Chapter 4: Reform

Van

I SENSED PEOPLE AROUND THE MAYOR’S HOUSE, BUT I paid them no mind and kept talking. It didn’t matter if the villagers heard this.

Invigorated by my own speech, I went on, “Complaining about this country’s laws or the state of affairs won’t change anything. Then in that case, what do you think we should do?”

I made sure to use “we” to express that I was now one of them.

Unfortunately, that didn’t seem to land with Ronda and the others.

“What would you recommend we do? Get protection from another country?”

I shook my head. “Nope. The Kingdom of Yelenetta functions the same exact way, so we’ll be handled the same way. We have three countermeasures available to us.”

For the first time, the woman sitting beside Ronda piped up. “A total of three?”

Nodding, I raised one finger at a time as I listed each option. “The first countermeasure is to make this village so valuable that the government can no longer ignore it. The second is to periodically save money and hire mercenaries. The third is to develop the village ourselves.”

“None of these seem to be quick solutions,” the woman said, disappointed. Anyone who’d lived there for dozens of years must’ve already considered these options.

One big problem was that transportation issues prevented any of the village’s lumber or stone from being exported. The villagers themselves had no way of learning new and updated production techniques, so they couldn’t manufacture goods to sell either. No way of earning a profit meant they had no way of reforming the village. That about summed things up.

Yet we were here.

“I’m sure it’s been difficult. But I’m here now, and I’ve studied long and hard so I can protect this territory. I’m going to give everything I have to defend this place and develop it.”

The trio’s response to that was less enthusiastic than I’d hoped.

Esparda, who had been silent until now, took the opportunity to speak.

“Pardon my interruption. I am Esparda, and until just recently I worked as House Fertio’s head butler. Lord Van is a genius who was charged with being the lord of this land at the tender age of eight. He has been deemed a prodigy ever since he was a toddler. Not to be presumptuous, but the Chivalric Order’s Deputy Commander Dee and I have come here in his employ. We ask that you trust us in these matters.”

At the mention of his name, Dee thumped his muscled chest with a fist.

The shock that crashed over Ronda and the others as they gaped at my attendants was clearly the good kind.

“The head butler and the deputy commander? The marquis sent such authorities here?!”

“Am I dreaming…?”

They seemed to have forgotten that the fourth son was also here, but nobody looked at me. Annoying as it was, it made enough sense. Who would be okay with leaving things to an eight-year-old? I had to admit, though—I was not enjoying being treated like a kid.

While I thought about that, Ronda’s son turned to me with a smile. “Is that so? Well then, the marquis is trying to save us! That must mean you wield one of the four elements, Lord Van!”

“Ah, actually, I use production magic, so don’t look at me for help in combat.”

I made sure to say it upfront so there were no misunderstandings, even if it very obviously bummed everyone out.

Zip it, man. It’s not like this was my choice! You guys are gonna make me sad. I folded my arms, frowning. “Anyway, we need to start by building a wall that can protect this village. That wood fencing of yours seems tough, but if the enemy had shot flaming arrows at us, we’d have been done for. Same with the housing.”

Everyone’s gazes landed on me.

“Can your earth magic be activated indefinitely?” I asked Esparda.

“It remains sturdy while active, but it just becomes clumps of dirt once it loses magic power.”

“I see, I see. In that case, let’s use it to make walls of earth. If we pack the surface with all kinds of rocks, it will make for a proper emergency measure. Eventually, we can upgrade to a sturdier city wall, but that should be fine for now. Also, I would love to make a moat to slow down attacks.”

“Leave that to us,” said Dee. “We’re used to that sort of thing from hunting monsters. We can also make pitfalls and traps and such. What else? Oh, we should outfit the top of the wall for a counteroffensive.”

“Then let’s prepare bows and arrows. Those would be difficult for amateurs to use, so let’s get some throwing stones as well. And some big shields so nobody gets hurt.”

