Gods, work, and spring

1 Creation myth

The God of Creation had to create a world in accordance with the great will.

First, he made the God of Time. His creation was so beautiful that he took her as his wife. After becoming his wife, the God of Time gave birth to the Sun God, the Moon Gods, and the Earth God. The Moon Gods were twins. That was why there were two moons in the night sky. The God of Creation, the God of Time, and their four children worked together to create the world.

"And that was how the world began."

The Progenitor spoke at length from the podium.

I thought this was probably a very valuable experience... but hardly anyone was listening.

Everyone was busy eating and drinking.

I wasn't paying much attention either, so I only caught the gist.

The Sun God created the God of Light and the God of Fire. The Moon Gods gave birth to the God of Darkness and the God of Water. The Earth God failed over and over, but couldn't bear to discard those creations and chose to keep them. Those creations were the species now living upon the earth. It went something like that...

Oh, so we were failures. That was what I'd been thinking, but then I heard something about how "the Sun God simply failed to make us gods when creating us, while the Earth God taught us what it meant to grow"...

I'd listen properly next time.

The reason for the banquet was simple. To dispel dissatisfaction.

The Progenitor and the others handled finding and excavating the large black rocks, while I handled working them. We dealt with one a day, continuing like that for about five days.

In other words, the large black rocks really had been arranged in a regular heptagon. No, perhaps I ought to praise the Progenitor's surveying skills?

In any case, the ones who suffered most were... Lu, Flora, Tia, and Gran Maria, whom the Progenitor had mobilized.

They had to bore two hundred meters into the hard ground. Of course, they used magic rather than their bare hands, but apparently it was exhausting. They did that for five days straight.

By the last day, Lu was already contemplating how to finish off the Progenitor, while Flora smiled eerily at a medicine bottle. Tia's eyes were vacant, and Gran Maria silently sharpened a weapon resembling a lance. The four had joined forces to attack him once, but apparently it hadn't worked.

I'd originally thought there was no need to rush... but seeing those large black rocks made me uneasy, so I quietly went along with it.

Once I carved a divine statue, the rock turned from black to white, giving me the satisfying feeling of bleaching out a stain, or rather, cleaning away something dirty.

And when we finished work on the fifth site-the seventh if we counted from the God of Creation's statue-that refreshing sensation...

I felt utterly invigorated. It made me want to shout, "I made it through!"

The other four were utterly exhausted. Despite having done the same work, the Progenitor looked perfectly fine.

Why had he been so exhausted when he went with Hakuren before? Had that been more tiring? In any case, I arranged a banquet to thank the four for their efforts.

We held it in the mansion's hall. Of course, I dragged the other villagers into it too. Otherwise, I would have had to keep listening to them curse the Progenitor.

"Dragons are divine beasts created by the God of Time when her husband, the God of Creation, was unfaithful. That is why dragons are fearless even before the gods."

"Ohh."

The Progenitor was answering his audience's questions about mythology.

The ones asking were the beastkin girls.

"Nobody teaches those things in Good Forest Village, after all."

Guraru murmured as he watched them.

"Don't you have somewhere like a church?"

"Didn't I mention that Good Forest Village moves? Only the original location had a church."

"What do you do about weddings?"

Weren't ceremonies like that held at churches?

"We take care of them ourselves in the village."

"I see."

"The Demon King Kingdom and the church aren't enemies, but the church doesn't have much influence within the kingdom... We make use of it if it's there, at most."

Beezel chimed in from beside us.

Was it all right for him to stay here so long? Wouldn't the Demon King get angry?

In a corner of the hall, Glatts and Rinona were being lovey-dovey. They were getting along quite well.

Was it really all right for two of the Four Heavenly Kings to be here?

"It's fine. We finished an important job just before coming here, after all."

"An important job?"

"Yes. The Demon King Kingdom isn't entirely united. There are many factions. One of them suddenly turned over a new leaf."

"Huh?"

"As if they'd come to their senses, they confessed all the bad things they'd done... Nobody had noticed this faction before, so it caused quite a stir. Assassinating His Majesty the Demon King, replacing all Four Heavenly Kings, installing the princess as a puppet, invading the Kingdom of Fullheart... Their plans were grand, but still in the preparation stages. I got to the bottom of the whole affair and arrested everyone involved... Getting to relax over the winter was my reward for all that work."

"Oh..."

Timing-wise, that seemed to have been around when I organized the hot spring survey team and headed out. Other things happened elsewhere too.

"Glatts too?"

"Apparently those people had also extended their reach into the military... Glatts said he would take responsibility and retire, but permission was denied. He declared that if he couldn't retire, he would spend some time reflecting at home, then came here."

"Is that all right?"

"There aren't any particularly major conflicts during winter."

I see. Beezel, Guraru, and I found an excuse to toast and drank.

I was wondering why the hall had gotten a little noisy when I realized Rasuti had returned.

"It looks like... this isn't a welcome party for me."

"It's been a while. No problems, I hope?"

"No."

Bulga and Stifano stood behind Rasuti.

"How was your visit home?"

At my question, all three looked rather unhappy.

When I asked what had happened...

"It was awful."

Apparently so.

First, Rasuti's story.

Death was the leader of the dragons, but some dragons still refused to obey him-the clan led by the Dark Dragon Giral.

They had suddenly bowed their heads and apologized, leaving Death at a loss for how to respond.

"We're sorry about before. Let's get along from now on."

"Sure, understood."

It would have been fine if they could have made up like that, but once you reached a certain age, pride got in the way, so they couldn't.

At first, Death had even thought Giral was attacking and asked Raimeiren for help.

After that, the two sides held discussions, Death and Giral reconciled, and Giral sent hostages... or perhaps dragon hostages, to Death.

It would have been fine if that had been the end of it, but somehow the conversation turned to me.

"I hear that daughter you're so proud of married a human? What sort of person is he? Is he strong?"

Although they had reconciled, Death was still somewhat wary, so he hadn't brought Giral to the village.

Then, apparently wanting Giral to hear about me, he had summoned Hakuren and Rasuti home. They would also bolster his fighting strength if the worst happened.

"Everyone says the Dark Dragon Giral is Grandfather's eternal rival. But when I actually met him, he was just an ordinary drunk old man..."

Apparently Rasuti had been forced to keep him company in conversation the whole time.

Incidentally, the alcohol he drank came from Big Tree Village, and he had asked Rasuti to pass along his wish to trade. It was a good thing that our alcohol had caught his fancy.

"The Dark Dragon Giral? Isn't he a dragon from the myths?"

"Miss Lu's grandfather mentioned him earlier. He said he bit the God of Creation's foot."

"The name Giral is inherited, so he isn't the one from the myths. Apparently he's the seventh."

Rasuti answered the puzzled beastkin girls listening nearby.

Wasn't being "the child of someone from the myths" impressive enough in itself?

In any case, Rasuti joined the banquet.

Bulga and Stifano were just as exhausted as Rasuti.

"We ran into a huge uproar when we went home."

Apparently one of the powerful factions back home had suddenly caused trouble. They had arrived right in the middle of it and helped suppress it.

"When we asked, they said they couldn't hear the god's voice anymore... It made no sense."

Apparently they had been forced to clean up the aftermath during their visit home and hadn't gotten any rest.

"That sounds awful."

On top of that, the gifts they had taken home had caused problems too.

Apparently they had been so popular that they sparked disputes. Being popular was good, but causing disputes made things awkward. They wanted to send some more over? I didn't mind, but transportation would be a problem...

Well, I'd think about that later.

I told Bulga and Stifano to join the banquet too and relax for now.

A lot had happened, but I was happy to have all those familiar faces together.

"If only Kierbit could have stayed a little longer..."

After the hot spring survey team disbanded, Kierbit had returned to the Kingdom of Gallet.

I had asked the Progenitor to take her back, which seemed to have left her quite overwhelmed.

The Progenitor came over to me.

"I'm truly sorry about this."

"Not at all. I sensed something unpleasant too, after all. I'm glad we could resolve it quickly."

That was the truth.

"Indeed. By the way... something has been bothering me for a while. What is that on your

lap?"

"A cat."

"I know it's a cat, but was it here before?"

It hadn't been.

I had only just met this cat. Right before the banquet began.

In front of the shrine beside the big tree, there had been an all-black cat looking thoroughly frightened, with an expression that said it had no idea why it was there. Gradually, though, it grasped the situation. After seeing me, it thought for a moment, then finally lay on its back with a look of resignation.

Do whatever you like.

Its whole body said as much. So I made it a member of the village. Cats were a farmer's friends. They caught mice, after all.

Still... this cat probably couldn't handle the gophers. Hahaha.

Part of the reason was that I liked that resigned expression. Perhaps it was what you'd call empathy. Let's get along.

Just as I was thinking that, the cat got up from my lap and slipped under the table. That free-spirited nature was part of a cat's charm.

