Chapter 5: Home Construction

WITH THE MORNING LIGHT POURING IN, I BREATHED in the crisp air and slowly opened my eyes. As I stirred, our carriage made a gentle creaking noise. Though beams of light were filtering through the windows, the sun hadn’t finished rising. The rich blue, purple, and orange hues were too bright for me.

“Oh! Good morning, my lord.”

Till had woken up before me to tidy the carriage. I sat up to greet her.

“G’morning, Till.”

I looked out the window of the carriage and saw Khamsin cleaning the ground around it. He glanced over at me.

“Morning, Lord Van.”

“G’morning, Khamsin.”

Exchanging greetings with my people, I idly thought about how pointless it was to clean the ground. When I got a better look, however, I realized what a fool I was. The area around the carriage was spotless, like a well-maintained sports field.

“Nice job on the cleaning, guys.”

The pair smiled bashfully at my praise.

I got out of the carriage and stretched my limbs a bit. I changed clothes, but I hadn’t bathed, so I felt pretty gross. Also, the carriage was spacious but had no real bed setup, so my body ached.

Crap, I should’ve upgraded the carriage! I totally forgot. Oh well.

Nevertheless, I was sick of sleeping in cramped spaces. I needed to prioritize food, clothing, and shelter before I worked on the village’s defenses.

“I’m gonna make a house,” I said to myself, strengthening my resolve.

I’d camped out and slept in carriages far too long for my ​liking—even after we’d arrived here at the village.

Aren’t I supposed to be a noble?

Here I’d begun to fancy myself an adventurer after all the days on the road. I silently cursed my father, then smacked my cheeks with both hands. I was ready and raring to go.

“Khamsin! Bring me the wood blocks!”

“Huh? Oh, uh, of course!”

Khamsin ran to me with a bunch of blocks in hand. He was like a faithful puppy, and his dependability put me at ease. Next, Till came running over with some blocks too. In the blink of an eye, there was a huge heap piled up in front of me.

“Er, wh-what’s going on here?”

Ronda had popped up beside me without my noticing, and he was staring at the wood blocks in bewilderment. There was no way he knew they were made of wood.

“I was thinking of building our house in this big open area. Oh, would that be okay? Do you guys use this space much?” I asked.

“This is the center of the village, so it only makes sense for you—the lord—to build your manor here. It’s the perfect spot.” Ronda nodded, giving his blessing, but he sounded a bit gloomy as he added, “Plus, we rarely ever use it as a public square anymore.”

Given the financial situation in the village, they likely weren’t able to hold any festivals or anything either. In that case, I decided I’d love to hold harvest festivals and carnivals if we got a little breathing room. We’d all have to work hard to make that happen.

I traced my hand along a wood block. Will I be able to make something as big as a house? If I can make a door, I’ll probably be okay.

The house would need to be big enough for Till, Khamsin, Esparda, and me.

I’d make a different house for Dee and his two knights. Channeling my magic, I crafted four pillars. With the image of my old bedroom in mind, I determined how much space to put between each pillar and hammered them into the ground.

It was at this point that I made a bit of a happy miscalculation. When making a pillar, I imagined an insanely thin thread before staking them deep in the earth. However, if I then widened those pillars after they were already in the ground, they’d really engrain themselves there. No matter how much someone pushed or pulled, they wouldn’t move.

Next I had to build the floor and walls that would attach to the pillars. Last but not least came the roof. The way the wood blocks stretched out almost like tentacles was kinda gross, but things went faster when I watched them unfold. I had a blueprint in my head, but seeing my idea manifesting made it feel…bigger than I expected.

Once the outer walls and roof were finished, it was time to make the interior walls. I’d used up all of my wood blocks already, but at least the house had taken shape. In terms of shared facilities, there was a dining room and a bathroom. There were two bedrooms, one large and one medium-sized, plus two smaller rooms. If I didn’t make them different, Esparda would get mad at me.

Since there were no windows, I made do with sliding doors. I wasn’t sure where I’d find sand to make glass in the first place, so I’d make it a point to ask a merchant when one stopped by.

