Village Two belonged to the Minotaurs.
First, I installed the statues I had carved of Kuro, Yuki, and Zabuton for the village shrine. Zabuton’s children living in Village Two carried their mother's statue up into the canopy of a massive tree. I warned them to secure it tightly so it wouldn't fall. Once they were finished, I paid my respects to God.
On the way to the village, I noticed a slight issue while crossing the newly improved bridge. The side walls were actually a hindrance when transporting large items like the statues. We hadn't noticed before because we usually relied on Rusty and Hakuren to ferry supplies through the air. I’ll have to revisit the bridge design later.
The Minotaurs in Village Two were originally farmers, so I wasn't particularly worried about their skills.
"Please, we would like a reservoir in this area," they requested.
While I had been busy back at the Village of the Great Tree, the waterway for Village Two had already been finished. It was constructed from bamboo. They had processed the materials and built the foundations during the winter, then assembled the whole thing as soon as spring arrived. They estimated that while a bamboo waterway lacked water volume and durability, its ease of maintenance made it a solid choice for now. They were already planning Waterway No. 2 to increase the flow.
I created the reservoir in the spot they designated and dug out a drainage waterway.
"That was incredibly fast. We couldn't even make a dent in the ground ourselves..."
It was all thanks to the Universal Farming Tool. I told them that if they truly wanted to thank me, they should simply take good care of the shrine.
Come to think of it, I wondered what their faith was like. I worried for a moment that the shrine I'd built might be an eyesore if they worshipped someone else. I decided to ask Gordon.
"We worship the God of Agriculture, but we aren't so fanatical that we would exclude other deities," he explained.
"I see. Well, the God of Agriculture is actually one of the statues in there."
"So I have heard. It isn't the form we are familiar with, but that is not a problem."
"Is that so? Well, once we have some breathing room, I'll carve another statue of the Agriculture God in the form you know."
"Thank you very much."
With that settled, it was time for my real job.
"We want the fields to focus on grains," Gordon said. "However, relying on a single crop is risky if the harvest is poor, so we'd like several varieties. We’d also like an orchard if possible."
I began tilling the fields according to Village Two's requests. I left the positioning and size entirely up to them. While using the Universal Farming Tool made the initial planting easy, they planned to use the seeds from the first harvest for all subsequent seasons. I decided it was better to use the Minotaurs' sense of scale rather than my own standardized measurements.
In the end, we established sixteen-by-sixteen blocks of crop fields. We planted wheat, corn, foxtail millet, barnyard millet, and proso millet. To be honest, I only knew the three types of millet by name, but the Minotaurs were familiar with them. I'd also seen them in the supplies I'd bought from Michael, so I knew what they looked like. I worked hard while holding the actual seeds and listening to the Minotaurs' explanations, trusting the Universal Farming Tool to handle the rest.
The orchard consisted of eight-by-eight blocks. We focused on mandarins, peaches, apples, and pears. I also mixed in a few lemons and limes.
Additionally, we set aside an eight-by-eight area to start raising goats. Preparations had begun before I arrived, so a fence, a goat house, and a watering hole were already in place. I tilled the ground in the goat area with my tool so that nutrient-rich grass would grow.
Then came the livestock. Six goats were brought over from the Village of the Great Tree. It was my personal request that they breed these first goats rather than eating them.
"We have people with experience making cheese from goat milk, so we'll be prioritizing that anyway," Gordon assured me.
I left them to it. They seemed to have plenty of other ideas they wanted to try, but for now, they were focused on establishing a firm foundation. I had no objections to that.
"Thank you for entrusting us with such vast fields."
"We'll do our best to raise them well."
"We'll take good care of the goats, too."
Leaving behind their words of gratitude, I headed for Village Three.
I apologized for the delay as I arrived. I installed the statues of Kuro, Yuki, and Zabuton in the Village Three shrine. Just like in Village Two, Zabuton's children living here carried her statue up into a large tree. I made sure they wouldn't drop it. Then, I offered my greetings to God.
The Centaurs' faiths were diverse, but the God of War was the most popular. I’ll have to make a statue for him when I have the time.
Village Three belonged to the Centaurs. Their waterway was also finished. I had been slightly worried since the adult population consisted entirely of women, but it turned out the Minotaurs from Village Two had helped them. Consequently, they also had a bamboo waterway. In exchange for the construction help, the Centaurs had been crafting various household items for the Minotaurs. It was a wonderful arrangement.
After digging the reservoir and drainage waterway, I moved on to the fields. At the request of the residents, Village Three would focus on vegetables to avoid overlapping with Village Two’s production. This was a result of a discussion between the two villages.
