William considered the best approach to start from. He didn’t want to just ask Wallace straight up to be the leader. He also didn’t want to take the helm, at least, not until he felt capable.

“Lad? You good?” Wallace said, some concern in his tone.

William was brought out of his musings by that, “Oh, sorry, was thinking.”

He just decided to wing it and continued, “We obviously need someone to lead the village beyond just defense stuff. I’m woefully inadequate for that sort of thing right now.”

Wallace’s mouth partially quirked up as he replied, “And you want me to take charge?”

“Well...yeah.”

Wallace raised an eyebrow, “I get it. You’re young and having command thrust upon you seems overwhelming. Life is tough. I feel that I can state that with confidence from my military career. You have shown promise so far, but I can understand that the deeper, more mature side of leadership seems rough as it always does to the young.”

Wallace put his had on William’s shoulder and smiled before continuing, “You could be a great leader, but I can understand that you might be a tad skeptical of that.”

“Are you a mind reader too? Super soldier programs and the like?” William quipped, not really knowing how to respond to Wallace’s words.

“Nope, I would advise never playing poker. Your facial expressions are a dead giveaway.”

“I’ll keep that in mind. How about you be leader for a while and teach me how to takeover at a later point,” William offered, worried about the proposal being shot down.

“That’s reasonable. We’ll need to explain the rough situation to everyone though so that there isn’t any miscommunications or misinterpretations.”

Relief flooded into William at that, and he could only hope that Wallace intended to go with the plan for a few years at least, and not just until the bandits had been dealt with.

“Okay, I know that many people respect you Wallace, so I doubt you would get much contestation. The Duncans won’t try to contest either, I think they just put token help in and stay secluded nowadays.”

“Ugh, don’t remind me. That family aside, I think you’re right. If we do this though, you will be learning about every facet of good leadership. I’ll make sure of it,” The older man said with determination and a hint of what William assumed was anticipation.

William suddenly had a mental image of what Drill Sergeant Wallace would be like.

William was drawn from his imagination as Wallace spoke up once more, “The first thing that comes with Leadership is the acceptance that you are solely responsible for the well-being of your people. They won’t want to follow someone who half-arses their role, nor will they build respect for you.”

Wallace said each sentence with a stern, disciplined expression before continuing, “The second facet of leadership is delegation. Give certain tasks to individuals that are already proficient at those tasks. You don’t want some bank accountant responsible for city plumbing and the like. Some people have already accepted the system jobs.”

That got William’s attention, “Oh? What Jobs and how many?”

Wallace eyed William with some wry amusement before replying, “A leader would know that already. All joking aside though, we have five people who accepted cooking jobs when the system prompted them. Jeff and Miss Jones are two such examples. Add the farmers and lumberjacks, and we’ve a decent foundation. With our new companions added, the finer things can be implemented. Once more; delegation. Remember that.”

William’s respect of the war veteran just kept on growing. He spoke with a wisdom founded from combat, grit, and life experience. William at most had partial; combat and grit foundations if there was even such a thing.

“Thanks, Wallace I’ll take that onboard. I’ll consider things while we rest by the fire.”

“Of course Lad, I have a couple ideas brewing already. We need to welcome our new friends as well. I’ll take care of that. I want you to watch everyone as I do so. As you do, listen to the words I say. You’ll hopefully find it insightful. Let’s go eat first though.”

“Agreed.”

The pair walked over to the fire that was roaring three foot high. Wallace sat down first on the far side of the fire. William smiled when he noticed Armine and Stacey smiling at him patting a spot between them, inviting him to sit down.

“Holy Fuck! This is some anime level shit right here!” William mentally cheered and quickly sat down obliging the two ladies. He was vibe checked shortly after though as he clocked Jane looking at him with an amused expression plastered across her face. William just rolled his eyes at her, prompting Jane to stifle a snicker.

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“That was a short conversation,” Stacey said, shuffling a couple inches closer.

William smiled and looked her way, “It was succinct and to the point. Don’t worry though, it’s all good stuff.”

“I’m sure it is. Though, you and the term worry kind of go hand in hand,” she replied, giving him a wink.

He chuckled at that, “Worry for me? Or worry at what I’m doing?”

“Both. You have a bad habit of nearly dying whenever you go off alone, coming back half dead. If that doesn’t happen, you’ve beaten super strong opponents unscathed. Both lead you to come back to us stronger.”

“I am getting stronger over time but it doesn’t feel like enough. Supposedly we could expect around level twenty something bandits at max, yet even at level 18, I worry for how the defenses will hold.”

Armine leaned in on his other side and put a hand on his, “It’s better to worry about things going wrong than to succumb to blind arrogance. Worry leads to back up plans. Arrogance leads to death.”

