Tia and I named our daughter Tiselle.
She was a healthy baby girl, and I prayed she would stay that way.
Once Tia had recovered enough, we held a banquet to celebrate the birth. I ended up overindulging a little. Alfred now had a younger sister, though he didn't seem to fully grasp the concept of being a big brother just yet.
Ya served as the representative for the Mountain Elves. While they were initially bewildered by village life, they followed the same path to integration as everyone before them. They gradually grew accustomed to their new home, and after about ten days, they had settled in completely.
From what I could see, their primary method of hunting involved setting traps. Since they weren't yet used to the local wildlife, they weren't seeing much in the way of results. To compensate, they threw themselves into mining, and they proved to be an immediate asset when it came to processing materials.
They were even more talented at pottery than I had anticipated. They had taken an interest after watching me mess around with clay, but once they tried their hand at it, they put me to shame. There was some trial and error involved in the firing process, but eventually, they were able to achieve consistent results using a kiln. They even perfectly crafted the large crocks I had wanted for storing sake, ensuring they were completely watertight. We decided to have them focus primarily on pottery during the winter months.
Just as winter was beginning to set in, the investigation team returned from the northern dungeon. They carried a massive haul of materials harvested from monsters, looking quite proud of their achievements.
"We found a friendly group from the Giant Race inside the dungeon, so we proceeded with the investigation in cooperation with them. The dungeon extends further to the north. While we don't know its full extent yet, it seems quite vast."
"Did you encounter any dangerous creatures?" I asked.
"Yes. We confirmed the presence of several Bloody Vipers. Subjugating them would have been difficult, so we retreated for now. However, if we intend to conquer the dungeon, we'll have to deal with them eventually."
"Bloody Vipers... Ah, the giant snakes." They were the same kind of creature I’d seen rampaging with that massive bear before. "Should I go handle them?"
As soon as I made the suggestion, Rusty and Hakuren cut into the conversation.
"There's no need for the Village Head to go," Rusty said.
"That's right, that's right. We'll handle it ourselves!" Hakuren added.
"It would be a help if you two went," I noted, "but it's strange for you to be so proactive."
"Eh? I-I don't think that's the case at all," Rusty stammered.
"Yeah. Isn't this perfectly normal?" Hakuren asked.
When I pressed them on it, they finally confessed. Apparently, eating Bloody Viper meat was a potent way to boost one's vigor. Uh... did that mean it was highly nutritious, or was it more of a stimulant? According to them, the meat was highly prized by those wishing to conceive children.
When I’d gotten some before, I had just grilled it and eaten it without a second thought. I looked around to see if anyone else had known, but they all shook their heads.
"Opportunities to eat Bloody Viper are rare to begin with," someone noted.
However, it seemed they had felt the effects back then. I hadn't noticed a thing.
"Well, since I understand the reason now, I’ll give you the okay... but wait until spring arrives."
With that, the meeting was dismissed. We sorted the items brought back by the investigation team and moved them into the storehouse.
Wait. Vigor... and waiting until spring...
I decided not to think about the future. I would just be glad that it wasn't happening during winter when there was nowhere to run.
Winter arrived, and it was cold.
"I'd like to discuss the shortage of men and the introduction of a currency system," I proposed during a meeting with the village's key figures.
"I understand the concern about the shortage of men, but currency?"
"It's necessary when I think about our future."
"Is that so? I think things are fine as they are."
"Honestly, it's becoming a problem," I insisted.
"Has it caused some inconvenience for the Village Head?"
Currently, everything in the village technically belonged to me as the Village Head. Even prey caught during hunts was delivered to me first before being distributed. If someone wanted something, they needed my permission. In the early days, that was fine, but we had too many people now.
"If people come to me for every minor detail, it stalls my own work. I'm also worried that the village would grind to a halt if I were ever unreachable."
To be honest, I wanted them to feel free to handle the small things themselves. They were currently operating based on reports to me, but I could see a point in the near future where I wouldn't be able to process it all. For my part, I just wanted to focus on farming. I was even starting to think I should just dump the village management onto Frau or Rusty.
Since I couldn't quite bring myself to do that yet, I moved toward making the current situation more manageable.
"And your solution is the introduction of currency?"
"Yeah. By putting prices on things, I want small transactions to be handled independently. However, I expect that jumping straight into currency won't work well, and I can already see us being at the mercy of wild price fluctuations."
The economy is a monster. I hadn't the slightest delusion that an amateur like me could suddenly control it.
"Then what do you propose?"
"We'll take it in stages. This is the first step."
I produced several stones processed into the shape of large coins. On one side, I had carved a picture of the Great Tree, and on the other, I had depicted the God of Agriculture enshrined in our shrine.
"What are these?"
"I’ve come up with a preliminary step before we commit to full currency: Reward Medals."
"How will they work?"
"Once a year, a few will be distributed to every villager."
"Ah, I see. So in exchange for these Reward Medals, you can receive items or have work done for you."
"Exactly."
Rather than actual money, they were more like universal vouchers.
"I'll also give these to those who contribute significantly to the village, as well as to winners of tournaments or games."
"Ohh!"
My plan was to have everyone get used to this system first, then gradually shift to a proper currency. It was a long-term project.
"What do you think?"
"Let's try it for a year and see," they decided.
"By the way... regarding these Reward Medals, if we're to distribute them to every villager, we'll need quite a lot of them."
I didn't think there were any dishonest people in the village, but I wanted to prevent counterfeiting just in case. So, I put a significant amount of work into them. Currently, I was the only one who could process stone to that level of detail using the Universal Farming Tool.
The hard part is only at the beginning, I told myself. Just the beginning.
I kept repeating that as I spent the winter silently toiling away on the Reward Medals. Hehe. Try and counterfeit these if you can. I even went so far as to add serial numbers to the edges and include hidden designs. The level of hassle increased exponentially.
"Wait, we didn't spend a single second discussing the shortage of men..."
"Oh."