29 Chapter 29: Something Something, We Made A Village [2]
"Alright!"
"Alright!"
Lancelot sat on a low stone wall just outside the first Frost Hare hut, his eyes watching Ikumi with a ribbon across her forehead as she waved her hands, shouting "alright" repeatedly.
At the same time, Marimo and the other women hammered and chiselled the other buildings.
"Morgana, what were the materials and looted we took from that Imp hovel?"
He no longer wore the armour, just a smark black tunic and pants with his sword attached to his waist.
'It seems tonight will be difficult.'
Lancelot wanted to stay and fight, but the nights of Avalon were deadly. His presence for a monster attack would lead to another unit to protect.
He was only human and didn't have the right skills for a night battle.
'Getting a night vision skill or ability is vital.'
"My Lord, the total amount is 25 wood, 20 stone, 20 cloth scraps, 15 Avalon coins and some basic leather armour."
While she announced them, he swiped his hand across the air as the black screen appeared to see if it counted everything they took.
Resources: [25 Wood] [20 Stone] [20 Cloth] [28 Coins]
"I need 2 Frost Hare Huts finished before nightfall."
"Then a Cooking Station and Farm"
"The total is 10 wood, 16 stone and 4 Avalon Coins."
He was deciding where to sit, overlook their progress, or return to the real world.
Because of the slight time difference, Lancelot worried it would be over by the middle of the night, and he would still be sleeping and not know what happened.
-> Would you like to place blueprints for your troops to complete independently?
A small map of his territory appeared—they didn't find the right place to claim the eastern forest, but it was still only one hex in size.
[Darling~ why are you so serious and busy~ give me some affection, or I'll die~ A succubus dies from no affection~]
'You're not a rabbit.'
{Master ~ Master ~ why are you not playing! A rabbit will die from no affection suffering from loneliness!}
'You are NOT a rabbit!'
It seemed that Morgana and Ikumi bonded slightly during the first battle, as now most messages sent to Lancelot were audible to her too.
This pleased Lancelot—these two were the backbone of his army when he needed to be in the human world.
His head leaned back, ignoring them as his fingers began to draw on the 2D map that showed his little unnamed village.
At the central base of the mountain were the throne and succubus summoning tool.
Then to the left is the main summoning hut for the Frost Hares, their two huts, and on the right is the farm's blueprint.
Then he added the cooking station in the centre, about 1000 metres from the throne room, close to where the horseshoe of rocks closes around the village.
'Morgana, you are in charge of the materials and finances. Make sure these are all built by tonight.'
Then he spent the last of the wood in a double wall and gate across the horseshoe's opening where the enemy would come from.
He even spent a little extra for a small guardhouse to be fitted against the wall.
[Anything for you, My Lord!]
{What about Ikumi?}
'You are coming home with me—otherwise, that old man will get too curious.'
{Hehe~ I won that stupid old woman has to stay here~}
[...]
'...'
Somehow he felt the life expectancy of this hare was rapidly shrinking the more confident she became around Morgana.
Lancelot walked around his village, ensuring he greeted all the Hares and checked if they were wounded or needed anything.
He couldn't do this in the future, but for now, while they were only a few dozen in size, he wanted to be a more welcoming Lord.
"Phew..." Lancelot let out a long breath feeling relaxed after finally making the arrangements for the night.
Once night came, this place could become hell if his village were unlucky.
The first night was the worst due to only having 12 normal units, and then the 2 special ones Ikumi would be leaving with him.
'If only I didn't rush... No, the greater the threat, the faster we will all improve.'
Once outside the newbie area or inside the demon kingdoms, the danger was that all demons, monsters, and dark creatures would become extremely violent and aggressive upon nightfall.
They would use their night vision to lead night raids on Lords no matter their size or level, and what's worse is that they don't care about death or pain due to the chaotic energy of Avalon's black moon.
The two moons are much like the sun, but the moons are different, with one being silver and the other a raven black.
The silver moon affected werewolves and vampires, allowing them to transform or become more powerful, and the black moon affected demons and all other evils.
Over the years, the human kingdoms managed to create a barrier that, although small, could repel most of the powers of those twin moons. It wasn't perfect, but most of the buffs and increased power would be nullified in any human kingdom.
'Until the fall...'
The fall was the day mankind and the Empire lost everything—the traitor Arthur destroyed the crystals that formed the barrier, and the demons and evils from who knows where trampled the front line.
Humanity never stood a chance.
Lancelot leaned back, watching as the moons slowly began to show their beautiful radiance.
"Despite being so beautiful... Why, such beauty deigns to destroy mankind?"
"Master? I didn't realise you were here!'
The soft sound of someone approaching entered his ears, but Lancelot was too tired to look back.
Because of the stress of managing all this and his training only just ending, Lancelot was close to the end of his limits, which was mainly why he was leaving.
He was too exhausted to fight.
'Morgana is quick to spot these things and made sure I fought less today...'
"Are you leaving soon?"
The gentle Milf Hare Marimo was carrying a box filled with what seemed to be swords and other tools that were stolen from the imps and were likely taking them to the small guard station that cost quite a bit of the remaining wood.
"I will be. How are you, Marimo? Not worried about the first night?"
She carried the box before dropping it beside Lancelot, who leaned against the wooden wall, her soft blue eyes looking at him with her cute black nose twitching.
"I am scared, or was scared to even live until today..."
"Before we came here and Ikumi vanished, we thought life might change, and there would be no more suffering or starvation..."
"Yet months passed... and she never returned."
Her beautiful lips seemed to be painted with a red gloss that shimmered in the silver moon's light while looking at Lancelot with a mournful complexion.
"Many died... because we couldn't hunt enough to feed, and suddenly a light appeared, asking if we would be willing to join Ikumi..."
"Finally, we got the call..."
"Although many of us are back in that horrible world..."
"With the 10 of us gone, shouldn't the little ones be able to eat a meal in our stead tonight?"
This small chat with Marimo suddenly caused a sense of shock in Lancelot's mind. He couldn't believe he never asked this before.
Where did the monsters and troops come from, and what happened after losing their Lord?
'It's such a harsh fate...'
'What happened to Marimo in my last life?'
The mere thought caused his hand to grasp hers, tightly stroking her smooth skin subconsciously.
"I will keep bringing them here and do everything to keep them safe. So no matter what happens or how hard the battle gets."
"Don't sacrifice yourself for me, Marimo. I need you all to live, to fight another day."
Marimo's small cheeks were filled with a pink hue, and she was thankful there was no light here due to the moon and nightfall.
She enjoyed the gentle actions of their Lord as it was told in their world that male lords were rough and violent, sometimes treating the Frost Tribe like mere prostitutes due to how weak and fragile they were.
So on this night, under the twin moons of Avalon, Marimo thanked the goddess of bounty for allowing her to have such a gentle, handsome and brave master.
When he released her hand, she only felt a sense of loss and cold wrapping around her body and realised that her Master was slowly seeping into her heart.
'Ikumi, let's go back.'
'Morgana, I am counting on you. If there is a battle, don't hesitate to contact me! Even if I am sleeping, should you struggle, let me know—that's an order!'
'Your life is greater than anything else to me right now.'
Normally he expected a strange comment or joke, but instead, there was silence.
So he grabbed the hopping white rabbit that seemed to be a mascot for a certain battery company and pressed the button to leave.
-> Would you like to leave Avalon?
Y/N