The Progenitor left too. Hahaha.

Now then...

I sensed four people nearby. Lu, Flora, Tia, and Gran Maria. No, not just four. Frau, Ann, Ria, and the others were behind them too. Ah-even Hakuren and Rasuti?

Being able to tell all that was quite something. I was practically a master.

Under the table, the cat looked at me with an utterly resigned expression.

My face probably wore the same expression as the cat's right then.

2 Winter work

Spring was approaching.

Despite that feeling, the weather was still cold.

The cat slept in the kotatsu. Though he had been quite standoffish at first, he could now curl up together with Kuro and the others.

He liked the spider passages installed along the mansion's ceilings. He competed for spots with Zabuton's children who weren't hibernating.

No, rather than competing, perhaps they were yielding to each other? I had worried they might fight, but there were no problems. I knew Zabuton's children were clever, but the cat was quite clever too.

He learned where to relieve himself after being shown once, and he was willing to wait for his meals.

If I had to name a mishap... probably the time he fell into a barrel of alcohol and nearly drowned in it. Even after I rescued him, he staggered around on unsteady legs.

Incidentally, the Alcohol Slime tasted the alcohol in that barrel.

Afterward, the Alcohol Slime seemed to deliberately lead the cat toward the alcohol barrels... but the cat deftly avoided them.

That meant he had settled in, I supposed. Speaking of which, the cat was male. Should I get a female cat from somewhere?

My work today involved the large carriage sitting in the mansion's work area.

A carriage.

A vehicle with wheels, pulled by horses.

Though a covered wagon from the days of the western frontier came to mind first, the one before me was an enclosed carriage.

It looked like something a noble would use, with lavish decorations on every part.

Inside was a pair of facing sofas, each comfortably seating two.

The outside was designed to seat two drivers, making six seats in all. According to Frau, this was apparently quite a high-class carriage.

As for why it was in our work area...

"What would you use a mechanism like this for?"

The Mountain Elves were interested in the suspension system I had made. After I explained its purpose, they stole... ahem, borrowed this carriage from Mr. Michael.

The reason I had made a suspension system was that springs had been made.

I had commissioned them from Good Forest Village earlier, and they had sent a small wyvern to notify me that they were finished.

I had originally intended to install them in beds or sofas, but unfortunately, the springs I received were larger and stiffer than expected.

According to them, making an iron rod and then bending it would create strength problems, so making a spring required giving the lump of iron a certain amount of curvature first... but this was the limit of their current techniques.

When I received them, I felt that since I had gone to the trouble of having them made, I ought to find a way to put them to good use. That was when I thought of a suspension system.

The springs were about the same size as those in a vehicle's suspension system.

Recalling model cars, I tried making one.

The shock absorbers... I made the piston sections that went inside the springs out of wood. I was worried about their strength, but this was only a prototype, after all. For the oil inside the pistons, I used what we already had in the village.

Oil was precious, but I used it anyway. Keeping it from leaking took some work... but I more or less managed.

And with that, they were finished.

I had made them... but what was I supposed to do with them? Just as I was wondering that, the Mountain Elves arrived.

We still had plenty of springs made by Good Forest Village, so we decided to try enough for one carriage first.

Once we had decided, things were simple.

The Mountain Elves roped Rasuti and Frau into helping, and spent several days getting a carriage from Michael.

If the Progenitor hadn't been away, the Mountain Elves probably would have put him to work without hesitation.

"The springs are iron and quite heavy, so we can't use too many."

We separated the axles from the carriage body and installed suspension systems at eight points in total, four each at the front and rear.

Then we thoroughly modified everything we could. We lightened the body, expanded the storage space, and reinforced the wheels and axles. It was like modifying a toy. Though I had never imagined I would be doing it to a carriage.

The Mountain Elves and I really went to work on that carriage.

The results-

"My bottom doesn't hurt."

"I wish we had one at home."

"This will sell. Please, you must mass-produce it."

Those were the impressions of Frau, Beezel, and the Civil Servant Girls.

Compared with the old carriage, the jolting had noticeably eased, which was gratifying.

I tried riding it too... but was it really as comfortable as they said? It shook quite a lot. Maybe it had been even worse before? The axles had been attached directly to the body, after all.

Judging by all the praise around me, I supposed I could consider it a considerable improvement.

Incidentally, the centaur representatives were pulling it. Before we could bring any horses over, they had volunteered to pull it themselves. Two of them together, at that.

At the moment, the children, with Ursa at their center, were enjoying carriage rides.

"Do carriages go that fast? I thought they would be a little more elegant."

The spectators waiting in line looked puzzled by my question.

Apparently, not many of them had ridden in a carriage.

I left the carriage to the Mountain Elves and went to work on other things.

First, building blocks for the children born this year.

Making them a size that was easy to hold but wouldn't fit into their mouths was quite difficult. I also had to carefully smooth the edges and corners so the children wouldn't hurt themselves.

I made several of each basic shape: circles, triangles, and squares. Then some long pieces and slightly curved ones... done.

Since I had been so meticulous, night had fallen by the time I finished four sets.

Without the Almighty Farming Tool, it probably would have taken even longer.

More centaurs had joined the carriage team in shifts, and they kept running until late. Were they doing an endurance test while they were at it?

The dwarves were trying to drink aboard the carriage... I supposed it would be all right. They would fight for dear life to keep from throwing up.

They probably wouldn't dirty the carriage's interior.

The next day-

Today, I would make a chair. Not an ordinary chair, though. One with runners underneath that let it rock. I didn't know its proper name. I called it a grandpa chair. This time, I would try making one.

"A rocking chair?"

That question from the Civil Servant Girls taught me its proper name.

Anyway, I wanted to test its strength and durability first, so I tried sitting in it myself... it seemed fine. As for durability, I would have to sit in it longer to find out.

I put a cushion on the finished chair, then had the Alcohol Slime sit on it and try rocking. He seemed to enjoy the swaying. Good, good.

He got bored and left after about five minutes. I see.

Now the cat was sitting motionless on the chair. I wished it would rock a little... oh well. So far, it seemed fine.

Time for the main event.

Yes, the rocking chair had only been an experiment.

The real goal was a cradle.

I had wanted to make one for a long time. No, I had actually made one before. But the thought of putting a baby in it scared me, so I rejected it. Still, it should be all right by now. My skills should have improved too.

I would have the children sleep in a cradle their dad had made!

Riding that momentum, I worked hard.

First, I made one.

It risked tipping over if it tilted more than forty-five degrees. I needed to make it return upright from sixty degrees-no, even ninety degrees...

"Village Chief, what's this pipe?"

The Mountain Elf's innocent gaze made me feel deeply apologetic, but that was simply a failed attempt.

After a great deal of effort, I finally made an ordinary cradle.

Yes, overthinking things was no good. Ordinary was best.

I would ask how it felt to use, then make improvements.

I went straight to Ann... and saw my son gallantly standing while holding on to something.

Children grew up so fast.

It was the same with Ria and the others.

Apparently, they no longer needed cradles.

I would use it when the next child was born.

Incidentally-

-they had apparently been using cradles suspended from the ceiling before.

Dad's efforts had been wasted.

The cat on the rocking chair meowed, as though comforting me.

Thank you.

Winter, with spring drawing near

Was it spring? Or still winter? It was a perplexing time of year.

It was spring already, so surely it was about time to work the fields? I began to grow restless.

But the weather could still suddenly turn bad, or the temperature plummet, so I couldn't let my guard down.

There were many ways to judge whether spring had arrived, but these days I left it to the tree spirits.

"Not yet. You'll need to wait a little longer."

Spring was still far away.

The Mountain Elves began modifying a chair I had made.

Not the rocking chair from before, but a chair with a back-pounding function.

I had tried making it because we had spare springs... but it wasn't powerful enough. The springs being too stiff was one problem, but the main cause was probably that it was water-powered.

In other words, the Mountain Elves had taken over something I had abandoned halfway through.

They were currently trying to make up for the lack of power with gears.

Making it stronger was fine, but who was going to sit in that back-pounding chair? People who needed that sort of chair... there didn't seem to be any in the village.

The Progenitor, Death, and the Demon King didn't seem to need one either. Realizing that was also why I had given up halfway through.

Well, if the aim was to improve their skills, that was fine. Yes.

Come to think of it, Mountain Elves, had you listened to my explanation? This wasn't a torture device.

The back-pounding force didn't need to be strong enough to smash a pumpkin.

The Progenitor was away on business, so we couldn't rely on his teleportation magic.

Not being able to visit the hot springs easily was inconvenient... but depending on him too much wasn't good either. I needed to reflect on that.

I went to the hot springs with Hakuren.

Hakuren had been feeling down lately. The reason was Ursa. She no longer clung to Hakuren.

It had started with... the beastman boys.

Simply put, they had fought over Ursa, and Ursa had knocked them down to settle the dispute.

