"Au!"
"Oh my. Kids sure grow up fast." Marissa came to the village about a week later. They were supposed to come in two or three days, but delays were common. It wasn't easy to arrange guards. Moreover, there were few workers willing to come to this remote village.
In just several days, Liberta had grown so much. She looked like a five- or six-year-old rather than a baby.
"This is definitely not normal!" Rebecca, who knew common sense, couldn't help but yell.
"She definitely ate a lot," Sara said. Even now, Liberta kept pulling on Elizabeth's clothes, asking for Hiro's tentacles.
"You mustn't overeat, okay? If you overeat, you will get fat," Cecile said.
Hiro could feel her words hit the other girls right in their feelings. Especially Nana, who pinched her stomach and arms. They justified eating more than normal humans because they needed to sustain Hiro, who was parasitizing them for nutrients.
Hiro knew she had gained some weight, but most of Nana's weight had gone to her chest. She still looked slim. Cecile was the same.
Well, even if they gained weight, Hiro could just use his adrenaline and amphetamine skills to exhaust their extra nutrients. Their weight and fat were under his control. He could design them to be chubby or slim as much as he liked. If he didn't like big breasts, he could even perform surgery to reduce them. The surgery to increase breast size was harder, though. Hiro couldn't enlarge them naturally. Any implants or meat he put there would feel fake, so Hiro wasn't about to recklessly alter their body shape.
"Fat!" Liberta pointed toward Cecile and Nana's chests.
The stray bullet also hit Marissa and Sara.
Hiro immediately extended his tentacle and smacked the insolent kid on the head.
"Au! It hurts…"
"You can't say that, Liberta. It's rude," Elizabeth said.
"Waaa!!!" Liberta cried to Sara.
"Mama is cruel!"
"Alright. Come here." Sara hugged and lifted her up. Apparently, Liberta viewed Hiro and Elizabeth as one entity.
"Ahem. Back to the task. I have brought about twenty workers. Some are carpenters, while others are woodworkers and artisans. There are two farmers and a blacksmith experienced in making a forge from scratch. This should get your village up and running," Marissa said.
"...Understood."
"They have been paid up front for three months. It was for the construction of this village. After that, they will start charging you fees."
"Um… What do you think will sell around here?" Elizabeth asked.
"Iron ore or ingots are always welcome. We always need more of them. You can obtain them by killing pangolins and having Hiro harvest their scales. Other than that, food and timber. Food prices will be low, but since we have new territory from Latvin, you will get a higher price. Once traders know that there are villages here, I assume this village will become a stopping point before they sell wheat and foodstuffs to Latvin territories."
"Understood." Elizabeth nodded.
Again, Hiro had helped them. Now, everyone could have an income. The dovekins could focus on farming and ranching, while the batkins would hunt pests such as the pangolins and harvest iron ore from them.
"Is there any problem? Especially with security? I recall that we usually have seasonal monster attacks around here." Marissa turned to them.
"We can manage. Elizabeth said that if the monsters are just goblins and orcs, the batkins could defend us from them."
"Understood. If there is no problem, we will start collecting taxes after a year," Marissa said.
"We will comply. Is there anything else?"
"Nope. I am glad that we could resolve the issue without bloodshed." Marissa nodded. She then patted Liberta's head. "So, I assume you will be the only ones who can have kids with Hiro? I am envious."
"Um… My apologies."
Hiro liked Marissa, but her behavior was a bit too fanatical. Marissa liked it most when she served Hiro. Moreover, she was a masochist. When Hiro hit her, she felt pleasure instead of pain. Hiro wanted his girls to drown in pleasure, not to worship him like a god. He wanted to be their owner, not a deity.
Cecile, Rebecca, and Nana stayed in Marissa's village for two more weeks. During that time, the dovekins settled remarkably well. Thanks to the lone farmer Marissa sent and the seeds he brought, they managed to till the ground with little issue.
"This soil here had been prepared as farmland before. Thank God it was only abandoned for less than two years. Otherwise, you would need to do more than just pull the weeds out," the farmer said.
"I see. I wonder why the kingdom hasn't reclaimed this settlement yet," Sara pondered.
"You guys were in luck. Duke Daneswald, Lady Marissa's father, was about to do just that next year. But thanks to Lady Marissa's plea, he instead gave the village to you," the farmer said.
"I see. I wonder whether we have made any enemies by claiming this village." Sara pondered. Now that she was a citizen of the kingdom, she had to pay attention.
