Chapter 42: What a very sinister skill…

<< Ta-ta-ta-dah! Congratulations! Because you now have more than 1000 villagers, your village has become level 6!>>

<<600 village points have been acquired as level up bonus.>>

<<You can now build more kinds of facilities.>>

<<Maximum village area has been increased.>>

<<The village skill [Territory Takeover] has been acquired.>>

My village leveled up again after its continuous growth in population.

We have now passed the 1000 villager mark.

“Ok, but [Territory Takeover]?”

<<Even if a particular territory is already governed by another person, you can forcefully acquire it through this skill. Note, however, that the piece of territory you want to acquire must be within a 50-meter radius around you.>>

I wasn’t able to use my Gift before coming here because the territories I had been in were governed by somebody else.

With this skill though, it would seem I could acquire territory from others without their consent.

“Eh? What a very sinister skill… oh well, not like there’ll come a time where I have to use it.”

After all, the village’s maximum area has increased yet again and it was now the entirety of the wasteland. When I repositioned the outer walls, it only covered a small portion of the new area.

Even this much land felt too vast for me, so I just didn’t think taking away other’s territories was necessary.

Now that I have some distance from that world of endless wars, this village was more than enough for me. I did not share my father’s desire for territory expansion.

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<<By reaching village level 6, you’ve become eligible to build new facilities with village points. They are as follows.>>

Underground Tunnel                                      20

Bridge                                                                   20

Orchard                                                                250

School                                                                   250

Apartment Building                                         300

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“An underground tunnel? Does that mean I can make a path beneath the ground…?”

When I tried it out, the first thing I noticed was a stairway that led underground. It was made of stone and looked well-built, so I decided to climb down through it.

“It’s a dead end. I guess that’s why it only cost 20 points to build it.”

I decided to build another one. This time, a path that was a few meters long appeared in front of me.

Curiously, enough though there were no lights, I could see ahead just fine.

“Amazing. Like this, we’ll be able to burrow through the ground easily…not that we need one right now. Maybe we can use this as an emergency shelter?”

Next on the list were bridges. Since there were no rivers nearby though, we also didn’t need bridges right now.

“Next, orchards, huh…having one doesn’t necessarily mean we’ll get fruits though.”

<<There is no need for concern. An orchard comes with a few trees by default.>>

“Huh? So, we don’t have to bother growing them?”

Fruits were considered luxury food items even in the capital.

This wasteland must be one of the least likely places to eat such things.

Moreover, if we could get them right away without the need for seeds or the effort of growing them, 250 points was an extremely cheap price to pay.

And so, I immediately built one beside a field.

“Hmm, let’s see…what’s a school?”

<<A place where children are gathered to be educated.>>

“Ohh. I think I’ve heard something about that. Like, back then even in this country, children of the nobles and wealthy merchants were sent to some place and they study there. So, a school is what that’s called.”

Such wasn’t the case nowadays.

Children of nobles and wealthy merchants were now taught individually and at home, typically by a set of tutors.

“Which reminds me, some villagers have ‘teacher’ as their Suitable Occupation. Children in this village don’t have any critical jobs, so sending them to school should be a good idea, right?”

I thought they should learn at least how to read, write, and do simple calculations.

“And then…Apartment buildings? What are those?”

It was a word I never heard of before, but according to the guide, apartment buildings were the next version of terrace houses.

Moreover, instead of being made of wood, an apartment building was made of reinforced concrete, whatever that was.

“But they cost 300 points…”

<<By default, an apartment building has 4 floors, each of which have 5 residential units. In other words, it has 20 residential units before any customization is done.>>

“That’s so much more than I thought!”

They might actually be cheaper than terrace houses.