It was already afternoon when the ox cart returned with a small escort. And on it were the first five corpses. To transport all twenty at once would have probably been far too much for the ox. Oxen are strong, but not that strong.

So I absorb the bodies to increase my stored biomass. And they brought in as much as 370 kg, which almost doubles that amount of stored biomass. If the next three loads bring in that much as well, I have enough to create 40 more dwarves.

But the now bigger problem has become space. The cave is slowly reaching its limits. I'll probably have to expand it a bit. Fortunately, this will hardly affect the progress of the tunnel work. Digging a room with five by five by two meters costs as much mana as twenty-five metres of the tunnel. By comparison, we should be able to excavate about seven hundred metres a day. The only drawback is that the tunnel is quite narrow. With a length of almost five kilometres and a width of only one metre.

Before the cart sets off again, the second guardsman joins the group. And the first guardsman comes to me with another report.

"Your Highness, so far there has been no further enemy sighting. It is as if they had never been there. And Vice-Captain Siegward has sent a reconnaissance party towards the village."

"Understood. If the situation in the village allows it, they should also look for useful things. If I'm not very much mistaken, there shouldn't be many survivors. And we can use the resources better than the dead."

"The vice-captain already suspected that you would say such a thing and gave the appropriate instructions."

"That's all, you are dismissed."

In the worst case, we can always compensate them later.

"Your Highness!"

The Guardsman makes her usual salute and heads back to the cart.

I had intended to create three guardsmen today, but then I came across the Firesmith. And that's precisely what I'm going to do now. And this time the profession disappears from the list immediately, apparently I have to make do with just a single fire magician. Let's just hope he can use magic to generate the heat necessary to process iron.

Since I have nothing else to do, I'll go back to my drawings. Even though I'm beginning to despair. How big do I have to make it all? Of course, I need a grande hall, later for audiences and generally just as a dining hall. But for how many people? 50, 100, 500?

If I make a hall with 16 by 32 meters, I should have about 27 tables for ten people each. If necessary, 38 will fit in as well. That is quite a vast hall, but is it enough? Or completely exaggerated? It would be probably best to arrange it in such a way that I could extend it with side aisles if necessary...

Even the height of the room will be quite impressive. So that the ceiling does not crush you, the walls should be four meters high. But then there is additionally the arch. With a normal round arch, half the width of the room is added as height. By this, the highest point of the hall becomes suddenly twelve metres high.

Next are the quarters. At the moment, each one has only a small niche with a sleeping place in it. Not very comfortable, but so far nobody has complained about it. Which however makes absolute sense. After all, people only consider it a place to sleep.

This combination of a bedroom and a living room is a fairly new concept. Without electric light, it's always pretty dark inside. Which is why people spend most of their time outside. Okay, that's not really true for us because we're inside a mountain...

But even if I have a light source with stones of light, which is not based on fire, you shouldn't overestimate it. While they give much more light than a single candle, they are far from being comparable to modern interior lighting. I can only hope that with increasing levels of light magic, I can create better light sources.

For the bedrooms, I had thought of a size of four by four meters, for two people. Not exactly a luxury apartment, but it should mainly serve as a sleeping place. And it's big enough to accommodate all the other necessary furniture like a table and cupboards or chests in addition to the beds.

But in order to light such a room sufficiently according to modern standards. I would have to provide ten stones of light for each bedroom! Although I could produce this amount over a certain period of time, other problems remain.

I need 40 mana to create it. And they consume 1 mana per hour, with a capacity of 24 mana. Pretty simple, therefore. But they have no on/off switch, they start glowing immediately after creation until they are empty. And when they are recharged with mana, they remain dark until they are full again.

Although I have managed to get them charged with sunlight as well. But that sounds better than it actually is. You have to put them practically the whole day in the sun, and when they are full, they immediately start to glow again...

I don't know yet what the effect is when it's cloudy and raining. But they probably don't charge up at all. And in winter, when the sun shines less, and there's fog, maybe... Yes, actually they behave exactly like a photovoltaic panel.

I am really a little bit surprised why they can be sold at such a high price. Probably they count mainly as luxury items? And nothing is more tempting for nobles or rich merchants than to show off their wealth.

It would just be really great if I could install something like a light switch. Probably it is even possible, but without an enchantment teacher or at least a book on the subject, it will be challenging to find out.

But enough of that. I've been thinking about this for so long that the Firesmith is almost ready. I'm just gonna get a little something to eat. Which, as usual, is almost all meat. Not that I don't like meat, but try to cover all your energy needs with meat alone. The grain we brought helps, but we are too many people for the little bread we can make with it...

But back to Firesmith, it's time to pass on one of my problems to someone else. Let her take care of it.

"I am Vanadis, Your Highness."

The young dwarf has black hair and is about my height. However, she has considerably more muscle than I have. I suppose it's because of her profession. It's not because I'm a spoiled princess who shirked manual labour...

"I will come straight to the point Vanadis. There is a danger that we will be attacked in the near future. Which is why we need decent weapons. Fortunately, we have recently acquired a certain amount of iron."

"That is no problem, Your Highness. Just show me the forge, and I can start work immediately."

"Well, there's a slight problem..."

"We... we do have a forge, don't we?"

"I have prepared a room for you to use for your work. Please follow me. I can make any alterations you may desire."

The room is further back in the cave where the original goblin storeroom used to be. For the simple reason that forging will make a lot of noise. However, when we enter the room, Vanadis will stop as rooted. Which I can't really blame her for. After all, the place is practically empty.

Inside it is all of our iron. A single hammer, which I pinched from the carpenters. An anvil made of stone that I really don't know how much it can do. A pile of firewood and a fireplace.

When I turn to the blacksmith lady, I see her right eye twitching. I think she is dissatisfied with the overall situation. And all I can do is to show her an apologetic smile.

"Your Highness. I don't know where to begin..."

"I am well aware this is not an equipped blacksmith's shop. In a week or two, a blacksmith from nearby should join up with us. He will have all his tools with him too. However, I'm afraid we won't have time to wait for him.

I also understand that firewood does not reach the temperature needed to process iron. However, I had hoped that you would be able to solve this problem with your magic. And as for the missing tools, you will have to make them yourself, for better or worse..."

Once again, I show her an apologetic smile. These are really not ideal conditions for making a large number of weapons.

Vanadis gives a loud sigh.

"I understand, Your Highness. Please excuse my behaviour. Can you tell me what weapons you had in mind?"

"For a start, 20 spearheads would be ideal. If possible, arrowheads afterwards. But that depends on whether our iron is sufficient."

"Then I will start with them as soon as I have made the necessary tools..."

Tycos

I sat in front of the computer for an hour while thinking of what to write. Until I realised that I can just write about what I've been trying to plan the last few days...