Then Ursa had roped in Nat, Gutt and his wife's daughter, and brought the lizardman children under her command.

Ursa had become the leader of the village's younger-grade(?) children.

Her maternal instincts-or perhaps her big-sister instincts-and leadership abilities had awakened as a result.

The beastman boys were older, but Ursa ranked higher.

As Ursa displayed her leadership... she also stopped clinging to Hakuren.

Hakuren was happy to see Ursa grow, but was also bewildered by her loneliness.

Were Lu and Tia like this too? Or was everyone different? I couldn't bear seeing Hakuren like that, so I invited her to the hot springs.

I also wanted to see how the Death Knight guarding the hot springs was doing.

We had planned to go alone and return early, but Ursa caught us, and the beastman boys, Nat, and the lizardman children ended up coming along too.

While I was fretting over what to do, Hakuren readily agreed, perhaps delighted that Ursa had come to her of her own accord for the first time in a while.

I knew she was happy, but didn't she sleep in the same room as Ursa every night? Was she that lonely?

Hakuren and I couldn't look after all the children alone, so I asked Ramurias, an Oni Race maid, and Sena, a beastwoman, to come too. I also brought the lizardman Daga and the beastman Guraru as guards; they had been watching us while warming up.

Just as I was thinking we should be fine in terms of fighting strength with Hakuren there, Beezel and Frau also volunteered to come.

Apparently, they wanted to soak in the hot springs.

"Since Beezel's here, shall we use teleportation magic?"

"Unfortunately, I don't know where our destination is."

Beezel couldn't use his teleportation magic without knowing the destination.

Then had he walked the first time he came to the village? Apparently, he had made his way toward the village with short-range teleports to places within sight. I see.

I had Hakuren carry a board used for transporting luggage on her back, and everyone sat on it.

Perhaps because she was carrying us, she wasn't very fast, and it took a little time.

Ursa had improved Hakuren's mood, so there was really no need to visit the hot springs anymore, but in any case, we arrived.

The facilities were safe and sound.

I wondered where the Death Knight had gone, but he had taken off his armor and was soaking in the hot spring.

He hurried to get up when he saw me, but I told him to keep soaking. I could tell he was a diligent guard, because a corner of the hot spring area was piled with monster and magical beast corpses.

First, I explained to my companions how to use the hot springs. I told them to keep the men's and women's baths straight.

I left the men's bath to Daga and Guraru, and the women's bath to Ramurias and Sena.

With that, everyone began bathing.

I wanted to get in too, but there was something I had to do first.

An unexpected companion-the cat.

At some point, the children had brought it along in their arms.

I wasn't angry... but wouldn't it get bored at the hot springs?

Just as I was considering preparing some cat toys, I noticed it seemed interested in the hot spring.

But the bath was too deep for a cat.

I thought for a moment, then made a small pool for the cat nearby.

How about this?

Illustration p003

It cautiously checked with a front paw before timidly stepping into the water. Once it sat down and soaked its bottom, it must have been satisfied with the temperature, because it stretched its head outside the bath and lay there, relaxed.

Yes, good.

Next came the monster and magical beast corpses the Death Knight had dealt with.

Some were fresh, others old. I had thought they wouldn't rot too quickly in winter, but perhaps because this was a hot spring area, some of the corpses smelled rotten. I would dispose of them.

I hoed them with the Almighty Farming Tool, returning them to soil... there was a Panic Caribou among the pile.

Its antlers had been properly preserved.

I decided to praise the Death Knight later.

Right, time for a soak... or so I thought, until I noticed a badly rusted suit of armor in the changing area.

It was a full suit of what was called plate armor, and it belonged to the Death Knight.

It had looked quite battered last time I saw it... but had it been this rusty?

Was it because it was in a hot spring area? But the sword wasn't rusty.

The sword looked brand-new. Could that be because it was enchanted?

I gathered timber from the nearby forest and tried making a suit of wooden armor. I had a model right in front of me, after all.

After a while, someone tapped me on the shoulder.

It was Ramurias.

Apparently, it was about time to go home. Unfortunately, the armor wasn't finished. How frustrating.

And I hadn't even soaked in the hot spring. Ugh. Oh well, I could come back another day.

The children seemed to want to stay and play in the hot springs, but Ramurias and Sena chased them out.

Daga and Guraru had warmed themselves through and looked satisfied too... was that alcohol in their hands?

They said they planned to drink it while riding Hakuren on the way back. They had held off earlier because they were on guard duty, so I wouldn't refuse.

Oops, I almost forgot the cat.

I woke the cat sleeping soundly in the hot spring and dried it off. Its fur looked glossy, huh? Didn't soaking your hair in hot spring water damage it?

Was animal fur different? Since it had improved, I probably didn't need to worry.

I put away the half-finished wooden armor and climbed onto Hakuren.

I'd bring the finished product next time.

With the Death Knight watching us off, steam rising from his body, we set off for the village.

It was like an outing. We'd come again another day.

Only after we arrived safely at the village did something occur to me.

Couldn't we just have asked Beezel to use teleportation magic for the trip back?

"I thought that would spoil the fun..."

"You ate on Miss Hakuren on the way there, so I assumed you would on the way back too..."

So said Beezel and Frau.

Oh well. That was fine. We'd had fun, after all.

All right, spring was almost here.

I put the finishing touches on the wooden armor I'd brought back.

Mountain Elves, I was glad you were helping, but there was no need to install any mechanisms.

Adding strange devices would... Knives launched from the gauntlets? From the toes too? This was a storage compartment? Attach iron here... and it could transform into a small shield?

...Now that was romantic.

I hoped the Death Knight would be happy.

Side story: God's agent

Hello, everyone.

I am the God of Agriculture. The god in charge of agriculture.

Now, setting that aside... Father.

"What should we do about this?"

"What do you mean, 'this'?"

"This."

I showed him the surface of a certain world.

"Ah, the usual place. Nothing has... Huh? That's odd. This is... Huh?"

Father was astonished. Naturally.

Down on the surface, a large black rock was gradually being carved into Father's likeness.

"I think it was probably a coincidence, but this counts as divine punishment, doesn't it?"

Divine punishment was exactly what it sounded like: punishment from a god. An attack unleashed by Father.

Of course, only Father could do it. Normally, anyway.

"Yes. Ah, I see. An ordinary carving wouldn't cause this, but the material is a rock that can seal even gods, and the Almighty Farming Tool is being used to reproduce my likeness precisely, so it became divine punishment."

"What should we do?"

"What should we do indeed?"

"This is just... too cruel to the Demon God."

Yes, too cruel.

The Demon God had indeed committed a crime, and that was why he had been sealed away... but at the time he was sealed, he hadn't been evil.

He had only become an evil being because he kept gathering the magical power that filled the entire world.

That said, it wasn't the Demon God who had filled the world with magical power, but other gods.

Strictly speaking, the Demon God had merely broken the gods' rules while trying to control that magical power.

As for the Demon God's salvation, it would come twenty years later, when he brought the world to collapse, reigned over the land as the embodiment of evil, and was then destroyed.

It might sound cruel, but this was a fate arranged through every possible effort by the many gods who had foreseen the future while trying to save him. It was the best solution.

But now, the Demon God was about to be destroyed by divine punishment.

Just twenty years remained, a period so short that it hardly counted as suffering to a god... yet at this rate, he would be destroyed without receiving salvation.

"Gods don't die."

"Father, you're right. However, once destroyed, he will fall into a deep sleep, and that sleep will cause the Demon God to lose all his experiences up to now. When he next awakens, he will no longer be the Demon God I know. Didn't we choose to seal him precisely to avoid that?"

"Exactly."

"Then please, you must lend the Demon God a hand."

"I can't do that."

"Why not?"

"Because there's no need."

I couldn't help clenching my fist and trying to punch Father. But my fist didn't connect.

Father had blocked it in earnest.

"Sorry, sorry. I phrased that badly. The Demon God will be saved."

"What do you mean?"

"Just keep watching. You'll understand in a few days."

After Father said that, time moved on.

I was astounded.

The Demon God really had been saved. He hadn't been destroyed.

"What happened?"

"Nothing complicated. That man carried out divine punishment. And he struck precisely at the seven points of the seal. Do you understand now?"

"Huh? Ah!"

"It seems he reproduced not only my divine punishment, but my salvation too. Quite impressive."

"A human acting in a god's place to grant salvation... It's a miracle."

No, the divine punishment alone was already a miracle.

In any case, the Demon God had received salvation.

Though he had become a cat, he could celebrate the beauty of life on the surface. And the next time he returned to this world, he would once again be given divine duties.

Thank goodness. Truly, thank goodness.

Though I was delighted, Father's expression wasn't very cheerful.

"Is something worrying you?"

"N-no, it should be fine."

"...Wouldn't it be better to come clean before you get scolded? Or should I report this to Mother?"

