(Ashen POV)

The cold night’s air mixed well with my lungs, heating it and blowing it back out like I was a living furnace. It seemed like winter would soon reach us in full, but snow has yet to fall. Some slender clouds were rolling in from the horizon, but none big enough to signify any incoming weather. Roaming the streets were random people walking about, most speeding up when they laid eyes on me. I walked down the street, my business is done in the town, I had no reason to stay, but I still wanted to. Call it a gamer’s intuition, but I had a strong feeling this town had something far more valuable than what was presented. I reached up and felt the scar over my eye, slightly warm to the touch, and sighed deeply, causing a small flame to sprout from my nostrils.

The stone roads were much colder than the air, and my feet struck them often as I walked in silence. The fourth layer of walls would be complete in a day or two, the speed and stamina of undead being unmatched by most other races. They worked tirelessly throughout the day and even harder at night. They worked hard to ensure protection to the entire town, and I wished I could help, more so than the barrier I had installed already. I should plant more crystal while I think of it, the town is growing and they are going to need protection. So I did what I had to, and made a quick loop around the town, planting hundreds of crystals all around, in precise increments and calculated positions to reinforce the barrier in the most efficient way.

Nobody saw me, which I didn’t mind if they did, so my deed went unnoticed. The barrier became visible for a second every time a new crystal was planted, but it was hard to tell if not directly looking at it. To those that didn’t look at it at the time, it didn’t appear as though anything changed, so most were already unaware, but I was sure someone noticed the slight flickering. I spent two hours planting crystals, the night would be over shortly, but I still walked around the town, aimlessly hoping to do what I could. I found a small building that had bright red sloppy text, ‘for sale’, and went inside the building adjacent to it, where the people that were selling it were located.

I entered quietly, slightly startling the devilkin receptionist that was dozing off while moving a massive stack of books around. “W-what? Don’t you know the t-time.” She yawned to herself and looked more seriously at me, her figure made me think she was young, but her slightly scratchy voice said otherwise.

I looked at her while pulling out a handful of gold coins from my pocket dimension and putting them into a sack behind my back. “I am sorry about the time, but I was wondering if the building next door was still available.” She seemed slightly surprised, the reason I was soon to find out why.

She raised an eyebrow, and her thin tail swayed from side to side slowly. “Really? At this hour? Whatever, nobody has come by in a week, so we’ll happily sell it to you. How much are you willing to pay?” It was a decent business practice to ask the client how much they were willing to spend on a new place, but my answer shocked her slightly.

I tossed the bag of 40 gold coins into her hands, and she lazily looked through it to find all the gold coins, much to her surprise. “40 gold.” She looked at me strangely, likely presuming it was a hoax or fake money.

She knew it was real though, so her surprise only compounded. “40, gold? Y-yeah th-that works…” She trailed off, slightly squealing to herself at the end but catching herself.

She gave me a set of two silver keys and a scroll with a quill and ink, likely wanting me to sign a contract. “Thank you for allowing me to purchase this building, I know I might come off as suspicious, but some of the town elders can vouch for me.” I opened the scroll, read through its lines quickly, and signed my name with a slight mana signature to go along with it.

She took the scroll, ink, and quillback, checking the signature, and her face dropped. “A-A-A-Ashen? Wait! You’re the guy who-!” She stopped herself forcefully, by covering her mouth with her hands and clamping tightly to prevent her mouth from moving.

I couldn’t say her reaction was unexpected, but it wasn’t expected by me, although it probably should have been. “It’s alright to speak your mind, you won’t face any punishment for doing so. I’m just a citizen for the moment, on a trip to the city. I am just any other resident that lives here, so please don’t restrain yourself from speaking around or to me now that you know who I am.” Her understanding was halted slightly by her fear but she calmed down rather quickly, releasing her face from it’s suspended animation.

