《Amazing Village Building》 Chapter 1: My Gift is [Village Building] Chapter 1: My Gift is [Vige Building] Luke Albert-sama, your gift islets see, [Vige Building]. At the priests announcement, the whole crowd gathered in thergest cathedral in the Albert territory went silent. Both sons of Lord Albert, the lord of the territory, were set to receive their gifts today, so it was no surprise that people from within the territory and even people from outside of it were most interested in witnessing this important ceremony. [Vige Building]? W-what kind of Gift is that though!? I unconsciously raised my voice and asked so. Yes, I was none other than Luke Albert. I was born as the eldest son of Lord Albert and thus was always expected to inherit the territory from my father. So, for me, receiving a gift today was the thing to seal the deal. I-Im afraid I dont know; Ive never heard of such a Gift beforebut it doesnt sound like a Gift suited forbat, that much I can say. The priest, with some hesitation, replied so. No, no Not everyone could receive a Gift. It was something that the gods bestowed on only a select few at the age of twelve. And among those Gifts, those that could be used forbat were the most wanted. Especially in the times we were living where the power of the royal family has declined, and lords were fighting for each others territories. And because they were expected to lead troops in battle, a lord or someone who belonged to the family of a lord would want such battle-oriented Gifts the most. My father was blessed with the Gift called [Master Swordsmanship]. My father, who had both this high-ranking [Swordsmanship] Gift and the courage to cut through enemy frontlines himself, was now well-known throughout the country. He was originally just a viscount, but in just one lifetime, he was able to expand his territory to the point that his domain could rival those of other, higher-ranking lords. It would be no exaggeration to say that his Gift yed a vital role in that. Because ones heritage greatly influenced the Gift they could receive, it wouldnt have been a surprise if I was blessed with the same Gift as my father. And given that my mother possessed [Swordsmanship] herself, it was said my chances of getting [Master Swordsmanship] as a Gift was roughly 80%. I then fearfully looked at my father. Until just a few life-changing moments ago, he was looking at me expectantly. Now though, his gaze was nk as though he had lost all interest. As for my mother, she was looking at the sky with what could be described as a dumbfounded expression on her face. Youre in the way, brother. Its my turn next; move aside. Tsk The one to push me aside was Raul, my younger brother. Well, my younger half-brother, to be more urate. I was the son of a legal wife, whereas he was the son of a concubine. His mother was formerly a maid, so even as a concubine, her social status wasnt that high. More importantly, because she didnt possess a Gift at all, Rauls chances of receiving [Master Swordsmanship] was less than 10%. Even getting [Swordsmanship] was a 50-50 chance for him. As such, unlike for me, expectations for Raul wasnt much Raul Albert-sama, your Gift isWhats this?! Your Gift is [Master Swordsmanship]! Because Raul was blessed with the same Gift as father, the cathedrals reaction this time was the exact opposite of their reaction to my Gift: utter excitement. OOOOhhhhhhhhhh! Father, smiling from ear to ear, rushed to Rauls side and hugged him tightly. Tears of joy flowed from his mothers eyes, whereas my mothers eyes were filled with hopelessness. Just like that, my whole world was turned upside down. For a long while, due to my shock, I was unable to anything but stand there like a fool. Im going now, father, mother I was by myself, but still whispered so as I boarded the carriage. No one was there to see me off. My father and mother were a given, but not even a single servant of our family was here. But then again, why would they be here? There was nothing to be gained from seeing off someone who not only failed to be the next lord but also was being sent away to a remote ce. I knew even from before that people were being nice to me simply because I was supposed to be the future lord, yet this still made me felt so lonely. At any rate, the ce where I was headed was the uninhabited wastnd to the north of the Albert territory. Due to the dangerous creatures in the area as well as thend being terribly infertile to begin with, efforts of cultivating thend were abandoned each and every time. My purpose in being sent here: to do that impossible task. Please consider supporting me. You can do this either by turning off adblock for this blog or via myPatreon page. Thank you. Chapter 2: Make A Village Here? Chapter 2: Make A Vige Here? The one to suggest that I be sent to develop the wastnd was my step-brother Raul. It was next to impossible to develop such a horrible ce, so it was only a mission in name. In reality, it was me being exiled. Be it from starvation or from the monsters in the area, there was a high likelihood of my death. Yet, no one, not even my mother raised an objection. To them, I was such a disappointment that dying horribly and alone was the fate I deserved. Luke, the Gift you got was called [Vige Building], right? Then developing this wastnd should be easy! Gyahahaha! Even now, I could still hear Raulsughter. Perhaps it was because he was always being ostracized that he grew up have a twisted personality. But then again, maybe someone with his disposition might just be what was needed in this turbulent time. To be frank, I wasnt quite fond of fighting. I had been trained with the swordand was able to get proficient in a short amount of timebut the act of killing people just didnt sit well with me. My instructor would often remark: youre talented, but youre just too kind, Luke-sama. Weve arrived. Along with that announcement, the carriage stopped. About a week had passed since I left home, but only now did we reach the wastnd I was banished to. Ive been told what this ce is likebut its somehow worse. All around me was a wastnd. There were scarcely any nts, and most of the mountains that dotted the ce were bald and rocky. The only saving grace were the forest to the north and the lush mountain range to the east. However, these were also where the monsters lived. The monsters liked those ces, so they rarely ventured outsidebut rarely is not as good as never. Once the luggage was dropped off as well, the carriage quickly departed. There was only one servant that stayed behind with me. Luke-sama, its just like weve heard, there really is nothing out here. Her name was Millia. I had never asked for her age, but if I had to guess, I would say she was probably around 20. She had beautiful ck hair and a great sense of style. She was tall too. She was my personal maid, but that was before I was banished here. She was an excellent maid and was therefore an important personnel at my fathers castle, so she didnt have toe with me at all. You sure about this? I mean, you can make head maid sooner orter if you stayed What are you talking about, Luke-sama? When I became your personal maid, I swore an oath. That no matter what happens, I will continue serving by your side. Those feelings havent changed. Millia To think that there was someone who would care for me like she does (Fufufu, after all, I love young boys too much! And you, Luke-sama, are my perfect type! Gufufufu) Huh? Did a chill just run down my spine? Nah, must be my imagination. Yeah, yeah, that must be it. Well then, Luke-sama, it might be too sudden, but I believe you have to choose between two options. Two options? Yes. The first is live off thend. At the moment, our supplies canst up to maybe a month. We can cultivate thend and farm, but as you can see, thend is terribly barren. Even if we somehow make it work, harvesting enough for the two of us within a months time is unbelievable at best. Of course, we can hunt and forage in the forest over there, but, well either way, itd be extremely difficult. Once again, I thought of what an outrageous ce I was sent to. The other option is for us to escape from here and go to some faraway city. No ones here to stop us or even tell on us, so itll be an easy thing to pull off. Somehow, I got the feeling that Millia was suggesting the second option. Which made sense since it was the more practical option. I would have gone with it right away, but I had something I wanted to try first. My Gift, [Vige Building], I never really learned how to use it after I received it. I dont even have an idea what it does I didnt know how, but I just knew my Gift would be useful at this moment. And then Make a vige here? The characters for those words then appeared at the edge of my vision. Please consider supporting me. You can do this either by turning off adblock for this blog or via myPatreon page. Thank you. Chapter 3: Its Recommended To Give It A Try Chapter 3: Its Rmended To Give It A Try <> Such words suddenly appeared at the edge of my vision. Eh? What was that just now? Luke-sama? (That look, no, it cant be that he saw the face I made, right!? No, no, no, anything but that. If he saw that wretched face I made, hed surelye to hate mehmm!?) I didnt know why Millia looked like she was panicking, but even more mysterious than that was the reason why those words appeared. Because its possible to make a vige here. Wha!? The words changed. Is it possible that it read my thoughts? Lets seejust who are you? <> It answered my question! But a guide for my Gift? Ive never heard of such a thing though Luke-sama? Are youtalking to yourself? Has your cruel circumstance made you go? Luke-sama, there is no need for you to worry about a thing! For I am here by your side! No, Im fine! Completely fine! Its just that it seems like my Gift has activated. I hurriedly exin as much as I could to the worried Millia in front of me. Lets see if youre a guide, do you know what my Gift does? <> It would seem like the reason why my Gift hasnt activated before was that I was in a ce that already had an owner. Hmm, I still dont really get it, butI guess I should give it a try. [Yes, make a vige here]. In the next moment, the ground beneath me became perfectly leveled. This was the case within the 100m-radius circr area around me. Beyond that though, everything stayed the same. <> Status? I wasnt sure what it meant, but I agreed anyways. When I did, words appeared in my vision. Lukes Vige Vige Level: 1 Vige Points: 50 (10 points are gained per day) Number of Vigers: 0 Vige Skills: None What are these? <> Whats this vige level? <> What about this vige points? <> Facilities? <> I nodded and another set of words appeared in my vision. Shed 20 Flower bed 20 Watchtower 20 Storehouse 20 Earthwork 20 Earthen wall 20 Canal 20 Field 20 Water well 20 Small house 50 what is this? <> It was just exined to me, but I still wasnt sure what it all meant. I mean, spend points to build houses and fields? How does that work? There was no doubt that these facilities were necessary to my mission, but this just sounded too good to be true to me <> Thats a little too forceful, dont you think!? B-but fine. If you say I should try it, then Ill try it. Here goes nothing. I scanned the list again. Not all items cost the same. While a hut would only cost 20 points to make, a small house required 50 points. If I were to build a house, it would consume all the points I had at the moment. So, for the sake of this experiment, I decided to make a shed instead. And so, I selected where it would be built and then just prayed that it would work. <<20 vige points will be consumed to build a shed.>> In the next moment, a small wooden infrastructure appeared. EH?? I and Millia shouted in surprise. It, it really was built? It was a shed, so it was rather small. I tried to peek inside, but there was nothing at all in there. There was no bed or any furniture, there wasnt even a single window. Even so, now we didnt have to worry about wind or rain so much. If we tried to build this ourselves, it would doubtlessly taken a lot of time and effort. Plus, it might not have turned out to be as good. Luke-sama, is this Yeah, its somehow due to my Gift. My Gift, [Vige Building], might actually be useful. Please consider supporting me. You can do this either by turning off adblock for this blog or via myPatreon page. Thank you. Chapter 4: Make Her a Villager? Chapter 4: Make Her a Viger? Thats, thats amazing, Luke-sama! Youve built a shed in the blink of an eye! While we were in front of the shed that appeared out of nowhere, Millia praised me so. Food, clothing, and shelter, these are said to be essentials to human life. And now, we dont have to worry about one of those. Yeah, well, its not like I did anything myself. Its my Gift *Ohh, my and Luke-samas very own love nestgufufufu* Millia? Because I built the shed, I only had 30 vige points left. Should I build another shed? Or will a field or water well be better? Since each of those items cost 20 points, I can only build one for today. Wait, you can build things other than a shed? Yup. When she understood my little problem, Millia quickly shouted. Then, why not build a well! Hm? But isnt this ce too small for two people to sleep in? Yeah, I guess I should build another shed. Dont! Yes, this ce is small, but its enough! Rather than improve our dwelling situation, we should prioritize securing a water source! Its said that us humans wont die easily from starvation, but even a few days without water can result in death! O,okay? Then, I guess Ill build a water well Pressured by Millias eagerness, I chose to build a well. I still thought we had enough water for about a few days though. *That was closebut with this, my nights Luke-sama are securedgufufufu* While giving a sidelong nce at Milliawho seemed for some reason relieved about somethingI interacted with my Gift. <<20 vige points will be consumed to build a water well.>> Just like before, it happened in an instant. The next thing I knew, there was a circr well made of joined-together stones right where I wanted it to be. Wait, this cover wonte off though. We tried removing the cover of the well but to no avail. It was possible that the cover was actually part of the well itself. As such, I decided to put that aside and investigate another unfamiliar part of the well. Hmm, what could this be? Woah!? When I pushed the thing that looked a handle, water suddenly poured out through a pipe. In my surprise, I hurriedly returned the handle to its initial position. When I did though, the water stopped. Is this how its used? Its quite convenient, isnt it? Just drawing water out of a well is such aborious task. In fact, back in the castle, its mostly left to manualbor ves. In the first ce, being able to secure a water source was a sess already. Especially in this wastnd. If we didnt have this well, we would have had to wait for rain and gather as much as we could. And that was assuming that there would be rain. Much like what Millia said, we were in real danger of dying due to thirst. At any rate, I now only had 10 points left. There wasnt anything I could build with just 10 points even if I wanted to, so I was forced to wait at least a day. It looks like I gain 10 points per day, so maybe I should build that other shed tomorrow. What do you think, Millia? No! Lets build a field next! Yes, we absolutely must build a field! It takes time to grow the seeds we brought and even more time to harvest them, so the sooner we start, the better! O,Okaylets do thatthen Pressured by Millias threatening gaze, I had little choice but to nod. But then, words suddenly appeared in my vision. They hovered right below Millias face. <> Eh? I can make her a viger? <> Which reminded me, when I looked earlier, it said that my vige had 0 vigers. It might be like that because I couldnt be considered as a viger. Ahm, Millia Of course, Ill ept, Luke-sama. Please, let me be a viger. Millia had correctly guessed what I was trying to say and even answered it. Are you sure though? Luke-sama, let me repeat what I said before: no matter what happens, wherever you may go, Ill be by your side. If what you choose to do is stay here and build a vige, then Ill do my best to help you make that happen. Millias resolve was unwavering. Thank you, Millia. <> Like that, Millia became my very first viger. Alongside that, I made a little promise to myself. That I would use this mysterious Gift of mine to develop this wastnd and develop a prosperous enough vige. Please consider supporting me. You can do this either by turning off adblock for this blog or via myPatreon page. Thank you. Chapter 5: *sniff**sniff* Chapter 5: *sniff**sniff* Lukes Vige Vige Level: 1 Vige Points avable: 10 (11 points gained per day) Number of Vigers: 1 Vige Gift: None So, I now officially have one viger. Plus, the points I earn each day rose a little. It would seem that because the number of vigers rose, the number of points I gained increased as well. I doubt Id have more vigers though Fufufu, I dont think it being just the two of us is so bad. hm? Nothing. But now, I didnt have enough points left to build anything. I would have to wait a day at least. Afterwards, Millia prepared some food. By the time we finished eating, it had be dark. Unlike back in our capital, there was hardly any source of light here. It was mostly just the light of the moon and the stars. Because we could do nothing in the dark, we decided to stay within the shed that my Gift built. We made a little hole in the wall so that a little light would shine in, but it was still pitch dark inside. As such, we had to fumble in the dark until we managed to cover ourselves with a nket and lie down side by side. Still, to think my [Gift] can do all these. I initially thought why of all Gifts was this the one I got. But now that I was beginning to have a clue of what it could do, it might not be so bad. As I mentioned, I had a dislike for fighting. Instead of a world where everyone fought and killed each other fornd and resources, I would much rather live in a world where everyone was peacefully co-existed with each other. I had thought so ever since I was a little kid. And this ce where I could build a small vige would be my chance at such a life. It might not be grand, but at least it would be peaceful. I was so focused on thinking such things that I failed to notice something: the person next to me was making some strange sounds *huffpuffhuffpuff* (gufufu, to be able to sniff Luke-samas scent so closely and for the whole night, is this what heaven is like!?) I wasnt sure what it was, but something told me that it was better to ignore it. The next morning, I was awoken by the sunlight that poured in through the hole we made. As for Millia, her eyes were closed as she held me tightly. hmm, yeah, I should build another shed. Dont. Isnt this one enough? Youre awake!? Yes. Its expected of a maid to wake up earlier than her master. Then, why didnt you get up already? (So that I could enjoy your adorable sleeping face and embrace your soft body for as long as I could, of course!) There were times that I felt like Millia was hiding something. But then again, everyone had secrets. Be that as it may, youre no longer a maid. Theres no need for you to force yourself to wake up early. Yes, but now Im a viger and youre the viges leader; its only proper that I do certain things to show my respect. Is that how it is? I had never lived in a vige, so I didnt really know. Oh, I have 21 points now. Congrattions, Luke-sama. You can build a field now, cant you? A day has passed, so I earned some vige points. And as Millia insisted multiple times, I decided to build a field. <<20 Vige Points will be consumed to build a field. Proceed? *{Yes}||{No}>> A simr message from before appeared in my vision. When I chose {Yes}, an area in front of the shed instantly became a tilled field. ThisLuke-sama, this earth, its extremely amazing! Well surely be able to grow great crops with this field! While excitedly eximing so, Millia began nting the seeds we brought along. she was formerly a maid, but she was nting with incredible speed and grace. Does she have experience in farming? Ahh, Ill help too! Luke-sama, such work isnt Please dont treat me like Im still the heir of a lord. This is my vige, so its my responsibility. I want to do as much as I can to make it grow. very well. I appreciate the help then. The field was about 50 meters both in length and width. Millia was expertly teaching me how to nt the seeds, but even so, it should take the two of us quite a bit of time to finish. And this was just the nting. If we were to start all the way from preparing the field, it would have definitely taken us a considerably longer time. Up until recently, eating meals were a matter of course for me, but now, I was beginning to understand just how much hard work the farmers behind the scenes were undertaking. Please consider supporting me. You can do this either by turning off adblock for this blog or via myPatreon page. Thank you. Chapter 6: I’m Leaving The Family Chapter 6: Im Leaving The Family Forgive me Father, but I, Im leaving the family. Whawhat do you think youre doing, Selen!? After hearing my deration, my fathers eyes were wide open in anger. This is uneptable, Father! I cant go through with it. In these times, a lord marrying off their children for political and financial gain wasmonce. I was no exception. From the age of ten, I had already been promised to Lord Alberts heir. Because I understood that this was the best option for the safety of ournds, I agreed to follow such a decision. To be exact, I agreed to be married to Luke, Lord Alberts oldest son and heir apparent. I had met him once or twice already, and he seemed to be a gentle and sweet young man, quite unlike his father. It was beside the point, but he was also 3 years younger than me. However, what he received for his Gift during his blessing ceremony was one clearly not geared toward fighting. Meanwhile, the one to inherit his fathers [Master Swordsmanship] was his step-brother, Raul, instead. As a result of this twist of fate, I became promised to Raul. If it was to Luke, I was willing to go through with it, but if its to that twisted man, I absolutely refuse! But hes the one to inherit the Albert territory, Selen! If you cared for ournds No, Father, absolutely will not do this! Id rather die! After shouting so, I stormed out of our castle. I would have continued until I was out of our territory, but soldiers deployed on the highway blocked my path. Lady Selen, please turn back. Well, if you think you can stop me, go ahead and try. I said so and then drew out the 2 swords hanging from my waist. With a crackling sound, ice then formed on the des of my swords. My seriousness perhaps understood, the soldiers instinctively stepped back. They must have known about my strength, and thus concluded that their force wouldnt have been enough to stop me. Pplease, Lady Selen Youre so persistent. If you continue to stand in my way, youll be in a world of pain. Upon hearing my threat, they reluctantly made way for me. And so, I walked through the space they made until the ce I was born in was far away behind me. A few days passed aftering to this wastnd. Luke-sama, please take a look! There are sprouts in the field! Huh? There really are! When I hurriedly came out after Millia called for me, I saw for myself the sprouts she was talking about. To be honest, I was unsure whether crops would grow at all from this field, but seeing this, my worries went away. Moreover, ording to Millia, they were actually growing sooner than usual. We did it! Theres obviously more work to be done, but at least weve secured a source of food. Yeah, thank goodness. In other events, I spent the points I umted on a watchtower and an earthen wall. Each cost 20 points. I wanted to build another shed, but Millia insisted that we should prioritize facilities for defense in case the worst were to happen. At present, we still havent been attacked, but when I saw figures in the distance a few days ago, I was d that this was the choice we made. The earthen wall was about two meters tall. It wouldnt be of much use againstrge monsters, but against small ones, it should be enough to stop them. ! Luke-sama! Its an emergency! Millia was at the top of the watchtower when she shouted. Because it was rather sudden, my first instinct was to look in her direction. Wha, I can see under her skirt! no now is not the time for such things! A group of goblins are headed this way! What!? Goblins were ugly humanoid monsters. They were usually short, the tallest among them being at about 150 cm. Alone, they were said to be easy to deal with, but in a group, they could spell trouble. I hope the wall will be enough to make them give up and turn back. Theyre stepping on top of their allies to climb over the wall! So much for that. Now, its only a matter of time before they get past that wall and invade the vige. We have to fight! Luke-sama!? I resolved myself and drew out my sword. Please consider supporting me. You can do this either by turning off adblock for this blog or via myPatreon page. Thank you. Chapter 7: You Hate It That Much? Chapter 7: You Hate It That Much? I steeled myself to face a group of goblins and drew the sword I brought from home in case asions such as this arose. Ill have to fight them Luke-sama!? It was said that if a child did sword training, that child would have a higher chance of receiving a swordsmanship-type Gift. For that reason, I too studied how to use a sword properly and effectively. In the end, I didnt receive such a Gift. However, that didnt mean all that training was a waste of time. Especially at times like now, it was better to know how to use a sword than not at all. GuGyeGyeGyeeeee!! One goblin made it over the wall and into the vige. Its physique was simr to mine, but unlike me, this one didnt have a weapon. Then, I should be able to take it down! Haaaaaaaa! I yelled like that as I charged toward the goblin. Gyaa!? Huh? But before I could reach it, an arrow made of ice flew out of nowhere and hit the goblins head. Its been a while, Luke. When I turned my head toward the source of that voice, I saw a blue-haired girl standing on top of the wall. Selen!? I knew that girl. I knew her because she was a daughter of the Bazurata family, a family which had close ties to my Albert family since the olden days. To be more specific, she was the daughter of the Bazurata family that I was formerly engaged to. She had been to our familys castle a few times, and back then, we would spend the time ying. She was 3 years older than me, so at least to my younger self, she seemed very mature. She didnt seem to have grown much since then though. As for why our marriage was called off, it was because I was no longer the heir of ournd. The Gift I received wasnt deemed enough to hold such a position, so I was disqualified and sent to this wastnd. So instead of me, Raulwho managed to inherit our fathers Giftwas now the heir of the territory as well as Selens husband-to-be. Regardless though, whats she doing here? Ice needle Gugyaaa!? Selens ice projectiles hit and killed the next goblins that managed to climb the wall. In no time at all, those and the rest of the goblins were annihted. Wow, you sure have grown. It has just been two years since west saw each other, right? Casually, as though there was no fight moments before, Selen dropped down from the wall and walked toward us. Yeah, I think so too. But more importantly, why are you here? Because I ran away from home. What!? After giving a teehee and then cutely sticking her tongue out, Selen said such an outrageous thing. It was so outrageous that I almost fell on my behind. I guess its more urate to say Ive cut ties with my family? Isnt that worse!? Why are you doing this? Plus, arent you engaged to Raul? What about that? Thats been called off. Whaaat!? Despite my shock, Selen nonchntly gave me her reason. Id rather die than be married to that man. But Id rather cut ties with my house than die. Pretty simple, right? You hate it that much? Thinking about it, it might be the norm to dislike arranged marriages. It might for the sake of our respective territories, but we children of nobles were nevertheless being forced to marry someone we didnt love. As for me, I didnt really feel any opposition toward the arrangement, but then again, it might be because I was being matched with such a charming girl. Oh, I think I get it. All this time, I thought you also didnt mind this kind of marriage but I should have known its much tougher for a woman to be forced into a marriage with someone they didnt love. Hm? I feel youve misunderstood something? I refuse to be married to Raul but if its with you I dont really Whats that now? Selens voice became smaller with each word until I couldnt hear her at all. I! I said Stop right there! !? Millia suddenly shouted and cut in on our conversation. Im here too, you know? Are you going to just leave out of the conversation? A-and you are? Im Luke-samas first viger. First viger? Selen tilted her head. Yes. This is, after all, Luke-samas vige. Oh! That reminds me. Whats with this ce? I was worried for you when I heard you were sent to this wastnd to develop it, but that watchtower, that wall, that well and that field, can it be that you two alone built them? While looking around, Selen wondered out loud. HmmI think its faster if I just show you. Show me? Please consider supporting me. You can do this either by turning off adblock for this blog or via myPatreon page. Thank you. Chapter 8: Why can’t we just get along? Chapter 8: Why cant we just get along? Show me? Selen asked me that as she wondered what I was talking about. I decided to make a storehouse so that I could more easily exin my Gift. We didnt have any pressing need to have a storehouse right now, but a use for it woulde sooner orter anyway. <<20 vige points will be consumed to build a storehouse. *{Yes}||{No}>> The moment after I selected yes, a splendid storehouse made of earth appeared before us. huh? Her mouth wide open, Selen was stunned. This is what my Gift, [Vige Building], does. It can build something I need in an instant. Of course, it cant build all kinds of things. Actually, right now, I can only choose from 10 kinds of facilities. Plus, because of the cost of each item, I also could only build a limited number of them. Wait, wait, wait. Ive never heard of a Gift that does something like that! Are, are you saying that this field is also Yup, made through my Gift. so thats how you have all these things in such a short amount of time. It would have been impossible otherwise. When Selen understood the situation, words once again popped at the edge of my vision. <> No, no, theres no way Selen should live in such a simple vige! I retorted so in my mind as I came to decision to just ignore the message. But are you really sure about breaking off your engagement to Raul? I mean, I doubt my family will just let the matter go Compared to the Albert family, the Bazurata family had a meager army. So, if the Bazurata family were to unterally cancel this arrangement, it would be no surprise if the Albert family would respond by sending in troops. Even the Albert family wont have enough resources to do that. If they decide to make the Bazurata family their enemy as well, theyd be surrounded on all sides. You have a point The Albert family might be powerful, but because its territory was sorge, it had many hostile neighbors to worry about. In other words, ruining their rtionship with the Bazuruta family was not something the Albert family would actively pursue. Still, wont you leaving hurt the Bazurata family? Selen was one of the few people who had 2 Gifts. In addition to [Dual Wield] which was a Gift that enhanced her ability to fight with two swords, she also had [Blue Magic] which allowed her to use water and ice magic. In fact, due to her contributions in the battlefield, she already earned herself an alias: [Frozen des Princess]. I was going to be married off and sent away anyway, so my absence was taken into ount a long time ago. Plus, my younger brothers blessing revealed that he had a strong Gift. As long as hes there, theyll manage. If memory serves right, her younger brother was about my age. Anyway, by the looks of things, living here doesnt look so bad. Huh? Youre nning to live here? Yeah? I mean, Im not going back and I have nowhere I got to be. <> Woah, she became a viger on her own!? When I checked, it indeed said that I now had two vigers. The number of points I earned each day rose to 12 as well. More importantly though Wont you reconsider? Even with my Gift, the fact remains that this is still an undeveloped wastnd. We still dont have decent houses and harvest is not until muchter. Meanwhile, with your powers, Im certain youd be given a high post anywhere you might go. Are you saying you dont want me here, Luke? No, thats not my point at all. For some reason, Selen asked so while giving Milia a sharp look. Weirder still, Millia responded with a sharp look of her own. Why are these two ring at each other like this? Isnt this supposed to be their first meeting? To be frank, this is not at all a suitable environment for a daughter of a noble house such as yourself. We dont even have beds or baths here. These conditions aremon in the battlefield, so this is nothing new to me. Besides, what if another monster attack like the one earlier happens again? Wouldnt you agree that my strength will be needed? Or are you saying you have enough power to protect Luke? I felt a dangerous atmosphere as Millia and Selen talked to each other. Hey, why are the two of at odds? you make a fine point. Very well, do as you please, but please be reminded that your previous social status wont be recognized here. Im the first viger, youre the second, so Ill be the one with superiority between us. Ohh, so youre saying that thats the only thing you have an advantage over me? If I absolutely had toment anything, I would have said Selen was on the offense here. I mean, why cant we just get along? Not really. I could havepared our breasts, but even I thought that was too harsh. Who are you calling t-breasted!? Oh my, when did I ever utter the words t-breasted? Sh-shut up! Im still growing, you know! Now that you mentioned it, I think my breasts were 3 times asrge as yours when I was 15. ! Im, Im just ate-bloomer! As though she had aplex about it, Selen became teary eyed and shouted so. In aplete reversal, Selen was now on the defense. as for me, I simply headed the other way. I didnt want to get involved any more than I have, so I stealthily snuck away. Please consider supporting me. You can do this either by turning off adblock for this blog or via myPatreon page. Thank you. Chapter 9: If you turn the red one, hot water will come out Chapter 9: If you turn the red one, hot water wille out For some reason, there was a tense atmosphere between Millia and Selen. When night came, another argument among them arose. You two have been sleeping in a room this small? Yes. Is something the matter? Dont is something the matter me. No matter how you look at it, this is not normal. With a powerful voice, Selen reprimanded us. In our defense though, we were forced to share the shed because it was the only one we had. If you find this so uneptable, we wont force you to sleep here. Feel free to sleep outside. Why would I do that!? Y-you two, lets just try to get along Luke(sama), (please) stay out of this! ok If I could, I would have built another shed right away. Unfortunately, because I built a storehouse earlier in order to demonstrate my Gift to Selen, I didnt have enough points anymore. Ah, thats it. Ill just go sleep in the storehouse. Proud of my idea, I quickly tried to put it into action. Absolutely not, Luke-sama. Youre the chief of this vige, after all. Right. If anyone has to sleep there, its this girl. Oh my. Are you saying you want to be alone here with Luke-sama? What scandalous girl you are. Thats not what I said! And dont act like youre innocent yourself! In the end, it was decided that all three of us would sleep in this tiny shed. In addition, I was told I had to sleep between the two of them. I cant sleep Lukes Vige Vige Level: 1 Vige Points: 54 (+12 vige points per day) Number of Vigers: 2 Vige Gifts: None Alright, I finally have 50 points! I made the vige around dusk, so the time I gained additional points was around dusk of each day as well. And so, at the rate of 12 points each day, I finally saved up 50 points. Using this, I could escape that hell tonight. Ever since Selen came to the vige, I had to sleep between the two who were always bickering with one another. Obviously, I couldnt sleep much under such circumstances, resulting in a decline not only to my productivity but also health. Now that I had 50 points though, I could finally build the small house I wanted so much. I had no idea how big it was going to be, but at least I was certain that it would be bigger than our current shelter. <<50 vige points will be consumed to build a small house. Proceed? *{Yes}||{No}>> Yes, yes please! After I confirmed yes, a one-story wooden house appeared before me. Woah. What, theres even furniture!? Amazing! It was about double the size of the shed we were using. However, unlike that empty shed, this house had a bed, a desk, a shelf, and other furnishings. Whats this area? <> Kitchen? But then, whats this? <> Huh? Like this? When I tested it out, it released water as exined. Can this be some kind of magical device? I dont sense any magic power at all though Selen said so as she tilted her head. We then found something else of note. <> It seems like we can light fires with this. Lets try it. It really doeswhats going on? Your Gifts really amazing, Luke-sama. We were able to cook outside, but with this thing, cooking meals should be so much easier. Millia said so with a somewhat excited voice. What about this door? Huh? What are these? When we opened the door, we found a small room. A little bit in, we saw something that looked like a chair. And further inside the room, there was something that resembled arge water tank. <> A unit bathroom? <> So youre saying that this is the chamber pot, and that is the bath? It certainly didnt seem like an ordinary chair, but apparently the chamber pot was just covered by a lid. Without the cover, it looked like arge bowl where a small amount of water pooled at the bottom. The edge seemed like the ce to ce ones bottom. There was also a small hole in the part where the water pooled. <> A flush toilet? How is it used? <> When I tried to turn the said handle, more water flowed down, seemingly recing the one that was there before. In the castle, lower-ranked servants are the ones tasked on disposing of the gathered waste But now, there was no longer a need for any of us to do that job. That said, I wondered where the waste would go. I had heard of other territories whosevatories made use of slimes. Slimes would absorb anything, even human waste, so they were helpful in keeping things clean. This device didnt seem to make use of those slimes though. Well, for now, what matters is that it works. Figuring out the how cane inter. And so, I moved on to the bath. It had a faucet like the one in the kitchen. In other words, we could wash our bodies easily with this. How convenient. We can bathe here without using the well outside. it seems so. (tsk. But this also means I can no longer peep on Luke-sama as he washes his body outside!) Selen had an expression of joy, but for some reason, Millia expressed frustration. And now that we have two beds, we can have separate ces to sleep for the men and the women. I proudly announced so, but the two didnt seem to share my joy. As though to clear my confusion on why they were silent, Millia spoke first, quickly followed by Selen. Sleeping alone with this woman is quite impossible for me. Me too! Forcing the two of them, who were at odds with each other all the time, to sleep alone with each other certainly wasnt a great idea. However, it also would be quite strange for me to sleep beside only one of them, no matter which one. The only reason Millia and I did so before was because we only had that shed. I-I understand. Then, I guess all three of us will just have to sleep in this house. We should have enough space, so I thought maybe I could sleep on the floor or something. Wait, why are all 3 of us on the bed!? Somehow, it was decided that, like before, I would sleep in the bed between the two girls. Because of that and because of the fact that the bed was smaller than the floor of the shed, we were now even closer to each other than we were before. Luke-sama, we cant let you sleep anywhere else other than this bed. I wouldnt mind sleeping on the floor, except I absolutely refuse to let this woman sleep beside you by herself. How unexpected, I also cant let you sleep beside Luke-sama by yourself. Given that, it seems the only solution left is for all of us to sleep here. Agreed. I dont understand that logic at all! Please consider supporting me. You can do this either by turning off adblock for this blog or via myPatreon page. Thank you. Chapter 10: Theyre Probably Refugees Chapter 10: Theyre Probably Refugees Almost a month has passed since we arrived at this undevelopednd. Thanks to my [Vige Building], weve been living morefortably than I expected. Even now, the rtionship between Millia and Selen hasnt improvedbut other than that, things were going well. Back when I still lived in my familys estate, I spent each day studying for the future. As such, this was probably the first time in life where I passed the days in a leisurely manner. It isnt so bad, I thought as I began enjoying my life here in this undevelopednd. As for the crops we nted in the field, they were growing at a good rate. Actually, ording to Millia, they were growing so much faster than normal that we might be able to harvest them soon. By the way, we now had four fields. There was nothing else that we needed to build at the moment and letting the points be unused felt a bit of a waste, so we decided to add more fields. It was something we were bound to do at some point anyway. Moreover, there was a chance that some crops wouldnt grow at all out here or during this season, so to be safe, we tried out a bunch of seeds. Thankfully, Millia brought a lot of seeds. However, at this rate, we might be harvesting more than what the three of us could possibly eat before the rest goes bad. Well, we can preserve them by storing them in the storehouse where my magic is in effect. I see. Magic sure is convenient, isnt it? Fufu, arent you d Im here? I mean, lets not forget, it was me that got us those precious meat. Selen proudly said so while looking at Millia. Recently, she went into the forest in the distance and managed to hunt a wild boar. Given her abilities and Gifts, hunting alone was no problem at all, provided of course that she didnt enter the deepest parts of such a dangerous ce. Since were making sure we dont forget things, who was it that, unlike some muscle-brained idiot, was able to dismantle the boar as well as cook its meat? Millia calmly replied so. Gunununu Unfortunately, Selens cooking abilities werenot great. She once tried to challenge Millias cooking skills, but the food she made smelled so awful, we couldnt eat even a bite of it. now, now, lets not fight. While sighing, I stepped in between the two. I myself doubted I could stop them, so my voicecked conviction. However, at that moment, as though Selen noticed something, she quickly turned toward the west. Whats the matter, Selen? You dont hear that? Hear what? Ill check from the watchtower. And so, Selen agilely climbed the tower. I climbed after her. Is it another monster attack? If so, this would be the first attack since the group of goblins that Selen defeated. When I reached the top of the watchtower, Selen pointed at an area beyond the wall that surrounded the vige. Look. People. Youre right. Looking at us with a mix of wonder and caution was a group of about 50 people. It seemed like they already noticed Selen and me in the watchtower. They were talking among themselves, but they were too far away for me to hear anything at all. I couldnt see any weapons on them, so there should be a low chance of them suddenly invading our vige. They dont appear to be dangerous. Majority of them are women and children, unarmed at thatthe clothes theyre wearing seem tattered, and they all looked exhausted. If I had to guess, Id say theyre refugees. Like Selen said, about 40 out of the 50 people were women and children. In these times, it wasnt rare at all for people to lose their homes to natural disasters or battles. I heard there was a big battle recently, so they might be from somewhere near there. Oh no, there are some of them that looks like theyre gonna fall any moment nowtheres no way we can leave them alone. This vige aside, no water or food could be easily obtained in this wastnd, especially for a group thatrge. It probably wouldnt take long before all of them would die of starvation or thirst if nothing was done. And so, I climbed down from the watchtower and hurried to their side. Please consider supporting me. You can do this either by turning off adblock for this blog or via myPatreon page. Thank you. Chapter 11: Your Village Has Reached level 2! Chapter 11: Your Vige Has Reached level 2! I cant believe it, theres really a vige out here It was only recently established and with only just three people. For the meantime, I stand as this viges leader. I am Luke. Ahh, vige chief-sama, please excuse thete introduction. I am Belrith. And for the moment, I stand as this groups representative. Berlith-san was a man who seemed to be in his mid-thirties. He had signs of being muscr, but perhaps because of malnutrition, he was sticks and bones at the moment. Not just him either. The entire group seemed to be starving. After a brief discussion with Selen and Millia, we agreed that the group was not dangerous and that we should invite them into the vige. Once inside, we talked to them some more. We had confirmed that they were indeed refugees. The reason there were so few adult men was that they were forcefully conscripted. And the reason there were almost no elderly among the group was that most of them insisted on staying in their vige so as to not burden the group on their journey. Old people were unlikely to be conscripted or be turned into ves, so the group reluctantly agreed. Belrith-sans father, who was their viges leader, also stayed behind. So, Belrith-san took it upon himself to lead the escaping group in his fathers stead. After that, we wondered aimlessly until we reached this wastnd. And right when our water and food supply had run out, we found your ce. I see ahm, well, we havent harvested our crops yet, and our own food supply might not be enough for all of youbut dont worry, well do whatever we can to prepare food for you all. Oh, and as for water, we have a well here, so feel free to drink from it as much as you want. R-really? Thank you very much! In addition to looking like theyre starving, the group also looked thirsty. To help with that, I showed where the well was. In response, they all rushed toward it. Hmm, is one well not enough? I have spare points, so why not build another one? <<20 vige points will be consumed to build a well. Proceed? *{Yes}||{No}>> I selected Yes. Everyone, feel free to use this other well! Really? Was there a well there earlier? Either way, Im grateful! While the people were quenching their thirst, Milia cooked the boar from Selens hunt yesterday. Our remaining stock of wheat was used up as well. Its not much, but please have some. Ohhhh! Maybe it was because they were famished, but the refugees made all that food disappear almost instantly. We are truly grateful for this kindness you showed us. Were not sure how to properly thank you beyond these words Their hunger sated for now, Belrith-san uttered words of thanks while tears fell from his eyes. As for the others, they put their palms together as though they were trying to worship us. Regardless, their crisis wasnt over just yet. For their group to live here in this wastnd by themselves wouldnt just be hard, it was nigh impossible. <> As though reading my mind, some text appeared at the edge of my vision. ahm, Belrith-san Yes, vige chief-sama? Would you like to live here in this vige? Eh!? Belrith-san waspletely surprised by my proposal. To tell you the truth, we can use extra sets of hands. As you can see, we have fields with crops that are on the verge of being ready to be harvested, but harvesting them all should be a lot of hard work for just the three of us. Moreover, it will be too much for us to eat. H-however, we have a lot of children in our groupthe workforce we can offer might not meet your expectations Even then, Id say dont worry about it. Lets just lend a hand whenever the other needs it. OhThank you, thank you very much In reaction to my words, Belrith-san cried out loud as he profusely thanked me. Right after that though, lines of texts appeared in my vision one after the other. <> <> <<200 vige points have been acquired as level up bonus.>> <> <> <> << Ta-ta-ta-dah! Congrattions! Because you now have more than 30 vigers, your vige has be level 3!>> <<300 vige points have been acquired as level up bonus.>> <> <> <> Please consider supporting me. You can do this either by turning off adblock for this blog or via myPatreon page. Thank you. Chapter 12: Did the walls move? Chapter 12: Did the walls move? Ehh? Wait, what!? <> So, having more vigers does increase the vige level. But in the first ce, what is this vige level? Even now, I still couldnt really fullyprehend what it is Lukes Vige Vige Level: 3 Vige Points: 764 (83 points are gained per day) Number of vigers: 53 Vige Skills: [Viger Appraisal], [Reposition] Because of that so-called level up bonus, I seemed to have earned 500 vige points in one go. Moreover, the amount of vige points I gained each day has increased as well. But I thought only 1 point per viger was added to my daily earningsis that not the case? <> Ahh I see. Its the base points plus the points based on the number of vigers. 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? <> Landfill: 30 Paddy fields: 30 Public Park: 30 Animal Barn 80 Terrace house: 80 <> Stone wall: 50 Incinerator: 60 Outdoor kitchen: 60 Jailhouse: 80 Medium-sized house: 100 Whats a terrace house? <> Great, thats just what we need. Compared to a shed which could house at most 3 people for 20 vige 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 couldnt 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 vige. Apparently, my vige level increasing also increased the viges maximum area. At its previous size, three terrace houses would have barely fit. Its quite a shame, but I guess I have no choice but to tear down the walls to make space <> Ohh. How convenient. And so, I surrounded the borders of the vige with earthen walls. Of course, the walls from before wouldnt be enough to surround therger area, so I built new ones. <> Hmm, these are fine for now. I want to use my points for something else. With space now avable 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 wasnt 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 theres this building Woaahhhh Among them, an older man was so surprised that he fell on his behind. Ahh, sorry. Didnt mean to surprise you all ahm, well, all of these are because of my Gift. Its not some shady magic or anything like that, so theres nothing to worry about. I hurriedly exined so. What? The vige chief has a Gift!? He can make even this kind of things? Its 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 dont even receive a blessing in the first ce due to their low social status. Technically, evenmon citizens were allowed to have a blessing, but they needed to give an astronomicallyrge 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. Please consider supporting me. You can do this either by turning off adblock for this blog or via myPatreon page. Thank you. Chapter 13: Please Throw Them Into The Jailhouse Chapter 13: Please Throw Them Into The Jailhouse While the new vigers cautiously entered the newly made terrace houses Alright, time to expand the fields. At present, the vige had four fields. The crops grown from these fields should be able to feed 50 people, but only for a while. So, I decided to build additional fields on the vacant areas of my expanded and reorganized vige. Lets see, I think having 10 fields in total will do for now. The fields upied nearly half of my vige. nting seeds in all of them will be a lot of workshould I ask the new vigers to help? It wasnt just extra sets of hands that I could receive, but advice as well. Their previous vige was an agricultural one, so they were probably more knowledgeable than me. After thatoh, right, I think I have another of those vige skills. The first skill was called [Reposition]. It allowed me to move any already built facility to anywhere I wanted, as long as it was still within the vige of course. It was quite convenient. So, what does [Viger Appraisal] do? <> Appraise them? <> At the perfect timing, Belrith-san walked by. Vige chief-sama, these fields? We have more people now, so I thought I should add more fields. I know youre tired, so resting your tired bodies should be your priority, but after that, Id really like it if you can help in nting the seeds. Wed be happy to help! Not only have you given us food, but shelter as well. If we can repay that favor even a little, itd be our pleasure to help. Ok, but dont overexert yourselves, ok? While looking at Belrith who proudly dered so, I uttered [Appraisal] under my breath. Name: Belrith Age: 36 years old Vige Bond Level: High Suitable upation: Coordinator Gift: None When I did so, a set of text appeared in vision. The first two lines were as straightforward as things could be, but I wasnt sure what Vige Bond Level meant. <> So, because Belrith-sans says High, does that mean he thinks favorably of the vige already? <> I see Thinking about it, the risk of having such a viger bes higher as the poption grows. However, through this skill, I would be able to tell who were likely to cause problems. I wasnt quitefortable on peeking at others minds though <> Oh yeah, I became able to build a jailhouse when the vige reached level 3. I hope building one never bes necessary though. Anyway, how about Suitable upation? <> In other words, Belrith-sans current position was just right for him. <> Wait, is it really alright for me to be able to get that much information that easily? I mean, Im notining, but isnt it too strong..? Just that alone could rival a powerful Gift. The only thing that might hold it back was that it could only be used on my vigers. The next morning, I gathered everyone in the center of the vige. It was a spacerge and open enough to be used as a public square. Good morning, Belrith-san. Were you able to sleep wellst night? Yes. Thanks to vige chief-samasfortable beds, weve been able to sleep well for the first time in quite a while. The residential units in a terrace house werent especially spacious, so I worried if they were able to sleep well, if at all. Apparently though, just having a ce to sleep was enough to make their sleep feel heavenly. Or it might be because of the joy of surpassing their hardships. Im d to hear that. Well then, lets talk about why I wanted everyone to gather here. For the sake of our future endeavors, Id like know each of you one by one. I believe learning your name, age, family structure, and so on will help me in assigning which jobs will be best suited for you. Ahh, yes, youre right. But then in that case, wont it be faster if simply tell you those kinds of information? Maybe, but Im going to have to say no. As the viges leader, I want to memorize each and everyones faces as much as possible. And so, I gathered and recorded information from each of the vigers. Of course, I was also secretly using [Viger Appraisal] as I met with them. By the 7th one, I was so surprised that I unconsciously shouted ah! Name: Balrath Age: 32 years old Vige Bond Level: High Suitable upation: Soldier Gift: (Swordsmanship) theres something in the Gift line, but why is it enclosed in parentheses? Please consider supporting me. You can do this either by turning off adblock for this blog or via myPatreon page. Thank you. Chapter 14: All of a sudden, this place has become village-like, hasnt it? Chapter 14: All of a sudden, this ce has be vige-like, hasnt it? Name: Balrath Age: 32 years old Vige Bond Level: High Suitable upation: Soldier Gift: (Swordsmanship) What does (Swordsmanship) mean? Why is it in parentheses? <> Eh? So, does that mean that as long as he gets blessed, hed received this particr Gift? <> The ability that I could have gotten was lying dormant and going to waste like this. At any rate, Viger Appraisal lets me know even this, huh. Hmm, I wonder if theres anyone else who is like him vige chief? I-its nothing. Anyway, what is your family structure like, Balrath-san? My It would seem that this person was actually the younger brother of Belrith-san. So thats why their names sound alike. Furthermore, he said that because he had a wife and two children, he was really grateful that I weed them into the vige. His wife didnt have a potential Gift, but their two children both had (Swordsmanship) written on the line about their Gifts. The children werent at the age where they could receive the rite of blessing, but as soon as they turn 12, I hope they would receive it somehow. After a while, I finished interviewing the newly arrived vigers. I organized some of the data as follows: By age group: 12 were children (0-11 years old); 37 were adults (12-50 years old); and 2 were elderly (51+) By gender: 18 males; 33 females Total number of households: 14 As for the category of Suitable upations, they were all over the ce. From orthodox jobs like farmer and merchants to somewhat suspicious ones like jailer and torturer, as well as entertainers like dancers and singers. It was quite varied. All that being said, why is being a torturer the Suitable upation for an olddy over 60 years old? Plus, shes the oldest among them by far, but she made it all the way here with strength to spare as though she was among the young ones. Anyway, I told those who were suited for agriculture to take care of the fields. Of course, because they alone couldnt handle all the things that needed to be done, I told everyone else to assist them in some way for the moment. In total, I found 7 people with potential Gifts among the new vigers. As mentioned, Balrath-san and his two children had Swordsmanship. The Gift of the other 4 were as follows: Comprehension of Concoctions Red Magic Labyrinth Exploration Literary Talent [Comprehension of Concoctions] seemed to be rted to the mixing and preparation of things like medicine. It belonged to a woman in her twenties who was already a widow. [Red Magic] was a Gift rted to fire and heat magic. It belonged to a 10-year-old girl. No one else in her family had a Gift, so it might be a mutation of sorts. [Labyrinth Exploration] might be rted to dungeon explorations. It belonged to a 30-year-old man. His parents were dead, he had no siblings to begin with, and he never married or had children, so among the refugees, his household was the only one to have one person. Maybe it was because he was a bit entric, but I felt like he really stood out like a sore thumb among the refugees. [Literary Talent] was most likely rted to writing and the like. It was possessed by a 14-year-old boy. It might just be a fluke, but the number of people who had potential Gifts was more than I expected. ording to my private tutor, over 80% of nobles had Gifts, while less than 1 in every 100moners could get one. That made me curious enough to ask What if we bless everyone? Wouldnt that lead to a great improvement to our territory?, and my tutor replied 1 in every 100 is not much; itll be more trouble than its worth. Looking back, it might just be that the nobility was trying to monopolize the power of Gifts. Not to mention, there was always the risk of amoner who possessed a powerful Gift inciting a rebellion. And so, the nobility conspired with the church to limit the ess to blessings. Even so, isnt their distrust a tad too much? All of a sudden, this ce has be vige-like, hasnt it? Selen said so when she walked by. I used that chance to use Viger Appraisal on her as well. Name: Selen Age: 15 years old Vige Bond Level: High Suitable upation: General Gift: Dual-wield, Blue Magic Oh, shes rmended to be general, huh. I can certainly see her as someone who would lead soldiers through a battlefield, but why would a mere vige ever need general? That aside, more people meant an increase in the need for meat, so I asked if she could continue to hunt for us. Luke-sama, theres a good chance more refugees wille to vige. I think we should ready ourselves for that. Yeah. ording to the stories I heard from the new vigers, there have been an increase in fighting here and there. While Millia and I were talking like that, I decided to use Viger Appraisal on her as well. Will her Suitable upation be something like maid? Name: Millia Age: 21 years old Vige Bond Level: Ultra-high Suitable upation: Priest Gift: (Oracle) So, Millias 21 Wait, more importantly, she has a potential Gift! Please consider supporting me. You can do this either by turning off adblock for this blog or via myPatreon page. Thank you. Chapter 15: They’re all crazy large! Chapter 15: Theyre all crazyrge! Name: Millia Age: 21 years old Vige Bond Level: Ultra-high Suitable upation: Priest Gift: (Oracle) Surprisingly, even Millia had a potential Gift. Furthermore, it was none other than the Gift that allowed its wielder to bless others. Because the church has basically monopolized this Gift, it was extremely rare if at all to see this Gift except on its members. So, the person who does the blessing has to be blessed first themselves? However, on top of the fact that the closest church that offered to do blessings was too far away from the vige, we also didnt have enough money for the ceremony. What should we do? Luke-sama? Is something the matter? Actually I thought it was not right to hide the issue to the person herself, so I told her. Of course, that meant I had to tell her about Viger Appraisal which I had been keeping private so far. And in order to avoid the risk of Selen getting mad at me and saying why are you keeping me out of the loop!?, I decided to tell her as well. Viger Appraisal? Yeah. It seems like your Gift is truly absurd Amazing, Luke-sama. Youre really beloved by the gods. In contrast with Selen who was understandably at a loss for words, Millia unreservedly showered me with praise. Well, you see, I secretly used it on you, Millia. I dont mind at all. I find no issue in exposing it all to you, Luke-sama. Yes, for example, my body Hey, dont seduce Luke every chance you get! Come on, please stop fighting. It felt dangerous to ask Millia to continue what she was saying, so I decided to just ignore it. Instead, I spoke about the main issue at hand. Anyway, the result of using it on you is that I found out that you have a potential Gift. If we can have you blessed, youll be able to use it. It can tell you even that? Selen was shocked once again. I then proceeded to tell them that Millias potential Gift was [Oracle]. [Oracle] I see. If she has that Gift, shell be able to bless anyone in the vige who has a potential Gift. Yeah, but the problem is that she herself has to be blessed first, it appears. I didnt really expect to have a solution after talking to them; I just wanted to let them know of the situation. [Oracle]I wonder how I can get that blessing With an uncharacteristically meek look on her face, Millia said so. She was probably thinking how much she could contribute to the vige if she unlocked that Gift. Millia, the first viger, probably was more devoted to the vige than I was. After all, she had an Ultra-High for her Vige Bond Level. Yup, that must be it. Three days had passed since we weed the new vigers. At this time, we were finally ready for our first ever harvest. Woah, whats all these!? Theyre all crazyrge! The vegetables over here too. Theyre growing unbelievablyrge as well! Such expressions could be heard in the field here and there. Thanks to everyones help, we were able to harvest the first batch in about 2 hours. The first batch in question was the crops grown in 2 of the 4 fields we had at the start. The crops were known to grow quickly, but even they would normally have taken about a month before they could be harvested. Its so wonderful, vige chief. It might be because the soil in the fields is great, but still, Ive never seen grow vegetables this big! Belrith-san, who was more knowledgeable in agriculture than I was, told me so. By the way, I managed to bargain what he would call me down to [vige chief]. [Vige chief-sama] was just too embarrassing for me. By the looks of it, even supposedly out-of-season vegetables have no problem growing here. On the other fields, vegetables that were normally grown in autumn were growing just fine even though we were still in spring. I didnt know anything about agriculture, so I just nted whatever I could in hopes that at least some would grow. Thankfully, the seeds didnt end up wasted. Vige chief, since youve grown these, how about having a taste? Huh? Its safe? Why, yes. Theyre vegetables that can be eaten raw, after all. Im d they grew big, but do they taste good? I thought so as I cautiously bit into the vegetablea turnipBelrith-san gave me. ~~~~~~~~~!? Hmm? Vige chief? Its, its, its delicioussssssssssssssssssssssssssssssss!? Please consider supporting me. You can do this either by turning off adblock for this blog or via myPatreon page. Thank you. Chapter 16: Its so delicious Chapter 16: Its so delicious The vegetables we just harvested was unbelievably delicious. A-are you alright, vige chief? Ahh, excuse me. It was just so delicious, I couldnt help but shout out loud. I apologized like that to Belrith-san who seemed startled by me. Belrith-san, why dont you give it a try? Alright; Ill take you up on that kind offer. He said so and then bit onto a turnip. In the next moment, his eyes opened widely. Soooooooo gooooooooooooooooooodddd!!! Our reactions were quite simr. Certainly, freshly harvested turnips taste great, but whats with these!? Ive never had turnips this delicious Perhaps it was because of his excitement, but Belrith-san continued to munch on the turnip as he talked. Afterwards, we decided to hold a celebration for the sessful harvest. The just harvested vegetables were a given, but we also decided to use some of the meat of the boar and the deer that the group led by Selen managed to hunt down. By the way, I built an outdoor kitchen for 60 points. Because we could use it not only to prepare meals for arge group but also as a ce to butcher what we caught, it was quite an efficient facility. Well then. To the sessful harvest as well as new friendscheers! Cheers!!! I proposed a toast and everybody quickly followed. There wasnt any alcohol in the vige yet though, so what we used was just well water. What!? I cant believe it! So deliciouuuuuuuuuuuuuuuussssssssss!! Such shouts could be heard here and there. Hey, hey, hey, this is too delicious, aint it? This is the first time Ive had anything this good. Are these really prepared by our spouses? Its the ingredients. Especially the newly harvested vegetables. Everyone was shocked at how delicious the food was. However, it was during then that V-vige chief! Even when such a celebration was underway, a young man was keeping watch over the vige from the top of the watchtower. However, he suddenly climbed down and hurriedly searched for me. What is it? Whats wrong? A group of people are approaching the vige. Eh? The group seemed to be refugees as well. This time, there were about 40 people. Each of them seemed thoroughly exhausted, but when they entered the vige and confirmed that the vige was real instead of being an illusion they dreamt up, their faces were of shock and awe. And when they smelled the food prepared for the celebration, they couldnt help but gulp down. Hello, nice to meet you. I am Luke, and I stand as this viges chief. A kid like you is the? Oh, sorry, never mind. Nice to meet you as well. I am Donga. When a man who seemed to be in his thirties said his name, Belrith-san shouted for some reason. Donga!? Are you that Donga? Its been a while! Oh! You cant be Belrithcan you? Donga-san was stunned. Do you two perhaps know each other? Yes, we do, vige chief. Back in the day, Donga here frequently visited our vige. Our viges had many interactions such as trade, but for Donga, the main reason for visiting our vige was because he was smitten by my younger sisters, that love was not meant to be. Can you not talk about the ancient past!? I may not look it, but I have a wife and children now, you know! The two of them seemed to have quite a friendly rtionship. By the way, the younger sister in question seemed to be married to a man in another vige. Wait, if youre here does that mean your vige was also Yes, thats right. We had to leave behind our vige. It was quite a harsh journey, but it came to an end a few days ago when we arrived at this vige. Still, to think there would be a vige here in this wastnd Things were simple if Belrith-sans acquaintance was among the new group. They must be starving, so I interjected. I think the details can wait untilter. For now, would you guys like to join us? Were having a celebration for our sessful harvest. Whaare you sure? Yes, absolutely. Of course, no one objected to the idea. They knew firsthand the hardships the new group must have endured, so they weed them with warmth. Please consider supporting me. You can do this either by turning off adblock for this blog or via my Patreon page. Thank you. Chapter 17: It is recommended that you build a church Chapter 17: It is rmended that you build a church How are things, Donga-san? Is there anything not to your liking? Hello, vige chief. No, we have noints at all. How can we when on top of the delicious food, you also provide us with great shelter. Not to mention, we dont need to worry about all the fighting going on. This ce is like paradise to us. All of us are truly grateful. A few days had passed since Donga-sans group arrived. They seemed to be pleased with their life here in the vige, so I as the vige chief was happy as well. Yes, Donga-san and his group were our newest vigers. There were 44 of them, bringing the total number of vigers to 97. Just a few short of a hundred. I needed to prepare things for them first though, such as building new terrace houses. Fortunately, we had an abundance of crops from our harvest, so our food supply shouldnt be an issue for a while. Just to be on the safe side in the future though, I decided to add 4 new fields. Much like with Berith-sans group, majority of Donga-sans group were women and children. Even among the children, there were more women than men. I had used Viger Appraisal on them, and designated each of them a job they could do. That said, there were only a few types of jobs avable at the moment, so their current duties were likely not the one most suitable for them. Also, I found out that there were 6 of them who had the potential to have Gifts. Much like before, they needed to receive a blessing first before they could use those Gifts, so it felt like wasting resources, which in turn made me felt frustrated. Anyway, around the time when Donga-sans group were beginning to grow ustomed to their life in the vige Vige Chief! Theres a group approaching the vige. They look like refugees as well! Another group hade. This time, there were 70 of them. What will you do? I know you want to ept them, but that would put us over our current capacity Yeah Selen said so, and I couldnt help but agree. Because the points I earned daily had increased, there was no problem point-wise. In terms of food too; on top of the grand harvest, Selen and the others were diligently hunting for food as well, so we had a surplus for now. The issue was space. There just wasnt enough left to build additional terrace houses, much less fields. Maybe we can ask households with only a few members to share a unit. Or maybe <> Oh, is that so? <> Ive always wondered this, but on what criteria does this guide bases its rmendation? Moreover,how does it know my exact situation? At any rate, I did as was rmended and epted the new refugees as vigers. <> <> <<400 vige points have been acquired as level up bonus.>> <> <> <> Just like the guide said, my vige leveled up and expanded its maximum area. I was somehow able to sense how big my vige was now. However, it would seem that the vige was now double of its size when it was level 3. Does that mean that my vige doubles in size each level up? Huh? Then its possible for it to expand to an absurd degree, right? Hmm, yeah, yeah, no way thats gonna happen. Leaving that aside, I checked out the new facilities I could build. Store: 80 Workshop: 80 Public Lavatory: 80 Rehabilitation Facilities: 100 Church: 150 A store should be a building where a merchant can run their business. Meanwhile, a workshop should be a kind of atelier for craftsmen. Okay, but then what is a publicvatory? Also, a rehabilitation facility? What I was most curious of all though was the church. <> Almost insisting, the guide rmended so. Even so, without a priest, there was no meaning in particrly having one. We could use the building for something else, but because it required 150 points to be built, there were far better alternatives. Why do you rmend that? <> Huh? Wait, are you saying we dont have to go to another church? <> Please consider supporting me. You can do this either by turning off adblock for this blog or via myPatreon page. Thank you. Chapter 18: I can now bless people freely, right? Chapter 18: I can now bless people freely, right? Once again, I moved some of the earthen walls and then built new ones so that the new area would be surrounded by walls as well. I also built terrace houses and wells. Given these, the new vigers should have decent shelters. I still had points left, so I decided to build a church, as the guide rmended. <<150 vige points will be consumed to build a church. Proceed? *[Yes]||[No]>> I selected Yes. Afterwards, a small church appeared. Smallpared to other churches, at least. In our tiny vige, it was just about the right size. Luke-sama, is this? Yes, Millia, its a church. I wonder what it is; somehow, I have this feeling that I should go pray in this church. As though something was guiding her, Millia entered the church. Of course, I followed behind her. Within was as normal as a church could be. Millia continued walking until she reached the altar further inside. She then knelt down and prayed. With bated breath, I watched her for a while. Before long, Millia lifted her head up and opened her eyes. Luke-sama, Ive received the Gift. [Oracle], I mean. Wow, great! In my awe, I identally let out a shout, which echoed in this empty ce of worship. Now that I have this, I can bless people freely, right? Yes, thats right. I think we should I go call in someone with a potential Gift right away. unless of course, if you prefer to take a rest first? No, that wont be needed. On the contrary, I insist that we do this as soon as possible. I havent had a chance to use Viger Appraisal on the newest group, so I didnt know yet how many of them had Gifts or the potential to have Gifts. Out of all the vigers I had used it on though, there were 13 people that could receive Gifts. 5 of those 13 werent adults yet, so only the remaining 7 were the options right now. By the way, because the strain on the body was so heavy, it was generally advised to wait until reaching adulthood before trying to receive a Gift. What do you mean, vige chief? The people I called seemed to be puzzled, so I began exining. What? I, I can have a Gift? But I thought only some nobles can receive a Gift? As far as I can tell, our people have been nothing but farmers for generations I quickly denied their false information. Certainly, lineage ys arge role in the likelihood of receiving a Gift, as well what kind of Gift they would receive. However, social status doesnt y a role at all in those things. They were not fully convinced. Oh well, I guess itll be quicker to convince them with results than with words And so, I asked Millia to begin giving each of them a blessing. She began with Balrath-san, Belrith-sans brother. Balrath, you have received the Gift of [Sword Techniques]. What is this sensation? Something, I can feel something flowing into my body. Name: Balrath Age: 32 years old Vige Bond Level: High Suitable upation: Soldier Gift: Sword Techniques Through Viger Appraisal, I confirmed that the parentheses around his Gift were removed. It seemed like he could now use the Gift. Balrath-san, please have this sword. Are you sure about this, vige chief? Absolutely. Im sure you and your Gift will find more use for this than I ever would. Our vige couldnt make our own swords yet. So, other than the two swords that Selen wielded, the only sword we had was the one I brought. How even just holding a sword properly was something Ive never been able to do before, but now, it feels like its part of my hands. After he received the sword, Balrath-san wonderingly said so. Thank you, vige chief. I might not be young anymore, but I promise you Ill train as much as I can to be strong enough to protect the vige. Balrath-san dered so. After him, Millia also blessed the others. In addition to the first ones I discovered[Comprehension of Concoctions], [Labyrinth Exploration], and [Literary Talent]there were [Master Farmer], [Green Magic], and [Spear Techniques]. I had never before heard of [Master Farmer]. Much like its name implies, it was a Gift that pertained to agriculture. However, since it belonged to a 20-year-old man who was already working in the fields, there was nothing special that needed to be done. [Green Magic] was a Gift that concerned wind and weather magic. If the user has be skilled enough, they would be able to summon rain freely. thatll help us farm, right? [Spear Techniques] was the [Sword Techniques] for spears. The one who got it was a 15-year-old man. He was young, so whether we assign him as a guard or as a hunter, he would likely flourish. TL notes: I changed swordsmanship to sword techniques in anticipation of Gifts of unusual weapons. I mean, whipmanship sounds weird, right? Please consider supporting me. You can do this either by turning off adblock for this blog or via my Patreon page. Thank you. Chapter 19: His two beautiful wives Chapter 19: His two beautiful wives My viges poption had risen to 173 people. And as such, the ce became full of activity. The days when it was just Millia and myself seemed so long ago now. By my count, there was about 2 women for each man. Moreover, the young outnumbered the old. Perhaps it was because of the many young women, but the whole vige somehow felt quite cheerful and vibrant right now. Good morning, Chief Luke. Fufu, todays quite lovely as well, isnt it? My, Chief Luke, your skins always so soft. Im so jealous. I have no doubt that Chief Lukes the cutest vige chief in the world. I especially felt so whenever thesedies teased me. Look, Im aware that Im not an authoritative-looking vige chief, but By the way, most women over the age of twenty were married already. That said, many of the husbands were forcefully conscripted. To make matters worse, a lot of the women had children to take care of by themselves. They might be cheerful, but they surely had worries of their own. So, if they could have a bit of fun by teasing me, I was willing to put up with that. Well, even without that reason, I might still notin because Im that bad at talking to older women I mean, I still sleep between Selen and Millia, for crying out loud. But to have those two prettydies as his wives, the chiefs quite enviable, yeah? You said it. Him being that young only makes him more amazing. He looks so cute and innocent, but he must be quite potent down there, wouldnt you agree? Hahaha! Before I knew it, the vigers had assumed that Selen and Millia were my wives. I couldnt me them for thinking so because the three of us did live under one roof, but still And for some reason, both Selen and Millia didnt deny such rumors even after hearing them themselves. Thanks to that, even if I say no, I am not married to either of them, I would only be met with replies such as oh, your face is so red, how cute or ahh, youth. They wouldnt listen to me at all. Haa! Fuu! *ng**ng* At the open space in the center of the vigeotherwise known as our public squarethe shouting voice of two men as well as the shing of metal resounded. The two men were doing some sword training. One of the two men was Balrath-san. The other was Perun-san. Perun-san, age 26, was among the 76test additions to our vige. Moreover, he was also blessed with [Sword Techniques]. Neither of them had any sword training before, but their movements were so good now, I could barely follow. As to be expected, the impact of a Gift was huge. Now more than ever, I understood the reason why people say that those without Gifts could never best those that had one. also, now more than ever, I wish I inherited fathers [Sword Master Techniques]. Haa Haa Haa Hee hee.. hee Eventually, the two stopped trading blows. For a while, they just stood there staring at each other, their breath ragged. And then, suddenly and at the same time, they undid their stance and sheathed their swords. At that moment, the vigers watching them train pped their hands. Wow! So thats the power of Gifts unbelievable Daddy, youre so cool! Our Papas just as cool! Among those watching were their children. Balrath-sans two sons were there, as well as Perun-sans daughter. Actually, all three children had the potential to have [Sword Techniques] as well. However, as they were still too young, they couldnt be blessed just yet. I look forward to that day though! You two sure have improved a lot. Alright, I expect you two to give your best as well in our huntter. Yes, Master!! The one who condescendingly said so to the two was Selen. In addition to having [Dual Wield], she had received sword training from a very young age. For that reason, training the two fell on her. Still, for the two much older men to call a 15-year-old girl Master, how do I say this, isnt it a bit odd? Please consider supporting me. You can do this either by turning off adblock for this blog or via my Patreon page. Thank you. Chapter 20: Our Savior Chapter 20: Our Savior I had used my [Viger Appraisal] on the 76 newest vigers. Among them, 12 had the potential to have Gifts. However, since 2 of those 12 were children, only 10 could be blessed right now. These Gifts included [Sword Techniques]; [Herculean Strength] which increased the users physical strength; [Beasts Sense of Smell] which heightened ones olfactory senses to rival even those of beasts; [Danger Perception] which alerted the user to iing danger; and [Poison Resistance] which decreases the effects of poison on the user. Of particr note was [Shield Master Techniques]. It was the superior version of [Shield Techniques]. Much like [Sword Master Techniques], this Gift was exceedingly rare. Because the Gift concerned shields, it didnt offer much in terms of attacks, but in return, it boosted the users defense and even allowed them to take on the damage that should be for their allies. The one blessed with [Shield Master Techniques] was a 13-year-old boy named Noel. He was only a year older than me, but his physique was already asrge as Balrath-sans. One could say that his body was perfect for his Gift. He wasnt particrly skilled at talking, but he was a kind and gentle soul. And apparently, he felt like he owed me a debt of gratitude. Vige chief I Using this Gift, Ill protect you. Thank you, Noel. I replied so to him. At the moment, he had only a wooden shield, but I hope we could give him something proper soon. I have gathered you all here to share an important oracle. Upon hearing such a solemn announcement in the church, the gathered vigers began to whisper among themselves. These vigers were the ones who had received Gifts. For that reason, they had strong feelings of reverence and gratitude toward the girl in front of the altartoward Millia. What I am to tell you is about our viges chief, Luke-sama. About the vige chief? What kind of oracle can it be? Seriousness on their faces, the vigers listened intently to Millia. Satisfied with their response, Millia continued. Luke-sama is someone sent by the gods to save us from the wars of this world! Due to the scale of her announcement, the vigers were at a loss for words. Before any of them could recover, Millia continued talking. Yes, Luke-sama is our savior. As you all no doubt have seen for yourselves, he has been blessed by the gods with a truly powerful Gift. Yet, Luke-sama has still not reached his full potential. Millia had heard from Luke that his [Vige Building] could make more kinds of facilities as well as grant him more vige skills if the thing called vige level increased. At that, the vigers looked at each other. Sure, I thought that the vige chief was no ordinary person, but No, were talking about the vige chief here. Its totally possible. It seems wevee to a truly unbelievable ce They were surprised, but all of them believed Millias words. How could they not when the person telling them such things was a priest that possessed the Gift [Oracle]. (Sorry, everyone what Ive told you isnt an oracle at all.. even so, I absolutely believe that that is the truth. That Luke-sama is an envoy of the gods who are worried about the world we live in.) Everyone, lets all give thanks to Luke-sama by doing our best to develop the vige! Yesssss! Like that, and unbeknownst to the person himself, a new faith was born in Lukes vige. ? Huh? Just now, I felt a chill down my spine am I catching a cold? Then, I guess I better rest earlier today. While thinking that, I suddenly heard shouts of Yesssss! From the church. Oh yeah, Millia did say she was gathering those who received Gifts so that they could do some worshiping together. Surely, they must be giving thanks again for the Gifts they received, right? Still, Millia didnt seem to be the type before, but just by receiving the Gift [Oracle], she became totally like a priest, huh. Please consider supporting me. You can do this either by turning off adblock for this blog or via my Patreon page. Thank you. Chapter 21: Bandits who attack refugees sadly arent rare Chapter 21: Bandits who attack refugees sadly arent rare Hmm, they sure are acting weird I said so as I wracked my brain for a reason why the vigers were behaving sotely. By acting weird, I was referring to their obviously abnormal levels of eagerness. Sure, they had been doing whatever they could for the vige even before, but this was too much And I wasnt just imagining it. I confirmed it by looking at them with Viger Appraisal. Before, majority of them had a Vige Bond Level of average or high, but now, more and more were having an ultra-high Vige Bond Level. What could have brought this on? Try as I might, the best I coulde up with was that they were just grateful for receiving a Gift. That couldnt be it though, at least not entirely, because even the vigers who couldnt receive a Gift were acting weirdly. Wait, hasnt Millia been holding worship gatheringstely? Theyre supposed to be sermons to a group of vigers at time, but I wonder plus, the very first group to attend wasposed only of those who received Gifts. more and more people are participating now, yet she still hasnt invited me to join them. You mean Millias worship gatherings? I havent been invited either. Oh, you too, Selen? I wonder what its like Well, it was in a church and it was with Millia, so there shouldnt be anything I had to worry about. Leaving it alone for the meantime didnt seem to be a bad idea. I wasnt sure if it was the cause of this situation, but if it turns out that it was, well, not like raising the vigers enthusiasm was a bad thing. That aside, the improvement of the hunting team is quite remarkable. Maybe its because theyre really motivated, but theyve be really strong. They might even be able to hunt down orcs soon. To the north, there was a forest full of monsters. A bit deeper into it, orcs could be found. Orcs were pig-like monsters whose meat were quite delicious. Moreover, because orc meat was rather rare, they would normally fetch a high price if sold. By the way, the hunting team led by Selen wasposed of ten other people. Most of them had Gifts. To name a few of the team: there was Balrath-san and Perun-san who had [Sword Techniques], Rando-kun who possessed [Spear Techniques], and Noel-kun who had [Shield Master Techniques]. In addition to thebat personnel, the ones with [Herculean Strength], [Beasts Sense of Smell], [Danger Perception] were part of the team as well. The one with [Herculean Strength] was primarily there to carry the prey they managed to hunt back to the vige. Chief! There seems to be another group of refugeesing to the vige! After being informed so, I immediately came to greet the said refugees. This time, it was a small groupposed of only ten people. However, unlike the ones before, they were awfully terrified of something. Wee. Im Luke, the chief of this vige. Most of the people living here are also refugees, so please just rx. Huh? At first, I thought they were just wary because they found a vige in a ce such as this, but it now seemed something else entirely. Ahm, did something happen? Well, actually Their voice trembling, they recounted what happened. Apparently, there was originally almost a hundred of them. However, that quickly changed when a group of bandits attacked them. A few of us got killed after resisting, but most of us were captured and brought somewhere were the ones somehow lucky enough to be able to escape and reach this ce Oh my Being driven away from their homes was bad enough, but on top of that, they got attacked by bandits. After all that, of course theyd be nervous wrecks. Bandits who attack refugees sadly arent rare. Aside from stealing from the refugees, the bandits also sell anyone they capture as ves. Like Millia said, it was more of a stroke of good luck that our vigers up until now managed to reach the vige without encountering bandits. If they had done perhaps even a single thing differently, they could have been attacked as well. As though the vigers were aware of that, they all had solemn expressions on their faces. How horrible Indeed. But I guess this problem is a lot more personal for us now. Right. All of the vigers were refugees, after all. How I wish thats what I meant, but no. Huh? While I stood there unable to understand the meaning behind Selens words, the refugees who just arrived bowed their heads. Were truly sorry! Theres a chance that the bandit group followed us here! Huh!? Please consider supporting me. You can do this either by turning off adblock for this blog or via my Patreon page. Thank you. Chapter 22: My blunder should be forgiven now Chapter 22: My blunder should be forgiven now The evening of that day. I felt something weird. Whats this? <> I got that skill when my vige level rose to 4. There hasnt been a chance for it to activate before, but it was now telling me that we had an intruder in the vige. It seems like I can tell even how many intruders there are but is there really only one of them? Wasnt the talk earlier about a group of bandits? The refugees who arrived today told us of the bandits that attacked them, so we were on alert. Finding a vige in the middle of nowhere might have made them cautious. Selen said so. So, this ones a scout? Can you tell where that person is? Yeah, theyre by the fields. And so, together with Selen, I headed toward the fields. The sun had already set, so we didnt have much vision. On top of that, there were many tall crops in the fields, making them good hiding ces. Even so, we should be able to locate the intruders location thanks to my [Intruder Detection]. They should be around there. Understood. Thisll destroy some crops, so sorry in advance. Selen said so and began casting her magic. Freezing! !!! Right after, the area I pointed to became frozen in an instant. W-whats going? My body So thats our intruder, huh. !! After walking around a bit, we found a man who was unable to move his body. These bastards sure are lucky. I unintentionally said out loud. Capturing refugees and selling them as ves, that was how our group was making money nowadays. There was arge battle recently, so refugees from the viges near the battlefield could be found here and there, wandering aimlessly. So, thinking wed make a killing, we captured these refugees without even stopping for a rest. However, just when I was about to sell them off to a ve trader, I made a blunder that allowed a few of them to escape. There was plenty more to catch, so I thought it was no big deal. Unfortunately, the boss found out and reprimanded me for it. Worse, he told me to note back until Ive captured the ones who escaped. And so, I reluctantly chased after the escaped refugees until I arrived at this wastnd. But how am I supposed to bring back ten people all by myself? Ah well, I guess I should just kill the guys as well as the uglies. They wont sell as much as the beautiful women anyway. While I was thinking so, I discovered something bizarre: a vige in this wastnd. I cursed my luck at first, but when I sneaked in to know more about the vige, I thanked my fortune instead. There were about 150 people in the vige, but most of them were women and children. There werent that many young men as well. Like that, I decided to contact the boss immediately. Our group had someone with a very convenient Gift called [Telepathy]. As long as I imagine myself talking to the guy, my thoughts would be sent. <> <> <> <> <> <> <> <> <> As soon as themunications ended, I clenched my fist. Kukuku, my blunder should be forgiven now. No, not just that, this should be more than enough for me to earn a promotion! At that moment though !!! To investigate the vige, I hid myself hiding between the tall crops in their field. Suddenly though, I was attacked by an intense chill, and before I knew it, my whole body froze in ce. While I was unable to move like that, two people appeared before me: a girl with blue hair and a ten-year-old brat. Please consider supporting me. You can do this either by turning off adblock for this blog or via my Patreon page. Thank you. Chapter 23: My patience’s about to run out! Chapter 23: My patiences about to run out! When I came to, I found myself within a jail cell. Huh? What happened? Wasnt I chasing down the refugees that escaped us? Ah! And then I remembered. I discovered a vige in this wastnd, snuck into it, and then reported to my senior that this ce was easy money what with it being mostly women and children. right after reporting that though, my body became frozen and unable to move <> <> <> <> When I noticed Satin was contacting me telepathically, I hurriedly answered and apologized as well. <> <> <> <> I answered so, but I immediately panicked. Despite being a vige of only women and children, I was effortlessly captured and jailed. There was this chance that this might not be an ordinary vige as I initially thought. I considered telling Satin my current situation, but decided not to. For if I did, the boss would have been so enraged he would kick me out of the group right there and then. Moreover, they might note at all to help me get out. And so, I decided to stick to my lie. <> I was technically not lying. Not wholly. The blue-haired girl I saw before passing out ought to have a nice price attached to her. Just when I was thinking that, the girl in question appeared on the other side of the iron bars of my cell. So, youve woken up. So, youve woken up. Selen said so to the man she captured. He looked like he was in thetter half of his twenties. He was slim and seemed lithe, making him really look like a bandit. Hidden on his person was a knife. Of course, we had confiscated this. For the moment, he was being detained in the jailhouse I built. As an added precaution, we also shackled him to the wall. So, who are you? Youre a bandit, arent you? To Selens questions, the man only answered with silence. Why are you alone? Where are your associates? How many people are in your group? His allies could possibly be on their way to our vige. We wanted to get as much information as we could from him so that we could prepare ordingly, but as things were Ehehe, why dont you leave things to me now? G-granny? With an enigmaticugh, the oldest person in the vige walked in. Yes, it was the olddy whose Suitable upation was to be a torturer. Oi, you, be sure to answer my questions, alright? Can you hear me? Im asking if you can hear me, you fucking brat! All of a sudden, the olddy shouted really loud. At the same time, a kick from her made contact with the mansher region. !? As much as the shackles allowed, the man fell down in utter pain. Ehehehe, hurts, doesnt it? But weve only just begun. I dont mind tenderly crushing your balls some more. Hii. Granny said so and thenughed maniacally. Granny youre so scary Enough Im so sorry, so please, enough Then hurry up and spill! My patiences about to run out! Granny yelled so while tightening her grip on the mans balls. Alright, Ill talk, Ill talk! Stop, Ill talk! His face pale white, the man told us everything. Like we suspected, this man was part of a group of bandits. He was pursuing the group of refugees who escaped from them. It was his fault that the refugees escaped, so as punishment, he was made to retrieve them all by himself. I had hoped that by imprisoning the man here, our viges location wouldnt be known to the other bandits for at least a while. However, because the bandits had someone with the Gift called [Telepathy], the man managed to share such information. In other words, the group of bandits would be here soon. Hmph, [Telepathy], huh. Even though theyre bandits, they have such an impressive Gift. After saying so, Granny snorted and then spat on the ground. We didnt know how many exactly, but ording to the man, their group easily had more than 60 members. 60 violent people adept at piging. Right now, we had no other choice than to confront such people. Please consider supporting me. You can do this either by turning off adblock for this blog or via my Patreon page. Thank you. Chapter 24: How thoughtful of you Chapter 24: How thoughtful of you I am Satin. I was born into an aristocratic family, but through twists and turns, I was now a member of a bandit group. When I turned 12, I received the Gift called [Telepathy]. It was a convenient Gift that allowed me tomunicate with another person without speaking a single word. An extension of its ability was that it allowed me to hear the thoughts of a nearby person even without their consent. My family wasnt fond of it, so when I turned 20, I was driven out. For years, I moved from ce to ce. And about ten years ago, I became a member of the bandit group led by Dorial. Time passed and I was now the boss right hand man. The other members even adored me as their older brother. All in all, I liked being in this group. The boss was scary when angry, but on the other hand, he didnt mind my Gift and even treasured it. As for the boss himself, he possessed abat Gift. He was very strong. In this line of work, we would often sh with state-employed soldiers, but thanks to the boss might, we overcame each of them. At the moment, our group was headed to a wastnd. A member of our group, Baal, was tasked to chase down refugees who managed to escape from us. ording to the report he made via Telepathy, the refugees were in a vige here. Aniki, its true, there really is a vige out here. I see. I was half in doubt about it myself, but it turns out Baal was saying the truth, huh. I was relieved to hear the scouts report. Because then,ing all the way here wouldnt be for nothing. <> <> <> After confirming with Baal who seemed to be within the vige, I ryed the information to the boss. Haa, we can take this vige even during the day; its not worthy of a night attack. But waiting until morning doesnt make sense. Alright, lets end this right away. After saying so, the boss snorted and then walked toward the vige, his favorite battleaxe in hand. Standing at over two meters, the boss was quite a giant of a man. An ordinary human would have trouble just lifting his axe, but he wielded it so effortlessly with a single hand. Of course, we followed the boss as he walked. We left some members behind to watch over the other refugees we caught, so we only had about 40 members with us. Even so, this much was already overkill for a vige like this. Before long, we reached the gate of the vige. As precaution, we moved without any lit torches, relying only on the light provided by the moon and the stars. Now that we were here at the entrance though, we lit our torches all at once. Gang! Follow me! Oraaaaaaaaaaaa! Leading the charge was the boss himself. He mmed himself into the gate and it was blown away. Granted, it was only a wooden structure, but to do so much with a single attack was awe-inspiring nheless. Oooooooooooohhh!!! Following the boss, we all rushed in as well. I couldnt help but notice something strange at that time though: I suddenly didnt feel the ground beneath my feet anymore. eh? For a moment, I felt like I was floating. In the next though, my body began to fall. I as well as the others panicked, of course. Did we fall into a pit!? However, instead of falling onto some spikes, we only fell onto some water. Buhaa!? Shit, they ced a moat behind the wall!? I swallowed some of the water due to the suddenness of it all, but I made it to the surface without any other issue. But for me to even have to swim up meant that the moat was quite deep. Most moats were only about as deep as the height of the average man. And then, one by one, lights illuminated the other side of the moat, revealing the figures of several people. The people of this vige not only knew we wereing, but also prepared against us? Dont make light of us! We can swim our way!? Before the boss could even finish, I felt the temperature of the water drop to the point that I shivered. T-the water, it, it froze Please consider supporting me. You can do this either by turning off adblock for this blog or via my Patreon page. Thank you. Chapter 25: The cold cuts deep all the same Chapter 25: The cold cuts deep all the same The surface of the water in the moat froze. And we were in that water when it did. Unless something was done, we would bepletely immobilized. <> Tsk, hes not responding.Its all because of him that were in this mess. I wont forgive you for this, Baal! Then I thought of something even worse than Baals ipetence. What if the people of this vige had captured him and made him lie to us? Theyve set us up? Despite my panic, I tried to move forward. However, the frozen water made my progress slow. The other members were in a simr struggle. Ha! You think this is enough to stop me? Ill show you! While everyone else was helpless against the frozen water, the boss and the boss alone made great progress on going forward. Before long, the boss reached the other side of the frozen moat. Lass! Youre the one who used magic to freeze the water, werent you!? The one the boss scowled at was the blue-haired girl who was the closest among the vigers to the water. Oraaa!! The boss swung his axe at the girl. I couldnt believe what happened next. The girl not only managed to avoid the bosss powerful attack, she was also able to snuck in a couple of shes with the swords in her hand while moving to his side. The boss had a Gift called [Axe Techniques]. It was impossible for someone to be able to avoid his attack and then attack him in returnunless they had a simr Gift, of course Gah You! You can use magic and youre even great with swords? What, are you a Double Gift!? Double Gift was the term for the rare people who had two Gifts. But whats a Double Gift doing in a vige like this? What the hells going on? I shuddered at the thought. However, I realized that because the girl was fighting the boss, the moat stopped freezing further. Now was the best chance to get out. I hit my body so that the sensation I lost would return, and desperately swam forward. Thanks to that, I made it tond. The other members were reaching the shore one by one as well. The blue-haired girl was surprisingly still managing to fight the boss on about equal terms, but that should change soon. We could fight alongside the boss or simply take the other vigers as hostage. Gugaa!? Buu! We who made it tond were suddenly sent back to the water by the other vigers who had weapons in their hands. Tsk, dont you dare underestimate us! Sick em! Our bodies might be sluggish at the moment due to the cold water, but were still veteran bandits,damnit. Having weapons dont make you any less of an amateur. Youre no match for us! I thought so, but Gyaa!? Ugh What the hell!? These guys are too strong!? We got beat one by one. How can this be!? Their movements, theyre of amateurs, arent they!? So how? What shocked me more though was bosss fight with the blue-haired girl. Guhthisss The boss was bleeding all over his body. Has all that bleeding made him slow? Noits something else My bodys gotten heavier? Is this your magics doing!? Correct. Each time I shed you, I lowered your bodys temperature a little. Your muscles made it hard for my des to sh deep enough, but the cold cuts deep all the same, wouldnt you agree? I think Ive heard about youThe Frozen des Princess of the Bazurata family, thats you, right? but then, what the hell are you doing all the way out here? I have my reasons. Tsk. Well, youve pushed me like no one else hasand I admit defeat After his deration of defeat, the bosssrge body fell forward. The boss has been defeated? Y-youre kidding me, right? After seeing that, there was just no way our group could muster up any will to fight further. And so, we surrendered. Please consider supporting me. You can do this either by turning off adblock for this blog or via my Patreon page. Thank you. Chapter 26: If you’ve experienced as much as I have, you’d be able to see through all that Chapter 26: If youve experienced as much as I have, youd be able to see through all that Great. It looks were ready. Yes. Amazing, Luke-sama. While standing on top of a watchtower, I breathed a sigh of relief. It looked like we had a real chance of oveing the greatest crisis this vige ever faced since its founding. We had captured a bandit named Baal. Through interrogating him, we gained the information that someone among their group had the Gift of [Telepathy]. The oldest person in the vige boldly suggested that we use this Gift against them. But will he really tell them what we want him to? I mean, we have no way of checking Eheheheeethats not an issue when Im around. You see, unless theyre trained to perfection, humans cant liepletely. If youve experienced as much as I have, youd be able to see through all that. Granny seemed confident when she said so. In other words, you! You better do as youre told or your precious balls get crushed! Hii!? Once again, granny sure was scary. oh well, better leave it to her. And so, we waited for the bandits toe. Through Baal, we led them into the vige. Once I confirmed that all members had passed the viges gate, I immediately built a moat under their feet. Had I prepared the moat beforehand, we would have gotten a few members of their vanguard to fall, sure, but the others would have noticed it and stop their advance. And it worked. All the bandits fell down the moat and made a ssh. The next step was for Selen to use her Blue Magic to rapidly freeze the water in the moat so that the bandits would be stuck there. However, this step didnt go as well as we hoped. A man at least two heads taller than Balrath-san managed to break free from the congealing water. Thanks to the information I heard beforehand, I immediately knew that this was the so-called boss of the bandits. The boss correctly identified Selen to be the one who was freezing the water, and rushed toward her. To confront the iing threat, Selen stopped using her magic on the water. And because the water in the moat hasntpletely frozen yet, the other bandits made it tond after some serious effort. Yet, this much was still within our expectations. To turn the tables back on the bandits, Balrath-san and the other vigers withbat-oriented Gifts were on standby on the shore. The bandits movements were probably slowed by the cold water, but in the end, what mattered was that the vigers managed to send the bandits back to the water. And when Selen finally defeated their boss, the bandits lost all will to fight. Like that, we protected our vige from the bandits. The bandits were now in our jailhouses. There were too many of them to fit into only one jailhouse, so I built another three. Luke, weve returned with the people captured by the bandits. Im so d we got to them before theyre sold. The dawn right after the fight, Selen led a group to look for the people who were captured by the bandits. They should have been immensely tired from the night of the fight, but they left to help as soon as they obtained the necessary information from bandits. Thanks for the hard work, Selen. And sorry for putting so much on you. It wasnt much trouble. The remnants of their group fought us at first, but as soon as they saw they were no match, they ran away. ording to the information we got, there were about 20 bandits left behind in their base to guard the refugees they captured. However, because there wasnt anyone there who had any notable fighting prowess, Selens group apparently didnt have much to worry about. And the one to acquire this information for us was once again granny. Ehehehee, these things arent an issue when Im around. I was too scared ask what kinds of methods she used to coax the information out. <> The refugees we saved agreed to live here now. All in all, I now had 267 vigers. Still, what am I to do with the bandits now? <> huh? Please consider supporting me. You can do this either by turning off adblock for this blog or via my Patreon page. Thank you. Chapter 27: I can make them villagers without their consent? Chapter 27: I can make them vigers without their consent? Make the bandits? The guides advice this time was so incredulous, I unconsciously repeated what it said. I had been offering refugees the option of bing a viger, but this was apletely different matter. These were bandits, for crying out loud. They had done various crimes, and are thus a danger to the other vigers. <> Oh, okay. <> Oh yeah, I became able to build that facility, huh. <> The guide said so, but we were just a small vige. There was no way we could hold a trial for each and every bandit. Because their group did crimes all over various ces, we could just send them to a lord of a territory and have that lord pass judgement on them. However, due to the times we lived in now, banditry had be somonce that I feared that their group would either be executed without any trial at all or be released after some kind of deal. <> Hmm, I see I still had various concerns, but for now, I decided to make them vigers as the guide advised. Wait, can I make them a viger even without their consent? <> I see. That bnces things, I guess. <> I decided to agree. <> << Ta-ta-ta-dah! Congrattions! Because you now have more than 300 vigers, your vige has be level 5!>> <<500 vige points have been acquired as level up bonus.>> <> <> <> Oh, another level up. Hmm, Facility Customization? <> Facilities have always been built with the same design or structure. For example, earthen walls had the same height and length each time I built one, so there was nothing I could do if I wanted a wall just a tiny bit higher. Through this skill though, I should be able to adjust those parameters, maybe even bend them and change their colors. Hoh, in that case, a single earthen wall will be enough to surround my vige, right? I mean, Ill just extend it as much as I have to. <> Oh, I see I examined it a bit more thoroughly.
  • When altering the shape of a facility, no vige point is required.
  • When removing something from a facility, no vige point is required.
  • When changing the colors of a facility, no vige point is required.
  • When adding something into a facility, some vige points are required.