My people and I continued the conversation on our own, with Ronda and the others watching in bewilderment.

After that, I went out to address the entire village. Ortho and his crew stayed near the carriage. Right, right. It’s getting dark, so they’re going to stay the night before going home. I made a mental note to speak to them later.

Ronda and the others called out to the villagers, who soon gathered around.

There weren’t many elderly people here, maybe 10 percent of the population. Middle-aged men and women made up 30 percent of the group, young men and women 40 percent, and children 20 percent, give or take. The villagers lined up in an unorganized fashion, then sat down according to Ronda’s instructions.

Once I’d made sure everyone was seated, it was go time.

“I am Van Nei Fertio. Lord Fertio has appointed me to govern this village. I plan on doing my best to develop this place, so I hope for your assistance.” My brief words were met with applause. Thank you, thank you very much.

“As you can see, I am a child, but among those who accompanied me here are one very wise man and a first-class knight officer. If bandits come at us again, let’s work together to fight them off! Together, we’ll make this a strong, bountiful village!”

The end bit there made me sound like a politician, but I wondered if my passion came through. I looked at the villagers to check their responses.

One of the young men raised his hand.

“Yes, you there.”

The man frowned. “What’s gonna happen with taxes? Up until now, it’s been 30 percent of our harvest…”

“And what did that consist of?”

“Ten small monster hides, fangs, and bones, give or take.”

He looked deeply concerned, so I offered a gentle nod. “Then this time around, let’s go with half of that. If they say it’s not enough, then I’ll pay out of pocket to cover the rest. Right now, it’s more important that we do what we can to keep this village alive.”

Gasps and murmurs rippled through the crowd. There were some towns out there that sold children to get by. No doubt they were shocked by how easily I said I’d halve their taxes.

A middle-aged woman spoke next. “Can’t we get the knights to come?”

“It would take two weeks by horse to call for them, followed by another week to check where we are on the priority list. Then another two to three weeks for the knights to arrive here. They would never make it in time, and it would only be a temporary solution. We’re probably nowhere near the top of their list, so they’d ​probably cast us aside and avoid coming at all.” That raised the villagers’ hackles.

“Cast us aside?!”

“Just because we’re commoners…”

I dipped my head at their discontent. “I understand your anger, but the reality is that there aren’t enough knights or funds to go around this huge territory. If knights came out here to deal with the bandits, it wouldn’t be in a small group. We’d be looking at one or two hundred troops. They would all need food, horses, armor, and weapons, which means money. If we were to hire mercenaries instead, that would cost even more. On top of that, petitions for the help of the knights come in every week, basically.”

In other words, sorry, we don’t have enough money or manpower.

My delivery made the state of things relatively straightforward, so the crowd went quiet. But it wouldn’t be good to let everyone just simmer in negativity, so I turned to Esparda.

“Esparda, could you make an earthen wall behind the wood fence?”

He nodded and raised his left palm toward the fence. A few seconds of chanting later, his magic activated. Just as it had when we fought the bandits, a sturdy wall materialized from the ground.

Looking at the stunned villagers, I smiled.

“We need your help! With your cooperation, we can transform this village into something stronger than ever before!”

 

That night, we camped out and bunked in our carriages, since we had no house in the village. Ronda tried to offer us his house, but there was no way we could chase an old man out of his home. We set up camp in the center of the village, which was kept clear for gatherings. We even had a campfire.

Staring at the crackling flames, I found myself getting sentimental.

If only I had aptitude in one of the four elements, I could have chased off the bandits.

Fire was the most powerful and useful on the battlefield, not to mention the flashiest. A fire mage appearing in battle was enough to lift up morale in most cases, but there was no point crying over what I didn’t have. I decided to spend some time coming up with a village defense plan.

“Just protecting ourselves isn’t enough. The best-case scenario would be if we could attack while they couldn’t.”