William turned his attention to Armine and gave her a soft smile of gratitude as he said, “That’s a pretty good saying. You also got a Philosophy job?”

Armine gave a slight chuckle.

“I’m far too profound for mere philosophy,” She said, with a cheeky grin.

“And equally humble,” William retorted with an equally cheeky wink.

Armine poked his side in faux annoyance. William then felt Stacey cuddle up against him. He turned his head to Stacey, slightly taken aback by her act. He didn’t have any time to process it, however, as Armine did the same on his other side.

“What the fuck? Is this actually happening?” William’s mind screamed.

“Um...I...Th-” William tried to say something smooth, but his words immediately fell shy of leaving his lips.

“Cute. The infallible William, noble protector of the innocent, stupefied by some affection from two attractive girls,” Jane said, not even remotely hiding her mirth at the scene.

William gave her a quick glare before going a couple shades warmer.

A pregnant moment passed before Armine spoke up, “The more I hear about you from some of the others since coming here, the more impressed I am. Freshly integrated to this world and already so high level given the time you’ve been here.”

“You grow a lot from adversity and near death experiences in this world apparently,” William quipped.

“Spoken like a proper warrior, I think that’s very endearing.”

“Um...thanks very much. You’re very kind and...I love the braid. It looks good on you,” William winced at himself mentally. Was that the best he could do? Maybe once he passes a hundred Charisma down the line, he’ll get better improv skills.

Stacey let out a quiet harrumph clutching William’s arm slightly tighter, “I think you’re very dashing and heroic. You’re firm and unyielding. I know you’ll keep us safe. Like a true hero.”

William blushed slightly, but was able to come up with a better response this time around, “What hero would allow fair maidens such as you ladies to get hurt by degenerates?”

He hoped that was smoother, and was lucky as he didn’t need to wait long to see the warm radiance of Stacey’s smile soothe his soul. He decided to try something, anxious at what the outcome would be. William moved both his arms so they wrapped across the small of both girls’ backs and let his hands rest on their sides. His heart raced, fearful he just blew it.

Relief caressed his soul as both girls chuckled with what William hoped was elation and they leaned their head’s into his shoulders. “Success.jpg” William thought, feeling confidence flow through him as he memorized the sight before his eyes.

The joy of the three was was then heightened as the smell of cooked meat wafted under their noses. Three pairs of hungry eyes locked onto Miss Jones who had just finished cooking the first seven skewers of meat. It smelled more intense and aromatic than usual this time around though.

She caught the stares and smiled wide, “I levelled my cooking Job a few times, so I can enhance flavor with a [Seasoning] skill.”

William maintained a somewhat neutral expression on the outside but on the inside, he was chuckling at the system. Who created a seasoning skill? It wasn’t overly funny, but it tickled the right humor for William.

Miss Jones continued, “Those eyes look almost predatory. Were you replaced by wolves?”

William just licked his lips trying to mimic a wolf, while his eyes were firmly locked onto the thick meat leaking shining juices.

Miss Jones bellowed out in laughter at William’s impression, and she wasn’t the only one as a lot of the others around the fire also appeared amused.

“I suppose as it’s all cooked now, you can get stuck in,” Miss Jones finally stated before digging into her own skewer.

William wanted to reach for the skewer, but also enjoyed holding the two girls in his arms as much. He hesitated slightly, but Stacey took the initiative and grabbed William’s skewer for him.

“I’ll feed you yours if you want? Then you can still hold us like you evidently want to do,” Stacey said with a sultry smile.

William’s heart was hammering now, his Isekai dreams were coming true step by step.

Armine sighed in defeat, and chuckled a little before saying, “I’m feeding you the next one okay?”

“Of course. Sharing is caring right?”

She gave him a soft smile and continued to use his shoulder as a head rest while she munched on her own skewer. William was then offered his one by Stacey. He didn’t hesitate to take a bite from the meat. It was glorious. The juices made the meat incredibly moist and the [Seasoning] skill had apparently allowed creation of specific seasoning.

He felt some rejuvenation, as well as an increase in general vitality and energy. William checked his resource pools but they remained the same. Did he just get some buff?

“Miss Jones, does your food give us benefits in regard to the system?” William asked, a hunch on the answer already forming.

“Yes, an increase of two percent in all stats. These aren’t, however, visible on screens as they are hidden enhancements. The effects only last a couple of hours, but every little helps.”

“Amazing!” William said, Excitement not even remotely masked in his voice.

William then noticed none of the other newcomers were around their fire. A quick glance of the surroundings indicated that the others were at some of the other erected fires.

Armine caught his gaze and spoke up, “We agreed to split up to learn more and mingle with more of the village. The idea is to get mixed into things with all of you naturally, before any true skepticism rears its head.

William solemnly nodded, knowing that same scathing skepticism most of his life.