Ch.95Improvement #1

The Ganf folk are masters of plants.

People also farm or grow plants with their own know-how, but it’s no comparison.

Just like Ellen and the other dark elves, even with minimal effort, there was a clear difference in yield and growth rate.

“We’ve brought sixty elves, two from each village. They’re all waiting at the training grounds.”

Eilen, the representative who brought the elves who would live as slaves from today, bowed his head in my office.

Since there were about thirty villages, taking just one or two from each place easily yielded a large number of slaves.

“Good. You may withdraw.”

As Eilen immediately bowed and retreated, I tapped the table to organize my thoughts.

Elf slaves. Plundering of specialty products. Improving the treatment of dark elves.

These were the three benefits I gained this time.

I planned to house and feed the slaves outside the castle.

Food would be regularly supplied from the elven villages, and I intended to bear some of the burden from within my territory.

Given the number of slaves and the food requirements… abusing the victor’s rights too much would likely result in backlash.

The consequence could be the bloodbath I wanted to avoid, or an invasion after my death.

Therefore, I believed that even when exercising rightful authority, there needed to be a limit.

Even if the elves were at fault.

I left the office with Ellen to see their faces.

Of course, Helena insisted on coming along too, but I handled it well.

I can’t say how I resolved it, but I did.

Ellen looked at me with yearning eyes, as if envious of that interaction, but I told her to be content with just accompanying me.

“Quite a spectacle.”

I couldn’t help but admire the rows of elves lined up at the training grounds.

Even though they all had corpse-like expressions.

It was understandable that their expressions weren’t pleasant, given they were forcibly brought here to labor. However, work had to be done.

Although I intended to be careful not to cross any fatal lines, that didn’t mean I would be overly considerate.

“I believe you all already know how things have unfolded.”

A grand council of elves was held, and the resolution decided at that meeting failed, resulting in this situation.

Being elves themselves, they must know, but I began by reminding them of the current situation.

The expression of those who have lost their country. There couldn’t be a better description for the faces of the elves listening to me now.

“Yes. From now on, your role is to develop the northern area to create village sites. In other words, you’ll have to move according to the plans set by our duchy. Understand?”

Naturally, there was no answer. They just hung their heads low.

Ellen started to growl, trying to intimidate the elves, but I stopped her.

Forcing them to pretend loyalty would be absurd for both sides.

“Since you seem to understand, we’ll first move north. Everyone follow.”

I led the elves straight to the north gate.

I planned to start development there, and then consider whether to expand elsewhere depending on the situation.

Considering the possibility of war, it would be better not to cut down too much of the forest.

.

“First, this is where you’ll be staying.”

A procession of many carts. Various living supplies, including tents loaded in the cargo holds.

The elves brought as slaves were busy looking around in confusion.

They had come out through the north gate and created a suitable clearing in the forest.

They had to do the unfortunate work of cutting down trees and moving them, not to tend the forest, but for greed.

Naturally, their expressions were dark, and anger boiled inside them.

They resented both the grand council, which created this situation where they had to become slaves despite being generous, and Eilen, who provided the spark.

They were especially resentful toward Eilen.

If only that woman had kept her mouth shut, this wouldn’t have happened.

Moreover, they thought the entire elven population shouldn’t have to share the debt.

Slaves with worn-out shoe soles, clothes in tatters, barely clinging to life.

That was the end they imagined, and what was commonly considered the fate of harsh labor slaves in this world.

However, a completely different situation was unfolding from what they had imagined.

“Magic items…?”

“Why so surprised? Recently, the weather has been getting colder, and forests feel the effects more easily. This is a measure for that.”

First, temperature-regulating magic items were placed in the large tents set up as their quarters.

The elves wondered if this was some kind of deception meant to be enjoyed.

But starting with this, wooden beds,

and even simple furniture to hang clothes on made them change their minds.

Meals, the easiest thing to skimp on, were provided three times a day without fail.

And mostly vegetarian, as elves preferred.

“Is this… slavery?”

One elf, blinking in bewilderment, approached Zion, the supervisor, unable to contain his rising curiosity as Zion was about to leave after work was done.

“What is it?”

“Why are you treating slaves so well?”

Treating slaves well.

Hearing those words, Zion inwardly clapped his hands.

It was because he realized there was no one else on the continent who treated slaves like this.

“Treating well? Don’t talk nonsense. Isn’t this just the basics?”

A peculiar situation where work was quite harsh, but otherwise they were treated fairly well.

And a duke who considered this normal.

The elf who asked the question stood watching the back of the man who answered firmly and left, feeling as though that was how it should be.

Afterward, the elves used spirit magic to develop the forest, making their progress exceptionally fast.

The result was a fairly large piece of land.

However, they couldn’t move the fallen trees quickly, so this was the extent of it.

If moving trees had been faster too, they would have progressed much more quickly.

“…Hmm. So I want to lay magic circles in the settlement to increase its defense. Is that possible?”

“Magic circles for a town? I’ve never done it before… but it sounds fun!”

One day, the slaves’ master brought a girl with him.

It was Eve, with brown hair reaching her nape, wearing a black robe.