I see. That makes more sense. If changed the location of a bathroom in a house or remove it entirely, I wouldnt need to pay points. But if wanted to have two, it seemed points were necessary. I decided to look at the finer detailster, and instead try the vige skill out for the moment. Oh, before that, I better build that rehabilitation facility first. Rehabilitating all bandits at once seemed too much, so I decided to only do so 5 at a time, starting with those who seemed to be less problematic. Ehehehee, why dont you leave this to me? Ill make honest citizens out of these brats soon enoughEhehehee ~~~~! The one to nominate herself as the disciplinarian was the eldest person in the vige. The bandits winced upon hearing grannys wordswill they be alright? Please consider supporting me. You can do this either by turning off adblock for this blog or via my Patreon page. Thank you. Chapter 28: Ah, sorry, everyone. I did that. Chapter 28: Ah, sorry, everyone. I did that. I catalogued the facilities my vige currently had. First, we had one shed and one storehouse. I, Millia, and Selen currently lived in the only small house the vige had. To house all of our vigers, the vige had 16 terrace houses. Each terrace house had a dedicated water well, plus the one for our small house. So, in total, we had 17 water wells. We had 30 fields. For earthen walls, by my count, we had 15 all in all. We had three jailhouses for the bandits. In connection, we had 1 rehabilitation facility. The moat I built to use against the bandits have been repurposed as an embankment. We had a watchtower for each of the four corners of our vige. We had one outdoor kitchen. We had one incinerator. Andstly, we had one church. In addition to the points Ive been saving up in case emergencies arose, I gained 500 points as a bonus. At this point, leaving it unused seem rather wasteful, especially if I can find a good use for it. But what could that be, hmm? Oh, yeah, I became able to build new facilities, didnt I? Lets check them out. <> Road 5 Canal 10 Observation Tower 100 Public Bathhouse 150 Large House 200 Roads only cost 5 points while canals only cost 10; arent these so much cheaper than the previous facilities? It was only 5 points, so I tried making one. Apparently though, each one was only a few meters long. In other words, there was a need to build and connect many of them to get meaningful use. The cost made sense to me then. I would say though, the road was built much sturdier than I expected. It was made with cobblestones, but the gaps between each stone was so small. Moreover, the road waspletely t. Even the roads that connected the Albert territory with other major cities werent this t. I also built a canal made of piled together stones. Between this, moats, and embankments, we had a fair bit of flood control. Is an observation tower just an improved watchtower? How about this public bathhouse? Is it a facility for baths? If so, everyones gonna like it, right? While the small house where I lived had a bath, the terrace houses didnte with any. So, to wash their bodies, the vigers made use of the water wells. However, water from that tended to be cold. It wasnt much of an issue now because it was still warm this time of the year, but once winteres around, washing their bodies would likely be quite the ordeal. All that being said, I decided to upgrade the viges earthen walls into stone walls first. I decided so in the hopes that this would improve our defense. Sure, our n went well and we were able to defeat the enemies this time, but that didnt eliminate the concerns I had about the earthen walls. To upgrade the walls, I needed to pay only the difference between the types, which was 30 points. Now, given that we had 15 walls, that meant I needed to pay 450 points in order to upgrade all of them. Wh-what happened!? I thought the walls were moving again But they instead became made of stone!? The 2-meter-tall earthen walls suddenly became 2.5-meter stone walls, so the vigers were flustered at what could have happened. Ah, sorry, everyone. I did that. Oh, its the chief, huh. Of course, its the chief. Who else would have been able to do a feat like that in an instant? Wait, arent you all epting this a little too easily!? The vigers readily epted that it was my doing. Not even a sliver of doubt crossed their minds. After regaining my calm, I proceeded to upgrade our small house. The vigers lived in much narrower residences than I did, so I didnt mind letting it be, but it was the vigers themselves who insisted that I go live somewhere bigger. I was able to build arge house now, but I chose to build a medium-sized one for now. Like when I upgraded the walls, I only had to pay the difference between the two versions, which was 50 points. Woah, it has two stories now! I stepped inside. The first floor had one room in addition to the living room and the kitchen. Meanwhile, the second floor had two rooms. Compared to the small house, this was quite spacious. but theres still only one bed? The medium-sized house was quite furnished, but it only had one bed. It was ced on the second floor. It was a double bed though, so it could be said to be an improvement. And then, I had an Aha! moment. What if I use facility customization? Will I then be able to increase the number of beds? Will I finally be released from being sandwiched every night? Please consider supporting me. You can do this either by turning off adblock for this blog or via my Patreon page. Thank you. Chapter 29: Its a public bathhouse Chapter 29: Its a public bathhouse Facility Customization was the vige skill I acquired recently. Hoping I could increase the number of beds in the house, I imagined the form of the new bed. After doing so, a semi-transparent bed appeared before me. That seemed to allow me to adjust freely its size as well as to change where it was ced. At one corner of this semi-transparent bed, there was a number. When I noticed the number, it said 2 points. When I tried to make the bed bigger, the number increased to 3; when I tried to make the bed smaller, it decreased to 1. I see. So this is the amount of points required to build the bed. When adding something into a facility, some vige points are required, I think it said. 2 points seemed to be the base cost for adding a new double-bed, but a bed worth 1 point looked enough to me. I built and ced a bed in the room on the first floor as well as in the extra room on the second floor. Alright. We each have our own beds now! Ever since Selen arrived, I had been sleeping between her and Millia. I had gotten a bit used to being sandwiched, but even so, men and women of marriageable age sleeping beside each other was definitely not normal. It might feel lonely, sure, but Id just have to keep the feeling of missing them a secret. Next, Id like to add toilets and baths. Back in the small house, the toilet and the bath were in the same room. In this medium-sized house, they were separate. There was still only one of each though. Like this, incidents were liable to happen. Like they have many times before Hopefully, adding more of them would decrease the likelihood of that. Woah, the cost jumped up, havent they? The bed only cost me 1 vige points, but it would cost me 10 points to add another toilet room to the house. Meanwhile, it would cost me 5 points to add another bathroom. However, in order to avoid those incidents, this customization was a must. After being satisfied with that, I decided to build something in an unused space in the vige: a public bathhouse. <<150 vige points will be consumed to build a public bathhouse. Proceed? *{Yes}||{No}>> I chose yes. In the next moment, a buildingrger than a terrace house appeared. Vige chief, whats this? Ah, Belrith-san. Its a public bathhouse. Belrith-san came along at the perfect timing. He was my mediator with the other vigers, so if I exined to him how to use this new facility, the other vigers would also learn how to do so through him. They might even suggest rules to follow when using the bathhouse. A public bath home? Apparently though, Belrith-san wasnt aware of what even a public bathhouse was. Which wasnt strange at all. If memory serves me right, even in the Albert territory, only the capital had such buildings. Well, why dont we go inside first? Lets check it out together. Seeing is believing, as they say. And so, Belrith-san and I walked inside the building. It had a small entrance, and a bit further in, there were two routes. A curtain with text written on it was hung in front of each route. One had Male, and the other had Female written on it. Men and women have their own, huh. Are you perhaps talking about toilets? Nope. Trust me, itll make sense in a while. By the way, that ce youre talking about will be called a publicvatory. We proceeded to enter the mens bath. This is the changing room, I guess. The changing room? I encouraged Belrith-sanwho was still clueless about what kind of facility this wasto walk further. After passing through a door, we found arge bathtub in the room. Perhaps it was because it was made of wood, but an aroma assailed my senses. There was already hot water in the tub, and the steaming from it had clouded our visions. From where this hot water came, I had no clue Well, if we were going to have an infinite supply of it like as was the case for the water from the wells and my home, I saw little point in bothering to figure it out. Do we soak our bodies there? Yes, actually. Its called a bath. And this one can be enjoyed by everybody. Hence, its called a public bathhouse. Such a thing There was a washing area, so we rinsed our bodies there. After doing so, we finally submerged ourselves in the bath. It doesnt really offer much now, what with the warm weather and all, but once winteres, this should solve the issue of the freezing water. To build such a wonderful thing for our sakesthank you very much sir! Hey, its nothing. My Gift did all the work. This is nothing? You are our savour vige chief! Our vige chief, after all! hmm? Save? No, no, never mind that. Anyway, Im sure that everyone will appreciate this! What was that? That sounded awfully like he was trying to hide something. Hmm Please consider supporting me. You can do this either by turning off adblock for this blog or via my Patreon page. Thank you. Chapter 30: But if it’s the chief, I don’t think I’d really mind Chapter 30: But if its the chief, I dont think Id really mind Because of the public bathhouse I built, the vigers were greatly delighted. Right after introducing it to them, many rushed to avail of its services. Especially the women. So much so that they were almost not fitting in the bathtubs. Also, there already was a case of a young man trying to peep at the women while they were bathing. Unfortunately for him, he was immediately caught and then beaten severely by the women. Afterwards, he was sent to the jailhouse. Hopefully, that man was enough of an example to discourage everyone else from peeping. The women outnumbered the men in this vige, so peeping on them was almost the same as antagonizing the whole vige. In other words: peeping, nope, never. But if its the chief, I dont think Id really mind. Rather, why dont you take a bath with us, vige chief? Yeah. Wed wash your back for you. No, thank you! I absolutely cant do that! After turning down such an absurd invitation from thedies, I hurriedly ran away. Geez, when are they ever going to take me seriously? I escaped until I reached the edge of the vige where the newly-built stone walls were. There was something I wanted to try with Facility Customization. I mean, wouldnt it be really convenient if there was a stair in this side of the wall? The ability to climb the wall in an instant would be invaluable in case of an emergency. And so, I imagined a set of stairs. It appeared before me in a semi-transparent state. I ced the bottom of the stairs on the ground and then extended it all the way to the top. All in all, it cost me 5 points. I think I should install about eight of these. While sticking close to the walls, I walked and installed stairs at set intervals. Alright, doneactually, now that I think about it, what if I put holes in the wall? That way, we can attack behind the protection of the walls, right? I tested it out. I was concerned that this hole would be used against us, so I made it to slope downward. Since I was actually removing parts of the wall, the hole didnt cost me any points. Yeah, but the walls are thicker than I thought The stone walls were more than a meter thick. For that reason, probably only long spears could be used here. That being said, we hardly had any weapon of any kind here in the vige. The few that we had were mostly made out of wood. As to be expected of wooden weapons though, they werent very strong. Yet, it took a lot of effort to make even such weapons. For those reasons, the only ones who had weapons in the vige were the members of the hunting group. Which made the fact that we were able to beat the bandits even more amazing, in my opinion. Hmm, I wonder how we can easily get more weapons Our vige was in the middle of nowhere, so we were far away from any town or city where we could procure weapons. Wait, hold on. I suddenly had an idea and headed for the center of the vige. After a while I reached the very first facility I built: the shed. No one was living here anymore, so it was nothing but a storage space now. Maybe I can borrow some wood from this shed I imagined carving out a portion of the sheds wall into a rod shape. Like that, a semi-transparent rod indeed protruded out from the wall and floated in the air. After confirming Yes, the rod materialized and dropped to the ground. It worked! If used like this, Facility customization can do even this, huh. Even though I was still surprised, I proceeded to customize the rod further. However, this time, no matter how much I pictured it, nothing happened. Huh? Whats the deal? <> So, once something is detached from the facility, facility customization can no longer be used on it? But if its still part of the facility, there should be no problem, right? I tested out my theory. This time though, while the semi-transparent rod was still attached to the wall, I shaped it into a sword. When I was done, I separated it from the wall and materialized it. It worked! Seeing the sword I imagined, I involuntarily let out a shout. I was able to make a sword in an instant, as opposed to the effort it would take to normally make one. Like this, we should have no problem mass producing them. Please consider supporting me. You can do this either by turning off adblock for this blog or via my Patreon page. Thank you. Chapter 31: If he tells you to die, you die 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 exnation, I went to see Selen. Wait, what? Using my Gift, I made a sword. yeah, that doesnt make sense. I thought your Gift is [Vige Building]? Why then can it do something like making a weapon? Basically, my Gift now has this ability to customize the facilities Ive 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, essories, and more. Yeah. For now though, lets 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 sh 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 its not very strong, Id 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 frailpared to Selens swords of course, but the sword I made was apparently even frailer. Hmm. If wepensate for their frailness by making many of themno, because then the hunters will have to carry all of them. Worse, the weapons might break at the worst possible time. Guess Ill just have to improve the qualwait, 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 vige 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 syble, yet it still became almost inaudible toward the end. Yeah, theres no way these guys are alright. Listen, from this moment on, each and every one of you is going to do exactly as the vige chief says. If he tells you to work, you work; if he tells you to die, you die. Understood? Eh? Im to oversee these guys from now on!? Yes What a weak answer. Havent 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 dering so in the squeakiest of voices, they bowed down to me. Theyve be really obedient. I doubt theyll cause mischief now, but Im worried that once I take my eyes off of them, theyll 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 viges priest. As someone who can hear the voice of god, Ill guide them. Oh, okay. Ill 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 Im 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, Im worried for them, but who else can rece 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. Please consider supporting me. You can do this either by turning off adblock for this blog or via my Patreon page. Thank you. Chapter 32: What the hells going on in this village? Chapter 32: What the hells going on in this vige? I reached the jailhouse. The bandits within the cells had their eyes on me as soon as I entered, so I couldnt help but be a bit scared. I tried to pay it no mind as much as I could though, and concentrated on the task I came here to do. So, I lightly touched the bars separating me from the bandits. Hmm, it looks like I can use this. My idea was to use Facility Customization on these metal bars and make weapons even stronger than those made of wood. But if I start as is, therell be a gap between the bars. After paying 2 points, the bars in the cell increased by 1. Wha!? The banditswho were still watching mesaw an additional bar suddenly appear, so they were understandably surprised. I detached one end of the additional bar and made it shorter. Next, I expanded it horizontally, but also ttened it a bit. I then made the disconnected end be pointed. I repeated these things until the bar was shaped like a sword. When I was satisfied with its form, I detached the other the end, effectively making it no longer part of the facility. What dropped to the floor was unmistakably a sword. This only made the bandits even more clueless as to what was going on. I did it! woah, its much heavier than I thought. I remarked so after picking it up. It was quite dense. But then, that should also mean that it was strong. Now that I think about it though, if I made the swords from the shed to be denser, maybe they would have be stronger as well. Leaving that thought aside, I decided to strike the wall with the metal sword I made. The impact with the wall caused shockwaves to be transmitted directly to my arms though. Ow, ow, ow. I feel like my arms are about to fall off any moment. The problem was that the part I was holding was an extension of the de. In other words, I was holding the des shank. If I remember right, they usually cover the lower part with wood or leather. After giving it some thought, I decided to make the hilt with the wood from the shed. So, I moved the shed next to the jailhouse. Next, I ced the des shank to the outer wall of the shed. I then made the wall wrap itself tightly around the shank. I made sure to make the wood be dense. Once I was satisfied, I detached the finished hilt from the wall. Obviously, I would have preferred to make the partsthe de and the hiltindividually first and thenbine them at ater time. However, because the sword parts wouldnt have been considered part of their respective facilities anymore, I wouldnt have been able to use Facility Customization tobine them. Am I dreaming? how can you be when Im seeing the exact same thing He made a sword out of the metal bar, and then suddenly made a shed appear whats the hells going on in this vige? The bandits who saw the whole thing were stunned silly. I mean, it is a bizarre thing to witness. Anyway, itsplete now. The wooden grip should be able to absorb a bit of the shock. While Im at it, I guess should try to make a spear. Only the tip should be made of metal, I think, and the rest should be made out of wood. As long as I made the shaft bepact, it should be strong enough. After following simr steps, I finished the spear as well. I brought both the sword and the spear to show it to Selen. Selen, look, I was able to make decent weapons this time. This is made fromiron? Where did you get it from though? Selen was quite surprised by the weapons. Nevertheless, she summoned Balrath-san and sparred with him again. This time though, even after several exchanges of blows, the sword I made didnt break. It seems strong enough. Yes. I dont mind using this in real fights. It seemed like the sword passed. Next, to test the spear, Selen called Rando-kun who had [Spear Techniques]. Its so easy to handle. More importantly, its sharpness is so different from the one Ive been using. With this spear, even I should be able to contribute to our hunts! Because Rando-kun has been using a wooden spear until now, he was so delighted to receive the spear I made. But where did this speare from? I made it. You did, vige chief?! His eyes wide open, Rando-kun shouted so. Wow! I promise you, vige chief, this spear will never see battle! Huh? Why!? Because its the very first item youve bestowed upon me. Its a treasure. No, its more than that. Itll be an heirloom Ill pass on to my children and my childrens children! No, please, just use it! Its not that grand! Ghhif I knew, I wouldnt have swung it so carelessly earlier Not you too, Balrath-san! Please consider supporting me. You can do this either by turning off adblock for this blog or via my Patreon page. Thank you. Chapter 33: I’ll be sure to reward your admirable character Chapter 33: Ill be sure to reward your admirable character Weapons were made to be used. Yet, upon learning that I was the one who made the weapons, both Balrath-san and Rando-kun insisted that they were going to treat the first ones they received as heirlooms. They seemed so adamant about it that I felt like I couldnt convince them to do otherwise, so I decided just to make new weapons. Making more weapons was always the n anyways. Is this a weapon workshop or something? No, this most definitely is a prison, but I was making swords and spears one after the other, causing the bandits in the cells to be dumbfounded like before, if not more. Eheeheehee, I wonder which of you Ill rehabilitate next? Hii!!! Will it be you? You? Or perhaps you? Eheeheeehee Before I realized it, granny picked up one of the spears I made and began assessing the bandits. More than once, she seemed like she was going to poke them with the spears. Seeing them be frightened by that seemed to delight her though. Alright, Ive decided. You, you, and you. Also, you and you. Granny hasnt done anything yet, but the chosen five people became ghastly pale. And when they were being brought out of the jailhouse, their faces became that of utter despair.. ((Hey, hey, young man.)) Hmm? Did I hear a voice just now? Just my imagination? I looked around, but it didnt seem like anyone was calling out to me. ((Its not your imagination. I am the one who spoke to you. Im the man in the far back.)) I looked at where the voice said and saw a bandit who was leaning against the wall. He was a middle-aged man who looked far too proper to be a bandit. Now that I think about it, there was someone who had a Gift called [Telepathy] among them, wasnt there? ((Im Satin. I belonged to a noble house before, but after some events, I was cast out of my home. After some more twists and turns, I found myself having to do ill deeds just to survive)) He quickly told me his lifes story. His story made some sense of things. Specifically, how a group of bandits had someone with a Gift, a thing mostly reserved for nobles and wealthy merchants. ((Ive really reflected on my actions today. Robbing people so that I could live is no way to live at all. I would rather die than to hurt another soul)) (()) ((But dyings too easy. Let me devote myself to this vige as my way to repent for my crimes.)) ((are you really sorry?)) ((Yes! Absolutely!)) I decided to use my Viger Appraisal on the bandit who was desperately pleading for his release. Name: Satin Age: 34 years old Vige Bond Level: Rebellious Suitable upation: Communications Officer Gift: Telepathy His vige bond level is rebellious? <> Yup, hes not sorry at all. By the way, those who finished the rehabilitation process had a vige bond level of low. While we shouldnt expect much from them, we at least didnt have to worry about them either. ((So, how about it, young man? Release me from this ce, please?)) This man was clearly getting on my good side just to get out of his cell. ((You want to get out of being rehabilitated by granny that much?)) ((! Well, theres that, but its so much more than that! I just want to be of use to this vige as soon as possible!)) The moment I mentioned granny, his face went pale. He might have thought I would be easy to trick, but he wouldnt get his way this time. Hey granny. Hmm, what is it? That man over there says he wants to go to the rehabilitation facility as soon as possible. Wha!? When I said that, the man was shocked. ((Oi, what do you think youre doing!?)) ((Oh, so thats how you really talk?)) ((You brat!)) Meanwhile, granny was delighted with what I said. Well, arent you admirable? She looked at the man, said so, and then gave out her usual eheeheehee Good luck! Please consider supporting me. You can do this either by turning off adblock for this blog or via my Patreon page. Thank you. Chapter 34: You’re brushing it aside like that?! Chapter 34: Youre brushing it aside like that?! It doesnt make sense It was evening. Whileying on the bed, I tilted my head in bewilderment. A double bed came along with the upgrade to a medium-sized house. It was definitely better than the bed in the small house. Even if three people slept on it, it shouldnt feel so cramped. That wasnt the problem though Whats the matter, Luke-sama? What doesnt make sense? Millia and Selen asked me so. Dont act like you dont know! This, this doesnt make sense! Ive made a bed for each of you, so why are you here acting like youre gonna sleep beside me!? I had used Facility Customization to add two more beds. Obviously, I had also notified the two about it. Yet, for some strange reason, they were still with me tonight. Luke-sama, staying uptes bad for your body. Youre brushing it aside like that?! Yeah, Luke. Lets stop talking and just sleep. You too, Selen?! It seems like these two will sleep here no matter what. Fine. Ill just go somewhere else to sleep. When I tried to get out of bed though, I was pulled back and locked into ce. Where are you going, Luke-sama? To the toilet But you just went, right? Ahm Lets go to bed now. Good night, Luke. These two were usually at odds with each other, but when it came to things like this, their teamwork was impable. So much so that I wasnt able to get a word in to object. Haa Fine Good night I epted my fate of sleeping sandwiched by Millia and Selen. Selens hunting group hasnt returned? Y-yes. Theyre usually back around this time Selen and her group had ventured into the forest in the north to hunt. It had gottente but her group still wasnt back, causing a bit ofmotion in the vige. The aforementioned forest was full monsters. It was dangerous even during the day, but even more so during the night. For that reason, the hunters usually returned well before the sun has set. Well, its them, so I dont think theres much to worry about By the way, because there were some people from the fourth refugee group who had Gifts, the hunting team was now 15 people strong. And thanks to my Facility Customization, they were decently armed. Recently, their team has been hunting down a lot of a rabbit-like monster called aru-mirage. Calling it rabbit-like might give the impression that it was cute, but the sharp horn on its head and its over 1-meter-long body would quickly change anyones mind. Moreover, it was quick despite its size. Even an agile soldier would have a have time against it. That being said, they were not hard prey for our hunting team. Whenever they would go out, they would often bring back 2 to 3 of the said creatures. Vige Chief! The hunting teams back! While I was thinking of such things, the one on the observation tower reported so. And! And theyre carrying some kind ofrge game! After some time, Selens group arrived in the vige. Those are orcs! The hunting team took down orcs! Yes, orcs! Not just one, theres two of them! Whalook how big it is! An orc was a monster whose head resembled that of a pigs. With a height of over two meters tall, these monsters were indeed huge. On top of that, they were muscr. So much so that the bandits leader looked skinny inparison. And there were two of them. Thankfully, someone in the hunting team had a Gift called [Herculean Strength]. He carried one of the orcs by himself. His strength was truly astonishing. No wonder they got homete. Selen might say taking down orcs were easy, but for the average person, they were real threats. Even one would be enough to destroy a small vige. The danger they posed was the reason that their meat was so rare and expensive. And, again, there was two of them right now. Hmm, yeah, we have little choice but to eat them now. Alright, lets have a barbecue tonight! Everyone, get ready to eat lots of orc meat! When I shouted so, the vigers replied with voices of joy. We can eat the orc meat!? I thought theyre only for nobles The chiefs so amazing! Ill follow you to the ends of the world, chief! No, no, your expectations are a bit too much I had some back in my parents home, and honestly, they were just slightly better pork. While thinking that, I took some of the cooked orc meat offered to me. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~!? Please consider supporting me. You can do this either by turning off adblock for this blog or via myPatreon page. Thank you. Chapter 35: Or use our sinful bodies as meatshields! Chapter 35: Or use our sinful bodies as meatshields! The orc meat was so much better than what I expected. Huh? I am being filled with happiness by the juices overflowing from the meat? I expected it to be better than pork because that was the impression I got from the orc meat I ate back in my parents home, but this was entirely something else. Freshness might be the cause. Orcs dont live anywhere near your familys estate, meaning the meat would have to travel several days just to arrive to the market, and then some more time until its served to you. Selen said so. It made perfect sense. Keeping orcs as livestock was out of the question, obviously. Moreover, as soon as an orc was found near a town, soldiers would be dispatched to exterminate it. That way, they would not even have a chance to breed more of them. Because of that, orcsand by extension, their meatcould almost only be found in frontiernds and deep within forests. Whaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaat!? So goooooooooooodddddddddd! It was the first time for the vigers to taste orc meat. They were so astonished by the taste, I was worried they would go mad. There were two orcs, but for this many people, that was not much. Well, it was still enough tost us through a night of enjoying our first ever batch of alcohol. We got gigantic crops again I stood before the newly harvested crops, and I couldnt help but feel awe. We had carrots that reached up to my thighs and potatoes about the size of my head. Not to mention, napa cabbages wider than my torso. Our very first harvest had many big crops as well, but it seemed like the crops this time were evenrger. Moreover, we were able to harvest so much more and so much sooner this time. Is this thanks to the [Master Farmer] Gift? The fourth refugee group and the bandit group made me concerned for our food supply, but looking at our harvest, that seemed like an unnecessary one. If anything, we might have too much. Especially considering that summer was approaching. The heat would make the food spoil easier. And so, Selen, the usual please. I know, I know. Through Selens blue magic, we could freeze the food in a storehouse, thus keeping them fresh for longer. vige chief, ahm, theres actually something Id like to discuss with you. Go ahead, Balrath-san. In such a formal manner, Balrath-san, my mediator with the other vigers, asked to speak with me. I believe Ive told you this before, but many of us had to leave our parents and grandparents back at our original viges Oh, yes, of course. Having guessed what Belrith-san wanted to ask, I immediately agreed. When the vigers left their original viges, they were forced to leave behind the elderly. The elderly, due to their lower stamina, could slow down their effort to escape, after all. Now that they had found a new long-term home, it was only natural for them to want to bring their elderlies here. The reason they waited this long to ask was probably because they didnt want to impose. R-really, vige chief? Yes. Itll be no problem at all, especially when ites to food. Ahm, Selen? Yeah, I heard your conversation. You want us to escort them, right? The vigers might encounter bandits along the way, so I wanted the help of Selens hunting team. Hopefully, the others would agree as well, especially those who also had parents and grandparents back in their former homes. Luke-sama, please, let us help as well! Hmm? I wondered who said so in such energetic voices, so I turned around to see. What I saw surprised me though. The ones who said it were the rehabilitated bandits who werepletely devoid of vitality just a few days ago. We dont have anybat-type Gifts, but we have experience in fighting! If worstes to worst, feel free to use us as decoys! Or use our sinful bodies as meatshields! I couldnt believe their change. Are you really the same people? Please consider supporting me. You can do this either by turning off adblock for this blog or via my Patreon page. Thank you. Chapter 36: Being hugged by an old geezer will only make me sweat Chapter 36: Being hugged by an old geezer will only make me sweat Luke-sama, please, let us help as well! It was totally possible that the former bandits were just lying to me so that they could escape, but each of them looked dead serious. Compare that to their eyes devoid of any will to live In any case, I used my viger appraisal on them. Much to my surprise, each of them had an [Ultra-high] vige bond level. Do not worry, Luke-sama. All of them are now faithful servants of the gods. What they uttered was no falsehood; it was their honest desire. Oh, Millia. Just what did you do to them to change them this much in such a short amount of time? Granny was amazing, but Millia was as well. After she began worship meetings in the church, more and more vigers had a vige bond level of [Ultra-high]. At present, such was the case for the majority of the vigers. Apparently, even for the former bandits. Its all the work of the gods. O-okay Before I knew it, Millia had be a devout priest. Her eyes were so full of veneration. It even looked like she was gazing at the face of a godwait, why are you looking at my direction? Im just overthinking this, right? At any rate, I decided to allow the former bandits go with the hunting team in their mission to bring to the vige the ones left behind. Obviously, making all of the people who hadbat-type Gifts go at once would leave the vige vulnerable, so I asked Balrath-san to stay behind. A few days after they departed, the hunting team was back. Father! Oh! Balrath, Belrith! Thank the heavens youre alive! Thats our line! The brothers were so delighted by their reunion with their father. So thats the vige chief of their former vige. Im d to see hes safe. Such emotional reunions were happening throughout the vige. When they parted with each other, they perhaps prepared themselves to never see the other party again. So, it was only natural they would be ovee with joy right now. What, youre still alive? I thought for sure you were dead already. Ooh, Granny! Youre safe! Oi, dont cling on to me. Being hugged by an old geezer will only make me sweat. Granny, the one serving as our torturer, apparently had a husband. Moreover, this husband of hers seemed so gentle. Unlike her I would like to say the vigers families were whole again, but that just couldnt be the case for most of them. After all, the ones conscripted away still werent back. Just in case theye back to the viges, Selen and her group left notes telling them toe here. Its all well and goodbut arent there too many of them? I heard that all the elderly from the four vigesbined were at most 50 people. However, after a cursory count, it felt like there were 4 times that number. Moreover, there were many young people among them. We encountered refugees along the way and decided to bring them here too. Oh, okay. Great job, Selenhuh? Why are the ones there tied though? For some reason, a group in the back was tied up with rope. There were about 30 of them. When I looked at them, they looked rough, almost ruffian-like. Theyre bandits. They attacked us, so we fought back. Most of them are actually the bandits we failed to capture the other day. Apparently, most of these newly captured ones were formerly part of the bandit group that attacked our vige. They made a new group, but were still set on the ways of banditry. When I looked at the tied-up bandits again, I saw the rehabilitated ones talking with them. Oi, you guys better be grateful! Even though youre bandits, you get the chance to enter this vige ruled by Luke-sama! What happened to you all? Its like yourepletely different people! Weve been enlightened, is all. To the greatness of Luke-sama! Did theydid they brainwash you!? Haha! Brainwash? If understanding the greatness of Luke-sama is being brainwashed, Id happily be brainwashed over and over again. These guys really are Dont worry. Soon, you too will understand. No, no, please, no. The tied-up bandits became so terrified. What could they have been talking about though? At any rate, we should send these bandits to jail. Please consider supporting me. You can do this either by turning off adblock for this blog or via myPatreon page. Thank you. Chapter 37: I’m going to talk some sense into you today! Chapter 37: Im going to talk some sense into you today! Father, how can there be a vige out here? I mean, look at the ce. Theres not even a nt in sight. Weve just entered the wastnd. We cant know for sure unless weve traveled a bit more. I replied so to my sons whining. You know we have to do this. That we have to seed. This is thest and only chance we have of preventing our vige from starving to death thising winter. There have been a series of tax increases in thendtely. ording to rumors, the lord of thend was preparing to start another war somewhere. This was an age of war, so wars were not unusual in the slightest. Even so, this might be a war bigger than any other, if the taxes being imposed were any indication. Whatever the case might be, the fact of the matter was that small viges, like the one I led, just couldnt afford to pay these taxes anymore. Specially after the abysmal harvest this year. If nothing changed, we wouldnt have enough to feed ourselves through the winter. Try as I might, the only way I could see us getting through was by making a certain gamble. I had heard that the lords son was sent to reim this wastnd. If he ever seeded, perhaps some of our vigers could work for him. It was often the case that newly developednds were exempt from taxes, allowing us to earn just barely enough to make it through the winter. And you should realize how much of a pipe dream that is. This ce is uninhabited because no one can develop it, despite the many attempts. Now youre saying a kid of ten or so and without any follower can do it? I doubt it, to put it lightly. Considering the rumors saying his Giftspletely useless, the more likely reason the kids here is that hes been exiled after losing some kind of political struggle. Either way, hes probably either dead already or has escaped somewhere else. My sons points were reasonable. However, we simply had no choice other than to see this one through. Haa, why, why did I have to be born in such a small vige? One without beautiful women at that Haa. If I went to the city and tried to be an adventurer when I was young, my life might have turned out differently. Better. Listening to my son whine without restraint, something inside me snapped. Whats the point ofining about things now, you stupid son of mine!? !? Im so terribly sorry our vige is small! Damn it, if our ancestors heard you spout such nonsense about the vige they so desperately developed, theyd be rolling in their graves! You narrow-minded fool, how can you call yourself the son of the vige chief!? F-father? Also, you, be an adventurer? Ha! How can someone who always gives up at the first signs of hardships and have no courage at all ever be one? Hold on there, Father you dont have to go that far No! This time Ill say everything I want to say! To begin with! You find faults with what people are trying to do, yet offer no better n. This journey is exactly that. You whine and moan about every single little thing! Its because youre like that that Im forced to remain the vige chief despite being over 50 already! And need I remind you why an old fart like me is here in the wastnd? Because you said you didnt want to go alone, thats why! ! F-father! Look there! Dont change the subject! Im going to talk some sense into you today! Just look, will you!? Its a stone wall! A stone wall out here in this wastnd! Huh? My son was madly pointing his finger at something, so I reluctantly looked. What are you talking about? Has your eyesight gotten that bad that you cant see it? Thats for sure a stone wall. Maybe there really is a vige here! O-oi! My son ran. At first, I thought he was just trying to escape my lecture, but after a while of following him, I too saw what he was trying to show me. Whitsits truethere truly is a stone wallthen As much as I could tell, the walls were easily over 3 meters tall. Furthermore, it seemed to stretch infinitely left and right. It looked too splendid to be used for surrounding a simple vige. It wasparable to those used in cities. But that kind of wall takes years to make, doesnt it? I-I believe so, Father. The both of us were dumbfounded. Has someone been developing this wastnd all this time without our knowledge? That was the only exnation I could think of for the existence of these walls. A-at any rate, lets get closer. Ye-yeah. Please consider supporting me. You can do this either by turning off adblock for this blog or via myPatreon page. Thank you. Chapter 38: Ahm…please forgive my father! Chapter 38: Ahmplease forgive my father! It has gotten noticeably colder recently. Summer has ended, giving way to fall. Soon enough, winter would be here. I got here around spring time, so its been half a year already, huh. I believe so, Luke-sama. Back then, I wondered about what would happen to us, but I didnt expect in the slightest that we would be able to have such a grand vige in this short amount of time. And its all thanks to you, Luke-sama. Its mostly my Gift we have to thank, I think. After founding the vige, refugees arrived one group after another. Before we knew it, we had a poption of nearly 700 people. Right now, the vige was surrounded by twoyers of stone walls. I had decided to separate the fields from everything else by adding an inner wall. Because the vige grew in size again, we could add more fields should we need to. Of course, if the space within the inner wall bes insufficient, we could just reposition the fields and the inner wall itself to make space. Speaking of the space within the inner wall, it was lined with a lot of terrace houses. Previously, each terrace house only had one room for all the toilets. Moreover, there were no baths at all. However, through Facility Customization, I was able to give each unit of a terrace house their own toilet and bath rooms. Like that, the vigers should all havefortable living conditions now. That being said, the public bathhouse still had great traffic each day. If anything, because of the increased poption of the vige, it served more vigers now than before. So much so that I built another one. Winter was fast approaching, and with it, came the worry about our stock of food. Thankfully though, the harvesting of our crops was going well. Additionally, our hunters have been diligently obtaining meat for us. As long as nothing major happens, we should be able to weather the viges first winter. While thinking about such things, someone approached me to give a report. Luke-sama, two men have arrived in the vige. Are they refugees? No, they dont seem like that. Is that so? Yes, but they didnt seem suspicious either. So, for the meantime, we allowed them to approach and wait at the entrance of the vige. I see. Thank you for your work. And so, I headed to the entrance to meet them. When I arrived, I saw two men who were both nervously looking around. One of them seemed to be over the age of 50, while the other seemed to be around 30 years old. Their faces looked alike, so it seemed possible to me that they were rted. Ahm, hello, I am Luke. Im this viges chief. Oh, youre The older of the two hurriedly knelt down to the ground and bowed his head. Seeing this, they younger one followed suit. W-we are from a vige in the south called Mao. I am its vige chief, Mack. And this here is my son, Manta. South? So, somewhere from the Albert territory? Ifif you dont mind my asking, are you perhaps Luke-sama, the son of Lord Albert? You know me? Oh, so it is you! Weve heard something about Lord Albert giving you the task of developing this wastnd. But from the looks of things, Im guessing development efforts have begun a considerably long time before that. Nope, it wasnt like that. There waspletely nothing when I arrived here. ? He looked at me as though he was utterly confused. I just told him the truth though. Then, then, were you sent here to be exiled? I heard you got a useless Gift. Is that true? Hoi! Watch your No, its alright. Its actually as your son says. I briefly exined to them what transpired. That I was unable to inherit my fathers [Sword Master Techniques], but my brother was. That I was sent here to be exiled in all but name. That somehow or another, I was able to build a vige here. But enough about me. What brings the two of you all the way out here? Well, to be honest It was my turn to listen to their story. The older of the two told me about the present state of the Albert territory and how that gave rise to their viges crisis. Perhaps because their story contained heavy criticism about the lord of thendmy fatherthey seemed to have trouble speaking at first. At this point, I was pretty much no longer part of my noble house, so I told them to speak candidly. In the next moment though, the frustrations that the older man were keeping in came flooding out. Even if you win wars and expand your territory, we gain nothing by it! So, why then, must you impose these merciless taxes on us!? Its not like you n to improve our lives at any point! You dont think about your subjects at all! Wow, he really has a lot of pent-up frustrations. I thought so to myself as he spoke. At the end, his face fully red, he even let out a scream. Fa-father The son probably thought that was too much to show the lords son despite my permission to speak candidly, so he kept ncing at me, all worried. Ahmplease forgive my father! When the scream came, the son apologized on his fathers behalf. Please consider supporting me. You can do this either by turning off adblock for this blog or via myPatreon page. Thank you. Chapter 39: Father, am I dreaming right now? Chapter 39: Father, am I dreaming right now? HaaaIm so terribly sorry. I got too into it. Its alright. Dont worry. And I agree, constantly warring is pretty absurd. When he came to his senses, Mack, the vige chief of Mao, apologized. When I voiced my opinion, Mack-san was shocked, like he couldnt believe the lords son would say that. So, just to summarize, you came here to ask if some of your people can work here so that your vige will have enough to get through the winter? Yes, thats exactly it Sure, thats fine. But why not just migrate here? Were open to ept any number of people. We have more than enough food, so if you want, you can even bring all of your vigers here. R-really!? In this age, it wasnt umon for people to leave their viges and go to some other ce. At any rate, Mack-san mentioned that this might be the biggest war yet. If so, I could hazard a guess as to who the Albert territory would be fighting next. The Schenger house was neighbors with the Albert house. They didnt have a great rtionship though. Moreover, they were also one of the five major powers. If the Albert house somehow manages to defeat the Schenger house, the Albert house would have thergest territory out of all the major noble houses. Will Raul be in the battlefield? Not that it has anything to do me During that point in the conversation, the hunting team returned. Were back. We caught a lot today. Selen said so ecstatically. When I looked, it was as she said, they really caught a lot of game today. In preparation for winter, our hunters have been hunting tirelessly. Still, their haul today was something else. Woah, what a beautiful girl!? Waa!! Manta-san looked at Selen and had an easy-to-read expression. However, once his vision wandered toward the thing behind hertoward todays catchhe fell down on his butt. O-O-O-ORC!!! Even Mack-san was shocked when he saw it. This time, he looked like he was about to run away. Please calm down; there is nothing to worry about. Look, its already dead, see? Whats going on? Did, did you guysthat orc??? Yes, a team of ours hunted it down in the forest over there. Among other things, of course. EH!? Apparently, todays catch included 5 aru-mirage and 3 orcs. Our hunters focused on hunting monsters because their meat was tastier than regr beasts. As great as a catch this was though, Selen wouldnt be brimming with pride like that. I mean, they have caught 3 orcs in a single hunt before. Fufufu, direct your eyes over there. I looked toward where she was pointing at. There, I saw an incrediblyrge thing being dragged toward us. Eh? Whats that? Its called a giant boar. It was pig-like monster. It was easily over 5 meters in length, and even if it was standing on all four legs, it would still be taller than me. There were also formidable-looking tusks protruding near its snout. Even an orc would probably fall from a charge done by this beast. Wait, howd you manage to take that down? As soon as Noel and Goathe stopped its movement with their shields, the rest of us attacked its head all at once. The iron shields you made were pretty useful, Luke. Selens exnation made it sound so easy. In addition to the swords and spears, I also made shields from the iron bars in the jailhouse. The ones Noel-kunwho had [Shield Master Techniques]and Goathe-sanwho had [Herculean Strength]used were much bigger than usual. Yet, upon closer inspection, those giant, bulky shields had deep dents in them. I shivered at the might of a giant boars charge. By the way, the one dragging the giant boar was Goathe-san. He was in his mid-thirties and had a height of 170cm at most. However, thanks to his Gift, he could easily drag monsters so much bigger than him over long distances. it was a surreal sight to behold. Ahh ahhh ahhh Meanwhile, whether by the giant boar or by Goathe-san unbelievable strength, Mack-san and Manta-san were at a loss for words. Father, am I dreaming right now? want me to pinch you? Yeah, pleaseOuch! Ah, it hurts, its really notaw, aw, aw Father, you can stop now, aw, aw! The two seemed really close. Im a bit envious, actually. Please consider supporting me. You can do this either by turning off adblock for this blog or via myPatreon page. Thank you. Chapter 40: Not many looks up to you that much Chapter 40: Not many looks up to you that much We left the vige in the wastnd for the meantime, and began our way back home. Even now though, I still couldnt help but think that everything was just a dream. Those two magnificentyers of stone walls; those fields with gigantic crops; those hundreds of vigers all healthy and happy; the clean houses everyone seemed to have; those public bathhouses; and that church And to top it all off, those monsters. Apparently, it has be amon urrence for them to have certain vigers go into the forest full of monsters and hunt those very monsters. That seriously gave me a fright. I was almost jumping for joy when I saw that beautiful girl, but then I saw that orc behind her all that being said, she truly was beautiful youre twice that girls age, in case you havent noticed. In the vige we live in, it would take considerable effort from us to chase away just a single aru-mirage. Should an orc ever show up, I fear our entire vige would be destroyed. And then, there was also that great boar. I heard that to take down that pig-like monster, over a hundred soldiers would be needed. Yet their vige took it down with only a few people. It was all a bit ridiculous, to be honest. Not least of which was that their vige was founded just half a year ago. Is that true? Wait, in the first ce, can that ce still be called only a vige? They say its all because of that boy chiefs Gift, but That only made it all the more unbelievable. But perhaps the most unbelievable thing was that they said they were going to ept everyone from our vige. Were supposed to return to our vige and tell this story, but will anyone even believe us? I doubt youd convince more than a few, Dad. Not many looks up to you that much. and whose fault do you think that is, you idiot son of mine!? Sometimeter, people from Mao vige arrived here. This included Mack-san and his son, of course. It-its true Who would have thought that there was a vige in this wastnd See, just like I told you all, isnt it?! I was half-sure Chief Mack was going senile, saying all those crazy things It would seem they had to see to believe. Wee to you all. I am Luke, the chief of this vige. A boys really the Thats Lord Alberts son? H-hey, whats that over there? That giant thing beside that house. ~~~~? I came out to wee them, but their attention was less on me and more on the thing beside my house. Thats the skull of a great boar. I wasnt sure if it was because she was so delighted by their sess, but Selen wanted to disy the skull somewhere conspicuous. It seemed overbearing, so I had asked her to ce it somewhere elselike at the edge of the vigebut she still seemed intent on cing it here. G-g-great boar!? We still have some of its meat left, do you want to try some? It wasnt as great as orc meat, but it was delicious nheless. There were too much for us to eat, so we were thinking of preserving the rest. We havent decided on whether to smoke the meat or use Selens magic though. Ah, I think its time to build where you will stay. I decided to build the terrace houses right in front of them. They were bound to see me suddenly adding or changing something in the vige, so I figured it was better to exin it to them now rather thanter. Ahousein an instant Is this a dream? And like that, the 92 people from Mao vige became our vigers. The increase in poption didnt stop there though. I had asked everyone to tell me if they knew of a nearby vige that was in trouble. After some additional steps, people from those viges came here. For them to leave their homes, the tax hikes must have truly troubled them. Curiously, the first ones to bring troubled people here were the former bandits. Despite that contribution as well as the fact that they were nowpletely reformed thanks to granny and Millias efforts though, I still couldnt treat them the same as the other vigers due to the various crimes they hadmitted. As such, while everybody else lived within the inner walls, they lived between the inner and outer walls. They still lived in terrace houses like the others though. Another distinction they had from normal vigers was that we made them monitor, in shifts, the wastnd from atop the outer walls. ((Chief Luke, another group of people wanting to migrate are here.)) ((Ok, understood.)) Satin was proving particrly helpful. Back then, he used his [Telepathy] in an attempt to trick me, but now that he has changed, he was using it to send me reports. Not all of them has been rehabilitated though. Two are still in the jailhouse Please consider supporting me. You can do this either by turning off adblock for this blog or via myPatreon page. Thank you. Chapter 41: M-more! Harder! Chapter 41: M-more! Harder! While most of the bandits we arrested have been reformed and were now devoting themselves to the improvement of the vige, two of them still havent been reformed. One of them was a man sorge, he made the cell he was in seem so cramped. When I approached this man, only his eyes moved toward me. This made me unconsciously take a step back. Name: Dorial Age: 36 Vige Bond Level: Low Suitable upation: Soldier Gift: Axe Techniques The man I was referring to was the leader of the bandits. No matter what I do, this one wont budge. Doesnt even show a reaction. This ones got balls. I can see why hes the boss of the bandits. Granny said so, almost as though in admiration. Hes too dangerous to let loose. Why dont you consider executing him, hmm? as always, granny said such a disturbing thing nonchntly. On the other hand, Dorial didnt flinch, didnt even move his eyebrows in reaction to what granny just said. I didnt know if it was because he has looked at the face of death many times before, but he sure had nerves of steel. But then, he suddenly spoke. that blue-haired girl, where is she? Huh? You mean Selen? Is that the name of the girl who beat me? Why is he asking about Selen though? Ill never follow someone weaker than me. Okay? But if its that girl, I dont mind obeying what she says. Eh? I decided to invite Selen here. So he says, but Hmm Selen red at the giant on the other side of the iron bars. What are you scheming? Do you think well let you out just because you say something like that? Im not scheming anything. Youve defeated me and I just want to show deference. Of course, Im not saying you have to let me out now or the deals over. All Im saying is if you ever need my strength, youll have it. Certainly, having this mans strength in times of emergencies would be helpful, but I decided to put a hold on making a decision for now and check on the other remaining prisoner. Here is the other one. Isnt this guy the first one we captured, granny? In the corner of the now almost empty jailhouse was the bandit we used to trap and capture the others. Name: Baal Age: 23 Vige Bond Level: Low Suitable upation: Grunt Gift: None ! Old hag, youvee again! Whos the old hag!? You want to die!? Granny shouted so. For some reason though, it seemed like Baals body trembled not out of fear like the others would have, but out of excitement. Granny proceeded to strike him with a stick made of wood, the sound of each hit echoing in the prison. Ahii!! M-more! Harder! Baal seemed to be enraptured by each painful hit and even asked granny to hit harder. With a look of disgust on her face, granny then stamped on Baalsher region. Damn this giant pervert! ~~~~~~~!? Ah, AHH! Ahh, haa, haa Ouch! Just watching made me cover my important bits. Hi-higii Baal drooled and writhed on the ground. However, not one trace of anguish could be found on his face. There was only pleasure. W-wowthat was, wowso amazingueheheheheehehehehehee eww While looking down at Baal like he was some kind of insect, granny released a sigh. As you can see, nothing I do works on this one. How did he be like this though? Beats me. He was responding normally to the pain at first, butlittle by little, he became pleased with it instead. He became pleased with the pain? How does that work? Because hes like this, I dont think any amount of rehabilitation using my methods will do any good. What are you talking about, old hag!? Come on, punish me more! Recently, because he knows it make me angry, he has been purposely calling me that. This is my first time to meet a pervert like thisif possible, I would like to have nothing to do with him anymore. Granny ended up being the one scared. I guess Ill have to postpone judgment on this one as well. His vige bond level said [Low], but it was still too dangerousfor different reasons to release him. So, like with Dorial, I decided put a hold on making any decision. Please consider supporting me. You can do this either by turning off adblock for this blog or via myPatreon page. Thank you. Chapter 42: What a very sinister skill… Chapter 42: What a very sinister skill << Ta-ta-ta-dah! Congrattions! Because you now have more than 1000 vigers, your vige has be level 6!>> <<600 vige points have been acquired as level up bonus.>> <> <> <> My vige leveled up again after its continuous growth in poption. We have now passed the 1000 viger mark. Ok, but [Territory Takeover]? <> I wasnt able to use my Gift beforeing 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 therelle a time where I have to use it. After all, the viges maximum area has increased yet again and it was now the entirety of the wastnd. When I repositioned the outer walls, it only covered a small portion of the new area. Even this muchnd felt too vast for me, so I just didnt think taking away others territories was necessary. Now that I have some distance from that world of endless wars, this vige was more than enough for me. I did not share my fathers desire for territory expansion. <> Underground Tunnel 20 Bridge 20 Orchard 250 School 250 Apartment Building 300 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. Its a dead end. I guess thats 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, well be able to burrow through the ground easilynot 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 didnt need bridges right now. Next, orchards, huhhaving one doesnt necessarily mean well get fruits though. <> Huh? So, we dont have to bother growing them? Fruits were considered luxury food items even in the capital. This wastnd must be one of the least likely ces 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, lets seewhats a school? <> Ohh. I think Ive heard something about that. Like, back then even in this country, children of the nobles and wealthy merchants were sent to some ce and they study there. So, a school is what thats called. Such wasnt 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 vigers have teacher as their Suitable upation. Children in this vige dont 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 calctions. And thenApartment buildings? What are those? It was a word I never heard of before, but ording 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 <> Thats so much more than I thought! They might actually be cheaper than terrace houses. Please consider supporting me. You can do this either by turning off adblock for this blog or via myPatreon page. Thank you. Chapter 43: Ahh~ there’s nothing quite like a hot bath in winter Chapter 43: Ahh~ theres nothing quite like a hot bath in winter My name is Dant. I was entrusted with the duty of overseeing the North, an area in the north of the Albert territory. Back in the old days, our family was the noble house that ruled over this region. However, my father conceded thend to the previous Lord Albert. My father knew from the start that he stood no chance at all, so he surrendered the fortresses without any resistance. As a result, our family not only survived, my father was also made governor of thend. And now, I held that responsibility. After acquiring the North, the Albert territory only continued to expand. Of course, as a governor, I had no choice but to cooperate fully in such endeavors. Dant-sama, another vige has been left behind by all its vigers. Again? I know the taxes are high, but arent there too many deserters? To think entire viges would disappear. By order of Lord Albert, I have imposed heavy taxes on the people. I had expected some to not be able to pay such taxes and escape somewhere else. But I didnt expect them to be this many. After all, even if they flee, there was no guarantee that their destination would offer them a better life. There was even a chance that their life could be worse. Considering that, I figured majority of the poption would rather endure the taxes. Sir, a few of our investigators have heard a, ahm, curious story. A curious story? Yes. Apparently, theres a vige in the wastnd to the far north. Moreover, this vige is said to havefortable homes and enough food for each of its citizens. Some evenpare it to paradise The story was so shady I reflexively grimaced. The wastnd north of even this ce waspletely barren. It was impossible to grow crops of any kind there. Moreover, monsters would sometimes emerge from the nearby monster-infested forest. It was no ce for people to live. Not for ack of trying though. There had been multiple attempts to develop thend, but all resulted in failure. I dismissed the story at first, but when reports that seemed simr to it aroseter on, I began to think there might be some truth to it. And so, I sent a proper investigation team to the wastnd. D-Dant-samaits asin the wastnd Theres really a vige there? Well, a city, actually A city!? As winter approached, more and more people from the Albert territory were moving to my vige. Apparently, the vige has been in rumors more than I expected it to be. At the rate we were going, the governor managing the area on behalf of the lord mightin soon. But then again, developing the wastnd and building a vige was exactly what my father, Lord Albert, told me to do, so we should be alright. But enough about that Ahh~ theres nothing quite like a hot bath in winter. A bath had this mysterious power of melting away my stress and worries. Covering myself with the rising steam and then immersing in the hot water seemed to alleviate fatigue as well. Not that I was too tired each day, but even so. At present I was in arge house I customized to have an open-air bath. I can have this much of a luxury, right? I mean, everyoneeven the new vigersare all settled andfortable now, right? Right? It was only recently that I upgraded the medium-sized house we were living in into arge house. In a word, therge house was amazing. It felt like 20 people could live here. It even had arge courtyard with a pond. It was in that courtyard where I ced the bath through my Facility Customization. The cold air made the hot water even better, in my opinion. All in all, it was wonderful. I did have oneint though. Wow, so nice and spacious. Thanks to this, Ill be always be able to bathe with Luke-sama. My oneint was that it somehow became a mixed bathing space. You two know I built another one for you, right? How about you use that? It doesnt matter which one we use though, right? In that case, I choose to use the one Luke-samas using. I already knew it was no use arguing against the two of them HaaFine. But donte any closer, alright? Hmm? What was that? I didnt quite hear you. I said donte closer, so stop getting closer, will you!? Also, cover yourself with a towel! While I was talking like that with the two, a message in my head came. ((Chief, a suspicious group hase to the vige.)) ((Another group of refugees?)) ((No, not this time. One of thems introducing himself as the governor for the area.)) I was just thinking of them and now theyre here!? Please consider supporting me. You can do this either by turning off adblock for this blog or via myPatreon page. Thank you. Chapter 44: It’s just so hard to believe Chapter 44: Its just so hard to believe I gathered my best soldiers and headed toward the wastnd. My goal was to investigate the viger, or rather, the city in the said wastnd myself. But Dant-sama, you dont have to go yourself. Well do it for you. The one to ask me was Bazara, themanding officer of the elite group I brought along. He has served my family for more than a generation now. Partly thanks to hisbat-type Gift, he was a fighter who could take down an orc by himself, with plenty of room to spare. To be frank, theres something that worries me. That worry is what made me decide it will be better if I came with you. What worry is that, if I may ask? Hmmits possible that Lord Alberts son, Luke-sama, is in the city in the wastnd. What? Everyone thought that Luke-sama would certainly be the one to inherit the whole Albert territory. However, immediately after their blessing ceremony, he was apparently sent away to some undevelopednd instead. This was only a rumor though. Lord Albert and his estate has yet to release any official statement on the matter. And perhaps to keep the public from knowing for certain, even Ia governor of a regionwas left in the dark. On the other hand, news about Lord Alberts second son, Raul, inheriting his Gift [Sword Master Techniques] were spread across thend right away. The fact that Luke-sama wasnt mentioned as well meant almost for certain that he failed inherit the said Gift. Even so, that alone shouldnt have been enough for Luke-sama to be sent away that quickly. However, if Luke-sama didnt get a Gift at all or if the Gift he got was deemed worthless, then his exile made sense. I stared at the wastnd ahead, wondering if this was the undevelopednd that Luke-sama was said to be sent to. All the same, its just so hard to believe a city can be built in this wastnd in such a short amount of time. Ahh, well have answers once we get there. Before long, the wastnd was in sight. As to be expected, there was no vegetation of any kind. The ground had nothing but sand and stones. Further in though, it was a different story. What, whats that? Bazara was shocked. And even though I was forewarned by the reports, I too could not believe what was before me. As though to stop the barren wastnd from proceeding further, imposing walls stretched almost infinitely. These walls were no less splendid than the ones in Riesen, the city I usually stayed in. No matter how you look at it, thats a city, not a vige I guess the next question is if that city is really built within just half a year Just by looking at the reddish-brown ground, one could tell that that was impossible. As such, Bazara and I could do nothing more than look at each other and tilt our heads. After a moment, we decided to get closer. When we were near enough, a viewing window about halfway up of the wall opened. The window revealed the face of rough-looking man. this cant be a bandits den, can it? Why have youe to our vige? I am Dant, the appointed governor of the northern region of the Albert territory. I apologize for visiting without prior notice, but Id like to meet with the representative of your city, err, vige. The other person called it a vige, so I decided to call it that as well for the meantime. I still wasnt convinced a vige could have such magnificent walls though. In a city ofparable size, it would take a while before the proper authorities were notified and a little bit more before we would be let in. To my surprise though, it didnt even take a minute before we were given permission to enter. Dant-sama, do not worry. I know not what lies ahead, but in the end, this is a city in the middle of nowhere. As long as we are here, no harm shall evere to you. Bazara confidently promised me so. Whats? When we passed through the gates, we were confused once more. Instead of a city, what we saw were fields. Farnds are inside the walls? Normally, fields and such were kept outside of city walls, and inside of it were mostly houses and other buildings. It went without saying that building walls to surround such a vast area ofnd cost a lot in terms of manpower and money. Theres a secondyer of walls thereis that where the people here live? Ha, this city is much smaller than I thought then. Bazara said so, relieved. I, on the other hand, became even more frightened. How can they build so many walls? Please consider supporting me. You can do this either by turning off adblock for this blog or via myPatreon page. Thank you. Chapter 45: Arent these castle walls now? Chapter 45: Arent these castle walls now? I cant believe it. These fields At first nce, the fields here might seem normal. On a closer look though, one could see that it was anything but. Firstly, crops here were absurdly gigantic. Weirder than that though, there were crops out of season. An area was colored golden by what looked like wheat, despite the season being winter right now. I have never heard of wheat growing and being ready for harvest at this time of the year. In fact, I have never heard of anyone seeding to grow any kind of crop out here in the wastnd. A littleter on, I discovered they even had orchards! Moreover, this road Our carriage was currently travelling on a magnificent cobblestone road that could rival even the famous Alpira highway. I could hardly feel any shaking throughout the journey. If such a highway was present throughout thend, journeyseven the ones to the capitalwould be morefortable. The twoyers of walls, this roadit goes without saying that these require substantial technological prowess, but the manpower required for all these must have been substantial as well Even then though, it was still hard to believe that all these were built within thest 6 months. Then, has Lord Albert been secretly building this fortress city throughout the years? And then sent his son I thought that, but pouring immense resources here just didnt make much sense. This wastnd offered no strategic importance whatsoever, after all. To the south of the wastnd was the Albert territory itself. To the north was a forest and to the east was a mountain, but both were full of dangerous monsters. To the west was and where two factions were fighting against each other, but Lord Albert has showed no desire of wanting thatnd. Before long, our carriage reached the inner walls. After passing through a gate, the carriage stopped. Waiting for me to alight was a boy of about 10 years of age. I hurriedly got out of the open-air bath, and headed toward the viges gate. My body was still warm and I still got that fresh-off-the-bath feeling, but there wasnt much of a choice this time. The carriage escorted by brawny soldiers was fast approaching. When I spotted it, it was already halfway through the road between the walls. Speaking of the walls, I had made them taller. The reason I did so was to lessen the impact of the cold winds blowing from the mountains to the east. It really, really was cold. The stone walls were now about 5 meters high, surprising the vigers when they first saw it. Some evenmented that it could already be considered as castle walls now. After passing through the gate of the inner walls, the carriage stopped. Alighting from it was a nicely dressed man of about 40 years old. He looked very surprised when he saw his surroundings. In the Albert territory, there were about 20 people who held the position of governor. They were all appointed by my father, but each ones circumstances were different from the others. After a territory has been taken over through war, the former lord and their family was usually executed and then reced by a loyal subordinate of the victor. However, it wasnt unheard of for an opponent who has surrendered and swore fealty to the victor to be made that newly acquired territorys governor. They already knew thend, after all. In the case of the northern region of the Albert territory, it was thetter case. That said, the incorporation of the region into the Albert territory happened in the generation before my fathers. Wee. I am Luke Albert, the chief of this vige. and I am Dant, the appointed governor of the North. Technically speaking, I held the higher social status because I was the lords son. As such, Dant-san felt it proper to kneel down. I deeply apologize for not greeting you sooner. Dant-san apologized like so. Whenever the lords son would be sent on a missionlike developing a frontierndnearby governors would usually give the lords son a courtesy call right away. This time though, my mission of developing this wastnd was just an excuse to exile me. No governor would go out of their way to pay me a courtesy call now. They probably didnt even expect me to give building a vige a good try. There was even a chance they didnt know I was sent here in the first ce. Oh, its nothing. Please dont worry about it. More importantly, I hope you enjoy your stay here. He was the leader of the neighboring region, so it was likely we would be interacting with one another plenty of times. As such, I wanted to make a good impression as much as possible. I didnt know it at the time, but some of my vigers were less keen on building a good rtionship with Dant-san and more interested on keeping an eye against him and his group. Please consider supporting me. You can do this either by turning off adblock for this blog or via myPatreon page. Thank you. Chapter 46: Each home here has a bath Chapter 46: Each home here has a bath I met him only once before, but I was certain the boy in front of me was none other than Luke Albert-sama. Wee. I am Luke Albert, the chief of this vige. and I am the appointed governor of the North, Dant. I introduced myself and knelt down. I deeply apologize for not greeting you sooner. I didnt even know he was sent here, so it was naturally impossible to greet him any sooner. Even so, for the sake of appearances, I decided to apologize to him. Oh, its nothing. Please dont worry about it. More importantly, I hope you enjoy your stay here. Luke-sama said so with a kind smile. From then on, I was back on being surprised again and again. First, there was the array of buildings that I have never seen before. These buildings were tall and wide at the same time, and were cubic in shape. They werent built with wood, but they didnt seem to be built with stone either. ording to Luke-sama, these buildings were the homes of the vigers. Were calling them apartment buildings, by the way. Apartment? We continued going around. I couldnt help but notice how clean the vige was. In frontier viges, it was often the case that no proper waste management system was in ce. They typically just dig holes and throw their wastes there. Needless to say, the area around such pits reeked. In this vige, however, the air seemed so pure. Not a whiff of foul odor anywhere so far. At the very least, it smelled better here than in the city of Riesen. Apparently, this was because each home had its own flush toilet. What a great waste disposal system It wasnt just the vige, the vigers themselves were so clean. It wasnt rare for frontier vigers tock a reliable water source. The scarcity of it made cleaning their bodies not a priority, resulting in the vigers to smell. In this vige though, the vigers were able to wash themselves every day. So, despite their worn-out clothing, they were actually very clean. Each home here has a bath. Not only that, we also have two public bathhouses. Each home? And two public bathhouses?? I also noticed that on top of their cleanliness, the vigers were also quite healthy. It might be obvious after seeing the fields, but not one of the vigers I passed by were suffering from malnourishment. After a while more of walking, we reached the vige chiefs home. The elite troops I brought with me were surprised at each point as well, but what made them make amotion was the adornment on Luke-samas home: the skull of a certain monster. That cant be a giant boarcan it? It is. Our hunters have hunted it down in the forest over there. Youve hunted down a great boar? Sorry if this is rude, but is it possible that your hunters just chanced upon a corpse and bring that here? Haha, its alright, I understand. Well, I didnt see it myself, but I think they really did take it down. I mean, I saw the giant metal shield they said they used to stop the great boars charge, and it was crushed in a way only a creature like the great boar can. I cautiously looked at Bazara and tried to ask through my nce if our elites could do such a feat. To that, he simply shook his head left and right. m-maybe theyre bluffing I hope so More and more, I was regrettinging to such a crazy ce. I guided Dant-sans group and went around the vige. Ive shown them all that I should, right? Yeah, I think that about covers it. Ahm, Luke-sama, Im sorry to ask this again, butbut is this vige really built just half a year ago? Uh, yeah, it is. When I came here half a year ago, it was nothing but a wastnd. Dant-san showed a face of disbelief. Well, you see, its mostly thanks to my Gift [Vige Building]. [Vige Building]? Yeah. I then began to exin my Gift. Because Selen has warned me to not mention my vige skills and the fact that I could do more things as my vige levels up, I omitted those points. What an incredible GiftI see, so thats why Lord Albert sent you here? No, I dont think so. I myself only found out what my Gift can do exactly when I got here. I wonder what would have happened if I found out back then though? I think I could have prevented my banishmentbut then again, I like how things turned out. I enjoy my leisurely life here and I dont think Id want it any other way. yeah, like I thought way back then, Im not suited for this age of war. Please consider supporting me. You can do this either by turning off adblock for this blog or via myPatreon page. Thank you. Chapter 47: We’ve hunted some of the orcs living in the forest over there Chapter 47: Weve hunted some of the orcs living in the forest over there To make Dant-sans group feel weed, I asked the vigers to prepare a feast for them in the vige za. Thankfully, the vigersespecially the housewivesobliged. They did their utmost to prepare dishes made with orc meat as well as those made with the crops we harvested. As for the drinks, it was of course going to be the alcohol we made. Its so delicious! Im d you like it. That ones made from the crops harvested in this vige. What about this meat? Its orc meat. Weve hunted some of the orcs living in the forest over there. Its orc meat!? Voices of surprise came not only from Dant-san but also from the soldiers acting as his guard. There seems to be a fair number of orcs in the forest, so supply shouldnt be an issue for the meantime. My point is, please dont hold yourself back. supply shouldnt be an issue Hes bluffing, right? Hes got to be bluffing, right??? Dant-sans group seemed to still be tensed. They should be able to rx a little once they drink some of our alcohol though I thought so, but then, Millia suddenly stood up and addressed the whole crowd. What is she going to do? As our entertainment for tonights festivities, our viges esteemed fighters would like to hold exhibition matches. Huh? Theyre doing what? Howe I didnt hear of this before? That said, exhibition matches would definitely make things exciting. After Millia was done with her announcement, Balrath-san and Perun-sanwho both had [Sword Techniques]walked to the center of the za. A short while after, a fierce, lightning-fast sword fight began. Meanwhile, the vigers watched with gradually increasing excitement. There were even some who stood up and shouted to cheer. The two were really amazing. I had seen them spar before, but it felt like they were so much stronger now than back then. Huh? Is it my imagination or have Dant-sans guardspletely stopped eating? Excuse me, but ahm, is the food perhaps not to your liking? O-oh, its not that! The foods heavenly! Its, its just thatI cant stop watching Because it worried me, I decided to ask so. The one who hurriedly shook his head and answered my question was Bazara-san, the leader of the guards. Well, duh. Theyre fighters, so of course theyd be focused on watching the exhibition match. Theres no doubt about itthose two, they have the [Sword Techniques] Giftbut how, how can there be two such people in a remote vige? Bazara-san uttered something under his breath, but it was likely an analysis of the fight that only a fellow fighter would understand, so I didnt bother asking. After a while, the exhibition match ended. Balrath-san and Perun-san made their exit, only to be reced by two others. Much like before, the recements began a mock battle. huh? Dont tell me this ce has more people with Gifts We had more vigers, so as to be expected, we had more people with Gifts. Including the children who couldnt unlock their Gifts yet, about 10% of the poption had Gifts. That was easily over a hundred people. From those, 31 hadbat-type Gifts. However, excluding the children, the elderly, and those who had stamina issues, the count goes down to 24. To name a few of the Gifts present in our vige: [Sword Techniques], [Spear Techniques], [Axe Techniques], [Grappling Techniques], [Whip Techniques], [Bow Techniques], and [Aiki Techniques]. As the night went on, it became more and more apparent that each of those 24 vigers would participate in tonights series of exhibition matches. As for the other vigers, they enthusiastically cheered the fighters on. Wow. The whip flows so freely! Its like part of their arm or something! Thats it! There! Go! Oh my, youre so cool! On the other hand, Dant-sans group was eerily quiet. It could be that they were just so focused on watching. They look a bit pale though When the exhibition matches for the 24 vigers who hadbat-type Gifts were over, those who had magic-type Gifts stood up and walked toward the center, fully intent to showcase their Gifts. Magic-type Gifts were even rarer thanbat-type Gifts. In fact, we only had a total of 8 vigers who had such Gifts. That count included Selen as well as two children who were yet to be blessed. There are even those who can use magic? What the hell is going on in this vige? Ahm, are you sure youre alright? I guess the foods really not No, no, Im fine! Really! So dont mind me please! Even though he definitely didnt seem alright, Bazara-san shook his head rapidly. Please consider supporting me. You can do this either by turning off adblock for this blog or via myPatreon page. Thank you. Chapter 48: I’d like to apologize to you Chapter 48: Id like to apologize to you When the feast was over, we were guided to a certain location. It was a residence that looked exactly like the vige chiefs own home. if my memory serves though, I dont think there was anything at all here when we were shown around the vige earlier It was likely thanks to Luke-samas Gift. Still, for a building as splendid as this to be built in such a short amount of time, it was nothing short of unbelievable. Feel free to stay at this ce. I think its big enough tofortably amodate your guards as well. Thank you very much, Luke-sama. We entered nervously. Just like the outside, the interior was built well too. Not only that, there were even furniture and other furnishings ced already. There were other unbelievable things too, like proper indoor bathrooms andvatories. His Gift was just incredible. Be frank with me, what do you think about this vige? While sitting in a couch in the living room, I asked so to Bazara who was sitting across me. Its abnormal, to say the very least. Ipletely agreed. But then again, everybody in whole world would probably agree as well. Dant-sama, Id like to apologize to you. What for? Before we entered the vige, I promised you that as long as we were near, no harm will evere to you in this ce. I would like to retract those words. Bazara was a skilled and seasoned soldier, yet he still told me so. we just dont stand a chance. If they decide to attack us, all of our elites here wont be able to hold them off for long. Retaliating with the rest of the troops back home is not only ill advised, Id say its suicidal. O-ohh I vaguely suspected it already, but it was undeniable now: this vige really did have more war potential than any ce called a vige could possibly have. I cant believe that they have so many people withbat-type and magic-type Gifts. Especially if what they said is true: that most of the people here were refugees from the west and from our own territory. Maybe they can bless all of them without restriction? When I thought about it, there was a building that looked like a church. For some reason, they didnt talk about that building. Naturally, it seemed odd to me, but I didnt think much of it. I was overwhelmed as it was after all. But then, where can they have gotten a priest who will perform the rite? Without exception, all priests who had the Gift called [Oracle] were all managed by the church. After all, to receive the Gift of [Oracle], the church had to perform a blessing on them first. I couldnt imagine the church agreeing to bless all of these vigers. However, if for some reason an exception was indeed here in this vige but supposing ordinary vigers can get blessed, will this many of them receive Gifts? Im not sure. The church has always imed that even ifmoners are given the rite of blessing, less than 1 percent of them will receive a Giftif thats not true though oh my If, or rather when, the church learns of this vige, they wouldnt remain silent. And unfortunately for this vige, the church still had some level of influence even in this age of constant warring. So then, what do you n to do with this vige, Dant-sama? After reporting it to Lord Albert, of course. No, I wont even make a report. Really? Bazara stared at me with his eyes wide open. Lord Albert is currently busy preparing for his next war, so domestic affairs like this will likely be entrusted to Raul-sama. And in the event that Albert house wins against the Schneger house, it was highly likely for Lord Albert to stay in his newly acquirednd and govern it at least for some time. If so, Raul-sama would then likely be put in charge of all affairs in the present-day Albert territory. In other words, my report will almost certainly go through Raul-sama first. Ive heard Raul-sama is quite antagonistic of his step-brother. So, I suspect he doesnt want Lord Albert to know of Luke-samas sess here. Thanks to having inherited [Sword Master Techniques], Raul-sama was set to be the next lord of the Albert territory. However, it still wasnt impossible for Luke-sama to steal that away. Raul-samas going to try to crush this vige before Lord Albert has any idea that it exists. While the church was a threat for this vige, Raul-sama undoubtably posed a much more significant one. But Dant-sama, if it gets discovered that you tried to conceal the existence of this vige I was a servant of the Albert House. If it bes known that I acted on my own in this matter, my life would be over. Even so, Im choosing to take a chance on this vigeon Luke-sama. As governor, I had always managed thisnd exactly as how the Albert house wanted me to. When I was told to impose heavy taxes on my people, I did so, sometimes through force. I had convinced myself that I had to, that I had no other choice. Yet, cowardly as I was, I was willing to take a chance on this vige in the wastnds. Instead of Raul-sama, I think it is Luke-sama who should be the next head of the Albert house. I think Luke-sama will be a greatest lord thend has and will ever have. Unbeknownst to Dant and Bazara, there was someone lurking beneath the floor of the living room that they were in. Depending on their conversation, this lurker might make it so that the two would never be able to return to this vige in this wastnd. In other words, thanks to Dants deration, he unwittingly escaped death. Please consider supporting me. You can do this either by turning off adblock for this blog or via myPatreon page. Thank you. Chapter 49: I’ll make a road for you Chapter 49: Ill make a road for you Good morning, Dant-san! Did you manage to sleep wellst night? Ah, Luke-sama, good morning. Yes, thanks for the amodations. Dant-san seemed refreshed this morning, like a weight was lifted off his shoulders. He didnt look so well yesterday, but it was probably just because of the long journey he had. Simrly, Dant-sans guards who looked even worse than him yesterday were now also looking better. Luke-sama, there were so many things that surprised me yesterday that I forgot to tell you something Dant-san suddenly put on a serious expression. Naturally, that made me wonder what he wanted to say. For taking in the people of the North, I sincerely thank you. Oh, okayactually, I think I should apologize for that. I mean, I did take away some of your citizens No, please dont. Its entirely my fault for allowing their living conditions to deteriorate to the point theyre forced to leave their homes. So, rather than reproach you, I would rather thank you. Thank goodness hes not angry for that. AndI realize this is awfully shameless of me, but can you perhaps sell some of your food to us? To be frank, the North is currently suffering from famine Apparently, they werent able to harvest many crops this year. Add in the taxes and In my opinion, now just wasnt the time for wars. Many people have managed to take refuge in this vige, but they were only a small fraction of all the people suffering from the famine. Yeah, of course. We actually have more than we can consume right now, so youll be saving us from wasting good food. You really dont mind? Yeah, definitely. If it turns out that we need more food, we can simply increase the number of our fields. Plus, given the nature of our fields, were able to grow crops even in winter. The majority of our over 1000 vigers worked in agriculture, so workforce wasnt an issue either. Im really d to hear that. However, the Northcks coin right nowif possible, may we offer goods instead? Sure. Our vige was made just recently, so there are so many things we stillck. Wed prefer it to be that way, to be honest. Thank you, Luke-sama! Dant-san said so and then bowed his head repeatedly. His family was the noble house that ruled this ce before the Albert house took over, so unlike most governors who came from outside the territory they were assigned to, Dant-san truly and deeply cared for his people. This probably made his inability to oppose my fathers directives even more vexing though. Alright, so, how are we going to exchange goods? Should we send someone? I think itll be more convenient for the both of us if I ask a trusted merchantpany to send their merchants here to give you our goods. The merchantpany I have in mind has branches all over the North, so procuring what you need and also distributing the food to our people should go smoother than if our own government offices were to do it. I see. Alright then. One of the things I wanted out of this deal was clothes. At the moment, we had no way to make clothes in the vige, so everyone was washing and re-wearing the same clothes over and over again. If possible, I would like to havepleted several deals already with Dant-san before winter really kicks in. Snow and other things would hinder travel, after all. Afterwards, Dant-san notified me that they would be departing as soon as possible. I asked him to stay a little longer, but he wanted to go back and notify the merchantpany right away. And so, I traveled with them up to the outer walls gate to send them off. Pleasee visit again. I definitely willI look forward to what this vige has be by then. Haha, itll probably be the same. When Dant-san boarded his carriage, I suddenly thought of something. Ahh! Traveling though this wastnd must be tough, right? Ill make a road for you. excuse me? I made the road in the vige stretch all the way to the end of the end of the bumpy wastnd. I couldnt see all of it, but I somehow knew that it reached that far. Like this, even the merchants who woulde here wouldnt have to suffer a bumpy journey. Thank you, Luke-sama(so much for remaining the same. The vige has changed before I even left!) Please consider supporting me. You can do this either by turning off adblock for this blog or via myPatreon page. Thank you. Chapter 50: They might spend the night there Chapter 50: They might spend the night there Selens group isnt back yet? Selen and her hunting group had gone out to hunt but still werent back yet. The days have been getting shorter recently, so it would be dark before long. I hope theyre alright. The hunting group has grown in number, so I was fairly certain they were runningte for no real reasonhowever, when evening came and the surroundings became totally dark, I couldnt help but be anxious. So, when Satin reported that the hunters have returned, I became somewhat relieved. His next words made me worry again though. ((They say only about a third of them are here)) ((Did something happen??)) I hurried toward the northern gate, the gate closest to the forest. Upon arriving, I did a cursory look. I failed to find Selen. I subconsciously went near Balrath-san who was in the vanguard. W-what happened!? Wheres Selen and the rest Ahh, sorry for worrying you, vige chief. Theyre all alright. Of course, that goes for Captain Selen too. Balrath-sans words allowed me to let out a sigh of relief. If thats the case, where are the others? Well Balrath-san then proceeded to recount the days events. We were hunting like usual when all of a sudden, we heard what seemed like a roar and a scream from further inside the forest. We didnt fully believe someone else besides us were in the monster-infested forest, but we still decided to investigate. At the scene, we saw two groups fighting one another: a group of enraged monsters called mad grizzliesand a group of elves. Elves!? The elven race was considered to be rted to us, the human race. They had long, pointy ears; had a really long lifespan; and most of them was said to have beautiful features. It was said that back in the day, they interacted with us. However, oppression due to their appearance have apparently made them cease all interactions. So, they were hiding out here in this monster-infested forest? We decided to help the elves out. It didnt take long for ourbined forces to defeat the whole group of mad grizzles. Our group was mostly unhurt, but a lot of the elves sustained heavy wounds. The elves mentioned that they have a settlement deep in the forest, but going back while so many of them are injured seemed extremely dangerous. At that point, Captain Selen offered to escort them up to their settlement. But they thought that doing so without any notice to us would cause us to worry. As such, they decided to let some of the hunting group return. So, right now, Selen is headed to the elves settlement? Yes. Theyve probably reached it by now too. But nights in the forest are extraordinarily dangerous, so they might spend the night there and return tomorrow. An elven settlement, huhI wonder what thats like. Well, in any case, Im just d that Selen and the hunting group are safe. The next day, Selen and the others returned. Huh? Arent there more of them? So many of them look unfamiliarwait a minute! Theyre elves! Are you Luke-dono, the vige chief? Ahh, y-yes! One of the elves stepped forward and started talking. It was my first time to talk to an elf, so I was nervous. Unfortunately, that made me reply in a high-pitched voice. My name is Philianius Mel Rebore Leonius Serenre. So long! Theres no way Im going to remember that! I realize its long, so please call me Philia. Oh thank goodness. Philia-san, now that I can remember. They looked like warriors. They wore leather armor and had bows hanging on their backs. Much like what I was told, elves were indeed beautiful. Even among them though, Philia-sans elegance, her pretty eyebrows, her height, her coolness, all of itbined made her something else. We are deeply indebted to your vigers. On behalf of our leader, wevee here to give our thanks to you. I see. I appreciate you going to the trouble. We dont have much in this vige, but please make yourselves feel at home. Like that, I showed around the vige the very first elves I met. TL note: Yeah, I just gave up on that name. Please consider supporting me. You can do this either by turning off adblock for this blog or via myPatreon page. Thank you. Chapter 51: Do you want to take a bath first? Chapter 51: Do you want to take a bath first? Thats an elf? Theyre all beautiful women No, actually, I heard there are men among them. Ha? No way. There cant be men Elves unexpectedly came to our vige. Because they werent often seen, our vigers gathered to get a sight of them. Its rude to stare, you know. sorry Selen-san. Im sorry about them, Philia. Dont worry about it, Selen-dono. If anything, this is only fair. Our people did the same thing when you arrived in our hamlet. The two of them already spoke quite casually to each other. The other elves were tensed and alert, but Philia-san and Philia-san alone didnt seem fazed by all the attention. So cool. At any rate, before I knew it, a vige has really been built here in this wastnd this wastnd where crops shouldnt be able to grow Pardon me, but what are thoserge mounds? Ah, those are where we live. The ones we have now are called apartment buildings. Basically, its many housesbined together to make onerger building. Apart? I was wondering why I wasnt seeing any houses, but my, I had no idea human beings lived in such strange things. Not really. I think its safe to say that the apartment buildings are unique to this vige. For the meantime, I brought them to the vige chiefs estate. In other words, to my home. We went through the gate and then passed the garden, away from the eyes of the vigers. There, the other elves rxed a bit. You can rx a little here. Its just us here. Aside from the elves, the only people here were myself, Selen, and Millia. I considered asking some of the hunters to act as our guards, but decided against it in the end. I chose to believe that the elves wouldnt do us harm. Thank you for your consideration. It seemed like Philia-san recognized my intentions and said her thanks. To be frank, we dont have a good opinion of human beings. However, I think we can trust at least you. Oh my, this is not how one should talk to their benefactor. Please dont worry about it. Horrible people do exist, and worse, Ive heard horrible people have tormented elves in the past. We moved our conversation to the living room. When we sat on the sofa, I noticed something. I then nervously made a suggestion. ahm, do you want to take a bath first? There was no way I could have said it inly, but the elves had dirt all over their bodies. Also, well, they reeked. Selen might have thought so too because she immediately agreed to my proposal. Thats a great idea! Have I mentioned that in this vige, everyone can take baths whenever they want? I see the vigers here did seem to be considerably clean When we asked for more details, we learned that there wasnt anything that could really be called a bath within the elves settlement. To clean themselves, they had to go to the nearby river. But as winter approaches, wiping ourselves be more of the case. It was cold, after all. Butmander, wed be defenseless Its alright. If they really wanted to harm us, Im sure theyd be able to do so easily without resorting to tricks. Out of vignce, Philia-sans subordinates raised a concern. Philia-san disagreed with her subordinates though. Ok, this one is for the men. For the womens bath, please follow Selen. There were currently two open-air baths in the estate. There was also the indoor bath included when the house was first built. To my surprise, I discovered that about half of the elves were men. Their appearance gave no indication at all. It wasnt only because both the men and women had beautiful faces, but also because their physiques were almost the same. Philia-san was even the tallest among them. Anyway, I led the men to the mens open-air bath. A bath outdoors Isnt this more of a pond? Look closely though, theres steam rising. While taking my clothes off, I asked them to do the same. I believed going in the bath together would take some of their wariness away. But then Hmm, so this is what an open-air bath is like? Its quite spacious here. I know, right? Just taking a plunge here is enough to take away the days fatigue away. For some reason, Philia-san and the other girls were here. W-wait, why!? Please consider supporting me. You can do this either by turning off adblock for this blog or via myPatreon page. Thank you. Chapter 52: Was there a trap in the lavatory!!? Chapter 52: Was there a trap in thevatory!!? What are you doing here, Philia-san!? No need to worry. There are very little differences between male and female elves. Moreover, we are like brothers and sisters here, so we often bathe in the nude together. While exining so, Philia-san was taking off her clothes. Thats fine and all, but that cant be applied to us humans! I quickly turned away and shouted so. Sure, I always bathe with Selen and Millia, but that didnt mean I was used to bathing with naked women. However, myint went unheeded. Philia-san, now naked, proceeded to submerge herself in the water. The other female elves followed her lead. this feels so good! Those were the first words they said. So, this is what an open-air bath feels like? Its so refreshing. And even though its so open, I still feel secure here. What a marvelous thing. Iwho was at one corner of the bath so that I could avoid the womenasked something. Bathing in a river is quite dangerous, isnt it? Naturally. There are monsters who live in and around the river, after all. As a precaution, we sprinkle a liquid that the monsters dont like, but there would still be times where a monster attacks us. In fact, every year, without fail, some of us will get wounded while taking a bath. And sometimes, there will be deaths too. Thats a river within that monster-infested forest for you. Yet, you have something like this within the vige At the moment though, these are the only open-air baths we have in the vige. That said, every home does have their own regr-sized bath. An alternative especially for those who want to bathe somewhere bigger is to use any of the two public bathhouses we have. Perhaps due to being pleased with the open-air bath, the elves spent nearly an hour bathing. I felt light-headed already, so I got out first. Now that they were cleaned and refreshed, we resumed our conversation in the living room. Mad grizzlies rarely form groups, but even alone, theyre formidable monsters that can take on multiple orcs. If Selens group didnt arrive back then, our damages would have been far greater. For that, Id like to give my thanks again. The other elves, who were not as wary now, nodded to what Philia-san said. Lest I forget, they even escorted our injured back. Because of that, none of our people died. d to hear that. Please take this as a token of our gratitude. Philia-san said so and then handed to me a container which had about ten small bottles. The bottles themselves contained some kind of liquid. Are theseare these potions??? Potions were medicine that could be considered dreamlike. They say that drinking it would cause your wounds to recover so much faster than they naturally would. However, methods on how to make it have been lost, meaning those made in past were all that was avable. Elves have been passing down the way to make the potions from generation to generation. Even so, are you sure we can have these valuable potions? 10 valuable potions, at that To thank you for saving the lives of my fellow elves, these potions are reasonable gifts. After all, no number of potions can bring back the dead to life. Afterward, I asked the elves to dine with us so that they could experience the food here in the vige. However, because they might not want to attract more attention from the vigers, I decided to hold the dinner party here in my estate. Sorry, but may I use thevatory first? Of course. Its the first door of that corridor. Thank you. I guided her to that corridor, but after a little while Nuaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!? I suddenly heard a voice from the restroom. Thinking something happened to Philia-san, I hurried to the corridor. She had just gone outside of the restroom when I arrived. However, everything that she wore for the lower half of her body, even her unmentionables, was down by her feet. In other words, Philia-san was out in the corridor with her lower half fully exposed. Philia-san!? My, my butt! Something attacked my butt! Huh!? The other elves arrived just then. Commander!? Was there a trap in thevatory!!? How dare they do that to themander! While guarding her bottom, Philia-san had fallen into floor of the corridor. Hearing what she just said and then seeing her like this, the other elves grew angry. As for me, I peered into the restroom and understood what caused this situation. I-its not like that! You see, this toilet has function where if you press a buttonthat one over therewater wille out to wash your bottom. Huh? Please consider supporting me. You can do this either by turning off adblock for this blog or via myPatreon page. Thank you. Chapter 53: Water shot out because I pressed that button Chapter 53: Water shot out because I pressed that button I see. Water shot out because I pressed the button for that, uhh, washilet thing, is that right? Y-yes, thats right. I should have properly exined it to you beforehand, sorry. It was only natural for Philia-san and the elves to be surprised. A toilet seat with such a function was a first for me too. Back in my parents estate, after doing my business, I would use a piece of cloth like hemp to clean my bottom. However, wealthy nobles were usually the only ones who could afford such a thing. Commonfolk meanwhile would use things like leaves or water that they have drawn and stored. Fabric was scarce in this vige, so back when I lived in a medium-sized house as well as the times before, through gathered water was how I cleaned myself. Thankfully, we had water readily avable. However, when my home was upgraded to arge house, the toilet in it evolved. As for the vigers, the toilets in the apartment building also had the washlet function, pleasing everyone. Im quiteenvious of your vigers Ahaha, it sure is convenient, isnt it? Yes, it is, butits something else Im envious of ? Shes envious of something else? A-anyway! How is such a toilet built? I have no clue how its normally built, to be honest. You see, this house, the baths, this restroom, and a whole lot of other things in the vige are built using my Gift. Your Gift? Oh right, we havent talked about that. Well. I exined my Gifthow it was considered a useless Gift, how it led to me being exiled, and how I developed this wastnd. no matter how I look at it, its a useful Gift. Is your family perhaps a bunch of fools? When I was back there, I myself didnt know anything about my Gift, including how to activate it. Turns out, if someone else already has ownership over a territory, this Gift wont activate at all. So back home, it was indeed useless. I could probably be called back now that I knew how my Gift worked, butI didnt feel any desire to go back at all, to be honest. so then, in other wordswe cant have a toilet like this back in our hamlet. Philia-san then groan in frustration. Perhaps we can find a way to build it manually? Rather than let them go home the same day they arrived, I had asked the elves to stay the night. There werent that many of them, so I decided to let them stay here in my estate rather than in the one Dant-sans group used. The next morning. You can stay for another day or so, you know. Thanks for the offer, but the people back in our hamlet will surely worry if we stay any longer. You have a point. But please do try to visit again in the future. You can count on that. You have a beautiful vige herewith great tasting food, warm baths, and a clean environment. Wed certainly visit as much as we can. With some reluctance, the elves have decided to depart from our vige. They were anxiously on guard initially, but they were now rxed and even seem to have taken a liking to our vige. If nothing else, they seem to have fallen in love with our baths, based on the fact that they took a second bathst night and then again shortly after waking up this morning. Huh? Wheres Philia-san? Themander said earlier that shes going to use the toilet. Now that I think on it, I feel like Philia-san has used the restroom so many times since yesterday. She doesnt have an upset stomach, does she? Worried, I came to check on her. When I was near enough, I heard a voice from within the restroom. MhmHaaasoso good! Tthereahhhhhhhhhhh! I silently yet quickly turned around. Yup, I didnt hear anything. Nothing at all. After a while, Philia-san showed up. She had an extremely ted expression on her face. We feel so thankful for your hospitality. I trust it wouldnt be a problem if we return someday, right? Uhh, no problem at all. While trying my best to look calm, I nodded. I heard nothingI heard nothing at all Like that, the elves left our vige and made their way back to the forest. Wikipedia page of washlet Please consider supporting me. You can do this either by turning off adblock for this blog or via myPatreon page. Thank you. Chapter 54: Ok, you see this place? This’ll be your new home. Chapter 54: Ok, you see this ce? Thisll be your new home. As though they were substituting for the elves who just went home, the merchants that Dant-san mentioned arrived. T-there really is a vige out here in the wastnd The rumors were true Whats that? That building I greeted the bewildered merchants. Nice to make your acquaintance. I am Luke Albert, the chief of this vige. Nice to make your acquaintance too. I am Brookley, the one to oversee this group. all things considered, you have quite the marvelous vige here. To be frank, I myself was half in doubt until we arrived Brookley-san was a man of small build in the middle of his 30s. Not only was he part of the founding family of the Kane Company, one of the most distinguishedpanies in the North, he was also serving as the vice chairman of the saidpany even at such a young age. Yet such a person went to the trouble of going to our vige At any rate, the things they brought were mainly the goods wecked. To name a few: clothes, seeds, medicinal herbs, and seasonings. All we had to offer in exchange for such things though were just the crops we harvested. I intended to offer orc meat as well, but the vigers were vehemently pleading against it. I mean, I know you like orc meat, but I didnt know you love it that much. And so, our crops were more important than ever. This is the first Ive seen a vegetable this big Would you like to taste it? May we? I nodded and the merchants came closer. No signs of pests. It looks appetizing as well. If its only a matter of making them grow this big, Id say it isnt that hard. The real challenge is to grow them this big and have them be tasty too. Also, it can be hollow inside for all we know. In front of the vegetables that were several timesrger than normal were the skeptical merchants. They could have done thismission from the governor simply by delivering their goods and receiving ours, but the merchants still inspected each of the goods personally and carefully. I clearly felt their pride as merchants. Its, its so delicious!? This tomato is so sweet But arent these out of season right now? Their high praise for our crops made me happy. On top of its size, its taste is also first-ssI cant believe this is grown here in the wastnd How is it? Far better than I expected. Naturally, this means we are willing to continue the deal. They gave an estimate price for each good, allowing us to exchange almost seamlessly. The price they gave was more than I thought we would get. Thanks to that, we were able to buy all the goods we needed. I dont know if the other things youve brought are critical to the vige right now, but Id like to buy them as well. All of them, if possible. Are you sure? Yes. Ive heard many viges are suffering from the shortage of food, so Id like to help in this small way. If the traded food still isnt enough to make their life bearable, please tell them of this vige. Tell them were willing to ept them as immigrants. As though stunned, Brookley-san stared at my face without uttering a word. ? Ahm, is something wrong? N-no, not at all. Its just that for a moment there, I thought of what it would be like if you were the lord. Our lives would probably be a lot better. Ahh, forgive me, thatment just now wasnt in any way meant to speak ill of Lord Albert Hahaha, dont worry. I too am not too pleased about the way my father rules. But then again, what do I know? I am but a vige chief. I will never be a lord, nor do I have any desire to be one. Like that, our first transaction was over. The merchants went home without staying the night. The goods they obtained needed to be sold as soon as possible after all. What we received in the trade wasnt just goods. Mooo Meeehh Bawk Cows, goats, and chickens were also part of the deal. Im so excited for their milk and their eggs. Ok, you see this ce? Thisll be your new home. Through my Gift, I built an animal barn. The moment the animals went in Moo! Moo! Moo! Meehh! Meehh! Bawk! Bawk! Baaaawkkk! Whats gotten to all of you?? Everyone suddenly became excited and started running around. They say its because they entered the barn. Ahh, youre Yes, Im Neruru, the one with the Gift called [Heart of the Animals]! Neruru was a girl one year older than me. Her Gift allowed her to understand the feelings of animals. Is it alright if I leave these guys to you? Certainly! Ill make sure theyll be able to breed so that we can get more milk and eggs from them! Please consider supporting me. You can do this either by turning off adblock for this blog or via myPatreon page. Thank you. Chapter 55: Alright, please bring this person to our rehabilitation facility Chapter 55: Alright, please bring this person to our rehabilitation facility N-no! At this rate, theyre going to break through! Its all over the moment they enter our hamlet! Stop them at all cost! Shouts, screams, and roars were flying left and right in a deep part of the monster-infested forest. At the moment, the hamlet of the elves was facing a dire situation. The stone walls the elves built to keep out the monsters was being assaulted by a group of gigantic monsters that had pig-like heads. Is running our only option? Run where!? Theyre hungry! Theyll keep on chasing us until theyve eaten thest of us! Then what do you propose we do!? Open the gates so that they can eat us faster!? Elves were usually mild mannered, but even they couldnt help but be at each others throats when a grave crisis was in front of them. And then, one particr elf spoke. Were getting out of here right away! To the south! Their assault is weaker in the south! The soldiers will break through their formation, and the rest will follow as soon as a path is made! It was Phillia, themander of the hamlets soldiers. In such emergencies, hermands carried greater weight than even the patriarch of the elves. And so, even is such chaos, they quickly followed her orders. Almost as soon as the orcs destroyed a portion of the wall and gotten into the elves hamlet, the elves have managed to escape. Now we protect the rear! Everybody else, run! While letting loose an arrow that soon hit an orcs head, Philia issued thatmand. However, many wise elves could tell that it was all for naught. In addition to the elves low tendency to have children, they also lived for a long time. In other words, their poption was rather old. While an old elf can still move about unlike an old human, the fact remains that their strength has diminished. This of course slowed their group down. The option to go ahead and leave the slower ones behind was always there, but all of the elves were too noble to ever take it. No, theres still hopeif we can get out of the forest and get to the wastnd! Such thoughts ran through Philias mind. The vige she visited just a few days ago was built in merely half a year, yet it was unbelievably pleasant, and more importantly, strong. Elves didnt have a good impression of the humans, but Philia was convinced already that the ones in that vige were very kind, gentle, and trustworthy. What made Philia so convinced even though she had been there only once was the toilewas its young vige chief. I feel bad for this, but we really have no other choice than to ask that vige for help! And so, to an elf who have been to that vige before, Philia issued amand. Lute! You run ahead and deliver a message to that vige! I-I will! Instantly recognizing what her intention was, the said elf sprinted with all haste. After a fleeting nce at the elfs running figure, Philia nocked another arrow and aimed her bow at an approaching orc. Likely because the merchants from the Kanepany spread word about us, there have been an increase in people who wanted to migrate to our vige. Of course, as more people arrive, the more likely it was for a troublemaker to appear. Name: Delt Age: 32 years old Vige Bond Level: Rebellious Suitable upation: Manual Labor Gift: None Because of that, I was making use of viger appraisal like this. It says rebellious, so its easy to figure out. Alright, please bring this person to our rehabilitation facility. Certainly, chief. Ha? Whats that rehabili-something? Oi! Let me go! Where are you people taking me!? The man screamed as he was being dragged away. At that point ((Chief, an elf-looking fellow is approaching our vige from the direction of the forest.)) ((An elf?)) ((He seems very flustered.)) Hmm, can they perhaps have left something behind? No, that cant be it ((Ill try contacting them now.)) By the way, Satin usually stayed at the top of the observation tower built in the center of the vige. Like that, he could see the signals sent by the other former bandits stationed in the other observation towers and gates. He would then ry those reports to me. After a minute, Satin contacted me again. ((The elfs apparently asking for our viges assistance.)) ((Eh?)) Please consider supporting me. You can do this either by turning off adblock for this blog or via myPatreon page. Thank you. Chapter 56: Will we be able to get them all at once…? Chapter 56: Will we be able to get them all at once? Commander, the vanguard has left the forest! Haa, haa, haa, I see good, were withdrawing too! Protecting their brethrens rear and making the orcs upied were the elven soldiers led by Philia. Upon receiving such a report though, they immediately retreated. Before long, they too were out of the forest and in the wastnd. Buruaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!!! The orcs behind them also exited from the forest. Hang in there! Just a little bit more! Run! Run toward those walls! The elven soldiers shouted such exhortations toward their brethren. Unfortunately, there was something they overlooked. In the forest, they were able to make use of their smaller, more agile bodies to pass through the terrain and vegetation. The orcs, on the other hand, were slowed down significantly. The wastnd was very open though. Nothing was standing in the orcs way, making it the more convenient terrain for them. Oh noshould we have made them stay in the forest a little longer? Regret began to make their way into Philias thoughts. With nothing in their way, the orcs began to close in on the elves. From the start, the orcs were superior to elven soldiers in terms of both numbers and might. Now that the elves were exhausted, defending for long was likely impossible. Uggh, but weve made it this far! But its not over yet. If, if we can buy a little time, at least the ones ahead should be able to reach the vige! Like that, Philia-prepared herself to fight to the bitter end. She stood her ground and faced the orcs. However, several orcs took that chance to jump at her almost simultaneously. I wish I had used that toilet one more time While thinking of her dying wish, she braced herself for death. In the next moment though *Rumble**rumble* !? Bugo!? The earth shook and suddenly, there was a stone wall between Philia and the orcs. Having too much momentum, the orcs werent able to stop in time and crashed into wall that appeared out of nowhere. Screams of pain were heard immediately after. What just happened? Wait, those walls, theyre like Commander, nows our chance! R-right! The elves have narrowly escaped from death. Philia, out of shock, initially just stood there. When her subordinates called out to her though, they resumed their escape. Using the sharp eyes that allowed her to easily master the bow, she looked into the distance. There, she found the figure of a particr person standing atop a watchtower of some kind in the center of the vige. Luke-donothank you for saving us. While running toward the vige, Philia whispered such words of gratitude toward the young man. Theyre in danger! I was at the top of the observation tower built in the center of the vige. There, I saw the elves being chased by a group of orcs. After a short while, I saw that the orcs have almost caught up with Philia-sans rearguard unit. And so, I hurriedly constructed a stone wall. Somehow, I was sessful in separating the two groups. At a nce, one might assume that my Gift could be used only up to the viges outer walls. In reality though, the range was far more than that. Because of that, I was able to build a wall near the forest. What should we do now though The elves at the front have reached the viges outer walls, and Philia-sans soldiers look like they would be able to reach the vige soon as well. The question now was if our vige could win against the orcs. Even from where I stood, I could see that there were easily over a hundred orcs. And more of them were still emerging from the forest. The only vigers who could fight them were those in the hunting team. While being the defenders did make things a bit favorable to us, I couldnt imagine it to be enough to defeat so many orcs. HmmI know that wall wont be much of a problem for the orcsbut what if I built several of them and make a reallyrge moat? Will that be enough to exhaust them? But orcs have absurd stamina, dont they I suddenly thought of an idea. If we do that, will we be able to get them all at once? Like that, I built walls at a certain ce. Please consider supporting me. You can do this either by turning off adblock for this blog or via myPatreon page. Thank you. Chapter 57: She did say that they’ll do anything… Chapter 57: She did say that theyll do anything I climbed down from an observation tower and headed to the northern gate of the outer wall. Whats the n? I very much doubt that even us can take down that many orcs. Unsurprisingly, even Selen was feeling anxious. ording to Satins report, there were over 200 orcs sighted so far. It would probably take at least about a thousand experienced soldiers to take down that many orcs. We had many withbat-type Gifts, but even that would still not be enough. Oh, how about you build thicker, taller walls? That way, they wont be able to get in. Thats certainly one thing we can try. A normal stone wall could be destroyed and climbed over by the orcs with rtive ease. If I used facility customization on a stone wall to make itrger though, even the orcs shouldnt be able to enter the vige. However, in that case, the orcs might simply surround the vige and wait for us toe out to look for food. But then again, most of our food supply were produced within the vige, so we should be able to stay indoors for quite a long amount of time. But leave things to me; I have another idea. Ahm, please open the northern gate! I gave suchmand to a former bandit who guarded the northern gate. They might have thought that I wanted to open the gate temporarily, for just enough time to let the rest of the elves in. No, keep it open! And everyone, step away from the gate for now! ? When the bewildered guards stepped away, I built a pair of parallel stones walls that stretched toward us. The two new walls established a path from the northern gate. Is your idea to funnel them through this path? I mean, sure, itll limit the number of orcs we have to face to maybe 5 at a time, but well likely run out of stamina before we take down all of the orcs. Thats not it, Selen. Ahh, here! At that moment, a group of young men arrived. Our vige had many women. Our poption was currently over a thousand, but only about 300 of us were young adult men. At any rate, in their hands were a spear I mass-produced through facility customization. Wait, whats this? Dont tell me youre going to make them fight!? Youve got to be kidding. These are orcs were up against; simply increasing our numbers wont be enough! No, dont worry, I wont make them fight normally. After pacifying Selen a little, I spoke to men who just arrived. Everyone, please lend us your help! Count on us, chief! For you, chief, Idy down my life! Even at the cost of our life, well take down those orcs! W-wait, theres no need for that much resolve Their vige bond level was quite high, so they tended to say some frightening stuff from time to time Meanwhile, the elves have passed through the gate. Because of the obstacle I ced in front of the orcs, the elves made it to the vige with some time to spare. Eventually, the elves also made it through the path created by the two walls. SsoLuke-dono, were so sorry! Sorry for getting you wrapped up in this Among the elves was Philia-san who was catching her breath. When she found me, she suddenly apologized. Lets talk about the detailster. For now, although I know youre all tired, Im going to have to ask you for your cooperation. Certainly, well do anything! We dont have many who could still fight though She did say that theyll do anything Then, can you and your warriors stay here? And just to be sure, be ready to fire your bows. Are you nning to funnel the orcs with this path and have us shoot at them? Considering our numbers and theirs though No, like I said, the bows will be just an insurance. It was less about shooting the orcs and more about being in a ce where the orcs could definitely spot them. That way, the orcs would run through this path for certain. In other words, the elves would be our baits. But as to be expected, it was difficult to directly ask them to be such. To those who have a spear, please spread yourselves as evenly as possible behind both of these stone walls! Right after giving those instructions, the first of the orcs entered the path. Looks like we wont have to worry about meat for a while. Please consider supporting me. You can do this either by turning off adblock for this blog or via myPatreon page. Thank you. Chapter 58: It’s not over yet though Chapter 58: Its not over yet though BuRuaaAaaaa!!! A starving orc roared. The orcs have managed to reproduce to an absurd degree. Because of their numbers though, they have consumed nearly all of the avable food in the forest. At this point, the only ones that could fill their stomachs were the elves in the forest. They were smart enough to recognize that the ce protected by wallsthe elves hamletwas dangerous. But that was before their horde was this big. As they were now, the orcs could sessfully invade the elves hamlet. Worse yet, the orcs were also smart enough to recognize that. Elf meat wasnt something orcs particrly enjoyed. If anything, they thought it tasted awful. As such, they only seldomly ate a captured elf, and moremonly yed with it until it dies instead. However, their hunger right now has exceeded that preference. As soon as they could grab one, they would eat it in the hopes it would fill them. It was that hunger that made them chase the elves past the forest and even into the wastnd. Just when the orcs thought they could finally eat some elves though, a wall made of stone suddenly appeared in front of them, separating them from their prey. Buruaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!!! In a fit of rage, the starving orc smashed the wall and followed after the elves. However, after only a little while, another stone wall appeared before him. This happened again and again. The orc was already starving and enraged, so smashing walls one after the other unsurprisingly made it reach peak exhaustion. The other orcs were of course having simr difficulties. At this rate, they might just give up and eat each other instead. The starving orc was initially at the forefront, but those in the back have quickly caught up to him. And in front of the bunched-up-together orcs was a stone wall bigger than any before. Despite its size, the orcs should still be able to break down this wall. But then, they noticed something else about the stone wall: this one had an opening in the middle. And further into that opening, they could see the figures of the elves they have been chasing. BuRuaaaa! Without hesitation, the orc rushed forward. The others quickly followed suit. After they entered the gap, they quickly noticed that there were also stone walls to their left and right thus making a straight path. The elves in the distance were just sitting down, not moving at all. The orcs figured that maybe it was because the elves simply got too tired to go any further. The starving orc wasnt that far from the front, so soon enough, he should be able to eat some elf. Sure, elf meat tasted awful, but the orc would eat as much of it as he could regardless. But when that was only a few moments from being realized *Zuzuzuzuzuu* Suddenly, the ground shook. At the same time, the walls to their left and right began to move, making the path they were treading narrower by the second. Buhiii!? Slow-witted the orc might be, but he knew what would happen if he didnt do anything. He tried smashing the walls that were closing in, but perhaps because it was thicker than the other walls, his attack only made a small dent. Continuing to attack it might not break it in time, so running towards the end of the path was bing more and more the only real option. The other orcs realized this as well and began to speed up. Bugyaa!? But then, the elves suddenly stood up and shot arrows one after another toward the orcs. The orcs were slowed down by the volley of arrows, yet the walls kept closing in at the same pace. *Zuzuzuzuzuu* And then, finally, the path became too narrow to let an orc pass Bu-buhiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii!? Hahalike always, youre so unbelievable. Its not over yet though. It looks like many of them didnt die from being crushed. After I told that to a dazed Philia-san, I shouted something to the vigers. Everyone, are you ready??? Yesssss! The vigers gave an enthusiastic reply. Each of them still had a spear I made in their hands. Not many of them knew how to wield a spear, but for the simple task I had in mind, that didnt matter. Alright, with all your strength, just thrust the spear into the hole! Ready, go! I used facility customization to make a hole at different ces of the two walls that made a path. I then asked the vigers to position themselves in front a hole. And when I gave the signal, they thrusted their spears forward. Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh! Buhiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii!? The orcs within the path roared theirst and died without resistance. Just like I nned, we were able to round up the orcs in one go. Please consider supporting me. You can do this either by turning off adblock for this blog or via myPatreon page. Thank you. Chapter 59: That’s no ordinary orc! Chapter 59: Thats no ordinary orc! Wha-what just? I swear I saw the walls movewhats going on here? N-never mind that. Are we truly safe now though? While in shock, the elves whispered among themselves. *Zuzuzuzuzuzu* The stone walls moved again, this time to widen the path. That revealed the countless orc corpses within. Be it the walls or the vigers spears that finished them off, the fact of the matter was that no orc was moving. So thats why you made them carry spearswell, they definitely wont be in harms way if they attack the orcs like that. Looking as though she was impressed, Selen said so. At first, I thought of using the walls as just covers for the vigers, but as you might imagine, it wont do much if the orcs can still move. So, I thought, why not make the orcs unable to move with the same walls. I have to say, no one else but you could have done this kind of n I was fairly familiar with the speed the walls could move via Reposition, but timing it right was a bit of a challenge. We had to lure enough of the orcs inside, but if I was even a littlete, some of them might get through and attack the tired elves. In the end, I made it in time, but that was undeniably thanks to elves who shot arrows to slow down the iing horde. There are a few survivors though. The orcs in the far back didnt enter the northern gate and thus managed to escape our trap. Some of the vigers had confirmed that survivors were still outside of the gate, but given their losses, it shouldnt take long for them to retreatpletely. Ahh! One of them got in! One of the orc survivors outside have passed through the gate and entered the path packed with orc corpses. Huh? Is it me or is this onerger than the others? I couldnt tell before because there was some distance between us, but the lone orc was definitelyrger than an ordinary orc. Easily twice the size of the orcs it was stepping on. Buruoooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo! !? As though to let us know that it was furious about the deaths of his fallen brethren, therge orc let out a terrifying roar. And in the very next moment, it ran with unbelievable speed. How can something thatrge be that fast!? Suddenly, with panic in her voice, Philia-san shouted something. B-be careful! Thats no ordinary orc! Thats an orc king! An orc king!? An orc king was such a frightening monster that at least an entire battalion would be dispatched immediately to take care of it. The reason the orc horde has gotten thisrge was likely due to the orc king. But not only could an orc king form arge horde, it could alsomand the horde as though they were its limbs. With such a description though, one might be led to think that it was easy to deal when it was by itself, separated from its horde. Just one look at its physique and how fast it moves should quickly dispel that assumption. I tried to make the walls close in again, but I wouldnt have made it at the speed the orc king was going, so I also built a new wall at the end of the path. Like that, the orc king waspletely imprisoned by walls, with the two parallel walls still closing in to pin it in ce. Zugoooooooooooooooo!!! When I heard the roar, my expectations and the newly made wall were destroyed. What?! That wall was supposed to be thick! How did it smash it so easily!? The orc king kept on charging. I tried to build new walls to stop it, but I noticed something: I had no more vige points left. Unable to build anything, I simply stood there as the giant monster wasing my way. Wait, it ising my way! No doubt about it, its charging right at me! My guess was that the orc king somehow figured out that I was the one who built all those walls. Vige Chief! Suddenly, two people with gigantic metal shields stood in front of me. Noel-kun?! Goate-san!? The orc kings gigantic body made contact with the gigantic shields, producing an intense sound. In the next moment though, the two with shields were sent flying behind me. !? Those two managed to stop the charge of a great boar, but youre telling me that even theyre not enough to stop an orc kings charge?! Their efforts werent for nothing though. They managed to deflect the orc kings charge, making it pass by my side. Its momentum too great, it continued rushing into a nearby field. Guruaaaaaaaaaaaaaa! The orc king stopped its charged, turned back my way, and then roared. Luke, get to safety! While shouting that to me, Selen got in position to fight the gigantic monster. As soon as Noel-kun and Goate-sanwho both seemed finegot up, they picked up their shields and followed after her. The other members of the hunting team followed as well. Even the elven soldiers had their arrows at the ready. Everyone, be careful! I did as I was told and retreated to the backlines. While I did so, I took a nce at the western sky. The sun was nearly setting. Just a little bit more Please consider supporting me. You can do this either by turning off adblock for this blog or via myPatreon page. Thank you. Chapter 60: It looks to me like you need my strength right now Chapter 60: It looks to me like you need my strength right now *Swish**Swish* The elves were firing their arrows in unison. Their arrows were hitting the orc king, but his skin and muscles were so thick that the arrows didnt look like they were doing any damage. Rather than hurt him, the arrows merely irritated him. After that volley, Selen rushed forward. The orc king swung his arm to strike her, but she dodged by a hairs breadth and even counterattacked with magic at pointnk range. Her ice arrow struck the orc kings leg, but even that didnt seem to have much effect. Watching Selen fight was so nerve-racking. I wish she didnt take that much risk! Get behind us! Selen-dono, use your magic from behind us! As though the two had the same thoughts I did, Noel-kun and Goate-san hurriedly stood in front of her with their shields. And so, while the two were stopping the orc kings attacks, arrows and magic were dealing damage to the enemy. At times, sword and spear attacks were mixed in whenever there was enough of an opening. However, this strategy of ours ced a heavy burden on the two shield-bearers. Intercepting the orc kings attacks would asionally send them flying again. Each time though, they would stand back up and continue fighting, despite being wounded all over. Noel! This cant be your limit, right!? Theres no way someone with your Gift will be exhausted way before me, right!? Of courseI can stillfight! This vige, Ill protect it!!! Goate-san who had [Herculean Strength] goaded Noel-kun who had [Shield Master Techniques]. In response, Noel-kun roared back. The two of them should have reached their limit a long time ago though Even if we used the few potions we had, it might still not be enough to make much of a difference. At this rate As though sensing as well that the fight was going in our favor, Selens face was distorted with irritation while she attacked with her magic. It was then that It looks to me like you need my strength right now. !? You The man who appeared before Selen was someone who could rival an orc in size. This man was Dorial, the leader of the bandit group that attacked our vige. In his hand was a shield like those carried by Noel-kun and Goate-san. Im no expert in using a shield, butwell, it dont look like anyone other than me can do this, so cant be helped. Why, why are you? Ive said it before, didnt I? If you ever need my strength, youll have it. Dont you agree that you need it now? Dorial replied so to Selen and then snorted. He then proceeded to charge into the orc king with his shield. Oraaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa! !? Thanks to Dorials shield bash, the orc king was greatly thrown off bnce. Like I thought, if there was anyone who could help the Noel-kun and Goate-san, it would be this guy. ((Thanks, Satin.)) ((I never would have thought that the boss would do something for this vige though)) Through Satin, I had asked Dorial for his cooperation. I was naturally anxious on letting him out of the prison, but I was more concerned at the moment on lightening Noel-kun and Goate-sans burden. Guaah!? Damn it, is this giant pig really this strong!? Am I not going tost long against you, you bastard!? Well, there was only so much he could do to help the two shield-bearers. Dorials Gift was [Axe Techniques], so unless he was using an axe, he was just another man with arge physique. Asking him to endure as much as the two was just unfair. Nevertheless, with 3 shield bearers, we were fighting in a safer manner than before. Whenever the chance presented itself, Rando-kun would poke with his spear. Simrly, Balrath-san and Perun-san would asionally sh at the orc kings back and then quickly withdraw. The vigers with magic-type Gifts have been firing their magic attacks as much as they could, ready to use all of their magic power if they have to. The elves were simrly firing their arrows non-stop. In fact, their fingers were now bleeding due to repeated drawing of their bows. Bu-buruaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa! Thanks to everyones perseverance, the orc king was gradually umting damage. It now had wounds all over his body. asionally, he would even be staggered. Yet, for all that, he still had no trouble swaying his arms to attack our vanguard. Everyone, just wait a little bit more While I was watching with bated breath like that <<1214 vige points have been acquired as your daily ie of vige points.>> Finally, its here! Each day, I am given a number of vige points. And because the number of my vigers have exceeded a thousand already, I earned more than 1000 points each day. Everyone, get away from there! !!! Thanks to their trust in me, everyone quickly distanced themselves from the orc king even though I didnt give them an exnation as to why. Buruaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa! Not wanting to let the vigers get away, the orc king chased after them. However, I immediately built a stone wall in front of him. This stone wall was thicker and taller than any Ive built before. Even the orc king shouldnt be able to destroy this one so easily. !? Perhaps it was because he sensed danger that he hurriedly tried to escape. Of course, I didnt let him. I built special stone walls that formed a shape. Together with the first one, the orc king was now fully enclosed. Even through the thick walls, I could tell how confused the orc king was to be in such a situation. The sound of stone being repeatedly pounded could also be heard through the wall, but Its useless. Like when I was making weapons, I used facility customization to make the stone in the walls be as condensed as possible. With the walls being this reinforced, even the super strong orc king shouldnt be able to make any significant damage any time soon. Now for an observation tower On top of the wallswhich formed a squareI built an observation tower. If I use facility customization on it and condensed it enough, it would fall in between the walls. The observation towers made of stone, so I think that should be heavy enough. Even the orc king should be crushed by that much weight. Bu-buhiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii!? *squish* Please consider supporting me. You can do this either by turning off adblock for this blog or via myPatreon page. Thank you. Chapter 61: So, if you’d like, how about eating it with us? Chapter 61: So, if youd like, how about eating it with us? D-did we defeat it? It has to be dead, right? Even the orc king should be dead after receiving my ultimate move Facility Press. But because we have been acquainted with his terrifying endurance, we still couldnt bepletely sure. Ahm, well, Im going to remove the observation tower and the walls now. I doubt the orc kings still alive, but, well, its best to be on guard. I said so and then removed the said facilities. In its ce was the orc king. Well, most of him. yeah, hes gotta be dead. Still doubting though, we came closer to confirm. He wasnt breathing at all. We, we did it We killed that orc king All the tension in the air was suddenly gone, and we shouted in joy. Oooooooohhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!! Vigers either high-fived one another or hugged each other. But thatst attack was by the vige chief, right? Must be. No one else would have been able to do that, right? The chiefs really so amazing. Everyone really did well. Especially the hunting teamwait, how are they right now? The two shield-bearers might have been injured the worst, so I hurried to them. Vige chiefdid I manage to protect ya? Yup, yup, you sure did! Wait, never mind that, look at your wounds! Here, drink this potion for now! Huh? But, isnt thiscrazy expensive? Its fine, its fine, just drink it! Noel-kun hesitated to drink the potion despite his injuries, so I kind of forced him. Sure, a potion was rare, but getting more of them wasnt impossible. I mean, we deserve at least that much from the elves after this event! Goate-san, thanks for your service too. Here, have some potion as well. Ah, thank you very much, vige chief. Perhaps because he understood that I would just force it on him even if he refused, Goate-san simply took the potion. Oi, how bout me? The one to utter that to me was the former boss of the bandits, Dorial. You showed up right at the end though. Plus, you were much worse with the shield than I expected. Tch, what harsh words. He was a criminal after all. Just because we temporarily let him out of the jailhouse didnt mean we were going to start treating him the same as our normal vigers. But then again, he did help out a little. I should reconsiderter what kind of medical treatment we were going to give him. A-ahm An elf then timidly approached. This elf with an unusual set of facial hair could perhaps be described as dandy, but not now while he had a haggard expression on his face. Are you perhaps Luke-dono, the vige chief? Yes, I am. And you are? Ah, pardon myte introductionI am Leonius Mel Rebore Landelinius Elecibora, the patriarch of the elves, The patriarch, huhwait, another long name! We are deeply sorry for involving you! He said so and then immediately bowed his head. The other elves followed suit. Please believe that we had no other choice than toe to your vige for help. Even so, from your perspective, we must be viins who brought the orc hoard and thus danger to your vige! We have no defense; were ready to ept whatever punishment you think is just! Leonius-san dered so with full resolve. It was as though he had readied himself for the worst, like being turned into a ve. The other elves seemed to be the same. Hmmthat aside, I bet youre tired from all that running. You must have gotten hungry too, right? huh? To tell you the truth, we obtained arge amount of orc meat a short while ago and we really couldnt eat it all by ourselves. So, if youd like, how about eating it with us? Wha? I ignored the elves shock, and addressed the vigers. There you have it, well be having an orc meat barbeque party tonight! Lets all work together to prepare it! Yessssssssssssssssssss! The men screamed and hurriedalmost like they were racing against each otherto pick up the orc meat lying around. The orcs were the objects of our fear just a while ago, but right now, they were seen as nothing but delicious meat. Lu-Luke-donojust what Hahaha! Aughter emerged from the person beside Leonius-san. That person was Philia-san. What did I tell you, father? Luke-donos excellence isrger than the monster-infested forest itself. Oh, Leonius-san is Philia-sans father, huh. And probably due to his character, the humans of this vige are all wonderful people as well. Im fairly sure that none of them thinks ill of us for what just happened. PhilianiusI guess youre right Leonius-san then finally disyed a smile. Did you hear that, everyone? I am now convinced that the people of this vige are good neighbors! Let us thank them for their kindness, and also strive to deepen our bond with them! Yes! At that moment, I noticed something. Ahh, but before eating, why dont we take a little bath? You look like youve all worked up a sweat so you smell a little, there was no way I could say that to them. Please consider supporting me. You can do this either by turning off adblock for this blog or via myPatreon page. Thank you. Chapter 62: Great job, Commander! Chapter 62: Great job, Commander! Ive heard tales of it, but this ce is unbelievably pleasant, isnt it Yeahthat heavenly bed, that bath you can use whenever you want, those fantastic foodand that toilet! Yeah, yeah, that toilet! Its so amazing! I ended up trying it a bunch of times. My, these humans, they really live a great life, dont they No, apparently, this vige is special. Everything here is supposed to be because the vige chief has a powerful Gift. I saw some elves talking about something, so I came closer to greet them. Good morning. Did you have a good sleep? Vige chief-dono! Y-yes, thanks all to you! d to hear it. After the barbeque party, the elves stayed the night. They said they didnt mind sleeping outdoors, but as expected, it would look bad upon us as hosts to let them do so if it could be helped. Fortunately, we still had apartment units left unupied. We also had my estate and the already-built estate for guests. For the remaining elves, I built a new two-story apartment building. Thanks to all that, the more than 200 elves all slept indoorsst night. Luke-sama, theres actually something Id like to discuss with you Leonius-san politely said so. He was looking so much better than he did yesterday thanks to having a good nights sleep. Weve sent someone to look at our hamlet, but as we suspected, the damage to it was tremendousits possible to repair it so that we can live there again, but that would probably take some time. Especially now that its winter Then, until that time, how about living in this vige? M-may we!? Yes, of course. In case you havent heard, this vige isposed of immigrants from all over. So, aside from your race, your circumstance will be pretty simr to the ones weve epted and the ones we will happily continue to ept. I see. Thank you very much. (it might be for only a while, but this means I get to use that toilet!) Sorry, did you say something? Ah, no, nothing at all. Their first priority must be fixing their hamlets walls. Otherwise, they would be very vulnerable to monster attacks. Especially from the remaining orcs. Actually, if you dont mind, how about I go make going to and from your hamlet bepletely safe? ? How will you do that when that forest full of monsters lies in between? By going underground. Excuse me? So, this is your hamlet. By the looks of things, it would certainly take a while before repairs are done. Yes, we really cant stay here as it is. What was originally a beautiful settlement that blended with the forest was now in ruins after the orc hoards rampage. Of note was the walls surrounding the hamlet. It was now totally incapable of keeping monsters out. By the way, this was my first time inside the forest. My presence was required this time, so going here myself couldnt be helped. The vigers were worried for my safety and thus tried to stop me from going, but because the hunting team led by Selen apanied me, they didnt push the matter. But are you sure you dont want me to help repair the hamlet? Itll be easy for me I could build residence units, but that might conflict with the aesthetics of the hamlet, so I was more referring to building stone walls. It was at least one less thing to worry about. Your offer is generous, but with all due respect, we dont want to rely on you that much. This is our hamlet, so I think its only proper that we handle the repairs ourselves. I understand. One of the elves virtues was their indomitable spirit. (Alright, that should allow us to stay in that pleasant vige for at least this winter!) (Great job, Commander!) did something happen? The elves somehow look like theyre so pleased. Well then, may I use this area? After a short tour around the ruined hamlet, we approached the southern gate. What for though? What exactly did you mean when you said youll make going to and from your vige bepletely safe? Let me just show you. <> I was asked an unbelievably unsettling thing, but I simply agreed. This was the [Territory Takeover] vige skill I got when the vige became level 6. <> I have now confirmed that Territory Takeover could indeed make an area part of the vige. <> And now that it was part of the vige, I could build facilities in it. After paying 20 points, a staircase leading underground appeared. What is this!? Come on, lets go. I urged the surprised Philia-san to go down the stairs. Beyond the stairs was an underground tunnel. It was a dead end after a few meters though. <> I used another 20 points to extend the tunnel. If I repeat doing this enough times, we should eventually reach the vige. I knew this would need a considerable number of points, so I saved up for this. And just like I hoped, when I only had about 100 points left, we finally arrived. All that was left was to build the staircase leading up. Were back. You really did connect the hamlet and the vige After going up the stairs, Philia-san was surprised to see the fields. This tunnel should make repairing the hamlet not only safer but quicker as well. Y-yeah, youre right(but itll also make our stay here in the vige shorteralright, well just have to work slower.) Please consider supporting me. You can do this either by turning off adblock for this blog or via myPatreon page. Thank you. Chapter 63: Are you nothing but a bunch of small fries? Chapter 63: Are you nothing but a bunch of small fries? Raul-sama, are your preparations done? Yeah, Im ready to go anytime. Then, this way please. A retainer guided Raul into the training grounds of the territory soldiers. Today though, arge cage was installed in the training grounds. Soldiers with solemn faces surrounded this cage. Neither monster nor beasts were inside the cage. No, this cage contained a number of criminals. Criminals who were sentenced to death, to be exact. These criminals had no idea what was going to happen, so they all looked scared. Raul stood in front of the cage and then gave the signal to open it. Without hesitation, he proceeded to enter. The soldiers followed and then threw weapons at the feet of the criminals. Afterwards they addressed the criminals. Listen up. Pick whatever you want to use. And then, go fight that person. ? If you bastards somehow win, your sentences will be reduced. Yes, that means you wont be executed. As to be expected, the criminals grew excited. Is that true? Yes. B-but what if we end up killing that guy? That wont be a problem. Woohoo! Thank you, kid! As though they had already obtained the reduction on their sentences, the criminals began celebrating. After all, the one they were told to fight was a boy who was still in his teens. Moreover, a lot of them were either former mercenaries or adventurerssome were bothso they were quite confident in their skills. Hehehe, todays our lucky day Kukuku, I wonder what this boy did to deserve this. Dont know, dont care. All I care about is killing him and reducing my sentence. The criminals picked up weapons and approached Raul. Hyaaaa! Die, braha? The first one to charge wielded a sword. However, just when he was about to sh at Raul, his arm along with the sword, suddenly flew in the air. It twirled in the air for a while until it finally hit the ground. Arghhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!? Shut up. Ghhh Raul stabbed at the criminals throat, ending him. With a thud, the corpse fell to the ground. Despite being all smiles just a few moments ago, the criminals faces were now ghostly pale. Wh-who is this guy? What the hell just happened? I dont know, I didnt even see a Before that criminal could finish his sentence, he staggered and eventually copsed to the ground as well. In the blink of an eye, Raul had not only closed the distance but also stabbed the criminal in the heart. The second one alreadyhow boring. Are you nothing but a bunch of small fries? G-go at him all at once! Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh! The criminals figured they wouldnt stand a chance if they fought Raul one by one, so they decided to attack at the same time. However, their attacks hit nothing but air. Meanwhile, Raul has been taking them down one by one. Before long, only one criminal was left. This man has somehow managed to survive many of Rauls attacks. Just who are you!? I have [Sword Techniques], so why cant I do anything!? Nodont tell me, you Just die. Gah After thest of the criminals fell, cheers and apuse came from the surroundings. Its Raul-samas win! Its only been half a year since he was blessed, but hes grown to be this strong! So, this is what [Sword Master Techniques] is like Raul approached the crowd of soldiers and knelt down before a certain man. Father. Well done, Raul. Youve impressed me. In the next battle, I shall take you with me. My thanks, father. I promise to produce significant results. Raul-sama, a report. What is it? While the excitement in the training grounds still in full swing, Raul headed back. On his way, a retainer rushed up to him. Weve received word from the governor in the North regarding the rumored vige in the wastnd over there. ording to their message, theyve investigated the area, but found no such vige. I see. That makes sense. It is impossible to build any vige in that wastnd, after all. Raul said so and then snorted. Kukuku, for all we know, he might have died like a dog somewhere. Its just a shame I wasnt there to see it. If I was, I might have even offered to make him my servant, only so that I could have worked him to death! Whatever the case might be, the bottom line to Raul was that they were never going to meet each other again. He was a bit worried when he heard those rumors, but it turned out to be nothing more than that. And then, about Selen-samaas yet, even the Bazurata house still has no idea on her whereabouts Tsk, dont tell me she wanted to avoid getting married to me so much, shes gone into hiding. I-Im sure that cant be the case, sir While it displeased him a little, such a thing was trivial for Raul today. once this winter is over, I will have my first war. And father will have his most important one so far Raul whispered so and then smiled from ear to ear. And if we win, father will leave to govern the new territory, leaving me in charge of the current Albert territoryin other words, this whole,rge territory will be at my beck and call! Kukuku, hahahahahahahahaha! Raul eagerly waited for spring. For now though, he let his loudugh reverberate in the wintry sky. unbeknownst to him, the greatest threat to his ns was steadily growing in strength in the wastnd in the north. Please consider supporting me. You can do this either by turning off adblock for this blog or via myPatreon page. Thank you. Characters that appeared in the first Book Characters that appeared in the first Book Luke Albert
  • 12 years of age
  • The protagonist
  • Born as Lord Alberts eldest son, so he was expected to inherit his fathers [Sword Master Techniques].
