I had thought that the sudden influx of new residents would make things lively and difficult all at once, but our numbers were about to grow even further.
The catalyst for this latest addition was a woman who arrived at the end of spring, just as the bellies of the pregnant members of Kuro’s pack were beginning to swell.
“Heh heh. This looks like quite an interesting place.”
It was night. The woman moved through the air, floating about a meter off the ground, accompanied by a swarm of bats.
Judging by her appearance, was she in her late twenties? She was quite a beauty. Her dress clung tightly to her frame, leaving little of her silhouette to the imagination. She seemed to be on the smaller side in terms of both her chest and hips. Her silver hair was cut in a neat bob at neck-length.
Based on her looks—or rather, no matter how you looked at her—she was clearly a relative of Lu’s.
Was she Lu’s older sister? Or perhaps her mother?
I was just about to call Lu to introduce them when Kuro and the rest of the pack launched into a collective beatdown. It reminded me of when I first met Lu. I suppose they’ve become more aggressive lately because some of them are pregnant.
In the blink of an eye, the woman was reduced from a mature lady to the size of a primary school student. It seemed that maintaining her clothes with Magic Power had become difficult as well, leaving her completely naked and crying her eyes out.
The scene reminded me of when I met Tia.
For the time being, I stepped between Kuro and the girl, maintaining the status quo until Lu arrived. It was a bit unsettling how she wouldn't take her eyes off my neck even while she was sobbing. I figured she probably wanted to recover her strength, but I wasn't about to give her my blood yet. It would be a problem if she turned out to be Lu’s enemy.
When Lu finally arrived, the situation was settled in an instant.
“Flora?”
“Big Sister!”
She was Lu’s younger sister. Or rather, after hearing the details, it turned out they were cousins. Her name was Flora Sakt, and she had apparently come looking for Lu.
“You hadn't returned, so I thought you’d been done in by that black-hearted Angel. I came to retrieve you, only to be subjected to... that!”
“There, there.”
By the way, when Lu introduced me, the conversation went like this:
“He is my Husband.”
“This human is yours, Sister? He doesn’t look like much.”
“He is the master of those Inferno Wolves from earlier, and the head of this village.”
“I have said something most rude. Please forgive my insolence.”
I witnessed a truly magnificent reversal of attitude. However, there was a specific phrase she used that I couldn't let slide.
“‘Inferno Wolves?’ Are you talking about Kuro and the others?”
“Yes, that’s right.”
Inferno Wolf. It was a rugged, intimidating name... but more importantly, "Wolf."
Wolf. As in, a wolf?
Wait, they weren't dogs? I mean, sure, they had horns, but...
Well, I suppose whether they’re wolves or not doesn't really matter now.
By the way, it turns out the pure white Fubuki is a mutation known as a Cocytus Wolf.
Since she was Lu’s cousin, I eventually gave Flora some blood. No matter how many times I see it, watching a girl grow up rapidly right before my eyes is a bizarre sight. As I watched, Lu reached out and covered my eyes. She doesn't seem to mind when it's Tia or Ria, but she’s sensitive about her cousin? I see how it is.
Once I brought Flora back to the House, there was a bit of a row when she ran into Tia. Then, just like everyone else, she fainted upon seeing Zabuton and her children. She was later bewildered to see Lu out harvesting the Fields, and deeply moved once she actually tasted the crops and the dishes we made with them.
Life was certainly getting lively.
Flora stayed in a spare room in my house for about ten days before heading out. It wasn't that she’d grown tired of the place; she actually intended to live here permanently. She had left various belongings at her previous residence, so she was going back to settle her affairs.
She looked like she really didn't want to leave, so I expected her to return fairly soon. However, she was surprisingly late, only making it back just before winter.
She didn't come alone, either. She brought a significant number of people with her.
