A Village Appeared on My Desktop

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Chapter

144 – Evidence of Progress (4)

“I have a question, why did you sever ties with us? Thanks to that, stories about dwarves have only appeared in ancient legends.”

“It was the decision of our ancestors. Due to the annihilation of records, we don’t know exactly what happened back then, but there was significant conflict with humans at that time.”

This was the moment the Arin Tribe first encountered the Dwarf Survivors, led by Herson.

Chieftain Balun gladly welcomed them and represented the other residents by asking the most curious questions.

The fact that these different races disappeared is a story from long ago. They compared the legends and records they knew, but very little matched up correctly.

Records themselves were rare, so nearly a generation later, old tales became mere myths. Because of this, it took a long time to cross-verify even trivial facts.

“What does it matter what old tales say? Ultimately, what’s important is how we cooperate to drive those monsters away.”

Feeling a headache coming on while organizing the mounting data and testimonies, Balun decided to just wrap it all up neatly and reach a clean conclusion.

After all, they were both unfamiliar with old matters, so it was best to bury them and work together for the future.

The dwarves nodded and uniformly agreed to Balun’s words without much opposition.

In fact, for the very small number of Dwarf Survivors, it was obvious that without assimilating into the Arin Tribe, they could not survive.

Thus, the Dwarf Survivors gradually integrated with the Arin Tribe, setting their purpose to reclaim their homeland and rescue any other kin who might still be alive.

“We need to go save the city right now. We must save the World Tree!”

However, the situation for the elves was slightly different from that of the dwarves.

Thanks to the rapid decision-making by Junyung, the Arin Tribe warriors had become significantly stronger in terms of numbers, abilities, and equipment compared to the past, thus they had managed to avoid complete extermination.

Though they were under attack from Bugs, if they hurried a little more, perhaps they could avoid annihilation.

“Eve. We lost many kin in our village and only barely saved some lives. How on earth can we save the city now?”

Having just managed to reclaim their village, the chief expressed difficulty at Eve’s statement about needing to help the Central City, which was being swarmed by numerous enemies.

The number of surviving villagers was only about a hundred, and very few of them were capable of fighting.

“W-well…”

“Do you plan to ask these mysterious humans for help?”

As Eve flinched, the chief glanced around, whispering. The dwarves had a similar reaction at first, but the elves were perhaps even more severe.

They considered mingling with humans a sin.

“Have you ever heard of the elves?”

“El-elves? That name is new to me.”

“The past elves didn’t operate in the north, so that might be why. Of course, I’ve only heard of them as legends myself.”

In fact, the Arin Tribe was similar. Composed mainly of northern grassland dwellers, many of them had no idea that a race called elves even existed.

Fortunately, there was one mage from the Kingdom of Baruk who had been sharing stories about the elves he knew.

“Then why, exactly, did that being bring us here?”

“Isn’t it because of those foolish Black Monsters? What more reason do you need?”

However, they had a powerful motivation that elves did not possess. The fact that the being they believed in commanded them to eliminate the enemies was enough.

For those who had steadily built their faith, that alone was sufficient.

If it was an order from Him, even if it meant jumping into a pit of fire, they would accept it.

“Black Monsters, is that what they are called?”

“Indeed. No matter who they are, they are insane monsters that seek to kill anything living. Even the dwarves’ kingdom over there was crushed by them.”

Eve listened in shock as one of the Arin warriors gave her further details. If what they said was true, they couldn’t afford to remain idle any longer.

Her kin elsewhere were already under attack, and they must help them.

However, as the chief had said, they lacked the strength to burst out at that moment.

They were merely a small village, and Eve herself was just an ordinary warrior.

“No, what on earth is that?! Strange things are happening in our sacred land!”

But that wasn’t the only problem. Eve, along with the surrounding Arin warriors, turned their gaze toward the terrified chief.

The chief was aghast at the defense turrets being constructed.

Defense turrets were being built at regular intervals, evolving and diligently preparing defenses on their own.

To those seeing it for the first time, it certainly looked like a scene out of a horror story.

“The being is constructing defense towers so that those monsters can’t encroach here.”

“Who does that without our consent?! This is our land! How dare they change things as they please and build watchtowers here!”

Riena stepped forward to explain, but the chief trembled and exploded in rage. It was her first time seeing such a reaction, leaving Riena momentarily frozen in shock.

“Without His gracious defense turrets, we won’t be able to stop those monsters who may attack at any moment.”

“Those unknown humans sticking such things in our land is not an invasion, then what is it?”

