Chapter 233: The Village of Beginnings

◆ Norb ◆

Having parted ways with Rex-san, we arrived at our first destination, Isla Village.

“Umm, in the towns and villages we visit on the pilgrimage, we have to solve the residents’ problems at each one, right?”

“Ah, yes. That’s right.”

Since we didn’t know when Rex-san and the others would meet up with us, I first reconfirmed what we needed to do with Tracy-san.

“Alright, then let’s solve the villagers’ problems ourselves before Bro… Big Sis gets here! Hey, you folks over there! Got anything troubling you!?”

No sooner had he said that, Jairo-kun charged straight at some villagers who were talking nearby.

“Oh!? Ou? Wh-What on earth!?”

“We gotta help people in trouble. You got anything troubling you?”

“Troubling… ah, you’re participants in the pilgrimage. Surprised me.”

The villagers, realizing we were participants in the pilgrimage, nodded in understanding.

“Man, normally a bunch of burly guys looking like monsters come barging in, so I didn’t realize you were participants.”

“A-Ahaha…”

Which means every time the pilgrimage is held, these villagers have been hounded by those people asking if they had any troubles.

“I wonder if those guys barging in is a problem in itself.”

“That’s… n-no, no, that’s not true at all!”

Ah, the villagers almost nodded just now.

“Anyway, honestly we’re grateful that participants asked us. We do have a problem. Or rather, we were just now agonizing over what to do about it together.”

The one who answered was the grandfather serving as the village chief.

It seems they happened to have a clearly understandable problem.

Although it’s not a good thing for someone serving the gods to call it ‘convenient’, though.

At any rate, we decided to listen to the problem the villagers were facing.

“Actually, you see, if you go that way from this village for a while there’s a forest, but…”

Saying that, the grandfather pointed in a direction slightly off from the direction we came from.

Huh? That direction is definitely…

“A young’un from the village who went there to gather herbs came back in a panic, saying a massive swarm of monsters had settled in the forest. Fortunately, the monsters didn’t notice him, so the young’un wasn’t hurt, but.”

Ah, as expected, this is about the forest Rex-san and the others headed towards.

“Considering the distance to the forest, we don’t know when the monsters might come to the village. So we were agonizing over what to do.”

Certainly, not knowing when you might be attacked by monsters is a scary situation.

But if so, there’s something I’m a bit curious about.

“Umm, did you not consult the participants of the pilgrimage about it?”

Right, if it’s such a difficult problem, I think it would be natural to consult the pilgrimage participants who came before us, but…

“About that, when we thought to ask, there was no one left anymore.”

” ” ” ” ” “Eeeh!?” ” ” ” ” ” “

To think they all left the village without anyone solving the massive problem of the village being attacked by monsters!?

“About that, you see, unfortunately, the young’un returned from the forest after the participants of the pilgrimage had already left.”

“There’s a limit to how unlucky you can be…”

Certainly, failing to receive the greatest benefit they were supposed to receive from the pilgrimage due to a slight difference in time is unlucky to an extreme.

“Because of that, we were thinking about what to do with the villagers. Whether to build a wall around the village to protect it, or abandon the village and flee to another town.”

“Abandon the village!? Are you serious!?”

Abandoning a village requires a considerable resolve.

It was the same for the village we lived in, but a village has houses and fields that everyone painstakingly built up, so you can’t just abandon it easily.

“Of course, it doesn’t mean immigrating to another town. We intend to send a messenger to the Holy Capital to request monster subjugation. But there’s a high chance the village will be attacked before the subjugation force arrives from the Holy Capital, so we need to either flee or solidify our defenses.”

I see, so that’s how it is.

But even if they flee, there’s the worry of being attacked by monsters targeting travelers on the highway.

A group of adults might make monsters wary, but since there are children, the elderly, and likely the sick as well, even a journey of a few days can be considered dangerous.

Considering that, strengthening the village’s defenses might be better for people without power.

“I think there’s nothing to worry about since Rakushi and the others went to check it out, but considering the monsters along the way, I’m worried about the monsters that left the forest. Thinking about it, we might need to build a sturdy fence to protect the village.”

However, the village chief shook his head negatively at Mina-san’s words.

“No, no, considering the number of monsters the villagers saw, a slightly sturdy fence won’t be able to hold them off. We need something much sturdier, a wall meant to protect a town.”

“A-A wall meant to protect a town!? That would be a considerably large-scale construction project!?”

