Chapter 76: Insane Rewards

There would need to be surveys. Patrols. Resource assessments. New roads. Administrative divisions.

He would have to determine exactly what had just become his responsibility before someone wandered into a forest and discovered that his newly acquired territory contained something interested in eating taxpayers.

The next reward appeared before he finished processing any of that.

[ ×1 Althoff City Master Development Blueprint ]

Raymond rubbed his forehead. "Okay. Good. Because calling this a city and expecting me to figure out the rest would’ve been extremely irresponsible."

The item description unfolded automatically, and Raymond quickly realized that calling it a blueprint was almost an insult. It was an enormous development framework designed around Althoff’s expanded territory and future population, containing layouts for residential districts, commercial zones, administrative areas, military facilities, artisan quarters, warehouses, markets, roads, drainage systems, water infrastructure, defensive walls, public spaces, future industrial areas, and expansion corridors.

It didn’t magically construct anything, which Raymond actually preferred. Instead, it gave him a coherent city plan that could guide construction for years rather than allowing Althoff to grow into a tangled mess of buildings wherever someone found empty ground.

Before he could inspect it further, another heading appeared.

[ Military Performance Reward ]

Raymond immediately paid attention.

[ Winter Vanguard Package Acquired! ]

A secondary list unfolded beneath the notification, displaying the contents of the package.

[ ×500 Standard Infantry Equipment Sets ]

[ ×200 Heavy Infantry Equipment Sets ]

[ ×300 Hunting/Scout Equipment Sets ]

[ ×100 Military Crossbows ]

[ ×20,000 Crossbow Bolts ]

[ ×10 Mana Signal Beacons ]

[ ×5 Mobile Field Medical Stations ]

[ ×1 Tier-II Military Training Ground Blueprint ]

[ ×1 Tier-II Barracks Blueprint ]

Raymond slowly whistled. Boris had spent most of winter turning former guards, hunters, caravan escorts, and ordinary volunteers into something resembling a territorial military, but equipment remained one of their biggest limitations.

Weapons and armor could be produced locally, yet not quickly enough to outfit hundreds of new recruits at a consistent standard.

The Winter Vanguard Package changed that immediately. Combined with fifty additional Bronze summons, twenty Silver summons, and three Gold Knights, House Althoff’s military capability was about to jump so dramatically that Boris might actually smile for several consecutive minutes.

Raymond was still imagining that unlikely event when the System moved on.

[ Economic Development Reward ]

[ ×1 Beast Processing Complex Blueprint ]

His eyes sharpened immediately. Warehouses around Althoff were currently filled with Magic Beast hides, horns, claws, bones, blood products, preserved meat, and other materials accumulated throughout winter, while the more valuable Mana Cores remained secured under House control.

Local craftsmen had already found uses for some of those resources, but most processing remained crude.

A dedicated facility capable of handling Magic Beast materials at scale could turn what was currently a pile of valuable raw resources into an actual industry.

Another notification followed.

[ Tier-II City Infrastructure Starter Package Acquired! ]

The package opened automatically.

[ ×1 Water Distribution Network Blueprint ]

[ ×1 Sewer & Drainage Network Blueprint ]

[ ×1 Public Bathhouse Blueprint ]

[ ×1 Large Grain Warehouse Blueprint ]

[ ×1 Central Market Blueprint ]

[ ×1 Medical Hall Blueprint ]

[ ×1 Elementary Academy Blueprint ]

[ ×1 Administrative Hall Blueprint ]

[ ×1 Large Blacksmithing Workshop Blueprint ]

[ ×1 Textile & Leather Workshop Blueprint ]

Raymond simply stared. For the first time since the rewards began, he felt genuinely overwhelmed by the amount of work hiding inside what looked like generosity.

Every blueprint was useful. Every single one solved a problem Althoff either already possessed or would inevitably develop as the population continued increasing.

They also represented construction projects, labor assignments, materials, schedules, maintenance, administrators, and money.

The System had essentially looked at Raymond’s rapidly growing territory and rewarded him with an entire development agenda.

"These aren’t rewards," Raymond muttered. "This is homework."

A nearby guard stationed farther along the wall glanced toward him after hearing the comment, but Raymond pretended not to notice.

Explaining why he was standing alone complaining about invisible homework would only create another Divine Emissary rumor, and he had enough of those already.

The System chimed again.

[ Hidden Achievement Unlocked! ]

Raymond’s attention returned to the screens.

[ Hidden Achievement: A Lord Without Closed Gates ]

The title wiped the humor from his expression more effectively than he expected. Images from the winter immediately came back to him: the eighty-seven survivors from Marden entering

Althoff half-frozen and terrified, the three hundred and seventeen people from Reth kneeling outside his gates, families arriving with children wrapped beneath coats, elderly people pulled across snow on sledges, and strangers who had traveled for days because someone told them Althoff would let them inside.

