Negotiations
Three days later, I visited the World Tree again, this time with Father, bringing a large amount of food.
When we arrived at the World Tree, the Alraune came out and exchanged introductions with Father.
Then, just like before, the area around the World Tree began to ripple and turned completely white. Gradually, the whiteness became transparent, and Raul and the others appeared.
It seemed like more people had recovered compared to three days ago.
Raul approached us.
“Thanks to the food and warm tents, everyone’s recovery has sped up. Thank you.” He said, bowing his head to us. From a distance, I could see the other beastkin also bowing.
“This man is the lord who manages this land.” Brother Gerald introduced Father to Raul.
“I am Alfrecht Westland, lord of this entire region. I’ve already heard the general situation from my sons here. Can I assume you’re seeking protection from us?” He asked.
“You’re not wrong. As long as we can live a peaceful and normal life, that’s enough. But if it ends up like life in the beastkin country, we’ll go elsewhere.” Raul replied.
“We’ll provide land for you to live on, along with some food and tools to build houses. However, the conditions will be the same as for a new settlement by humans. No special treatment. You’ll be exempt from taxes for three years, but starting the fourth year, you’ll need to pay taxes. Can you farm and hunt?”
“We can farm and hunt, but as you can see, we came here with nothing but the clothes on our backs. We’d like tools for farming and hunting as well.”
“Those are included among the initial tools we’ll provide. Go talk with your people, and if they agree, we’ll go over the details.” Father said, and Raul went back to his companions.
We had lunch with Father there.
“It’s strange how we made it here without encountering any monsters.” Father said, looking at the World Tree.
The three of us brothers were able to come here, but Father hadn’t been able to, even though he wanted to.
“But it’s only been three days, and the beastkin already look much healthier. Weren’t there a lot of seriously ill people?”
“Brother Gerald, I thought the same. I wonder if their recovery rate is faster than humans’. They’re said to be undefeated in war, too...”
“It’s winter, so monsters may be fewer, but to have come this far through the forest in this cold... many of them must be highly capable fighters.” Father said.
After a while, Raul returned with two other beastkin—one resembling a golden retriever and another resembling a Maltese.
“If the conditions we heard earlier are true, we’d like to accept. But what kind of land would we be living on?” Asked the beastkin resembling a golden retriever.
His name was Saphid. He was the leader of the beastkin. The other was Natalia, a Maltese-like beastkin who was in charge of farming. They both said it was fine to be called by their names without titles.
Father explained that there were two options, and they could choose whichever they liked.
Both were in the southwest, where development hadn’t progressed.
One was closer to both the forest and the capital of the territory—about a day’s ride by horse.
The other was farther from the capital—about a three-day ride by horse—and also near the forest. The closer one had a village about half a day’s ride away, while the farther one was apparently completely uninhabited.
After hearing this, the three of them said they wanted to see the places for themselves. However, only the three of them would go; the others wanted to stay at the World Tree to recover.
Father agreed, but said there were preparations to make, so he wanted them to come to the lord’s mansion first.
He also warned them that people they met along the way might be surprised to see them and asked if they were still willing to come.
The three of them said they were used to being stared at.
Listening to all this made me feel sad.
Just how much suffering had they endured in the beastkin country?
I really hope they can be happy here.
But for that to happen, they’ll need to get along with the people of this domain.
Well, that’s something to think about after they’ve settled down and are able to live in peace.
What do you think about this chapter?
