Chapter 12: One Month

A few hours passed and a knock could be heard. 

'Come in" 

The door swung open, and a fat short man came walking into the room, he is the finance minister- Leo Carter. 

''Leo, you are currently the person in charge of the kingdom's finance, tell me how much is left after the war. In addition, I want you to catalog everything that happened in the last few months regarding trades, food, construction and daily expenses. You will report to me as soon as you finish your investigation. You have a week, dismissed" 

Leo Carter, who didn't get to say a single word, was then given a difficult task and dismissed. 

Ethan began to further brainstorm on how to develop the economy and was able to come up with a way. To stimulate the kingdom's economic growth, the idea of a Merchant's Guild was conceived. The Merchant's Guild was intended to be the central hub for all the kingdom's trade activities. This was a grand endeavor, designed to streamline and regulate trade, ensuring a level playing field for all merchants, thereby fostering a thriving and fair-trade environment. But the project just like the trade routes was too much for the kingdom to handle and was put on hold. 

While economic prosperity was a significant milestone in the kingdom's growth, Ethan knew that the true strength of a kingdom lay not only in military might but also in the wellbeing of its people. With this understanding, he shifted his attention towards enhancing the overall quality of life of his citizens. 

Now all that could be done was to inform the people about cleanliness and hygiene. With that as a guideline overall health will begin to take a turn for the better, ensuring longer lives and healthier bodies. But Ethan was not content and just like the merchant guild he came up with another heavy-duty project for the future- the Healers guild. 

They would focus on health and would in the future implement a comprehensive waste management system, underscoring the kingdom's commitment to cleanliness and hygiene. And a regular, clean water supply must be secured, reducing the risk of waterborne diseases and contributing to the overall health of the kingdom's citizens. 

Noticing it was the afternoon, Ethan decided to leave the rest for the days to come and after having his dinner retired to his chamber for cultivation. 

< A week has passed > 

After a full week of meetings almost all the problems were solved for the time being and all his orders were carried out perfectly and everything went smoothly. It had to be said that Leo finished his mission and there were a few problems but nothing that killing a few nobles couldn't solve. 

During the week the military was restored and even almost doubled, reaching 370 Trainees, and because of the newly bought breath technique the soldiers was much stronger than before with about 50% having reached early stage 40% middle stage and 10% late stage. 10% Should not be underestimated for it meant having 37 possible apprentice knights. Even the top combat has improved as Asher stepped into the 5th stage and a newly advanced apprentice knight. Thus, the kingdom has 4 low level apprentice knights and 1 mid-level apprentice knight in Asher. 

Even Ethan began preparing for his breakthrough to late-stage trainee, which he was shocked at, for he thought that the earliest sign of breakthrough would happen in half a month, but now it didn't even take half the time. 

At most a week and we would be able to have a normal 6th tier kingdom's overall strength. He thought. 

Only then can I expand everything else. It could be said that during the week they harvested the wheat, and it was more than enough for everyone, even selling off a few kgs of food, earning about 100 gold. The sheep and goats are not ready and could only be made use of a bit later as some of the necessary facilities are not in commission. 

"Now I can only wait further, and everything will be fine. It's almost time for me to breakthrough. I must breakthrough to apprentice knight before months end." 

< A month has passed > 

Hours became days and days became weeks and soon an entire month went by. Ethan awoke to the cry of a wild rooster early in the morning, he got dressed and stood on his balcony overlooking everything in the kingdom with a smile on his face. Everything went smoothly this past month and Ethan was especially excited this morning as he finally broke through to the 1st –stage late last night. 

When he thought about the kingdom's development in the last month it could be said his breakthrough is the cherry on top. Wheat was harvested 4 times and was generating enough money where they built an economic center like the merchant's guild. And the trade routes were established, since then many caravans and merchants came and went. The wheat generated good money, but it could be said that the goat and sheep products were especially sought after since becoming known to the public. As far as Ethan is aware the sky horn sheep and starbeard goat has never been seen on the continent. Every trade brings in a substantial amount of money to the point that after 1 whole month it generated 1500 gold coins. Ethan bought a few things, first he bought a few more goats and sheep cause the demand was high and the livestock they had wasn't enough. He even bought a few blueprints and built an early version of toilets and sewage systems were put in place thus the hygienic environment got a boost and Ethan didn't need to feel so uncomfortable and dirty anymore. He even started recruiting seamstresses to promote and make more modern clothing s the current clothes were loos and looked more like rags. 

  He bought a few more seeds to be planted. He bought a few kgs worth of golden grain wheat and a few starbright apples which can cure minor ailments and restore vitality. He even expanded the livestock by buying Sunray Chickens and Moongazing Cows. Each has their respective product just like the sheep and goats. 

All in all, everything was on the right track. He told his butler William to take care of everything and was only needed for important matters. As such he only needed to focus on increasing his strength, after all, which general doesn't lead his soldiers into battle.