I inspected the newly completed house while Ronda stood rooted to the spot, eyes bulging.

“Maybe this is a bit too big,” I muttered.

Esparda, who’d been observing in silence, piped up at that. “No. If anything, it is still too small. That said, it is still the biggest residence in the village. I have never seen this architectural style, but its construction is magnificent.” His expression had all its usual composure, but his tone betrayed his inner joy.

Till and Khamsin seemed just as happy.

“Amazing! I can’t believe you made a house so quickly!”

“Your magic is far more suited to lordship than any of the four elements!” When Khamsin said that, Till and Esparda grew solemn.

“My talent is certainly fascinating, but I do think offensive magic would be better for protecting the citizens,” I said sadly. “I believe the people would be more at ease if they had such a lord, no?”

“No way!” Till cried, emotions on full display. “I would much prefer to live in your village than Lord Jalpa’s!”

Smiling, I dipped my head to her in gratitude for the vote of confidence.

“Perhaps you’d be right if we were at war,” Esparda added. “But in times of peace, what the people seek is a lord who can make their lives better. In that sense, I do not believe there are any lords who can view things from the perspective of the people like you can.”

“I-I’ll follow you anywhere, Lord Van!” Khamsin said.

Before I could tell them it didn’t really bother me, Ortho’s surprised shout rose from behind us.

“Whoa! What the heck?!”

When I turned to look, I saw Dee, Ortho, and the other ​adventurers staring at the house I’d built. They were stunned—under​standably so, seeing as it had barely taken me an hour to put up.

“This is my house.”

They looked at me expectantly.

“…If you bring me the wood, want me to build you guys some houses?”

My mouth had gone and moved faster than my brain. Immediately after, Dee whirled to his men and started barking instructions.

“Gather the lumber! Use the carriages! Bring everything here by noon!” “Yes, sir!”

The three knights moved with a sense of urgency I’d never seen before.

What happened to their usual cool, huh?

Ortho, meanwhile, addressed his party. “We’re off to the woods, guys. Right this second! I’ll do the cutting. You guys use two carriages to bring the lumber back. We’re not losing to those knights!”

“Hell no!”

For reasons beyond my comprehension, Ortho was now issuing commands with a terrifying expression, and the adventurers broke into a sprint. I blinked rapidly in confusion at their lightning speed.

Wait, are they planning on living here too? I didn’t think they were, so I wasn’t going to build them a house. What do they think lords are, anyway?

I crossed my arms and watched the carriages kick up dust as they sped off.

It was then that Ronda and a few villagers sidled up to me. “Erm… I heard you are building houses…”

“What?”

They must’ve misheard. I cocked my head to one side, but the look in the villagers’ eyes told me they were dead serious.

“Rain and wind gets into my house…”

“Our floor has come loose.”

“The door to my house is rotted!”

Requests for renovations were coming in hot.

If they have complaints, they should take them up with the house maker or building contractor. Doesn’t that make more sense?

I thought it did, but even from my perspective, their homes were in a ghastly state. Back in my old world, the storehouse of some farm would have been more comfortable to live in.

Thus, I had no choice but to say what came next.

“Let me make a priority list based on the condition of the houses. Then I’ll build them for you.”

The villagers let out cries of joy.

Some of them joined Esparda in building the defensive wall. At the same time, Dee, his men, and the adventurers gathered lumber, and I took Till and Khamsin to go make some houses.

Wait, wasn’t I supposed to be making my own furnishings? How did it come to this?

First, I used the lumber to make wood blocks. As it turned out, transforming lumber into a raw material while also changing its form was quite difficult. It made more sense for my workflow to make the wood blocks and then build houses. Once I had the process down pat, I was able to make the things at a pretty fast pace. Logs, broken walls, and even doors became fodder for my wood blocks.

After about an hour, I had enough for a single house.

“All right. First, I’ll make a house for Dee and his people since they don’t have one. Next will be Ortho and his men, then Fula. After that, Inka…”

While I ran through the plan, I couldn’t help feeling like a corporate slave, which got me a bit down in the dumps. But once I started, there was no stopping.

