“Yes, Lord Raphael.” Once Raphael changed the topic, the village chief, Rauan, raised his head. “First of all, we thanked you from the bottom of our hearts for allowing us to live in this place.”
“Thank you very much!” Then the three of them bowed their heads deeply as they uniformly and sincerely appreciated the kindness of Raphael.
“Not a problem.” Raphael casually remarked. “I am just helping the ones in need. And no need to prostrate yourselves that much; lift your heads up.”
After heartfully expressing their gratitude, they held their heads up. Their movements were timid, especially Taris’s, but they were trying their best not to show their quivers to them.
“You are here not only to express your gratitude, yes? If you have something to say, you are allowed to.”
“Verily, Lord Raphael,” Rauan continued. “Actually, we are here to inquire about our responsibilities for living here.”
“Well, there is that too. I think this is the right time to talk about it.” Raphael commented. “But are you fine talking about it right now? “Are you not still in the middle of construction?”
“It is fine with us, Milord. Even though there are only one hundred and fifty of us, we are confident in our capabilities of building structures based on your preferences.”
“Are you?”
“Yes. Our artisans and workers were able to follow your instructions since they were easy to understand, and the construction had progressed smoothly.”
The villagers had lived in a region that was colder than most civilized nations, and they overcame any difficulties to survive even without getting in contact with any civilization.
Living in that region of the continent was harsh and truly difficult. They hunted monsters and animals in their area and cultivated crops that could withstand the cold environment.
Their perseverance had made them tougher, both physically and mentally. If the tasks were as doable as building houses, it would be an easy feat for them, since the environment they were in before was constantly destroying their abodes.
But with the systems and plans that Raphael had provided them, they would be able to build more durable and engineered structures without diminishing their architectural quality.
“If you are all okay,” Raphael intoned, “let us continue to the topic then.”
“As you wish, Lord Raphael.”
Once the prior matter had been settled, the participants agreed to move on and went back to the main topic, which was the compensation of the human migrants for living in the lands technically owned by Raphael.
“So for starters, can you tell me if there is anything you could offer?”
The three representatives did not speak and looked at themselves when Raphael asked that question. But they all nodded and decided to give their lord at least their honest response.
“We have nothing to offer aside from our servitude.” Rauan gravely stated. “But if the Lord meant practically, we can offer you our manpower and a percentage of our harvested crops.”
Even though the village had been devastated by the wolves, they still managed to bring some of their stored crops with them to help them survive the winter.
Throughout their journey with the foxes, they did manage to plant their crops within the tundra with the help of the magic of the fox queen. It is currently spring in the south, and they were ready to cultivate their crops anew in their new environment.
“Hm. If those are the only things you could offer, I would gladly accept them given your current state.”
Raphael did not think deeply about it and casually accepted their humble offerings. The villagers had suffered enough, and Raphael was no tyrant to exploit them and make them suffer any further.
“Not only that,” he added, “I will also hasten the growth rate of the crops up to the point where you can harvest them for the next month.”
“Thank you very much for your benevolence, Lord Raphael!”
As soon as Rauan expressed his gratitude, all three of them bobbed their heads. They do not know how he would be able to do that, but they had faith in him and believed his words.
Due to the opposite seasons on the two continents, Raphael would use his Botanist unique skill to cheat the system and make the crops harvestable at the same time as the nations on the Northern Continent.
Then Raphael inquired about further information for future reference.
“One more thing, can you tell me what crops you are going to cultivate here?”
“Of course, Lord Raphael. For the crops, we have root crops…” then Rauan started breaking down the list of the crops in their possession.
“—For the grains, we have wheat, barley, rice, corn, rye—”
“Hold on right there.”
And when Rauan was in the middle of listing down the grains, Raphael raised a palm and halted him from talking.
For some reason, Rauan saw Raphael lift up his head, which was resting on his fist, for the first time during the entire conversation. Raphael seemed to have something that piqued his interest.
