[Dungeon of Stories] 46 – Decisions

Clair, now a Level 114 Mayor, had found that her most important skill, [Manage Fief], was by far the most useful skill in her repertoire.

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Fief Name: The Ark

Fief Classification: Small Town

Population: 537 Humans and 1 Anomaly

Guards: 62

Prosperity: 2/10

Security: 3/10

Education: 5/10

Cleanliness: 6/10

Happiness: 4/10

Tax: 0.5% EXP

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As agreed with the council and the city's representatives, Clair set a small tax to obtain a passive source of EXP that would level up over time. While this EXP gain was abysmal, gaining 0.5% of the EXP from all of the city's residents led to slow but stable growth.

She was also doing her best to increase the city's statistics with the help of the Council and representatives, by enacting several edits and rules to make the city feel more...liveable. Cleanliness has risen by two points, happiness by one, and security by one. They were working on setting up patrol routes, barracks, and even more so that the Guards could make their job easier and far more effective.

Every day, their Portal divers found more people in the IKEA and led them back to the settlement, where they were given clothes, fresh food, water, and a rundown on what to expect in this new world. Most of the time, their Portal Divers never found anyone. Hence, their jobs were mainly to bring back certain furniture comprised of hard-to-get materials such as metal and cloth, while also keeping an eye out for any potential pharmacy to loot.

Every once in a while, when they did find a Pharmacy, more people were assigned to assist with hauling all of the medicine to the town, which they used to stock the newly constructed infirmary, one of the few buildings made of logs and wood planks. At the same time, the rest remained as patchworks of disassembled furniture. Still, that particular problem was quickly fixed as more people got classes and became more effective workers.

It would likely still be in shambles if it weren't for the elected representatives to help run the town with Clair. After all, Clair was a young woman; she didn't know much, but with the help of someone who used to be an architect, a woodworker, a gamer, and Biggs, the town would not have become what it is today.

The architect helped design the new houses, the woodworker and others built the houses, and the gamer, who played many city management games, helped plan construction for the city. He even selected spots to build makeshift fire stations to provide better coverage for the city and waste disposal sites. Biggs, the ever-silent and portly man, continued to help boost people's spirits with all the exotic food he made from this place's local plants and animals.

The representatives, on the other hand, were chosen from 'districts' and voted in. Their main job was to bring problems to the table to be discussed or that needed attention, such as the need for a bathhouse or similar, which was under construction at the moment, and the idea of designing underground shelters in case of future monster waves or Staff invasions.

Today, however, was different. Not too long ago, they received reports that the barrier that trapped them in this place had finally fallen, revealing a giant city behind its shimmering illusion.

The most important people in the town were gathered in the room. The Representatives, the Council, Jay, Bright, and Clair—everyone who had a voice in the town—discussed what to do next.

"We don't know what could be out there! It could be even more dangerous than the Monster Zones that surround us! Think about it, that city is supposedly in ruins, and we've gotten a lot of clues as to what happened to the people here in this supposed 'Park.' We could run into those weird green men that killed off who knows how many people in this place, we're still finding bodies!" One of the representatives, a man by the name of Kyle, was one of the few people who took the time to document all the findings and records that remained in the Ranger Stations and what few functioning data pads remained throughout the Monster Zones.

So far, what they could piece together from what little they managed to scournge together, the city was perfectly fine before being suddenly attacked by all these creatures, technology suddenly stopped working, and nearly half of their automated defenses malfunctioned or shut down, likely leading to a full-on slaughter of all the people in that city, with few people even making as far as to flee into the park before they were slain too.

"That's a risk we're just going to have to take," Bright said before continuing. "Think about it. It looks like it's been literal years since any of this stuff happened, so more than likely, those monsters moved on. If they still remained in the city, they would have likely had to fight for what food scraps would have remained there after all this time. Either way, I think we should go." Bright made his vote known, which carried weight as he was currently the strongest and highest-leveled man in the room, now a Level 122 Arcanist.

"I agree with Jack. I vote that we go. I doubt we can stay here forever, especially if it means facing another Monster Wave in the future or something worse," Jay spoke up, his voice carrying weight since he took up the duty of Guard Captain.

Clair sighed as the others in the room began making their votes and reasoning for their votes known, and in the end, it was an overwhelming victory for adventuring out into the city.

"We'll need to organize an expedition," Clair signed off on it.

"I'll go," Jay and Bright said simultaneously.

Clair sighed again, "Fine, you can both go, along with eight others. Check in with Biggs for rations, our quartermaster for supplies, and Jay. Make sure to equip yourselves with the best gear. There is no reason to go cheap on this. Also? I want a comprehensive report of what you find out there in that city, make sure to document a log and to map where you go for later use if we ever need to go back to that city, and if you encounter a map of the city, I want it brought back with you in the best possible condition."

Clair had several reasons for this. First, she wanted to get a rough estimate of how big the city was, and the easiest way to do that was by exploring, climbing up a large enough building to get an aerial view, or simply getting a map. As for the gear, they didn't have much good gear for anything, though that was changing as some local residents began trying their hands at Blacksmithing. These [Aspiring Blacksmiths] were fully funded by Clair, and she made sure to include their workshops in the Guard Routes due to how important they were.

At the moment, they were working with scrap weapons and armor, which were of low quality. Still, once the [Aspiring Blacksmiths] got some levels and enough experience with their skills, they should eventually be able to smelt a lot of the scrap armor and weapons and make something more refined, even if it was relatively outdated compared to modern equivalents.

At this point, most of the weapons the higher-level people used had shattered or crumbled after some use. This situation led to Jay wielding a monstrosity of a weapon: just a dozen sharp plates stuck together into a horrifying-looking cleaver.

As the others began to leave the office, whether to return to work or start preparing for an expedition, Clair gave a brief smile as she watched the others go. With Vernon gone, Clair had noticed that the mood had dropped drastically, but with this expedition, hope would finally start returning.