Maybe it’d be a good idea to have Dee’s house also function as a kind of base, since he and his men are knights. A training ground isn’t in the cards here, but they could use a storage facility for weapons and armor.

I gave the house a medium-sized room and two smaller ones, as well as a dining room and a bathroom. I also created a lounge area that could be entered directly from outside. I felt good about making the storage space on the larger side, but by the time the house was finished, it ended up being about the same size as mine.

Eh, the storage space meant it was gonna be pretty big. Not much I can do about that.

“Ooh, look, Deputy Commander! It’s done!”

“Say what?!”

Dee and his men had returned right on time. They admired the finished house, eyes aglitter.

“M-my word! This is incredible! I expected nothing less from you, Lord Van!”

“Phew! I was wondering what we were going to do for a moment there… Even during our training, we only ever camped outside for half a year at most,” said one of the knights, just before the other headbutted him to shut him up.

He publicly insulted my territory! That jerk. The housing situation here is at least better than camping outside!

I glared at the first knight—Arb, that clown—who immediately remembered his manners and hollered out an apology. It was fine with me and all, but I wasn’t the one they needed to make it up to.

“Okay, then as an apology to the villagers, go gather more lumber with all you’ve got!”

Arb and Law gave an affirmative shout and immediately ran off.

Dee, who’d been checking out the house, came over to me. “This is something else! I was already blown away by your magic power, but I didn’t think you had the knowledge to construct such a marvelous residence!” He then realized that Arb and Law had vanished. “Hrm, where have my men gotten off to?” He surveyed the area, squinting.

I pointed at the village entrance. “They said they wanted the rest of the

people here to live in nice homes like this and went off to gather wood,” I explained, and Dee’s eyes went round.

“I-Is that so?! They said that?! I can’t believe they’ve grown so much… All right, then I shall join them!”

Moved, Dee made to run off, so I put the brakes on for him. “You only have a single carriage, right? It’ll be too difficult for you to catch up to them now. Stay here and guard the village.”

“Grr… You’re right, we don’t have enough manpower to spread ourselves so thin. Fine, then I shall remain and help with building the wall.” And just like that, Dee joined the wall construction efforts.

Thanks to Esparda’s powers, it was completed within the day, and I was able to finish the adventurers’ house as well. I kept their place to a fairly standard size, but each of them had their own room, so it was plenty lavish.

I still had room to make more stuff, so I built a simple bathhouse next to my home. Frankly, I just wanted to take a bath—but as soon as the women heard about its completion, they were jumping for joy. The bath heater itself was made of steel. It was a bit of a retro system in which Pluriel used magic to fill it with water, then heated it by lighting a fire beneath the kettle. I tested it out myself, and it was quite cozy. I was just glad to get to cleanse my body in some hot water.

“Let’s get in together, my lord!” Till said.

“I shall join you too!” Pluriel offered.

It was tempting, but I had to turn them down. I was displeased that Khamsin would be bathing with adults at the age of ten, yet I was treated like a child despite being eight. I was a perfectly functioning adult! When I said as much, both Till and Pluriel looked at me like I was a tiny tot, which I found annoying, but they gave in.

I would later come to regret the missed opportunity.

When night came, I entered my new house to go to sleep…only to discover I’d forgotten to make a bed. I almost broke down in tears.

Am I an idiot?

Just when I thought I could rest in a nice big bed of my own, I had to use a sleeping bag again?

I quickly crafted beds for everyone out of the wood blocks I had left. Four for my house, three for Dee’s, and five for Ortho’s. The villagers shared some of their straw, and with that, the beds were finished.

They were soft, and I was satisfied.

Good night to one and all.

 

The next day, I woke up in the morning feeling rested and energetic for the first time in a while. My maid had cooked me a wonderful breakfast.

Bwa ha ha ha! I want Till to make me more omelets.

“Absolutely delicious,” I told her.

“Thank goodness! We don’t have much in the way of ingredients, so I was a little worried,” Till said, relieved.

We were sitting in chairs at a dining table—both of which I’d made on the spot and were surprisingly comfortable.

I get to eat a delicious breakfast in my own home and smile with my adorable Till. What else do I need?

