The fairy maid turned to another part of the crowd around her. “However, we feel you may still worry about your livestock, so we have built lodgings for you only a few minutes away from this pasture so that you can easily come and check up on your animals any time you wish. Of course, we will not charge you anything for your new accommodation, and everything else is free too. So please relax and enjoy your stay.”
“Excuse me, but why would you go to such lengths just to help us?” the village chief asked. After all, not only had the people in the Great Tower built a space for them to look after their farm animals, but they’d even gone as far as to build brand-new shelters for the villagers themselves. Yet despite all this, they were insisting on not accepting any kind of payment for food or lodging. The arrangement sounded too good to be true, and the chief figured there had to be some kind of catch.
The fairy maid flashed him a sunny smile. “Queen Lilith was so distressed by the demonkin’s threats of violence, she sought the counsel of the Great Witch, ruler of the tower. The Great Witch was moved by the compassion Her Majesty expressed for her subjects, so she decided to help her. So please, direct your thanks to Queen Lilith for making all of this possible.”
“I-I see,” the village chief said. “So Queen Lilith really does care deeply about our well-being...” Some of the villagers were even shedding tears at Lilith’s philanthropic gesture, as described by the fairy maid, who waited for the small crowd to settle down again before transitioning to the next phase of the tour.
“Next, I will take you to your lodgings,” the maid said. “There is enough space for everyone, plus all of your belongings. Once you have settled into your new dwellings, you may ask whichever fairy maid is on duty to show you around the city. You’re free to call on the maid at any time.”
When the villagers reached their new temporary homes, they were once again awestruck at just how impressive the buildings looked, both from the outside and on the inside. Although the buildings had been prepared for them in short notice, every thought had seemingly gone into the furnishings and interior design. The lodgings were more luxurious than what the villagers were used to, and some of the arrivals had doubts over whether they were truly welcome to set foot inside.
But it only took the villagers a few days to grow accustomed to their new digs, and they started asking the fairy maids to give them tours of Tower City. None of the residents in the city appeared to be jealous of the favorable treatment the villagers were receiving, since they had all been told in advance that the villagers had been rescued from potential slaughter at the hands of the Demonkin Nation. The citizens therefore took pity on the villagers instead, and expressed their sympathy in a number of different ways.
“Here, this one’s on the house. Eat up,” urged the owner of an outdoor food stall.
“It’s a shame the demonkin are taking their anger out on you fellas,” said a patron in one of the taverns. “Actually, you know what? Put your drinks on my tab. Whaddaya say?”
The female villagers out visiting shops also received the same treatment from their Tower City counterparts.
“It must’ve been extremely tough for you to leave your homes at such short notice,” sympathized one of the many women in the city. “If you ever need anything, just ask.”
The people of Tower City were extremely generous, not least because most of them were in gainful work and could afford to be so. Due to the first-rate reception they had received at the Great Tower settlement, a rather unexpected consensus started to take hold of the younger villagers.
“Chief,” one of the evacuees started. “We wanna stay an’ raise our cattle here in Tower City!”
“I’m gonna marry me one of these city girls and settle down here,” said another young man.
“We don’t want to go back to that village!” exclaimed a young woman. “We don’t have all these pretty dresses over there!”
The group wanting to settle permanently in Tower City even included firstborn sons who were in line to take over family farms. The mass defections alarmed the village chief, who went to the fairy maid on duty for advice. She decided the problem was way above her pay grade, so she reported the situation via Telepathy to Iceheat, who was serving as the acting administrator of the Abyss in Mei’s absence.
“I myself am not quite sure what the appropriate response should be,” Iceheat admitted when the fairy maid asked her for orders to resolve the issue. There had been a double purpose to extending a favorable reception to the villagers, which was to burnish the impression they had for Lilith. If they had been treated poorly, their antipathy would have been directed at the young queen, and the Wicked Witch—and by extension, Light—would have lost face, since they had been entrusted with the villagers’ care. To avoid such an unfavorable outcome, the Great Tower had practically rolled out the red carpet for their guests, but this approach had brought with it the unintended consequence of threatening to tear the villagers apart.
“We will need to consult with Miss Mei on this matter when she is back,” Iceheat said, concluding the Telepathy call. She figured there were some problems where it was perfectly reasonable to pass the buck—or rather, to escalate the issue to a senior manager. With her mind made up, Iceheat instructed the fairy maid to stall for time until Mei returned from her mission.