“Normally that would be striking with arrows and magic from atop a wall.”

“Wouldn’t mean much if the wall was low.”

“Up until now, we’ve been sticking our spears through the openings in the fence, but…”

“Then the enemy could do the same. You’d get stabbed.”

Dee, Esparda, and Ronda shared their opinions, but they were all exceedingly ordinary.

“Should we make a catapult?”

I offered up my own suggestion, and the three of them gawked at me.

“A c-catapult?”

“I’ve never seen one before. What are they?”

“Catapults are used for sieges, Lord Van. In other words, not to protect locations like this.”

None of them seemed particularly game. Dee explained catapults’ function and power to Ronda, as well as why they couldn’t be used when you’re holing up.

“They fire large stones, but loading takes time and it’s difficult to predict where the stones will land. That’s why they’re typically used to destroy inanimate objects, like walls or scout towers,” Dee said, prompting me to furrow my brow.

“It’s not like there’s only one way to use a catapult,” I argued. “If you packed a box full of small stones and sent them flying, they’d have a wider attack range. Plus, if we set one in the back of the village and aimed it at the entrance, we could make them land at the front of the village. Oh, we could also send bottles of oil and torches flying, lighting the ground on fire when they land.” That terrified the trio.

“Also, maybe something like a large repeating crossbow? We could attach a shield to the front, and if we placed it near the wall, it’d be a huge threat.”

“And who exactly would make that?” Esparda asked with narrowed eyes.

I pointed at myself. “Me.” Silence washed over us.

Do they really think I can’t do it?

While the others were focused on strengthening the walls or building traps, I took Till and Khamsin with me to the forest behind the village to gather lumber. Ortho walked up beside me.

“You know, you guys are done. You can head home now,” I told him, but he smiled and waved it off.

“Things are starting to get interesting around here, so we’re gonna stick around for a bit and do some monster hunting for cash.” Right then, Ortho stopped in his tracks, eyes flicking to the woods. “Getting some good vibes here.”

“Monsters?”

“Yeah. I can feel ’em, so I’ll be off. I recommend cutting down trees in this area, Lord Van.”

Ortho’s aura changed entirely as he entered the woods, followed by his four party members. The other group of adventurers had already gone home, so it was only Ortho, Pluriel, and the others—a total of five adventurers.

I sensed them fighting from afar. When we were traveling in the carriage, I’d observed that Ortho detected enemies in an almost instinctual way, defeating them before they even reached us. He was an incredibly skilled adventurer, yet apparently he couldn’t rank up. What a waste.

I started looking for some good trees while Khamsin placed the palm of his hand against a massive one and looked up at it.

“Lord Van, this tree is incredible!”

“It’s also way too big. We could never cut down something like that.”

“What about this one?”

“Too thick.”

Khamsin kept pointing out trees over two meters in diameter. I pasted on a smile and picked up some branches off the ground.

During the course of our journey, I had practiced production magic. I wasn’t sure if my magic capacity was great or small, but if I focused, I could turn lumber, stone, or metal into any form I wanted. That being said, if I didn’t properly picture the outcome when I poured magic into the materials, those bits would come out incomplete or weak. It wasn’t exactly easy to use, but I’d eventually discovered that I could make things with extreme precision if I channeled magic into material while envisioning every single detail.

And so I decided to make a wood block by pouring magic into the branch. I could feel the depths of my stomach growing warm, and once the magic reached my fingertips, I gripped the branch and focused. I felt the wood changing form in my hand.

I tried to imagine the end result in as much detail as possible. I pictured each and every fiber.

If possible, I’d love to strengthen those fibers and braid them into rope, but… Oh, that is actually possible. Heck, I can picture them in greater detail, pull apart the fibers, and then braid them.

I experimented with the lumber, creating block after block. The end product felt more like plastic, but being able to manufacture these was great; I piled up as many as I could. Ultimately, I had no clue how much magic I was using to do this, but I was starting to come around on production magic.

