Pal Lord: A Different Kingdom Building

[Territory Summary: Current Resources: Wood20, Stone10, Hemp10, Iron0, 0 Gold, 3 Silver, 5 Copper, Food18, Elemental Crystals0…]

[Resident Happiness: -15%, Satiety: 40%, Faith: 0%]

[Resident Needs: Meowpaws wants a bed, Strong wants food, One-Ear doesn't want to work.]

[Development Suggestions: You must strengthen your territory's military power (urgent)!]

[Development Suggestions: You have enough subjects; as a Slave Lord, begin your plundering!]

"Pal… What do you mean? With just my five cats?" Pino immediately rejected this suggestion.

Still, it was clear that some further development was necessary. After all, if he kept chopping down trees with a stone axe every day, how long would it take for his territory to develop? Now that his mana slot was unlocked, it was time to gather some skeletal slaves.

Pino didn't want to bother with the town's residents just yet. He feared the priests might come after him, so he decided to venture into the forest in search of adventurers' corpses. There might be some useful relics to find. Before leaving, he took Meowpaws with him, assigning the remaining mischief cats their daily workloads and promising them dried fish once they finished. After all, even the most exploited souls become numb without hope—just a glimmer of expectation followed by despair would result in greater Exploitation Point.

The heavy workload immediately led to a chorus of meows, with 4 Exploitation Points gained. With his makeshift weapon, a wooden stick, and Meowpaws by his side, Pino ventured into the hidden forest, hoping to find some adventure.

Meowpaws was thrilled to be accompanying Lord Pino, happily skipping ahead and clearing the path. This naturally boosted its affection by 5 points—truly a cat born for exploitation, the more it was squeezed, the more it clung to you.

This was Pino's first time venturing deep into the dense forest. He had heard of its dangers, but he wasn't sure where the true peril lay.

Before long, Meowpaws led Pino to a skeleton, old and weathered, its bones scattered on the ground, covered in moss. The remains of its clothing had rotted, leaving only scraps of linen.

Pino attempted to cast [Awaken Skeleton], raising both hands. Mana surged into his palms, forming a dark purple magical circle. Streams of violet energy spiraled out, wrapping around the skeleton and seeping into the bones.

It had to be said, the skill book that the core had given him was truly impressive. It instantly took root in his mind, eliminating the need for tedious study. Otherwise, just learning the complex symbols for this undead magic would've taken him months.

Crack, crack, crack… The scattered bones floated up and slowly reassembled into an incomplete skeleton, missing one leg and an arm. It seemed like it had been torn apart by some beast.

[Incomplete Skeleton]

[Grade: F (Low-Quality)]

[An ancient, homeless skeleton, it has lost its soul and could fall apart at any moment. It has no driving value.]

Pino wasn't disappointed. At least he had gotten to experience the sensation of casting magic, and it felt quite fascinating.

Meowpaws, meanwhile, had found a pigskin wallet among the skeleton's remains. Inside, there was 1 silver and 15 copper coins—a small but welcome surprise.

"Dig a hole and bury yourself," Pino ordered. These coins would be his payment for his service. A soulless creature couldn't provide him with any Exploitation Points.

The incomplete skeleton, following the soul's commands, numbly squatted and began digging a hole. Once it finished, it crawled into the hole and lay down to rest.

The man and the cat continued onward. Meowpaws, having roamed the Hidden Forest for years, was well-acquainted with its every path. Soon, it found another skeleton.

It was small, the red clothes still partially intact, with a bamboo basket beside it. Bright mushrooms grew all over the body, and Pino, a bit unimpressed, wondered if such a tiny frame could actually be of any use.

Nevertheless, still intrigued by the novelty of his magic, he tried once again to awaken this little skeleton.

[Mushroom Girl]

[Race: Undead Skeleton]

[Rank: D]

[This was a young girl who had ventured into the forest to pick mushrooms and supplement her household income, but tragically died from a snake bite. Poor thing, she never got to see her mother again. If you could take her back to her mother, her soul would surely thank your kindness.]

