NNNNGGgggghhhh! I'm awake! I'm up! Sadly, there are no windows in my room at the Wailing Keep... So I have no idea what time it is. Welp, It's still a nice room overall. Feeling somewhat hungry, I decided to head on down to the Kitchen and whip up some Fish. The appliances in the Kitchen are stupidly convenient, it's almost like they run on electricity but I know damn well that it's probably magic. After cooking a considerably large portion and laying them out on a platter, I placed them on one of the tables in the Dining Hall and proceeded to have Crowli go gather anyone sleeping below.
While I was eating, a groggy Cetilla appeared from the door leading to the basement. Shortly after, Goblin Viking, Bloody Jester, Cyclozard, Budget Dragon and Village Wheat Farmer Sama appeared one by one. It seems that everyone has officially moved into the Wailing Keep. I can't blame them, it's certainly nicer. But if I knew this would be the case, I probably would have just summoned it in the middle of the Goblin Village and destroyed the old hut! Oh well~ I suppose that it can't be helped. It would have also destroyed huts nearby it, so it's for the best I guess.
After eating, I decided to teach the crew how to operate modern cooking appliances. I showed them how to cook more Fish and where it's now stored. I showed them how to properly serve them on plates, where to put plates afterwards, and how to clean the plates. Sadly, the [Wailing Keep] does not come with baths or toilets for that matter. It has a few sinks in the Kitchen, but that's it. Then, after having trained them, I decided to spend the next few days making new clothing pieces for my upcoming shipment with Clive.
I'm currently aiming at level 15 clothes while saving all of the level 11 to 15 pieces for myself and the current Monster Knights. Anything level 3 to 10 will go to Clive, and anything level 1 to 2 will go to Goblin Villagers in my next festival. I already have a fair bit of clothes to sell to Clive as is, but I want more because technically speaking... The clothes that I'm giving to Clive are at best still around as sturdy as my current outfit. I need to supply him with more so that I can in turn find enough higher level clothes to make my next outfit.
While sitting around on my throne and making high level clothes, it seems that a small number of my Clansmen have chosen to gather nearby on the lower level footing area. It's a very large Throne Room, so they don't even encompass a large portion of it. It feels like we need a campfire and some places to sit down there, something to make it more like our old gathering. Yosh! Thinking such things, I asked my nearby Clansmen to go cut down a few trees and break off the branches so that they only return the logs. After a while, Crowli and Mr. Scarecrow returned carrying 6 logs. Taking the chance, I praised them and asked them to place them around in a circle before slightly fixing the positions myself. Now, all we need is a campfire!
While thinking, I realized that I should probably just move this entire setup, ditch my Throne Room and have this happen in front of the Wailing Keep instead of within it. That way, when the Band practices then nearby Goblins will still get to listen. Yosh! After having my trusty Clansmen move the logs again, and fetch the necessary stones to encircle a new campfire as well as proper wood to burn; I resumed creating clothes while this time sitting on the logs. After around 15 minutes, we finally had the necessities for a proper campfire in order. So, I had White Wolf Lady cast her [Flame Paws] on the sticks. After that, I told all of my Clansmen that they could do as they wished for the rest of the night as long as they maintained the burning fire while I made clothes.
While making my clothes and sitting on the log, a lot of my Clansmen stayed and played their beautifully ominous music. About halfway through, I decided to mess around and taught the band how to perform M*nster Mash. It was a graveyard smash! I taught Mr Scarecrow the lyrics, and taught Weeping Angel how to sing the background part. The other Scarecrows handled the percussion, but we just couldn't handle the piano part. Cetilla and Goblin Viking joined the mini party after a while, and I had a great time. By the end of the night, I had accumulated a decent pile of clothes. There's still another 2 nights before the night that I go to drop off my shipment to Clive, so I should definitely take the time to figure out how I'll move all these clothes tomorrow. [Daily Candy]. Goodnight~
***********
Waking up, I headed on down to the Kitchen for more Fish. On entry, I find that Cetilla has already begun alongside Cyclozard. I say that, but Cyclozard isn't actually helping on account of it being too difficult for him to make dexterous movements with his arms... Huh. I guess Cyclozard and Cetilla are actually kind of close friends, considering that Cetilla is one of the rare few who can understand his language. Maybe the staring contest helped bring them closer together?