“This is amazing, Lord Van! These are so tough that you’d never guess they used to be part of a tree.”

“You could make armor from these. Or even swords, if you sharpened them!”

Till and Khamsin were happily smacking and lifting up the blocks. The only problem was that they were incredibly vulnerable to fire, since they were all made of wood.

Also, I had plans for these materials.

As I climbed into the carriage now stuffed with wood blocks, I heard someone cry out, “Whoa! What the hell?!”

Ortho and his party had returned.

“Weren’t you guys gonna collect wood?” Pluriel asked, tilting her head as she sized up the blocks.

The rest of the party seemed just as puzzled. “What are these? Monster materials?”

“Fiber blocks made out of wood, probably,” Ortho guessed. “Y’know, like nanofibers or whatever?”

“I actually don’t know,” I said offhandedly.

Ortho grabbed a wood block. “Whoa, this stuff is harder than I thought. Hey, could I try cutting one of these?”

“Be my guest.” I was rather curious myself.

He tossed the block into the air and drew his sword. His blade whooshed as it swung down, followed by a loud scraping sound. The block hurtled straight into the giant tree Khamsin had touched earlier, splintered it, then plopped down on the ground unscathed.

“Wow, it didn’t get cut!” I happily applauded, prompting Till and Khamsin to do the same. “That’s amazing. Those blocks are really tough.”

I was beaming, but Ortho gaped at me as if he’d seen a ghost. “I went at that thing like I was trying to cleave a stone in two.”

“Er, maybe I’m forgetting, but which is stronger? Stones or trees?” I asked with a confused head tilt while Till and Khamsin racked their brains.

“Stone, buddy. Hell, I can cut stone, but this… Man, what?”

I brushed off Ortho’s bewilderment with a grin. “Anyhow, we got our lumber. All’s well that ends well, no?”

 

Magic was more useful than I thought. The moment that finally clicked for me, my mind was abuzz with ideas of what I could create.

Crazy decorative swords, maybe even a gun… All guys are itching to make cool weapons, right?

“Aren’t you running out of magic power, Lord Van?”

Till’s question jolted me back to reality. My hands were over​flowing with swords, spears, and gunlike objects—all just big enough for a doll to hold.

“These are so detailed!” Till said.

“You could sell them for a lot of money!” Khamsin added.

Their eyes sparkled as they looked at my creations. Even though the tiny weapons were made of wood and had the color to match, their texture was closer to plastic. They looked highly realistic.

“Magic power, huh? How much do people normally have?” I mused, envisioning a blade over a meter long.

As sharp as possible for something that’s not metal, with a slight curve… Something like a katana…

“Wow!”

Once the blade was done, Khamsin was giddy as a little boy. Well, he was a little boy.

“Here, it’s yours.”

When I handed it to him, he looked so happy he might die on the spot. He gripped it in both hands with a grin, saying he’d treat it like a family heirloom.

Meanwhile, Till gazed expectantly at me. We had a little stare-off until I finally relented. I took a wood block, whipped up a mental image, and channeled my magic.

“Done. Here you go.”

I handed her my fresh creation, but her face was a collage of joy and disappointment. It was quite the complex expression.

“Um…thank you.”

“What’s wrong? Not a fan of axes? I tried making a super-strong one… If you thrust with it, it can stab like a spear. If you use the other side, it can even be a hammer. It’s one of the most powerful weapons out there…”

I trailed off with tears in my eyes, sending her into such a fluster that even I felt bad for her.

“No, no, that’s not it at all! I-I actually love axes! It was just, uh, so incredible that I couldn’t help but stare!” Till said, happily rubbing the axe against her cheek.

A smile rose to my face, and I nodded. “Cool! I’m glad you like it.”

“I really do!”

Till was truly worthy of praise. Feeling guilty, I whipped up a cute accessory for her later on. Out of wood, of course.

