Of course, despite all the internal griping, Wayne knew this world's state of development was unavoidable.
Civilization's progress followed certain patterns, but was also riddled with uncertainty. Sometimes a single explosive technological breakthrough could vault an entire civilization up a level. But more often, especially when feudal ignorance held overwhelming dominance, development would stagnate for centuries.
In a world with supernatural powers, severe class stratification, and a civilization-ending catastrophe in its history, the problem was only worse.
The existence of extraordinary power gave this world many conveniences that exceeded its era, but simultaneously, those same powers had shackled civilizational development. They allowed those at the top to live lives of extreme comfort with minimal effort, establishing absolute dominion over the vast majority of powerless "mortals." And because magical talent itself was rare and unpredictable, this power could never become a force for social progress, it simply couldn't benefit the general population. The lucky few who occasionally awakened magical talent merely became new members of the aristocratic class. They wouldn't, and couldn't, change the fate of the majority.
Extraordinary power does not belong to the common folk, this was a rule taken as self-evident.
Because of this, social progress was agonizingly slow. On one hand, the ordinary people who comprised the bulk of the population were powerless to change anything. On the other, the upper class, enjoying the conveniences of supernatural power, saw no need for progress whatsoever. In fact, even the smallfolk didn't think society needed to progress, they just prayed that one day they'd awaken magical talent of their own.
In a world where Ice Arrow existed, who would think to invent refrigerators and air conditioning?
Yet Ice Arrow would forever remain just Ice Arrow. It couldn't give everyone ice cream in summer, nor could it let medical researchers preserve serum and vaccines whenever and wherever they needed.
At least in the current era, that was how things stood.
This was clearly wrong, and Wayne knew it with perfect clarity. Extraordinary power shouldn't be an obstacle to civilization. This place shouldn't be trapped in the Middle Ages forever. So-called mana was ultimately just a method of energy utilization. Its flexible, convenient nature should have been an accelerant for rapid development, not a chain. But none of this could be solved right now.
He explained in greater detail to Hestia and Rebecca the necessity of compiling this data, and the things to keep in mind when creating the tables. Of course, given that they'd never compiled anything like this before, and the uneducated smallfolk likely couldn't even articulate their own surnames or ages, he relaxed his requirements. He asked them to record detailed information only for the craftsmen, and for the other smallfolk, just names for now.
Everything else could be refined once the new territory was established.
No one had ever conducted this kind of census on smallfolk before, because in the eyes of this world's aristocratic class, smallfolk were almost worthless, they weren't even quite adequate as battlefield cannon fodder. A commoner's sole function was to produce grain and serve as free labor. No one recognized the importance of "people," so naturally no one saw the need to register population data.
Encouragingly, Rebecca, muddled about most things, proved remarkably quick to understand this particular concept. She grasped Wayne's meaning almost immediately and cheerfully ran off with a team to organize the records.
Considering that she'd previously issued a decree allowing serfs to earn freedom through military service, this "incompetent" little lord wasn't entirely without merit after all.
With proper guidance, this girl might actually be tricked into running human resources. (Just kidding.)
Fortunately, there were fewer than nine hundred people to account for, and Ser Philip had already conducted a basic tally of the survivors after settling in Gulltown. With Hestia's help, Rebecca quickly assembled the data Wayne had requested.
With the information in hand, Wayne decided to split the group into two waves for the journey to the "new home."
The first was an advance party, led personally by Wayne, Rebecca, and Hestia. It included half the soldiers and militia under Ser Byron, essential craftsmen, and a hundred laborers. The advance party would establish a temporary camp at the destination, locate water sources, and prepare defenses against predatory beasts.
The bulk of the civilians would follow under Ser Philip's escort.
Charging blindly into barren wasteland with over eight hundred people wasn't wise. Though virtually none of them were elderly, infirm, or disabled (those hadn't made it out), the civilians who lacked combat ability were safer trailing behind the advance party.
No amount of preparation ever felt like enough when pioneering barren land, but someone had to take the first step. After the most thorough planning and deployment he could manage, Wayne and his advance party finally departed Gulltown, heading southeast toward the Black Mountains.
They followed a tributary of the White River, advancing along the relatively flat riverbanks. The knights and their lord led from the front, soldiers flanked both sides, and the skilled craftsmen traveled with the supplies and tools in the protected center.
