I ended up so busy getting the Osterians settled that another day passed by. Of course, I didn’t have the buildings or homes to give so many people. They were fine roughing it for a while, but I didn’t want to cause issues where it became us and them situation. If the Osterians were going to become a part of my territory, then they would be integrated with the rest. I could just let them build their own city. Truth be known, I only had two cities right now, the most human and slightly incestuous Deeksville, and then Chalm which was majority slaves.
I had feared that the Osterians wouldn’t fit in. Although Chalm was anti-slavery, the Osterians fought alongside the demon lord. For the longest time, Dioshin had sat as the barrier to keep them from claiming the entire south. It stood to reason that this was very difficult to forgive, and may lead to some prejudices down the line.
So, I ended up having many talks with the guild master, Elaya, and the mayor on this. Alysia refused to speak for the Osterian people, even if they would listen to her. In her mind, she stopped being Osterian when she became my blade, and her view would always be compromised because of her relationship with me. This ended up meaning that Draven was the one speaking for the Osterian people. It was an awkward situation and not one I considered an idea. Eventually, we realized we were probably going to have to draft a bill of rights. Well, that was my suggestion. I only knew so much about government. I probably should contact Prince Edward when I had the time to discuss this stuff further.
In the meantime, we created a set of temporary rules and regulations. The Osterian were open to enter the city and do commerce with Chalm. The one thing Chalm had been lacking was farmland. The wilderness proved to be too dangerous. Families refused to risk everything on farms too close to the wilderness. A few of the more daring citizens had started farms east of Chalm where they at least were protected, but they just started and it would be years before they produced a surplus.
The Osterians were much more daring. After all, they had the strength and stamina of three regular humans, so whether it came to running or fighting, they had an edge on the monsters emerging from the forest. They immediately began a reclamation plan that my girls had started by surveying the land. In short, they began cutting down the forest and taking the land that had been too unwieldy for Dioshin, Aberis, and even the demon king to conquer.
This task had originally gone to the golems, but they were inefficient and required constant upkeep. Furthermore, we had blown them up in the battle with Demon Lord Aberis and never got around to making more.
As I was watching the Osterians chop down trees, requiring half the time that a golem would need, I thought about the future of this territory. It was mine to claim, given by Lord Aberis. Dioshin might come to disagree with that when they reached their borders, but that was a problem for years from now. At the moment, we were merely creating a safety barrier around Chalm that hadn’t existed until this date.
Elaya also explained that my evolving dungeon was putting out some pretty strong signals that would keep the monsters and other dungeons at bay. Eventually, I was going to have to destroy the three remaining dungeons that made the wilderness, or in some way conquer them. Thinking about the benefits that come from tamed dungeons, maybe I shouldn’t aim to destroy them. Well, at the very least, I’d need the help of my girls.
That was right. What was holding Celeste up so long? She should have been back with Miki by now. Her focus was speed, and we knew where Miki was, so she should have been able to reach her in a day. I opened up my Slave Communication.
“Master! Help! Help Immediately!”