Morning arrived.
My patrol of the fields was done.
A hammock.
A bed made of suspended cloth or netting.
Well, I was just personally assuming it was a bed; in reality, it might have some other use entirely. However, I had a clear image of the finished product in my mind, so I decided to try making one.
As for the location... it had to be outdoors. Hammocks belong in the great outdoors. I set up two poles in the shade of a tree in the mansion's garden.
Good. Now all I had to do was stretch some cloth or netting between the poles and it would be complete.
...
It was unexpectedly difficult. However, after a process of trial and error, I managed to finish it. The netting got all tangled up midway through, so I settled for a cloth hammock.
Yeah, it wasn't a bad job at all.
Oops, it was too early to relax. Using a hammock required technique as well. First, I tried to climb in from the side... hmph, whoa!
"Village Head, what have you been doing for quite some time now?"
Ria, the High Elf, was standing beside me before I knew it.
"I was thinking of using this hammock."
I had just been slammed into the ground. Please, don't mind me.
"Like this?"
She climbed onto the hammock with ease. Then Ria lay back.
"The trick to a hammock is to lie across it horizontally or diagonally, rather than vertically."
"Err... do you know about hammocks?"
"Yes. We used them frequently when we lived in the forest."
So she was an expert. Then my struggle couldn't be helped.
"What's this? What's this?"
Urza, Gural, Alfred, and Tiselle arrived. It seemed their studies for the day were over.
"It's a place to sleep while being rocked. Careful, though—there's a trick to getting on."
...
They all climbed on effortlessly. I had a feeling that would happen. Since the hammock had been occupied by the children, my work here was done. I looked at Ria.
"Since you came all this way, did you have business with me?"
"That's right. Frau was looking for you to hold a meeting regarding Village Five."
"The name of the village hasn't been decided yet."
The "Village Five" Frau was referring to was the settlement where the teleportation gate would be installed. Work on the project had begun in earnest a short while ago.
"It's just for convenience."
"I have a feeling that's going to become the official name."
"In that case, how about you come up with a name for the new village first?"
Hmm...
"Gate Village."
"Eh? We're supposed to be hiding the existence of the teleportation gate, aren't we?"
That’s right. Village Five would do for the time being.
"Urza, Gural, Alfred, Tiselle. Lunch is coming up soon, so don't wander off too far."
Let's see... Kurosan and the others were the ones watching over the children. Sorry, but I'm counting on you.
I made my way to the meeting room. The content of the meeting was, naturally, related to Village Five.
"Who brewed this? This coffee is delicious."
"I worked very hard on it."
"It certainly has a lovely aroma."
"This isn't bad either, but I think I prefer black tea."
"Eh, isn't black tea bitter? I'm a bit hesitant to use tons of sugar."
"I brought some tea snacks~"
"Are you going to eat those before lunch?"
"There's always room for dessert, always room for dessert."
Chatter, chatter.
...
"What happened to the talk about Village Five?"
At my words, the meeting room fell silent. The Civil Official Girls were basically serious people—especially when Frau was around. Even if they chatted in the meeting room, it was rare for them to be this escapist. I decided to check for the reason.
So, they were scared because the list of responsible parties sent by the Demon Kingdom was filled with high-ranking names? Is that why they were being so avoidant?
High-ranking people... like the two from the previous generation of the Four Heavenly Kings? No? Those people were high-ranking too, but there were incredible people listed under them? What did that mean?
Ah, the grandchildren of the previous Four Heavenly Kings were here. The three of them.
"One of you, explain on their behalf."
"Ye-yes. Well, you see... for example, this person written in the middle of the list. Lord Zaiash. He was a close aide to the previous generation, and while the previous generation was active as part of the Four Heavenly Kings, he was the one who handled the management of their territory single-handedly."
"So he's a capable domestic official?"
"Yes. However, back then... because he worked too hard, he was resented by others and faced interference from other territories."
"Interference, huh. There are people everywhere who think it's easier to pull others down than to work hard themselves."
"Unfortunately. And Lord Zaiash is someone who absolutely loathes such behavior... there is an episode where he went alone to the territory that was interfering and punched out everyone involved."
"Err... he's a domestic official, right?"
"He is a domestic official. Furthermore, the story continues. Since it was a dispute between territories, the Demon King at the time stepped in as the superior. Normally, he should have been fair and neutral, but the official dispatched by the Demon King had accepted bribes from the opposing territory. Just as he judged Lord Zaiash to be unilaterally in the 'wrong,' Zaiash punched him out too."
