Chapter 17 - Episode 17: Gathering Affection
Among the new settlers like Edgar, there were those who were family, and there were also men and women who decided to become couples taking this migration as an opportunity; including those who were single, they eventually totaled 24 people across 11 households.
Currently, they are in the middle of deciding who will be given which piece of land, with discussions centered around Noein and Edgar, the representative of the new settlers.
"My land, this is my land..."
"To think I could have my own farmland again..."
Every time the new settlers are allocated their own land, they utter words of gratitude as if they are on the verge of tears. Some are actually crying.
"It seems Noein-sama has already captured the hearts of the new settlers,"
Yuri, standing by a short distance behind Noein, spoke to Matilda, who was likewise attending to Noein.
"Everyone is sincerely grateful for Noein-sama's benevolence in accepting them. It is only natural."
At first, Matilda had barely tried to speak with Yuri and the others, but recently she responds when spoken to, and sometimes she even initiates small talk. It seems she intends to build smooth human relationships with people other than Noein, for the time being.
"...Well, if you're not only permitted to live in the territory but are suddenly given land as well, it's only natural it would turn out like this."
"? Is it not normal to give land to the settlers?"
Matilda tilted her head with a slightly puzzled expression. Having become a slave as a child and grown up without knowing society, she apparently does not understand.
"...No, it's not normal. For drifting people like us or them before, being given properly prepared land is an incredibly huge thing."
To Noein, who possesses his own territory in his own right, clears forests effortlessly using golems, and easily digs up the earth for cultivation, land might be nothing more than a piece of ground, but to an ordinary commoner, that piece of ground is a great asset.
This is because, originally, land was something that one's ancestors had struggled to reclaim from nature, or something bought with a high price.
To be given such land—and land suitable for agriculture, moreover, in a state where it has been deeply dug up and cultivated—is a treatment beyond imagination for refugees who had no place to belong.
Even Yuri had a blank look on his face and uttered sincere thanks when Noein told him, "This farmland is yours."
People who had hardly ever left their villages since birth were driven from their homes, and after wandering through a world where they knew neither right from left, filled with anxiety, how grateful would they be if they were suddenly given fertile land and told, "This is yours from today"?
Once one becomes a refugee, it is a blessing just to be accepted into some town or village as a tenant farmer or simple laborer; if they are given perfect farmland as their own...
It is beyond loyalty. They likely harbor feelings for Noein that are close to worship. "I will give you land" is a phrase like a potent drug that forcibly seizes the hearts of refugees.
Yuri explained these things to Matilda.
"I see. Is that how it is?"
"That's how it is,"
Yuri answered Matilda, who finally seemed convinced.
"As a side note, the moment it becomes 'given by the lord' instead of reclaiming the land yourself, both I and those guys can never hold our heads high before Noein-sama for the rest of our lives. I didn't notice it at first, and those guys probably haven't noticed either. I don't know if Noein-sama is doing this unconsciously or if it's calculated..."
"...I believe Noein-sama is giving them land knowing that this would happen. Because he has a stronger obsession than anything else with gaining the love of his settlers."
Matilda realized the reason why Noein had spoken with such conviction yesterday, saying, "Once they come to the residential area, they'll absolutely stop thinking about resisting."
He likely accepted the refugees knowing it would turn out this way. The fact that he had been clearing the forest and increasing the flat land even before there were settlers might have been in anticipation of this. He might have calculated this far from the very beginning of the reclamation.
When she imagined that far, she felt goosebumps prickle her skin.
"To create a situation where the settlers can't help but love him, so that he can love the settlers. That's a nasty way of thinking, typical of Noein-sama... Hey?"
Yuri, who turned toward Matilda after she stopped responding, was startled.
Because she, who usually showed almost no emotion, was looking at Noein with an ecstatic expression, like a maiden in love.
"...What's wrong with you?"
"Noein-sama might have been calculating this all along, from the moment the two of us entered the Bezel Great Forest. When I think of that... I am overwhelmed by the brilliance of Noein-sama's thoughts, which look so much, much further ahead than someone like me."
Yuri became increasingly bewildered, not understanding how accepting the current conversation could lead to being overwhelmed.
They were supposed to be talking about how "Noein's method of calculating to gather the affection of the settlers is quite nasty." They weren't talking about "Noein-sama is brilliant."
"You like Noein-sama way too much."
"Yes. I offer my body and soul, everything, to Noein-sama."
"I can tell just by looking."
.....
The population increased all at once, and the residential area became lively.
Although it is still a life similar to a group camp, it could be said that it is gradually becoming more like a territory.
By being given land first, the hearts of the new settlers were completely captured by Noein. Everyone bows their head and greets him politely when they see Noein, and Noein responds with a smile.
Each household has its own field, and they live in tents pitched beside them.
On the other hand, the former mercenaries like Yuri have taken on roles as Noein's retainers as veteran settlers, handling the maintenance of public order within the residential area, as well as patrols around the residential area and monster hunting. Noein buys the hunted monsters, which are then sold to the Miles Company in Retovik.
The lumber that had been left around the residential area until now is being further dismantled by Noein's golems, and the installation of wooden fences surrounding the residential area for defense is progressing. Living facilities such as a communal well and a bread oven have also begun to be built.
Additionally, the road from the entrance of the Bezel Great Forest to the residential area is gradually being improved, making it easier to walk.
The ones performing the environmental maintenance of the residential area and the highway are the new settlers whose hands are free from farm work. Since self-sufficiency in food is impossible here in the first year of reclamation, he recruits workers for such tasks and provides the food Noein collected in Retovik as payment in kind.
"...The number of people has increased, so it's about time I devise a way to get some money,"
Noein mutters while diligently working on the reclamation using golems.
"A way to get money?"
"Yeah. Because winter will come eventually. If possible, I want to build a mansion for us to live in by then, and I want to build houses for the settlers too."
Noein explained the reason for his mutterings to Matilda, who had asked.
Even after deducting the cost of the food distributed to the settlers, Noein's funds are increasing slightly thanks to the profits from monster hunting. However, he still lacks the money to invite craftsmen from Retovik and request construction work.
However, while Noein and Yuri are using high-quality tents, the settlers using crude tents might freeze to death if winter comes as they are.
If he dipped into his personal savings, he could buy high-quality tents for everyone, and if he felt like it, he could get by by building shack-like structures with the lumber generated from cutting down the forest, but he wanted to provide proper houses if possible.
Moreover, there are many things he wants to do besides building houses. He wants to quickly build large facilities like a watermill, he wants to keep livestock, he wants to attract craftsmen like blacksmiths, and he wants to try cultivating cash crops that can be made into local specialties. For those reasons, he can never have too much money.
That is why Noein was thinking of a way to get money.
"It would be great if something that could be turned into money could be found nearby..."