Now, it is time for a speech. I need the total support of prisoners to justify my position as their leader.

 

So, I asked some prisoners to build a platform where everyone inside could hear my words. They set it pretty fast, and now it is standing in front of me.

 

"Give them the speech of their lives." I climbed to the platform and stepped up forward. The crowd of twenty thousand stands right in front of me.

And cheers began rising. "The man who freed us!" A human shouted.

 

"Killer of the executioner! Strong enough to claim leadership of this place!" Another added.

 

Then more and more cheers began coming from the crowd. They seem like they don't care if I am the Lich King or not.

 

I shall use this opportunity. "Brother's!" I began my talk. "Today is the day we took the first step for freedom, but it is only one of the many obstacles we need to overcome."

 

I took one step forward and reached the platform's edge.

 

"But do not worry. I have a plan, but I must first know if anyone opposes my position."

 

Newcomers didn't spend enough time inside here to create a bond with dwarfs or hate our enemy enough. There is no guarantee that they will comply with us, nor do they give up on the superiority of man over dwarven idealogy.

 

Now, I call the opposition into the public in a time where my popularity is at its highest. They will either talk or let the majority justify my position.

 

"I do oppose!" A man shouted from the back. "No Lich shall have the right to lead a life of a living man!"

 

Some raised their voices right after the first one spoke. "Yes." "Liche's are enemies." "History doesn't lie!"

 

I smiled as they did what I wanted them to do. Openly opposing me will not be a problem, but who will be the better alternative?

 

"Then came to this stage and tell, how a human can lead a human. I am an open-minded man, and I will respect your opinions."

 

An arrogant-looking man began walking towards the platform. It will be a guess, but he could be an officer who got captured in the civil war.

 

"Thank you for giving me this opportunity. I am Fenn Oatswear, a military officer who fought against our common enemy. I shall take the lead."

 

There wasn't much cheer from the crowd except his men. That isn't surprising, considering how little he contributed to our rebellion.

 

"Then, Mister Oatswear, what will be your first move."

 

He moved next to me and shouted with all of his lunges. "To take what we deserve. With twenty thousand soldiers, I will march to the capital and take it!"

 

More people cheered this time. Is it that simple to control a crowd of people?

 

"I support your policy. As a matter of fact, I have a similar plan but aren't you missing an important point in yours. For example, where is that army."

 

"The army standing in front of you! Don't you dare disrespect the men who defeated the wardens and gained their freedom!"

 

The crowd began cheering for the Oatswear. Thankfully that idiot is trying to rally this person into the fight without a proper plan and making my job a lot easier.

 

"I am not disrespectful, but I don't see an army in front of me."

 

The crowd began booing. I expected this much.

 

"And you dared to disrespect them! Look at the guy who called himself the leader of you."

 

The crowd cheered once more. This time much louder and wilder.

 

I waited until the crowd stopped cheering.

 

"I don't see an army in front of me. I see farmers, traders, butchers, and men who performed many other professions. I see people who just fought for their freedom, and they are tired! Tired of almost no food, constant threat of death, and forced heavy labor."

 

The crowd didn't react. Make them think and neutralize their opinions, then strike.

 

"And I also see a race, who had been slaves for hundreds of years. Now tell me, without food to eat, beds to sleep, and weapons to use. Why they should charge to the front lines?"

 

Oatswear's answer was a fast but not wise one. "For their glory, they shall fight to the death! There is nothing as impossible, and we can achieve anything."

 

The crowd was quiet once again.

 

"Then let me ask them. Will you march straight to the enemy and sacrifice yourselves for the glory of one, or will you stand behind me and rebuild your lives."

 

"Of course, they will fight against the enemy that slaved them! That is out of the question." Oatswear finally understood something, but he lost when he first talked.

 

"It is their choice, not yours. If you and your men want glory and sweet hug of death that much, our gates are open. You are free to go!" I pointed to the giant gates leading to the exit of the fortress.

 

"That's ridiculous! You are using these people for your glory! Lich, I know your kind and what likes of you did to the north. Long as I am alive, I won't let you hurt even a single soul in this realm!"

 

"You are only trying to rally them into war. Civil war is already destroying the lives of commoners and doesn't even make me start with all the corruption spread through the north! So what these people should do, throw their lives away so another corrupt tyrant can climb to the thrones?"

 

"It will be a shame if you call lord Goldenwell a corrupt tyrant!"

 

"Goldenwell, Wellington, my ass, it doesn't matter? Look at this crowd, and ask them how many of them are inside here because Goldenwell, ask them what crimes they are responsible for?"

 

After a second of silence, the voices I wanted from the crowd began raising.

 

"That son of a bitch took my cattle away and didn't even pay me for it! And when I tried to stop him, I opened my eyes here!"

 

"I lost my house because of him! Our village is paying huge taxes only for him to send several lazy guards to stop raiders, and do you know what happens if you don't pay your taxes? Your wife, children, anything looks valuable for you will be taken, and if you try to speak, you are here."