"Don't threaten me. No, I'm not trying to hide anything. Um, I was wondering... Doesn't that cat possess divinity?"

"Huh?"

"A cat possessing divinity... Does it have a lifespan?"

Uh...

W-well, reaching the end of one's lifespan wasn't the only way to return here.

The Demon God was a god too. He'd find a way. He would, wouldn't he? Please think of something.

"Also, hasn't the plan to recover all the magical power at once in conjunction with saving the Demon God fallen apart too? The wicked deeds the Demon God had arranged have also fallen through, so I was wondering if things might get a little troublesome down on the surface."

Oh. That... Um, what should we do?

"As for the magical power, this hasn't been a matter of just one or two centuries anyway, so we can use another method and take our time. But the wicked deeds the Demon God arranged..."

I-in a sense, this was equivalent to a god on the surface disappearing. Chaos was probably unavoidable. There were already effects in various places.

"Still, the threat of the world's destruction, which had definitely been due to occur twenty years from now, is completely gone. Once the Demon God became the embodiment of evil, the chance of failing to defeat him was low, but it wasn't impossible. All in all, the outcome is probably something to be thankful for."

T-that's true.

Compared to that crisis, a little chaos could be treated as a minor matter.

Still, I'd been angry that he had accidentally been sent to a world with such an imminent crisis, but now that the crisis was gone, I ought to be glad instead.

Besides, strange as it might sound, the place he'd been sent was the farthest from all that future chaos.

He would live in peace.

Was this really all right? Yes. Let's say it was.

"By the way, Dad. How will you honor his great achievements? Acknowledge him as a god's agent? Or, since he defeated the Demon God, treat him as a true hero?"

"Hahaha. Doesn't he just want to be a simple farmer?"

"Surely not. This is the highest honor, you know? You think he'd turn it down?"

Despite saying that, I felt the same as Father.

Yes, he'd probably turn down something that troublesome.

Spring of the tenth year

Spring arrived.

I greeted Zabuton after she woke up.

Zabuton and the cat's first meeting... went fine.

Yes, the cat immediately adopted a posture of surrender, and Zabuton gestured for it to get up. Come to think of it, something similar seemed to have happened when the cat first met Kuro. Did animals get restless unless they established who ranked above whom?

Anyway, spring had arrived.

Since it was spring, Beezel and Glatts reluctantly went home.

Guraru also returned to Good Forest Village through Beezel's teleportation magic.

It felt a little lonely.

Time to perk up again. Let's have some farming time!

Before that, we needed to hold a meeting.

I'd be counting on everyone again throughout this year.

Once the racial representatives had gathered in the mansion's conference room, the meeting began.

Representing Big Tree Village: me.

Representing the Infernal Wolves: Kuro.

Representing the Demon Spiders: Zabuton.

Representing the vampires: Lu.

Representing the Angels: Tia.

Representing the High Elves: Ria.

Representing the Oni Race: Ann.

Representing the lizardmen: Daga.

Representing the dragons: Rasuti.

Representing the beastfolk: Sena.

Representing the dwarves: Donovan.

Representing the Demon Race and the Civil Servant Girls: Frau.

Representing the Mountain Elves: Mea.

Representing the minotaurs and Village Two: Gordon.

Representing the centaurs and Village Three: Gruwald.

Representing the dryads and Village One: Ig.

Representing the Harpies: Mach.

Mach was one of the veteran Harpies.

Mach had greeted me upon arriving at the village, but didn't stand out much.

Apparently, that was because the Harpies always acted as a group, making it difficult for individual traits to show.

In fact, they didn't have individual names either.

It made me wonder whether they could live that way, but they managed.

Since they managed, there was no need to worry.

Though there was no need to worry, it did cause me trouble, so I had their representative take the name Mach.

The name was decided after consulting the Angels.

There were also Bulga and Stifano of the Demon Race, but they declined as usual.

Given their positions serving Rasuti, they felt it would be inappropriate to participate in discussions about running the village.

Communication with the slimes failed. The bees conveyed their refusal through Zabuton's children.

In their place were four people responsible for looking after other races.

Ramurias, the Oni Race maid responsible for looking after the beastfolk.

Naf, the lizardman responsible for looking after the minotaurs.

Rasuti of the Civil Servant Girls, responsible for looking after the centaurs.

Mam, the beastfolk member responsible for looking after the dryads.

Though they had no say in proceedings, they were permitted to observe.

By having no say, I only meant that they couldn't propose or reject agenda items. They could still offer opinions on everything else. So I wanted them to participate actively.

After all, making people attend but not allowing them to speak would be too harsh.

In any case, there were a lot of people.

But the mansion's conference room had more than enough space for this number.

Even the rather wide Zabuton, the tall, sturdy minotaurs, and the centaurs, whose bodies were about the size of horses, could attend.

These were the items on this year's meeting agenda-

"Review of problems during winter."

"This year's activity policy."

"Reward Medal matters."

First, we reviewed the problems during winter.

Big Tree Village had no problems.

No, there were some, but nothing that needed to be discussed at the meeting.

Things like where the cats would sleep and Kuro and the others monopolizing the kotatsu. Doors being left ajar and letting drafts in, and personal belongings being left in my room...

In other words, family problems.

The problems the other residents brought up were much the same.

Our winter food and fuel supplies had been fine. In fact, we had had plenty.

The same went for Village One, Village Two, and Village Three.

There had been no major problems.

If anything, Village One, Village Two, and Village Three wanted to do something for Kuro's descendants who guarded them, and brought it up to discuss what they should do.

Guard duty was work, so Kuro's descendants never let their guard down.

They took turns resting, but spent their breaks in Big Tree Village.

To the people of Village One, Village Two, and Village Three, Kuro's descendants probably seemed to be working all the time.

I told them not to worry about it and suggested they play with Kuro's descendants when they visited Big Tree Village.

Kuro wagged his tail.

I had been wondering whether they felt any differently about Zabuton's children, who also stood guard, but the villagers had a reasonable amount of interaction with them, so there was no problem.

Zabuton's children lived there rather than working in shifts. Apparently, some were about the same size as Pillow.

If they needed names, I would leave that to the villages.

There was also some happy news: two children had been born in the minotaur village during winter.

I would take gifts and visit them next time.

This year's activity policy.

This year, Village Two and Village Three would farm using ordinary methods.

That was our top priority.

The reason was that if they relied entirely on my Almighty Farming Tool, their villages would collapse if it ever became unavailable. I wanted to avoid that.

Farming by ordinary methods would surely be difficult for Village Two and Village Three, but I hoped they would do their best.

Big Tree Village would make up for any decrease in their harvests resulting from ordinary farming.

Next was industry.

After I returned the carriage fitted with a suspension system to Michael, orders had come in.

We had prepared enough parts for five carriages with mass production in mind, but Beezel and the Civil Servant Girls wanted some too, so that was not enough. Apparently, the Civil Servant Girls wanted to send them home as gifts.

In the end, we decided to order more springs from Good Forest Village.

As for commerce, we would sell the processed products made during winter.

These were mainly alcohol, oil, salt, sugar, pickled foods, jam, and fruit juice.

That had already been taken care of, so all we did was report the quantities sold.

Toward the end of winter, the goods had already been shipped to Michael, and we had also sold some to Beezel, Good Forest Village, Doraim, Death, the Progenitor, and the others.

We had also made cheese, butter, and the like, but those would all be consumed in the village, so we could not sell them.

Mayonnaise had commercial value too, but I did not know its shelf life, so I would not sell it. It would be bad if someone got an upset stomach. What we made in the village would be consumed here.

Beezel, Doraim, and the Progenitor looked at me with such longing that I gave them some rather than selling it to them.

At any rate, commercial matters would have to wait for Michael's report.

After reading it, we would decide how much to produce next winter.

We also had to consider what to plant in the fields and how much...

For Big Tree Village's first round of planting, we took a relatively safe approach and kept things almost the same as last year.

At the Oni Race maids' request, we increased the crops used for seasonings in some fields; Lu requested more varieties of medicinal herbs.

Reward Medal matters.

We would distribute Reward Medals again this year.

Three per resident of Big Tree Village. Ten per racial representative. Thirty each for Kuro's clan, Zabuton's clan, and the others.

The difference from previous years concerned Village One, Village Two, and Village Three.

Last year, each village had received thirty, with none distributed to individuals. This year, each village would receive thirty, and each person would receive one.

I had wanted to give them more, but the villages still insisted they had not contributed enough and politely declined.

We had discussed this many times before the meeting, so we simply followed that decision.

As special cases, the bees would receive two, and the Alcohol Slime would receive two.

The Death Knight guarding the hot spring area would also receive two.

The bees always provided delicious honey, after all.

As for the Alcohol Slime... well, he seemed to be spending a lot of time with the children lately.

The Death Knight stayed there on guard all alone.

Next time, I would take the Reward Medals over and ask what he wanted.

