Aldis returned to the village after taking nearly ten times as long as the outward journey, and found a strange and lively scene.

　A large amount of wood had been cut from the surrounding forest and houses were being built one by one on previously vacant land.
　It wasn't my imagination that the population density was increasing.
　In fact, when Aldis explores the surroundings with his magical powers, he notices that the number of people is clearly increasing.

''What the hell is this ......?''

Let's just tell the chief to come home.

...... Right.

　Rona urged me to go to the chief's house, where the chief himself and a reddish-brown haired woman - Sailor - were waiting for me, standing next to him.

I'm sorry, village chief. I have two children that I would like you to keep in the village, as Rona has told you.

　The village chief smiles at Ardis for starting that, and then says in a casual tone of voice that he agrees with her.

Yes, I'm aware of that. It's not going to make much of a difference if you have one or two more people in your life.

　Three months have passed since Aldis and his friends came to the village.
　Because of the relationship between Sailor and Nere, Aldis and his friends were treated as guests at first, but now they are fully part of the village.
　Aldis is now a member of the village.

I'm grateful. ...... But even so, there seems to be a lot of unfamiliar faces?

　His gaze turns to the men who are building simple houses on the outskirts of the village.

'We've added about thirty men to our ranks.

Thirty more men?

　There were originally only about a hundred people in this village.
　Hearing that the number of people will suddenly increase by thirty, Aldis's mouth repeats the village chief's words.

There are a lot of people who have lost their way in the civil war in Albarn. Even if we can't have all of them, a few who can be saved won't be punished, will they?

　Sailor interrupted me from the side.

　From the way she spoke, it seems that she was the one who brought the refugees from outside.
　However, since it is impossible for an ordinary person to come through the Canobis Mountains, where demons roam, it is easy to imagine that either Sailor or Nere is responsible if it is not Ardis herself.

''I see. So, 'now that we've added at least two more people'?

　Ardis recalled the village chief's words that Rona had told him.

　It's true that compared to the addition of thirty people, adding two or so to it wouldn't make much of a difference.
　When he took a glance at his partner as if to accuse him of not reporting something important, Ardis returned his gaze to the village chief and said a sympathetic word, sensing his heartache.

'It's tough. And the village chief.''

I am certain that this is a serious matter. I am fully aware of the mercy of the angel, and there is no denying it.

　Although he answered that with his mouth, the village chief's face showed a deep sense of fatigue.

But the real question is, is it safe to add 30 people at once?　Food storage and all that.

'As for the food, Nele is out shopping now, for now. They'll be back by the end of the day.

As you can see, we have a place to live. All the villagers are working together to build it, but for the time being they will have to sleep in the church.

　Sailor and the village chief answered Aldis's question.

The church is full. Could the two men we brought stay at your house?

That's all right, of course.

　It doesn't matter if the twins have the use of the twins' room temporarily for their siblings, and Filia and Riana share a room with Nere.
　In any case, both Filia and Liana are likely to sneak into Aldis' bed in the morning.
　It's not as if the twins had a room of their own to begin with.

'Those are the ones Aldis brought, aren't they?

　Sailor turns to Hal and his sister, who were standing behind Aldis.
　Without waiting for Aldis' reply, Sailor stepped forward in front of them and looked into the eyes of Hal and his sister.

'...... Yeah, it's okay.'

　I don't know what's okay, but apparently Sailor has his own criteria for welcoming them to this village.

''Then I'll leave the matter of these two to you--''

　Turning, Sailor turned to look at Ardis.

'When Nere comes back, I need to talk to you for a moment, okay?'

Talk?

Yes, it's important.

　Sela smiled and affirmed, and Aldis had a bad feeling for no reason.





　Nayle returned from getting food, and Aldis and the others got together for the first time in a long time to sit around the dinner table.

　There were seven people at the table.
　Among them were Hal and his sister, who had been brought over from Albarn.
　They had been brought all the way to the foothills of the Canobis Mountains without knowing what they were doing, but they had become completely at ease with Filia and Rona along the way.

　Perhaps the older sister is fully aware of her position, she has been actively helping Nere in preparing dinner and trying to secure a place for herself.
　Hal, on the other hand, was probably seeing the twins for the first time.
　You can see that he rolled his eyes at the sight of Liana, who looks exactly like Filia, and even now, with each sip of soup, his eyes are busily moving to the scene in front of him, confused.

　Filia is taking care of Hal worthily, and Liana is looking at it with eyes that seem to see strange things.
　Since Nere heard about the situation from Aldis, he hasn't mentioned this matter and hasn't changed his expression, but he looks the same as usual.
　It's a very good idea to be able to have a good time with them.

　There was an indescribable air in the air, but it was not an unpleasant atmosphere.
　After a more harmonious dinner than I expected, Nere and Hal's sister had just begun to prepare the after-dinner tea when the red-eyed messenger came to visit the house.

''I don't have enough land,''

　When Sela arrived, she sat down in the chair that Nele offered her and said without sipping her tea.

The land in this village?

Yes.

　Nodding at Aldis's confirmation, Sailor closes her eyes to enjoy the aroma of the tea that Hal's sister has brewed.

''That's true, I suppose. The village will only be able to expand within the area originally protected by the wards, and if there are more than thirty people, it's only natural that there won't be enough space to build a house or expand a field.

　But that's a bit of a stretch.
　I'm sure that he knew that such an obvious thing would happen and brought people from Albarn.
　Aldis wrinkles his brow, unsure of Sailor's intentions in deliberately mentioning such a thing.

''So, I'm thinking of expanding the village.

Do you want to expand your wards?

　As long as it was Sela who surrounded the village with a ward, it was up to her to expand or narrow it.
　Of course, it is assumed that she has that much power, but the fact that she herself said it means she can do it without any problems.

''It's not enough to just expand the wards, right?''

What do you mean?

　I don't know what that means and Aldis asks more questions.

'I mean we can't just spread it out on our own,'

　Aldis tilts his head inwardly at those words.
　It's hard to believe that a person living in this village would disagree with Sailor's intentions.
　Of course, there is no way that an outsider would interfere with such a magical situation.
　The foothills of the Canobis Mountains, where the village is located, do not belong to any country and are naturally outside the realm of human authority.

'Without permission ......?　Do you think you need someone's permission?

That's right. Ardis, have you ever heard of the 'Hexenbiest King'?

The Hexenbiest King?　...... No, I've never heard of that before.

　Ardis, who had no idea what the word "demon beast king" meant in Sailor's mouth, shook her head.

''From the sound of the name, are you a demon?''

They're not exactly demons. To put it simply, they are like the masters of the Canobis Mountains. The grinder and Yomiuri's courageous courage are just like insects compared to the monster king.

That's right: ......

　It is true that both the Grinder and the Yellow Water Vulture are insignificant opponents to Ardis.
　But generally speaking, both are known as extremely vicious and dangerous demons.

　As you can see from the fact that the Tholian army suffered heavy losses from the grinders, they are a threat to mercenaries and soldiers who make a living from fighting.
　The fact that they're treated as featherbugs is a clear indication of the power of this monster king.

The Canobis Mountains are like a garden to him. If he just wants to maintain the status quo, he'll leave it behind, but if we expand our range of survival without permission, he'll be in a bad mood,''

　Aldis was slightly taken aback by Sailor's choice of words.

'That's why I want to go to him and negotiate with him to expand the territory of the village.

Are you intelligent enough to negotiate ......?

　Serra affirmed Aldis' words by nodding.

'So, I'd like Aldis to accompany me to the negotiations. 'Of course you'll take care of it, right?'