Chapter 55
Chapter 20: Strangely, the Domain Keeps Developing (3)
Jade's eyes widened for an instant.
He was flustered by the unexpected words.
But seeing that, Fenil of the Blue Fox tribe hunched her shoulders.
The reaction had not been very favorable.
“C-Could we not?”
“The foxfolk want to stay too? Why would you?”
“Our original home was destroyed by the wolf tribe, and I thought living here would be safer for the children. I also want to learn how to interact with humans.”
“You’ve had a taste of civilization.”
Jade soon nodded as though he understood.
Unlike the wilderness, where they simply lived with whatever was available, the human world must have been full of wondrous and convenient things.
Once they had enjoyed such a life, it would not be easy to give it up, unless they had never known it in the first place.
Of course, many of them probably wanted to return home, but judging from Fenil's words, quite a few seemed to want to stay as well.
“Our tribe wants to stay too.”
“I came to see you to say the same thing, my lord.”
But it was not just Fenil and the foxfolk. Raul and Tyler also cautiously joined in.
They said they wanted to remain in Baden Village as well.
“You two, too?”
“Yes.”
Following Fenil, Raul and Tyler also watched Jade's reaction carefully.
Since Jade was the lord of the domain, they absolutely needed his permission to remain in Baden Village.
But judging from his reaction, Jade did not seem particularly pleased.
“C-Could we not?”
Fenil asked anxiously, watching his expression.
Like the rest of her tribespeople, she had grown accustomed to life in Baden Village.
More precisely, she had grown accustomed to human civilization.
But from the humans' perspective, the beastfolk were not much different from monsters, so they could easily be wary of them.
“There’s no reason you can’t. The elephant tribe is staying here too. I’m only surprised.”
“Ah.”
Fenil and the other two let out sighs of relief.
Fortunately, it seemed the worst-case scenario had been avoided.
“The real question is whether we can adapt well to one another. You’ll have to adapt to the human world, but the domain’s residents will have to do the same.”
“We’ll never cause any trouble.”
“That’s not something we can know in advance. Even if you’re careful, the humans might cause trouble first. No, that’s much more likely.”
Jade did not fundamentally trust humans very much.
Perhaps it was because he had not been born here, but had come from Earth.
Though he looked the same as everyone else, Jade believed he was different from the people of the continent of Arpedia.
“Even so, I’ll be careful to prevent as much conflict as possible.”
“Well, since I’m here, the chances of that happening are slim. But statistically speaking, they aren’t zero. Still, this is unexpected. I naturally assumed you would all return home.”
“Many intend to leave. Most of the monkeyfolk, for example, have returned to the Great Forest.”
“At present, only our Stone Mountain Monkey tribe remains.”
Moik answered, following up on Pent's words.
The monkey tribe had apparently suffered less damage to its home than the other beastfolk, since they mainly lived in the trees.
But just like the three tribes here, quite a few of them wanted to interact with humans. Moik felt the same way, so he had chosen to stay.
“Staying isn’t a problem, but there’s something you have to understand. In the human world, you must follow human laws. If you dislike that, I can’t give you permission.”
“We’ve already discussed that with all the tribes. So you don’t have to worry about it.”
“We discussed it too, and those who refused have already left.”
Fenil and Raul answered as though they had been waiting for the question.
They spoke with expressions markedly different from the ones they had worn moments before.
“Then that’s fine.”
Jade nodded.
The domain was already short on manpower, so it would benefit him if they stayed.
In a sense, he had gained a force that did not belong to the Polstein Kingdom.
Although they were staying in the marquisate, the beastfolk were not citizens of the Polstein Kingdom.
So from Jade's perspective, there was nothing to lose.
‘As long as they don’t cause any troublesome problems.’
-New troops, troops! There were roughly five hundred of them. There were too many coming and going to count them exactly, though!
As Jade tried to look on the bright side, Silestin's voice reached him.
She seemed to have been watching the beastfolk in real time, even though she had not told him about it.
-There’s no need to go that far.
-I do it because it’s fun. And even if I don’t ask, the children tell me things on their own! All our kids are incredibly curious!
-Running around without a moment's rest is their specialty.
Elestra said with a serious expression.
To put it kindly, they were bright and lively. Put more coldly, they were restless and chaotic.
They could not stay still for even a moment.
But that was also the nature of wind.
“Thank you, my lord!”
“We look forward to working with you!”
“But could the number of people increase even further?”
Jade tossed out the question when the group of men and women sprang to their feet and bowed deeply at the waist like humans.
He thought he should make at least some preparations in advance.
Five hundred people was by no means a small number, after all.
“Some may come out of curiosity, and others may return because they can’t forget the conveniences of civilization.”
“And children will be born as well, so I think the population will naturally increase.”
Pent chimed in to support Fenil's words.
Even if no one specifically came looking for them, the five tribes would certainly have children and naturally increase their numbers as they lived here.
“This place is safe, at least.”
“For a married couple, nothing is more important than that.”
“Aren’t you two going to have a huge number of children all at once?”
Perhaps because Jade had given them permission, Raul and Tyler exchanged glances and grinned lewdly.
Fenil gave the two men a disgusted look. It was obvious, even without an explanation, what they were imagining.