Raymond had initially accepted refugees partly because helping them benefited his population requirement. Somewhere along the way, that calculation had stopped being the most important reason.

[ Family Trait Acquired: Beacon of Refuge ]

A description unfolded beneath it.

[ Beacon of Refuge ]

[ Type: Permanent Family Trait ]

[ House Althoff’s reputation as a sanctuary has become embedded within the identity of the Family. ]

[ Effects: Increased immigration attraction. Increased loyalty growth among displaced populations. Increased integration efficiency for newly incorporated citizens. Reduced instability caused by rapid population expansion. ]

Raymond read the description twice before releasing a quiet breath. This reward wasn’t a pile of gold, a military unit, or some powerful artifact.

It was the System recognizing what House Althoff had become during winter. People had entered his territory as Marden survivors, Greymill survivors, Reth villagers, Fellcross families, abandoned farmers, hunters, craftsmen, merchants, and guards. Increasingly, they simply called themselves citizens of Althoff.

The next achievement returned histhoughts to the battle itself.

[ Hidden Achievement: The Tide Broke Before The Walls ]

[ Conditions Fulfilled: Defeat an abnormal large-scale Magic Beast migration while preserving the core settlement and preventing catastrophic civilian losses. ]

[ Additional Rewards Granted ]

[ ×1 Advanced Magic Beast Resource Repository ]

[ ×5 High-Capacity Preservation Artifacts ]

[ ×1 Gold Rank Magic Beast Material Processing Kit ]

Raymond nodded slowly. Those were immediately useful, especially considering the quantity of Beast materials Althoff had accumulated. He was about to inspect the repository when the screens shifted once again.

[ S-Rank Exclusive Reward ]

Raymond froze.

Everything until now had apparently not included the exclusive reward.

"You’ve got more?"

[ Family Authority Ability Acquired: The Lord’s Eye ]

The Family Map opened automatically.

Raymond’s confusion lasted only a moment before the interface changed so dramatically that he forgot to complain.

The simple map he had used throughout winter expanded into a far more detailed representation of his territory.

Settlement locations appeared first, followed by roads, water sources, known farmland, recognized resource sites, population concentrations, military positions, active construction projects, warehouses, livestock areas, and administrative boundaries.

Raymond could focus on individual sections and receive summarized information without physically traveling there.

Areas not yet properly surveyed remained obscured rather than magically revealing everything, and there were no convenient markers identifying hidden enemies or undiscovered treasures, but anything House Althoff had genuinely mapped, built, occupied, or discovered could now be organized through a single territorial interface.

Raymond stared at it in complete silence. This one was dangerous.

Not dangerous because it could kill anyone , but because Raymond immediately understood how absurdly useful it would become. He had spent four months relying on reports carried by riders, hunters, guards, Lily’s ledgers, Boris’s patrol maps, and whatever information reached the castle quickly enough to matter.

Now he could look at Althoff as an administrator might look at a living diagram. He could identify population concentrations before assigning new infrastructure, compare roads with future market locations, track military deployments, inspect agricultural development, and monitor major construction without demanding twelve different reports just to understand what was happening across his own territory.

Raymond closed the expanded map before he lost the rest of the day exploring it.

Then he looked at the wall of notifications still floating before him.

One hundred thousand Gold Coins. Two hundred and fifty thousand System Points.

Fifty Bronze Knight tickets.

Twenty Silver Knight tickets, three Gold Knight tickets, ten specialized civilian summons, a Tier IV Land Upgrade Card, the System Shop, Count Rank, Tier-2 Family, acity designation, fifteen hundred square kilometers of territory, a master city blueprint, military equipment for hundreds of soldiers, barracks, training grounds, a Beast Processing Complex, water infrastructure, sewers, a market, a medical hall, an academy, ndustrial workshops, preservation resources, beacon of refuge and the Lord’s Eye.

Raymond slowly lowered himself onto the nearest section of repaired stone because his legs had apparently decided standing was unnecessary.

Four months ago, he had been trying to figure out how to prevent twelve hundred starving people from dying.

Now the System had handed him the foundation for a city, an expanded territory, an army, an economy, and enough development projects to keep him busy until his next reincarnation.

He laughed quietly and covered his face with one hand. "What the hell am I supposed to do first?"

For once, the System didn’t immediately answer.

Raymond remained there for several moments, listening to Althoff behind him.

Hammers struck timber somewhere below. Wagons moved along the streets. Guards shouted during a training rotation. Children were arguing loudly enough near one of the communal houses that he could hear them from the wall.

More than fivethousand people were living inside a territory that should have collapsed before winter even properly began.

The System chimed one final time.

Raymond lowered his hand.

Two golden notifications appeared before him.

[ Congratulations, Host. ]

[ House Althoff has completed its first Family Evolution. ]