Chapter Nine: It takes a city

Kate and I were eating breakfast together like we usually would, but I couldn't see how I could eat any more food after yesterday's birthday feast. Kate, on the other hand, devoured her food as always. That beastkin appetite is something else, but she is still growing, so it will most likely go away after a few years. Kate has already started growing taller and is taller than me now. I can tell that she may end up being taller than some of the men of this city.

I wonder if I should also let Leon train her? There's no doubt that her height and beastkin senses could be a significant advantage on the battlefield. Kate's ears and tail start to point up, signaling I'm staring at her. She turns her head to see me looking at her.

"Is something wrong Leka?" "No, but you should eat up. We have a lot of work to do today." "huh?" She gave a puzzled expression. "The city revival project." "We're starting that today?" "Yes." "Okay, Lenka. Let's do this!" She quickly devoured the rest of her food. Then, she grabbed our plates and ran into the back room to wash them. Well, at least someone is excited about this.

We went to the storage building right next to the manor. It was now filled with bricks, wooden planks, tools, and bags of quicklime. I walked over to the supply of tools we had and grabbed a toolbelt, hammer, towel, and some nails. After grabbing the tools, I grab a spare set and hand it to Kate.

"What's all of this for?" Kate asked. "To build." She looked somewhat annoyed. "Well, I know that, but why do I need a hammer and nails to lay bricks?" I guess she hasn't thought about it all the way, though. Then again, I don't think she has seen the blueprints yet, so it's not her fault.

"What do you think the floors and roof supports will be made of?" "Oh, you're right. I never thought about the floors or the roof." I reach over and pet her head, which is getting harder due to our height difference. That book said that beastkins grow faster, so maybe one day I will catch back up to her height, or at least somewhat catch up.

Whatever, I have more important things to deal with than worrying about height. I walk outside, call some guards over, and have them start loading up the carts with bricks, wood planks, quicklime, empty buckets, and buckets of sand.

After gathering the supplies, we brought them all to the front of the manor, where the usual crowd of miners was gathering. Today would usually be a day where they would go out and mine, but I will need all of them for this project.

"listen up! Today, we will start building. We will split into two teams. Team one will work on digging out a trench for the sewer system, and team two will start building the first new building. Now, please grab some of the carts and follow me."

The sewer is one of the most important things at this stage of the project because the sanitation problem needs to be addressed. Without proper sanitation, it would be easy for diseases to spread. At least they are not adverse to cleanliness, and they bathe and wash their hands often, but when it comes to garbage and waste, they don't have any long-term plans for it.

As for the new building, it will be the construction office. The office will be where we will stage and plan new buildings. After all, it would be too much of an undertaking for me alone to do all of the work, and teaching some of them how to build would benefit the city's future. The building will also help work out any problems that may occur during construction.

We arrived at the city center where the well was located. I separated the group into two teams. The larger of the teams is for digging out the trench for the sewer. The trench would take a lot of manpower and time to build and would have to span the city as well as have an inlet and outlet.

Luckily, there is a river nearby from the city that goes from the mountains to the ocean. Since the water is going downhill, it is still fresh water. This is good because we can divert the water to be used for the sewer, and we can also use it for drinking water.

The only problem with that is we would still need to purify the water by filtering it and boiling it, and that would mean we would also have to build facilities for that. Needless to say, we have a lot of work that needs to be done, and that is just the start. We will also need to tear down some homes to build the sewer, meaning we would have to build those citizens' new homes.

I can already tell this project will take years to complete, and this is only stage one. We will have to build defenses at some point. I just hope that those wars to come won't happen anytime soon. This city is almost completely unprepared for life, let alone wars. Well, there's no use in complaining about it. Hard work and impossible tasks are something I'm used to.

After directing the sewer team where and how to dig, I went to an open plot that wasn't too far from the city center. The team consisted of Kate, me, and four men. I began instructing them on how to flatten and level the plot so we could build a foundation.

It's not that the men don't know how to build, but we need a standard practice when constructing. That way, I know all buildings are consistent and are not thrown together. The building will use bricks for walls and foundation pillars. There will be a crawl space to save on bricks and offer room for ventilation and future utilities.

We will use wood planks for the floor, roof supports, and inside walls. The roofs will be made of clay tiles and will use mortar to help seal the roofs. Most buildings will be two stories and have bare brick walls but will at least have limewash to help with sanitation.

The floor plans of the buildings will depend on the occupants' needs, but I have a few cookie-cutter plans for each building. There is a lot of building to be done, but I hope the planning and similar designs will help speed up the building process.

It's been a hard day of building. Our clothes were covered in dirt and mortar, and our hands were worn. It's been a long time since I have done this much work, and it almost feels nostalgic. In my past life, I would spend many hours digging trenches and doing prep work for missions.

