After I sent Siegfried off with the reconnaissance squad, I was restless throughout. And at some point, Isgard pointed out to me that I was also making the construction workers anxious. Which is why I had to leave the construction site.

To distract myself while waiting, I'm going back into the cave. There I'll go and visit our redheaded cook. Yesterday I had given her a little extra task, and now I want to know if she was successful with it.

"How's it looking?"

"I think I got what you wanted. Your Highness."

"It certainly seems that way. Have you tested it?"

"Yes, I have tried a few different doses, and this one seems most promising, Your Highness."

I take a small container and test the contents with my fingers. It is a beige cream. I rub it with my hands, and it feels slightly oily and starts to foam a little.

What did I let her make? Soap! Which is why the next thing I do is wash my hands in a bowl of water and dry them off. And as you would expect from real soap, my hands are cleaner than they have been for a long time.

"This is excellent, try to make as much of it as possible. Without neglecting your other duties. I will try to find you an assistant soon."

"Very well, Your Highness."

Actually, it was quite easy to make soap. At least as long as you know the two raw materials needed for it. Potash and fat. Also, the process of making it is really straightforward.

You can use vegetable or animal fats. In our case, we used animal fats because we have enough leftovers from the hunted animals. You simply take the fat-rich leftovers and put them into a pot which you then heat up. With time the fat will liquefy, and you can easily separate it from the solids.

To make potash, you basically need only two things. Ashes and water. You can use special ashes from specific plants, but you can also use the ashes leftover from regular firewood. Therefore you just put the ashes into hot water, just like brewing tea. And then you wait.

After a while, you can also bring the water to boil. In order to increase the concentration of the resulting lye by letting some water evaporate. But one has to be careful, as the lye is caustic. Then you only have to filter the potash through a piece of cloth to remove the ash residues.

In the end, one gets two gold-coloured liquids. And if you mix them together, it becomes cloudy. Then you stir them and let it rest for a while. The mixing ratio is, of course, relevant. Here some tests had to be done to make sure the soap is not corrosive anymore.

But all in all, the process is quite simple and can be done by anyone. The only disadvantage of this kind of soap is that it does not get solid. So you have to store it in containers.

But from now on we can wash properly. We can also use it for our clothes or for cleaning. Although this is probably not the best soap ever made. However, it is still much better than no soap at all.

With which I can cross off one of the many things on my to-do list. Just missing nine hundred and ninety-nine or so, other things.

Next, I sit down at the dinner table and look at my skills. Or rather, one particular skill, Create Life. It's time to create another stonemason, but first I'd like to look at the other options.

Most professions are pretty straightforward. And I still have seven categories to choose from. Administration, Agriculture, Commerce, Education, Health, Industry, Justice, Military.

But I'm sticking with the most important category at the moment, Industry. So far, I have two loggers, two carpenters and three masons. And I think stonemasons are currently the ones I need much more of.

But after a while, I notice another profession, stone-shaper. This one is marked with the subcategory artisan, so I have ignored it until now. But when I look at the description of the profession, the scales fall from my eyes.

It is correct to call them artisans. But no matter how I read the description of it, Stoneshapers are just earth mages! And I could really use some help with the tunnel. Also on the construction site itself, they would prove to be extremely useful. And when the most important things are done, they can still devote themselves to their true calling, to create pieces of art out of stone.

Siegward POV

I have left the two loggers with the children and continue with the hunters. There may be more survivors I can collect. But even more important is information. Because I could not really get anything from the frightened children.

But the mere fact that five survivors were pursued by a group of twenty suggests a much larger number of enemies. This time we were lucky, they were careless, and we were able to attack them in an ambush. But in an open battle, we would have been outnumbered, and they would have crushed us.

Our target is still the village from which the smoke is rising, but we changed direction slightly. Instead of heading straight for it, our new goal is somewhat to the right. This way, I hope to reduce the chance of being discovered.

And after about ten more minutes we can see not only the tops of the palisade but also people. Or probably better said more gnolls. We're probably still an hour or two away, so we'll be in a safe distance from them. Since the area is relatively flat and there are hardly any bushes left, it is possible to see as far as we can. However, this also means that we can be seen as well.

And I don't like what I see at all. There are at least a hundred of them, outside the village. And others running around nearby, probably looking for survivors. Which means my mission is thus far complete.

It is impossible for us to get any closer without being detected. Which is why we cannot continue to search for survivors. All we have left now is to turn back. Maybe we can come back later. If they leave the village again, there's a chance someone might find their way back there.

"Okay, that's it, boys and girls. We're turning back."

I wouldn't mind picking up a few more people, though. But her highness said that our own safety is more important. Which I couldn't agree with her more. If we lead this mob to us, we won't be able to handle it. And everyone at the construction site would be as good as dead.

On the way back, we almost missed the others. Tall grass is really excellent for hiding in. And the kids seem to have calmed down a bit by now. Which is why I turn to the oldest of them.

"I'm sorry, but we couldn't find anyone else. If there are any other survivors, they fled in another direction."

I wait a moment for her reaction, but she just nods. I hope we can learn more from them once we get back.

"We will go back to our camp. I think it would be best if you accompany us."

Again she only reacts with a nod.

"Okay, come on now."

On the way back, we'll give the kids some of our jerkies. It's not much, but it will probably distract them for a while. And it was only after we reached the forest that she finally began to speak.

"How bad is it?"

For a moment, I thought about how to answer a question like that. But since they live in the Wildlands, they must know the cruelty of life. And I wouldn't really be doing them any favours by giving them false hope.

"Quite. It must have been well over a hundred that attacked the village."

"Then it was just us who made it?"

I shake my head in resignation.

"That is a question I cannot answer, child. Perhaps someone escaped in another direction, but there are too few of us to go looking for them."

It takes a few minutes, probably trying to process what she's experienced. But in the end, she asks one more question.

"What will happen to us now?"

Another question to which I can't give an honest answer. Although I'm sure, Her Highness won't merely cast them out.

"This is not for me to decide. Our job was to find out what happened here. And to provide assistance if possible. You guys were lucky you ran in our direction. Which is why we could help you. But we're too few to do more."

Next, she grabs two of the kids by the hands. While the other two, also holding hands, walk behind them. While I'm just wondering why someone would volunteer to build a village in the Wildlands.

Of course, they don't have to pay taxes to anyone, but there is no one to protect them either. Our case is a little different, we're not here to build a village. We want to rebuild our empire.

Apart from that, Her Highness does not really seem to be able to leave this place. From what Isgard told me, she was pretty exhausted the whole trip to the city. Perhaps the dungeon core can be transported, but that seems to be a very dangerous undertaking.