Chapter 12: Did the walls move…?

Ehh? Wait, what!?

<<The village’s level has increased.>>

So, having more villagers does increase the village level. But in the first place, what is this ‘village level’? Even now, I still couldn’t really fully comprehend what it is…

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Luke’s Village

Village Level: 3

Village Points: 764 (83 points are gained per day)

Number of villagers: 53

Village Skills: [Villager Appraisal], [Reposition]

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Because of that so-called level up bonus, I seemed to have earned 500 village points in one go.

Moreover, the amount of village points I gained each day has increased as well.

But I thought only 1 point per villager was added to my daily earnings…is that not the case?

<<At village level 3, the base daily earning becomes 30 points.>>

Ahh I see. It’s the base points plus the points based on the number of villagers. So, 30 +53 = 83.

Truth be told, even though I invited them, I worried how their group will live here. However, between the level up bonus and the increased daily earnings, we should be able to manage.

Ahh, before I forget, I can build more things now, right?

<<By reaching village level 2, you’ve become eligible to build new facilities with village points. They are as follows.>>

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Landfill:                                                30

Paddy fields:                                       30

Public Park:                                         30

Animal Barn                                        80

Terrace house:                                  80

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<<By reaching village level 3, you’ve become eligible to build new facilities with village points. They are as follows.>>

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Stone wall:                                          50

Incinerator:                                        60

Outdoor kitchen:                              60

Jailhouse:                                            80

Medium-sized house:                    100

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“What’s a terrace house?”

<<A one-story building. It is the combination of 5 residential units. Each of those residential units is estimated to be able to house a household of 5 people.>>

“Great, that’s just what we need.”

Compared to a shed which could house at most 3 people for 20 village points, a terrace house which could house 25 people for 80 points was clearly the more economical choice, points-wise.

As to be expected though, we couldn’t afford to build a small house for everyone.

“We should be fine for a while, but increasing the number of our fields still seems wise. Before that though, I should expand the village.”

Apparently, my village level increasing also increased the village’s maximum area.

At its previous size, three terrace houses would have barely fit.

“It’s quite a shame, but I guess I have no choice but to tear down the walls to make space…”

<<You don’t have to. The skill [Reposition] should come in handy at times like this. Using that skill, it is possible to move a facility that you’ve already built to a new location.>>

“Ohh. How convenient.”

And so, I surrounded the borders of the village with earthen walls.

Of course, the walls from before wouldn’t be enough to surround the larger area, so I built new ones.

<<Additionally, it is possible to upgrade the earthen walls into stone walls. The cost for doing so is the difference between the two, which is 30 village points.>>

“Hmm, these are fine for now. I want to use my points for something else.”

With space now available and secured by the walls, I built three terrace houses.

When I peeked inside, I discovered that much like the small house, the terrace houses were somewhat furnished.

Regarding restrooms, it seemed like there was only one for each terrace house. However, there were several toilet bowls in each restroom, so it wasn’t so bad.

I also set up a water well for each building. Through [Reposition], one of those wells was the one from before.

And so, just like that, we solved the issue of where the group was going to live.

“…ahm, everyone, please feel free to use these buildings.”

Maybe they were like that since earlier, but when I looked at them, their eyes and mouth were wide open.

“Just now…”

“Did the walls move…?”

“There was nothing there a moment ago, and now there’s this building…”

“Woaahhhh…”

Among them, an older man was so surprised that he fell on his behind.

“Ahh, sorry. Didn’t mean to surprise you all… ahm, well, all of these are because of my Gift. It’s not some shady magic or anything like that, so there’s nothing to worry about.”

I hurriedly explained so.

“What? The village chief has a Gift!?”

“He can make even this kind of things?”

“It’s like an act of god…!”

For them to be surprised this much, it might be due to them not being used to Gifts.

After all, people who had Gifts were quite rare. On top of the people who received an act of blessing but was revealed to not have any Gifts, there were people who don’t even receive a blessing in the first place due to their low social status.

Technically, even common citizens were allowed to have a blessing, but they needed to give an astronomically large sum of money first.

For that reason, it was mostly nobles and wealthy merchants who were given a blessing. A blessing was also given to craftsmen whose family lineage was known to inherit useful Gifts for the development of the territory, but those were rather rare.

The impact of Gifts was so huge. If everyone, regardless of social status, had Gifts, territories would be developed so much more. I thought so, at least.