  • Instead though, he was blessed with the Gift called [Vige Building]. Following that, he was sent to develop a particr wastnd in the north.
  • After arriving, his Gift activated. He has since been working day and night to build a good vige.
  • Somehow has been able to protect his virginity.
Millia
  • Hasnt disclosed her age (but Luke was able to find out)
  • Formerly a maid of the Albert house.
  • Given her performance and her background of being from a low-ranking noble house, she was a candidate to be head maid in the Albert house. However, she gave all that up and followed Luke. The thing that majorly influenced her decision was her love for young boys.
  • Relentlessly aiming for Lukes chastity.
  • Has the [Oracle] Gift. Often misuses her position as the only priest in the vige to spread the Faith of Luke.
Selen Bazurata
  • 15 years of age
  • A woman of the Bazurata house, a noble house which has a friendly but uneven rtionship with the Albert house.
  • She was arranged to marry Luke, but when he was exiled, her partner then became Raul, Lukes stepbrother. She didnt want to marry Raul, so she ran away toward Luke.
  • Shes on bad terms with Millia, except on certain asions.
  • Has the Gifts [Dual Wield] and [Blue Magic].
Belrith
  • 36 years of age
  • Leader of the first group of refugees.
  • Currently serving as mediator with the rest of the vigers.
  • Balraths older brother.
  • Father of one boy and one girl
  • Unlike his younger brother, he didnt particrly excel in physical activities.
Balrath
  • 32 years of age
  • A viger from the first group of refugees.
  • Has arge build
  • Has received the [Sword Techniques] Gift.
  • Joined the hunting team.
  • Belriths younger brother
  • Father of two boys
  • Unlike his older brother, he didnt particrly excel in the art of conversation
Nema
  • 63 years of age
  • The olddy whose Suitable upation is to be a torturer
  • Eheeheehee is her signatureugh
  • She was an adventurer in her youth. Even in her old age, shes still quite strong.
  • Has safely reunited with her husband who had stayed behind in their original vige
Noel
  • 13 years of age
  • Possesses the [Shield Master Techniques] Gift
  • A member of the hunting team
  • Has arge build and a rather rough personality.
  • Came to the vige along with the 2nd group of refugees, but he was from somewhere else and only joined them midway.
  • He didnt want to be conscripted, so he ran away with his little sister.
  • For epting him and his sister into the vige, he has immense gratitude toward the vige chief
Goate
  • 35 years of age
  • Part of the 2nd group of refugees
  • Possesses the [Herculean Strength] Gift
  • A member of the hunting team
  • His physique isnt that great, but thanks to his Gift, he could carry things that were several times his weight.
  • An older brother figure, especially for the younger members of the hunting team
  • The father of two sons and two daughters
Perun
  • 26 years of age
  • Part of the 3rd group of refugees
  • Possesses the [Sword Techniques] Gift
  • A member of the hunting team
  • Often practices with Belrith
  • The father of one daughter
Rando
  • 15 years of age
  • Part of the 3rd group of refugees
  • Possesses the [Spear Techniques] Gift
  • A member of the hunting team
  • His father was conscripted
  • Lives with his mother and two younger brothers
Teor
  • 20 years of age
  • Part of the 2nd group of refugees
  • Possesses the [Master Farmer] Gift
  • Contributed greatly to the vige by increasing the productivity of the fields by 20%
  • Father of two daughters
Totoru
  • 14 years of age
  • Part of the 3rd group of refugees
  • Possesses the [Literary Talent] Gift
  • By Millias order, he has been recording Luke the saviors actions, achievements, and so on in a book. This book will likely be used for proselytization.
Dorial
  • 36 years of age
  • Former bandit leader
  • Possesses the [Axe Techniques] Gift
  • He was a knight until he was discharge for misconduct.
  • He then formed his own bandit group, andmitted crimes here and there
Satin
  • 34 years of age
  • Former bandit
  • Possesses the [Telepathy] Gift
  • He was born as part of a noble house, but has somehow turned into a bandit
  • Afterpleting rehabilitation, he has been serving as the vigesmunication officer.
Baal
  • 23 years of age
  • Former bandit grunt
  • Often scolded for screwing up
  • His blunder also caused the end of their bandit group
  • While being tortured by Nema, he started to feel pleasure. Now enjoys being locked up.
Mack
  • 53 years of age
  • The vige chief of Mao vige in the northern region of the Albert territory
  • Still worries for the future of his already adult son, Manta
Manta
  • 30 years of age
  • Macks son
  • Unmarried
  • After seeing so many beautiful girls in the vigeincluding Selen, Milia, and even the elveshe has only grown more hopeful of finding a girl for him.
  • Insists that he will only marry a young woman with great looks though. For someone who ces such importance in looks, perhaps he should first look at himself in the mirror
Neruru
  • 13 years of age
  • Former refugee
  • Possesses the [Heart of the Animals] Gift
  • Her main duty is looking after the livestock
  • Her way of talking is quite simr to Baal, yet the two have never met
Philianius (Philia)
  • 114 years of age
  • Daughter of the patriarch of the elves
  • Serves as themander of the elven soldiers
  • Having known the joys of the wash toilet, she has be addicted to it
  • However, because she uses the wash toilet for more than an hour at a time, she has gotten a light case of hemorrhoids
Leonius
  • 321 years of age
  • Patriarch of the elves
  • Philias father
  • Having known the joys of the wash toilet, he has be addicted to it
  • However, because he uses the wash toilet for more than two hours at a time, he has gotten a severe case of hemorrhoids
Dant
  • 41 years of age
  • The governor of the northern region of the Albert territory
  • Laments the suffering of his people
  • Hasnt reported anything about Luke or his vige to the capital
Bazara
  • 37 years of age
  • Dants trusted soldier
  • Possesses the [Sword Techniques] Gift
  • Has served Dants family for more than a generation, and ispletely loyal to them
  • He will never admit this, but in his shock of the wastnd viges military might, he wet himself a little
TL note: Thanks to wanting to confirm her age, I noticed that Ive typed Selenium instead of Selen in chapter 8. It has always been just Selen. I google searched for others, but it seems it was just that once. Please let me know if you see another one. Additionally, while Ive tried to check the genders for some of the lesser known characters, its hard to be certain. Please consider supporting me. You can do this either by turning off adblock for this blog or via myPatreon page. Thank you. Chapter 64: I for one am not going back Chapter 64: I for one am not going back A certain group advanced through a snow-covered path. Is there really a vige ahead? Im not sure, but I dont think those merchants were lying to us With this snow though, it might not matter either way. We might freeze to death before arriving Having heard of the rumors about the vige in the wastnd, these people left their vige. However, because the ce that was mentionedwhich was the northernmost ce in northernmost region of the Albert territorywas heavily covered in snow, even moving took quite an effort. O-oi, whats that? Is that aroad? It is! And look over there! They had discovered a road that stretched in this snow-coverednd. And by looking where the road led, they saw magnificent, gigantic castle walls. Its real! The rumors were true As though the fatigue from their long journey was suddenly gone, they sprinted forward, with a spring in each step. Their feet now felt so light, even the heavy snow couldnt keep them from reaching the road. wait, theres not a trace of snow on this long road? The winter in the wastnd was so cold. Probably because of the mountains nearby, snow fell quite frequently. So much so that the wastnd was covered in snow before winter was truly here. And when the snow piled up, it was hard to remove it. Naturally, that made travel to and from here difficult. At that rate we were going, merchants and immigrants would likely have stoppeding to our vige for the rest of the winter. So, I thought I should periodically remove the snow. What I did was use Facility Customization to make one side of the road rise up considerably more, almost like a wall. In other words, I made it form an L shape. If there was a considerable amount of snow on the road, I would use facility customization again to shift the protruding portion to the other side, dragging the snow with it. It would definitely be dangerous if people were on the road, so I always make sure to use Intruder Detection first. Aside from the initial cost to make the road to be shaped like this, it didnt cost me any points to clear the snow. Not to mention, the effort it saves me. Thanks to this solution, merchants were stilling to the vige despite it being the dead of winter. My, this vige is really so, very, superfortable. Even if doesnt give me coin, Id stille here. I know what you mean. They have great food, warm beds, always-open public baths. Its almost like Im taking a vacation, hahaha! You know what, why dont we make this our base of operations? Oh! Thats a great idea! I could be wrong, but it felt like they were staying in the vige for longer periods of timetely. Not that I had any problems with that, of course. Immigrants were also stilling to the vige. In fact, I was just about to greet the ones who just arrived. Before I forget, how are the repairs going, Philia-san? Ahh, yes, theyre going well. Thanks to the underground path you built, weve been slowly but surely doing the repairs. If all goes well, it should beplete by spring time. I see. In other words, the elves would be back to their hamlet in the forest when spring arrives. Thinking that you guys will leave soon actually makes me feel a bit lonely. yeah Its just as we heard. This vige is like paradise. Yeah. Its the middle of winter, yet theres plenty of food. We can use as much hot water as we want. And then, theres thisrge bath. Two men were talking while in the spacious bath of the public bath house. They have moved to the vige just recently, so they were still getting surprised by how much better their lives were in the vige. I must say, those apartment buildings are something else. I was worried about living somewhere really in cold in the winter, but its not cold here at all. Back in our old shack, we had to wrap ourselves in straw just to sleep, and thats in autumn. Have you heard that the vige chief built those apartment buildings in an instant? The environment here in the vige is truly superb! !? The two men were startled. It was because they suddenly heard a third voice. The voice belonged to an elf. This being the bath house, the elf was of course naked. By looking at the elfsher region, the two men found out that it was a male elf. Sure, one could simply assume that it was a male elf because this was the mens bath, but without checking their private part, it was so hard to be sure whether an elf was male or female. Ahm, is it true that elves used to live in the forest? Yes. However, we were recently attacked by a horde of orcs. It was thanks to this viges help that we escaped a gruesome fate. It might not look it, but this vige has great war potential. Its much safer here than in any city. Ohh, that reassuring. I was actually a bit worried when I heard this vige was close to a den of monsters. The two men were perplexed at first, but they quickly became conversational with the friendly elf. When your home gets fixed, does that mean youll leave and go back to the forest? No, no, no. No way. Now that I know of this pleasant vige, theres just no way Ill go back to that simple and dangerous ce. After hearing the elfs rant, the two men looked at each other. While theyve realized that the elf before them was a bit unconventional, he was still part of a supposedly noble race. The two men worried if it was alright for the elf to talk like that about his own hamlet. Ahahaha, dont worry, its not a problem. The others may not say it, but we all think it. Well, I dont know what theyll do, but I for one am not going back. Even if Im the only elf to not go back, Ill still stay. Please consider supporting me. You can do this either by turning off adblock for this blog or via myPatreon page. Thank you. Chapter 65: Lets now return to our hamlet Chapter 65: Lets now return to our hamlet It has been getting warmer recently. There was still snow in the wastnd, but the cold wasnt as harsh anymore. Hopefully, the rtively warm days meant that spring hase to the wastnd. Is your bottom alright now? Y-yes, fortunately Leonius-san, the patriarch of the elves, said so bashfully. For a time, he found it hard to do certain things, even walk. It looks like he has now made a full recovery though. Still, its worrying that multiple people have pain in their bottoms aftering to our vige. Do you have any clue on the cause? N-no, I dont For some reason, Leonius-san avoided making eye contact while saying so. I just hope it isnt a disease peculiar to our vige. As the vige chief, I naturally wanted to investigate what the cause was. (I just cant say it I just cant say that weve enjoyed the wash toilet so much, we got hemorrhoidswhats more, both parent and child) Leonius-san? N-no, its nothing! more importantly, Luke-dono, Id like to thank you again for everything youve done for us. We are in your debt. I feel like hes deliberately changing the subject, but, oh well, I guess. It seems the repairs are done, huh. Yes, they are. Thanks to that, we could now return to our hamlet. Thats great news, isnt it? It seemed like the time to bid farewell to the elves, who have been with us through the winter, was fast approaching. But then again, with the underground tunnel connecting the vige and their hamlet, we could meet each other anytime. Is it alright if we keep the tunnel in ce? Yes, most certainly. It would be our pleasure to continue being friends with you. Leonius-san cheerfully said so, but then suddenly looked like he had trouble continuing to talk. Actuallyactually, some of us have expressed a desire to continue living in this vige Really? I was so surprised by what he said. Ive always thought that the elves, who usually lived in the forest, found life here in the vige to be stressful. And it was that stress that made their bottoms ache. So, now that I was told that some of the elves wanted to stay behind, of course I was happy. Yes. O-of course, if its too much trouble, Ill tell them off and bring them back with us No, no, its not trouble at all. We have plenty of food and plenty of space, so having more living here is better for us, actually. Are you sure? Can they really immigrate here? Yes, absolutely. Theyre more than wee. The next day. It has been decided that some of the elves would immigrate here, while the rest would go back to their hamlet. I wonder which group Philia-sans going to be in. Shes the patriarchs daughter, so I guess its only natural for her to go back. To bid each other goodbye, the elves have gathered in the za. Luke-dono, as representative of our people, I would like to express my gratitude again. Moreover, from the bottom of our hearts, we hope your vige continues to develop. Leonius-san, thank you. I wish you well too. Also, pleasee by again. Youll always be wee here. Leonius-san was their patriarch, so of course he would be going back to the hamlet. supposedly, the vigers heard someone yelling I dont wanna go back, I dont wanna go back!!! from the apartment building that Leonius-san was staying at. Surely, they were just imagining that, right? Well then, everyone, let us now return to our hamlet! Leonius-san said so and then entered the tunnelonly to go back just a few momentster. H-hey, why didnt anyone follow me!? Yes, not a single elf went to follow Leonius-san into the tunnel. Please consider supporting me. You can do this either by turning off adblock for this blog or via myPatreon page. Thank you. Chapter 66: Do you want me to live in that place all by myself!? Chapter 66: Do you want me to live in that ce all by myself!? Huh? Whats going on? For some reason, none of the elves followed Leonius-san down the tunnel. This bewildered me greatly. Seems about right Uh-huh So, nobody really wanted to go back home, huh It didnt feel like the elves all conspired to pull a prank on Leonius-san. They themselves seemed confused, yet at the same time, they also reacted as though this was as they expected. H-hey, why didnt anyone follow me!? After a while, Leonius-san noticed that nobody followed him and went back up. Patriarch, it should be obvious why. What? Everyone has decided to stay and apply to be vigers here. The elves then simultaneously began to express their thoughts. I mean, unlike in the hamlet, the food here is delicious Its safe here; I dont have to worry about being invaded by monsters I can take a bath here whenever I want, how many times I want No one here smells Every home here is warm, even in the winter The bed feels so nice I can use as much water and hot water as I want The vige chief is so cute No matter how I think about it, this ce is just so much morefortable to live in than the hamlet After the elves gave him the differences they found between the vige and their hamlet, Leonius-san let out a guhaa! as though he just vomited some blood. Of course, I know that! Nevertheless, the hamlet is where weve lived for generations! Dont you feel any attachment to it!? We do, but that alone is not enough to ovee the greatness of this ce Yeah, if I havent known of the great things here, I could see myself bearing with our life back there. But now that I knew these things, I just cant anymore Hnggh As though asking for help, Leonius-san turned to his daughter, Philia-san. I, I also feel the same. You too, Philia? Betrayed by his own daughter, Leonius-san looked into the distance. Not for long though. He seemingly recovered right away and screamed. Fine! Then, Im going to stay here as weeeeeeeeeeeellllllllllll!!!! Well, for the patriarch to abandon the hamlet, its Yeah, wont our ancestors curse us? And all our efforts of repairing it will then go to waste if no one lives there, right? I felt a bit sorry for Leonius-san who was being left out. What are you trying to say? Do you want me to live in that ce all by myself!? Ahm, Leonius-san, to call your home that ce Let me put it this way! I! I too want to live in this viaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaggggeeee!!! Leonius-san screamed his heart out. Ahmm well then, once again, wee everyone In the end, all of the elves, including Leonius-san, stayed in the vige. <> Some time has passed since the elves became vigers. ((Luke-sama. A group of people are approaching from the east.)) ((The east? Shouldnt there be nothing but mountains in the east?)) I received a telepathic message from Satin. His report made me tilt my head. There was nothing but mountains in that direction. Mountains that were 3000 meters above sea level, at that. And just like the forest in the north, it was filled with monsters. It was hard to imagine any immigrantsing from there. ((Apparently, theyre not ordinary humans.)) ((What do you mean?)) ((Chances are, theyre dwarves.)) ((Dwarves?)) Dwarves, like the elves, were a race rted to us humans. Although their height tended to be much shorter than humans, they were stout and strong. But on top of all that, they were known to have dexterous fingers. Dwarves, huh. Ive heard theyre typically boorish, doesnt give much care to minor details, insensitive, and also trespasses into other peoples space. And because of that, theyve historically not gotten along with the elves. That was what Philia-san told me. She has lived for a long time, so it wouldnt have been strange for her to have met a dwarf once before. While the elves werent much like what they were said to bewhich was earnest, high-strung, and exclusionaryI could still see them being at odds with dwarves. Whatever the case might be, I headed out to meet the group of dwarves. Please consider supporting me. You can do this either by turning off adblock for this blog or via myPatreon page. Thank you. Chapter 67: What an extremely pessimistic dwarf… Chapter 67: What an extremely pessimistic dwarf A group of more than a hundred dwarves approached nervously. They were about the same height as me, yet their shoulder width was more than double mine. A-ahm, cuse mehello, Im Dn and Im Luke, the chief of this vige. A pleasure to meet you. He had a beard and rough-looking featuresbut for some reason, he spoke very softly. His appearance and his speech definitely didnt match. I thought he might just be an exception, but I quickly confirmed that wasnt the case. The other dwarves, all of them, were acting all nervous and were even fidgety. They werent at all like the hearty dwarves Ive heard of. We used to live in the mountains over there Isnt that ce full of monsters though? It is, but we have our own cavern This cavern was apparently at the foot of the mountains. It had only one entrance, and its inner structure was very suitable for their defenses. They said they stayed in the cavern almost all of the time, so I wondered where they got their food. Apparently, their staple food was a special kind of potato that they grew inside of the cave. We also eat the insects and the bats inside the caveFrom time to time, beasts and monsters would also wonder inside, giving us meat. that didnt really sound like a great way of life to me. Much like the elves, the dwarves have also interacted with humans in past, but have stopped doing so. Do they live in this remote ce because they were persecuted as well? No, in the dwarves case, its their divine punishment. Back then, they used the powerful weapons they made to expand their empire. But that attempt to conquer the world incurred heavens wrath, leading to the copse of their empire. They were separated from one another, living only in small groups. of course, this happened before I was alive, so this is all based on the story handed down from generation to generation. I mean, its been more than a thousand years since it happened. A thousand years Having only lived a decade, I couldnt even imagine what it was like back then. Even so, I couldnt help but wonder what exactly Philia-san meant by divine punishment. I myself dont know the details, but that made my ancestors settle in that cavern. Weve been living there until recently I see. Youve been living in a gloomy cave until your personalitys gotten gloomy as well. Not that Imining that youre quiet, of course. By all means, dwarves should continue living in dark, gloomy caves. Maybe it was because they were dwarves, but Philia-san was being a bit harsher than usual. There might be some truth to dwarves and elves not getting along. But then, why have youe to this wastnd? Actually Dn-san told me that a few days ago, a ferocious monster appeared in their cavern. The entrance to the cavern was sealed off that time and there wasnt any indication of it being forced open, yet the monster still appeared and rampaged within. i-its a monster that could be said to be both like a giant snake and hornworm A few dwarves were eaten by that monster. After getting full, it retreated. However, because it appeared seemingly out of nowhere again, the dwarves had little choice but to abandon the cavern they called home for generations and flee to the wastnd. While telling us of their story, Dn-sans face was ghastly pale. And thats when we saw this cewe have nowhere to go, no foodif at all possible, please consider granting us with food Dn-san timidly requested like that. Giving you food wont be problem. Well also provide you with a ce to live in. R-really? Were of a different race, yet youre showing us so much kindnessha? I dont suppose thepensation you expect from us isbor to the point of death, can it? what an extremely pessimistic dwarf Please consider supporting me. You can do this either by turning off adblock for this blog or via myPatreon page. Thank you. Chapter 68: Worked to Death Chapter 68: Worked to Death Theyve surely turned those elves into prostitutes, right? Then, are we also No, look at us. Were too ugly to be turned into that. More likely, because were a bit stronger than most humans, well be worked to deathhaa The dwarves spoke to each other about their worries. Thats not the case here at all. The elves are living here as regr vigers. We dont discriminate against people of other races here, so dont worry about that. Geez, whos been turned into ves? Were proud elves, you know. Were living here not because were the humans ves or anything; were living here out of our own will. After I tried to dismiss their concerns, Philia-san talked as well to verify what I said. Whether that worked, I wasnt sure. But I did know that letting them look around the vige would help. Let me give you a tour of the vige. And so, we let the dwarves in. What a clean vige You said it. Theres no smell or even a single piece of trash. Theres also so many wonderful buildingsbut they all seem brand new. They also said we can use as much water, hot water even, as we wantdo all humans live like this? Being noticed by the vigers, the dwarves were frightened at first. However, as they saw more of the facilities in the vige, their astonishment eventually won out. By this point, they were restlessly looking around. That one over there is our public bath house. Your public bath house? Yeah. It hasrge baths that can be used by a lot of people at once. Wha Bathing at oncethen, all have to be naked? I dont think I can ever do such an embarrassing thing Unlike the elves who didnt have an issue with it at all, the idea of bathing naked with others seemed impossible for the dwarves. I had this image in my head that the dwarves wouldnt have minded something like that, so I found their reactions to be a bit surprising, to be honest. Andstly, I guided them to a particr apartment building. This will be the ce you will be staying in. There shouldnt be any problem even if each family take up a unit. Each unit there has its own toilet, by the way. I proceeded to show them the inside. I also gave them a rough exnation of how to use the various things in each unit. A-ahmvige chief-sama Yes, what is it, Dn-san? For some reason, Dn-san seemed to have trouble speaking. This is all so wonderful and all, but If theres something you want, feel free to tell me. If I used Facility Customization, I should be able to give them what they want. Actuallythe windows, welltheyre big, andand lets in a lot of light ? When I asked for more details, they said that they werent so fond of the sunlight, possibly because they had lived in a dark cavern for their whole lives. If its too bright, well be on edge all the timeor perhaps feel ill I see The dwarves have quite the troublesome constitution. But if their problem this time was just that, it was easy to solve: just remove the windows from each unit. Oh, but I think I have a better solution. So, what do you think? A-amazing! Its almost like were back in the cavern weve lived in! Yes, well be perfectly rxed here! Dn-san shouted like that in the tunnel. Yes, the ce I brought the dwarves was an underground tunnel I just made. I figured that they would much prefer living here that above ground where the suns light could reach them. After building the tunnel, I then built an apartment building within. I didnt even have to remove windows! And so, cheers! Cheeeersssss! When evening came, we held a weing party for the dwarves. The sun has set, so they didnt mind being outside. Alright, dont hold back, drink as much as you can! W-well take you up on your offerhmm, its so delicious!? Alcohol brewing has be popr in the vige recently, resulting in more kinds of alcohol being avable. And perhaps because of the abundance of clean water and other good ingredients, they were delicious as well. or so they say. I still didnt drink, after all. I had heard that dwarves like alcohol, so I kind of expected them to let loose a little. However, I turned out to be wrong. Well, inurate. OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOHHHHH!!!! the dwarves, who have drank a bit, suddenly began shouting. Please consider supporting me. You can do this either by turning off adblock for this blog or via myPatreon page. Thank you. Chapter 69: Please drink only in the underground tunnel from now on Chapter 69: Please drink only in the underground tunnel from now on Gahahahaa! This things delicious! Sure is. But were wasting it if we drink it by itself. Oi, you, do a trick or something! Then let me show you my famous belly drumming! The dwarves were nervous wrecks just a while ago, but after having a drink, theypletely changed. Laughter could be heard here and there, and puzzling party tricks could be seen as well. There were even some who got half-naked and danced. A few of which were female dwarves Hey, your breasts are showing! Alright, time for the children to go to bed! Huh? Their personalitypletely changed after just a few drinks? Yeahalthough it might be more urate to say that theyve gone back to the dwarves Im familiar with. Philia-san, with a look of exasperation on her face, sighed. Uhoohoo! Uhohoo! Uhouuhouuho! A few drinks more and they started to cry like goris. Drink in hand, they then began spinning around. It was like they were having the time of their lives. Uho! Uhoho! One of them then pointed at me and dered something. I didnt speak the gori-dwarfnguage, so I unfortunately didnt know what he was trying to say. The other dwarves understood him though, almost perfectly. Uhoooooooooooooooooooooo! The dwarves all at once rushed toward me. Hey!? Ha!? Uhohoohoohoo! (Chief Luke, hooray!) The next thing I knew, they were lifting me up with their superhuman strength. Like that, they proceeded to throw me up in the air multiple times. Woaaaah!? Why? Why are you tossing me!? Uhohoohoohoo! (Chief Luke, hooray!) What are you saying!? Uhohoohoohoo! (Chief Luke, hooray!) I dont understand any of that! I was able to break free from being continuously tossed up in air, but the dwarves still continued with their merrymaking throughout the night. It only became peaceful again when all the dwarves have fallen asleep. The next morning, the dwarves who were like corpses in the vige square were awoken by the morning sun. ngnh? Wh? ! Why am I naked!? Realizing that they were almost naked and also exposed to the sunlight, they panicked. So, so embarrassing! The suns too bright! They picked up their clothes that were scattered all over, and then rushed toward the underground tunnel. from now on, the dwarves will be allowed to drink only in the tunnel. Y-yes, if you say so, vige chiefbut if I may ask, is this because we did something to displease you? After I informed Dn-san of my decision in a slightly firm tone of voice, he nervously asked me so. Eh? Dont tell me youve forgotten what you did yesterday? D-deepest apologies, but we were so drunk we couldnt They had apparently forgotten most ofst night. It was for that reason that they were so surprised when they woke up earlier. Ehh? We did such embarrassing things? Maybe theres just a mistake? Sorry to say, but thats the truth. now that I think about it, there have been times when I drink at night and find myself waking up naked and somewhere unfamiliar Thats exactly what must have happened there too. I couldnt really me him for being in doubt. I myself still find it hard to believe that this dwarfwhose figure was shrinking in each passing momentwas the same dwarf who led the others in taking off their clothes, drawing a face on their bellies, and then dancing. At any rate, please drink only in the underground tunnel from now on. <> After this and that, the dwarves became the newest addition to the vige. Please consider supporting me. You can do this either by turning off adblock for this blog or via myPatreon page. Thank you. Chapter 70: It Looks Ancient Chapter 70: It Looks Ancient For many generations, the elves hamlet always had someone who served as their shaman. These shamans had a Gift called [Prayer]. This Gift allowed the shamans to give the other elves the rite of blessing. In other words, [Prayer] served the same function as the humans [Oracle]. Thanks to the shaman, all the elves from the hamlet had been blessed. Out of the 238 elves, about 20 turned out to have Gifts. Even counting the children who couldnt be blessed yet, those who had a Gift was still only about 10% of the total poption. That number was slightly lower than the one for the humans of our vige. And perhaps it was a peculiarity of their race, but there were quite many of them who had the Gifts [Bow Techniques], [White Magic], and [Green Magic]. A shining example was Philia-san who had both [Bow Techniques] and [Green Magic]. Yes, much like Selen, she was also a Double Gift. As for the Dwarves, they didnt seem to have anyone who served like a priest. For that reason, none of them had Gifts. I wonder if [Oracle] will work on them. Why dont we simply give it a try? Like that, we gathered some dwarves so that Millia could use her [Oracle] to bless them. I wonder if itll work even though theyre not human Everything seems to have gone alright. Ten of them can now use their Gifts. Later on, we found out that the elves [Prayer] could also bless anyone regardless of race. The sample size was quite low, but the Gifts [Smithing], [Mining], and [Yellow Magic]a ground and soil rted magicwere the predominant Gifts among the dwarves. So, I guess races do have peculiarities when ites to Gifts. Among the dwarves, someone caught my attention. She was just 11 years old, so she couldnt be blessed yet. Name: Dona Age: 11 years old Vige Bond Level: Low Suitable upation: Craftsman Gift: (Weapons Craftsman) Now thats an ominous Gift. Unlike the adult dwarves who pretty much confined themselves in the underground tunnel, she would oftene out and marvel at the buildings in the vige. She was likely a child brimming with curiosity. And when I would use Facility Customization to make equipment, she would almost alwayse to observe. She was a shy kid though, so she would just sit down and say nothing. Do you like weapons? I asked so while working. Height difference aside, male dwarves had broader shoulders than a human male, while the female dwarves were a bit more rotund than a female human. For the children though, they were pretty indistinguishable from human ones. That said, dwarf children looked younger for their age. In addition to dwarves living longer than humansthough not as long as the elvesthey also apparently have a longer childhood period than us. Because of that, even though Dona was 11-years old already, she looked like a 5- or 6-year-old human. Unfortunately, due to her appearance, I tended to talk to her as though she was a child. Dona remained silent, but she nodded her head. As soon as she did, she showed me what she was hiding behind her. is that a stone tablet? It looks ancient It was a worn-out stone tablet that had some kind of characters written on it. Hmm, I cant read any of it? Can you? Dona shook her head left to right. In our cavernfrom ancient times. Maybe, from old dwarf. An old dwarf? Youre saying this might be left behind by an ancestor or something? here. She pointed to the edge of the stone tablet. There was some kind of drawing there. It looked like a person, but its head was incredibly big for its body; its arms were long, but its feet were short; and it was short but stout. What is it? A golem? weapon. A weapon? Mhm. Ancient, weapondwarves made. Unlike golemsinside, you can ride them. Here. I looked closer when she said so and there was indeed some kind of window in the center of its head, and in that window, a face of person was drawn. So, its a weapon one rides and fights in? Can this be the weapon Philia-san mentioned? The powerful weapon that the dwarves used to conquer the world? If people were able to move and maneuver it, it must have used a lot of long-lost technology. Making one now should be difficult, if not impossible. Ah, but we can at least make its form. ? I suddenly thought of something and then made a stone wall. Please consider supporting me. You can do this either by turning off adblock for this blog or via myPatreon page. Thank you. Chapter 71: S-sorry to alarm you Chapter 71: S-sorry to rm you Alright, Im gonna use customization on this The drawing in the stone tablet in mind, I made the stone wall taller. After that, I carved out the arms and legs, and then the head part. Amazing Looking at the golem I made in an instant, Dona let out a voice of amazement. I must say, the one I made and the one illustrated in the tablet were extremely alike. Want to see it move? I used Facility Customization further to make the golems limbs move. Keeping it bnced was quite hard though It moved! Yeah, but this is the more exciting part. ? I made the golem stoop forward until its arms almost touched the ground. Look, you can use the arms to climb up. Mhm! I took the surprised Dona by the hand and led her to the arm of the golem that served as steps. Like that, we managed to climb atop the golem. Look, you can get inside. !! Through the entrance in the golems temporal region, we were able to go into its head. There was nothing at all in the cavity at that point, so I quickly made a window in the front so that we could see outside, and also seats for us to sit on. Alright, lets take a stroll around the vige. Mhm! While riding the golem like that, I made it move. *thump**thump**thump* There was quite a bit of vibration inside. It was also much harder to maneuver from within. Yet, despite that, Dona bounced up and down every time the golem did anything. Amazing! Amazing! It moves! It moves! Amazing! She was so shy and silent just a few moments ago, but right now, she was shouting with glee. Her eyes even sparkled. H-hey, whats, whats that!? A golem? But how did it get in the vige!? Wait, look there, I think someones riding it! While we were taking a stroll on the golem, the vigers gathered. S-sorry to rm you. Vige chief!? The vigers reacted like that when I waved to them. We then continued our stroll until weve done ap around the vige. As a result Haaaaa we got sick. Dona and I got down and quickly vomited. Donas face, which was bright red from excitement earlier, was now ghastly pale. I had no doubt that my face was looking the same though. The vibrations within the golem eventually made us feel nauseated. And that was just after onep. This isnt meant to be ridden, is it Mhm I wonder, is the ancient weapon in the stone tablet any different? It was possible that the one depicted in the stone tablet wasfortable to ride in. Otherwise, fighting with it would be hard, if not impossible. Must be. Yeah, thatd be amazing. Kinda hard to imagine that the dwarves of today could make that though Someday, Ill build it, this weapon. With eyes full of determination, Dona dered so. Once she gets her Gift next year, she might just be able to build it. However, once such a thing was made, what then? Weapons were instruments of war. Would the one she makes be used for killing a great number of people? The dwarves from ancient times even used their mighty weapons to conquer the world Donawhy are you so determined to build that weapon? Dona thought for a while before answering my question. because we are weak. And thats whyweve always had to stay inside our cavernbut even then, we were driven outif we had a powerful weapon thenwe could have fought back I was speechless after hearing her. Certainly, the power to fight was also the power to protect. Our vige was a testament to that. If we had no power whatsoever, we would have fallen already to the likes of the bandits and the orc horde. No matter how much we might wish for it, eternal peace just wasnt possible. Somewhere down the line, a force wishing to harm our vige would definitely appear. Yeah, and we need to have enough power to fight Not just to attack, but to protect the whole vige. Please consider supporting me. You can do this either by turning off adblock for this blog or via myPatreon page. Thank you. Chapter 72: Yeah…this is a dungeon Chapter 72: Yeahthis is a dungeon Selen, now that its spring, theres something Id like us to look into. And that is? That day, I came to ask Selen a certain favor. To the west of the vige, theres a rocky area, but theres something a little unusual about it. In what way? For some reason, this ce isnt recognized as under my control. Each time the vige levels up, its area expands. When it became level 6, the majority of the wastnd was considered part of the vige. However, the ce I mentioned was not part of the vige, even though the nearby areas and beyond were. I noticed this in the middle of the winter, but because of the snow, I decided to hold off any investigation. By the way, I knew it was a rocky area because I was able to see it partially from an observation tower. So, Id like us to take a closer look. Oh, I see. By us, I mean No. Before I could even say I wanted toe as well, Selen refused. But why? The hunting team will be there, so it should be safe, right? Even so, no. You do know youre the reason that this vige even exists, right? What do you think will happen to it if you get hurt badly out there? Come on, youre treating me like a helpless baby The journey from the vige up to the rocky area was at most 10 kilometers. The dangers along the way should be nothingpared to the fight against the orc horde. Besides, this wasnt the first time for me to leave the vige: I have been to the elves hamlet in the monster-infested forest. at least let us do a preliminary investigation. For all we know, there might be a dangerous monster there. But once youve confirmed that its safe, I can go? I guess, but well have to be sure, ok? So, this is the ce Luke was talking about. The hunting team led by Selen has journeyed toward a certain rocky area. The hunting team had more members since the addition of the elves to the vige, but only 15 were selected toe to this mission. At first nce, nothing looks out of the ordinary in this cebut if Luke-dono says so, then there must be something else going on. Among those that came to the mission was Philia the elven warrior. Having both [Bow Techniques] and [Green Magic], she was a great addition to the hunting team. Some of the other members that came along were Balrath who had [Sword Techniques], Noel who had [Shield Master Techniques]. And Goate who had [Herculean Strength]. As long as nothing gravely dangerous happens, their fighting force should be more than enough. Before long, they arrived at the vicinity. Their thoughts earlier remained the same: this ce looked like any other rocky area in the wastnd. There doesnt seem to be any scent of monsters. The one to state that was a member who had the [Beasts Sense of Smell] Gift. Much like its name might suggest, this Gift allowed its user to have a sense of smell simr to that of a beast. Being able to detect an approaching monster made them a valuable member of the hunting team. That big boulder near the center thereIm getting a bad feeling from over there. Another valuable member was the one who had the Gift called [Danger Perception]. I still dont smell any monsters though Maybe monsters are not the cause? I dont know, but Im certain theres something going on there. Alright, everyone, proceed cautiously. Like that, they moved as a group toward therge boulder in the center of the rocky area. When they eventually reached the ce, they discovered something. Is this A cave? At the foot of therge boulder was arge hole. The opening was about 3 meters in height and 2 meters in width. The group was wary, but they decided to take a peek inside. The hole sloped downwards gently and continuously. Yet, for all its depth, there didnt seem to be any kind of obstacle in the way. Im getting a strong sense of danger from inside! I wasnt able to before wevee here, but nowI smell the scent of monsters deep inside Hearing those reports, Selen and Philia looked at each other. They seemed to have arrived at the same conclusion. theres no mistake about it, right? Yeahthis is a dungeon. Please consider supporting me. You can do this either by turning off adblock for this blog or via myPatreon page. Thank you. Chapter 73: Hold up a minute Chapter 73: Hold up a minute The group led by Selen took a step inside the cavern that they thought to be a dungeon. While going down a gentle slope, they came upon a fork in the road. If ever we needed more proof that this is a cave-type dungeon Yeah, it was a straight path only in beginning. Whether we go left or right, it seems the way will branch off again. Just from taking a peek, they could tell that this was going to be aplex dungeon. Should they misremember even one direction, simply returning to the entrance might be a herculean task. Philia, have you experienced being in a dungeon before? A few times, yes. I mean, I have been alive for more than a hundred years, remember? And from that experience, I can tell you that we need to be properly prepared if we are to investigate further. First of all, theres only so many of us that can fit in these narrow passages, so we should actually have fewer members in here. We also need mapping tools. All these require nning, so I suggest we turn back for now. Understood, lets go back to the vige then. A dungeon? Yes, were sure of it. Selens group returned from their investigation and gave me their report. So, thats why that ce is excluded from being a part of the vige. I recalled the lessons my private tutor gave me about dungeons back in my parents home. ording to him, dungeons always had a dungeon master, the term used for the being that owned the dungeon. If that rocky area was a dungeon and thus was under the control of someone else already, it made sense that my Gift didnt make it part of the vige. From the looks of things, its an unexplored dungeon. That or one thats not been explored for a long while. Either way, we might be able to obtain valuable items and materials from there. I see. Since the hunting team has more members now, we should have enough manpower to continue with the investigation, right? I was informed that because the passages within the cavern were narrow, having too many people at once wasnt advisable. They said that the limit should be about 10 people. But isnt that too few? It is what it is. Well just have to make do with fewer support members. In that case I recalled a certain person. This particr viger had an excellent Gift for conquering dungeons. eh? Y-you want me to go? To a dungeon? Wide-eyed and pointing to himself was Kamuru-san. Name: Kamuru Age: 38 years old Vige Bond Level: Average Suitable upation: Adventurer Gift: Labyrinth Exploration Kamuru-san was from the same vige as Belrith-san. Simrly, he was also among my very first vigers. However, likely due to his poor social skills, he rarely talked to anyone. In fact, other than for work, he stayed in his apartment unit all the time. And because of that, his hair was unkempt and his facial hair has grown out. Yes. A dungeon was actually discovered not far from the vige. Were thinking of exploring it, and wed like to have your cooperation. Eh? My cooperation? But its me; I dont think I can do much to help I disagree. Your Gift [Labyrinth Exploration] will definitelye in handy. Y-y-y-youre expecting too muchEven with a Gift, I dont think wont be of any help. I mean, I dont even know if I can properly use my Gift Without any self-confidence, Kamuru-san said so and hung his head. Ive heard from Belrith-san before, but Kamuru-san really did seem like quite the pessimist. Hmm, I see. Then, talking here wont do us any good. Lets delve into the dungeon and find out whether youll be of help or not. Persuading him more gently was a bit troublesome, so I forcefully took him along instead. When all of the 10 members were chosen, we finally set out. Alright, lets go. Hold up a minute. Eh? Dont eh me. Why are you acting like youre going too, huh? Im not? Please consider supporting me. You can do this either by turning off adblock for this blog or via myPatreon page. Thank you. Chapter 74: I thought I was gonna die of laughter… Chapter 74: I thought I was gonna die ofughter When I tried to go with the group, Selen stopped me. Why not? Come on, Selen, just this once let me go into the dungeon. Do you want me to tell you a story of a dead man? T-thats a story of a man who didnt prepare and recklessly went deeper into the dungeon, right? That was my rebuttal to Selens threat. Listen, Luke, even careful and seasoned adventurers can fall in a dungeon. On top of that, weve just discovered this dungeon, meaning we dont know anything about it, especially the dangers it has. So, at least for now, please just wait in the vige. I think youre being a tad overprotective I would be turning 13 this spring. By that age, Selen had already experienced her first real battle. When I told her that though It was alright for me because my Gift is suited forbat; I can fend for myself. You, on the other hand, will need others to protect you. Idont have anything to say to that. In the end, Selen won the argument and I decided to stay in the vige. not! I was expecting this to happen, so I prepared a secret n. While pretending to give up, I stealthily put that n into action. Selens group once again arrived at the entrance of the dungeon. This time though, they were prepared. They have carefully selected the few members that would go in, have the necessary tools for dungeon exploration, and even have the elves potions on hand in case of emergencies. Everything seems to be ready. Kamuru, are you alright? Y-y-y-y-y-yes Nervous and with a quivering voice, Kamuru answered Selen. Selen subtly rolled her eyes as though to say no, you dont look alright Dont worry so much. The n has always been to proceed extra carefully, all while keeping our eyes peeled for any danger. O-oh Selen thought Kamuru would eventually get used to things. And so, without further dy, they stepped foot inside the dungeon. While traversing the initial slope By the way, Goate-dono, thats quite therge luggage youre carrying this time. Yeah. The vige chief prepared this for us. He thought we should bring food and water just in case. Philia asked so to Goate. Goate was carrying an awfullyrge bag that was filled to the brim, yet he made it seem like it didnt weigh much at all. hold on a second. As though she noticed something unusual, Selen stared at the bag that Goate was carrying. Do you hear that? It almost sounds like breathing hahaha, how can that be, captain? It must have been just the contents making a rustling sound or something. I wonder. For now, mind letting me check? No, no, no, please dont. I mean, were inside the dungeon and all Then lets go outside and check. I dont think we have to do that much for a bag of provisions, right? To Selens probing, and Goate clearly became flustered. Given his current state, even the others grew suspicious. More and more, it appeared to them that Goate wasnt great at lying. Hmm, yeah, a bag of food isnt worth that much effort to check. E-exactly. Phew Got ya! Ahh! After making Goate drop his guard down, Selen suddenly closed the distance and grabbed the bag he was carrying. While holding on, she began rubbing it for some reason. ! Ah, wai! Ahahaaha! Ahahahahahaha! When she did so,ughter came from within, startling everyone. Did a voice juste from the bag!? W-whos inside!? I feel like Ive heard that voice before Some asked so while theughing continued. SeSelen! That tickles! Ahahahaha! Thats weird. Provision shouldnt mind what Im doing, right? Alright, alright, I get it! Stop already! Ahahahahahahahahaha! Thene out right now. When Selen stopped, a young manwho recognized he couldnt keep hiding anymoreemerged from the bag. Haa, haa I thought I was gonna die ofughter Vige Chief!? Please consider supporting me. You can do this either by turning off adblock for this blog or via myPatreon page. Thank you. Chapter 75: Don’t you dare laugh this off Chapter 75: Dont you dareugh this off I thought that I would have been able to explore the dungeon without getting noticedespecially by Selenif I hid in a bag and asked Goate-san to carry it. But vige chief I really, really have to go to the dungeon to test something out. But if Captain Selen finds out Of course, Ill take on all responsibility. Ill make sure you wont get punished in any way because of this. I promise. Persuading Goate-san like that, I managed to slip in with the exploration team. It was going so well. So much so that I managed to the enter the dungeon. However, not long after hold on a second. Do you hear that? It almost sounds like breathing Oh no. Did Selen notice me? Apparently, she found something odd with the bag I was hiding in. Goate-san tried to deceive her, and when it seemed like it worked. Got ya! Selen suddenly grabbed hold of my body through the bag. And then, she began moving her fingers. Because her hand was around my sides, I wasnt able to endure. ! Ah, wai! Ahahaaha! Ahahahahahaha! Due to Selens merciless tickling, I let out augh. SeSelen! That tickles! Ahahahaha! Thats weird. Provision shouldnt mind what Im doing, right? Alright, alright, I get it! Stop already! Ahahahahahahahahaha! Thene out right now. epting that I couldnt hide anymore, I crawled out of the bag. Haa, haa I thought I was gonna die ofughter Vige Chief!? While everyone else was surprised, Selen simply red at me. Didnt I say its too dangerous here, so you should stay in the vige!? Aahaha Dont you dareugh this off. so scarybut, well, it cant be helped now that Ive been discovered. At least Ive aplished my main goal. But then ! Somethingsing! The one who shouted was Marco-san, the one who had the [Danger Perception] Gift. When we directed our vision toward the depths of the dungeon, we quickly saw a silhouette of a being approaching us at a high spped.. Awoooooooooo!! Its a bloodhound! It was a wolf-type monster that was about 4 meters in length. Leave this to me. Get behind us, vige chief! While Philia-san moved forward and readied her bow, I hurried toward the back. Hmm, I think this can be a chance for me. If things go well, I might even get Selen to reconsider. <<20 vige points will be consumed to build an earthen wall. Proceed? *Yes||No>> And so, before Philia-san let loose her arrows, I formed a wall in front of the wolf monster. Gyaau!? The wolf monster crashed into the wall and cried in pain. After confirming that I could build facilities even here, I proceeded use Facility Customization on the wall. The result was a humanoid golem that was about 5 meters tall. I made that golem hit the wolf. Of course, the wolf fought back, but because it was a golem, it felt nothing. I then made the golem wrap itself around the wolf,pletely restricting thetters movements. Gaugaugaugau!? The wolf monster struggled to break free but to no avail. W-whats happening? Philia-san, shoot it down while we have the chance. R-roger. Philia-san then let loose arrows one after the other, and all of them hit the bound wolf monster right in the head. Before long, the light in the monsters eyes faded. Amazing! All of them hit! N-never mind that, what just happened!? Yeah! Are those your walls!? How!? Philia-san and Selen both drew closer to me and asked so. I used the Territory Takeover skill and made the dungeon a part of the vige. Thanks to that, the things I could do back home like building walls and making that golem-like thing fight, I can now do them here as well. I said so, proudly. Please consider supporting me. You can do this either by turning off adblock for this blog or via myPatreon page. Thank you. Chapter 76: That’s the result of my most recent practice session Chapter 76: Thats the result of my most recent practice session I thought that if I used Territory Takeover on the dungeon, I might be able to make it a part of the vige. In order to use it though, I first needed to be within a certain distance of the ce I wanted to takeover, meaning I myself needed to go to the newly discovered dungeon. Unfortunately, Selen, who was unaware of my n, refused to give me permission toe with them on ount of it being too dangerous. So, I decided to ask Goate-san to smuggle me in. And just like I hoped, I was able to make the dungeon a part of the vige. And thats why Im able to build things here as well. This should prove useful to the investigation, Id say. After all, I could build us a safe zone in this danger-filled dungeon. But Luke-dono, what was with that golem? Thats the result of my most recent practice session. You see, I made a golem that could be ridden the other day, but I thought there might be a more practical use for it. The rideable golem I made didnt turn out as great as I hoped. It was ufortable to ride in, begging the question why I would want to be inside it when I could control it just fine from the outside. Thanks to that and a little practice, I could now control it to the point that I was able to beat that monster. What do you think, Selen? I bet even youd say Im an asset now! I made the goleme closer, and then made it pose for better appeal. By the way, making it move didnt cost a point at all. What did cost points was repairing it, but it was mostly an insignificant amount. Y-yes, but As expected, even the overprotective Selen had no retort this time. And now that the dungeons a part of the vige, theres no more problem for me to join the investigation, right? Hmm, I agree. Besides, its only natural for a boy his age to be full of curiosity. If you try to suppress that curiosity too much, youd might end up getting hated. Philia-san backed me up. It didnt feel great to be treated as a child, but then again, for someone as long-lived as she was, I might as well be a toddler. F-fine! Itd be more troublesome if you decide to explore on your own anyway. But you have to stay in the middle of the group, alright!? Noel, guard Luke at all cost! Yes! Ill guard the vige chief with my life! Like that, I was allowed to join the investigation team. I didnt mention it, but I havent incorporated the whole dungeon into the vige yet. The reason for that was the specifics of the Territory Takeover skill: <> This condition applied in this dungeon as well. In other words, Ive acquired nothing more than the entrance of the dungeon. And to acquire more, I needed to dive deeper into the dungeon. At any rate, we resumed the exploration. We went down the gentle slope until the path split into two. A fork, huh. Right now, I dont sense dangering from either one, but Those were the words of Marco-san who had the [Danger Perception] Gift. For some reason though, Kamuru-san who had [Dungeon Exploration] seemed restless. Whats wrong? N-nothing, its nothing Please feel free to say whatevers bothering you, no matter how trivial or wrong it might seem to you. After waiting a while, Kamuru-san nervously spoke. II dont know why, but for some reasonthe path to the right seems to be the correct one, but it also feels its the harder pathon the other hand, the left path seems like the wrong one, but it feels like the easier path Hmm, I dont really understand. But if that intuition is because of his Gift, its worth checking out what it means. This was the first fork in the dungeon, so we should check both paths eventually. For now, lets go check the path on the right. Please consider supporting me. You can do this either by turning off adblock for this blog or via myPatreon page. Thank you. Chapter 77: Beef!!! Chapter 77: Beef!!! While walking in the right path, Marco-san suddenly shouted. ! Be careful everyone! Im getting some bad feeling. In response, we all stood ready. Unlike normal premonitions, the ones that Marco-san receives from his Gift were reliable. That said, while we knew something posed a danger, we didnt know exactly what form that would be in. This time, I initially assumed that a monster wasing, but there didnt seem to be any near us. T-thatthat ground, 5 meters ahead Kamuru-san? dont step on it, I think I looked at the ground Kamuru-san pointed to, but nothing seemed out of the ordinary to me. Hmm, we probably should y it safe. Yeah, lets avoid itpletely and take the other path. Philia-san and Selen said so while preparing to turn back. We dont have to though I said so and then made the golem run straight ahead. And when it reached the ground that Kamuru-san pointed at, the ground suddenly crumbled. That formed a hole, to which the golem fell down. So, it was a pitfall trap, huh. The hole was apparently so deep, even the 5-meter-tall golem could barely stick out its head. Wow, Kamuru-san. I couldnt see anything, but you saw through the trap so clearly. It, it was just a lucky guess, surely Kamuru-san tried to y it down out of shyness, but there was no doubt that this was the power of the [Dungeon Exploration] Gift. Thanks to Marco-sans Gift, we could more or less tell that there was a trap, but now that we had Kamuru-sans Gift as well, we could know more details about it. And so, we proceeded to go deeper into the dungeon. I could say with confidence that it would have been so much harder if Kamuru-san wasnt with us. Traps were everywhere, after all. Just like before, whenever Kamuru-san discovers a trap, I would send a golem to disarm it. Thanks to that cooperation between us, our exploration was going well. By the way, for the pitfall traps, there were either spikes at the bottom or a pool of poison. It was a golem that fell, so it was safe, but if an ordinary human fell, they would be done for. We also encountered other traps: there were some that dropped sharp stctites and some that released monsters. All were quite troublesome. Unlike the monster forest, it seems like the danger to this dungeon is its traps. If we somehow activated one while fighting monsters, its likely over for us. Activating the traps beforehand is really helpful. Even so, this has been quite the dangerous path from the start. Wouldnt it have been better to take the left one? ! Hey, its not your fault, Kamuru-san! Im the one that chose to go this way, remember? I hurriedly followed up with that when I saw Kamuru-san flinch from Selens words. Not long after that, another fork in the road appeared. This time, the way branched off to three paths. The one in the middleIm feeling something from it The middle path it is then. Trusting in the Kamuru-san who never seemed to have self-confidence, we took the middle path. After a while of walking Bumoooooooooooooooooooooo!!! thats, thats a What lied ahead was something that was easily bigger than an orc. It had the head and the horns of a bull, yet had a humanoid body and walked on two legs. Yes, it was that fearsome monster that was said to appear only in dungeons, and brought the demise of many adventurers through its monstrous charge. I had heard of this bullheaded monsters name before and it was Minotaur Beef!!! Eh!? <> Mhm, mhm In the depths of the dungeon, an rm rung repeatedly. Despite that, the creature in the bed continued to sleep. This creature looked like a human girl, but not only did it have wings on its back, it was also so small that it could fit in the hands of an actual human girl. <> Uheheheso manyso many hunks As though having some kind of pleasant dream, the winged creature showed no signs of waking up. <> The rm repeated and repeated in vain. Please consider supporting me. You can do this either by turning off adblock for this blog or via myPatreon page. Thank you. Chapter 78: Ngh…what’s that noise… Chapter 78: Nghwhats that noise A minotaur Beef!!! While I said that monsters name, the others yelled out somethingpletely different. Ive heard minotaur meats crazy delicious! To be frank, Ive been getting a little sick of eating nothing but pORCtely! Lets have some barbeque tonight! Apparently, they just saw the minotaur as food Bumoo? As though the monster itself sensed that, it took a step back. Bu, bumooooooooo!! However, it pulled itself back quickly and then charged at us with great speed. Its charge was as terrifying as the stories said it would be. Golem! Bumooo!! Wah, it destroyed it like nothing!? I made the invincible golem go forward, but the moment it shed with the minotaur, its body easily got smashed to bits. The golem I made from the earth apparently wasnt any match against the minotaurs charge. Chief, leave it to me! The one to say that while standing in front of me was Noel-kun. Wai-not by yourse *aaaang*!! Noel-kuns giant shield made such a sound. As for Noel-kun himself, he was pushed back by a few meters, but he somehow was still on his feet. He has sessfully stopped the charge all by himself. Bumoo!? Amazing, Noel. A raw power brute like mes no match for you now, huh. While Goate-san was praising Noel-kun like that, Philia-san and Selen attacked the minotaur. The minotaur has stopped moving and was therefore defenseless against Philia-sans arrows and Selens ice des. Against such concentrated attacks, even the minotaur didntst long. I wonder just how delicious minotaur meat is. Im drooling already. Hey, keep it together. While bantering like that, the people who have grown used to hunting quickly drained the monsters blood. Supposedly, doing this would lessen bad odor and even improve the meats taste. After enough blood was drained, the minotaur was put inside the bag. Because it was heavier than an orc, simply transporting it was an issue. Thankfully, Goate-san was with us to carry it. After that, we decided to continue our exploration. Along the way, we encountered more minotaur. We now had more beef and that delighted everyone, but that also meant more things for us to carry. What do you do when this happens while hunting in the forest? We have more hunters now, so we divide ourselves: some continue to hunt, while the rest dismantle what weve already taken down. I see. Right now though, we only had a few people, making that method not viable. To continue exploring the dungeon, we had little choice but to carry our prey as they were. Sooner orter though, even if Goate-san could carry the weight, the luggage would be too big to fit the rtively narrow corridors of the dungeon. Ah, stairs We discovered a flight of stairs. Oftentimes, dungeons had multiple floors. And connecting the floors together were typically staircases. Luke, what do you think? Should we head back for now? We have a lot to carry, so going to the next floor might be tough. Hmm, let me seeoh, why not simply leave our extra things here? Because monsters mighte by and eat it? Not if we put it here. I said so and then built a storehouse. <> Nghwhats that noise The palm-sized girl was finally awoken by the ring rms. Her sleep disturbed so rudely, she initially had a grimace on her face, but soon enough huh, an emergency? Oh no!? Wait, is that for real!? My dungeons really being conquereeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeed!? Please consider supporting me. You can do this either by turning off adblock for this blog or via myPatreon page. Thank you. Chapter 79: Just that’s enough to change the field of dungeon exploring, I think Chapter 79: Just thats enough to change the field of dungeon exploring, I think if you build houses and apartment buildings here, living here wont only be possible, itll be quite easy, wouldnt it? In front of the storehouse I just built within the dungeon, Selenmented so, apparently amazed. So, basically, even by yourself, you can make a city within a dungeon. Just thats enough to change the field of dungeon exploring, I think. Philia-san grumbled. Building a city, a safezone within the dungeon, would certainly make exploration a whole lot easier. Ive heard that this has been sessfully done in some dungeon. I bet that took a lot of manpower. I mean, to begin with, they had to bringrge number of materials into a dungeon full of traps and monsters. But for the chief, all he has to do is walk up to the ce. Empty handed, even. The vige chiefs amazing For some reason, the others looked at me with respect. I just built a storehouse. No need for that much awe. At any rate, we put our yield for today into that storehouse. No longer carrying anything other than the necessary supplies, we descended to the next level. By the way, there seemed to be another path that would lead to this staircase. If we perhaps took the left route at the first fork, it was possible that we would somehow still end up here. The feel of this ce has changed quite a bit. They look like man-made structures. Like what Selen and Philia-san said, rather than being like the same cavern as before, this level felt like some kind of ruin made of stone. Looking ahead, I immediately realized that this level was far moreplex than the one before. It had far more branching paths and almost seemed like a maze. T-this way We believed in Kamuru-sans instincts and proceeded without hesitation. We still encountered traps and monsters, of course. In addition to the minotaur that were present in the previous level, this level also hosted Bad Batsvampiric bat monstersand Saber Snakessnake monsters that had sword-like fangs. An individual bad bat wasnt particrly strong, but because it tended to appear and attack in groups, it was an even more troublesome monster than a minotaur. Furthermore, because it can fly and thus can attack from over our heads, our strategy using shields was pretty much useless. Damn it, what troublesome enemies! Are they calling more of its kind? I swear, it looks like theres more of them now! Ouch! Let go, damn you! Once it gets a chance to bite, a bad bat wouldnt let go for a while. If a number of them manages totch on to you, they would likely drain you of blood until youre dead. Everyone, get inside! I hurriedly made a small house and told everyone to get inside. Even with so few of us, we just barely managed to fit. With the door closed, the bad bats couldnt get inside. That didnt stop them from trying though. We could clearly hear the sound of them chewing on the walls. I see. Your buildings can also be used as temporary evacuation spots. And thanks to this, were safe for the moment. Now, Sophia, if you please. Right away. Sophia-san was an elf that had the Gift called [White Magic]. This allowed her to heal our wounds. But while they cant attack us here, we also cant attack them. Leave that matter to me. While standing near a window in the wall, Selen said so and refined her magic power. Not long after, she opened the window and unleashed her powerful ice magic. As soon as thest of her ice des had flown, she closed the window once again. I see. Indeed, if we do it like this, we can attack them without giving them a chance to fight back. After nodding as though to give praise, Philia-san proceeded to ready her own magic and joined the attack. They repeated Selens tactic over and over. Huh? Theres still one left? Now that I had made this area a part of the vige, all my other vige skills were useable here too. That included Intruder Detection. We thought we had defeated all of the bad bats, but Intruder Detection told me that one still remained. When I looked at where it was supposed to be, I saw something tiny fleeing with all haste deeper into the dungeon. ? Whats wrong, Luke? I thought there was still a bat left, but what I saw didnt look like one. Unlike a bat, the tiny figure I saw was more colorful. It looked more like butterfly Why is there suddenly a building like that in my dungeon thoooooooooouuuughhhhhhhhhhhhhh!? Who are those guyssssssssssssssssssssss!? How are they able to make it this far this quicklyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy!? Please consider supporting me. You can do this either by turning off adblock for this blog or via myPatreon page. Thank you. Chapter 80: You’re better off pretending not to notice that kind of thing Chapter 80: Youre better off pretending not to notice that kind of thing Oh? A dead end? No, theres a door there. But We just made it through a long corridor in the second floor of the dungeon. What waited for us at the end of it was a massive double door. Can it be the boss room? Huh? Were already at the deepest part of this dungeon? In every dungeon, without exception, there would always be a monster called a boss monster. Compared to normal monsters, a boss monster was far stronger. So much so that they posed a threat even to those who have somehow explored the dungeon effortlessly thus far. I always thought that dungeons were made up of many, many floors. But for the boss monster to be here, maybe dungeons are smaller than what I expected them to be. Although theres only two floors, these two floors are quiteplicated. If we explored it normally, we might still be in the first floor, maybe even going in circles. Its not an exaggeration to say that its thanks to Kamuru-donos guidance that weve made this far so quickly. T-theres no way To Philia-sans praise, Kamuru-san scratched his head, shyly trying to deny it. As expected, the [Labyrinth Exploration] Gift was truly useful. So, what do you propose we do, Luke-dono? As far as I can tell, everyone still has strength to spare, but it is a fight with a boss monster were talking about. Hmmhow about we go in just to look at what kind of monster were up against? If it looks to be too tough for us, lets escape right away. Thanks to my Gift, buying us enough time to escape shouldnt be that hard. And so, we decided to open the doors. Inside was a space wider than any weve seen within the dungeon. In addition Two minotaurs? In the center of the room were two minotaurs. They didnt seem any different from the ones weve encountered before. Be careful. They might look normal, but theyre boss monsters. Its possible that theyre of a higher-ranking species, or that they have some special power. As soon as Philia-san said that, the two minotaurs began moving. Bumooooooooo!! The two monsters let out their war cries and then charged toward us. Noel-kun and Goate-san immediately readied their shields. However, considering what Philia-san said about these minotaurs, I thought they might be too much for at least Goate-san. And so, I built a stone wall in front of the enemis. The minotaurs couldnt stop or avoid in time, so they crashed right into the wall. Immediately after, I made a golem that wasrger than the minotaurs. The minotaurs staggered a little when they crashed into the walls, and they staggered a lot more when I made the golems collide with them. That made enough of an opening for the golem to grab them by the throats and then m them into the ground. !? Both of them seemed to have fainted. Even when the golem let go of them, neither of them showed any signs of getting back up. huh? Are they not any different from ordinary minotaurs after all? Apparently, yeah. Philia-san said so with an astounded expression. even without my helpthe chiefs fine Oh, Noelyoure better off pretending not to notice that kind of thing Goate-san wrapped an arm around the shoulders of a sad-looking Noel-kun. While they were like that, Goate-san shook his own head left and right. Weve more or less defeated the boss monster, I suppose? Over there Selen sounded so uncertain when she said so. Meanwhile, Kamuru-san pointed at something he noticed further in the room When I looked at it, I saw some kind of extravagant box. Philia-san spoke next. Its a treasure chest. Likely the reward for oveing the dungeon. There doesnt seem to be any traps in it. Both Marco-san and Kamuru-san said they didnt sense any traps from the chest, so we immediately opened it. Its An ordinary sword? Inside the chest was a very ordinary steel sword. Eh? Maybe its a sword that has some kind of special effect. Doesnt seem like it though This reward forpleting the dungeon felt extremely cheap. Mythical-grade items would obviously be preferred, but I thought that the reward should at least be legendary-grade items. Oh well, at least its sharp. Lets just take it, I guess. Hold on. This clearly isnt a suitable reward forpleting the dungeon. I think we should negotiate with the dungeon master. Negotiate? Please consider supporting me. You can do this either by turning off adblock for this blog or via myPatreon page. Thank you. Chapter 81: How can they have made this on their ownnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnn!? Chapter 81: How can they have made this on their ownnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnn!? As you know, each dungeon is managed by a so-called dungeon master. They are the ones in charge of the rewards for dungeonpletion. Philia-san informed us of that. She was an elf that has lived for many years, so she was quite knowledgeable. But those whopleted the dungeon have the option of not receiving that reward in exchange for forcing the dungeon master to guide the former to their location. Apparently, there were various rules regarding dungeon management imposed on the dungeon masters. I dont know the details, but dungeons are said to be originally made by the gods as a kind of game. And to have a sense of game bnce, these rules were put into ce. I see. But can the dungeon master even tell that were not receiving this reward? Can they see us from somewhere? That should be the case. If we wait for a little while, Im sure a path to the dungeon master will appear. We waited for quite a while, but nothing appeared. But then, Kamuru-san noticed something again. T-thisLook at this Hmm, whats that? Is that a staircase? Its not big enough for us though What we found were a hole in the floor and something like a staircase that led to the bottom of it. However, the hole was barely as wide as my foot, so we obviously cant pass through it. It seems like the dungeon master doesnt want to meet us, do they? Eh? Is this the path thats supposed to lead us to the dungeon master? Most likely. Isnt this against the rules? the dungeon master probably can fit through here. Maybe thats enough for the rules. Selen said so while looking down at the hole. Should we start firing magic down there? W-wait a minute! They were really about to do it, so I shouted to stop them. You dont have to do that. Look. I exined so and then made an underground tunnel. Unlike the tiny staircase that was prepared for us, the staircase I built was perfectly passable by us. Alright, lets go meet the dungeon master. While Luke and the others were perplexed by the unpassable staircase, a girl wasughing loudly. Ahahahahaha! It worked! Now those guys wont ever make it here! Oh my, Im a genius, arent I!? Due to the location of her dungeon, it has never had any visitors. Because of that, she didnt have many dungeon points, which then meant that she couldnt make many improvements to her dungeon. Among many things, her dungeoncked a proper boss monster, as well as a proper reward for dungeonpletion. One day though, a group entered the dungeon. This group easily overcame the traps, the monsters, and even theplexbyrinthine structure of the dungeon. Of course, the improvised boss monster fell right away. Worse yet, it seemed like the group didnt want the also improvised reward, and would rather meet the dungeon master. It was then that the dungeon master thought of a loophole in the rules. Its against the rules because you cant pass through it? What do you mean? I can use the stairs just fine though! The loophole was a nasty method that took advantage of her size. Nasty or not though, it allowed her avert a crisis. Almost. All of a sudden, a hole appeared in the wall of the bottommostyer, the ce the dungeon master currently was in. Eh? There seemed to be a staircase going up next to the hole. How can they have made this on their ownnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnn!? Please consider supporting me. You can do this either by turning off adblock for this blog or via myPatreon page. Thank you. Chapter 82: The dungeon master will perish Chapter 82: The dungeon master will perish It didnt matter if we couldnt use the staircase because we could just build one. Thanks to Territory Take over, this kind of thing was nothing. Selen, shocked, said something. Wait, you mean to say we could move between floors at any moment? Thats apparently the case for going down floors. Maybe for going up as well? Regardless of whether it would work or not, I felt doing this was a bit underhanded, so I didnt even give it a try before. Now that the dungeon master was clearly ying dirty though, I figured this was only fair. And so, we went down the stairs I made and into a small room. Whats that? Within that room, there was arge object floating. It was like a crystal ball that emitted a pulsing, faint light. It almost seemed alive. Its the dungeon core. Philia-san answered. The dungeon core? You can think of it as the heart of not only the dungeon, but of the dungeon master as well. If it gets destroyed, the whole dungeon and the dungeon master will perish. After Philia-san exined so, something small appeared in front of us. I dont want to die yet! So, please, please dont break the dungeon coreeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee! While teary-eyed and in the air, it skillfully knelt and then bowed its head down. It was able to do this feat thanks to the wings in its back that left behind a trail of sparkling dust-like particles. A fairy? She was a winged, small girl who could fit in the palm of my hands she looked so much like the fairies Ive heard of in stories. Are you the dungeon master? I am! Ill die if you break the dungeon core, so please have mercy! Alright. Its not like were here specifically to do that Really!? Yay! Oh wow, now that Ive taken a closer look at you, youre quite the cute boy! Im Ari, by the way! She was in tears just a moment ago, but now, it almost seemed like her eyes were sparkling in joy. Her pupils also looked like they were heart-shaped, but that must have been just my imagination. Either way though, what an excitable fairy. Are you sure, Luke-dono? Its said that breaking a dungeon core will grant you a special power. A special power? Yes. I dont know the details, but apparently, its almost like a Gift. And because of that, many people would refuse the dungeonpletion reward and break the dungeon core instead. H-hey! Thats enough unnecessary details! Philia-sans exnation made the fairys face be red in anger. I wasnt able to give you a good reward this time because no ones visited my dungeon. But just give me time and Ill give you something amazing, I promise! So, please, please have mercy on me today! She was back to watery eyes. What does no one visiting your dungeon have to do with not being able to give a good reward? You see, the more people visit, the more dungeon points I get! dungeon points? When I asked for details, Ari said that in order to expand the dungeon, add more monsters, or install more traps, dungeon points had to be spent. She gradually gains these points, but the more people there were in her dungeon, the more dungeon points she receives. Obviously though, because more people meant a higher risk of her dungeon core being broken, dungeon points were double-edged. Ohhhthose dungeon points sound an awful lot like my vige points. Vige points? Ive never heard of something like that. Hmm. Lets see, like your dungeon points, if I earn and then spend enough vige points, I can do different kinds of things. Like building facilities. Building facilities Her head inclined to one side, she thought for a while. And then, she seemed to have figured out something. Ah! So, the reason why my dungeons being eroded and why you guys can build those things, its because of youuuuuuuuuuuu!? Please consider supporting me. You can do this either by turning off adblock for this blog or via myPatreon page. Thank you. Chapter 83: In a few moments, I’ll be moving the village! Chapter 83: In a few moments, Ill be moving the vige! Ah! So, the reason why my dungeons being corrupted and why you guys can build those strange things, its because of youuuuuuuuuuuu!? Ari eximed. Huh? You were aware of that? Of course, Im aware! I see. I had used Territory Take Over before, but no one ever noticed that I made an area a part of my vige. That was only natural though, given that there werent any changes that one could observe. That didnt seem to be the case for dungeons though. The dungeon and I are basically one and the same! If someone possesses your body, youre gonna notice it, wouldnt you!? I was so terrified, you know!? I agree, thats certainly terrifying. Can you no longer control those areas? It seems I still can. So, the dungeon master hasnt lost control of the areas Ive taken over. Then, I guess its fine to leave things be. Uh, how about absolutely not!? sorry. To tell you the truth, I have no clue how to undo it. Hey, thatll be troublesome for meor are you saying it wont be? It wont be. I wont build anything without telling you first. then, I guess its fine. Shes more understanding than I expected. In exchange though, I have a favor to ask! What is it? I want to make the dungeon grow, so please bring people here! Like I said before, no everes here ever since it was made, so the dungeon hasnt grown much! Not to mention, I have so much free time, every days so boring! Well, your dungeon is in a wastnd that no one visits until recently. What!? No wonder no one everes here! With a surprised look on her face, Ari shouted so. Apparently, she couldnt tell from within what kind of ce the outside of her dungeon was. But wont bringing people here be risky to you? You know, cause they might break your dungeon core. Youre right, and thats why in some dungeons, visitors must first agree to a contract before they can get in. The contract has a lot of strict restrictions, including something about not destroying the dungeon core. You see, dungeons can and often have a great boost to an areas economy, so if someone was to break the dungeon core, that areas economy will suffer severely for it. Selen informed me so. Id like that kind of thing in my dungeon too! Well, just so you know, although theyre rare, there are people who will ignore the contract and break your dungeon core. Thats not great It would be beneficial for our vige if the dungeon developed to the point that we could obtain useful and valuable items from it. However, if we invited people from all over to dive into the dungeon, a person who wanted to break the dungeon core was bound to appear. Before doing that, the dungeon should grow at least a little bit more. As the dungeon was now, it was possible for them to reach the boss room right away. But then again, there shouldnt be many who could deal with that unfair staircase tactic. I might have a good idea. We just need people to be inside the dungeon, right? After returning to the vige, I gathered the vigers. Ahem. Hello everyone. In a few moments, Ill be moving the vige! To avoid idents, please stay inside the buildings for now! Also, be sure to hold on to something! Move the vige? What does that even mean? Who knows? But its the vige chief whos doing it, so its surely something crazy. Even so, there should be nothing for us to worry about as long as we follow his instructions. Everyone seemed curious at what was going to happen, but theyplied without hesitation. Is everyone inside the buildings now? Alright, everyone, Im going to begin now~! After shouting so, I used Reposition and moved all the facilities in the vige toward the dungeon. A group of merchants headed to the vige in the wastnd saw an unbelievable scene. The roadits moving? No, cant be, I must be just imagining it, right? I can also see it movingI dont think its just in our heads Oi, forget the road! Look there! The vige! The whole viges moving! Ha, hahais this a dream? Please consider supporting me. You can do this either by turning off adblock for this blog or via myPatreon page. Thank you. Chapter 84: Your life should remain mostly the same Chapter 84: Your life should remain mostly the same Alright, Im done! Thanks for cooperating! Like that, the vige was now closer to the dungeon. Next is, the underground tunnel I descended to the underground tunnel where the dwarves lived. Just what are you nning, moving the vige near the dungeon? Whatever it is, I must say, his Gift is as unbelievable as ever Despite their shock, Selen and Philia-san followed after me. After hearing their question, I answered. Im going to connect the dungeon to this tunnel. Huh? Right about here We walked until the edge of the underground tunnel. Once there, I proceeded to extend it for about another 10 meters, stopping only when we reached a cavern. This should be inside the dungeon, right? Ari, you there? Somebodys made an infiltration route!? Hey there. Its only us, no need to worry. Ari the fairy came flying in. We just came to connect your dungeon to our underground tunnel. I did not get any of that at all We left the perplexed Ari for now and headed back to the underground tunnel to talk with the dwarves. Thankfully, they have already gathered because they wanted to know what was going on. Id like to ask everyone to live in the dungeon over there starting today. I-in the dungeon? Could we have done something again? No, no, its not like that. I exined the situation to the anxious-looking representative of the dwarves, Dn-san. I seejust living inside the dungeon is enough to make it grow Yes. Youll still be living in that apartment building youre living in now; Ill just move it. Also, I havent talked with the dungeon master about the details, but Ill make sure monsters wont be disturbing you. If you want to go up to the vige, youll just have to pass through this tunnel. In other words, your life should remain mostly the same. Yes, the idea I thought of was to move the dwarves into the dungeon. Certainly, they always did prefer living somewhere dark and underground, so they should have no problems moving here. So thats why you moved the entire vige Yeah. Moving the dungeon didnt seem possible, so I did this instead. Simply staying inside a dungeon didnt have any special negative effects, like their stamina being drained away. On the other hand, people staying in the dungeon was enough for the dungeon master to earn dungeon points. What a great idea! If there are more than a hundred people constantly staying in the dungeon, Id be able save up lots of points in no time! When I finally informed Ari about the n, she excitedly shouted so while twirling around in the air. Were happy to be of some use Thank you very much, Dn-san. Alright, now that its all settled, Ill go move the apartment building here. You have my word that monsters wonte here! Like that, the dwarves lives of staying inside the dungeon began. There was another benefit to the vige and the dungeon being this close: it made hunting easier. If its not asking for much, could you make lots of minotaurs? Sure, thats no problem! Feel free to hunt them down! Alright, we can now get minotaur beef anytime. By the way, Ari the dungeon master apparently couldnt step out of her dungeon. When we asked her to enter the underground tunnel, it was as though an invisible wall was preventing her from going further. Ari was quite disappointed at being be unable to go to our vige. Can I ask you toe visit me instead? Ive always been alone in here, and I have nothing else to do but sleep! That must really be boring O-okay, sure. Yay! Im so happy! But you know what, Id be even happier if you also brought along some hunks! hunks? Please consider supporting me. You can do this either by turning off adblock for this blog or via myPatreon page. Thank you. Chapter 85: Am I supposed to climb and then play at the top? Chapter 85: Am I supposed to climb and then y at the top? Since spring began, we saw a faster growth to our viges poption. Apparently, rumors of our vige have spread so much, even those who lived beyond the North of the Albert territory were migrating here. << Ta-ta-ta-dah! Congrattions! Because you now have more than 3,000 vigers, your vige has be level 7!>> <<700 vige points have been acquired as level up bonus.>> <> <> <> The new facilities I unlocked thanks to the level up were as follows: Store 50 Restaurant 100 yground 100 Graveyard 200 Hospital 500 Stores and restaurants, huhthose will be useful. As our poption grows, the more business there would be. In fact, a few merchants have settled here already. However, what they were using as stores were sheds that I customized. It was fine for now, but I might not be able to keep upter on. So, it would really be helpful if the stores were ready-made. Of course, some stores might need some modifications, but it would still mean less work for me. The same could be said for restaurants, naturally. At the moment, we had a tavern-like ce that made use of the outdoor kitchen. It offered free food and drinks, but with the future in mind, we should probably turn it into a propermercial establishment. Nextwhats a yground? <> I dont really get itso I guess I should make one and try it out. And so, I built one in a vacant space. What appeared was a t ground that had many mysterious things I had never seen or heard of before. Whats this? Am I supposed to climb and then y at the top? Ahh, maybe Im supposed to slide down from here. When I climbed one of the mysterious objects, I saw an inclined ne that could fit exactly one person. This ne continued until it touched floor. Woah! When I tried to go down the ne, I slipped down with great speed. However, because of the sandpit in front of the ne, it didnt hurt even though I still was going fast when I hit the ground. Yeah, children will like this. Just when I thought that, some children rushed over. Mister chief, what ya doing? Whats this? Ooh, fun! The yground seemed to be popr with the children. Adults liked it too. Before, the children yed here and there, but now that there was one ce they gathered, it made watching over them so much easier for the adults. if I was still a kid, I maybe would have yed with thembut no, Im the vige chief, yeah, I dont have such free timeyeah Moving onnext are graveyards and hospitalsboth will surely be necessaryter on. Our poption was quite young and healthy, so no one has died of natural causes so far. Now that the graveyard and the hospital were avable though, it almost felt like a sign that things were about to change The viges maximum area has increased yet again. Now, not only the wastnd, but a good part of the forest to the north as well as the mountains to the east were part of our vige. For conveniences sake though, the vige I refer to in conversations with others was just the part where people lived. By the way, whenever the vige would expand, it would expand radially, with the center being the ce I first made it. Each level up doubled the current radius, which then meant that the viges area was quadrupled. In reality though, instead of being shaped a circle, the vige as a whole had a distorted shape. This was because the vige couldnt expand into ces where there was already an ownerunless Territory Take Over was used, of course. And then, for the vige skill this timeViger Appraisal? No, its Viger Appraisal 2, huh. The vige skill I got this time was apparently a superior version of Viger Appraisal. Millia hade along right at that moment, so I tried it on her to see the difference between the versions. Name: Millia Age: 21 years old Vige Bond Level: Ultra-high Suitable upation: Priest Gift: Oracle Strength: E Endurance: E Dexterity: C Agility: D Magic: D Luck: B Height: 166cm Weight: 52Kg Bust: 91cm Waist: 68cm Hips: 93cm Waaah!!!? Luke-sama? I can see even those details about her body!? Formerly a maid of the Albert house. Given her performance and her background of being from a low-ranking noble house, she was a candidate to be a future head maid in the Albert house. However, she gave all that up and followed Luke. The thing that majorly influenced her decision was her love for young boys. Shes relentlessly aiming for Lukes chas S-stop, stop, stop! I couldnt help but shout when information that I shouldnt see continued to flow into my head. TL note: In case you dont remember, a circles area is calcted by A = r2, where r is the radius. Please consider supporting me. You can do this either by turning off adblock for this blog or via myPatreon page. Thank you. Chapter 86: What is this, some kind of harassment? Chapter 86: What is this, some kind of harassment? Viger Appraisal 2 provided significantly more information than the base version. Even as the vige chief, I didnt think it was right to look often at the vigers very private information. And so, I decided to only use it when truly necessary. Whats wrong, Luke-sama? N-nothing. but what did it mean when it said she loves young boys? Ah, no, I feel like its better if I dont investigate the matter further Anyway, you need something? Yes, Id like you toe with me. Theres something Id like to you show you. something to show me? Yes, this way please. The ce Millia led me to was the za in the center of the vige, which by the way was next to yground I just built. In that za, there was something huge that was covered by an equallyrge cloth. Is that what she wants to show me? Other vigers were there as well, likely invited by Millia. Even the dwarves who usually stayed in the dungeon showed up. Please take a look. As though Millias words was the cue, Goate-san used his strength to pull the cloth all at once. huh? What was revealed was a stone statue that was over 3 meters tall. Its left hand was at its waist, its legs were a little bit spaced apart, its chest was puffed up, its facial expression looked as though it was staring off into the distance, and its right arm was stretch toward where it was looking. It was like a statue of some hero of legend. Ive never heard of legends about this one though. After all, this one had my face. Woooooo!!! Amazing! It looks exactly like Luke-sama! What a gant figure The vigers seemed exhrated for some reason. As for me, I was simply confused at what was happening. Huh? What is this, some kind of harassment? Ive had this made for today. Many skilled peoplemost being dwarveshave worked on it, and I must say, theyve perfectly captured your gant appearance. When I looked at the dwarves, they looked satisfied and proud of their finished work. It didnt seem like they built this just to harass me. Why build this though? Congrattions, Luke-sama! Today, exactly one year has passed since the vige was built! It was one year ago that Luke-sama started to bless us with his magnificence! Millia exined so to me, in a way that was almost like a deration. Oh, that was today? Its been a year already, huh Yes! Back then, it was just the two us. The empty wastnd in front of us, Luke-sama said to me without any trace of anxiety or despair, Indeed, there is nothing here, but thats actually better for me. Because like this, I get to build everything myself. I did not say that! I wont ever say anything like that! Ooooooo!!! The way Luke-sama thinks is truly, entirely different from us ordinary people! Yeah, hes definitely a hero To the words that Millia imed I said to her back then, the vigers became excited. Theres no way I can deny it now Only Selen, who has known me a long time, had the face that said that doesnt sound like him. I hang my head, but Millia only continued to speak. Theres one more thing we prepared tomemorate this day. Another one!? When I heard that, I unintentionally shouted. I present to you a record of your magnificence and glory. huh? Its written by Totoru who has the [Literary Talent] Gift. Of course, this is only the first volume; we n to make more volumes. The first volume covers in great detail Luke-samas childhood, making it a must-read. but Im just the chief of a vige? Isnt this kind of thing for people whove aplished great things in their life? Plus, isnt this supposed to be written by a pupil or descendant when the person in question has passed? At the moment, we are in the middle of preparations for the mass-production of the book. Once we have those, even more believerrraherm, ahemeven more people will know of Luke-sama and this vige. Did she say believer just now? Please consider supporting me. You can do this either by turning off adblock for this blog or via myPatreon page. Thank you. Chapter 87: …this is almost like fiction… Chapter 87: this is almost like fiction Deep in the forest full of monsters, arge creature rests. Having an overall length of over 50 meters, it was undoubtably the king of the forest. No one and nothing could harm it, so it has been like that for a long time. It constantly absorbed nutrients from the ground, so it didnt even need to go find food. In fact, it usually stayed where it was, either sleeping or simply resting. All of a sudden, its body quivered as though it felt something. The unpleasant sensation told it that someone has invaded its territory. Yet, there was no one in the vicinity. For the first time in the thousands of years it has stood at the summit of the forests hierarchy, the creature remembered what danger felt like. The creature felt that if nothing was done, its very existence might be at risk. For some reason, it felt that the source of the unpleasant sensation was somewhere south of the forest. And so, the creature roused itself up and moved toward it without a care for the trees, the monsters, and the animals that were in the way. It was the anniversary for the foundation of the vige, so we held a celebration party after Millia gave me those things. Although I say a celebration party, it was just the usual party we have where we eat and drink together. Nothing really fancy. Of course, as usual, the dwarves whose personalities change drastically whenever they drink were asked to celebrate underground. The next morning. While many of the vigers were still sleeping because they drank and partied so much, I woke up at the usual time. Which was no problem at all, given that I didnt drink any alcohol. Im scared to read it, but I have to check While sitting down in a bench in my homes yard, I looked at the excessively ornated book that I stealthily borrowed from Millia. It wasnt just heavy, it was thick as well. Written in the cover withrge characters were the words The Legend of Luke-sama. Yes, this was the book Millia had arbitrarilymissioned for the anniversary celebration. It would be horrible for me if this book was mass-produced and read by many. However, because Totoru said he did his best to write it, I couldnt simply throw it away. Either way, I should check out its contents first. It might even be good, despite the title. At least, Im sure they wont write any lies. Right? Yup, I was so nave. Instead of not having any lies, it was actually full of lies. Especially the parts I supposedly said. Indeed, there is nothing here, but thats actually better for me. Because like this, I get to build everything myself Orc King! Your fate was sealed the moment you decided to attack my vige! Eat this! Building Pressssssssssssssssssssssssssssssss! Your lineage, your age, your gender, or even your race, none of those things matter here. Every single one of you is my precious vigermy family. What is thisthis is almost like fiction I had no memory of ever saying those words. Moreover, my character in the book sounded so pretentious. And my move already has a name; dont go giving it a name of your own! Yeah, I really cant let this be mass-produced. I should go talk to Millia Right when I said so, my Intruder Detection gave off an intense rm. Intruder Detection was a vige skill that would alert me when something hostile or with malicious intent would enter its range. It worked not just against people, but monsters as well. However, because of the maximum area of the vige has grown a lot, it was activating nonstop. Which was to be expected since just in the forest, there were countless monsters already. For that reason, I limited the range of Intruder Detection to be up to the forests entrance only. Something has now entered that range. And this reactionisnt this more intense than with the orc king? While I shivered at the thought, I looked northward. I saw it right away. It was a creaturerger than even the monster-infested forests trees. It was a dragon? Please consider supporting me. You can do this either by turning off adblock for this blog or via myPatreon page. Thank you. Chapter 88: Thats not a dragon Chapter 88: Thats not a dragon <> Screaming through telepathy, Satin reported so. <> <> Fortunately, while I was busy reading that book, the vigers have woken up. Given the monsters size, many of them should have already noticed it or at least themotion it has caused. After a while, I reached the top of an observation tower. And there, I saw the giant creature from the forest as it leisurely made its way toward the vige. A giant monster that looks like a lizardyup, thats a dragon No, actually, that thing, thats not a dragon. Huh? When I turned around to see the source of the voice, I saw Philia-san walking toward me. Its not a dragon? But it looks like one Its called a Tree Dragonsure, it has both the appearance and the name of a dragon, but its actually a nt-type monster simr to treants. I guess you can say its only mimicking a dragon. Mimicking a dragon, huh. It looked like a dragon, but on closer inspection, its body was indeed made up of wood. Its outeryer was something like the bark of a tree. I could also see leaves growing wildly here and there. Moreover, it had no eyeballs at all, just holes that resembled the hollows of a tree. Regardless of whether it was a dragon or not though, its threat to the vige remained the same. That Tree Dragons sorge thoughit may be something that has lived deep within that forest for a long, long time. It wouldnt be an exaggeration to call it the king of the forest at that size. But then, why is iting out of forest ording to Philia-san, Tree Dragons were like Treants in that they basically didnt have to move from where they were. They could sustain themselves through the nutrients in the gound, meaning they didnt have to hunt for prey. But because of this way to nourish themselves, Tree Dragons were overly territorial. They would mercilessly attack any who dared enter its domain. Well, no mistake about it now, its headed our way. then, I suggest we make the vigers who couldnt fight take shelter, maybe underground. Perhaps, even us as well, depending on the next few moments. Taking Philia-sans advice, I shouted to the vigers below the observation tower. Everyone! Hurry to the underground tunnel! A dangerous monster will soon reach the vige; stay there until its safe! Just a few momentster, Selen joined us. Hey, whats the n about that monster? As you might guess, theres no way we can take it head on. Even Noel will be blown away if he tries to stop that charge. While we were discussing like that, the Tree Dragon has passed the halfway point between the vige and the forest. For something thatrge, it sure did move fast. Let me try something. I said so and then constructed a tall wallparable to those that surrounded the vige. I immediately customized it to be a golem that didnt lose to the Tree Dragon in height. Go, golem! I made the golem stand right in the way of the approaching monster so that it could intercept it. However, right when they were about to sh, root-like things appeared from the ground and wrapped itself around the golems feet. With the golem immobilized, the Tree Dragon easily passed through the golems side. Whathen, how about another one! When I was about to make another golem, the Tree Dragon looked at me with its eyeball-less eyes. Oaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!! What a roar. While I shook with fear, I realized something: is it looking at me right now!? Can it be that its target isme? Meanwhile, the Tree Dragon easily broke through the viges outer wall. Like that, it was able to enter the area where our fields were set up. Thank goodness weve just finished harvesting, no crops will go to wastewait, nows not the time to be worrying about that! Oaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa? huh? Whats going on? Why did it suddenly stopped? If left alone, the Tree Dragon could have continued to break the inner wall and then just wreak destruction in my vige, so I desperately tried toe up with a n to drive it away. For some reason though, the Tree Dragon stopped in the middle of the fields. is it noting anymore? Still vignt, we stared at it for a while. Yet no matter what, as though the Tree Dragon turned into nothing more than a tree, it just didnt move where it was. Whats the meaning of this? Please consider supporting me. You can do this either by turning off adblock for this blog or via myPatreon page. Thank you. Chapter 89: I think it likes the soil in the fields! Chapter 89: I think it likes the soil in the fields! ~~~~ Much to the monsters surprise, it found unbelievably rich soil. After cing down its roots and nourishing itself, the monster was ecstatic and full of vitality. Not only that, it was also rxed. The anger it had just a few moments ago had vanished without a trace. In fact, it had forgotten the very reason it came to this ce. Instead, it was busy merrily swaying its branches. ~~~~ Now that it has known of this pleasure, it didnt want to be without it anymore. From that moment on, it has decided to live at this ce. Is it safe to get near it? Its best to be careful; it might just be trying to lure us into a trap. Tree Dragons arent known to be that smart though. For some reason, the Tree Dragon stopped in the middle of the fields and hasnt moved an inch since. It looked nothing more than a normalrge tree right now. We havee down from the observation tower and into the fields, and so far, it hasnt shown any signs of attacking. ~~~~ At times, it would shake its branches. It almost seemed jolly. Eep! Whats thisrge tree doing here? Neruru, sorry for calling you out here even though youre safer being underground. A nervous Neruru arrived. She had the [Heart of the Animals] Gift, so she was the one who usually takes care of our domestic animals. Please dont worry about it! But, ahm, what am I supposed to do here? Also, wheres the Tree Dragon? Has it been driven away? Its right in front of us. Its thatrge tree. Eh? eehhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!? Neruru hurriedly took two to three steps back. For some reason, when t it arrived at this ce, it just stopped. I was thinking that maybe you can find out the reason why. Sorry, I dont think I can be of any help. My Gift lets me understand the feelings of animals, but not of nts While looking at the Tree Dragon, Neruru said so. After a few moments Im not sure, but I think it likes the soil in the fields! Oh, you understood it? No, I can just sort of tell! Unlike with the farm animals, Im not at all certain this time! The Tree Dragon was more monster than nt, so we thought that there might be a chance that it was close enough to being considered an animal. There was little harm in confirming it, so we decided to give it a go. For us to get anything out of that shot in the dark was enough for me. ~~~~ As though to prove what Neruru said to be fact, the Tree Dragon swayed it branches merrily. And before I knew it, my Intruder Detection vige skill stopped giving an rm. Hmm, well, I guess I dont mind you staying here. Just dont suddenly attack people, alright? ~~~~ Understood, it seems to say! Its quite perceptive. Something then fell from the top of its head. Is that a fruit? It was absurdlyrge. By my estimate, it seemed about the same size as my head. The fruit of a Tree Dragon is known to be very nutritious, making it great for health tonics and such. Its even said that if taken on a regr basis, itll slow down your aging. Its such a rare item though. Yeah, seriously. Its so rare that some kings had squandered their entire nations fortune just to obtain one. Philia-san and Selen said so. It was so much more amazing than I initially thought. So, are you saying youre giving this to us? ~~~~ Is it supposed tomemorate us being acquainted or something? Then, I gratefully ept. Thank you. ~~~~ Ill be giving you the next one I make as well, soe by then, it says! After this and that, our vige gained a newpanion(?). just in case, I should tell the other vigers not to get too close though. We had resolved the viges crisis. The whole thing happened early in the morning, so I havent had any breakfast. To solve the next issue, I decided toe back home. Well then, Ill go fix something up right away. Thanks a lot, Millia. Huh? What was I doing before the whole Tree Dragon thing again? I feel like there was something important I wanted to discuss with Millia oh well, Im sure Ill remember it sooner orter. Please consider supporting me. You can do this either by turning off adblock for this blog or via myPatreon page. Thank you. Chapter 90: Arent they too big Chapter 90: Arent they too big My name is Alec. I might not look much, but Im actually quite a renowned adventurer. An adventurer was a person who makes a living off of subjugating monsters and exploring ces that were infested by monsters. Some adventurers had contracts with nobles and did work exclusively for that noble, while there were those who had no long-term employer and did whatever eptable job was avable. Sometimes though, adventurersespecially those highly skilled in fightingwould be mercenaries and participate in wars instead. I had heard that in some countries, there was an organization called the adventurers guild that would assist adventurers. Unfortunately though, such a helpful organization didnt exist in this country. As for me, I was part of a 4-person party of adventurers that, while wandering around the country, made a living primarily from selling the materials of monsters we defeat. And right now, we were headed to the so-called North because of a certain rumor we heard. I think we should be in that wastnd soon. Hey, how sure are we about this rumor again? Doubt in her eyes, Hazena asked so. Hazena was not just the youngest among us, she was also the only woman. As one could easily guess by the staff in her hand, she was our valuable magic user. Highly. We did hear it from merchants, after all. To the north of the Albert territory was a wastnd that was surrounded by two monster-infested areas. One was the forest to the wastnds north, and the other was the mountains to its east. There were many theories about them, but monster-infested areas were dangerous ces because of the many monsters that lived there. Normal people should avoid them as much as possible. However, for us adventurers whose living was gathering and selling monster parts, it was no exaggeration to say that these ces, much like dungeons, were treasure troves. But then again, because many of these monster-infested areas were in the middle of nowhere, it was rather hard to find provisions as well as safe ces to sleep. That made exploration of such areas difficult to do for a long period of time. ording to the merchants though, there was a vige that was built almost instantly in the aforementioned wastnd. Whats more, more and more people were gathering there. The iron-willed merchants informationwork was, as always, astonishing. Although we still have to go there to know for certain, it should be well worth the effort. Before long, we saw the wastnd. As soon as I did, I thought to myself that it would really be impossible to grow anything, much less crops from the ground here. Even wild nts were scarce. There were also craggy mountains scattered about. I couldnt help but feel a bit anxious at the sight of it. I couldnt help but doubt the existence of that vige. H-hey, over theretheres suddenly a road