Heavenly Zenith - Chapter 86 First Elven Immigrants 1?

Partway into Seran’s third week back home, he got an interesting message from Queen Layla, who he hadn’t had an opportunity to speak with for quite some time. After all, he’d been running around continuously since he took off to finish his third quest in Savicche. Layla herself was also occupied by becoming a mediator for her people’s disputes now that they’d condensed into communities instead of their previous tribal lives. Most of the communities in the Primeval Forest adapted with little to no troubles, as they composed of likeminded people and their families. Some were less than harmonious, especially a handful of them that formed a community despite formerly being rival tribes. Such long-standing inter-tribe rivalries were far from easy to dispel, so quarrels would arise inevitably.

Of her troublesome community quarrels, which had lessened considerably over time, three particular cases warranted direct intervention. Despite their long lives and naturally peaceful natures, some groups would fight enough for it to evolve into an inter-tribe war. The communities these three cases appeared in were made prior to any major investigation into the tribes themselves, as it was intended to create the communities to make it much simpler to investigate, among other things. Blood was shed, though no lives were lost, between the forming of the communities and the present time, something that could not be ignored by a ruler.

Layla originally planned to relocate one of the former tribes of each location to a different community, but almost all of them directly rejected, as these tribes had become a subject of fear, a fear that the communities would end up suffering their hostilities. As such, the Queen could only compromise by suggesting a relocation to a place outside of the forest, in Greenwood City. Technically speaking, this was considered a legal banishment, as, once they left the Primeval Forest, the tribes would no longer be under her rule, severing her responsibilities to them and effectively denying them return. Since this would be thrusting the troublesome people over to Greenwood City, it was understandably unfair to not compensate the recipient for taking them in.

An hour of legal discussion ensued between Seran, Layla and the tribal representatives, who each vehemently rejected the very idea of leaving the forest. After Queen Layla slammed her fist down, she ordered them to listen to her before directly telling them that this was her final attempt at ending this unnecessary hassle in a peaceful manner that would still ultimately benefit all sides. After declaring that her last resort was to fully exile them from the forest and make them brave the world without any help, they realized the severity of the situation, a severity they’d blinded themselves to by emotion.

An official deal was struck not too long later, in which each party received benefits. The Primeval Forest would be rid of the three tribes, allowing for it to develop without having to worry about unneeded bloodshed. Greenwood City would receive the three tribes as immigrant citizens, who still needed to undergo the full citizenship process to gain their official citizen status, along with several valuable items from the communities that were thankful for their intervention, not to mention those from Queen Layla as an apology. The three tribes would relocate to the only city at present that would protect and support them indiscriminately so that they could lead new lives, on top of being able to grow faster and understand more about the world than they would in the forest. Layla did not fully ban the tribesmen from returning, but the tribes as a whole were effectively exiled. Individuals were allowed to return occasionally, but the entire tribe could not.

Seran quickly got to designing a separate section of the city for the tribes to start in. He said to the tribal leaders that, in time, it would be integrated with the rest of the city, but it would remain as it is so that the tribes could adapt at their own pace. He also said that, no matter where in the city, they must follow the laws and live as a citizen of Greenwood City does. On top of that, their tribal status would become defunct upon immigrating, as large clans and tribes were not recognized in the city. Inevitably, these organizations would form, but the city was too young for them to begin just yet. As such, the elven section would be designed just like an apartment complex, but with some of their amenities and community-related places would be located within. The largest exception to this was the school system, as Seran did not plan to make an elf-only school. Even if it would help them adapt slowly, it could be easily seen as discriminatory, so he decided not to make such an establishment. The children would also be sent to the three schools based on the official districts and standards. Should problems arise, transfers would always be a possibility.

Seran did, however, give the elves a small bonus by having their community built relatively close to Spring Hill, as he knew that Khloe’s status as a Spirit of Demeter would help their integration as well. He did not doubt that Khloe would serve a better voice than him for these elves, no matter what his position was. Khloe agreed, of course, but reminded them that she could be even more strict compared to the young demigod, and she did not mince words or play games.

By the end of the third week, Seran had built up the elven community as a very large gated apartment neighbourhood, made sure that its administrative building employed open-minded individuals, and prepared each apartment for its new occupants. After much deliberation, it was decided that direct families would live together unless specified by circumstance. For example, parents and children were always together, but grandparents would only have one of their children’s families with them if they so chose. There was only just over 200 total, and most were within three generations, so there weren’t too many problems with this method. Aside from one family, which had managed to have six generations together, most families lived in a one- or two-bedroom apartment, though some had three bedrooms. The one with six generations, as the eldest two generations had mobility issues and needed assistance at times due to the tribal lifestyle long impacting their bodies, and the youngest hadn’t even reached 2 years old, was made as an exception by giving them a separate six-bedroom house. Surprisingly, none of the immigrant elves opposed this. Rather, they were very happy with it, as filial piety was a value the elves held sacred.