Ch.45Mid-Term Check (1)

As if time flies by when you’re busy, after the goblin subjugation, days passed quickly with constant activity but no particular incidents.

And so, summer began to arrive with its warmth.

At this point, a month after the settlement was established in this land, it had finally taken on an appearance that could reasonably be called a “village.”

The construction of sturdy wooden houses for the total of 60… 72 residents had been completed several weeks ago, and most people were already living in homes distributed by family unit, each making their own livelihood.

Notably, each home came with a small plot of land about the size of a garden that could be used freely, and thanks to this, the villagers were able to maintain economic activities using these small plots, separate from their assigned duties.

Some cultivated vegetables or fruits in their gardens, others bought chickens through outside contacts and built chicken coops, while some efficiently used their limited space to create and sell simple handmade necessities.

Although this was an era when division of labor in manufacturing was beginning to emerge, domestic handicrafts still maintained a significant presence, especially in rural areas where technological development was relatively slower.

Not only was there a large population, but even the influence of artisan facilities was sometimes surprisingly limited.

Of course, separate from these prevalent domestic handicrafts, this world also had developed technologies and resources that could never be easily produced without specialized craftsmen.

Therefore, various “specialized facilities” were also constructed in the village.

“Will this be sufficient?”

“…Yes! It is. What a splendid forge!”

A forge for the blacksmith. A sewing room for the seamstress. Specialized barns for the shepherd and stable keeper. A woodworking shop for the carpenter. And even outpost cabins for hunters to use in the forest.

These specialized facilities and skills produced items that domestic handicrafts couldn’t, and this included the small farmland cultivated a month ago.

Though it wasn’t particularly large—just enough for an eight-person family to cultivate—the rye field was gradually expanding as construction wound down and more labor became available.

…If you were to ask why rye specifically, I could only say that there weren’t many other plants that would grow well regardless of when they were planted.

Anyway, as various production facilities appropriate to the village’s size were being established, these newly built facilities weren’t limited to just living quarters.

The most significant change was the construction of the “Temple of Debona, Goddess of Life and Healing,” currently the largest building in this pioneer village. This wooden structure is now the largest building in the village…

The reason for investing so much labor in building it wasn’t merely religious; in rural villages like this, temples essentially served as the final bastion.

When temples are built according to proper specifications, they exhibit a slight “otherworldly” phenomenon, and these artificially formed temple-otherworlds function as spiritual fortresses providing excellent mystical defensive capabilities.

The sacred power imbued in the building repels low-level undead, demonic intrusions, and malevolent curses, while occasionally its distinctive sanctity can even help identify heretics who suffer from holy power.

Of course, beyond these practical reasons, the religious influence cannot be denied.

“Priestess Joanna, I apologize. We should have built a more proper temple…”

“Oh, no! I come from a pioneer village myself, so I understand what it means to provide a building like this as a temple now!”

“Is that so?”

“Yes. I convey my gratitude to Lord Alzar, the secular ruler, and pledge to serve the weak of this village in the name of Debona.”

Due to the Pantheon Decree separating secular and spiritual realms, religion’s political power in this world’s medieval period is weaker than in the actual Middle Ages, but in exchange, it gains overwhelming social and spiritual support and power.

In a world where gods’ existence is proven through faith, people naturally rely on deities as their support, and even I, who was once somewhat cynical about religion, have now developed a religious perspective close to the Pantheon’s pantheistic beliefs.

Since one can only become a priest when a god directly bestows power, those more interested in politics than faith cannot become priests.

This alone maintains the high personal caliber of priests, which is the greatest factor supporting the Pantheon’s elevated social status.

Anyway, along with the church, the next construction was… naturally, the defensive facilities essential for any village in this world.

Even if we couldn’t build walls around the village perimeter right away, it was practically standard to surround it with at least a low (about 1.5 meters) fence (palisade) that could serve as an obstacle.

This fence is threatening to small hostile creatures like wild dogs or goblins that might target children, and even if bandits attack, this temporary fence serves as both cover against their arrows and a barrier.

In the rural areas of the Frankish Kingdom, bows are valuable tools for hunting wild birds—which, unlike wild animals whose hunting rights belong to the lord, can be hunted by outsiders and serfs to obtain meat.

Therefore, even the most incompetent bandits usually have someone who can shoot a bow, which naturally poses a sufficient threat to villagers who would primarily have light armor, even if they only have hunting bows.

In addition, we installed low watchtowers about 2-3 meters high throughout the village that also serve as cargo warehouses… Feeling this wasn’t enough defense, I installed fixed large crossbows on the towers.

Having learned their structure from the goblin cultist village, these weapons are both simple in design and excellent in function, making these human-sized crossbows (ballistae) mounted on railings quite useful in many ways.

Unless it’s of intermediate level or higher, even a large magical beast would struggle to withstand a bolt fired from a ballista.

…Of course, we used so much lumber to build this fence that once we completed the palisade and built the watchtowers, we began experiencing a timber shortage.

And if I were to mention changes not in buildings but in people or creatures…

“Woof! Woof woof!”

“Yes, hello. Good morning.”

The biggest change would probably be in the wild dogs we brought into the village.

These dogs, now maintained at 20 after bringing in more over time, were initially almost like wild wolves… but as time passed, they gradually became more docile.

In other words, though their wildness had returned, they still retained the genes from when they were domesticated as a species, so the ones that followed me as their leader somehow entered a human-loving mode and became friendly.

Ah, of course, this reduction in their wildness didn’t diminish their usefulness at all.

Their most representative uses were as guard dogs (for security) and hunting dogs, but recently, they’ve been excelling at catching field mice that enter the village’s palisade.

When thinking of mouse-catching animals, cats usually come to mind, but surprisingly, dogs are actually better at catching mice than cats.

Of course, cats have their own specialties, making a direct comparison impossible, but the existence of breeds like the Yorkshire Terrier, specifically bred for catching mice, demonstrates dogs’ mouse-hunting abilities.

While cats might be better suited for catching mice hiding in narrow crevices, dogs are quite useful for hunting mice that continuously flow into these wide fields.

Considering their usefulness as sentries for approaching creatures and their ability to bring vitality to life with their unique affection and cuteness, bringing in dogs seems to have been an even more efficient choice than I thought.

On the other hand, the treatment of the 12 former bandit-adventurers who “voluntarily immigrated” to this village was extremely straightforward.

As punishment for “daring” to attack a village where a lord’s son resided as the chief administrator, they were sentenced to 20 years of forced labor, which was guaranteed and firmly imprinted through Charlotte’s soul magic.

As a result, they were forced to remain bound to this village for 20 years without being able to escape, yet somehow they seemed rather pleased with their life here.

When I asked about the reason out of curiosity, the answer I received was quite remarkable.

These bandits were from poor fiefdoms other than Alzar Barony, and most were born into urban laborer families, so they found the pioneer village life, where at least they didn’t go hungry, to be like heaven.

‘….Huh.’

The harsh reality of the Frankish Kingdom, more severe than I had imagined, drew from me something close to a bitter laugh.

And so, as all situations reached a somewhat stable foundation.

“Charlotte, what do you think about establishing a militia?”

“…Ah, yes. I believe this is an appropriate time for it, Lord Alzar.”

I was reviewing the village militia establishment plan with domain administrator Charlotte and attendant Corinne.