Esparda, sitting diagonally across from me, spoke with a grave expression. “The village defenses are important, but we need consistent revenue. At this rate, the only contact with the outside world we’ll have is the merchant who may or may not show up once a month.”

His somber tone didn’t land so well with all the bits of egg stuck in his beard.

Much as I wanted to gripe about how tired I was, I kept my composure. “For now, I can handle houses, furniture, and even clothes on my own. We should be able to gather enough food to keep us afloat too. That’s why I was thinking of focusing on defenses.”

Esparda wiped his mouth with a white handkerchief, then met my gaze. “We lack spices. And if we wanted to make your beloved baked goods, we wouldn’t have the ingredients to do so.”

“Say what?!”

I jerked to my feet. When I looked at Till, she averted her eyes. I’d had no idea that we barely had any spices left.

“Production, huh? All right, let’s make something we can sell! Anything works. Someone give me an idea.”

Khamsin was the first to raise his hand. “I think your wood blocks would be a great product!”

“Nope. I’m the only one who can make those.” His shoulders slumped in disappointment.

“We could hunt monsters and sell their parts,” Till suggested.

“Nope. Ortho and his guys hunt the monsters around here, so the parts belong to them instead of this village.” My maid sagged in her seat.

“Normally, one would specialize in some sort of crop,” Esparda said, “but finding something unique to this village would prove difficult. It wouldn’t provide any immediate income either.”

He hung his head before I could even say anything.

Needless to say, transport distance made exporting lumber a no-go. If we were near a big river, we could send the exports down the water, but that wasn’t something we could count on here.

“Hrm. Looks like I’ll have to make some moves after all,” I relented, and everyone’s gazes fell on me.

 

While I was building homes for the villagers in the morning, Ortho and his merry band approached me.

“I heard you’re buying up ore.”

The group had brought over a carriage loaded with lumber and tons of ore.

Man, that carriage is way more durable than I thought. That horse looks really mad, though.

“Since these woods are located at the base of the Wolfsbrook Mountain Range, there are a lot of tough monsters around these parts. Which means we can get some rare ore without even climbing the mountains!” Ortho’s crew lined up in front of me, arms filled with ore.

“This is iron ore, and we’ve also got copper, silver, and a little bit of gold. Oh, and look—mithril!” Ortho was especially excited about the last one. Although it was still in its raw state, the stone had a beautiful bluish-silver color.

“Mithril?! That’s amazing! I can’t believe you found this stuff in the woods.” I was over the moon about it, but something nagged at me. “Why hasn’t anyone ever had the same luck?”

Ortho folded his arms. “Just a guess, but the deep woods are far away and not all that useful. The knights were probably the only ones who searched the area, and knights don’t pay much attention to herbs or ore.”

“I see. In that case, this is an excellent mining location for talented adventurers. If the base of the mountain is that plentiful, then the Wolfsbrook

Mountain Range must be filled with resources!”

Esparda, who’d joined us late in the conversation, furrowed his brow quizzically. “How rare. I’ve hardly ever heard of metals and ores being found in the woods. Iron sand is fairly common, but lumps of raw metal are extremely uncommon… As an exception to the rule, the outskirts of dungeons sometimes have stone or iron golems wandering about.” Ortho and his party exchanged glances.

“Any traces of golems?”

“Nope. If there were any, they would’ve fallen apart ages ago.”

“Any dungeons?”

“No clue. We didn’t exactly investigate, so it’s possible.”

After the party finished talking among themselves, they turned to me with grave faces.

“Listen, Lord Van. If we find a dungeon, that will change things in a big way.

Tons of people and products will start to pass through this village.”

My lips tugged up into a smile all on their own. “A dungeon, huh? If we discover a dungeon, the importance of this village will rise dramatically.”

Dungeons were a treasure trove of resources. Newly discovered ones typically had all kinds of riches and relics.

When members of the Adventurers’ Guild located a dungeon, they had to report back to the guild, which then quickly built a new branch in the town or village closest to the dungeon. This happened every single time. That was just how important dungeons were in this world; no nation could ignore them. In fact, most of the weapons referred to as “national treasures” by the countries of this world were objects found in dungeons.