Normally, I would be exhausted after a day of hard labor, but I guess having child-like energy again is not a bad thing. My late-night training probably also helped a fair bit, but Kate, on the other hand, looked completely exhausted, with her tail and ears drooping down as she walked.

"Kate, when we return, take the rest of the day off." She frantically looked at me. "But... I..." "Kate, you worked hard enough today. If you push yourself anymore, you will only end up hurting yourself. Mary can take care of the rest of your duties." She looked somewhat dejected, so I reached up and petted her head. A bunch of dust brushed off her hair as I petted her.

"See, you don't look like much of a lady when you're covered in dirt." Her face started to turn red. "I understand... thank you." She bowed and then dashed back to the manor. Did I say something wrong?

I finished dinner and headed for the courtyard in front of the garden with the old training sword Leon gave me. Leon was leaning on the wall, waiting for me. He turned his head towards me as I walked into the courtyard. "Wow, Lenka, you look like hell. What were you doing today?"

How brazen of him, but then again, that's why he seems like someone I can trust. Someone who is as brazen as him tends not to tell lies or beat around the bush, which is something I can relate to. "Building a city is hard work, which you would know about if you bothered to show up." He let out a laugh.

"You're right, but I unfortunately got stuck with patrol duty today." Patrol duty? Well, I guess I can also relate to that. I used to do that all the time in my previous life, but things weren't as peaceful as life here. "What were you even patrolling for?"

"Don't know. I guess anything that seems odd, but unfortunately, the only odd thing around here is you." "Come again," I said sternly, and he panicked. "Sorry, I wasn't trying to insult you. It's just...You're very odd for a noble." "How so?"

"Well, most nobles won't even pay us, peasants, any mind, but here you are, getting your own hands dirty to help us. It's honestly so surprising that most people didn't even believe me until people started talking about the whole city revival project and how you have been paying them to help."

"I see. How do other nobles act?" "Well, besides your father, who is also an odd one, I have only met one other noble. He was a terrible man who would use his authority as a noble to do whatever he wanted. If you merely looked at that man wrong, he would have you beaten. There were even rumors of him taking in kids as..."

His eyes and voice were full of rage, but there was an awkward silence as Leon clearly did not want to finish what he was about to say. What he said would explain why the citizens here had some hatred against my family. It's not that my father is bad, but it's the fact that he was a noble, and in their eyes, nobles are evil. It's probably for the best that I haven't met any other nobles yet. I don't think I would be able to hold back against them

. "Sorry, I didn't mean to..." "It's fine. I asked, and you answered. However, we should start training while we still have sunlight." "You're right, I mean that's why we are here." He smiled and straightened up his posture.

"All right, go ahead and grab your sword. Show me your stance." I unwrap the training sword and take a stance, holding the sword towards him. "Not bad, but your grip is wrong, and your legs are too close together. Here, let me help." He reached over and moved my hands.

"This is a long sword, so you put your right hand on top and move your left hand right below it. Good now tighten your grip. You use your left hand to help guide the sword." This reminds me of the time when my mentor first trained me how to use a gun.

Not that I like remembering that man, but I guess not every moment with him was terrible. "Good, now let's give it a swing." He guides my hands in a swinging motion. "Pretty easy, huh. Now, let's do some practice swings."

We spent around an hour practicing with the sword, and the sun started setting. "Wow, Lenka, you're a quick learner." Well, fighting with a sword is not too far off from the hand-to-hand combat training I used to do, but it's not like I can tell him that. "Hey, why don't we try some combat practice?"

"Okay, but like I said yesterday, I won't hold back." He let out a laugh. "I think I can handle a little girl." He grabbed his training sword and readied his sword. I grinned as I also readied my sword. "We'll see," I said as I took a large overhead swing at him. he moved to block it, but right before my sword made contact, I pulled it back and thrust my sword toward his chest. He was caught off guard, but he managed to backstep and used the crossguard of his sword to direct my thrust away from his chest and barely miss him. He took a few more steps back.

"Wow, I wasn't expecting a feint from you, Lenka." "Rule one of combat, never underestimate your opponent, no matter how big or small they are." He gave a slight chuckle. "What, you think you're the teacher now?" He swung his sword at me, and I moved to block it, but he was clearly stronger than me. My sword got knocked to the side when the swords collided, and then he immediately swung in the opposite direction towards my neck but stopped right before hitting me.

"Never underestimate your opponent." He said in a mocking tone. I used my sword to push away his, then took a few steps back and readied my sword. He took a few steps back and also readied his sword.

How long has it been since I felt like this? My hands stung, my muscles were sore, I was out of breath, and my heart pumped fast. The adrenaline coursed through my body, pushing me past my body's breaking point. Our swords clashed, but the strength of his hit nearly threw me off balance. He tried to thrust at me, but I braced myself and swung at his sword, knocking it away. He then used his crossguard to catch my blade and then twisted it, forcing my blade away.

