A Guide to Kingdom Building

Tarsuria, Year of Severus, 18, I.R., the 59th day of Spring, Broken Springs

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The sun's ray shone irritably against Nullus' eyes. He begrudgingly stood up and covered the small crack on the wall with a few straws where the sliver of light made its way. After doing that, he lied down once again and tried to sleep once again.

However, just before his mind could fully wander away from consciousness, the loud and reprehensible sound of the rooster blasted the air. Nullus sat up, scratched his unkempt beard and whispered obscenities under his breath.

Not long after the rooster's annoying crow, there was a knock on his make-shift door.

"Big brother, Nullus!" A shrill voice called out his name. "Big brother, Nullus, time to wake up! There are still a few more crops to harvest!" His voice said excitingly.

"Ugh! Comeback later, Squeakers!" Nullus spat. "I still need to sleep—"

"But big brother," The child banged his door louder. "Alderman Hostea told me to get you! I won't get my lunch if you come later!"

"Well, you do need to watch on your weight!" Nullus lied back down and rolled to his side.

"W-what?! What do you mean by that?!" Squeakers' voice was a key higher with annoyance.

Nullus didn't answer. He ignored Squeakers and his constant knocking, as he tried to get a few more glimpses of sleep. After a few noisy moments, it finally went silent. The door was no longer banging, and the child's annoying voice was also gone. It was peace and quiet once again, or so he thought.

Suddenly, window in front of him creaked, and not a moment later, the annoying sound of the god damned rooster filled his room. He immediately stood up from his bed and confronted the annoying rooster who shat in his small round table, chaos ensued after that.

After tussling with the gigantic bird, he was finally able to grab hold of it. Nullus who wasn't in the mood for a joke early that morning wanted to strangle the damned chicken to death… if only it were his. He looked at his small, opened window and noticed the obvious.

The child hid obviously below his window, not knowing how noticeable he was to them. Squeakers' cowlick-do stick like a sore thumb popping out of from the corner of the window. Nullus clicked his tongue and grab a hair-full of the mischievous child.

"Ow! Ow! Ow!" Squeakers rose up from his hiding spot, tip toeing as he faces the wrath of an angry sleepyhead.

"S-squuueeaakkkkeeersss!" Nullus gently yanked the annoying child's cowlick. "Stop bugg—OW!"

Nullus let go of the child's hair as the rooster started attacking him. The rooster pecked his unkempt and tangled hair. When it got stuck by the hair, the rooster kicked him hard in the head. He struggled and tried his best defend himself against the chicken.

The jovial kid ran away from him but not before calling him out once again. "Ummm… Alderman Hostea will be expecting you! See yah in a bit!" Squeakers left the scene with dust trailing him.

"SQQQUEEEAAAKKKKEEERRRSSS!!!" Nullus shouted once more as the rooster ruthlessly attacked his head.

Nullus was still battling against the chicken that got entangled by his hair. He wrestled against the chicken until he finally grabbed his knife. Without any hesitation he cut off his hair entangled against the chicken's neck, setting the damned bird free.

The chicken flew out of the window and left Nullus distraught and confused. He tried to start his day with the little time he had after that chicken fiasco. He washed his face and took the decent looking clothing he had, carried his shovel by the shoulder and went into the town square where the Alderman and a few of the town's folk gathered.

"A beautiful day, Nul—" The alderman squinted. "What happened to you face, good sir?!"

Nullus remained silent and looked into the gathered crowd, squinting his eyes, trying to catch a glimpse of that stupid cowlick.

"The boy," He answered. "Where is Squeakers?" He said in his monotone voice.

The alderman instantly knew what was going on. "Squeakers! Come're you stupid brat!"

The crowd moved away from both men's gaze and pointed at squeakers hiding behind a lady. In anger, the alderman stormed towards him and twisted his ear. The poor child was dragged in front where Nullus stood stoically waiting for him.

"What did you to him?!" Alderman Hostea asked the shaken child. "What mischief did you—"

"He didn't do anything." Nullus said, as he saw the numbing fear in the child's eyes. "He just wanted to partner up with me." He added.

"Oh, is that so?!" The alderman said. "Very well. Squeakers, make sure you obey the good sir's command! Do not be a dead weight to our savior!"

"Alderman Hostea," Nullus sighed. "Please don't call me that. You saved me as much as saved your town."

The alderman grinned and slapped his back. "You don't have to be so modest about it."

Nullus awkwardly smiled and nodded at the old man while at the same time, holding Squeakers by the arm helping him stand.

"P-pplease…" The child's voice trembled. "Don—"

"I am not going to hurt you." Nullus patted his back.

"But I—" Squeakers tried to reason with him.

"You're annoying, yes." Nullus sighed. "But that doesn't warrant me to hurt you. So, come on, let's be on our way!"

Although hesitant, the child nodded and followed him out into the field.

The sun was blazing hot as they walked towards the field, but the townsfolk ignored the scorching blaze for something they were all excited about. Just three years ago before Nullus came into their town, the people of Broken Springs were at the verge of death and starvation.

With no water flowing to their crops, the people were met with the dilemma of their townsfolk dying from starvation. It was only after they had nursed Nullus that they were able to gain the advantage they need.

No one knew who Nullus was and where he came from, but no one cared about it. He was simply a man they picked up from the road one day tired and dying from thirst. After helping him recover, he immediately worked their fields and toiled their soil in such a way that they never thought it was humanly possible.

But his knowledge and skill for irrigation and farming greatly overshadowed every farmer in town. To combat the drought, Nullus made huge wooden screws encased inside a cylinder to efficiently fetch water from the river source below the hill. Its efficiency was so great that town began to prosper from the simple machine he created for them.

He also gave some techniques in farming and fertilizing the land more efficiently to gain more yield by putting some crushed river shells over the toiled ground to optimize its potential, a knowledge that no one in all of the Principalia knew about!

Nullus' innovations were way ahead of his time and as of currently, the fruits and crops he suggested them to plant has been working perfectly in their advantage. Today was their harvest of their first summer fruit, the melon, as what he called it. A plant which he saw growing at the edge on the other side of the river.

The people gathered anxiously as the Alderman spoke.

"My fellow townsfolk, this harvest wouldn't be possible if it weren't for Nullus. The man who made our barren soil into the fertile land it is today! His knowledge is truly God-given and I cannot imagine our town without him. To that, we give him thanks and to all of you who trusted his wisdom!"

The people cheered and clamored for him as the alderman pushed him forward to make a speech. He looked at everyone who waited for him to begin. His heart pounded rapidly; it was the first time in such a while when he spoke to this many people. He never wanted this much attention, but the alderman won him over.

Nullus closed his eyes and cleared his throat as he composed his thoughts. "Thank you, townspeople of Broken Springs, for trusting me in this tough endeavor. I know you wanted me to speak more about it or what to do next, but let's just part it all for now and just focus on harvesting these fruits, do you agree?!" He exclaimed.

Without second thought the people cheered. Alderman Hostea cracked a smile on his lips and gestured the start of the harvest. People rushed in and intricately took the fruits as gently as they can as instructed by Nullus. The affair went on for the entire day until sundown came and everyone went home bringing their harvest into the city square, where they shall offer their bounty to their moon goddess before eating or selling it.

Nullus would've preferred eating the fruits immediately, but he wanted to be respectful towards the townspeople. Later that night, he went back to his small hut and took a good hot bath before lying in bed, counting the fun memories he had the during the day.

The townspeople smiles and laughter made him remember of the good times he had before he made his way into this world. It made him remember those time when he ruled a couple of civilizations back, before his 365th reincarnation—this reincarnation.