...
"Even though the other side was in the wrong, his title was an official dispatched by the Demon King. After that, a punitive force was sent in, but he repelled that as well. Ultimately, the Demon King of that era and his generals came out, and Zaiash was only suppressed after he had defeated two of the generals."
"Shouldn't that guy have just been a general instead?"
"Perhaps. Anyway, Lord Zaiash is the kind of man who has episodes like that."
"I see. He certainly sounds scary."
"And as for the members on this list from the Demon Kingdom's side... excluding the two from the previous generation, this Lord Zaiash is actually the most well-behaved among them."
"...Are the civil officials of the Demon Kingdom all made up of the martial-arts type?"
"There was an era where things wouldn't stay together without a certain amount of martial prowess."
In other words, this list was lined with civil officials who had flourished during such a turbulent era. And the Civil Official Girls were intimidated and bewildered by that.
Incidentally, the suppressed Zaiash was apparently shielded by the Four Heavenly Kings of that time and continued to manage the territory afterward. However, he reportedly caused two more similar incidents after that.
Hmm. I was scared too. I didn't want to deal with people like that. They might have logic on their side, but violence was a problem. In times like this, I would usually ask our village's diplomat, Rusty, but she was currently pregnant.
Come to think of it, she was due to give birth very soon. The frequency of visits from Dos, Draim, and the others was increasing. I understood how they felt, but I didn't want them to put too much pressure on her.
Also, Dos. Stop bragging to Giral about a great-grandchild who hasn't even been born yet. Or rather, whether it was Dos or Giral, they both came over quite often. Giral probably wanted to see Gural, but was he really okay to be away from his own home so much? He was? Then I didn't mind, but...
...
Oops, no good. I was being escapist myself.
So this was it. Hmm. Procrastinating wouldn't solve anything... but for now, shall we revisit this after lunch? After lunch, I would fight without running away. Against reality.
When I went to the hammock area to call Urza and the others for lunch, all four of them were sleeping in the hammock together. Looking closely, it seemed the spiderlings' threads were pulling on various parts of the hammock to maintain the balance for them. I waved my hand to convey my thanks. Ah, and thank you to Kurosan and the others for watching over them too.
They looked like they were sleeping comfortably, but sorry, it was lunch time. Time to wake up.
After lunch, the meeting resumed. For the time being, I intended to decide on the person in charge on our side—the person in charge of practical operations. If there were no volunteers, I planned to decide by drawing lots, but...
Several of the Civil Official Girls said, "Please wait a moment," went out, and came back. They were carrying Yoko in her beast form between them.
...
"Yoko-san will be the executive officer for the Village of the Great Tree. Of course, we, the Civil Official Girls, will support her with our full strength."
I asked Yoko if she was okay with that. She replied that there was no problem. Apparently, there were no bribes or backroom deals involved.
Yoko, huh. I didn't think it was a bad choice, but... it hadn't been long since she arrived at the village. Would it be okay?
Whether she found my anxiety insulting or not, Yoko transformed into her human form.
"Rest assured, leave it to me."
She was more persuasive than in her beast form, but why was she stark naked? Because of that, Frau and the others had to cover my eyes.
Conserving magic power? Because she had been creating her clothes with magic power. The reason she had been staying in her beast form lately was also to recover her magic power. I see.
Yoko returned to her beast form, so my eyes were released. Yoko waited in front of me in a sitting posture.
All right. I'll leave it to you. Civil Official Girls, I'm counting on you for the support.
Good, that was a fine answer.
Now, before we get into the fine details. Just now, while my eyes were covered, someone engaged in excessive skinship, didn't they? To be precise, someone stroked my rear. Step forward honestly.
It's okay. I know. I know it wasn't just one person. There were at least three. Don't worry, I won't be the one giving out the punishment. Frau will do it. I'll leave it to you.
...
Ah—wait. One of the culprits has been identified. Frau, was it you? What are you doing? No, just because there was an opening... honestly, you.
I sentenced Frau and the four others who confessed to the penalty of "no snacks for today."
The meeting ended, and I returned to the hammock area. I thought I'd take a break since I was a bit tired, but...
The Sake Slime and the Cat were on the hammock, sleeping comfortably.
...
I gave up on the break and decided to go for another patrol of the fields instead.