Following me back home, Delva and Nol wanted to discuss what the plans I mentioned were. Tagging along with Evelyn wanted to help serve tea for us as thanks for helping her. Letting them in, the three of them were amazed by the layout and everything inside. This was to be expected as they wouldn't have ever seen technology before.
"This world is very advanced!", Delva said staring into the kitchen, "What are all those shiny pieces things?"
"Victor...who are these?", Astrid asked me coming out of the kitchen.
"These are our guests, they are from a world I just came back from. They are here to discuss our race relations issue as I think they can help.", I told her.
"Could you show me where the tea is? I would like to make-", Evelyn started to ask.
"I am Victor's Maid and wife, I can make tea for all of you.", Astrid told her.
"I insist, Victor saved me from having my life stolen away.", Evelyn said.
"I can handle it.", Astrid reiterated, "Please have a seat, and I will make the tea.",
"But I-", Evelyn was going to say before Delva cut her off.
"It's okay Evelyn, I am sure you can thank him another way.", Delva assured her.
Taking a seat at the table, Yuriko and Saya hurried inside so we could talk. Taking a seat either side of me the mother daughter duo immediately noticed Delva and Evelyn's assets. Pinching my legs I could tell they weren't thrilled with their clothing.
'I didn't choose what they wear!! Believe me I think it's over the top too...at least in public.', I thought, 'If you are upset you can wear it around me, I certainly wouldn't complain.'
"So how can we help you?", Nol asked.
"As I assume you may have noticed, our group is a rather jumbled together. Our city is made up of survivors from our world, and three others currently. As such we have some pain points due to racial issues and religious beliefs. The biggest issue we have is there are a few groups of Human Supremacists in our group. They are quite aggressive with some of the non-humans, and we are wanting to try and win them over to make peace.", Yuriko told her, "The alternative is a drawn out conflict that ends with a lot of deaths."
"I see, and you'd like us to help.", Nol stated, "When you say aggressive, how bad is it?"
Trying to figure out a way to tell them without being specific, Saya and Yuriko took a moment to think. Since I didn't want to lie to them, I told them what happened the other day. Giving them the overview of how ingrained the hatred was, it took the two of them by surprise. For them they never had that level of hatred, sure they fought a lot but they never really would have tried to completely eradicate the other. It was just a show of force to show one side was better than the other.
"I see...it's understandable you'd want to make peace with them. When the population is low, you need as many people alive as possible.", Delva said, "That said, we have to worry about our own too. What will be the punishment for anyone that harms our people?"
"Public Execution.", I told her with a straight face, "Self-defense aside, harming anyone in my territory is punishable by death."
"I see, if that is the case I am happy to help. It helps us find males to repopulate with, and it solves your problem too.", Delva agreed eyeing me closely.
"I concur, we can agree to that as well.", Nol giggled, "So are you one of the men available to engage with? I'd like to get to know you better."
Kicking the door open, I watched Rory walk in with a huff. Making eye contact with Nol, Rory slammed the door shut behind her. Staring at her in anger, I was curious if they knew each other.
"You!!", Nol huffed standing up, "I remember you!! You are the goth Loli I met decades ago!!"
"I am over 900 years old...", Rory growled, "Do not call me a Goth Loli!"
"Hold on, the two of you actually know each other? You were both on different worlds, how did that happen?", I asked.
Telling me that Nol found herself in Rory's world several decades ago, Rory said it caused quite a problem for her. Nol said that one of her spells went wrong, and she ended up in Rory's room while Rory was bathing. Since the spell didn't teleport her with clothing, she took Rory's to go find some for herself. What followed led to problems for Rory after Nol went home.
"You stole my Apostle Garbs!!", Rory shouted, "Those are Holy Relics that only an Apostle can wear!! They were made especially for me, and you just took them without a word!"
"I didn't have any clothing!! I apologized repeatedly to you!!", Nol refuted, "I bowed my head to you, and said I was sorry in the middle of the street!"
"It didn't stop you from enjoying my benefits as an Apostle!", Rory jabbed, "How many free gifts did you receive using my name!"
"Well I...I wasn't going to say no to free sweets.", Nol giggled, "I love sweets so I wasn't going to walk away."
Grabbing her Halberd, Rory was ready to take her head clean off. Stopping her from doing so, I told Rory not to kill her. Nol was an important person to the High Elves, and we needed their cooperation to fix our issue. Holding onto my arm, Nol nodded her head with a smile. Putting her Halberd down, Rory hip bumped her off me.
"Victor, can I borrow you for a bit?", Rory asked me with a smile.
"Sure?", I replied knowing where this was going.
"Excuse us Nol.", Rory said with a bigger smile, "I have engagements with Victor. When you are done with your business, you are free to leave."
Watching us go up the stairs, Nol stood there in shock.
"That's a cheap shot!", Nol refuted, "Just you wait, I will show you!!"
---Several Hours Later---
Blowing off steam with me, Rory left our bedroom in a much better mood. Having left a while ago, the only one that stayed behind was Evelyn who was helping Astrid in the kitchen. Seeing that Astrid had caved in to her request to help, I smiled softly. Evelyn was a sweet, innocent woman so I was fairly certain she wouldn't have problems fitting in here. I just had to be careful because Evelyn was very meek, and would cave with the lightest amount of pressure.
"It looks like the annoyance is gone.", Rory sighed with relief as she sat on my lap when I took a seat on the couch.
"Was it really that bad?", I asked, "Forgive me, but I am not as familiar with your religious practices as I should be."
