“Thanks for the hard work.”
Mare spoke first to the lizardmen who were fidgeting and stealing glances his way. They were there to clean the temple. These were some of the few lizardmen who possessed the abilities of a druid.
On their neck was a medal with the guild symbol of Ainz Ooal Gown.
Between them and Mare, their difference in their statuses was like the gulf between the heavens and the earth. Their relationship was that of a ruler and a servant, and there was no need to praise them for their hard work. But due to the reasons previously stated, Mare felt a sense of satisfaction and praised them so.
Mare left behind the lizardmen who were bowing and left the temple with the overlords. What stood before them was the swamp and the lizardmen village. It was more prosperous than before.
Their population had decreased due to the war, but with the five tribes united, they formed a large and healthy village.
Wooden stockades surrounded a large area and though one would wonder how they had managed to erect watchtowers on soft ground, white skeletons, probably Nazarick Old Guarders, stood watch with their bows from the top of the watchtowers. They appeared to be patrolling to ensure no intruders could make their way inside.
“Uhmmm, where would Cocytus-san be?”
Coctyus was easily recognizable in more ways than one. If he was in the village, he would be spotted easily and even if he was in one of the houses, his servants would be standing around outside. Mare had looked around the entire village, but Cocytus was nowhere to be seen.
“Can someone ask where Cocytus-san is?”
“Understood. Please wait a moment.”
One of the overlords, Aurelius, went back inside the temple.
Mare looked at the swamp — the peaceful lizardmen village. There was no sign of anyone being wary of the Nazarick Old Guarders and the lizardmen children did not seem to mind either. They coexisted as if it was natural.
Even though the undead invaded this place and they’re now subjugated, they don’t seem to hold any grudges. Is it because Cocytus-san’s integration policy is working well or are the lizardmen naturally like this?
While Mare was wandering off in thought, Aurelius returned.
“I apologize for making you wait, Mare-sama. The ones working in the temple didn’t know where Cocytus-sama would be. But they said that Shasuryu Shasha… this tribal confederation’s chief might know.”
“T-then, uh, let’s go there.”
Mare and company walked with Aurelius at the head. Rather than cutting through the newly erected lizardmen village on the swamp, they walked along the lakeside. A forest soon appeared and they could spot several Nazarick Old Guarders here and there throughout the forest.
When they came out of the forest, there was another waterfront of a swamp different from the one before. A sizeable construction was underway.
The water was dammed off and close to ten stone golems dug up the dirt and the lizardmen carried off the dirt in a handcart off to somewhere. When Mare was observing and wondering what they were doing, a large lizardman came running out.
The lizardman had a magnificent physique, with scars all over his body. He stood out among the other lizardmen in many ways. The medal on his neck swayed left and right from hurriedly running over.
The medal was the symbol of being a subject and a way to protect them, but the medal itself had no magical properties. The fact they wore it around their neck showed that they were Ainz’s
“property”. Thus, no one under the command of the Great Tomb of Nazarick’s Supreme Being was to harm the lizardmen. Of course, if there was a good reason for a lizardman to die, that was a different story. Whether they were lucky or not, lizardmen showed respect to the strong and none dared to step out of the line.
“Welcome, Mare-sama. My name is—”
“Shasuryu Shasha, right?”
“That’s right. It’s an honour for you to remember me.”
“Ah, I heard it from C-cocytus-san… Say, do you know where Cocytus-san is at right now?”
Shasuryu appeared to be deep in thought.
“I believe he headed out with his subordinates to subjugate the Toadmen with a sizeable number of lizardmen for area familiarization.”
“Toadmen?”
“They’re demi-humans living in the north eastern side of the lake. They look similar to frogs and aren’t friendly with us. They have the skills to tame large monsters, so they’re a very annoying opponent for us. I heard there was a big war in my father’s time. It seems we suffered a devastating defeat, to a point that one of the tribes had to disband.”
“They sound strong. Fitting for a species living to the north.”
This lake looked as if two lakes were joined together in shape of a gourd. To the south was the smaller lake - where lizardmen lived with roughly half being the swamp and other half being the lake. Since the water level was relatively low, there were not many large monsters. Comparatively, the northern part of the lake was deeper with many gigantic monsters and they tended to be stronger.
Of course, from Mare’s point of view, the difference was tiny.
“Aren’t those toadmen actually a species called “Tuveig”?”
They were monsters that lived in the poison swamp that used to surround Nazarick. His sister had tamed a few of them.
“Well, I wouldn’t know something like that. How about asking him directly when he returns? He should be back soon.”
“Then I’ll do that. This is a different topic, but it looks like you’re building something big here.
What’s it for? It doesn’t look like a defense system for the village…”
“Yes, we’re building the fourth fish farm.”
Mare understood after Shasuryu explained the details.
It was good that the lizardmen tribes were united, but there was the issue of their food supply. Even though there were many who died in the war, there was limited amount of food they could hunt from this area alone. The solution was to go back all the way to where the old villages used to be and hunt there, but the new overseer of the Lizardmen, Cocytus, did not allow this.
Unlike when moving in large groups, like an entire tribe, when travelling in small numbers, there were chances of being attacked by monsters. Cocytus was worried that the already small number of lizardmen would be reduced even further. So Cocytus tackled the issue of food head-on for the prosperity of the lizardmen.
First, he brought over food from Nazarick — with Ainz’s permission — and distributed it to the lizardmen. Next, he searched for a way to gather food semi-permanently. What naturally caught his attention was Zaryusu’s fish farm. After a discussion with Demiurge, Cocytus went ahead with creating an even more effective fish farm.
The construction of fish farms were being carried out at extreme speed, and there were currently three gigantic fish farms, with this one, the fourth, on the way.
“But you can’t start farming them while they’re hatchlings, right?”
“Yes. Our - no - my younger brother’s knowledge only relates to raising the fish that were somewhat grown already. But Demiurge-sama taught us the basics, so we’re also preparing the fish farm for the hatchlings as well. I predict that within few years, we’ll have doubled the food supply just from the fish farm.”