Chapter 444: Back to Goldenveil

After finishing the renovations in Fallenwinter, Ethan had only six uses of the instant-build ability left in upgrade mode.

Fortunately, they were more than enough for what he needed to do in Greenleaf—especially at the barracks and, of course, at the city’s harbor.

Greenleaf’s current harbor was far too simple.

A few wooden piers darkened by the sea air, half a dozen fishing boats swaying lazily at their moorings—and that was it.

It could barely fit a handful of vessels at a time, and only small ones at that.

But elven silver production was already substantial, and the timber from Fallenwinter would be shipped out that way as well. That little harbor would never be able to handle it.

So Ethan expanded it until it became a colossus, capable of accommodating hundreds of large ships at the same time. 𝒻𝑟ℯℯ

In an instant, the rickety piers gave way to stone docks jutting out into the sea, warehouses lined up along the coast, and cranes soaring toward the sky.

The barracks, for their part, weren’t exactly small, but they were far too simple for what lay ahead.

Soon, a legion of five thousand elite soldiers would be stationed there.

Soldiers of that caliber needed something of much higher quality: decent quarters, spacious training grounds, and an armory that wasn’t just a wooden shed. Ethan took care of that, too.

After a few more renovations at the police station and other important buildings, he was left with a single use of the ability.

He lingered in Greenleaf for two days, admiring the beautiful elven architecture and, well... Faelith’s curves. Then he finally returned to Goldenveil.

The city was quiet. The libraries, on the other hand, were packed with young people preparing for the entrance exams to Goldenveil’s four major universities.

The Golden Tower, the Academy of Blooming Roses, the Goldenveil Academy of Magical Studies, and the Goldenveil Academy of General Education and Combat.

The first two accepted only girls, while the other two opened their doors to everyone.

In total, more than ten thousand young people would take the Goldenveil first general exams, in addition to undergoing a talent assessment.

Depending on their results in both, they would find out which academies they could enter and which courses they could pursue.

The talent test alone could guarantee a spot in the combat courses, even for those who failed the exams.

Of course, Ethan was well aware of the problems that the overproduction of elites had caused on Earth. Too many people with degrees and ambition, not enough positions to go around.

A surefire recipe for resentment and, sooner or later, instability. So he was already working to head it off before it could take root.

With Goldenveil’s economy booming the way it was, there was no cause for worry yet. But what about in one hundred years? Two hundred?

The economy would change significantly by then, and that burst of growth wouldn’t last forever.

Ethan came to a stop on the sidewalk in front of the Goldenveil Library.

He let out a long sigh.

It wasn’t a sigh of weariness. He was happy.

Naturally, many of those young people had never been through elementary or high school, since they were too old for that when Ethan founded the first schools in Goldenveil. What they had received was a crash course in education.

But their minds absorbed knowledge with astonishing ease. The Tree of Life and Goldenveil’s naturally high magical density kept their brains in peak condition at all times.

Thanks to this, the literacy rate had already surpassed ninety-five percent, and almost all of them could handle highly complex texts.

The young benefited the most, of course, but most of the elderly had gone through the process as well, despite it not being mandatory.

Evelyn had reined in her horse beside him. She was watching the young men and women with the sharp eye of someone already picking out recruits.

"I’ll hold one more round of recruitment for the Silver Rose Guards and keep their numbers at five hundred," she remarked, without taking her eyes off a group of girls arguing about something near the fountain.

"After that, I’d like to accept only girls who have graduated from the combat classes at the Academy of Blooming Roses. And a few mages from the Golden Tower as well."

In the Order of the Silver Wings, every woman was a magical swordswoman with a mana heart, capable of casting all sorts of spells. The Order of the Golden Roses was different. There, every member was a warrior with an aura heart.

Evelyn wanted to ensure that at least five percent of the order consisted of mages with mastery over healing and destruction magic.

"That would indeed be best," Ethan said with a nod.

"I asked Garrick to work on some new armor for the First Auxiliary Battalions in the Goldenveil Army. When I go to check on his work, I’ll ask him to start preparing some for a battalion of female mages as well. Don’t worry.

With the help of some elven artisans and my mother’s magic, he should be able to craft the perfect armor for mages."

"Thanks love" Evelyn tilted her head, the corner of her mouth turning up slightly.

Now that Ethan stopped to think about it, it wasn’t just the mages.

He’d also ordered armor for an auxiliary battalion of archers, another of cavalry, and even for Goldenveil’s police force.

Given the deadline he’d set for Garrick, all those models should already be finished, just waiting for his green light to go into mass production at the Dwarves’ Divine Forge.

On top of that, he still had about four hundred premium gacha tickets and nearly five thousand regular ones saved up, all waiting to be used.

Ethan shook his head at the length of his own to-do list and gestured for Evelyn to head straight to the palace while he stopped by the Divine Forge.

After assessing Garrick’s work, he would visit his wives and then head to his next obligation: the Goldenveil shipyards.

They needed a shipyard capable of building large cargo ships and warships—quite different from the small fishing and transport boats the city built these days.