Incidentally, as for the children's Reward Medals... aside from three each for the three beastman boys, we generally did not give them any.

Reward Medals were given to people who worked for the village.

So Ursa, who had not started working yet, and Nat, who could currently only help out, would not receive any. Conversely, the lizardman children who worked properly would receive them.

The representatives of each race were responsible for submitting those details.

...Would it be better to give the Progenitor about five?

I would think about it.

There was simply no way I could give any to the cats.

The meeting should have ended there, but we received a message during it.

It was from the Progenitor.

Was this called telepathy? Lu received the message and relayed it to us.

We had previously accepted Fushu's request to make medicine, and he apparently wanted to bring us something in return.

I had wondered what sort of gift it would be, but it turned out to be people.

Ten newly married couples, twenty people in total. None of the couples had children yet. They were mainly humans, with some demi-humans.

He asked whether we would like to have them become residents of Village One.

That was certainly something I wanted.

"Are you all right with this, Lu?"

Back then, he had said that if he was going to thank anyone, he should thank you...

"No problem. When the Progenitor asked, I told him, 'Something that will make the village chief happy.'"

I could only be grateful.

And so, with these unexpected arrivals on the way, the meeting continued.

It mainly centered on Ig, the tree elf representative of Village One, and Mam, who was in charge.

We reconfirmed arrangements for receiving them, preparations for daily necessities, their immediate work, security, and so on.

Things suddenly became busy.

The banquet dishes prepared for after the meeting slipped farther and farther away. And I had gone out of my way to prepare so much, including bamboo shoot dishes...

No, no, no. The meeting was just running longer. The food wasn't going to disappear. Cheerful voices drifted from the mansion's hall... but that had to be my imagination.

I heard something like "A toast to the new spring!" Who had started that? Come to think of it, I seemed to remember saying they could start without us if the meeting ran long...

"Wh-why don't we eat first?"

"No. If we go, we won't come back."

"At least bring the drinks here..."

"No. The topic will turn to alcohol."

"Then how about we stop here for today and leave the rest until tomorrow?"

"...Can we have a proper meeting tomorrow?"

Everyone answered in unison.

Everyone's thoughts had already drifted to the other side of the door.

It was spring, after all. There was no helping it.

That was all for today.

Spring work: expanding the pasture and other tasks

Ursa raced along on one of Kuro's descendants. The beastman boys followed, also riding Kuro's descendants. What were they doing?

Far behind Ursa and the others, I could see an Oni Race maid pursuing them, maintaining an elegant bearing despite her skirt.

Yes, they were probably running away after playing a prank. The Oni Race maid's speed was truly surprising, if she could close the distance while chasing Kuro's descendants at a full sprint.

No, were Kuro's descendants slowing down? The Oni Race maid chasing them was calling out the names of various dishes, after all. And then...

"I'll never make them again!"

Kuro's descendants slowed down.

Ursa and the beastman boys riding them panicked, but it was too late. They were caught.

Yes, when you did something wrong, you should take your scolding.

Ah, Ramurias, who looked after the beastmen, had arrived too.

The beastman boys surrendered completely. Ursa... still wanted to escape? Oh, the Alcohol Slime circled ahead and blocked her... Her escape failed.

The Oni Race maid really knew how to put the Alcohol Slime to work.

She took Ursa and the beastman boys away.

Had the children done something? Snuck some food? Or dirtied freshly washed clothes...

I hoped it had nothing to do with me.

Now then, I focused on my own work too, tilling the fields with the Almighty Farming Tool.

I tilled much faster than before. Last year, I had tilled not only Big Tree Village's fields, but Village Two's and Village Three's as well, after all. At this pace, I would probably finish earlier than expected.

What should I do then? Expand Big Tree Village's fields a little? No, perhaps I should expand the pasture instead. The cows and goats had given birth too. It was not cramped yet, but I should expand it before it became crowded.

After finishing the fieldwork, I expanded the pasture about four hundred meters eastward.

The animals did not move into the expanded section. Of course. Animals were always cautious about new places.

Should I try planting carrots in the expanded section?

When I made a carrot patch with the Almighty Farming Tool, the horses came over. They were so straightforward. All right, all right. I understood. I would expand it a little more. Don't eat any until I was finished.

The horses had come over, so the goats and cows followed too.

The goats were not as clever as the horses. No, they were clever, but they were true to their desires.

They probably would not be able to keep the horses away from the carrots. There was too much of a difference in numbers.

There was no helping it. I made a carrot patch outside the pasture. Next, I would put something in the pasture to interest the goats... That probably would not work. I gave up.

Now that the pasture was larger, I needed to add a few more watering spots.

As when I had dug the well before, I dug a sloping hole and made the interior into a U-shaped tunnel so the animals could come out without turning around... but the goats and cows clogged the tunnel.

They would probably use it to shelter from the sun in hot weather. It would be bad if I noticed too late.

From now on, digging caves was forbidden.

It took some work, but I made drinking troughs just as I had at the beginning.

Simple containers made by splitting logs lengthwise and hollowing them out.

If they were too far away, carrying water would be a hassle. Would it be better to make something like an aqueduct out of bamboo?

No, since we had pumps, I could install one... if only the cows and goats knew how to use it themselves...

I would discuss it with the Mountain Elves another day.

For now, I made a simple bamboo water channel.

Next, I needed to prepare blocks of rock salt.

The animals needed salt too. I had to put salt in the pasture so they could lick it whenever they wanted. It was so convenient to have a rock salt layer just a short dig down.

It made all the trouble I had gone through searching for salt at the beginning seem unreal. Well, I simply had not noticed it...

I had hardly ever seen rock salt before, after all, and people did not normally think to lick rocks to see how they tasted. So not noticing it was hardly a problem.

I dug a hole, cut the rock salt layer into appropriately sized pieces, and carried them out.

It would normally have been backbreaking labor that made people scream, but thanks to the Almighty Farming Tool, it was over in no time.

Yes, I was truly grateful.

With that, the pasture work was finished for now.

What should I do about the goats that Kuro's descendants had surrounded after they kept charging into me while I worked...?

Putting too much stress on them would not be good either.

I tactfully asked Kuro's descendants to release the goats at a suitable moment.

Ordinary farming in Village Two and Village Three was progressing smoothly.

Both villages seemed to have finished raising seedlings and sowing seeds without incident.

For now, aside from asking the Mountain Elves to help repair the waterwheels, they could manage everything themselves.

They were so dependable. Dependable, but it left me feeling a little at a loss. No, no, no. I had to let the villages do their best.

I asked the representatives of each village to keep records of their work.

With records, not only could the other villages refer to them when doing the same work, we could also check the circumstances when a problem occurred.

They were only simple records for now, but I believed they would become valuable assets someday.

I went to check on the bees in the orchard.

Queen bees had been born this year too, and there were several more hives. That was a good thing.

I decided to plant some flowers the bees liked near the orchard.

Hmm? For some reason, the soldier bees guarding the hives were busily flying around. Had something happened?

Looking closely, I saw several soldier bees emerge from each hive. About a hundred gathered and flew north in formation. One of Zabuton's children followed behind, and I went after them too.

The soldier bees' destination was some distance from the village, beyond the defensive line formed by Kuro's descendants guarding the surrounding area.

By the time I arrived, it was already over.

A queen bee hovered in the air, along with the soldier bees that had flown over from the orchard.

A tall weasel lay on the ground. "Tall" was a strange way to describe it, since it was short when standing on all fours. Should I have said it had a long body? Well, it didn't matter.

There seemed to be no casualties among the soldier bees.

Judging by the weasel's condition, it seemed Zabuton's child had defeated it...

The soldier bees led the queen bee toward the orchard.

A new queen bee from outside? But would there be any territorial problems? Wouldn't they fight?

As I wondered about that, Zabuton's child, who was collecting the weasel, looked at me.

There's enough food, so they won't fight.

That was what I felt it was saying. I see. That might be true.

I returned to the orchard and made a place for the new queen bee to build her hive.

I would consider expanding the orchard next time too.

Was it called a kick scooter?

I tried making one of those things with handlebars attached to a skateboard that had been popular when I was little.

The construction wasn't difficult. It needed no power source. My prototype was made entirely of wood. Once I adjusted the length of the handlebars, it was finished.

I put one foot on it and pushed off the ground with the other. It felt awful to ride. Were the wooden wheels the problem?

This time, I didn't skimp and modified it with rubber. Yes, the tires had some give, making the ride much more comfortable.

The problem was probably the ground.

The ground in the village was ordinary soil that I had tilled once and then packed down. There were only so many places suitable for riding a scooter.

For getting around indoors? It would catch on the carpets and damage them.

I decided to leave the scooter at that.

I made a cart for delivering food in places like the dining hall. I didn't know what it was called.

Drawing on my failed experience with the scooter, I made the wheels a little larger so they wouldn't catch on carpets.