Hazena said so and pointed somewhere. When I looked, there was indeed a long, unbranching path that almost seemed to cut through the wastnd. Moreover, it was a well-made road that was definitely out of ce here. I have travelled through the Alpira highway before, a road that could be said to be the most beautiful in the world, but I would have to say that this road before us didnt fall behind too much. I might even be convinced to say that this was the better of the two. Surprised though we may be, we decided to follow the road. After a while of walking, we saw something else. Can that be the vige? Theyve got decent walls, dont they? Yeah. But then again, if you live so close to two monster-infested areas, youll probably need at least that much. However, when we got closer, we realized something. W-wait, arent those wallsarent they too big? We thought their walls were of average size, but it turned out that we were simply too far away. At the moment, their walls wereparable to the walls of a city, but there was still some distance to cover, so it might be evenrger than that. they said it was a vige, right? yeah, Im positive they did. Beyond the two castle gates we went through was a marvelous city that had these mysterious andrge buildings everywhere. With stores of various kinds, the bustle of this ce easily surpassed what could be found in an ordinary stopover town. Are we still in the wastnd? It totally doesnt feel like that At any rate, we had confirmed the merchants tale to be true. With a city like this as our base, it would be so much easier to hunt in the monster-infested areas. Not only could we get provisions and a safe ce to sleep, we could also sell the materials we obtained right here. Should we go greet the leader of this ce? If a ce was within the scale of a vige, it was always better to give the vige chief a courtesy call before setting out in order to avoid unnecessary trouble. However, when a ce was as vast as a city, that might no longer be needed. In fact, we would often get sent back when trying to give our greeting. They still call this ce a vige, so I guess we should, just to be safe. But have you heard that the one who built this ce is the son of Lord Albert? You mean that battle junkie lord that has the [Sword Master Techniques] Gift? If that was true, it was possible that the reason this ce was built was so that that person could explore the monster-infested areas himself. I guess hes a battle junkie too, just like his father. So, the son built this ce because hes a battle junkie that loves to hunt monsters? If so, I bet you he looks totally like a brute. When I said that, a boy of about 12 or 13 years old approached us while smiling. He looked as though he wouldnt harm even a fly. What can he possibly want with us? Wee, adventurers. I am Luke Albert, the chief of this vige. eh? Please consider supporting me. You can do this either by turning off adblock for this blog or via myPatreon page. Thank you. Chapter 91: Okay, so people can go deeper now Chapter 91: Okay, so people can go deeper now That day, a group of four adventurers came to our vige. This was the first time that adventurers have visited us. They likely heard rumors about us and thought they could use our vige as a base of operations for exploring the monster-infested areas here. Personally though, I wanted them to challenge another ce. Hey, Ari, is your dungeon improvement going smoothly? Yup, thanks to you, everythings perfect! Ari the dungeon master dered so while puffing her chest. By the way, I went to her dungeon via a direct underground route from my home. My dungeon has 5 floors now. Plus, Ive shifted things around so that it starts easy at first and gets harder the further in you go. Oh, and Ive deployed a powerful boss monster now! Her dungeon originally only had two floors. In addition, even her first floor had an excessive number of traps and monsters. Okay, so people can go deeper now. Dungeons had this feature called dungeon points. Basically, dungeon points were earned based on the length of time each visitor to the dungeon has stayed there. So, if her dungeon was hard from the start, people would leave at once and cause her to earn less dungeon points. So, do you think your dungeons ready for adventurers now? Theres a group of adventurers who just arrived at the vige, you see. Absolutely! Alright, Ill go ask them to give your dungeon a try. Having gained Aris permission, I immediately went to meet the adventurers. I estimated that they should have passed the fields and the inner gate by now. Is that them? Compared to soldiers, many adventurers preferred lighter armor. Because of that, they could be mistaken for travelers at first nce. However, the group I found seemed to match the description Satin gave me via his telepathic report. They still call this ce a vige, so I guess we should, just to be safe. But have you heard that the one who built this ce is the son of Lord Albert? You mean that battle junkie lord that has the [Sword Master Techniques] Gift? So, the son built this ce because hes a battle junkie that loves to hunt monsters? If so, I bet you he looks totally like a brute. Ill just pretend I didnt hear anything. Wee, adventurers. I am Luke Albert, the chief of this vige. A sweet-looking boy said so. That stunned us for a while. Huh? This boy is the vige chief? Hes the son of that Lord Albert? Also, did hee all this way to wee us? No, thats impossible; he must have been just nearby. But then, how did he know we were adventurers? We did identify ourselves as adventurers when we passed the first gate, but not enough time should have passed for him to get that information While thinking all of that, I and the others knelt down. Even unrefined adventurers like us knew that one should always do these kinds of things before a noble. Failure to do so could get us severely punished. It didnt matter if the noble in question was a kid. Strangely though, the boy tried to stop us with a hand gesture. Ahh, theres no need for such formalities here. More importantly, am I right to assume that you came to our vige with the exploration of the nearby monster-infested areas in mind? I was never one for manners and etiquettes, so I was quite relieved to hear we didnt have to worry about those things. No need to tell me twice. Still, not just appearance, he also doesnt have the arrogance typical of nobles. As far as first impressions go, I think I like this kid. Yeah. We were thinking of using this vige as a kind of base for our exploration of those ces. I see. Weve actually just built an inn here, so I hope you give that a try. Are you telling me a city, err, a vige of this size didnt have any inn until recently? Where did all the merchants stay then? Actually, Ive got a proposal for you all. a proposal? I couldnt believe what the boy said next. What do you think of exploring a dungeon? Please consider supporting me. You can do this either by turning off adblock for this blog or via myPatreon page. Thank you. Chapter 92: That sounds perfect Chapter 92: That sounds perfect A group of adventurers havee to the vige. The soldier and leader was Alec-san; the magician was Hazena-san, the hunter was Del-san; and the priest was Kamui-san. When I told them about the dungeon, they were awfully surprised. A dungeon!? Theres a dungeon nearby!? Yes. Weve just discovered it recently. Monster-infested areas and a dungeonwhy, I think we can call this ce a haven for us adventurers already I also told them about the contract that would prohibit them from breaking the dungeon core. Im sorry, but unless you agree to this, we cant give you permission to explore the dungeon. We understand, and we agree to it. For us adventurers, destroying a dungeon is pretty much like digging your own grave. And like that, I decided to guide them toward the entrance of the dungeon. Huh? The dungeon is within the vige? Yes. I thought itd be easier to manage things that way. (? Didnt he say that they discovered the dungeon just recently? Whys he talking like he built the vige here expressly for the dungeonwait, is he saying he moved the entire vige here? No way, right?) After a while of walking, we arrived somewhere in the southwest of the vige. The entrance is between those buildings. Huh? The entrance to the dungeon was currently in the middle of four apartment buildings that were built to be inns. Wait, those are inns!? Theyre stupidly big Yes, theyre inns. Ah, but just to be clear, these ones are exclusively for adventurers who will challenge the dungeon. I made them this big and this many in anticipation of future traffic. Of course, we also had normal inns. At the moment, we were offering customized medium-sized houses as inns. Visiting merchants stayed for free in the vacant apartment units, but just recently, I decided to charge a fee and let the vigers manage it. Everything in the vige had been offered for free to the vigers, but on the other hand, they were not given coin in exchange for theirbor. Such a system wasnt sustainable. Soon enough, especially given the current size of the vige as well as the rate we were growing, that system would reach its limits. And so, wherever possible, I would let the vigers take control of services. Thanks to our transactions with the merchants, money has been flowing into the vige. Hopefully soon, enough would be distributed to the vigers that they would be able to trade with each other using money. By the way, we also have a restaurant in the vige, so do please give them a try. They offer superb dishes made of orc and minotaur meat. Orc and minotaur meat!? Yes. Weve obtained a lot of orc meat from the northern forest. As for the minotaur meat, we got them from this dungeon. If youve hunted some and want to sell their meat, were willing to buy it. A bitter, I was going to make a stall or something dedicated to buying materials from adventurers. Now that the dungeon was open for exploration, I expected more adventurers toe. Especially if we asked the merchants to spread information about it. They say orc meats delicioustheyre so expensive, I havent eaten one though. Same with minotaur meat But Id definitely give them a try once Ive saved up a bit more. Both were originally super-rare meat, after all. Then, Im happy to inform you that in this vige, theyre reasonably priced. R-really!? We talked like that until we reached a courtyard-like ce between the four apartment buildings. Here we are, the entrance to the dungeon. In that ce stood arge boulder. And at its foot was a gaping hole. The dungeon entrance is in this kind of ce? Wait, wont monsterse out here and attack? Oh, you dont need to worry about that. The dungeon master has set it up so that kind of thing wont happen. Set it up? The adventurers simultaneously tilted their heads. Also, this dungeon has multiple floors, each one designed to be harder than the one before it. The deeper you go, the stronger the monsters and the more lethal the traps. For that reason, I think its better if you be familiar with the upper floors before proceeding deeper. I see. Next, near the staircases that connect floors are safe zones. It has been set up so that monsters wont enter these safe zones. There are also small buildings there, so if you ever feel like you need to rest, please make use of those in the safe zones. That sounds perfect Please consider supporting me. You can do this either by turning off adblock for this blog or via myPatreon page. Thank you. Chapter 93: I’d like you to be close-lipped about it Chapter 93: Id like you to be close-lipped about it Ah, also T-theres more? The adventurers looked as though they were told there was another dishing despite them being full already. Excuse me, but none of you has a Gift, correct? Huh? Y-yeah. I mean, obviously. Theres only, what, a handful of adventurers who has earned enough of a fortune to be blessed. On top of that, its not like were guaranteed to get a Gift after being blessed. On the contrary, we actually have a low chance to get one, right? Betting such arge amount of money for such low odds, only nobles can be so foo As though he just remembered I was a noble myself, Alec-san hurriedly closed his mouth. Dont worry about it. Im nothing more than a vige chief right now. Nevertheless, it was indeed unfair to charge such an exorbitant amount of money for something that wasnt guaranteed. It wasnt like there was much effort involved in the rite of blessing aside from finding someone with [Oracle]. I could understand a fee, just not that much. For one gold, you can get blessed in the church here. We have a priest with [Oracle], you see. R-really!? For one gold? I thought one gold was a good bnce. People could just see it as an offering. Of course though, the service remained free for those who settled in our vige. I heard it was supposed to be a tinum coin or something though!? Definitely not any amount that normal people like us will earn in this lifetime! A tinum coin was worth a hundred golden coins. I myself had seen one only a few times in my life. I guess father also paid that much to have me blessed. And all that for such a result no, no, I shouldnt think about that anymore. In exchange though, Id like you to be close-lipped about it. R-right, gotcha As though he understood that our church wasnt an official one, Alec-san nodded with a stern face. It should go without saying that we wouldnt bless just anybody. We didnt want anyone dangerous to receive a Gift and be even more dangerous, after all. I was fine with having Alec-san and the others be blessed because I had already used Viger Appraisal on them. Yes, I had turned them into vigers without their consent. There didnt seem to be any harm to them in doing so, and they would automatically cease to be vigers once they leave the vige anyway. Also, the one I used on them was Viger Appraisal 2. Through some trial and error, I could now choose which information would be shown. Name: Alec Age: 38 years old Vige Bond Level: Low Suitable upation: Soldier Gift: (Greatsword Techniques) Skills: Greatsword Techniques Lv2 Criminal Tendency: None Name: Hazena Age: 18 years old Vige Bond Level: Low Suitable upation: Magician Gift: (Red Magic) Skills: Red Magic Lv2 Criminal Tendency: None Name: Del Age: 31 years old Vige Bond Level: Low Suitable upation: Scout Gift: (Enemy Search) Skills: Enemy Search Lv3, Stealth Lv1, Dagger Techniques Lv1 Criminal Tendency: None Name: Kamui Age: 27 years old Vige Bond Level: Low Suitable upation: Warrior Monk Gift: (White Magic) Skills: White Magic Lv2, Cudgel Techniques Lv1 Criminal Tendency: None Remarkably, all four of them had the potential to have Gifts. And I didnt know if it was just a coincidence or an inevitability, but their present roles in the party matched their potential Gift quite well. Maybe, even if a person still hasnt unlocked their Gift, it influences them in some way. As for skills, they were abilities that, unlike Gifts, could be earned through ones efforts. my vige skills were exceptions though. Hmm, now that I think about it, I sort of feel like that maybe Gifts also influence these skills. Like, if a skill matches the persons potential Gift, maybe its easier for them to acquire and improve that skill. By the way, once a person receives a blessing and unlocks their Gift, the skill would automatically shoot up past Lv5. That was how powerful Gifts were. Be that as it may, weremonfolk, so the chances of us getting a Gift are still low. Im certain Ill get one! Whoa, hey there, Hazena. Where does all that confidencee from? I just feel it, alright!? I feel Im going to be one of the chosen ones! Well, wont that be great. Alec-sans gave a somewhat cold reply, and for that, Hazena-san red and snorted at him. Ahaha, theres no need to worry. All of you are chosen, you see. huh? How do you know that? Ah, I meanahmI mean I feel like youre all chosen, yeah, that. And like that, I led the adventurers toward the church. TL note: In the raws, Hazenas Gift says fire magic. However, since red magic has been mentioned to have something to do with fire and heat, I decided to use that here. Kamui is in a simr case: it says light magic, but white magic has been mentioned before. Please consider supporting me. You can do this either by turning off adblock for this blog or via myPatreon page. Thank you. Chapter 94: I made them this big and this many in anticipation of future traffic Chapter 94: I made them this big and this many in anticipation of future traffic Luke the vige chief was nothing at all like I expected. He had none of the arrogance and overbearingness that weremon in nobles. He didnt even mind that I talked casually to him, too casually some would argue. This gentle and kindd didnt belong in this war-torn era. One has to wonder how exactly he grew up like this. In terms of maturity, he certainly got Hazenathe youngest among usbeat by arge margin. But then again, maybe thats thanks to some kind of special lesson taught only to noble kids. A dungeon!? Theres a dungeon nearby!? Yes. Weve just discovered it recently. Monster-infested areas and a dungeonwhy, I think we can call this ce a haven for us adventurers already We came to this ce with the goal of exploring the monster-infested areas nearby, but we ended up discovering an even better treasure trove. To make it even better, the dungeon was supposedly within the vige. The vige chief offered to take us there and we dly epted. Along the way, I witnessed something bizarre. Hey, is that an elf over there? Yes. The elves have be part of our vige. You serious? Arent they supposed to have cut off all interactions with humans and moved to the ends of the world, or something? I saw an elf casually talking with a human. The elf acted so naturally that I initially noticed them for their head-turning beauty and not at all for being an elf. Just so you know, dwarves have also be part of our vige. They mostly stay underground though, so it might be harder to meet one. Dwarves too!? No, wait, what do you mean underground? We walked some more and I noticed something else. The vige itself as well as all those who lived here were tidy and clean. As an adventurer, I have been to many cities, but never have I been to a ce that waspletely clean until now. Usually, there would be human waste and trash lying on the roadside, but none of that was here. From what I was told, everybody being clean could be attributed to two things: public bath houses, and each home having its own bath andvatory. And everyone here had a home. It was incredibly rare for a city to not have any homeless person, but this one apparently was one of those. We always provide people a ce to live, and thats how weve be a vige of immigrants. Always provide? You make it sound so easy We were taken to a ce that had these mysterious, gigantic buildings. Wait, those are inns!? Theyre stupidly big Yes, theyre inns. Ah, but just to be clear, these ones are exclusively for adventurers who will challenge the dungeon. I made them this big and this many in anticipation of future traffic. We were informed that each unit had its own bath andvatory, much like the homes of the vigers. Amazing! Thats making me want to live here forever! When Hazena heard the exnation, her eyes sparkled. Inns near monster-infested areas or dungeons typically had subpar amodations. Which was to be expected since monsters attack them from time to time. If a dungeon was managed by the lord of thend, there was a chance that there would be a decent inn nearby. However, right now, there was only a few of such dungeons in this country. It was also exined to us that the entrance to this viges dungeon was just a few steps in front of the inns. Or more urately, the entrance was surrounded by the inns. Given that, I thought it was only a matter of time before monsterse out of the dungeon and attack the buildings. When I raised my concern, the vige chief told us that there was no need to worry about such a thing. Ive done nothing but be surprised since we got to this vige, but by far the thing that surprised me the most was when we were informed that we could blessed here for only 1 gold coin. Half-convinced, I was brought to a church-like building. In front of it was beautifuldy. Wee. I am the priest Millia. this beauty is the priest? No, more importantlywhy is she wearing a maids outfit? My name is Dant. I am the governor of the North, the most northern region in the Albert territory. Until recently, I have beenpletely devoted to my duty. I only did one offense, but it was a major one: I hid the existence of the vige in the northern wastnd from Raul-sama. When it gets discovered that my report was false, my head would likely roll to the ground, literally. Still, I would have no regrets. I hadplete faith in Luke-sama, after all. I was certain that he would be an important figure in the future, surpassing even his father, Lord Albert. There was a chance that he could even change this very country for the better. Thinking about that, the risk I was taking was nothing. Nevertheless, Dant-sama, we cant hide the existence of the vige for much longer. Rumors about it has spread farther than the North. Before long, Raul-sama himself will likely set out to investigate the matter. I realize that. And thats why were heading to the vige right now. I agreed with Bazara. I and my elite guards were once again toward the vige, but this time, it was partly to give thanks to Luke-sama who has greatly improved the food shortage crisis in the North. The other purpose of our visit was to ry a certain important piece of information to him. Its been half a year since then, hasnt it I wonder, how much the vige have grown since thenI cant help but feel excited and scared at the same time. It has been quite a snowy winter, so perhaps it hasnt changed much. Bazaras words made sense, but my gut feeling told me otherwise. furthermore, it told me that I needed to brace myself. When we were near the wastnd, we noticed something. weve passed by quite a number of people, havent we? Yes. The only ce ahead in the vige though Then, its probably safe to assume that thats where theyre headed. But all of them? Arent there too many? The advent of spring probably meant a significant increase in immigrants. Among those we passed by where groups who seemed to be merchants. Some even looked like adventurers. I see. Because of the monster-infested areas nearby, the vige would indeed make a wonderful base of operations for the adventurers. Please consider supporting me. You can do this either by turning off adblock for this blog or via myPatreon page. Thank you. Chapter 95: Its as you said Chapter 95: Its as you said And so, we arrived at the wastnd. In there stood the vige, and just like I expected, it has grown tremendously since ourst visit. There werent any shopsst time, yet there were so many now. Moreover, the marketce was so crowded. It even felt like the number of people there wasparable to the ones in Riesen, thergest city in the North which boasted a poption of over 10,000. Half a year ago, there were probably only about a 1,000 or so people living here. I wouldnt be surprised if their poption has grown tenfold. With such an increase in poption though, a shortage of amodations would normally be the case. However, likely thanks to Luke-samas Gift, not a single vagabond could be seen anywhere. As though to confirm my theory, several tall buildings stood in a row in the distance. This definitely couldnt be called vige anymorenot that it could be called one half a year ago. I-is this really that vige!? But its just been half a year!? And there was that winter too! I had prepared myself for this absurd growth, so I wasnt too shocked. Bazara, on the other hand, was. And then, he found something. T-this sword!? No, not just this sword! This helmet, this armortheyre all of unbelievably high quality! It was the equipment being disyed by a weapons and armor shop. Is it truly that amazing? Yes! Something of this grade is rare even in the royal capital! Ive heard of nobles paying fortunes tomission the making of one of these yet we find one heredisyed as though theyre mass-producing it! Probably because he heard Bazaras shouts, the shopkeeper came out to greet us. Hahaha, well, its as you said: theyre being mass-produced in this vige. Of course, theyre priced like it too. These ones are!? How!? There are many brilliant cksmiths here, you see. I immediately wondered if those brilliant cksmiths had Gifts. In this vige, that would be the more likely case. When Bazara heard of the actual price of the items, he suddenly fell down to the ground. And then, as though fearing the shopkeeper would change his mind as well as the price, Bazara took out his purse with all haste. While the purchase was happening, a man with a wild and bushy beard came by. Ahh, hello Dn-san. Here for a delivery? Thank you as always! Wha dwarf!? Yes, a dwarf. Theyre actually the ones who made the magnificent weapons and equipment in this shop. No, wait, there are dwarves in the vige? Yes, elves too. Elves too!? Apparently, elves and dwarves have settled in the vige. I had no idea how it came to be in the span of half a year, but all three races were living peacefully in this vige. Never mind their rtionship with human beings, elves and dwarves were known to not get along with each other. Needless to say, if true, this was all unheard of. By the way, were what you might call a resale shop. As such, we also have the elves potions for sale. Their potions!? Theyre selling their potions here!? It was one absurd story after another, so I couldnt help but get dizzy from it all. When I was ready to move on, the scent of meat being burnt drifted toward me. I knew that we shouldnt make too many detours, yet I still ended up approaching the source of the delicious scent. Come get some grilled minotaur meat on a stick~! Did you just say minotaur!? The shopkeeper just said something unbelievable. After all, minotaurs were monsters that was said to live only in dungeons, and only in some of them at that. Sure did! We get a steady supply of it from the dungeon in this here vige, see. Let me tell you, you wont be able to eat this anywhere else for this cheap! Hold up, theres a dungeon here!? What, you didnt know about it? The vige chief became good friends with this dungeon master, see, and now the vige can hunt as much minotaur as we want. Became good friends with the dungeon master As far as I was aware, establishing a friendly rtionship with a dungeon master was one of the rarest things to happen. *GOOOOOooo!!!* Suddenly, we heard a terrifying sound. When I looked around to figure out what it was, I saw a pir of me rising toward the sky. The ce where the me pir originated was a wide, cylindrical building. This building wasnt in the vige thest time we were here. Wh-whats that building? To the question I identally said out loud, the old man tending to the shop answered like this: Ah, that one? Thats the training grounds. The soldiers, guards, and even adventurers use that to, well, train. That just now was fire magic, isnt it? Then, Id say its being used by a magician named Hazena. She likes our grilled minotaur meat, andes by here often. If she could use magic to that degree, she must be quite the master. Quite possibly, high-rank adventurers like her were gathering in this vige. Ha, haha Luke-sama, youve exceeded even my wildest expectations Please consider supporting me. You can do this either by turning off adblock for this blog or via myPatreon page. Thank you. Chapter 96: I’m super duper happy! Chapter 96: Im super duper happy! Ooh, Im earning so many dungeon points! Im super duper happy! Ari the dungeon master said so. Her dungeon now had 10 floors, and it seemed she would add more soon enough. As for the adventurers, after Alec-sans group, a great number of adventurers havee to our vige. Their main goal ining here was obviously the dungeon. As such, they really liked that they could easily ess the dungeon right from their inns. A notable downside to their focus on the dungeon, however, was that the monster-infested areas were left pretty much ignored. We still had the hunting party to provide us with orc meat though, so it wasnt really an issue. I regrly used my viger appraisal 2 on the adventurers, and whenever someone had the potential to receive a Gift, I would strongly rmend that they get blessed. As to be expected, it was rare for a whole party to get Giftsas was the case for Alec-sans partybut the likelihood of getting a Gift seemed to be higher for adventurers. The adventurers were also greatly delighted by the weapons and armors being sold in the vige. After all, those weapons and armors were made by dwarves, many of whom had the [cksmith] Gift, so outstanding quality was guaranteed even in the mass-produced ones. Moreover, they were cheap. The materials used to make them were all obtained from the dungeon. a side benefit of all this was that I no longer had to make the weapons through facility customization. In addition to the adventurers, the number of immigrants has also increased. It wasnt that long ago when we reached a total poption of 3,000, but we were now already double that. We might actually beparable to a small city now. Our size would naturally result into us being talked more and then result in our poption growing further, hopefully starting the cycle anew. On other news, Dant-san, the governor of the North, hase to our vige today. It has been about half a year since his previous visit. His guards, including Bazara-san, came this time as well. Huh? The sword that Bazara-sans carrying looks an awful lot like the ones we sell, doesnt it? Its been a while, Luke-sama. Yeah, it has. Although not long enough to make the insane growth of your vige be considered normal. Ive lost count of how many times I was surprised since I got here. Dant-san excitedly talked about the changes in the vige that he noticed. Among them were the growth of ourmerce, the migration of the elves and dwarves, as well as the existence of the dungeon. And most importantly, these weapons! Theyre of this quality, yet theyre so cheap! I knew I had to have it, even if it meant having to borrow some money from Dant-sama! Bazara-san spoke with even more excitement than Dant-san. Oh, so he did buy it in the vige. The swords here were definitely cheap, but maybe not pocket-money-cheap. Luke-sama, I actually have something important I have to report to you Dant-san was smiling wryly when Bazara-san told me about the sword, but in aplete reversal, he was serious now. The Albert house has won against the Schneger house. Huh? so soon? But didnt the fighting began only a short while ago? Yes. The fighting started and concluded in the span of about a month. The Albert forces captured the Schneger territorys major cities one after another, and in no time at all, they marched toward its capital. There, the biggest fight of the war happened, but the Albert side overpowered the other side this time as well. Right when the castle was about to be captured, the Schneger house dered their surrender. A war starting and ending within a month was exceptionally fast. Now that the Albert house has absorbed the assets of the Schneger house, they now held a power that wasparable to a kingdom. Despite this being Raul-samas first campaign, he yed arge role in its sess. To reward him for this, he was made in charge of the now-former Albert territory. Father would probably focus on managing the still unstable area that, until recently, used to be known as the Schneger territory. As for what used to be the Albert Territory, there should be no major problems even if an inexperienced Raul was to manage it. In his new position, its probably only a matter of time for Raul-sama to know of this vige. This might be impertinent of me, but I still want to advise you toe up with countermeasures for when he eventually does find out. Please consider supporting me. You can do this either by turning off adblock for this blog or via myPatreon page. Thank you. Chapter 97: For I have resolved myself to fall alongside you Chapter 97: For I have resolved myself to fall alongside you Hmm After hearing what Dant-san said, I slowly inclined my head to one side. I dont think Rauls going to do anything drastic once he finds out about the vige though? I mean, hes now the sessor of the Albert house. If he really did perform marvelously in such an important war, especially considering that its his first ever, chances are he wont have the time or interest in a vige in the wastnd, right? Youre being too nave, Luke-sama. What do you mean, Millia? That person, hell do whatever it takes to remove any and every threat to his position, no matter how insignificant it might be. Even more so if he discovers that the threat is you, Luke-sama. Theres no doubt about that! That guy acts so big, but in truth, hes nothing but a small chicken. Selen, you too? The two of them seemed to have extremely poor opinion of Raul Im not a threat to him though How are you not!? Huh? Why are they immediately rejecting what I said? Even Dant-san If Lord Albert somehow knew that you were able to build a vige as grand as this in such a short time, hell instantly change his assessment of you. Given that, its only natural for Raul-sama to see you as a threat. I-is that so? Truth be told, an order to investigate the existence of this vige has been issued to me in the past. I managed to deceive them with my report, but now that rumors of the vige have spread so far, I fear its only a matter of time before Raul-sama knows of this ce. Huh? Isnt that dangerous for you? If it gets discovered that the governor falsified a report, he would get terminated. There was a chance that it would not be just from his position You need not worry about me, for I have resolved myself to fall alongside you, Luke-sama! Ehh!? I didnt ask you to be though! Regardless, the matter with Raul-sama cannot be ignored. I suggest that you strengthen your war potential, all while trying to hinder Raul-sama from discovering the vige as much as possible of course. After Dant-san said so with a serious face, he suddenly chuckled. But then again, judging from the adventurers youve invited through the dungeon, the high-grade weapons and the potions youre making, the training ground youve built, and of course the training of soldiers youre doing, it seems I didnt even need to tell you to improve your war potential. I wasnt at all preparing for a fight against Raul though. The dungeon, the weapons, and the potions were things we got by chance and not something we purposely looked for. As for the training area, it was requested quite often enough that I decided to build one. The mages in particr wanted a ce where they could safely practice their magic. And of course, I thought that in this war-torn era, it was only natural for us to improve ourselves in order to better protect the vige. ArrghSelen, where have you gone Sedes Bazurata, the head of the Bazurata house, was at his wits end. His daughter, who was supposed to marry into the Albert house, has ran away and hasnt been heard from since. He has sent out his retainers to look for her multiple times but to no avail. If things were left as they were, their houses rtionship with the Albert house would surely deteriorate. Beg your pardon, sir! Weve received critical information about Lady Selens whereabouts, sir! What? Is that true!? When his retainer reported so, Sedes unintentionally drew near. Firstly, there have been rumors about a newly built city going around recently and has even reached yournds, sir this city is said to be in the wastnd in the norther region of the Albert territory. A city in a wastnd? When he replied so, Sedes remembered something. Can that wastnd be the one Luke-sama has been ordered to develop!? It appears so, sir. Moreover, he has done so at an unbelievable speed. Its said that his city already has a poption of over 10,000 people. 10, 000!? But its been only a year since he was banished, hasnt it!? Y-yes, sirin rtion to that vige, we believe its possible that Lady Selen might havee there its not out of the question. However, if Luke-sama really did build a city in that ce in this short span of time The report was certainly a valuable piece of information. However, it also made Sedess head ache more. like this, Luke-sama might once again be considered to be the next head of the Albert houseno, its toote for that now. If what I heard about Raul-samas performance in the current war is urate, he should be guaranteed to be the next head. And if thats the case, Selen should do as As though he has just made up his mind, Sedes nodded to himself and then gave an order to his retainer. Investigate this city at once. And if you find Selen, bring her back at all costs. Please consider supporting me. You can do this either by turning off adblock for this blog or via myPatreon page. Thank you. Chapter 98: Doesn’t know when to give up Chapter 98: Doesnt know when to give up Beg your pardon, Sedes-sama, but while we were able to meet with Selen-sama, we failed to convince her toe back. I see. After hearing such a report, Sedes sighed. He had sent numerous emissaries now, but all had failed to convince Selen toe back home. Also Is there something else? Y-yes. Its about this The retainer said so and then brought out a letter of resignation. Are you saying that even you want to move to that city? T-thousand apologies! Its justits just that its so wonderful there! The foods delicious, and the lodgings are sofortable! They also have thisrge, pleasant bath that you can use anytime! Sedas has grown so tired of hearing the same excited speech that he couldnt even muster a sigh anymore. After all, each of the emissaries he has sent to that city has, without exception, decided to move there. They were sent to take back Selen, but they ended up being taken instead. As the saying goes, many go out for wool ande home shorn. Ingrates, every single one of them! After all Ive done for their careers, for their lives, theyre going to leave just like that!? And for what, a city in some wastnd! After the retainer left the premises, Sedes shouted so. Sending another subordinate without careful thought was no longer an option. Just what the hell do they see in that city! At that moment It sounds like youre having trouble persuading sister toe home, father. Ohh, Selius! Youre back! Yes. Ive just arrived. As an ally of the Albert house, the Bazurata house also participated in the recent war. This was Seliuss first campaign, but ording to the reports that Sedes has received, he performed spectacrly. He possessed both [Dual Wield] and [Green Magic], making him a Double Gift like his older sister. Another thing he had inmon with his sister was his appearance. He looked so much like her that others would sometimes mistake him for a girl. Not that any of that mattered in the battlefield, especially when he and his sister individually demonstrated enough strength to make the enemies shake in fear. Anyway, my dear sisters selfishness is putting us in quite a bind, isnt it? So, youve heard I didnt imagine that Luke-sama would have such an ability though. Its hard to tell which one between him and Raul-sama would have the greater strength in the future, so maybe your sisters actions arent so bad. No, its very clear, father. Selius confidently dered so. In the end, Luke-samas Gift is simply building a city, isnt it? He cannot possibly match Raul-sama and the [Sword Master Techniques] Gift. Ive seen it firsthand, and its truly extraordinary. Moreover, Raul-sama has mastered the use of his power. Taking down a city is a simple matter for him, especially with the right motivations. I see Nothing could have convinced Sedes more than his sons firsthand ount. So now, all we have to worry about is your stubborn sister. No matter what I say, she wont listen Maybe she will listen to me. Let me bring her back. Are you sure? Youve juste back from a war Theres no need to worry, father. Truth be told, Ive been quite unable to sit still since Ive returned from the battlefield. Hopefully, this mission will solve that. Seliusbefore I knew it, youve grown to be so reliable Sedes was moved to tears at his sons growth. However, a thought suddenly crossed his mind. What if even Selius is tempted to move to that city? No, no, I should have faith in my son. Very well then, please bring your sister home. Yes, leave it to me, father. Ultimately, Sedes decided to send off his son with a smile. Selen-sama, another emissary from your noble house hase. Another one? My stubborn father really doesnt know when to give up. Recently, emissaries have beening from Selens home. The first ones arrived about 3 weeks ago. They were sent to ascertain whether the rumors about our vigewhich have apparently reached even Selens familys domainhave any truth to them. Of course, their main goal in all of this was to bring Selen back home. Not wanting to live in hiding, Selen met with the first emissaries and told them that she wouldnt being home. After days of trying to persuade Selen and failing, the emissaries decided to give up ande home. after some time though, the same emissaries arrived to the vige again. This time, they had a different purpose. Please, let us move here! Weve already resigned our post, so theres no conflict now. We beg of you, please let us migrate! When pressed for details, the emissaries said they enjoyed the time they spent here so much, they knew they just had to move here. It wasnt just the first emissaries though. Each group sent by the Bazurata house ended up moving to the vige. With such results, Selen thought that her father would soon give up on trying Doesnt he realize that if he keeps this up, hell have no retainer left? I wonder, should we send this one away before they even set foot in the vige? Selen-sama, this one identifies himself as your younger brother. Eh? Selius? Please consider supporting me. You can do this either by turning off adblock for this blog or via myPatreon page. Thank you. Chapter 99: Even by force Chapter 99: Even by force H-how can there be a city like this in a wastnd? Selius was terribly baffled. He expected a city in the wastnd, yes, but not of this size. Its walls were greater than even the ones in the Bazurata territorys capital. None of the towns and cities he has sieged in the recent war couldpete either. Additionally, he has never seen a road as magnificently constructed as the one that led to the city. He thought it must have taken ages to build just the walls and the road, but the truth was that none of the structures in the wastnd existed a year ago. Before long, he saw a gate which was just as magnificent as the walls. When he was almost in front of it, people who seemed like guards approached. Their equipment suggested they were guards, but their rough-looking faces and their mannerisms almost made it seem like they were bandits. I am Selius, an emissary of the Bazurata house. I am here to meet with my sister, Selen. After he stated his position and purpose of his visit, the guards looked surprised. Nevertheless, Seliuss group were let inside after only a little while. Wha When he passed through the gate, he found a vast field before him. He was surprised that they could even grow crops here in the wastnd. When he looked closer though, he was surprised even more. The crops were not only varied and healthy, they were gigantic. Mhm? Whats that? A tree? In the center of the field was something that looked like a giant tree. The guard that was guiding him and his party seemed to have heard him. Ah, I wont get close to that if I were ya. Its not so fond of outsiders, so be careful, yeah? Not so fond? How can a tree even be fond of anything? Huh? Whats that? That looks likethe head of a dragon! No, no, it cant beyeah, must be just imagining it. Beyond the fields was anotheryer of walls. With twoyers of walls, Selius thought the city mightst longer in a siege than he initially gave it credit for. But then again, that was only if the defending troops were at least decent. Well, it certainly seems lively here. However, if what I heard is truethat they have a poption of 10,000 that are mostly immigrants from different cesthey cant possibly have enough trained soldiers. that being said, whats that delicious aroma? Eh? Its minotaur meat being grilled on a skewer? Yes, I must try it at least oo, no, Im here on a mission; not to be a tourist! Despite the many temptations along the way, Selius finally made it to the vige chiefs home where his sister should be waiting for him. Hmm, I thought this was going to berger than our castleactually, I dont think this can even be called a castle. Mhm? Why is there steam rising from the pond? Wait, is this a bath? Do they bathe in something this big anytime they want to? Im so enviousn-no, Im not, not at all! Having a good bath once in a while is more than enough! While Selius mumbled to himself, a young man arrived. Hello, Selius-kun. Its been a while, hasnt it? Luke-dono The twods had met before when Selius visited the capital of the Albert territory. Selius was actually quite worried that Luke somehow got all manly all of a sudden while he remained the same. For that not to be the case, Selius couldnt help but breathe a sigh of relief. Not long after Luke showed up, Selen did as well. Sister! I am noting back, Selius. Selen opened with those stern words. I cant ept that answer. You muste home with me. Our father looks forward to your swift return. My return home is not what our father looks forward to, its the assurance of a strong rtionship with the Albert house, wouldnt you agree? even then, its for our houses sake. As nobles, it only proper for us to obey the wishes of the head of our house. Just disown me then. If Im no longer a noble, theres no problem with me doing whatever I want, right? is there really no convincing you? Selius asked for confirmation, and Selen quickly nodded. Theneven by force, I will take you back. In the next moment, Seliuss guards drew their weapons. These guards were no ordinary soldiers. They were the strongest among the Bazurata house; they had numerous military achievements under their belt; and they had provided great support to Selius in the recent war. Perhaps it was to be expected in such a situation, but armed vigers, who hid themselves before now, have surrounded Seliuss party. In the end, theyre just civilians who picked up weapons. Meanwhile, were elite soldiers who have served in an actual battlefield. Moreover, including myself, we have three people with Gifts among our ranks. The only one we should truly worry about is my sister. Its been a while since the two of us fought. But with my strength now, even she doesnt stand a chance. Selius had no doubt in his mind that they would prevail. Little did he know, however, that each and every one of his opponents possessed a Gift. Please consider supporting me. You can do this either by turning off adblock for this blog or via myPatreon page. Thank you. Chapter 100: It’s not a city, silly Chapter 100: Its not a city, silly H-how Selius has reached peak bewilderment. Which was no surprise, given what he just witnessed: the allies who supported him in the battlefield had all fallen down in the vige chiefs estate. GhhS-Seliussama Forgive us From their groans, Selius noted that all his guards were still alive. That was rming in a different way though. It was like their enemies purposely didnt kill them. For the enemies to be able to do that without having casualties themselves, there must be quite a gap between the two sides strength. H-how!? How were you guys defeated!? Selius couldnt process it. His guards were the best of the best among the Bazurata house, yet they lost to the amateur soldiers of a recently-built city in this wastnd Worse yet, it has been only a few minutes since the fighting began. Barrett! What happened!? How can you guys be defeated so easily!? Selius, who was focused on his one-on-one battle with his sister, didnt know exactly what led to his guards swift defeat. And so, he tried to ask Barret, the middle-aged soldier who served as the head of this unit. I-I cant believe it myself, sirughbut it looks like they all have Gifts What!? Dont be absurd! It should be impossible just to get blessed out here, and youre saying this many people have Gifts!? Seliussmon sense outright denied what Barret proposed. However, he knew full well that Barret wasnt the type to make things up, especially not at these moments. Selius has only gotten more confused. As though disregarding his troubles, his sister calmly asked something. So? Are you ready to continue now? Its been a while since the two of us had a match, so Id like to see it through. But if youre not up for it, Ill understand ! Another thing that Selius couldnt understand was why he couldnt defeat his sister. After participating in his first war, he felt he has gotten so much stronger. So strong that his sister couldntpete anymore. Reality didnt align with his expectations. How have you be this strong!? I wasnt just sitting on my ass this whole time, you know. Ive gone to monster-infested areas as well as to the dungeon here, all on top of daily training, of course. Theres a dungeon near this city!? Are you talking about this ce? Its not a city, silly, its a vige. Bullshit, theres no way this is a vige!!! Selius forgot himself for a moment. Regardless, he didnt see any meaning to keep on fighting his sister, so with his head hanged, he threw his weapons to the ground. Alright, great work, everyone. Well be providing medical treatment, so please stay where you are! When Luke saw that the fight has ended, he announced so. They were treating not just their vigers but also Seliuss group who they were fighting just a few moments ago. Are you injured anywhere? N-no, this is noth Selen has grazed Seliuss right arm with her swords, but they were nothing serious. As such, Selius intended decline the treatment, but when he looked at the one who offered it Woah!? Before him was a beautiful girl with unbelievably refined features. Theres no need to hold back. Many of my kin can use white magic, so healing a wound like that should take no more than a moment. When Selius looked a bit more closely, he noticed that the girls ears were pointed. Yes, the girl was an elf. A-ah-ahh Whats the matter? Have you perhaps not met an elf before? We arent so different from you humans though. Especially so in this vige where everyone is treated simrly. Oh, I forgot to introduce myself. Im Philia. I owe a great deal to your sister. Totally unlike the manufactured elegance of the nobles, Philias movements seemed naturally sublime to Selius. Before he knew it, his heart was beating madly, and his face has grown bright red. And, as though he reverted to being a baby, nothing else came out of his mouth but A-ah-ahh Mhm? Youre so red. Are you feeling alright? ~~~~~~!? Having noticed the change in Seliussplexion, Philia brought her face closer to Seliuss. Like that, Philia delivered the killing blow to Selius. kyuu H-hey, pull yourself together! That day, Selius fell in love with an older elf girl. Forgive me, father, I will not be able toe home for a while. Selius. So said the brief letter that Sedes received from his son. Seliusssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssss! Please consider supporting me. You can do this either by turning off adblock for this blog or via myPatreon page. Thank you. Chapter 101: Maybe the rumors are true Chapter 101: Maybe the rumors are true Still no reply from that guy? Y-yes, sirweve sent numerous messages, but he is still yet to respond Raul was irritated. The reason for that was Luke, the older brother that he had already presumed dead. ording to the rumors being spread in the territory, Luke has built a magnificent city in a wastnd. In order to ascertain the truth, an order to investigate was given to the governor nearest to that wastnd. That governor had sent a report that denied any authenticity to that rumor. However, instead of the rumor dying down due to its falsehood, it has only gotten more widespread as time passed. This was certainly odd, so another investigation was requested. But unlike before, the governor in question hasnt made any response whatsoever, even after repeated requests. Given thisck of cooperation, I think its possible that Governor Dant has defected to Luke-samas side Tskhes a mere governor; how dare he defy me! Further amplifying Rauls anger was the fact that, even at this point, they still couldnt tell how true the rumors were, if at all. After all, each and every person they themselves sent to investigate has failed to return. Funnily enough, the only report they have is the one from Governor Dant. Maybe the rumors are true, especially the parts about the city having delicious food andfortable homes, and thats why none of our teams have returned Preposterous! That wastnds so barren, its impossible to grow even a single crop! Plus, its surrounded by monster-infested areas! And even if they can somehow solve those things, how can he build a city like that in just a year! Raul barked so toward his retainer. At that moment though, a man Raul didnt know entered the room. Whore you? Im busy right now, so you better not be here for something trivial. R-Raul-samathis man is a subordinate of Governor Dant. What? The man apparently hase to report to Raul about Governor Dants treachery. I-Im risking my life to be hereif I get found out, I dont know what fate will befall meeven so, Ive decided to risk it all for you, R-Raul-sama Your plight is of no interest to me. Now, do you have something for me about your masters treachery or not? I-I do. Here, sir The document that the man produced supposedly contained Governor Dants information about the so-called city in the wastnd. Upon looking it over though, Raul concluded that the things written there were just too unbelievable for Raul. Twoyers of walls, each one better than those in the royal capital, a poption of at least 10,000, a dungeon what is this nonsense!? You, you have the gall to show me this nonsense!? I-i-its not nonsense! If it was, the governor wouldnt have bothered keeping it safe within his room, right? Raul still thought that the document was unbelievable, but he also couldnt help but feel anxious. If this is somehow true Send a team to the wastnd again! But this time, have them pose as immigrants! Y-yes sir! And if the chance presents itself once theyre inside tell them to kill that Luke bastard. Its really there But whats with those walls? Wasnt this ce supposed to be built just a year ago or something? Yeah, this roads odd as well. Something like this should take several years to build, right While advancing through the road in the wastnd, a certain group was wildly baffled. The group was initially half-convinced that their mission was a fools errand. And so, as soon as they saw the city, they were so shocked that they have forgotten about their objectives. That Luke-sama built this? So that governors report wasnt true, after all How could they have hidden a city like thisw-we should go tell Raul-sama right away Yes, this group was an investigation team dispatched by Raul. Ill gather more information about that city. You guys go ahead and return to the capital to report to Raul-sama. So said the veteran spy to his subordinates. He had infiltrated a countless number of ces before, and obtained valuable intelligence. It could be said that he has contributed a lot to the rapid rise of the Albert house. And from time to time, he also did assassinations it seems like Ill have to dirty my hands this time as well. The other members of the investigation team had no idea of this objective, as only the veteran spy was given this instruction directly by Raul. However, before the others could leave huh? The ground they were standing on all of a sudden just vanished. Please consider supporting me. You can do this either by turning off adblock for this blog or via myPatreon page. Thank you. Chapter 102: Is the cellmoving!? Chapter 102: Is the cellmoving!? Raul has dispatched a team to investigate the wastnd. The team was able to confirm the existence of the city in the wastnd, and has decided to split up into two groups. Majority of the team was to go back and report to Raul, while the rest was to go infiltrate the city and obtain more information like itsyout and its war potential. Please take care. Haha, who do you think youre talking to? Ive been in far more dangerous ces than this so many times. They exchanged wishes of good luck like that and began to part ways. However, right at that moment, the ground they stood on suddenly vanished. huh!? Not understanding what was going on, all they could do was scream as they fell down the hole. Gahh!? Ouch! Somewhat fortunately, they didnt drop down too far, so none of them were injured seriously. Even so, the suddenness of it all shook them, visibly so. It took them quite a bit of time before they began making sense of their situation. Where are we? Isisnt this a jail? Somehow, they ended up in a jailcell. They were surrounded by 3 sides of stone walls and 1 side of iron bars. When they peeked beyond the iron bars that sealed them within, they saw an unbending underground passage that seemed to stretch on infinitely. It might not be the best time for it, but they couldnt help but notice how splendid the underground path was. It was probably the best they had ever seen. Suddenly falling down a hole, finding themselves trapped within a jailcell, and gazing upon the underground path, it was truly a bizarre situation theynded themselves in. Yet, things only continued to get more bizarre. *zuzuzuzuzuzuzu* Is the cellmoving!? What the hells happening here!? Mommyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy! The series of events have overwhelmed and paralyzed the team. Before long, the cell stopped moving. Just when the team thought they could breathe atst, another source of dread showed up. Eheeheehee, wee everyone. !? An old woman whoughed menacingly approached the cell. She was small and seemed frail, but for some reason, a chill ran down everyones spine. Who are you!? What are you going to do to us!? Eheeheehee, before I tell you that, how about yous tell me why youvee here? Hii! Even the veteran spy in the group was convinced that this wrinkled old woman with a sadisticugh was dangerous. A certain group hase to our vige. They looked to be immigrants at first nce, but my Intruder Detection skill has determined that they posed a threat to the vige. After I was made aware of them by Intruder Detection, I constructed an underground tunnel that stretched until it was right below them. In that spot, I then constructed a jailcell. Next, through Facility Customization, I made a hole that would drop the group into the now-ceilingless cell. Like that, we have sessfully captured them. After that, I used Reposition to move the cell deep into the vige. Thanks to Granny, we were able to find out that the group was an investigation team sent by Raul. As expected, they were Raul-samas henchmen. Millia said so in a cold tone. Yeah. But is it really alright for us to go this far? What are you saying, Luke-sama? ording to the information Granny Nema got, theres someone among them who was ordered to assassinate you. Yeah! I for one have no intention of going easy on them! Millia replied first, and Selen next. When they put it like that, it was hard to disagree. I still dont want to be in a fight with Raul though Please consider supporting me. You can do this either by turning off adblock for this blog or via myPatreon page. Thank you. Chapter 103: Put gathering intelligence in the second or third priority Chapter 103: Put gathering intelligence in the second or third priority T-that rumors There really is a city in this wastnd A merchant group looking for a newnd was overwhelmed by the splendid walls that cut across the wastnd. Maybe the other rumors about it are also true. Like, I heard theres almost no regtions in the city, but at the same time, theres not a singlepany that has a monopoly in the market. I also heard theyre lending us shops, free of charge. It almost sounds like a paradise for merchants like us. Hey neer, youre really lucky, you know! You dont know how much we had to endure because of greedy fees and taxes. The one being called a neer was ad of 18 years old who didnt have any noteworthy physical features. His name was Rein. As a novice merchant who has joined the merchant group just a few days ago, he was still undergoing the basic training for being a merchant. At any rate, the group was now in front of the city. In the other cities they have been in, they were charged a fee just for entry. However, this one didnt charge a single coin. The merchants cheerfully talked about how this move of allowing people to enter and exit without any fees would help the citys economy in the long run, and of course about how wonderful the city was. Meanwhile, Rain was terrified for some reason. Purpose of your visit? There wasnt any entry fee, but people entering the city were still being inspected for the sake of security. And because the merchant group hase to the city purely to trade, they didnt particrly mind. except for Rain. I-its alrighteverythings going to be alrightI am a novice merchant, just a novice merchanttheres nothing suspicious about me In truth, his family served as retainers to the Albert house. Recently, Raul Albert has sent investigation teams one after another to confirm the rumors about the city in the wastnd, but for some reason, not a single person has managed toe back. That was when Rains father devised a n: to have Rain disguise himself as a novice merchant and blend in with a merchant group that was headed toward the city in the wastnd. The problem was, Rain was a novice not only in being a merchant but also in being an intelligence officer. Naturally, he asked his father to reconsider, saying that it was impossible for a novice like him to pull it off by himself. However, his father insisted that his inexperience should actually make him less suspicious. Rains family was at the bottom of the hierarchy among the Albert retainers. So, in hopes of getting promoted, they would take every opportunity there was, even the risky ones. Rain was the third son anyway, so even if this scheme failed, their family wouldnt be offset by much. As such, Rain had little choice but to obey. Fortunately for him, he managed to join this merchant group and has established himself as a new merchant. But the previous investigation teams also tried to blend in with merchants, didnt they? no, no, Im sure the ns alright, its just that they must have screwed up somewhere. Yeah, yeah, Im sure of it. I should focus more on being a merchant and put gathering intelligence in the second or third priorityas long as Im careful like that Lad, are you ok over there? You look so pale. ! I-Im ok, nothing to worry about! Just tired from the journey, is all! Rain hurriedly gave a reply to a guard that was conducting the inspection at the gates. (Oh no, is he suspecting me now!?) alright. We have a public bathhouse in this vige; that might help you get better right away. T-thank you for the rmendation! His worries proved to be unnecessary. After the inspection was done, they were allowed to pass the gate and into the city. At that point, Rain breathed a sigh of relief. Ok, now that Im in, there shouldnt be anything to worry about for a while. But man, what a beautiful city this is After passing through an area that was full of fields and then through another gate, they saw a great crowd of people. For a moment, they forgot that they were still in the wastnd. Shortly after entering the second gate though, a boy approached the group with a smile. He headed straight for Rain. Hello there. Are you a merchant? d-do you need something? As you might be able to tell, Im new. So maybe itll be better if you talk to one of my seniors instead Rain wondered why the boy approached him even though he clearly looked unable to help. And then, still smiling, the boy introduced himself. Im Luke Albert, the chief of this vige. (Luke-samaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!?) Please consider supporting me. You can do this either by turning off adblock for this blog or via myPatreon page. Thank you. Chapter 104: Have I just been sold out!??! Chapter 104: Have I just been sold out!??! I am Luke Albert, the chief of this vige. The boy introduced himself and the other merchants began to murmur among themselves. However, the one most shocked was the novice intelligence officer named Rain. (Luke-samaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!?) Even though he was a retainer of the Albert house, Rain has personally seen Luke only a few times before. Each of those instances were from afar too, so he didnt really know what Luke looked like up close. Luke should have no knowledge of him either, or so Rain thought. Excuse me, but Id like us to talk for a bit. (Whats he want to talk about!?) Cold sweat ran through Rains whole body. None of the previous teams have returned, and if the rumors he heard were to be believed, they suffered a fate worse than death. (Shit!? Am I gonna be caught like them too?) Whats the matter here? Im Seth, the leader of this group. You can talk to me instead of the neer Right when Rain began screaming internally, Seth made his way to join the conversation. (Aww, the leader cares even for a neer like me. Please, go tell Luke-sama Im not anyone suspicious! Please, please, please!) No, Id prefer to talk to him for now. Of course, Idpensate you for the work hell be missing. How about this to start with? Oh yes, yes, go and take your time with your talk! Have I just been sold out!??! In the end, Rain was pulled out of the merchant group. Before he knew it, brawny men were by their side, making escape impossible. (i-its overits all over) The ce he was brought to was an estate. There, Rain was made to sit in a chair while multiple people surrounded him. YoureRain-san, right? (How does he know my naaaaaaaaaaaaammmmmmeee!?) To not only recognize him, a bottom-ranking retainer, but also remember his name, Rain became terrified of Luke. So, mind telling me everything? Instead of pressuring him to spill information, Rain was asked kindly. Rain wasnt so weak-willed that he would confess right away, especially when his entire familys future depended on this mission. After a few moments of silence, a petite old woman appeared before Rain. Eheeheehee, if you dont want to talk, you dont have to talk. Just look forward to having fun till you drop, ok? Hii! Wait, Ill talk, Ill talk! Rain went with what every instinct in his body was saying: yield right away to the frightening olddy. Rain spilled it all. However, based on his captors reactions, what he said wasnt anything new. Which made sense to him, since the other teams must have been captured and interrogated as well. Sowhat will happen to me now? Hmm, lets seewell, obviously, we cant let you go back anytime soon. (Like I thought, theyre going to work me to death or maybe be experimented on by that scary old woman she really looked like she enjoyed tormenting others) Filled with despair, Rain was brought to a mysterious box-shaped building. He was escorted there by several guards. Each one looked intimidating, so Rain couldnt help but be even more worried of what would be of him. For the moment, youll be living here. Go ask the others who moved in before you for details. O-okay By the way, you do realize that theres no use in trying to escape, right? We will find and capture you right away, after all. ! But then again, soon enough, you wont even be thinking of escaping this ce. (Because Ill be so broken, I wont be able to form thoughts anymore!?) Rain shivered with dread once more as he entered the building. What awaited him inside was, much to his surprise, a pretty entrance. Ohh, are you new? Wait, youre alone? The one to greet him in a friendly manner was a rather plump man. The man had a big smile, as though he was happy about something. sorry, you are? Call me Hanz. Im like you: sent here to investigate but was captured instead. Eh!? Rain was could hardly believe the mans unexpected reply. I guess you can say this is where all of us are being put to house arrest. A-are we forced to worked to death every day? Hahaha. We do work, but not to our deaths. In fact, we only work 8 hours a day, and two days off every week. Plus, we get three meals a day everyday. T-then, are we being used for human experimentation by that old woman? Human experimentation? What are you on about? But well, that olddy does love torturing people That said, as long as you give her information, youre safe. Not only safe, actually. Have you been told that our apartment unitsthats what they call our lodgingsour apartment units have beds and its own baths. I dare say, life heres morefortable than in the capital. The man didnt seem to be lying. If he was, there would be no way his skin would be this glossy and his body this plump. The man was healthy, too healthy in fact. Luke-samas a wonderful person. Normally, our captors would make our lives a living hell even after we give them the information they want. But here, were treated as guests. Whats more, Luke-samas expressed concern for our families back in the capital. Genuine concern, not just veiled threats. Even to me, someone who was tasked to assassinate him. Can you imagine that? Hol To be frank, hespletely unlike Lord Albert and Raul-sama who treat us as mere tools. Well, nobles have been treating us like that since the beginning. I guess its more urate to say that Luke-samas just the exception. given the choice, Id rather not go back to the capital anymore, you know. Man, I sure hope Luke-sama can win against Raul-sama. Rain was at a loss of words at Hanzs almost treasonous remarks. At the same time though, he felt refreshed. It was as though he had some pent-up resentment that he wasnt aware of until now. (Can this city beparadise?) It did not take him long before he enjoyed his life in the vige from the bottom of his heart. Please consider supporting me. You can do this either by turning off adblock for this blog or via myPatreon page. Thank you. Chapter 105: it’s completely empty…? Chapter 105: itspletely empty? It has been three months now since the Albert house won against the Schneger house and Raul returned to the capital. He has sent numerous investigation teams to the wastnd, yet not one of them, not even a single person has returned. The governor of the North still hasnt responded as well. In the end, their side settled on capturing merchants who had been to the city and interrogating said merchants. The information they got was consistent with the report they got from the governors subordinate. As absurd as the report was, it now seemed to be factual. Apparently, Luke has indeed built a city in the wastnd from scratch and has developed it to the point that it now has a poption of 10,000. All of this in just under two years. Luke! How are you still alive!? Are you going to get in my way yet again!? While ring northward, Raul shouted so. After a while of ruminating, he came to a decision. Assemble the soldiers. Sir? B-but the other partys your older brotherthis is a very pivotal moment for the Albert house right now; should now really be the time for sibling rivalry? A retainer tried to advise Raul to reconsider, but he didnt want to hear any of it. Silence! That bastards been amassing war potential in hopes of getting revenge for being exiled! He is nning a rebellion against the Albert house! That is not something I can ignore, brother or not! With such a pretext, Rauls retainers couldnt object anymore. And then, he announced how many soldiers to prepare. 5,000! Assemble 5,000 soldiers! Ill be leading it, of course! 5,000!? At present, at least half of the Albert forces were stationed in the former Schneger territory. Moreover, due to many factors including fatigue, assembling arge number of soldiers right after a great war was quite difficult. B-but didnt the reports say that their city has a poption of at most 10,000? A thousand soldiers should be more than enough, shouldnt it? Stop protesting and get me those soldiers! Go, before I decide to kill you. Y-yes, sir! After half a month of sleepless nights, Rauls retainers finally managed to assemble the 5,000 soldiers that he asked for. Before heading to the wastnd, the army stopped by Riesen, the city that the Norths governor lived in. It was a good ce for them to resupply and rest a bit, but of course, that wasnt the only reason they stopped by. Governor Dant has submitted to me false reports about the rebel Luke, making him a criminal. Arrest and bring him to me at once! After being given that order, the soldiers rushed into Riesen. They were prepared for a fight, but to their surprise, the gates opened right away. When they broke into the governors estate, they noticed something strange. itspletely empty? They somehow sensed that Raul and his forces wereing, and fled. C-could they have gone to the city in the wastnd? Dont they realize theyve only made it worse for themselves? The governor being executed was a given and unavoidable, but at least it was possible that only he would be punished. Everyone in their n fleeing the city made that impossible now. Ill make sure he and everyone close to him, down to their descendants, will regret this! ! Whats the matter, Dant-sama? N-nothing. I just felt a chill run down my spine(Now that I think about it, Raul-sama should have arrived in Riesen by nowhe must be fuming right now at my betrayal.) After knowing about Raul-sama leading soldiers toward the North, I took my n and escaped toward the Luke-samas vige. However, is this really the best move? If the vige falls, then you and your house will also Ive prepared myself for that. But more than I am resolved for such a fate, I believebelieve in Luke-sama, and his vige. ording to the report I got, Raul-sama was leading an army of 5,000 soldiers. The vige had a poption of about 10,000, but even in a defensive battle, it would be in a terrible disadvantage against such an elite army. Well, if it was a normal vige. I believed that Luke-sama and his vige would prevail in the end. Luke-sama has surpassed our expectations many times now and with great ease, so surely, he will ovee this adversity as well. I cant help but think that. Please consider supporting me. You can do this either by turning off adblock for this blog or via myPatreon page. Thank you. Chapter 106: Tender your surrender at once! Chapter 106: Tender your surrender at once! Governor Dant came to the vige, along with a great number of people. Is something going on? Yes, Im afraid I have terrible news. That which I fear hase to past. Which is? Raul-sama ising to this vigeto attack it. He has departed the capital with an army of 5,000 soldiers. Rauls what? I know Raul dislikes me, but surely, its not to the point that hell attack me with that many soldiers, right? I wanted to believe that he had another goal in mind, but the fact of the matter was that he was heading straight here. But how did he gather so many soldiers? The war just concluded, so wont the people protest or something? Especially when theres nothing that will justify it enough. By spreading misinformation about you, mainly saying that youre amassing an army here in the wastnd so that you can rebel against the Albert house. I see. ording to Dant-san, Rauls army should arrive in 5 days or so. Ive decided that I and my n should leave Riesen behind ande here. Huh? But if Raulsing to attack us, youll get caught in between, wont you? Ive braced myself for that. Moreover, Im not entirely safe even in Riesen. Raul-sama will certainlye to arrest me for sending him false reports. So, if Im in harms way either way, I would rather be here and help you however much I can. Dant-san then looked toward the soldiers he brought with him. W-were not muchpared to those in the vige, but if youll have us, well fight by your side! Bazara-san, who has always apanied Dant-san, dered so and then struck his chest. is it just me or does he seem a bit desperate right now? Raul-samas marching here with 5,000 soldiers!? Q-quickly! Tender your surrender at once! You dont stand a chance! The one to make such an appeal in a flustered manner was Selius-kun, Selens younger brother. Selius-kun came to the vige to take his sister back home, but for some reason, he ended settling here instead. is their home going to be alright? In the war against the Schneger house, Raul-sama was initially assigned only a few hundred soldiers, yet he still managed to take a major city with those troops! If he really has 5,000 soldiers now, this vige might not evenst half a day You should start heading home then. Wha Selius-kun was rendered speechless by Selens advise. Surrendering wont make Raul spare Luke. And since we absolutely cant let Luke be harmed, we have little choice here than to fight. ! Of course, theres no reason to involve yourself in this. So, why dont you just pack your things and go back home? I-I cant do that, theres no way I can do that! How can I leave you here and escape by myself moreover Selius-kun stopped talking and then turned his line of sight toward Philia-san. What is it? Is something on my face? N-n-n-no, theres nothing! Dont mind me! With a bright red face, Selius-kun got out of the room. Does Selius haveis that why he decided to live here? And then, I heard an out-of-ce cheery sound in my head. << Ta-ta-ta-dah! Congrattions! Because you now have more than 10,000 vigers, your vige has be level 8!>> <<100,000 vige points have been acquired as level up bonus.>> <> <> <> Thanks to Dant-san and his group joining the vige, we finally, officially breached the 10,000 mark. A fight against Raul seemed unavoidable at this point, so a vige level up was definitely appreciated. Please consider supporting me. You can do this either by turning off adblock for this blog or via myPatreon page. Thank you. Chapter 107: I guess this means a breakdown in negotiations, huh… Chapter 107: I guess this means a breakdown in negotiations, huh Rauls troops have reached the wastnd. The sun has fallen when they did, so they decided to camp for the night and prepare themselves for the next days battle. O-our scouts have returned and confirms that there indeed is a city with great walls. ording to their estimates, the walls are more than 5 meters tall. They say its quite thick as well. His Gifts supposed to be [Vige Building]; how on earth can that possibly be just a vige!? After hearing that report, Raul yelled so in frustration. but whatever. With 5,000 soldiers and experience in my side, itll fall in no time. Raul has taken several cities in the war against the Schneger house. Lukes city might have better walls than those cities, but if the soldiers defending it werent at least decent, Raul would have an easier time taking his brothers city. Theyre just a mishmash of refugees and immigrants. Theres no way theyd have a decent army to defend the citykukuku, by now they should have heard of the number of my troops. By now they should be shivering in fear! To those around Raul, it seemed obvious that the 5,000 soldiers would end up being overkill, but none of them dared to say that out loud. But then again, overkill was exactly what Raul was going for. He had no intention of forcing a surrender or prolonging the fight; what he wanted was a direct and swift invasion in order to capture Luke. At that time Heya, Raul. Its been a while. !? All of a sudden, Raul heard a voice he recognized but shouldnt be there. So, for a moment, Raul thought he was hallucinating. Its been a year and a half, hasnt it? Hmm, unlike me, you seem to have gotten tallerboy, Im quite envious. That voice belonged to Luke, the one who Raul has branded a rebel. Luke!? What are you doing here!? Raul was surrounded by all of his 5,000 soldiers. It should have been impossible for Luke to get this close to him, at least without alerting his soldiers. Yet, here Luke was, all nonchnt. In contrast, the retainers near Raul were so dumbfounded, they were unable to move an inch. Im here to talk. Talk!? Yes. Are you really going to attack my vige? ha, I see. So, in hopes of protecting your vigeyour city, youvee to surrender yourself, is that it? Setting aside the question of how Luke got this close for now, Raul grunted and guessed Lukes goal. Uhh, no? What do you mean no? Im here more to say that thisll be a meaningless fight. You might have heard that Ive assembled an army to rebel against the Albert house, but theres just no truth to that. Moreover, I have no desire of bing the sessor to the Albert house. After all, my life here in the vige is more than enough for me. Sighs of relief came from Rauls retainers after hearing Lukes statement. Deep down, they knew that this fight didnt have a good enough justification. However, as though to not allow such thoughts, Raul shouted in anger. Silence! I will not be fooled! Youre only saying that to avoid getting crushed! How can there be such an unambitious man in this world!? Im telling the truth though As though stumped, Luke scratched his head. For someone who was alone behind enemy lines, he was acting so casual. I guess this means a breakdown in negotiations, huhI didnt expect much, but stilllets see, I guess should take my leave now, right? The soldiers have be aware of an intruders presence. Raul was talking to the intruder, so they initially were confused on what exactly they should do, but they quickly proceeded to surround the area and be on standby. Like that, all exit points should have been blocked, but when Luke turned around and ran !? No one could believe it: Luke vanished. The soldiers hurriedly searched the ce, but they couldnt find a single trace. H-hes gone How? S-search for him! He should still be around here! But no matter how much they searched the campground, they were unable to find Luke. Please consider supporting me. You can do this either by turning off adblock for this blog or via myPatreon page. Thank you. Chapter 108: He refused to believe anything I said Chapter 108: He refused to believe anything I said After I descended the stairs that led to the underground tunnel, I immediately deleted the said stairs. Like this, no one should be able to follow after me. Geez! Youre such a risktaker! You really shouldnt have gone behind enemy lines by yourself! S-sorry. But being alones probably the only way I can talk to him without making him be on guardplus, if you came with me, therell be someplications with the Bazurata house, right? As soon as she saw me, Selen who was waiting in the tunnel expressed her annoyance once more. I intended to negotiate with Raul all by myself. The area where his army has camped was part of the territory under my control, hence how I was able to build the underground tunnel. Given that, escaping was simple, and I could even fight with a golem if ever I needed to buy some time. However, Selen thought that it was still too dangerous for me to go alone and insisted oning along. Her waiting for me in the tunnel was thepromise we had. So, how did it go? Not great. I was able to talk with him, but he refused to believe anything I said. Hmm, I thought as much. At this point, a fight with Raul and his army was pretty much inevitable. Still, he has 5,000 soldiers at hismand. Without a doubt, we are facing a threat far greater than the one the orc horde posed. Yeahbut I might have something to help. You have a strategy? I dont think it qualifies as a strategy, but yeah The next morning, Rauls army resumed their march on the wastnd. But is there really a city here that warrants these many soldiers? I mean, look at this wastnd Really not feeling this. We just got back from a war, too. Hope this ends quickly so I can finally take a break. The soldiers morale wasnt great. Being drafted all of a sudden was bad enough, but then they find out that they were drafted this time for a fight between members of the Albert house. Even if their side wins, it wouldnt benefit them that much. In fact, whichever brother won wouldnt change things too much for them. Given that, it was no wonder that their motivation to fight was so low. Oy, did you hear aboutst night? Apparently, Luke-sama popped out of nowhere in the center of the camp. Our camp. Seriously? Why though? To surrender? No, cant be it; we wouldnt be still marching if it was Yeah. But you know whats more bizarre? I heard that right after talking to Raul-sama, Luke-sama vanished all of a sudden. Like a ghost or something. What? You sure they werent just imagining it? Knowledge of the enemy being able to reach their supposedly well-guarded leaders and then escape was deemed not beneficial before the start of the battle, so a gag order was issued to those present. Yet, information aboutst nights events were still spreading among the soldiers. Or maybemaybe he used some kind of high-rank magic If thats true, this fight might be more troublesome than I thought. I mean, the city were headed to is supposedly built by Luke-sama within a year, yeah? Just for that, they must be something else Perhaps sensing that the soldiers were either cking off or getting too anxious, Rauls retainers shouted at them to set them straight. It didnt do much good though. Tskeveryst one of them Irritated by his soldiers, Raul distanced himself from them. He even had half a mind to leave the soldiers behind. He knew he could win all by himself anyway. In fact, he as a show of force. He had hoped that once his brother saw the difference between their armies, thetter would immediately fall to despair and beg for forgiveness. But just what happenedst night!? He appeared and vanished all of a sudden! To make it worse, instead of crying and begging, he acted like my army wasnt anything to worry about! While clenching his fist so tight that his nails bit into his skin, Raul swore something. Luke! Im not going to stop until I make your face twist with dread and despair! And then, Im going to torment every fool who has supported youkukuku, I can picture it now: your ugly, pitiful mug as you cry and beg for forgiveness Consumed by such terrifying emotions, Raul said so and thenughed maniacally. At that time though, the vanguard of the army became even noisier. When Raul looked, a retainer was desperately rushing toward him. Raul-sama! T-terrible news! What is it? The wastndthe wastnd! Based on that, something clearly happened in the wastnd. However, because the report was so iprehensible, Raul was forced to see it for himself. What waited for him was >Vige >Rauls army >Ramparts Please consider supporting me. You can do this either by turning off adblock for this blog or via myPatreon page. Thank you. Chapter 109: Because that’s unfair? Chapter 109: Because thats unfair? Phew, its doneits not so bad, if I may say so myself. While looking down at the wastnd from atop an observation tower, I wiped my sweat with great satisfaction. Just recently, my vige leveled up again and I became able to build new facilities. They were as follows: Ramparts 100 Castle gate 100 Drawbridge 100 Library 300 Extrarge house 500 Ramparts were pretty much a superior version of the stone walls. They were also made of stone, but the stones used in them were more durable. Moreover, ramparts were taller and thicker by default. It was about 10 meters tall and about 5 meters thick. Of course, at that thickness, soldiers could move along the top of the ramparts. Moreover, protruding on the top of the ramparts were parapets, which were low walls that the soldiers could use as cover against enemy arrows and whatever else. At only 100 points apiece, I was able to build abyrinth of ramparts that surrounded the vige. it was more work than I anticipated though. That was tiring. I just hope this is enough for us to be able to deal with Rauls armyHmm? When I turned around, I saw a group of people that were in a daze. Rather than think that this might be just enough, isnt this actually going overboard? Y-you think so? Just the sight of this should be enough to crush the enemies moraleif I were amander on the enemy side, Ill surely just give up. But wait, why notpletely make the vige unreachable? I tilted my head to Selens question. Because thats unfair? I mean, its a maze, so there should be an exit, right? Is now really the time to be virtuous? Selen said so, exasperated. Ha, hahahaam I, am I dreaming right now? That came from Selius-kun whose face was twitching. Until recently, Selius-kun was repeatedly saying something along the lines of Ive seen firsthand how powerful Raul-sama ishe has already mastered his [Sword Master Techniques] Gift, so even by himself, he can turn the tides of a battle! No matter how many people withbat-type Gifts you have in this vige, they cant possibly hope topete with Raul-sama! No, sorry, but this isnt a dream, Selius-dono. Would you like me to pinch your cheek to be sure? yes, please There. Does it hurt? Yaaytoth, dish dimshaffy(like I thought, this is a dreamso happy right now) ? Selius-kun looked absolutely ecstatic. So amazing, Luke-sama! Youve built all of this in no time at all! Meanwhile, Millia was practically jumping in excitement. And while we were like that, thebyrinth made of ramparts came into the view of Rauls army. The soldiers in the front were totally bewildered. I hoped this was enough to convince them to turn back, but knowing Rauls personality, there seemed little chance of that. And as though to confirm that, the army began moving forward once again and entered thebyrinth. What the hell is that!? Why didnt I hear anything like that in the reports!? T-the scouts are certain there were no walls like those yesterday What are you trying to say!? That those walls were built overnight!? How does that make any sense! Raul shouted so at his subordinate. Fearing it might be an illusion, they made the magicians they brought along to examine it, but they all said that it was real. After all, it was said to be impossible to bewitch this many people all at once. But then, can those walls possibly be built The gigantic walls stretched from left to right, as far as their eyes could see. It almost seemed endless. They couldnt see anything that could resemble a gate. However, directly in front of them was a gap that they could use to enter. It was a suspicious gap, to say the least. An experienced leader would unmistakably make a prudent choice. Raul, still young and still drunk on his sess in the previous war, decided to push forward right away. All troops, march! We are 5,000 strong! No matter what tricks our enemy throws at us, we will meet it head on and crush it! Raul issued thatmand to his bewildered soldiers. By the way, at this point, they still havent realized that what lied beyond was a hellishbyrinth. Please consider supporting me. You can do this either by turning off adblock for this blog or via myPatreon page. Thank you. Chapter 110: Imprisoned Chapter 110: Imprisoned Rauls army marched into the gap in the walls, and soon noticed something else that was strange. Anotheryer of walls stood in front of them. Worse, there were also walls to their left and right. That being said, it didnt seem like they were caged in. The walls on one side parted in such a way that a path was formed, allowing them to go forward. Tch! Not like walls like can ever stop our march! And so, Raul ordered his soldiers to march forward. They initially took a right, but not far beyond was a dead end. Fortunately, they noticed that there was another gap to their right. After that, they went left and then another left. At that point, they had to choose between going left or right, but both led to a long passageway. Which one was the correct path, they couldnt tell. Damn it! What the hells with this ce!? Even Raul have be confused. He had expected for there to be a few walls to keep them from the vige, but it was bing clearer that it wasnt going to be as simple as that. Raul decided to go left at the crossroads. Before long, they ran into a dead end. This time their only choice was to go back and choose the other path. At that point, it dawned on Raul what the true nature of the walls were. Is thisabyrinth!? Just the walls being built overnight was unbelievable enough, but now he was finding out that the walls formed a gigantic and boratebyrinth. Can this be because of his Gift!? If it is, the way wars are fought will changepletely Raul thought so, but quickly shook his head. No, that cant be it! His Gifts called [Vige Building], for crying out loud! How does any of this have anything to do with a vige!? Its more likely that he has a skilled magician at his side. Someone who could build such a fortress overnight would be considered a legendary earth mage. Raul wasnt sure what trick or scheme was used, but he was convinced that Luke somehow convinced such a magician to join the their side. That magicians impressive, but after building all of these, they must be exhausted! Even a legendary-ss magician must take a few days of rest before they can use magic again! Upon reflection, Raul saw this as an opportunity. He would much rather ovee thisbyrinth of castle walls than face a magician of that caliber in battle. Rather than move as one, we will split up! Divide yourselves up, and look for the correct path! As they were, it would take time to explore thebyrinth. The n was that once a group has found the exit, directions to it would be immediately shared to the others and the army would eventually reunite. based on the conclusion though, this decision was not the correct one. This routes a dead end as well, huh A 500-strong battalion that has separated from the main body of the army has just confirmed that the route they were investigating was another dead end. As such, they decided to turn back. Leading this battalion was a long-time retainer of the Albert house. Still, just what is going on? To have thisbyrinth made with castle walls, what kind of enemy are we up against? Even though he obediently did as he was told, even this experienced retainer couldnt help but be baffled by these never-before-seen events. They were supposed to be sieging a city built on the wastnds, yet this city in question was still nowhere in sight. At that moment though *zugogogogogogogo!!* What, an earthquake!? Oh no! Look, the walls! !? The veteran retainer looked where his subordinate pointed to, and all words left him. A section of the walls that formed thebyrinth began moving before them. Worse yet, it was moving to close off the only way out of the dead end. Run!!! He shouted so, but it was already toote. They were now imprisoned by the walls. Please consider supporting me. You can do this either by turning off adblock for this blog or via myPatreon page. Thank you. Chapter 111: How can these walls be ever moved!? Chapter 111: How can these walls be ever moved!? Hmhm, so far, so good. Looking down at thebyrinth of ramparts from atop an observation tower, I confirmed that things were progressing as I nned. Rauls army moved as anticipated, which was to split up into smaller groups so that they could find the exit faster. Whenever a group runs into a dead end, I made the ramparts move so that they would be locked in. As a result, Rauls army has gone from 5,000 soldiers to only 1,000. That being said, even if they didnt do that and moved as one instead, they wouldnt be much better off. In all likelihood, they would run into dead ends multiple times and be exhausted by the time they make it to the vige. So, in the end, simply moving as one couldnt be called a wless decision either, if there ever was one. I know theyre our enemy and all, but I cant help but feel a little sorry for them. Whatabyrinth whose paths can be modified at willhow is this even remotely fair Selen and Selius said so as they looked at the panicking soldiers with eyes filled with sympathy. Thebyrinths still solvable, though. The more of them I trap, the less routes there are, making it easier to reach the exit. Again, whats the point of being so virtuous? By the way, I did think of making a three-dimensionalbyrinth by also adding in underground tunnels, but decided against it in the end since it would be impossible to do in such a short time. If only I had the timeit sounds a whole lot like a dungeon though Raul-sama! Weve lost contact with another unit that has scouted ahead! Damn it! Whats going on here!? Rauls irritation has reached critical levels. He has been receiving such reports one after another. Apparently, the units that have went ahead to check on some routes have all vanished. In anticipation of enemy ambushes, each unit had about 500 people. Like that, as long as the ambush wasnt anything grand, the unit could repel it by themselves. Or, at the very least, hold on long enough for the main body or any other unit to arrive and provide help. A-actuallytheres this, uhm, preposterous, yes, preposterous rumor Enough beating around the bush! Just say it already! They say that the wallsthat the walls moved huh? *zugogogogogogogo* At that moment, a rumble could be hearding from somewhere. It even frightened the horse that Raul was riding. Actually, they have heard simr noises several times before, but they had no idea what its true nature was. Wait, dont tell me I-Im afraid so Raul felt a shiver down his spine. If the walls are really being moved, then no matter how much we search this damnbyrinth, well never find an exit N-no, thats not possible! How can these walls be ever moved!? Gah!? Ovee by his rage, Raul kicked away the soldier that delivered the report. The main body of his army was nowposed of only roughly a thousand soldiers. Moreover, after traversing thebyrinth whose exit seemed less and less certain to exist, the soldiers were now tired, in both body and mind. Even so, resting in such a ce was just too dangerous. And turning back, well, Raul would never allow such a thing. The only option left was to keep moving forward. And when the main body wasposed of only 500 soldiers Its a gate! Look! Can you see the buildings beyond the gate!? Then, is that finally the city!? For some reason, the gates were wide open. Beyond the gate was a vast and vacantnd. At the moment, about 200 armed individuals were waiting on thatnd. At the head of that group was a person who Raul knew all too well. Luke! Ive finally reached you! It was only natural to feel suspicious in this situation. The enemy side has such splendid walls and gates, yet they kept them open. It would have made a bit of sense if the enemy side far outnumbered Rauls forces, yet they were clearly numerically inferior. Despite all of those signs, Raulwho was thoroughly consumed by his ragegave an order to his troops to take the enemy head on and without regard for whatever trap that might be lying in wait. Chaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaarggeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!!! Whipping his horse hard, Raul led the charge. however, when they were but a mere 200 meters away from their enemies, the ground beneath them disappeared all of a sudden. Hiiiiiiiii!? !?!? Please consider supporting me. You can do this either by turning off adblock for this blog or via myPatreon page. Thank you. Chapter 112: That’s bound to cause some trauma… Chapter 112: Thats bound to cause some trauma Raul was unable toprehend right away what was going on. Just a moment ago, he was walking on normal ground. However, in a blink of an eye, he and his horse have fallen into a pool of water. Phuwaha moat!? Raul wondered if the moat was simply made unnoticeable at first nce, but when he looked behind him, he doubted that was the case. He had traveled about a hundred meters, so he should have fallen much earlier if the moat was just hard to notice. Moreover, all 500 soldiers that were behind him have also fallen into the water. The only other exnation he could think of was that the ground somehow instantly turned into the moats water. Fortunately for them, the water was rather shallow. Raul decided to abandon his panicking and rampaging horse, and swim across the moat. The other soldiers began doing the same. Luke! Ill make you pay for this! Raul screamed so. However, in the next moment, the water in the moat suddenly vanished. Wh!? The result was that all of them fell to the ground. Thanks to his reflexes, Raul was able tond safely. However, the same couldnt be said for many of his soldiers. And due to the pain of the crash as well as the fatigue from being presented one bizarre situation after another, most of the soldiers were unable to muster the strength to get back up. Whats going on? N-no more While the soldiers wills were broken like that, the enemyunched another offensive. About 40 people approached and aimed their bows at the bottom of the moat. Although they were the enemies, the soldiers couldnt help but be captivated by the sight of all the good-looking archers lined up in a row. Wait, are they elves? Why are elves Never mind that! Their arrows areing! Duck! The soldiers panicked and tried to move once again, but to no avail this time as well. In that first volley, the enemy archers managed to injure more than 30 soldiers. Shortly after, another volley of arrows was inbound. Charge! Break through their lines! While deflecting the iing arrows with his sword and pressuring his soldiers to go forward, Raul dashed toward the enemies. The about 400 that remained of his army desperately tried toply, but only 300 of them managed to get out of the moat. Even then though, they still outnumbered their enemies. Moreover, those that remained were mostly elites that achieved much in the previous war. Ha! Were more than enough! Lets kill them a RAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHH!!! Drowning out Rauls voice was a terrifying roar. Its source was a gigantic lizard-like creature that was approaching Rauls army from the side. A dragon!? Rauls army has made it past thebyrinth I made and was at the outskirts of the vige. We managed to reduce their numbers from 5,000 to 500, yet it was still difficult to tell which side would win in a direct sh. For that reason, I decided toy a few more traps. First, I lured them into the vige, and just like I did against the bandit group before, I turned the ground they were on into a moat. The ground vanishing all of a suddenits he frightening I still asionally get nightmares of that timeand each time, I wet my bed. As though they were reminded of that event, the former bandits became ghastly pale. Anyway, I managed to get all of Rauls soldiers to fall into the moat. Not that this tactic was even possible to avoid. Last time, Selen froze the water, but we thought that there was too much water this time for that move to work. So, instead of that, I just removed the water while the enemy soldiers were trying their best to swim toward dry ground, causing them to fall into the moats floor. Woah, thats bound to cause some trauma Yeah. Im sure theyll remember this moment whenever they cross a river from now on. I feel a bit guilty now, like Im bullying them or somethingbut theyre the ones that came to attack, so the faults all on them While telling myself that, I mercilessly gave the next set of instructions. Philia-san, stop their advance! Roger! The elven archers stepped forward and let loose their arrows. Charge! Break through their lines! While pushing his soldiers like that and swathing the iing arrows, Raul dashed forward until he got out of the waterless moat. Hes deflecting even Philia-sans arrows! [Sword Master Techniques] truly is something else. By my count, about only 300 soldiers managed to get out of the moat. They all seemed exhausted too. And yet, Raul still shouted as though their victory was nigh. Ha! Were more than enough! Lets kill them a RAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHH!!! youll have to fight with the Tree Dragon first though. Please consider supporting me. You can do this either by turning off adblock for this blog or via myPatreon page. Thank you. Chapter 113: Shield Bash Chapter 113: Shield Bash Around the time that the main body of Rauls army has broken through thebyrinth. A-apologies! No matter how much we search, we cant find a way out! Additionally, all the walls seem to be too even; theres nothing to grab on to. Well need proper equipment to climb out of here I seehmm, not much we can do then The soldiers, including the officers, that were trapped within the walls were on the verge of losing all hope. Whats with thisbyrinth anyway? And how can its walls move? What nonsense. Yeah, Im just so confused But then again, I cantin about missing this fight. I mean, Ive just been back from thest war, for crying out loud. Whats more, this fights basically a fight between brothers. Oi, someone might hear you. And when unrest among the soldiers was rising RAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHH!!! What was that!? Sounded like a roar A distant roar silenced the soldiers in an instant. Every instinct in their body told them to run far away from this ce and as soon as possible. Is it a monster? Now that I think about it, wasnt this wastnd near some monster-infested forest or something T-theyre not feeding us to the monsters, are they? Ovee with such terrible thoughts, the soldiers became as pale as snow. Raul was in disbelief at the sight of the giant that was about to attack his troops. A dragon!? But upon closer inspection, he noticed that the creatures skin was actually bark, and that there were branches and leaves all over its body. All signs pointed to the creature not being a real dragon, but what was known as a Tree Dragon. That being said, with a width of about 10 meters and a length of more than 30 meters, this Tree Dragon was very muchparable to a real dragon in terms of strength. Guaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!? The soldiers were attacked from their nks and were blown away like leaves. Even the veterans and the elites were no match against it. Whats going on!? Raul unintentionally stopped moving and stared at the unfolding carnage. All these walls and it still got in? What, did they tame it!? He turned his gaze toward the enemy army, and he was convinced. Not a single one of them, including his ursed half-brother, was panicking. They knew that this monster would not attack them. Do they have someone with a [Monster Tamer] Gift!? Tch! But then, that makes things simple. Everyone, ignore that monster and charge toward the enemy army! Raul has decided that rather than deal with the monster, it would be much quicker to deal with the one controlling it. The Tree Dragon has caused significant damage to the troops in the rear, but those in the vanguard have remained mostly unharmed. Moreover, these hundred or so left were the elites of the elites of the elites. Awooooooooooooooo! And so, even aftering here and experiencing all that, these soldiers still had the resolve to carry on. Like an angry wave crashing on the shore, the remaining troops charged once more against the enemies. Leading the charge was Raul, and the first to stand in their way was an enemy soldier with a gigantic shield. This enemy soldier had an impressive physique, but looked young, about the same age as Raul. Youre in my way! Ill cut down your giant body along with that shield of yours! Up until now, they have been toyed with by the enemies. In an effort to signal the start of their counteroffensive, Raul readied to put all of his fighting spirit into his next attack. But then, the enemy, shield still in hand, decided to charge forward ferociously as well. Wha!? Raul didnt expect that move, but thanks to his quick reflexes, he was immediately able to respond with a sh. Yet, the enemy was ever so slightly faster. Shield bash!!! !? Before he knew it, he was flying in the air at great speed. Please consider supporting me. You can do this either by turning off adblock for this blog or via myPatreon page. Thank you. Chapter 114: No, I’m just a villager…? Chapter 114: No, Im just a viger? Gaa!? Raul was hit by a giant shield and was sent flying. Eventually, he crashed to the ground and tumbled over and over again. Raul-sama!? When the marching soldiers saw their leader, whom they expected to break through enemy lines, get sent back, they unintentionally stopped. It was because their side had Raul, who possessed the Gift that was said to be unmatched, that these soldiers were able to carry on. So, seeing that leader being repelled by a single enemy, the soldiers trembled fiercely. Preposteroushow can I Despite standing up, Raul was unable to hide his confusion as to what just happened. And taking advantage of this, the enemy leader gave amand to his troops. Everyone, are you ready!? Alright! Charge!!! Haaaaaaaaaaaaaa! With a thundering war cry, the enemies rushed toward Rauls confused and unmoving army. E-engage! In a fluster, Raul shouted so. Soon after, the two armies shed against one another. The enemy army wasposed of 200 soldiers. As for their side, although there was only about a hundred of them left, each one of them was an elite soldier. Many of them even hadbat-type Gifts. Even if they were somehow caught in an ambush, these soldiers wouldnt ever lose to a disorganized and untrained mob of immigrants. or so it should have been. Gua!? Gyaa!? W-who are these people!? Theyre too strong! Rauls elites werepletely outmatched. And it wasnt just because they were outnumbered. Even one against one, the elites were being pushed back. Who are you!? How are you able to fight against a Gift bearer like me!? Are you some renowned knight whos in hiding in this wastnd? No, Im just a viger? Just a viger my foot! Even those that had Gifts were having a great deal of trouble against the enemies. Impossible! How can this be happening!? How are there so many strong soldiers in this wastnd city Raul, as you can see, you have no chance of winning. Theres no sense in continuing to fight. You should just dere your surrender right away. Selen! The one to appear before a very baffled Raul was a blue-haired girl named Selen. Like I suspected, you are with Luke! When the poption of the vige reached 10,000, my vige leveled up and I gained a new vige skill called [Viger Strengthening]. In simple terms, it boosts my vigers stats temporarily. How long itsts would depend on the strengthening effect Ive chosen to apply. For example, supposing Ive decided to double someones stats, that effect wouldst for about 5 minutes. However, if I only boosted that vigers stats by 1.5 times, the effect couldst for about 10 minutes. Once the applied effects were gone, I couldnt use the skill again for about an hour. Fortunately, there wasnt any limit to how many people I could use it on at once. In other words, it was possible for me to strengthen all 200 vigers that were about to fight. Youre in my way! Ill cut down your giant body along with that shield of yours! Protect the chief, I will! *Strengthen Noel-kun!