Chapter 31: If he tells you to die, you die

“What just happened, Luke-sama?”

“Ah, Millia. I made a sword out of this shed!”

“Made a sword out of the shed…?”

In front of Millia, I made another sword. It was my second attempt at a sword, so I was able to make it quicker this time.

After a little more explanation, I went to see Selen.

“Wait, what…?”

“Using my Gift, I made a sword.”

“…yeah, that doesn’t make sense. I thought your Gift is [Village Building]? Why then can it do something like making a weapon?”

“Basically, my Gift now has this ability to customize the facilities I’ve built. I customized the shed in order to make this sword.”

“Oh. Sounds like that can be used for a lot of things…”

Indeed, it was widely applicable. Through it, I could make not only weapons but also armor, accessories, and more.

“Yeah. For now though, let’s check the performance of this sword.”

When I said so, Selen called Balrath-san.

“Try using this sword.”

“Yes.”

They were going to test it through a mock battle.

And so, Balrath-san swung the sword I made at Selen. He made one lightning-fast slash after another, yet Selen easily blocked them with her two swords.

“Ah…!”

About a minute since they began, the sword broke.

“So, how was it?”

“To be honest, because it’s not very strong, I’d be reluctant to use it in a real fight.”

I had heard that the wooden weapons used by the hunters were made of highly durable wood. They were still quite frail compared to Selen’s swords of course, but the sword I made was apparently even frailer.

“Hmm. If we compensate for their frailness by making many of them…no, because then the hunters will have to carry all of them. Worse, the weapons might break at the worst possible time. Guess I’ll just have to improve the qual…wait, what if some parts of a shed are tougher than the others? If I use those…”

While thinking of such, the oldest person in the village came by.

“Ehehehee. These brats have finished their rehabilitation.”

Behind Granny were the first ones of the bandit group to be admitted to our rehabilitation facility.

“Thanks, Granny. hmm…?”

After giving the bandits a closer look, I became speechless.

Not one of them had any energy at all.

“A-are you guys okay?”

“““…Yes”””

Their answer was just one short syllable, yet it still became almost inaudible toward the end.

Yeah, there’s no way these guys are alright.

“Listen, from this moment on, each and every one of you is going to do exactly as the village chief says. If he tells you to work, you work; if he tells you to die, you die. Understood?”

Eh? I’m to oversee these guys from now on!?

“““…Yes”””

“What a weak answer. Haven’t had enough of my rehabilitation, have you?”

“““V-VILLAGE CHIEF, WE ARE YOUR SLAVES. WE WILL DO EXACTLY AS YOU COMMAND!!!”””

From being expressionless, their faces were now of dread.

After declaring so in the squeakiest of voices, they bowed down to me.

They’ve become really obedient. I doubt they’ll cause mischief now, but…

“I’m worried that once I take my eyes off of them, they’ll kill themselves…”

Their eyes were totally devoid of light, making it seem like they were capable of doing so.

“Leave them to me, Luke-sama. I am this village’s priest. As someone who can hear the voice of god, I’ll guide them.”

“Oh, okay. I’ll leave them to you then.”

…thank goodness.

I was sincerely worried how to look after these empty people.

Millia would surely have been able to show these people the value of faith, perhaps even lead them to find inner happiness. However, this decision was less about that and more about me passing the responsibility to someone else.

“Ehehehee, I wonder which of them I’m going to rehabilitate next.”

Granny said so and then excitedly walked toward the jailhouse.

Is it really alright to leave them to granny? I mean, I’m worried for them, but who else can replace her?

“Hmm, wait a minute. The jailhouse…”

I had an aha! moment.

“Yes, of course! I can use those to make swords!”

Yes, what I had in mind were those metal bars in the cells.