The fields were sixteen-by-sixteen blocks, focusing on carrots, daikon, eggplants, and pumpkins. I also experimented with potatoes, sweet potatoes, strawberries, watermelons, and melons.
The orchard was eight-by-eight blocks. At first, I thought apples would be the safest bet, but they requested a large number of peaches.
"Peaches are magnificent," they declared.
It seemed the Centaurs had fallen in love with the peaches served at the Village of the Great Tree. However, peaches are difficult to store for long periods. I gave them plenty of peach trees but ensured they also grew persimmons and mandarins.
Finally, we discussed whether they should raise animals like Village Two. They decided on chickens. I prepared a four-by-four area and used the Universal Farming Tool to encourage the growth of suitable feed.
I built a fence before the chickens arrived. As long as they didn't escape, it would be fine, so I harvested logs from the forest and quickly lined them up. I installed a simple gate at the entrance and called it done.
As for the chicken coop and watering hole, I figured I'd let the Centaurs handle that... but then I remembered they were all women. I called over a few High Elves, and we knocked out the coop and watering hole in one go. Then we brought in about ten chickens from the main village. I gave them the same plea: please breed them first instead of eating them.
With that, my work at Village Three was mostly finished.
Or so I thought, but there was one more task: security. I needed to build fences and moats. I had put it off before because I knew small-scale fortifications wouldn't be very effective, and I didn't have the time. In the interim, Kuro's children had been keeping a watchful eye and had hunted a significant amount of game during the winter. I was grateful for that.
Kuro's children would continue to be stationed here, but I wanted to at least enclose the residential areas. First, I dug the moats, working through the earth rapidly. Then I moved on to the fences. I felled large trees in the forest and lined them up around the perimeter. I secured an entrance, built a bridge over the moat, and finished. Enclosing just the houses didn't take much time at all. Surrounding the entire village would have to wait for another occasion, especially since we might expand the fields later.
After finishing up at Village Three, I returned to Village Two to do the same for their residential area.
By the time I returned to the Village of the Great Tree, about a hundred of Kuro's children born the previous year had gathered to set out together.
"Oh? Going to find partners?"
I’d been caught off guard because they hadn't left recently. It felt a little lonely. However, more than half of last year's litter was staying behind. I reached out to pet a nearby wolf, but Kuro immediately shoved his way in front.
"Hahaha. There, there."
I petted Kuro first. When I looked to see who was next, Yuki was waiting.
"Yes, yes."
I was happy to pet them, but a massive line was starting to form. It was getting a bit overwhelming.
"I’d really appreciate it if you guys didn't form a queue..."
Wait, why were the Beastman girls and High Ogre Maids lining up there too? I ended up playing with Kuro and the others until nightfall.
Back at the village, preparations for my house renovation were underway. The plan was to take the existing long structure, stretch it even further, and then wrap it around. They were also going to build a proper bath.
The main concern was the dormitory for the High Ogre Maids. It turned out they were going to fully incorporate the dorms into the main house. They would also increase the area for the chickens while reducing the size of the nearby fields. Since those fields were mostly for small-scale experiments, I didn't mind the downsizing, but the new floor plan was staggering.
The house was going to be massive—nearly two hundred meters wide. When I asked if it wasn't a bit much, they simply insisted it was no problem. I suppose that was that.
Since the renovation was happening in stages, I didn't have to move out. They divided the house into blocks and worked on them one by one, starting with the new additions. I spent my time felling and transporting timber from the forest. Helpers even arrived from Village Two and Village Three to assist with the labor and learn construction techniques.
I had assumed the house would be entirely wood again, but I was wrong. They built a solid foundation, laid stone, and then reinforced it with a concrete-like substance.
"This time, we're building a house of wood and stone," they explained. "Wooden houses are lovely, but for the sake of appearance and prestige, we should incorporate stone as well."
I left the details to them and focused on processing the timber they requested.
Before the house could be finished, the harvest season arrived at the Village of the Great Tree, and all other work was suspended. We hurried to bring in the crops. Once the harvest was over, it would be time to prepare the fields for the next cycle.
With Village Two, Village Three, and all of Kuro's offspring to consider, I couldn't afford to be complacent about our food supply. I briefly considered reducing the size of the fields dedicated to brewing sake, but I crumbled under the silent, pleading stares of the Dwarves and left them as they were.
Once our harvest was done, I’d have to head back to Village Two and Village Three to help with theirs and prepare their new fields. You can never have too much food.
One way or another, I was a very busy man.