We drove for about an hour with Steven leading the way.
Eventually, our entire line of airboards came to a halt—we’d arrived at the construction site, where the front-most part of the road was still under construction.
I climbed out of our cramped airboard and made my way to the vehicle at the front of the line, where Steven was talking to some soldiers stationed as security for the area. His horse was drenched in sweat, sides heaving.
“Heya, Steven. Is everything okay?”
“Yes, Your Majesty! This is Lord Kousuke, the king consort. Do everything you can to accommodate him.”
“Yes, sir!”
Steven was doing a solid job managing things, so it didn’t look like we were going to have any issues with the on-site soldiers. That meant I could leave the bare minimum number of harpies and royal guards here while sending the rest to keep tabs on the surrounding areas. I’d focus on getting a clearer read on the current situation.
“Oh, right. I’ll leave water and fodder here for your horse. You should let her rest and calm down, right? When you’re done, just leave the rest here,” I instructed.
“Yes, Your Majesty! Thank you for your kindness! …Huh?”
I pulled a large bucket of water and a fodder block from my inventory and set them down beside him. That was enough to make Steven freeze mid-sentence, mouth hanging open. Yeah, I could already tell it was going to be a pain explaining this every time, so I decided not to say anything.
Sorry, Steven.
I left Steven and his blank stare behind and asked a soldier to show me around the worksite. Soon enough, I spotted the demi-humans hard at work on the road. There were a lot of them, and among them were also adults keeping watch over the children.
There were barely any elderly.
The large number of kids suggested that many families had relocated together or that the demi-humans had taken in orphaned children. The children were largely relatively healthy, but the adults were clearly thin. They weren’t starving, but they definitely weren’t getting enough to eat.
When our group approached, the demi-humans grew visibly tense. Myself aside, between the heavily armed ogre girls, the uniformed soldiers, and the two elven princesses, we must’ve looked like a military inspection squad. No wonder they were on edge after seeing us.
“Heya. My name’s Kousuke, and I’m in charge of building homes and farmland for the pioneer village construction project. Feel free to just call me by my name. The three big ladies behind me are my bodyguards, and the two princesses are here as supervisors for the whole operation. You don’t need to be afraid of us.”
Even after I introduced myself, the demi-humans didn’t really react. This was all so sudden that it must’ve left them a bit baffled.
Unlike Sylphy, my name wasn’t widely known among the general populace. At best, folks knew that the king consort had strange powers, or that he’d been recognized as a saint by Adolist clergy and could perform miracles, or that he’d brought the northern war to an end.
“I wanted to get to know everyone before we start work in earnest,” I continued. “Feel free to pack it up for today so we can chat a bit. Despite appearances, I’m actually pretty important and can make things happen. So, who’s in charge of your group?”
The demi-humans exchanged uneasy glances before all turning to look at a single individual.
The person they looked to was extremely small, almost childlike in build, even compared to the other demi-humans. They wore a hood pulled down over their face, hiding their expression.
Something about them felt oddly familiar.
“Are you a cyclops?” I asked gently.
The small hooded figure trembled in fear. They were clearly scared of me.
“Hey, don’t worry,” I said, raising my hands slightly. “I don’t have any issues with cyclopes. She’s not with me right now, but I’m actually super tight with a female cyclops. Looks like everyone here seems to trust you, so would you mind chatting with me?”
The man—or perhaps woman—nodded, their hood low over their head.
Upon getting their response, I pulled a folding table and chairs from my inventory and set them up beside the road. Then I grabbed a provisions box filled with block cookies (from back during the Liberation Army days) and a box of bottled water. I handed them to Shemel and the others to distribute among the demi-humans. It was a good way to get rid of some of my stock.
“Both of you take a seat. You too,” I said, gesturing toward the chairs.
Ifriita and Aqual sat down right away. The hooded cyclops hesitated for a moment, but eventually took a seat as well.
“Is there anyone else I should be speaking to?” I asked.
“In that case… Deneros and Raya.”
At the hooded cyclops’ call, two figures stepped forward. The one named Deneros was a fit minotaur beastman, while Raya was a woman with bunny ears. At first glance she looked human, but the ears gave her away. I assumed she was technically a rabbit beastman? The only rabbit beastman I’d ever met before had looked more like a large rabbit that stood on hind legs, so seeing one this humanoid was a bit of a surprise.
“Yo, we’re here.”
“Heya.”
I pulled a larger chair out of my inventory for Deneros, the same kind I always used for Danan, since they had very similar builds. I guessed that minotaur beastmen in general had larger bodies.
Finding myself in awe of the man, I ended up asking the three of them about their current living conditions and situation: Where they originally came from, what kind of work they’d done before being enslaved, why there were so many children among them and how they were related, and what kind of work they wanted to do once the pioneer village was built.
I was very thorough. Painfully thorough, even.
“I see. Makes sense that you’d be sick and tired of war and being enslaved. Of course you would,” I said quietly.