Morte was the wife of Jack, the leader of the migrants in Village One.
She was capable of something a bit unusual: Spirit Magic.
While ordinary magic achieved its effects by using one’s own magic power or the mana in the atmosphere, Spirit Magic apparently worked by employing spirits to produce results. The explanation was a bit technical for me to grasp fully, but I understood the concept once she gave me a practical demonstration.
"This is a Fire Spirit."
Just as I thought I glimpsed something resembling a fire lizard, it ignited the tip of some straw with a small puff and vanished.
"The weakness is that the effect is strong where spirits are present, but it cannot be used at all in places where they are absent," Morte explained.
"If spirits are present, can you use magic indefinitely?"
"In theory, yes, but communing with them involves a great deal of mental fatigue."
It seemed there was no such thing as a free lunch.
"For now, here in Village One... the Tree Spirits and Water Spirits are quite strong."
I could somehow understand that, given the surroundings.
"What about Earth Spirits?"
"It seems they are quite weak around here for some reason... however, I can feel them gradually growing stronger."
"If the Earth Spirits get stronger, it won't cause earthquakes or anything, will it?"
"No, it’s not like that; it feels more like they are recovering."
That was a relief to hear.
"By the way, I can more or less imagine what Fire or Water Spirits do, but what can a Tree Spirit do?"
"Things like hiding oneself within the forest. For example..."
She focused her mind, much like she had when calling the Fire Spirit earlier. However, nothing happened.
"Did it fail?" I asked.
"That’s strange. I can definitely feel a spirit nearby...?"
As she tilted her head in confusion, a Nyunyu-daphne in the form of a tree stump came walking slowly toward us.
"Did you call for me?" she asked.
Ah, that’s right. It had been explained to me before that the Nyunyu-daphne were essentially Tree Spirits. It seemed I had been "using" Spirit Magic without even realizing it. Incidentally, Morte’s Spirit Magic was apparently only capable of small spells that made daily life a little more convenient.
The residents of Village One seemed to have adjusted reasonably well to their new lives.
"Yes. They have also started consuming their food properly now," Morte reported.
Initially, we had been preparing and distributing meals for the Village One migrants, but that couldn't continue forever. After they learned how to cook, we decided to provide them with raw ingredients periodically. Since both sides were uneasy about handing over a full year's worth of food all at once, we started by giving them a thirty-day supply of non-perishable food. On top of that, we distributed additional food every ten days. We planned to monitor the situation, and if it worked out, we would eventually hand over a year's supply.
The unexpected part was that as soon as we left the rationing to them, they stopped consuming the food. It wasn't that they weren't eating at all, but their consumption was extremely low. For example, their daily intake consisted of a salted soup for breakfast, nothing for lunch, and two steamed potatoes for dinner.
I ended up having to station guards to monitor them for a while. It would be a problem if they didn't eat properly. It wasn't that they couldn't eat; when we were the ones cooking the meals, they ate everything provided and even asked for seconds.
I finally managed to coax the reason out of them. Since they didn't feel they were "useful" yet, they felt guilty about consuming the village's resources. While "those who do not work shall not eat" is a common sentiment, I struggled to get them to understand the concept of an investment. The fact that they were living stably in the village was enough of a contribution for me, but they were acutely aware of their perceived lack of utility.
I couldn't have them collapsing from malnutrition, and it would reflect poorly on Fouche as well. I didn't want to resort to it, but I had to use an "emergency measure."
"If you don't eat this soon, it's going to rot!"
I intentionally changed the food I distributed to items that didn't keep well. That was a little while ago; now, they each had assigned tasks and seemed to be eating properly. It was a relief. Spirit Magic was just one of the skills they revealed as they grew comfortable enough to open their hearts and find their place in the village.
As a side note, the primary jobs for the new residents of Village One were agriculture, handicraft, and papermaking.
