Didn't manage to reach the deadline of sunday. Maybe, because I went to the zoo yesterday. Also, from wednesday to friday this week, I'll go on a school trip to Paris. There should be wi-fi, but well yeah, I don't expect much from it. I'll post another chapter this week, but I don't know when yet. Anyway, first chapter of this week. Hope you like it!
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"We'll go rest then and set out again tomorrow. At that time, I'll also start 'renovating' the village"
Hearing my words, the villagers showed hints of surprise, but also a certain amount of thankfulness. They had been living in small, crude houses until now. Having some new parts in the city could certainly help, they thought.
Elder Shin, together with two pretty cat girls bowed to us:
"Lord Toru, honourable friends of the Lord, although our housings are not worthy of your stay, please allow us to lead you to our most comfortable home"
Seeing how sincere they were, I saw no reason to decline:
"It'd be my pleasure"
The expressions of both girls and elder Shin lit up when I accepted their request, before smilingly leading us to the biggest house in the village. Right when we were going to leave, I suddenly turned around to the crowd of beastmen who were bowing at our leave:
"Ah, I want to make two things clear before I leave. One, it's not because I own this village now, you can do what you want. Murder, rape, kidnapping, violence etc. are banned. Two..."
All beastmen shot curious glances to know what my second decree would be like.
"Two, all taxes are lowered. It should be around 80% now... so I'll lower it to 5%. All gains should be written down. Taxes will be inned once a month. The details will be given one of the following days."
The crowd just stood there in a daze. They had been under the Sophetirian Empire for God knows how long, but the least taxes they've known were 60%. Even Hyven and the escorts were shocked witless. Even them, with a well-paid job and lots of prestige had to pay at least 25%...
I didn't care about the crowd anymore, so I started to trail behind elder Shin and the two good-looking cat girls. Our three guides had been shocked as well, but when they saw I just continued walking, they tried to stop their heart from bumping wildly and once again led us.
After a short while, we arrived at a three-story building which was rather large when compared to the rest of the village. Evidently, this was elder Shin's home. He opened the door for us, but didn't enter himself. Only the cat-girls went inside. Seeing how he didn't want to enter, I asked confused:
"Elder Shin, isn't this your home? How come you don't enter?"
"Ah, Lord Toru", he sighed," This home is meant for the current Lord of the village. In absence of one, I took that role on me, but that is now unneccesary. I hope you have a good rest, Lord. If there is anything, feel free to ask Urie and Haki."
Before I could speak again, he had already turned around and left. I sighed. This old geezer... I'll build new houses tomorrow, why bother with this small thing?
Then, with the door closed, I looked at the two cat-girls standing in front of me with their heads bowed. I could faintly distinguish a blush on their white necks.
"Please raise your heads, Urie, Haki"
Hearing my command, the two girls looked up simultaneously.
The left girl had waist-long black hair and dark-blue eyes. She was rather short, but had a nice figure. Coupled with her black-and-blue cat ears and black tail, she looked pure and innocent, but at the same time really cute.
The girl on the right seemed to be a little older. She had short, brown hair reaching her shoulders and the same colour could also be spotted in her eyes. Her own cat ears and tail were brown as well. Her figure was much more developed and mature than the black-haired girl, with a plump chest and behind.
"Can I ask which one of you is Urie and which one is Haki?"
The cute black-haired girl stepped forward and made a bow:
"Haki greets Master"
The brown-haired beauty did the same:
"Urie greets Master"
The girls were quite beautiful, and as a man I felt quite attracted to them, although that was the extent of my feelings for them.
