Chapter 27: I can make them villagers without their consent?

“Make the bandits…?”

The guide’s advice this time was so incredulous, I unconsciously repeated what it said.

I had been offering refugees the option of becoming a villager, but this was a completely different matter. These were bandits, for crying out loud. They had done various crimes, and are thus a danger to the other villagers.

<<Making them villagers is only for the benefit of your Gift. You do not have to treat them the same as the other villagers.>>

“Oh, okay.”

<<After making them villagers, please consider making them stay at a rehabilitation facility. If done so, they can be part of the village normally.>>

Oh yeah, I became able to build that facility, huh.

<<Of course, that would be only for those who haven’t committed any serious crimes. For those that did, execution might be a good punishment.>>

The guide said so, but we were just a small village. There was no way we could hold a trial for each and every bandit.

Because their group did crimes all over various places, we could just send them to a lord of a territory and have that lord pass judgement on them.

However, due to the times we lived in now, banditry had become so commonplace that I feared that their group would either be executed without any trial at all or be released after some kind of deal.

<<If by chance their rehabilitation is unsuccessful, you have the option to banish them or turn them into slaves. By the way, you can assess the state of their rehabilitation through the Village Bond Level line of Villager Appraisal.>>

“Hmm, I see…”

I still had various concerns, but for now, I decided to make them villagers as the guide advised.

“Wait, can I make them a villager even without their consent?”

<<If an individual has spent a certain amount of time in the village, it’s possible to make them a villager unilaterally.”

“Eh? So, I can make even those just passing by into villagers if I make them stay long enough first? That seems kinda frightening…”

<<You can do that, but also keep in mind that if a villager’s Village Bond Level is low and they’ve spent a certain amount of time outside of the village, they’d automatically cease being a villager.>>

“I see. That balances things, I guess.”

<<And so, do you want to make the bandits your villagers?>>

I decided to agree.

<<The 43 people represented by Baron are now villagers.>>

<< Ta-ta-ta-dah! Congratulations! Because you now have more than 300 villagers, your village has become level 5!>>

<<500 village points have been acquired as level up bonus.>>

<<You can now build more kinds of facilities.>>

<<Maximum village area has been increased.>>

<<The village skill [Facility Customization] has been acquired.>>

“Oh, another level up. Hmm, Facility Customization…?”

<<As its name suggests, it allows you to customize facilities to your liking.>>

Facilities have always been built with the same design or structure. For example, earthen walls had the same height and length each time I built one, so there was nothing I could do if I wanted a wall just a tiny bit higher.

Through this skill though, I should be able to adjust those parameters, maybe even bend them and change their colors.

“Hoh, in that case, a single earthen wall will be enough to surround my village, right? I mean, I’ll just extend it as much as I have to.”

<<Depending on the type of customization, some village points might be required.>>

“Oh, I see…”

I examined it a bit more thoroughly.

• When altering the shape of a facility, no village point is required.
• When removing something from a facility, no village point is required.
• When changing the colors of a facility, no village point is required.
• When adding something into a facility, some village points are required.

“I see. That makes more sense.”

If changed the location of a bathroom in a house or remove it entirely, I wouldn’t need to pay points. But if wanted to have two, it seemed points were necessary.

I decided to look at the finer details later, and instead try the village skill out for the moment.

Oh, before that, I better build that rehabilitation facility first.

Rehabilitating all bandits at once seemed too much, so I decided to only do so 5 at a time, starting with those who seemed to be less problematic.

“Ehehehee, why don’t you leave this to me? I’ll make honest citizens out of these brats soon enough…Ehehehee”

“““~~~~!”””

The one to nominate herself as the disciplinarian was the eldest person in the village.

The bandits winced upon hearing granny’s words…will they be alright?