The Vampire Flora Sakt had brought twenty maids. They were apparently the staff who had worked at her previous mansion. Their race was the High Ogre Race, and if you looked closely, you could see small horns on their heads. Most had one or two horns near the hairline on their foreheads, about the size of a thumb.
The head maid’s name was Ann.
“Master. I look forward to serving you for many years to come.”
She identified me as her Master the moment we met. I wondered if Flora had instructed her to do that, but it was simpler than that. Flora and the maids were going to live in my House, so I was naturally the master of the home.
I worried that the chain of command might get complicated, but Lu, Flora, and Ann discussed it and organized everything.
Within the Vampire clan, only Lu and Flora were present, so Lu would act as their representative. Ann would represent the High Ogre Race. As for the maids, their first priority was to take care of my personal needs, with their second priority being the care of Lu and Flora.
I questioned whether it was really alright for my needs to come first, but they insisted that hierarchy was paramount. Well, fine.
I’ll save the details of the maids' hard work for later, because there was something even more important to deal with.
Cows.
Ann and the others had brought four cows with them. Flora must have remembered me mentioning them as something we lacked during her previous stay.
Cows! Three of the four were pregnant females. She had clearly been thinking about the milk.
I immediately went to work. To the north of the Dog Area and east of the Fruit Area, I cleared a massive Cow Area, the size of eight-by-eight Fields. I tilled the whole thing at once, working hard to ensure good pasture grass would grow.
Winter was nearly upon us, so I had Ria and the High Elves prioritize building a Cattle Shed. Since there wasn't enough room for Ann and the other twenty maids to sleep, I had them use the storehouses as temporary quarters while we focused on the shed. My reasoning was that the cows would likely be more vulnerable to the winter chill than the High Ogres.
As for the actual care of the animals, I was relieved to learn that Ann and her group were experienced. It seems the reason Flora was so late returning was because she had been busy securing the cows and learning how to look after them. I was truly grateful.
The most critical task, however, was telling Kuro’s pack and Zabuton’s children to absolutely never lay a hand on the cows. The cows were terrified of the wolves and spiders at first, but after a short while, they stopped paying them any mind.
Perfect. With this, we’ve secured a source of milk.
From what I’ve been told, we won't be able to milk them constantly; it only happens for a certain period after they give birth to a calf. I suppose that makes sense. Cows don't produce milk for humans to drink; they do it for their calves. We’re just being allowed to share some of the surplus. I have to make sure I don't become arrogant about it.
In any case, the number of residents has increased significantly all at once.
One character represents an area roughly 50x50 meters.
□□□□□□□□□□□□FruitFruit◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆ □□□□□□□□□□□□FruitFruit◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆ □□□□□□□□□□□□FruitFruit◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆ □□□□□□□□□□□□FruitFruit◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆ □□□□□□□□□□□□FruitFruit◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆ □□□□□□□□□□□□FruitFruit◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆ □□□□□□□□□□□□FruitFruit◆Cow◆◆◆◆◆◆ □□□□□□□□□□□□FruitFruit◆◆◆◆◆◆◆◆ □□□□□□□□□□□□FieldFieldFieldField○○○○○○○○ ━Upper Waterway━━━━━PondPond□Field◇◇Field○Dog○○○○○○○○ ━Drainage System━━━━━PondPond□Field◇◇Field○○○○○○○○○○ □□□□□□□□□□□□FieldHouseHouseField○○○○○○○○○○ □□□□▼Bath▼▼▼▼▼△△△△△△△△ □□□□▼▼▼▼▼SouthWest▼△NewField△△△△△ □□□□▼▼▼▼▼▼▼▼△△△△△△△△ □□□□▼▼▼▼▼▼▼▼△△△△△△△△ □□□□□□□□□□□□△△△△△△△△ □□□□□□□□□□□□△△△△△△△△ □□□□□□□□□□□□△△△△△△△△ □□□□□□□□□□□□△△△△△△△△
The River is about five kilometers in that direction. →