’Did this brat just use me to subtly brag?’ Rana questioned, feeling as though her crass analogy failed in its intentions.

"For those still confused Rana’s referring to Icethorne’s northern and southern wall, impressive feats of engineering might that stand over hundred metres high and over ten wide." Frost calmly explained, a subtle smile lingering on his lips because of Rana’s chosen ’analogy’. She always managed to catch him by surprise, a woman with the mouth saltier than even the saltiest of sailoirs.

"What? Is it really that tall?"

"I heard rumours, but I always assumed they were merely exaggerations."

"Inferiority complex....hehehe that’s good."

"Quite apt when you think about it hehehe."

While some members of the council knew either nothing or very little about Icethorne’s defensive might those who did finished processing Rana’s analogy and couldn’t help but agree with her words, finding such a comparison very appropriate.

"Our wall albeit having very strong foundations obviously can’t be compared to such monoliths and if I’m being completely honest Rana’s words aren’t exactly without merit." It’d be a lie to say he wasn’t envious of what Icethorne had; he’d be a very poor Lord if he didn’t desire a better protected territory.

"Face to face with that monstrosity of course I wanted one of my own, but do you think I’d work you like a dog just to satisfy a whim of mine Rana?" He may have desires but to act on each and every one of them, he wasn’t a child.

"Is this the point where I’m expected to say you wouldn’t?" Rana replied, her pissed off expression not softening in the slightest.

"....Oh I’m hurt, is that how you truly see me Rana?" Her unwavering glare pierced straight through the bullshit, stabbing deep into his heart. While others placed him on an unassailable pedestal Rana did the opposite. To her he was an annoying prick that had no idea of what her work entailed. Sure he pays well and knows what he wants but his asks were always extreme and painfully tight when it came to the timescale and budgets....if she wasn’t a workaholic she would have tossed her hat to the floor and escaped this hell long ago.

"..."

"..." The silence was painful, confidence shattering but after interacting with one another for months Frost had gotten somewhat used to Rana’s rough exterior.

"I’m not asking you to match its height or width just come a little bit closer that’s all."

"40 metres, 40 fucking metres almost double what it currently is! Do you have any bloody idea how hard it is to build a wall that high?" The moment Yuna informed her of his plans for the wall Rana was prepared to have at it, she wouldn’t return to her office without getting a little blood on her knuckles.

Icethorne’s walls took decades of hard work and effort to complete, their budgets heavenly compared to theirs, their workforce over ten times as large and their location beneficial to such construction. The Niflheim city state had only one mountain, and it was at the rear of the city, the only place where a wall wasn’t being built meaning their primary defensive wall had no natural support system, just flat land. Such terrain was perfect for a normal wall ten to fifteen metres but the moment it crosses the twenty mark things get so much more complicated. Frost obviously didn’t understand because if he did he wouldn’t be asking her and her crew to do this.

"No I don’t, that’s why I have you my construction savant at the helm. You tell me how much money, materials and people you need, and I’ll get you it, but I need that wall."

"Why on Nova do you need a wall that bloody high?" Rana couldn’t fathom his reasoning. Icethorne was a bastion, a fortress that stood against the powerful nations and tribes within the inner regions of the Glacial mountains, a place plagued with war and conflict, but Niflheim was just a small town that had grown from a camp, it wasn’t even the capital of a nation so why did they need such an impressive wall?

"Haaaaaaa." Frost deeply sighed. "How many of you are aware of the situation in Icethorne?" He looked around the room and asked.

"They’re at war." One answered.

"A siege." Said another.

"Trade and travel has been heavily restricted throughout both the external and inner regions." Said Calder, the head of the merchant guild here in Niflheim.

"The crown prince has denied their request for aid." Most knew something or other about the situation but not the whole truth or the exact depth of the predicament.

"Good and you’re all aware of my relationship with the Northrend empire." A few lips twitched and hollow laughs escaped.

"Neither of you would shed a tear if the other died." Rana as always cut straight to the point.

"Pretty much." Both Princes were terrible in his opinion, only Avira held some promise. "But despite that you’re all here helping me run Niflheim." It wasn’t to the extent of being traitors to their nation but clearly their rulers wouldn’t take kindly to such behaviour.

"Profits are better on this side."

"I prefer freedom."

