บท 123: It Wasn't My Fault!

"Wakey Wakey." Dom heard, from a gentle voice in front of him. He felt warm and cosey as he was snuggled against someone in his bed, the fur blankets giving him an extra layer of warmth meaning he didn't want to move.

"One more minute." Dom replied tiredly, pulling his blanket closer, realising that the arm was still spread across his chest. A sudden realisation hit him that a body was pressed against his back, but the voice came from his front. He opened his eyes and saw Meritamen peering down at him from the side of the bed, her arms on her hips as she looked at him angrily.

"Don't you think you have some explaining to do?" She said angrily.

Dom slowly grabbed the arm that was across his chest, the cover lifting as he did so. He turned to see the snoring face of Tomoe behind him, her chest exposed as he moved away from her and the cover fell. A bright red flush of embarrassment quickly spread up Dom's cheeks.

"Well?" Meritamen continued, her eyes staring daggers at him.

"I have no idea, I thought it was you!" Dom said innocently, realising that he was also naked in the bed, too embarrassed to get out of it wearing no clothes in front of Meritamen, but also too embarrassed to stay in bed next to Tomoe who was still asleep.

"So you won't share a bed with me, your wife, but you will with her?" Meritamen stated, "I don't disagree with you having multiple women, but you haven't even had a night with me yet."

"Nothing happened!" Dom protested, deciding to just ignore the fact he was naked and get out of the room before he got in to more trouble. He climbed out of bed and crab walked across the room, covering up with his hands as he headed towards his clothes and started to get dressed. Meritamen just stood and watched him, purposefully making him feel uncomfortable.

"Why are you both in my room?" Tomoe tiredly yawned as she started to wake up.

"This isn't your room." Meritamen replied jokingly, a slight bitterness to her voice.

"It's not my room?" Tomoe replied, opening her eyes and looking around. She then looked down at her self and noticed that she was naked. Her cheeks now also flushing red, "I was so tired last night I must have walked up here instead!"

"See!" Dom said, "It wasn't my fault, nothing happened."

"Hmph!" Meritamen replied, before continuing. "You owe me one!"

"Yes, yes I do!" Dom agreed, "Sorry!"

"Why are you apologising." Tomoe said, leaning over and grabbing her night gown that was on the floor, "It's my fault, I feel rather embarrassed, sneaking in to the lords bed."

"And having a cuddle." Meritamen continued, this time with a real laugh at the situation. "Try to find your own room next time."

"I won't make any promises." Tomoe laughed back, causing Dom who was putting his armour on to shake his head at the situation, just wanting to get out of the room. He opened his personal chest and grabbed the green cubes and his upgrade tokens.

"I need to get started on these, I'll see you both later!" Dom said as he left his room, feeling like he had lost his safe place. He headed through the lounge area on the middle floor, before heading down in to the great hall on the ground floor. He grabbed some food from the table that had been laid out by chef's, before heading outside the Town Centre.

As he headed outside, he was greeted by Hector and Homer who were prepared to guard him for the morning. Hector had a serious expression as he usually did, where as Homer was more cheerful.

"Good morning Lord Lazarus, how did you sleep?" Homer asked, oblivious to the happenings of his Lords Bedroom situation.

"It was fine thanks Homer, yourself?" Dom asked back, wanting to move the conversation on.

"Oh it was great, I have to share a bunk with this one though, and he's a proper snorer." Homer replied, just receiving a grunt of acknowledgement from Hector.

Dom just shook his head in acceptance of how his morning was going and turned back towards the Town Centre, "System, show stats."

[Town Centre of Riverside

Village Grade - S

Village Level - 3

Village Occupancy – 1.8K

Village Buildings -

Houses (Numerous), Inner Wall

Level 1 - Heroes Hall, Animal Husbandry Ox, School, Stables Red Hare, Clinic, Market, Blacksmith Forge, Shipyard, Pottery, Brewery, Mine, Bank.

Level 2 - Hoplite Warriors Hall, Granary, Female Horse Archer Cavalry Warriors Hall, Lumber Camp, Legionary Warriors Hall, Animal Husbandry Sheep, Dock

Level 2 Perks:

(Villager Spawn S Grade - 16 rolls per day, high chance of high grades or skills appearing)(Family bonds S Grade - high chance of family members joining spawned villagers)(Quest creator S Grade- random quest creation, high chance of up to grade S quests appearing)(Give Me More S Grade - All spawn related buildings will have a random increase in daily spawns or reduction in spawn time)(Prestige S Grade - Increases the attractability of Riverside to non members)

Town Centre Upgrades:

Map Room, Mayor's Office, Architects Office, Sanitation Office, Commanders Office, Diplomats Office, Finance Office, Pest Control, Legal Office

Level Advancement Quest:

Have 10 level 2 buildings, not including Granary and Houses - 6/10

Have a Population of at least two thousand - 1.8/2]

Dom looked at the stats and the upgrade quest, contemplating his next move. He could automatically upgrade the Town Centre now, therefore skipping the quest, however he had three wooden tokens and expected that the population would be at the necessary level within two to three days, with the use of the Blue Token and the normal daily spawns. He decided he wouldn't use the Silver Token just yet, and would wait for Lucius and Shang Yang's opinion.

