Ball of Nothing

Zero was bored and Jermine was sleepy. They had been waiting in this room that Desert Lily prepared somewhere underground. Why wasn't Truen done with negotiations yet?

"Did they forget about us?" Zero asked and Brutus looked slightly apologetic. They were waiting for nearly two hours but nobody checked in on them. With three people in a small waiting room and uncomfortable chairs, the stablehand couldn't blame Zero.

Jermine was used to waiting but Zero was bored out of his mind. The Black Mamba representative said that Truen would be meeting him with a guest when they were ready but his friend wasn't answering his party calls or updating him on the situation.

Zero was rolling dust balls in a corner when the door flung open. Startled by the sudden noise, his carefully collected dust balls went flying everywhere and Zero sulked a little. Why did they have to come when he finally found something to entertain himself with? Then again, this was good. He could finally talk and return to the inn.

"Sorry for the long wait," Truen apologised and introduced Monoman again. "This is Monoman, he wants to talk about a village collaboration."

Brutus took the hint and took Jermine with him to return to the inn first. Zero, Truen and Monoman waited for them to leave completely before they sat down for serious talks.

"Village collaboration?" Zero asked. "Which village are you from?" he asked the semi-giant.

"I'm from a lawless zone's village to the far east of Deadman Town. It doesn't have a name yet. I have long heard about Half Moon Village at Endow Hill, it is known to take in refugees of any kind and has a very unique diversity of villagers. The village I founded in the lawless zone is similar. I heard about the dragon heroes from your village in Smargdas and had a tip-off that I could find the village leader if I hurried to Deadman Town. I recognised your personal guard instantly so I approached him to talk to you."

Zero was curious and looked at Truen. "Who gave you the tip-off?"

Truen was equally curious and nearly choked on his saliva when Monoman told them he heard about it from Mitchnew. It was Zero's turn to be puzzled. Mitchnew was in Smargdas setting up an information network. Why would she give Monoman her information and better still, how did she know where they would be?

"Did Mitchnew really tell you that? What else did she tell you?"

Monoman didn't hesitate to admit everything, remembering Truen's advice about lying to Zero and keeping anything from him.

Zero listened to the full story about Monoman's origins as a wilderness wanderer. He was a bounty hunter during the restless times when the nine nations were not yet formed. Back then, Monoman worked alongside some rather famous names including Dorgon and Dwayne. He chose not to ally himself to any country and worked independently, Zero's eyes sparkled when he found out how Monoman was an unsung hero.

"After the war when peace regained, I decided to settle down in the wilderness alone to pass my days in peace and continue defending peace at the most problematic borders. It's a place where exiled criminals are sent to be killed so over the years I met my fair share of vile criminals as well as political victims. I saved those who shouldn't be left to die and abandoned those who didn't deserve second chances to their fates. The villagers have grown too big for me to protect alone so I think it's time for them to find a better and safer place to live in, a place that wouldn't question their histories or backgrounds."

Zero thought about it. "How many people are we talking about? We have a rule in Half Moon Village. Those who don't work don't get to eat. We have plenty of need for labour help because the village is undergoing a massive renovation ever since the fire. The farms need more hands because it is expanding and the traders need more delivery personnel because our production orders are increasing. Housing might be an issue because we don't have pre-built places for so many people."

Monoman was ready for this. "Don't worry, we have some capable and able-bodied villagers who could help. We can build our own houses and everyone works for their share of food. Those who can hunt will hunt, those who can do resource runs and trade will trade. Those who cannot do any of that will take care of the village chores and farm on whatever land we had. There are about sixty villagers with twenty who are capable of fighting and three capable of reading. Only five aren't able to walk or do physical labour."

Satisfied with the answer, Zero thought about it. Currently, Half Moon Village was in need of physical labour and extra hands for the multiple projects running concurrently. However, Zero didn't want to destroy the beautiful forest to accommodate sixty more people. Instead, he consulted Mii about the terrain.

"Is there any good location for a new village?"

Wii pulled out the map and Mii scanned through the topography with a keen eye. While it was difficult to create a new village on the dangerous magical mountain, it wasn't difficult to build a new village at the foot of Endow Hill. To be more precise, in the middle of Endow Hill and Smargdas.

"This location is good," Mii pointed out. "If a strong guard like Monoman can become a first defence between the village and the humans they can be a very good ally."

Zero studied it for a while in the mindscape and agreed. Then, he turned to the warrior. "Do you want to continue being a leader of the village instead? I think your villagers respect you and I don't want to deal with sixty new people. You can continue to manage them but Half Moon Village will ally with you. You will support us in times of need in return, we will provide you with resources and give you a stable livelihood. how does that sound?"

Monoman didn't need to think twice. "As long as it doesn't involve anything illegal, I will accept."

Truen was impressed that Zero had everything planned in his head as he explained the terms and conditions.

"The village will be called New Moon village and you will work alongside Zenobia, the chieftess of half Moon village in my absence. New Moon Village will guard intruders coming invading Half Moon Village in the first wave and report back. If the enemies cannot be defeated, retreat at once to Half Moon Village and make a report. We will send out expert warriors for reinforcements. During the retreat, please follow the instructions of Half Moon Village commanders."

"New Moon Village will actively assist Half Moon Village in their projects like farming, building, repairing and trading. In return, half Moon Village will share resources and profits with New Moon Village for their help in the ratio of 40-60, 40% for New Moon Village."

Monoman didn't object and Truen drafted a legal contract for the two leaders to sign. Zero was immensely pleased.

"I have a deal with Green Hawks so that will be left to you for management," Zero told Monoman honestly. "I want to introduce slave rights and this project will be left to you. We supply Green Hawks with special potions and medicine while they start introducing Slave Licenses and Slave Buyer contracts. It's a very important task."

Monoman was pleasantly surprised to hear that Zero was working on something so strange but he was not against it. "I understand. I will leave to get the villager over and settle down in two months. Please tell Green Hawks that I will pay them a formal visit after I officially become the leader of New Moon Village."

Zero shook hands to seal the deal and Truen was slightly proud at how easily his friend dealt with the situation. His worries about Monoman wanting power and the potential threats were cleverly dissolved with a new solution. The idea of introducing colonies never crossed his mind and Truen found himself respecting Zero more. He should include this in tonight's report to the Great Gods.