Leaving the two to their devices, I went to the Dining Hall and began creating new clothes with an empty stomach. It'd be better to just let them finish up over there and then head in, or maybe Cetilla will be kind enough to prepare some Fish for me?! I'd love that. You sweet, sweet, little thing~ you. Praying that I would be blessed with food while making clothes, after around 10 minutes... A ray of light appeared before me. Cetilla, carefully carrying a platter of Fish towards this one at the table. Yosh! Cetilla actually thought to share some with me!
Having a meal with Cyclozard and Cetilla, I happily relished in the fact that I was able to avoid cooking this morning. My list of things to do now are reducing drastically! It's a happy moment for this one. Making sure to thank Cetilla kindly, she replied with it being no big deal. She says that, but I honestly can't recall a time when she has ever done me a favor, so I'm a little hesitant to accept it wholeheartedly. Oh well~
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Thinking about my future, I should definitely head over to the Forest of Witches next after my shipment with Clive so that I can hopefully stop the future enslavement of unborn Scarecrow monsters. I've had this plan for awhile now, but I'm finally at a point where I feel that it's actually within reach. Well, I actually still need more Candy before I can do it; so that's why I want to wait until after the shipment with Clive. I'll need coins to buy Candy if I want to do it sooner, after all. I can't just walk up to the upper echelons of Witch society without making proper preparations.
There are a lot of monsters relying on me these days. I can't just let them down, you know? If I haphazardly out myself to too many world leaders as a being that's currently protecting this territory, then if I gain ill relations with those leaders; this territory becomes a target. I can't be the cause of the demise of this already failing territory. I feel like I've been doing a good job at helping it, but I can't let myself get too cocky here. There's still a lot that can be improved around here. Take the quality of the homes around here for one. My Wailing Keep aside, everyone else is living in huts made of straw and a bamboo like type of wood. They don't even have flooring. It's not pretty.
Putting aside the housing crisis, there's also the food crisis. The Goblin Village was capable of staving off Devolving for one family alone, yet still managed to mess that up. That means everyone else is practically starving. The Meglacommon was a nice way to help alleviate that, but it's not a permanent solution. I've been helping get better clothes to the Goblin Villagers, but I've been putting a large priority on profits for Candy instead due to my new business venture. I suppose I'm feeling somewhat guilty? It's quite the backwards approach at helping a Village, I guess. Aiming for clothing before food. Aiming for profits to supply war potential while providing slight clothing relief, and more effort into keeping the Village safe by increasing my own power to protect it than effort to increase their standard of living within the Village.
I'll need to work on that, but it's at present an impossible task. If I want to feed them, I'll need to grow some sort of vegetation. I dont have the Coins to secure the needs to grow that vegetation, nor do I even have the fields required to grow them in. If I want to improve their shelters, then I'll need to have some kind of workshop to help manufacture wooden planks, and tools to help gather materials needed to build better homes. If I think about it, I'm way out of my league here. I need artisans. That being said, I can't just up and leave here with the important shipment coming up to secure our financial situation. It's better if I just keep making clothes, huh?
Who would even want to work as an artisan for a Goblin Village, anyways? Maybe I should check the Beastkin Kingdom for artisans when I go visit with Clive? Yosh! It would be nice to gather precious stones and minerals from the Chasm at the southern border of the Monster Kingdom. We could probably build some really unique structures from the stones within it, too! It's settled. I can't wait to go see Clive!
Having finished the meal with Cyclozard and Cetilla, I told them that I would be going Fishing while I continued to make more clothes as I did. It's easy now to multitask Fishing and clothing making now, anyways. If I just sit outside near the waterfall, I can wait for the Fish to drop and make clothes in between each dropping Fish. It's actually way more enjoyable to do it this way, because I have more things to do as well. The one downside is that my Clansmen rarely ever perform while in the wilderness. It's like they prefer to take things seriously when we leave the surroundings of the Village. Anything can happen out here, eh?
I say that, but the only Clansmen which joined me to hunt Fish tonight were Mrs Scarecrow and Weeping Angel. They're gossiping to each other and completely ignoring me, but they're being kind of helpful by being here so I don't mind. The cool thing about haki, is that because they're both releasing a ton of it and positioned somewhat behind me, even if I miss a Fish that falls... I can catch it simply because it's desperately trying to swim back up the waterfall. None of the Fish have the ability to swim up water like that, yet they all try. All of them except Meglacommons who desperately try to speed past the monsters, that is.Towards the end of the night, after having caught 32 Common Fish, 5 Pink Fish, and 3 Grey and Yellow Fish; I decided that it was time to return to the Wailing Keep. Arriving back at the Wailing Keep and joining my motley crew around the new Campfire, we did the monster mash. It caught on in a flash~ After around thirty minutes of dancing and clapping, I began to have a conversation with the Goblin Village Wheat Farmer Sama.