She slowly moved her mouth again, and words quietly came out. “You’re the one that both hurt and helped the town. You might have enslaved us, but you did allow us to unite as one and come together into something bigger, stronger, something more. I’m sure most would disagree with my next words, some might kill me for it, but, you’re not as bad as some say. I really can’t thank you enough for allowing us to not only live, as you had all the power to either slaughter us or to work us to death, and instead gave us all this. A great town where we can finally embrace our heritage again. You helped bring us out of a millennia-long famine and saved most of our races from being whipped from the catalog. I’m sorry that we aren’t doing much for you, seeing as you don’t receive anything in exchange for all your hard work and time, but I want you to know that some people do appreciate the things you’ve done for us. So, on behalf of Apoctaclass, thank you, Lord Ashen.” Well, that was certainly a lot to have on her mind, but I have said more in one instance in the past, and I couldn’t hate the girl after she just said that I helped save, most of the races…

Damn, so some died off completely, that’s a shame, if only I could bring them back, if only physically. “And thank you for sharing that with me, but I’m afraid I don’t even know your name, miss?” I should thank her personally, as she was one of the few people that didn’t treat me like an absolute villain.

She looked shyly at me and responded quickly. “Oh, right, my name. I am Sherillie Nautzlith, a prime devilkin, thank you for asking.” It could have been my charisma, but she blushed slightly when she said that.

I just didn’t want to hoard women like some protagonists do in stories, so I never made advances on women, the only one that I did was Xylith, and that was for many reasons. “Thank you Sherillie Nautzlith, for the house, and your words, I will take them to heart, and will remember your kindness for long.” We exchanged goodbyes, and I left the room still thinking of her words while opening the house I just bought.

A prime devilkin, that word ‘prime’ really piqued my interest. What did it mean? The only thing it meant back in Sugarea was the creature either had a strong affinity to one element or was a master at one particular skill, but I wasn’t sure about either with her. She had a large mana pool, much larger than most, matching the elders’ even. It felt concentrated, focused, and did give off the impression that she was a very talented magic user, but I couldn’t know for certain. I put it to the back of my mind, and slowly examined the house. It was rather small, but it would work perfectly for the shop I had in mind…

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(Xylith POV)

After we toured the castle, visiting some rooms that even I haven’t seen before, we settled down in the dining hall. Mina had to leave us half-way through the tour to return to her duties, something I still understood little about. There were many maids, and many butlers too, and sure the castle was massive, but they didn’t need to all work at once, and certainly not all the time. It felt like they were being overworked, but they all looked fine and even happy doing it. I didn’t understand why, nor did I have the ability to find out, but I wouldn’t question it for much longer. If they enjoyed servicing the home of my beloved, then who was I to stop them, especially if they were already acting under his orders.

Ashen had yet to join us home, and it was only a few hours to sunrise, so I doubted he would return before we slept, even if I didn’t need to. Which made me think for a moment about the maids that were still awake. There were hundreds of them, so I couldn’t know for certain if the same ones were always cleaning the same areas constantly without break, or if they cycled and took turns, which would be the more logical choice, especially to someone as ingenious as Ashen. It seemed like the butlers that were still awake were having a small union at one of the long tables in the room, drinking tea together, and chatting quietly.

There were some maids in here as well, but not as many of them as the butlers. We were casually sitting at the table together, the nine of us eating a light snack before we would all go to sleep. Aydren most definitely felt out of place, much like I had when I first came here, but that feeling goes away with time. Perhaps all that sparring with Premium had distracted me from the truly unusual situation I was in, as the thought of matching someone like him took my full attention at every possible moment before, during, and after training. Some warm memories came back to me when thinking of those spars, something odd seeing as I never truly ‘won’ any of them. I was known before as the strongest demon in the world, but now, I wasn’t even better than the common guard of this castle, not even mentioning Ashen.

I cold shiver trickled down my spine, the experience in the dungeon repeating in my mind. “You needn’t worry about Lord Ashen, he will return home when he finishes whatever it is that came up. You know him, if something bothered him, there isn’t anything we could do to stop or help with it. The least we can do now is to just wait for his return, and Misfortune’s surprise for him.” Ember said with a wink and a nudge to me.

