Hiro shifted the conversation to something lighter, asking about the technical aspects of the Rorak Earldom. He wanted to understand the level of technology and the quality of life its citizens experienced.
Bob enthusiastically explained the details.
Citizen Happiness was a critical metric for every Ruler. It directly influenced the number of refugees migrating to a realm and, conversely, how many people were leaving as refugees.
Population was the lifeblood of a realm. A larger population meant more workers contributing to the economy, leading to increased GDP and a gradual improvement in the standard of living. It was a virtuous cycle.
Of course, the economy wasn't the only thing that population impacted.
A larger population also meant a stronger military and more high-level individuals within the realm.
As Bob spoke, Carnalia simultaneously explained several things to Hiro. She detailed the "Rules" set in place by the World.
'The Rules are intricately designed to encourage Rulers to care for their citizens,' Hiro concluded.
The Rules were complex and interconnected, but ultimately, it boiled down to this: maintain a large realm with a large and happy population, and good things would follow.
Hiro knew he would need time to fully digest all the information being fed to him. Meanwhile, the conversation continued even without his intervention.
"…but yeah, Tara was REALLY stubborn about getting a combat class. It was kind of a miracle to save that much money despite the presence of those gangs," Furina said.
The topic caught Hiro's attention. He turned toward Tara and asked, "Right. You really do seem to have a strong desire for battle. How so? Were you just born a battle junkie?"
Hiro's tone was light and joking. He wasn't expecting a serious backstory, but he realized he'd miscalculated when Tara's expression dimmed.
Before Hiro could say anything, Furina gently asked, "You still can't forget about the incident with Starius?"
'Welp. Looks like she wasn't born a battle junkie…' Hiro thought.
"Sigh. How can I ever forget it completely, Mom? If not for Starius' sacrifice, I'd probably be dead by now," Tara replied.
…
A somewhat uncomfortable silence, save for the crackling of fire, hung over the area.
However, it seemed someone didn't get the memo.
"Who's Starius?" Hiro asked directly.
His sensitive question forced Tara to revisit some painful memories. To be frank, she had planned to tell Hiro about this eventually, given the stage their relationship had reached.
Once again, it wasn't a particularly unique story.
Basically, Starius was a male childhood friend of Tara's. A few years ago, when Tara and Starius were traveling together, their caravan was attacked by a pack of monsters.
Starius sacrificed himself to save everyone's lives, delivering some unnecessary sentimental lines to Tara before doing so. At least they were unnecessary according to Hiro.
Moreover...
"Just to be clear, you didn't actually see Starius die with your own eyes, right?" Hiro asked Tara.
Tara, however, thought Hiro was trying to comfort her by offering a sliver of hope.
"While that is true, there's no need for you to comfort me, My Lord. I appreciate your intentions, though. It's just… there's no way Starius could've survived that situation."
Although Hiro had some thoughts on the matter, he chose to remain silent since Tara seemed convinced. After a few brief moments of silence, Tara added.
"I don't want to feel such helplessness ever again. That's why I'll train and become stronger. Strong enough to protect everyone dear to me."
Tara noticed something strange about herself. She couldn't quite remember how she'd felt about Starius anymore. Her lingering feelings for him seemed to have faded significantly.
Her desire to grow stronger, however, remained as firm as ever. It's just that her primary target of protection now appeared to be Hiro.
This shift was partially due to the effects of Ensnaring Touch, though Tara had no way of knowing that.
The group's conversation continued for some time as they enjoyed the juicy dire wolf meat.
A fair distance away…
There was a glowing cluster of mushrooms, their yellow luminescence casting a warm glow over the surroundings.
Several people sat or stood in silence the cluster of mushrooms. Six rugged men and one beautiful woman made up the group.
All of them had beige-colored skin and rough, almost feral appearances. It would be more accurate to describe them as "wild" – individuals who seemed disconnected from civilized society.
The corpses of brutally slain monsters lay scattered in the darkness beyond the circle of light. Resting against a nearby tree was a roughly one-meter-tall stone statue of Goddess Selune.
The silence among the seven was broken by one of the men. "What do you guys reckon happened to Shuvene? Think he's dead?"
"Maybe. Maybe not. It was raining quite heavily. Let's give it some more time," another replied.
"Aagh… I'm getting bored of this. Will we ever be able to find our way back?"
Nobody responded to the man's question. The silence returned for a few seconds before a different man spoke. "Someone's approaching. Most likely Shuvene."
"About damn time!" another grumbled.
The rustling of nearby bushes broke the tension as Shuvene stepped into view. This was the very same man who had been stealthily observing Hiro fight off the goblin riders to rescue Furina!
"You're finally back, Shuvene. Thought you'd already died to some damned monster," one of the men remarked.
Shuvene gave the speaker a pointed look. "There's no way I'm going to go before you, bastard. But forget our usual bickering. You guys won't believe what I witnessed."
The entire group, including Barbara – the sole woman among them – turned their attention to Shuvene. He looked straight at Barbara and addressed her.
"We absolutely MUST visit this place I've just been to. Turns out we're not the only ones in this godforsaken land," he said.
"Did you encounter the bastards from the Dukedom, perhaps?" Barbara asked him.
"Nay. Didn't look like that. But this group's got some fresh meat. And it's been a long, long while since I tasted some fresh meat." Shuvene's lips curled into a wicked grin.