"Hey Nero, it's time for us to have a chat... Wouldn't you say?" [Goblin Village Wheat Farmer Sama] said boldly while chewing on a piece of Prairie grass.
"EH? Goblin Village Wheat Farmer Sama! What might you want to talk about?" [Nero] said while flailing a half eaten Fish from out his mouth as if being interrupted.
"You've been here awhile, and have done a great number of good deeds while here. Do you intend to stay?" [Goblin Village Wheat Farmer Sama] asked in a serious tone of voice.
"Hmmm. Yes, you're right. I want to stay, but I also want to travel the world and explore as well." [Nero] said while removing his sunglasses and sitting down with a smile.
"Well, will you return after you travel the world?" [Goblin Village Wheat Farmer Sama] asked while grabbing a new piece of Fish.
"I think that I will. I'm almost certain. I've been starting a business in the Beastkin Kingdom, so it would make sense for me to stay located relatively nearby. While that's the case, I also have unfinished business left in the Forest of Witches to clear up. I want to improve the quality of living in the Goblin Village as well. I don't really plan to set off on any journeys off of this continent until I've at least tried to explore every part of it, and tie off any loose ends here. That means that I still need to visit the Elven City, Dragon Mountains, Savage Lands, Dwarven Kingdom, Human Kingdom, the Forest of Fae, and the Forest of Witches. So, we're still a ways away until I'm looking at anything that big to deal with." [Nero] says quite matter of factly while looking somewhat tired and poking the blazing firewood with a stick.
"You want to improve the quality of living in the Goblin Village? Whatever do you mean?" [Goblin Village Wheat Farmer Sama] asked while seemingly shocked that Nero would undertake such a task, let alone attempting to explore the entire continent while doing so.
"Well, I want to find artisans to build me tools to help establish a Mine in the Chasms. There are a lot of rare minerals and stones located within it, so we could probably use the materials found to build unique stone homes for the Goblins and Harpies to live in. I also want to establish a wood cutting business in the nearby forests and replace the cut trees with apple trees. Every tree cut is another tree planted, that way we dont harm the ecosystem. Because every tree will be capable of helping feed the population, it can actually only help the ecosystem. It's like a lazy way of farming, because all you need to do is plant the tree and water it for a few years before it's old enough to produce food effortlessly!" [Nero] said triumphantly while puffing out his chest.
"Ah! Okay, then do you intend to help us with reclaiming the Monster Kingdom then?" [Goblin Village Wheat Farmer Sama] exclaimed while surprised that Nero had put that much thought into their well being, even after helping provide clothes to the Villagers.
"Nope! In fact, I would like to humbly ask that you hold off on reclaiming the Monster Kingdom for the foreseeable future! To put it bluntly, I'll have my paws full as it is just keeping this ecosystem in check while procuring vast amounts of fish, launching this business to procure vast amounts of riches, and figuring out a way for us to begin improving the life of the Goblins in the future. So, I would like to hold off on making any potential enemies by declaring ourselves a Kingdom just yet. If all goes well and we manage to get everything under control, then we can talk about claiming the Lost Kingdom. Sound fair?" [Nero] asked while tiling his head.
"Very well then. I will hold off on any brash decisions until you feel as though you are aptly prepared. I certainly wouldn't want to face any wars without your help, so I'll leave it in your capable paws." [Goblin Village Wheat Farmer Sama] stated as if defeated.
"Heh. I'll do my best." [Nero] said proudly.
"Why, Nero would never let you down. I have no doubt that he will make this Kingdom great. Just look at his magnificent home, after all~" [Cetilla] chimed in enthusiastically.
"Oh yes, I have never witnessed such a luxurious structure. Just where did it come from, anyways?!" [Goblin Village Wheat Farmer Sama] replied as if enthralled by the captivating architecture which made up my home.
"I heard that the Wailing Keep has a hidden room behind one of the Mirrors, and that you have to say Nero three times at midnight infront of the Mirror for it to open the passageway!" [Bloody Jester] called out passionately as if recounting a horror story.
Welp. There you have it. I'm walking away now, as they continuously prattle on about the wonders of the Wailing Keep. It's almost dawn anyways. Walking through my home to reach my Treasure Room took me a solid five to ten minutes, but I'm finally here now. It's all thanks to that excessively, unrealistically large Throne Room. Looking at my rather extravagant bed, I cast [Daily Candy], [Transform], and catapult myself on in! Goodnight~