I loosely recalled the surprise, but since I was near Ashen the most, I was informed the least about it as to not spoil the event. “Yes, yes, I know. I can’t quite help or hurt him. You all would have a much better chance than I ever would. Which reminds me, what were your levels? I lost my [Appraise Character] skill when Ashen became the demon lord.” The skill was useful for judging other’s power and weaknesses, if only to a minimal extent.

She tilted her head slightly, to what in particular I didn’t know. “Us? We are merely level 700 but we can still gain levels, albeit abnormally slow.” My heart skipped three beats, and my breath stopped for a short while, causing me to gasp when I came back to reality.

I knew they were strong, but I couldn’t believe that they were equivalent to the new gods in power, as even the new gods had limitations on their manifestation on the Physical Plane. “S-s-s-s-seven hundred?” I said quietly to myself, my heart slowly pumping my blood again.

The seven of them nodded in unison, and Aydren foamed at the mouth, passing out completely. “Is he going to be okay?” Amber said in her cutesy voice, pointing at his bubbling face.

Olive responded to the situation rather strangely, as she simply smacked him across the face and he woke instantly, falling out of the chair that supported him. “Yes. He just needs to rest for the night.” She picked him up and threw him over her shoulder, the sight nearly causing the rest of us to burst into laughter, but we all managed to refrain.

She took him to one of the guest rooms, or at least I presumed, as she left quite quickly and without telling us where she was going. “That was a sight to behold.” Cobalt said, snickering slightly to herself.

Ember opened her book, reading the pages in a rather quick manner, likely something on magic. “Maybe we should discuss tomorrow- today’s plans?” It was past midnight, after all, so her sudden change of words was to be expected.

Lavender’s voice still gave me a slight shiver, her voice piercing even my heart. “Why, yes. I do believe we should. This is a rare occurrence, and the first we can directly participate in.” I was mostly confused still, the event at question was still too vague for me.

I only knew there was a surprise, not what it was or about. “About that,” I choose my words slowly and carefully, “what is the surprise exactly?” Sunny looked at me head-on, so I returned her gaze.

She tilted her head to the side slightly and gave a cheery smile. “Why, Lord Ashen’s birthday of course!” Birthday? Was he turning a special age?

Which made me think, how old was he? “O-oh, and how old will he be today?” My words were filled with caution and hesitation, as I didn’t want to upset them by not knowing.

Olive managed to return as I asked my question, and she felt it necessary to answer it before Lavender could, slightly to her annoyance. “He is said to be turning 8000 this year! I couldn’t imagine him any older than thirty! To think, he was so old…” Ember finished her page and closed her book in response.

I was still baffled by his age, and Ember’s words didn’t help. “How else do you think he has gotten so wise and powerful? Even if Lord Aeyrs is slightly older, his age is still very impressive, very fitting a man like himself.” I could swear her eyes shined with a glint of admiration.

Lavender finally pitched her own words, staring dagger lightly at Olive. “Yes, in 8000. A wise and powerful man he is because of it, but his age matters not. He had said in the past how little he cares for such frivolous things. While he is the second oldest in the castle, some are close to him in age.” My eyes widened slightly, I figured his brother to be a similar age, even if Ember didn’t say so herself, but for there to be others similarly aged, is another shock tonight.

Not only has he lived for so long, he cares little about the monumental feat, just what would he consider a worthy achievement? “That’s seriously impressive, to think he has lived so long…” My words leaked from my mouth without me trying to control them, though, it seemed like they didn’t mind me speaking to myself.

Cobalt gave a cheeky smile which turned into a horrific grin. “It truly is wonderful, isn’t it? I’m sure he has plenty of experiences, wouldn’t you agree?” Her suggestive words caused me to blush, and for Olive to nudge her harshly.

“Don’t start with this again! We told you plenty of times before not to think such things about our lord!” She nudged her harshly again, Cobalt shoving her back and both shrugging it off like a game.

Lavender clapped, gathering the attention of everyone in the room, including the maids and butlers, and even the cooks. “We have much to do today, rest up and prepare for the celebration with everything you have.” She didn’t shout, but her voice was loud and attention-grabbing. Everyone confirmed her orders, and we all set off to do what we had to.

