plan to make it useful for the village. The aqueduct is something I thought of too so no worries. I have it covered.”

“Eh covered?” the girl was surprised.

“This test was to find a suitable person to become my aid. I have already solved the problem and people are already working on it. I am sorry for not telling you this. Anyway you may return. I have one more person left.”

Like all those who had come before, the last man too said the same thing about expanding the field and so he was rejected too. When the results were announced, only Randal was selected, there was no second or third ranks, only the first. With that Randal became the strategist of the village.

---***---

“Doval, I heard that a new king was crowned, why did you not tell me about it? Why did you not tell me about the execution and all?”

“I am sorry chief, I did not want to involve you in the problems of another kingdom. I have troubled you enough already”

“Sigh! Doval.” Shiv shrugged his shoulders. “So from what I heard from you and Randal, the new king seems to be working with the orcs and are planning on something. I think I know what is going on. The kingdom of Hwan is now an orc kingdom. The orcs are expanding their reach. So once the entire eastern continent falls, it will be our turn” Shiv’s face was indifferent, but his eyes had rage in them. He then turned to Ames.

“Ames, I need you to announce this thing to the players and villagers. Ask them to keep this a secret for now. If they ask why then tell them that if the Hwan kingdom hears of this the village will be targeted. We are not strong enough to repel them. Then ask them to help you with the construction works. Finish the residential building. Take a day’s rest then immediately begin work on the next building. You do remember the buildings I asked you to build, right?”

“Yes chief, once the apartments are finished, we will begin work on the third wall and clearing the area. Then we will plow the land between the third and second wall, build a granary. A small number of farmers will start their work in that area while the rest will work at the old farms. Then build an aqueduct, a church and a library.”

“I am sorry Ames. I have been overworking you terribly. Really sorry”

“It is an honor chief, a true honor. To think the village which had broken houses would become something like this is like living a dream. This something the entire village agrees on, so work as much as you want chief. We will stick with you till we die”

“Thank you Ames. Do not overwork. Do take at least a day’s rest every week. Explain to the travelers everything and accept only volunteers. Buy food from the other villages if needed.”

“Yes chief.” Ames was confused at the last part. It felt as if the chief was preparing for a voyage or something and was ordering everything in advance.

“So Randal, here is your first and only duty, protect the village. That is all!” Shiv looked at his new strategist and said.

“Yes that is all. You will manage the military of the village in my absence. Education will be managed by Ames, Culture by Doval and Mother will manage the rest. In my absence mother will be the chief and you will all listen to her.”

“In your absence? Where do you plan to go chief?” Ames asked, his fears were becoming true.

“To the capital of Bredon. There are thing that must be done. Do not worry, I will be back in a month or so. Till then look after the village Ames”

“Yes chief”

---***---

When Ames announced the situation in the Hwan kingdom, all the players were stunned, even the high level ones. An orc kingdom attack was no simple thing. But here a human group aided by the orcs were attacking and annexing kingdoms, thats something really dangerous. Some were scared of being attacked, some were excited about getting new quests and so almost everyone agreed to help the village in fortifying and expanding itself before a war broke out. They loved this village which had more fun things than the other villages and towns. And so the work on the expansion of the village began. The village was so excited that they did not notice that the chief was missing.

Outside the gates of the village, on the path to the capital, three hooded figures ran like the wind without letting the world know of their presence. Shiv the chief, Agon the hunter and Kate, the elemental healer were heading towards the capital with objectives best known only to them.

---***---

(with this the village arc is over! next is arc 3- the capital of Bredon awaits you!)

(And sorry for the short chapter and delay. i had some things to do.)

My new ff, kindly read.

ARMAGEDDON: THE NEW WORLD

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