Desolate World

It had already been half a month since Ace left the village. Many things had changed. He could see some canoes floating on the surface of the lake. Some of the people on them pulled their nets and few others intended to go to other spots to fish by paddling.

The area that was full of trees beside the village was almost cleaned, he could only see some trees that were left behind to make the environment looked not too dull. On the cleared land, some buildings had already been built. Most of them were longhouses. They were built for the housing of the villagers temporarily before their houses were finished and to accommodate the incoming refugees. They should be the buildings that had been built by Phil and the others in the past.

But what made Ace surprised was there was a group of wooden houses in the west of the longhouses. There were around 30 of them and some that were still being built. They were surely built by Phil, Adrian, and the rest for themselves.

The arrival of a large number of people attracted the attention of many villagers. But, maybe because there were Ace, Geo, Cloud, and Mars among the refugees, they didn't seem to panic.

As the refugees entered the village perimeter, Phil, Adrian, Sofia, Aria, and other villagers came to welcome them. Ace didn't see his brother and Gon among them. He thought maybe they were still doing something.

"Mom!" Ace heard his son's voice as he was running towards his mother. Sofia then welcomed him with a hug.

"I miss you, sweetheart," Sofia said.

"Me too, mom," Geo said with teary eyes.

"I miss you, honey!" Ace also came, expecting a warm welcome.

But, what he got was something else. Sofia glared at him and said, "Go away!"

It made Adrian, Aria, and the rest chuckling. Ace froze. 

"What have I done?" Ace asked. He didn't know what he did wrong.

"How can my son become thinner? Didn't you give him enough meals these days?" Sofia asked.

"What the… Of course, he ate enough!" Ace said. It was impossible for the guardian to get thinner or fatter, as their appearance was unchanged regardless of their changed appearance in their original world. He also wondered if Geo grew up, would his game appearance change? 

'He will,' the guide said in his brain.

'Oh, thank you for your information,' Ace said. These few days, the guide often answered his doubts, even though he didn't ask. He had been used to hearing her intrusion.

"He is growing taller. So, he looks thinner at a glance," Ace heard Cloud's saying. By the way, Cloud had cured all of the transforming refugees a few days before. At first, the progress was too slow, but after continuously using the skill, her skill leveled up three times. The effectiveness of her cure spell increased. Resulting in the progress in curing them increase. 

"Really?" Ace and Sofia asked at the same time. He had doubted his ears, if they heard it right. It was just 2 weeks, right?

"I also just realized it recently. But for you, who hasn't met him for a few weeks, it is normal to realize it immediately," Cloud explained.

*Cough**Cough*

Mars fake coughed. Then he got everyone's attention. He continued, "Elder Phil, they are our fellow villagers. Please arrange some longhouses to be their temporary accommodations."

"Yes, Lord Mars," Phil then said.

"Elder Noah, Elder Kira, you can lead your people to take a rest. You can also get familiar with the village's environment. Tomorrow, come to me to talk about your people's land allocation," Mars continued while looking at the two.

"Yes, Lord," Noah and the small goblin beside him answered simultaneously. For a note, Kira —the goblin that talked to Ace and Noah in the cave— had been appointed by Mars as the elder that represented the goblins.

"Everyone, this village is your home, for now on. Welcome to Laketown!" Mars said to the refugees and the goblins with a smile. As for the name of the village, it seemed Mars had decided its name when Ace was away. As for the lake, he gave it the name 'Center lake'.

Ace was pretty dissatisfied with the choices of names. Mars's choices of names were too common. However, he couldn't do anything about them, could he?

Many of the refugees, even goblins, then expressed their happiness. Some of them thanked Mars, Ace, and his family, the others hugged each other, and not a few of them shed tears. 

Even Noah couldn't hide his happiness. Even if he somewhat could control his behavior, everyone could see he became emotional.

Ace could only pat his shoulder to calm the big guy.

"Thank you, Ace. You, Lord Mars, and your family have changed our lives. We will still be inside the forest, struggling to live if you didn't come," Noah said with a smile.

"Welcome home, brother," Ace said. Yes, he had already thought this place was his home.

Noah seemed to be touched. He nodded and said, "Yes, it's our home."

Ace then left Noah, who wanted to arrange the refugees. He came to the old man, Phil.

"Phil, fortunately, I heeded your advice. If not, I wouldn't be able to meet them," Ace said to Phil, who was waiting for Noah and Kira who were still arranging their people as Phil had asked. Because, it was impossible for all of them to live in the longhouses. So, Phil said, it was better to divide them into smaller groups, around fifty per group. 

Phil smiled at Ace. He said, "See… You should listen to this old man. Although I can't fight like when I was young, I have many experiences."

Ace nodded, Ace then said, "From where I'm from, there is a saying, 'The older the ginger, the spicier it gets'. It seems true."

After Phil heard that, he frowned and said, "I don't know if you praised me or insulted me."

"Hahaha…," Ace laughed hard after hearing that.

Ace and Phil were bantering with each other for some time, until Noah and Kira came to Phil that they had divided the refugees and the goblins into several groups.

They then went to some longhouses. Phil had said before that he had never expected that Ace would bring so many people at the same time. So some men should live in tents for the time being. They would take priority for women, children and old men to live in the longhouses. 

***