The carrying area was simply divided into an upper and lower shelf. It felt like a very large rectangular frame fitted with four wheels.

At any rate, the basic design was finished. I handed it over to the Oni Race maids.

"A serving cart."

So the cart was called a serving cart.

I would let the Oni Race maids use it and, if there were no problems, decorate it.

Later-

"Serving carts are fun."

Ursa, that wasn't a vehicle, you know. And what was with the scooter in your hands? I remembered leaving it in the workshop.

Ursa skillfully used the serving cart and scooter to escape.

I thought canceling her after-dinner dessert would be an appropriate decision.

Good news and Fushu's return gift

Lu used to maintain the appearance of a middle schooler during the day and look like an adult at night.

Around the time Alfred became old enough to understand things, she began spending more of the daytime in her adult form. When I asked why... it was simply so the children would remember what she looked like.

That made sense. If she looked different every time they saw her, the children would get confused.

In that way, Lu gave a lot of thought to the children. Although there were still plenty of worries, she had learned how to raise them.

However, she herself said she was still too inexperienced and couldn't do it properly without help from Ann and the others. I was the same. I had no confidence that I counted as a good father. I had tried asking those with children for advice, but...

"Leave it to your wife."

"Listen to your wife's opinion."

"Don't go against your wife."

Those were Doraim's, Beezel's, and Guraru's opinions.

They weren't helpful.

Gutt, one of the beastfolk in the village, was also married... but the two of them had been living apart until recently, and he hadn't even known his child had been born. Was he struggling and worrying over his child just as I was?

I would have a drink with him and talk about it sometime.

Before that, I needed to discuss it with my wife.

No, no, I wasn't talking about a second child. This was about Alfred's education.

...Yes.

I would leave it to you.

When it came to children, perhaps she was no longer a woman, but a mother.

I couldn't give up. I was their father.

Tia, there was something I wanted to discuss... no, it wasn't about a second child. It was about Tiselle...

I thought those experienced fathers had been right.

The reason I had begun worrying as a father was that I had been watching Ursa lately.

I worried that the well-behaved Alfred and Tiselle might start getting into mischief like her.

The beastfolk boys had been well-behaved when they first came to the village, but lately they were often getting scolded along with Ursa.

They hadn't gone so far as to skip their assigned work, but...

Should I have been happy that I had been seeing them smile more often lately?

Now Ursa was riding on Zabuton's back. Nat, Gutt and his wife's daughter, was with her.

It looked as though the two wanted Zabuton to move around like Kuro's descendants.

Zabuton was smart, and I had never seen her cause trouble, but... hmm?

She deftly used her legs to take Ursa and Nat off her back and set them down in front of her.

I thought she was going to scold the children, but that wasn't it.

Zabuton moved her four front legs at high speed, and Ursa's and Nat's clothes disappeared. Just as I thought they would be left in their underwear, their clothes were replaced with beautiful dresses.

They were cute outfits with lots of frills and ribbons. Both girls were surprised by their own appearances too.

Zabuton nodded at her finished work, raised one leg in farewell, and left.

Only Ursa and Nat remained.

An Oni Race maid who appeared to have been looking for them approached, but the two were very well-behaved.

I see. They were girls, after all. Once they were dressed in pretty clothes, they behaved themselves.

Zabuton was so dependable.

Just as I thought that, I heard the Oni Race maid groan. Looking closely, I saw her lying facedown on the ground.

Huh? What had happened? I hurried over.

Ursa and Nat were at a loss too.

The Oni Race maid lying facedown... didn't seem to have lost consciousness. She seemed to be enduring pain.

Were you all right?

"I-I'm... fine... but... I'd like Lady Flora's healing magic."

I was wondering what on earth had happened, but I soon figured it out.

Nat walked normally. Ursa moved slowly and carefully. The Oni Race maid had probably tried to pick Ursa up without noticing that.

Ursa was so heavy that even an Oni Race maid couldn't lift her. No, Ursa wasn't too heavy. Her new clothes must have been heavy.

I see. So that was why Ursa was behaving herself?

Right. There was no way Ursa would behave just because her clothes were pretty.

There were two surprising things.

The clothes looked light and airy, yet they were heavy.

And Ursa wore them as though nothing were wrong. Running was still too much for her, though...

A training scene from a certain manga flashed through my mind. If she lived in those clothes... wouldn't she become incredible when she took them off?

Come to think of it, when the Progenitor introduced Ursa, hadn't he said she knew all sorts of moves...?

I decided not to think about it too much.

Nat's clothes seemed to be ordinary. What a relief.

"Your clothes look lovely. You're both beauties."

I wasn't supposed to call children cute. That much I understood.

I carried the Oni Race maid on my back to find Flora.

Some time later-

I was shocked to see Ursa running normally in those heavy clothes.

Um... be careful not to climb onto Kuro or the others while wearing those clothes. No horses either.

I asked Zabuton to change her into clothes of a normal weight.

The damage to her surroundings was too severe.

Good news.

Hakuren was pregnant. We had done what was needed, so in a sense, it was only natural.

A celebration. We would celebrate, of course, but there was one question.

How did dragons have children? Dragons brought eggs to mind, but...

After asking Doraim, I learned that apparently, if they conceived in dragon form, they laid eggs, and if they conceived in human form, they gave birth like humans. I see.

However, one thing to note was that their form remained fixed from pregnancy until birth.

In fact, Hakuren had discovered she couldn't change into dragon form and gone to consult Rasuti, but Rasuti hadn't known either. Only after they called Doraim over did they discover she was pregnant.

"Congratulations, Sister."

"Thank you. I never imagined this day would come for me."

"Hahaha. Then I'll contact Father right away..."

"If you do that, won't the banquet here keep going until I give birth?"

"...That's very possible."

"Please contact Mom first. Wait a few days before telling Dad. Make sure no one else finds out."

"Understood. What about my wife?"

"That's fine. But make sure you tell her not to spread the word."

"Yes. Do you need anyone sent over to guard you?"

"I won't be leaving this village, so I'll be fine. Rasuti's here too, after all."

"Understood. Contact me if anything comes up."

"All right. I'm counting on you."

Over the next few days, many dragons came to visit.

Raimeiren, Dors, Kuhdel, Seiren, Maxbergak, Hiserunak, Seki Ren, and Kuron.

"Death isn't coming?"

"Mom strictly forbade Dad from coming."

That was what Seki Ren said.

"That's pretty harsh... because he'd get out of control?"

Apparently, he had caused trouble when Rasuti and Hiserunak were born.

I see. Thank you, Raimeiren.

However, every dragon who visited asked worriedly, "Are you sure you don't need a guard to stay?"

I had assumed they were afraid someone might target a pregnant dragon, but it turned out that dragons became irritable during pregnancy, so their surroundings needed protection.

Could I see the list of guards, just in case? Look, Rasuti agreed too.

There were two names on the list. Raimeiren and Grafaloon. Death's wife and Doraim's wife.

So it took a dragon to restrain a dragon? I see.

Since Hakuren had refused too, we would wait until we confirmed signs of irritability before doing that.

Amid all this bustle, Fushu's return gift arrived.

Ten pairs of men and women, twenty people in total. Settlers for Village One.

Fushu led the group, accompanied by eleven people in ornate armor serving as guards.

I wanted everyone to come out and welcome them... but since the settlers were ordinary people, Kuro, Zabuton, and the others voluntarily declined.

I didn't think they needed to be so considerate, but I would still feel bad if we frightened them.

Ah, Raimeiren, you and the others should stay with Hakuren. Hakuren, don't push yourself.

Why?

Before we could exchange greetings, half the guards had already lost consciousness. Were they too tired?

They were also startled when they saw Ria the High Elf and Daga the lizardman.

Another guard fainted in fright when Ursa came running out after a cat. Weren't they a little too weak for guards? I had them taken to the inn to rest first.

Fushu bowed on behalf of the group.

"Thank you for accepting them as settlers."

These settlers had come as thanks for the medicine, but we went through the formalities anyway. There seemed to have been a lot of trouble along the way.

The settlers' representative stepped up beside Fushu and bowed.

"P-please take good care of us."

He was an extremely ordinary man.

The woman who appeared to be his wife looked ordinary in every way, too. I would ask later what had brought them here...

"Likewise. It's good to have you."

Before taking everyone to Village One, I let them rest at the inn.

The guards seemed tired, after all. Yes, things were getting livelier.

Side story: Fushu prepares a thank-you gift

My name was Fushu, and I was a high priest of the Korin Religion. Through the blessings bestowed by God, I could use healing magic. Even so, I had been unable to cure my own son's illness...

But a miracle had occurred. I had been fortunate enough to meet Lady Rurushi, a vampire whose pharmaceutical research ranked among the finest in the world-no, the very finest.

More fortunately still, all the medicinal ingredients needed to treat my son were available.