But that also came with its own set of problems.

“Given the state of this village, we wouldn’t be able to take everyone in if we reported the discovery of a dungeon.”

Ortho and his pals seemed puzzled, but Esparda nodded deeply. “Precisely. We would be opening ourselves up to a veritable flood of adventurers, merchants, and knights. This village does not have the facilities, food, or funds to support that level of business.”

“Nearby nations could try to take over and reap the benefits,” I said.

“Actually, the one most likely to do that is the count next door…” Esparda stroked his beard, lapsing into thought.

Ortho looked equally troubled. “In other words, we shouldn’t go searching for this dungeon just yet, eh?”

“We could always go in once and keep it a secret?”

“You idiot! We’d be kicked out of the guild for that.”

While Ortho bickered with one of his underlings, Pluriel crossed her arms and looked my way.

“If we find a dungeon, won’t knights be dispatched here immediately? And with your magic, the housing problem ceases to be a problem.”

I gave her a pained smile. “Remember, I was a nuisance back home. If it turns out the place I was sent is actually valuable, I’ll just be exiled elsewhere. I want to make this village a big deal before we track down the dungeon.”

Pluriel’s brows lifted in surprise. “I see. Then I suppose there’s nothing we can do about that.” She turned to her party. “Let’s gather resources without running into the dungeon, guys.”

“Oh? Uh, roger that.”

“Gotcha.”

“Understood.”

The adventurers quickly acquiesced to my wishes. For them, finding a new dungeon was a huge accomplishment. As long as they reported it back to the guild, they could dive right in along with the guild investigators. They’d get first dibs on any treasure, and they’d be the first to map the place. It would only make sense for them to send word as soon as possible, but they’d agreed to keep quiet out of consideration for me.

For the nobility and the countries of this world as a whole, dungeon discoveries were of the utmost importance. Normally, it would be my priority to locate the dungeon and report it…but my position complicated things. I had zero worth, and no one expected anything of me in the future. If I reported the existence of a dungeon, one of my older brothers would simply snag the credit for it.

I had to build up this village myself.

Amped up by my newfound resolve, I picked up one of the hunks of iron ore lined up on the ground. I channeled my magic into the ore, feeling its path as it permeated the material. It happened slowly in some areas and immediately in others. By contrast, when I used my magic on trees, I felt the magic crawl through the whole thing at an even rate.

As a test, I focused on the portion my magic had whizzed through and turned it into sand, then separated it from the rest. Much to my surprise, I was left with a chunk of metal. It was only about a third of its original size, though.

“You already made iron?!” Ortho blurted out, prompting me to look up.

“Normally one would have to melt it down and remove the impurities, so I have no clue how pure this is,” I told him.

Kusala’s eyes glimmered as he pointed at the iron. “C-could you try making me a sword with that? A thin, double-edged sword would be awesome!” That had the adventurers blinking, wide-eyed.

“Did he always like swords that much?”

“He’s been acting real weird since last night.”

“Maybe since the young lord’s making it, he can sell it for a high price?”

They had no idea that Khamsin and Till’s wooden weapons had insane cutting power.

Kusala flashed the broad smile of someone invulnerable. In fact, he looked kind of evil. At the end of the day, I did feel bad about the whole shield issue, so I’d give him a sword to make up for it.

“All right. One gold for a short sword, two for a long one.”

“So cheap! In that case, I’ll take one of each, please and thanks!”

I didn’t expect him to decide that fast. Is he really okay with spending the equivalent of one or two million yen?

As I thought this to myself, Ortho and his buds wore doubtful looks.

“Ain’t that a bit pricey?”

“Indeed. We’re talking iron weapons, right? Those would normally cost between five and eight large silvers.” They were right. This was pricey.

But Kusala’s grin only widened. “Heh heh heh… Don’t come crawling back to me if you regret your words and deeds. Now then, young lord… Here’s your three gold.”

Puzzled as I may have been, I took the coins from one cheerful Kusala,

grabbed the iron ore, and began to make iron. Once I had enough, I started with the short sword.

How do I want to do this?

