William headed towards the back of their residence where the goat pen was located. Right now, Ella was looking after the goats to make sure that they behaved.
"Mama Ella, I need your help."
"Meeeh?"
"It's about this…"
Ella listened to William's dilemma. The boy pointed out the pros and cons of choosing a job class. After a fifteen-minute explanation, William looked expectantly at his wise and dependable Mama.
"Meeeeeh."
"I also think that this is the best option. Thank you Mama Ella."
"Meeeeeh."
William happily hugged the Angorian Goat and brushed her head with his hand. What Ella told him was indeed the most ideal choice.
"System, I need you to do something for me," William said inside his mind.
< How may I be of service? >
"I want to change the settings for my Experience Points. I want to allocate future gains to the Shepherd Job Class"
< Acknowledged. >
< Setting has been successfully changed. >
"Thank you," William said with a smile.
"You're welcome," the system replied before going into silent mode.
After William had reached job level 40 in his Ice Mage Job Class, the system's AI had also gained an upgrade. While its voice was still monotonous, William felt that it was more "intelligent" compared to before.
After getting over his problem, William decided to tackle another one.
He looked at the thirteen goats that had survived the battle against the Dire Wolves. William had already had a good talk to Ella and both of them agreed that they couldn't allow the same thing to happen again.
Because of this, William decided to strengthen the goats as well! How would he do that? The answer is very simple. He planned to bring them all inside the Goblin Crypt!
But, there was an even more pressing matter that he had to attend to…
"Should I call them 01, 02, 03, 04, etc?" William muttered. "No. I shouldn't do that. Naming kids shouldn't be taken lightly."
William could still remember the faces of his classmates whenever they were teased due to their names. Some of them even cursed their parents silently for being too casual in their naming sense.
The boy didn't want the same thing to happen to his own children, so he made a vow that he would take naming them seriously. Right now, William was still a boy and certainly didn't have any children.
However, these goats could be considered as his children since he was the one who raised them. Because of this, he was at a loss on what to do.
"Maybe I can call them Freedom, Justice, Strike, Destiny, Impulse, Stargazer, Atlas…" William crossed his arms over his chest as he tried to remember the names of his favorite G*ndams.
"Meeeeeh!"
"Sorry, Mama Ella. I was just joking."
"Meeeeh!"
William sighed as he laid on top of the hay that was bundled up at the side of the pen. He watched the clouds pass by, while Ella laid down beside him.
Suddenly, William had a Eureka moment! The boy stood up from the hay and motioned for the goats to line up in front of him.
"Today, I will formally recognize you as the members of my herd," William said with a serious expression. "Because of this, I decided to bestow you names."
"Meeeeeeh!"
The goats cheered in unison. After the battle, they had already gained enough intelligence to understand William's words.
"Okay, let's start with you." William pointed at the goat at the far left of the formation.
"From now on, your name will be Aslan!"
"Meeeeh!"
"Next!"
The goat right next to Aslan took two steps forward.
"Your name will be Baldur!"
"Meeeeh!"
"Next!"
Baldur returned to his position and the next goat stepped forward.
"Your name will be Chronos!"
"Meeeh!"
"Next!"
"Your name will be Daedalus!"
"... Meeeeh."
"Um? You're a girl?" William gave an awkward cough as he thought of a suitable name for a girl. "Alright, your name will be Dawn."
"Meeeh!"
It took William less than ten minutes to give all the goats their names.
Aslan, Baldur, Chronos, Dawn, Echo, Flynn, Griffin, Hades, Io, Jed, Keith, Levi, Myr.
Nine boys, and four girls. These were the surviving members of William's herd. He looked at them with a determined expression. It was at that moment that William started to form his own "small army". An army that would support him until the end of time.
Ella stood by his side and nodded her head in satisfaction. She liked the names that William chose for her comrades.
James, who was secretly observing William from afar, looked at this scene with a smile on his face. He had a feeling that his grandson would definitely make the Southern Continent a much more interesting place to live in.
Later that night...
"I have good news to tell everyone," Mordred said with a big smile on his face. He then glanced at his beautiful wife which made Anna blush.
"I'm pregnant," Anna announced after Mordred's urging.
"Congratulations, Aunt Anna!" William clapped his hands. "I'm now going to have a little sister!"
James, on the other hand, roared in laughter as he patted Mordred's arm repeatedly.
"You did well, son! I don't mind if you keep giving me grandchildren. The more the better!" James laughed.
"Father, my figure will disappear if I give birth to many children," Anna commented.
"It's fine, Anna," James replied. "I'll take care of your kids for you!"
Everyone could tell that James was truly happy with the news. William remembered that his grandpa told him that their bloodline was too few. This was perhaps the main reason why James found the news to his liking.
After congratulating Anna, the family enjoyed their dinner. Anna's and Modred's eldest son, Matthew was not around. He was currently studying at the Royal Academy in the capital of the Hellan Kingdom.
He was the next in line to take over Mordred's position as the overseer of Lont. Because of this, he needed to learn a lot of things in order to improve the living conditions in their territory.
Matthew thought that it was best if he studied in the Royal Academy, so that he could help his parents in the future.
"I also have a bit of news to share everyone," William said after dinner ended. "From time to time, I will be sleeping with the goats in the goat pen every night. They were traumatized by what happened. I need to be there so that they will feel at ease."
"Okay," James replied. "Just make sure to stay inside Lont. Although the chance of another Beast Tide heading our way is slim, the possibility still exists. Don't go out sneaking outside of our territory, understood?"
"Understood." William nodded his head. He really had no intention of sneaking out of Lont. All he wanted to do was to stay with the goats and do a little experiment.