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(Misfortune POV)

Espionage, one of the few tasks I have exceptional talent in. If only my other uses would be capitalized on more, but It couldn’t be helped. The Beastlands, or more formally, the Beastland Hoards, was my new target. I have overheard many things, but due to my secretive nature, I can only ever overhear others, not having a chance to engage in conversations like Pareidolia could. She was one of my underlings, and quite talented too. Her unique ability to shapeshift into any creature was greatly needed in information gathering. The only downside, she was forever bound to the castle by long spoken orders. If she were to leave, then the golems would stop working, and wouldn’t be able to halt and hinder intruders.

If she were here with me, the rate at which I could gather information would be infinitely better. I could only overhear so much, even occasionally killing people nobody would notice missing, and I have gathered quite a valuable collection of data from the few I have managed to kill. But that was all in the past now, as I have a much better opening available to me now, an audience with the Beast king, Thal Waterfang. From what I have heard, he is a wolfkin who can also use water magic of the 16th tier. It wasn’t an easy feat in this world, but in our old world, it was laughable. Most people could use at least tier 20, so his power in water magic alone was trumped by the average person, but still, to the people around him, he must seem godly.

His skill wasn’t in magic alone, as he was an excellent warrior as well. His innate water magic proficiency came from his bloodline, hence the name Waterfang. Some thought his power wasn’t rightfully earned, and in all fairness, it wasn’t. Still, he had managed to masterfully utilize his abilities to the utmost, so nobody could blame him for having an unfair advantage. The meeting with the king wasn’t my own, but rather one of the Pinnachels. A Pinnachel was what the beast king called his more skillful generals of the military. They all had magical prowess far beyond the average magic user, but they all had some magical weakness, like fire or earth. Even the king had a weakness to lightning magic, although few people knew of this, as only his most trusted were informed, not even his Pinnachels.

It was wise, but telling anyone was never a safe move. Still, some people have reasons of their own to do idiotic things. I find myself questioning some of my previous decisions from time to time, but they all seem to have bettered either myself or the castle as a whole, so I wasn’t a burden at the very least. I still had to come back for the surprise, but I hoped I had time to witness the king’s conversation before then. It would be a critical opportunity to gain newfound knowledge on the inner workings of the country and perhaps the world as a whole. If the celebration were to happen during the meeting, it would be a great loss, but I couldn’t dare disrespect my lord by not attending such a monumental milestone in his life.

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(Ashen POV)

The sun rose faster than I expected. My time in the newly bought house felt quick. I managed to do everything I wanted, so it wasn’t a bother if the sun had already risen. I’d judge the time to be three hours before noon, based on the delay of the sun rising alone. People were walking the streets already, looking for work, or just casually strolling around the town. I had finished the interior of my shop, with large metal shelves holding plenty of low to mid-tier magical items. I made sure to not have anything too valuable or powerful as to not upset the balance of the world, again… With the shop’s interior complete, I had only the sign and a worker to take care of.

I thought for a moment, mentally scrolling through the many faces I knew of that could tend to the shop and be trustworthy while doing so. I could have Jolven run the shop, it would give him a proper job to do instead of random magical studies with Vron in their free time. I settled on it and had mentally pinged him to come to me. Before long, he flashed into existence in front of me. It wasn’t teleportation, instead, he just started to exist in this one spot, likely something to do with null magic. I could ask him how or why he chose to use null magic instead of a normal teleportation spell, but that would only waste time.

He looked at me and saluted slightly, a strange sight for me. “Yes?” His voice was very proper, almost like he and I had swapped places.

It made me chuckle lightly to myself in my head. “Can you run this shop?” He nodded without wasting time, such a fast response for someone of his nature. “Very well then, will you?” Another nod and he walked behind the metal counter and had already familiarized himself with it. “And make a sign for the shop when you get a chance, otherwise people won’t come in.” He nodded and I threw him a large sack of coins to use for either buying or change when someone buys an item.

