Chapter 6: Foundations of a Company
[System Alert: Trade Route Active – Projected Gains: +3 Gold / Day | +2 Resources / Trade]
[You have unlocked the following system feature: Enterprise Creation]
That night, as I reviewed our newly returned goods from Windmere, another prompt surfaced:
[Would you like to establish a Registered Company?]
Benefits: Local Economy Boost, Passive Income, Job Creation, Reputation Growth
Cost: 50 Gold + Name Registration]
My pulse quickened. This wasn't just trade anymore. This was the next step—economic infrastructure.
Ray glanced at me as I stood by the camp's crude "town center." "You look like you've just seen a battlefield… or gold."
"Both," I muttered. "I'm going to found a company."
He blinked. "A merchant guild?"
"More like a seed. For something bigger."
I opened the menu.
Enterprise Creation – Step 1: Name Your Company
Enter Company Name:
I thought for a moment. This wasn't just about lumber or herbs or chickens.
It was about Blackhollow rising again.
Name: Hollow Rise Trade & Supply Co.
[Name Accepted]
Step 2: Choose Industry Focus
🪵 Lumber & Materials – Boosts building supply access
🌾 Agriculture & Food Trade – Enhances farming output and storage
🐎 Transport & Logistics – Enables additional trade routes
⚒️ Craft & Smithing (Requires Forge) – Unlocks item production
💼 Multi-Branch Trading Post (Requires Business License Level 2)
I chose Agriculture & Food Trade, knowing we had fertile land, a working granary, and a trading partner hungry for food.
[Focus Selected: Agriculture & Food Trade]
Initial Staff Needed: 3 Workers (Unassigned) | Office Space (0/1)
Company Founded: Hollow Rise Trade & Supply Co.
Status: Active
Tier: I (Local)
Passive Income: +3 Gold / Day
Capacity: 1 Trade Route
Workers: 0/3
Efficiency: 0% (Needs Staffing & Office)
"We need an office," I said aloud.
Ray raised a brow. "A warlord might build a barracks. You build… a counting house?"
"Exactly. And if we do this right, we'll afford barracks and mercenaries."
Two Days Later – The First Office
Bran and the others repurposed an abandoned stone house in the village square. It wasn't much—two rooms, a wooden desk, and shelves for logs and contracts—but it felt official.
Mike volunteered as a field trader. Lena surprised us by stepping in as the company's recordkeeper—"Numbers calm me," she said. (I made a mental note to check if she had a hidden Math trait.)
Toma stayed in the fields, ensuring production kept flowing.
[Office Built – Company Operational]
[New Feature: Contracts & Orders Unlocked]
Enterprise Contracts (Beta)
Windmere Local Order – Deliver 20 Wheat → Reward: 25 Gold + Favor
Wandering Merchant Request – Supply 10 Herbs, 5 Meat → Reward: Rare Tool
Noble Contract (Locked) – Requires Reputation Tier II
We selected the Windmere order. It was easy and built trust.
[Contract Accepted – 3 Days Remaining]
As the sun set over Blackhollow, smoke from chimneys rose, not in desperation, but in rhythm. The rhythm of labor, of purpose. We weren't surviving anymore.
We were producing.
We were trading.
We were building wealth.
And for the first time in this war-torn land…
Blackhollow had a company.