“Umu, if possible, rather than wood, I want a wall made of stone or some sturdy material, about as high as a house.”

“Moreover, a sturdy wall as high as a house!?”

I can understand why Tracy-san screamed at the village chief’s request.

After all, building a wall of that magnitude would…

“A sturdy wall as high as a house, that’s exactly the kind of thing specialists take their time to build, you know!? If we amateurs tried to build it by ourselves, who knows how long it would take…”

“Or rather, that’s practically a fort’s wall already.”

“Wh-What should we do…”

Tracy-san slumped down with a bewildered face.

It turns out like that, doesn’t it. This is completely beyond what travelers can do.

However, in the pilgrimage, we must solve the problems of people in trouble.

Abandoning the villagers in this situation would be an act tantamount to withdrawing from the pilgrimage.

…Above all, as a single priest, I cannot abandon the villagers either.

“As expected… then we have no choice but to have the villagers escorted to the Holy Capital or a nearby town, and ask the temple to subjugate the monsters during that time. If we do that, the time to pack our belongings…”

“No, if that’s the case, I think I can manage something.”

” “Eh?” “

At my words, the village chief and Tracy-san widened their eyes.

“A stone wall large enough to enclose the village is fine, right?”

First, before acting, I reconfirmed the conditions with the village chief.

“U-Umu. But as that young lady said, it’s not something one person can do, you know?”

“Th-That’s right! A large, sturdy wall to protect a village or town is a job that takes craftsmen months or years to do!?”

Certainly, for a fort or a large town, since there are many craftsmen and laborers to help with the work, it can be built relatively quickly.

But the number of craftsmen in this village likely isn’t that large. It was the same in the village we lived in.

Even if we had the villagers help, with non-specialists doing the work, unevenness would occur in the wall’s construction.

With that, it would be difficult to withstand attacks from monsters.

A particular problem is that even if the wall is built, unless the materials used to bind it completely dry, it cannot fully demonstrate its hardness.

However, the current me can solve all those problems.

“Well, please watch.”

In order to check the full view of the village, I floated up using Flight Magic.

“H-He flew!?”

“H-A person is flying in the sky!?”

“Eh!? Wh-What is going on!?”

Hearing the voices of the surprised villagers on the ground, I thought I might have overdone it a bit, but well, I’ll reflect on that later.

Right now, the village’s defense comes first.

…Fumu fumu, so the size of the village is about this much.

Including the fields… considering the future expansion of the village, it seems better to leave a little more room.

“With this size, it seems it’ll be easier to do than the Elven Village. GRAND CIRCLE TOCHKA!!”

When I activated the magic, the ground around the village swelled up, and a thick stone wall jutted out from it.

“Ooooooohhh!?”

“Wh-Wh-Wh-What is happening!?”

And confirming that a sufficient height had been secured, I deactivated the magic and descended to the ground.

“Wall installation complete.”

” ” ” “Eh?” ” ” “

“You just needed a wall about as high as a house, right? How is this?”

“U-Umu? I-Is it… okay?”

When I checked with the village chief, he looked at the wall enclosing the village and nodded, saying there was no problem.

Man, it feels like my experience making defensive walls with magic when defending the Elven Village came in handy.

I’m glad that because the scale was small, substituting stone for earth as the material didn’t make much difference in magic power consumption.

“However, an entrance and exit are necessary, so we need gates.”

As expected, if we covered everything entirely with stone walls, going in and out would be terrible, so I made holes in the walls along the highway for the entrance and exit parts.

“Alright, then I’ll go cut some wood to use for the gates!”

Saying that, this time Jairo-kun flew off somewhere using magic.

” ” ” “He flew too!?” ” ” “

“Then we just need time to make the gates. But making large, sturdy gates is a hassle too… That’s it!”

Mina-san, who had been thinking about something while looking at the entrance and exit, also flew up.

” ” ” “She flew as well!?” ” ” “

“CLAY CONTROL!”

When Mina-san used magic, the sound of something moving outside the village echoed.

“What did you do?”

“I made a moat around the outer circumference of the wall. And then into that, HYDRO WAVE!!”

Furthermore, Mina-san started releasing massive amounts of water around the village with magic.

” “Ooooooohhh!?” “

The villagers raised voices of surprise at a sight that looked like a waterfall falling sideways.

“Alright, with this the water moat to protect the village is complete. Now we just have to wait for Ja… Janet to bring the wood.”

I see, a water moat.

It’s simple, but it’s an effective combination to use together with the wall.

