Chapter 139: Lovely Servants

346th day in the otherworld – 22,430 points

The day after receiving a telepathic message from Merimas, I immediately teleported to the city after breakfast.

This time, the only one accompanying me is Lux’s lover, Maria. The assistant officials, including Tsubaki, are busy with matters in the settlement, and as usual, Drago is off to the dungeon.

After teleporting to the Merry Trading Company, we quickly boarded a carriage and arrived at the lord’s mansion without any incidents along the way. While observing the city on the way here, everyone seemed busy, but there was no sense of despair or anything like that.

(If there’s no harm to the city we live in, well, maybe it’s unexpectedly like this… It’s just someone else’s problem after all.)

It seems that the lord announced the acceptance of refugees yesterday. However, despite that, the people in the city didn’t seem disturbed at all.

◇◇◇

Passing through the gate of the lord’s mansion, tents were pitched all over the large garden. Many people, perhaps in the dozens, were busy working.

Glancing at such a scene, we arrived in front of the lord’s mansion.

“Lord, it’s been a while. I’m Keisuke from the Nanashi Village, and I’ve come as instructed.”

“I apologize for keeping you waiting. Now, please come in. Maria-san, welcome as well.”

Since I don’t know who might be watching, we exchanged inconspicuous greetings before being guided to the guest room. If my memory is correct, it’s been over a month since I last met him. Maria seems to visit quite often, but it’s been a long time for me.

After entering the room, we were left alone, and we returned to our usual way of speaking.

“I heard about it, but the number of servants has significantly decreased. Did you replace them all with relatives?”

“Yes, they are all acquaintances and their families. There were also cute maids, weren’t there?”

Certainly, among those who welcomed us at the entrance, there was a girl who seemed not to have reached adulthood. The unaccustomed atmosphere was charming and heartwarming.

“I heard from Maria that you want to make those girls villagers… What happened to the ones who were here before?”

“I gave them some free time. They were originally transferred from the previous lord. It seemed to be influenced by the council, and it was a good opportunity.”

“Well, there must have been some relationship. By the way, where did Maria go?”

Before entering this room, Maria’s figure had disappeared. Surely, there couldn’t be a kidnapping incident in the lord’s mansion, which is full of relatives…

“I think Maria is in the kitchen. The sweets she makes are very delicious!”

“Hmm, you seem to get along quite well. Ah, no, it’s no good… the confession scene from that time is coming back.”

“Ah, I’m sorry… that’s not what I meant. I’m really grateful to the village chief who gave me that opportunity.”

“That was not me but Drago’s strategy, right? I was just dragged into it. Well, anyway, are you going to try turning the servants into villagers first?”

“No, first, let’s talk about the refugees. I would appreciate it if we could discuss the possibility of them becoming villagers afterward.”

Enough of the small talk; let’s now turn to the main topic.

Firstly, the refugees coming this time are mainly two races living in the western region of the Beastman Country. The Monkey beastmen to the northwest and the Fox beastmen to the southwest. Of course, there are many other races, but these two make up nearly 60% of the population.

Next, regarding the number of refugees, combining the two territories, it’s approximately 22,000 people. Of these, 80% will move to the capital, and the remaining 20% will be divided between the Tiger beastmen Territory to the north and here, the Keimos Territory.

So, the number of refugees coming to the Keimos Territory is expected to be 2,200.

“Naturally, there are Japanese among the refugees, right?”

“Yes, I’ve heard that about 200 people are coming here. This includes adventurers currently defending the front lines.”

“By the way, how many Japanese are currently in Keimos?”

“There are 500 civilians and 500 adventurers. About half of the adventurers are currently engaged in defending the western front.”

“I see. The remaining half are probably the ones struggling to earn a living because they can’t defeat the orcs, right?”

“That’s correct. However, they also contribute significantly to vital food procurement.”

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to sound condescending. I have no intention of interfering in how others do things.”

The conversation veered off track for a moment, so let’s get back to the main topic—

Starting two days from today, those 2,200 people will begin a massive migration. The process will take seven days until they arrive in the city of Keimos. The temporary reception site for the refugees will be the large garden of this lord’s mansion. The numerous tents seen earlier seem to be for that purpose.

