Ascension of the Sylvan Cosmos.

Wert sat on the Town Hall's main office room's chair and released a long breath. Then, he looked at Flor, Cinderielle, Verdantia, and Tempestria and spoke. "Okay. Everything has been checked. While the ants will be a problem at first, later, they can become a trendy aspect of the city. After all, seeing a usually dangerous beast being tame and obedient is one of the things that people go, 'Ah!' and 'Oh!' and 'Wow!' for, you know?"

Cinderielle thought for a bit and asked. "But there will be people who will try to kidnap the ants, right? After all, they are 'rare' specimens."

Wert hummed while Flor's relaxed face scrunched again. "I don't like that."

Wert shrugged. "When something's rare, there will be people who covet it. That's the law of the world. Why do you think World Tree wood is so valuable? It is indeed better than normal wood, but not better enough to justify the price difference. Did you know that even F Tier World Tree wood is sold for Tyn? Every other F Grade material is usually sold for just a few Lir." 

The room was silent for a few moments. Eventually, Tempestria broke the silence. "Regardless, how about we speak about where you want to build the Explorer Association Building?"

Wert took out a map of the town, surprising the girls. Flor asked. "When did you do that?"

Wert blinked and pointed to a woman in the group. "She is an excellent cartographer. She has walked around the town for a bit and came up with something rough. It lacks many details, but all the main buildings and roads are drawn." Then, he looked at the map and asked. "So, what were your plans to build? Can you run me through them so that I know more or less where the most people will gather?"

Tempestria smirked. "You really are not shy about it, eh?"

Wert shrugged. "We are like a massive signpost saying that this town is safe to visit. So, yeah, I am not shy about taking the best spot."

Flor commented. "Well, our plans are to build a residential area around here, with a few basic necessity shops. Everything will be within walking distance. Then, here, we will build the more advanced mercantile area. We will build a few buildings and rent them out to people who want to establish a shop." 

Wert blinked. "Rent? You won't sell them?"

Flor shook her head. "No. We are not selling anything. Everything will be up for rent."

Verdantia spoke before Wert complained. "Your building will be the only one belonging to another power in our city. The main reason is that other than the ants and the berries, we have another exotic and unique thing."

Wert raised his eyebrows and smiled. "Well, try to surprise me."

Verdantia commented. "Our buildings are alive. They will obey and even transform their walls and room composition. It takes a while, since they are living beings, and they can't just transform at will. However, this will make house maintenance and reforming hundreds of times easier. Anyone will be able to do it, and the only thing needed is someone to help with the room arrangement."

Wert looked at Verdantia strangely. "So… Like the houses of those ultra-influential people? And you build it here for everyone?"

Seeing that he didn't believe them, Flor spoke while pointing at a solid wall. "<Lignified Town Hall>, open a door there."

Wert and the explorers watched as the bark-like surface began splitting very gently. The process was slow, but as time passed, it became clear that a door was being created there.

"Wow…"

Everyone from the explorer group shared the feeling of the person who said it. Wert hummed. "What are the drawbacks?"

Flor blinked. "What do you mean?"

Wert asked. "What are the drawbacks of this? It can't be all Sun and Rainbows. Can the house suddenly go rogue and eat those inside?"

Flor looked at Wert strangely. "Would you suddenly go rogue and start eating your friends? Is that a normal thing between humans?"

Some of the Explorers behind couldn't hold it in and laughed. "Pfft."

"Hey! Behave!" Wert shouted at those behind him and then sighed. "I mean, what if someone abuses the building, asking it to change constantly?"

Flor blinked strangely. "Wert, they are living beings." The Rose Fairy Queen spoke exaggeratedly. "I don't know, what if someone asked you to do something, then asked you to do the opposite, and then told you to do a backflip and clap while crying? You'd be annoyed and wouldn't comply, right? Well, the houses are the same."

Wert scratched his head. "Right. It is a bit of a foreign concept, so I am asking stupid questions. I mean, I want to make sure so that we can answer people who ask us when they come here. Is it possible to force them to make the changes?"

Flor frowned and commented. "The only exceptional case where we would force them to change is when a new person resides in them." Flor sighed. "Wert, it's not that complicated. Imagine the tree houses are your friends. Would you force your friend to do something bad? Or… Would you force your friend to work all day long without a single word of encouragement or a reward? I mean, they are living beings with consciousness. They are as alive as a pet dog, bird, bug, or plant. Just treat them as such, and they will not make any trouble."

Wert nodded, and the others behind also seemed to understand. Then, he asked. "How do you force them?"

Flor crossed her arms and squinted. "That's a very strange question to ask. But, well…" Flor thought to herself. 'They have absolute obedience to Liu Shu, so it's not like what you do matters. What do I cover this with…' 

'Aha, this could work.' Flor commented. "Well, we pamper them."

The Explorers had strange faces, and Flor smiled. "For example, we can give them delicious fertilizer, or we can give them more direct access to the Life Tree's energy. Cleaning their insides, ensuring there is no infestation, not destroying things or hitting walls… Being a good resident all around. Things that make the tree house happier will make the tree house listen." 