"Admittedly the free food she got wasn't a problem It's the fact that other Apostles saw her dressed as me, and played along to back her story. When it was discovered she took my garb, they said they couldn't tell the difference between us!", Rory complained, "I know they could tell the difference, they just did it to spite me!"
"Ah, so it's more like you are mad at the other Apostles.", I stated nodding my head, "It still wasn't right that she took your clothing, even though she had nothing else to wear."
"Well...yes...", Rory admitted, "Back then I was the seventh oldest Apostle so I got teased quite a lot by the older Apostles. It's quite embarrassing being over 800 years old and being treated like a child. I was chosen early in life so I am not as developed as other Apostles, as you well know."
"I love you just the way you are.", I told her with a kiss.
"Hehe, I know.", she stated licking her lips, "Believe me I am very well aware. The last few hours are proof of that."
Shaking my head, I told her she didn't need to phrase it like that. Tell me she would because it made me uncomfortable, she said she really enjoyed it and appreciated it. Chuckled in response, I asked her what she thought of my Racial Repair Plan.
"I think it will work, but we will need to keep an eye on drunkards. If the Elves consent to a man it's one thing, but I will tell you that some men won't ask, they will just try and take.", Rory reminded me, "It will take some time and a few heads before they completely understand."
"You aren't complaining about it, right?", I laughed.
"Of course not.", she stated, "I am looking forward to reminding people."
"I have been meaning to ask, how come I haven't run into any Deities on your world?", I asked, "Surely they would want to follow their followers. I have made several trips there, and not once have I met one."
Thinking about it for a moment, Rory agreed it was weird. Hardy nor Emroy had made any attempts to contact me, even though their Apostles were under my protection. Surely they would have also wanted to be around their believers too so I was concerned something happened. Remembering that Hardy may still be with Lucifer, I decided I would call on him later to see if she was still breathing.
Sitting in the living room waiting for dinner, slowly my family started trickling in from their work day. Welcoming them home as they came in, all of them noticed Evelyn in the kitchen. Saying hello to them, Evelyn bowed her head politely which threw a lot of my wives for a loop. See was the first overly polite person they had met to date.
"How goes the intermingling?", I asked Piña.
"Over half of the Elves already paired up with men.", Hamilton told me.
"Well hopefully it is the beginning of something good.", I chuckled, "I will construct the businesses tomorrow, and start assigning jobs."
"Victor, some Elves are out here to see you.", Shizuka told me coming inside.
'Oh boy...here we go.', I thought, "Come on in."
Walking in, Nol, Delva, and company came in wearing coats they had received from Piña or Mirellia. Taking their coats off, they joined us around the table to eat. Serving everyone food, I sat down at my seat and started to eat. Discussing the days events with one another, I was happy to see Rory and Nol didn't go back at it. After dinner we sat down with some tea, coffee, and sweets to talk about our plans tomorrow.
"So what businesses do you intend to open first?", Yuriko asked me since I was the one building them.
"I think a coffee shop, a few taverns, food bank, and clothing store.", I replied, "Nol and Delva, I will work with the two of you on training for these positions. It's nothing extremely difficult, most of it is just customer service."
"I don't know what Customer Service is, but I will take your word for it that it's easy.", Delva laughed.
"Did you not have any shopkeepers in your villages?", I questioned.
"Not really, our villages were too small for that. Most of skills were past down from parent to child, there were some exceptions like those of us that went to study in the capital.", Misery stated, "Very few made the trip because the capital is months away from our villages, and monsters were a real problem."
"Wait then I was looking around for no reason!?", Evelyn gasped.
"No, we hoped you'd find the path leading to the capital. The last Elf to use use it left over five hundred years ago, we aren't even sure they made it to the capital.", Delva laughed dryly, "We were so caught up in our fighting we didn't really think to check on them."
"Seriously? Isn't your job supposed to be your people first and foremost?", Saya jabbed.
"I wasn't Chief then, it wasn't my decision to make. The position only recently fell to me when my mother died fighting the Wraiths.", Delva replied.
"Oh...I...I am sorry.", Saya apologized not knowing that part.
Changing the topics before the atmosphere got to gloomy. Stating that I would handle the rest of the portals myself, everyone was happy to let me do it. After the traumatic scenes they had already witnessed, they were more than happy to leave it to me. Finishing our beverages, I suggested we start winding down for the day.
"So where are we sleeping?", Nol asked me as she got up from the table.
"Didn't you get assigned a room?", I questioned.
"Unfortunately there weren't enough rooms to go around.", Delva replied, "We were hoping to stay here if you didn't mind till accommodations are setup."
"Sure, I don't see why not. We have a large guest room you can use.", I replied.
Since Alcina moved into the main room, that left her old room open for the Elves to stay in. Thanking me for the room, they asked to use the bathroom to freshen up. Showing them where it was, the Elves followed Astrid downstairs.
"So Victor...", Shizuka said sliding onto my lap, "I was wondering if you could do me a favor."
"Sure, what is it?", I questioned.
"Could you maybe do something about the cold weather here? As nice as the coat is, I am not the biggest fan of cold weather.", Shizuka told me, "Now that the bad people are gone, could we move somewhere warmer? I was thinking maybe Hawaii, or back to Japan would be fine."
"Oh no, I don't want to go back there!", Wakasa stated, "I have only bad memories of that place, and I don't want to go back to that way of life. Hawaii is good though, it's large enough for all of us."
"Let me look into it, and see what I can come up with.", I replied.
With that I set about trying to figure out how to accommodate the request as it would benefit everyone in the long run.