"So you're suggesting assigning half of our builders for recruitment?" Elia asked after the Council members heard Jonn's account of the western affairs and his rush to increase the village's numbers.
Explaining the situation with the animal horde in the west could be very complex. But the villagers had seen firsthand Jonn's unique bond with the local animals. When he said some animals were gaining intelligence from mana, no one questioned him. After all, they lived in a world where creatures as intelligent as humans already existed.
Jonn exercised the same caution he'd shown with Betta and Tim. He avoided any info that might alarm his companions. He focused instead on the more benign aspects of mana's influence on animals. These were their higher nutritional value and greater intelligence. They didn't need to know their true power. So, he omitted details about his beasts' abilities.
His explanation about the animals' high intelligence sufficed. It helped his fellow council members understand how he'd communicated with the enemy horde and reached the agreement he'd described.
To Jonn's surprise, Arber, Lance, and Elia, the Council members present that morning, agreed to his plan.
'The green mana crystals are valuable,' they reasoned. 'But if we can ally with the Triceratops for a share of our crystals, it's worth it!'
This led Jonn to address the Triceratops agreement's challenges. He highlighted the threats from Arcanis and the need for more warriors.
"Yes, it's necessary," Jonn responded to Elia's question. "Without expanding our population, we can't increase our warrior count. And without more warriors, failure is bound to happen."
"How exactly will having more warriors benefit us against beasts?" Lance voiced the sole reservation he harbored about Jonn's strategy.
'If we were dealing with ordinary foes, numbers would matter,' Lance thought seriously. 'But a single wielder of magic could effortlessly annihilate thousands of regular fighters!'
"There are ways for ordinary people to beat powerful magical beings, old Lance," Jonn stated, fixing him with a serious look.
He proceeded to summarize the advantages that increased numbers would provide. "Consider this: we could set traps in the Barren Hills of Deepshadow. Or we could deploy battalions to attack single foes. Some strategies become viable only with enough numbers.
"The problem is that setting up even two traps around the village would occupy a large contingent of our men for at least a week. In direct combat, we can never field more than three fighters against a single opponent. Any moderately sized enemy group—say, ten or more—would effectively neutralize any numerical advantage we might have."
The three advisors couldn't argue against Jonn's logic. 'Numbers have always been our weakness,' Elia thought. 'The village had long struggled with its population.'
"Very well," Elia conceded. "We'll proceed with your suggestion and dispatch half our builders for recruitment. But suppress your expectations, Jonn—we're likely to gain only two or three extra groups at most. Don't expect a big return on that.”
"That's still better than our current situation," Jonn nodded, aware that he couldn't wait too much. "Let's stick to your original strategy—approach the regional villages before venturing into cities. With luck, our next harvest will sustain these new additions."
"What's the expected interval for new arrivals?" Arber asked, eager to have more people in the village.
"We might see new residents within a month," Elia said to her aunt. "But it's difficult to predict. It all depends on our envoys' persuasive abilities."
"That won't be a simple task," Lance muttered, contemplating the scenario. "If someone approached me with such an invitation, I would be suspicious."
Jonn agreed but maintained his optimism. "We're living in times of calamity where excessive caution has become a luxury. For some communities, our invitation might represent salvation."
"That's undeniable..." Lance sighed. He hoped for the village's growth but mourned their harsh reality.
"When do we begin approaching cities?" Arber asked, steering the talk to positive prospects. She recalled the urban recruits' valuable contributions.
'The people of the Yeoman Ferry estate revolutionized our methods.' She reflected on their improvements in construction, agriculture, and food production.
Arber was convinced that the village needed people with specific skills the most, which were easier to find in cities than in villages.
"Soon enough," Elia replied, her recruitment strategy already mapped out. "After this initial phase, we will deploy our most successful recruiters to the cities. This first effort will identify our best persuaders. They will then target larger, more complex places, like Littlewood."
"We're looking at a three to six-month timeline," Jonn estimated for Arber. "But, in six months, we should see a steady influx of new villagers from Littlewood and other towns."
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"That's wonderful!" exclaimed the middle-aged woman, her cheeks lifting with a genuine smile.
Lance gestured toward the construction site visible from their balcony. "So when do we launch this mission?" he asked, directing the question to his niece and Jonn.
From their vantage point, Jonn and Elia surveyed the vast 5,000-square-meter construction zone. They scanned the half-finished perimeter wall, the new streets, and the buildings rising: a warehouse, guard post, forge, and a communal kitchen and dining hall.
The expansion plans would soon need these facilities: a training ground for the guard, a spacious dining hall where new villagers could eat while the cooks worked efficiently in an adequate kitchen, and a forge where Tim could pass on his craft. Similarly, Urian would teach carpentry in the workshop being constructed behind the forge.
But as the village needed to export wood for carpentry, this would take longer to develop, which naturally justified the construction of this place being much less accelerated than Tim's forge.
"We can inform the men at day's end, once we've finalized the recruitment expedition list," Elia suggested to Jonn. "They can leave in two days, after proper preparation."