Wert rubbed his forehead and laughed. "To think that there would come a day when I have to… pamper my house."

Flor snorted. "You should have pampered even your normal one. It is where you live. What if the house breaks or something?" 

The people listening blinked twice, becoming somewhat speechless. 'Hm… I should treat my house better…'

Wert coughed. "Anyway, um…" Flor blinked, and Wert asked while scratching his cheek. "Do you think you can also build our building? I mean, having something like a living thing that can grow and such is quite handy."

Flor looked stunned while Tempestria burst into laughter. "Hey, Verdantia, Cinderielle, you need to pay up! I won the bet~."

Cinderielle and Verdantia clicked their tongues and gave Tempestria 10 <Delicious Berries> each. Tempestria grinned. "Hehehe~."

Wert looked at the Sylvans and rolled his eyes. "Anyway, is it possible?"

Flor nodded. "It is, but we'll need materials."

Wert hummed. "Okay, give me a list."

Flor looked at Verdantia and made it look like she was asking her. "So, Verdantia… Which base building do you think is proper for them?"

Verdantia understood the gaze, so she waited for Liu Shu to answer. After a few minutes, Liu Shu said. 'They are a big and wealthy group, right? Mariane says to ask them for the materials needed for the <Low-Rank Temple Of Summoning>, <Basic-Rank World Tree Endless Library>, and <Low-Rank Inn>. I'll build the <Low-Rank Inn> for them, while keeping the <Basic-Rank Inn> as ours.'

Verdantia's eyebrow twitched. 'That Mariane…' She coughed and said. "How about the <Low-Rank Inn> design? It is a big place that can be transformed quite neatly to fit the Adventurer Association group building."

Flor received a few messages from Liu Shu as well, and she nodded. "Sure. It is the second-largest design we have, after all."

Wert asked. "Which one is the biggest?"

Flor's eyes flashed, and she pointed down. "This one. The <Town Hall> design."

Wert hummed. "Then, do that one. We have deep enough pockets to build it, probably."

Liu Shu told Flor with a giggle. 'They took the bait~, add the <Low-Rank Town Hall> materials two times together with materials for five <Low-Rank Houses> to the rest. We'll use those to expand quickly and create a larger town.'

Flor's lips twitched. 'Intelligent races are quite… Insidious.' She smiled widely, trying to keep a calm facade. "Sure, we'll do that. Thanks a lot for accepting our deal, Wert."

Wert nodded, unaware he was about to be scammed quite severely. He asked. "Okay, now that we have resolved that, I want to ask about what we can hunt in the surroundings. As the Explorer Association, Monster Hunting is probably our most profitable activity."

Flor hummed. "To be honest, the only intelligent monster races in this town are Ants, Myconids, and us, Rose Fairies… Oh, there is a winged serpent that also comes by sometimes." 

An explorer asked, confused. "Winged serpent? I've never heard of one in this area."

Flor laughed. "Well…"

HISSS!

The Rose Fairy Queen blinked. "Oh? Here they are." 

The Explorers approached the window and looked outside. From the sky, a pair of enormous winged serpents with powerful auras landed. 

One of them had a robust and thick body covered with bark-like scales. His metallic luster made it look as if all kinds of weapons would bounce off of it.

The other was around half his size; however, her red-colored bark-like scales looked menacing, and a deep aura of Aether Mana surrounded her.

Wert crossed his arms. "Those two are strong. Level 20+, perhaps?"

Flor shrugged. "Who knows? They are very intelligent, though. Similar to me, if not more. They come by from time to time to trade their scales for our berries."

"Ho~?" Wert looked at the serpents with interest. "If even creatures like those want to do that, there must be some berries you have yet to show me, right?"

Flor didn't hide it. "Those are for later when I am sure that you are our ally."

The man shrugged. "Sure. I've acted like quite an asshole, so you not trusting me right now is normal. You must understand that I am betting my neck here, though. So, I hope you are not too resentful."

Flor nodded. "I will keep it in mind."

Wert stretched and said. "Okay. It's time to plan this town's inauguration. I'll send out a notice to make this area part of the Explorer Association's prohibited land. This should lower the number of people bothering you and reduce the number of deaths." Wert commented. "Although people know that something important must be here when we announce that. This will activate more… obscure groups and will increase the number of people poking their noses deeper. But…" Wert grinned coldly. "You are free to slaughter all those people who cross the border after we make the announcement. Make sure none escape."

Flor raised her eyebrows. "Are we your pest-cleaning group now?"

Wert laughed. "You'll gain some experience points and good materials from those people. I don't believe they will send any Second Cycle person, so you'll be mostly safe with the defenses around here. Moreover, I can leave a few of my people behind. I need to go do some paperwork, though."

Flor asked with a smile that was not a smile. "And what if a Second Cycle person appears?"

Wert hummed. "The ones I've left behind will help you, as I said. While they are Level 20 to Level 24, their equipment makes it possible to stall Second Cycle people. You should be okay if you have shown me around fifty percent of your overall power."

Flor sighed. 'Fifty percent? We haven't even shown you ten percent of our real power.'