73 Chapter 73

Once Aerwyn was finished taking his head count, he sent his undead to help the elves clean up the the dead.

"Frakki and Jinn i want-" Aerwyn stopped the two hobgoblins as the horde of undead separated but was interrupted by the bright flash of purple flames behind him. Erit's massive frame was quickly engulfed before the flames receded, displaying Erit's naked human form. Apparently the clothes Tylin had given her didn't survive the fiery transformation.

"Master! I did it!" Erit elatedly shouted. The sudden burst of flames and subsequent naked female left all eyes in the square on Erit as she pranced over to Aerwyn. Sera was nearby and when she noticed the commotion she came over as well.

"Who's this? I don't believe we've met." Sera asked. Aerwyn's faced displayed a hint of embarrassment that Erit was quick to catch as she exchanged glances between the two. A devious smile appeared on Erit's face as she grabbed Aerwyn's arm and pressed her body against his.

"Master, all these tiny elves won't stop staring..." Erit nuzzled herself on his chest and spoke in an innocent and sincere tone that was made all the more convincing by her voice magic. As always, Aerwyn wasn't immune to her powers and found himself momentarily stunned.

Sera furrowed her brow when Erit gave her a sideways glance outside the confines of Aerwyn's chest, displaying a victorious grin as if Erit had beaten her in a competition she wasn't even aware she was apart of. Aerwyn quickly recovered and sighed as he flicked her forehead.

"Master's, always so rough!" Erit cried out as she rubbed her forehead, the clear innuendo lost on no one present.

"I'm sorry Sera, would Erit be able to borrow some clothes for a bit."

"..Yeah, follow me back to the house." Sera seemed confused as she and Erit left, Aerwyn couldn't blame her, Erit was a handful at times. He just hoped that Erit wouldn't cause any trouble along the way.

Once they left Aerwyn turned back to Frakki and Jinn who were both staring at the floor, patiently waiting for orders. He ordered them to take some zin beetles and spiders back to Ardin. The pregnant goblins should be giving birth any day now so if he waited any longer he'd risk not only losing the first batch of newborns but possibly even the adults. They had gone days without food or water and now that there was finally a lull in the action, he needed to deal with it while he still could.

Aerwyn spent the rest of the day helping the elves wherever he was needed and when night fell there was a meeting at Tylin's house. Many elves were in attendance that Aerwyn didn't recognize so he and Erit kept to themselves in the corner as they all exchanged formalities.

"I'll start. As it stands Setrhyn's population has been cut down to one thousand three hundred and six. As you all know, Lyr produces nearly half of our grain and while we don't have an exact number yet, according to Aerwyn only eight hundred remain. I propose that Lyr merge with Setrhyn." Master Ferlin spoke.

"Then what shall we eat? Setrhyn's land isn't suited for farming, that's why Lyr was founded in the first place." An elf chimed.

"We can increase production in the copper mines and buy the grain from the capital like Thyr Village." Another elf suggested.

"Nonsense, Thyr has a population of six thousand along with a lucrative gold mine. How do you expect to emulate their success with mere copper. Even if we could fit more in the mines there is only so much we can produce throughout the year and it's far below what is needed to buy the amount of grain to feed Setrhyn." The elf scoffed.

"We could expand the gallows mushroom farming done on the mountain. Outside of Leyn's herb farm, we barely exploit such a valuable resource."

"Do you expect Tylin to spend his final years as a slave, endlessly brewing healing salves?"

Tensions began to heat up as the arguing continued and it only appeared to be getting worse as time went on.

"You should convince them to move to Ardin, master." Erit whispered into Aerwyn's ear.

"...Why?" Aerwyn furrowed his brow as he whispered back.

"To get the elves to follow you of course."

"Even if they moved to Ardin, they still wouldn't follow me. They'd just be living along side us."

"...Maybe not at first but after a little convincing and witnessing your power grow firsthand, they might decide that following you benefits them far more than simply existing along side you."

