I finished carving a statue of the Creator God in my workshop. It stood over two meters tall, slightly larger than life-size. The request for the piece to be placed in the Village Five church had specified that it should be on the more imposing side.
I was quite pleased with the craftsmanship, but I soon realized I’d made a tactical error regarding where I chose to carve it. The Progenitor was standing nearby, watching me with envious eyes.
"Wait, Progenitor-san, didn't I already give you the ones you ordered?" I asked.
"It is the sad nature of man to desire a complete set," he replied.
You’re a vampire, though. Still, I made him an offer. "If you help me transport this one, I’ll carve you another."
He agreed instantly. I appreciated the help, though I warned him it wouldn't be an exact replica. I told him that the wood dictates its own final form—and then I felt a bit embarrassed for sounding like a pretentious artist.
"By the way, Village Head," he said, gesturing to the side. "What are these?"
"Miniatures of Kuro, Yuki, Zabuton, the cat, and the Sake Slime."
"They’re very lifelike. Are you making them as souvenirs?"
"Hardly. Seles—the Saint of Village Five—requested them."
I was making a conscious effort to call her Seles. She had personally asked me to use her name rather than her title. When I thought about it, calling her 'Saint' was just addressing her by her job description. I felt a little bad for not realizing that sooner.
With the help of the Progenitor’s teleportation magic and the manual labor of the Lizardmen, we installed the statue of the Creator God in the main hall of the Village Five church. It was placed in a very prominent spot; I worried it might be a bit much, but the Progenitor assured me it was fine, and Seles was the one in charge here anyway.
I had prepared holes in the back of the statue to attach several rods that fanned out like a halo. It looked like a three-dimensional version of the focus lines used in manga. I’d wondered if it was overkill, but I figured it made the divinity easier to recognize. The Progenitor seemed surprised by the effect; perhaps it was a technique he hadn't seen before, though I thought depictions of deities with halos were quite ancient.
As for the miniatures of Kuro and the others, those weren't for the public hall. They were placed in Seles’s private quarters, nestled at the base of a potted plant. It was a nice, cozy spot for them.
After the installation, I took some time to tour the village. When I had delivered the unicorns previously, I hadn't had the chance to really look around. Village Five had developed significantly. The High Elves had worked wonders on the hilltop, turning it into a proper settlement.
The most striking buildings were the Village Head’s Mansion—built toward the north—and the church right next to it. A short distance away stood the Village Assembly Hall, a large open ground, and a small ranch. A trading post sat adjacent to the ranch.
Since I had entrusted the representation of the village and the duties of Acting Village Head to Yoko, the official residence was generally referred to as Yoko’s Mansion. In its basement lay the teleportation gate connecting us to the Great Tree Dungeon. The mansion was treated as Yoko’s private domain, and about twenty servants she had selected lived there. The secret of the gate was kept from them; Futa managed the security, and apparently, the servants had never tried to snoop around.
Furthermore, three new members of the Mercury Race had been brought in to serve as Yoko’s assistants.
First was Hii Fougma. He had the rugged look of a middle-aged veteran warrior. You’d expect him to be better with a sword than a pen, but he was surprisingly intellectual. He was slated to lead any military force the village might need to organize in an emergency. He was also incredibly popular with the village widows, who constantly brought him food during his lunch breaks.
"My stomach isn't quite that large, and yet... urp," he muttered, though he was too polite to leave any of it uneaten.
Then there was Roku Fougma, a young civil official. He wore glasses and carried an air of great intelligence. When we first met, he tried to act cool and composed, but he had already buckled under the sheer mountain of paperwork he’d inherited from the Civil Official Girls. He had since transformed into a frantic, hot-blooded character.
"Please, send Miyo to help me! I can't possibly do this alone!" he wailed. I could only offer my silent apologies and hope he did his best.
Finally, there was Nana Fougma. At first glance, she looked like an ordinary village girl, the kind you’d see anywhere. However, her skill was immense. She had a terrifying capacity for processing information and an intuition that ensured nothing important escaped her notice. She was based in Village Five to coordinate information gathering, which was vital for tracking things like regional crop prices and news. Currently, she was selecting and training personnel for her network.
I did notice her trainees were practicing with knives, though. I assumed it was for self-defense.
Because Yoko’s Mansion was a private space, she handled her public duties at the Village Assembly Hall. The building consisted of a large conference room and several small offices. Yoko used one of those small rooms as her primary office, assisted by several highly efficient male and female secretaries recruited from the village. They were impressively professional. Seeing Yoko handle her role so capably made me want to cook her favorite meal as a reward.
In the large conference room, the chairs and tables were arranged in a circle, but one chair sat on a raised platform. I assumed it was Yoko’s, but I was corrected—apparently, it was my seat. The secretary guiding me explained that the seat to the right of it was for the Acting Village Head. I asked if we could perhaps lower my chair to a normal height, but the request was denied. I could only pray I wouldn't have many reasons to attend meetings there.
The Assembly Hall also featured a dining hall. The chief there was a former employee of Maruura from Big Roof Shashato. The curry he served was excellent, though he remained humble about his skills.
Seles and the priests managed the church, which was now the venue for all the village's major life events. I understood weddings and funerals, but they also handled things like coming-of-age ceremonies, the New Year's festival, and the upcoming harvest festival. They worked in coordination with Yoko. It sounded like a lot of work, but I had high hopes for them.
The open ground was intended for events, but on normal days, it was open to the children as a playground. Space was at a premium on the slopes of a hill, after all. The small ranch nearby was for boarding carriage horses and messenger horses. While it was a temporary facility, a much larger ranch had already been completed at the base of the hill. It turned out the ranch where I’d left the unicorns had helped build it, and most of the village's horses came from there. I made a note to go and pay my respects soon.
The hilltop trading post was used for the temporary storage and sale of goods brought in by carriage. Since a larger, more comprehensive trading post had been established at the foot of the hill, this one remained small. Originally, only the upper one existed, but the slope proved too difficult for the horses, necessitating the lower facility. This was only possible because the local adventurers had made the surrounding area safe.
While the hilltop was well-developed, the construction speed on the hillsides was also breathtaking. The sheer number of people working was a testament to the village's growth. Construction was being kept to a manageable pace because of the winter, but looking down from above, the sight of so many active sites gave the place a real sense of vitality. I decided not to think too hard about the exact population count and leave that to Yoko.
It was cold, but unlike the Village of the Great Tree, there was no snow on the ground here. It simply didn't fall in this area. However, the wind on the hillside was fierce. Each house was built with wind protection in mind. I noticed many of the doors and windows were sliding types rather than hinged; this was partly for the wind and partly to keep the narrow hillside paths clear. It was a distinct regional style.
The most noticeable features were the safety railings and the nets stretched out in various spots to catch anyone who might fall. I even saw nets stretched over the roofs of some houses, likely because someone had fallen onto them from a higher path. The mismatched colors of the roof tiles suggested repairs had been made. I hadn't heard of any deaths, so I hoped the injuries weren't too severe.
A train of carriages soon crested the large southern road, bearing the crest of the Goroun Company. They bypassed the trading post and headed straight for Yoko’s Mansion. It was the season for seafood shipments.
I looked forward to fresh seafood tonight. Since it was so cold, a hot pot sounded perfect. I cut my tour short and followed the carriages back to the mansion.
However, I was stopped at the entrance by a new gatekeeper who took me for a suspicious person. He didn't recognize my face at all. It was a bit of a shock.