The next day Titus led a small group of people south west ( https://ibb.co/eaQK8c ) to the Molten Valley. Chris had requested him, a few days ago, to find the best spot for their new city. The land had to be fertile, as close as possible to a river, have enough space for farms and be easily defensible.

The Molten Valley was one of the best match in the human kingdom. A river was flowing north of the valley, mountains were protecting the south, north west and east, the valley could only be accessed from the west, which led to the Dwarf Kingdom and north east. The valley was named after the long dead Cynderbreath Volcano and most of the land was cultivable.

The only thing that worried Titus was that it was close to the Kunall scout camp.

But Chris didn't mind, the Kunall scout camp was his next target anyway.

The trip took less than a day on horseback. Chris used a horse which made Dalahan very unhappy. He finally had to promise the little guy he would use him as a mount next time.

Chris inspected the valley and was very satisfied with Titus' choice. "What do you guys think?"

"This should do very well." Said Mia. "There are plenty of naturals resources which will support our long-term growth. There is enough farmable lands for the city to be self-sufficient even in the mid-term. The river north of the valley will make a perfect trade route with the Dwarves in the west." She paused and added:"I'd recommend sending prospectors as soon as possible. There should be plenty of mineral and metal lodes in the nearby mountains."

Berg was very excited. "This is a great spot my Lord! We are completely protected from the south. The Kunalls have no way of attacking us directly from there, they would have to go around the mountains and enter the Dwarven kingdom! Their only way in the valley is east, but if we can build fortifications strong enough and defend there we can even prevent them from going north. Our people would be able to grow until we are ready to take back the south!"

With this, the decision was made! The first city of the Sun Kingdom would be built in the Molten Valley! Its temporary name was Brine City!

The refugee camp was very busy, the order finally came! They would move south west and start a city! People were excited and a little worried too. Most humans that remained in the kingdom had to live in tents or caves, constantly in fear and always on the move. Would it really possible for things to change?

Despite their worries, they all loaded the carts and hurried south west. After all, the Kunalls would not send out a scout party for a few days, so it was the best time to move!

The first few days were rough, as always. The villagers had to clear the lands as nature had long taken over. This time the villagers didn't have to worry about keeping the camp hidden, so progress was fast.

Ferlin and his hunters were busy finding the best hunting spots, they were experienced so it was going very well.

Mia had a much tougher job. She was in charge of logistics, and she had a lot to prepare. Luckily Cat was there helping her. The first need after food was housing, most refugees could still live in their tents, at least in the short term, but she was informed that Cid along most people from Five Cave Village were on their way with the first shipment of Limestone. They needed a place to stay and had no tents.

Mia decided on building temporary communal houses. It was not possible to build individual houses in time, and people from Five cave Village were used to sharing space anyways. Those shared houses would be dismantled once they were no longer needed.

One hundred people were sent to gather the needed lumber. Finding enough people for the task was very hard, she finally understood Chris' obsession on getting more people as soon as possible.

But even with enough people, they needed tools, a lot of them. People could not shop down trees or break rocks with their bare hands and their supplies of tools was very low. So the second priority was to build a forge for the blacksmiths. They had managed to build a traveling forge but it was not good enough to work on iron. And this time they needed strong, long lasting tools. Using Chris' mortar receipt, which required calcined clay, lime and sand, they made a very decent forge in a few days. The blacksmiths already had all the other tools needed, so tool production could finally start.

During that time, Titus and his scouts were preparing an ambush for the next scout party. Chris' orders were clear, they could not let any patrol pass as they might still find traces of the previous battle. They also needed to thin the number of Kunalls. Three patrols eliminated, meant 60 less Kunalls to worry about. As long as they could prevent any Kunalls from fleeing, the Scout Camp would not suspect anything for a few weeks. By then they should be ready to eliminate the scout camp entirely.

Titus decided to prepare a repeat of the previous battle, but this time they would increase the numbers of traps since they only had half the previous number of hunters. The extra preparation time should compensate for the fewer archers.

Chris was also busy, he had to find another source of limestones nearby, Five Cave Village was too far, and the convoy had to cross a river to get to Molten Valley. So he organised 3 teams to prospect the surrounding for limestones. He was hopeful as limestones were not that rare.

He also created a temporary research committee in which recruited all the available masons. He needed help with the mortal formula. After all he might have been, an engineer in his past life, but he did not have a perfect memory. He knew the rough ingredients for mortar, but not the exact quantities. The committee's job for the next few days would be to mix clay, lime, sand and volcanic ashes in different concentrations and find the one that had the best results.

Three days passed in the blink of an eye. The place was as busy as ever. Chris could see the half finished communal houses rising from the ground. Teams of hunters kept coming in with their kills. Hunters used to butcher their own prey, but after Mia noticed how inefficient this was she separated the job in two. Now butchers would dismember and preserve the meat brought in by the hunters.

Chris had also a few reports brought in by Cat, Cid and his convoy should be here tomorrow and Titus was ready to welcome the next scout party.

[Things are looking good.] Thought Chris with a smile.