The slaves’ master, Zion, intended to use her to establish minimal defensive capabilities.

Specifically, he wanted to buy time to escape in case of a surprise attack, or to cause confusion and delay advancement during wartime.

“Olivia and the mercenary group are busy, right? So it’s fine to use the magic of the elves here.”

“Thank you!”

Her bright expression was very different from when she first visited the territory.

Zion was pleased with the change and ordered the elves to follow Eve’s requests after gathering them.

Even if Eve took some elves with her, it would only be one or two, not enough to disrupt the work.

Clearing land, leveling ground, listening to Zion Altram’s speeches, and occasionally being taken by the mage to demonstrate spirit magic.

The work was quite hard, but not as harsh an environment as they had expected.

Thus, the elves gradually became accustomed to slave life, falling into routine.

.

Working from morning till night without holidays made progress remarkably fast.

Looking at the clearing, already large enough for a village, I couldn’t help but smile.

Even though I had the elves move the trees by hand as punishment rather than for efficiency, the progress was impressive.

Magic was truly amazing.

“Hmm… where should we start building houses?”

I walked around the clearing with Eve, deciding where to place houses.

This was necessary for laying magic circles that would create illusions in this clearing.

Randomly building houses could create obstacles where lines needed to be drawn.

That’s why I had Eve, who had already completed a rough sketch, accompany me.

To verify whether the house sites were suitable or not.

“This won’t work here.”

“Hmm. I see.”

I was about to mark a site when Eve rejected it, so I withdrew my staff.

I was glad I had brought her along.

Even Ellen, who might have been displeased with just the two of us talking, was quiet, making it good for concentration in many ways.

I let the slaves rest today while we determined the sites.

From tomorrow, they would need to use the cut trees to build houses, so I wanted them to catch their breath.

Perhaps it was because the initial heat had completely dissipated after overseeing the construction for some time.

Or maybe I simply didn’t care much due to my iron mentality from the beginning.

“How long will magic circles engraved in the ground last?”

“Well… probably not very long. If it rains or dirt accumulates…”

“…I see. That makes sense.”

I asked just in case, but the answer was exactly what I expected.

She also mentioned the need to engrave them on stone tablets and strengthen their hardness or coat them to protect the magic circles.

“Given the shape and size of the site, we’ll obviously need to link large and small magic circles together. The positions are just as important for proper effect. According to my calculations…”

While Eve was deeply immersed in her own world, muttering to herself, Ellen and I quietly followed behind.

The more detailed the explanation about magic theory or formulas, the harder it was to understand, so I just let it go in one ear and out the other.

Otherwise, my head would get too complicated.

After about an hour, Eve finally came to her senses and hurriedly bowed her head, worried she had been rude by talking too much about herself. Although I felt dizzy listening to her, I didn’t consider it rude, so I just smiled and sent her home.

I had something to ask, so I gathered the resting elf slaves with Ellen.

This was why I hadn’t returned to the castle with them.

“I called you because I’m curious about something. About why dark elves were ostracized.”

I know dark elves are objects of hatred, but I don’t really know when that root began.

Before coming to this continent, I didn’t think it was particularly necessary knowledge.

So I hadn’t thought to ask Hypnos.

But now the situation was different.

Since the hated dark elf was my woman, I wanted to know the reason.

It was an opportunity that arose thanks to the timing and situation aligning well.

I had asked before, but Ellen, being the subject herself, had simply answered that she was in this state because she was a dark elf.

Moreover, she said she hadn’t looked into it herself because it was too painful.

“When you ask why… we don’t really know either.”

They drag their tired bodies in, hear words of gratitude for the duchy’s grace, and fall asleep.

As this life continued, the Ganf folk showed quite friendly behavior.

I heard it was because they had become accustomed to a fairly manageable slave life.

Also, hearing the same words repeatedly might have had some effect.

However, even then, the elves were just cautious and couldn’t give a proper reason.

Perhaps they too had just been taught that’s how it is.

Since the skin color was also different, making them seem alien, such mindless education might have been more effective.

“Do the other elves think the same?”

“Yes. We’re sorry.”

They even know how to apologize readily. They’ve grown up, they’ve grown up.

While I responded calmly on the outside, I was quite surprised inside.

Anyway, if these rather elderly ones didn’t know, I needed to call someone knowledgeable about elven history to investigate.

It was natural that not everyone of the same race would know all of their history.

Especially if it wasn’t a major historical event.

“Very well. You may withdraw and rest now.”

As I dismissed them, the elves scattered toward their tents.

They seemed to rest quite comfortably now, as if the tents were no different from homes.

That’s what I thought when I occasionally heard voices brushing past the tents.

“Lord Zion…”

As we were driving the cart along the gradually darkening road,

Ellen called me with a trembling voice.

“Yes? What is it?”

“You don’t have to go this far… why are you taking trouble that you don’t need to?”

Trouble, she says.

Does she mean finding out why dark elves began to be hated, or educating the Ganf folk as a first step to correct it?

I don’t consider it hardship, but it seems different in Ellen’s eyes.

Therefore, I answered casually:

“Regardless of how it happened… Ellen is my woman now. I can’t keep letting people speak ill of my woman.”