* Noel-kun intended to fight with the approaching Raul in order to protect me. He had the [Shield Master Techniques] and should be fine even on his own, so I decided to support him by giving him a boost of only 1.2 times. Shield Bash!!! !? Like that, Noel-kun sent Raul flying. Rauls soldiers couldnt believe that their leader who had [Sword Master Techniques] was repelled so easily. So much so that they stopped their march. Not missing a beat, I gave amand. Everyone, are you ready!? Alright! Charge!!! Haaaaaaaaaaaaaa! The vigers, who were now 1.5 times stronger than usual, gave out such a war cry in response. Majority of the 200 present had Gifts, while the rest had experience fighting because they were adventurers and former bandits. As for the enemy side, the remaining soldiers seemed to be elites, but not only did we outnumber them, we also outmatched them especially after the strengthening. And so, they werepletely overpowered. At the moment, Selen was confronting Raul and convincing him to surrender. Please consider supporting me. You can do this either by turning off adblock for this blog or via myPatreon page. Thank you. Chapter 115: Youve lost Chapter 115: Youve lost Shut up! I havent lost yet! Raul rejected Selens advice to surrender. Havent lostlook around you. Can you really say that? ! While they were talking like that, Rauls remaining elites were falling one by one. Ghhtheyre so strong How can you be just a viger..ghh Raul-samaforgiveme On the other hand, none of the vigers have been injured severely. And even if they have, we had many elves who could perform healing magic to return them into fighting condition in no time. In other words, our war potential would remain the same while Rauls troops continually dwindled. Tri-chan, great work! You can go now. Thanks ever so much! Neruru said so while guiding the Tree Dragon who was trampling the rearguards of the enemy army just a few moments ago. Youve brought more than 5,000 soldiers with you, but look how many of them are left. No matter who looks at it, youve already been defeated. S-shut uptherestheres no way that Ithat I would be defeated by the likes of you!!! !? All of a sudden, right after Raul shouted so, his whole body was enveloped by some kind of light. Lukeeeeeeeeeeeee! As long as I kill you.Ill winnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnn!! With bloodshot eyes, Raul red at me and then charged at a great speed. What fierce fighting aura! Luke-dono, retreat at once! Philia-san yelled so while firing her arrows. The arrows hit Raul, but as soon as they did, each one shattered and fell for some reason. Whats going on!? Is that really because of that fighting aura or something!? Chief! Intercepting Raul this time was Noel-kun. It looked as though he was about to do what he did a while ago. Shield Bash!! Dont think thatll work again! With a roaring sound, Noel-kun and Raul shed once more. This time though, Raul did not get sent flying. Wait, is he pushing Noel-kun back!? I hurriedly increased the strengthening effect on Noel-kun, but it was already toote. !? Noel-kun!? In a reversal of earlier events, Noel-kun got sent flying. And though he has slowed down a bit, Raul was still headed my way. But now, there was no one else who could protect me in time. So, is this it? No, not if I can still help it! *zugogogogogogogo* I constructed a rampart before me and immediately sent it forward. Before long, I heard a boom and saw a trembling in the rampart, suggesting to me that it crashed with Raul on the other side. What a crash it was though! I couldnt help but wonder what would have be of me if I was hit with Rauls charge. I was just d that the rampart held up. Which was to be expected, I guess, but even I was worried that Raul would smash it down. I then used Intruder Detection and found out that Raul seemed to be stationary somewhere in the middle of the rampart. I hope its because hes finally tired himself out. D-damnImI still haventlostya hear But then, he somehow had the strengthphysical and mentalto start moving again. I had no idea what could push him this hard, but no matter what it was, I could not allow myself to be defeated. *gogogogo* I used Facility Customization on the rampart I built and turned it into a golem. huh? If his dropped jaw was any indication, Raul seemed dumbfounded by the gigantic golem that was suddenly before him. Also, the enigmatic light that covered his body was growing dim by the moment. Along with it, his movements looked more sluggish. Raul, sorry, but youve lost. I said so and made the golem swing its fist. Raul tried to guard against it, but was still blown away for about 10 meters. NoI wontI wont lose tothe likes of you Please consider supporting me. You can do this either by turning off adblock for this blog or via myPatreon page. Thank you. Chapter 116: Well, that was…anticlimactic Chapter 116: Well, that wasanticlimactic For adventurers like us, this vige was all sorts of wonderful. Not only did it provide delicious food and clean beds, it also had a dungeon where we could earn our keep. And on top of all that, we were able to receive our Gifts because of this vige. For all those reasons, I decided to fight for the vige. The enemy was said to be vige chiefs half-brother, but as long as he aims to destroy the vige, I had no intention of holding back. With my Gift, I felt stronger than ever. I even felt like I could take on a hundred normal soldiers all by myself. Well, that wasanticlimactic. I thought we were supposed to be fighting 5,000 soldiers. Yeah I found myself agreeing to Hazenas words of disappointment. The enemy general has been captured, thus ending the fighting. In fact, it was aplete victory. No one from our party even got wounded. Not even 500 soldiers reached this farI mean, what was that maze of walls anywaythey werent there yesterday, right? I obviously think that Chief Luke is an amazing person, but It would seem our assessments of him were offChief Luke, heshes utterly absurd Ha, hahahawhat I fool I was to even have worried I watched it all unfold from the top of an observation tower in the center of the vige. My guards including Bazara werent with me at the moment since they were in the battlefield below. Instead, I was with Millia-samaLuke-samas maidand a few others. When Raul-samas 5,000 soldiers first arrived, Luke didnt even break a sweat. For why would he, when thebyrinth he made took care of most of those soldiers. That said, some of them still broke through. When the remaining soldiers charged, a moatlikely built by Luke-samas Gift suddenly appeared in ce of the ground. The soldiers fell to the water, dampening them and their fighting spirit. That gigantic tree in the fieldsits a Tree Dragon!? I had eximed so when I saw the tree suddenly move and then charge at the enemies. I just couldnt believe they had tamed even such a monster In the end though, the two armiesor whats leftshed against each other. Thankfully, the side that triumphed was ours. Better yet, our triumph was an overwhelming one. None of us were seriously wounded. In fact, Bazara who was prepared to kill and to be killed had the chance to engage only a single enemy. That enemy was already tired and wounded when they fought, so when Bazara attacked them, they immediately fainted. I should show my appreciation for his effortster At any rate, with that, my family was now safe. My wife who was in furious opposition right to the end should now be able to find some way to forgive me. or at least I hope. If things didnt work out, I fear shell have killed me before any announcement of my execution was made. I had lost my position as governor of the North and there was no chance of getting it back, but that was nothing. I was of the mind that our family should move here in the vige anyway. I would very much like it to see how the vige would develop, preferably firsthand and beside Luke-sama. And whenever possible, I would like to make use of my experience as governor alongside whatever else I could offer to contribute to the growth of the vige. Its so absurd Selius remarked so. More than he was delighted by the fact that their side won, he was shocked. His sister had told him to return home, but in the end, he decided to stay in the vige. Of course, not just as a spectator but as a soldier should the situation call for it. Its just that the situation never called for it. He was on standby in an observation tower all throughout the fighting. The battle aside, it was clear to him that the observation tower he was in was odd. Even from the tower, he was able to see a small stone in the ground so clearly. It was as if his vision had improved multiple times. And thanks to that, he was able to see her dignified beauty as she stood in the battlefield, bow in hand. Of course, he tried to avert his sight away, saying to himself that this was not the time for such a thing, only for him to look at her again. Huh? Thats When he tried to avert his eyes away from her again, he saw a group arrive in the wastnd. Thanks to his enhanced vision, he saw that the group was armed, making him think they were enemy reinforcements. But then, he recognized a person in the vanguard. For how could he not recognized the person F-father!? Please consider supporting me. You can do this either by turning off adblock for this blog or via myPatreon page. Thank you. Chapter 117: Act like I believed in them from the beginning Chapter 117: Act like I believed in them from the beginning Double time, double time! Rousing the 500 troops behind him was Sedes Bazurata. Most of the troops were foot soldiers, yet they still tried as much as they could to keep up with the pace of their lord in horseback. As for where they were headed, it was to the wastnd in the north of the Albert territory. Damnthe fighting must have started by nowwe have to make it there before it ends Sedes was in such a haste all the way from the Bazurata territory because he received a report stating that Raulthe next head of the Albert housewas marching with 5,000 soldiers toward the city in the wastnd where his children were currently in. I think this is the first time Ive seen Sedes-sama be this impatientbut who can me him? As things are, he stands to lose his two children. Still, can an army this small overturn that fate? Not only are we against Raul-sama and his Gift, we also have to worry about 5,000 soldiersno matter, Ill fight to the end if I have to! Resolving himself to fall with his master, the retainer marched alongside Sedes. If it gets known that those two are on Luke-samas side, itll be the end of our Bazurata house! No matter what, I must get there before the city falls and offer reinforcement to Raul-sama. Thats the only way our house will be forgiven! Eh? Thats it?! The retainer thought Sedes has chosen to oppose Raul in order to protect his children, but it now seemed the other way around. Hes abandoning his children to save his own skin? No, no, more likelythe reason he wants to cooperate with Raul-sama is so that he can plead for his childrens lives. Yes, that must be it! This way, no harmlle to the Bazarata territory as wellsuch an impressive n, Sedes-sama Like that, they marched on. Eventually, they reached the wastnd in question. And there, they saw something odd whats thaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaattt!? Large castle walls ran through the wastnd. Even the castle walls in the kingdoms royal capital would seem modestpared to the walls here. To say nothing of the walls in other major cities, of course. Sedes couldnt wrap his head around how such walls could be here in this remote wastnd of all ces. Luke-samas city is behind those walls? They surveyed the ground, but they saw no sign of Rauls army. They assumed that Rauls army must have broken through already. Sedes-sama, look over there! Sedes looked where his subordinate pointed. There, he saw a gap in the walls. There was no gate or anything of the sort, so anyone could enter and go freely. Huh? Then, whats the point of these walls? While Sedess bewilderment was growing like that, a group on horseback emerged from beyond the walls. Father! Selius!? Despite asking in his head how his son was here while the fight was ongoing, Sedes hugged Selius. Is the fight over already? We were toote, then Huh? But how are you here? Did you predict the oue and defected to Raul-samas side? No, Father. Luke-dono won. And dont worry, sisters safe. R-really!? The results werepletely different from what he anticipated, so Sedes couldnt help but be shocked. (*Luke-sama won!? Isnt that absurd!?*) Father, did youe here to support us? huh? In spite of the risks to our territoryyouyou came for us Y-yes, of course! Damn the risks, theres no way I wouldnt havee for you! Fatherweve left you, yet for us youd still Seliuss eyes were full of tears and admiration for his father. Meanwhile, Sedes began to break into cold sweat. (*I cant say itI cant admit that I was going to support Raul-sama even if it meant forsaking my childrent-they brought it upon themselves! but given that Luke-sama won, their choice has proven to be the correct one. T-then, all I have to do is act like I believed in them from the beginning, hmm, hmm*) Please consider supporting me. You can do this either by turning off adblock for this blog or via myPatreon page. Thank you. Chapter 118: It’s what our village chief wishes! Chapter 118: Its what our vige chief wishes! Well then, Belrith-san, Ill leave the rest to you. Understood! Like that, I saw the vige chief off as he returned to the vige with the unconscious enemy leader. The enemy leader was supposedly the vige chiefs brother, and the battle was apparently due to a dispute on who would be heir. I wasnt really knowledgeable on the subject, but when I heard that 5,000 soldiers were marching towards the vige, I was struck with terror nheless. Even so, I was confident that we would win. Especially after I saw thebyrinth of castle walls that was built overnight. It goes without saying, but our vige chief truly was extraordinary. At any rate, the battle was already over now. The enemies have thrown down their weapons and surrendered. Which was only to be expected, given the hardships they were subjected to, all on top of their leader being defeated. I announced something to them. Well then, well now begin treating the wounded! Were going to prioritize those with more serious wounds, so let us know if youre one! Y-youre going to heal us too? Yes, of course! Its what our vige chief wishes! There werent that many among us that got wounded anyway. And whenever any of us did, the elves would immediatelye to give us medical treatment. Because of that, the wounded right now mostly consisted of the enemy soldiers. A-an elf Yes, but more importantly, please show me where youre hurt. Our medical team,posed mainly of the elves, began treating the enemies one after another. Their healing ability was really outstanding. While the enemy soldiers were still deeply captivated by their beauty, the elves have finished all the treatment. To have easily crushed 5,000 soldiers, plus the kindness of healing those enemies And he has the ability create a city in no time Yeah, itd be nice if Luke-sama was the next lord, wouldnt it? I heard suchments from the soldiers. Hahaha, so you too now know the magnificence of Luke-sama! The vige chief was definitely more suitable to the position than someone who loved wars. If it was him in charge, the territory would surely flourish. Unfortunately, Luke-sama himself has no desire of bing the next lord. Even if he doesnt want to though, someday Seems everyones patched up. Alright, follow me! ? I guided the puzzled soldiers into the vige. We stopped when we reached a certain spot. That spot was where a few apartment buildings were located. The vige chief probably thought that the soldiers have grown weary from the battle as well as from the journey, and thus built these buildings specifically for them, all 5,000 of them. W-what are those structures Theyre as tall asno, theyre even taller than those walls With 5 stories each, the apartment buildings were indeed taller than the castle walls. There were more than 30 of those buildings lined up here, which no doubt stunned most of the soldiers. One could argue that these buildings would be needed anyway when the poption of the vige grows in the future, but that still didnt stop me from admiring the vastness of the vige chiefs heart for giving such considerations to the soldiers who attacked his vige. You all must be tired. For the time being, please rest within these buildings. While exining so, I inwardly became excited. After all, once they got to know theforts of the apartments Just one nights stay should be enough to make them want to live in the vigefufufu The soldiers entered the mysterious buildings and immediately became amazed. Look at this! Wateres out of this thing so easily! It can produce hot water too! So, we can really take a bath whenever we want? Each room heres got its ownvatory and kitchen! This bed, its so soft andfyzzzzz Oi, dont sleep yet! Werent you listening? Theyre serving foodter! It didnt even take a full night to convince them to stay. Please consider supporting me. You can do this either by turning off adblock for this blog or via myPatreon page. Thank you. Chapter 119: As you can see, it’s a barbeque Chapter 119: As you can see, its a barbeque When will we get out of here The knight and the force he led were trapped within the walls, and he found himself unable to do anything about it. Hea loyal retainer of the Albert househad participated in the recent war against the Schneger house, and there, he saw the might of Raul firsthand. Due to that, he thought victory woulde easy this time as well. Things didnt go as expected though. Some time ago, they heard a thunderous roar, making them shiver with the thought that monsters from the nearby monster-infested areas were set loose to attack them. Yet, things remained calm and seemed to remain so for some time. And after a while of it, he and the soldiers have grown bored and sat on the ground. <> !? He suddenly heard a voice. Without thinking, he looked around to find the source, but the soldiers around him were minding their business and were unlikely to be the one that spoke to him. <> Directly into my mind? Regardless whether it was through magic or a Gift, the fact that they had an enemy with such ability was enough to make him increase his vignce. <> W-what!? Stop spouting lies! Theres no way Raul-samas been defeated! Having heard that information, he shouted without meaning to. This caused a stir among the soldiers, leading him to think that this was part of the enemys trap. Youre just saying that to rattle us up, arent you!? We wont fall for that trick, you bastard! <> Ghh What the other person made sense to him, making him unable offer a rebuttal. <> Your instructions? <> Ghh Having heard his side of the conversation, the soldiers talked among themselves. Things like was Raul-sama really defeated?, then, is the battle over, I hope theyll let us out of here soon could be heard here and there. Like that, it was now impossible to maintain morale without doing what the voice instructed. I understandwe surrender. He then gave instructions to the soldiers to throw down their weapons to the ground. In the first ce, the soldiers didnt really support the justification for the battle that they were given. Add to that the unheard-of things that happenedlike the maze and how it trapped them with its wallsand it was really to no ones surprise that not a single soldier was against surrendering. *zuzuzuzuzuzu* The walls! We can finally get out! The walls that locked them in moved, allowing them to get out of the enclosure. There was still the maze to contend with, but the voice provided them with urate instructions on how to ovee it. Before long, they saw the city in the wastnd. Whatre those tall buildingstheres so many of them toois this ce really built in just a year? Thanks to the series of unforeseen events, the retainer grew dizzy. More importantly, wheres the main army, and the others as well <> okay. Still vignt, the retainer followed the voices instruction. What they found ahead was Man, this meats so deliciousssssssssssssssss! Not just the meat! Even the vegetables are so unbelievable! They found their allies enjoying a barbeque. Huh? Whats happening? Uhee When the aromatic scent reached him, he couldnt help but drool. <> Wha After a little while, familiar people called out to him. Ah, Pel-dono, youre here! Better start eating, haha! ! Ciel-dono! And Baiden-dono too! These fellow knights were in charge of their own units, but have since surrendered as well. W-whats happening here? *drool* Luke-sama arranged this for us! *nom nom* He knew wed be hungry and, *nom nom*, prepared this for us! Please decide whether youre going to talk or eat*drool* Says the one who cant stop himself from drooling! Due to the deployment being rushed, their army actually didnt have enough provisions for a prolonged battle. And as such, food was rationed quite conservatively, leaving the soldiers fairly hungry. Anyway, Pel-dono, shouldnt you give your subordinates the permission to eat soon? The more you dy, the more theyll resent you, you know. !! After being told so, the retainer looked behind him. There, he saw his subordinates looking at him with frightening looks on their faces. Even if they were hungry and even if the food was right before them, the soldiers knew better than to eat before being given the permission to do so. If left as they were, never mind the soldiers resenting him, they would curse him to death. And so, the retainer hurriedly shouted something to them. E-everyone, you may now eat! Yes, sir!!!! Please consider supporting me. You can do this either by turning off adblock for this blog or via myPatreon page. Thank you. Chapter 120: You should have been the heir and yet… Chapter 120: You should have been the heir and yet Although he was also a child of Lord Albert, the fact of the matter was that his mother was only a concubine. As such, the treatment given to him waspletely different from the treatment provided to Luke, the child of the legal wife. Celebrations for Luke were always grand. The food served were always delicious. And the presents he received would always be numerous and expensive. On the other hand, celebrations for Raul were always meager. The food was no different from usual, aside from the addition of a simple cake. And the presents he received were always a fraction of what Luke got. Oh, my poor Raul. You should have been the heir and yet Raul would often hear his mother say so. When it was assumed that Lord Alberts wife wouldnt be blessed with a child no matter what, Rauls motherwho was serving as a maid back thenwas chosen to be a concubine. And in just a year after that, Raul was born. Rauls mother was from a low-ranking noble house and thus had no Gift, but just the fact that she became pregnant was enough to make House Albert rejoice. And when she sessfully gave birth to the heir apparent, they all celebrated. However, not long afterin only a few days in factit was discovered that Lord Alberts wife was with child. After a few months, she sessfully gave birth to Luke. As a result, Raul was no longer considered to be the heir. Furthermore, it was decided that Luke, despite being bornter, was to be considered the older brother and Raul was to be the younger. Im so sorry, Raulif only your mother was from a better noble houseor if I had a Giftmaybe then, your position as heir wouldnt have been stolen away from youIm so sorry Raul would always be rendered speechless whenever his mother would apologize profusely like that. At first, he med himself for it, then his fate, until eventually, he med Luke. In his mind, his mother wouldnt be suffering like this if only Luke wasnt born. His feelings turned into hatred, and only grew over the passage of time. However, when they turned 12, everything changed. Luke Albert-sama, your gift islets see, [Vige Building] During their blessing ceremony, it turned out that Luke failed to inherit their fathers [Sword Master Techniques]. Moreover, the Gift he got seemed entirely useless. Raul Albert-sama, your Gift isWhats this?! Your Gift is [Sword Master Techniques]! On the other hand, against all odds, Raul managed to inherit their fathers Gift. Lord Albert, who has been partial toward Luke, showed Raul a smile for the very first time. As for his mother, she was so overjoyed that she began to cry. From that day on, everyones treatment of Raul changed. Even his motherwho was pretty much driven into obscuritybecame treated favorably. Thanks to his sess in getting Luke exiled as well as the opportunity to showcase the power of his Gift and his leadership capabilities in the war that urred soon after the blessing ceremony, his position as the heir was pretty much secured. Or so he believed. Twoyers of walls, each one better than those in the royal capital, a poption of at least 10,000, a dungeon what is this nonsense!? You, you have the gall to show me this nonsense!? Some timeter, Raul learnt of the rumor about a grand city that was built in an unbelievably short amount of time. ording to the rumor, the city was supposedly in the wastnd where Luke was banished to. Due to how ridiculous it sounded, Raul didnt give much credence to the rumor at first. However, as more information about it came to light, the more he grew worried that it might be true. Luke! How are you still alive!? Are you going to get in my way yet again!? He has been robbed of the position of being the heir before, but he had no intention of letting it happen once again. As such, he assembled 5,000 soldiers and departed to attack Luke and that city. Unfortunately, what awaited Raul in that wastnd was a series of unfortunate events. Abyrinth made of intimidating castle walls. The steady disappearance of his soldiers. A fall to a moat that wasnt there a moment prior. The rampage of a Tree Dragon. The experience of being blown far away by just one person. His elite soldiers being easily beaten by a group of civilian-turned-amateur-soldiers. At that point, he decided to use hisst resort in order to take down Luke and turn the tide of the battle. When he leapt at his brother though, a wall appeared out of nowhere and stopped him. More surprisingly, he saw that wall change into a gigantic golem before his eyes. The wallthis isnt earth magic, noso then, what, its this pricks Gift? His [Vige Building]!? If their father knew what Lukes [Vige Building]which they thought to be a useless Giftcould actually do If their father knew Raul challenged Luke and then lost Raul would once again be disced as heir. NoI wontI wont be defeated bythe likes of you Raul was then sent flying by the golems punch. The will to fight was still strong within him, but even then, he was unable to stop his consciousness from fading I wont lose to youuuuuuuuuuuuu! Raul shouted so as soon as he next opened his eyes. Waswas that just a dream? Raul wondered so. But all hopes of it being just a long, awful dream were dashed when he looked at his surroundings and realized where he was. a prison? Please consider supporting me. You can do this either by turning off adblock for this blog or via myPatreon page. Thank you. Chapter 121: For now, just eat, ok? Chapter 121: For now, just eat, ok? Waswas that just a dream? Raul who has just woken up breathed out a sigh of relief. In this supposed dream, despite leading an army of 5,000 soldiers, he was still defeated by Luke. It was so impossible that it could have been nothing but a dream. If it was indeed a dream, he thought he and his army might still be in their camp in the wastnd the night before the battle. However, when he looked around, he found he wasnt in his tent. a prison? Raul was lying on a bed surrounded by stone walls and iron bars. Good morning, Raul. How are you feeling? !! When Raul saw the person on the other side of the iron barsand to whom the friendly-sounding voice belongedhe reflexively shouted their name. Luke! Even though Raul was fiercely ring at Luke, thetter kept smiling. Youre hungry, right? You! Have youe to mock me!? Nope. Look, I brought you some food. Theyre the viges specialty, you know. Luke said so and then slid in a tray of food into the dedicated hole in the middle of the iron bars. What are you scheming here!? Nothing. I just want you to eat. Theres no poison in it, if thats what youre worried about. Angered, Raul tried to throw the tray away, but paused to look at its contents when the aroma hit him. There, he found a massive steak. It was still making sizzling noises on the metal te it was served in. Based on its looks alone, Raul could tell that it was some high-quality meat. *gulp* *growl* His throat and stomach told him so at the same time. While his pride and his appetite were battling it out, Luke proceeded to tell him something. Its minotaur meat from our dungeon. Minotaur meat!? No, more importantly, what!? Your dungeon!? Theres a dungeon near here!? Yup. But lets talk about the details of thatter. For now, just eat, ok? Tch The only time that Raul has ever eaten minotaur meat was during the celebration feast after he got his Gift. Its taste still lingered in his mind, and just remembering it was enough to make him salivate. Given that all his equipment was taken, and that he was being imprisoned by the thick iron bars, there was nothing much he could at the moment to help himself. Starving himself would only serve to worsen the situation. So, instead, he thought he should utilize the foolish generosity of his enemies. he came up with such reasons, but the fact of the matter simply was that his appetite won. Wooooooow!? The moment he took a bite, an explosion of vorand juiceshappened in his mouth. He had no doubt that this was indeed minotaur meat. Only, this was so much better than the one he had before. From that point on, he was couldnt stop himself from eating. He was apparently so hungry that the whole 200 grams of meat vanished in an instant. All that was left was the vegetable garnishing. Raul wasnt fond of vegetables, but in an effort to distract himself from the sorrow of having eaten all of the meat, he reluctantly put the vegetables in his mouth. ~~~~~~~its, its good!? Much to his surprise, even the carrots which were one of his many least favorites tasted sweet, like it was some kind of fruit. In an instant, he finished the vegetable garnishing as well. Do you want more? G-give me! Raul forgot his rivalry with Luke and demanded for a second helping. Before long, that second helping was gone as well. Now full though, Raul has finally rxed. And at this point, he no longer had a choice but to recognize something. I lostdidnt I? It wasnt a dream. All of those things really happened. He lost. Huh? What are you talking about? huh? Please consider supporting me. You can do this either by turning off adblock for this blog or via myPatreon page. Thank you. Chapter 122: Our interests overlap this time Chapter 122: Our interests ovep this time Huh? What are you talking about? huh? Luke seemed confused, making Raul bewildered as well. Ill just say, thank goodness you were here! I dont know if we would have been able to drive away that Tree Dragon without you. Its just a shame that it managed to knock you out with thatst desperate attack. o-oy, what are you saying? Raul was now even more bewildered by Lukes fabricated tale. Huh? Didnt you lead your army here to repel the Tree Dragon that came from the monster-infested forest? Did that blow you took mess your memories up? ! Raul finally realized what Lukes intention was: to shift all the me to that monster and make peace. It left him quite dumbfounded. Youhow much more do you want to make fun of me before youre satisfied!? Im not making fun of you though. Im just saying our interests ovep this time. How so? You want to keep being the heir of the Albert house, right? I, on the other hand, dont want to be; I would much rather live my days in peace here in this vige. Lukes eyes were resolute when he said so, which made Raul acknowledge Lukes sincerity. So, how about we move on like no battle happened between us? Of course, father would have to be kept in the dark on everything about me. Like that, well both get what we want. For Raul who led 5,000 soldiers but still lost spectacrly, there might not be a better offer than this. Nevertheless, his pride prevented him from epting right away. Youve sessfully built a city in a barren wastnd within just a year. If you so wanted, you can take over the Albert territory, or even the countryhell, even the whole world might be up for the taking! Yet you expect me to believe that youre perfectly content on being in this wastnd? Yeah, actually. TchI can never understand what goes on in that head of yours Raul clicked his tongue, expressed words of exasperation, and then sighed. Despite being brothers, they valued things far too differently. Raul sensed his hatred slowly fading away, and he even felt silly for being so agitated all this time. As though understanding what Raul was feeling at the moment, Luke slid a portion of the iron bars aside and revealed an opening. What are you ying at now? Huh? The negotiations over now, right? tch. Despite his irritation, Raul exited out of the cell. He was without a sword, but Raul figured he could still take down Luke. The only thing was, he no longer had a desire to. Luke might have foreseen this, given howpletely calm he was. Hmm, you look healthier than I expected. Good, good. Oi, I just fainted for a bit. For a bit? I wouldnt exactly call three days a bit. 3 days!? I was out for 3 days!? Yup. We treated your wounds right away, but you just werent waking up. Raul then understood why he was so hungry earlier. But considering that three days have passed, his armyor whats left of itshould have disbanded by now. Everyones still here though. Huh? The city was bustling with activity. Several shops stood side by side, and people wereing and going. A city like this was built within just a year? Raul was astonished. When he pushed to have Luke be exiled, he never imagined that thetter would be able to build such a magnificent city in an empty, barren wastnd within a years time. Grilled minotaur meat on a stick! Grilled minotaur meat on a stick! Fresh from thebyrinth! Get your steamed bun filled with orc meat! Still piping hot! When savory scents drifted toward him, Raul noticed the unbelievable words that the barkers were shouting. Oi, dont tell me itsmonce to sell minotaur and orc meat here Um, yeah. Raulrecalling the fantastic taste of the meat he had earlieralmost went toward the stalls, but somehow managed to endure. Afterwards, Luke took him to a ce with frighteninglyrge buildings. What, what are those? Theyre called apartment buildings. Each one contains multiple dwellings called apartments. Anyway, your soldiers are staying there for the moment. All 5,000 of them? You speak like amodating thems the easiest thing in the world Please consider supporting me. You can do this either by turning off adblock for this blog or via myPatreon page. Thank you. Chapter 123: You’ll make all my soldiers become useless Chapter 123: Youll make all my soldiers be useless I wish youd stay a bit longer. A single day after he awoke, Raul gathered his soldiers, intent on leaving the vige right away. Shut up. If we stay here any longer, youll make all my soldiers be useless. Raul spitted out some rather harsh words. I dont think weve treated them so badly that theyll be like that though We entertained the soldiers like guests, so I was quite confident they had a pleasant stay. (Were going back already? I wish we could have stayed here a litte bit more) (Haa, I really dont want to go back thoughkinda feels like the end of a great vacation) (I wonder if Ill ever get to drink more of that delicious alcohol again someday) But when I looked at the soldiers faces, they looked a bit lifeless. They were so full of life just yesterday though Thats not what I meant. Tch, I see now why people areing to your city After uttering something angrily, Raul faced his soldiers and announced something. Listen up! Were going back to the capital right now! Like that, the army slowly marched out of the vige. What? Oi, wheres that maze!? Ah, that? It was in the way, so I took it down. Took it down Raul seemed to want to say something, but then simply continued moving forward. Youre wee to visit anytime~! Im nevering here again! I said so while waving my hand. Raul angrily shouted back that he would nevere to the vige again, but I took that to mean that he just had no intention of attacking us again. and theyre gone. Great work, Luke-sama. Millia After I have seen Rauls army off, Millia approached. I didnt expect Raul-sama to be won over. Youre really something, Luke-sama. If it was possible to win over someone like Raul through simple conversation, the world would have been peaceful long ago. No, its not as amazing as that. Our interests just ovepped this time. In any case, the vige shoulde back to being peaceful again. Luke-sama! Huh? Wait, youre A man Ive met before rushed toward me. When I saw Selen and Selius behind the man, I became certain of his identity. Lord Bazurata? He was the head of the Bazurata house. Or probably more importantly, he was the father of Selen and Selius. When I realized who he was, I reflexively tensed up. Thank you for looking after my daughter and my son! huh? But I must say, it is truly amazing that you were able to build a city as grand as this in such a short time! When I first heard that you were sent to develop a wastnd, I was quite astonished. But looking back, Lord Albert must have believed that you can do such a difficult task! I initially thought that Lord Bazurata journeyed all the way here to take back his children, but the mood around him suggested that it might not be the case. Youre singing quite the different tune now that Luke won, arent you? I mean, didnt you march here to help Raul? Selen snorted in dismay. My sister, it isnt like that at all. Our father has brought troops solely so that he can help us. O-o-o-obviously, yes. What Selius just said! really? At any rate, Luke-sama, please continue looking after my children! I fear I must now bid you farewell! He exined that there was something pressing he must attend to back at his territory and so must depart as soon as possible. I wish he stayed in the vige a little longer No, its absolutely better he doesnt! At least stay for a meal No, its absolutely better he doesnt! For some reason, both Selen and Selius zealously stopped me from asking Lord Bazurata to stay longer. Are they not close? I mean, itll be troublesome if he ends up saying he never wants to return home again As expected, if even my lord father leaves the territory ? I did not get why the two looked so worried, but in any case, their stay in the vige was now officially allowed. Thank goodness for that. Please consider supporting me. You can do this either by turning off adblock for this blog or via myPatreon page. Thank you. Chapter 124: Get them acquainted with the underworld Chapter 124: Get them acquainted with the underworld It was after Rauls army left. I walked up to the now-vacant and now-quiet apartment building his soldiers used. Ahmtheres someone hiding here, right? !? Its alright. Im not here to reprimand you, so pleasee out now. A young man then emerged from the closet of an apartment unit. Yes, he was one of the soldiers in Rauls army. You do know that everyone has left, right? I-I dobut But? But this viges too great! I dont want to returnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnn! Oh, thats why. I initially thought he just didnt want to put up with the strictness of being in the army anymore. He wasnt the only one hiding in this apartment building. There were about 30 of them. Normally, finding all of them would have been quite the task, but thanks to my Intruder Detection vige skill, I was able to do it easily. Even so, is it normal for there to be so many deserters? Well, they did leave in a hurry, so I guess its understandable that they didnt do a thorough headcount. Please, let us stay in your vige! Please! The deserters desperately bowed their heads and asked me so. When I asked for more details, I found out that everyone here had other jobs and were conscripted only because of the urgency. In that case, I thought there wouldnt be a problem in letting them stay. Whether they left with the army or not, they would soon return to being civilians anyways. Ok, but only after youve notified your family and maybe folks in your home town, yeah? If they decide they want to live here as well, thats fine as well. Thank you!! Like that, they temporarily returned. Speaking of people wanting to migrate, they werent the only ones. Huh? You dont want to go back to Riesen, Dant-san? Yes. If its alright with you, Id like to stay here in the vige. I obviously dont mind itbut are you sure thats wise? Even if I go back now, theres no reason to hope that Ill remain as governor of the North. I dare say its only a matter of time before my recement arrives. Which I guess was to be expected, given that he did oppose Raul. I see. Then, its a pleasure to have you. T-thank you, Luke-sama! (Oh, thank goodnessmy wife ended up liking the life here so much, I was afraid what would happen if I told her we had to go back) For some reason, Dant-san quickly became teary-eyed. I guess deep down, he really wanted to keep being the governor. Edel-sama, a report! The town of Meneir has capitted! The rebel leader, Rinel Schneger, has taken their own life! I see. So, all of Schnegers assets are fully mine now. Even after hearing the report from his subordinate, the expression on Marquis Edel AlbertsLuke and Rauls fathersface didnt change a bit. The war against the Schneger house was over and won, yet remnants of that noble house still kept fighting. But now that thest town used as a base has fallen, there was no one left to oppose Marquis Albert. Originally, there were five so-called superpowers in the country. Up anding noble houses of Marquis Albert in the northeast and of Marquis Schneger in the southeast; The old and established noble houses of Duke Kaion in the northwest and of Duke Talister in the southwest; And, of course, the royal family in the heart of the country. However, things have changed since the Albert house has defeated the Schneger house and absorbed thetters assets. Duke Kaion and Duke Talister were no longer enemies to be feared. And as for the royal family, the Albert house has be too big, too powerful for the royal to be able to control. A few days after Marquis Albert received the report, a messenger bearing a royal decree arrived. Lord Edel Albert, His Royal Majesty intends to award to you the title of Duke. In ordance to this, you are to journey to the royal pce at once. Perhaps because of his position as royal messenger, the said messenger spoke rather haughtily. Im not interested. excuse me? The messengerwho expected the Marquis to be thrilledwas stunned by the actual reply. After recovering, he shouted his thoughts. W-what are you saying? This is the highest possible honor you can have, and yet youre refusing it!? At present, the only ones to hold the title of Duke were Duke Kaion and Duke Talister. So, for a rtively young noble house to attain such a title, it was one for the history books of this kingdom. Like the messenger said, it was indeed one of highest possible honors. What kind of peerage can be given by a royal family who not only is being manipted by corrupt court nobles but also has lost their sovereignty over their country? Granting a promotion to the Albert house was nothing more than a way for the royal family to announce to everyone that they still had the Albert house as their vassal. Lord Albert did not like that one bit. Y-you! How dare you mock the royal family!? Hmp, do you think theres any reason left for me to fear the royal family? Just how long will you people delude yourselves into thinking youre still the ones at the top? Enough with your slights! The messenger was bright red in his fury. However, when Edel Albert stood up, just his intimidating presence was enough to overwhelm the messenger into falling down while letting slip an eep!. Go back, and tell your ipetent king and his swine nobles this: I do not want to be Duke; Rather, I want to be king. !!! Either they hand me the crown, or Edel grabbed the messengers hair and pulled it up to dere war. Ill attack the royal capital and get them acquainted with the underworld. Please consider supporting me. You can do this either by turning off adblock for this blog or via myPatreon page. Thank you. List of Revisions List of Revisions Due to various reasons, several changes have been done to the setting, and have been gathered here. These changes are applied from the 3rd volume onwards. Regarding vige skills Before Chapter 125: I don’t think there’s any need for great concern Chapter 125: I dont think theres any need for great concern A month after Rauls army left. Luke-sama, please let us live here! Yeah, ok. Us too, please! Sure. Luke-sama! O-ok Since then, there was yet again an increase in the rate we were receiving immigrants. The main reason I could find was that the soldiers from Rauls army have decided to move here, along with their families. I was so touched by Chief Lukes character, I immediately thought of moving here with my family (I also thought of those delicious food and drinks, and those dwellings!) Id like to offer whatever I can to help this new vige grow further! (I want to eat more minotaur meat*slurp*) This viges strong soldiers have left a deep impression on me! Theyve inspired me to get stronger myself! (That toilet has left a great impression on me toohaahaa) They were saying one thing, but I felt like they had other reasons In addition to their families, the soldiers also apparently told people in their hometowns about this vige. The soldiers were recruited from all over the Albert territory, so rumors about us spread even further. Not only did the capital now knew of us, even some of the most remote areas in the Albert territory did too. And thanks to that, another surge of immigrants came our way. In just a month since Raul attacked, our poption went from 10,000 vigers to 15,000. I feel like Rauls gonna get mad again once he finds out weve never once paid any kind of tax to the Albert territory If we were at a vige-level, it was nothing. However, with this growth, it was kind of hard to insist we were still at that level. Youve passed that level ages ago Such was the exasperated reply of former Governor Dant when I expressed my concern. I dont think theres any need for great concern, mainly because we won the battle. However, when my recement as governor takes office, they might demand for some things. When that dayes, please leave the negotiations to me. It was truly reassuring to have Dant-san here. well, then again, if he somehow was able to continue being the governor, things might be even easier. Hello. I am the new governor, Mitchell. Its a pleasure to meet you all. A very soft-spoken man appeared before the tense staff members of the government office for the administration of the North. Hmm, it seems like theres so few of you. Are there anyone else? N-no, this is all of us. To be honest, a lot of us have decided to migrate to the city in the wastnd The one to reply apologetically was the chief aide to the governor. I see. I assume that citys also the reason why Riesenwhich is supposed to be thergest city of the Northhas be so deserted? Thats exactly it. The countys administration is in quite a difficult spot at the moment due to the constant immigration of our citizens to that wastnd city. However, I believe that if we can incorporate that city into the North and then collect taxes from them Hmm. May I see the materials you have on that city? H-here, sir! Mitchell scanned the documents handed over to him. Where are the people who conducted these investigations? About thateven on their first time to go there, the investigators immediately decided to resign from their post and move to that city Ahaha, Ive heard a little about that city, I guess it really is something. (Ive heard the previous governor even immigrated there. But are these data for real? Its just so unbelievablebut then again, if its for real, thatd exin why so many want to move there.) Mitchell then said alright while pping his hands. Ok, how about we go to that city and introduce ourselves? Oh, and also negotiate? Yeah. (Actually, my superiors have explicitly told me that under no circumstance was I to go that wastnd city) Finallyif we can convince them to join us, all our financial woes will be gone all at once No, no, you have it the other way around. The other way around? Yeah. Mitchell nonchntly told the perplexed chief aide this: Were not asking that city to join the North; were going to ask them to let the North be part of their city. pardon? Please consider supporting me. You can do this either by turning off adblock for this blog or via myPatreon page. Thank you. Chapter 126: So long as they don’t find out, it’s fine, right? Chapter 126: So long as they dont find out, its fine, right? Hello! Im Mitchell, the new governor for the North. A pleasure to meet you~ The new governor came to the vige to pay his respects, at least that was what he said. He was quite friendly, though it might be better to say he was kind of a light-hearted person. Meanwhile, Dant-santhe former governorwas beside me with a raised eyebrow. Ahm, well, Im Luke, the chief of this vige. Thank you foring all this way. Oh, please sir, I dont know what Ill do if you humble yourself so. I am but a servant of House Albert. He should have knowledge that I was expelled out of our noble house, yet he still showed me respect as though I wasnt. That wasnt enough of a reason to let my guard down though. ording to Dant-san, the new governor was from a rather poor family. He wasnt in the army either. No, he rose up through the ranks because of his own work and management skills. In other words, he was a self-made man. Until recently, he served as the governor of a western county, but Dant-sans removal from office prompted a transfer. Rather than being chosen by Raul-sama, I think he was chosen by the group of retainers who remained in the capital to support Raul-sama. I dont know much about him, but rumors about him all point to him being a capable person. My point is, he is capable enough to be entrusted the North in such a dire time, so dont let his demeanor fool you. Dant-san whispered so to me. However, my viger appraisal skill told me he didnt have any vile ulterior motives. But, my, what a wonderful city you have here. Its pretty, lively, devoid of trash as well as vagabonds. Plus, I hear theres lots of delicious food, and public bathhouses that can be used at any time. Of course, there are those dwellings that your citizens canfortably live in. It makes so much sense why people are immigrating here one after another. In all honestly, I too want to live in a city like this. Mitchell-san openly praised the vige like that. Well then, lets get down to business, shall we? I have a proposal for you, Luke-sama. Mitchell-san suddenly started talking with a serious tone, and the air quickly became tense. This proposal, in all likelihood, was the real reason for his visit. While Dant-san gave me a look as though to say if he starts making stupid demands, leave the rest to me, Mitchell-san continued talking. Id like to ask you to make the North a part of this city. As expected, we cant ephuh? Dant-san reflexively refused, but then let out a baffled voice. Make the North a part of this city? Not make this city a part of the North? Hahaha. You are aware, of course, that this citys poption, industry, and military might at this moment far exceeds that of Riesen, thergest city in all of the north, yes? You might even say its superior to all of the Northbined. Given that, I dont think were in a position to demand anything from city like this. And just so were all on the same page, Ive actually been told by my superiors to leave this city alone, meaning this proposals my own. Mitchell-san said so and then smiled mischievously. As for the former governor, his face twitched wildly. Arge number of the Norths people have already immigrated here anyway, and theres no sign that that trend will subside anytime soon. If left unattended, therell be no one left in the North. If thats the case, Id rather we join your ranks sooner rather thanter. B-but can you really make that decision on your own? So long as they dont find out, its fine, right? Wha Ignoring Dant-san who was at a loss for words, Mitchell-san smiled and proceeded to make requests. Is it possible to make the dwellings in your city back in Riesen? And those fields where incredible crops can grow? And while Im at it, wed very much appreciate those public bathhouses. S-stop spouting nonsense. Even with Luke-samas Gift, Riesens too far yeah, its possible. Eh? The size of the vigethat is, the area where my vige skills could be used in and not only the area where people livedwas nowrger than the whole North and I didnt seem to have any problem using my skills anywhere within it. Based on that, distance didnt seem to matter as long as it was within a part of the vige. Of course, this move would also mean that I would be making all the citizens of the North my vigers. so, are you sure? TL notes: I guess by the way I tranted the North, one can say that Mitchell had served as governor of the West. I think its better to leave it as western county until further context reveal otherwise. Please consider supporting me. You can do this either by turning off adblock for this blog or via myPatreon page. Thank you. Chapter 127: Look, the road’s stretching toward us! Chapter 127: Look, the roads stretching toward us! I stood outside of the vige, looking down at the stone pavement stretching southward until the end of the wastnd. Mitchell-san had asked to incorporate the whole North into my vige. As the person at fault for the continuous immigration of the Norths citizens, I felt like I couldnt ignore his plea. Of course, Mitchell-san would remain in charge of all government affairs of the North. I would remain as a simple vige chief, and only build for them some facilities. In exchange for that though, I get to register the citizens of the North as my vigers. I see. So, you need these vige points to build the so-called facilities, and you gain more points with more vigers Yes. Dont worry though; theres nothing particrly disadvantageous about being a viger. For one, no one else but me can distinguish for certain who the vigers are. And if they really dont want to be a viger, its possible to exclude them from being one. but if I had to bepletely honest, there was a disadvantage to being a viger: their personal information could be exposed to me through my viger appraisal skillbut no one has to know that. By the way, how did you know that my abilities could be used even in Riesen? I just guessed it. You see, I heard a story that you suddenly appeared in the middle of where Raul-samas army was camping. I figured that was somehow thanks to your ability, and then I thought that if your ability can reach a ce that far away from your vige, maybe it can reach further away ces. Mitchell-san not only believed what others would normally consider a tall tale, he even inferred details of my ability from it. Alright. Lets begin with the road, yeah? The road? This pretty cobblestone road was made using my Facility Construction skill. <> In line with what the exnation text said, immigrants and merchants would often give praises such as awfully easy to traverse, the horse drawing our carriage somehow seems more energetic. But by using Facility Upgrade on it, the roads performance should even better. And so, I chose Facility Upgrade and paid the necessary points. I should be able to walk faster in the road now, right? wah!? Saying my body felt lighter than a feather somehow was an understatement rather than an exaggeration. I felt like Ive only taken a few steps, yet I found myself having travelled several meters ahead. So, so fast! When I looked back, I was already so far away from Mitchell-san who was beside me just a moment ago. Luke-sama, wait p!? Mitchell-san tried toe after me, but he ended up going past me. Thankfully, I upgraded only a small portion of the road. When he reached the end of that portion, Mitchell-san finally slowed down. This time, it was my turn to catch up. So, what do you think of me extending this road all the way to Riesen? This road!? Yup. With something like this, a day trip to and from Riesen should be possible, right? A day trip Together with the dumbfounded Mitchell-san, I continued walking toward Riesen. Upgrading the road along the way, of course. Oi, look there. Are those people running? No, theyrewalking? Huh? Theres no way someones just walking at that spewait, they are!? People from the other end looked surprised when they spotted us, but when we walked past each other What!? Why am I suddenly walking so fast!? Whats going on!? When those people stepped on the portion of the road that had been upgraded already, they walked fast themselves. Before long, we reached the end of the wastnd, as well as the end of the road I had constructed before. Ok, from here on, Ill be building new roads. <> <> Through Territory Takeover, I had incorporated this area into my vige and could now extend the road. Look, the roads stretching toward us! Dont be absurd, how canit is!!? While surprising and stunning the people we run into, we continued forward to Riesen. And in just a few hours after we left the vige Its within sight now. We eventually reached Riesen, thergest city in the North. I cant believe it; a day trip to and from Riesen really is possibleunless, of course, Im just dreaming right now Please consider supporting me. You can do this either by turning off adblock for this blog or via myPatreon page. Thank you. Chapter 128: Then, I think I shall turn this one into a public lavatory Chapter 128: Then, I think I shall turn this one into a publicvatory And were here. W-we really walked all the way to Riesenon footand were not one bit tired We finally made it to Riesen, the Northsrgest city. It took about 3 hours to get here from the vige, but that was while I was extending the road and upgrading it. If we were simply to travel from one point to the other, I suspect we would reach our destination in half the time. Moreover, thanks to the fatigue reduction effect, we werent tired at all even after all that walking. At first thought, this seemed like it would speed up the immigration of people to the wastnd vige, but this road might just do the opposite. IndeedIf people cane and go in such a short time, theyre less likely to think of immigrating Yup. Plus, if we set up carriages at fixed locations, people will be more capable of travelling between points. Thats a great idea! Until now, people have been flowing almost exclusively toward the vige. If we could also make them to go to and from Riesen frequently, both territories should benefit economically. <> <> Like that, I gained a whole lot of vigers at once. Now then, what should I do Before this, I was able to build facilities as I wanted. There originally was nothing in the wastnd, so I was free to build whatever I liked and put it wherever I wanted. Such wasnt the case with Riesen though. Riesen was a city rich in history, so even simple dwellings had some kind of significance, making it regrettable to destroy. Especially so when taking its ce were the cold and utilitarian apartment buildings. I could expand the city and prepare a new residential area, but even that felt like it could mess with the citysndscape. Thankfully, so long as they were within the range of my Gift, I could use Facility Customization and Facility Upgrade on buildings not made by my Gift. And so, I decided to keep the current buildings in the city and only modify them. First, I should repair and restore the broken and filthy ones From atop the tallest tower in the city, I began to use Facility Customization on the buildings below. This tower, by the way, have already been converted to have the features of an observation tower. <> Thanks to that effect, I could see even the tiny details of the buildings below. Naturally, even with this, I couldnt see through the buildings, so I had given up on trying to make adjustments to their interior. For the meantime, Im more than content if I could make their outward appearance look great. T-the citys be so tidy in an instant I decided to not react to the dumbfounded Mitchll-sansment for now, and proceeded to improve thefort, fragrance, security, and durability aspects of the buildings through Facility Customization. phew. That should make them morefortable to live in. I wanted to install toilets and baths in each home, but as to be expected, thats a bit hard to do Can we go check out some buildings that I can use freely? Mitchell-san? oh, y-yes, of course! It was hard to tell which buildings were unupied, so I thought it would be faster to just ask Mitchell-san to tell me. After going down the tower, Mitchell-san guided me toward the city. Luke-sama, here is the first one. No one owns it, so feel free to use it however you want. Thank you. Then, I think I shall turn this one into a publicvatory. The inside really did be full of toilets Lets go to the next one. T-that one is also unupied. It seems spacious, so lets turn this one into a public bathhouse. By customizing vacant buildings like that, I was able to install publicvatories and public bathhouses at various points throughout the city. I might not have been able install baths and toilets at each home, but this should make up for that. Lets see. I guess we should check the roads in the city too. Maybe install hand-pumped water wells too. And then, I think I should build some ramparts Like that, I spent the day remaking the city of Riesen. Please consider supporting me. You can do this either by turning off adblock for this blog or via myPatreon page. Thank you. Chapter 129: Im just a grunt Chapter 129: Im just a grunt Haa, so tired A person who worked at the government office here in Riesen was dead tired and was using thest of his strength to get back home. The reason he was this tired was because he ran all over the city in order to determine which buildings were unupied. His superior has told him it was the order of the new governor. Even ignoring today, my workloads increased so muchtely because of the people that leftmaybe I should also resign and live in that rumored city in the wastnd His coworkers at the government office have been resigning one after another so that they can follow after the former governor. And after not being impressed by the new governor, he himself have started to wonder if it was time to move as well. Wait, huh? Im here already? Thats strange He thought he walked quite slowly, yet before he knew it, he was near his house. Is it just because I was lost in thought? No, thats not it. My body feelslight? And whats with this road? Was it always this pretty? His head inclined, he continued walking forward until he spotted a line for something. This was the path he always took to go to work, so he knew there wasnt any store that could prompt a line such as that. Curious, he walked closer. Among the crowd was the familiar face of his wife. Dear, wee back. Whats the matter? Why do you look so tired? Never mind that. Whats this line for? Its for the toilets. toilets? He had no idea whatsoever of what his wife was talking about. And then, he noticed that the building they were lining up for was one of the unupied buildings in the city. They installed toilets that can be used by anyone throughout the city. You work at the government office, yet dont know about it? Im just a grunt; how am I supposed to know Ignoring his self-deprecating joke andugh, his wifes eyes sparkled while she continued to talk. The toilets are amazing, dear! It washes your bottom clean for you! Bottom? Thanks to that, everyones lining up for it. Ive actually tried it before, and before I knew it, Im lining up again. In fact, lots of us here have lined up more than once. T-then, is that line for those toilet things too? In a nearby building that he was quite sure was determined earlier to be not in active use by anyone, people were also lining up. That ones for the baths, dear. the baths? Yes, and anyone can use it at any time as well! I havent tried it before, but the wife next door told me it felt great. Lets try itter, ok? Youre saying theres a public bathhouse now in the city? In Riesen, only a small number of peoplemostly just the richhave baths in their home. There was no public bathhouse either. Because of that, themon way for people to clean themselves was to gather water from the nearest well and wipe their body with a wet piece of cloth. As such, it took quite a bit of effort for them to getpletely clean. Actually, one of the reasons why the rumor about the wastnd city was so popr was because of the part that talked about the citys splendid baths and bathhouses. I guess this is one way to reduce the number of people wanting to immigratebut, wait, when did this happen? I dont recall any construction or renovation around here, and there certainly havent been any talk about this at the officehmm, both are vacant buildingsdont tell me this is the reason why Ive been ordered today to survey which houses are unupied? No, of course thats not it Even though he was still wondering about it, he proceeded to go back home. But when he arrived Huh!? The house, its suddenly sopretty? Their house was made of stone, and was built a century or so ago. Its outer walls had cracks, had its paint peeled off already, and were stered with indelible graffiti. Yet now, it looked as though it was just built. It wasnt just their house either. The houses in front and at the side of their own lookedpletely brand new as well. How about the inside? what, nothings changed? When he hurried inside, what greeted him was the slightly dusty sight he was familiar with. The furniture and other furnishings inside remained the same as well. He felt a bit disappointed by that, but then he noticed something. The airits fresh? Normally, the entryway was filled with this strange odor, but now, it waspletely filled with fresh air. When he closed his eyes, he felt as though he was standing in the meadows. Moreover, the inside of the house was previously quite humid, but it was now exceedingly pleasant. Just what is going on in this city? Please consider supporting me. You can do this either by turning off adblock for this blog or via myPatreon page. Thank you. Chapter 130: That was just a slope, and I didn’t even break a sweat! Chapter 130: That was just a slope, and I didnt even break a sweat! Hahahaso this is the power of Luke-samas GiftMy, all I can do isughno wonder the city in the wastnd was built within a years time Riesen was reborn in a blink of the eye. All of the buildings in the city, even those in the state of disrepair, looked as though they were built just today. And the many old and bumpy roads even became well-paved and ridiculously easy to traverse for carriages. Grandma, look, Im walking so fast! What are you talking about, grandpahuh? You are! That was just a slope, and I didnt even break a sweat! Easy now, grandpa; you might fall down! When he saw an elderly, hunched-over man walk like a youngd, Mitchell knew the roads werent simply made well; they also had the same effect present in the road that connected Riesen with the wastnd city. Publicvatories and public bathhouses were also added to the city at various locations. What were unupied buildings just a while ago were turned into such useful facilities in an instant. Soon enough, no one would ever throw their wastes on the streets anymore. And if people and the city could be clean, the higher the citys defense against gues would be. Even Riesens ancient walls and water wells were renewed. A mysterious contraption was added to each of the water wells, making it so that even children could easily draw water from it. As a bonus, because the wells had lids now, there was no longer a need to worry about people falling down the wells. In all honesty, I asked for help simply because why notbut never did I imagine that Luke-sama would do this much for usand it hasnt even been a day! Mitchell made his appeal yesterday in the wastnd city, and by noon of today, this much work was done in the city. He was already in awe by all this, yet Lets see, I guess I should work on the fields next. Upon hearing of Lukes intention on continuing on and improving the fields, Mitchell unintentionally muttered something out loud. If Marquis Albert knew of this powerI cant imagine hed ever let go of it After remaking the buildings within the city of Riesen, I proceeded to improve, through Facility Upgrade, the fields around the city. Lets seefaster crop growth, better crop quality, and improved work efficiency in the fieldsalso pesticide effects The fields here might not yet be as good as the fields in the vige which have been improved multiple times, but at least now, these fields could produce more crops. It should be easier to work here too. Grandma, look, Im working so fast! What are you talking about, grandpahuh? You are! Im doing field work, and Im not even breaking a sweat! Easy now, grandpa; you might fall down! Hmm, the old couple there seem to be pleased, at least. Farmings hard work, after all, and any help matters. Mitchell-san, I think were done here. Oh, t-thank you for your hard work. Thanks to that, this citys be so pleasant to live in! I honestly dont know how to properly thank you. Dont worry about it. Besides, we still have more work to do. Huh? huh? Both of us inclined our heads. Arent we going to work on the whole North? R-really!? I-I mean, I did say that the whole North will join your city, but I thought you were going to improve only Riesena-are you really going to improve the whole North? Thats my intention, yes. I nned on doing the same things I have done in Riesen to all the major cities and settlement in the North. Really!? Im very thankful, naturally, but improving all of the cities is going to take a lot of time and effortah, but then again, you did do this much to Riesen, thergest city in the North, in just a daythen, I guess I should officially ask itif you dont mind, Luke-sama, will you also improve the other cities? I dont mind at all. Afterwards, I improved the roads that led to the other major cities and even built new ones when applicable. And then, upon reaching a city, I would do the same things I did for Riesen. Of course, I also added the residents as my vigers each time. The result was that I was able to breach to 30,000-vigers mark in an instant. << Ta-ta-ta-dah! Congrattions! Because you now have more than 30,000 vigers, your vige has be level 9!>> Please consider supporting me. You can do this either by turning off adblock for this blog or via my Patreon page. Thank you. Chapter 131: Then, I’ll build one for you Chapter 131: Then, Ill build one for you << Ta-ta-ta-dah! Congrattions! Because you now have more than 30,000 vigers, your vige has be level 9!>> <<30,000 vige points have been acquired as level up bonus.>> <> <> <> By adding the residents of the North as my vigers, my vige leveled up. The new facilities that I could build were as follows: Freezer (100pts): a facility for keeping the temperature of things like food low, and thus preserving them. Its possible to adjust the temperature. Brothel (200pts): a facility for sexual services. Has contraceptive effects. Has an effect that prevents the transmission of sexually-transmitted diseases. Art gallery (300pts): a facility for preserving and also exhibiting works of art. Prevents the deterioration of artworks. Has security features. Improves the vigers artistic sensibilities. Office building (400pts): a facility for officework. Has ten floors. Improves work efficiency, productivity, and also fortune. Dam (600pts): a facility for river management as well as irrigation. Automatically adjusts the volume of water. I feel like the scale of what I can build has gone up by a lot. In addition to those facilities, I also got [3D Reposition] which was basically a superior Reposition. Until now, I could only move facilities along the ground. For example, if I wanted to move an apartment building to the other side of a public bathhouse, there must be a route for the apartment building around the said public bathhouse. Through 3D Reposition though, I could simply move the apartment building over the public bathhouse. Which is to say, the apartment buildings going to be up in the airright? I can tell, even by just imagining it, that thatll be a sight to behold While making our way through the other major areas in the North. Floods? Y-yes. Heavy rains can make the nearby river overflow and submerge this whole ce. While a rain like thate only about once every decade, the fact remains that each time it happens, the vige and the fields are devastated I see Sincerely expressing their troubles to Mitchell-san was a certain vige chief. That vige chief seemed to havee here when he was made aware that the new governor wasing to inspect the nearby area. Wow, it looks like a chance to build the facility I just acquired is here right away. I understand your concerns, I really do, but sorry mister vige chief, the cost of building levees of that scale iswell, you know Its nothing to worry about. Luke-sama? I can build a dam upstream. A dam? As though he didnt recognize the word, Mitchell-san tilted his head. Basically, Ill build something that will block off the water upstream and form a kind ofke. That facility can also discharge water downstream at a controlled rate. Like that, not only will it help in defending against floods, itll also help in times of drought. T-that kind of things possible? I mean, I understand the theory, but to do it in that scale(*surely, even Luke-sama will find it difficult) Just leave it to me. (*why does he look so confident!?*) At that point, the vige chief from earlier timidly posed a question. Uhm, Sir Governor, might I ask who that person is? Huh? Oh, did I not say already? Well, he is none other than Luke Albert-sama, son of Marquis Albert. M-Marquis Alberts son!? The vige chief then hurriedly knelt in ce. Theres no need for that. More importantly, may we ask you to guide us to the river? O-of course! Great. Ill build a road as we go. Huh? A roads being built on its own After a while of travelling via carriage, I finally caught sight of the river. It was quite wide and imposing, making it easy to believe that it could submerge the area during a heavy enough rain. O-our viges on the other side. How do you cross the river? Mostly through boats. As you might expect, its hard to build a bridge over a river like this Is that so? Then, Ill build one for you. < > In order for the bridge to withstand the surging of water, I nned on using Facility Upgrade to reinforce it further. huh? Seeing a bridge suddenly appear in front of them out of nowhere, Mitchell-san and the vige chiefs jaws dropped. Please consider supporting me. You can do this either by turning off adblock for this blog or via myPatreon page. Thank you. Chapter 132: I do, so building things isn’t something I can do infinitely Chapter 132: I do, so building things isnt something I can do infinitely A bridgejust like that Mitchell-san said so in a daze. Ahm, Luke-sama? You seem to be using your Gift quite a lotbut dont you need points to make those buildings? I do, so building things isnt something I can do infinitely. Y-yeah, exactly. But, you know, with the number of points I have now, I can build about 10,000 bridges like this one. 10,000!? I had just obtained 300,000 vige points as a level up bonus, after all. In addition, because I had over 30,000 vigers, I earned more 30,000 vige points each day. Of course, I still had plenty of necessary things to use my points on, so I shouldnt waste it. I believed a dam here was among those necessary things. Oh, thank you so much, Luke-sama! Thisll make crossing the river so much easier! The vige chief said so while crying tears of joy. Apparently, sahaginswhich were mermen-type of monsterswere known to appear in this river. Each year, these sahagins attack and y people who were simply trying to cross the river. And because being in a small boat in this river was so dangerous, criminals were mostly the only ones tasked with rowing the boats. After travelling upstream. Around here should be good, right? <<600 vige points will be consumed to build a dam. Proceed? *{Yes}||{No}>> After I selected yes, a gigantic dam appeared. ha, haha(*my word, isnt this ten timesrger than what I imagined it would be!?*) In front of the gigantic structure that suddenly appeared and stopped the flow of the river, Mitchell-san gave an awfully dryugh. Even though it just appeared, the dam was already at half of its capacity. I wonder where all that water came fromcan it be that when it said that it automatically adjusts the volume of water, it didnt mean that it regtes the amount it takes and discharges, but rather that it actually materializes and dematerializes water? If that was true, no matter how much it rained, the dam would never ever get full. As absurd as that was, I couldnt rule it out as impossible. After all, there seemed to be an endless supply of water from the water wells, houses, and the like. In addition, by using Facility Customization on a moat, I could make the water in it disappear instantly. Vige chief, this should make it so that you wont be troubled by floods anymore. Thank youthank you so much! The vige chief went down on his knees as though he was worshipping something and then expressed his gratitude. At that time though, something made the nearby shrubs rustle. When I turned to look, I saw the figure of a bear nearly 2 meters tall. As though it was thirsting for blood, saliva dripped from its sharp fangs. It probably caught our scent and decided to emerge from the deep forest. M-monster! A blood grizzly!? Those shouts came from the Mitchell-sans soldiers who were apanying us. Its a dangerous monster! We alone might not be enough to R-run while you still can! No, dont worry, everythings going to be alright. Luke-sama!? Ignoring the frightened soldiers for now, I went closer to the bear. Graaaaaaaaaaaaaaagah!? When it leapt at me, I constructed a stone wall. It crashed head first into that wall. I then reshaped that wall into a golem through Facility Customization and made it hit the stunned bear. Kuuunn Almost like it understood that it had no chance of winning, it escaped back into the woods while wobbling. A-a golem? Is thatyours, Luke-sama? Yup. Its, lets say, an advanced application of my Gift. Thanks to that, I can drive away monsters of that level. (*Eeehhhdoesnt that make his Gift not only powerful but also very versatile*) I think thats about it. I had added the entire North to my vige, made its citizens my vigers, and linked major areas together. Due to the surprising number of requests for dams and bridges, it took longer than expected, but what matters was that life in the North should be a tiny bit morefortable now. That said, this just barely covers the absolute basics, so if you think up of something else, feel free to contact me. thank youthank you so much. In the end, even Mitchell-san thanked me as though he was worshiping something. Please consider supporting me. You can do this either by turning off adblock for this blog or via myPatreon page. Thank you. Chapter 133: This’ll make cooling down so much fun Chapter 133: Thisll make cooling down so much fun As summer approached, the temperature steadily rose. Needless to say, this wastnd was quite a harsh environment, but more so in the summer and in the winter. The summers here were scorching hot and the winters freezing cold. It was quite a different story indoors though. After all, in arge house, temperature and humidity were always kept atfortable levels. The apartment buildings also had this feature, of course, so vigers werementing something along the lines of its summer already, but its still so pleasant here. Nevertheless, the temperature outdoors remained an issue. As such, I have been receiving plenty of requests for ways to cool down, especially from farmers and other folks whose jobs required them to be outdoors. Thats why Ive been thinking of building a swimming pool. A swimming pull? Ive never heard of that. Staring nkly at me were Millia and Selen. I then exined what a pool was. Its a facility where you can y in the water. You know, to dive in, swim in, or just floating around. Hmm, so, kind of like a man-made river? Philia-san asked me that while tilting her head. Pretty much, butwell, I think its better to just show you. We then headed to a vacant spot in the vige. I wanted to make a pool, but unfortunately, pool wasnt in the list of facilities I could directly make with my Gift. So, to make one, I nned on using a canal. <> The water within was supposedly clean, so there should be no problem in swimming in it. After building one, I made it stretch and then made it bend until its endpoints touched each other. In other words, I made it form arge circle. I intentionally left the wall separating the endpoints still standing though. Alright, Ill just slowly move this wall When I gently pushed the wall, the water began moving along with it. Before long, the water in the canal loop flowed like a river. Yes, I made azy river pool. You really did make an artificial river Amazing. Thisll make cooling down so much fun. Impressive as always, Luke-sama. I nned on making this pool open to the public, but for the sake of safety, I thought it best to have a small number of people try it out first. We should probably undress, right? But how much? Were outdoors, so being fully naked like at a public bathhouse wont doshould we get dress down to our underwear? Actually, I have something. What I took out were clothes made with special fabric that were stic and quick-drying. The textures nice, isnt it? And its so stretchy. Ive never seen anything like this before. Ive had it made in the clothing workshop. <> One of the workshops I built specialized in making clothes. Recently, thanks to their excellent quality, the clothes made there have been really selling well in the vige. It was a hit particrly among the women. And to that clothing workshop, I made a request to design and make clothes exclusively for swimming, the so-called swimsuits. At least in the sea-less Albert territory, these swimsuits should be the first of their kind. Are these your idea, Luke-sama? Youre so amazing. I doubt any of us would have thought of it. its all due to the knowledge my previous life had though. There are so many kinds. A lot of thems got cute designs too. Its so hard to choose. *(Some are so revealingare those for me, Luke-sama? Fufufu, then so be it, Ill use those to charm you!)* I then built some sheds so that Millia and the rest had a ce to change in. By the way, I left all the design choices to the craftsmen in the workshop. Not once did I tell them to make ones that had hardly any fabric, yet here those designs were. How about you, Selius-kun? Theres some for men too. I-I dont No need to hold back. Look, Philia-sans going for a swim too. W-w-w-w-whats she got to do with anything!? If your face is going to get that red that quickly, everyonell know, you know. Gah, Philia-san!? What are you doing!? Hm? Going for a swim. Standing by the poolside and tilting her head was an elf. A stark-naked elf. *shaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!* Oh no, so much bloodsing out of Selius-kuns nose!!! TL note: as stated inList of Revisions, Luke now has knowledge of things about our world but not personal memories. I believe this has been in effect since the first volume of the light novel. Please consider supporting me. You can do this either by turning off adblock for this blog or via myPatreon page. Thank you. Chapter 134: I can see a garden… Chapter 134: I can see a garden I can see a gardenoh, I see, I must be in heaven right nowha, haha Selius-kun!? Selius-kun, are you alright!? Youre not in heaven yet; youre still alive! After seeing a naked Philia-san, Selius-kun had a tremendous nosebleed and fell down. The gush of blood seemed to be because of excessive stimtion. C-chief? Where am? Oh thank goodness, youve returned to us Perhaps due to my desperate pleas for him to return to the side of the living, Selius-kuns eyes became a bit more focused. Even so, he was ghastly pale from all the blood he lost. Selius-dono, are you alright? At that moment, the person that caused all this, of all people, approached. She was still stark naked, of course. *shaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!* Waah, hes spurting out blood again!! Philia-san, sorry but stay away for now! And please, put on some clothes! Hmm? Wear something, anything! Else, Selius-kun will die! I made the bewildered Philia-san step back, and then forcibly made Selius-kun drink down a potion. ahh, the riverI should cross it, I guessahaha No, no matter what, dont cross that river! Huh? Vige chief? What, whats going on Somehow, it seemed like Selius-kun has escaped death. Had he met his end here, I had no idea how to exin it to Count Bazurata, his father. He seemed to have no recollection of what happened though Luke-dono, Ive dressed myself now Likely because I got angry earlier, Philia-san said so timidly. W-why do I feel like I saw something truly shocking earlier No, you didnt see anything! So, dont think about it, alright!? Albeit in a panic, I managed to put an end to that. Just when I did, Selen and the others havee out of the sheds after changing their clothes. Its a bitembarrassing, isnt it Yes, I see what you mean. It is quite embarrassing for your swimming clothes to be so tight that its making it more obvious how small your breasts are, isnt it? I wasnt talking about my breasts! Selen was wearing a one-piece swimsuit that was as vividly blue as her hair. A one-piece swimsuit, as its name implies, was swimsuit for women that consisted of a singr, continuous material. As for Milia, she chose a bikini-type swimsuit, a swimsuit for women that had a material for the top and a separate one for the bottom part of the body. Her bikini was ck, just like her hair. Perhaps the more important detail though was that her swimsuit was so small that her breasts were about to spill out. (*I would normally have been shocked by thatbut given that I saw a naked body just a while ago*) (*Fufufu, Luke-samas looking at mehe must be filled with excitement now*) (*Well, anyway, I should probably get changed myself.*) Oh, Philia-san, youre going to wear a swimsuit thats like what Selen is wearing, right? Hmm, that looks like itll make swimming harder thoughId like it to be like Millia-donos, at least Like what Selen is wearing, Am I Right? O-okay, okay! Youre so frightening, Luke-dono! A life was at stake, so I didnt mind being a bit tyrannical. Luke-sama, you should wear thishaa No way. What Millia presented was a speedo, a swimwear for men which provided the absolute minimum cover. I refused to wear them, and chose some shorts instead. Selius-kun wore the same kind. Hmmwhat did I seeArgh, I cant remember at all Im telling you, you didnt see anything! So, dont worry about it and just swim! While I was a bit worried about his condition, I still thought it would be better for him to move around so that he wouldnt remember anything unnecessary. At any rate, I took the initiative and dove into the water. Its a bit cold, but it feels great! By the way, I had used Facility Customization to alter the depth of the pool. For the outer edges of the pool, I set it to be at 1 meter deep, and for the inner edges, I set it to be 1.2 meters deep. Even in the deep part, I could still stick my face out of the water, although just barely. If I made it any deeper, the pool would be hard to use for anyone of the same height as me or lower. I guess we should make some lifebuoys. Or maybe some kickboards? Oh, I guess I should add some slidester on. Thatll make things more fun. I thought of things like that while doing a front crawl. Ive never seen anyone swim the way youre doing it. Huh? You mean, you dont know about the front crawl? I dont. Me neither. Its also not taught in military swimming excercises It seemed like the front crawl wasnt a well-known way to swim in this world. Millia who couldnt swim aside, Selen and Selius-kun did breaststrokes. Its faster to swim this way, Id say. If youd like, I can teach you how to do it. Not that there was any need to swim quickly at the moment. Especially since this was azy river pool. Hmm, that way of swimming kind of resembles the method thats been passed down to us by our ancestors. The way youre moving your feet is different though; its also my first time seeing that. Philia-san, now wearing proper swimwear, appeared by the poolside andmented so. the swimsuit she wore was a high-cut one-piece, so it was little concerning, but it was a thousand times preferable than just being naked. Im sure even Selius-kunll *shaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!* Still noooooo!? TL note: as stated inList of Revisions, Luke now has knowledge of things about our world but not personal memories. I believe this has been in effect since the first volume of the light novel. Please consider supporting me. You can do this either by turning off adblock for this blog or via myPatreon page. Thank you. Chapter 135: It’s easy if you search for the watermelon’s presence Chapter 135: Its easy if you search for the watermelons presence Despite the incident that dyed the pools water red, the fact remains that we have managed to build a new recreational facility. Factoring in the summers heat, it was definitely popr among the vigers. I had anticipated the requests for a pool where even small children could y in, so I also built a shallow one. The thought of making heated pools when winter arrives has also crossed my mind. I was getting ahead of myself though. Other than the pool, summer-rted food has grown in poprity as well. A great example were the gigantic watermelons harvested in the viges orchards. And thanks to being preserved in a refrigeration facility, these watermelons could almost always be eaten cold. <> I obtained the ability to build a refrigerator when my vige level became 9. In terms of default physical size, a refrigerator was as big as a storehouse. Because temperature inside the facility could be changed depending on the asion, it could also be used as a freezer. Mhm, this watermelons so sweet, so juicy, and so delicious! Selen said so while the corners of her mouth were drenched with the watermelons red juices. (*If I can have just one of the seeds that Luke-sama spat outhaa, haa*) For some reason, Millia hasnt eaten a single bite out of the watermelon piece she had in her hand. Does she not like watermelons? At that moment, a certain game came to my mind. Do you guys know about watermelon splitting? Whats that? Ive never heard of it before. Selen replied so with a nk look on her face. Its a game where you have to smash a watermelon with a stick while blindfolded, making you needing to rely on hints that others will be giving you. Ohh. Sounds fun. Selen replied so, sounding interested. Ok, lets do it! Like that, we blindfolded Selen. I ced a watermelon about 20 meters away, and then went a bit closer before shouting. I did so in order to avoid giving away the location of the watermelon. The watermelon has been set! On my signal, Selen drew out the two swords hanging from her hips. H-hey, those are real swords! Thats dangerous! Its fine. Im used to this. Even if she says shes used to it, the fact remains that its dangerous to hold real swords while blindfolded. However, contrary to my worries, Selen walked directly toward the watermelon without a trace of hesitation. It was as though she wasnt blindfolded at all. And then *sh!* You smashed, or rather, cut the watermelon so cleanly Nothing to it. How were you so sure of where the watermelon was though? I sensed it. You sensed where it was!? Maybe she was just pretending that her eyes were covered and could actually see perfectly? Hmm, that looks like fun. Philia-san, who had watermelon seeds around her mouth, said so as she approached. I see, so thats watermelon splitting, huh. May I give it a go? Sure. Heres a stick you can use. No, I think Ill use this. She said so while holding up a bow. Wait, hey, thats so dangerous! Theres no need to worry. Like that, a blindfolded Philia-san confidently drew her bow and let her arrow fly. In the next moment, the arrow pierced the watermelon that was 50 meters away right in the center. Eeeehhhow did you do that? Its easy if you search for the watermelons presence. What does search for the watermelons presence even mean? At any rate, watermelon splitting soon became another hit in the vige. Curiously, the vigers have begunpeting among themselves to see who could split watermelons in the shiest way possible. In another attempt, Selen managed to slice a great number of watermelons floating in the pool in an instant. Philia-san also tried again, this time shooting an arrow through a watermelon that was a kilometer away. Of course, it wasnt just the two of them who tried. The spearman Rando-kun demonstrated a technique that was able to skewer 10 watermelons seemingly all at once. The strongman Goate-san simply swung his hand down toward the ground, and the watermelon nearby was smashed by the shockwave that emerged from his chop. The adventurer Hazena-san used fire magic to slice a watermelon in half. It was extremely hard to hold the mes back from burning the watermelon to ashes. Or so Hazena-san said after she seeded. Also, Manta-san from Mao vige boasted that he could split a watermelon with his thing and proceeded to undress. Understandably, the guards arrested him for that. Thanks to Mack-san, Manta-sans father, pleading for him, it was decided that Manta-sans punishment would only be to enter a rehabilitation facility for a while. Contrary to my expectations of this being a one-time-only event, watermelon splitting has already be so synonymous with summer for many of the vigers that most of them were saying that they would like to do it again in the years toe. but can it still be called watermelon splitting at this point? No watermelons were wasted in any of these events. They have all been eaten afterwards. Please consider supporting me. You can do this either by turning off adblock for this blog or via myPatreon page. Thank you. Chapter 136: It’s a healthy baby boy Chapter 136: Its a healthy baby boy Luke-sama, my child was born safely! Its a healthy baby boy. Delivering such a report while carrying an adorable and peacefully sleeping baby in his arms was Belrith-san. Wow, congrattions! And standing close and happy besides Belrith-san was his wife. And not only my son but also my wife is safe and in good health. Its all thanks to the clinic you built, vige chief. This is my third time giving birth, but by far, this has been the least painfulbor Ive had. Well, Im d to hear it helped. <> Given the result this time, it would definitely be better to have the pregnant women give birth in the clinic I built than elsewhere. Have you decided on what his name is? About thatwed like it if you were the one to name him. Huh? Me? Yes. Just by being named by you, Im certain this childs futures going to be full of joy. W-well I dont mind, but but its such a big responsibility. What if I end up naming him something weird and his friends make fun of him for it for the rest of his life Hmmlets seesince hes a boy In order to avoid that fate, I wracked my brain toe up with a good name. While I was deep in thought, the couple looked at me with great expectations. Even the baby woke up and looked at me with his round and cute eyes. The pressure was so much, it felt hard to speak. H-how aboutBelk (Beruku)? Ooh! Did you perhaps name him after me (Berurito)? Not just you, dear! Dont you see? Thetter part, (the Ruku part), it came from Luke-samas own name! Youre right! What an absolutely wonderful name youve given him, vige chief! There cant be any doubt about it now, dear! Our son will grow up into a splendid adult, just like our vige chief! Sorry to disappoint you, but my thought process wasnt anywhere that deep. I just thought of what will sound good with the Bel from Belrith-sans name. Its just by coincidence that my names gotten mixed in. Well, as long as theyre happy about it, I guess. Afterwards, other couples who also wanted me to name their children came. I had no reason to refuse their requests, resulting in me struggling toe up with good names each time. To be honest, there have been a lot of childbirthstely and many more were still expecting. After all, having secured their basic needs when they moved into this vige, many married couples have tried to conceive throughout autumn and winter. Given that, it might be prudent to change my strategy. Instead ofing up with names on the spot, I thought I shoulde up with a few names beforehand and have the couple choose from those. And then, on a certain day, a certain couple came to me with a request. Chief Luke, if its at all possible, can you build a ce where couples can have some private time? We have children at home, you see, so its a bit hard to have some time alone there. I-I seealright. Agreeing that this was certainly an important issue, I recalled a facility that I became able to build when the vige became level 8. <> Im intrigued by thetter part of the exnation When I looked at its list of abilities that could be improved with Facility Upgrade, I saw things like [Stamina Boost] and [STD prevention]. In other words, if I so wanted, I could make that kind of hotel. When I built one, its default outward appearance looked like a regr hotel. If I kept it like that, there would inevitably be people who would enter after mistaking it for a regr hotel. On the other hand, if I made its outer appearance reflect what it really was, well, it would stand out too much. Oh, well, therell be no problem if its in the underground, right? By using 3D Reposition, I could move it as it was underground. *zuzuzuzuzu* The sight of arge building disappearing into the ground was quite a sight to behold. I then built an underground tunnel and connected it to the entrance of the said hotel. If I added some restaurants along the underground tunnelmaybe even turning the tunnel into some kind of entertainment districtpeople wanting to use the hotel should be able to do so without attracting attention for going this way. Please consider supporting me. You can do this either by turning off adblock for this blog or via my Patreon page. Thank you. Chapter 137: Please tell me more about this placeeee! Chapter 137: Please tell me more about this ceeee! Hey, have you tried that hotel yet? Hotel? Yeah, Luke-sama built it recently. Ohh, that. No, I havent tried it. We dont have children yet, so we have enough space at home. I still think you should give it a try! That hotels magnificent, you see. Just between us, no matter how hard I try, its so hard to get my husband in the mood for that. But the moment we enter that ce, why, he was raring to go! Its actually the first time Ive seen his thing get that big; it almost frightened me! Huh? For real? For real! Plus, ording to my neighbor, she and her husband went for a lot more rounds than they usually do! How amazing Thats not all. It seems like it also heightens the arousal of women too*blush* *gulp* Ever since we went, my married life has gotten far better. Im certain that even a marriage in a rough patch will be as lovey-dovey as newlyweds. W-well go Please tell me more about this ceeee! M-Millia-sama!? I cant believe theres an establishment like that! Oh no, I cut in on their conversation! I didnt even mean to eavesdrop; I just overheard them by chance. A-are you perhaps not aware? In the underground district that Luke-sama built recently Its in there!? Thank you so much! Ah, Millia-samaand shes gone. Having obtained additional information from the two, I sprinted off to the said underground district. The stairway that led down to it was in an inconspicuous ce not far from the center of the vige. When I descended the stairway, what greeted me were taverns on both sides of the underground tunnel. This After walking for a while, I found an entrance to a ce that gave off a different vibe from the taverns nearby. Oi, why did you bring me to a ce like this? Dont think about it; just follow me. A couple from behind were having some kind of quarrel. They seemed to be husband and wife, but they werent exactly in the greatest of terms. Both looked like they were in theirte thirties. When they reached the entrance to the hotel, the husband seemed to realize what was going on. This ceis it that Its fine once in a while, right? I mean, youve been so coldtely Nope, were going home! Wha? The husband turned around and started to walk away, but the wife suddenly grabbed him by the scruff of his neck. WhereAreYouGoing? H-hey, let go of me, woman! Why do you dislike me so much now? You used to love me like crazy when we were young though Because you were thin back then! Look at you now, youve swelled so much! Its like youre a whole other person now. And youve only gotten fatter since we arrived in the vige! While I think the husband said some terribly mean words, he wasnt exactly exaggerating. The wife could be said to be overweight. Her body was about twice as big as her husbands. The wifes arm wasnt just thick though, they seemed to have some strength to them. So, try as the husband might, he couldnt escape. The wife was even capable of dragging the husband to the inside of the hotel. But simply because she dragged him in there, doesnt mean The moment they took a step in though, the husbands attitude took a quick turnaround. Y-you know whatit has been a while, hasnt itI say, why not Oh! Darling! Gah! Y-youre crushing me! From that moment on until they disappeared into the hotel, they acted like a perfectly happy couple. As long as I can get him hereeven Luke-samaGufufufufu Huh? When I randomly looked at the map that I could use when I first received my Gift, I notice a red dot was so close to me. A ck dot on the map meant an ordinary viger, but a red dot meant a hostile individual. When I hovered the cursor over it, a text saying Pervert showed up. Pervert? What does that mean? No, more importantly, that red dots headed this way, isnt it!? HaahaaLuke-samacare toe for a walk with me? Huh, Millia? Please consider supporting me. You can do this either by turning off adblock for this blog or via myPatreon page. Thank you. Chapter 138: Maid Breathing First Form! Chapter 138: Maid Breathing First Form! huh? When I turned around, what I saw was an out-of-breath Millia. What, its Millia? I was worried because a red dot was quickly on its way toward me, but it turned out to be just herthough something felt off about her. HaahaaLuke-samacare toe for a walk with me? A-a walk? Fufufuits alrighttheres, theres nothing to be afraid of Nope, no matter how I look at it, youre being scary right now. Scared by the ominous smile on Millias face, I unconsciously took a step back. Because she has been devoted since her time serving as a maid, I had faith that she wouldnt harm me. That said, all my instincts at this moment were sounding an rm. What seems to be the matter? Come on, lets go for a walk I knew it! She is acting strange! In the first ce, it was strange that the dot that represented her in my map was not only red, it also said [Pervert]. Is it possible that the person before me is someone else, only pretending to be her? When I realized that possibility, I quickly used Viger Appraisal. Name: Millia Age: 23 years old Vige Bond Level: Ultra-high Suitable upation: Priest Gift: Oracle nope, it is her. But then, why is she acting like this? The base version of Viger Appraisal couldnt tell me about it, so I thought maybe Viger Appraisal 2 could. However, by using that, I might see other things that I didnt want to see Maid Breathing First Form! [Did you call for me, Master?]