He seemed to be familiar with magic items enough, so I just hoped he could run the store in a fashion that it wouldn’t be too cheap or expensive, as to not crash the market or the store. He should be fine after all his innate magical knowledge did spring from my own, so he should have it all under control. We exchanged waves, and I left the store to continue with my day, likely returning to the castle when the evening is about to set in, as my brother had wanted me to. I still wonder why though, maybe the king of the Banderainian empire wanted to talk to me, but Aeyrs answered in my stead? Or maybe that goof missed me? Whatever the reason, I still had many thoughts to sort through.

As I started walking the streets at random, I started to file through and deal with my mental chore list. My first chore was to publicize my country. But how could I do that? Maybe I could get my fellow kings to announce alongside me? It would be much more professional if I got two kings to proclaim my country as an official would it not? But to get two kings to do such a thing wasn’t easy. At least getting Erik to wouldn’t, Arthur on the other hand would most likely be willing to, seeing as we have become good friends over the last two months or so. I figure he would be willing to help with my establishment, even if it was to boost his power.

Alright, that’s settled for now, so next chore, develop more cities and towns. This is not as easy as I might think it to be. Sure, I can create a thousand buildings, but that ignores the underlying problem of the city’s infrastructure. The town might rely on me to expand their walls, so I shouldn’t make more than a few major buildings. The other problem, getting inhabitants, was a different issue. My reputation as a demon lord might prove to be more harm than good in this instance. If I were an average person in this world, there would be no way I’d live in one of his villages. It was a fair mindset to have, especially if the churches or whatever convinced them that demons were evil.

Perhaps I could have some willing citizens of the Britgar Holy Kingdom come live in my towns, although, it wouldn’t be up to me. And I’m sure having an entire nation of just demons wouldn’t improve my image much from the expectation that I was evil and only hosted demons. But then again, Wheatberg had many races, even a fair amount of humans, surprisingly. Perhaps some of them could expand and develop towns on the other side of the mountain range. But then again, that is quite far, with the only middle ground being the castle. Still, last I knew, Wheatberg had a little under 30,000 people living in it, compared to its original 70,000, it was damn impressive when I considered that the vast majority left the town when I became its lord.

I’ll ask around the town later and see if people wanted to move out, so that solves that task for now. Third chore, creating and defining an actual military. A single guard from the castle would surely be enough to take care of any threat that has exposed itself to me so far in this world, but having an actual military would be useful for the morale of the citizens. On top of that, having a military would convince other nations that I pose an actual threat and don’t think I am overly powerful, even if I was, and would help to reduce the chances of them invading or declaring war. Perhaps the war with the elves could help convince other countries to practice caution when dealing with me, but then again, they are still trying to fight an unwinnable battle.

Maybe I can convince them to eventually surrender, hopefully, they will listen. I guess that chore can only be completed after I establish more towns, much like my next one. Fourth, develop public schools, and universities. After normal schools, I can make specialist schools for those that want to hone their powers. I’ll eventually make a knight school and a magic school. There are quite a few individuals in Wheatberg alone that have strong affinities to certain elements, and only through proper teachings will they be able to fully utilize their gifts. The only problem with that idea was the teachers, as I didn’t know nearly enough people to cover all the necessary job requirements of a school, outside of some NPCs in the castle.

That will only be done after more towns develop, so I’ll put that on hold as well. Well, last chore, one that I didn’t want to do this early on, make an heir. I know it’s awfully early into the marriage, which was equally rushed, but it makes sense to do. Sure, I wanted to do the deed, but… She might technically be hundreds of years old, but she still appeared like a child, even acting like one at times. If this were earth, I’d be committing so many crimes… And to others in this world, It could make me appear like I was attracted to the youth, which is quite a repulsive trait for a leader if I do say so myself. I would have to eventually, and I don’t have a solid grasp on the future as of yet, so an heir would help with my country’s future if only a little.

