We finally returned to the settlement. Before burying the dead elves, we called their families so that we could see them one last time.
Their wives were crying as they hugged their children. Losing a loved one, I've been through this so I know how it feels.
I asked some elves to help me make a tomb that could be used as a public burial ground.
In order not to disturb others, I made it around the eastern region. The condition of the refugees was also quite good because they had received the first treatment as well as food to restore their condition.
In the afternoon, we conducted the first funeral ceremony in the settlement. The funeral was solemn. In elven custom, those who die are best returned to the ground so that they can be one with nature.
At night, I lectured Rika until her ears were hot. Hopefully she'll listen this time.
We also told Amelia and Rudy that Rika had two new pets named Ava, who is black, and Aila, who is white.
They are rare cat forests. Usually cat forests are orange striped or Calpico. It was rare for them to have pure black and white colors.
"Rika, listen to mom. If you can't take proper care of your pets, I'll tell uncle to get rid of them."
"Rika understands mom. Don't worry."
With that, after Amelia's words, she began to teach her animals to use the toilet. After all, she had the special skill of animal language.
The next day.
When I left the house, Grandpa Arwen and a man were already in front of my gate.
"Greetings, my lord."
Grandfather Arwen and the man both saluted me.
"Stand up, you all. There's no need to be like this every time you see me. You're making everyone imitate that."
I said that to Arwen's grandfather. After all, I felt quite embarrassed every time I did such a salute.
"That can't be, my lord. You are the landlord here and we are all obliged to honor you."
He had said before that all must honor me like a king in this land.
"Well if that's the case at least let me teach you a better way of saluting"
I then made a fist with my left hand and struck my left hand with my right palm in front of my chest. This will be the way of respect in this territory from now on.
"Oh, a very authoritative way of saluting. I understand, my lord. Then, today I would like to introduce my lord to the leader of the refugees named Vincent. He has something to tell you, my lord."
Grandfather Arwen said that and immediately introduced Vincent to me.
"Greetings, my lord. I am Vincent from another tribe of elves. I have a selfish request of my lord. Can you allow us to settle here? Our settlement has been devastated by orc attacks. I heard you also saved lord Arwen's colony so I ventured to make this selfish request"
Ah, I see .... It seems that they want to join the group of elves here. Hmm, it seems that this is no problem. There are only about a hundred of them so it shouldn't be a problem. Hm, will it get bigger in the future? Then will it be safe?
"That, I'm willing to receive you guys but there are some questions I want to ask."
I said that to both of them.
"What is it, my lord?"
Arwen's grandfather asked back.
"Who exactly owns the land in this Whis forest. I can't just claim someone else's land as my own either. Even if this is someone's land, maybe we can rent or buy it"
I said that and they both looked at each other as if no one understood what I meant.
Arwen's grandfather then spoke up to explain to me.
"My Lord, the whisperwood forest is land without an owner. Currently only we demi-humans live in the forest. Humans will even try to invade the whisperwood forest this time.
Therefore, it can be said that if no one defeats my lord, then this land can be considered yours."
Ah, so it's like that... Then I'm the lord of this land?
"Alright, I understand. In that case, let's claim this place first. Tell the others that the name of this area is now whisperwood settlement. The job of you two is to first record your citizens- wait a minute, can you write?"
I said like that. Let's claim this land and defend it. If this land is taken over by others then it will be troublesome for me.
I don't like obeying the orders of people in this world because of the difference in mindset. Imagine if I were used as a killing machine.
When I asked if they could write, both of them shook their heads. Damn it, I should have realized that people who have lived in the forest for a long time must have never learned anything.
Hence, I asked them to gather all the residents. I didn't remain silent either and started making a small wooden board and writing down numbers.
Registering residents is the foundation of a settlement. How could I as the leader not know how many people I had.
Before lunch, I recorded all of them first. Finally, the overall data was complete where there were about 240 people consisting of about 76 families.
The children have a total of 40 - let's forget the details. The most important thing now is to organize the living area into a more tidy one.
Currently everyone is working together to build houses for the newly arrived refugees.
I also didn't waste any time and looked up the latest plans for the construction area on my home computer.
According to the average information I get, food, shelter and clothing are the main needs.
Currently, all of those have been met although the quality of the clothing is very poor. Perhaps I can assign an exploration team to look for materials to make clothes.
For the next problem, it's drinking water. The river water is a little far away and there is only one well. Maybe I should make a water channel and channel it from my house. The water from my place is guaranteed to be clean.
That means the next things I need to prepare are health, education and security. Alright, let's prepare for that.