"It shouldn't. Some farmers who wish to move here and some ministers or low-ranking nobles might be jealous, but Lady Marissa and the Daneswald Duchy as a whole don't care who occupies this land as long as they pay taxes. If some low-ranking nobles start getting arrogant, you can use Lady Marissa's name. She ordered you guys to settle here, right?"
"I see. Thanks. Everyone, let's follow what Mr. Soyus says, okay?" Sara said. She inwardly sighed. Living with others meant making enemies as well. She will have to get used to it.
Around forty dovekins followed him. Since food was crucial and farming was the easiest trade to learn compared to the others, Sara had assigned her people to become farmers and woodworkers.
The lumberjacks couldn't go outside without protection, and that's where Elizabeth and her batkins came into play. They guarded the lumberjacks from monster attacks such as goblins and orcs. With so few of them, they could only send six people, so their lumbering was slow. But as long as there was progress, no one complained.
The seasonal stampedes occurred mostly at night, but that's where the batkins were at their best. Since they hadn't been culled for more than a year, the stampedes were strong, with occasional orcs appearing compared to when Rebecca first arrived here. At that time, Marissa could defend the village with only two knights, but since the batkins had weaker equipment, it took two groups of them to cover the village.
"I was worried, so we stayed here for almost two weeks, but our help turned out to be unnecessary, huh?" Rebecca muttered. "This is goodbye, Elizabeth, Sara. We need to return to Quantora village soon. We are her personal knights."
"I see. We will miss you. Thank you for all you've done. I don't know how to thank you, but you are always welcome in our new home." Sara and Elizabeth bowed to Cecile, Rebecca, and Nana. Thanks to them, the batkins had cleared their name. Thanks to them, the batkins had survived the coup. Thanks to them, the dovekins had also survived the rampaging batkins that treated them as livestock. And lastly, thanks to them, they had new homes full of food.
"If you ever need our help, please ask. You have saved me and my race. I am eternally grateful to you," Elizabeth added.
"Buh-bye!" Liberta, whose growth had slowed down, waved Cecile goodbye.
"Bye-bye!" Cecile also waved goodbye. Rebecca and Nana waved as well. With their horses, they rode back toward Quantora village. By evening, they had returned to Marissa's office and lounged on the nearby sofa.
"Phew, that was quite an adventure," Rebecca said.
"You took quite some time there. Was there any problem with security?"
"Nope. There was no problem in the slightest. I was worried since they didn't carry any additional weapons, but even with only a dozen batkins, they could handle it. Our help and worry was entirely unnecessary."
"If I could do it with only two knights, why couldn't they?" Marissa tilted her head.
"Well, they only had wooden spears and javelins, and they had no armor." Rebecca shrugged. She also recalled Marissa struggled with two knights. Only after she, Cecile, and Nana joined did the village start to recover, but she didn't say that loud.
"Ah, I see. Well, I recall we also employed militia led by my knights in one of those stampedes." Marissa nodded. "Are you saying the dovekins didn't help at all regarding security?"
"Nope. Dovekins are practically powerless. They had never picked up a weapon in their lives."
"Well. It's good that the problem with the batkins is over."
"Um… Marissa." Cecile turned around. Once she found there was no one else in the room, she finally asked, "Um… I heard that Marissa's village was about to be given to someone else. Is that correct?"
"Ah, are you worried there would be a vested interest?"
Cecile nodded.
Marissa went silent for a moment, pondering. That gesture made Rebecca panic. Hiro had expected Marissa to guarantee their safety, but since she hesitated, there was bound to be some trouble after all!
"The village was mine to give to whoever I wished. But Baron Tilum had been proposing to reclaim it ever since our war with Latvin concluded," Marissa said.
"So?"
"But he is just a baron. There is no way he would ever make an enemy of me, a duke's daughter and symbiote user." Marissa shrugged. She was no longer a disabled duke's daughter. "There is no need to worry. The worst thing that could happen is his messengers complaining to me, wondering why I had given my village to strangers, and then extolling his virtue and loyalty."
"I see. I am glad. Um… I am sorry that you had to do this."
"No worries. You have prevented a tragedy. If we had to purge the batkins, the knights' honor would forever be tainted. Besides, with this, the kingdom owes me something. I will likely gain merit from the king." Marissa waved her hand.
"Now. Let's talk about the North, shall we."