Eventually, we returned to the village, where a large wall was already coming together at the entrance. The actual gate had been untouched, but a fourmeter-tall wall stretched out on either side.

“Incredible. This much in only half a day?” I murmured as I stepped out of the carriage.

Ortho folded his arms, eyeing the structure with wonder. “You’re something else, Lord Van. But that butler of yours is a weirdo too. He’s gotta be quite skilled to be dishing out magic like that left and right.”

While I got the feeling that Ortho was essentially insulting us, it made me happy that he saw me on the same level as Esparda. Especially since the people around me said I had no magical talent.

“Esparda is one heck of a butler. He supported our house from the shadows for years,” I boasted.

Pluriel shot me a deadpan stare. “That’s also weird. A mage of his talents would normally get forced into the military. If he were an adventurer, he’d be in the top ranks.”

“Huh. Well, none of that really matters. Esparda went so far as to retire so he could come here with me, and I’m beyond grateful. I value the future over the past, so I want Esparda to have fun now that he’s retired.” Proud as I was, I had to nip their attempts at dredging up his past in the bud.

“My joy comes from watching you grow, Lord Van.”

I spun around to see a smiling Esparda…and his hands were full of study materials.

“Uh, today? Really? W-wait a sec. Shouldn’t we prioritize strengthening the village’s defenses? If we don’t work on the gate, then this nice new wall will be for nothing!”

“If we were attacked today, I could close the gate with a wall. Now then, there’s no running from me this time. Come.”

With that, he snatched my hand and dragged me away. Esparda’s inability to take no for an answer was what set him apart from Dee. I slumped in defeat and let fate take its course.

While I was studying, Ortho and his adventurers noticed Till and Khamsin’s weapons and lost their minds. Talk about a difference in enthusiasm.

 

After dinner, I studied for about two hours before I was freed. It was a stroke

of luck, seeing as the sessions usually lasted half a day or more, but we didn’t have much time. Now that it had gotten dark, Esparda was probably trying to conserve precious fuel for our oil lamps.

“La di daaa, la la laaa…”

I hummed to myself while taking a stroll through the village with Till and Khamsin in tow. Almost everyone was asleep, so it was rather quiet.

“That you, young lord?” Kusala, one of the adventurers on night patrol, called out to me. “Where are you off to?”

“Good evening! I’m off to strengthen the defensive wall and doors a little.”

“Uh, right now? That’s way too dangerous! I’ll come with you.”

Plump though he was, Kusala was in charge of scouting and removing traps. The meat-loving adventurer easily got carried away, but he was surprisingly considerate.

“Got enough torches? Strengthening doors ain’t gonna be simple at all,” he said with a carefree smile. There wasn’t a dash of ill intent in his words or tone.

“Well, I’m a production mage.”

As soon as I said that, Kusala blinked rapidly. “You sure you’re good with telling me that? Ain’t it a secret?”

“Nah, everyone knows at this point. Plus, you saw those wood blocks and Till and Khamsin’s weapons, right?” I grinned.

“Oh, those? I gotta say, your attendants really love you. When I suggested they try their weapons out for a slice and dice, they said they didn’t want to break or sully ’em.” His cheery smile never left his face as he spoke. “I doubt those things would break very easily, but hey.”

Till and Khamsin gripped their weapons, pointedly averting their gazes.

I frowned. “They’re weapons, so you probably should test them out. It’d be awful if they turned out to be useless when the time comes.”

The pair looked like the world had ended, staring down at their respective weapons.

“It’s just…”

“Yes, but…”

As they hesitated, Kusala chuckled and proudly thrust out his leather shield. “This should be fine, no? I call it Shield of the Orc Knight ’cause it’s made from an orc knight’s back and shoulder hide. It’s pretty firm, and damn flexible.” Khamsin reluctantly took a stance while looking at the blue shield.

“Haaah!”

