Chapter 101: Suddenly Realizing I Did Something Stupid
Owen discovered that all the buildings perfectly matched Green Shade Town’s style, small and cozy, blending harmoniously with nature. Even beneath the windows flanking the doors were small flower beds, where homeowners could plant whatever they pleased.
These designs integrated well with the surrounding forest, brimming with greenery. He was sure the witches would be satisfied, because wasn’t this the kind of ambiance women loved?
However, despite their cozy appearance, the buildings were small inside, all single rooms of twenty to thirty square meters. Apart from the separate toilets, the living room, bedroom, and kitchen were all open plan. Even the original attics had been removed, exposing the roof beams, making them look rather crude.
There was no helping it. Even with the mutations, goblins were still much smaller than humans, so their houses naturally had to be smaller. To expand their living space, all the partitions had to be removed.
Although crude, it was enough to meet their daily needs, and that was sufficient.
Next was the school, resembling a rural primary school, consisting of several spacious and bright longhouses, each serving as a classroom. The neatly arranged desks and chairs inside did give it a bit of a school vibe.
In addition, there was an empty library and a canteen, which would need to be furnished later.
All of this was far from the level of Hogwarts, but some of Maya’s words made Owen feel that it made sense. He understood the principle of giving someone a little and they’ll be grateful, but give them too much and they’ll take it for granted.
The witches currently held little value. If their treatment was too good and their expectations were raised, what would happen in the future?
Human desires were endless. Even if Owen had shown them kindness, it wouldn’t prevent them from harboring resentment over minor matters, eventually leading to betrayal. So, he had to start with small things, not fueling their ambition. He needed to make them understand gratitude, learn loyalty, and know reverence.
These couldn’t be accomplished overnight. Owen pondered for a long time, then gave orders to the Goblin General beside him.
“These buildings must be completed as soon as possible. I’ll put the necessary daily necessities in the underground dungeon chamber that will serve as a warehouse. Distribute them according to the number of people.”
“Also, change the road construction plan. Stop the road at the wooden fortress. From now on, the town will focus on building stone walls and strengthening defenses.” After a tour of the town, Owen had a new idea. As for the interrupted road construction, he was used to it. There were so many half-finished projects on his side that it had almost become a habit.
Actually, Owen didn’t want to do this. He now had the ability to continue building the road, and it wouldn’t even take much time. But he suddenly realized he had done something stupid.
What was Owen’s initial reason for building the road? It was to transport the dismantled stone materials from the ruins to his territory. The problem was, he had forgotten that Hogwarts had no shortage of spatial equipment.
Not to mention the magical suitcase that appeared in Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, even a simple spatial pouch enhanced with space expansion magic would suffice.
With spatial equipment and flying brooms, why the hell did he need to build a road!
A qualified witch, riding a broomstick and carrying a spatial pouch, could probably transport the equivalent of a month’s worth of a carriage’s work in a single day.
It wouldn’t take many, just ten witches would render this road useless.
And if the distance was extended, considering the iron mine in Wild Bull Territory and future trade with the South, the existence of witches would save the territory a significant amount of manpower and resources.
Under such circumstances, spending a huge amount of manpower and resources on road construction was not just stupid, it was being incredibly stupid and stubborn.
Although he wanted to slap himself in the face, Owen couldn’t say it, nor did he dare to tell anyone about it because it made him look too stupid.
Fortunately, the road from Green Shade Town to the wooden fortress wasn’t built in vain. At least it would allow outsiders to reach the town smoothly, saving them from wandering around.
Perhaps accustomed to his own stupidity, Owen quickly adjusted his mindset and meticulously arranged the next stage of work.
The issue of livelihood was easy to solve. Whether it was housing, food, clothing, or transportation, it wasn’t a problem for Owen. A single Progress Value point was enough for those witches to use for a long time.
However, Owen wasn’t raising witches just to feed them. He needed them to play a role. Even one idle person was too many, let alone a group. So, he had to teach them to master their witch abilities. Only then could they generate enough value, and that required teachers.
Currently, the only people in the territory with teaching abilities were Ai Mi Er and Dier, the mother-daughter pair. However, their abilities overlapped somewhat. Both were skilled in potions and herbology, oh, and hand-to-hand combat.
Even so, they were only barely qualified, because Owen had decided to primarily teach the Hogwarts magic system.
Although Ai Mi Er was experienced, she had only recently been exposed to the Hogwarts magic system and found it difficult to fully adapt, let alone teach it effectively.
Dier, on the other hand, had been exposed to it earlier, learning it from scratch and having a solid foundation, but her teaching experience was far from sufficient. Therefore, both were only barely qualified.
Actually, Owen felt that Maya was more suitable. She was shrewd, capable, understood management, and was adept at loyalty education. Being a headmistress would be more than enough for her.
The problem was, although Maya also possessed magic abilities, she was more like a warlock, relying on instinct for spellcasting. Although she had started learning more convenient spells, she, being responsible for managing the territory, simply didn’t have much time to teach students.
Owen had a headache. He unconsciously opened the System, looking at the various characters marked with their Progress Value costs. Ultimately, he decided to exchange for them from the System.
This was the first time Owen had decided to exchange for characters from the System. The units he had exchanged for previously were merely cannon fodder and background characters in the game, not important. Only characters could play a decisive role, so each character exchange was very expensive.
Moreover, if the wizards in Hogwarts weren’t so compatible with the essence of wizards in this world, the exchange cost would have at least doubled.
Even so, the price of twenty to thirty Progress Value points still gave Owen a headache, especially the headmaster who looked like Gandalf. Forget exchanging for the person, he couldn’t even afford the template.
The only consolation was that he didn’t need this old fellow to contribute just yet. Ordinary professors would suffice for now.
The problem was that Owen was currently building his territory, expanding his cavalry, and also needed to train witches and exchange for professors. He simply didn’t have enough Progress Value points.
He had originally planned to focus on developing the territory, but now it seemed he had to slap himself in the face again. Owen felt quite helpless about this and could only rub his face, carefully planning the order of priorities.
At this time, Ai Mi Er was discussing with Maya about sending away some people first. Since the farm was crucial for concealing their identities, it was impossible to send everyone away. If that happened, even if each farm was relatively independent, it would be easy for others to discover the problem. So, there had to be a sequence.
In fact, Ai Mi Er already had a guess in her heart, it was just a routine inquiry.
