The reason Hiro knocked Barbara out was simple. He did not want her to return to the others from the Shuvlok tribe.
Hiro knew that his seven new citizens had not truly submitted to him. If he let Barbara, the leader of their group, reunite with them so soon, they would probably spend all their time plotting useless escape plans instead of actually working for his Realm.
The second reason was that he did not want her to see Tara sleeping naked on his bed. Soon, more refugees would arrive. Hiro did not want Barbara spreading rumors that he and Tara were fornicators. That would be extremely inconvenient.
'If she questions me in the morning about why I punched her, I'll just tell her it was the downgraded punishment for attacking the camp,' Hiro thought.
Hiro joined the naked Tara under the flimsy blanket, which was just a rectangular cloth folded twice. He dried himself with another piece of cloth before lying down.
As he lay down, his left forearm brushed against her soft, bare skin. He turned onto his side and ran his right hand across her body.
Tara lay with her butt raised slightly. Hiro's hand reached across her waist and glided along the other side of her body. He traced the curve of her underboob before sliding down to her perky butt.
A few stray strands of hair framed her beautiful sleeping face.
The sight and touch made Hiro hard. However, even after pinching her ass lightly and letting his fingers tease closer to her sensitive spots, Tara showed no reaction.
She was deep asleep, which wasn't surprising given how intense and passionate their sex had been.
Seeing that, Hiro stopped.
'There'll be plenty more opportunities in the future,' he told himself.
Hiro spent the rest of the night lying on his bed but not truly sleeping. One of the shop items unlocked after his Realm's population reached ten was the Refugee Arrival Station. Like a lot of the other important items in the shop, the first Refugee Arrival Station was free.
'If I understood its description correctly, the rate at which my Realm gains new citizens will increase soon,' Hiro thought after reading about the Station's function on the Stone Tablet Shop.
With that in mind, Hiro closed his eyes to rest them, though his thoughts remained occupied with organizing his Realm and planning his next steps.
A few hours passed…
Early morning arrived. Hiro had been intermittently checking the location of Group 1—the group sent to fetch the Selune statue—using his Map. The Scouting Beacon was not a tracker, but since most of his map remained unexplored, it functioned similarly.
The group was returning. Judging by their reduced pace, they were carrying the statue with them.
There was some movement beside Hiro. The sheets rustled as Tara shifted.
Hiro turned his head to the left. Seeing Tara's eyes barely open, he smiled. He brushed aside the strands of hair on her face and leaned in to peck her lips.
The gesture fully awakened Tara. Her eyes opened completely, and her face turned red like a tomato. She tried to snuggle into Hiro to hide her embarrassment, but a small smile betrayed her happiness.
'Last night wasn't a dream,' she thought.
"How are you feeling?" Hiro asked.
"It's a bit sore, but I should be okay soon, my Lord," Tara replied.
After a few seconds of silence, Hiro leaned in again and whispered sultrily in her ear, "You know, I'd really like to have another round of fun with you right now…" His lips brushed against her ear, and her body quivered from his breath. "But unfortunately, there are other matters to take care of. You should get up and get dressed."
Tara looked up in surprise, not expecting his last sentence. Then her surprise turned into a pout when she saw the teasing smile on his face.
"What matters, my Lor—?" Tara started to ask as she sat up in bed. Before she could finish, she caught sight of Barbara resting against the room's wall, still asleep.
"Who is she?" Tara immediately changed her question. Her tone came out sharper than she had intended.
Hiro chuckled at her reaction. He then explained the events of last night. Tara couldn't believe she had blissfully slept through all of it.
"My Lord! Please wake me up next time something like this happens!" she said. She wanted to help with the fighting. She didn't want her sole purpose to be pleasuring Hiro.
Hiro flicked her forehead, making her flinch.
"You need to level up and grow stronger first. None of these tribesmen were below Level 20," he said.
"Oh…" The new information deflated Tara's enthusiasm.
His Ruler of Lust class actually had a Skill that could help her grow stronger, but the activation requirements were ambiguous. He couldn't use it whenever he pleased.
For now, Hiro didn't say anything more to console her, letting her think things through on her own.
He walked across the room, picked up Tara's clothes from the floor, and tossed them at her.
"Get dressed. The group I sent to fetch the Goddess Statue will be returning soon," he said.
His words snapped Tara out of her thoughts. She got up and put her clothes on, occasionally glancing at Barbara to make sure she was really asleep.
Some time later…
Hiro, along with every citizen of his Barony except Barbara, gathered around the statue of Goddess Selune.
'The statue only bears a mild resemblance to the Selune I saw during my transmigration,' Hiro observed.
Whoever sculpted the statue had failed to capture Goddess Selune's true beauty. Of course, Hiro was the only one thinking about such pointless things.
"I can feel the divinity of this statue just by standing next to it," Furina said, joining both hands in front of her chest in an expression of worship.
Tara and Bob followed her example and offered their prayers.
The ex-Shuvlok tribesmen, who claimed to be worshippers of God Korun, did not join in. Neither did Hiro.
"With this statue in our camp, a monster attack like yesterday afternoon is very unlikely to happen again, right?" Furina asked hopefully.
"About that…" Hiro had to be the bearer of bad news. He shared the information he had learned from Barbara with Furina.
"I don't think we should jump to conclusions so quickly, my Lord. It's not surprising that the statue didn't show its power in the hands of these heretics. After all, why would Goddess Selune protect them?" Tara said.
"Who are you calling heretic!?" one of the tribesmen shouted.
Hiro shot a glare in his direction, silencing him instantly. Tara also showed no sign of intimidation, likely due to Hiro's presence.
She continued, "In my opinion, we should house this statue inside a simple temple, my Lord. That will increase its power and create a Safe Zone that can prevent raids like yesterday's."
The raid she was referring to was the one from the Shuvlok tribespeople.
"Safe Zone?" Hiro asked.
Used to Hiro's ignorance regarding basic matters, Tara explained, "Yes, my Lord. Every temple creates a Safe Zone around itself. Anyone who isn't a citizen of your Realm will be outright prevented from entering the Safe Zone. Small groups of monsters will also be discouraged from aimlessly wandering inside."
"Oh… that sounds useful. How big would the Safe Zone be?"
"The size depends on the quality of the temple and the quality of the statue inside it. With our current resources and manpower, we won't be able to build a grandiose temple right away. But even a small temple should be enough to protect a small settlement like ours," Tara said.
She seemed genuinely enthusiastic about the idea of building a temple.
"Tara's right, my Lord," Bob added. "Beyond that, once our Realm has someone with the Priest Class, they'll be able to perform several beneficial rituals at the temple, including the Class Bestowal Ritual!"
The Class Bestowal Ritual was extremely important for any Realm, for obvious reasons. Ideally, every citizen wanted to have a Class.
Citizens with Classes would be far more productive than those without. Productive citizens meant a productive Realm. This would indirectly raise the standard of living, increasing citizen happiness and making the Realm a more appealing migration target for outsiders.
A virtuous cycle would then be formed.