A properly designated heir would give the citizens someone of ‘royal’ blood that could take over the leadership position. It would give the citizens someone to rally behind and could potentially bridge the gap between humans and demons in this world. But, someone of that importance would surely be a vulnerable person if not properly trained, and as such, they would need to be protected and raised to be able to defend themself. From what I could tell, they would need to become level 100 at the very least, and perhaps level 160 if there is still any danger of assassination. Magic items can only do so much when it comes to defense, so having skill and power of their own would be gravely needed in this world, even with the assistance of magical items.

I guess that solves that issue, if only slightly. I’m sure Xylith will be thrilled to hear the news of my decision, even if it will come further down the line. Perhaps a few months from now, after more cities develop and expand. Speaking of, maybe I should talk to the elders and have them send groups out to create other towns, it must have come up in conversation by now. I wasn’t too far from the town hall as it is, my legs took me in that direction at random, so it would only take a few minutes at most. I guess that settles most of my chores, if only mentally. Executing said tasks might prove to be more or less difficult than I have predicted. I could always start the construction of the towns, but I might have to wait until the goods that I gave to the elder has been more properly distributed before asking for them to mount on the expedition of creating towns and roads between them.

It might be useful to delegate certain tasks to each town, like having a farming town, a mining town, and so on. It would give the citizens of those towns a goal to work towards and give them a uniting task. I’ve learned before that people with a cause are much better workers than those without proper guidelines. I had to wait before they made more towns, I couldn’t help it unless I were to make the towns myself, which would contradict the very point I made to myself just a moment ago. I would sigh, actually, I could so… “Sigh,” I’m not sure if anyone around me heard it, as it was rather quiet, but I did sigh. Which brought a new topic to my mind. My Crystal Fire Skull was still acting like my head, and as such, I shouldn’t need to breathe, eat, sleep, drink, or so on.

But with my face, there’s no longer any leaks that would allow the air in my lungs to escape, and as such, I have the ability to both talk in a non-monotone voice and can utilize my breath in every normal aspect, like whistling and sighing once more. It was a nice ability, being able to talk like a human again, and even being able to sigh and whistle and all that, but I grew fond of my monotone voice, which allowed me to hide my emotions if I didn’t want them to show. I knew it wasn’t easy on everyone I talked to, but it was a voice that easily told everyone of who I was, as not many in this world had an unchanging monotone voice. The only other would be Vron, but even he has developed his own voice now and chooses that one over his old monotone voice.

My time grew short, as I had already arrived at the town hall, and I walked inside quietly, being met by the same elder from before. “I’ll be with you in a- oh, it’s you again. What? Did you change your mind about the bags already?” His voice made him sound like he expected this outcome, but I disregarded it.

I shook my head lightly. “No, a different matter entirely.” He raised one eyebrow, slightly intrigued by yet another meeting with me.

He pointed to the same room with a now extinguished fire. “Go join the others, if it isn’t anything dire or secretive, we can discuss it with the other elders in due time.” I obliged his request and found the same room that I was in last night to have six people sitting around in the various chairs, all wearing some mediocre clothing, showing their power and wealth when compared to the other demons in the city.

I joined them in their quiet wait and created a small earthen chair fitting my size out of thin air, which I promptly sat upon, and summoned a small book from my pocket dimension to start reading. “Now, as I’m sure you all are aware, but, this city needs certain goods to sustain itself. And a certain sponsor has dropped off enough goods to turn this town on its heels. I’m sure you all know what to do with the goods once you get a hold of them, am I right?” The elder spoke to the six people, four guys, two girls, all of middle age, and different races, all of which nodded in return.

The first one to respond was a devilkin man, his clothing appeared slightly scorched, making me presume he had an affinity to fire. “And who might this ‘certain sponsor’ be exactly?” I could tell the elder wanted me to confirm it myself, or permit him to say, but I left it up to him.