Hestia rode her horse and glanced back at the not-particularly-large column. A wave of emotion washed over her. "It feels like we've become pioneers ourselves..."
"We are pioneers," Wayne said, looking at her with a smile.
Hestia blinked.
"I meant like the great pioneers of seven hundred years ago..."
Wayne shrugged.
"That's still me."
Hestia: "...Fair point."
"Show some confidence," Wayne said, looking at this woman who seemed somewhat anxious about the future. "Every step into the unknown is a great journey. Whether it's the Second Expansion of seven hundred years ago, the First Expansion of ancient legend, or what we're setting out to do now, they're all equally great in essence. We won't just be building a new home. We might be building a new era."
Hestia stared at Wayne for a moment, somewhat dazed, then nodded. She didn't fully understand what he meant by "a new era," but since the legendary ancestor himself said so, it was surely something both great and glorious.
Amber, walking alongside them, broke into enthusiastic applause. The thief's thinking was simple enough. Wayne was the boss right now, so whatever the boss said was correct. Whether she understood it or not, clapping along couldn't hurt...
The closer they drew to the Black Mountains, the more desolate the scenery became. The reach of human civilization showed signs of steady retreat across the Southern Marches.
Back when the pioneering fervor hadn't yet cooled, the first-generation pioneer knights' descendants had carved out small settlements in this wilderness with sword and fire, planning to re-expand territory toward the Gondor Wasteland. But as the Tide's aftershocks repeatedly flared and the dark, primal forces at civilization's edge eroded their gains again and again, with ever-multiplying monsters and worsening natural conditions making these settlements impossible to sustain, and then the Mistfall Uprising erupted, reshuffling power in the south, the last few pioneer villages clinging to existence were swept away.
By now, the resurgent wilderness had devoured every trace of former civilization. Between the crumbling, derelict settlements and the primeval mountain forests, only beasts and monsters remained.
Though mana had since calmed and the Dark Tide was confined to the Gondor Wasteland, humanity seemed content with its current borders. Combined with House Seawright's decline in the south, Andraste had made no plans to redevelop this land.
The wagon train moved in silence along the rough, potholed road. Though Wayne's encouragement had lifted Hestia's spirits, the rest of the column could hardly help feeling uneasy. No one knew what this march into the wilds would bring, even with the great pioneer of seven hundred years ago leading them. For the craftsmen drawn from the common and serf populations especially, it was less a sense of honor driving them forward than habitual obedience to their lord and the numbing inertia of their lives.
And so they traveled along the riverbanks, and three days later, the column halted beside a broad clearing.
This clearing already bordered the Black Mountains. In fact, it was wedged between the river and the mountainside, a narrow strip of plains. The White River's tributary widened slightly here, its current slowing as it flowed gently along the northern face of the Black Mountains, continuing east until it entered Storm Imperium territory.
Looking south and craning one's neck upward, there they stood. the majestic, awe-inspiring Black Mountains.
Wayne climbed a large boulder by the riverbank and surveyed the surroundings, cross-referencing everything against the satellite overhead view in his mind. To the west of the plains he spotted forest growth, mostly hard-wooded black fir and giant timber, a valuable source of lumber for the territory's early days. The mountainside jutted out somewhat to the east, and if Gwayne Seawright's memories were correct, iron ore deposits should be there.
Beyond iron, there were several other mineral deposits nearby. The Black Mountains were a treasure trove.
Though Gwayne Seawright and Charles Martell's pioneering expedition hadn't lingered in the Black Mountains, they had conducted basic surveys and prospecting along the way. Wayne knew every mineral vein they'd discovered but hadn't been able to exploit.
Since the Andraste crown had abandoned all of this, he'd happily accept.
After surveying the terrain, Wayne hopped down from the boulder and turned to Hestia.
"Set up camp here. Pitch every tent we brought. Have soldiers escort the woodcutters into the forest for timber, but don't go too deep, to avoid beast attacks. Don't worry about magical beasts. The Black Mountains aren't as terrifying as you imagine. The Dark Tide's influence receded long ago, you'd have to wander near a mana focus to encounter anything. Everyone not on logging duty stays here to help build the camp. Rebecca, Byron, Amber, you three, with me."
Hestia started: "Great Ancestor, you're going to..."
"To collect my inheritance."