Erit's idea wasn't bad, Aerwyn stood to gain a fair bit even if the elves didn't end up falling in line behind him. If Marik or Semmy lived in Ardin it would allow him to save an immense amount of time if he didn't have travel back and forth between Lyr or Setrhyn so frequently. If they farmed the land around Ardin then it would also bring him another source of food outside of the deer and boar that he'd been growing weary of recently. The thought of eating civilized food made him come to a decision.

"What about Ardin?" As Aerwyn interjected the room grew quiet. Hostile eyes fell upon him as if clearly stating that an outsider shouldn't speak at such a meeting yet none verbally admonished him, showing him at least some respect for coming to their aid twice.

"Dear boy, the land surrounding Ardin has long since been reclaimed by the forest. It would be too much work to clear enough land to farm. That's why we didn't simply take the ruins from the goblins many years ago, instead choosing to settle much further south where the land was already clear." Tylin broke the short silence.

"How much land needs to be cleared in order to feed Setrhyn?" Despite the hostile gazes of some of the elves, Aerwyn pressed on.

"Roughly two square kilometers can feed about a hundred people per year. If you include the space needed for crop rotation then you will need at least four square kilometers. I'm afraid that even with your undead working day and night it would take far too long to be an immediate solution."

"I haven't heard any other viable solutions so..." An elf spoke immediately after Tylin finished, leaving Aerwyn silent as they began to argue once more.

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The argument continued on for an hour before they finally came to an agreement, they would abandon Lyr after the harvest. The majority of elves would join Setrhyn and they would allot two hundred elves to begin clearing the land surrounding Ardin. It wouldn't solve the immediate problem but long term, it was the most suitable option as they no longer had the ability to defend both Lyr and Setrhyn from even the smallest of attacks.

Aerwyn was pleased with this outcome. He wouldn't be in charge of the elves but he wasn't responsible for them either, they would simply be living alongside him as neighbors for the time being. Now he just needed to convince Lyr's blacksmith Semmy to join the two hundred and he would also have a blacksmith close by from now on. While he'd still have to pay him, Aerwyn hoped he could convince Semmy to take on some undead as apprentices so that he could begin to produce his own equipment in the future.

"Next we'll discuss spoils of battle. We've recovered one thousand two hundred and nine human bodies, three hundred and seventy one orc bodies, and the enchanted cannon that the humans brought with them. The mana cores, armor, and weapons will be split equally between Aerwyn and Setrhyn while the cannon shall be decided by a coin flip." Master Ferlin announced as he read from a parchment. It was clear from looking around the room that a few elves were unhappy with this decision.

"I require mana cores more than anything else. If possible, i don't mind forfeiting the cannon and equipment for a larger share of mana cores." Aerwyn announced.

He would be lying if he claimed he didn't want the cannon but having mana cores to evolve his undead was far more important at the moment than a cannon that would sit unused for quite some time. Besides, he already had more weapons and armor than he did undead that could use them all thanks to chasing down Earl Abery. All of that equipment along with the ships belonged solely to Aerwyn.

"Are you sure? That cannon is easily worth more than all of the mana cores combined..." Master Ferlin asked with a concerned expression.

"If that's what the boy wants let him be Master Ferlin." An opportunistic elf spoke, his giddy smile making it his intentions rather clear for all to see.

"That's fine. As I've said i need mana cores more than anything else at the moment, if i can get what i need while helping Setrhyn in it's hour of need then that's for the best." Aerwyn decided to shift the focus, making his actions appear more charitable than they actually were.

"...Very well. In that case the mana cores will go to Aerwyn along with eight hundred enemy bodies. Aerwyn will be given first pick of the dead's equipment due to his forfeiture of the cannon. Any objections?" Master Ferlin announced.

"..." The same few elves that appeared giddy about Aerwyn giving up the cannon grimaced at the announcement of him being allowed first pick but kept quiet nonetheless.

"It is decided. The next order of business..."