[Attributes: Strength 1, Agility 1, Intelligence 3, Charisma 5]

[Soul Power: 30/50]

(A unique attribute bar for undead units. Lacking stamina or energy, their actions drain soul power, which can be slowly recovered by lying in a burial ground or replenished by a necromancer's magic.)

[Skills: Basic Gathering (Mushrooms)]

[Talent: Pitiful, who could resist the plea of such a poor little girl?]

The mushroom girl used her talent (Pitiful).

"Kind sir... could you take me home? My mother is waiting for me…"

[Determining…]

[Mushroom Girl: Basic Charisma 5 + Persuasive Speech 2 + 5 points of Pitiful]

[Pino: Slave Lord 100 points]

[Determination failed.]

"Little girl, I brought you back to life. Shouldn't you return the favor?" Pino said, smiling faintly at the girl whose skull was adorned with beautiful mushrooms.

"Sir, I... " The mushroom girl attempted to say something.

Pino's smile vanished, his face growing stern. "Call me 'kind master'! Lazy wretch! It took great effort to resurrect you. Now, go pick mushrooms! If this basket isn't filled by the end of the day, I'll take you apart and feed you to the dogs!"

"Sobbing sobbing sobbing…"

[From the Mushroom Girl: +1 Exploitation Point]

It was a good haul. Not only did he gain another resource gatherer, but also earned a bit more exploitation points.

Leaving the Mushroom Girl behind to gather mushrooms, Pino continued along the forest edge with Meowpaws, careful not to venture too deeply.

The next skeleton he found was clearly that of a herbalist. A basket filled with decaying herbs still hung from its back, and in its hands, it clutched a sickle and a small hoe.

This time, Pino made a mistake. Since the herbalist's lower body was obscured by thick underbrush, he hadn't noticed that the lower half of the skeleton was completely missing.

[Incomplete Herbalist]

[Race: Undead Skeleton]

[The poor herbalist, who died from severe injuries inflicted by wild beasts.]

[Skills: Gathering (Herbal Plants)]

[Condition: Missing lower limbs, paralyzed]

"Damn it, what use is a herbalist with no legs?" Pino muttered, raising his staff to send the skeleton back to the underworld. If he had kept it alive, it would have consumed 2 points of magic daily to maintain.

The freshly awakened herbalist, without a word, collapsed back to the ground.

However, there was an unexpected surprise: a gray orb of light fell from the herbalist's empty eye sockets.

[Gray Soul Ball]

"Well, would you look at that? It drops items too," Pino mused. Then, an idea struck him—his Hell Slave Lord skill, [Forceful Plunder], allowed him to extract soul balls from slain enemies.

Using his [Identify] spell, he examined the orb.

[A mysterious soul ball, containing a fragment of memory or knowledge, though its contents cannot be clearly discerned.]

Pino sighed, already knowing what the orb likely contained. It was probably knowledge related to the herbalist's gathering skills, not some heartwarming tale of love.

Should he feed it to Meowpaws?

Meowpaws immediately bristled with fear. It already had the responsibility of gathering berries, fishing, and occasionally chopping trees, clearing weeds, and mining stones—would it have to start collecting herbs as well?

[From Meowpaws: +1 Exploitation Point]

Tsk, so easily frightened. A little scare, and it gives me more points? Don't worry, I'll be kind enough to share. Skills aside, there's only so much stamina to go around. How could it handle even more tasks?

Pino used the soul connection with the Mushroom Girl to summon her and then shoved the orb into her eye socket.

[Mushroom Girl consumed the Gray Soul Ball]

[Mushroom Girl gained a new skill: Herb Gathering]

The overlap in locations where mushrooms and herbs grew made it a clever plan to have her gather both.

"Kind master... does this mean... I can gather half as many mushrooms?" The Mushroom Girl timidly activated her talent, [Pitiful].

"As the saying goes, 'those who are capable must work harder.' You fill this basket with mushrooms, and in return for waking you, you'll fill that basket with herbs as well, in thanks for teaching you new knowledge!" Pino coldly doubled her workload.

