When he is done eating, he comes over to me to get some love, which dispels my disappointment. I pet him until Asuna is done with her breakfast, then she starts playing with him. All in all, it is a nice peaceful morning and I do my best to enjoy it fully.

  We are soon on the road again and Mulan ends up taking a nap with Kirito in the carriage. I do get the chance to chat with Bella, but she says to just leave things be and not complicate them. She is happy with how things are and doesn’t want to mess with anything.

  She describes it as her sharing my harem, which bothers me a little, but I keep my mouth shut. At this point, as much as I dislike the word harem, I can’t really argue against it. I do my best to hide my dislike of the word, otherwise they will just tease me about it.

  Not that they won’t tease me anyway, but they will tease me about other things, which is preferable. To keep Bella from catching on, I switch to questioning Sero and Kreno about their experiences. It works out, because I actually am curious about how they are adapting as avatars.

  Everything is new to them, but by now they should have started getting used to things. I am really curious about how their experiences will change their personalities. As time goes on, they should become more and more different from Seronia and Krenocia.

  There are already a few noticeable differences, but they are fairly small ones so far. I actually enjoy listening to them talk about all the things they are learning and the problems they have run into. It ends up being quite a pleasant way to spend the time until we stop for lunch.

  When we stop, Lizzy informs me that we are being watched by a different beastman clan. However, all they are doing is watching us, they haven’t made a move to initiate contact. Since that is all they are doing, I am not worried about them and just eat lunch with the others.

  We finish eating lunch and quickly get back on the road, but the terrain is much rougher. Thanks to Lizzy smoothing the path, we are still making decent time, much better than expected. It is good to see that the changes to Lizzy haven’t reduced her earth abilities at all.

  If anything, the path that she is creating for the caravan is even stronger than it was before. The dirt that is shaping the path for her is more densely packed and seems to have been treated somehow. It is still dirt, but it shows signs of being fused together somehow and I doubt it is Lizzy’s doing.

  She is creating the path based on instinct, it isn’t something that she thinks about. Even the slopes she creates to go over higher terrain are easy for the other carriages to use. At this point, other than not being stone, she is creating better roads than humans normally do.

  This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.

  If we had a team going behind her and laying stone, this road would probably last for generations. In fact, if this trade route is going to become permanent, I might suggest that to Vex. If the beastman clans do pull out, this will all become human territory anyway.

  A line of forts along this road would be a good defense against the beasts that will come out of the mountains. I don’t know anything about the other human kingdoms along this route, but surely Vex does. After all, he wanted this trade route to get around that one kingdom and trade with the others.

  However, I think I will wait to suggest it until I know if all the clans are leaving. The Black Lions are for sure, but that doesn’t mean one of the others won’t decide to stay. If they claim this area, then they would be in conflict with the humans and I don’t want that.

  Only if this entire area is definitely going to be vacant will I suggest my idea to Vex. He will have to build an alliance with some of the other kingdoms, his kingdom doesn’t have the forces to do it alone. Cecil is his neighbor, but he is already going to have to worry about his own kingdom and the desert.

  Of course, he could just leave these kingdoms to figure things out on their own. That will be up to him, I am simply going to give him the idea now that I have thought of it. However, thinking of Vex and his kingdom reminds me that I need to go there and move the shipwrights.

  A quick message to Mercy confirms that she has everything ready and can receive them anytime. So, I let the others know that I will be back in time for dinner and jump out of the carriage. I open a gate to Vex’s capital and head down to the docks to find the shipwrights.

  They and their families are ready to go and had started wondering if I was even coming. Luckily, I paid them an advance so they were willing to wait around long enough for me to remember them. I message Mercy that they are incoming and then open a gate to the peninsula for them.

  Mercy will handle the rest, so I gate back to where I left the caravan and fly after them. I manage to catch up before they stop for the night and rejoin the others in the carriage. They are curious, so I tell them what I was doing and what the plan is for them.

  Once I satisfy their curiosity, they lose interest, so I don’t bother going into detail about the plans. The conversation dies down at that point, but Kirito waking up and wanting to play fills the quiet. Soon enough, the caravan stops for the night and I set up the cabin for everyone.

  Kirito is still full of energy, so Asuna plays with him for a while before we eat dinner. Mulan starts eating first, she is in a rush to go hunting again, I tell her to calm down, but it doesn’t help. I’m starting to think that I haven’t given my kids enough chances to feel helpful.

  Mulan is pushing herself, but so far it doesn’t seem that she is going overboard. Pushing herself is okay, just as long as she doesn’t take things too far or endanger herself. I let her go when she is done eating, but I can’t help but worry about her, so I message Lizzy to keep her safe.

  Even if Mulan gets a little carried away, I can trust Lizzy to keep anything from happening to her. Lizzy watching over her is the next best thing to me being there to watch her myself. Well, as long as Lizzy doesn’t lose herself in her hunting that is, which means I will still worry.

  Luckily, Leylisha will also be there and she can help keep Lizzy from losing track of Mulan. I shouldn’t have to worry too much, but I am still going to worry no matter what. It is just the way I am and that isn’t going to change, no matter how much I might like it to.