"Urie, Haki, you'll be employed to be my maid servants", I pointed towards Ilya and Aristasia," These two women are my wives. They'll be your Masters as well"
"Urie greets the Mistresses"
"Haki greets the Mistresses"
They respectfully bowed towards the two of them. Seeing this, the wary feeling Ilya and Aristasia had towards the two girls dissipated. Lastly, I introduced Maria who was still in Ilya's arms and Hiruyis, who stood a little behind the rest of the group:
"The little girl is my daughter. Please treat her well. The man on the sides is Hiruyis. You could say he's my... bodyguard. If you have any questions about the work you should do, please councel with him"
"Urie greets the Young Mistress and Sir Hiruyis"
"Haki greets the Young Mistress and Sir Hiruyis"
I stretched myself before asking the two girls:
"Can you lead us to the bedrooms?"
"Yes, Master"
"Yes, Master"
After that, they led us upstairs where there were three bedrooms. We decided on the following set-up: Hiruyis would sleep alone, the two maidservants would sleep in the second room, while I, Ilya, Aristasia and Maria would sleep in the master bedroom. I felt quite tired, so I just laid myself down on the bed. Except for my cape, I didn't even bother taking my clothes off and just closed my eyes. Soon after, I fell asleep.
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The next morning, we got up early and went downstairs after a quick bath for a meal. Urie and Haki were already standing at the sides of the table. When we got down, they bowed deeply.
"Good morning to the Master, Mistresses and Young Misstress"
"Good morning to the Master, Mistresses and Young Misstress"
They spoke completely in sync. I wondered how long they had practiced for that. Then, I noticed Hiruyis wasn't here. When I asked, Haki answered politely:
"To answer Master's question, sir Hiruyis left very early this morning. He should currently be scouting the forest in the West, as a preparation for today's scheduled expedition"
"I see"
After that, we sat down and enjoyed the meal Haki and Urie had prepared for us. It was quite delicious. Appointing them as my maid-servants was probably a good idea.
Not long after we finished our meal, we started to tour the city. Elder Shin had already anticipated this and diligently pointed out all areas, housings, shops, neighboring areas etc.
Finally, at 10 o' clock, I amassed all villagers. After a quick count, there seemed to be 142 inhabitants, with a total of 47 families.
"Well then", I said after forming a plan in my head," I'll start reconstructing now. It might be better to look from the top of the ramparts, so please follow Urie and Haki there"
Then, the village quickly emptied as every single living being was moved to the bulwarks. I had even ordered to take all their valuable stuff with them.
"[Earth Manipulation]"
I softly chanted. Immediately, all buildings inside the ramparts were flattened and were absorbed in the ground. From atop the bulwarks, faint shouts of astonishment could be heard. I ignored them and continued.
I began to form roads in the village. Not crudely made roads with uneven laid stones, but nice and flat floor tiles, perfectly fitting against each other. They were a beautiful white, and drew stripes all through the area. Two roads were exceptionally big, namely the road that were connected to the three gates.
Then, I silently pictured a figure of a house in my head. A ligh-brown colour, faint-red roofs, three stories, four bedrooms, a bathroom, living room...
Pouring my magic power in the earth, I started to erect houses in each street. After that, I filled the remaining places with a blacksmith, a tailor... Lastly, I designed the square I was standing on. It was the exact centre of the village- no, it should be a city now- and was destined to be a bustling place in the future. Therefore, I did my best.
Large white tiles filled the main square. At the edges, a bit in front of the houses around the square, I had put several trees, with flowers in all sorts of colours. In the middle stood a gigantic fountain. It had a diameter of 20 meter* and consisted of four layers; each decorated with carved out flowers, animals and objects. On top of it, stood a beautiful dragon. It had a long, slender body, completely covered with light-blue scales. Long fangs filled its mouth, and a stunning pair of golden eyes looked to the East.
In that direction lay the biggest building of all; my house.
Five stories high, 400 meter* wide. Long, pure white stairs led to the high, wooden front doors. With a magnificent garden in both the front and the back, it was truly a beautiful mansion. It was positioned higher than any other building in the city, looking over it. To ensure its safety, I had built a wall around it, with an impressive fence to allow entrance.
With this, I had given birth to my very own city. The city of Edhen.
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*1 meter = 3,3 ft.