Orc Lord

Ah… I didn't sleep enough last night. Hasn't it been getting hotter lately? Actually, what season is it right now? I know temperatures sometimes fluctuate, but this general upward trend should mean we’re getting closer to the heart of summer, right?

Ah, this is good. I know I just recruited some Goblins to start a farm, but for some reason I thought it was fall. I'm glad. We might be able to get a considerable number of crops in on time.

In that case, I've decided my first task for today. It’s day 10, the last day of the week, so there isn't any school. As for remedial lessons, I left them to Fiara last week, and she did great, so I'll just leave the remedial lessons to her from now on.

That said, my first task of the day is to deliver the Goblins their tools.

Or so I thought when I went around to the back of my house to retrieve said tools.

Missing… Where did they go?

“Mm?” Durghan, who was passing by on his way to retrain the slower hunters, paused when he saw me standing listlessly behind my house. “Chief Vyra, is something wrong?”

“That’s, well… Do you know what happened to the farming tools I had stacked up here?”

“Ah, those! I saw them earlier. Since it seemed like they would take several trips to transport, I woke the Goblins up and helped them carry them to the fields. I'm sorry, did you have something else in mind?”

“No, no,” I quickly waved to ease his worried expression. “It’s just… they were made with earth magic… I wanted to demonstrate that they're actually fairly sturdy, explain the cost benefits, and the various uses for the different tools…”

“My deepest apologies! Chief Vyra has many tasks, and I only thought to save you some time. I should have asked before interfering on my own accord.”

Ah… Before I noticed, I gained some competent underlings. I may have to raise my evaluation of Durghan again.

“No, it's fine. It would be nice if you could leave me a note--oh, but we don't have paper, and I haven't taught a writing system yet. Now I know what to teach next week.”

Oops, I started muttering again.

“Anyway, continue what you were doing, Durghan. I'm going to drop by the fields and make sure the Goblins understand what each of the different tools are for.”

“Yes, Chief Vyra!”

***

How crude… it looks like little green monkeys messing with toys. Ah, but they’re actually getting close to using them properly.

Before I arrived, the Goblins had already begun swinging their new tools experimentally. Bits of ground were dug up here and there, and a few of them had mild bruises, presumably due to carelessness.

What is with the monsters in this world? They keep being different from my image of them.

The Gobs aren't geniuses, but they’re reasonably clever… many of them are. I'm looking at the ones with bruises on their foreheads. Also, I've been wondering this for a while, but… Even though they look like bald green children, they're not all that ugly. They have big, yellow, lizard-like eyes, that can even look cute when the lighting is dim and the pupil expands. They're bald, but their skin isn't bad. Actually, sometimes I think I see tiny scales when the light hits just right. So they're hairless because the scales grow in the way? For the same reason, their skin texture is actually very smooth and uniform. There aren't any lumps or boils, and no discoloration. They still show bruises, so the scales must be pretty thin. They likely don't offer much defense, but since it improves their looks, I'm glad.

I still can't decide if they're more monkey-like or more lizard-like. It feels like a pretty even split.

Oh yeah, I came here to explain the tools.

“Hey, you're doing pretty well on your own, but shall I explain the names and uses of these different tools? Learning is faster with a teacher.”

““Chief!””

The Goblins noticed my presence and bent their waists to greet me. Giji raised his voice, “Please teach us!”

“Right. Let’s start with the rake...”

***

“Thank you, chief! We will start planting as soon as the cuttings arrive!”

I wave pleasantly as I leave the fields. None of them asked where I got the designs for tools like those, considering this village wasn't involved in farming before. Actually, nobody questions me around here.

What on earth do they think of me with all these strange ideas? Fiara is the only one who ever brought it up.

Well, whatever. My magic recharged over night, so it's time to start the village construction work.

First, we need a wall around the village. Monsters don't really approach here, but it's still better to have one than not. I allow some extra space for the new buildings I expect to need and use repeatedly around the perimeter.

With the fields extending off to one side, there’s three areas in the village that can be considered a “village entrance.” At each of them, I erect an three times as high as usual and use to shape it into an arch.

Because I also have to use on everything, my magic power decreases quickly. I make sure to leave enough for one or two uses of and . It's day ten, and I intend to hunt a Magic Beast as usual.

Also, if the Hunt replenishes my magic power and I'm able to continue the construction work, that’s also good.

Then, since I've done everything I can here, it's time to gather up the boys and head out. I've basically stopped asking the high-scoring women if they want to come along on the hunt, because they always say no. Seriously, am I the strange one for wanting to grow stronger?

Actually, if it were the me in my old, peaceful, modern world, I probably wouldn't go out of my way to get stronger either. I guess since the village life is peaceful, they're content? I suppose I should just accept that their hearts won't be changed so easily. These girls know what they like.

So… Why is Fiara blocking the village entrance (North) like this?