 

"My farm is burned down because of him!"

 

"He stole my family heirloom."

 

And many more words came after them, but one thing was simple, it doesn't matter who. There weren't many rulers in this realm who didn't corrupt by power.

"Then, answer their question, why they should march for them?"

 

Oatswear started to step back. He wasn't answering the bombardment of questions.

 

"Let me give you and your men an offer, Oatswear, get the fuck out our land, and I will let you go with your head on your shoulders."

 

He was a little pissed off, but what did he expect anyway? Not everyone is fond of throwing their lives for a man who took everything from them.

 

"Give me a day or two. Then we will leave the goddamn fortress, but do remember these Lich! I will go out, bring my real army, and crush you and all of you ungrateful rats at once!"

 

"If you are insisting that much on becoming the first person who got publicly executed by me, then go on."

 

I whistled, and Fionnlagh landed right next to me a short time after.

 

"Everyone loyal to lord Goldenwell, now start running towards the gates for your lives, or your fate wouldn't be much different from his." I pat Wyverns head. "It is feeding time."

 

Oatswear began screaming like a little girl and running away as Fionnlagh leaped forward and screeched.

 

So, do his man. They all began running towards the exit while the mad crowd shouted right behind them.

 

But unlike his man, Oatswear wasn't destined to survive here. Fionnlagh caught him shortly afterward and threw the man into the air.

 

But it wasn't over with a single throw. Wyvern bit the man in mid-air and crushed him with his bite. Blood, bones, and flesh scattered as the giant lizard ate his prey.

 

"Then it is decided, I am the leader."

--------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

"Then from today, I, Erwin the Lich King, will be your leader. Open your ears, and prepare yourselves because we are making this place livable once more."

 

I prepared a makeshift board, where I placed a map of the ancient city.

 

"As everyone can see, this city is quite big. It can house four hundred thousand dwarfs. With our current population, it will be impossible to capture everywhere."

 

I draw two circles on the map, one near the lake and one at the mushroom forest.

 

"We will settle on a part where it is close to both of these food sources, but not everyone will go to the city. We need at least two thousand men protecting the gates from invaders, but it will be an easy one considering how heavily fortified the front gate is."

 

I began drawing a structure near the lake then drew two straight lines.

 

"I learned that crystals illuminating the city could also let crops grow inside, and because inside is warm enough for us to grow some plants, we will clear the mushroom forest for the fertile land."

 

Silvertower stepped forward. "I want every farmer, stonemason, and people who experience building things to listen to this part."

 

"Thank you for the warning." I step up forward as well. "I suppose we can build a machine that could transfer water to where ever we want, and it is a simple one. A waterwheel powered by Hollows, which will elevate the water to a storage that will disturb it towards the canals we built, thanks to  gravity."

 

A man asked a simple question. "What is gravity?"

 

"Nothing important. It is the thing that makes things doesn't float and fall."

 

"But how will that help us?"

 

"The water canals we will be building going to be inclined, and gravity will carry the water for us."

 

"Okay." The man stepped back. 

 

"Now, if everyone understood that part, I will talk about the important part, food. We already have enough food to feed everyone up to five months, thanks to what wardens left, but we need to use that food carefully. Bricks, please explain the situation."

 

Butcher moved forward and cleared his throat.

 

"Because we don't have any fishing boats, and we don't have enough equipment to cut down forest fast enough. We won't depend on these sources but rather hold ourselves until we create the farmland and get our first harvest. This whole process will take around six months, so food is limited to two meals per day until the first harvest."

 

And the crowd began their bombardment of questions towards Bricks. I wanted to help him answer everything, but let him have the fun this time.

 

"Lich," Silvertower whispered. "Follow me."

 

I followed Silvertower to a corner.

 

"We have a problem," He began talking. "The mines are almost empty, I went to check it, but there isn't any sign of raw materials."

 

That is impossible. I worked at that mines while still working as a slave. "But how?" I don't understand. "It was only mere months ago. We were still mining a seemingly endless amount of underground resources."

 

"Yeah, from the upper mines, you can take all the copper and other worthless metals from there, but I am talking about the lower mines, controlled by kobolds. Where mithril and everything else comes from."

 

Now Silvertower talked about mithril. That metal was light but more durable than everything I had until then. Having more of that would be nice.

 

"Then tell me, what can I do. We can always create new mines or go deeper."

 

"That won't work. I wasn't expecting a human to understand it, but materials are created and placed underground by kobolds, and their king had a deal with me." He was anxious.

 

"And what happened to that deal?"

 

"It got broken because you are now the new king of the fortress, we need to make a new deal with him, but I don't know how."

No resources? That will lead us to our doom! But if there is a way to fix that problem, I will fix it. "Tell me what I need to do."

Silvertower grabbed me from the shoulder. "Follow me. We need a new weapon and arm for you.  We will go to the Kobold King after equipping you with the best of what we got."