Not only he, but also Azrael and one of the women behind him suddenly saw significant changes. Rauan does not have any idea why they acted like that.
(Did I make a mistake?) Rauan asked to himself, thinking if he somehow offended them.
“Did I hear it correct, right?”
“Yes, SirBoss.” Azrael responded instead. “I heard the same thing as well.”
“Me too, SirBoss.” Uriel added.
“?”
It was like discussing a matter that only the three of them could understand. Not only the representatives seemed confused, but the people around Raphael did as well.
“So it is. It’s been so long since I’ve tasted one.” He smiled nostalgically and then looked at Rauan with the authority of a ruler. “Hey, chief.”
“Yes!” Rauan was startled and perked up when Raphael called him out.
“I have decided to levy only a small portion of your crops until the time your village could operate autonomously, but I will impost a higher tax rate on a particular crop.”
“A particular crop…?”
“Yes, just one particular crop. And we will discuss the details regarding that later.”
“We understand, Lord Raphael.”
Rauan did not know what crop it would be or why Raphael had taken an interest in it. But whatever it was, the village would comply with the desires of the man who accepted them.
“Now then, is there anything else you want to talk about?”
“Nothing of the sort, Lord Raphael.”
“Hm. Then you are free to leave.”
“Thank you very much for granting our request, Lord Raphael.”
As soon as Rauan and the company stood up and took a bow to the people around them before walking out of the tent. Azrael followed suit, since he would teleport them back to their village.
Once the humans and Azrael disappeared behind the tent, Inari looked at Raphael and asked. “Is there something that has caught your interest, Master?”
Now that the other party had gone, Raphael and his subjects could disregard the formalities and go back to their casual atmosphere. Hence, they could speak as much as they liked without their master’s consent.
“There is, Inari.” Raphael nodded and then leaned her back against his throne. “At last, after many years, I will be able to get my hands on those.”
“What would that be, Master?”
Raphael glanced over at the next inquirer, who relayed her question through his ear. “Do not be so hasty, Czarina. You will have a taste of it one day.”
“Taste?” Inari pondered. “So you mean the crop that you had raised its levies?”
“Correct.” Raphael said as he raised his butt from his seat. “I have been looking for those for years and was surprised when the grain itself approached the chicken; I meant it figuratively and literally.”
“If it is food personally served by Master,” Czarina said, then embraced Raphael from the back, “I am very sure it would be exquisite.”
“You gluttonous dragon.” Inari scoffed as she glared at Czarina.
Even since his tamed monsters gained their own human forms, Raphael wondered if their appetites had changed. That was why he came up with the idea of providing them with human food to satisfy his curiosity.
Upon his observation, Raphael was told by them that they found cooked foods much more savory than raw meat. Since then, they have been eating human food and have not returned to their former staple.
Surprisingly, the amount of human food that they consumed was enough to satisfy their daily food consumption, an amount that was exponentially lesser than that of their daily consumption as monsters.
Thanks to that, they do not have to consume a large amount of meat for their daily needs. Even though they gained the stomach of a human being, it does not mean that all of them developed human temperance.
Upon taking the very first bite of her very first Ram Bull Behemoth steak, Czarina felt that she had tasted the best cuisine in the world. She had been eating those monsters for a long time, but she did not think that they could be so good. .𝙘𝒐𝒎
Once indulged in new tastes, Czarina ate whatever Raphael and Uriel served her and always licked her plate clean. Among the four, Czarina consumed the most foodstuff on a daily basis.
“Don’t fight, ladies.” Raphael fended them off. “How about I cook you pasta?”
“Oh. A new dish?” Czarina pressed her cheek against Raphael’s. “Please let me have a taste of it, Master.”
“Well,” Inari sighed, “if it were done by Master, I would love to.”
“”Me too, Master!”” Yuki and Griffith excitedly exclaimed.
“All right. Let’s go back to the house.”
After the audience, Raphael and Uriel started cooking spaghetti for all of them.