"That works for me," Jonn agreed, exchanging a meaningful glance with Lance.
“Well, this is a necessary effort. I'll try to make the group work harder these two days so we can at least finish some of the buildings that are close to completion before the number of men dwindles.” With those words, Lance set off for the ground level of the Council, soon coming into view of Elia, Arber, and Jonn.
The trio continued chatting as they watched Lance go to talk to the workers. None of them were worried about delays in this area under construction. The parts of this area that needed the most work were the least important. What was most urgent and essential for the village was more than 95% complete and could be finished quickly, even by a smaller group.
After Lance's departure, Arber also took her leave, going to tend to the plants in the village's large greenhouse. By the next harvest, the greenhouse would have its entire area completed, but the village would not expand it again. Jonn intended to use surplus crystals—after the Triceratops' share—for the village's inner beds and the planned underground mushroom farms. The experimental banana pit could also be expanded post-harvest.
These would be initiatives that didn't need to be done in greenhouses, where the village's mana reflectors would do their job and protect the magical information of the mana crystals in the soil.
But for now, these were just plans, still far from being fully put into practice. Jonn still needed to import several products for many of these projects to come to fruition.
“By the way, Acelin and his group should be passing through the north soon," Elia said as they walked through the construction area after they left the Council building. “Do you want to make a trade with him?”
“We'll continue to maintain our low-scale trade with him," Jonn replied, recalling the merchant's suspicious nature. But he wasn't going to stop doing business with Acelin because of his distrust. “We'll send our lower-quality weapons with Petyr's group so they can get meat and some seeds. Let's say that some of our plants have died and we need seeds.”
This arrangement had persisted for decades. Since Hewet's time, Acelin had known about the village's greenhouse and the occasional seed purchases.
Jonn was happy to maintain this level of business with Acelin for the time being.
“This will be our chance to keep an eye on his group too,” Jonn said, passing in front of the central fountain being built at a crossroads. The surrounding area was already beginning to be paved, giving an idea of how the place would look in the not-too-distant future.
“Hmm, I agree. But...” She slowed down, but also her tone, looking at him with a more intense depth. “Wouldn't it be good if Eliot or I went with them? It would be important for us to find out if there are any mages among them.”
“That might be interesting, if you were able to notice them without exposing yourselves,” Jonn said with a sigh. He had been studying Eliot and Elia ever since they became mages. But the two of them didn't have his abilities, since they didn't have the Celestial Magnifying Glass. And as they were weak, it would be difficult for them to notice other magical beings without showing themselves as such, too.
“But I'll send Ice with them. Ice will hide far enough away not to attract attention, but not far enough to have his instincts hindered. He'll tell us if he finds anything suspicious in that group,” he said to Elia's relief.
“That works too. I have a bad feeling about Acelin's group.”
“A bad feeling?” he asked as he narrowed his eyes.
“Yes, ever since I became a mage I get that feeling when I think about our previous interactions... I can't explain it. It's a feeling," she said as she stared at the ground until she turned her eyes back to Jonn, showing him her sincerity and inability to speak further.
“I see... Try to work on that feeling. It could be a developing trait of yours," he said as he scratched his chin thoughtfully. Could this be a sign of [Elemental Affinity]?
But without much information about [Elemental Affinity] and a few observations along these lines, he couldn't judge the matter too far.
“In any case,” he sighed as he revealed his concerns to Elia. “We should prepare for the worst. You're not the only one with bad omens.” The loss of seven points in the mission to save the village came to mind. “I also feel that bad things will come to our door soon. Maybe it's the pursuers of the Triceratops. But we can't limit ourselves to that. We haven't yet been visited by the pursuers from Sarre's group, and there's this strange situation with Acelin.”
“Sigh... It's a shame we have to face problems when we have so many opportunities.” Elia looked around. She had never seen the village so hopeful and alive. But the problems suffocated her.
The chance of their village being starved out was practically over, but now they could be destroyed by exotic animals in no time!
“It's too much to ask for peace, Elia.” Jonn laughed with bitterness as he looked up at today's blue sky and remembered his grandfather. “If trouble only came when we were prepared and well, it wouldn't be trouble! They're terrible for coming when we don't want them to!”
“Yeah... I've heard that.” Elia also looked up at the sky, wondering how old Hewet was in the Immortal Realm.
“Anyway, I have to work. I'll see you later.” Jonn parted from her, waving goodbye as he went to collect his materials. Now he wanted to work even harder to strengthen his village!
Elia watched him go and did the same, returning to the Council to split up the builders who would soon be joining the village's expansionist effort. This was not an easy job that she could just point her finger at and someone would have to move. She had to see which men could be exempted from building work without compromising local development entirely. She also had to send those with articulation skills, who were minimally eloquent.
'I have to sort this out quickly. I'll talk to old Rulf in the middle of the day to get his opinion on the workers.'
Everyone went their separate ways, joining in the morning frenzy common to almost every morning in the Eternal Village.