The elder met the gaze of everyone in the room, excluding mine as I was reading the words in the small book that was in my hands. “As much to my surprise as it will be to yours, it was the self-proclaimed lord, Ashen, who gave me enough resources for the entire city.” Small looks of surprise, amusement, and distrust arose in the six’s eyes, none looking towards me, most thought I was here for a different matter, which I was. “Yes, yes, I know how it sounds, but it is true. And for some strange reason, he didn’t ask for anything in return for it, likely wanting something down the line, something we don’t have yet. Regardless, I need you six to distribute the goods properly. With the resources I was given, and from your established records, there should be no problem for you all to work this out properly and without issue.” The six looked to one another, likely reading one another’s faces.

One of them faced me, a female zallamari, who soon asked a question to the elder. “If that is the case, then who is he? And why is he here now?” She pointed at me rather rudely, but I only flipped a page with my finger and placed a small piece of paper on the page as a bookmark before snapping the book shut and standing up.

The chair I sat on quickly disintegrated into mana, and the book was returned to my pocket dimension once more. “Well, you see, that is… Err, how should I say it?” The elder troubled over his words, leaving me to answer in his stead.

With a slight bow, and my right hand over my chest I spoke in a kind tone. “The aforementioned, self-proclaimed lord Ashen. Ashen Fur, at your service.” A nearly invisible amount of shock course through their faces, unnoticed by any other, excluding me.

The elder scratched the back of his head lightly and awkwardly laughed to himself. “Well, yeah… This is Lord Ashen, the one who gave the materials. But you needn’t pay attention to him, he isn’t here for that, instead, you should focus on preparing your business for the traffic they will certainly endure.” He probably spoke to them about what resources they would be getting, so they all just nodded with understanding again. “Now, if you’d all excuse me, I still have a long day’s worth of paperwork to get done with, so get going already!” The six rolled their eyes in unison and walked out of the door in a single file line. “Alright, what do you want? Spit it out already.” Since the others left, it did not matter if I said it now, but It did not matter if I said it then either.

Looking him in the eyes, I made my mind known. “I want to know if the thought of creating other cities has crossed your mind.” He raised his eyebrow once more at my words.

Sighing lightly he responded in kind. “Naturally, but none are all that willing to leave, with the lack of resources on hand, excluding the newly given ones of course, and the mana density outside the town, none have the need or will to leave and create other settlements.” I should have seen that coming.

Perhaps I could get people to move if they were compensated? “What if I were to offer a reward or incentive?” I wasn’t sure what would be good enough to convince them to leave, so I’d have to rely on his knowledge.

He stroked his chin and responded after a few silent seconds of thought. “It would rely solely on said incentive, what were you thinking?” His voice sounded cautious like he was uncertain himself.

I took a deep breath, one I had gotten used to again. “Well, I wanted to know your opinion on what reward would be the most interesting, as you would know it better than I could.” I’m certain that the entire matter would be discussed later with the other elders, but he was the first one I saw, so I just decided to leave it up to him.

He scratched his thick beard in thought. “Well, money is always a good incentive, but magical items could also pose a significant push. If you were to install that crystal thing in the towns, I’m sure you could get a decent amount to move to establish a new town or village.” That makes sense, but certainly, it wasn’t the only factor at play?

I decided to voice my thoughts to him, after all, I needed his input when it came to the citizens. “Will that be enough?” He closed his eyes for a moment, taking a few seconds to think again.

Speaking in a warmer tone than before, he calmed his nerves and responded. “Well, I’m sure some individuals will be swayed by it, but the masses don’t want to leave if there is nothing to gain.”

From what I could tell in this world, not many were educated besides the wealthy and those who had a lot of power, so schools might be a good choice. “Will schools be a decent incentive?” His eyes dotted around the room for a few moments before landing back on me.

He raised his eyebrow once more, a slight shock in his voice. “Schools? Well, if it was akin to training, a large chunk of people would definitely consider moving, but if it were just basic schooling like I have heard the human countries practice, a similarly sized portion might consider it too.” Well then, I guess investing in schools would be worthwhile.

I guess it could be both, I wasn’t limited to just one or the other. “If it were both?” I'm sure I could get some NPCs from the castle to fulfill enough roles for a single school, but I’d have to find more teachers that were qualified.