[From Mushroom Girl: +2 Exploitation Points]

The small skeletal frame of the Mushroom Girl struggled to carry the heavy herb basket as she trudged off to begin her new tasks, looking utterly dejected.

"Come back!" Pino called, hands on his hips.

The Mushroom Girl, thinking Pino had changed his mind, excitedly turned around.

"Where's your manners? Say thank you!"

"Thank you, kind master..." she muttered, bowing, on the verge of tears.

'You're exploiting me... and still want me to thank you... are you even human?'

Meowpaws watched the scene, clutching its belly, laughing so hard it nearly fell over.

"Stop laughing! You still have half your energy left. Go finish gathering those berries, then come back and sleep. Not a scrap of energy left, or you're not getting in bed," Pino shot back with a roll of his eyes.

Meowpaws let out a pitiful meow, tumbling over onto its back, dizzy from the exhaustion.

[From Meowpaws: +1 ]

Continuing along the forest's edge, Pino and Meowpaws soon came across a few more pitiable skeletons. These were the remains of woodcutters from nearby villages who had ventured into the forest for firewood, only to meet a tragic end at the hands of monsters. They all possessed the skill [Woodcutting].

You might wonder why they would travel so far to cut trees. Couldn't they just harvest wood from trees near the village? Well, those trees belonged to Lord Richard, and even touching a branch would incur a fine! To make matters worse, the woodcutters had to brave the dense forest to fell apple trees—lordly families loved the fragrant smell that wafted from applewood after it had been used to roast meat.

Pino awakened the three woodcutters. They came with their own iron axes, requiring no additional tools. Though their skeletal strength was limited, and their cutting efficiency was low, the fact that they didn't need food and could function as long as they received a bit of magical energy each day made them quite useful.

All in all, it had been a fruitful day!

As the sky darkened, Pino decided to return to the domain to check on the lazy cats and see what trouble they had caused. He also planned to meditate to restore his mana and resume exploring the forest the following day.

Back at the domain, though the four mischievous cats were slacking off and had hardly managed to gather any wood, at least they hadn't stolen any of the smoked fish from the box.

One-Ear looked at Pino with longing, tugging at Strong's ear and gesturing wildly to show how much effort it had taken to prevent Strong from stealing the smoked fish.

"Fine, considering your efforts, I'll give you one smoked fish, along with today's wages... that's two small fish in total," Pino said generously, distributing the day's wages to the cats.

It was important to reward them occasionally—after all, just beating them without offering anything sweet would drain their motivation.

The small smoked fish barely filled their bellies, just enough to support them while they went hunting in the forest on their own.

With no food after work and forced to hunt for themselves, the four mischievous cats once again contributed 4 more Exploitation Points.

"Hmm... once they're full, I can drain their energy for meditation... but before that, I'll add a bit more to the house," Pino muttered, starting to hammer at the walls again.

Without any enhancements in engineering, the efficiency of crafting was painfully slow… he had no choice but to spare some time each day to hammer away.

By the way, today, another 17 Exploitation Points had been earned, bringing the total to 20 with the 3 remaining from yesterday—just enough for two draws.

[Thank you for your patronage]

Luck was clearly out, as the first draw yielded nothing.

[Blueprint: Spiked Prison]

[Grade: D]

[A device used for punishing lazy workers, covered in sharp spikes. Anyone imprisoned within will endure excruciating pain.]

[Materials: Wood x4, Thorns x2]

Tsk... Once this thing is built and hung up, just its presence will be enough to scare the lazy cats into giving me more Exploitation Points. Alright, the cats are back. Time to set up their little beds for the night...

"Huh? Why is Mushroom Girl back too? Did she finish gathering mushrooms?"

The Mushroom Girl, clutching her arms miserably, looked up.

"Kind master... the forest at night is so scary... I'm afraid of ghosts... could I sleep here tonight?"

"You're the damn ghost yourself!!!" Pino snapped.