It can also be used to buy time until the gates are completed.

“I’m baaack! How’s this?”

After a short while, Jairo-kun returned carrying several trees.

“Wha!? He’s carrying trees!?”

“Huge!? And she’s carrying several of them!?”

“Just how strong is that young lady!?”

The villagers once again raised voices of surprise at the sight of a young girl returning carrying several large trees.

Hmm, we probably looked at Rex-san with that kind of surprise in the past.

Since the current me has become the norm, I can’t really say anything about Rex-san anymore…

“Excellent work. Now we just have to turn this into boards, attach ropes to one side, and make a simple drawbridge, and the defensive wall protecting the village is practically complete. Until proper gates are finished, this drawbridge can be used as a shield to protect the entrance.”

“I-I see…”

“Also, I made the moat wide and deep, so make sure the villagers are careful not to drown.”

“U-Umu. I understand…”

And around the time the village carpenters finished the thick, simple drawbridge, Rex-san and Meguri-san arrived.

“Sorry to keep you waiting, everyone.”

“You’re late, Bro… Big Sis! We finished the good deed all by ourselves.”

“Eh? Already!? You guys are amazing!”

When Jairo-kun announced that we had already finished the good deed, Rex-san widened his eyes in surprise.

“Hehe, guess so.”

“What kind of good deed did you accumulate?”

“About that…”

“Before that, Rakushi, how was it at the forest?”

Jairo-kun proudly tried to talk about the events in the village, but Mina-san interrupted and prioritized confirming the situation at the forest.

“Yeah, just as those people said, there was a decent amount of monsters.”

“M-Monsters!? Is that true!?”

When Rex-san confirmed there were monsters in the forest, the village chief widened his eyes and let out a voice of surprise.

Huh? The village chief was supposed to already know about the forest, though?

“Yes, but the number wasn’t that big, so we defeated them. This is the proof.”

Answering so casually, Rex-san took out a massive amount of monster corpses from his magic bag and piled them up.

” ” ” “Hogeeeh!?” ” ” “

Tracy-san and the villagers lost their strength and slumped down at the mountain of monster corpses that formed in the blink of an eye.

Well, certainly, if you were suddenly shown something like that, there’d be too many surprising things and you’d be shocked.

“Also, we exterminated the monsters we discovered on the way to the village while we were at it, so please rest assured!”

“Y-Yesss… th-thank you very much…”

Storing the piled-up monster corpses back into the magic bag, Rex-san turned back to Tracy-san.

“Tracy-san, how far is the next destination?”

“Eh? Ah, yes. The next destination, the town of Kasgal, is about half a day’s distance by stagecoach. But starting now, we’d arrive in the middle of the night and it would be dangerous, so we should stay the night in the village and depart first thing tomorrow morning.”

Certainly, the sun is starting to set soon, and we should probably stay the night in this village.

“But if we do that, the guys who went ahead will leave us behind, you know? They probably aren’t that far ahead of us, and ain’t they planning to arrive in the middle of the night too?”

“But traveling outside the town at night is dangerous. The people from other temples have many participants so they can probably push themselves, but there are only seven of us, you know?”

Certainly, the number of people is an important factor when going outside the town.

Traveling along the highway with a small number of acquaintances and traveling by matching departure times with a large number of unknown travelers changes the number of approaching monsters.

“No, it seems they are using monster warding potions to advance all the way to the next town at once.”

Liliera-san, who had been silent until now, joined the conversation.

Speaking of monster warding potions, I believe that’s an item Rex-san commissioned the production of to save an impoverished village.

Thanks to that, many people can now travel safely; it was the talk of the town for a while, wasn’t it.

“Liliera, how do you know that?”

When Mina-san harbored doubts about Liliera-san’s information, Liliera-san answered with a smiling face.

“While you all were accumulating good deeds, I was gathering information. And I found out that the other participants intend to run through the night using monster warding potions. They probably plan to buy time assuming we will stay the night in this village. Normally, at night when you’re prone to monster attacks, you either stay in a town, or even if you camp outside, you set up a barrier and can’t move.”

I see, it’s certainly true that few travelers move at night.

They probably intend to gain as much distance as possible while we are stalled in this village.

And not falling behind the other participants—no, that’s probably the real reason.

“Monster warding potions? We could never prepare such expensive items at our place.”

Hearing that the participants from other temples were using monster warding potions, Tracy-san sighed and dropped her shoulders.