He nodded his head lightly. “I’m certain you would be able to get a dozen towns at the very least if you could promise something like that in each. Perhaps you should first test the waters by having schools here first? You could even make it for the wealthy, as that could play a role in convincing some of the poorer individuals on moving out. But ultimately, the decision’s yours, as we lack the teachers, excluding some who train warriors and mages in private of course.” I guess that settled things then.

A small smile overcame my face. “I can abide by that, where could I make a school?” It made me think of the future in a more serious tone, so this exchange was rather helpful, even if I didn’t get more towns out of it.

He searched his memory for a second, responding rather quickly. “Well, there are a couple of buildings around here that have yet to sell, so you could use one of those, and we could wave the fee seeing as you are the one operating it.” I figured that all of the good houses would have been taken by now, but I guess the elders kept their prices high, so none really had the money to spare.

My mind thought of the hatred between humans and demons, so I was hesitant to get human teachers or any humanoid teacher for that matter. “I understand, but will people be okay with an outside race teaching them, especially the richer ones who will be able to attend?” I’m sure the wealthy would hold a grudge against outside races, but perhaps non-humans could be used in their stead?

He seemed to think over his words carefully again, responding in an unconfident tone. “As long as they aren’t human, it shouldn’t be too much of a problem. Most of us still have a strong distaste for them after all the countless wars and bloodshed.” I had thought so, perhaps I could get Planthra to come and teach some healing magic to them, it’s not like she has a proper job at the moment.

I thought of a few faces that I knew of before responding. “I understand. I have a few teachers in mind, so I will have you make the judgment of allowing them to teach in the city.” If the elder thought one of them was a bad candidate for a teacher than it would be best to have them teach in other towns or to give them other tasks entirely.

He nodded while sighing. “Alright, that’s another paper to sign I suppose.” I could see the beginning of bags start to form under his eyes, indicating the restless nights he spent working.

I silently cast a spell to ease his fatigue, nothing too great, but still noticeable. “About that, sounds like you have quite the job to do, with all this paperwork I’ve heard about.” It seemed like my question distracted him from noticing the spell, so it was a kind gesture that went unnoticed.

He scoffed for a brief moment. “You’re telling me. Yes, a town doesn’t run without paperwork, even if the said paper was made from magic.” My mind thought of the six bags I gave him for the town, which made me think more.

I knew he wouldn’t have given the bags away, but still wanted to confirm it. “Speaking of, you plan on having those six distribute the goods within the bags?” He looked slightly guilty but cleared his face of emotion.

In a simple voice, he answered me. “I understand your concern, but the bags will not be given to them, not even spoken about for that matter. I will give them a certain amount a day, and they will slowly sell it to the town and they will eventually use said materials to upgrade and refine the town.” I didn’t care if he had given them the bags, but I couldn’t let him know that.

After all, to him those bags were priceless, and to me, it was like a test of his dedication to the town. “I see, well, I leave you to it. Try not to overexert yourself.” I started walking to the door, stopping when he spoke back.

He halted me with his next words. “I have heard that you went into the dungeon the other day.” The memory of the failed assassination attempt from the dungeon invaded my mind, and I shook the thoughts away.

I turned around and looked at him again. “I was just seeing what all the fuss was about, what of it?” His eyes shifted, not finding a suitable target to look upon other than me.

He sighed, something I wanted to imitate but didn’t in the face of company. “It isn’t an issue, rather, the opposite.” A small glint of a smile came from his face.

I laughed to myself on the inside, as I never intended on helping the town by clearing a couple of floors of the dungeon for fun. “Oh? How so?” He looked at me rather confused.

His words stalled for a moment, but he got them out. “W-w-well… You see, uh. Whatever you did, the dungeon’s stronger forces seemed to have retreated to the lower floors, and more loot has been found amongst its upper floors.” Ah, so it learned its lesson of not being too dangerous?

A small smile came to my face again, fading slowly. “Ah. Consider it another favor for the town.” While waving goodbye I left the town hall, and teleported to Wheatberg, only to find something bizarre...