Chapter 411 - Reaching the Outpost

Two sh.i.p.s had arrived in Gaster Kingdom a month ago [January], but these sh.i.p.s weren't there to bring gold or deliver products and last but not least they don't belong to Gaster Kingdom.

If you can remember it, a couple of months ago King Zar ordered two medium sized sh.i.p.s from the Zamerians. These sh.i.p.s, will be used to transport either food or Guards all the way across [Country] Orientis Ignis to form what King Zar calls the greatest military move yet, an Outpost.

Frozen Toe Kingdom doesn't have any people living in it any longer, so it proves useful as an outpost. As specified before, the intent of this Outpost is to cause military suppression towards the ill.u.s.tratian Alliance, specifically any nearby domain in the Country below them, Meridionali Ignis.

One of these sh.i.p.s can carry a whole platoon [100 Guards] easily since it is a medium sized sh.i.p.s. Hell, Lav Kingdom used two of these sh.i.p.s to transport 500 people so it can obviously fit one Platoon with ease.

This luxury however did not come cheap, these sh.i.p.s together has cost the Pameres Kingdom Budget 29,000 Gold Coins although the Zamerians formed some kind of minor discount thanks to all the business deals they had and still have up until this point!

Obviously that is a large price, but it can't damage the Budget considering how much Gold Pameres Kingdom has piled up.

The expenses have been paid, the whole third Platoon (Which includes War veterans) are close to reaching Frozen Toe Kingdom. In the meantime, now in February King Zar has found it reasonable to start building up a couple more Platoons of Guards which includes a mix of Zamerians, Ignites and ill.u.s.tratios who will too live in the Outpost later on.

Is it a bit too early? Yes, King Zar has no idea how many Guards Frozen Toe Kingdom can fit. But if it can fit another 200, it is a good idea to hire more Guards now and fill in a month or two of training before sending them to the real world.

Two months ago, King Zar wouldn't have made this decision. It would have been a bad idea since the monthly income wouldn't be able to handle it. But now, with 350k as a monthly profit (Not to be confused with the monthly income which is 685k), it is completely affordable for Gaster Kingdom to hire 200 people who don't bring monetary income but safety instead.

In fact considering the current large profit, it wouldn't be a big issue even if he hired 300 More Guards and send them to the outpost, the monthly expenses could cover it.

But with the total population here being 3,200 around 950 of which are Elderlies or Children, there are only 250-300 people left for employment.

These unemployed people can be used to bring in more income, but there is no rush with it. King Zar wants to see how things go after March when many business deals end!

Because after all, if there aren't enough deals to put everyone in the current number of 2,000 Employees into work, then what's the point of hiring 250-300 more people?

For the moment, King Zar requires a full report of what Frozen Toe Kingdom contains. Be it how many houses, or how many tools or people to fix those houses or anything other additional, it will be useful for establishing the next move towards the outpost.

As for the newly hired two Platoons, although they aren't going to Frozen Toe Kingdom now their pay is equal to the men and women who took this difficult and fairly much different Journey, their pay will be 180 Gold Coins a month.

That's the most any other Platoon of Guards earn, and it is fair to say that these big pays along with the fact that there are 2,000 out of 3,200 people employed in Pameres Kingdom, has made living easier for everyone here.

Most in this Domain are middle class residents now since most houses bring home three salaries and a small portion of houses have synced in to rich class residents! This small portion of rich residents contains either Blacksmiths or 4+ Salaries that come in to one house.

Regardless of how things are in each house, the masses who earn a bit less have taken over the few little who earn more than most and the average salary has sunk down from 172 to 164 Gold Coins.

This doesn't necessarily mean that King Zar has lowered the salaries, but it means that there are more employees now and a huge portion of them are apprentices who earn apprentice salaries. Of course they will receive raises in time, and until then they will bring in more profit so that's a win in both ends of the stick.

Everything is good for the people, they will be able to live better. But what about the monthly expenses in this fine Domain? Well, the 300 Guards alone that belong to the Outpost take 54,000 Gold Coins a month from the monthly income. 

That is large no doubt, but the monthly Profit still remains a stunning 315,385 Gold Coins. Well at least until March!

...

Since Frozen Toe Kingdom is around 200 Kilometers away from the sea, it is the best solution for the sh.i.p.s to dock very close to the borders between Orientis Ignis and Meridionali Ignis.

It is a landmark, easy to remember since there is no doc to play that role. And best part yet, all they have to do is walk directly towards the North for 200 Kilometres to reach Frozen Toe Kingdom.

Although it took nearly three more weeks to walk through this blistering snow, it was successful. The Platoon finally reached Frozen Toe Kingdom, and thankfully no one froze to death along the way although most had it hard to adapt with these extremely cold temperatures regardless of the thick fur clothing.

They've reached the Kingdom at midnight, and didn't enter. The reason behind it is that they do not want to witness countless corpses before falling asleep.

They are very tired and can not afford to have a sleepless night. The Houses here can't be used either considering the fact that there might or might not be Corpses inside.

They are camping right in front of the Kingdom for the night, they have the required equipment to do so. As for tomorrow they have a lot of work to do.

...

Three hours after noon, with dusk close they have made all the mandatory progress required to transform this place in to a proper Outpost.

For a start, with King Zar's commands they are to dig enough graves for these elderly people. Their families are long gone so the least the Platoon can do before using their homes is grant a proper Funeral.

It is obvious that the main reason why the elderly people died here, is because all Merchants stopped travelling up here once it was made sure that it is not worth the risk. Handling Blue Eagles a.k.a Screaming Birds isn't worth it enough for a small sack of gold.

The second reason why they have died, is because the ill.u.s.tratian Alliance stopped giving their support to this domain once kicking them out of the Alliance.

Hey, they obtained all the usable manpower from here and this Domain had no income after. Politically it's a good move, morally it is inhumane. Which makes it clear that Humanity can't always be a part of Politics, especially in the medieval times.

The Corpses however are well preserved, it's extremely cold here and there are no animals who discovered them to feed off them. So at least all the Platoon had to deal with here was the minor bad smell spread around the Kingdom.

Well that and digging enough graves for all these people, it took most of the Platoon to dig 70 graves and they still have a bit of work to do tomorrow for a bundle of Corpses. Thankfully there is a Cemetery here, so they at least got an idea where to dig the graves.

Some Guards reported that there are 90 houses here, so this necessarily means that the Platoons of 200 people can come here next month and fit all in this Domain. Their personal space will be invaded here and there, but this is the Army not a cozy family home.

Now, the goal is for about 20 Guards to return to the Sh.i.p.s tomorrow (Where they have left 10 Guards to protect the sh.i.p.s) and all together they need to return back to Pameres Kingdom.

First of all, it's because that's how King Zar ordered them too and second of all they need to bring back what from the looks of it, seems like a handful of Construction Workers and Stonemasons along with a ship ton of material.

The Kingdom has been damaged since no one has looked after it, but it can be repaired. Until then, the Platoon of 70 that remain here have enough food for a few months just to be on the safe side.