It was all the guidance of the God of Creation. Thank you. The medicine Lady Rurushi made cured my son's illness.

Today, I was preparing a thank-you gift for that miracle.

Though I was grateful to the God of Creation, Lady Rurushi and Lady Flora were the ones who had actually helped make the medicine. I also had to repay everyone in that village who had helped.

If possible, I wanted to abandon my position and move my whole family to that village, devoting myself to its service. Unfortunately, I could not.

I owed the Korin Religion many debts of gratitude from over the years, and I had yet to repay them all. But someday, I would do it.

Ahem.

Returning to the matter at hand, this gift was meant to express my gratitude, but it would be meaningless unless it pleased the recipients. Forcing things on them would hardly be appropriate.

However, I knew little about Lady Rurushi, Lady Flora, or the people of that village, so I did not know what would please them.

And so, I simply asked them.

I told them I wanted to repay them, and that they should feel free to make any requests.

Fortunately, my family was reasonably wealthy. Even if their requests were somewhat excessive, I could probably accommodate them. If they wished, even a noble title... No, no. Being granted a title against their wishes would only be a nuisance. I needed to reflect on that.

After asking, I learned that the villagers, including Lady Rurushi, apparently wanted people.

At first, I thought they meant living sacrifices, but after listening more closely, I realized they wanted new residents-settlers.

They would provide settlers with houses and fields free of charge, and support them for a while. Those who disliked farming could take up other work instead.

I see. The conditions seemed quite favorable.

There was one point I must not misunderstand: they wanted new residents, not laborers, correct?

No, of course they also hoped the settlers would contribute labor. But there also seemed to be the pressing issue that "without fresh blood, the next generation will face problems."

In other words...

"Would slaves do?"

"No, they wouldn't."

I rejected my subordinate's proposal.

Though presumably no one enjoyed being a slave, people usually became slaves for a reason.

And those reasons were mostly crime or debt. Sending people who had fallen into slavery for such reasons to settle there? Wouldn't that be playing a nasty trick on them? Wouldn't it cause trouble for that peaceful village?

Unacceptable.

Ideally, entire families already living in villages would move there.

However, that was quite difficult.

They already had established lives and had no reason to go out of their way to move.

I braced myself and asked anyway, but as expected, it did not work.

Though I had been prepared to fail, I had not expected such vehement refusals. Why?

"We'll have to conceal the destination, won't we? Asking people to move to the Forest of Death is essentially sentencing them to death."

So said my subordinate.

The Forest of Death was certainly synonymous with a terrifying place.

But I had seen it for myself, and it did not seem that bad...

"That's because you're strong, Lord Fushu."

"We wouldn't last even an hour."

"Besides, the very claim that there's a village in the middle of that forest is questionable... Forgive my bluntness, but could it have been somewhere else?"

So said my subordinates.

The search for settlers had stalled.

I could not manage alone, so I enlisted the help of subordinates I considered trusted confidants... Even then, however, things did not go well.

But I could not give up. Compared with the hardships of finding medicine for my son, this was nothing. I would find good settlers!

People grew discouraged when they were rejected over and over. The despair was overwhelming.

The thought of simply finding a different thank-you gift even crossed my mind.

Ugh!

If I was going to thank them, I could not keep them waiting too long. I had discussed it with His Holiness as well, and next spring was probably the limit.

It was autumn now. What should I do...?

While I was struggling with this, one of my subordinates made a suggestion.

"About the settlers, what about those street youths?"

Street youths.

To put it simply, orphans.

The Korin Religion operated several orphanages that took in orphans, but every one was full.

So the Korin Religion had the children who could not enter the orphanages form groups to make a living.

Though we euphemistically called these children "street youths"...

"They'll be given houses and fields, correct? With conditions that good, some should want to move."

Perhaps so, but...

I did not look down on those street youths, but never mind farming experience, they might lack even basic common sense. Would there not be problems with sending them as settlers?

"As for your concerns, I believe we can start educating them now."

Starting now...

"Yes. There isn't much time before spring, but we should be able to do it if we give it our all."

I see.

I quickly gathered a group.

The requirement was that they come as couples-in other words, people who already had partners.

Before me stood ten couples, twenty people in all.

Most were around fifteen years old. Every one of them wore ragged clothes... and their eyes were filled with fear.

Why did they look so frightened?

"Y-you're Fushu, right? People say you need children's livers to cure your own child..."

The boy who appeared to be their leader stepped forward as though protecting the others and said this.

"D-do whatever you want to me, but spare the others."

I knew ugly rumors about me were circulating, but I had not expected anything this outrageous.

"How rude. I have no need for any livers. I thought it had been explained that we're looking for people willing to settle elsewhere?"

I had strictly instructed my subordinates to explain it that way, had I not?

"Didn't you come here after hearing the explanation?"

"They said if we ran away, everyone on the streets would be killed..."

"They said we couldn't defy Fushu's headhunting operation..."

The children behind their leader spoke through their tears.

Find whoever was spreading these rumors and bring them before me. I would have a talk with them and clear up the misunderstanding.

After giving my subordinates that order, I smiled at the children before me and said:

"This really is just an ordinary relocation."

"Then why... did you only pick guys with women? Y-you're going to use newborn babies as magical ingredients, aren't you?"

The person standing before them was, after all, a high priest of the Korin Religion... No, let me make this clear. How could I possibly do something so inhuman?!

It took five days to convince them that this really was a relocation. It was utterly exhausting.

The other concern was that we were concealing the destination. My subordinates had insisted that this was the one thing I absolutely must not reveal, so I had kept quiet... But it really was not that bad there.

At any rate, their education began.

Common sense, reading, writing, and vocational training. I covered all their food, clothing, and lodging during this time. They could also consult me about any worries they had.

After some time had passed like this, they seemed willing to open up to me. At least, I no longer saw the frightened looks from the beginning. If they kept working steadily until spring, they should make excellent settlers.

A problem arose.

"Is this true?"

I checked with my subordinate.

"Yes, there's no doubt. There's proof on his right arm."

One of the twenty appeared to be a noble's illegitimate child.

As long as we kept quiet... No, it would not do to include a source of trouble among the settlers I was sending as a gift. Now that I knew, I had to deal with it.

First, I summoned the person concerned. Yes, the child. Not the noble.

I spoke with the child who was a noble's illegitimate son.

"We've confirmed that you're related to a noble by blood. What would you like to do? If you wish, we can help you return to that noble family."

"...I know I'm a noble's son. My mother told me before she died... But I'm not interested. Besides, if I went back to that noble family, um... my girlfriend would..."

True, he could hardly bring his girlfriend into a noble household.

"Then how do you feel about that noble family?"

"I'm not interested. Please let me move as planned."

"Understood. From today onward, you're an ordinary person. Is that all right?"

"Understood. Though I was an ordinary person to begin with."

Good. Now there were no obstacles.

I ordered my subordinates.

Eliminate that noble.

Fortunately, that noble had an utterly abysmal reputation. That stood to reason. His own child had ended up an orphan on the streets, yet he had offered no help. Trouble should be cut off at the root.

Now the child was an ordinary person in both name and fact. Oh, and we must not forget to find new employment for the decent people serving that noble.

With the problem solved, I felt refreshed.

...Huh?

Two more were nobles' children? And there was proof?

Understood. I would speak with them.

Though we eliminated a few troublesome lower-ranking nobles, those were all minor matters.

A problem arose.

I asked whether we had found another noble's child, but this time, it was somewhat different.

One of the girls had the blood of a neighboring kingdom's royal family.

How had such a child ended up here? It turned out she belonged to a family that had fled during a succession war over ten years ago.

Records did indeed remain. Her hair color, eye color, the location of her mole, and the royal crest on her backside matched the records. On top of that, she remembered a secret phrase passed down in the royal family.

Perfect! Irrefutable.

Oh, for goodness' sake! Why were there so many problems?! And she was the very girl I had judged the most outstanding!

The neighboring kingdom... Should I destroy it? No. That would be far too difficult to accomplish before spring.

Then...

Replace the entire royal bloodline in a short time. If I instigated a coup and made it so the royal bloodline was no longer the current one... wouldn't that do?

The reason she posed a problem was that she was the reigning king's younger sister.

It was possible, wasn't it? Yes. Fortunately, the neighboring kingdom's king was a tyrant who caused trouble for everyone.

All right, time to act.

...Huh?

Changing the bloodline made other children a problem instead? Several of them, at that... Did the neighboring kingdom think our country was a dumping ground for unwanted children?

Trouble should be cut off at the root. Fine, then let's do it. Everything would be settled if we destroyed them before spring.

Though we encountered trouble involving yet another country along the way, we somehow managed to settle it all.

Now, two neighboring countries had been reborn as new kingdoms... but those were minor matters.

The Korin Religion would give its full support to the people's livelihoods.

Spring had arrived.

