The group settled down in a meeting hall built beside the village center. It was a little crude with thatch as roofing, unlike tiled ones in Altera, but it was a good enough enclosure, considering the length of time they've been here and the resources they had.
The room also had some simple furniture like chairs, tables, and the like— which was actually quite impressive, especially if one hadn't stepped into Altera yet.
The entire space had about two hundred square meters in floor area. There was a large centerpiece table smack in the middle, surrounded by a dozen chairs arrayed at equal distances. There were also some chairs set flush along the walls, probably for audiences like their assistants.
It was an obvious meeting room, flexible to add audiences as needed, and it looked like a crude, small, but usable plenary hall.
Ansel nodded. Compared to other territories, Bright was definitely one of the better ones.
He mused that there should also be a construction team here, as well as someone who had some knowledge of politics.
"Sit down, please," Micheal said, gesturing towards chairs. He politely didn't sit down until the guests did so.
There were two groups in this meeting: Local and Alterans. The Alterans were only him, Jun, and Drake, with the others closing up the business outside.
The locals, on the other hand, naturally had a lot more people. There were about ten of them, including the two women.
The two women Ramona and Sandra managed to come in in view of their men. Well, Sandra did. Ramona's man wasn't even there. She got in holding Sandra.
As everyone was settling down, Michael opened some small talk. "Have you found your siblings?"
Ansel nodded. "Partially. I found my sister, thank you for asking." Ansel responded with similar politeness. "She's living with me in the territory now."
"Oh, how well?" Micheal asked and when he realized the question was a little inappropriate, he added, "I overheard what you told them." He nodded his head to the two women, who were listening eagerly to his question.
Ansel smiled, quite proud of his sisters' achievements. "Well, she's living in her own villa there and is eating well every day."
Micheal nodded. "That's great to hear. I heard that the thriving food industry in your territory had a lot to do with her, as well."
"My sister is very good with plants. She found some indigenous plants and studied their use." Ansel paused, "She and her team found a way to make some of the familiar products from indigenous items like what you saw today, and rented farms for mass production."
Micheal and the others couldn't help but remember, with some longing, the products circulating. They also bought out a lot of citizens for a very high price.
It was Gingo who spoke next. "It's unfortunate we cannot purchase farms." He said.
The territory bought a village center, a weapons store, an armory, the walls, and the residences.
After leveling up, they purchased the well and the warehouse.
This wasn't a bad decision at all because the resources were lush in this place. Although the food wasn't enjoyable, no one would starve.
"However, it doesn't mean we cannot farm on our own," Micheal said, comforting. "We could build edifices, why not till the land for agriculture?"
The people on his side nodded, enlightened, and were relieved.
Then it was Bruno who spoke out his concerns. Bruno was Micheal's primary person in the military and security aspects of the territory. "My lord, would they tell us information about the plants?
A few of his cronies nodded, having the same concern. "The people we lost due to poisoning are not few." After all, there were so many of them.
The resources within the walls were sometimes not enough. A lot of people, especially those with not much money, would tend to venture outside to forage.
Micheal heard their questions and turned to Ansel, silently asking for his response. The redhead crossed his arms with a smile.
"Everyone in our territory is aware of which plants nearby are poisonous and which ones are usable." He said, "I'm no botanist so it can't come from me. You'd just have to visit our place, our people would likely share knowledge with you."
The citizens of Bright looked a little surprised, but not too much. After all, they were all from one place, and sharing this knowledge wouldn't hurt Altera at all, so they were only thankful.
The NPC guard Juno, on the other hand, looked at them with cynicism, because he grew up thinking very differently.
Juno was a tall handsome man with unusual dark-green hair, cut very short.
In his culture, people had to go through fire first before getting such important knowledge from another person.
So, most of him would be guarded. He was even thinking that this could be a trap to lure the Lord out of his territory.
But, looking at the Lord having a sincere discussion about this, he dared not speak out.
Regardless, he would just have to increase his vigilance and just do his job and protect the lord here.
As his mind listened to the discussion, his honey-colored eyes couldn't help but give the lord a furtive glance.
For better or for worse, this was a lord he was starting to sincerely admire. He was unique, unlike the other lords he served. He was strong, but he was also kind. He didn't have the pompousness of nobles at all.
Micheal felt his stare and turned his head, making the NPC flinch a little. He nodded as if to reassure him and the NPC couldn't help but blush a bit in embarrassment.
Micheal did not see this. Instead, he returned his attention to the red-head in front of him.
Thinking of plants and crops, as well as what they had been producing so far, Micheal couldn't help but voice out his admiration. "It is amazing. It's great that she also found plants similar to Terran…"
Ansel shook his head. "While there are indeed some similar plants, a lot of the familiar plants you saw really were from Terran." He said, making the others stare at him.
His lips rose upwards, and he looked a bit smug. "You see… she also brought in seeds from our planet."
Everyone else at the table flinched. "What?"
Their eyes twitched. Everyone only had a cubic meter of space. There was so much they had to pack—food, water, and clothing would've filled the space in no time.
No one would think of going out of their way to get seeds, right?
Well, apparently not this guy's sister.
And looking at his smug (punchable) face, the decision served them very well. He still looked a bit spoiled by her.
Envy!