DEMON'S VIRTUE

Eiro looked at the three Monster Chiefs in front of him. At first, none of them were particularly excited about the idea of putting these sorts of collars on the monsters in this village, but at the end of the day, it was something that had to be done if they all wanted to live here in peace.

They all agreed to using this method, before Eiro moved on to the next point, "Alright, so. In terms of aggression and monstrosity, has their been anything of the sort amongst those that had their monstrosity sealed away already?"

"...Yes, there has." Boju admitted, "We thought maybe you could look at them? Maybe there was some issue when you sealed it?"

"No, there wasn't an issue with the sealing. Boju, even amongst the Highland Orcs, a race that has extremely low monstrosity in the first place, there must have been crime. In such cases, the issue isn't the monstrosity, it is simply their personality." Eiro explained to them, "It is a shame, but sometimes there are those that commit crime for different reasons. A large portion of crime is created out of circumstance. Those that think they are treated unfairly, quite often that is actually the case as well, will resort to crime to make up for that unfair treatment in any way. If that happens only to some individuals where you can say they are the exception, simply talk to them and try to solve their problems."

"But won't that be a bit of a waste of time..?" Gobu asked, and Eiro shook his head without hesitation, "Of course not. And I'm not talking about you guys in particular. I mean the Guards you already stationed around the village. I want you to turn them into a sort of police-force that takes care of the order in this village as it continues to grow. Right now, they don't have much work, so I want you to give them work."

"Ah, I see. That makes sense!" Boju exclaimed, "But you said that's what we should do if there are issues with individuals... Should we treat it different when there are more that are affected?"

"Exactly so. You catch on quick." Eiro smiled lightly, "If there is a problem with groups of monsters, and more and more things happen as the amount of monsters here grow, then you need to evaluate if something is wrong with the system of how you govern this village. And I need you to understand exactly how to do this before we expand the size of this place to that of a town in the future."

Boju was quickly taking notes of what they had to take care of under Eiro's orders, while Gobo and Kitsue simply listened to the Demon.

"Anything else you want us to do, Master?" Gobo asked, and Eiro thought about it for a bit, "Well, if you can, just set up a system to create new jobs for the monsters of this village to do. Whether it's farming, mining, building, hunting, or even scouting for new monsters to integrate into this village. We want everyone to have something to do, so that nobody is lazing around. With the exception of children, elderly, sick and injured of course."

Eiro leaned back in his set and crossed his legs, "I think it's obvious, but if you need help figuring such things out, then contact me immediately. I'll be leaving a magic item so you can do just that with you later. But for now, I want to hear something from you. Tell me how things are going in the village, and what you need from me right now. I'll get you whatever you need. If I can get it, of course."

Kitsue groaned loudly, "Everything is fine with my Kobolds, but Gobo's dumb goblins keep trying to fight them! They're causing nothing but trouble!"

"As I told you, they aren't trying to fight them, they're trying to duel them. As a sport. In their freetime. Because your lazy Kobolds keep doing nothing but laze around and act all high-and-mighty, my Goblins will just hate your Kobolds even more. And what Master wants is a united village, and not one split up like that!" Gobo replied, but Kitsue couldn't do anything but scoff.

"You're really calling my Kobolds lazy? Who is sitting in place for hours on end, freaking out when they're interrupted, eh?"

"I've told you a million times before, but we're meditating. I'm teaching the ones with talent for magic how to manipulate their mana and how to keep a calm mind!"

"Do you want to know what's going to keep all you morons calm? I'll tell you if you suck my di-"

"Kitsue." Eiro interrupted her, "How do you guys even know how to talk like that?"

"W-Well, there are adventurers around here every once in a while... And since they're the most skilled in the village, Gobo and Kitsue are the ones that go out and make sure they don't cause any issues..." Boju explained. Eiro crossed his arms annoyed, "Great. Well, you two better stop fighting too much, or one of you is going to end up dead one day. If you're unlucky, both of you."

"Y-Yes Master..." They both said in unison, before Eiro continued, "And what about the Highland Orcs? How are they doing?"

"Oh, those guys are absolutely perfect." Kitsue pointed out, and Gobo couldn't help but agree, "They all have their own tasks already, so they just keep on doing those and everyone is happy. It works out pretty well to keep a basis for the village that we can build on."

"Good." Eiro smiled in relief, "Great job, Boju. And now to you two." Eiro said, looking at Gobo and Kitsue, "First, it's fine if the Kobolds want to laze around in their freetime. They can choose want they want to do during that time, and the Goblins shouldn't try and force them to participate in something they don't want to."

"Hah!" Kitsue laughed as she glared at Gobo with a victorious expression.

