Chapter 46: Twenty Days Later
Twenty days later.
Twenty days had passed in the blink of an eye, and Nolan and the others finally finished building the village.
The village has 60 houses for the villagers. It also has special buildings, including, The Storage, The House of the village head in the center of the village, The Infirmary, The Blacksmith Shop, and a little Stable for the two horses.
But of course, because the village doesn't have a doctor nor a blacksmith, the Infirmary and the Blacksmith Shop are out of service.
Since the back of the village was protected by the river and the sides by the high hills, Nolan and the others had also built a wall stretching from one hill to the other, covering the front of the village.
The wall was 5 meters (16 feet) high. It was built mainly of tree trunks stuck deeply in the ground and large stones at the bottom, serving as support for the tree trunks, strengthening the wall.
Building the village required a large amount of wood, so Nolan and the others cut a lot of trees from the forest. Of course, comparable to the size of the forest, what they had cut was just a drop in the ocean, but still, they did not waste the land.
They turned the land into farmland. But since it was late autumn, almost winter, they did not plant anything.
...
It was the middle of the day, and the villagers celebrated around a fire, eating meat they hunted in the forest across the river.
[Ding]
A notification rang into Nolan's mind.
[You completed quest 1: Build a Village, of the Chain Quest: Village]
[You received: 20 percent agriculture boost within the territory of the village, 20 percent defense boost]
[Time remaining: 1 day 16 hours]
As Nolan got the reward, a golden light visible only to him spread from him all across the village territory.
The Front Wall of the village shone gold for a moment, and the building within the village.
'The wall and the buildings received the defense boost.' Nolan thought, turning toward the river.
The houses had blocked his vision, but even without him seeing it, he knew that the farmland on the other side of the river must have received the agriculture boost.
[Ding]
[The host finished the quest 1 day 16 hours before the time limit]
[A special reward is required... Calculating...]
'Ohh?' Nolan's eyes widened in surprise as he stared at the bluish screen in front of him with the words "CALCULATING IN PROGRESS..."
[Ding]
After waiting for a few minutes, the system notification finally rang.
[The host finished the quest 1 day 16 hours before the time limit]
[Special reward: For each hour, the host will receive 10 exp points]
[Total hours: 40]
[You received: 400 exp]
Faced with the bombardment of system notifications, a wide smile spread on Nolan's face, but the system notifications did not stop.
[Ding]
[You leveled up]
[You received: 3 allocation points]
[Ding]
[You leveled up]
[You received...
...
After the notifications stopped, Nolan did not check his rewards immediately.
His hands trembled in excitement. He did not expect a reward as big as this. Luckily everyone was preoccupied with celebrating, and no one noticed him.
It took him a few minutes to calm down a little.
'Status window,'
The bluish status window appeared before his eyes.
[Name: Nolan]
[Age: 19 years 1 month, 15 days]
[Occupation: Hidden Business occupation-In use, Beggar who knows basic swordsmanship]
[Level 9]
[Exp: 0/100]
[Martial arts: Basic swordsmanship]
[Strength:19]
[Stamina: 19]
[Agility: 16]
[Allocation points: 12]
Nolan trembled in excitement again.
Four levels. He had leveled up four times.
'System, put six allocation points into agility, three into stamina, and three into strength.' Nolan ordered in his head.
[Strength: 22]
[Stamina: 22]
[Agility: 22]
As Nolan stared at his stats, in the down, right corner of the bluish stat window, he noticed a new option. [Village Status Window]
'Village status Window,' Nolan said in his head.
Another bluish status window appeared before his eyes.
[Village Status window]
[Village Level 1]
[Buildings:65]
[Population: 80]
'Ohh? This is not bad.' Nolan thought, closing all status windows.
"Nolan," Alfred walked over to Nolan and sat next to him. He carried two sticks full of meat, kebab. "This thing is not bad," Alfred said, passing one stick to Nolan. "It saves us the trouble of putting the meat in the bowls."
"That is because we don't have sauces here. Only by adding sources can you make the meat taste even better." Nolan said.
"Are those sauces really that important?"
"Yes. How one uses the sauces and seasonings, separate the bad from the good cook." Nolan explained. "But never mind that. I will leave for the city."
"When?"
"Now. If I leave now, I will arrive in the city at sunset." Nolan stood up. "We are running out of food, and need clothes for the winter. I need to restock our supplies."