"No limits or restrictions to my development."

"Northrend’s boring."

"I only liked the Emperor and Empress."

This room could be considered a safe zone because those who had forfeited their loyalty to Niflheim had already been purged thus their words shouldn’t reach the ears of Northrend’s rulers.

"You’re loyalty is noted." Frost was pleased by their responses. "And because of that you should be made aware of the true depths of this current conflict." He thus began explaining the extent of the terror currently assaulting Icethorne’s walls, the efforts of Princess Avira as well as Randolph’s refusal to send aid and why.

"Well....shit." Rana spoke first. "You want to prepare for the worst don’t you?"

"Exactly. Whether or not the Liberation Alliance triumphs over Icethorne that doesn’t change how the current two Princes view myself and Niflheim at large, a nail that needs to be hammered down." A larger and more prosperous Niflheim was anything but good news for Randolph and Sedrick. Those that refused to submit to their control needed to be expunged. Thankfully however it wouldn’t be just Niflheim suffering their wrath, the province of Furano and the lands of similarly aligned Nobles would be the primary targets.

"We need to be prepared for an assault and for that we’ll need a wall that can hold back the tide, 40 metres Rana find a way."

Rana scratched the back of her neck as she frustratingly ran the numbers in her head. "Haaaaaa it won’t be easy and the cost will be sky hi..."

"I don’t care, submit a report and get to work, I’ll get you what you need come hell or high water." Even if he had to sacrifice more than 90% of his income for several months Frost was determined to have a wall sufficient for war time.

"Calder get hold of as much material as you can before Northrend and the neighbouring nations increase their tariffs and embargoes. Ringwald post material hunting requests in the guild on behalf of the city and prepare yourself for an influx of new blood."

"New blood Lord Frost?" They were already seeing a sharp increase in adventurers every day.

"Yes, with the news of the siege on Icethorne reaching the public there’ll be a scramble of people looking to escape the coming war. Whether from the external regions or the Northrend empire try to entice as many as you can into staying permanently or at least long term. The more people we have the faster we can erect our defences and prepare our own forces. The same goes for everyone else, hundreds if not thousands will be looking for shelter in the storm and I hope for Niflheim to serve as that shelter." If people saw a massive wall being built and high strength soldiers patrolling the streets they’d naturally see this place as somewhere safe.

"More so than Furano?" Asked a council member with strong roots in the nearby Viscounty.

"To a certain degree yes. Furano is a large region, serving tens of thousands of citizens, it can’t protect them all."

"....." It was difficult to hear but not wrong. Furano was a widespread territory lacking a singular powerful bastion that could house its many, many citizens through this storm. Areas would be lost, homes decimated, towns razed to ash and thousands slaughtered in the name of purging insurrection, such things were inevitable. Niflheim however would stand against the tide, protecting all those dwelling behind its massive walls. An attractive prospect but how attractive was the question.

"We don’t have enough food to support a skyrocketing population, even with monster hunting we lack grains, vegetables and then on top of that the processing of those ingredients."

"The agricultural department says their just about ready to conclude their first harvest."

"A single harvest from those small farms won’t be enough Lord Frost."

"It won’t be a single harvest though." Dakar, head of the agricultural department who was recovering from ill health during the last meeting suddenly jumped to his feet with a passion. "The land around the city is incredibly dense in nutrients and closely connected to the Dungeon itself."

"Meaning?"

"Multiple harvests, conservatively we expect a threefold output perhaps even fourfold." Dakar had been over the moon recently due these findings, his aspirations as a farmer coming to light in his twilight years.

Mumble, mumble, hushed discussions quickly broke out between the other council members, such news was paradigm shifting.

"That’s still not enough. The farms are only so big and they can only hold so much variety. We may be capable of self sufficiency in a few years but not in the next few months, supplementation will be necessary." The problem however was that food was one of the very first things to become restricted during and at the onset of a major war.

"I know that’s why we’re having the meeting now and not in a month’s time when it’ll be too late.....do whatever you have to, call in favours, outbid competitors just ensure that Niflheim has a healthy supply of materials and ingredients for as long as you can, our savings and future potential can cover the damages." Frost wasn’t even adverse to signing a predatory loan agreement if it meant being able to survive their current crisis. Wealth could only be spent if you were alive after all.