525 Chapter 525

“If you take the General side of the tree first, you will be able to increase your total number of summons, and you will be able to call for a pair of Lieutenants and a Commander, who will have their own Lieutenant.

That would let you run a whole farm and still have someone to play with as long as you picked summons by the job that needed to be done.” Cain explained to Luna, who was still looking longingly at the family of werewolves.

[Bring her to us. We are excellent farmers.] Victor the Echo suggested.

[That’s not a bad idea. I will see what Cyrene thinks once the others have hatched.] Cain answered, thinking that the Echoes should have the capability to keep her under control and they were competitive enough that they would do an amazing job as babysitters if teaching her was a competition.

[How would you even do that?] Lou, the second echo asked, listening in to Cain’s thoughts.

[Two weeks each, whoever makes the most progress toward making her a kind and moral landholder wins?] Cain suggested and could immediately sense their urge to beat each other.

[Tell the others to hurry up and hatch. I have just the plan.] The Echoes announced in unison before tuning everyone else out so they could refine their tactics.

“I have all the skills from the General side of the tree now. That was easier to do than I expected.” Luna announced before summoning a flock of Pixies into the room.

“Oh neat, it’s not the same person, but just a bunch of you with the same skills. Greetings, I’m Luna.” She welcomed her summons and the closest one came over to shake her hands.

“Hello, Luna. What are your orders?” The Pixie Druid asked.

“I need to know more about growing crops. I have a theory that the one with all the food has the real power.” Luna responded, detaching herself from Cain to sit on the table next to his chair and have a conversation.

“Her curiosity level is good, but her attention span is a bit short. Definitely not ready to start work in the forge.” Dimnys chuckled as the collection of small creatures had a very animated conversation on the table between her and Cain.

“That’s not too surprising, given her age. Give it another half hour and she will be hungry, then sleepy again.” Cain agreed, noticing that the small group at the table was talking about three topics at once.

Cain turned out to be off by five minutes. Twenty minutes later, Luna was asking for more Spiced Milk, and five minutes after that she was asleep around Cain’s wrist again.

“What do we do now? I think she forgot to give us orders or dismiss us or something.” One of the Pixies asked Cain.

“Just wait a while and she will be awake again. She’s new at this, and we didn’t cover those little things yet.” Cain explained getting to his feet to escort Dimnys downstairs to visit Cyrene.

Jessica caught up with them first, running up to Cain to offer him a hug and accept a head pat.

“I’ve been all over and helped with a cut of everything, and they all say good things about you. We found more new people too, they arrived at midnight and the farms at the edge of town took them in. The farmers had to beat them up a little bit before they calmed down, but I think most of that was due to coming across them in the dark and startling them. They seemed like decent people by the time I met them.” Jessica explained.

“Well, that’s good news. Was there anything odd or special about them? We can go visit them once I send Kone off, but it would be good if I wasn’t showing up unaware.” Cain suggested.

“Nothing at all really. They’re from the same period as the others, right after or at the end of the War between the Gods, but they were all low-level soldiers, they didn’t fight on the front line, they were there to carry camp supplies for the others. They are wearing worn-out leather armor, not the fancy metal stuff that most of the soldiers were wearing when they arrived.”

Jessica’s description of them didn’t startle Cain, you can’t always find powerful and unique transfers, even when things were working right, two-thirds either died the first week or refused to do anything dangerous and simply hid in town, never leveling up past the double digits.

“I will head back on my own, go visit the new people and get them settled. If they were camp followers they should make good workers for either the farmers or craftsmen. These days a good assistant is getting hard to come by.” Dimnys told them but stopped to give the Pixies that Luna summoned a bit of sugar before she left.

Jin was taking a break in the tower’s base when the group walked by, stopping every minute or two for a short conversation with the locals. “Hey, where are you guys off to? I’m about exhausted and I could use a short diversion before I get back to grinding levels.” The Dragonkin called out, slowly walking toward them as she caught her breath.

“Pixies, can you heal her and refresh her stamina a little, please? It is a long walk.” Cain asked Luna’s summons politely, and they moved to swarm the gray-scaled girl.

Her health was coming back quickly, so they weren’t just there talking but they were doing as Cain asked.

“That’s a lot of Pixies in one place. One or two is already loud, a dozen is a whole new experience.” Jin laughed, handing them a bit of chocolate to share with the group. It was no wonder Pixies loved the Long Fang Valley. There was fruit everywhere, and everyone carried candies.

The walk was unnecessarily long, but Cain learned many things about the day’s happening, including the rest of the night’s arrivals, who had ditched the porters that ended up in the valley. They had come across a wild bear on their way to the village in the next valley to the north and had lost half their numbers, with the rest arriving heavily mauled.

The merchants who had come this morning on their way to the Capital had told the local shopkeepers all about it.

Wild bears weren’t really a threat to the locals, since they were only low-level monsters, and wouldn’t attack unless threatened, but to a bunch of new arrivals who were just wandering through the woods in the dark and didn’t know about them, they could be deadly.

The new guys were out in the garden of the farmhouse when Cain arrived with his small entourage. The family was a human one, and the kids swarmed them, welcoming Jessica back and trying to get on the Pixies’ good side so they would use their druidic magic to help with the kids’ daily chores.

“You two look like you have settled in well. I hear you had a bit of a scare this morning.” Cain called, drawing their attention from where they were planting potatoes.

“A misunderstanding is all. They were generous enough to explain what had happened to us, and get us settled with a human family, saying that it would help us relax.” One of the men told him, looking a bit embarrassed at the memory.

Jessica smiled at their response and joined the conversation. “They were right about the relaxing. Once you’ve seen the level of energy that beastkin children have in the morning you will be thankful for energetic human toddlers. This is Duke Cain of Skyview, the noble lord of this region, as well as the Guild Master of the Darklight Host.”

“Our apologies your grace, we didn’t realize that you were a Nobleman. Please forgive our rudeness.” The man who had been speaking earlier apologized.

“No need for all that. You couldn’t be expected to know who I am, and I don’t insist on formality here at home. Did you two have a trade before you joined the human Gods’ armies?” Cain asked.

“You’re looking at it. Though our family farm was more inclined to Turnips and Cabbage, planting potatoes is very much the same thing we grew up with.” The quieter of the two answered, his voice raspy from poorly healed past damage. The scars were hidden under the bandana that covered his face to keep the dust out of his mouth, but Cain was certain that there was a heavy scar on his neck somewhere.

“Then you should be fine here. I will give these fine folks a stipend to help get you settled in. There are a lot of farmers in the area looking for helpers, or if you prefer you could break ground on a fresh field out at the edge of the valley. There is still a lot of good unworked land, but it will be a lot of work, even for a pair of strong brothers like you.” Cain suggested.

“Cousins actually. Our whole extended family lived on one farm, other than one cousin who got accepted to a cultivation sect. I think we can work something out right here. The oldest three children of the Mons family have already left home to become merchants and soldiers, so they could use the help.” The new arrival told Cain, while the older woman who had been cooking inside the house nodded at him through the window.

“If that’s the case, you’re welcome to it. But I would like to have a word with you about these Cultivation Sects. I have heard a lot about them, but it seems Cultivation is impossible in this world. My good friend Duke Chen would love to get firsthand knowledge of them as well.” Cain’s smile set their minds at ease. If the local Duke says that they are fine to stay here, they don’t have much to worry about, other than doing their jobs.