"However... That doesn't mean that the Kobolds should be split off of the Goblins completely. Dueling is part of what Goblins do to have fun, and if they want to befriend Kobolds, the logical consequence is to invite those Kobolds to fight duels with them. Or at least to come watch. Kitsue, you should be able to understand that it's annoying when you invite someone to do something you enjoy, and they just act like you're crazy or bothersome."

"Hah!" Gobo laughed next, but Eiro just rolled his eyes.

"But do you guys want to know what the main reason for the animosity between Kobolds and Goblins in this village is?" Eiro asked, slowly standing up from his seat as he walked around the table a bit. He soon stood exactly in the center between Gobo and Kitsue.

"Stand up, both of you." The Demon said in a strict tone. The Goblin and Kitbold did as told, and kneeled in front of Eiro. The Demon leaned down toward them as he placed his hands on top of their heads. And with one swift motion, he hit both of their heads together.

[Gobo -123 Health]

[Kitsue -165 Health]

Eiro saw these messages appear in front of his eyes, "Both of you, stop fighting like that, you got that?"

Kitsue hissed loudly as she held her head in pain, while Gobo slowly stood up, also holding his head.

"I'm not saying you have to get along perfectly, but at least be a good example when in front of the monsters of the village. If they see their leaders fight, they will end up fighting as well. So just fake it in front of them. But if, the next time I come here, I hear from anyone that they saw you fighting in public, I will hit your heads together harder. As hard as I can."

With those words, Eiro stepped toward the rock wall, pressing his fingertips against the surface. He pushed his hand against it and squeezed his fingers together, causing cracks to appear due to the sheer pressure he was creating. Shivers ran down the bodies of the two monster chiefs right next to Eiro.

The Demon repaired the wall with earth magic, as he returned to his seat, "Also, I generally like the idea of everyone in the village participating in the duels if they want to. It's never a bad thing if they can defend themselves properly. I'll send some things for that sort of thing here. They fight without weapons, right? So I'll send you guys some bandages to wrap around their hands. Just to protect their muscles and joints in their hands a bit. Speaking of, I'll also send you some more materials for armor-smithing that are hard for you guys to get. Do you guys need anything else in that direction?"

The three chiefs thought about it for a moment, before Boju quickly suggested something, "We dug a tunnel through part of the ravine, and found a good spot where we can start farming without anyone being able to spot us once spring comes. We have some basic seeds that we can use, but it would be great if we could get more, and some higher-quality seeds..."

"Hm, of course. I'll put together a good collection and have them sent to you before winter fully ends." Eiro replied, "Do you need anything else regarding provisions until then?"

"Not provisions directly, but the Orcs that have a cooking-based task want to try out ways to preserve food for longer. Things for that might be good?" Boju suggested. Eiro thought about it for a moment, and then nodded his head immediately.

"Sounds like a good idea. I'll try and set up a deal for salt, and I'll give you some books on food-preservation for you to read through as well. I know that smoking is something good for preserving meats, so prepare a large space in some cave-walls that can hold a lot of heat and can be closed off. I know some types of wood that are great for that as well, so I'll try and send you that as well." Eiro explained, taking mental notes for what he had to get done for this village.

"Hm... Ask the craftsmen if they need any materials. And in general, all of you ask around if the monsters are lacking of anything here, and we'll figure something out." The Demon suggested, "I'll be staying here until tomorrow, so tell me whenever something comes up."

Gobo rubbed the side of his head some more as he looked at Eiro, "Master, what exactly do you want to do until tomorrow? Can we help somehow?"

Eiro shrugged, "I want to try something out I got a hint about. And besides that, I'll just stay here and make sure that the distribution of the collars goes well." The Demon explained, "Oh, speaking of distribution..."

Eiro pushed his hand into his satchel and got out three small boxes. He threw them over to each of the village chiefs, "In case any of you encounter any adventurers near here again, you'll need these. You can't really modify it in this lesser version, but it's still pretty useful for you. Oh, if any of you evolve and notice something being off afterward, just let me know and I'll get you new ones."

"Master, what are these?" Gobo asked. He opened the box he was given and saw a thin bracelet. Gobo proceeded to immediately put it on, and it fit onto his wrist like it was a second skin.

"Push your mana into it." Eiro instructed. Gobo slowly nodded and did as told immediately. As he did, the color of his skin changed from what it was before into that of a pale-skinned human. Overall, Gobo's appearance changed, and the parts that made him look especially goblin-like, his leftover claws, fangs, ears, tongue, and eyes, were turned into things that you would see on a person, albeit not necessarily a human.

This was the artificial artifact specially created for Gobo so that he could appear as a person when he needed to.