Just as I thought life had returned to normal after our last visitor, another one appeared.
Like before, everyone who was free at the time gathered near the village entrance.
"My name is Draim. I am a noble Dragon."
The visitor was exactly that—a dragon. He was a Western-style dragon straight out of a fantasy manga or anime. At thirty meters long, his size far eclipsed the wyvern I had encountered previously. It was an impressive sight—or it would have been, if he were actually standing tall.
The dragon calling himself Draim was currently hunched over in a deep, bowing posture.
"This is a gift to mark our visit. Please, accept it."
A man dressed in a butler’s uniform—presumably Draim's servant—respectfully held out a large box.
"That’s very kind of you. Thank you."
I started to reach out, but Daga stepped in front of me to take the box instead, handing it off to Ann. After she inspected the contents, she brought the box over to me. Inside was a sword in a sheath, both decorated with incredibly expensive-looking ornaments.
"This... this is quite a magnificent gift."
"Not at all, not at all."
I wondered if visitors usually brought friendlier gifts—like food or something.
"By the way, what brings you here today?"
"Yes. My master, Lord Draim, keeps his nest in those mountains to the south. You can see them from here."
"I see."
"There is some distance between us, certainly... but we are neighbors, in a sense. We are a bit late in coming, but we wished to offer our greetings as fellow residents of the area."
"That’s very polite of you... Um, why is your master still bowing like that?"
"Oh, my apologies. Master, please raise your head."
"O-oh. Right."
If I hadn't been following the conversation, I might have mistaken the butler for the master.
"My master is quite poor at speaking with people he has just met. He worried he might say something clumsy, so he asked me to act as his proxy. We apologize if his behavior has caused any offense."
"No, don't worry about it. Ah... since you’ve come all this way, I’d like to welcome you properly, but... your current size is a bit of a problem."
"Quite right. Master, if you would please shrink?"
"Umu."
The dragon grunted in response. His massive form suddenly erupted in a cloud of smoke. When it cleared, a tall, timid-looking middle-aged man remained. He was dressed in the finery of a nobleman.
"Pardon us. Master, once more, if you please."
"My name is Draim. I am a noble Dragon."
...I had a feeling he’d rehearsed that specific line just to make sure he didn't mess it up. Regardless, as long as he was human-sized, he wasn't a problem. I invited them into the house, and we held a banquet.
"The sake is great! The food is great! I’m not going back! I’m living here!"
"You most certainly are not. If you don't look after your nest, you'll have quite a few people angry with you."
"It’ll be fine here! I can just fight them off!"
"You probably could, but we cannot allow you to bring trouble to this village."
"Mu... muu... Trouble, huh?"
"Indeed. Setting aside the fact that you would be fighting here, you are fundamentally incapable of doing anything for yourself, Master."
"How rude! I am a noble dragon, I'll have you know!"
"My apologies. Let me rephrase: you would be capable of absolutely no productive activities whatsoever."
"Muu."
"Let us go home while they are still treating us as guests. They’ve even packed several souvenirs for us."
"Apples. We have apples, right?"
"Do not worry. We received plenty."
"Fine, fine. Let's head back."
"Yes, Master. Oh, and you must not return to your original size while we're still here."
And so, the dragon departed. I had sent them off with a significant amount of produce, but I still felt it wasn't nearly enough to pay for that sword.
In any case, the visit gave me a lot to think about. This village simply wasn't built to handle guests. I hadn't originally intended for it to be, so it couldn't be helped, but being too closed-off was a problem. I really needed to do something about it.
First, even if we had to keep guests waiting or were trying to buy time, we couldn't just leave them standing outside. On the other hand, if we brought them into my house, they could see everything we were doing. I hadn't designed the place with guest rooms in mind. The solution was simple: I would build a house specifically for visitors.
Next was our reception system. It wasn't efficient for nearly the entire population to gather every time someone showed up. Entertaining guests was important, but everyone had their own jobs to do. Currently, Granmaria, Kudel, and Corone were responsible for spotting and escorting visitors... but they brought them straight in without any prior notice. We only realized someone had arrived when Zabuton’s alarm went off as they approached the village. Because it was the same alarm used for intruders, everyone dropped what they were doing and rushed over.
To fix this, I asked Zabuton to come up with a new signal. The alarm for danger would stay the same, but for peaceful visitors, I asked her to ring a bell.
The bell itself was handmade by Ria and the high elves. I’d assumed that hitting iron would produce a decent enough sound, but apparently, it wasn't that simple. They struggled for a while to get the tone right, but they had recently brought me a well-crafted bell that they were finally satisfied with. We would use that.
As for the welcoming committee, I proposed a basic team consisting of myself, Lu, and Tia. However, I immediately met resistance from Ann, Ria, and Daga. In the end, we decided that a few representatives from the high elves, high ogres, and lizardmen would join the three of us to greet guests.
I had wanted to include Flora as well, but I asked her to serve as a guard in the event that guests stayed overnight. I’d learned that Lu, Tia, Ria, and Ann could all go several days without sleep if they had to, but I wanted them to get proper rest at night. Thus, I secured Flora as our designated night-watch.
With that, we should be prepared. I suppose I’ll just have to keep making improvements as we stumble along. Not that I expected visitors to show up all that often, anyway.
And just like that, I’d raised a flag.
Another visitor arrived.