I personally liked flashy, ornate weapons. I’d make the hilt easy to grip, the guard straight, and the blade double-sided. Then came the decorations and inscription. My teacher had always praised me during art classes, so I was going to put my creative skills to work. I fixated on every little detail in my imagination.

Oh, I should do something with the pommel too.

The blade was thicker than a katana’s but as sharp as possible. I figured the density of the metal was important, so I made sure to condense it. Gasps rose up around me, but I ignored them; all of my brainpower was focused on the sword.

“All right.”

I finished it pretty quickly. I hadn’t cut corners, but it felt just right, so I must’ve figured out the trick to all this. As proof, there was a single absurdly splendid sword in my hands. It was about sixty centimeters in length and fifteen centimeters wide. And the decorations? Downright awesome.

With a smile, I presented Kusala with his new short sword. “Here you go. Since you’re my first-ever customer, I focused really hard on making it look cool.”

Kusala took the sword with trembling hands, then held it aloft with a loud roar. “Hell yeaaah!”

“Yeesh… Creepy.”

His howling genuinely put me off, so I slunk away from him and hurried on to his next sword. Just like last time, I started with a clump of iron. I already had the image in my mind: a longer blade, same design as the first. After stretching out the metal like clay, I compressed it in one go. The sword was about a meter long; any longer and it would be hard for Kusala to wield.

I could hear him begging me to show it to him, but I ignored him entirely.

My audience needs to zip it. Lord Van is in the middle of making a super stylish sword!

Silliness aside, I held the image of the sword in my mind and distributed my magic equally through the metal. Maybe one day I would find myself whistling some old blacksmith song while I worked.

“…And done. Hey, not bad at all.” I held up the gorgeous, power​ful long sword. I’d made the handle close to thirty centimeters long in case he wanted to wield it with both hands. The blade itself was seventy centimeters long, with a straight guard like the first. In terms of thickness, it was fifteen centimeters wide. It had the feel of a powerful but sharp weapon. Given my good grades in the arts, it didn’t surprise me that I’d come up with this.

Deeply satisfied, I handed the long sword to Kusala, who was holding his precious short sword with a backhand grip. He was somehow able to also grasp the long sword with both hands.

“Wahooooo!”

With that peculiar shout, he jumped around in what could only be described as a tribal dance. Thanks to his excitement, a bunch of villagers started to gather around us.

Kusala’s joy was infectious, prompting Ortho and the rest of his party to change their tune.

“L-Lord Van! Can I get a sword too?! A long one?!”

“I want a short sword! Something for thrusting!”

The adventurers were far more energized than they had been a moment ago. Apparently, my work was so good that even real-deal adventurers wanted it.

With a gentle smile, I told them, “Three to five gold apiece. Oh, and a great sword is gonna run you ten.”

“You raised your prices!”

“And so suddenly! What happened?!”

Upping my prices had sent them into a panic. Perhaps I’d gone too far.

Pluriel furrowed her brow, eyeing Kusala’s sword as she muttered to herself. “Three gold, huh? That’s a little rough on the wallet. There was a short sword I wanted you to make, but…”

The cost was too high for her, it seemed—and that wounded me. I was a fool for making this woman sad!

“Fine,” I said before I could think better of it. “For you, I’ll craft it for one gold. But just this once, okay?”

I tried to act all tough by turning away from her, but she just blinked at me in shock.

“A-are you sure? Really?” “Like I said, just this once.” Pluriel beamed brightly.

Ortho overheard us and stepped closer. “You serious?! Only one gold this time?!”

“For you, it’s three. A long sword’ll run you five and a great sword, seven.”

“Are you crazy?! Only the great sword is cheaper!”

Man, he’s so loud. I just want him to cough up the money already.

“You’re good with a great sword, then?” I asked, smiling wide. “I’ll go ahead and get started.”

Flustered, Ortho waved his hands wildly. “H-hold your horses! Fine! I-I’ll take a long sword! A long sword!”

“That’ll be five gold.”

“Agh…” After making a scene, Ortho tearfully handed me five gold.

He had the money on him? That’s kind of amazing.