"Alright," Alfred stood up too. "Let' me see you off."
Without saying anything to the others, Nolan and Alfred walked toward the horses.
It took them five minutes to arrive at the stable of the horses.
Nolan got one horse. "Go!" He gently kicked the horse, and the horse started running forward.
Nolan quickly got out of the village, and riding on the road around the mountain, Nolan headed toward the city.
...
A few hours later, at sunset, Nolan stopped the horse a kilometer (0,62 miles) from the south city gate.
"It's been twenty days," Nolan muttered, staring at the city walls. "I wonder if everything is alright. Is the war between the Black Rose organization, and the Viper organization still ongoing?"
"Sighhh!" Nolan sighed heavily. "Forget it. I have more important things to worry about. System, how long till the bandits attack the village?"
A bluish timer instantly appeared before his eyes.
[1 day, 13 hours 37minutes]
Nolan's heart tightened.
"I don't have time to wait to enter the village at night. All the shops will be closed by then." Nolan took the white jade hairpin out of his hair, untying it.
"I must disguise," He messed his hair, making half of it fall over his face.
He got off the horse and dirtied his hands. He then put the dirt on his hair and face, making him almost unrecognizable from his previous self.
He got on the horse again and stormed towards the South city gate. Luckily, no one waited to enter the city, so there was no line.
"STOP!" The guard shouted, blocking his way. "Get off the horse."
Nolan got off the horse.
"Rise your hair. Let me see your face." the guard ordered.
Nolan hesitantly cleared away the hair covering his face.
Guard's eyes widened in shock. He quickly looked at the wanted posters he held in hand.
"It's you!" He shouted, raising the wanted poster in front of Nolan's face.
The wanted poster was a portrait of Nolan, and below it with large words were written: "DEAD OR ALIVE", "REWARD: 100 TAELS OF SILVER"
Nolan pretended to carefully look at the wanted poster, while in reality, he was thinking about how to trick this guard.
"Hahaha," Nolan forced a pleading smile on his face. "Sir, how can that be possible? This young man on the wanted poster is handsome, and I am just a poor young nobody from the mountains.
"Hmph! Do you take me for an idiot?"
"Sir, I am telling the truth..."
"Stop it!" The guard shouted angrily. "This is a high-quality horse. How could a poor peasant from the mountains have a horse like this? You are obviously this criminal!" The guard pointed at the wanted poster of Nolan. "You disguised before entering the city, but you did not disguise your clothes and did not want to leave the horse outside the city. Am I right?"
'Damn!' Nolan cursed inside. 'He got everything right.' Nolan clenched his teeth.
"Sir, how could I, a poor peasant, have a horse of such quality?" Nolan spoke hesitantly and quietly. Like he was afraid of something. "It's just that I can not say how I got this horse. The situation is a bit special."
"Ohh? Tell me," The guard said curiously.
Nolan smiled slightly. He achieved his goal. He aroused the guard's curiosity.
"Sir, If I say it, I might end up killed. I better not..."
"Hmph! I am a city guard!" The guard struck his chest proudly. "No one can hurt you under my protection. Rest assured, and tell me."
"Since you said so, sir," A wide smile spread on Nolan's face. "When I was going down the mountain on foot, I noticed a man in the woods, relieving himself.
This horse was his. But I sneaked on him and hit him in the head. I did not kill him, but I knocked him unconscious. I then stole his belongings and his horse and came down the mountain. Now, I am here." Nolan told the guard the most unbelievable story he had ever made up. Even a fool would not believe it. And of course, he knew the guard would not believe him.
When he saw the guard's face twitch in anger, Nolan added. "Sir, how about I give you this horse? I did not pay for this horse anyway, so I will don't mind giving it to you if sir can better look at the wanted poster and compare that person with me."
The anger immediately disappeared from the guard's face, and a smile spread on it. "You are pretty lucky to get a horse for free. And when I look closely at you, you are indeed not the criminal on the wanted poster. You can go," The guard moved out of Nolan's way.
Though with a pained heart, because he left the horse, Nolan entered the city.
After entering the city, he headed straight toward the restaurant.
...
Right after Nolan left.
Another guard approached the guard who took Nolan's horse.
"Is it alright to just let him go?" The guard asked. "He is definitely the guy on the wanted poster."
The guard with Nolan's horse smiled evilly. "Of course not. I will report it immediately to the higher-ups."
Gifts
-- Gift
received Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone