Chapter 177: Starting Anew

Edgar walked out of his house while stretching his body, feeling the stiffness left behind by the previous night’s battle and the workout in the morning.

‘Even though Hera is shy, she doesn’t hold back in bed.’ Edgar thought to himself. ‘Not that I don’t enjoy myself in her company.’

He rolled his shoulders and moved his neck from side to side before drawing in a deep breath.

He looked around. The destruction was still everywhere.

Large sections of the Fortress wall had collapsed, and several defensive towers had been reduced to rubble.

Cracks ran through the walls like scars left behind by a giant Nightmare.

Workers were already moving between the damaged buildings, carrying stones and pieces of broken wood while others cleared away the debris.

Edgar looked toward the grey-black sky. ‘There isn’t much time.’

The Eternal Night would eventually return, and he wanted the Fortress to be repaired before that happened.

He began walking toward one of the damaged sections of the outer wall when something caught his attention.

A mountain of Nightmare Stones had been gathered near the center of the Fortress.

Edgar stopped. There were stones everywhere.

White, green, and even several orange ones were mixed together in enormous piles.

Their faint glow illuminated the surrounding area, making the broken ground look strangely beautiful despite the destruction.

‘Almost six hours.’

It was already close to afternoon.

All of these stones had been collected during the few hours since the battle ended, and Andrew and his group were still outside collecting more from the battlefield.

Edgar walked toward the mountain of stones.

An old man was standing beside it with a parchment in his hands.

…Oswald.

The old man was carefully counting the stones while occasionally making notes on the parchment.

His eyebrows were slightly furrowed as he moved from one pile to another, clearly taking his work more seriously than most people would expect.

When Oswald noticed Edgar approaching, he looked up and smiled.

“Good morning, Young Master Edgar.”

“Morning, Oswald.” Edgar glanced at the mountain of Nightmare Stones. “How many do we have?”

Oswald chuckled. “I haven’t counted them fully yet.”

He flipped through the parchment in his hand and looked over several numbers that had already been written down.

“But I can give you an estimate.” He stopped at one particular page.

“From what we have counted so far, there are around 47,000 White Nightmare Stones, 4,200 Green Nightmare Stones, and 470 Orange Nightmare Stones.”

Edgar stared at him. “Forty-seven?”

“Yes.” Oswald nodded. “And Andrew’s group is still bringing more.”

Edgar looked toward the enormous mountain of glowing stones.

He had expected to obtain a large amount after defeating the Nightmare King’s army, but seeing the numbers written down still surprised him.

‘The Nightmare King really brought a lot of surprises.’

The battle had nearly destroyed his Fortress, but the amount of resources left behind was enough to rebuild most of it several times over.

Oswald folded the parchment. “What are your plans now?”

Edgar looked toward the damaged walls.

“For now, rebuilding.” He paused for a moment before continuing. “After that, I want to expand the territory around the Fortress.”

Oswald’s expression became slightly more serious. “Expanding your territory will bring conflict.”

Edgar looked at him. “With other humans?”

“Humans, Nightmares, and perhaps things we don’t even know about yet… The nobles.”

Oswald walked beside him as they slowly moved through the damaged streets.

“The larger your territory becomes, the more attention you will attract. Eventually, someone will decide that what belongs to you should belong to them.”

Edgar remained silent for a few seconds.

“I know.” He looked toward the workers repairing a damaged house. “But I won’t expand at the cost of my people.”

Oswald glanced at him.

“I won’t start a war simply because I want more land,” Edgar continued. “If someone attacks us, I’ll deal with them. But I won’t send people into danger just to satisfy my ambition.”

Oswald smiled faintly. “That is a difficult promise to keep.”

“I know.” Edgar looked ahead. “But I’ll keep it.”

The two continued walking for a little while before Edgar’s attention shifted toward a familiar building.

The Smithing House.

Despite the destruction surrounding it, the sound of metal striking metal could still be heard from inside.

CLANG!

CLANG!

CLANG!

Edgar pushed open the door.

The smell of hot metal immediately reached him.

Several furnaces were still burning, and sparks flew through the air as workers moved around the room.

The Smithing House had suffered some damage during the battle, but somehow the main workshop had remained operational.

The heat from the furnaces immediately washed over him, carrying the smell of burning metal.

Several workers were working around the room, repairing weapons damaged during the battle.

At the center of the room stood Old Man Steven.

He was hammering a piece of glowing metal when he noticed Edgar.

The old blacksmith lifted his head.

“Lord Edgar.” He placed the hammer down and wiped the sweat from his forehead. “What do you need now?”

Edgar shook his head. “Nothing for now.”

Steven raised an eyebrow. “Nothing?”

“I just wanted to see how things were going.”

Steven glanced around the workshop. “We’re fine. A few tools were damaged, but nothing important.”

Edgar nodded. “I might bring more people here soon.”

Steven’s eyes immediately brightened. “More blacksmiths?”

“…Not just blacksmiths.”

Edgar thought about the people working around the Han River Fortress.

There were craftsmen, workers, miners, and several people who had gained experience from helping develop that area.

‘It would be better if they worked here.’

The main Fortress had more resources, stronger defenses, and far more opportunities for skilled craftsmen to develop their abilities.

“I’ll probably bring some of the people from the Han River Fortress here,” Edgar said. “At least the ones whose skills are needed here.”

Steven looked at him confusedly. “Han River Fortress?”

“It’s a long story.” Edgar replied. “Don’t worry about that.”

Steven looked at him and said, “From what I have heard, there is no fortress there.”

He paused for a second before he mumbled, “Did you create one?”

Edgar nodded his head. “Like I said, it’s a long story.” He mumbled. “They were being sold out, so I saved them and gave them a place to live.”

Steven looked at him with a soft chuckle. “Don’t you have a soft heart.”

“Don’t worry about it.”

“More hands are never a bad thing, though.” Steven nodded approvingly. “I will make sure to train those who are good.”

“They all are good.” Edgar replied. “They are also the ones who are refining the ores.”

“Well, the more, the better.” The old blacksmith glanced toward the damaged walls outside. “Especially after something like this.”

Edgar smiled. “We’ll rebuild.”

Steven picked up his hammer again. “I’ll make sure the weapons are ready when you do.”

Edgar nodded. “Good.”

He turned around and walked out of the Smithing House.

The familiar sound of hammering followed him even after the door closed.

Edgar stood outside for a moment and looked at the damaged Fortress.

‘I need to work on making better things and how to use them in this world.’

Edgar had a lot of ideas from his old world that he wanted to use in this world.

But because of all the conflicts that were going on in his life, he never got the time to think it through.

‘Now that I am free, I can focus on making this place better and more livable for all of us.’

Edgar shook his head and looked at the work at hand.

There was a lot of damage that was done to the walls.

He needed to fix that before anything else.

He raised his hand as a system screen appeared before him.

—

[Fortress Reconstruction]

Damaged Structures Detected: 137

Destroyed Structures: 29

Wall Integrity: 43%

Defensive Structures Damaged: 61%

Estimated Nightmare Stones Required: 2,500

—

Edgar looked at the information. “Let’s get started.”

He selected the damaged section of the outer wall.

The system immediately displayed the reconstruction requirements.

Edgar confirmed the repair.

Many of the newly acquired Nightmare Stones flew in the air and cracked.

A faint white light spread across the ground from the stones.

Broken stones began moving on their own.

Large pieces of rubble rose from the ground and floated toward the damaged wall, fitting themselves into the missing sections with precise movements.

Cracks slowly disappeared as fresh stone filled the gaps, while the foundations beneath the wall repaired themselves layer by layer.

The workers nearby stopped what they were doing and watched.

Edgar moved to another damaged section.

He activated the system again.

More stones rose and more Nightmare Stones were used.

The reconstruction continued.

One section after another began returning to its original condition, and the Fortress slowly started losing the appearance of a battlefield.

Edgar watched the process with a faint smile.

There was still an enormous amount of work ahead.

But after everything that had happened, rebuilding a few walls didn’t seem particularly difficult.

He stretched his arms again and looked toward the horizon.

‘First, I’ll repair this place.’ His eyes narrowed slightly. ‘Then I’ll start expanding the Fortress.’