Agriculture was handled by both men and women. During the day, they worked hard at what were currently kitchen gardens while seeking advice from the Minotaurs.
Handicraft was primarily the work of the men. They made various items, but they were exceptionally skilled at bamboo crafts, so I left that to them. They were currently in the process of establishing a bamboo grove near Village One. Also, one man had become obsessed with knitting and occasionally went to learn from Zabuton. He presented me with a finished sweater as a gift, though a long-sleeved wool garment felt a bit hot for the coming summer. I didn't think his wife needed to force herself to wear hers either, though I understood it was a masterpiece filled with affection.
Papermaking was handled mainly by the women. This hadn't started out of nowhere; it happened in stages. Before moving to Village One, they had learned to read and write from Fouche. To ensure those skills didn't go to waste, we looked for related work, which led to transcription—copying books to create new ones.
Seeing that made me remember Movable Type Printing. I was quickly cornered by the Mountain Elves, who interrogated me for details and eventually completed a working press through trial and error. To put Movable Type Printing simply, you make character stamps and press them together. The concept is simple, but the technical execution is difficult, especially the stamps. If the heights aren't uniform, you can't print cleanly.
I considered making the character stamps out of iron for durability, but we were currently using bamboo because it was easier to process. Initially, the women were making them, but the men were faster, so it became their job. We still didn't have a full set yet.
While waiting for the stamps, the women moved on to papermaking. We had a stockpile of paper, but printing would consume it rapidly. Buying it from Michael was expensive, so we decided to make our own. I had been growing plants for paper that I’d received from Dos, and I provided the technology for making Washi.
The women of Village One had a string of failures at first, but they had recently reached a point where the paper was usable. Alongside that, they were experimenting with making printing ink. Perhaps one day we could say that the primary industry of Village One was printing.
However, I had heard that some people made a living through transcription. If we started mass-producing books, it might threaten their livelihoods. We hadn't started in earnest yet, but I was considering voluntarily limiting our output. For now, we would focus on printing educational books for the children in the various villages. I thought about printing flyers for the outside world, but most people couldn't read. Increasing the literacy rate was a job for rulers, not me. All I could do was gift our books to the orphanage Beezel had established.
While Village One was working hard, the Village of the Great Tree had its own tasks—namely, preparing for the festival. The population had grown quite a bit; if we included everyone from the three outer villages, there would be around four hundred people.
Those who were free repaired the venue and added more outhouses. We also expanded the food preparation area. The High Ogre maids were busy developing several new recipes.
Once the venue was mostly ready, I spent time with Kuro's and Zabuton's children. It wasn't just play; these were the ones scheduled for guard duty on the day of the festival. Since they wouldn't be able to participate, this was their pre-festival reward.
With Kuro's offspring, I played with flying discs and balls, and we went hunting. I acted more as a supervisor. Each of them showed off their strength, and I made sure to praise them. Fanged Rabbits were dispatched instantly, and they could take down a giant boar with a pack of four. They were incredibly strong. We did this in rotation over several days, securing a massive amount of meat for the festival.
With Zabuton's offspring, we did various things, including a fashion show and more hunting. The main activity, however, was creating life-sized sculptures of them. I couldn't do them for everyone, so they narrowed down the candidates. I faithfully reproduced the elaborate poses the representatives had come up with. I planned to display them inside my mansion. I wondered if visitors would be surprised. Incidentally, the last one I carved was titled "Sergeant Zabuton Commanding While Drinking Coffee."
While I was sculpting, Urza looked after Zabuton's children for me. It was a big help, though I told her not to go too deep into the forest.
When the sculpture was finished, I looked toward the woods to check on her.
Spin, spin, spin... land!
Urza had several of Zabuton's children clinging to her waist and back, and she was flying through the trees using their silk threads.
Wait, was that Vertical Maneuvering Equipment?
The title of a certain anime flashed through my mind. It looked like she could hold her own even if a Giant showed up.