Chapter 450 - A Fresh Start for the Settlers
The rest of the day was filled with cooking, cleaning, checking patients and providing cures. I decided to go all out and give three meals per day while I am here. The people on my side gladly helped out knowing that they are doing good things for the rest of the settlement that they were a part of till recently. I also feel a kind of happiness radiating from them, now that they are free from their "leader's" control.
At dinner, the self-proclaimed leader and his clan could not take it anymore and had to swallow their pride to get things from my side. They eventually joined the lines of those that are waiting for food to be served and even lined up for health checks thoigh their faces say that they hated it. When I saw the leader's family members, that is when I noticed how the children and grandchildren of her household were all round and fat which is quite unbelievable in these times of war and famine. I never thought I would encounter such blatant corruption this early in this world.
Well, I still fed them since they were technically members of the settlement. I also gave them the health check-up, supplements and medicine, all the works. I offered the same amount of rations to each member of their family, similar to what the other settlers before them have received since I am fair like that even if I dislike them.
Once we are done with all the cooking and cleaning, I asked the 7 new families about their plans for the future since the wars don't look like it'll stop any time soon. I am also sure that nobody wants to stay on a refugee status, moving from one settlement to another indefinitely.
I have listened patiently to their plans and in the end still extended the same offer that I gave to the first family that came to me for aid. Just as expected, they agreed to be relocated permanently to a different territory to have a fresh start since they said that there is nothing left to go back to from their previous homes. I assured them that my in-laws are nice and the place is safe from both man-made and natural disasters after it was rebuilt and fully improved. They were quite surprised to hear that the Larkspur territory has been renovated and are accepting people again.
It is good thing that I actually gave a heads up to my in-laws in Larkspur so as not to give them a shock. From the original seven people I was planning to send to them, it has suddenly increased to 61 people after more families came to my little settlement. There is also a high chance that it would further increase for the next days or so as more families might change their minds.
I stayed in this settlement area for another day before I decided to move on to the next settlement. And just like what I thought, two more families joined he next day. These families have matriarchs but they are of weaker personalities or have been previously injured so they are not fully able to provide for their families. This increased the number of the people I will send to Larkspur from 61 to 79.
Before I left, I made sure to give the rations to all the people in the settlement. It should be enough to support each person for about 2 weeks or even longer if they supplement it with other types of food that they can find around the area. Just before leaving, I teleported the people who are willing to relocate in front of everyone and did it in four batches.
The remaining people in the settlement had their jaws drop as the mass teleportation started happening right in front of them. As the people that previously lived next to me left one by one, those who are left behind couldn't help but feel regret, envy and panic in their hearts.
After the teleportation, I untied my horses and went in my wagon to continue my journey. The people tried to ask me where the others were sent to and why am I not relocating everyone if I had to ability to. I remained quiet as my wagon zoomed away from the area of my little settlement. The people who were planning to block my wagon and demand the same treatment were not even able to act out before they saw that I was already tens of meters away from them.
As I continued my journey to the north, I passed by four more settlements of varying sizes and economic situations. I followed the same system of providing free food, giving health check-ups, prescribing medicines and distributing rations to all that were willing to receive help from me. I also offered living arrangements to anyone who is willing to move to another territory. Luckily, I was able to get more people to migrate to Larkspur so that the economy will improve quicker with the help of the additional manpower.
After sending the first batch of 79 war refugees, I received a response from my father-in-law only a few hours after sending out the message. His response was concise but it is evident that he is very thankful since I helped out on the need for manpower to further develop the Marquessate of Larkspur. I responded and assured him that I will find him more trustworthy people in the next couple of days.
Though it has been quite stressful for the last two weeks, moving from one settlement to another, it has been quite fulfilling in terms of completing my original task from the healer's guild. The number of people that I have checked and given cures to has been steadily increasing since I left Hoffen City.
The first settlement I visited had roughly 500 people in it while the next four settlements have a population ranging between 300 - 400 people. Though everyone went for a check-up, the only ones that count for my task were the ones I diagnosed with illnesses and given cures to. Even if that is the case, I should still reach the required number of patients or even above that since I haven't even reached the military camp and the war borders yet.