! !? She was able to shorten the distance between us in an instant! Since when can Millia move this fast!? Let me exin. Maid Breathing First Form: [Did you call for me, Master?] is a breathing technique unique to maids that allows us to move several times faster than normal so that we can quicklye to our masters side! She exined!? No, wait, more importantly, a breathing technique unique to maids!? Maid Breathing Second Form! [Ill carry you, Master!] Woaah!? She lifted me up!? I didnt know Millia had this much strength! Let me exin. Maid Breathing Second Form: [Ill carry you, Master!] is a breathing technique unique to maids that allows us to have more strength several times than normal so that we can easily carry our masters! Thanks for the exnation, but I still dont understand what youre saying! Dont worry, Luke-sama. Itll all be better soongufufufu Hiii! While carrying me like that, Millia brought me somewhere else. Th-this is bad! Somebody, helpahh! There are twodies there! Help! Millias abducting me! Oh my, they get along so well. Ufufu, how I envy them. Its not like that! Im seriously being abducted here! Shes taking me somewhere dangerous!!! Help! Oh my, I wish a handsome prince will carry me away to somece dangerous as well. Ufufu, how lovely. these two arent of any help. Thanks for your hard work today, vige chief! Youre going on a date with Millia-sama today? Im so jealous! Next, we passed by two men. In what way can being carried away by Millia look like a date to them though? Ahh, more importantly H-help! Millias forcibly taking me somewhere! Forcibly, you say*gulp* Hes so young, but hes already doing those kinds of yyoure so amazing, vige chief Its not like that! Im seriously asking for help here! Ahhh, I too want an older woman teach me stuff. At our age though, thats no longer possible. Yeah, these two arent of any help either! And so, Millia continued carrying me like that. After a while we reached the underground restaurant district that I built recently. However, the whole district was just to misdirect the attention from a hotel of a certain kind. Not long afterward, Millia stopped after reaching the entrance of that hotel. She finally put me down, but she quickly and firmly grabbed hold of my hand to prevent me from escaping. Haahaa, haanow, Luke-sama, let us enter together! W-wait a minute, Millia! This hotels Lets bravely ascend the stairway to adulthood! Millia interrupted me like that before I could finish my own words. However, in the next moment, an employee stood in her way. My apologies, but individuals under 16 years of age are not allowed within. Like that, Millia copsed into the ground. Please consider supporting me. You can do this either by turning off adblock for this blog or via myPatreon page. Thank you. Chapter 139: It’s one of our cows! Chapter 139: Its one of our cows! I travelled to the barn located at the edge of the vige. Ah, Chief Luke! Thanks for all the hard work! Thanks for all the hard work too, Neruru. How are the animals? Theyre all in good health! Neruru had the [Heart of the Animals] Gift. As such, she was made in charge of the viges farm animals. At the moment, we were keeping cows, sheep, and chicken. The milk and eggs we get from them were absolutely delicious, making those some of the viges hidden specialty products. Moo~ Meeh~ Bwak bwaak Theyre so adorable. These ones have just been born. But wow, Chief Luke, theyre already forming a bond with you! But arent there too many newborns? How many adult ones do we have again? At the moment, approximately 200 cows, 500 chickens, 100 sheep, 50 horses, and about 50 other livestock! We have that many? We originally purchased about 10 animals from the Brookley-san the merchant. We did get new young ones as time passed, but the majority of the animals we had were born here. <> So, it really is because of the animal barns effects! But considering the demand for milk and eggs, do we have enough? Our livestock might have grown in numbers, but so did the poption of the vige. I was worried our supply of milk and eggs were not enoughand yet, even now, I havent heard of any kind of shortage of it. Oh. Well, to answer that, lets go over there, toward the pasture. We had set up a vast pasture next to the barn area. Well, it became a pasture, but since pasture wasnt among the list of facilities I could build with my Gift, I had to improvise with a public park. < > I used Facility Customization on it to increase the green tract ofnd until it turned a pasture. It wasnt that far off from being a nature park, to be honest. MOOO~~~~~! !? All of a sudden, along with a thunderous roar, a gigantic figure appeared. In reaction, I instinctively took a step back. A m-monster!? Nope! Its one of our cows! Huh? Thatsa cow? When I looked closer, it was indeed a cow. However, it was a cow that was easily more than 3 meters tall and 5 meters long. Suffice it to say, it was in a different league than the cows I was familiar with. It was no wonder I mistook it for a monster. This child is born here in the vige! Its grown quite big, hasnt it? Grown big was definitely an understatement. So, is that one also a milk cow? Yup! How could it have grown this big though? More surprisingly though, there wasnt just one gigantic cow. Looking around, I found all the cows there were equally gigantic. As you can see, despite their size, theyre all so meek and docile! But more importantly, these cows give so much milk! MOOO~~~~~ It made sense that cows that big would produce lots of milk. And if there were 200 or so of these cows, the viges demand for milk should be well satisfied. Just to be sure, the males still dont produce milk, right? Yup, but for some reason, nothing but female cows are being born right now. Eh, is that so? Upon inspecting the cows leisurely grazing in the pasture a bit more carefully, I confirmed that most of them hadrge udders. I didnt know much about farm animals, but even I could tell that these cows were female. That solves the mystery of where the supply of milkes from, but what about the Bwak bwaak !? Right at that moment, an ostrich-like chicken passed in front me. That chickens born in the vige as well! You mean Im not just imagining that!? Much like the cows, the chickens born and raised here seemed to be muchrger than usual. Before long, other 2-meter-tall chickens were energetically running all over the pasture. These chickensy a lot of eggs! Ahh, perfect timing! Look over there! I looked where she was pointing and saw one chicken ready toy an egg. Huh? Her eggs size isnormal? I was expecting its egg to be as big as an ostrich egg, so I was a bit let down to see that its egg was not much bigger than a normal chickens egg, if at all. In the next moment though *pop**pop**pop**pop**pop**pop* Eggs came out of the gigantic chicken one after the other. Each chickenys about 50 eggs per day! Its the type to make up with numbers! Bawk Please consider supporting me. You can do this either by turning off adblock for this blog or via myPatreon page. Thank you. Chapter 140: So fluffy too! Chapter 140: So fluffy too! MEEH~ Even the sheep are big So fluffy too! Which means we can get a lot of wool! HIHIIINNNN~ The horses too All of them are so strong! And despite their size, theyre super fast! I soon found out that, much like the cows and the chickens, our sheep and horses were also so much bigger than usual. Obviously, our farm animals were originally normal-sized. However, after living within our animal barns for some time, they grew in size. Wait, maybe I can grow taller too if I spend some time here Youre not livestock though, so I doubt itll work. Besides, I think its better youre small and cute like that, vige chief! Well, I dont! I was already 13 years old. This should be when my growth spurt starts, yet More importantly, Ill greatly appreciate it if you can add another barn! How is that more important to me! Considering their birthrate, wed soon have nowhere to put the newborns! Yeah, there were really so many young ones earlier This was likely brought about by the barns effect on the animals reproductive abilities, but even so, this growth in their numbers was truly tremendous. Aside from that, their sizeespecially when they reach adulthoodmade space inside the barns even more scarce. Ok, Ill add 10 more barns. I guess I should also expand the pasture, dont I? Thanks! Ahh, while were in the topic of newborns What is it? Its Tri-chan. Its about to give birth. excuse me? By Tri-chanis she talking about the Tree Dragon? Together with Neruru, I went to a field where, instead of crops, there was a gigantic tree. From afar, it might look a perfectly normal, albeit gigantic, tree. However, upon a closer look, it would be apparent that a part of the trunk greatly resembled the head of a dragon. Yes, this field was the one exclusively used by the Tree Dragon. When we drew near, it began to move as though it recognized us. ~~~~~~~ Tri-chan! Have you been well? As though urging Neruru to hug its snout, the Tree Dragon presented its head to her. Neruru was, of course, happy to indulge. This made the Tree Dragon so happy, it began swinging its tail-like branch left and right. By the way, the Tree Dragon didnt have a name before, but after Neruru began calling it Tri-chan, it kind of stuck and everyone also began to use the name. The person, or rather, the tree itself seemed to be pleased with it, so I didnt see any reason to change the way things were. Look around, vige chief. There are small trees growing here now. Yeah, youre right. When Neruru said so, I noticed the trees growing here and there. They varied in size. Some were just sprouting, while some have grown to be as tall as I was. Are these ordinary trees? Unlike the Tree Dragon, I could not find a dragon-like head anywhere. Hmm, look at this. Neruru said so and approached one of therger saplings. It then began swaying. I-its moving After a moment, it didnt just shake its trunk and branches in ce, it actually moved forward. Theyre apparently almost indistinguishable from treants. Until they be adults, that is. Ohh, I see. Woah, wait, why is it wrapping its branches around me? The sapling that approached started to wrap their branches around my feet and my torso. Its just ying around~ ying around? it kinda hurts though. Rather than being embraced, it felt more like I was being constricted. Because of that, I became unable to move. Ahm, help ~~~~! Ah, it let go. As though it reprimanded the sapling, the Tree Dragon swung one of its branches at the sapling. Soon after, the sapling let me go. At the very least, it seems to listen to its parent. Aww, what a good kid! I dont know if thats what Ill call a good kid At any rate, there were nearly 20 saplings at the moment. It was possible there would be more soon, and if each one grows to be as big as their parent Please consider supporting me. You can do this either by turning off adblock for this blog or via myPatreon page. Thank you. Chapter 141: Leave things to me Chapter 141: Leave things to me TL note: there has been a name change. The adventurer Del is now named Dill, and the adventurer Kamui is now named Gai. Im Alec, an adventurer. At present, I have made the recently built vige in the wastnd my base of operations. Its called a vige, but to be frank, it was on the same scale as a metropolis. When we first arrived here, it could somehow still pass as a stopover town, albeit a very prosperous one. However, in the extremely short time since then, its poption has grown and its infrastructures have increased tremendously to the point that it was hard to believe this ce was originally a wastnd. And it was all thanks to its vige chief and his powers. I, myself, have nothing but gratitude for Chief Luke. If not for this vige, I and my party would never have gotten our Gifts. It was thanks to our Gifts that we could obtain so much more items and materials from the dungeonthat was in this vigethan ever before. We used the money we got from that to upgrade our equipment. And what an upgrade it was. Each piece we bought was made by the dwarves of this vige, meaning it was guaranteed to have great quality. Finding equipment like this would be hard even in the royal capital. After some while, as the rumors of this ce spread further, many other adventurers arrived in the vige. To make purchasing items and materials from us easier, Luke-sama decided to establish a certain organization. Yes, it was the first ever [Adventurers Guild] in the country. In this adventurers guild, parties were assigned a rank based on their achievements. Novice parties start at E, and climb up to D, C, B, and A as they progress. At present, our party was the only party to be awarded an A rank. Oi, arent they that A rank party? [Crimson], I believe theyre called. Yeah, youre right. I heard they broke the record again for the deepest floor reached in the dungeon. When I overheard thosements, I unconsciously smiled. Hey, stop it, your face looks weird. Why are grinning like that, anyway? You say that, Hazena, but youre also grinning from ear to ear, you know. N-n-no, Im not! We needed to have a name for our party in order to register at the guild, and [Crimson] was the name that our party agreed on. It has since be well known by other adventurers. To be honest, beforeing to this vige, I never would have imagined that I would be the center of attention, especially at my age of 38 years old. fameto meis unnecessary I feel the same. The voices around you are nothing but noise. Rid yourselves of your worldly desires, and simply follow the path to where you need to go. Spouting such stoic words were Dill and Gai, the other members of our party. Dill was a hunter who excelled at locating enemies, stealth, and other such things. As for Gai, he was a warrior monk who could not only heal us but was also proficient in fighting with a staff. Based on those words, it would have been understandable to think of the two as upstanding adventurers. I knew better though. I knew that both of them would always go to a bar and have multiple women entertain them, all while they ogled at those women with malicious eyes. At any rate, while most adventurers were active only on the first few floors of the dungeon, we have been devoting ourselves to clearing the deepest floors. Dungeons expand over time. It normally happens little by little though. In the viges dungeon, however, it was happening at quite a quick pace. When we first arrived here, the dungeon had 5 floors, but it now had more than 20. As for why we do it, well, why not? We had obtained Gifts, so we thought we should aim for as high as a goal as we could. The risks were higher, yes, but it was well worth it to us so far. We were nning to go deep into the dungeon today as well. Kamuru, were in your expert hands again today. Hey, yeah, leave things to me. In order to clear the dungeon, we have employed Kamuru, a viger who possessed the [Labyrinth Exploration] Gift. His participation always made a great deal of difference in exploring the dungeon. And because of that, many other parties naturally also wanted his help. For some reason though, he seemed to give scheduling preference to our party. Youre always such a great help. I-it might be unexplored as of yet, but I know the ce like the back of my hand already, so rest easy while Im here! it might be just my imagination, but can it be that hes interested in Hazena? Kamuru was 38 years old like me. Meanwhile, Hazena was just 18 years old. Moreover, Kamuru wasnt fortunate enough to have good looks, unlike Hazena who was popr enough among adventurers that some of them secretly formed a fan club for her. Them bing a couple just didnt seem likely to me. Please consider supporting me. You can do this either by turning off adblock for this blog or via myPatreon page. Thank you. Chapter 142: Well, it is the village chief we’re talking about here Chapter 142: Well, it is the vige chief were talking about here [Everchanging dungeon], that was what adventurers like us have dubbed the dungeon in the wastnd vige. Perhaps this dungeons most distinguishing trait was that the scenery and the atmosphere totally change every 5 floors or so. Because of that, one had to be prepared not only to face different kinds of monsters and traps, but also to be ready for the new environment. For the first floor up to the fifth, the dungeon was a typical cave-type dungeon. The monsters that appeared there were mainly goblins and kobolds, making the area a good hunting ground for novice adventurers. Some of the most popr items to be gathered in the area were the goblins rusted weapons and the kobolds fur. The rusted weapons could be melted down and be reused in making new weapons and other metallic items, while the kobolds fur could be used in making clothes. At the fifth floor, there awaited an area boss called the Elder Kobold. Being a higher-rank kobold, it served as the first major obstacle for many new adventurers. But then again, escaping from the boss and going to the next floor was also an option. Moreover, because it takes about an hour for the area boss to respawn, it was possible to not have to face the boss at all if the prior adventurers did manage to defeat it. Hmmp! Guaaa!? At our level though, an Elder Kobold could be killed instantly. After Gai thwacked it in the head with his staff, it fell to the ground. And when the kill was confirmed, Dill immediately proceeded to use his knife to expertly tear off the Elder Kobolds fur. An Elder Kobolds fur tended to sell for a high price, so we always made sure to bring it back. Kamuru was the one carrying our luggage, so adding a bit more to it didnt affect ourbat strength much. After the boss room was a safety zone. In such a ce, no monsters would ever appear. And thanks to the simple lodgings there, adventurers could even stay the night. There were also some restaurants here, making it possible to enjoy a good meal even deep into the dungeon. As for us, we simply passed through. We still have far to go today, after all. From the sixth floor up to the tenth, the dungeon still looked like a cavern system, only now it was a lot greener thanks to the moss and other vegetation. Many insect-type monsters inhabited the area, such as the spider-like Tarants and the ant-like Armored Ants. Unsurprisingly, this area wasnt popr with female adventurers. As for the areas most popr items, it included the materials from the Armored Ants that could be used in making defensive equipment, as well as a type of honey from their of bee-like monsters called Mad Bees. Medicinal herbs could also be gathered here, but since basic medicinal herbs were being cultivated back in the viges fields inrge amounts anyway, no adventurer picked up the herbs here in order to sell them. This dungeon was set up so that there was an area boss every 5 floors. For the tenth floor, the area boss was the Mother Tarant, the higher-rank version of the Tarants. The thread that could be obtained from the Mother Tarants gigantic web was extremely durable, so it understandably sells for a high price. However, because it was difficult to collect, we usually dont bother with it. Much like the previous area boss, it was possible to get through the boss room without defeating the Mother Tarant. Even better, since it didnt attack unless approached really closely, we simply walked straight ahead. There was another safe zone afterwards. This time, we decided to take a short rest. For the eleventh floor up to the fifteenth, the dungeon began to look like some kind of ruin. It was almost like abyrinth made of stone, to be honest. There were noticeably more traps in here, but more noteworthy was the frequent appearance of minotaurs. And because minotaur meat remained in high demand, this area was where most adventurers gathered. Serving as the area boss at the fifteenth floor was a ck Minotaur. Like its name would suggest, it was a higher-rank minotaur. Its meat was also of a higher rank in qualitypared to ordinary minotaur meat. However, when factoring in how hard to defeat a ck Minotaur was, it could be argued that the meat wasnt worth it. As such, there was only a small portion of adventurers that repeatedly hunted the area boss. By the way, it used to be that we could hunt minotaurs in the first couple of floors of the dungeon. However, probably because we hunted down too much of them, we now had to descend a good number of floors just to meet one. Such sudden changes were not at all rare in this dungeon. I did hear that the vige chief is close with the dungeon master, so maybe, I dont know, they adjust it based on the current situation. Ive never heard of a dungeon that does something like this though Well, it is the vige chief were talking about here. Indeed, it is the vige chief, after all. Please consider supporting me. You can do this either by turning off adblock for this blog or via myPatreon page. Thank you. Chapter 143: I can sense a chest that way Chapter 143: I can sense a chest that way Bumooooooooooo!? So went the ck Minotaursst cry. For an A rank party like us, even an area boss for the fifteenth floor didnt pose much threat. Its heavy as always We carried the defeated ck Minotaur to the safety zone, but because of its weight and size, we naturally couldnt afford to carry it all the way to the deepest parts of the dungeon. Yes, the usual, please. Thanks for your patronage. Perhaps due to some requests from adventurers, a service was offered in the safe zone: the temporary safekeeping of the items and the materials we had gathered. We didnt even have to dismantle our prey first before handing it to them since they offered to do that for us. Furthermore, if we asked for it, they could also transport our belongings back to the vige. Thanks to this, some parties dived deeper and deeper into the dungeon and then deposit all their gathered items and materials whenever passing a safe zone. At any rate, now that our load was lighter, we proceeded the sixteenth floor. Starting from the sixteenth floor, the environment was once again that of a cavern system. This time though, it was the kind covered in ice. While the scenery was beautiful and almost magical, the fact remains that this ce, with its extreme cold and its slippery ground, was deadly to us adventurers. The monsters that frequently appeared herelike the White Grizzlies and the Ice Wolveswere all quite powerful too. On the other hand, the fur that could be obtained from them were all high-ss items. Because of that, many of the more powerful adventurers preferred hunting here rather than hunting the minotaurs. The area boss waiting in the twentieth floor was a group of Yetisone Big Yeti and about 10 other regr Yetis. Because it was against a group of strong enemies, it understandably wasnt a simple fight for most parties. In fact, even our party had a difficult time on our first encounter with the group. However, we have since mastered how to deal with them and thus no longer consider them especially hard to fight. The key was paying minimal attention to the ten regr Yetis and focus mostly on the Big Yeti. Once the Big Yeti was down, the cooperation between the others crumble at once, making the rest of the fight easy. Fire magic was quite effective against the regr Yetis, so we usually had Hazena keep them in check, while the three of us took down the Big Yeti as quickly as we could. well, theyre not worth that much, so lets just leave them be. The Big Yeti defeated, we decided to ignore the rest and move on to the next floor. The Yetis fur wasnt exceptionally expensive, so it usually wasnt worth the riskor at least, effortto subjugate them. Starting from the 21st floor, the scenery became that of a ruin again. Only this time, it resembled a graveyard. The enemies that appeared around here were mainly undead-type monsters. Not much could be obtained from such monsters though. In exchange though, rare items could often be found in the chests here. This was on top of the fact that there tended to be more chests in Ruin-type environmentspared to cave-type environments. I can sense a chest that way. Is it near? I think so. Ok, lets get it then. Unsurprisingly, Kamuruwho could sense the location of the treasure chestswas even more helpful in these areas. That being said, since our partys primary goal was to reach the as-of-yet unexplored depths of the dungeon, we only picked up those that were on the way. As for the areas boss, it was a high-rank undead called a Wight. It was naturally a strong enemy, but it was just ill-matched against our party thanks to Gai who could use light magic. Upon defeat, this area boss always dropped an item called [Staff of the King of the Dead]. That item always sells for an extremely high price, so we made a point of subjugating it even though we had opportunities to slip past it. Starting from the 26th floor, it was a cave-type environment again. Lava was flowing here and there, making us sweat profusely just by standing. It was more than fair enough to say that this was an extremely harsh environment. Actually, this was where we decided to head backst time. Due to the excessive sweating, the water in our bodies had nearly dried out, causing us to feel ill. We were able to deal with the cold from before simply by putting on more clothes, but the heat wasnt so simple to deal with. Thankfully, we had a countermeasure for it this time: the special, deep-blue liquid made by the viges alchemist. It was a so-called freeze potion. We took out bottles of it out from our bag of supplies and poured the liquid on our bodies. Now that we have done so, we have obtained a great deal of resistance against fire and heat for a certain amount of time. Woah, its so cold!? M-my bodyits shivering Its far more effective than we thought. Just by pouring a liter of freeze potion on our bodies, it felt like we were continuously submerged in ice water. And like that, we went further into thisve-filled ce. Please consider supporting me. You can do this either by turning off adblock for this blog or via myPatreon page. Thank you. Chapter 144: A crab monster would make for a good boss Chapter 144: A crab monster would make for a good boss Luke! Please advise me on how to design the next area! Sure. But, dont you have, like, 35 floors right now? Today, I went to visit Ahri, the dungeon master. Yup! Thanks to you, my ce has gotten quite impressive! Her dungeon only had two floors when we first discovered it, but it has since expanded so much. For a dungeon to develop, things called dungeon points were needed. These were awarded after each visitor to her dungeon has spent a certain amount of time within it. In addition to the dwarves living here, there have also been a great number of adventurers delving into the dungeon, so dungeon points were flowing in steadily. And recently, people have been entering the dungeon just to sightsee, essentially turning it into a tourist attraction. Somebody already cleared the 30th floor though! The 26th up to 30th floor of her dungeon was cave-type area that was scorching hot due to theva flowing within it. Because of that harsh environment, it was hardif not impossibleto clear it without some kind of countermeasure. Was it Alec-sans party? Ive heard theyve asked the vige alchemist to make them some freeze potions. If someone poured freeze potion onto their body, they would be highly resistant to fire and heat for a certain length of time. It was useful not just against such a harsh environment, but also against monsters who made use of fire-attribute attacks. That item was actually the reason I advised Ahri to make this area like this. I liked the thought that the solution to such a harsh ce lied in the information and items that could be obtained in the vige. Speaking of, yes, I have been helping Ahri with her dungeon. It felt kind of like running a game. It was fun. As an aside, the most recent area of her dungeonthe 31st up to the 35th floor, more specificallywas a pitch-ckbyrinth. Unless adventurers secured a source of light that couldst them through, they would find it nigh impossible to break through. So, for the next area, Ive been thinking of making it full of traps that apply all sorts of abnormal status conditions! Theyll get afflicted with something every step they take! Like that, they wont be able to make it through, right? Hmm, well, that kind of gimmick is usually disliked though Then, what about a cave-type area where the passages are so narrow, no human-sized person will be able to crawl through! Absolutely no one will like that kind of dungeon, you know. Unfortunately, Ahri the dungeon masters dungeon sense(?) was the worst. If left to her own devices, she would fill her dungeon from start to finish with traps. Focusing on defense was one thing, but forgoing all sense of game bnce would make the adventurers lose interestwait, why am I speaking like it really is a game? But then again, adventurers who have delved that deep in the dungeon were doing it more for the satisfaction rather than for profit, so a challenge that was a little bit outrageous was still eptable. How about a cave system thats submerged in water at certain parts? Adventurers will have to swim under to get through or to get treasure chests. That sounds fun! Or how about a ruin where stepping on certain floors will make them uncontrobly move in a certain direction. If they dont figure out the exact route to the exit, they might end up at the beginning. That sounds like a headache! Or how about this: the entire floor is one vast and wall-lessndscape, and the stairway to the next level is visible right from the entrance, but in exchange for all that, the adventurers have to face a horde of monsters all at once. I havent thought of that before! In the end, Ahri decided to make the 36th up to the 40th floor be a cave-type environment that had certain portions submerged in water. Can you make aquatic monsters? Of course! Fish-type and crab-like monsters coulde in handy in terms of being sources of marine products, amodity that wasnt avable in the vige as of yet. Of course, transporting them out of the dungeon would be a pain, but it wasnt like there would be a whole lot to transport anyway. As for clearing the area, finding a way to extend the time they could hold their breath underwater would be useful for the adventurers, but I wouldnt say that it was be absolutely necessary. Rather, the thing they might need to worry about more was how to deal with their wet equipment. Unlike in a game, letting an equipment stay wet would have an adverse effect on their stamina. I guess a crab monster would make for a good boss. Their hard shells will make physical attacks against them terribly less effective, right? Just like that, Ahri and I discussed the finer details like each floors mapyout, monster types and cement, trap types and their cement as well, and many other things. Please consider supporting me. You can do this either by turning off adblock for this blog or via my Patreon page. Thank you. Chapter 145: Noo, I’m not ann adventurer, noo Chapter 145: Noo, Im not ann adventurer, noo My name is Geese, and I am an adventurer. I heard a certain rumor recently: there was apparently a new city built in the wastnd located in the north of the Albert territory. Moreover, they say that ce had a nearby dungeon where novice and veteran adventurers alike could reliably earn a good amount of money. And as if that wasnt amazing enough, they also say that there were safe zones within the dungeons, making prolonged dungeon exploration a lot more manageable. The city itself sounded amazing for adventurers. Firstly, there seemed to be lodgings exclusively for us. In addition, high-quality equipment made by dwarves and potent potions made by elves were apparently for sale there at a very reasonable price. Too reasonable, if what I heard was right. For those reasons, it was no wonder that adventurers were rushing toward the ce. Im sure its all nonsense. Its just too good to be true. I didnt believe any bit of that rumor when I first heard it andughed alongside those around me. In the first ce, there was just no way a city like those in the rumors could ever be built in that wastnd. All that being said, my curiosity as an adventurer won in the end. I cant believe itits real Firstly, I couldnt believe I had reached the ce in such a short time despite the fact that I didnt walk any faster than usual. And when I saw the city in the rumors, I was dumbfounded further. By the walls that could rival those in the royal capital; by therge buildings lined up; by the crowds of people going to and from the city. And all of those things were in a wastnd where no vegetation could grow. Before checking out anything else, I headed toward the dungeon area within the city. Apparently, the lodgings that were exclusively for adventurers were just a few steps away from the dungeon itself. And near those buildings were the adventurers guildthe one and only in this countryas well as a training ground. I decided to take a peek at the training ground. There, I saw people who looked like fellow adventurers practicing with some swords. Ohh, theyre quite skilled, arent they? Skilled and talented adventurers seemed to have gathered in this city. Well, they do say sessful adventurers are those who dont let their initial impressions cloud their judgment. Even if the information is unbelievable, like the one this time, theyll verify the truth with their own keen eyes. Evidently, I was among those people. While I reveled at that fact, someone called out to me. Heyy, I dont think Ive seen your mug around here beforee. Yeah, Ive just arrived. So thats whyy. Youre gonna love it heree; its fantast. His slightly slurred way of talking was quite noticeable, but just as noticeable was his well-trained body. He seemed to be a swordsman, judging from the sword on his waist. If you dont mind, how about we spaar? You want to spar with me? Hmm, sure. All that travelling has put me in the mood to swing my sword. Ooh, great, thankss. Im still learning, ya seee. Despite his assertiveness, the man before me was quite modest. However, this put me in a little bit of a bind. I had learned my swordsmanship from a well-known swordsman, and Ive never missed a day of practice ever since. I was quite proud of myself for having a sword style different from other adventurers. If the man before me was indeed a beginner, well, fighting him seriously would be unfair, to put it lightly. Okay, then let me teach you a thing or two. Come at me however you want. Haa, haa, haaa g-good job. L-lets end it here today I was breathing hard and was barely able to say those words. Thats still learning!? Youve got to be kidding! Youre so strong already! We were about even. About halfway through, I began to take it seriously. However, never mind winning, I could have easily lost if I got careless for just a moment. I had made a fool of myself when I said let me teach you a thing or two. Man, I shouldnt have made light of you. This is where strong adventurers like you have gathered, after all. Now I know that if I assume this ce is like the other cities Ive been to, Im in for a world of hurt. Adventurers like me? ? Whats wrong? Youre an elite adventurer, right? Cmon man, thats not funny. Stop talking like youre not a big shot adventurer. Despite being ufortable with the other persons reaction, I decided to shrug it off. In the next moment though, I realized the misunderstanding I made. Noo, Im not ann adventurer, noo. Im normally a farmeeer. Ive learned how to use the sword just recentlyy. huh? <> Please consider supporting me. You can do this either by turning off adblock for this blog or via myPatreon page. Thank you. Chapter 146: No matter I look at it, you’ve all gotten so muscular! Chapter 146: No matter I look at it, youve all gotten so muscr! say, havent all of you gotten so, I dont know, muscrtely? When I went to one of the viges public bathhouses, I noticed everyones improved physique. I had a bath at home, of course, but Ie here from time to time to interact with the vigers. Haahaa, I dont think so, chief. Were what weve always been. Yup, yup. Nope, no matter I look at it, youve all gotten so muscr! I mean, your arms are as thick as thighs now! I had no idea why the vigers were denying it, but it was as clear as day that they have bulked up. Their chest looked like they were about to burst; their backs were like a mountain range; and their thighs almost seemed armored. Moreover, it wasnt just a few people, it was all of them that became hardcore macho men. It was like I got lost and ended up in a bodybuilders convention or something. It makes sense if you were in the hunting group or if you were an adventurer, but why would your regr jobs make you look like that? I mean, look at Belrith-san, theres no way his body looked like that before, right? Unlike his younger brother, Balrath-san, who had the [Sword Techniques] Gift and trained regrly, Belrith-sans regural job didnt require much muscle. Wehm, well, truth be told, I have been doing a little bit of training I dont think a little bit of training will get that level of result though. Wondering how that happened, I pressed my serious face close to Belrith-san. And then, it looked like he just had an idea. Ahh, I think we have the facility you made to thank. Huh? The facility I made? Yes. I think the reason why ordinary vigers like me have be so muscr is that weve been doing exercises in the training grounds. The training grounds? <> I myself thought it was only for the hunters, the guards, and the adventurers, but a person one day decided to sneak in and train there. After a short while, his physique became impressiveother men then became aware of it and began training in their spare time. Before we knew it, we all became muscr. Some of us even began learning how to use the sword and the spear, with some being able to stand their ground against adventurers who have just arrived in the vige. Undoubtably, this phenomenon was because of the training grounds [Increases ones improvement rate] effect. Oh, thats it, yes! I unintentionally shouted so when an idea came to me. I seemed to be destined to be eternally childlike and unable to grow taller. Those around me often say so cute, but I would rather they say to me so cool. I want to be macho just like you all, so Im going to exercise in the training ground too! Alright, theres no time to waste! Im going th *Grab* huh? Belrith-san, why did you grab my arm? Ahm, can you let go? Im getting out. Chief, deepest apologies but I cant let you go. W-why!? Becausebeing all macho doesnt suit you, chief! Huhhhhhhhhhh!? I agree! Its best you stay the way you are right now, chief! Yup, absolutely never train! The thought of the chief bing all muscr, its unbearable! Please! Please leave all the muscles to us! It wasnt just Belrith-san who asked me to stay; the other macho men quickly followed suit. Its not a matter of whether it suits me or not, ok!? Ive decided to do this, so please, let me go! I tried to free myself from Belrith-sans hold, but he was too strong for me. Furthermore, the other macho men stood in a line in front of me, forming a wall of muscles. It was impossible for the muscle-less me to escape. Grrf-fine, if youre asking for it that much, Ill stop Thus, I abandoned my ns of bing a macho man myself. or so I wanted them to believe. There was no way I was going to give up that easily. Okay, before anyone finds out, Ill go sneak into the training ground. I thought so, but Is something the matter, vige chief? Vige chief, you cant possibly have any business here, right? Good morning, chief! Every time I went to the training ground, a macho man would always be there and stop me! Id like to get in Hahaha! What nice weather were having! I see, talkings no use In the end, no matter the time of day, I was not able to get in. Got that, everyone!? Under no circumstance should we let Luke-sama enter the training ground! Let us all work together and preserve Luke-samas young boy figure! Yeeeeeeesssss! The believers of the Luke Faithled by Milliawere thwarting all of Lukes efforts to be muscr. Please consider supporting me. You can do this either by turning off adblock for this blog or via myPatreon page. Thank you. Chapter 147: Give them special education Chapter 147: Give them special education In this world, children were considered a valuable part of the workforce. However, our vige had more than enough of a workforce that children didnt have to pitch in as well. Given that, I decided to build a school where they could study for the sake of their future. <> For now, it was a 6-year program for children ages 5 to 10. In addition to teaching how to read, how to do basic arithmetic, and history, we would also be teaching the children about this worlds Gifts, magic, skills, monsters, and monster-infested areas. We would of course be adding more topicster on, such as hygiene and physical education. As for who were going to be the teachers, they would be selected from the vigers based on their Gifts as well as their suitable upationsas determined by my viger appraisal. Luke-sama, I believe we must also teach theology and worship. Millia, the viges one and only priest, proposed so. Now that I think about, I do feel like religion-rted topics were also taught in school in my previous life. But whos gonna teach it? Please leave it to me. As the viges priest, it is my duty to guide the children in such matters. Okay, but are you sure? I mean, youre already doing the worship meetings, right? Oh, theres no need to worry; I wont run out of things to talk about anytime soon, after all. (*Fufufunow I can brainwaerr, give them special education while theyre young*) ? By the way, no particr day of the week was ever set for the viges day of worship, so the day she would teach at the school and the day she would hold the viges worship meetings could be freely moved around. Afterwards, I also built a library and an art museum in the vige. <> <> In this country where war has bemonce, it wasnt rare for books and artworks to be destroyed or simply neglected. Those who immigrate to this vige would sometimes bring with them such items, so I figured we should buy as many as we could and preserve them. On a certain day, a group of women arrived in the vige. Some were in thetter half of their teens, while some were in their twenties. All of them had rather thick make up and strong perfume. A pleasure to meet you, vige chief. Im Fana. Their representative, a voluptuous woman in her mid-twenties, introduced herself so. We actually have a request for you. Arequest? Yes. You see, all of us previously worked as prostitutes back home. However, circumstances have forced us to leave our home city behind and go to this newnd. We were hoping that there would be a demand for us here in this new, rapidly-growing city of yours. I had no clue what happened to them, but if what I heard was truethat prostitutes usually had poor work environmentsthey probably decided to take a chance in the vige when they heard of us in the rumors. Yes, of course, Ill direct you all to proper jobs. proper jobs? Yes. For example, there is currently a good demand for women in the clothing atelier and the restaurants Due to the childbirth boom right now, there have been ack of manpowertely, meaning a lot of jobs up for offer. I could appraise this groupter on and tell them which jobs they should first try based on their aptitudes and potential Gifts. Does the vige chief perhaps think that prostitution is an improper job? !? I gasped when she pointed out something unexpected. Ahm, well, no Of course, I admit that it isnt a job that one would usually openly boast about. Many in this line of work do it out of necessity and would probably prefer a normal, respectable job. A proper job, as some would put it. However, there are those among us who do take pride in our job. Her words were incredibly thought-provoking. I realized that I did have a prejudice against prostitution. Well, lets just say that for women who loves doing the deed by an extraordinary amount, this profession is a true calling! Ahh, all this talks making me want to put a mans thing inside me as soon as possible! There are some things better off unsaid, you know! Like that, I reluctantly decided to build a brothel for them. < > Fufufu, say, you dont look like youve known a womans touch, mister vige chief. I will dly take your firsHiii!? ? Fana-san, who was staring intently at me, suddenly became ghastly pale for some reason. F-forget what I said just now~~! After saying so, she left as though she was running away. ? I looked behind me to see if there was anything that could cause Fana-san to be like that, but all I saw there was Millia with her usual, gentle smile. I wonder what happened. Please consider supporting me. You can do this either by turning off adblock for this blog or via myPatreon page. Thank you. Chapter 148: I don’t think my healing was that effective… Chapter 148: I dont think my healing was that effective A-amazing work, doctor! I dont feel any pain anymore! Thank you very much! A patient who was suffering from stomach pains was nowpletely fine. After seeing that patient off, the young man named Muon smiled wry. I dont think my healing was that effective Muon was known to be the only healing magic user in a certain small town located in the northern Albert territory. Despite studying healing magic at a school that specialized in it, he had always beenckluster at it. The most he could after three years of hard study was relieve some pain. It wouldnt surprise him if somebody told him that he was able to graduate only because of pity. Nevertheless, people who could use healing magic were exceedingly rare. So, even though he treated his patients mostly through regr medicine instead of magic like he was advertising, he was earning a living. However, about a month ago, something strange happened: his healing magic suddenly had greater potency. I cant think of anything thatll cause this improvement to my magicbut thinking of the timing, wasnt it around the time that I moved into this building? A month prior, he relocated his clinic to a new building. This new building was apparently built by the chief of the wastnd vige that was always in the rumorstely. It should go without saying that the chief employed the help of carpenters, but if the rumors were to be believed, this building and the others like it appeared in the blink of an eye. Moreover, none of the towns carpenters were said to have been involved in the construction of any of the new buildings. The moment I enter the clinic recently, I feel this mysterious powerbut no, what am I saying? Theres no way a building can have an effect like that When he remarked so, a person from the town suddenly rushed into the clinic. D-doctor! Sir Bals been attacked by a monster! Hes seriously wounded! The others are on their way to bring him here! What!? This Bal was one of the towns guards. As such, he helped to maintain the towns order and security by dealing with monsters that appeared nearby, arresting criminals, and many other things. After a while, a man covered in blood was carried into the clinic by a group of guards. W-what happened He was attacked by an al-miraj variant! He thought it was an ordinary one and got careless Bal had a serious puncture wound in his stomach. In all likelihood, an al-mirajs sharp horn was to me. After Bal was set down, Muon immediately used his healing magic. Despite his improved capabilities though, he could not close the wound. It was simply too severe for that. If anything, at this point, it was a wonder that Bal was still alive. Just when Muon was about to admit that there couldnt be anything done, he remembered something. Ahh, thatIm sure, its here, somewhere He then hurriedly searched his cupboards. After a little while, he took out a vial that had a mysterious liquid inside. The potionthe legendary medicinefor some reason, this was in this clinic when I first arrivedif this is the real thing, then Muon havent tried the liquid before, so he was unsure if it really was a potion. However, if he wanted to save the gravely injured man before him, he had no other choice than to risk it. And so, he opened the vials lid and made the patient drink it down. The effects were dramatic. It wasnt just that the bleeding stopped right away, the whole puncture wound was closing. Not even the healing magic that Muons teachers used could ever produce such effect. Unbelievable Thanks to the potion, the guards life was saved. And just a few dayster, the guard made a full recovery. So, it really was a potionbut why would such a valuable thing be in a small town like this? Muon couldnt even begin to imagine what price a medicine as potent as that could have. And yet, there were two of it left. Whoever left it in the clinic should have a connection to that rumored wastnd vige, Muon thought. And so, to ascertain things, he has decided to journey there. But when he arrived, rather than a vige, he found a metropolis. And shocking him more was Potions are sold here likemon items!?!?!? Please consider supporting me. You can do this either by turning off adblock for this blog or via my Patreon page. Thank you. Chapter 149: Why is there so much noise from the workshop today? Chapter 149: Why is there so much noise from the workshop today? My name is Leonius. I previously was the patriarch of an elven hamlet, but right now, I was simply a viger in what used to be a wastnd. That might sound like my fate turned for the worse, but life here was actually so much morefortable. Most of the humans here were quite friendly too. It took no time at all for me and my brethren to get familiar with our new lives. Upon Luke-sama the vige chiefs request, we were producing potionsthe medicine whose form we elves have been passing from generation to generationas much as we could. Prior toing to this vige, we needed to put in an awful lot of time and effort to concoct a single potion. The bottleneck to the whole procedure was the procurement of the necessary medicinal herbs. Some of the ingredients grew so rarely, even in the forest. We, of course, had tried to cultivate it over and over again, but our efforts ended in failure. Now that we live in this vige though, we could easily produce so many potions in a short amount of time. Unlike before, the herbs were growing in the viges fields inrge quantities. To be honest, the sight of those herbs in the fields made me almost soil myself. Moreover, the time it takes us to concoct the potions was significantly shortened. At least, it seemed so while working within one the so-called workshops built by the vige chief. Merchants wereing by one after another to buy the potions that we made. Our potions were also sold at the viges apothecary, and was greatly valued by adventurers and travelers. Potions are sold here likemon items!?!?!? In their surprise, a visitor shouted so. The visitor was a young human man. It seemed like what surprised him was the price and the avability of the potions. We actually were making two kinds of potions at the moment. The first kind was what we usually made. The other kindwhat we referred to as the high potionswas significantly more potent than the regr ones. Unlike the regr potions, the high potions could cure the severely wounded. The knowledge on how to make high potions was passed down to only a few in our hamlet. And for many years, it had been impossible for us to make one. Aftering to this vige though, weve secured the means to make it again. That being said, it was currently still hard for us to mass produce the high potions. Due to that, we decided not to have those for sale. Hopefully, our research would change the situation one day. Speaking of research, we were also working with the viges alchemists and doctors to develop another kind of potion. While the regr potions and the high potions could treat wounds quickly, they had no effect at all against illnesses, poisons, and other abnormal status conditions. So, the new potion being developedwe decided to call it cure potionwould focus on curing those things. Oncepleted, this should be able to help old people like me live a little bit longer. We have already seeded in producing a potion with such effects, all that remained now was increasing its potency. Whats going on? Why is there so much noise from the workshop today? I thought so when I was near the potion-making workshop. Unlike the usual where everyone was quietly devoting themselves in research as well as in making the potions, the atmosphere within the workshop waspletely different. Leonius-dono! W-we have a situation! What, what is it? I-itsfor now, follow me this way! The I was brought to a ce where they were keeping a certain liquid within a vial. The liquid was glowing a faint light. I dont think Ive seen that liquid before? Is that a potion? While doing an experiment for the cure potion, we unintentionally made this one. Please observe the mouse. What!? The elf acting as a lead researcher opened the vial and then poured some of the liquid over to a mouse we were using for our experiments. The mouse had its tail was cut off at the base, but as soon as the liquid touch the mouse, we could see before our eyes the tail growing back. It can grow lost limbs? Butbut that sort of thing can onlyno, it cant beis it that? Yes. Weve managed to create the miraculous medicine of legendsan elixir. Please consider supporting me. You can do this either by turning off adblock for this blog or via myPatreon page. Thank you. Chapter 150: Why don’t you guys take it easy for a bit…? Chapter 150: Why dont you guys take it easy for a bit? Luke-dono! Luke-dono!! What is it, Leonius-san? Why are you so flustered? To the workshop! P-pleasee with me to the workshop! ? That day, I was asked toe by the workshop where the elves worked. <> There were various workshops in the vige, but this one was mainly for the making of potions. Originally, potions could be produced only in limited amounts. However, once we seeded in cultivating the herbs needed in the recipe, the vige became able to mass produce potions. There was even a more potent kind of potion called the high potion. More kinds were being developed too. P-please take a look at this. Leonius-san said so and then poured a mysterious, slightly glowing liquid over a tail-lessb mouse. Waitit grew Potions and high potions were powerful, but even those things couldnt regrow lost appendages and such. And yet, the mouse now had its tail back. I cant believe a potion can do such a thing! It cant! This thing here is that legendary medicine: the elixir! Elixir!? Details were unclear due to it being a legend, but an elixir was supposed to be this miraculous medicine that could: regrow lost body parts; cure illnesses; remedy inborn disabilities; and, if drunk, it can even make a person 50 years younger. On closer inspection, theb mouse didnt just have its tail grow back, its coat of fur became so much better than before. After having it appraised, Ive been told that this definitely is that elixir. Even among our ancestors, it was believed that only those who held special power, those we called High Elves, could make such a thingits real and yet I still cant believe we were able to make it Ovee with emotion, Leonius-san said so. He then informed me that even though the elixir was an idental result from their development efforts in making new types of potions, they have sessfully identified the precise method for making it. In other words, they should be able to make moreter. However, due to the amount of materials necessary, its not possible to mass produce them at the moment. Also, I would rather make it only when requested rather than beforehand If it gets known that we could make such a thing here in this vige, there would be amotion. It was said that in the past, noble and royal families from all over the world wanted to have an elixir so much, they ended up waging war against each other. And all that for what turned out to be a fake elixir. The elixir has such a stigma. yes, lets keep this between us Later on, Leonius-san asked me toe to their workshop again. They showed me the new potions they have developed. Just by drinking this muscle potion, one can temporarily increase their strength tenfold! Please observe. Even a normally powerless elf like me can do something likethis! Leonius-san said so and then mmed his fist downward. With a thunderous roar, the ground became cracked. huh? While I was still stunned like that, Leonius-san brought out another new potion. Heres another one! If you drink this one, its your intelligence this time that will be tenfold! He drank that potion and then added 20 5-digit numbers together in under 5 seconds. Its 795, 165! C-correct Contrary to what his position as the elves patriarch might suggest, Leonius-san waswell, he wasnt exactly the brightest of the bunch. So, for him to calcte the answer so quickly And if you drink this erection potion, your endurance will be tenfold! Whats with that name!? Also, please dont drink that and show me its effects, alright!? If it is done in the viges hotel, even us elves who have low reproductive ability can conceive right away! In fact, my wife who hasnt been pregnant in over 50 years is with child right now! Ahm, congrattions Philia-san was apparently about to have a new sibling. We also have potions that deters monsters froming any closer; potions thatpletely erases ones presence; potions that makes ones body as flexible as a mollusk; potions that eliminates foul odor H-hold on! I interrupted the excited Leonius-san. J-just how many have you guys developed? At least 30. At least 30!? Ahmwhy dont you guys take it easy for a bit? Please consider supporting me. You can do this either by turning off adblock for this blog or via my Patreon page. Thank you. Chapter 151: Yes, I managed to make a magic sword Chapter 151: Yes, I managed to make a magic sword My name is Dn. I and the other dwarves originally lived in a cavern system at the foot of a mountain range. However, after some events, we ended up moving to a human-built vige in the nearby wastnd. Our new life at the vige was veryfortable. Having spent many years of our lives inside the caverns, the suns light felt unsettling for us. Considering that, the vige chief decided to make a residential space underground specifically for us. Also, unlike back in the caverns where we could eat mostly only snakes and insects, we could eat all sorts of delicious food here. Water could be used freely, so everyone in the vige including us took a bath each day. Thanks to that, we were always so clean. But perhaps the thing that delighted us the most was the alcohol. Back in the caverns, we ever so rarely drank alcohol, but in the vige, we could drink to our hearts content. On top of that, the alcohol here was extraordinarily delicious. The vige chief forbade us from drinking alcohol outside of our underground residence though. We had absolutely no problemplying with that and have been drinking among ourselves almost every night. for some reason though, we always wind up undressing ourselves. All that being said, it wasnt like we were freeloading off the vige. We did various things to contribute. Some helped in making our beloved alcohol, while some did hardbor by making good use of a dwarfs strong body. Unsurprisingly though, most of us contributed through cksmithing. Our skillful hands have produced the majority of the weapons and equipment here in the vige. Materials were easy toe by here unlike in caverns, so it was easy enough to mass-produce high-quality equipment. And because we sold the equipment for a reasonable price, merchants and adventurers alike would always be in shock at first. What!? This sword only cost this much? Is that supposed to be a joke or something? You do know that something like this cost at least 5 times in royal capital, right!? A particr visitor, an adventurer based on his looks, was shouting so loudly. Whats going on in this cityhow the heck can regr citizens hold their own against me in sword fighting, and why in zes are there so many macho men everywhere!? In that particr adventurers hand was one of the mass-produced equipment we made. Those mass-produced ones were generally made by the dwarves who didnt have a [Smithing] Gift. Naturally, an equipment made by someone who had a [Smithing] Gift or something simr was far better. It wasnt only in terms of sharpness or ease of use; most of the equipment they made were enchanted by a skill of some kind. For example, an equipment with [Indestructibility] would make an equipment barely lose durability, while an equipment with [Enhance Body] would make the users body be stronger. Recently, the dwarves with Gifts have been producing these special weapons and equipment one after another in hopes that theirs would be better than the others works. Whats going on? Why is there so much noise from the workshop today? I thought so when I was near the workshop for smithing. Unlike the usual where everyone was quietly devoting themselves in their work, the atmosphere within the workshop waspletely different. Dn! W-we havesomething! What, what is it? I-itsfor now, follow me this way! Dona! Mhm. The one being called was Dona, a dwarf who has just recently turned 12 years old. Uponing of age, she received the [Weapon Craftsman] Gift. Ever since then, she has developed many new kinds of equipment. To name but a few: special swords that could transform into whips; prosthetic arms that could be moved like the real thing and even be used to swing a sword; and shields and armors that reduced the damage received by absorbing the shock. Apparently, that girl has made something new again. Am I missing something? It looks like nothing but a normal sword to me? However, what she held in her hands looked nothing more a perfectly ordinary sword. I couldnt help but wonder if it was again something like that sword that could turn into a whip. Ei! ~~!? After Dona shouted and swung the sword, a bright light assailed my eyes while a thunderous sound assailed my ears. A momentter, when my vision returned to how it was, I saw the floor burning. W-w-whathat lightning just nowdid ite from the sword? Mhm. Then that meansno, it cant be In contrast to me who was in shock, Dona was all matter-of-factly. Yes, I managed to make a magic sword. Please consider supporting me. You can do this either by turning off adblock for this blog or via myPatreon page. Thank you. Chapter 152: We also have one that can fire projectiles in quick succession Chapter 152: We also have one that can fire projectiles in quick session Chief Luke! Chief Luke! Whats the matter, Dn-san? Why are you so flustered? T-to the workshop! Pleasee with me to the workshop! ? That day, I was asked toe to the workshop where the viges dwarves worked. Naturally, it was a workshop that focused on smithing. Thanks to their excellent talent when ites to smithing, many of the dwarves have contributed to the making of the equipment and tools avable in the vige. They didnt like being under the sun, so I decided to build their homes as well as their workshop within the dungeon. A side effect of that was that it made it easy for them to directly procure materials from the dungeon. The equipment they made, even the mass-produced ones, were all of a high quality. Furthermore, they were cheap. So much so that many merchants and adventurers even suspect that the items were fake or something. Many dwarves possessed a Gift called [Smithing]. This allowed them to bestow the equipment with [Skills]. Equipment that had skills were originally so rare that only a few were avable in the world. After all, even if someone possessed the [Smithing] Gift, they would only seldomly seed in adding a skill. yet the viges dwarves were making these items like they were nothing special. Or rather, it was more like they werepeting who could make the equipment with the best overall quality or who coulde up with the newest skill. You have to take a look at this, chief! How should I put itIve got a bad feeling about this I thought so while recalling what happened when the elves wanted to show me something. Dona, quick, show it to the chief. Mhm. Prompted by Dn-san, Dona presented the sword she held in her hand. It hasnt been long since Dona received her [Weapon Craftsman] Gift, but she has already developed many new and innovative equipment. Anyway, the sword she presented looked perfectly ordinary to me. In the next moment though, a bolt of lightning flew from it and hit a target that was prepared beforehand. M-magic from a sword? Wait, are you saying thats Thats exactly it! This is that weapon of legends: a magic sword! Magic sword!? Much like what its name implies, a magic sword was a sword that allowed one to use magic. It was obviously useful to people who couldnt use magic, but even those that could would find it useful since a magic sword didnt require magic power or any chant to activate. It was a powerful weapon without a doubt. It might even be called an ordnance at this point. Ive had it appraised, and theyre absolutely certain its that. Its said that our ancestors once were able to produce such weapons but all techniques pertaining to it have been lostuntil today Ovee with emotions, Dn-san said so in a teary voice. Mithril is needed to make it, so as long as thats rare to find, itll be hard for us to mass produce it. We should still be able to produce some more though. Of course, those can be fire or wind magic swords instead. ording to Philia-san, the dwarven empire from ancient times had powerful weaponry and was intent on conquering the world, only to fall into ruin by some divine punishment. It was very much possible that magic swords were one of those weapons If it ever gets known that our vige could produce such weapons, it was all but certain that there would be great trouble. yeah, lets keep this between us as well. Afterwards, I was shown the various other weapons made in the workshop. Most of them were developed by Dona. This is a shield that perfectly reflects the attacks it has received. An arrow was then fired at the shield that Dona held. At the moment of impact, the arrow curiously turned around and flew toward the one who originally fired it. What the Of course, it reflects back magic too. While I was still in shock, Dona proceeded to exhibit another one. This is a crossbow that will always hit the intended target. The bolts it fire will relentlessly pursue the target. She then held the crossbow upward and fired it against a bird. The bolt flew straight up at first but then took sharp turns to follow the bird until it was hit. This is a small golem warrior. It will charge against an enemy and then explode on its own. *Boom!* What an insanely dangerous thing! Theres more. This thing, through the application of magic power, canunch theserge metal balls. I also have a smaller, carriable version of it. H-hold up a minute! I hurriedly interrupted Dona when she said that. D-did youe up with that yourself? Hm? Yes, I did. No matter how I look at it, those were an artillery and a gun. Magic existed in this world, so I thought I wouldnt ever encounter weapons like thesewhats more, she made it from scratch all by herself She even thought of engraving spiral grooves within the barrels to make the projectile fly in a more stable manner. We also have one that can fire projectiles in quick session. You even got a machinegun!? It was strange how much this girl alone has made civilization progress. Ahmwhy dont you take it easy for a bit? Please consider supporting me. You can do this either by turning off adblock for this blog or via my Patreon page. Thank you. Chapter 153: O-our first joint action…! Chapter 153: O-our first joint action! Alright, were leaving! Are you all ready!? Yes, maam! The hunting group led by Selen assembled before the viges eastern gate. It only had 20 or so members, yet each one of them possessed Gifts. Thanks to that, each of them wereparable to a thousand men. Truly, a team of elites. Some of them were even Double Gifts. Selen had [Dual Wield] and [Blue Magic]; Selius had [Dual Wield] and [Green Magic]; and Philia had [Bow Techniques] and [Green Magic]. Other long-time hunting group members were also part of this group. Noel who had [Shield Master Techniques], Balrath who had [Sword Techniques], Rando who had [Spear Techniques], and Goate who had [Herculean Strength]. Also participating was Dorial, the paroled former bandit leader who had [Axe Techniques]. In addition to the ones withbat type Gifts, people like Kuretaa girl who had the convenient Gift called [Enemy Search]also participated. I cant help butugh whenever I see this viges war potential Bazara, previously a soldier of Dant the former governor, unintentionally said so out loud while smiling wryly. He was a skilled soldier himself, making him another fine addition to the hunting group. At any rate, their objective today was to search the towering mountains east of the wastnd for any possible alternative to their now dwindling supply of orc meat. Like the forest to the north of the wastnd, the mountain range to the east was also a monster-infested area. Unlike the forest though, the mountains remained unexplored for the most part. Compared to the forest, the mountains were quite farther away from the vige. Just going to and from should take about half a day. Thankfully, as long as they travelled along the road that Luke built, that distance didnt matter. Wait, were already here? Hasnt it been just an hour since we left? Hmm, like this, we might be able to make it back today. Selen was surprised by the road. They simply walked on it, yet they moved faster than if they ran at full speed along any other road. At Selens side was Philia, observing the towering mountains. By the way, the cavern we used to live in is around there. Thinking about it now, I cant believe we used to live in such a ce. The one pointing at a certain location and being nostalgic was another member of the hunting group, a dwarf named Banba. He had what was a typical body for a dwarf: short but really muscr. He possessed the Gift called [Heavy de Techniques], allowing him to easily wield swords several times bigger than him. The foot of the mountain range was covered with thick vegetation. Starting around halfway up though, the vegetation bes thinner and thinner until only the bare, rocky surface was there. Do you sense any monsters nearby? Yeah, to the front rightabout a hundred meters from here. Im getting a small reaction though. Its probably just a wererat or something. Kureta, the one with [Enemy Search] replied so. The hunting group had been briefed beforehand by the dwarves about what kind of monsters to expect in this area. The wererat in question was a bipedal mouse monster that, while somehow edible, didnt taste good at all. Apparently, the other monsters were pretty far into the mountains. The hunting group could climb and search for them, sure, but Lets use those incenses that attract the monsters. Yes, I also think thats the better approach, my sister. The group decided to lure the monsters down to where they were by using a scent the monsters loved as lure. Selius-dono, why dont we make the wind blow toward the mountains? Y-yesh Seliuss voice cracked while trying to reply to Philias suggestion. Both of them had the [Green Magic] Gift, so making the wind blow a certain direction was easy for them. O-our first joint action! Hmm? Is something wrong, Selius-dono? N-n-n-no, its nothing! Philia was so puzzled on why Seliuss face looked so red. As for the other hunters, they simply affectionately watched the two. However, at that moment ! Its here! The big games here! Kureta shouted so. And a momentter, Selen was able to catch the shadow of the said monster as it made its way down a mountains slope. The monster had a fiery redb on its head; had a body that waspletely covered in feathers; and had a snake-like tail. Yes, it was a cockatrice. Chicken meaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaatttttttttttttttt!!! Please consider supporting me. You can do this either by turning off adblock for this blog or via myPatreon page. Thank you. Chapter 154: Focus on the fight! Chapter 154: Focus on the fight! Back in the mountains we used to live in, there were these bird monsters called cockatrices. They look like giant chickens, except they have a snake for a tail. Theyre pretty aggressive creatures. They wander from time to time into our cavern, so we have little choice but to fight and defeat them. Theyre troublesome, but at least their meat tastes great. That was the information given by the viges dwarves about the bird monster that was sprinting down the slope with great speed. Including its tall, redb and its snake tail, it was a little over 4 meters long. If one was struck by its axe-like beak or by its thick legs, they would almost assuredly be sent flying. Kweeeeeeeeeeeehh!! Stimted by the monster-luring scent, the cockatrice let out an ear-piercing cry. Cockatrice were more dangerous than orcs. Even alone, these monsters shouldnt be taken lightly. However, upon encountering such a fiendish monster, the reaction of the group of hunters led by Selen wasnt that of fear. Instead Chicken meaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaatttttttttttttttt!!! Instead, the hunters rejoiced in finally finding their prey. Kweh!? The cockatrice naturally didnt understand thenguage spoken by people, but suddenly being treated like game made it flinch. *swoosh* Taking advantage of that opening, Philia let loose an arrow. The arrow was heavy, but thanks to the wind that supported it, it flew straight toward the cockatrice. Kweeeh! However, the cockatrice quickly spat at the arrow, making it fall down to the ground before it could reach the monster. When it was fired, the arrow was made of wood for its shaft and iron for its tip. However, uponing into contact with the spit from the monsters beak, it waspletely turned into white stone. I see, so thats a cockatrices petrifying spit. If were not careful, well turn into stone immediately! As countermeasure to the monsters saliva, the hunters brought various kinds of potions, but whether any would actually work remained to be seen. *Boom*!! Kweeeh!? The cockatrice began charging, but it stopped when it crashed into Noels gigantic shield. Noel was already tall before, but after hitting his growth spurt, he became even taller. Moreover, his once slender body was now so muscr thanks to all his activities and training. His physique might even be better than an orcs now. Great work, Noel! Its quicker than it looks thoughmaybe because its a bird? For now, lets strike! Taking this chance, the hunters all jumped at the monster. The cockatrice hurriedly leapt back and spat at the hunters. Unfortunately for it, the group managed to avoid the attack. It bends its head back before it does a spit attack! As long as we can recognize that movement, evading its attacks not hard at all! Having confirmed its pattern, Selius shared the information with the others. Why evade, when we can just freeze its attack! Meanwhile, Selen dealt with the petrifying attack by freezing the spit midair, causing it to fall down to the ground. Well, youre the only whos able to do that, my sister Having its signature attack bepletely neutralized, the cockatrice made a kwekwee!? sound. Additionally, any and all attacks using its beak, ws, and snake tail would have been guarded by Noel and his shield. Understanding that it was no match against this group, the monster turned around and tried escape. But it was already toote as the upward slope that served as its escape path was already blocked off. K-kweeh! Ha, another of that petrifying attack! We already know that pattern! No, wait! Its The former bandit leader Dorial mocked the monster, but Belrith sensed that something was different this time. In the next moment, what came out of the monsters beak was a mist-like white breath. A petrifying breath!? Itll be dangerous if it keeps breathing that out! If it was a spit attack, they could dodge it and be done. But as mist, it could continue to spread in the area and make it harder to avoid. Based on this switch between attacks, a cockatrice could be said to be highly intelligent for a monster. Unfortunately for it, the hunters had an easy solution to this tactic. Selius-dono! Y-yes! Philia and Selius synchronized and made an updraft together. The updraft sent the breath attack upward until there was nothing left. O-our second joint action! Hmm, it seems you and I have greatpatibility, Selius-dono. G-g-g-g-g-greatpatibility? Hey, Selius! Focus on the fight! Selius couldnt help but be angry with his sister. Please consider supporting me. You can do this either by turning off adblock for this blog or via myPatreon page. Thank you. Chapter 155: Maybe the cooks should also take it easy… Chapter 155: Maybe the cooks should also take it easy The hunting group that went to the monster-infested area in the east has returned. Luke, look, we got some chicken meat. Chicken meat? Selen gleefully told me so, but I was only perplexed by it. The creatures the group was carrying did look like chickengiven the redb in its headbut not only did it have a snake-like tail, it was gigantic as well. If my estimate was correct, it had an overall length of about 4 meters long. The chickens in our barns were ratherrge as well, but this creature was 2 or maybe 3 times bigger than even those chickens. Is this probably a cockatrice? Yup! I didnt think theyd be this big I heard that these monsters known as cockatrices had an attack that could petrify others. So, I couldnt help but wonder if even the amazing hunting group might have had trouble dealing with it. Once we figured out its moves and how to deal with them, fighting it was easy. We should be able to hunt more in the future, but for now, we managed to get 10 of them. didnt only 20 people join in the hunt? It was quite a sight to see the 10 gigantic chickens being lined up in the viges public square. They hunted down this many with just 20 peopleat this rate, theyll be hunting dragons like its the most normal thing in world. Selius-dono and I worked well together. It seems we have greatpatibility. Selius-kuns face grew bright red upon hearing Philia-sans words. While he was like that, I whispered something to him. You should confess soon, you know. C-con!? W-w-w-what are you talking about!? I-I-I dont f-f-feel anything like that for P-Philia-san Huh? Did I even say I was talking about Philia-san? !? W-whatever, its not like that! Theres no sense in denying it, you know. Because its so obvious. The only one that wasnt aware was Philia-san herself. Rather than say she was just dense about such matters, it might be likely that she just didnt have much interest in these things. Even so, I believed that if Selius-kun were to passionately confront her about it, she would consent rather easily, saying something like, hmm, sure, lets go out. At any rate, lets take this chance and have a celebration! Lets celebrate the sess of todays hunt! Yessssssssssss!! The number of cooks in the vige had increased. Many of them possessed cooking-rted Gifts as well. Given that and the quality of ingredients here, the viges culinary level has be fantastic. There were even touriststely who would visit our vige just to have a taste of the food here. And so, these capable cooks were asked to cook the cockatrice brought home by the hunting group. By the way, there apparently was an organ near a cockatrices throat which secreted the petrifyingponents in its attacks. As long as that organ was safely removed though, the rest was supposedly edible. At the moment, there were over 20 stalls set up in the public square. Each cook was going to offer their own recipe using the cockatrice meat, and the vigers were free to order any dish they wanted from any stall. Simply put, we wanted something like a food court. In order to avoid any stall from being crowded due to people lining up, orders were taken beforehand and would be delivered once ready. Because this was an event hosted by the vige, the vigers wouldnt be asked to pay for today. That being said, it wouldnt be great if people ordered so much more than they could eat. To prevent this, a meal ticket system was implemented. As long as the amount of food they ordered was within the limits, it would be for free. But for anything over that, the viger would have to pay for it themselves. All the stalls seem to be offering super delicious food though GuhI want to eat at each one, but yeah, over 20 stalls is a bit Hahaha! This a dream scenario for me who has the [Gluttony] Gift! Finally, its time for this Gift to shine! huh? I have to pay when Im over the limit of the meal ticket? Indeed, there was nothing but great food. but isnt there a bit too much variety? Grilled chicken wasnt rare in this world, but there were even batter-coated deep-fried chicken, Chinese styled deep-fried chicken, kebab-like dishes, and Spanish garlic chicken. That stall even has tandoori chickenwait, theres also chicken&egg oyakodon and ramen!? I dont think these dishes are prepared elsewhere in this world. Did the cooks make them from scratch? Maybe the cooks should also take it easy That aside, the food was naturally super delicious. So goooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooddddddd!? Like that, the new cockatrice meat dishes were added to the viges list of special products. Please consider supporting me. You can do this either by turning off adblock for this blog or via myPatreon page. Thank you. Chapter 156: Don’t you learn!? Chapter 156: Dont you learn!? Viscount Frenco, are you seriously going to attack again? Dont you learn!? Having learned that the lord of the neighboring territory would once again try to invade, Viscount Dolz shouted so. Territorial disputes between the two viscount houses weremonce before, but the previous heads of their houses have somehow reached an agreement and prevented anyrge-scale war between them. However, when the current lords of both houses came to power, the rtionship between the two noble houses deteriorated right away. Skirmishes between their forces have happened multiple times already. You should know by now that my mighty force is more than able to squash your cowardly soldiers! Its almost like taking candy from a baby! Youll regret attacking! Viscount Dolz confidently dered so. The two viscounts have had a rivalry since they were young, since they attended the same ss in the royal academy even. Throughout their school years, they would get into these violent fights against one another. Each time they fought, they grew to hate the other more and more. And instead of the one-on-one fights back then, it was now army versus army. M-my lord, grave news! What happened? A vassal assigned to the task of marshalling the soldiers for the uing battle hurriedly sprinted toward Viscount Dolz. A-as you know, the enemy has about 5,000 soldiers. We tried to gather at least as many soldiersbut the most we were able to was only 3,000! What are you talking about!? Theres a heavy penalty for anyone who disregards calls for conscription! Not gathering enough is simply impossible! Unable to understand his vassals report, Viscount Dolz shouted so. Itsits not that people are not enlisting, its that there arent enough people to enlist. The poption itself has dwindled, sir What? After hearing a totally unexpected reply, the viscount grew even more perplexed. The number of people leaving the territory has been gradually increasingbut these past few months, that rate has exploded. ording to reports, as much as 50 whole viges have already left 50 whole viges!? Where, where the hell can all those people have gone to!? I believe most have gone toto that rumored vige in the wastnd A barren wastnd could be found east of the viscounts territory. ording to the rumors that managed to reach the viscounts ears, a vige was recently established there. Tchthat frontier vige in Duke Alberts territory!? But its just been established, so it should be impossible to amodate all those people. In the end, many should return back to us! The wastnd vige in the outskirts of the Albert territory was left undisturbed, mostly because it was in a wastnd and people thought a settlement there couldnt amount to much. W-we believed so, butbut the vige apparently has developed at an incredible ratein fact, rather than call it a vige, it might be more apt to call it a citynot just any city too, since it has developed to the point that itsparable to thergest cities in the Albert territory Comparable to thergest cities there!? How can a recently established vige do that!? W-we dont knowweve sent people to investigate, but none of them have returned Some timeter, the Dolz army was defeated again and again by the Frenco army. Both sides had about the same war potential originally, but because the Frenco army now far outnumbered the Dolz army, such results were pretty much inevitable. And after some more time, the Frenco army finally made it to the capital of the Dolz territory. If Viscount Dolzs side focused on the defense, they wouldnt be defeated so easily. However, given that there was reinforcement on the way, Viscount Dolzs surrender would be simply dyed rather than prevented. Master! We must escape from the capital while we still can! You want me to turn tail and run!? Only so that you can have your revenge! If you fall here now, you wont be able to reim whats yours. Ghhvery well! Viscount Frenco, dont think youve won just yet! I shall have thestugh! Like that, Viscount Dolz fled from his capital along with his vassals. As for where they were headed, it was the ce that contributed the most to their lost: the vige in the wastnd. TL note: I dont exactly know why Lord Albert is referred to as a duke here. Inter chapters, hes still a marquis. Maybe its just a way to let readers know that the public is told that Lord Albert is promoted when he in fact refused? Please consider supporting me. You can do this either by turning off adblock for this blog or via myPatreon page. Thank you. Previous Chapter Next Chapter Chapter 157: How does enjoying the life here in this city to the fullest fit into that!? Chapter 157: How does enjoying the life here in this city to the fullest fit into that!? Wh-whats going on? In front of the gigantic gates, Viscount Dolz was dumbfounded and unmoving for a good while. Never mind the gates of his territorys capital, even the royal capitals splendid gates seemed shabby inparison. Add in the walls that stretched for an incredible distance, it was almost like they strayed into a foreign superpowers dominion. This was a vige just a while ago? Then, the only possible exnation is that construction of this began long, long ago A-at any rate, this should make for a great ce to n oureback. As you might see, sir, immigrants are flowing in one after another. If we blend in with them, we wont have to worry about raising suspicion. truth be told, I resent that we will be taking refuge in the ce that brought our downfall in the first cehowever, indeed, even Viscount Frenco wont be able toy a hand on us here. Viscount Dolz and his vassal approached the gate while talking like that. A group of guards at the gate asked them a few questions, but once they told the guards that they were from the west and they wished to immigrate, the guard let them pass through without suspecting anything. Apparently, people migrating from the Dolz territory have be amon urrence. After passing through the gate, their group saw the vast fields spread out. And beyond those fields was another set of impressive walls. They surrounded even the fields with walls? There might be two monster-infested areas nearby, but this ce should be safer than most cities Afterwards, they were surprised over and over again. By the gigantic crops in the fields; by the buildings the kind of which theyve never seen before; by the high-quality equipment as well as the existence of potions; and by the dishes made using monster ingredients. Regardless of all those surprises though, Viscount Dolz, his family, and his vassals all managed to enter the city safely. Moreover, they were even given ces to live in as well as employment. And now, to build ourselves up and bide our timeI swear, my territory will someday be mine again. Until then, savor what little victory youve had, Viscount Frenco. Kukuku Wow, a great show as always. Ive seen ys in the royal capital several times before, but this one is on a level all on its own. Ive seen it many times already, but I still havent had enough. I agree. Speaking of things we cant get enough of, have you tried this thing called ramen? I havent even heard of it. What is it? Its a noodle dish that I think is from another country. Its absolutely delicious. Ive been eating almost daily recently, but since theres so many kinds of soups and noodles, I still havent had enough. Ohh, that sounds delicious indeedbut if were talking delicious, I feel I must mention the steak made of minotaur meat. When I first tasted it, I cant believe its of this world. Still cant, to be honest. Yeah, its juices are something else. Whether it be minotaur meat, orc meat, or cockatrice meat, the dishes in this city are phenomenal. Oh right, actually, the soup stock in ramen can be made from those kinds of meat as well. That makes me want to try that ramen even more now. Well, lets go then! While were at it, why dont we taste other dishes as well and thenpare them to one another? And before you worry about it, this city sells digestive medicine and theyre quite effective, I must say. We also dont have to worry about putting on some weight because they also sell dieting potions that burn off fat! Truly, we can eat as much as we want! Oh, so thats why theres almost no fat people here! Alright, lets go eat some of that rame Viscount Dolz paused as though he suddenly remembered something. Huh, did Ie to this city to enjoy ys and great food? No, I absolutely did not!!! ? Whats wrong? Haha, if youve changed your mind, we can just go for some hamburgers instead. I mean, minotaur meat patty and fresh tomatoes and lettuce Oi, wake up! Have you forgotten about the rage you felt when we had to leave our home without a proper fight!? Being grabbed by the cor and shaken back and forth, the vassal slowly came to his senses. N-now that you say that Dont give me that! Our goal is and has always been to reim our home! How does enjoying the life here in this city to the fullest fit into that!? The vassal had a face that said he haspletely forgotten their goal and was instead enjoying the life here. Please consider supporting me. You can do this either by turning off adblock for this blog or via myPatreon page. Thank you. Chapter 158: I wish I can go back to being a baby and redo it all over! Chapter 158: I wish I can go back to being a baby and redo it all over! One of the things Viscount Dolz thought he should do to take back his territory was to gain the support of his territorys former citizens who were in this wastnd city. However, since those people have already casted away what life they had there, asking them to help in taking back the territory was a tall order. And if the viscount pushed too hard, there was a chance his presence in the city would be exposed, making things even moreplicated. And so, their first step was to spread rumors about how despicable Viscount Frencos rule over the former Dolz territory was. A change in leadership might have led to some disorder, but generally, the state of things wasnt too different from before. If anything, it could be argued that things were better now because there was no more fighting going on. Whatever the case might be, it was irrelevant for Viscount Dolz. What mattered was appealing to the sense of justice of the former citizens. What? Really? while its true that we left behind the ce and decided to stay here, it still makes me feel bad to know that my hometowns suffering like that. Those Frenco guyswhat awful people! The fabricated lies seeded in riling up many former citizens of the Dolz territory. More and more of them began voicing out that they must do something about their old home. Eventually, the lies spread to even people not from there, just like what Viscount Dolz nned. Ive heard that the boy governing this city has a strong sense of justice. If I reveal to him my true identity while putting on a great act, he should aid me in reiming mynd. Considering this citys war potential, Viscount Frencos army wont stand a chance! Victory shall be mine! Hahahaha! What an amazing n, my lord! Convinced of his sess, Viscount Dolzughed out loudly. Meanwhile, his vassals all apuded. When they were like that though, soldiers suddenly broke into the apartment unit they were using as their meeting ce. W-who are you people? What are you doing!? Unhand me! Do you have any idea of who I am!? Viscount Dolz, right? !? How did Viscount Dolz and his vassals were immediately apprehended by the muscr soldiers. Like that, they were escorted out of the apartment and then into a rehabilitation facility. I can sympathize with you wanting to reim your territory, but spreading lies is another matter. The Dolz territory was the ce that Belrith-san and some others were originally from. The lord, rather former lord, of that ce had escaped and taken refuge into our vige. Of course, we knew of their presence as soon as they arrived. If you went about it in a honest way, we wouldnt have minded looking the other wayhowever, to rile up everyone with misinformation is too much to ignore. For that reason, we decided to detain their group in a rehabilitation facility. After a month, Viscount Dolz was released. Luke-sama, my sincerest apologiessssssssssssssssssssssssssss! Viscount Dolz suddenly jumped in the air and then prostrated himself on the ground. Ive been wrong all this time! Im so sorry! As long as you understand what you did wrong. Dont incite the vigers anymore, ok? No, what I did wrong is not just that! Huh? Everything I did as the lord of thend was wrong! Just because I detested the lord of the neighboringnd, I waged war after war at the expense of the people! With such a foolish lord, its only natural for the people to leave! And my desire to take back the territory wasnt out of concern for them either, it was purely to satisfy my petty pride! Aah! Im a total scum! I wish I can go back to being a baby and redo it all over! My lord, its not just you who was in the wrong! All we thought about was how to protect our interests, when what we should have done was give you our full support in improving the territory! The viscount and his vassals have been reformed to an absurd degree. As usual, the rehabilitation facilitys effect was too strong <> Please consider supporting me. You can do this either by turning off adblock for this blog or via myPatreon page. Thank you. Chapter 159: How dare he amuse himself like that this early in the day! Chapter 159: How dare he amuse himself like that this early in the day! The now-reformed Viscount Dolz began talking with a meek look on his face. Luke-sama, I have a request. What is it? is there a chance you can help me in taking back the territory that was once mine? Of course, unlike before, it wont be for my petty pride. No, this time, Id like to do it for the people. I want to govern the ce so that I can make it, hopefully, as wonderful as your city. Its not a city though; its a vige. Unfortunately, Viscount Frenco is much like how I was. I can tell that instead of focusing on developing his expanded territory now that Im out of the way, he would just find a differentnd to im. I didnt hear any resentment or animosity toward Viscount Frenco in his voice. That led me to think that maybe his prediction was an objective one. I dont know how many years itll take to reim thend if it was just usso, ashamed though I might be, Luke-sama, please lend us your support. I guess I dont mind. Yes, I know, an insect like me is asking for too muchwait, youll help us!? Yes. That much shouldnt be too hard. N-not too hard? Viscount Frencos army has fully upied ournd though, so I fail to see how thats not too hardoh wait, are you bringing in the Albert army? Nope. I had zero power over the Albert forces, so I couldnt drive out Viscount Frenco by using it as a threat even if I wanted to. Dont worry, I have a n that might work without anyone getting hurt. Luke-sama, just what is this tunnel I built it. This should take us all the way to your capital. What Viscount Dolz was suddenly dumbfounded as we progressed through the underground tunnel. We had a fighting force of about a hundred, with Selens group of hunters serving as its core. Our goal for the moment was to traverse the tunnel until we reach the viscounts castle in his capital. A viger with the [Infiltrator] Gift had already surveyed the grounds beforehand, and apparently, Viscount Frenco has been staying in this castle ever since he led his army into the Dolz territory. The current n is for us to emerge from the castles courtyard. Is that ok? I dont think anyone will expect an enemy to appear there, so we should be able to proceed without much resistance Alright, lets go with that. If we were to infiltrate the castle and then capture Viscount Frenco, we should be able to take back the territory without anyone on any side getting hurt. What should normally be impossible to even attempt Well, this is Luke-dono, after all. As ridiculous as evernormal strategies dont work against him anymore While those around me talked like that, we made our way through the tunnel. Were almost there. Already!? O-only two hours have passed, hasnt it? Walking on foot should take at least two days Through Facility Upgrade, I made it so that we moved faster. It consumed quite a lot of vige points though. At first, I thought we should start travelling in an above-ground road and only use underground tunnels once we were at least halfway there. However, in order to increase our chances of executing a surprise attack, I decided that we should use underground tunnels right from the start. Im going to build the staircase nowor rather, I guess I should build multiple staircases. If I only built one staircase, all 100 of us wouldnt be able to emerge all at once. Luke-sama, ording to Babara, Viscount Frenco should be in this room at this time. Satin exined so while pointing at a map. Through his [Telepathy] Gift, he was able tomunicate with Babara, the one who infiltrated ahead of us. Topletely see whats going on inside the castle My lord, isnt this room your bedroom? That bastard! How dare he amuse himself like that this early in the day! By the way, the castleyout has been shared with everyone beforehand, so there shouldnt be a case of anyone getting lost. Are you all ready? On my mark, everyone go climb the stairs, alright? 3, 2, 1, go! Now that I opened the tunnel, bright light flowed in. Lets go! Yes, maam! With Selen in the front, everybody charged into the castle. everybody except me as I was to remain here, apparently. Please consider supporting me. You can do this either by turning off adblock for this blog or via myPatreon page. Thank you. Chapter 160: Everyone, fight back at once! Chapter 160: Everyone, fight back at once! Good grief, what a troublesome lord I have. Whispering so along with a sigh was Rudolph, a general in Viscount Frencos army. The lord he served, the aforementioned Viscount Frenco, had pushed all work to vassals like him and instead enjoyed each day by snatching Dolz women. I understand hes happy that he won against his longtime rival, but theres still ruling his new and still-unstable territory to worry about. I wish hed take charge during midday at least. Moreover, they had no clue where Viscount Dolz was. By the time the Dolz capital fell, its lord was already gone. If left as it was, there was a chance Viscount Dolz would attack to reim thend someday. But then again, judging by the state of thisnd, thats not going to happen so easily. Originally, the two viscounts had about equal war potential. However, due to a sudden and massive drop in the Dolz terrritorys poption, arge gap in power between the two sides emerged. Moreover, the poption was decreasing still. Assembling an army that was strong enough to rechallenge the Frenco army wouldnt be so simple. But now, its our Frenco territory thats going to drop in poption. No, its already slowly dropping. And its all because of that new vige in the Albert territory, isnt it Rudolph had heard rumors about this mysterious vige. Those rumors were all hard to believe, yet considering the Dolz territorys current state, he found it harder and harder to deny. Thanks to the geography, the viges effects had less effect on their Frenco territory. However, it might just be that the effects were dyed, and a massive decrease in their poption could still happen in the near future. In other words, they were at risk of sharing the fate of the Dolz territory. But with my lord acting like he is, ournd might be in serious danger Rudolph whispered so to himself as he walked along a corridor in the second floor of the castle. At that moment, he saw through a window something strange outside. Whats that? A staircase? Has that always been there? It was a staircase that led underground. When they took over the ce, they thoroughly searched within the castle, and he didnt remember anything like that being in the garden. Just a momentter, several figures emerged from the staircase, much to Rudolphs surprise. Wha!? To make matters worse, the ones that emerged were armed with equipment that were not of the Frenco army. A-an enemy attack!? What nonsense is this!? While still trying to make sense of things, Rudolph was hit with another blow. He discovered another staircase a little bit away from the first one he found. Much like the first one, the other staircase had people emerging from it. Theres one there too!? What, another!? What the hell is going on!? Shite-enemy attack!! Enemy attack! The enemy has already gotten inside the castle! Everyone, fight back at once! Despite being in peak distress, Rudolph managed to shout so. While shouting so over and over again, he recognized someone among the invaders. It was someone who has fled from the castle once before. I-is that Viscount Dolz!? Is this his army!? The invaders equipment was not matching with one another, so Rudolph couldnt tell which faction they belonged to. However, upon seeing Viscount Dolz among them, Rudolph became certain. !? Rudolph then noticed a person on the ground drawing a bow against him. However, as there was over 300 meters between them, he didnt worry about the arrow reaching him. Such an optimistic prediction was shattered right away. The released arrow roared loudly as it flew straight in the air. Had Rudolph not bent his body forward at thest moment, his head would probably have been blown to bits. In the next moment, he heard an explosion behind him. When he nervously turned around, he saw the wall behind him had a crater simr to those made by fallen meteorites. Wha-wh-wha Rudolph has never seen anyone fire an arrow that monstrously powerful. And he certainly has never heard of anyone among the Dolz army capable of doing so. It wasnt just the archer who terrified him though. There was a girl who defeated Frenco soldiers one after the other with her two swords as well as the ice projectiles she fired. There was a giant of a man who sent Frenco soldiers flying by charging with hisrge shield. There was also ad d in wind who defeated Frenco soldiers before anyone could even see himing. There was even a man who possessed extraordinary strength. More and more Frenco soldiers were noticing the ongoing situation and quickly getting into position, yet they were still finding it hard to repel a group of at most 100 individuals. W-what in the world is happening here Please consider supporting me. You can do this either by turning off adblock for this blog or via myPatreon page. Thank you. Chapter 161: Have your rotten nature be whipped out of you Chapter 161: Have your rotten nature be whipped out of you Hahahaha! All things considered, its all worth it! Ahh, to walk as I please in that bastards castle! Its a shame I cant see his miserable face, but what can I do when hes such a coward and escaped! Hahaha! Viscount Frenco had recently triumphed against his old nemesis Viscount Dolz and conquered thetters territory. He had pushed all post-war cleanup to his vassals, and instead reveled to the fullest each day. On a certain day, he was drinking as usual in the middle of the day. He also once again took advantage of the fact that his wife stayed behind in the Frenco territory by snatching another young girl in the castle and taking her to the bedroom he was using. P-please sir Kukuku, its fine, isnt it? Im the lord of this ce now, dont you know? If you do as I say, your family will be blessed. Many of the people working in the castle under the previous lord were allowed to continue their service. However, true to his reputation as a phnderer, Viscount Frenco had alreadyid his hands on many of the women with at least decent looks. S-s-sir! An emergency! Whats the meaning of this!? While Viscount Frenco was in the middle of doing the deed, a vassal of his suddenly barged in. In response, the naked viscount shouted. Who the hell do you think you are,ing in here without even so much as a knock! Dont think youll get away of this easily! S-sir, its an enemy attack! What did you say? Certainly, you dont mean its an attack by the Dolz army, do you? Ha! That fool! Has he forgotten already his series of defeats? Or how he had no choice but to abandon his precious castle? Theres no way he could have assembled apetent army in such a short time. Well, how strong are their forces and where are they now? In contrast to his panicking vassal, the viscountughed out loud. W-were still not certain of their numbers, sir! But the enemy, theyre already here. Theyve already made their way inside the castle. What!? Never mind that they got into the capital, youve allowed them to get inside the castle!? And why am I only hearing about this now!? We didnt know they were here until just now, sir! Weve not received any report from guards on the ramparts and the guards outside of the castle that says theres an iing attack! Such a thing was supposed to be impossible. First of all, the capital was surrounded and protected by its ramparts. The only way in and out of the capital was through the castle gate. This gate was under careful and constant watch, so it was pretty much impossible for anyone to slip through without at least being noticed. As for the perimeter of the castle, it was heavily guarded. Forcing ones way through was hard enough, let alone appearing within the castle undetected. Did they use the secret passage!? Weve posted soldiers there, didnt we? But could there be more? I doubt this castle has more though They had already searched all over the castle and found the secret passage that Viscount Dolz used to escape. It should be difficult to use that one to invade now. While they were talking like that, the door into the room mmed open once more. This time, a group of people rushed in. Viscount Frenco recognized one of them. ! Y-you! Its been a while, Viscount Frenco. You really must be a fool toe back here, ha! The man who once abandoned and fled from the castle was back, despite the fact that the castle was now fully upied by Frenco soldiers. Seeing such absurdity, Viscount Frenco was quite unsure if this was real or if he was simply dreaming it. Well, how was it? The short time you were able to have to have my castle, I mean. Tchwhat are my soldiers doing!? Everyone,e here at once and arrest this fool! Viscount Frenco shouted so, but no matter how much time passed, no soldier of his ever rushed into the room. Im sorry to inform you, but no onesing. Weve already upied the castle. Wait, upy isnt the right word. This was mine originally, after all. L-lies! How can you How can I assemble an army in this short while and be able to take back the castle? Is that what you want to know? Tch. Very well, Ill tell you. But before that Viscount Dolz then said something that Viscount Frenco was not able toprehend. Enter the rehabilitation facility and have your rotten nature be whipped out of you. Just like what happened to me. Please consider supporting me. You can do this either by turning off adblock for this blog or via my Patreon page. Thank you. Chapter 162: My humblest apologies once again! Chapter 162: My humblest apologies once again! My sincerest apologies!!! Viscount Frenco shouted so as he jumped in the air and then immediately prostrated himself uponnding. Huh, Ive seen this scene before, havent I? Ahm, much like with Viscount Dolz, I dont really get why youre apologizing, but I believe that, much like me, Viscount Dolz apologized to you and to everyone for being such a selfish, egocentric lord. Yes, exactly. My humblest apologies once again! Like always, the immediate and drastic reform of people were quite frightening. But then again, wouldnt our rehabilitation facilities make the world be a peaceful ce? Ive seen the error of my ways, and from this point on, I want to do my absolute best for the territory and the people! Ive of course made peace with Viscount Dolz. We n to deepen our friendship while helping one another in developing our territories. Isnt that right, Viscount Dolz? Most definitely. Lets do our best together, Viscount Frenco! The two seemed to now have a better rtionship. Be that as it may, I wonder why I hated you so much? I cant quite understand it now. If we maybe tried back then to talk properly, we might have seen we had lots of things inmon. Who knows, we might have be great friends Now that you mention it, even though we attended the academy at the same time, weve never really tried to get to know another. I guess if theres anything to me, it was my envy of you, Viscount Dolz. Your envy of me? You were so good in the martial arts that Ive never once been able to beat you. Moreover, your physique was so manly. You were so popr among the female students back then, you know. I was manly? B-but if you say that, I must mention how you eclipsed me in terms of studies. Moreover, you looked so refined. So, if anyones envious, its me. I looked refined? No, for men, its better if we looked like youif I was a girl, Ive no doubt No, no, if I was a girl, a man like you is Viscount Dolz Viscount Frenco Huh? Whats happening? The two of them just stood there and looked at each other with watery eyes. A-anyway Good luck to the two of you. If theres anything you need, Ill do my best to help. At that moment, the two of them prostrated themselves once more. Wed like to ask your help in building a city almost as magnificent as yours in our territories. We beg you! Arent you asking for too much so soon? I mean, I did say Ill do my best to help, but what happened to that resolve of yours earlier? Dont get us wrong, we will still try our best. Its just that we know for a fact that no matter what we do, we still couldnt build a city as marvelous as yours. Given that, its understandable that people wouldnt want to live in our territories. Before long, its possible there wouldnt be anybody left. The same, of course, applies to our Frenco territory. However, weve heard of a rumor. That you, Luke-sama, have built a new city in the northern region of the Albert territory, and that that city could rival your first one. So, we thought that if you could do the same for our territories, perhaps then we can somehow defend against the dwindling of our poption. Rather than say I built a new one, it would be more urate to say I rebuilt it. But then again, I wouldnt mind if you took over my territory, Luke-sama! Wait, seriously, what happened to that resolve you had earlier!? Our resolve was to make our territories a better ce. As long as that happens, I have no problem at all if Im not in control anymore. Its as Viscount Dolz says. The two of them have reached the realm ofplete selflessness Itllplicate things for me, so Ill have to decline If I suddenly be the ruler of two territories, my father would have something to say, to put it mildly. That thing with the Albert territorys North was somehow fine because it was a behind-closed-doors kind of thing. But I dont mind agreeing to rebuilding some cities. Ites with some conditions though. Conditions? Firstly, your territories will be incorporated into my vige. Next, your citizens would be registered as my vigers. Dont worry though, its just for my Gift to work. On the surface level, nothing will change at all. Please consider supporting me. You can do this either by turning off adblock for this blog or via myPatreon page. Thank you. Chapter 163: Does that mean I can make a copy of me or something? Chapter 163: Does that mean I can make a copy of me or something? After this and that, I decided to incorporate both the Dolz and Frenco territories into my vige. Of course, the ones to rule these ces would still be the two viscounts. This would be just like what I did for the North: I would only build facilities and roads, but nothing more. <> <> The territories were automatically added to my vige, without even using Territory Takeover. My best guess was that it was because the two lords already gave me their consent. In the case with the North, I only had Mitchell-san the governors consent, and that maybe wasnt enough to forgo the use of Territory Takeover. Immediately after that, the residents of the twonds were registered as my vigers. <> <> So many! Thats an entire dominion for youthe Dolz citizens alone would have doubled my viger count The number of my vigers increased by more than a hundred thousand in one go. I had about 40,000 vigers before, and now I had four times that number all of a sudden. << Ta-ta-ta-dah! Congrattions! Because you now have more than 100,000 vigers, your vige has be level 10!>> <<1,000,000 vige points have been acquired as level up bonus.>> <> <> <> My vige level increased again. The facilities that I became able to build were: <> <> <> <> <> Given the recent childbirth boom in the vige, a nursery is surely going to be needed. Hospitals that can provide inpatient care is so valuable as well. I also got a new vige skill. Body Double Creation? Does that mean I can make a copy of me or something? <<100,000 vige points will be consumed to produce a body double. Proceed? *Yes||No>> At 100,000 points, its gotta be a high-performance double, right? At the moment, I could easily spare that many points, so I proceeded to make one right away. <> In the next moment, my shadow started wriggling. Before long, a three-dimensional figure started to emerge from it. When it wasplete, I found myself staring at another me. Hmmso this is a so-called body double? Yes. Woah, it replied! I did. A pleasure to meet you. Im Luke. Its got a robotic way of talking though. The double seemed capable of talking, maybe even of conversation. It was like it had an A.I.. I can learn through experience, so please teach me lots of things. It seemed to have a learning function. It really is like an AI. You can also control me remotely. Remotely? How? With my voice? By transferring your consciousness into me. When I tried it out, I saw the world from the doubles point of view. I even saw my real body. I also tried moving the doubles body, and then talking. This is amazing, isnt it? Apparently, if I took control of the doubles body, it couldnt give any reply. Moreover, it seemed like I could still use my Gift while possessing the doubles body. I also found outter that I could send my consciousness to the double even if the double was so far away. Doesnt this mean that I can send the double to some faraway ce and have it act on its own until I think its necessary to takeover. Maybe I should try this out by sending it to the Dolz and Frenco territories. Please consider supporting me. You can do this either by turning off adblock for this blog or via my Patreon page. Thank you. Chapter 164: But the only way to get one will likely be to stealthily abduct it Chapter 164: But the only way to get one will likely be to stealthily abduct it The body double was super helpful. Thanks to it, I could do various things in faraway ces, all while remaining in the vige. Sure, we had roads that allowed us to travel quickly, but given the size of the whole vige at the moment, it was still troublesome to go from ce to ce. However, if I stationed a body double at various key points beforehand, I would be able to go there instantly whenever necessary. Ideally though, I wanted the doubles to be able to decide and act on their own, without any help from me at all. To that end, they must first experience and learn all sorts of things. Fortunately, the knowledge that each double has acquired was shared to the others, speeding up the whole process. The result Huh? How is the vige chief here? I swear I saw him walking in the other direction just a while ago Say, isnt the vige chief acting a little strange today? Like, his responses are, how do I say it, awkward, I guess Actually, you know what, I feel like Ive been seeing an awful lot of the chieftelyits almost like theres many of himoh, what am I saying, theres no way thats the case Hey, I just saw something! There were two of the chief! Their face, their physique, everything, it all looked the same! Does the chief have a twin!? the vigers were confused. I guess I should have warned them about it beforehand, huh. And when I did tell them about the doubles, their responses were I see, So, its like that, huh, and just what youd expect from the vige chief as though they understood things right away. Shouldnt you, I dont know, be more surprised? The chief multiplying is amazing, but its not something thatll surprise me anymore. I mean, if we get surprised by this, wed get surprised at every little thing you do. Will everybodywill every home get their own Luke-sama now? They pretty much told me they developed a tolerance for surprises. And then, as though brushing it all aside, some expressed to want their own double of me. I had no idea what they would use it for though *(A copy of Luke-sama!? I-I want one! But the only way to get one will likely be to stealthily abduct ithaa, haa)* For some reason, Millia was breathing hard. I didnt know what it was about, but I felt like it would be better if the body doubles kept their distance from her. Afterwards, I once again stationed the doubles and let them act independently. Much like before, I had instructed them to contact me if the vigers requested something from them or if they just had any concerns. Apparently, my doubles and I couldmunicate over long distances through a telepathic link of sorts that was not unlike Satins. Also, I could easily locate the doubles anytime on my map since they were represented by a star. If you have trouble in making a decision, feel free to ask me, ok? Understood. <> A double had contacted me. <> <> <> I transferred my consciousness over to the double and soon realized what a mistake that was. I should have looked where on the map the double was beforehand eh? What I saw upon assuming control was a warm, steamy room. The visibility in there wasnt great. And yet, I still could still see many naked bodies. Yes, it could only be that ce: a public bathhouse. Worse yet, the double wasnt in the mens section. Rather Vige chief, let me wash your back. No, let me do it. Hey, you two, dont go stealing a march on me. Ill be the one to wash the chiefs back. The ones talking in front of me were some of the adult women in the vige. Although I could only see the half of their bodies that wasnt submerged in the water, I could tell that they were totally naked. !? What am I(the double) doing here? And why am I (the double) also naked and in the water!? <> <> <> Its not alright! Well, were all here, so why dont we all wash his back? Thats an excellent idea. Oh, huh? Vige chief? As soon as I could, I got out of the bath and escaped. Aw! Ohh, what a cute bottom he has! Please wait a moment, chief! No, I wont! I then built an underground tunnel and exited the womens bath through that. Evidently, the body doubles still had a lot learn Chapter 165: You were like a wild beast back then Chapter 165: You were like a wild beast back then The unprecedented childbirth boom in the vige was still ongoing. Considering the number of people immigrating to the city at the moment, this boom was likely to continue for some more time. So, to somewhat deal with that, I decided to use 1000 vige points to build a hospital. <> Ordinary illnesses and injuries could be instantly treated through the use of potions, so we could afford to have majority of the hospital be used for maternity-rted care. Given that this move would further help lessen the illnesses and pain associated with childbirth, the pregnant women were sure to be pleased. Nurseries would be next thing wed need, probably. V-v-v-v-vige chief! Youve got to hear this! On a certain day, Baal, a former bandit grunt, rushed toward me. Being a former bandit, he was imprisoned in the viges jailhouse. His stay there was longer than most though. Regardless, he was now working as one of the viges guards. He was deemed not a danger to others, but that perversion of his that baffled even granny still remained. Im not doing anything wrong! Just let me do what I want do!, he protested. What is it? What with the hurry? I-its the old bat! Granny Nema! Whats with Granny? Nema was the olddy whose rmended upation was to be a torturer. There were now other vigers older than her, but she was the oldest when we first started. Given Baals flustered state, I worried that something might have happened to Granny. She was healthy for her age, but the fact remains that she was old, especially for this world. Just when the anxiety was about to overwhelm me, Baal continued. The old bat, shesshes pregnant!!! excuse me? For a good moment there, I didntprehend what Baal just said. After all, Granny was over 60 years old. Even with the help of the technology in my previous life, conceiving at such an age was difficult if not impossible. Yet, whats more surprising to me was hey, Baalmaybe it really was a mistake to let you out Huh? Thats quite an unforgiveable act, you knowI cant believe you would do that to Granny Wait, wait, no! Its not me! Why are you so convinced it was me!? Just so you know, the one to impregnate her was her husband!! Oh, I seewait, isnt her husband almost 70 or something? That surprised me as well! How can he even get it up at that age! And for Granny of all people! You dont have to say it so bluntly! And so, along with Baal, I went to see Granny in the apartment unit that she and her husband was living in. Granny, Ive heard you were pregnant, but surely She is! Ah, hello there, Gramps. In an overly excited voice, Gramps greeted us like so. Behind him was Granny. Why, its the vige chief. Arent you busy? You didnt have toe all the way here. Wait, youre really pregnant? Apparently. I did think something strange was happening to my body, but never would I have though it was because I was pregnant. I didnt believe it myself until my stomach got big. By the way, the couple already had and raised three children. Those children had grown up and left home. At the moment, they were not in the vige. Hey, Gramps, howd you do it? Howd you make Granny pregnant, I mean. Hey, Baal This guy reallycked tact. Have you heard of the hotel in the underground district of the vige? Well, I begged Granny to go there and we did it after a long, long time since thest oneI also drank the elves Erection potion. It surprised me how effective it was. We ended up doing it five times because of that. Goodness, you were like a wild beast back then, dear. Please consider supporting me. You can do this either by turning off adblock for this blog or via myPatreon page. Thank you. Chapter 166: It got bigger that way? Chapter 166: It got bigger that way? Luke-sama, I think you should consider building a castle for yourself sometime soon. One day, Dant-san suggested so. Huh? A castle? Yes. While the estate youre living in now is magnificent, whenpared to the tall buildings surrounding it, it looks almostmon. Hmm, even if you say that, the one Im living in is more than spacious enough for me. Certainly, amidst the tall apartment buildings and whatnot, my home didnt look as grand. However, since it was ordinarily just me, Millia, and Selen using it, it was, if anything, too big. well, there were the body doubles now too, but still. However, if the growth of the vige continues at this pace, you will need more people to share the duties of governing the entirety of the vige. And after a certain point, Im afraid your estate wont be enough. Apparently, the suggestion to make a castle wasnt just in consideration of my living space. Will the viges growth reach that point though? Honestly, we were already too big at the moment. I couldnt imagine us getting so much bigger. By the way, in regards to who was in charge of what, they were as follows: The one in charge of affairs with other towns and territories was Dant-san. The one in charge of affairs within the vige and the vigers was Belrith-san. The one in charge ofmerce and industry was Brookley-san. The one in charge of public order and perimeter defenses was Satin. Brookley-san was formerly a merchant that belonged to the Norths most prominentpany. He was part of the founding family and have reached the rank of vice president, yet he still chose to step down from that in order to work here in the vige. Anyway, how to solve minor issues were left entirely to their judgment. To be frank, I was pretty much an outsider in each area. Oh, and I also made a body double follow them around so that the doubles could learn more things. Furthermore, the number of important people paying us a visit would increase in the future. It might be seen rude if we dont let them stay at a castle. Its not like Im wishing for more nobles toe though In the first ce, I wasnt a lord or a governor; I was only a vige chief and this ce was just a vige. actually, I dont think we should assume more nobles wille. Viscount Dolz, Viscount Frenco, and Governor Mitchell might disagree with you. I should mention that those three have already expressed their wish for you to build a fitting castle as soon as possible. So, it wasnt just Dant-san who thinks I should build a castle. Hmm, when you put it like that Persuaded, I decided to build one. Well, I wanted to, but when I recalled the list of facilities that my Gift allowed me to build, the closest one to a castle was called a [Pce]. A pce is fine, right? will there be a difference? Well, wont know till I try it, I guess. Its just 500 points anyway; its not that much. Plus, if I upgrade my current home from being a [Large House] to being a [Pce], itll only cost me 300 points. Alright. But before I do that, I should probably clear some space. I assumed the pce would be 3 times as big as arge house and then moved the surrounding buildings ordingly. Luke-samas first castleif its all the same, isnt it better if the castles bigger? Yeah, you should clear more space. At this rate, itll be smaller than my parents home. Nah, this much is enough. I mean, a vige chief having a castle is strange enough, itll be stranger still if mine ends up being bigger than a counts. I turned down Millia and Selens suggestions of making the castle bigger. <> The moment I chose yes, therge house began shaking. Not a momentter, it grew bigger. What I expected was for the pce to stop getting bigger once the space that I reserved for it have been upied. And it did, technically. For some reason though, it continued to grow taller and taller. Huh? It got bigger that way? Before long, what appeared was a building that could be called a skyscraper. Please consider supporting me. You can do this either by turning off adblock for this blog or via my Patreon page. Thank you. Chapter 167: It looks like this building’s got an elevator too. Chapter 167: It looks like this buildings got an elevator too. I had upgraded myrge house into a pce. I had assumed that therge house would expand up to three times its original size, so I reserved space for it ordingly. This way, it would be asrge as a baron or a governors estate. Once it upied that reserved space, I thought the expansion was over, but it still continued to grow taller and taller until it was like a skyscraper that towered over the other tall buildings in the area. By my estimate, it was about 100 meters tall and probably had about 30 floors. Wowbut it cant berger than Castle Albert, can it? The plot ofnd that my pce upied was definitely smaller than Castle Albert, but it was so much taller. And thanks to being taller, it gave the impression that it was the bigger of the two. It looked more imposing too. Moreover, my pce had white, shiny outer walls; ornate designs here and there; and just prettier exterior. That being said, it should be mentioned that Castle Albert was built more for defense than anything else, so it wasnt really fair topare the two like that. The royal castle on the other handnah, better not even think about it. Amazing as always, Luke-sama! Your magnificent castlesparable even to the royal pce! Millia! And after I tried so hard not to imagine it! Can you add a vast courtyard to the surroundings? And then maybe enclose it all within some ramparts. I dont know what it looks like inside your castle, but as it stands, its a little vulnerable. But thatll also make it harder for me to convince myself into thinking the castles just alright. After turning down Selens suggestion, we decided to check the pces interior. The entrance was spacious enough that it could probably hold a small gathering. Arge part of the first floor didnt have a ceiling, thus forming an atrium with the second floor. Two staircases that were symmetrical to one another connected the two floors. It looks like this buildings got an elevator too. An elevator? Whats that? Ive never of that either. Oh, you two havent used an elevator? Of course, there werent any elevators anywhere else in this world, but here in the vige, our hotels, office buildings, and hospital all had elevators. In hindsight, considering the height of this pce, an elevator was pretty much necessary. On the side of the elevator door was a panel with two buttons: one for up and one for down. The fact that there was a down button here in the first floor made it seem like there was at least one underground level. For now though, I pressed the up button. Who opened the door? Did it open by itself!? Is this some kind of magic tool? Ahm, to use an elevator, you first press either the up or down button there, depending on where youre going. Then, when the door opens, you get inside this room and press a button again, this time specifying what floor you want to go to. After a moment, the doors will close and the elevator will take you there. I exined so to the Millia and Selen. When I checked the set of buttons, I saw that it was for the basement floor up to the 30th floor. Yeah, itll take some time just to check each floor. After looking around the inside of the pce, I was now more generally familiar with itsyout. Each room in the lower floors were a bit small, suggesting to me that it could be a ce to stay for the officials and the guards working within the pce The middle floors seemed a lot like an office buildings interior, so I assumed it was office space for civil service employees and the like. The higher floors had many spacious rooms. Some seemed to be used for holding assemblies or perhaps as a lords audience room. Further up were floors that were also for residential use, only the rooms here were so much bigger. There were also spaces here that had kitchens, probably implying that they were to be turned into restaurants that would make the daily life