When Althea came back to the house, she was finally able to ask the others about the issue that had been bugging her the whole day.
"Altheans, really?" Althea asked, crossing her arms, watching as they plated the food for dinner.
And she thought she had a bad naming sense.
"Well, teams have been forming and it's so weird not to have a name," Sheila told her with a sheepish smile. Harold was quick to nod.
"Yes, yes, mostly people who came together often named teams and lived together. Aren't we just like that?"
Althea sighed but understood their need for an 'entity'. After all, they handled businesses together. It was odd to just refer to the group as just 'the team'.
But still…
"Why Althean?"
"I think it sounds cool. Very fitting of your great self." Sheila said slyly, making Althea roll her eyes. "Also, it sounds like the territory name, so we mused it was quite fitting."
Althea's eyes twitched. Seeing that no one intended to change the address, she tried to think of an alternative instead.
"What about Eden?"
"Dennis' teams already got that name."
"What about Terran Team?"
"Mathilda's team took it."
"Eh? Didn't Jim's team also call themselves that?"
"Really?"
"Wouldn't that be confusing, then?"
"..."
"..."
"It would be great to build a system for guilds or teams." Sheila thought out loud, though she felt she was just being wistful.
However, this made Althea, the lord, pause. "Why not?" She asked and everyone stared at her, eyes brightening when it dawned on them.
"Let me ask the NPCs." She said, opening her Lord panel. "Perhaps there's an existing registration system already." She then sent invitations to the pertinent individuals.
Due to the business of everyone's schedule, the number of meetings was reduced to about twice a week, one of which was set to be with elders, unless there were emergencies. That night happened to be this meeting day.
After dinner, the group convened with the Elders to hold the first meeting together.
Gru, Mathilda, and Eugene were quite nervous. This was the first time they were going to the second floor after all. Even Mathilda and Eugene, who had the advantage of knowing the lord, felt a little tingly.
Especially Old Gru, who didn't, was particularly antsy. If he was to be honest, he was actually a little scared.
There were plenty of legends about this floor, rooted in its mystery and the fact that no one but the NPCs knew what was inside.
The people who did the fit-out work signed an NDA so they couldn't squeeze anything out of them, making the place appear even more mysterious.
It was said that in the room there was sand, and from this sand, NPCs were formed to become humanoid creatures.
There was also a legend that there were test tubes there, with one getting activated whenever the territory 'summoned' an NPC.
Anyway, it was all very silly, but still made him quite nervous. It didn't help that they became a spectacle the moment they took a step up the stairs.
Under the interested eyes of several people who were using the lower floors, the three Elders climbed up the stairs and were able to turn the knob at the top of the flight, unlike the others who could not even move it by an inch.
Althea—having happily entered the second floor without having to sneak around—and the aborigines had arrived a bit earlier, was now lounging as they waited for the others. Of course, Althea reminded them of how to address her when there were others.
Speaking of the NPCs, their quantities were the same as before, without additional members.
The past few days, there had not been a new NPC that interested Althea. So she deferred today's summoning after the meeting. Perhaps she'd gain some luck.
In any case, Althea and the NPCs had already discussed some issues in the territory and now very few concerns were left.
Most of the issues remaining required other people's expertise, which was just right.
The format of the meeting was basically reporting any updates that had happened in the territory the past week.
She 'reported' the status of her plants, especially the Terran plants, and also the possible uses she found of local ones, which really intrigued the aborigines very much.
For example, the lord spoke of a plant—cocoa—that could produce the most wonderful dessert.
Based on what many of the Elders' reactions were—dreamy, drooling a bit—then it must be very delicious.
Too bad it would still take a couple of months to grow.
There were also interesting uses for the plants they grew up with. For instance, the omnipresent Flute plant was no longer just for food, but it could also be used to make what the Lord called 'ethanol biofuel' or something.
It was apparently helpful for the clinic and to prevent infections, killing tiny creatures called 'bacteria' that could cause infections.
"Of course, whether it could truly kill Xeno bacteria was still up for study." The lord couldn't help but add.
Eugene reported the status of the creations, which were the bicycle and a machine that made something they called 'paper'.
Similarly, the others also reported on their respective scopes.
One of the last to present was Mathilda, who proposed a simple justice system to deal with small altercations that didn't need the system's interference.
"I have already gathered people from related fields. Now I only need to put them for vetting."
They nodded in agreement. "Better if the guard team is involved."
"Yes, I've already coordinated with Rowan and Drake."
Gru, on the other hand, reported the successful crossing of two breeds of wheat, improving the yield.
Not only this, but he was also crossbreeding several vegetables. If combined properly with Terran yield, this could get even better.
For instance, he combined the gouji berries with their grapes, creating a quaint taste that was absolutely fabulous.
For instance, he also combined the local warmmelon with the Terran watermelon. The end product was sweet watermelon with a strong aftertaste. Not everyone would like its taste, but he found it interesting anyway so he went ahead with the experiments.
Althea was particularly interested in this. "I'll lend you some of my fertilizer. It was formulated for Terran plants."
"Good, good!"
Gru was extremely excited. This meant he could experiment even more!
Gru was actually one of the people who had grown to love this place. After all, plants grew so much, and so quickly, and he could really see the evolution and changes in his experiments with his own eyes.
It could be said that Gru was still one of the most optimistic people in the territory, and he was a pleasure to work with.