“Monster warding potions are expensive? They shouldn’t be that expensive, though?”

“Re… Rakushi, the price of goods also includes transportation costs.”

Meguri-san pointed out to Rex-san, who was tilting his head in confusion, that he hadn’t factored in transportation costs.

“Ah, is that how it is. But if that’s the case, we should hurry too.”

“Wait, Rakushi-san! That’s why I’m saying it’s dangerous to go now! We don’t even have monster warding potions, you know!?”

Tracy-san opposed Rex-san, who said we should advance even now, saying we should stop.

“But if we get stalled here, we’ll never catch up. We should head to the next town. Fortunately, if it’s a distance of about half a day by stagecoach, we can arrive much faster.”

“Eh?”

“Huh? Did you not know, Tracy-san? Stagecoaches prioritize riding comfort, so they’re quite a bit slower than normal carriages, you know?”

“Eh? Stagecoaches prioritize riding comfort?”

“Yes, they’re about half the speed of a normal carriage. But we can run faster than a carriage with Body Enhancement Magic, so I think we’ll arrive in about 1/4 the time.”

“O-1/4!?”

Hearing that a half-day’s distance by stagecoach could be reached in just 1/4 the time, Tracy-san raised a voice of surprise.

Yes, I understand that feeling.

“Then let’s go, everyone!”

“Yeah!”

“Right, I’d like to stay at a nice inn if possible.”

“I don’t like being left behind forever either.”

“Nn, we’ll overtake them.”

“Umm, I’m a bit lacking in confidence, but I’ll try my best…”

Honestly, I’m slower than everyone else, and I’m worried because I used a fair amount of magic power to build the defensive wall…

“Ah, come to think of it, we’ve been using Body Enhancement Magic continuously since morning today. Then here, mana potions for everyone!”

” ” ” ” “Ugh.” ” ” ” “

The moment we saw the mana potions Rex-san took out, an indescribable groan escaped from everyone’s mouths.

Ah, I remembered it, those days of hellish special training…

“F-Forced recovery is scary…”

“N-No, we really don’t need recovery magic anymore!”

“Awawawawa…”

“…………”

“Eh? Eh? What’s wrong, everyone?”

Only Tracy-san alone, who didn’t know the circumstances, looked at us in confusion.

“Now then, let’s hurry.”

Having mana potions forcibly pressed into our hands by Rex-san, we literally made faces as if we had bitten into a bitter bug and drank the mana potions down.

“Ugh, those memories are coming back…”

By drinking down the mana potion along with the painful memories, my magic power recovered, albeit reluctantly.

I feel like something else drastically decreased, though.

“Then shall we get going, everyone!”

” ” ” ” ” “O-Ooooh!” ” ” ” ” ” “

“Fukyuu!”

And so, we headed toward the next town.

…Ugh, if this was going to happen, it might have been better to stay the night in this village.

◆Village Chief◆

” ” ” “…” ” ” “

Everyone couldn’t even voice a sound.

Because the pilgrimage has continued for many years, we had come to provide conveniences during the pilgrimage in exchange for receiving benefits from the respective temples.

Specifically, to quickly finish the good deeds, which are the trials of the journey, we were told to prepare simple problems beforehand.

Well, lately we had been asked for similar conveniences by other temples as well, so no one in our village spent time doing good deeds anymore.

Of course, the villagers don’t know that.

The only ones who know are myself, the village chief, and some of the elders.

It would be bad if it became known that the people from the temples were committing such injustices.

However, this time it wasn’t just that; we had received an order from the Priest of the God of Commerce to buy time by giving impossible tasks to the participants coming after them.

And exactly as ordered beforehand, I asked them to build a wall to protect the village from monsters.

I had no idea that monsters had actually settled in the forest, though…

But the result of that was a giant wall far exceeding my expectations.

And a wall so sturdy you couldn’t complain about it. Moreover, it came with a water moat.

“I can’t believe it…”

Wondering if this was truly reality, I touched the wall in front of me and felt the cold sensation of stone.

It was real, not an illusion after all.

“Who on earth were those people?”

“They even flew in the sky, could they have been real Angels?”

I couldn’t think of it as nonsense.

After all, just as I thought people flew in the sky, a wall of rock grew out of the ground.

If this event wasn’t a miracle, what the hell was it…

“Are those people truly…?”

We stared in a daze at the direction those people left in, and before we realized it, all of us had dropped to our knees and clasped our hands together.

” ” “Hahaaa…” ” ” “