Invasion. At those words, Riena was momentarily shaken, despite her attempt to calmly explain. Others felt the same tension.

The atmosphere quickly turned hostile.

Some people, still holding weapons, gripped them tighter.

‘It’s a situation where misunderstanding is more than possible.’

Riena managed to regain her composure. She had lost a lot to external raiders herself at one time, so she couldn’t help but be sensitive about acts of invasion.

Moreover, the fact that these defense towers were being established indicated a strong desire to turn this place into a fortified base, which meant Riena had an obligation to explain this situation well to the local elves.

“Oh dear, where on earth are we?!”

“Let’s move. That being brought us here… huh?”

However, Riena’s sentence got cut off once more. The Transporters and Miners had arrived, equipped with pickaxes and shovels, looking nervously at the warriors and elves in a standoff.

*

“Why are these people acting like this?”

At the moment the Transporters and Miners were summoned to create a fortified stronghold with sturdy castle walls.

“—!”

While clicking wildly, I led them back to the village and scratched my head at the sight of the elves facing off against Riena.

I realized that while we had successfully driven the enemies away, the elves still had no friendly forces. Most were neutral at best.

Indeed, quite a few, including the chief, were openly hostile.

Though I could understand, it was shocking that they maintained animosity despite us saving their lives and helping reclaim the village.

‘I get it, I really do.’

Recognizing Riena’s concerns and the emotional states reflected on her status screen, I sighed. It wasn’t unreasonable for them to still be adjusting or unable to accept the sudden events.

Especially given how they had lived in seclusion for such a long time.

‘We’re in a wartime scenario. If we keep holding back, we will all perish.’

It was a time for decisive action. I hesitated for a moment but moved the mouse again to direct the residents.

I wasn’t sure where the Bugs might be nesting or when they would strike again. At the very least, we had to prepare some minimal defenses.

If I took direct charge like this, the responsibility turning back to the villagers would lessen. After all, they would be acting according to my orders.

Then they would blame and make excuses about me, and that was just fine. I believed that my role, elevated as a guardian deity, was precisely this.

“—?! –!”

“—!”

As expected, when I directed the miners and transporters to dig and construct barriers, I saw some elves explode in anger.

It seemed tensions had escalated to the point where people were drawing weapons and pointing them at each other.

Riena, who had been trying to calmly explain, was also shouting in rage, drawing her sword at the chief.

The situation had ballooned beyond expectation, and I found myself tensing slightly in anticipation of needing to intervene further.

“—!”

Just then, someone jumped in to mediate from both sides. A young elf named Eve.

With a panicked expression, she managed to calm the chief and convince Riena to lower her sword.

[Elf Warrior Eve]

[Trait: Archery, Leadership, Marksmanship (potential)]

“Oh.”

I right-clicked on her, gathering information, and quietly admired her.

The fact that she had multiple traits indicated she possessed talent, especially with her latent abilities being quite special.

‘If things go well, this will be awesome.’

For now, I trusted Eve and didn’t take further actions beyond that, watching her as she worked to persuade her kin.

Of course, it was natural for this process to be creaky and dissonant.

The dwarves had swiftly integrated due to the special circumstances they faced, having no choice but to migrate from their homeland.

Now, we were stepping into the elves’ territory seeking an unilateral alliance.

Based on my knowledge, forcing and intimidating would be the worst approach during this process.

We needed their strength as well.

‘The frontlines are expanding. This is getting unfavorable. Is it possible the Bugs are capitalizing on this?’

While the elves debated heatedly among themselves, I stayed at my desk, unable to pull away, looking at the status screen and calculating numbers and power.

The villagers had rapidly increased in number from several wars to fend off the Bugs and counterattack external forces.

However, the increase in numbers also expanded the frontlines.

We needed troops to defend the land governed by Garhan and the territory taken from Luke, and still needed to send forces north.

On top of that, there was the situation with the elves this time. One of the biggest advantages the Bugs had was their ability to use cracks to infiltrate anywhere without constraints of space and time.

It made me suspect if they were trying to weaken us by extending our frontlines.

“That’s why alliances are important.”

The powers I could grant the villagers through the programs were powerful enough.

However, to maximize that, I needed more manpower, and managing that workforce became difficult as their numbers increased.

The only thing that could offset that was an alliance. Powers to share the sacrifices and efforts we made.

We were making progress with the kingdom in the south, yet with the elves, who knows how it would turn out.

I continued to watch Eve, who was diligently persuading her kin at this very moment.

Though she was still neutral, I intuited that she would soon become an ally.