During the meeting with the elders and the honorary members like Oslo arrived at the 3rd floor, as scheduled as soon as the war ended.
It was just that, with the issue of marriages, another agenda was added to their topic.
But the more pressing matters were discussed first, of course.
First was what to do with Vismont. They decided to send a team to investigate first, and bring back those who wished to go back, low-key, in case the enemies were too hostile and decided to stop them.
They had just gone through 2 wars, one attacking and one defense, so even if they wanted to take the territory back, they wouldn't be able to—she didn't want to waste slots on Vismont either.
Besides, even if the lord changed, Vismont was still Alterra's subsidiary so their people wouldn't be able to harm their residents, at least within the scope of the territory.
"It only applies to permanent residents, at least within the territory walls," Oslo said, and it made sense because master territories could take advantage too much if that wasn't the case.
They weren't certain how detailed the system was and its internal rules, but they were done with the greater good in mind.
Anyway, there were plenty of people who became permanent residents in Alterra after the war, and it'd do good to send only them.
Basically, almost all the older guards were now permanent residents because of the contribution points in wars as well as the monetary winnings they received.
During wars, she would give a small portion of the 'loot' to the people who contributed.
While Fargo was relatively poor, Guia was very rich. They had merged the territory before the meeting, so she got a bit more.
She found out that because the lord's wealth and territory shared a wallet, even after Baltimore died, his remaining money (the part that was not taken automatically after losing the war) was actually still attached to the territory itself. When he died, all she lost was whatever was in his space instead.
The nice contents of the warehouse were also sizeable. It could be said that she really gained a lot from the second war.
The portion was a small fraction, but it could do a lot for the individual. From what she heard, a lot of the guards and the stronger members who contributed a lot managed to settle down payment for a house—even if they were for small units—right after the Guia war.
Next topic was what to do with the new territory, now called Iron Mountains. (They decided to follow the straight-to-the-point naming convention).
There were no new interesting building types, sadly, because the building slots Guia chose was something either Alterra or Fargo already had. However, they could at least focus on what they took over Guia for: the Iron.
Althea was very happy to know that the warehouse was at max level (for villages) at level 3 and was filled with iron ores.
She had already transferred a bulk of it to the Alterran warehouse to be taken by the warehouse men later on.
Of course, because there was lord-only access to the warehouse, she had to take it out herself.
Like in the other territories, she planned to build another manual construction, a foyer of sorts, where she could release the items without being seen.
She was very thankful for her massive space because the items she needed to take out could usually be done within a few batches.
She sent an announcement to all the elders about how much iron ore they managed to get, excluding those in the mines.
Their eyes widened and they looked at each other. "Ohmy goodness," Mathilda said.
Ansel whistled. "We can do so much!"
Althea nodded. So many tools and equipment could be done with so much 'black metal'. The capture of Guia would definitely elevate the territory's comprehensive strength for sure.
Speaking of which, the two territories they captured were really… good. To some people, it was too good.
At this thought, Mathilda couldn't help but look at the aborigines, "I'm worried for Limestone Valley and the Iron Mountains. They're both very rich in resources, and each one could be a bountiful target in wars.
"Including Alterra itself, we have three bountiful territories. Would we be targeted even more?"
"Yes, definitely," Oslo said.
His certainty somewhat made them worry. This was until he smiled and added. "But it's not entirely worrying," he said and spoke of what he knew about merged territories. "The three territories, in a sense, were considered to be connected in many ways—more than just in 'ownership'. There are many implications of this.
"For one, attacking one of the three territories would count as attacking the others. This means that the maximum wars everyone had to cumulatively undergo is even fewer than others."
Basically, if one of the three got attacked, the others had a two-week free pass from wars.
The elders' eyes brightened. This was actually not a bad perk!
"With this, we can focus more on growth rather than worry too much about wars."
"Yes, we have a lot of mining to do."
"We will hire them as staff."
"In Limestone Valley as well," Garan said, and everyone agreed. Once they built a tunnel and line it with beast-repelling grass, then the labor requirement to guard the miners would be reduced.
Goblins were also incredibly good diggers. In this field, each one was equivalent to at least 10 human men.
"Goblins are really nice to have. I wish they stay even after they would buy their freedom."
"We'll just show them how nice our place is, right?" Mathilda said with a smile, recalling what happened not too long ago in the Village Center. "Besides, they swore oath of loyalty. At the very least, they'd stay a while to help us out."
Everyone agreed with smiles, even the aborigines.
Two months ago, they'd have been very reluctant to agree Goblins would ever do such a thing.
But now… they were confident that the unthinkable would happen.