Considering that Imiya’s demi-human type made him naturally good with his hands, I decided to teach him what I knew about compounding medicines and making accessories.

Chapter Nine: Hanging Out the Shield

One week had passed since I’d begun governing the territory . . . or rather, looking after a bunch of brats. The repairs on the houses had been finished for the most part, and it was time to move on to the next stage.

Just like Filo had promised, the new filolial remained a cute little thing, happy just to pull a carriage. As I’d expected, it was nice having a filolial that wasn’t a chirpy little blabbermouth. One morning, while the slaves were still asleep, I tried playing a lighthearted game of fetch with the new filolial, like I had done with Filo in the past. But Filo intercepted the stick and ruined the game.

“Master! Filo is best!”

I was trying to build a rapport with the new recruit. Stay out of the way!

“Rafu!”

“Go long, Raph-chan!”

I feinted a throw and Raph-chan cast illusion magic on Filo.

“Ahh! Waaait!”

Filo sprinted off after a phantom stick that would probably go on flying forever.

The caterpillands had gotten bigger, too, and would be ready to pull their carriages soon. They were herbivores, so we fed them the stalks of the bioplant. This in turn allowed us to get rid of excess bioplant by feeding it to the monsters. They were proving useful in a variety of ways. I could kill two birds with one stone as they say. Plus, the monster trainer must have known what he was doing when he picked them, because they were really docile and easy to handle. The only problem was their speed. They weren’t very quick. So traveling around to the nearby towns and villages would be their limit.

The dunes had gotten relatively big, too, and they were already working the land here. They were really docile, too. I’d heard that wild dunes normally burrow into the ground and avoid fighting. Apparently domesticated dunes could be ordered to fight, but they weren’t very strong.

Alright, I figured it was time to start peddling goods.

“Well, what do you think?”

I’d prepared two different outfits for Keel. One was a masculine set of armor that suited her preference. The other was a frilly dress meant to throw customers off guard. It was a cheap, secondhand dress, but still . . . Keel had tried the dress on and was blushing slightly while waiting for my assessment.

“Nice! I want you to blush just like that and act like a klutz while you’re peddling.”

“Bubba! Why do I have to do this?!”

“For money, of course. We can’t round up your friends without money.”

“Oh yeah . . . But still, this is . . . embarrassing, bubba . . .”

For the first round of Keel’s peddling, I’d have Filo pull the carriage and I’d stay inside and observe. My plan was for Keel and Raphtalia to sell the medicine I’d made.