Currently, the population of Keimos is about 11,000. An increase of around 2,000 can be managed if they are okay with temporary housing. Regarding food, while the shortage of staple foods has not been resolved, they can manage if they are not picky.

“I’ve got the gist of the discussion, but what about the refugees themselves afterward?”

“Yes, that’s what I wanted to talk about today. The council suggests leaving it to the lord’s discretion for settlement, but… I plan to propose attracting them to the pioneer lands at my own discretion.”

It’s an unexpected favor for me, but is it okay to do such a thing on my own?

“Thanks for the offer, but if you do that, won’t it leak to the council? Naturally, the lord will be held responsible. In the worst case, you might be forced to resign.”

“Ah, that’s fine. I’m going to resign soon anyway.”

“What do you mean by ‘soon’? Is there something else involved?”

“Yes. One is the failure of the previous negotiation for food supply. The other is the visit of the fox lord, who used to rule the west. The latter is more decisive.”

After that, Wolfox explained the following:

The lord who ruled the southwest was quite influential due to strong connections with the council and a large number of different races under its rule. In such a situation, the face of Lux, who used to be the chairman, was raised, and he placed Lux as the lord, but the situation became precarious due to the changing circumstances.

As a result of losing territory, the lord who ruled the fox people was forced to move here. The council wants to make the Keimos region the new headquarters because the fox people lost their territory. Therefore, they are scheming to replace the lord based on the failure of the previous negotiation.

Already, indirectly, talk of retiring is coming from the council.

“I understand the situation… but you’ve been talking quite happily since earlier.”

“Well, of course! I can finally go to the village now!”

(Or rather, it’s not really about the village, but clearly about Maria. And the dungeon, too.)

“Anyway, if you can attract people to the settlement, it would be a great help.”

“Probably, this will be my last task. I’ll do my best to make sure as many people as possible can move.”

With the conversation settled for now, Maria returned. Behind her were about ten small maids.

“Is the conversation almost over? Today, I tried baking cookies, so let’s take a break and have some tea. I brought these girls with me because they wanted to hear the village chief’s story.”

Saying so, she prompted the girls behind her to greet.

“Nice to meet you, onii-san! Please tell us about the village.”

“We, if possible, would like to move to your village.”

“Please, sir!”

(Yes, all of them passed! Come right away starting today.)

Setting aside this joke, all of them expressed a desire to move to the village.

According to what I heard, every time Maria came to the lord’s mansion, she conveyed the goodness of the village to them. It wasn’t just to meet Lux… The old man felt very embarrassed about his own shallowness.

It seems the parents of these girls had also received explanations from Lux and Maria multiple times. “We also discussed the idea of moving when hiring them as maids,” they told me.

“I’d be happy if everyone could come. After taking a short break, let’s gather everyone and confirm. Now, come over here, and let’s eat together.”

The old man, who fell perfectly into the “Onii-san’s strategy,” spent the rest of the time in high spirits, stuffing his face with sweets. Regardless of how young he might look, he’s just a regular old man. It’s fine to call him a good-for-nothing, but he’s happy when he’s happy.

◇◇◇

In the end, all the servants here were able to become villagers.

In high spirits, I set up a barrier in the middle of the large garden and also placed a “Teleportation Magic Circle.” Honestly, I was a bit full of myself at this moment, but maybe this is something that can be forgiven. Well, whether anyone’s forgiveness is needed is another matter…

Today, 30 people became new villagers—five families and five single men and women. Since they also have the job of servants, it’s not possible for everyone to move together, but I’ve asked them to visit the village one by one.

“Well then, Lord, we’ll visit again. We’re grateful for hearing such good news today.”

“I’m looking forward to seeing you again.”

It might seem a bit late to set up a barrier in such a conspicuous place, and having a teleportation magic circle, but there are ordinary citizens around, so I politely greeted them and returned to the village.

The fact that I set up a barrier in this place and installed a teleportation magic circle will lead to an unexpected development later on—when that becomes clear, it will be a bit later in the story.

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