He hyped himself up with a battle cry and lightly brought the blade down onto the shield. He was clearly taking care not to damage the blade, as the downward swing was less than aggressive. Kusala’s smile went taut, but against all odds, the blade sunk into the shield and passed right through it.

“Hrm?”

He tilted his head as a third of the shield slipped to the ground and rolled away.

I also cocked my head to the side. “Huh?”

Khamsin held up his sword, eyes wide as saucers. “What the…?”

A question mark might as well have appeared above Till’s head as she gawked at her axe.

“M-my Shield of the Orc Knight is…?! I just bought it and everything!” Kusala’s pained cries echoed throughout the quiet, sleepy village.

 

While Kusala tearfully tried to stick the two chunks of his shield back together, I plucked Khamsin’s sword from his hands. When I held my torch close to the blade, it gave off a brilliant shine unlike any sort of wood.

Curious, I stood next to Kusala and touched his shield. “Hold this together for me real quick?”

“Huh?” Kusala muttered, perplexed.

I was going to use my production magic to fix his shield. I bonded and fused

the two pieces, making it so they would be even stronger than before. After Kusala watched his shield once again meld into its original shape, he flashed a brilliant smile and hoisted it into the air.

“Whoa! It’s fixed! Oh, man… My shield is all better! You fixed my Shield of the Orc Knight?! Yahoo!” Thrilled, he jumped for joy.

I nodded to him and turned my attention to Till. “Try cutting his shield. Just a corner is fine.”

“What?! But he seems absurdly happy…”

“No worries. I’ll fix it after.”

Till wound up and swung the axe, muttering, “I-I hope this is all right…”

Because it was made from wood, the axe was fairly light. The blade whizzed past Kusala’s line of sight.

“Huh?”

A question mark appeared above his head as part of his shield fell to the ground again.

“Whoa, awesome! How did it feel?” I asked.

Till simply blinked and showed me her weapon. “I didn’t feel anything. At most, it was like I brushed up against a thread with a stick.”

“Man, that’s incredible. It’ll probably lose its edge if it’s not sharpened. It is made of wood, after all.”

While we talked, a palpable wave of emotion crashed over me from behind, so I turned around.

“M-my shield! My shield just went swoosh?!”

Poor Kusala was grieving yet again over his shield, prompting Till and Khamsin to shoot me reproachful looks.

“Hey, no worries. I’ll fix it! That was the plan from the start.”

Feeling somewhat ashamed, I grabbed the two chunks of his shield. His sad puppy-dog eyes wounded me.

“I’ll make it even tougher than it was before,” I said, powering up the shield as much as I could.

Kusala lit up at last. “Huzzah! My Shield of the Orc Knight made from backand-shoulder hide has returned to me!” he cried, elated. I nodded to myself, feeling proud.

And he lived happily ever after.

“Hey, what’s going on over here?”

Kusala’s shouts of jubilation had awoken Ortho, Pluriel, and Dee. I spotted other villagers poking their heads from their houses as well.

“Oh, is that Lord Van?” Pluriel asked.

“Who is causing such a ruckus?” Dee muttered. “What are you doing?”

“Sorry for waking you up,” I said, drawing the deputy commander’s eye.

He glanced at each of us in turn, then waved it off. “No, no, it’s fine. I was just wondering what you were up to out here in the middle of the night.”

Khamsin stepped up to him, holding his sword. “Sir Dee, please look at this!”

Dee took it and inspected the blade. “Uh-huh… This is quite the fascinating shape. But given how lightweight it is, would it not break upon making contact with a shield or armor?” He seemed quite enraptured with the sword as he looked it over from top to bottom.

“Lord Van made it,” Khamsin said.

Surprised, Dee smiled so wide his eyes crinkled. “Is that so?! My word! I have never seen such a magnificent curved sword before. If you craft one out of metal, it will make a fine piece of equipment. Well done, my lord!” He looked like a grandfather praising a handicraft his grandson made at summer camp.