I pulled away and managed to dislodge my blade from his crossguard, but he was already thrusting his blade towards me again. I dodged to the left, and his blade missed me, but he still had momentum and swung at my side. I pulled my sword to my side and braced myself. His sword slammed into mine, making a loud metallic sound. The hit numbed my hands and nearly knocked me off my feet.

When was the last time I felt like... "...you just love the chaos!" That voice rings in my head again. So what if I love the chaos and the thrill of fighting like my life depends on it! In the end, it doesn't matter how I feel! "Here we are again, trying to do the same thing all over again."

So what? Fighting is all I know! It's the only thing that I am good at! You must fight to survive, fight for the things you need, fight for the things you want, and you must fight the world while it slowly takes everything from you! "...Does living really mean that much to us?"

No... Living is simply a means to an end! A suffering that we all must face! Only in the end, when we are battered and broken, can we ask ourselves if life means anything! "...is that really the only reason for you to continue like this?"

To hell with reason! To hell with this world, those gods, and the damn wars to come! "Until us monsters meet again." Yes, and when that day comes, I will show you why they called me the Angel of Death!

I thrust my sword towards Leon, and he backstepped and hit my sword to the side. I continued to attack relentlessly so as not to give him time to recover and move. Slowly, I pushed him back, thrust my sword at him again, and he backstepped to doge. However, he lost his balance when his foot fell off the stone into the garden

. Not letting this opening go to waste, I charged toward him and swept his leg. He fell backward into the bed of blue roses that gave off a slight blue glow. I then pointed my sword at his neck. Both of us were out of breath and covered in sweat.

"You... weren't kidding... when you said you wouldn't hold back. You hit pretty hard for a kid, but I think we should call it here for tonight." "Why scared to be beaten by a kid again?" He let out a laugh. "No, but it's getting kind of hard to see." I looked around and didn't even notice that it was already night.

"Little help here?" Leon reached his hand out towards me. I reached down and pulled him up. "To think you would ask a little girl for help." "Well, most little girls don't knock me on my ass." He looked at me, somewhat puzzled. "Is something wrong, Leon?" "No... it's just you look different when you smile." Smile? "Hey Lenka, why don't we relax and talk for a bit."

I had no reason to turn him down, so we headed for the gazebo. When we arrived, blue rose tea was already set up for us. I lit the lantern that was hanging above the table. "Who made the tea?" Leon asked. "Annabelle did. She has a habit of doing unnecessary things."

"Yeah, that does sound like her. You should have seen what she used to dress Mary in when she was a child." I took a sip of tea, and it was still warm. "You knew Mary that long?" "Yeah, we've known each other since we were little kids. We used to play and get into all sorts of trouble when we were kids, but after your mom died, we went our separate ways. She had to help care for you, and I had to start training."

"I see, and what about now?" He pounded for a little bit and took a sip of tea. "Well, I guess we have gotten quite distant. Annabelle was always like a second mother to me, and Mary was like an older sister I never had, but we all had a lot of growing up to do after all of the responsibilities that got dumped on us."

"Older?" I thought that they were the same age. "Yeah, she's two years older than me. Oh, right, you just reminded me that she is about to turn seventeen, and I still don't have a present." So that would make Leon around fifteen. I always thought they were both older than that, but then again, I'm bad at judging age, considering in my last life, there weren't many young people around. "Lenka, can you help me? You know how angry Mary can get."

I take another sip of tea. "Fine, but I need you to answer a question first." "Sure." I'm curious about why he wanted to train me and talk to me because it sounds like he's not here for Mary. Is he interested in... No, that's not it. It's very clear he only sees me as a kid. "What's the real reason you wanted to train me?" He looked away and scratched his head, then let out a sigh.

"I guess nothing gets past you. When I was a kid, I quickly learned how terrible this world is. I realized that we are nothing but toys in someone's game. We must follow the role we were given, or else. I knew that no matter what I did, I couldn't change anything. That was until that day you made that proclamation and spared those people in the city. It was then that I realized that you were different and didn't see anyone as toys. You see people as people and don't care about their status. You have unnatural talent and intelligence that far exceeds your age."

"I figured if there is one person in this world who can change it, then that person would be you. As for the training, you always seem stressed from overworking yourself. I thought if there was one thing I could do to help you, then I could, at the very least, help you relieve some stress by swinging a sword around, but I wasn't expecting to have a fierce battle with you."

I don't know how to respond to that. I can't deny that our little battle helped me get some stress out, but can I really change the world? This is the second time I have been rendered speechless. Is this what it's like when I talk to people? I take another sip of tea. Whatever, he will be another useful ally.