Contrary to my expectations, sweeping up the entire area clear out of any herbs I told my subordinates to look for, took them way less time than I hoped it would. Living their entire life on the mercy of the forest had to have something to do with their unbelievable efficiency of work!

In the end, I only managed to bait three big beasts, out of which one I had to discard due to its poisonous nature. As I was jumping around the place, I didn't miss the chance to get back at nature by hunting down three hare-like creatures before adding them to the pile of soon-to-be edible meat.

Out of one hundred people that initially were supposed to follow me, by the time I called them all back to the clearing, only eight of them left their groups and disappeared into the woods, allowing me to cast away all my worries related to the transport of the hunted game.

After grouping everyone back into a single unit, I distributed both the herbs and the meat amongst them and finally picked up the pace. With only about three hours of daylight left, we had more than enough time to get to my island, but if something were to happen along the way, our timeframe could get dangerously close to the limit.

"Are you sure it's okay to let them carry the herbs? What if they run away with them?"

Walking right beside me, Helia stopped herself from latching on my arm. With so many people around, she either turned shy or just didn't want others to think that the way I treat her was different.

"It's not like they pose any value to them. No one could stop them from picking way more than we got today in the past, so why would they suddenly desire them for themselves? If they didn't care for them earlier, then I'm the only one who can turn them into something usable."

In fact, all those herbs that I ordered the people to gather, were simply worthless. Outside of a thin amount of mana cursing in their cells, the only thing that made them different than simple weeds were the fact that humans were capable of eating them. Just like some of the plants commonly considered to be vegetables back on earth, their only use laid in filling one's belly!

"What about the beasts then? Even if it's impossible to escape with those bigger ones, it's not like the hares you hunted are worthless. Back before Overlord invaded our tribe, one rabbit, like the one you got, was worth an entire month of living expenses!"

Oho? That was surprising! Considering how small and agile this animal was, even I would have to bother to intentionally catch it. If not for the fact that I simply sensed its energy signature as it was skimming through the trajectory of my jump, I wouldn't pay it any mind.

"The meat is just an addition, that I hope to use to raise everyone's morale. While my land is peaceful, it's still… barren. Even if the quality of life there will depend only on their own effort, unless I make them work hard in the beginning, they might think I just want to exploit them. That's why I need to appear as a benevolent lord before they will start thinking of me through what I gave them instead of comparing me to the overlord, or even the times before your village got conquered."

Out of sudden, Heila either decided to cast away her shyness or put a line between her and everyone else, by closing on me and grabbing my arm before hugging herself into it. The degree at which she latched on to me even made it quite challenging to walk at a normal pace!

"You meant to say, quality of their life? I hope you won't mind if I will take care of… the other kind of work?"

With my arm squeezed between her torso and her arms coiled around it, I couldn't help but lower my head and look at her face, only to see her lick her lips in a slow and lascivious manner.

To think that she was a virgin just a single day ago!

But the situation right now was different. Back then, my mind was clouded by the lust and all the emotions associated with the events that happened around me saving her and Jessie. Even despite how much she wanted to accent her charms right now, possibly trying to vie for the spot of my mistress right away, I couldn't help but feel guilty.

Didn't I promise Eve that I wouldn't cum in anyone else but her?

As long as I would manage to save her, I would be in for nine months - or however long it lasted in this world - of her pregnancy before she would grace me with a descendant. Just the fact that I betrayed her trust right away made me feel bad, so creating a position with the sole purpose of sating my lust felt simply wrong.

"We might talk about it later. It's not as simple as you might think."

For now, I untangled my arm from her full-body-grasp but maintained the speed at which she walked. Even if I was guilty of going at it with someone else despite having Eve waiting for me to grow strong enough to heal her, it didn't give me right to just push Heila away.

Who knows, maybe she was already pregnant with me? I had no idea how the body reinforcing technique her entire tribe was practising influenced the ease at which a woman could conceive a child, but I had to be ready to take the responsibility for it! And even if I was in the clear for now, simply pushing her away after what we have done?

No, my stupid, hypocritical and unreasonable sense of morality wouldn't allow me to sleep if I were to do so!

With how this world differed from the earth, I long ago stopped following the rules of earthy society to the bone, only using my internal compass as the guide towards what was right and wrong. Considering how far every place I was in this world believed in the strength being the only factor of measuring what was just, even a tiny bit of compassion was already a huge step forward for the local people!

"Look, we are here."

Trying my very best to ignore the disappointed look on Heila's petite face, I raised my head and pointed at the shore, already visible from behind the last trees that separated us from the open plain. With only five or ten more minutes, we would be able to bathe in the seawater… If only I could accept such a wasteful use of our limited time!

When everyone finally reached the open plain, I took a moment to make sure they are all focused on me.

"You have to be wondering, why did I gather you lot here."

Opening with one of the most memic phrases I could remember, I made sure to spread my arms wide as I said that. At this point, I could only hope that they didn't realise how peculiar the trees behind them were.

"Allow me to explain to you, where are we going to go from here and now."

With those words, I sent a thin strand of entropy, to cut all the canopies I created a few days ago, making them suddenly fall tilt and fall over with a loud bang!

Startled by the sudden commotion, almost everyone jumped in fright, only to see that it was only about fifty trees deciding that from now, they would grow sideways instead of doing the hard work of raising from the earth and reaching for the sun.

As if!

Outside of Heila, everyone with Jessie on top was panic struck! Only after nothing else happened for a while did they manage to calm down and even start sending curious looks towards the fallen trees.

"Come on! Don't stand like this! Go there, clean the dirt from their insides and bring them to the shore. We will use them to get on the other island!"

I think, between the sudden crashing of the trees and my statement… it was the letter that managed to freeze everyone in place for a longer period of time.