I bestowed formal blessings of marriage upon the ten couples before me.

This was their reward for all their efforts up to today. They thanked me through their tears. I shed tears too. It had taken so much work to get this far.

While I was busy resolving the royal bloodline issue, this time some descendant of a legendary thief became a target for a band of thieves. They probably thought there was information about where the legendary thief had hidden his treasure

. We wiped out the band of thieves and found the treasure.

Of course, all the treasure was donated to the church.

Once that was over, someone turned out to have a holy sword dwelling inside them, which led to an attack by a bizarre religious group.

A feeble, insignificant group, yet they had the nerve to attack the headquarters of the Korin Religion. I would give them credit for their courage. Though that was the only thing I would give them credit for.

Now we had arrested every member of that bizarre religious group and asked them to convert.

There had been many other incidents as well.

The son of a newly risen noble fell in love with a girl at first sight and demanded we hand her over-that sort of thing was still a minor matter.

Of course, we chose to teach that young noble just how harsh the world could be. Oh, it was nothing. People could survive without a penny to their names-as long as they had done enough good deeds in the past.

I looked over the twenty of them again.

Three blood relatives of nobles, six of royal blood, one blood relative of a legendary thief, one with a holy sword dwelling inside them, one blood relative of an underworld boss, one with a fairy parent and a human parent, two with a beastfolk parent and a human parent, two runaways from respectable families, one with dragon scales on their back, one with a strange emblem on their chest, and one with nothing at all.

The last one, with nothing at all, was the most suspicious, but no amount of investigation turned up anything.

An ordinary mortal. The boy who led them.

Whatever the case, they were all ordinary people now.

And I could hold my head high and say, "There are no problems."

Now, off you go.

To the place where you would live from now on.

Your destination? Ah, um... that would be a secret until you arrived. Don't worry. The constraints here wouldn't reach you there.

Do your best, everyone.

Side story: O'Brien

My name was O'Brien, a thirty-year-old old man. I came from a poor family, so I had walked a few shady paths, but I had never actually gotten involved in dangerous illegal dealings. I probably had my parents' good upbringing to thank for that. I had found it annoying as a child, but now I could honestly feel grateful to them.

My profession was priest-warrior.

When people heard "priest-warrior," they probably pictured a warrior who could use healing magic. Unfortunately, however, I couldn't use healing magic. Even though I was a follower of the Korin Religion.

If anything, "a warrior affiliated with the Korin Religion" would probably be more accurate. As for my strength... I couldn't claim to be the best, but I considered myself among the top ranks.

Now, as for me... when I encountered a crisis, I didn't rely solely on strength. Sometimes I used my wits, and I ran from opponents I couldn't beat.

Fortunately, I had a weapon. Ah, I didn't mean the finely crafted longsword at my waist. I meant my eyes.

They were special eyes called the "Eye of the Weak." They could tell how strong an opponent was.

Though I said I could tell, it was only a feeling. It would have been easy to understand if colors or numbers appeared, but unfortunately, things weren't that convenient.

Still, it was thanks to these eyes that I had survived this long. That was why I trusted them so much, and even used eye drops morning and night to keep my vision from deteriorating as much as possible.

And yet, at that moment, I couldn't believe my eyes.

It all began three days earlier.

I had just finished a fairly large job and was scheduled to take some time off.

If I actually rested just because I was on leave, I would be in trouble if something happened. Usually, I either trained hard or took on some work myself.

Whether it was good luck or bad, that day a certain important person offered me a private commission. I was a priest-warrior of the Korin Religion, and that important person was, of course, someone connected to the Korin Religion. The pay was good, so I dutifully asked for the details.

I regretted it that very day.

The employer was one of the Korin Religion's priests. No problem there.

The assignment was to assist Fushu, high priestess of the Korin Religion. Specifically, I was to serve as an escort while a certain group traveled. No problem there either.

The problem came after I heard the assignment, when the client privately asked me for a favor.

What he asked was for me to monitor Fushu's movements.

Fushu. That Fushu the Ruthless. A terrifying figure practically everyone knew.

Moreover, Fushu the Ruthless headed the Korin Religion's largest combat force.

To put it simply, she represented the sort of elite group that stood above the superior of my superior's superior.

An opponent I knew I couldn't beat without even using the Eye of the Weak.

Monitor someone like that? What kind of punishment was this? And why dump a job like this on me?

"Brother O'Brien, I'm counting on those eyes of yours."

The client's words sent a chill down my spine. I hadn't told anyone about my eyes...

"Oh, it's not as though you're doing anything wrong. You'll simply be helping High Priestess Fushu and observing how strong the people around her are while you're at it."

The so-called "request you couldn't refuse."

I held back a sigh and accepted both the commission and the request.

Fushu's job was simple.

About twenty people needed to travel, so she was looking for escorts.

Apparently, we would travel by teleportation magic, and almost everyone was blindfolded to prevent information from leaking. Me included. Special as my eyes were, they were useless with my vision blocked. But then I couldn't act as an escort. Was that really all right?

Still, people who could use teleportation magic were extremely rare. Blindfolding us to keep the caster from being targeted wasn't a bad approach.

The question was, did escorting these people require such precious teleportation magic? They just looked like ordinary families.

There were ten other escorts besides me. And Fushu was coming along too. Just where were we going...?

When we were told we could remove our blindfolds, I found myself in a forest. A little farther ahead were fields... and a village.

Hmm? There was an oddly enormous mansion. I could see it even from here.

Was that a noble's villa or something? I checked our surroundings.

The twenty people we were escorting were ordinary people.

A few could put up something of a fight... but even all of them together would be no match for me. That was their level.

The other escorts were quite something.

There were ten of them, and I didn't want to fight a single one. They were all as strong as me or stronger. This was what they called a gathering of mighty warriors.

Fushu stood out the most. Even if those ten escorts I didn't want to fight joined forces, they couldn't beat her.

My assessment was the same as before we left. My eyes seemed to be working normally. I had thought it might be an aftereffect of the blindfold, but apparently not.

In other words... when I looked toward the forest and my eyes screamed that they couldn't take it... that was an accurate assessment?

Sorry, I shouldn't have doubted you. I trusted you. But it looked like an ordinary forest... so it wasn't ordinary?

Unaware of my confusion, Fushu headed toward the village.

Someone came out to greet us. An Angel. How rare. And I could tell from her equipment that she could fight.

She greeted Fushu and smiled. You were really something, Fushu. That person was several times stronger than you.

I hadn't expected anyone to be stronger than Fushu. Well, she was an Angel, so it was possible.

The village was full of monsters.

High Elves? Elder Dwarves? Oni Race? Lizardmen? Harpies? Minotaurs? Even centaurs? What, there were differently colored elves too?

Bad, bad, bad... every one of them was about as strong as that Angel just now. Fushu looked like an ordinary person. This was really bad.

If there were High Elves here, did that mean this was the infamous Forest of Death?

Humans had never set foot here, had they? What were we doing in a place like this?

Bringing people here? As living sacrifices or something? Had I become an accomplice? Was my client trying to expose this?

Something even worse arrived.

An Angel far, far stronger than the first one I had seen...

The woman beside her was about the same... she was a vampire. I had seen her once when I was little.

Rurushi.

Was this her home? I hadn't imagined she lived in the Forest of Death...

My eyes refused to look any further.

Huh? What? This reaction... I forced myself to look even though I shouldn't. Because not looking was even more frightening.

She was an ordinary woman... as if.

Those horns, that tail... a dragon.

No good. Forcing myself to look seemed to have done something to my eyes. Someone beside her was stronger than that dragon woman.

Could something like that exist? Was she a dragon too?

A woman.

...A woman I mustn't approach.

And yet a man was chatting happily with her... who was he?

The village chief? The owner of that mansion? Huh? Then what about Rurushi? No, there were dragons stronger than Rurushi here, so... huh?

I was already panicking. I couldn't make sense of anything. I couldn't tell how strong the village chief was.

An ordinary person? No, this was... a faint divine presence?

What was going on? All these monsters obeyed that village chief's orders? Was something wrong with my eyes? Or could they simply not measure him?

No good. My eyes seemed to be completely broken. I could clearly sense a divine presence from a mere cat.

All I could do was quietly pass out.

When I came to, I was back where we had started, and the job was over.

The client asked me how it had gone, and I only answered, "Better not get involved." No matter what I said, he probably wouldn't believe me.

Payment? No need. I hadn't been of any use.

Though I was concerned about the twenty people we had taken there, it probably wasn't a bad thing for them. I was certain of that.

Because the last thing I had seen before losing consciousness...

Was a girl appearing on a pitch-black wolf.

She was a hero shining with golden light. A great hero. Wherever she was couldn't be a bad place. Would the legendary great hero Urbrasa have looked something like that too?

I began practicing my swings.

Even if I trained myself to death, I might never catch up, but when she led an army someday, I hoped I could be part of it.