In my mind, he’d graduated from “adventurer” to “adventurer who casually carried seven million yen on him.” Anyone carrying around that much cash was an adventurer in their own right…heart-stoppingly so.

Thus, I fulfilled orders for Ortho and his party. They paid me a total of twenty gold, so I opted to handle their furniture for free. Hopefully they’d be grateful.

Wait a sec… I had them pay big-time for their weapons, but they got their house for free!

Maybe I was being a little too soft on them after all.

 

That night, we completed the outer wall and built a simple moat around the village. However, the group of bandits didn’t come the next day—not that there’d been a guarantee they would in the first place.

“I suppose we could prepare some defensive facilities,” I said to myself.

Till, standing beside me, gazed around at the village. “Everyone does have a house now. But don’t you ever run out of magic power, my lord?”

“I get tired like anyone else. And when it hits me, I’m down for the count.”

“I feel like you’ve been making things all day long, though…” She gave me an exasperated look, to which I merely tilted my head.

The villagers had fairly simple houses: two or three with a single bathroom. I might rebuild them if I ever got my hands on lots of stones and such, but for now this was fine. As proof of that, the villagers were super appreciative. Everywhere I walked, people dipped their heads in thanks, presenting me with the fruits of their harvests and whatnot.

Mm, no complaints here, but I prefer money over things.

I’d considered both convenience and protection when building the houses, so I put houses in groups of four and set the village up like a grid. This was actually known as a grid plan. In the center block was the lord’s home, with Dee’s and the mayor’s homes nearby. Ortho’s house was near the entrance because the adventurers would be coming and going quite often.

The grounds were full at this point, but I was thinking of expanding the village in the future. All that was left was funding, acquiring materials, and making defensive installations. For now, I’d focus on making weapons, armor, and shields for when the merchant dropped by, but those defensive installations were also key.

I needed workers, but few people were good with their hands in the way I needed. It was all up to me.

For starters, I designed a simple ballista. I used monster hide as a substitute for rubber, made the front resemble a large crossbow, and created a platform for setting large bolts. Wood blocks around the crossbow parts formed a big shield. I wound up with a powerful weapon that had ample protection and could shoot huge, destructive projectiles. I’d also used the principle of leverage to make it as light to pull back on as possible, but even then it was still heavy.

Anyhow, I made eight of these ballistae to be positioned in all directions around the village. It was possible to aim up, down, left, and right, but they couldn’t be pivoted toward the village. I set bolts on each of them, so they would be immediately usable if we were attacked.

“Gotta strengthen our defenses a little bit more.”

I wasn’t going to let my guard down. I tried building watch​towers in each of the four corners of the village. That said, I didn’t have enough materials, so they were only two stories tall with ​ballistae set at the top—pretty simple constructions. They definitely looked straight from a fortress, so I was happy with that…even if the scale was a bit small.

As I worked, night fell. Till told me she was going to prepare dinner and went off to swap places with Khamsin.

“Whew! Good work today, Khamsin,” I said, but he hung his head. “What’s up?”

He opened his dirt-covered hands and let out a sigh. “All I did was stack stones a few meters high. The only thing I’m good for is piling up those rocks.

But you, Lord Van… You changed this village.”

I could hear the disappointment in his voice. A conflicted smile rose to my lips. “Well, I am the lord. I’ve gotta make this place better. Tell me, Khamsin— what’s your goal?”

Khamsin looked unsure, making me wonder if the question was too complex for a ten-year-old. But then he fixed me with a powerful stare. “My goal is to protect you, Lord Van.”

My heart squeezed as though I were a schoolgirl in love!

No, this isn’t the time for jokes.

“You don’t have to push yourself like crazy, you know? But thank you.” It was a little embarrassing, but I wanted him to know I was grateful.

Khamsin breezed past me and walked ahead, chest puffed out. I couldn’t help but smile as I watched him carefully survey our surroundings. Anyone looking at us would surely just see two small kids playing around. But at the end of the day, Khamsin had the kind of determination that put adults to shame. No onlookers would be able to see it.

I made a mental note to craft Khamsin some armor so he could look the part of the proud knight.