Chapter 1226: To the Settlement

「All right! Let’s all pull together!」

「「「 Yeah! 」」」

「Pull!」

「「「 Pull! 」」」

In response to Sibylla’s command, the villagers and Red Knights pulled a thick rope together. The other end of the rope was attached to a massive rock as large as a house. Meanwhile, Bisdra was perched on Sibylla’s head.

They were all working together to remove the obstructive rock.

We simply watched the sight from a distance.

「Everyone’s working hard.」

『Yeah.』

We were currently in the former pioneer village allocated by Kranzel to the people who had teleported from Raydoss.

It was located at the foot of a mountain, with zero rivers or other settlements close by.

Quite a remote location, but it was chosen for the settlement because of the scarcity of magical beasts in the area, as well as the prospective mines nearby.

Moreover, the inconvenience meant that few would visit, which was just right for sheltering our friends from Raydoss.

Thanks to Fran, Klikka, and Urushi’s hard work in exterminating the magical beasts, the villagers moved in with pleasure.

However, the remote location also made the living conditions quite rough.

First, the magical beasts. Even if the area was relatively safe, there were still some.

The Armor Rats had upheaved a good portion of the village’s land, and destroyed the doors on many houses. There were signs of damage caused by other beasts as well, which would take some time to fully repair.

Another problem was the rockslides from the mountains. Whether it was due to the ground turning muddy from rain or other reasons, several large boulders had rolled down around the village.

The largest of them smashed right through the outer wall and now sat prominently in the center of the village as if it owned the place.

The boulder had crushed several houses and left a hole in the outer walls, allowing magical beasts free access. The Armor Rats likely entered through here as well.

We clearly needed to seal up the hole before the civilians could feel safe, but removing the massive boulder comes first. Fran initially planned to do this herself.

Solving the problem would be as fast as storing it for us.

However, Klikka stopped us.

Fran’s expertise in magic could solve almost any issue. The village’s restoration would only be a matter of time, and she could even provide food and other supplies.

But having the village rely too much on Fran might become problematic. After all, Fran wouldn’t stay in the village forever.

Furthermore, the villagers wouldn’t be able to gain a sense of accomplishment. Could they really consider it their village when Fran handed everything to them on a silver platter? Probably not from the bottom of their hearts.

Sibylla and Klikka realized this, and wanted the villagers to fix up the place themselves, no matter how many days it took. Only then would they be able to feel proud to call the village theirs.

Their argument made sense, so I persuaded Fran to refrain from helping.

Of course, we would jump in to save them if there was any real danger. Otherwise though, it’s best to observe the situation for now.

After consulting with Sibylla, Fran decided to explain that she wouldn’t be able to help for about a week due to not feeling well.

Sibylla had initially suggested making it a month, but Fran resisted.

As a result, we decided to make it complete observation for the first week, and then provide some assistance with simple magic for the following three weeks.

Therefore, all we could do right now was watch.

「Pull!」

「「「 Pull! 」」」

After the umpteenth call, the massive boulder began to wobble and get slowly dragged upon the row of logs in front of it.

They transported it on the rows of logs, swapping in the logs at the front all the while, and eventually reached the outskirts of the village. It was heavy labor, but the villagers all had smiles on their faces.

However, Fran wasn’t just idly standing by.

「Onee-chan, what’s wrong?」

「Is your stomach hurting?」

「Nn. It’s nothing.」

She also had the duty of keeping the children from approaching the rock.

「Urushi-chan! They’re all amazing!」

「Woof!」

「I was worried when they said you couldn’t grow big anymore, but it looks like we can still pull it off with everyone’s help!」

Urushi in his large dog-size form was getting petted all over by the children.

If we let him return to his giant form, he would undoubtedly take away much of the work.

As a result, we had to claim Urushi was feeling unwell along with Fran. Meanwhile, the two would be responsible for watching the children and keeping an eye on the perimeter.

Of course, the same applied to the Red Knights. Well, it was impossible to declare them all indisposed, so we left a few men as helpers and assigned the rest to patrol the surroundings.

Not everyone could fit here in the first place, so more than half of the Red Knights were accommodated in a nearby abandoned village.

That abandoned village was even more rundown than this one, making it pretty uninhabitable, but the Red Knights still chose it due to how close it was. The knights in the other village were managed by Madred, and they pretty much had to camp in the wilderness.

That left about a hundred Red Knights in this pioneer village. Around twenty were left behind for security and manual labor, while the rest were sent on actual reconnaissance missions.

They wanted to scout for any valuable resources Kranzel might have missed, as well as the threat of additional mountain rockslides.

However, they were naturally not allowed to act freely. Peridot’s colleagues in the intelligence division were sent to accompany anyone who went outside.

The Red Knights found this acceptable as it was better than getting imprisoned, so they obeyed the rule without complaints.

I wonder if they’ll be okay in these villages. Obviously, the Red Knights must eventually return to Raydoss, but I can’t say for sure if the villagers actually want to go back.

Well, I’m fine either way as long as the kids are smiling.