of the lord and their top-ranking officials even more enjoyable. But for the very top floor, it was a single, luxurious suite. This suite wasparable to even my previous residence which was a [Large House]. It goes without saying that the interior design and the furnishings themselves were utterly superb. The suite also had a terrace that protruded out as though it was suspended in the air. And in there were a pool and an open-air bath. As amazing as those were though, what overwhelmed us more was the view from there. Amazing! You can see the whole vige from here! What a wonderful view. At present, this pce was the tallest building in the entire vige, so an unobstructed view of the whole vige was more than possible. When I looked down though, I noticed the vigers who were dumbfounded while they looked up to this skyscraper that appeared all of a sudden. AhmI guess this is where were going to stay starting today? Yup, of course? Where else would we? This was a residence fit for a king. Yet, I was but a mere vige chief The king wont get mad at us for this, will he? TL note: more of a disimer, but in the raws, left and right symbols were used for the up and down button. I have no idea why. Please consider supporting me. You can do this either by turning off adblock for this blog or via myPatreon page. Thank you. Chapter 168: From an agent of ours Chapter 168: From an agent of ours The royal pce was in the midst of an unprecedented chaos. The cause was none other than the statement that Marquis Albert dered before the royal messenger: a deration of war against the royal family. This has caused the royal pce to be divided in half. One faction was of the opinion that opposing Marquis Albert, who has now be the most powerful in the kingdom, was unwise. They were instead advocating to calmly negotiate with the marquis. The other faction, however, found the marquiss demeanor to be outrageous and absolutely unforgiveable. They were advocating for an immediate military response. Some of them were even proposing to make an alliance with all the other forces in the country in order to take down House Albert. With the two factions opposing one another over and over again, the situation within the pce became tenser than usual. But then, something happened that changed it all over again. The royal court nobles who were at the forefront of advocating for military action were attacked and killed one after another. Who was behind it remained unknown, but it wasmonly assumed that it was Marquis Albert. And even though this faction of royal court nobles advocated for war, in the end, they were nobles who have lived a safe andfortable life. Now that their own lives were in danger, they were frightened. There was another major reason for them to give up on their pursuit of eliminating Marquis Albert. The two dukesDuke Kaion and Duke Talisterdid not ept the royal pces request for cooperation against Marquis Albert. Without their help, the path to defeating the newly strengthened superpower has closed. As such, the discussion within the pce has gradually shifted to how can we meet Marquis Alberts demands while still maintaining the current power structure? After repeated deliberations by the primary court nobles, they eventually reached a certain conclusion. Your Majesty, it pains me to admit, but Lord Albert has now greatly exceeded our forces. For that reason, itll be extremely hard for us to turn down his demands, and we may very well be forced toply. However, what he desires is the kingdoms throne. It should go without saying that without any rtion to the longstanding royal family that has guarded it for generations, the marquis cannot assume the throne. The chancellor said so in a grave tone of voice. On the other hand, King Darios III only quietly listened as he sat on the throne. The king was young andespecially in contrast to the obscenely fat kings of the pastalso slender. Instead, it was the court nobles in the audience room who had bulging stomachs, a sign of the kingdoms descent into corruption, if there ever was one. As such, we have a proposal At that moment, the chancellors line of sight shifted toward the young girl by King Darios IIIs side. This girlwho had received a rite of blessing just a few years agowas the kingdoms first princess. Even within the magnificent royal pce, her beauty still shone radiantly. So much so that there was endless number of marriage proposals that she receives from both within and outside the kingdom. For that and many other reasons, she was King Darios IIIs beloved daughter. Upon guessing what the chancellor was about to say, her body immediately but subtly stiffened. Our proposal is to have Princess Darinea seed the throne and have her wee Lord Albert as her prince consort. That way, not only do weply with Lord Alberts demands, we also ensure that your royal bloodline continues to the next generation. What should I do? After hearing his supposed vassals, King Darios III retreated to a private chamber and wracked his brain. My girl, shes still so young. If that Marquis Albert bes her prince consort, hell essentially take control of the pce and the country. And then, given how much of a warmonger he is, hell surely set his eyes on another country. Blood will flow more than they ever had if we allow him. butwhat can I do about it? Nothing, absolutely nothing He was a king only in name. All manner of governance has been taken over by the court nobles, and he was not allowed to intervene in any way. The exchange earlier where the court nobles asked the king for his final judgment on the matter was nothing more than an act. Even if he rejected the proposal, the nobles would not back down. After all, these nobles had the power not only to dethrone the king but also to appoint a new one. As for how a king could have so little power, it was the fault of the previous kings themselves. More specifically, it was the fault of foolish and abusive kings who sat on the throne for years while their kingdom suffered. After seeing such a thing repeat over and over again, the court nobles amended thews and gave themselves the power to change the ruler. However, that increase to the court nobles power eventually gave birth to the current corruption guing their kingdom. Moreover, even if a capable leader like King Darios III appears, the current system made it hard for such people to properly govern the country. Your majesty, a report. While wracking his head like that, a certain report was brought to the king. Its from an agent of ours who seeded in infiltrating the Albert territory. Upon hearing that, hope suddenly returned to the king. Please consider supporting me. You can do this either by turning off adblock for this blog or via myPatreon page. Thank you. Chapter 169: I promise you I’ll succeed Chapter 169: I promise you Ill seed Darineathe fate of this kingdom rests on your handsI hope you can someday forgive me for being such a powerless king Father, worry not. I promise you Ill seed. Despite knowing that this could possibly be herst time to see her father, Darinea steeled herself and spoke confidently. As a princess, she had worn only luxurious and beautiful clothes her whole life, but right now, she was dressed with the shabby clothes that a traveler might wear. Shabby as clothes might be though, it couldnt hide her unmatched beauty. This secret journey she was about to go on was unsurprisingly too dangerous for a young, beautiful girl to go alone. If she ends up being captured by bandits and the like, who knows what ill fate awaited her. On the other hand, it was impossible to provide her arge group of guards. In the end, they settled on entrusting her to a single guard. Marisha, I beg of you, please take care of Darinea. I vow to do my utmost, your majesty. Not only did she possess strengthenough that she was made a member of the royal guards even though she was a womanshe also had a good background as well as great loyalty toward the royal family. These qualities made her the idealpanion for the princess. Your highness, to hide our real identities, I suggest we pose as sisters. However, since I can pass only as the older sister, Im afraid I will have to talk to you casually. Apologies in advance. I understand, Marisha-neesama. Just to doubly sure, I also propose that we use aliases. If I may, Ill be referring to you as Ria from now on. Very well. Then, I shall refer to you as Rin-neesama from now on. alright, lets be off, Ria. Yes, Rin-neesama. Like that, Princess Darinea stealthily left the pce. Despite struggling, the princess uttered not a single word ofint as they traveled northeast. What lied northeast of the royal pce wasthe Albert territory. Well finally enter the Albert territory tomorrow, wont we, Rin-neesama? The princess had known beforehand that they were travelling into essentially enemy territory and thus prepared herself. Yet, understandably, she was unable to hide her nervousness. After all, if ever Lord Albert knew of their presence, their mission and the kings n woulde to nothing. Theres no need to be afraid, Ria. Lord Albert himself is in the former Schneger territory right now. And his attention ispletely set on the royal pce. Were not exactly under his nose, but it should still be hard for him to notice us. Y-youre rightbut even so, can the hope father spoke really be here? I dont know the details myself, so all I can do is believe right noweither way, we should know for sure once we reach the city called Riesen. And so, they continued travelling. Once they entered the Albert territory, they continued going north. Before long So, thats the city of Riesenwhat impressive walls! Y-yes. And its not even their capital. Thats the Albert territory for you, I suppose. When the two entered the city, they were even more surprised. What a fantastic city I heard this was an old city though? The buildings and the roads in the city looked as though they were built just recently. Furthermore, not a piece of trash could be found anywhere. If you take a walk around most cities, even in the royal capital, youre bound to see trash and animal waste somewhere along the way. At times, human waste as well The people in the streets are clean too. Too clean, even. Indeedyet, judging by the clothes theyre wearing, they seem to be just ordinary citizensbut are they really? Moreover, the city was abuzz with activity. For some reason though, vagrants, which were amon sight in the royal capital, were nowhere to be seen. Whats going on in this city? If Lord Albert managed to build a city like this, can it be that hes actually a great lord? Ive heard countless tales about his warmongeringbut I dont believe Ive ever heard of a tale saying that hes skilled at territory administration Bewildered like that, the two proceeded to their destination. What awaited the two there was Please consider supporting me. You can do this either by turning off adblock for this blog or via myPatreon page. Thank you. Chapter 170: Really got mad and sent someone!? Chapter 170: Really got mad and sent someone!? Oh, so thats Luke-samas new home. Its so tall and amazing. It suits our chief, doesnt it? Wow. Papa, I want to see what its like up there. Looks like we can from the viewing deck at the top. The vigers were surprised by the sudden appearance of such a tall building. However, it only took them a moment to realize what happened and say oh, must be the chief again. The vigers were in amotion not out of fear, but rather out of wanting to get a look inside. Given that, I decided to customize a part of the top floors into a viewing tform that was open to the general public. Of course, I also added an elevator that was exclusively for that. If I remember right, the tallest tower in the royal pce is about 50 meters tall, isnt ithmm, yup, once the king sees this, hes definitely going to get angry. Fortunately, the king would nevere to our vige just to visit, but he could still hear about us. I fear it might escte into him attacking us. You need not worry at all, Luke-sama. Though they might be called the royal family, they cant easily make a move against any ce within the Albert territory. I guess I should worry more about angering my father then. Perhaps, but he should be busy taking over other territories right now, right? ording to the rumors, my father has finally started to make a move against other domains. At the rate things were going, the entire country could soon be involved in all-out war. However, the Albert forces should have expanded to the point where theyrerger than all the other territories forcesbined. Ive heard lords with midsize armies are already surrendering one after the other. If this goes on, I think its likely that the royal family will also surrender without even giving a fight. That analysis was given by Selius-kun. If what he said happens, my father would soon be ruler of the entire country Given my fathers power, he could very well be able to unite this war-torn country. However, the problem was that he wasnt going to stop at just that. Either way, hed be busy for a while. I just hope that means he wont shift his attention toward this wastnd. My father still seemed to be unaware of this vige, so it was probably safe to assume that Raul kept to our agreement. Nevertheless, rumors about the vige continued to spread and it was only a matter of time before my father hears about us. While we were talking like that, Satin contacted me via telepathy. <> Wait, you mean Mitchell-san himself? Not a messenger or something? <> I wonder what could he be here for? Mitchell-san was the one to rece Dant-san as the Norths governor. Understandably, he was quite the busy person. Which made this visit all the more mysterious. I had also attached to him a double of mine, yet I didnt receive any message from it. At any rate, I instructed Satin to guide Mitchell-san to a ce where I could meet with him. Good to see you again, Luke-sama. I see that in the short while that I havent been here, youve built another unbelievable thing. Ahh, yeah. I tried to build a pce, but what I got what this skyscraper. Hahayoure the same as ever. Mitchell-san said so and theughed in a dry manner. By his side were two people. They had a hood on, so I couldnt get a good look at their faces, but based on their physiques, they seemed to be women. They didnt give off the feeling that they were Mitchell-sans guards though Anyway, what can I do for you today? Id like to introduce you to someone, Luke-sama. Introduce someone? At that moment, one of the women lowered her hood. She was so beautiful. It was almost like she came right out of a painting. In spite of the normal-looking travelling clothes she was wearing, I could tell at a nce that she was a woman of noble birth. But why would a woman like here to our vige? Are you Luke Albert-sama, the one who built this vige? Ive heard many tales about you beforehand, but I didnt imagine youre this young Ahmmay I ask who you are? I hope you can forgive thete introduction. I am Darinea, King Darios IIIs eldest daughter. The royal family really got mad and sent someone!? Please consider supporting me. You can do this either by turning off adblock for this blog or via myPatreon page. Thank you. Chapter 171: Winning against Lord Albert Chapter 171: Winning against Lord Albert Going back in time a little Weve been expecting you. Ah, no, Im not the person youre looking for. Im here just to guide you to that person. Pardon, but Im going to have to ask you to follow me to another location. Princess Darinea and her guard Marihsa had arrived at the ce they were told to go. There, the person waiting for them guided them somewhere else. More specifically, that person guided them to the governors castle. This is the governors castle, isnt it? I see, this is where the spy Please head this way. As you might imagine, having you enter from the main entrance draws too much attention. Despite their suspicions, the two entered through the rear entrance. Eventually, they arrived at a drawing room. Ah, hello there. Thank you for travelling all this way, your highness. The man waiting in that room stood up and bowed. I am Mitchell, the Norths governor. Its an absolute pleasure to meet you. The governor!? Not expecting the person before them at all, the two immediately put their guard up. Huh, what? Why? why is an Albert governor hereno, it cant behas our n been leaked to the enemy A governor ruled over towns and cities as the reigning lords representative. It was only prudent for the two to be wary of a person who likely had Lord Alberts favor. Hahaha, I get it now. Its only reasonable to be taken aback, I suppose, but theres no need to worry. I am genuinely your ally, your highness. I am from the outskirts of the Albert territory, true enough, but more than that, I am part of your highnesss mothers noble house. It is by orders of His Majesty the King more than a decade ago that I infiltrated my way through the ranks of House Albert. Between you and me though, I didnt imagine Id ever be a governor. My mothers? When Princess Darinea rxed a little, the governor began telling her stories about her mothers birthce. His stay there was mostly only during his youth, but his fond recounting could convince just about everyone that he did in fact lived in the area. I have been there a few times, so I understand what youre saying. It truly is a beautiful and wonderful ce. Thank you for believing me. Youre quite perceptive, your highness. Though you are His Majestys daughter, so I suppose thats only to be expected. In an ideal world, King Darios III could have aplished much as king. Just the fact that he recognized early on that Lord Albert would soon be a threat and sent a spy to infiltrate should say a lot about the kingspetence. It should be said though that, in order to avoid anything unexpected, Im not the only one deployed by the king. But of course, I have no clue of the others identities or locations. How smart of father. And then, while keeping her eagerness in check, Darinea nervously asked a question. So, about the thing thatll overturn this dire situation T-theres a city this big in this kind of ce Surprising, isnt it? More surprising is that just about a year ago, this ce was nothing but a wastnd. Just a year ago!? Along with Mitchell, the two traveled to the north of Riesen. What awaited the princess in the vast wastnd there was a great city not at all inferior to the royal capital. And the person who made all of these possible, is in conflict with Lord Albert? Hes not exactly in conflict with Lord Albert, but he has been exiled by Lord Albert after his rite of blessing. Then, what a fool Lord Albert must be Haha. That might indeed be the greatest mistake of Lord Alberts life, but in all fairness to him, no one but a god could have foreseen this. Towering over the other buildings in the center of the city was arge structure that was more than a hundred meters tall. A-apparently, thats the vige chiefs current residence. The vige chiefs residence, you saybut it exceeds what you would expect of a royal pce of any country With a face that said hes gone and built another ridiculous thing in the short time I didnt see him, Mitchell dered something to the two women. I fully believe Luke Albert-sama is the key toward turning things around and even winning against Lord Albert. Please consider supporting me. You can do this either by turning off adblock for this blog or via my Patreon page. Thank you. Chapter 172: Im actually a spy Chapter 172: Im actually a spy I hope you can forgive thete introduction. I am Darinea, King Darios IIIs eldest daughter. Someone from the royal family!? Ah, ahmIm, ahem, I am Luke Albert, the chief of this vige. I did worry that they would send someone to protest why I built a pce grander than even the royal pce, but I didnt expect it to happen so soon. Nevertheless, Im terribly surprised. Ive never seen such a tall castle before. I knew it! She might not be direct about it, but shes definitely angry! The interior is beautiful and very intricate as well. Building something like this would be hard for the royal family, especially with how things are right now. I deeply, deeply apologizeeeeeeeeeeeeee! Huh? W-what are you apologizing for? Huh? I scrambled to apologize, but she just looked confused. Eh? Can it be that shes not angry? Well, arent you angry at me for building a pce like this? Im not. If anything, Im impressed. Oh, I see. Thank goodness. But then, if shes not here to rebuke me, why did shee all this way? Theres quite a distance between the vige and the royal capital, so she cant be here without a specific reason, right? And now that I think about it, my fathers in the midst of overthrowing the royal family. So, visiting me, the son of her enemy, makes a lot less sense. Well, Mitchell-sans with her, so I guess she knows that Im not attached to House Albert anymore. Wait, why is an Albert governor with the princess anyway? Luke-sama, I have a favor to ask. A favor? I had a bad feeling about it. So much so that I wanted to turn around and exit the room. And then, the princess said something unbelievable to me. Id like to ask for your help in defeating Lord Albert! How did this happen!? I forgot to speak formally and shouted so. Wait, wait, wait. Are you not aware that Im also an Albert? I am aware, but Im also aware that youve been exiled after you blessing ceremony and that youre in conflict with Lord Albert. We were not in good terms, sure, but we were not at odds either. Probably. Everyone in the royal pce, save for a small number of people, is already leaning toward surrendering to Lord Albert. At this rate, he would soon rule over the entire country. With a serious look on her face, the princess exined so. When asked for details, she said that the current n was for her to be the new ruler and then wee my father into the royal pce as her husband. However, more likely than not, my father would actually be the one in power and she would be a figurehead whose only real duty was to ensure that her royal bloodline would continue. Of course, if Lord Albert were someone who could lead this kingdom toward prosperity, I could somehow tolerate such a fate. However, what likely awaits us all is an age of tyranny through fear and powermoreover, based on his actions thus far, its easy to predict that he will soon invade other kingdoms to further expand his domain. Hmm, yeah, I wont argue with that, but But why ask me? ording to what I heard, you easily defeated Albert forces led by your younger brother. Given that, you should stand a chance against Lord Albert as well. Mitchellwho is over there thinks so at least. Before we noticed it, Mitchell-san was standing behind the princess as though he was hiding. I for one stared at him with distrustful eyes. I think youre asking a bit too much of mebut in the first ce, whats your role in all this, Mitchell-san? Haha, you see, Im actually a spy sent by the king himself to infiltrate the Albert territory. Oh, and it really doesnt matter if you turn us down. Right about now, His Majesty should be telling Lord Albert about this vige. youve gotta be joking. Please consider supporting me. You can do this either by turning off adblock for this blog or via myPatreon page. Thank you. Chapter 173: I don’t know anything about it Chapter 173: I dont know anything about it So thats Lord Albert, huh What an intimidating presence Im so d we decided not to go to war against that guy Marquis Albert and his soldiers imposingly marched into the audience chamber. By that act alone, the court noble waiting in there were easily overwhelmed. The marquis proceeded to walk until he was at the foot of the throne where King Darios the 13th was sitting. However, instead of kneeling down, he remained standing and said something utterly disrespectful. Your daughters to be queen and I to be her prince consort, is that right? I dont mind that deal. I have no interest in the throne itself. As long as this kingdom moves ording to my will, I dont see any problem. In order to deal with Marquis Albert who was about to take the throne by force, the court nobles suggested thispromise. Fortunately for them, the marquis thought it was beneficial for him as well. If the marquis went ahead and usurped the throne, he would have had to deal with the resulting uprisings all over the country. Of course, as a warmonger, it would be easy for him to suppress the public with force, but in consideration of his future endeavors, he concluded that internal affairs should be dealt with as soon as possible. So, where is the princess? she is not here. Fetch her quickly then. If shes to be my wife, I ought to have a good look at her face. You misunderstand. Shes not here in the royal castle. In fact, shes not even in the royal capital. What are you getting at? Marquis Albert frowned at what the king just said. Sharing that sentiment, the court nobles began to make noise. And then, the king stood with force from the throne and uncaringlyughed. All while looking down at the marquis. Hahaha! I didnt expect that you, of all people, were not aware of the growing threat within your ownnds. what are you talking about? Im talking about Luke Albert. Your very own son. Luke? That ipetent brat? Hahaha! If he truly is as ipetent as you say he is, then how is it that he was able to build a grand city that is grander than even the royal capital in less than two years!? Everyone in the audience chamber who heard the wildly iprehensible words of the king were left wondering if he has perhaps gone mad. And yet, his eyes were still full of reason and sanity. If you dont believe me, then go send your subordinates to investigate. And like I told you, you wont find my daughter here. I dont want her marrying a man like you, so Ive sent her to escape to the city in the wastnd that your son has built. You At the kings troublesome action as well as his gloating, Marquis Albert bit his lip. He could kill the king there and then, but that would result in the uprisings he was hoping to avoid. It could be that the king was simply bluffing, so there was no need to rush things. Fortunately, the wastnd in question was within Marquis Alberts original territory, so retrieving the princess should not pose any difficulties. As long as he had the princess, the rest would be fine. Go check that wastnd at once. Yes, sir! No, before you go, check every corner of the pce first in case the princess is just hiding somewhere. It doesnt matter whether theyre royalty or a noble, if they get in the way, cut them down. This ce is ours now. U-understood, sir! Like that, the Albert forces has captured the royal pce. back at the capital of the Albert territory. A city in that wastnd? Who told you this nonsense? I-its the Marquisapparently, your older brother built thatrge city in the wastnd Haa, its nonsense, I tell you. In the first ce, his Gift was [Vige Building]. Whats that got to do with arge city, huh? Y-youre certainly right, but If you want to look, go look yourselves. I dont know anything about it. U-understood. Raul just refused to help the investigation team sent by Lord Albert. A little while after they left, he muttered something. Youre about to be found out by father, brotherwhat do you n to do now? Please consider supporting me. You can do this either by turning off adblock for this blog or via my Patreon page. Thank you. Chapter 174: Then bring her to me right away Chapter 174: Then bring her to me right away A report from those sent to investigate the wastnd in the northern Albert territory! About a week after the Albert forces had upied the royal pce, an unbelievable report was brought to Marquis Albert. It has been confirmed that a city within that wastnd do exist! It has many tall buildings, and is surrounded by twoyers of imposing walls. Its poption has already reached the tens of thousands, with immigrants still continuing to arrive! The report not only confirmed what the king said to be true, but it also told other surprising, almost impossible things. Thats absurd. There should be nothing in there at all. A city of that many people was built just two years ago? What kind of trick did Luke-sama use to achieve that? I had no idea he was that talented Marquis Albert listened to that with a sour look on his face. After all, he failed not only to recognize his sons true talents but also exiled him. However, the one to let things be this way was his other son, the one left in charge of the Albert territory. That Raul, why didnt he report this sooner? H-he likely had no idea of its existence as well. As to be expected, even Raul-sama couldnt have predicted that there would be a city like that in the wastnd. A retainer hurriedly followed up with that. however, the truth of the matter was that Raul knew of its existence long ago and only chose to remain silent. And, have you found the princess in that city? Y-yes, sir. Then bring her to me right away. About thatthe princess has refused our requests toe back. Moreover, she is also being protected by that city, making it difficult to bring her back by force Then send a message to Luke! Tell him that if he doesnt hand over the princess right away, I will personally lead an army to crush that precious little city of his! Marquis Albert shouted such amand to his subordinate. However, the reply he received dayster only made him angrier. Were going back to the Albert territory! Ill show that brat what happens to anyone that defies me! Leaving affairs in the royal pce to a retainer, Marquis Albert began his way back to his own home territory. The princess is now part of this city. If you wish to bring her back, then do your worstthat is whats written on the letter I sent, give or take. Their armies should be here before long. What!? Mitchell-san turned out to be a spy sent my His Majesty to the Albert territory. And, as a desperate move to prevent the kingdom from being stolen by my father, he has seemingly made it so that this vige and the Albert forces would sh. Honestly, I found it truly troublesome. W-wait a moment! Did you do this without approval from Luke-sama? Of course, I did, Your Highness. After all, had he refused, it would be all over for us. Hence, the need for me to put him in a position where he couldnt refuse. Wha Apparently, the princess did not know the details of Mitchell-sans ns. Ha, haha. Please, your eyes wound mei-it wasnt like I enjoyed doing it. I was reluctant up to thest moment. Besides, given Marquis Albert and Luke-samas contrasting ideologies, theyre bound to sh with one another sooner orter. Its impossible to keep the existence of this vige a secret from the marquis forever, after all. Luke-sama, I humbly apologize! However, it is true that you are the only one we can rely on! Please find it in your heart to lend us help! At that, I sighed deeply. HaaIm not enthusiastic about it, but Ive got no choice now either way. Besides, its not like Im incapable of imagining what will happen to this kingdom once my father has taken over it. T-then!? Well, my fate might be sealed, but the viges isnt yet. For a formal decision, Id have to discuss it with the everyone first. Haha, Im sure if you say you want to do it, the others will follow suit right away. That aside, what do you think is our chance of sess? Mitchell-san asked so in such a carefree manner. I think I should hit him in the head at least once. I guess it all depends on the strategies we end up using. I just wanted to spend my life living peacefully in this small vigehow did things turn up like this? You just want to live peacefully? With that crazy Gift and all the absurd things youve done with it, that must be some kind of joke, right? Please consider supporting me. You can do this either by turning off adblock for this blog or via myPatreon page. Thank you. Chapter 175: It seems I’ve failed at educating you Chapter 175: It seems Ive failed at educating you Its been a while, father. Hmp, Im surprised you came. Whether you came because you were frightened of the consequence or not, what matters to me is that youre still doing what I tell you to do. We were in the castle of the Albert territorys capital city. In other words, we were in what I used to call home. As for why I travelled to this ce that I thought I would never return to, it was because my father sent a message telling me to meet with him after he has arrived from the royal capital. In addition, the messenger also told mein a very condescending manner, I should addthat they had an army ready to attack the vige at a moments notice, but they were willing to stay their hand depending on the answers I would give in the meeting. ording to what I heard, your Gift apparently allows you to easily build buildings. Thanks to that, you managed to build a city in a wastnd like that in such a short time. Aside from its uselessness inbat, it seems I underestimated your Gift. If you hand over the princess, I have no qualms in you continuing to use your Gift. Even if its to build yourself a good fortress. So, how about it? I was asked what I thought on the offer, but the way I was asked made it clear I couldnt refuse. That made my body tense up, but I steeled myself and spoke. before I give an answer, Id like to ask something first. What is it? father, once youve gained control of the entire kingdom, what do you n to do? My father displeased as though he wanted to ask why he even had to talk about such a thing. Despite that, he still chose to answer. Firstly, Ill strengthen this country. To that end, Ill take away the armies of every lord and incorporate them into mine. Once it moves precisely ording to mymands, itll be the strongest kingdom army there is. and what do you n to do with this kingdom army? What else is there to do? Attack another nation, of course. Before long, all the neighboring nations would be mine, and I would hold the legacy of an unrivaled domain. yeah, his replys pretty much what I expected. It was inevitable that my fathers way approaching things was quite different from me who has lived a previous and totally different life, but even in terms of this worlds standards, my father would be considered an extremely militaristic and hegemonistic man. I fail to see what meaning such a path can have. What? Governing the territory to be better than what it currently is and making the peoples lives be richer and fuller, that is what I believe a lords most important duties are. So, why someone would sacrifice the lives of their people simply for the sake of territory expansion is beyond me. Dont be a fool. Territory expansion is the most important goal a lord should strive for. To stand still is to stagnate. One should always aim to expand. It seemed clear that no matter how much we talk about it, we would never see eye to eye. But then again, if it was so easy to change my fathers mind, this much of an expansion during a single lifetime could never have happened. I expected this to be the case, but it really seems I cant offer you any assistance. Offer assistance? You seem to have the wrong idea here. Im not asking you to do something, Im telling you. You have no choice in this whatsoever. No, I do have a choice. I am my own person, and Ill do whatever I decide to do. Not what you want me to. it seems Ive failed at educating you. Gh With immense intent to kill, my father drew out the sword hanging from his waist. There is a limit to how stupid you can be. The moment you nonchntly stepped in here, the only choice left to you is to do what I tell you. Yeah, even Im not stupid enough to walk here myself. What are you saying? Well then, if youre going to attack me, go ahead and do it. Ill be waiting in the wastnd. My father had a questioning look on his face when I made my consciousness return to my real body. Yes, the one to attend this discussion with my father was a body double. By the way, whenever a double receives a certain amount of damage, it would simply vanish. When Marquis Albert shed Lukes chest with his sword, thetter mysteriously turned into sand that then fell to the floor. Its not his real body? still, for him to dere war on father This person breathed out a sigh of relief after stealthily watching the exchange before the Marquis and Luke. For some reason, the words Luke spoke of earlier crossed his mind again and again. I am my own person, and Ill do whatever I decide to do. I Please consider supporting me. You can do this either by turning off adblock for this blog or via my Patreon page. Thank you. Chapter 176: I get the feeling it’s something really crazy again… Chapter 176: I get the feeling its something really crazy again Ive just talked with my father. Dont worry though, unlike with Raul, I used a body double this time. theres nothing you cant do anymore, is there? Youre amazing as always, Luke-sama. After my consciousness returned to my real body, I told Selen and Millia about my meeting with father. So, theres no doubt about it now: an attacksing. This is just an estimate, but Id say its more than likely that theyll have a force of over 20,000 troops. Wasnt Rauls forceposed of 5,000? Moreover, not only were there more veteran soldiers this time, this army would be led by none other than father. Meanwhile, we only had a force of about 10,000. And most of them were civilians. The vige might technically have a count of over a hundred thousand, but that number included the poption of the North, the Frenco territory, and the Dolz territory. But then again, a lot of vigers have been training themselvestely, so they might beparable to regr soldiers now. Will Viscount Dolz and Viscount Frenco be lending us aid? I guess I can also threaterr, request help from my father. Was Selen going to say threaten just now? Well, if possible, Id like the vige to handle it ourselves. Then how about making anotherbyrinth of walls? Wed be able to shave off a lot of their forces if we do that. Actually, I think I have a better idea this time. From the attackers point of view, it might seem downright unfair, fufufu I dont know what it is, but I get the feeling its something really crazy again A week after Lukes body double has met with Marquis Albert, the Albert forces led by the marquis himself has departed from the territorys capital. Hohoho, 20,000 troops for a single city? Plus bringing 3 of the 4 generals along? Edel-sama is being really cautious this time, isnt he? Goes to show how much of a threat he thinks the enemy is. rumor has itthat Raul-samaled 5,000 soldiers.and lost. Hohoho, is that why he didnt report anything about the city? Hmm, Raul-sama is still but a child. They might share the same Gift, but as to be expected, hes not on the same level as Edel-sama. Not yet, at least. That exchange was by the marquiss closest aides, the so-called four generals. Theywho have sworn loyalty to the marquiswere deeply trusted and were even authorized to move armies based on their discretion. Moreover, each one was a mighty fighter. Each time they descend upon the battlefield, the enemy forces just get trampled. They were a significant factor in why the Albert territory has expanded so much so quickly. Among the 20,000 troops was Raul. However, the unit he was leading was much smaller than the one he led in his first campaign. Moreover, he was ced in the rear end of the whole army. This was because he had told the marquis everything when thetter interrogated him. What angered the marquis was not the fact that Raul didnt report anything or leading an army without permission. No, what angered the marquis was the fact that Raul lost. For the marquis who had won each of his battles, losing was the most unforgivable thing. The marquis would cast aside anyone weak. Even his own son. Even a son that had the [Sword Master Techniques] Gift. But the fact is that father increased the number of soldiers to 20,000 after hearing my story. Even he is on guard. But then again, my story is full of ridiculous things, like abyrinth of moving walls and a gigantic Tree Dragon. Who knows how much of that he believes. At that moment, the ones in the vanguard began making amotion. Yeah, as expected. Raul expected such amotion would arise ones the soldiers see thebyrinth of walls. He couldnt deny that he was looking forward a little bit to how the marquis would ovee such a challenge. Because of his cement in the army though, Raul arrived in the wastndter than most soldiers. What he saw was nothing. the citysgone? Please consider supporting me. You can do this either by turning off adblock for this blog or via myPatreon page. Thank you. Chapter 177: I’m moving it Chapter 177: Im moving it They should have arrived in the wastnd right about now, I think. Theyre probably quite surprised. After all, the city that should have been there is nowhere to be seen. *zugogogogogogo* AhmLuke-samamy eyes arent fooling me, are they? I think Im seeing the city move? Yup, its moving. Or I guess I should say that Im moving it. Wait, wait, wait, what!? Cities dont usually move, you know!? Why are talking like its the most natural thing in the world!? Yes, at the moment, I was moving the entire vige through the Reposition vige skill. Just what youd expect from Luke-sama. I dont think this is to be expected of anyone, even Luke-sama Ha, hahayou always so easily exceed my expectations Shouldnt you be a bit more surprised than that!? The princess was panicking like that, but everyone else was rather calm. After all, me moving buildings around has be amon urrence in the vige. Even moving the entire vige has happened once before. But this is the first time Ive moved the vige this far. Ahmso, does that mean we can escape without fighting? Maybe, but thats not why Im doing this, your highness. Im moving the vige so that we can win with as little damage as possible. We could probably run until my father gives up, but I felt bad for his soldiers who were just following his orders. A moving destinationthe advancing enemy soldiers sure have it rough I dont even want to think about it, dear sister. C-certainly, if we do it like this, the enemy soldiers would lose a lot of morale and staminawhere do we stop though? The n was for us to move west of the wastnd first, and then after it was certain that we would not bump into the enemy army who was headed north, we would head south. Most of the ces we would be passing through werent part of what my Gift considered as my vige and I would have to use the Territory Takeover vige skill to make it so. In fact, considering our destination, I might end up incorporating ces all the way to the southern tip of the kingdom. And then, after a few days of moving southward Is thatis that really the royal capital? Off in the distance, I could see walls that wereparable to the ones in the Albert territorys capital. though not to our viges walls. Yup, it is, your highness. I didnt think Id be back here so soonbut wouldnt it be upied by the Albert army right now? And thats why we have to take it back first. My name is Neon. I am one of the four generals who support Edel Albert-sama. As a strategist, I had guided our side to victory in many battle fields. In consideration of my talents, I have been assigned another important task: tomand the Albert army upying the royal capital in the absence of Edel-sama. Many parties naturally werent fond of us, but even so, I must maintain the current state of things using the limited number of troops I had. Keeping track of every move of the royal family and the court nobles was no easy task, but thankfully, nothing major has happened thus far. There have been small attempts to oust us, but we had immediately quelled such attempts. We even managed to arrest some nobles before they had set their attempts into motion. In order to live up to Edel-samas expectations of me, I nned to keep the royal capital under control no matter what. N-Neon-sama! What is it? Another rebellion? A flustered soldier rushed in, but in contrast, I was perfectly calm. As amander, no matter how dire the situation might be, always looking calm was required. C-city! In the city? Then, dispatch No, an unknown city is moving toward the royal capital! Ha? This was probably the most surprised I have been in my entire life. When I looked from the tallest tower in the royal pce, there it really was. A citya city with walls more impressive than the royal capitalsis truly approaching at great speeds T-that city also matches the city that Edel-sama was headed to! You mean to tell me that city moved all the way from the wastnd in the north of the Albert territory? H-how in the world Please consider supporting me. You can do this either by turning off adblock for this blog or via my Patreon page. Thank you. Chapter 178: I didn’t think you’d come back so quickly Chapter 178: I didnt think youde back so quickly It has stopped somewhere near the royal capital! But the soldiers from that city has begun getting over the walls and into the royal capital! Their numberstheyre reported to have over 10, 000 troops! Theres too many of them! The soldiers weve deployed cant handle them! Our soldiers need immediate reinforcements! The enemies have made it to the pce! We have a few soldiers within the pce, but we have no choice but to close the gates and prepare for a siege! It was one horrible report after the other. Try as I might, I couldnt think of a way to deal with all of these developments. Neon-sama! What should we do!? Please give us your instructions! Neon-sama! My subordinates pleas sounded so far away. I mustnt let them take the royal pceI dread to imagine how angry Edel-sama would be should I let that happenno, failure is not an optionat all cost, I must defend itmy pride as one of the four generals is on the linebut how do I hold it? II cant think of think of anythingits overits all over N-Neon-sama? Abababababababababa Neon-sama has lost it!!! Andstop. Right before we hit the royal capitals walls, I made the vige stop. Alright, are you guys ready? Yesssss! When I shouted so, the armed vigers enthusiastically replied. Each of them armed, they climbed on top of the viges walls through specially prepared staircases and then jumped over the royal capitals walls. Well, since the royal capitals walls were lower than the viges, it might be better to say that the vigers jumped down. At any rate, that was how we managed to enter the royal capital. We pushed back the Albert forces who were surprised by our attack and made our way to the royal pce. We expected it, but the pces gates were closed shut when we arrived. However, through the underground tunnel I built, Selens main troops burrowed under and entered the pce. Why are theying from deeper inside!? When did they!? After Selens troops appeared from behind the Albert soldiers and took care of thetter, they opened the gates from within. Like that, we took back the pce in no time at all. Father! Ahh! Darinea! We managed to rescue the king from his house arrest and bring about an emotional reunion with the princess. But I didnt think youde back so quickly Neither did I, fatherand its all thanks to Luke-sama over there. Oh, youre Im Luke Albert, Your Majesty. Considering the state of the kingdom, I had thought the king would look like the typical corrupt, lecherous, ipetent, and fat ruler. However, upon looking at him, I saw that he had rather normal physique, rather simple clothes, and a rather earnest and wise look about him. I deeply apologize for our actions. We had dragged you in this ordeal without your consent The king suddenly bowed his head and apologize. That shocked me quite a bit. I-its alright; Im an Albert, after all. Im partly responsible for my fathers violent actions. But Ive heard that youve parted ways with Lord Albert some time ago. Thats rightI was exiled right after my rite of blessing. Hmm, do you hate your father for that? I dont hate him. But our values do differ vastly. Unlike him, I have no interest at all in power or war. A peaceful and quiet life is more than enough for me. Hahaha, I understand now. You and I are quite alike, it seems. Truth be told, there have been many times in my life where I considered stepping down as king and living that kind of life. s, being born as royaltyes with duties I must prioritize. Just like what I heard from the princess and Mitchell-san, the current king seemed like a wonderful person. But how did you outmaneuver Lord Albert? Ive heard from your soldiers earlier that you took the opening made by Lord Albert marching to the wastnd and went here instead. Ah, yes. We did it by moving the entire vige here. excuse me? F-father, please look over there. Encouraged by the princess, the king looked out of the window. He was so shocked that he fell down. W-w-w-w-whats going oooooooooooooooooooooooooooonnnn!? Please consider supporting me. You can do this either by turning off adblock for this blog or via my Patreon page. Thank you. Chapter 179: The village has temporarily moved to the royal capital Chapter 179: The vige has temporarily moved to the royal capital Whats the meaning of this!? Why is there no city!? It-it was here just yesterday, sir! If thats the case, then why is there nothing here right now!? Dont tell me it just vanished overnight! Hiii! Lord Alberts shouts reverberated through the wastnd. After arriving in the wastnd, the 20,000 Albert troops saw nothing but the vast wastnd and the nearby monster infested areas. The rumored city was nowhere to be found. Or have we been following false information from the very start? That cant be the case. Multiple investigators have already confirmed the citys existence, not to mention the many citizens who have entered the city themselves. maybeeveryone onlysaw anillusion? Hohoho, an illusion of that scale is impossible. Then, what other exnation is there? What, did the city move itself elsewhere? While 3 of the 4 generals were perplexed like that, the scouting unit sent to run around the wastnd returned. Weve discovered a mysterious road that leads to the center of the wastnd! A road? The marquis rode on his horse to the said location and found the said road. The road was a beautiful stone pavement that ran straight through the wastnd, almost as though slicing it. By following the road, the marquis found something. Is thata stone monument? At the ce where the road ended was a giant rock. In that rock, some characters were written. The vige has temporarily moved to the royal capital. Vige Chief Luke. What the hell is this!? Is he mocking me!? The marquis did not care for the words written in the monument and instead ordered the scouts to expand their search radius. In the end though, the scouts found nothing else. Because of that, they decided to fall back for the moment to Riesen, thergest and closest city in the North. The day after returning from the wastnd, the marquis received an urgent report from the royal capital. The capital has been invaded byan unknown armyand the pce was taken immediately What!? And what of Neon!? P-probably taken prisoner Useless fool! But that unknown armythere shouldnt be any army capable of defeating Neons troops in such a short amount of time. A-about thatording to the reportthe unknown army came from the mysterious city that appeared out of nowhere beside the capital. ha? To the royal capital! Were going to the capital right this moment! It was decidedter that the Albert army would head to the royal capital. It was, naturally, to take it back. However, on their way there, they have been ambushed multiple times. They got our supplies again! The soldiers also havent been able to get a good rest because of the repeated attacks! Enemy soldiers have been appearing out of nowhere in their campsite in the middle of the night. It would seem the enemies primary goal was to make their supplies and weapons unusable. After denying them of what could be said to be the lifeline of every army, the enemies would disappear as mysteriously as they appeared. No matter how vignt they be, they still couldnt catch their enemies, much less prevent their attacks. On the other hand, the loud rm bells going all through the night have prevented the soldiers from getting enough rest and thus sped up their exhaustion. This has caused more and more soldiers to desert. However, since their food supplies had dwindled so much due to the attacks, soldiers leaving strangely worked in favor for the Albert army. A roundtrip to and from the wastnd has made the soldiers reach peak exhaustion. Our food supply is quite low as well. I think we should rest and stock up here for the meantime Nonsense! If we take too long, the other nobles armies will join in the fight as well. Thatll make it harder to take back the capital. It doesnt matter how many men desert, we will continue marching! Like that, Marquis Albert dismissed his subordinates suggestion. If it was made known that the Albert army was struggling at the moment, the nobles who had decided to stand back and watch might instead make their own moves against the Albert army. And so, before that happens, they must recapture the capital as soon as possible. After force marching all the way to the capital, about only half of their soldiers remained. Please consider supporting me. You can do this either by turning off adblock for this blog or via my Patreon page. Thank you. Chapter 180: Something’s flying at us! Chapter 180: Somethings flying at us! Lets go! Oooo! With thatmand, they climbed up the stairs. The ce they were climbing up to was a ce with a great many tents and some bonfires burning brightly in the middle of the night. That should be where theyre storing their food supply. Alright, lets burn it. Upon throwing a torch on a certain tent, fire began to engulf it. E-enemy attack! Enemy attack! Like that, their raid was finally noticed. However, it was already toote; they have already climbed down the stairs. And once all of them have descended, the stairs itself vanished. Where did they go? This should be where the intruders have gone, but They had vanished into the night, leaving the soldiers dumbfounded and confused. Hmm-hmm, it looks like weve managed to reduce their numbers by a good deal. I nodded while confirming the chaos we dealt to the Albert army. I was able to do this safely and also urately thanks to me possessing a body double that was in the site. It seems they still dont suspect that were hiding underground. We were actually following and matching the Albert armys march, only we were travelling underground. And whenever they would camp for the night, we would begin our raid. Some of the vigers had infiltrated their ranks and posed as soldiers. This allowed us to obtain some information. And apparently, they were having a hard time stopping soldiers from deserting. However, due to the fact that we have been constantly burning their food supply, theirmanders seemed didnt seem to mind too much their declining numbers. That being said, father seemed quite irritated. Our spies reported that they could often hear him shout. Even before our raids, the Albert army has been marching as quickly as they could. They must really be worried that the other lords would get involved with the affairs in the royal capital. In fact, now that there was a chance to defeat the Albert army, the opportunistic court nobles have simultaneously switched sides and were now convincing other lords to do the same. And when the Albert army finally reached the capital We managed to reduce them to 10,000 troops? Im d we reduced them to half of their original size, but Id like to decrease them some morewell, are you all ready? At that time, I transferred my consciousness to the double that was at the top of the ramparts surrounding the capital. Yes! Were ready to go anytime! The viges dwarves enthusiastically replied so. Dona, this range has been set, right? Mhm, its perfect. The dwarf girl named Dona confidently replied so. Then, fire! Oooo! At my signal, the dwarves rushed to the iron objects set beforehand. These objects that they built themselves sent iron projectiles to a given destinationin other words, they were cannons. Thatsthe royal capital? Im sure the walls didnt look like that when we left A-and next to the capitals another citywhat the hells going on here? The Albert soldiers were finally close enough to see the capital. However, upon looking at it, a hugemotion among them urred. After all, the capitals walls were clearly more imposing than before. Whats more, next to the capital was something that shouldnt have been there at all: another city. Edel-samait would seem that the reports were true that much is obvious from looking at this. Now that they were here, they had no choice than to believe those ridiculous reports. The city that should have been in the wastnd has somehow relocated itself here. And the walls, did they rece it with something new? It looks like that to you too? For metooI hopethis is justan illusion The generals, who were fierce and battle-hardened, had no choice but be dumbfounded before the series of things they havent experienced until this moment. But then, something else happened. From the mysterious objects that were lined up on the walls, smoke as well as thunderous sounds emerged. What is that? ! R-run! Somethings flying at us! Booooooooooooooooooooooooom!!! Lumps of iron crashed in front of the Albert armys vanguard one after the other, each one making the ground shake more and more. It also sent the shattered earth flying down on the soldiers heads !? Please consider supporting me. You can do this either by turning off adblock for this blog or via myPatreon page. Thank you. Chapter 181: Be lucky and don’t die! Chapter 181: Be lucky and dont die! What was that just now!? Magic!? What a deafening sound! And those tremors and storms of dustit was so powerful! Look up there! Theres smoke thereis that where theyre firing that wide-range magic!? Youve gotta be kidding me! No way we can we fight against that! Lets just run! The soldiers, all of whom havent seen a cannon before, thought that the attack just now was some kind of magic. Seeing such tremendous power filled them with dread, prompting them to escape to as far a ce as possible. E-Edel-sama! Its too dangerous! At this rate, we wont be able to approach! Calm yourself! Look closely at the ground! Not that much has holes in them! As the cloud of dust gradually cleared, they were able to see the condition of the ground ahead. While the ground was gouged quite deeply here and there, there were about 10 or so meters between the holes. That meant thatpared to a volley of arrows, the chances of receiving a direct hit should be lower. Be lucky and dont die! Go! O-ooooooo! The remaining soldiers gave a do-or-die shout and then simultaneously restarted their march toward the capital. However, as though to snatch away their newfound resolve, another volley of cannon fire descended upon them. Thunder, tremors, and flying dirt happened once again. Some soldiers couldnt endure the fear anymore and left. In truth though, the cannon projectiles didnt hit anybody even once. This was unfortunately not noticed by anyone. After a while, they finally made it to the capitals gates. At that point, the Albert army was reduced to only 5,000 soldiers. Alright, the cannon scare tactic worked well. Now then, everyone fall back! Through the body double on top of the walls, I gave the instruction to retreat to the dwarves. In this kingdom at least, no one has used cannons in warfare. That was likely because they focused more on developing martial arts and magic but didnt put much attention to developing weaponry. So, when our cannons made a roaring sound and produced a wide explosion on the ground in front of them, they probably thought it was some kind of magic. If they knew what a cannon was, there was a chance they would have been less scared. Theyd even be less scared if they knew we were aiming at only the ground and not them. A way to put it was that we were just bluffing with our cannon shots. That being said, we still managed to reduce their numbers. Even with a reduced number of troops though, my father was unsurprisingly not deterred from charging toward the capitals gate. Gaion! Yes, sir! Waaaaaaaaaaa! At the very front was a man named Gaion. Standing at over 2 meters tall, he was quite a giant of a man. This was, without a doubt, one of the so-called four generals of my father. While riding a horse that seemed small because of him, he wielded a club and headed straight to the gate at great speeds. *Dogoaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!!* Like that, he swung his club against the gate. That single blow destroyed the said gate, allowing him to pass through. what power. He probably possessed some kind of Gift. With a person who could do something like that, it was no wonder the Albert army was unmatched in castle sieges. On a side note, Gifts that granted overwhelming power to people was another reason why weaponry development had such low priority. Oh well, its still within our assumptions. The Albert army got into the capital and were now headed toward the pce. However, when about half of them had made it into the capital, I rebuilt the destroyed gate. !? The gate fixed itself!? We cant get in!? The gate suddenly reappearing before them, the soldiers at the back were forced to stop. That resulted in nearly 3,000 soldiers being unable to enter the capital. I had already incorporated the royal capital into my vige, so not only was I able to build walls, I was also able to do other things like instantly rebuilding the destroyed gate. My father didnt seem aware of what happened to those in the rear. At the very least he didnt stop the march of the remaining 2,000 soldiers toward the pce. The end of this battle was getting closer and closer. Please consider supporting me. You can do this either by turning off adblock for this blog or via myPatreon page. Thank you. Chapter 182: Let’s beat them all! Chapter 182: Lets beat them all! Where is the rearguard!? Damn! The vanguard doesnt look like theyll stopwe have no choice but to continue forward as well! *zugogogogo!* W-what!? Where did that wall aheade from!? Shit! Lets get around it! *zugogogogo!* *zugogogogo!* There are walls to the left and right now!? *zugogogogo!* And now behind us!? A-arent wecaged in now? The Albert army advanced toward the pce through the main street, but their numbers kept on decreasing. The reason for that were the walls that suddenly appeared and caged in those in the rear. By the time my father noticed it, they were reduced to only a force of 300. Edel-sama! We only have a few hundred soldiers left! At this rate, taking the pce wont be easy It doesnt matter! The few that remains are our best soldiers! Theyre more than strong enough! Even that situation wasnt enough to dampen Lord Alberts fighting spirit. If anything, his fighting spirit has only grown fiercer. Fuhahaha! Its as Edel-sama says! Theres no fortress that the four generals cant take down! but right nowtheres only 3 of us Hohoho, the three of us are enough. I must say though, how many years has it been since we have been cornered like this? Im raring to go! The generals fighting spirit wasnt dampened at all as well. *zugogogogo!* When they were near the royal pce, a huge wall rose from the ground and blocked their path. Fuhahaha! This is nothing! Prepare to get crushed, wall! Hohoho, leave this one to me. Meribe! The general named Meribe invoked magic. After he finished, a mass of earth appeared out of nowhere in front of the wall and formed a slope. He was an outstanding magician who specialized in using yellow magic. By creating and controlling the earth, he could change the terrain of the battlefield ording to his will. Through the slope up as well as the slope down he madeter, the Albert army went over the wall with ease. Afterwards, they reached the vast za in front of the pce. In that za, their enemies awaited. Hohoho, by my estimate, theres only 500 or so of them. Our numbers might be reduced, but an enemy force of this size cant dream of holding us back. its possiblethat there areenemy troops hidingsomewhere Fuhahahaha! They can use whatever trick they want, our victory is guaranteed! Lets beat them all! Charge! Upon receiving Lord Albertsmand, the remaining 300 soldiers simultaneously whipped their horses. These soldiers were the elites of the elites who had triumphed over many battlefields with the marquis. Many of them possessedbat-rted Gifts, so even though there were only so many of them left, they were confident that they could take back the royal pce. However, just before they shed with the enemy soldiers, something unexpected happened: the ground beneath them vanished. Wha!? The soldiers fell to therge hole that wasnt there just a moment ago. The hole in question was about 2 meters deep. Although they had to get off of their horses, the strong-bodied soldiers managed to fall safely. As soon as theynded, a volley of arrows rained down on them from above. The soldiers managed to survive, but their horses received heavy damage and were no longer useable. Hohoho, my time to shine! Meribe once again made a slope. The now-horseless soldiers used that to climb out of the hole. Despite all that just happened, the soldiers were just as fearless in charging forward, if not more. Lets gooooo! Kill themmmmm! Aaaaaaaaaaaaaa! Their enemies who had a mishmash of armor and equipment should not even be able to put up a good fight unless their enemies did something truly desperate. And yet, time after time, their enemies have been toying with them so much. As to be expected, the soldiers had now reached their limits of their patience. Nevertheless, this battle was about to be concluded and the way to determine the winner was through close-quartersbat. Unfortunately, something the Albert army totally didnt expect was about to happen. Please consider supporting me. You can do this either by turning off adblock for this blog or via myPatreon page. Thank you. Chapter 183: That man is extraordinary Chapter 183: That man is extraordinary Just like what I did when I fought Rauls army, I made a moat beneath the Albert soldiers feet and made the ground they were standing on vanish. However, as to be expected of fathers most elite soldiers, they were able tond on the bottom of the moat quite safely. Even so, that move seeded in taking out their horses out of action. That was more than enough for me. It was quite troublesome to deal with mounted charges, after all. The 500 or so troops we deployed in front of the pce wereposed of vigers as well as of adventurers who were using our vige as their base of operations. Equipped with weapons and armors made in the vige, they shed with the Albert soldiers as soon as thetter made it out of the moat. By the way, the soldiers of the capital and the pce had expressed their intention to participate in the fight, but we had deemed it best for them to standby within the pce in the meantime. To be frank, it was because we thought they were far inferior to our vigers and adventurers. After all, their actualbat experience wasnt much. They had high social status, sure, but the other nobles soldiers were far stronger than them. W-who are these guys!? Theyre so strong. The Albert troops likely expected to easily crush us, but they were being pushed back instead. It wasnt just because we had the numerical advantage; our troops ability outmatched theirs without a doubt. They had the advantage experience-wise, but that much wasnt enough to close the gap brought by Gifts and Skills. All this and I still havent used my [Viger Enhancement] vige skill. Fool! You think you can defend against my attack!? Even Gaion, one of the generals, was struggling. Despite being capable of destroying a castle gate with a single hit from his club, Gaion was being kept in check by Noel-kun who possessed the [Shield Master Technique] Gift. Hohoho, two swords and ice magicyou must be Bazuratas Frozen de Princess. Meribe, another general, waspletely being held back by Selen. They have people who can go toe to toe with the generals! Ghhdont falter! We must not lose here! Their morale remained strong, but the Albert armys inferiority in this battle was clear. Except to one person. Hmmp! Gaah!? My father swung his sword and caused a shockwave to ur. That much alone was enough to send multiple people flying. Courageous vigers have been challenging him consecutively, but none of their attacks have hit so far. Hmm, that man is extraordinary. So, thats your father, huh. Yeah. To be honest, I dont think we can take him down By my side and shooting arrows was Philia-san. She was quite astonished by the strength of my father. By the way, I have been using my Viger Enhancement on the vigers fighting my father, but it still wasnt enough. Even our Balrath-san couldnt do a thing. Maybe even Noel-kun wontst a minute despite focusing on defense. Fuhahahaha! Nothing less from Edel-sama! No matter how much you get our numbers down, as long as we have Edel-sama, we cant lose! Hohoho, never mind being worth a thousand soldiers, Edel-samas worth ten thousand. Even by himself, he can turn the tide of any battle! While two of the four generals rejoiced at the prospect of their victory, my father looked and then charged straight at me. Luke, youve made mepletely angry. Ill send you to the afterlife with my own hands. so scary! Like Id let you! Well protect the chief! You weaklings are in the way! Gah! Our vige troops tried to stand in the way, but they were unable to put a stop on fathers charge. Philia-san tried to shoot arrows at him too, but they were all cut down and deflected. And when there was only about 10 meters between us die! My fathers whole body began to shine brilliantly. It was simr to what Raul showed beforean intense fighting aura. I wont let you! ! However, someone suddenly jumped in front of father and forced him to defend himself with his sword. As soon as father recognized who it was, his eyes were wide open. Raul? I wont let you harm my brother, you shitty father. Tchyou little Please consider supporting me. You can do this either by turning off adblock for this blog or via myPatreon page. Thank you. Chapter 184: You know who I hate most? Chapter 184: You know who I hate most? Raul? I wont let you harm my brother, you shitty father. Tchyou little The one to intercept fathers charge was Raul. Realizing what Rauls words and actions meant, father shouted angrily. Raul, you bratare you really betraying me!? Raul was then sent flying. He managed tond safely and even gave a snort. Hmp, betray you? When the hell did I ever be your ally, huh? Tch Ive always hated that piece of shit Luke, but you know who I hate most? You, you shitty father! While shouting so, Raul leapt forward. Tell me, what have you ever done for me!? Youve pushed me and my mother to a remote corner of your castle. You forgot about us! But as soon as you found out that I have the same Gift as you, youre suddenly my father!? Tch Ever since I was a kid, I vowed to beat you up and make you kneel before me! Raul let out such words as well as a storm of shes. Father, who has overwhelmed all his opponents thus far, have been put entirely on the defensive. Compared to when he led an attack against the vige, Raul has definitely gotten stronger. He has surely undergone rigorous training since then. However Each and every one of youshould just do what I tell you to do! !? After shouting, father began counterattacking and turned the tables all at once. Ghh! Against fathers fierce attacks, Raul was barely keeping up. Unfortunately, despite his best efforts, some attacks were slipping through his defenses and he was steadily bing wounded all over his body. Haa! Guahh! Raul was sent flying again, only this time, he crashed on the ground and tumbled some distance. He managed to get up right away, but if his coarse breathing was any indication, he was nearly at his limit. On the other hand, father still seemedposed. It was almost like his strength was bottomless. As to be expected, when two people possess the same Gift, experience using that Gift was a significant factor. And father had years and decades over Raul. At this moment, it was clear even to Raul himself that he could not win. Ha, expected as much from you, my shitty father. It really looks like its impossible to bring you down with just my power, isnt it? I hate to do this, but I dont think I have any choice but to get some help from that guyoi, brother! do it! Upon receiving that signal from Raul, I nodded. Alright! Viger Enhancement! Back when we just took back the royal capital from the Albert army, Raul secretly sent a messenger out. ording to that messenger, he wanted to meet me while he was marching toward the capital. Fathers strength is out of the ordinary. You can keep on fighting him until he reaches his limit, but by then, you would have suffered great damage. Yeah, he is worrisome I have an idea. An idea? Ill fight him. Eh? You will? Yeah. You already know that I hate you to death, but more than I hate you, I hate our shitty father. If I get a once in a lifetime chance to beat him down, Ill tolerate cooperating with you. Hate me to death Oi, are you shocked or something? Whatever, that doesnt matter right now. What matters is that even though I have the same Gift, I still wouldnt be able to beat him. Thats where youe in. You have a power that lets you strengthen an ally right, right? Huh? Howd you know about that? Apparently, when Raul was fighting with Noel-kun back then, he noticed arge spike in Noel-kuns strength. Use that on me. You have to be registered as my viger first though. Are you sure? I fucking hate it, but fine. If thats what it takes to beat that shitty father. And that was how Raul came to offer his assistance. <> I needed to make him a viger before anything else, so I selected yes. Viger Enhancement! ! Hahaha! This is amazing! So much power! 5 minutes! Be mindful of that time limit! Thats will be more than enough! I had doubled Rauls fighting capabilities, resulting in a time limit of 5 minutes. Lets settle this, you shitty father. Ino, we will make you know the taste of defeat! Please consider supporting me. You can do this either by turning off adblock for this blog or via myPatreon page. Thank you. Chapter 185: One of my body doubles Chapter 185: One of my body doubles Raul, drink this! I tossed a bottle of potion to Raul after strengthening him through Viger Enhancement. *Glug glug* Ha! This is great. All my wounds vanished just like that. As soon as Raul found an opening, he drank the potion and all his wounds from before vanished. Youll make me know the taste of defeat? Do you still not realize the gap between our strength? Youre the one who doesnt realize. Cant you see Im so much stronger than before!? Tchhow did Enough talk, I want to beat you up right away, you shitty father! Probably mindful of Viger Enhancements time limit, Raul said so and then kicked the ground. For a moment there, I lost sight of him. When I next saw him, he had closed the gap with father already. Wha Careless! This ends now! *gakiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii!* Sword shed against sword, producing a loud metallic, nging sound. Father was having a hard time defending against Rauls shes, and eventually, Rauls overwhelming power caused father to rise to the air. Such power!? Oraaaaaaaaaaa! !? Father was able to do a safending, but the moment he did so, Raul has already approached to follow up. ! Whats wrong, father!? Is that all you can do!? As to be expected of doubling Rauls strength, he not only closed the gap in power between them, he was even overwhelming father. This is stupidhow can I Ora, ora, oraaaa! Upon seeing Rauls drive and terrifying strength as well as father being pushed back in a duel, the soldiers around them unintentionally stopped fighting and watched. O-oi, why is Raul-sama? More importantly, look, Edel-samas struggling against him T-this is just a joke, right? Unfortunately, because Raul had a time limit, that meant that even at this point, victory wasnt guaranteed. That said, if things kept going like this, he should be able to defeat father before that deadline. But then huh? There was a suddenly an impact in my back. Wondering what could have caused it, I nervously turned around. There, I saw thest of my fathers generals. This rather small man had stabbed me in the back with a dagger. the reason why Raul-sama is suddenly this strongis you, Luke-samaif so, we shoulddeal with you first This man with a peculiar way of talking was named Pipanell. His specialty was assassination through excellent covert action. He was capable ofpletely erasing his own presence, just like what he did now. By sneaking into enemy lines and killing the enemysmanders without anyone noticing, he could win a war all by himself. this daggerisced with poisonin 10 secondsyou wont be able to moveat all So, it was you. No wonder I didnt sense anything even when you were near. My map was showing you as a red dot this whole time though. ? Whywhy are you so calmafter being stabbed? No, before thatwhy arent you bleeding? Oh, thats because this is a body double. Wh While in this body, I didnt really feel pain and poison didnt have much effect if any at all. A body double would vanish after receiving a certain amount of damage, but it didnt seem like Ive crossed that threshold just yet. Youre using the termbody doublein a strange way You bastard! What have you done to Luke-samaaaa! Dont expect mercyyyyyyy! !? My consciousness then returned to my real body. From this new vantage point, I saw the nearby vigers getting furious and attacking Pipanell. Ahh, no, Im alright though? I waved my hand and tried to say I was perfectly fine, but maybe due to being blinded by rage, none of them noticed me. Luke-sama! Hurry, drink this potion! Dont panic, Im fine. That was just one of my body doubles. In no time at all, the vigers managed to pin down Pipanell and proceeded to beat him up. more importantly, how is the battle between Raul and father going? Please consider supporting me. You can do this either by turning off adblock for this blog or via myPatreon page. Thank you. Chapter 186: You’ve lost Chapter 186: Youve lost Edel Alberts life began with loss. When he was but 8 years old, a neighboring territory attack theirs and took over the whole area including their capital. That attack also led to the death of his father who personally led their soldiers against the enemies. Along with his mother, he managed to escape from their now-former territory. However, from then on, he had no choice but to live a considerably harsher life disced from his home. Mother, why cant we go back home? Because somebody has taken it away from us. Why? Because were weak. If we were strong, they wouldnt take it away? Yes. They wouldnt have. If anything, we would be the ones doing the taking. If were strong we can be the ones doing the takingas long as were strong These experiences he had at such a young age has made Edels resolve strong. Ill be stronger than everybody! And Ill be the one doing the taking! Never again will others take things away from me! And when Edel turned 12, he received through the rite of blessing the [Sword Master Technique] Gift. Soon enough, thisd was sessful in taking back his home. However, he wasnt satisfied with just that. He took over neighboring territories one after the other. Eventually, he was recognized as one of the five superpowers in kingdom. And upon defeating his greatest rival, Marquis Schneger, he was finally ready to assume control of the kingdom. In all these years of conquest, he has not suffered defeat, not even once. No matter how disadvantageous or ill-advised a battle might seem to an observer, Edel still managed to win every single time. that is, until this day. This is stupidhow can I Edel was unable to keep up with Rauls movements now that thetter suddenly gained so much power. Be it speed or power, Edel just couldntpete. Edel found it ridiculous that he could be beaten in a one-on-one fight. Especially so against his own son who was just ad of 15 years of age. They might have the same Gift, but the difference between their skills should be like heaven and earth. Guu! Haa, youre nearly done! Rauls quick attacks have gradually slowed Edel down. So many attacks were slipping past Edels defenses and cutting him all over his body. It was almost like Raul was painting the air with Edels blood sshes. It has been some time since an enemy hasnded so many attacks on Edel. And as though his old wounds reopened and added to his bodys fatigue, Edels movements grew slower once more. Icant lose here!! Give up already, you shitty father! Gaa!? Edel received a heavy blow, causing him to be stagger and fall down. It was such a serious wound that he couldnt stand back up. Soon enough, a pool of his own blood began to form underneath him. Even then though, the fight in Edels eyes never left. I cant fall herethis kingdomneedsmy power Say that again? The neighboring kingdoms are certain to be aiming for this countryof ours thats always been engulfed in internal fighting! We cant afford to keep on fighting one another! As soon as we unite the kingdom, we wouldunch our offensive! Take before they take things away from us! If we take over every kingdom, no oned be left to take things away from us! Edels hometown was taken over by somebody when he was young. This time, a simr fate might happen to the entire kingdom. So, what youre saying is, with you at the top, this kingdom can be stronger than any other kingdom? Exactly! Through mewe can always be the ones doing the taking! Can you really still say that now? !? Use your eyes and look at your soldiers! Only upon being prompted did Edel notice that all sounds of fighting have ceased in the surroundings. Nervously, Edel turned to look. Wha Edels elite soldiers have all been defeated. Some have been wounded badly, some tied up with rope. Regardless, there was no one else who could fight. F-forgive me, Edel-sama Theyre stronger than we expected Even the generals have been defeated and restrained. On the other hand, the few enemy soldiers that were wounded have already received medical treatment, so their numbers remained mostly the same. Youve lost as amander to Luke. That is the reality of things. I-i-impossi Can a loser like you really say that youre the best choice for making this kingdom strong? Ha, dont make meugh! I stillI still havent lostI cant lose!!! After hearing Rauls harsh words, Edel summoned thest of his strength and charged forward. Edel and Rauls swords shed once more. *ng!* I havent lost! As long as I defeat you and the restImIm the winner! *Snap!!* Edels sword suddenly broke in half, sending one part to dance in the air until it hit the ground. Much like Edel himself, the sword has reached its limit after such a fierce fight. ! ept your defeat! Edel had no more power to defend himself. Like that, Raul mercilessly swung his sword. *sh!* Gaaaaaaaaaaa!? A rain of blood fell to the surroundings. Please consider supporting me. You can do this either by turning off adblock for this blog or via myPatreon page. Thank you. Chapter 187: A simple village chief Chapter 187: A simple vige chief *zugogogogogo* The vige has departed from the royal capital and heartily made its way across thend. It was headed northeast. Yes, it was going back to the wastnd it has upied before. We had won against the Albert army led by my father and sessfully held the royal capital. But now that our business there was over, there was no reason for the vige to remain adjacent to the capital. Say, Luke, are you really sure about this? About what? The king personally asked you to serve in the pce, didnt he? Plus, he wanted to granted you peerage. Nah, that kind of things not for me. Being able to live peacefully in the wastnd as a simple vige chief is more than enough for me. I reaffirmed my decision to Selen. A simple vige chief, you sayI dont think a simple vige chief can move an entire vige like this though. When I decided to respectfully turn down the kings offer, the king and the princess both looked terribly saddened. Understanding now more than ever how much the kingdom must change, the king was determined to implement reforms. The court nobles, having learned their lesson, were generally in support of the kings proposed reforms. It seemed like the kingdom would be more united in the future. Not that it mattered, but some vigers have expressed some crazy statements like now that weve taken the royal pce, Luke-sama should be king!. It was fine that they thought highly of me, but recently, the number of radical vigers seemed to have increasedI wonder why though. Ahh, but I did leave behind a body double to support the king in my stead though. Youre wise as always, Luke-sama! ? (In other words, Luke-sama intends to gradually take over behind the scenes. By the time they notice it, Luke-sama has already be the one truly running this kingdomfufufu, Luke-samas foresight is truly magnificent!) I had the feeling that Millia was thinking of something off the mark. At any rate, for the crime of insurgency against the crown, the original Albert territory was confiscated and ced under the direct control of the royal family. Also, thends captured by fatherincluding Marquis Schnegers territorywere returned to their former rulers. In light of the fact that another Albert was responsible for stopping father, some considerations were given to our family. Firstly, the governor to be installed in the original Albert territory was fathers younger brother. Unlike father, he was mild-mannered and also disliked war. When he was a teen, he left the Albert territory to study in the royal capital. In time, he apparently worked as a civil official in the pce. Truth be told, this position as governor was actually offered to Raul, but he turned it down. Another reason the royal family has fallen this much is that the kingdoms army is just is too weak. Im going to join them and make sure theyre tough enough. The king has apparently approved of Rauls n. If the kingdoms army bes stronger to the point where they could intervene in the disputes between nobles, the kingdoms internal wars might subside and eventually be a thing of the past. And then, of course, there was my father, the principal offender Rauls sword attack dealt a heavy wound that could have been fatal if not for the power of our potions. That said, father was still unconsciousst I heard. As soon as he wakes up, he would be put to tri trial that would assuredly give him a death sentence. a-all things considered, what an absurd Gift he has. He has remade the entire pce so quickly And now, to rebuild the rest of the capital. And this was all done by a so-called body doubleI cant tell it apart from the real onehmm As a form of greeting, Lukes body double quickly began its work for the royal pce. It remade the pce into a tall building of over a hundred meters tall. Much like the real Luke, the body double had a tendency to overdo things. Ahh, Luke-samayoure so amazing (when I ascend to the throne someday, I want Luke-sama to be my prince consortuhehehe) Without the king or the double noticing, the princess was fully enthralled just by looking at the double. At that moment however Urgent news, your majesty! What is it? Lord Alberthes, hes escaped from his cell! What did you say!? When Lord Albert escaped from the pces dungeon, the entire pce has descended into a state of panic. Meanwhile, at a ce far from the capital Hohoho, quite superb, Neon. You might not have been able to defend the pce, but at least you got something out of staying there. Silence. I dont want to hear that talk from someone who failed to retake the pce. letsnot fight Exactly! Theres no point anymore in ming each other! These people were Lord Alberts closest aides, the so-called four generals. The generals were defeated and imprisoned, but they were now navigating their way through the pce safely thanks to Neons prior knowledge of the pces structure. Aside from the four, there was one other person in their group. Edel-sama, what are we to do from here on? Were now fugitives. If we are to try to take this kingdom once again, we must first find a ce where we canpose ourselves. Yes, despite the security ced on him, Edel has escaped not just from his cell but from the capital itself. Im no longer interested in this kingdom. No matter how many weak people we gather and train, in the end, those people would still be weak. Its not worth the effort. Hohoho, I see. I couldnt agree more. Yes, leading that kind of army isnt worth it. I would rather know just how much stronger I can be as abatant. After that, Lord Albertnow simply Edel Albertwalked forward. The other four looked at his dependable back and followed after him as though it was the most natural thing to do. Fuhahaha! Thats Edel-sama for ya! I dont know about you, but Id like to apany him in this new path! Hohoho, I wont let you steal a march on me now, Gaion. MeribeI tooam going to follow Edel-same blood or tearsIll stay It seems were all of the same thought. Like that, their group made their escape from the kingdom. Even sothat underground path that we used to escapewhy was its entrance in a ce like a castle dungeon of all ces? Please consider supporting me. You can do this either by turning off adblock for this blog or via myPatreon page. Thank you. Chapter 188: Ahh, but it doesn’t mean that I forgive you, you know Chapter 188: Ahh, but it doesnt mean that I forgive you, you know << Ta-ta-ta-dah! Congrattions! Because you now have more than 300,000 vigers, your vige has be level 11!>> <<3,000,000 vige points have been acquired as level up bonus.>> <> <> <> The citizens of the territories that were directly controlled by the royal familyincluding the royal capitalwere all registered as my vigers. Thanks to that surge, my viger count exceeded the 300,000 mark and made my vige level go up. That was not to say that my viger count was at just 300,000. The royal capital alone added 50, 000 vigers. The other territories controlled by the royal family added about 150,000. And when the royal family assumed control of the original Albert territory, another 200,000 vigers were added. That meant, I gained over 400,000 new vigers all of a sudden. By the way, I had a total of about 160,000 vigers before this surge happened. Of course, this viger count was only for the sake of my Gift. I had no power over them. Well, I could use my vige skills on themlike using Viger appraisal to look at some of their personal informationbut I didnt rule over them. As for the number of vigers that were actually living in the vige in the wastnd, there were about 20,000 of them. It could be said that those 20,000 people were my actual vigers. 20,000 is still so many though By the way, the vige has returned to the wastnd without incident. The travelers and merchants who had arrived while the vige was absent had quite a panic when they saw the viges walls approaching. Theyter expressed the surprise and dread they felt that time. I built a stone monument saying The vige has temporarily moved to the royal capital. Vige Chief Luke, so maybe that was why they waited there. Maybe next time, I should leave out the temporary part and just write The vige has moved instead. Not that there would be a next time. That aside, the new vige skill I learned isteleportation? Does it let me move to a ce I want to go to right away? I immediately tried it out. Upon starting, the map appeared before me. I see. So, it lets me move only to a ce Ive been to before. Plus, it has to be within what is recognized as part of my vige. For the moment, I decided to teleport to the viges gate. The next moment I knew, the said gate was in front of me. Chief Luke!? Where did youe from Sorry to trouble you! I waved my hand at the startled guard and then went to Riesen. Woah, this is so great. I can travel this far in just an instant. L-Luke-sama!? Hello, Mitchell-san. I see that the kings spy is still working as a governor, huh. *smirk* When I jokingly said so, Mitchell-sans face stiffened. I-I beg your forgiveness for that time, Luke-sama. But I swear to you, I am no longer working as a spy. By the kingsmand, Mitchell-san infiltrated the Albert territory and eventually became a governor. Even after the recent events, he was still the governor in charge of Riesen, thergest city in the northern region of the Albert territory. Since the royal family was in direct control of the Albert territory, including the North, it was a simple matter ofmanding Mitchell-san to remain as governor. Haha, I was just joking, Mitchell-san. I can understand that you had no other solution but to do what you did. At that, Mitchell-san breathed a sigh of relief. Ahh, but it doesnt mean that I forgive you, you know. Wha!? I said such a mischievous thing and then used Teleportation again. After trying out various things, I confirmed that I could really travel instantly anywhere within what was recognized as my vige. Moreover, it seemed like I could also bring vigers with me. Amazing! We can really travelled to the royal capital with this! I guess I cane home anytime now. S-Selen!? Since when did you get here!? Millia and Selen were astonished when I brought them with me. Almost as surprised as them, if not more, was Selens father, the current head of the Bazurata noble house. Yes, the ce I brought them was Selens familys castle. Transferring my consciousness to a body double was prettyparable to teleporting to that location. However, that was if I was only teleporting myself. Being able to teleport with a vigerpletely changes things. I didnt know yet up to how many vigers I could teleport with me at the same time, but no matter what number that might be, I still probably would have used teleportif I had it at the timeover moving the entire vige all the way to the capital. I guess we should back now. uhm, you two dont have to stick so close to me, you know. Selen was grabbing on one of my arms and Millia the other. In order to teleport somebody with me, there must be physical contact apparently. However, just holding hands was enough and there was absolutely no need to get this close. I just want to avoid getting left behind at a ce like this as much as possible, you see. Hey, what do you mean a ce like this? This is still my family home, you know! Can you not quarrel while Im here between you two? yup, theyre not hearing what Im saying. At any rate, I apologized to Selens father for the whatever trouble we caused and brought the twostill bickeringback to the vige. Aside from the vige skill, I also unlocked new types of buildings that I could build. They were as follows: Beauty Salon (200) Railway (50) Railway Station (500) Museum (500) Factory (1,500) What!? Railways and Railways stations!? Please consider supporting me. You can do this either by turning off adblock for this blog or via myPatreon page. Thank you. Chapter 189: I just closed the doors Chapter 189: I just closed the doors <> <> <> <> <> My vige level went up, and I became able to build new kinds of facilities. All of them seemed noteworthy, but what surprised me the most was Huh!? I can build railways and stations now!? It goes without saying but in this world, this kind of transportation system hasnt existed yet. I wanted to build one as soon as possible, so I immediately went to a vacant space near the ramparts. I guess Ill start with a station What appeared was a rtively simple train station. Inside the simple building was two sets of tforms. There were also two tforms that sandwiched two sets of railways. Parked on each of the railways was a single-car train. I went inside of the trains and immediately felt nostalgic. Yup, it almost feels like the trains I used to ride in my previous life. I then entered the driverspartment and sat on the seat there. I was too short to see whats ahead though. Fine, Ill kneel on top of the seat. Alrighthmm, but how do I drive a train anyway? There were so many levers, buttons, and meters, but I had no clue what each one did. Theres no else here, so I guess its fine to just try things out. I mean, it might not even start. While thinking that, I heard a shout from behind me. What the heck!? I turned myself around and saw that Selen had gotten on board. I thought for a moment there that this was some kind of worm monster. Its called a train, Selen. A treyn? Yup, a train. This, ahm, is a vehicle that travels onid out track on the ground. This thing moves? Hmm, I wonder which button I should presswell, the doors open, so Ahh, is this it? *Pshhhhhhhhhhh!* W-wha!? Selens reaction to the sudden closing of the doors was to be ready to draw her swords. Its alright, its alright. I just closed the doors. After that, I proceeded to press buttons and pull levers left and right until I finally figured out how to get the train to move forward. Once I pull this lever, itll finally move, right? but, I wonder, how can it move at all? There were no overhead powerlines that could provide it with electricity and the railways didnt seem to transmit power either. But then again, considering we already had houses in the vige which had electricity and gas flowing into them, it might be toote to wonder about the source now. Wow, its really moving! B-but shouldnt we stop soon!? Selen shouted so, fearing we would crash into the viges rampart. As quickly as I could, I used my Facility Customization to reshape the rampart to have a tunnel and then extend the railway tracks. Like that, the train went to the fields outside of the vige. Well, technically, the fields were still part of the vige though. We continued to cut through the fields until we were truly out of vige and were in the wastnd. *Clickety-ck**Clickety-ck* The train made such sounds, almost like it was humming a tune, as it dashed across the wastnd. Its so fast! And were still speeding up! Weve just left and were already at end of wastnd! Its almost like we teleported! Hey, whats wrong? Youve been quiet for a while now. Ahmpromise not to get angry? I cant promise that, but if you dont tell me now, I promise I will be angry. WellseeI dont know how to stop this thing. WHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAT!? Please consider supporting me. You can do this either by turning off adblock for this blog or via myPatreon page. Thank you. Chapter 190: Let’s outsource it Chapter 190: Lets outsource it phew, we stopped it somehow. Geez, I didnt think thatd happen. We managed to stop the train. I thought the lever I used earlier was just to elerate the train, but it turned out it could be used as a brake as well. I simply had to move the lever to the other end. Had I not figured that out, I might have had to endlesslyy tracks just so the train wouldnt crash. Now, how should we go back? If all we wanted was to return, we could simply use teleportation. However, that method would have us leave behind the train in the wastnd. Can this thing move in reverse? Only one end has a driverspartment though ah, but trains sometimes go just a tiny bit beyond their designated stop points and I dont think they use the other cockpit for a simple repositioning like that. Maybe this one has that function as well. Lets seemaybe its this one? When I looked closely, I saw a lever with signs that said forward and reverse. I shifted the lever toward the sign that said reverse. When I once again moved the lever for elerating and stopping the train, it now made the train move backwards. You know, if cities have this train thing, going from one city to the other will be so much easier. Yup. Transportingrge amounts of cargo will be easier too. It might be toote to mention this, but a train was definitely not a facility for a ce thats on the scale of only a vige Thats amazing! Alright, lets go connect them up. Wait, no, we cant decide that by ourselves. We have to get the permission of each ruler first. Plus, we needed to teach some people how to drive the train first. Moreover, trains should run in a controlled manner in order to avoid idents and overall slowdowns. We needed people for that too. Even then, it might be too much for our vigeah, I get it. I thought up of a good idea. Lets outsource it. Ohh, Vige Chief Luke, wee. Were always so thankful to you and your body double. As youve probably already seen, the royal pce and the capital itself has been beautifully rebuilt. After we returned to the vige with the train, I went to the royal capital through the use of teleportation. I had already secured an appointment via my body double, so I was able to have an audience with the king without any trouble. So, what can I do for you today? Well, I want to set up a railway system in the kingdom and Id like to ask your help in it. a railway system? Yes, my n was to entrust the railway systems management to the kingdom. After all, a government body would have a considerably easier time overseeing a project of this scale. Of course, this benefited the kingdom as well. The kingdom was in the middle of reorganizing itself, and the profits that could be gained from the railway system should definitely help in that endeavor. I think itll be faster to show you what it is. Is now a good time for it? Hmm, very well. I, I want to see it too! The princess interjected like that. Some civil officials expressed their desires toe along as well after that. Alright, first, lets all join hands. join hands? Despite being half in doubt, they formed arge circle and joined hands. For some reason though, the princess rushed toward my side. (*AaaaaaIm holding hands with Luke-samaaaaaaaaaaa! Theres no more doubt about it now: we have to be together!*) The princess had the same aura Millia sometimes had. Nah, it must be just my imagination. I tried to not think about it and focused instead on the matter at hand. Once I calmed myself, I proceeded to teleport everyone with me. What!? Where Were outside of the capital right now. The others were surprised when their field of vision suddenly changed. At the moment, we were near the rebuilt great walls of the royal capital. It was here that I decided to build a railway station. Wee to a railway station. Inside of it, youll find what is called a train. I guided the group into the station and then into the train. Is this enormous box? Yes. It moves along those metal tracks over there. Youll get what I mean soon enough. For now, please take a seat and observe. While the kings group was examining the inside of the trainsaying stuff like this couch is sofortable, whats this thing hanging here?I rang a horn. *Fuaa~~~n!* !? Alright, lets depart! Please consider supporting me. You can do this either by turning off adblock for this blog or via myPatreon page. Thank you. Chapter 191: It’s dangerous to stand still, so please take a seat Chapter 191: Its dangerous to stand still, so please take a seat *Fuaa~~~n!* What was that sound!? Is it an enemy attack!? While the kings group were recovering from being surprised by the horn I activated, I made the train go forward. Wah!? Its dangerous to stand still, so please take a seat. At the very least, please grab hold of those straps. Is this thing really moving!? This huge metal box? The train was steadily gaining speed. In an almost child-like wonder, the kings group knelt on the seat and leaned toward the windows to see the scenery that we were quickly passing by. Amazing, the capitals already so far away A carriage cant ever hope to match this speed! While extending the railways, I said something to them. How about we keep going until we reach the Albert territorys capital? If we go at full speed, we should be there in about an hour, I think. In an hour!? A journey like that would have normally taken a few days though!? This trains top speed was about 150 kilometers per hour. We didnt need to make a stopover anywhere, so we should be able to reach our destination in about an hour, give or take a few. The wind feels so nice! Were travelling so fast, yet theres barely any shakingwhy, I think I can even fall sound asleep. The group seemed to be getting ustomed to the train and were beginning to rx little by little. But just imagine it: something like this throughout the entire kingdomthe kingdom as we know it will surely change all at once. I agree. After all, it was because of the geographical issues that the kingdom was forced to entrust the governance of each region to the local lords. So, if this can solve or at least lessen the impact of those geographical issues, it would be much simpler to assess the state of each region. The royal familys power will also be able to reach While the officials were discussing like that among themselves, the Albert territorys capital came into view. Huh? His Majesty ising for a visit? Hang AlbertLukes uncle and the one assigned to be the governor of the original Albert territorysuddenly received such a report from a body double. And theyll be arriving soon, you say? Why am I then only hearing about this now!? While expressing his frustrations to his nephews double, Hang hurriedly stood up to make preparations for the kings arrival. But why is His Majesty evening here? Huh? We should go outside of city? The doubleable to use whatever vige skill the original couldused teleportation and brought Hang outside of the citys walls. Hmm? What is that? Itsing over here What Hang saw in the distance was a fast-approaching rectangr object. He was pretty sure it wasnt a carriage. He couldnt see any horse pulling it, after all. Wait, is that wagon or whatever it is moving on its own? No, of course not, thats impossible Hang outright deemed the idea as impossible, but as the object grew closer and closer, he was forced to reconsider. Whats going onnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnn!? *Kiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii* When that sound could be heard, the double promptly made a [Railway Station]. It was that station where therge, rectangr object stopped. Before it stopped though, Hang couldnt help but scream at the top of his lungs and fall down on his rear. *Pshhhhhhhhhhh!