Reflections and new beginnings

When the night came to an end and everyone retired, Carl and Ray made their way to their bridal chambers. There, in an intimate and cozy setting, they immersed themselves in a sea of emotions and deep feelings. Together, they discovered the wonders and intimacy of their first night as husband and wife.

As the gentle morning rays began to illuminate the room, Carl lay beside Ray, lost in thought. He looked up at the ceiling, immersed in his reflections, as the world around him transformed once again.

Since his reincarnation in this new world, Carl had faced challenges, adventures, and now found love and commitment with Ray. He pondered over all the experiences that had shaped his path to that moment, grateful for the opportunity to start anew.

But even with the happiness found, Carl felt restless. He wondered about his purpose in this new world and how he could contribute to the revitalization of Mucrea and the well-being of its inhabitants. His modern skills and knowledge could be a valuable tool, but he needed to find the best way to utilize them.

As he contemplated the past and the future, Carl felt a renewed determination ignite in his heart. He knew his journey was just beginning and there was much to be done. With Ray by his side and the desire to make a difference in Mucrea, he committed himself to finding ways to contribute and bring prosperity to the city he now called home.

Still seated on the edge of the bed, Carl gazed at the sleeping Ray. The day was dawning, but it seemed Ray wouldn't wake up anytime soon. Deciding to explore the castle, Carl carefully got up from the bed so as not to disturb her, dressed himself, and opened the grand door of the room, stepping out to walk the castle's corridors.

The hallways were cold, and the servants hadn't started working yet. Carl wandered aimlessly through the corridors, lost in thoughts about what to do from that point and how to achieve his goals. Now that he had someone to care for, Carl knew he needed to act with more caution.

While lost in contemplation, Carl caught the scent of freshly baked bread. He had arrived at the kitchen, where a young cook was preparing breakfast for the castle. The young cook noticed Carl standing at the kitchen entrance and immediately greeted him, "Good morning, sir! Congratulations on your wedding. Would you like something to eat?"

"I didn't come for food, I'm just taking a walk. Carry on with what you were doing," Carl replied, not overly concerned, and left.

With a few more steps, Carl reached the throne room, where remnants of the great battle could still be seen. He walked towards the throne and stood before it. A rustic throne carved into the rock, emanating the chilliness of the stone. After contemplating it for a few seconds, Carl sat in his place, assuming his responsibilities as the new lord.

"Chief," said Shadow, Carl's subordinate who had followed the enemy army's trail to gather information. He stood in a dark corner of the room. Carl looked at him and said, "Take a seat somewhere and give me a report."

Shadow said nothing and approached Carl. When he was five meters away from the throne, he began to speak.

"The one responsible for the attack is the Baron of Palmatris, one of the four barons in this county and also the second weakest among them. Mucrea was beneath them, but with the rumor that Mucrea had a new awakened warrior, they decided to do everything to bring down Mucrea as they didn't want to lose their power. They used a lot of money to hire two awakened warriors for this mission. Unlike Mucrea, Palmatris has four awakened warriors, all part of the army and

don't perform any other functions besides that. The lord of Palmatris, unlike the former lord of Mucrea, is not an awakened warrior. Their current situation is better than ours. They lost many resources in this invasion, but their military strength wasn't greatly affected. It won't take long before they attempt another invasion," Shadow reported clearly and precisely.

Carl pondered what he had heard and then spoke with determination, "We have some time before they try something again. We need to restore Mucrea's economy and train more soldiers. We lost almost all veteran soldiers in this invasion. The fact that they don't know we have six awakened warriors is in our favor. Let's wait for the next attack while we rebuild the city and catch them off guard when they think they have the advantage."

Continuing, Carl gave a new order, "Look for talent in the city. See what markets and niches we can explore to gain capital and revitalize the city. At noon, we'll have a meeting. Gather everyone in the meeting hall at noon."

Shadow didn't say anything, just nodded and left. Carl remained seated on the throne, thinking and reflecting, creating an action plan to pull Mucrea out of the crisis it faced. Carl, in his past life, was a successful businessman. In the end, if he used his knowledge from the modern era and his business skills, he could raise enough capital to revitalize Mucrea. The question was what he would do first. That's why he sent Shadow to search for talent in the city. Based on the city's best talent, Carl could find a business area to get involved in, accelerating the growth of the enterprise. The plan was to work on something unique to Mucrea but extremely necessary for everyone. That way, the sale would propagate organically throughout the kingdom.

The army would be a different matter. Recently, there had been a recruitment of young people in Mucrea, attracting many youths from neighboring villages in search of adventure. However, just like most resources, the young were limited, and in the last recruitment, Mucrea had already selected many of them. Unfortunately, most of these recruits were lost during the invasion. Carl would also need to develop modern training for them since the training of plebeian armies in this world was very archaic. All of this was overwhelming Carl as there were many plans to develop in parallel, and Carl didn't possess a superhuman mind, just an average brain. Therefore, he would need time to elaborate on these strategies and get Mucrea out of the current situation.