“Well, handle that yourselves. I have no right to meddle in your personal affairs. But consult Alfredo about building a village.”
“Understood.”
“Well then, that’s everything, right?”
“Yes.”
Jade wrapped things up, passing the minor tasks on to Alfredo.
Though it had been far too informal to call a meeting, he was still tired.
Since it was not work he normally did, it had been quietly stressful.
“We’ll take our leave now.”
“Mm.”
Jade gave the five people, who bowed politely, a casual wave.
He did so while practically lying back in his chair.
In the private training room he had built with care, Jade sat cross-legged and reviewed his battle with the Wolf King.
As he replayed the fight, he deeply considered what aspects he needed to develop and improve.
‘Real combat is definitely the best.’
Merely recalling the Wolf King's relentless offensive made his body tense up on its own.
The Wolf King had been that powerful.
At least in terms of pure physical ability, he had been far superior even to Jade after using Body Change.
However, the Wolf King's fatal mistake had been failing to properly utilize his strength.
‘He probably never fought an opponent on his own level. He could have subdued beastfolk with nothing but brute force.’
The Wolf King lacked experience because he had only ever fought easy battles.
That was why Jade had been able to win so easily.
But he could not simply celebrate that fact.
Swordsmanship alone had not been enough, so he had eventually used spirit arts.
‘Conversely, that means I still have room to grow.’
Jade chose to think positively.
His spirit arts had hit a wall and stagnated, so he thought swordsmanship might become the breakthrough he needed.
Besides, his body was not that of an ordinary human.
Having undergone metamorphosis, he had slightly broken free of the limits of the human race, which meant he still had room to grow.
‘Increasing my level is another option.’
Just experiencing Body Change once had completely altered his physical body.
That made Jade greedy.
‘If I undergo metamorphosis a few more times, I might become a being superior to ordinary humans.’
‘Of course, I’ll have to completely master this body first.’
While sparring with Arrelia, Jade had thought he had perfectly adapted to his new body.
He had thought he could use his physical body to its absolute limit.
But that had been nothing more than a misconception.
Having learned that while fighting the Wolf King, Jade finished reviewing the battle and entered meditation.
He contemplated his own physical body.
‘Even this body still has room to develop. I need to be able to control mana more broadly and more quickly.’
If the mana circuits he had before his metamorphosis had been a two-lane road, they were now an eight-lane road.
But Jade was not satisfied with that.
He believed there was still room for further development.
Rather than simply moving a large amount of mana at once, he practiced controlling it with extreme delicacy.
‘Density matters, but mana control is important too. Just being able to react a little faster will give me many more options. And I’ll be able to put those to use as well.’
Unlike the people here, Jade possessed a considerable amount of knowledge.
Many things could become incredibly powerful techniques depending on how they were used, so Jade was working to bring them to life one by one.
After all, the more weapons one had, the better.
“Phew.”
After expending considerable mental energy on mana control, Jade opened his eyes with a quiet sigh.
Just then, adorable forepaws and a water bottle appeared in front of him.
Whid had fetched the water bottle, bringing it over the instant Jade opened his eyes.
“Hehe! Thanks.”
Kyu-u!
Whid's eyes sparkled.
Whid was pleased that Jade had thanked them.
-Whid stared at Jade the entire time!
-Strangely, Whid hasn’t been dozing off much lately. Usually, when Jade meditates, Whid curls up and goes to sleep.
Elestra gave Whid, who was receiving Jade's pats, a curious look.
Whid seemed to have changed a little since eating the Wolf King.
In particular, Whid's gaze when they looked at Jade was extremely serious.
Before, Whid had either looked drowsy or simply gazed at their parent, but now their eyes were bright and focused, as if they were studying.
-Hey, Whid's just getting older and sleeping less. They say babies sleep a lot, and that it gradually decreases as they grow, right?
-That’s true, but it’s strange because Whid changed so drastically in less than a month.
-Kids normally grow up fast. Whid always grew quickly, too. Right, Whid?
Silestin laughed brightly and tickled Whid under the armpit.
Whid waved their forepaw as though they disliked it.
Whid liked playing, but hated being tickled.
Kuuu! Kuuu!
-Ehehehe!
Whid flapped their wings and fled as though they hated it, but Silestin followed them to the very end.
Whid's flight speed had become fairly fast as their body grew, but compared to the wind spirit herself, it was no faster than crawling.
Kyu-u!
Eventually, under Silestin's relentless teasing, Whid nestled into Jade's arms.
Folding their wings against their sides, they burrowed in deeply.
“Stop. Whid doesn’t like it.”
-I’m training Whid while playing. If they can easily evade my attacks, ordinary monsters’ attacks will look pathetic to them.
“There’s no need to do that already.”
-I agree.
Elestra also agreed.
From her perspective, it looked like something Silestin was doing simply because it was fun, not training.
Bleh!
With Jade and Elestra taking their side, Whid stuck out their tongue.
It was as though Whid had learned the gesture from someone.
But Silestin did not get worked up at the sight. Instead, she laughed.
-Hehehe! Don’t let your guard down. It isn’t over yet!
Kyu, kyuu!
Whid looked exasperated at Silestin's boast.
It absolutely did not sound like a joke.
Jade chuckled at the two of them and stroked Whid's head.
Click.
“You’ve worked hard, my lord.”