He did however decide that in the first instance he would place the new buildings, primarily the Warehouse and Blacksmiths in the Manufacturing District, followed by the Beast Hall and Warriors Halls in the Military District. He wasn't yet sure on what the Mausoleum would do, nor where to place it, and he was also unsure on where to use the latest Random Spawner or which buildings to upgrade.

In the first instance he headed towards the Manufacturing District. He looked at the towering Wall, which now had the foundations of some simple watch towers being constructed at intervals across it. He also could see in the distance some of the blacksmiths working with Wang Shu to start installing the first gate that had been constructed for Riverside's northern Inner Wall section.

"System, please use the Blacksmith Green Cube here." Dom stated, pointing towards the ground next to the current Blacksmiths. Suddenly the ground shook and beside the current Blacksmith Forge, another almost identical building appeared. A single story building with a large chimney in the centre that exhaled a small amount of smoke.

[System has acknowledged that you have two identical buildings within a short distance from each other. As this is your first time having two of the same specialist building, you have been awarded a complimentary upgrade.]

Dom was surprised at this response, originally grateful for being able to double their Blacksmith space within Riverside to work with the salvages weapons and armour from the Ancient Underground City.

[Please choose a specialist upgrade for your newest forge, Weaponsmith, Armourer or Coinsmith]

Dom thought for a couple of minutes on what would be the ideal option. A Weaponsmith would allow research, development and improvements of the Military output of Riverside, such as sharper and stronger blades and spears. An Armourer would allow for improved defences of the Military Units, such as improved shielding and plating. A Coinsmith would be instrumental in melting down their gold and loot and turning it in to a specific currency that could be used.

His current Blacksmith was a jack of all trades, repurposing weapons, melting down materials and even constructing nails and bolts for construction. He knew he needed to keep the current one as a jack of all trades, but the decision on a specialist one made him realise that he needed more opportunities to have similar buildings types. He hoped Crassus could find some specialists on his expedition who could help him upgrade and specialise other buildings within Riverside.

"Coinsmith." Dom decided, the reason for this was that he already had high graded Warriors in the Hoplites, Spartans, Legionaries, Praetorians and the upgraded Horse Archers. If he had an army of Jaguar Warriors and Shang Dynasty Swordsmen then he would have chosen one of the others, but right now the technology to upgrade his current troops wasn't available to them, so he decided to not pursue that for now.

[Coinsmith Selected, Upgrading the Second Blacksmiths to a Coinsmith.]

The building in front of Dom suddenly shook again, it's materials changing from wood to stone and an additional chimney appearing. The wooden door to the entrance now had a coin engraved on it and Dom felt excitement as he looked at the building.

"Show Stats!" Dom exclaimed.

[Riverside Coinsmith

Forge Grade - S

Forge Level - 2

Riverside's upgraded Coinsmith, from the original Blacksmith Forge will allow for the professionals within the trade to design, build, and craft coins and jewellery for the people of Riverside and beyond. Materials will need to be sourced externally, but can be ordered through merchants or mined. Quality of items created will be dependent on skills of the Blacksmith, however the Forge grade will increase the knowledge and skill opportunities of the Blacksmiths, as well as providing higher quality tools for use. Blacksmiths working within the Coinsmith can become dedicated experts within this field.]

"A level 2 building!" Dom said loudly, causing Hector and Homer to look at him as if he had lost his mind. "With the Wooden Tokens, we only need to increase the population and we can upgrade."

"You seem in a good mood today Lord Lazarus." Dom heard, as Lucius approached from the east. "I can't believe you started without me."

"Sorry, I just needed to get started today." Dom replied, "Having Tomoe and Meritamen both living at the Town Centre is causing me a headache."

"I'm sure it's not that bad." Lucius replied, "So is this the new blacksmiths?"

"It was, but it has automatically upgraded to a Coinsmith." Dom stated excitedly.

"Fantastic news, Crassus will be happy." Lucius agreed, "And we are one step closer to upgrading Riverside again. What's next?"

"Warehouse!" Dom said, heading towards his chosen location.

Dom had soon placed the Warehouse and checked it's stats. Unsurprisingly it was a large wooden Warehouse that could safely store lots of items that were manufactured within Riverside. Dom and Lucius agreed they would arrange with Uriah for some of the Town Guard to man it at all times once it began to fill up.

They then headed over to the Military District, the two cubes he was most exited about using in his hand. He wasn't sure if he should use the Beast Cube or the Palace Guard cube first. Subutai was waiting for them expectedly, sat outside the Heroes Hall relaxing as they approached.

"You seem very relaxed for Riverside's Senior Commander." Dom joked.

"Lucius mentioned you had some surprises for me today." Subutai laughed back, "So let's see them."

Dom smiled, before speaking. "System, use the....."