Khamsin, on the other hand, wore a deep frown. “This weapon is a cut above the rest,” he said, seething.

Dee gave a pained smile and nodded. “Right, of course. After all, this is Lord

Van’s work. It must be a truly phenomenal weapon.”

It was clear as day that Dee was only trying to appease Khamsin, but the boy was bobbing his head in satisfaction.

“What are you doing, messing around so late at night?” Pluriel asked us, annoyed. “It’s time to go to bed.”

Ortho rounded on her immediately. “Pluriel, you idiot! Show some respect!”

Perhaps Pluriel just had low blood pressure and was quick to grouse. It didn’t bother me in the least, so I made sure to apologize again. “I’m really sorry for waking you. I had some free time, so I thought I’d strengthen the village’s defenses. It wound up getting noisy for other reasons.” The group eyed me curiously.

“But you have no light.”

“How would you strengthen the defenses, Lord Van?”

“Ah, are you going to stack stones?” The questions came from all over.

Are they teasing me? Even I’m capable of getting upset, you know.

“I came here to see what I could do.” Peeved, I made for the front gate.

“Ah, you see, we are all quite moved by your determination! Truly! It’s just that there really isn’t anything you can do much about, Lord Van…”

I let Dee babble away behind me as I stood in front of the ​dilapidated gate. It was made of logs joined together, and it seemed tough. I placed a hand on the surface, giving it a once-over. Since the gate was made of wood, I figured I could alter it the same way I’d made the wood blocks.

That said, Dee had mentioned something about the weapons being “lightweight” earlier, and I couldn’t shake it. I hadn’t given it much consideration, but swords, spears, axes, and other melee weapons used weight to increase their attack power. A light weapon was fine if you were aiming for an opponent’s neck or other vitals, but normally you had to consider the ideal weight for a weapon to be effective.

So what about doors and gates? A house door wasn’t much to consider, but this one was meant to keep out intruders. It was all we had for the moment, but I planned to build thick metal double doors here in the future. While it was possible that creating metal objects required more magical energy, I could gradually make the changes I wanted.

With that in mind, I began to shape the gate as if it were made of clay. If I fused the logs together with magic, they’d become far tougher than a single piece of wood.

“Lord Van? What in the world are you doing?”

I was still miffed at Dee, so I didn’t answer him.

“…There we go. Done.”

Now in front of me was a lavish set of doors far bigger than the gate had been. I’d adorned it with our house crest, so it brandished a behemoth. The hinge had a cover, and the handle would require multiple people to open and close. I went with a bar lock for extra security—also made of wood, but rather small, so I made a note to bring some wooden blocks to reinforce it later.

Thinking about all this, I turned around only to find my audience gawking at me. Till and Khamsin smiled proudly at the sight of their reactions.

“Let’s see, who would be a good pick? Let’s go with you, Ortho. Try hacking at this door. I can fix it, so go all out.”

I stepped away from the doors as Ortho hesitantly drew his sword, glancing at me.

“You sure about this?”

“We need to make sure this thing can hold up against attacks. Give it all you’ve got.”

“All right.”

Ortho dropped into a fighting stance, a low crouch with his legs spread wide. Letting out a roar, he brought down his sword in a magnificent swing. Any ordinary log would’ve been split in two—but the second his blade collided with the door, it was repelled with a metallic screech. The harsh sound had us clapping our hands over our ears.

Once it was over, I walked past the astonished adventurer and approached

the door. There was a small nick in one corner.

“Argh, it’s damaged.” I sighed. “I guess wood isn’t good enough.”

Right then, everyone who’d been frozen in shock rushed toward the door.

“Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa!”

“Wh-what the hell?! A wooden door repelled Ortho’s blade?!”

“Is this seriously made of wood?!”

“How, Lord Van?! What did—I mean, how’d you…?!”

I’d officially sent them all into a panic.