* With that sound, the rectangr objects doors opened. What emerged from within was the king and his group. My goodness, we really made it here in just an hour Luke-sama never fails to impress! Upon realizing he was in the presence of the king, Hang knelt down as quickly as he could. Y-Your Majesty, thank you for gracing us with your visit. Hmm? You came all this way to wee us? The king was quite surprised when he noticed Hang. Well, sorry for the sudden visit. I myself didnt expect to arrive here so soon. I-if I may, Your Majesty, what is that thing? I dont know much about it, truly, but its called a train. A train? Mhm. By riding this, we were able to travel from the capital all the way here in just an hour. In just an hour!? Almost like ignoring Hangs confusion, his nephewhe assumed to be the real one and not a doublespoke. Alright, how about we return to the royal capital now? can we return by train? The king seemed to have been pleased with the thing called trains. Please consider supporting me. You can do this either by turning off adblock for this blog or via myPatreon page. Thank you. Chapter 192: How can you say that to a maiden! Chapter 192: How can you say that to a maiden! My n to entrust the management of the railway system to the kingdom was a sess, likely because I presented my case to the king himself. Things like discussing with each local lord as well as the nning for the railways route have all been taken from my hands. Of course, the actual building of the railway system was still up to me. Well, more urately, to my body doubles. Also, after much deliberation, we have decided that instead of building the railway system above ground, we would build it under. Trains and railways werentmon knowledge yet in this world. So, if we built it above ground, a lot of people would be curious what the tracks were for and probably be run over by the trains. In other words, I had to first build the underground tunnels that would connect the cities to each other. Like this though, we would be able to install the railway system with minimal changes to thendscapes of the involved cities. The line from the royal capital to our wastnd vigeby way of the original Alberts capital and Riesenhas been given approval already. These areas were under the direct control of the royal family, after all. After my body doubles have finished building it, we would likely hold a test run. Luke, lets go ride the train again! Luke-sama, why didnt you take me with you as well? Selenwho seemed to have enjoyed riding trainsasked me so with sparkling eyes. On the other hand, Millia looked at me reproachingly. Fufufu, I win~! Selen looked triumphant for some reason. Didnt you ride the train purely by chance? <> At that moment, Satin contacted me via telepathy. He sounded quite flustered, so I readied myself for something troublesome. <> <> <> I checked my map right away. Hmm? Thats weird If a dangerous person was forcing their way through the gate, they should show as a red dot on my map. However, I could see nothing of the sort. I decided that I should go look at things myself for the time being. Wait, I dont know whats going on, but take me with you! Sensing that I was troubled, Selen said so. Thinking about the worst-case scenario, it would definitely be better to bring her along. Like that, we teleported to the gate. Like~Ive~been~saying, Im not someone dangerous, geez! I came all the way for one reason and one reason only: to spread beauty to everyone! A mysterious person insisted so to the guards surrounding them. This person was superrge. At over 2 meters tall, they might be even taller than Dorial, the former bandit leader. They were more muscr than Dorial as well. To call this person a giant seemed quite fitting. Just like what their physique might suggest, their voice was awfully deep. Yet, the way they talked waspletely girl-like. And then, there was their appearance. Their clothes werepletely in pink and even had frills here and there, almost like a stereotypical princess. They even had a tiara on their head as well as ribbons to tie their long blond hair into twintails. Their face was full of makeup, but the masculine aspects of their face could still be seen. Especially their cleft chin. Huhwhat isthat creature? Selen saw them and took a step back. So did the guards for that matter. Lies! How can you spread beauty when there isnt an ounce of it from you! The only thing youll be spreading to this vige is misfortune! The guards yelled so, weapons in hand. OmG! How can you say that to a maiden! Even I would get angry, you know! Hmphmp!! The unknown giant became indignant and puffed their beautiful(?) face. Their appearance certainly did have quite an impactbut based on my map, they didnt seem to be dangerous. And so, I spoke to them albeit a bit nervously. Ahm, can you tell us a bit more? Please consider supporting me. You can do this either by turning off adblock for this blog or via my Patreon page. Thank you. Chapter 193: You lack experience, honey Chapter 193: Youck experience, honey OhemGee! Are you this viges chief? My, youre so cute~! After hearing me introduce myself, she(?) said so with sparkling eyes and while swaying herrge body. C-chief, its dangerous here! Please stay back! The pale-faced guards tried to stop me, but I instead calmed them down. Geez! Why are you treating me like Im some kind of ogre! Im ady, you know! My names Goritiana! Feel free to call me Gori-chan though Gori-chan? Yup, Gori-chaa~~~~n haa, Im tired already That said, she didnt seem to be a bad person. I mean, if she really was up to something nefarious, she would have tried not to stand out as much as possible. Selen and the guards were still on alert though. Which was kind of understandable. After all, in this world, seeing people like her out in the public was probably a rare if not unprecedented thing. In my previous life though, meeting such peoplealbeit maybe not as conspicuous as herwasnt unusual. Well then, Gori-chan, what did youe to our vige for? Oh my, do you really wanna know? Fantastic! As to be expected of the chief who built this vige! Ah, I think Im falling in love! Ahm, thanks All things considered, it must be said that Gori-chans muscles were quite formidable. The number of machomen have recently grown in the vige, butpared to her, they seemed quite normal. Considering she could train herself even more in this vige Back to your question. As you can inly see, I am an evangelist of beauty! An evangelist of beauty? The beauty of a muscr body? Women must strive to be more beautiful! I have lived my life following that single belief, and I have been rewarded by bing an embodiment of beauty itself! I did my best to hold back on retorting. So now, I want to spread that belief to as many women as possible! And to do just that, Ive been travelling all over, making the women at each ce I stop by as beautiful as I can! Of course, when I heard of this new vige in the wastnd, I just had toe! I see. If pressed, all I was willing to say was that she sure had high aspirations. What nonsense! What part of you is the embodiment of beauty itself, huh!? In the first ce, youre a man! The guards shouted so. However Whowhos a man, huhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!! As though the guard spoke a taboo word, Gori-chan flipped out. With all her might, she stomped her right foot, leaving behind a giant crack in the ground. While my ears were still ringing from the sound that her stomp made, she closed her distance with a shivering guard. That guard was the same one that spoke the taboo word earlier. Ufufutheres no denying Im ady, right? While holding the guards face between her hands and pressing her face against his, Gori-chan asked so. She had a smile on her face, but her eyes werent smiling at all. Hiiiiiiiiiiii!? The guard was quite brawny himself, but next to Gori-chan, he looked almost like a child. Gori-chan then asked the shuddering guard once again. dyright? Ye, yeshaady! Mhm, good answer! Mwuah ~~~~~~~~!? After being kisseda mouth-to-mouth kiss at thatby Gori-chan, the guard lost consciousness Oh my, a single kiss got you so excited you fainted? Ufufu, youck experience, honey. Her hips swaying, Gori-chan walked away from the guard. No matter how one looks at it, too much excitement was definitely not the reason the guard fainted. it seems a troublesome fellow has arrived in our vige. Please consider supporting me. You can do this either by turning off adblock for this blog or via myPatreon page. Thank you. Chapter 194: I’ll use that one then Chapter 194: Ill use that one then In any case, I decided to let Gori-chan into the vige. Omg, its just like the rumors say! Everyones so clean! I knew it: beauty springs from good health! Ahh, I was right ining to this vige! This is the best ce for me to impart the spirit of beauty to others! Most of the time, immigrants would be stunned by things such as the viges buildings, so this kind of reaction was rather rare. Ahh, before anything else, I should apologize for earlier, dont I? Iflew into quite a ragemy, Im so embarrassed. While holding her slightly reddened cheeks and wriggling her waist left and right, Gori-chan said so. Ah, ahm, no, dont worry about it. Im also sorry for the way the guards reacted. That being said, I could understand why the guardscked tact. Ufufu, my, youre so kind H-hey! Gori-chan said so while looking at me fondly. At that moment though, Selen cut into the conversation. You, youve been ogling at him for quite a while now! If youre a woman like you say you are, then I cant forgive you! It would seem that Selen has begun to recognize that Gori-chan was a woman. Oh my, are you perhaps the chiefs wife? I-I-Im not! yet. Selen whisphered something else toward the end there. For some reason though, Gori-chanher eyes sparklingsped Selens considerably smaller hands. Ahhn! How wonderful!! Huh? Youre smitten by the chief, arent ya!? Eh!? I admit Im already quite fond of the chief, but dont worry dear, I wont do something tasteless like get in your way! You wont? Yup! Even better, Id like to be of help! Lets seeyoure cute as is, but if you let me work on you, I can make you even cuter! R-really? Of course! Itd be easy! I wasnt sure what happened, but Gori-chan seemed to have won Selen over. And so, vige chief, Id like to ask for permission to build a beauty salon in this vige. A beauty salon? Whats that? Selen who hasnt heard of a beauty salon asked so while tilting her head. Almost as though Gori-chan was delighted by such a question, she enthusiastically exined it to Selen. A beauty salon is a ce you go to make yourself more beautiful! It offers services like hair styling, makeup, fashion advice, skin care, and more! Ohh. First time Ive ever heard of such a ce. But of course! Ive just thought of it recently after all! Apparently, Gori-chan came up with the concept of beauty salons on her own. I for one havent heard anyone in this world say the term beauty salon, or even just describe it. In fact, save for a few nobles, the very act of styling ones hair or putting on makeup was not at all amon thing. Not even barbershops weremon. In at least the vige, there was not a single barbershop in business. Everyone cut their own hair or they had a family member cut it for them. With a beauty salon, I can make everyone pretty like me! I-is that so Selen was quite absorbed with the concept of a beauty salon, but when Gori-chan said that, it was as if Selen awoke from a dream. She probably thought that if the end goal was to be like Gori-chan, she was better off refraining from the service. Dont worry! By the time Im done with you, youll be utterly gorgeous! What if Selen starts putting on thick make-up, wearing frilly dresses, and also be buff, macho even ? While worrying about that, I suddenly remembered something. Oh, yeah. Ill use that one then. The viges level went up recently, and thanks to that, I was able to build new kinds of facilities. That included a beauty salon. <> Who knows, maybe through the facilitys features and effects, the kind of beauty that Gori-chan strives for would be a bit morenormal. Oh my! Its all so wonderful! Can I really use this ce!? Gori-chan was so overjoyed when she saw the pretty and primarily pink building. So much so that she and her twintails swung left and right. Yupbut can I ask you to listen to your customers requests regarding how they want to made prettier? But of course! Ill never be so conceited to think that my opinions are the only thing that matters! While hoping that would indeed be the case, I entrusted Gori-chan of the beauty salon. Please consider supporting me. You can do this either by turning off adblock for this blog or via myPatreon page. Thank you. Chapter 195: Who else do you think it is!? Chapter 195: Who else do you think it is!? Hey, Luke! Huh? When I turned around toward the sound of Selens voice, I identally let out a confused voice. I was pretty sure it was Selen who called out to me, but to my surprise, I found an unfamiliar beautiful girl there. S-so? The girl was fidgeting and acted as though she was embarrassed. Wait, are you perhapsSelen? Of course I am! Who else do you think it is!? Selen has be so pretty, I didnt even recognize her. I thought it was another person entirely! Her blue hair now had a fluffy kind of perm; she wore clothes that entuated her feminine cuteness; and her face had a moderate and natural-looking makeup. Ufufu! Shes absolutely gorgeous, aint she, vige chief? Gori-chan? Could this be the work of Gori-chan? I was anxious that Gori-chan would turn Selen into a mini-Gori-chan of sorts, but it seemed like she made Selen prettier in the way that thetter preferred. No matter how you look at her, shes divine, right? Why, Id say shes the finest work of art Ive ever done in my entire beauty-dedicated life! I cant really exin it, but my techniques were so much more effective this time around. The facility I built definitely helped in this, but it must be said that Gori-chans skills were a vital factor as well. uh-huh. My, this wont do, chief! Youve got to say your impressions out loud and to the person herself! Gori-chan grabbed hold of my shoulders and effortlessly pushed me toward Selen. shes so strong! SelenahmI think, youre super cute today. ~~~~~~~! In an instant, Selens face grew bright red. And then, while fidgeting like she did a while ago, she whispered something. C-c-can yousay that one more time? wait, now even Im embarrassed! youre, youre super cute! ~~~~~~~! Almost at the same time, Selen and Gori-chan shifted their bodies body from side to side, almost as though they were squirming. AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAhhhh! Youth! Youthhhhhhhhhh! What Id give to have someone tell me thaaaaaaat! the moods kinda ruined now. W-whats the meaning of this!? Suddenly someone else interjected. That someone was Millia. Howhow can that frumpish girl suddenly be Who are you calling frumpish!? Ghh, I hate to admit it, but Im at a slight disadvantage right now What do you mean slight!? Im clearly wiping the floor with you! A giant, err, I meant Gori-chan then approached the frustrated Millia. Do you want to be more beautiful as well? !? Who are you? H-hey, Gori-chan! Dont! You should just leave that one alone! Selen tried to stop Gori-chan, but Gori-chan responded by shaking her head. Sorry dear, I cant do that. I cant choose sides. Im an evangelist of beauty, you see. No A look of helplessness appeared on Selens face. Now, Millia-chan, was it? Lets go~! Your raw beautys also amazing, but by the time Im done with you, youll be divine! Wh-wha? Millia was still half in doubt, but Gori-chan carried her away anyway. Selen, meanwhile, dropped to her knees and hanged her head down. What do you think, Luke-sama? Millia has achieved a transformation that wouldnt lose out to Selens. Her long, ck hair was glossier and silkier than usual; her makeup made her look more mature; and the daring dress she was wearing entuated her outstanding proportions as much as was possible. Her dress had a window around her chest that made her cleavage visible. It also had a slit in the skirt part, which exposed one of her long and beautiful legs. While Selens new look sought to improve her cuteness, Millias sought to improve her attractiveness. Each ones new look seemed to match the persons strongpoints. AhmI think, youre super attractive today. ~~~~~~~! Upon saying so, Millias mature face became childlike as it turned red. It was then that Selen interjected. Tell me, Luke, which one of us do you prefer!? Fufufu, youll pick me, right, Luke-sama? No, youll pick me, wont you!? No way, its gotta be me. Please dont fight! Ahh, what a dilemma this is, vige chief! I know full well what youre feeling right now. I myself cant choose which masterpiece of mine I prefer! Gori-chan decided on her own that our troubles were simr. But worry not! I have a solution for us! A solution? Her muscr arm raised high, Gori-chan made an enthusiastic deration. If we cant choose one, why not choose both~~~~~~~~! yeah, that doesnt solve anything at all. Please consider supporting me. You can do this either by turning off adblock for this blog or via myPatreon page. Thank you. Chapter 196: These are my pupils Chapter 196: These are my pupils The beauty salon ran by Gori-chan became well-known throughout the vige right away. The vigers, especially the women, were half in doubt at first of Gori-chans services. No, actually, they were fully in doubt. However, when they knew of Selen and Millias transformations, they immediately rushed to the beauty salon. Aww, Im so ttered, but sorry, I cant really help anyone else right now. Gori-chan was the only one to provide the service, so it was understandable that she couldnt see to everyone. It has gotten to the point that one has to reserve an appointment several months in advance first. Gori-chans solution to this was to take on a pupil. Well, given that the concept of beauty treatments was still new in this world, getting a pupil might not be so easy. And even if someone was interested enough about it, getting them to a point where they would actually be helpful would take some time. More likely than not, Gori-chan would have to settle to hiring an employee that would do simple tasks for her. or so I thought. Weeeeeeeeeeeee ! When I stopped by the beauty parlor after a little while of not doing so, I was greeted by a group of muscr men. Moreover, these men(?) all wore thick makeup as well as frilly pink dresses. Theres more of Gori-chan now!? Hoho, these are my pupils, chief. These were apparently the ones Gori-chan hired to help her out. Tee-hee, its all thanks to Manager Gori-chan that weve awoken to the world of beauty! Well walk down this path until ourst breath! Theyre even talking like Gori-chan! On closer inspection, I noticed that the employees were in the midst of skillfully cutting the female customers hair. It hasnt been long yet they had learned this much already. Kay, Im done. Look at yourself, arent you just gorgeous? Wait, is this really me!? Ufufu, didnt recognize even your own face? I absolutely did not! Woah, my husbands gonna be so pleased! Thank you, thank you very much! Each and every one of the customers that they worked on left the salon happy, satisfied, and above all, better looking than before. Like that, the women in the vige were transformed by the beauty salon. It was a rude thing to say out loud, but a lot of our female vigersespecially those who were refugees or from poor cesused to be rather unstylish. Now though, all I could find were beautiful people. There might be more gorgeous women here than in the royal capital. Thats not to say that all vigers were unstylish before, of course. The clothes made by the clothing-focused workshop were fashionable by themselves, but the problem was that only a few women could carry those clothes well. That changed primarily because of Gori-chans efforts. Nowadays, even ordinary people were caring for a thing such as fashion. Rumors of the beauty salon soon spread outside of the vige, causing women from all over to visit the vige. Some of them even visited the vige expressly for it. the rumors also made people wanting to be one of Gori-chans macho pupils to travel to the vige. Its still popr, huh Selius murmured so while looking at the newly established beauty salon in the vige. Today as well, arge number of women have lined up before the salon. Even my sister is engrossed by it. Truly, what incredible sway it has. His sister used to not care about her appearance at all, but ever since she went to the salon and got herself fancied up, even she was paying attention to her looks. Despite being his sister, Selius couldnt help but admit to himself that Selen indeed got prettier. At times, he even found his sisters new appearance to be distracting during their training sessions. Mhm? Whats that shop? Mens Beauty Salon? No, no, no. Its one thing for women to care about looks, but men, we dont need to at all. Selius shook his head when he found out that there was now a salon exclusively for men. But what if I make myself look betterwill Philia-sanno, in the first ce, shes not the kind to care for looks, even for own self. Why would she, when shes so beautiful already Mhm? Is that you, Selius-dono? !? Upon suddenly hearing from behind him the voice of the person he was thinking about, Selius unintentionally jumped up. Did, did she hear me just now!? Worried about that, Selius slowly turned his head. I just tried that popr beauty treatment ce, but what do you think? Does it suit me? What he saw was an even more beautiful Philia. He was so shocked by her that he forgot his earlier worry. Actually, he was shocked more than that. *Shaaaaaaaaaaa!* Selius-dono!? Immediately after blood gushed out of Seliuss nose, he fainted and fell. Please consider supporting me. You can do this either by turning off adblock for this blog or via my Patreon page. Thank you. Chapter 197: Make you even more beautiful Chapter 197: Make you even more beautiful My name is Shubal. I am a manager in the royal capital. Though I say so myself, the fact of the matter was that I was a very talented person who has achieved much ever since I was young. Thanks to that, I now lived in arge mansion in a high-end area within the capital with a beautiful wife that everyone was envious of. Hey, darling, where are we going to spend our vacation this year? Oh yeahwell, how about we go to that wastnd vige in the rumors. A wastnd vige? You havent heard of it? The wastnd Im talking about is in the northernmost point of the former Albert territory. It was only recently that they managed to finally build a city there, but apparently, many have already moved there. I also heard that life there is sofortable, you wont want to live anywhere else. My, it sounds wonderful. But that ce is so far away, isnt it? Well, theres this thing called trains. Its several times faster than a horse carriage, so if we take that, well be there in no time. Trains are real!? I heard anotherdy in a recent party talk about that, but the way she described it, I just thought she was joking around! My wifes eyes were sparkling as she said so. What kind of city do you think it is? Ahh, Im so excited! Fufufu, me too. But no matter how much they say that ce has developed, at the end of the day, its still a small town in the middle of nowhere. Once they see a woman like you, jaws will be dropping to the ground. Oh, darling And so, my wife and I had decided to travel to the wastnd city via the train. When we arrived in the underground station in the capital Woah! Howd they dig this much space underground!? Honey, look there. Im pretty sure thats the train. My, its so big! Thats what were going ride!? We saw arge metallic object. We were still doubtful that thing would move, but nheless we took our designated seats. To ride a train, one needed to purchase a ticket beforehand. However, due to the demand, tickets have be considerably expensive. That said, it was still next to nothing to me. ! Darling! Its starting move! It is! Despite thinking so, I became unsure if we were truly moving forward after only a little while. The only thing we could see through the windows in the train was the darkness of the underground, so it almost seemed like we were stationary. is this really taking us to the wastnd city? It should be, but Our excitement soon became boredom. While my wife decided to take a nap, I decided to read a book. Despite the train we were riding stopping at multiple so-called railway stations along the way, we finally made it to our destination. we believed it was our destination, at least. Is this really our destination? I believe so, honey. Still skeptical, we alighted from the train. The atmosphere in this station was a bit different than where we boarded, but overall, there was barely any difference. However, once we finished climbing the stairs to go above ground, we saw an incredible sight. W-what is this city!? Darling, theres so many tall buildings! And everythings so clean! It was a metropolis that was clearly unlike the royal capital. a tactless person might even say that it was grander than even the capital. Are we truly in a wastnd right now? As somone who was born and raised in the capital, a sense of rivalry with this city formed within me. Sure, their buildings are impressive and new, but their people, their people! I heard their people areposed of only refugees and immigrants from poor viges, so definitely, none of them are as elegant and refined as my wife !? My wife and I gasped together. After all, we saw beautiful women passing by. It wasnt just some of one or two, it was each and every woman who happened to pass by. Well, in terms of base features, my wife would still win, but through their healthy skin, their makeup, their hairstyle, and their clothes, they managed to achieve a level of beauty that was almost sparkling. My expectation was that everyone in this remote city would be envious of my wifes beauty, but reality hit me back like this. In contrast to me though, my wife was in a childlike awe. Wow! You look so beautiful! I dont suppose you can share what you did to get that beautiful, will you? Before I knew it, she approached a passing woman and asked her so. What initiative, I thought. I understand it now, darling! They said that if I go to this beauty sahlon ce, I can get pretty like them! Beauty sahlon? When I heard my wife say so, I was able to pull myself together. I-I see. So, that ce can make you even more beautiful than you are now? Yup! Lovely, isnt it? And so, we immediately set off toward that beauty sahlon. Oh, wel~~e !? Please consider supporting me. You can do this either by turning off adblock for this blog or via my Patreon page. Thank you. Chapter 198: I wouldnt complain if that were the case Chapter 198: I wouldntin if that were the case <> <> I was talking telepathically with the body double stationed in the royal capital. <> <> When I inquired further, it seemed like even the king had no knowledge on the existence of those ruins. At best, the schrs theorizedbased on remaining recordsthat it could be the ruins of an ancient empire that existed long before the founding of the kingdom. <> <> <> Raul, my brother, was currently staying in the capital so that he could help in making the kingdoms army stronger. Thanks to his efforts, he seemed to be relied upon by even the king. <> Alright, ready? Raul looked around at everyone present at the entrance of the ruins and asked so. The monsters here seem strong and the traps quite troublesome. Its better for us to assume that this is a high-difficulty dungeon. Be on your guard. Wait a minute, why are you acting like youre the leader? Selen pointed that out in a bit of an aggressive tone. They were enemies on the battlefield not too long ago, so them not being on the best of terms was quite understandable. However, despite the past, we have now formed an investigation team together for the aforementioned ruins. The team wasposed mostly of our vigers though. Rauls side only had him and one other person. Ha? Because Im the strongest one here, thats why. And need I remind you, the king gave me the rank of general for my help in rebuilding the kingdoms army. Sure, but most of the members here are from the team that I lead. Plus, I have dungeon experience and you dont. Of the two of us, I think I should be the leader. Now, now, now, dont fight, you two. I wedged myself between the two who were ring at each other. Were going to be working with each other, so lets all get along, yeah? I tried to calm the tense atmosphere, but when I did, the two looked at me at the same time. Tsk, if you want us to get along, why dont you lead? I wouldntin if that were the case. Yeah. I dont mind if its you, Luke. Ehh? Me? I was suddenly nominated as the leader. Moreover, for maybe the first time, the two were in agreement. I also think thats a good idea. I dont have any objections to that. The chief is the best for the job. All of you too!? Philia-san, Selius-kun, and then Noel-kun also agreed. Haathis is not really my specialty, but Despite my uneasiness, I figured that me leading would still be better than Selen and Raul being at each others throats the whole time. By the way, I was present here only through transferring my consciousness into a body double. This way, I could explore the ruins without any danger to me whatsoever. if not for this method, Selen would have never allowed me to join the investigation team. Well, lets seeAlec-san, is it okay if your party goes in the front? Yup, thats perfectly okay. Were probably the most experienced in dungeon-diving among us anyway. Noel-kun, please be in the frontlines as well. Understood. And so, we nned our formation. Alec-san and Noel-kun were to take the forefront. Dill-san and Gai-san were next. Hazena-san, and Kamuru-sanwho had the [Labyrinth Exploration] Giftwere to follow. After them would be me and Selen. Philia-san would be paired with an elf with outstanding healing capabilities named Kurine-san. Selius-kun would be right behind them. And then, taking the tail end were Raul and Marin-sana spear-wielding woman that was serving as Rauls adjutant. Our team wasposed of 13 people. Taking into ount narrow corridors and other such things, we were actually pushing the limits of the number of people we should bring. Bringing in more people could potentially do more harm than good. Oh, in case it needed to be said, I used teleportation to get all of us here. Like that, we were ready to explore the ruins. Please consider supporting me. You can do this either by turning off adblock for this blog or via myPatreon page. Thank you. Chapter 199: They’re all coming to greet us, huh? Chapter 199: Theyre alling to greet us, huh? Our entry point to the ruins was in a corner of a railway station built underneath the royal capital. This entry point we would be using was not the ruins intended entrance. Rather, it was simply the part where the railway system happened to ran into when it was being expanded by my double. In fact, when we entered it, we found ourselves in the corner of a corridor. The corridors floor and walls seemed to be made of stone. Its so dark here we cant see anything. I guess its safe to assume that this ce is manmade and not a dungeon. Alec-san, the experienced adventurer, said so. He apparently had explored ruins like this one before. Let me light provide some light. Gai-san, who possessed the [White Magic] Gift, said so and then made the tip of the staff he held glow. Controlling light was a kind of white magic. Thanks to that, we were able to see further ahead. It was then that we noticed a silhouette in the distance. By what I could make of it, it seemed to almost be wriggling. Ha, they sure didnt waste time to show up. Raul said so sneeringly. The silhouette that approached us while making eerie, rattling noises turned out to be a skeleton. When that became clear to us, Hazena immediately screamed. A skeleton!? Yes. Ruins like this tend to have many undead creatures, including skeletons. The one to inform us of that was Marin-san at the back. A woman of about 20 years of age, she provided Raul with regr support as his adjutant. She seemed to be a stern beauty, but then again, she had dog-like ears. Yes, she looked like she descended from a group of people called beastmen. At any rate, even though the skeleton was nothing but a, well, skeleton, it moved quite quickly. Thankfully, Noel-kun was already prepared to bash it away with his shield. Alec-san then followed up by swinging hisrge sword down to where the skeleton fell. His blow was so powerful that the enemys skull up to its ribs were smashed to pieces while the rest of it scattered to the surrounding. It was unable to move at all afterwards. *katakatakata* theyre alling to greet us, huh? New ones began emerging from the shadows one after the other. 1, 2, 3, 4! 4 of them! Here I go! Fire Javelin! Hazena-san said so and fired off a magic attack. Her spear made of mes shot forward and burned all the skeletons ahead. More skeletons appeared as we continued forward, but none of them posed any real threat to us. Most were dispatched right away by Alec-sans party, so Selen grew kind of bored. Hmp, another weakling. Skeletons also approached us from behind, but Raul quickly took care of them. yup, having Raul as an ally sure is helpful. This way! Kamuru-san told us the direction we should take. It might be because he was more experienced in this kind of stuff now, but he was clearly more assertive than he was before. This ce was definitelybyrinthine, but thanks to him, we were making progress. Ua~aaa Aaa~ After some good progress, we heard some moans ahead of us. Waa, so gross! Zombies, huh. The zombies in front of us had pale yet blood-covered faces, tattered clothes, and gouged skin here and there that exposed even their bones. Zombies were undead monsters that retained more of their previous selves, at least whenpared to the skeletons earlier. Haa! Despite being slow, the zombies were a bit durable. That said, Alec-sansrge sword still managed to slice them cleanly in two. In addition, Gai-san also used his staff to easily crush the zombies heads. Even the zombies posed no threat to us apparently. Huh, whats the matter, Kamuru-san? When I noticed that Kamuru-san still hasnt told us which direction we should take, I called out to him. Ahh, sorryit just looks like that to be able to proceed, theres a gimmick we must solve first. I followed his line of sight and saw a metal fence. Beyond that fence was the continuation of the path we were following. Like what Kamuru-san said, it seemed like we needed to first solve how to get the fence to open up the path. Please consider supporting me. You can do this either by turning off adblock for this blog or via my Patreon page. Thank you. Chapter 200: What matters is we’re through it, I guess Chapter 200: What matters is were through it, I guess There was a series of symbols written on the wall adjacent to the metal fence. [ ] Weve seen switches with those symbols before, havent we? Yeah, we have seen them It looks like we have to activate those to pass through Kamuru-san was joyous earlier in guiding us, but all of a sudden, he has turned quite apologetic. He was probably thinking that if he had thought about it beforehand, we could have proceeded without doing any backtracking. Yeah, but the order in activating them seems to be also important. Ahh, I see So, we would have needed toe here anyway to know that order. It was quite the mischievous contraption. To which, Raul immediately spouted what a drag. Yeah, normally, it would have been quite a drag to backtrack all the way there. I said so while grinning. But of course, I can just teleport back to press them. I have been using Territory Takeover the entire time, making each point we passed a part of the vige. Thanks to that, I could use teleport even here. Y-you can do even that? Luke-samas so amazing, isnt he? Alec-san and his partys faces looked as though they were about to cry foul. You know what, why bother doing that. I grabbed the arms of the nearby Selen and Selius-kun, and then used teleportation. In the next moment, we were on the other side of the fence. I feel like weve cheated somehow, but what matters is were through it, I guess. No one replied, but I continued to teleport everyone pair by pair. Like this, we passed through the fence without bothering to solve its gimmick. Much like a dungeon, the ruins we were exploring seemed to be divided by floors. And the deeper we go, the more wicked the monsters we faced. Ghh! This guys a bit strong, aint he? They move well, Ill give them that. Alec-san and Selen were currently in a fierce fight against skeleton swordsmen. Unlike the skeletons we encountered at the beginning, these ones movements and sword skills were on another level. That being said, they were still no match against the best of the best of the vige. When Alec-san found an opening, he immediately swung down hisrge sword against the skull of one of the skeletons and smashed it. Meanwhile, Selen used her ice magic to immobilize the skeletons she was facing and then quickly chopped off their heads. While they were busy like that though, skeleton swordsmen rushed toward us who were in the middle of our formation. Philia-san fired arrows that shattered some bones, but for the most part, the skeletons were unperturbed. *sigh*. Yeah, arrows really dont work well against skeletons, does it? L-leave it to me! Without wasting a moment, Selius-kun jumped up front and crossed swords with the skeleton swordsmen. Thats it, thats it, Selius-kun! You have to make yourself look good in front of Philia-san. UAaaa Stronger zombies also showed up. This time, the zombies were on all fours and were even crawling on the walls as they rushed towards us. These ones are so scary! Well, they are undead. Even after Hazena-san tried to burn them down, a few still marched forward. As such, Gai-san joined in and whacked a few with his staff. I then looked behind us and saw that there was another group of zombies there. After Raul decapitated one of those zombies Raul-sama! What!? A severed head of a zombie tried to bite Raul at his legs, but Marin-san quickly stabbed it with her spear to finish it off. Ha, you here to make things a little interesting? The next monster to appear wasnt simply a stronger version of a skeleton or a zombie. It was a moving full-body armor that made a loud nking sound with each step it took. It was a kind of undead monster called Living Armor. It was the spirit of a fallen soldier who dwelled inside their armor because they still wanted to continue fighting, Because it was a monster that was basically an armor, its defenses were pretty high. Alec-san managed tond a direct hit on its helm and dented it there, but the monster simply attacked back as though nothing happened. Hazena-san also tried to burn it, but her magic didnt have much effect. Then, how about this! Gai-san shouted so as he thrusted his light-enveloped staff into the Living Armor. His attack didnt seem to be an overly powerful blow, but for some reason, the enemy suddenly stopped moving and its armor pieces scattered into the floor. It was purification magic. Its particrly effective against the undead. Please consider supporting me. You can do this either by turning off adblock for this blog or via myPatreon page. Thank you. Chapter 201: Excuse me for a moment Chapter 201: Excuse me for a moment In addition to the monsters we had encountered so far, undead monsters like mummies, zombie slimes, six-armed skeletons, and man-eating ghouls prowled within the ruins. Unlike the normal slimes which were adorable and weak, the zombie slimes were quite atrocious. It stood at about 3 meters high and smelled so foul. Moreover, it was essentially immune to physical attacks. Even though it was cut, it instantaneously fixed itself by reintegrating the cutoff part into its body. To defeat it, we had to rely on Hazena-sans fire magic to burn it down as well as Selens ice magic to freeze it solid. I had no idea what we would do if all of us relied on physical attacks. The traps also became more dangerous the deeper we went. There were traps like both sides of the wall closing in so as to crush you or those where spears rise from the ground to impale you. Needless to say, getting caught in one of those was a guaranteed death. Fortunately, we had Kamuru-san who could sense each trap beforehand. The puzzles and gimmicks were also bing more and moreplex. We had encountered an area with countless doors that prevented backtracking as well as a ce where multiple switches must be activated all at once to reveal the hidden path forward. That said, my teleportation rendered them nothing more than a slight inconvenience. T-this ce gives a dangerous vibe At the entrance to arge room, Kamuru-sans body shivered. Within the room were a hundred or so trunk-like objects, each one made of stone. This is the short route, but I think we should take a detour If this way lets us go forward, lets just go already. Raul disregarded Kamuru-sans proposal and entered the room. We were then left with no other choice than to follow. A good ways in, the lids of the trunk-like objects began to move. And when the lids were removed, something arose from within: mummies. It turned out that the trunk-like objects were their coffins. The mummies descended upon us like a raging wave. Suddenly though, I heard a creaking sound from behind us. When I looked back, I discovered that the door we used to get in has closed shut. T-this is what I was telling you about Kamuru-san said so, exasperated. What are you doing now, Raul!? Ha! We just have to take them all down, dont we!? Raul replied so to an already agitated Selen while dashing alone toward the group of mummies. And then, almost like a storm, he shed at each approaching mummy. However, mummieswho didnt feel any painstill continued to move even after their arms and heads were cut off. Raul-sama! Perhaps fearing that Raul might get surrounded and overwhelmed by the mummies, Marin-san rushed toward him. Hmp, I can handle these guys myself! Raul did seem to be doing just fine by himself. He even seemed to be doing better than I expected him to. Maybe hes gotten stronger since thest time. Screw it, were going as well! Understood, sister! Selen, Selius-kun, and the rest followed suit. The thing we needed to watch out for when fighting mummies was the fact that they could unfurl the bandages around their bodies and then hurl it at us so as to restrict our movements. Given how many they were, it could spell doom for us if they manage to immobilize all of us. But then again, such a strong group of people wouldnt be caught that easily. The fight has just started, but we had already taken down a considerable number of mummies. Javelin spear! Since the mummies were covered from head to toe with bandages, Hazena-sans fire magic was quite effective. Let me help too. I said so and then built a 3-meter-tall golem. Immediately afterwards, I made it charge toward the group of mummies and punch them with its giant fist. Luke-dono, excuse me for a moment. Philia-san climbed up the golems shoulder and then rained down arrows from there. Since regr arrows dealt unsatisfying damage against the undead, Philia-san enveloped her arrows with wind using her green magic. Like that, her arrows didnt just pierce, they gouged the mummies flesh as they passed through. Before I realized it, the over 100 mummies were all annihted. Over already? Gotta wonder if this team here can take on an entire country by itself. Raul, who probably defeated the most mummies among us, said so as though he was having fun. In contrast, Marin-san looked at the corpses(?) of the mummies and shuddered. Theyve defeated all these mummies in such a short timeeach one here is definitely outrageous. Please consider supporting me. You can do this either by turning off adblock for this blog or via myPatreon page. Thank you. Chapter 202: It’s a matter of ambience, Selius-kun. Ambience Chapter 202: Its a matter of ambience, Selius-kun. Ambience A door within the room then opened. It was closed when we entered, but maybe defeating all the mummies caused it to open. Raul, weve decided that Ill be the leader, right? Dont decide things for the group all on your own again, alright? Tch, fine. When I admonished Raul for his earlier action, he agreed to my demands albeit reluctantly. Alright, why dont we take a break? This room seems big enough. Anyone want to eat? There are a bunch of mummy corpses lying around though Marin-sans strained face seemed to ask how can we eat anything at a ce like this?. She didnt have to worry though, since I have an easy solution: building a medium-sized house. !? We wont have worry about looking and smelling them while were inside. Disregarding Marin-sans surprise for now, I entered the house. I made the living room a bit wider, so even 13 people should be able to fit there. Please let me know where youre wounded. Ill be treating them now. Kurine-san, an elf, said so. While they were doing that, I decided to teleport back to the vige. Hello there, Koch-san. Are the ones I ordered ready? Ahh!? Oh, its you, chief you surprised me. I mean, how did you even get in? Koch-san was the person to open the first restaurant in the vige. Moreover, he possessed the [Cooking] Gift. The delicious food he makes has be so popr, some people travel to the vige just to try it. Anyway, yes, of course theyre ready. Here you go. Woah. Thank you! Still, this benty thing, this is the first time Ive ever heard about it. I had asked Koch-san to prepare some bento for us. When I opened one of the small, wooden boxes, I saw the delicious food packed within. Preparing a bento wasnt a part of the culture of this world yet, so it was understandable that Koch-san was a bit perplexed by it. Even so, he still managed to prepare a splendid and well-garnished bento. The only issue was that it didnt have rice. It used pasta instead. It wasnt Koch-sans fault though. There just wasnt anyonein this kingdom at leastwho grew rice. These will be perfect for our break in exploring the ruins beneath the capital. The capital? I thanked the confused Koch-san once again and then returned to the ruins with the bentos. I brought some bentos. Everyone grab one, okay? Ventos? I then handed out the bentos to everyone. Most of them were puzzled by what a bento actually was. Ooh, bentos. Thanks for always looking out for us, chief! Yeah, thanks! Alec-san and his party were the only ones who knew what a bento was. After all, bentos were also offered in the canteen of the inn that was exclusively for adventurers. I had made boxes for the meal adventurers brought with them to the viges dungeon. I called those boxes as bento boxes, and I guess the name stuck with them since everyone was calling their packed meals as bentos. Familiar to bentos or not, everyone expressed something along the lines of looks delicious when they opened their boxes. Todays bentos are a little bit more special. Koch-san made them. Ohh! No two ways about it now. These ones are definitely going to be delicious! Selen eximed so while her eyes sparkled. So goooooooooooooooooooooooooddd!!! When everyone tried the bento that Koch-san prepared, they all shouted so. Maybe it was because they were fighting undead after undead before, but they seemed to have worked up quite an appetite. In no time at all, they finished their meal. Oi, is there more!? Sorry, but I only ordered one for each of us. When I said so, Raul looked a bit disappointed. Well, damnstill, if my soldiers can have this as their provisions Mass-producing bentos didnt seem possible though, at least bentos of this quality. Now that I think about it, why did you build a house here? I mean, wouldnt it normally be better to teleport back and eat in the vige? Its a matter of ambience, Selius-kun. Ambience. Ambience? Selius-kun made a good point, but bentos were better when eaten while travelling somewhere. Alec-san and the others seemed to agree with what I said. Definitely. A bento eaten while exploring a dungeon just taste better to me. Yeah, even when its the exact same food too. Please consider supporting me. You can do this either by turning off adblock for this blog or via myPatreon page. Thank you. Chapter 203: Who dares…disturb my slumber… Chapter 203: Who daresdisturb my slumber The greatest benefit of building a house out here in the ruin was our ess to a toilet. This toilet is so helpful. Relieving yourself even when hiding can get dangerous, especially at a ce like these ruins. After exiting from the toilet, Marin-san said so. All of us, regardless of gender, wanted to use the toilet as soon as possible, so I decided to use Facility Customization to add more. Its nice that we can wash our hands as well. Yeah, the undead are so filthy. Im really d we can wash our hands clean before we ate. I then heard someone say ehh. It was Raul. If I was to hazard a guess, he probably didnt wash his hands before eating. ha, so what, you wont die from that. Like that, we ended break and resumed our exploration. What is this ce We have entered a room that was as vast as the mummy room from before. However, unlike that ce which was quite dreary, this ce looked strangely opulent. One wall had a splendid relief sculpted on it. Glittering gems were even set into certain parts. The deeper we went into the room, the more ostentatious it became. And in the innermost part of the room were an altar and arge, golden casket. Also, littered around those things were lots of silver and gold treasure. Thats another coffin, isnt it? Most likely. A luxurious one at that. Im guessing these ruins might be the tomb of an ancient king. I agreed with Philia-sans theory. And if that was indeed the case, then the one encased in the coffin before us should be the ancient king. Regardless though, look at that treasure! If theres that many treasure, then a little going mi ah, no, forget I said anything! Alec-san quickly stopped himself from thinking out loud. Even though this was the treasure of an ancient and nonextant kingdom, the right of im to it belonged to the present kingdom upying thend. If it gets found out that anyone pocketed any of the treasure, the kingdom would be justified in punishing them. On the flip side, Alec-san and the others should bepensated handsomely for such a discovery. At that moment though Who daresdisturb my slumber All of a sudden, we heard a voice. We immediately searched for the possible source of that spine-chilling voice. T-the coffin! With a quivering voice, Kamuru-san shouted so. When I followed his line of sight, I saw the lid of the coffin slowly being lifted up. A-are you serious!? Even the master of the tomb has be an undead!? Before long, a skeleton that wore a crown as well as magnificent-yet-now-tattered clothes arose from within the coffin. Raiding my tombfools, all of you If its ominous voice was any indication, the undead was clearly angry at us, the invaders of its tomb. At first nce, this undead might look nothing more than a skeleton with fancy clothes. However, its presence made it clear that it was something else, that it was an undead far superior than anything weve encountered thus far. Be careful, everyone! That ones probably a Wight! Philia-san shouted so. Unlike the other undead monsters, a Wight has high intelligence! It can also use vile and powerful magic! Wight or not, all I know is that Ill send it to the underworld! Not heeding Philia-sans warning, Raul sprung at the Wight all by himself. even after I told him not to act on his own. Shadow Bind What!? When the Wight swung the staff it held, Raul was suddenly unable to move his whole body. Whats!? My body! Fool. Now, die writhing in pain as you are burned down by my wicked mes. Hellfire. The Wightunched an attack made of ck mes towards Raul, but try as he might, Raul was still unable to move, much less dodge. Decoy Shield! The ck mes all of a sudden changed course toward the shield that Noel-kun wielded. Apparently, it was a technique that allowed Noel-kun to receive an enemy attack in ce of an ally. My shield Noel-kuns shield was a masterpiece made of mithril and crafted by dwarven cksmiths. It was strong against both physical and magical attacks. However, bying into contact with the ck mes, the shields surface was not only burned, it broke down as though it was corroded. Please consider supporting me. You can do this either by turning off adblock for this blog or via myPatreon page. Thank you. Chapter 204: How futile Chapter 204: How futile Hmm, what a dangerous magic. While saying so and nodding, Gai-san thrusted the tip off his staff towards Rauls shadow. Thanks to that, Raul was free to move once again. What was that just now? A ck magic that temporarily prevents your body from moving. But worry not, my purification magic works well against it. Gai-san exined so. Tch, what an annoying bastard. Thats why Philia-san warned us to be careful, you know! After I retorted so, I noticed that the Wight was about to cast some kind of magic again. Protect me and eliminate these insolent intruders. Dark Summon! Sinister-looking mist gushed out and soon took the form of a horse-riding knight. However, the knight was headless. A Duhan!? It can summon high-ranking undead monsters!? Alec-san shouted so. Worse yet, the Wight didnt stop summoning. A total of ten Duhans surrounded the Wight, as though they were knights protecting their king. And then, the Wight pointed at us with its staff and issued amand. Exterminate them. The headless knights didnt utter a response butplied nheless. Aside from the few that remained to protect the Wight, the rest descended upon us all at once. Naturally, this made the fight a lot tougher. Aside from Noel-kun, none of us would be able to endure a direct collision with the charging Duhans. Moreover, the Duhans wieldednces splendidly from horseback. I had no doubt they could skewer the average soldier easily. And because they were undead, most attacks were ineffective against them. They might not be able to make tight turns, but they were nevertheless formidable enemies that had great offense, defense, and mobility. Aim for the horses legs! If we seal their movement, we can easily finish them with purification magic! Raul shouted so. As though to demonstrate, Raul then slid down and shed at a horses legs. Without missing a beat, Gai-san then stabbed the fallen Duhan with his light-enveloped staff. The Duhan began writhing until it eventually stopped moving entirely. Not muchter, the Duhan returned to being mist and vanished. Alright, lets kill them all! How futile. Even though we defeated a few of the Duhans, the Wight remainedcent. Dark Summon. What!? Again!? Yes, the Wight summoned new Duhans. Is there no end to them!? Sister! Lets defeat the Wight first! But getting close to it isnt so simple either! If our group tried to get near the Wight, not only would the nearby Duhans prevent us from going further, the Wight itself would surely use its ck magic against us at the nastiest of moments. Especially so if that magic was the one that immobilized Raul earlier as we would bepletely exposed to the Duhans attacks. Golem! I constructed a golem from the stone wall and made it charge toward the Wight. Shadow Bind The Wight once again used that immobilizing spell, but the golem still kept on moving. What? For the first time, the Wight was shocked. Just like I thought, that magic doesnt work against objects. The Duhans moved to protect the Wight from the iing golem, but the golems momentum was too much and they ended up being blown away by the golems charge instead. They were undead, so they should be back up in no time. Before that happens, we must defeat the Wight. To that end, I made the golem swing down its fist toward the Wights head. Shadow Move. Huh? It vanished? The Wight was suddenly gone. Its over there. When I saw it next, it was several meters away. Ehhh, it can use magic like that too? A magic like that would prevent the user from getting hit even if the enemy manages toe near. oh well, two can y at that game. Gai-san, get ready to attack it please. Hmm? I grabbed hold of Gai-san and then teleported the both of us behind the Wight. Please consider supporting me. You can do this either by turning off adblock for this blog or via myPatreon page. Thank you. Chapter 205: She looks quite alive as well Chapter 205: She looks quite alive as well What? The Wight was surprised when it sensed the presence that appeared behind it. Just as I expected, the Wight couldnt immediately use the teleportation magic it used just a moment ago. Perish! !? Gai-san swung his staff downward and hit the Wight on its head. As soon as a burst of light emerged from the staff, some of the Wights bones crumbled. GaaaaaI And yet, the Wight was still alive. Well, still undead. Without a moments hesitation, Gai-san followed up. However, before he could connect his attack, the Wights body was swallowed up by the ground. It soon reappeared some distance away. If my observation was correct, it moved from shadow to shadow. You wont escape! !? We followed it again via my own teleportation. This time though, when Gai-san hit it, the Wight simply writhed in pain. How!? This shouldnt Ancient apparition, quietly rest in peace! Gaaaaaaaaaa!? The Wight could no longer attack or even escape at this point. Thus, Gai-san dealt the final blow. Upon doing so, the Wights bones fully crumbled and turned to ashes. Amen Gai-san uttered so while making a praying gesture with one of his hands. Maybe it was because Gai-san had purified the Wight, but whatever the case might be, the remaining Duhans vanished one by one. Like that, there were no more undead in the room we were in. Did we do it? Selius-kun! Whyd you have to raise that g!? g? What g? But since nothing has happened even after some time has passed, it really did seem like it was over. I feel kinda bad about it though. I mean, from its point of view, were probably nothing more than graverobbers. A king that wants to guard their treasure to the point that they turn into an undead is an extremely greedy one. Theres no need to feel guilty of anything. At any rate, it was about time to head back to report to the king. To that end, I made a hole in the nearby wall and then started building a staircase that led aboveground. Everyone seemed to want to say something, but I decided to not ask and continued to go up instead. Ahh, can we take a little detour? Theres something Id like to check. What do you mean? I built a passageway that connected the staircase to somewhere else in the ruin. This leads to a mysterious room Ive discovered. One thing that makes it mysterious is that none of the normal paths seemed to lead to it. I had decided to ignore it while we were still exploring, but now that we were about to return up, I figured it was the right time to check it out. Were here, I think. We entered the room that was about 1/3 of the size of the room where we fought the Wight. There were no coffins, thankfully, but in the center of the otherwise dreary, rectangr room was a pir of some sort. Huh? A person? Bound to the pir was a person. A woman. She looked to be in the middle of her twenties. Her hair had a peculiar color: it was of the sky at dusk. I didnt know if she was unconscious or awake, but she had her eyes closed. Upon closer inspection, I realized that she was a beautiful woman with refined features. Moreover, due to her clothes that revealed much skin as well as her tall and slender body, she was quiteseductive. Hmm, what a superb size Id like to be sandwiched between those Hey, you two? Gai-san and Dill-san bothmented on the womans voluptuous chests, causing Hazena-san to scowl at them. Gai-san was a warrior monk and yet I heard he had quite the fondness for womenas for Dill-san, this was probably the first time Ive heard him talk during our whole exploration of the ruin. Whats up with this woman though? Is she dead? Shes in a too good of a state to be dead thoughand then, theres these chains The womans arms and legs were bound. Selen observed the woman intently. She doesnt appear to be breathing, butshe looks quite alive as well. Unlike the undead we had encountered before, she had some coloration in her skin. However, as though she was frozen time, she waspletely motionless, not even a sign of breathing. I couldnt help but wonder how long she has been like this. Is she one of the people from when this ancient ruin was still in use? Hmm, Im going to cut the chains down. R-Raul-sama, please be careful! Raul drew closer to the woman and then shed the chains binding her. *ng!* What? However, Rauls sword was simply repelled. Tch, what the hell are these chains? Theyre not so easy to cut, are they? Please consider supporting me. You can do this either by turning off adblock for this blog or via myPatreon page. Thank you. Chapter 206: Take care of me until I die, ok? Chapter 206: Take care of me until I die, ok? Apparently, the chains binding the woman to the pir was reinforced by some kind of magic. Even Rauls attack didnt cause a scratch. Hmm, it seems like shes under some seal. That might be why she is preserved in such a good state after who knows how long. Philia-san gave her analysis. Then, let me release her from that seal with my magic. Youre not saying that just to get a chance to cop a feel, right? o-obviously! Hazena-san questioned Gai-san like that. Gai-san did answer, but did so while avoiding Hazena-sans eyes. This perverted clergyman, Hazena-sans gaze seem to want to say back. At any rate, Gai-san proceeded to use his magic. However, even after multiple attempts, nothing has changed. What do you propose, Luke? Its looking like we have no choice but to leave her alone in the meantime. Hmm, yeah We didnt want to leave her like this, but it didnt look like there was anything we could do to save her. Well, I say save her, but we arent truly sure shes still alive. Theres something Id like to try. I said so and then touched the womans arm. Her arm was cold but also soft and definitely humanlike. Teleportation. I tried to teleport myself and the woman in the pir to a corner in the room. Huh? The teleportation worked. I was with the woman, leaving the pir and the chains back in the middle of the room. However, for some reason, the woman floated in the air as though she was still being supported by the pir and the chains. It didnt work? Just when I thought that, the womans eyelids opened to reveal eyes that were as dusk-like in color as her hair. Kukukuyou must have a lot of guts to free me from my seal, dont you? The woman said so and then shed a wicked smile on her pretty face. Right after, a swell of magic power surged past me, causing me to fall on my behind. Luke! Tch, we might have woken up a dangerous enemy! Whats with that magic power!? We should have known better! She was sealed because she was considered a threat! Everyone rushed to draw their weapons and assumedbat positions. Each of them, even Raul, were sweating coldly. I was having such nice and long sleep, you know. Are you going to take responsibility for waking me up, huh, kid? The woman said so while looking down at me with her dusk-colored eyes As though I was a frog being stared at by a snake, my whole body froze still, unable to move even an inch. What a presence! It might even be more intimidating than my fathers Luke-dono, run! Chief, shes dangerous! I knew I should teleport away, but I just couldnt bring myself to do so. Well, I was using a body double, so there wasnt any real threat to me. Kukuku, not running? The woman said so and then extended her hands. In response, I closed my eyes KUuuuuuuuu! What a delicious drink! Man, this is just the best, innit!? The woman with dusk-colored hair has been drinking alcohol since daytime. She has drunk many cups already, so it wasnt surprising that she was so drunk that her face was as red as autumn leaves. AhmMiranda-san? Hm? What is it? Wait, are you not drinking? Im not; Im too young to drink. Gaa~~~! Youre too serious! The woman named Miranda drank another gulp of the beer made in the vige and thenughed gyahahahaha. We were currently in one of the rooms in my residence, the highest floor in the 30-story building in the wastnd vige. Scattered around her were finished tes and bottles. To be frank, the smell in the room was quite strong. Anyway, do you really intend to not work? Ive told you, didnt I!? Imma gonna leech off ya forever! She boldly dered such a shameful thing. Haa? Whats with that face? Youre the one at fault for waking me up, remember? This is just me making you take responsibility. Yes, after waking her up, the woman we found in the ruins demanded this of me: <> <> Please consider supporting me. You can do this either by turning off adblock for this blog or via myPatreon page. Thank you. Chapter 207: How’s that for a character’s backstory? Chapter 207: Hows that for a characters backstory? I was having such a good sleep and yet you still woke me up. It was a lot of trouble preparing that seal, you know. I dont want to go through that again. So, you better make it up to me by provide for me until I die. The woman demanded so. As such, she has been living in my ce since then, doing nothing but eating, sleeping and drinking alcohol day after day. Gotta say though, life here has been quite amazing. Your alcohol and foods great. Plus, your beds sofy. Looks like Ive been picked up by a fantastic pet owner. Before drinking from her cup, Miranda imitated a dog and woofed. For her to say pet owner, shes quite drunk, isnt sheI mean, she has to be, right? But, ahmMiranda-san, when were you from? Who knows? I dont really know how much time has passed, so even if you ask me, I dont know what to tell you. I see Tell you what though, back then, I was actually revered as the sage of dusk. You know, because of the color of my hair. Ohh. Ipletely didnt expect that. But then again, considering the tremendous magic power she disyed after her seal was undone, I wouldnt doubt that she was indeed revered as a sage. I did too good of a job though. Why is she boasting all of a sudden? I was too kind back then and did everything I could to be helpful to everyone. It reached the point where everyone relied on me for everything. It was already toote by the time I noticed what a mistake that wasI would work myself to death each day, and they just took my efforts for granted. Miranda-san looked into the distance while recounting her past, her tone getting angrier and angrier. Unsurprisingly, I eventually reached my limit. As soon as I stopped helping, everyone got so furious right away. It was ridiculous, I tell youI was being called a sage, but I was nothing but a fool all along. At least now I know better than to volunteer my services. I wish I had known that sooner though As the vige chief, I could somehow rte to her story. At any rate, I stopped helping and ran away. Sadly, they persistently hunted me down. It was so annoying that I decided to seal myself in those ancient ruins. If I had my way, I would have stayed sleeping within that room deep underground forever. Is that so Apparently, those ruins were built way before Miranda-sans time. hows that for a characters backstory? A characters backstory!? ying the role of the straight man in aedy, I shouted so. Seeing me like that, Miranda-san cackled. Gyahahahaha! You believed that? You really believed that!? Gyahahahaha! This drunk Well, sorry to inform you, but if you want to live in this vige, you have to do some kind of work. No one is exempted from that. On the other hand, everyone who works are provided with things they might needlike a ce to stayfor free. So, Miranda-san zzzzzz Are you sleeping!? I grabbed hold of the pitcher nearby and sshed its water on her. Gaaaa!? The self-proimed sage thus opened her eyes, all confused. *Cough**cough*! What the hell!? I didnt think it because you had such a cute face, but are you actually nuts or something!? Sure, sure, anyway, ready to listen now? Okay. It doesnt matter what you do as work, what matters is that youre contributing something to the vige. I refuse! Id rather be a loafer who stays at some other persons house for free, drink for free, and eat for free! Everyday! Are you sure about that? then, I have no other choice. I grabbed her arm and then quickly used teleportation. Our destination was a meadow that had nothing else in the vicinity. Feel free to stay here. Huh, hey, wait I ignored her plea and returned to the vige. Please consider supporting me. You can do this either by turning off adblock for this blog or via my Patreon page. Thank you. Chapter 208: I don’t know which of them I should choose Chapter 208: I dont know which of them I should choose how are you here? The ce where I left Miranda-san behind was a weeks worth of travel by horseback from the vige. And yet, she has somehow returned just a tiny bitter on the same day. Moreover, she was drinking again. Kukuku, its no use trying to strand me somewhere! I can use teleportation magic like you! As long as Ive been to a ce, I can go there whenever I want! Too bad for you! Gyahahaha! You can use such an advanced magic, but you still dont want to work? but being so strong was what made those people be jealous and fearful of me. To the point that I had no choice but to seal myselfeven now, I can still remember the looks they gave me. It was as though I was some kind of monster to them. And thats why Ill never again disy my power to anyone. Hows that for a characters backstory? Youve used that same trick on me already! It would seem like nothing would convince her to start wanting to work. I had no idea what her real reason was, but it was amazing in a sense that she could stick to her convictions that much. Look, Im not asking you to do some especially hard or demanding work Then, how about this: Im what you people of this era will call a person from the ancient past. A living witness to history, if you will. Just having a person like me here has merit in itself, Id say. If thats so, I dont even have to do anything at all to contribute, am I right? Of course, Im right! That argument is not convincing at all. I sighed. That said, it did seem like we shouldnt treat her the same as the average vige. haa, alright, lets suppose that we ept that as what you do to contribute, you should at least be the one to fetch your food and drinks as well as the one to keep your own room clean. Ehh, but thats such a hassle. Can I punch you at least once? I was known as a gentle and kind vige chief, but I almost used force there. We proceeded to debate back and forth for a while, and when I was about to just give up Tch, fine, then. If you let me live like I want, I dont mind letting you feel my breasts. What? No, thats not Kukuku, you sure? Are you really not interested? Even though I say so myself, my breasts feel great to touch, you know? She said so while seductively touching her breasts. I swear, this drunk !? All of a sudden, Miranda-sans face stiffened. W-w-what an intense bloodlust? Is she really just a maid? Huh? I turned around, but only Milliawith her usual sweet and gentle smilewas standing there. Fufufu, leave the rest to me, Luke-sama. One of the duties of a maid, after all, is to give assistance to guests. Oh, okay. I guess its all up to you now. For some reason, I feltpelled to simply agree. Besides, I was already at the end of my patience and couldnt deal with this drunk anymore. Huh? Whats wrong, Selius-kun? Ahno, its, its nothing. ? Right after I exited the room that Miranda-san was using, I ran into Selius-kun. Being Selens younger brother, he also lived in the top floor of this building. Ahm, is it because of the smell from this room? Ahh, no, its got nothing to do about that! Its justthat I wondered what it was actually about, but instead of answering me, Selius-kun simply fidgeted over and over. Is it about Philia-san? Have you made some kind of progress with her? N-no Selius-kun secretly liked Philia-san. Well, I say secretly, but almost everyone knew of this fact. However, because he was quite a shy person when it came to this kind of things, he couldnt make a move on Philia-san even to this day. I guess its kinda rted to that, but Rted to that? What do you mean? Y-y-you see Selius-kun, with an earnest face, began to exin. I-I-I dont I dont know which of them I should choose! Should it be Philia-sano-or should it be Miranda-san!? Please consider supporting me. You can do this either by turning off adblock for this blog or via myPatreon page. Thank you. Chapter 209: How about a deal? Chapter 209: How about a deal? Ahmcan you say that again? I think I heard you say something absolutely unbelievable With an expression that hopefully conveyed I just misheard it, right?, I asked Selius-kun to repeat what he said. I-I-I dont I dont know which of them I should to choose! Should it be Philia-sano-or should it be Miranda-san!? Howd that happen!? Unfortunately, I didnt mishear him the first the time. Were talking about that Miranda-san, right? Since when did you start feeling that way? Rather, why even like that drunk in the first ce? When I first saw her in the ruinI was mesmerized right away by her beauty I see Selius-kun surprisingly was the kind of person to fall in love at first sight. Also, it would seem he liked beautiful, older women. and by older, I didnt mean just a few years older than him. Despite her appearance, Philia-san was an elf who has lived for more than a century. As for Miranda-san, even excluding the time that she was sleeping, she was actually quite old. I heard that she was using some kind of magic to preserve her youthfulness. As their personalities were like day and night, those were the only qualities I could think of that they had inmon. You do know that Miranda-sans nothing but a loafer who gets drunk each and every day, right? I dont think shes someone you should be liking, to be honest. I agree that herself-indulgent way of life is not something to be praisedbut I, I want to help her fix that! Oh no, not this! This was how someone gets exploited by devilish, deceitful people. Well, Ill refrain from speaking ill of Miranda-san and just say to just go for Philia-san. Shes earnest and adored by those around her. Im certain shell be a good wife. There was the issue of the strange noises she makes when in the toilet, but that didnt need to be mentioned now. W-w-w-wife!? Isnt it too soon to be thinking of things like that!? Selius-kuns face grew bright red right away. So adorable. Regardless, just dont go for Miranda-san, alright? YeahIll do as you say. With his shoulders slumped, Selius-kun said so and left. all that aside, I couldnt help but notice something as he walked away. It was that for the past half year or so, Selius-kun has grown considerably taller. He was now as tall as Selen, give or take a few. Being of almost the same age, it wouldnt be so strange for me to have grown as much as well. Yet, I havent grown much, if at all, in the past year. Like, seriously, am I not going to grow anymore? Fufufu, if you ever seduce Luke-sama like that, you wont get off so lightly, understood? Y-yescertainly, certainly The maid was smiling, but her eyes were not at all. Upon seeing that, Miranda was taken aback. *What is with this maidwhat incredible killing intentI shouldnt fight this girl, yes, yes* While Miranda made that decision in her mind, the maid spoke. Now, how about a deal? A deal? Yes. If you agree to my request, Ill do everything from cleaning this room to preparing your food and drinks. what is this request of yours? Itll be a pain, wouldnt it? If the request was going to be troublesome, that would defeat the purpose of the deal. After all, either way, Miranda would wound up doing work. I want you stop Luke-samas growth! excuse me? Luke-sama is better off keeping his small build! If he were to grow any further, his adorableness will decrease! What the hell is this maid saying, Miranda thought. I have been praying each day without fail to stop him from growing. My efforts thus far have somehow slowed down his growth, but sooner orter Thats not praying anymore, thats inflicting a curse. So, if possible, Id like you to stop himpletely from growing! Please consider supporting me. You can do this either by turning off adblock for this blog or via myPatreon page. Thank you. Chapter 210: Hey, isn’t that a flagrant abuse of your authority!? Chapter 210: Hey, isnt that a grant abuse of your authority!? *Come to think of it, that little chief did say he was thirteen or something. I did think he was a bit small for his agebut is it really because of this girls prayers?* By the way, Im a priest who bears the [Oracle] Gift. *Hey, isnt that a grant abuse of your authority!? This maids crazier than me!* Ive heard that youre maintaining your youthful appearance through your magic. If thats the case, I thought you might also be able to stop Luke-samas growth! As though excited by something, the maid breathed heavily after saying so. Meanwhile, Mirandas face stiffened as she tried to reply. W-well, I might be able to Really? Ah!? The maid suddenly grabbed Mirandas shoulders. Being red with such intensity by the maid at this distance made Miranda identally leak out a hii!. I beg you! Please, somehow keep Luke-samas appearance the way it is! Magic of that kind was not simple at all. Moreover, the magic needed to be applied regrly, at least while the target was still in their growth spurt years. And toplicate things further, the whole thing must be done without Luke suspecting it. *I dont wanna do it; its so bothersome* When Miranda was about to reject that unbnced deal, however Please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please Miranda was so terrified that she had little choice but to agree. S-sure Huh? You want us to hold an event? Yes. The viges poption has increased so much, but as great as that is, a result of that sudden increase is that we barely know each other. Well, there are more than 20, 000 of us now, after all So, I thought, how about we hold an event that would deepen the vigers bonds with one another? I see. The one to propose that n to me was Belrith-san, who was a member of the first group of refugees to arrive here and be vigers. I think its a great idea, but what kind of event do you have in mind? I dont really know yetbut it would be great if, on top of the original goal, its an event that the vige would be famous for and attract tourists to visit for the years toe Belrith-san and I then proceeded toe up with ideas for what the event would be. Each time I proposed an event I recalled from my memory of my previous life, Belrith-san was astonished without fail. I dont know how you cane up with things no one has thought of one after the other! Impressive as always, Luke-sama! it isnt me that thought up of it though. Well, how about we just do them all? One by one, of course. If something gains an overall positive response, well hold that event regrly from then on. Oh, yes, lets do that! As for what we would try first Its gotta be a fighting tournament, right?! Yes, it was a fighting tournament to determine who was the strongest in the vige. As far as events go, it was a pretty standard type. After all, simr eventslike contests held in the presence of royalty or martial artspetitions held by local lords to demonstrate the might of their territorys soldiershave been around in the kingdom since who knows when. But I want ours to berger in scale than anything before it. Plus, lets allow all kinds of fighters to participate, regardless of their weapon or magic of choice. Oh! That sounds fascinating! Lets seewhat if we make the only requirements be that participants must be vigers and that they must be 12 years old and above? That way, well aplish our main goal of making the vigers interact with one another. Wed have to hold a qualifying round or two, though. Like that, it was decided that we would hold a fighting tournament before winter. Ill take care of preparing the venue. Can I ask you to take care of letting everyone know of the event? Leave it to me! Please consider supporting me. You can do this either by turning off adblock for this blog or via myPatreon page. Thank you. Chapter 211: I think I’ll participate as well Chapter 211: I think Ill participate as well Hmm, I guess the venue should be a modified training ground <> The part where it says that it prevented injuries appealed to me. And so, I built one and used Facility Customization on it. In addition to the vigers, we were expecting tourists toe and watch the tournament. As such, I made the venue be able to amodate about 50,000 people. Inparison to a training grounds default size, the venue was about double that. This looks fine, I think. When I was done, it lookedpletely like a coliseum. I figured that it would make for a better viewing experience if the audience seats were not only tiered but also surrounded the fighting ring in the center of the venue. After that, the participants waiting roomoh, gotta add a medical office tooan office for the staffnexthmm, uh-huh, like I expected, its unreasonable to hold all the matches here. Yeah, the qualifying matches should have their own venues I didnt know how many would participate in the whole tournament, so I decided to build just 3 more venues for now. These venues for the qualifying rounds were built underground, by the way. Luke! Ive heard about it! That the vige is holding a fighting tournament, I mean! Oh. You interested in joining, Selen? You bet I am! This is gonna be fun! Selen seemed pumped. Since her strength as well as beauty was definitely going to draw in some crowd, I for one was grateful for her participation. But then again, knowing her, I kinda guessed that she would take part. Great! The tournaments definitely going to be exciting now. Of course! Im gonna be the champion, after all! Without a doubt, Selen would be among the top contenders. If youre joining, then Ill join too. Ill beat you this time, sister! Right back at you! Dont think Im going to be in the losing side forever. Sparks flew as the two stared at each other. A fight between these two would be quite a spectacle, further elevating the excitement in the event. That said, because we would be using an elimination system, the two were not guaranteed to sh. Hmm, it sounds fun. I think Ill participate as well. Thats great to hear, Philia-san. Is it alright if I use a bow? Yup, any weapon is fine. You can use magic too, if you want. Philia-sanmuch like Selen, and Selius-kunwas Double Gifted, making her also a top contender for the tournament. Y-youre participating too? Selius-kun, it looks like I can have a good fight with you. ~~~~~~! As ever, Selius-kuns face grew bright red while his body waspletely petrified. if Selius-kun ever faces Philia-san in the tournament, it would be all over for him. Chief, Ill be participating too of course! I will too! Me too, me too! Apparently, Belrith-san and Perun-san who both had the [Sword Techniques] Gift as well as Rando-kun who had the [Spear Techniques] Gift wanted to participate in the tournament. All of them have been supporting the vige since the early days. It sounds fun, so I guess Ill participate too. Can Iparticipate as well? Goate-san who had the [Herculean Strength] Gift as well as Noel-kun who had the [Shield Master Techniques] Gift were interested as well. I wonder how theyll fight though? Ha, thats kinda interesting, aint it? I dont know how well Id fare, but as a soldier, I cant simply abstain. I think Id join as well. The ones to express their interest this time were: Dorial the former bandit leader; Bazara-san, a soldier formerly attending to Dant-san; and Danba-san the dwarf. Adventurers like us are allowed to participate too, right? Theres no problem even if I use magic? Great! Ill definitely join then! A great opportunity to demonstrate the fruit of my training, huh? against the huntersId rather not Alec-sans adventurer party dered their participation. Well, except for Dill-san who wasnt that great inbat. Omg, sounds like a totes fun event! Will you be joining too, Gori-chan? I think so! I mean, lots of people will be able to see how strong and pretty I am, right? Y-yeahif you make it to main round of the tournament, yeah, lots of people will be able to see you. Fantastic! And surely, if I be the champ, everyonell fall madly in love with me~~~ It looked like Gori-chan was participating as well. she might just have the best chance at winning the tournament. Please consider supporting me. You can do this either by turning off adblock for this blog or via myPatreon page. Thank you. Chapter 212: No way I’ll bother with that Chapter 212: No way Ill bother with that That sounds kinda fun, aint it? A tipsy Miranda-san said so andughed a loud Kukuku. As per usual, she has been drinking since daytime. She waszing around in her room most if not all of the time, so I had no idea how she knew about the fighting tournament. Would you like to participate as well? Come on, no way Ill bother with that. I thought youd say something like that. Should she participate though, I had a feeling she would easily be the champion. Ill just watch the thing as my entertainment while drinking in my room. how can even you watch it if youre in this room? At any rate, what was the work that Millia gave you? When I asked Millia, her only answer was: its something that only Miranda-san can do. Apparently, in exchange for doing that task, Millia would take care of a broad range of things for Miranda-san. That included things like cleaning Miranda-sans room as well as preparing food and drinks for her. If Miranda-san was truly and properly working, I had no objections. Ive gotta say though, I was quite curious what that work actually was. I-it doesnt matter what it is, does it Miranda-san answered in an evasive manner while looking away. Needless to say, it was quite unusual for her. Maybe its something she doesnt want to talk about with me? I had a bad feeling about it, but since it looked like she wouldnt tell me what her work was even if I pressed harder, I decided to let it go for now. Since then, preparations for the event progressed steadily. Thanks to that, we were able to determine the official date for the tournament: it was to be held one weekter. It was short notice, so not many tourists might be able to make it. But as far as the vige was concerned, it couldnte soon enough, if their excited conversations were any indications. Ehh!? Over 800 have already applied to participate!? Y-yes. A number far greater than we anticipated. It would seem we needed to have more venues for the qualifying rounds of the tournament. We would need to amend the already-scheduled matches as well. Just figuring out who should fight whom seems quite a headache. Feel free to make use of my body doubles. Thank you so much! Like that, we managed toplete our preparations. The viges first ever fighting tournament was finally here. The fighting tournament will be held over the course of 8 days. The first four of which would be dedicated to the qualifying rounds, while thest four would be for the main round of the tournament. We had prepared a total of 8 venues for the qualifying rounds. For each of the first four days, a qualifying round would be held at each of the venues. That meant that only 32 people would bepeting in the main round. In order to be one of those 32, participants must win through their respective qualifying round. Which wasnt an easy feat at all, considering that the total number of participants has risen to over a thousand. The qualifying rounds would be following a single-elimination system. Since there would be over a hundred participants at each qualifying round, each participant would have to win at least 6 or so matches to get into the main round. The main round would also follow a single-elimination system. In this round, one would need to win 5 matches to be the champion. In other words, from the qualifying rounds up to the grand finals, one would have to fight and win more than 10 times. Regarding the matchmaking, it wont bepletely randomized for the qualifying rounds. We had decided to influence the matchmaking a little bit so that the notably powerful people were more spaced out. We knew this would raise questions, but we would rather have that than having all of the powerful participants eliminate each other just in the qualifying rounds. For the main round though, we of course were going to determine matchmaking purely through lottery. And of course, to the victor goes the spoils. A grand prize was going to be given to the champion who won fight after tough fight. Or so I was told. They still havent told me what exactly that prize was going to be. ording to Belrith-san, it would be more exciting if the prize was revealed to me and the general public on the tournaments opening ceremony. What!? The vige chiefs going to grant one wish of the champion!? Hey, you cant decide that on your own! OHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!! The crowd truly got excited. Alright!! Im definitely going to be aiming for the top! I must be champion now! Khhif I knew the prize will be this, I would have participated too just like that, it was already toote to do anything. Please consider supporting me. You can do this either by turning off adblock for this blog or via myPatreon page. Thank you. Chapter 213: You’ll serve as the first step toward my life of fame! Chapter 213: Youll serve as the first step toward my life of fame! My great worry about the champions prize aside, the fighting tournaments qualifying rounds have begun. The participants have gathered in the 8 venues we prepared for the qualifying rounds. Most of them had anxious expressions as they waited for their turn to fight. By the way, we had also prepared audience seats for the qualifying rounds. We assumed it would mostly be just the participants family who woulde to watch, but for some reason, each venue was packed. Even though this was just our first fighting tournament, it has already gained the attention of the whole vige. As for the rules, the qualifying rounds and the main rounds had the same ones. The following were just some of the rules on determining who lost: They were deemed unable to continue fighting; They dere defeat themselves; And if they were to exit the fighting ring. The following would not only have them forfeit the match, it would also get them sent to a rehabilitation facility: Attacking an enemys vital points; killing the opponent; And disobeying the referees instructions. <> Each venue was stocked with plenty of potions. Moreover, the venues were actually built next to a hospital, so as long as the injury wasnt too grave, its alright. << Hospital: A medical care facility where patients can stay for further treatment. Abates the patients pain. Improves self-healing. Improves the effect of medical treatment.>> Hmm? Isnt that When I came to check the venues, a certain person who was about to enter the fighting area caught my attention. It was none other than Manta-san, Mack-sans son. The both of them have moved here from their vige in the former Albert territory. If I recall correctly, hes supposed to spend some time in a rehabilitation facility. Has he been properly rehabilitated? Sometime prior, Manta-san dered that he was going to split a watermelon in half using only his thing. That deration alone was cause for concern already, but he actually proceeded to take off his pants. Thankfully, the guards were able to stop him in time. That wasnt his only offense, either. Apparently, he has been regrly pestering others by doing things such as persistently hitting on women. Hahaha! Im not who I used to be! I now pursue women appropriately! Yes, Ill use this tournament to show off my good points and be popr! Yup, his character hasnt changed much, has it? That said, it might be true that he was now more, uhh, appropriate. Whichever the case might be though, I had no idea what he intends to do to win. He didnt have any Gift or anybat experience, after all. Ive been practicing the sword for this very day! Oh yes, I know! I know that if you train in the training ground, youll improve several times faster than normal! Manta-san dered so and then gleefully drew his sword. Youll serve as the first step toward my life of fame! As soon as their match officially began, Manta-san rushed head-on toward his opponent. *ng!* huh? Manta-sans attack was easily deflected, leaving him dumbfounded. His opponent made use of this chance andunched an attack of their own. Waaoo!? Taking care to not gravely injure Manta-san, his opponent used the t of their sword to hit the top of Manta-sans head. He immediately fainted and dropped to the floor with a thud. Expected as much After all, his opponent has been training in the training ground way before he has. It was only natural that his first set of training sessions couldntpare to his opponents. Manta-san had lost his consciousness and showed no sign of getting back up anytime soon. After being deemed unable to continue the fight, his defeat was dered. Oh, thats Mack-san over there, isnt it He was probably a bit worried about his son and came to check. But when he saw his sons instant defeat, he breathed a sigh and turned back. Well, Manta-san might have trained just to enter the tournament, but the fact was he still trained. That, in my opinion, was plenty of growth already. Even though they didnt have anybat Gifts, many vigers have been regrly training in the training ground. Largely thanks to that, the matches, even though it was still only the qualifying rounds, were all impressiveall besides Manta-sans maybe. That being said, some participants were able to win with rtive ease. These of course included people like Selen and Philia-san, both of whom were top contenders for being the overall champion. In all of their matches since the start, Selen has been able to defeat all of her opponents in 10 seconds or less, while Philia-san was able to defeat her opponents without any of them getting close. Needless to say, both of them have advanced to the main round of thepetition. Please consider supporting me. You can do this either by turning off adblock for this blog or via myPatreon page. Thank you. Chapter 214: I’ve got no intention of losing Chapter 214: Ive got no intention of losing Luke, I made it to the main round! Yeah, I saw. Its so much easier than I expected though! Selen won all her fights and has now advanced to the main round of the tournament. She won her fights quite easily, but from a bystanders point of view, each fight was still full of excitement. Not that Imining. I want to be the champion no matter what, after all! And thenanything I want Huh? I-I said I want to prove that Im the best in the vige! At that point, Selius arrived. I have also made it to the main round, sister. Selius! If we ever face each other there, be ready to be defeated. Selius-kun seemed to regard his sister as a rival. You two are impressive as always. Ah, Philia-san. ~~~~~~~~! As soon as Philia-san arrived, Selius-kuns face grew red. To make things worse, he followed up by hiding behind me. If this was how he still acted around her, I couldnt help but worry for the future. Have you made it to the main round as well, Philia-san? I have. Im relieved to be given this chance to demonstrate a little of what an elvenmander can do. While we were chatting like that, our surroundings suddenly got dark. When I turned around to look, I found a muscr gianterr, I mean, I found Gori-chan. Ufufu, Im so d I made it to the main round. Youve advanced too, Gori-chan? Yup. But I must say, there are so many strong people here in the vige. Said the person who sent a muscr viger flying out of the ring with one punch. I witnessed that scene with my very own eyes. Still, Ive got no intention of losing. Im going to fight and win against strong people, no matter what. And then, Ill have the chief-chan grant me anything I want. ~~~~~~~! I suddenly felt a chill down my spine. I wonder what shell ask of me But it didnt seem like I was the only one wary of Gori-chan; Selen was too. Its looking like youll be toughest opponent Ill have! Take it easy on me, okay? No way! Im going to fight you will all my strength! Oh my. Then, I guess Ill have to fight with all my strength too. From then on, the other people I expected to advance did so one after the other. Balrath-san, Noel-kun, Goate-san, Perun-san, Rando-kun, Alec-san, Hazena-san, Gai-san, Dorial, Banba-san, Bazara-san. Before long, all 32 participants have been determined. Based on the fact that each one of them had a Gift was any indication, the main round of the tournament was bound to have high-level fights. And so, the main round was about to begin. OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!! The crowd gave a thunderous cheer as they eagerly awaited the start of the first fight. I built the venue for the main round to be able to amodate up to 50,000 people. That was an extremely generous estimate, but to my surprise, about 30,000 people were in attendance today. Ehhhwhats going on? The total poption of the vige is just 20,000 and yet Word of mouth probably have made people from outside the vige want to check it out. As to be expected of the event youve thought up, Luke-sama! It has managed to draw in so many people! Millia was praised me like that, but it wasnt like I thought up of the whole thing from scratch or anything like that Anyway, if this was our turnout already for our first event, it might be a good idea to implement a ticket systemter on. Luke-sama! Ivee to watch as well! Huh? Princess? And Your Majesty!? Weve heard in the train that you were hosting a fun event. Even the royal family came to watch. As such I tried to offer them seats reserved for nobles, but No, that wont be necessary. Were here as simple guests. I-is that so? Then, around here are the seats for participants. Please seat wherever you like. Near the entrance to the fighting area were the seats participants who were waiting for their match or those who have justpleted theirs. One could view the fights easily from here, making them excellent seats. Excuse me. For some reason, the princess chose to sit next to me. Meanwhile, on my other side, Millias face twitched. dont fight, okay? Other notable personalities in the audience were Riesens governor Mitchell-san; Viscount Dolz and Viscount Frenco; and Selen and Selius-kuns father. They also preferred to mix in with the general audience rather than in the reserved seats. Alright, they should be announcing the matchups anytime now Please consider supporting me. You can do this either by turning off adblock for this blog or via myPatreon page. Thank you. Chapter 215: Why didn’t you invite me to join? Chapter 215: Why didnt you invite me to join? The first match of the main round has begun. Right from the start, it was bound to be a good match. It was, after all, between Philia-san and Hazena-san, Ive gotten a good grasp on your abilities from our expedition in the ruin the other day. This should be a good fight, I think. I agree! Lets have a fight worthy of the main round! Both of them participated in the said expedition, so they had some idea of what the other could do. Philia-san had both [Bow Techniques] and [Green Magic] Gifts, making her what was known as a Double Gift. Her arrows were powerful and urate, but they could be made deadlier through her control of the wind. As such, it was no wonder that she excelled in long-rangebat. On the other hand, Hazena-san had the [Red Magic] Gift. She could fight at long-range, but she wasnt the best at it. After all, her mes were less powerful the farther away the target was. Considering those things, I couldnt help but think that Hazena-san was at quite the disadvantage. Especially so when also factoring in that fire didnt interact well against wind. While thinking about how the fight might turn out, it finally began. Both of them acted right away. Philia-san fired an arrow of wind while Hazena-san unleashed an arrow of mes. The two arrows flew towards the center of the ring until they shed against each other. Upon which, sparks and explosive sounds erupted. That spectacr sight caused great excitement for the audience. The both of them continued to use the same attack, but as things went on, Philia-sans advantage became clearer. Not a single fire arrow was reaching Philia-sans side, while a few wind arrows have made it toward Hazena-san and prompted her to do evasive maneuvers. Moreover, it should be noted that Philia-san still hasnt used any actual arrows. They were limited in amount, so she was probably saving them for when there was enough of an opening. Now! And then, that opening presented itself. Philia-san, with lightning-fast speed, nocked a wind-d arrow into her bow and released it right away. It was close, but Hazena-san managed to notice the attack. And somehow, she was able to dodge it by basically flinging herself out of the way. On top of the arrow being fast, the sparks flying about made the visibility within the ring poor. So, while Hazena-san might have managed to dodge this time, it didnt look like she could do so every time. Just like I thought, I cant win in a long-range fight with you! But what if I do this!? Hazena-san admitted so. From then on, she pulled out all the stops. Fire Javelin! Hazena-sanunched many spears made of mes toward Philia-san. In truth though, she used her best attack simply as a distraction in order to close the distance between them. Like that, the fight evolved into one where Philia-san sought to keep it a long-range battle while Hazena-san was desperate to make it a close-range fight despite being a mage herself. This was the first match of the main round, yet the crowd was already going crazy with the back and forth between the two. However, in the end, Philia-san managed to avoid a suicidal attack by Hazena-san and win the match. The crowd cheered not only for the winner but to the exhausted Hazena-san as well. What a great match. Its almost like the grand finals already. When I said so to myself Oi, looks like youre doing something fun. Huh!? Raul!? When I heard a voice from behind me and turned around, I found Raul. He seemed to have also journeyed from the royal capital all the way here. Why didnt you invite me to join? You see, its because we made it a rule that only vigers may participate. Tch. Raul clicked his tongue and sat down. Looks like hes gonna watch from here. After the second match, Balrath-san appeared on the stage for the third match. His opponent was strong, but he managed to win in the end. Noel-kunpeted in the fourth match. I was wondering how he would fight with only a shield, but apparently, it was by charging forward with great force in order to knock the opponent off of the stage. With such a drastic move, Noel-kun won. As for the victors of the fifth and sixth matches, it was Gai-san and Selen, respectively. Selens opponent was Goate-san. Goate-san, through his absurd superhuman strength, swung around a gigantic iron pole. While such disy of strength impressed the crowd, it wasnt enough to defeat Selen. Too bad he got paired with Selen. Despite being defeated quickly, Goate-sanwith a face full of zestsaid something to Noel-kun. Noel, fight for my sake as well, okay? Mhm, I will. Upon seeing the friendship between two people of vastly different ages, Gori-chan said ahh, how wonderful while shaking her hips left and right. Please consider supporting me. You can do this either by turning off adblock for this blog or via myPatreon page. Thank you. Chapter 216: Definitely not just a muscle head Chapter 216: Definitely not just a muscle head For the ninth match, it was a fight between the [Spear Techniques] Gift holder Rando-kun and Gori-chan. Rando-kun have been ying an active role in the vige from the early days as part of the hunting team. He was 16 years old, meaning he was young and still had room for growth, yet he was already one of if not the best among those who possessed the [Spear Techniques] Gift within the vige. Khh! This should do it! Ufufu, youre quite good with the spear, arent you? But to satisfy me, you have to thrust even harder! Maybe its still too early for you to have a go at me? Rando-kununched multiple spear thrusts, but not one of themnded on Gori-chan. More urately, Gori-chan was able to deflect each thrust with her bare hands. O-oi, whats with that monsterno, Im not talking about their appearance, well, maybe that toobut what Im talking about is how they can perfectly see through each of those fast attacks. Definitely not just a muscle head. Much like how Raul was astounded by Gori-chans skill, the crowd was wild with excitement. mhm, looks like my prediction that Gori-chan will be the champion is correct. After all, when I used Viger Appraisal on her, I saw the following: Name: Goritiana Age: 36 Vige Bond Level: Average Suitable upation: Muscr Beautician Gift: Fist Master Techniques, Beauty Charisma Skill: Fist Master Techniques level 7, Beautification level 9 Being a Double Gift was impressive enough, but her Fist Master Techniques was even on par with Gifts such as [Sword Master Techniques] and [Shield Master Techniques]. Tee-hee, Is it my turn to attack now, right? ! Gori-chan, who has been on the defensive this whole time, dered so while giving an impactful wink. She then suddenly lifted one foot high up toward the sky. Upon seeing her exposed undergarments, some audience members lost consciousness. Take thisssssssssss! Immediately after shouting so, Gori-chan brought down her raised foot with all her might. *THUDDD* The ring was built with sturdy materials, but upon the impact of Gori-chans foot, arge web-like crack was created. Additionally, the impact created a thunderous sound as well as shook the entire venue. What kind of leg strength is that!? !?!?!? The audience gasped at what they witnessed. Since Rando-kun was near enough the point of impact, he got knocked down on his behind. Using that chance, Gori-chan dashed forward to shorten the distance between them and then pinned down Rando-kuns spear. No matter how much Rando-kun tried to lift his spear up, it wouldnt budge an inch. Heave-ho! W-what are you On the other hand, Gori-chan easily lifted Rando-kun up with one hand. Ufufu, once you get a bit stronger, feel free to have a go at me again After saying so, Gori-chan threw Rando-kun. Rando-kun was a bit slender, but he was by no means light. Even so, he flew all the way out of the ring. What arm strength! Rando-kun was unable to stop himself from touching the ground outside of the ring and was thus officially defeated. Shes definitely exceptionalwhat should I do if Gori-chan actually bes champion Like that, I felt another chill down spine. The exhrating fights continued. As to be expected of people who advanced to the main round of the tournament, each match was so full of action that there wasnt enough time to blink even. The winner of the 12th match was Alec-san, the dwarf Danba-san was the winner of the 13th match, and the former bandit leader Dorial for the 14th. Eventually, it was time for the 16th match. This match was between Selius-kun and Bazara-san. Bazara-san seemed to be a skilled soldier who refrained from tactics that exploited his enemys weak points. As soon as the match started, he took action. However, against Selius-kun who has grown in strength recently, he was gradually pushed back until he was unfortunately defeated. And so, all of the matches in the first set were finished. 16 people advanced. The next set was to be held the next day, so if a spectator from outside the vige wanted to continue watching, they had to have secured their amodations. Thank goodness I built a lot of hotels. There should be enough vacancies, I think. what would have been their n if there wasnt enough rooms though? Please consider supporting me. You can do this either by turning off adblock for this blog or via myPatreon page. Thank you. Chapter 217: Should I just forfeit, I wonder…? Chapter 217: Should I just forfeit, I wonder? The second set of matches have begun. Probably because the first set was full of impressive fights already, there were now more people in the audience than yesterday. For todays first match, it was between Philia-san and another elf warrior. It was a fight between brethren, but Philia-san managed to win cleanly. For the next match, it was between Balrath-san and Noel-kun. Both have been part of the hunting team since the early days. Shield Bash! From the qualifying rounds up to apparently now, Noel-kun have been fighting and winning by charging at his enemies with his shield. That gigantic shield guy, huh. Breaking his iron wall of a defense is annoying. Worse yet, he does that charging attack too. Raulmented so. His analysis was based on experience. Back when he attacked the vige, he received Noel-kuns charging attack and was blown away. The question now was how Balrath-san was going to handle this attack. Not every problem has to be tackled head on! Balrath-san agilely ran around the ring. Oi! Fight already! Stop running away! Youre some! This rather passive way of fighting prompted a storm of booing from the audience. On the other hand, Raul made a snort. Ha. It looksme, sure, but thats definitely one great way of countering that shield guy. If you take that charge on, never mind getting an attack in, youll just end up getting tackled. But you have to attack to beat Noel-kun, right? Not necessarily. ? While wondering what Raul could have meant by that, I continued to watch the match. After a while it became clear: Noel-kun was gradually getting slower as he chased after Balrath-san. Noel-kuns getting tired? Of course, hes tired. Look at the size of his shield, for crying out loud. An ordinary person wouldnt even be able to walk with that thing, much less dash around like that. Perhaps judging that Noel-kun was tired enough, Balrath-san who has previously been devoted to evading, suddenly went on the offensive. In response, Noel-kun decided to push past his tiredness and charge once again toward Balrath-san. Shield Bash! huh!? At thest moment, however, Balrath-san got out of the way and then positioned himself behind Noel-kun. Haaa! Balrath-san shouted like that as he swung his sword toward Noel-kuns back. *Gakiiiiin!!* Ehh!? Just when everybody thought the fight was over, we heard a metallic sound. It was the sound of Balrath-sans sword being stopped Noel-kuns shield. Yes, Noel-kun managed to turn around at an unbelievable speed. Are you serious!? Shield Bash! Gah!? Noel-kun advanced to the next set of matches. The next one to advance was Gai-san, followed by Selen. As for the fifth match, Gori-chan won. After that, it was a fight between Perun-san and Alec-san. Perun-san was a 26-year-old man who possessed the [Sword Techniques] Gift. He has been diligently training with Balrath-san. He has also been a part of the hunting team since its early days. Meanwhile, Alec-san was an adventurer in the same party as Hazena-san. He possessed the [Greatsword Techniques] Gift. He was also among the few that were selected to participate in the exploration of the ruins the other day. The match between the two has been the most enjoyable fight to watch thus far. After all, the two swordsmen both unleashed a flurry of shes at each other. Of course, due to the difference in the size of their swords, they employed different tactics. Still, their dizzying exchange of blows made the crowd erupt in a frenzy. In the end though, Alec-san secured the victory. After their match, they both shook hands and exchanged praises, fascinating the crowd up to thest moment. When he left the stage, Alec-san seemed to have realized something. Waitthat means my next opponent is gonna be that pink macho personshould I just forfeit, I wonder? For some reason, Alec-san didnt seem to want to enter a fight against Gori-chan. Please consider supporting me. You can do this either by turning off adblock for this blog or via myPatreon page. Thank you. Chapter 218: I wonder whom I should cheer for…? Chapter 218: I wonder whom I should cheer for? The 7th match of the second day was between the Dwarf Banba-san and the former bandit leader Dorial. Banba-san had the [Heavy de Techniques] Gift, which allowed him to expertly use swords so muchrger than him. Dwarves were usually timid people, but Banba-san was curiously quite the hearty and loud person. He lived where the suns rays reached instead of underground and was even thriving in ces with arge number of people such as these venues for thepetition. As for Dorial, he possessed the [Axe Techniques] Gift. He was a giant of a man at over 2 meters in height. it might just be because I have gotten used to seeing Gori-chan, but he didnt seem as imposing now. The battleaxe that Dorial wielded was so big, an ordinary person might not even be able to lift it, much less use it in battle. Simply put, this fight was between two people who wielded colossal weapons. And just as the crowd expected, the two shed swords as soon as the fight began. Gaaaaaaaann!! The impact of their des shing sent out a sound so intense that the crowd fellpletely silent. As soon as they recovered though, they resumed cheering. Ha, youre quite something! Didnt expect thered be someone who can take me head on! Right back at ya! Im surprised a dwarf can hold their own against me! Compared to the previous fighters, the current fighters could be said to be moving slower. However, what theycked in speed, they more than made up with intensity. Unsurprisingly, their exchange excited the crowd. The conclusion of the fight came suddenly though. After they exchanged multiple strong attacks, their weapon reached their limits. My, my, looks like you cant fight anymore. Whacha talkin about? The fights just begun. Bu!? With both of their weapons broken, Banba-san thought that it was impossible to continue the fight was over. Dorial who had excellent brawling capabilities very much thought otherwise. Dorial suddenly punched Banba-san, sending thetter back. In addition to catching Banba-san off-guard, there was the great difference of their sizes. Its my win! A-and my defeat Dorial raised his fist up, while Banba-san lost consciousness. And so, their fight that turned into a brawl ended up with Dorial as the winner. Thest match of the day had Selius-kun as its winner. And now, only 8 fighters remained in the tournament. no matter how I look at it, this tournaments definitely at a much higher caliber than usual. Just howjust how can such fighting power be gathered in one ce? My dear father, its best not to dwell on it. The matchups for the quarterfinals were as follows: Philia-san vs Noel-kun Gai-san vs Selen Gori-chn vs Alec-san Dorial vs Selius-kun These people have won through each of their matches thus far, so there was no doubt that each one of them were strong. As such, the next fights were bound to be worth watching. At any rate, all the matches for today were done. Up next was the quarterfinals and it was scheduled to be held tomorrow. Say, who do you think will be champion? Im going to be rooting for Selius-kun! Haahaa.. He is good-looking, Ill give you that. But for me, Id say Im rooting for Noel-kun. Ehh? So thats your type? Goodness, you two have poor eyesight or something? Cant you see that Alec-sama is the only real choice!? Eh? You like old guys? Then, what about Dorial or Gai? Baldies are a big no, you know. Hey, who do you think will be champion? Goritiana, I think. Among the remaining 8, that one seems to be the strongest by far. Oh no, my friend, youre sorely mistaken. Its definitely going to be Selen-chan. I mean, aint she just the cutest? What does cuteness have to do with anything? Youve got a point! But if were talking about the cutest of them all, then Goritiana-chans definitely it. Huh? That night, the still-excited audience discussed among themselves who they thought was going to be the champion. Selen and Selius are both still in thepetition! Nothing less from my children! Hahaha! but hmm? If those two face each other, I wonder whom I should cheer for? Please consider supporting me. You can do this either by turning off adblock for this blog or via myPatreon page. Thank you. Chapter 219: He can do something like leading attacks to his shield? Chapter 219: He can do something like leading attacks to his shield? And so, the quarterfinals were underway. There were more people in the venue than yesterday, and each of them could barely contain their excitement. The first match for today was between Philia-san and Noel-kun. As both of them were familiar with how the other fought thanks to the time they served in the hunting team, I for one was looking forward to how their fight would turn out. As soon as the go signal was given, Philia-san nocked an arrow. Fierce winds then blew and concentrated on the said arrow. The next moment I knew, the arrow wasnt in her bow anymore and instead had made impact on Noel-kuns shield. The arrow spun in ce for a good while, enough for me to think that it might actually be able to drill its way through. In the end though, it eventually stopped spinning. That result wasnt surprising since the shield was made of mithril. If anything, the fact that the now-still arrow remained lodged in the shield was a testament to how powerful that attack was just now. Hmm, I figured a direct attack like that wouldnt pierce through. But how about this? Philia-san said so and then amazingly nocked ten arrows all at once. More surprising though, once the arrows were unleashed, each one was following a trajectory that was different from the rest. She was probably using the wind to direct the arrows, but even so, this was utterly amazing. !! It was perhaps only natural for one to think that even Noel-kun wouldnt be able to defend against all the arrowsing from different directions with a single shield. However, Noel-kun did something unbelievable. He raised his shield toward the sky, leaving his body fully exposed to the iing arrows. Lure Shield! In the next moment, all the arrows stopped being controlled by Philia-san and moved as though they were being absorbed by Noel-kuns shield. WhaHe can do something like leading attacks to his shield? No, now that I think about it, he has done something simr whenever he received attacks meant for us back when we were exploring the ruin Much like the rest of us, Philia-san was dumbfounded upon seeing such a crazy move. Yesterdays match against Balrath-san proved that simply attacking after tiring Noel-kun wasnt enough. But if even Philia-sans tactic didnt work, I have to wonder what would. It was almost as though Noel-kun was truly an impregnable wall. That said, Noel-kun has been on the defense this entire time and hasntunched a single attack. After all, Philia-san has been making sure to maintain a fair distance between them. Thanks to that, the match has fallen into a deadlock. Shield Bash, modified! Huh? From there!? Noel-kun initiated a charge but then let go of his shield, sending it flying with tremendous force. What!? Philia-san was unfortunately unable to respond in time and got directly hit by the shield. Gah!? The thrown shield was so full of momentum that it carried Philia-san all the way out of the ring. In other words, she was defeated. OOOHHHHHHHHH!!! Upon seeing a totally unexpected conclusion to the match, the crowd grew wild. And with that, Noel-kun advances to the semi-finals. The second match of the quarterfinals was between Selen and Gai-san. Gai-san was a member of Alec-sans party of adventurers. He possessed the [White Magic] Gift. In addition, he had a strong body and also talent in martial arts that made use of a staff. In other words, he could fight in the frontlines while healing. Not many people could im to do that. Apparently though, he was also applying strengthening magic on himself so that his physical abilities would be improved further. Haaaa! ! Gai-san swung his staff with great force, but Selen moved nimbly and avoided it. It was almost as though shepletely saw through that attack. Gai-sans mastery of the staff didnt originate from a Gift but rather from his own efforts. Sadly, even with strengthening magic, such mastery alone wasnt enough against Selen. And then Light! !? An intense light red up. This has caused Selen to close her eyes unintentionally. Take this! Taking advantage of that opportunity, Gai-san struck a blow with all his might against the now-blinded Selen. Please consider supporting me. You can do this either by turning off adblock for this blog or via myPatreon page. Thank you. Chapter 220: It’s my rays of love, you know! Chapter 220: Its my rays of love, you know! Gai-san had let loose an explosion of light. It was so blindingly bright that Selen had to close her eyes. Of course, Gai-san took advantage of that and swung his staff. At that point, the crowd thought the match was over. *Clink* However, to our surprise, Selen whose eyes were still shut crossed her two swords and managed to stop the iing attack. What!? Based on your movements earlier, I can tell how youre going to attack even with my eyes closed. Impossible Selen, who has now recovered her sense of vision, rushed toward the flustered Gai-san. Darn it all! Upon being shed, Gai-san fell down and was unable to get back up. As such, his defeat was dered. Needless to say, he wasnt in a state where he could heal himself, so he was carried to the clinic via a stretcher. Ive made it to the semifinals! Having advanced to the semifinals, Selen joyfully climbed down from the stage. While doing so Fufufu, once I be champion, I can ask whatever I want Whats she nning to ask!? I got a little frightened and my body shivered as a result. I wanted to cheer for Selen, but at the same time, I didnt want her to be the champion. While having mixed feelings like that, the third match of the quarterfinals began. It was a match between Gori-chan and Alec-san. truth be told, I kinda wanted to forfeit. Obviously not a cool thing to do, so no other choice, I guess. Alec! Youre the only left to represent our party! You better do your best! And then Hazena says something like thatif I withdraw now, she just might burn me alive. Alec-san didnt seem eager to fight. On the other hand, Gori-chan was Ahhn, like I thought, youre such a fine specimen of a man. Youre just my type, you know. Youve caught my attention right away when I firstid my eyes on you. Ive actually been watching your matches since the preliminaries. And now I got the chance to fight you myself! Im so happy! *kiss* !! Gori-chan blew a kiss toward Alec-san, which made thetters face go ghastly pale. Alec-san received heavy damage before the fight even began! I did feel a creepy gaze set on me all the way from the preliminary matches, but What do you mean creepy? Geez! Its my rays of love, you know! Gori-chan said so and then puffed her face, annoyed. It might have just been coincidence, but I saw some people in the audience throw up. Oraaaaaaaaaa! Before long, the signal to start the match was given. Without any dy, Alec-san shouted as though to steel himself and then shed at Gori-chan. In response to the greatsword swinging down on her, Gori-chanunched a punch. *ng!* ! What the hell are you!? A greatsword is generally not something you repel with your fists, you know!? How did she manage to do that with her bare fists? Its because of that pink macho monsters fighting aura. In addition to having tough bones and bulky muscles, the pink machos enveloping their fists with dense fighting aura. You might as well consider those fists as hammers at this point. Raul exined so. Ohh? Gori-chan looked at her fist and noticed something: a little blood was flowing out from the back of her hand. Being wholly unharmed after punching a greatsword mid-swing was, as to be expected, not realistic. Splendid! Youve wounded my fist! More like, I did only that much damage? Youve gotta be kidding me. Ahh, so good! Hit me moreeee! Hey, dont shout so weirdly like that! Alec-san unleashed a barrage of shes, but Gori-chan kept deflecting each one with her fists. With each punch, her blood sttered around. Yet, instead of pain, her face was that of pleasure. Ahhn, your thick, splendid things so hard! Dont phrase it like! Despite appearances, Gori-chan seemed to be an M. While the crowd was wincing, Alec-san, who might have thought that their fight wouldnt end as things were, decided to do a risky move. He assumed a stance where he seemed to be drawing his greatsword back and thenunched a ferocious thrust. Haaaaa! Please consider supporting me. You can do this either by turning off adblock for this blog or via myPatreon page. Thank you. Chapter 221: I’m getting…dizzy! Chapter 221: Im gettingdizzy! Alec-san hadunched a powerful thrusting attack, concentrating all of his might into the tip of his greatsword. It was only natural to expect that even Gori-chan and her mighty fists wouldnt be able to defend against such an attack. *ng!* Yet, contrary to expectations, she managed to stop the blow by sandwiching the de between her two fists. youve gotta be kidding. Ahhn, what a vigorous thrust! I want you to keep thrusting at me, but s, if we take too long, our audience would grow bored. Gori-chan pulled on the greatsword with tremendous forceso much so that Alec-san had to let go of itand threw it outside of the ring. And then, Gori-chan, while cracking her fists, slowly walked toward the now vulnerable Alec-san. H-hold up a minute. Without a weapon, I cant really fight anymore! Im going to yie Dont say something like that and just focus on epting my affection! Before Alec-san could say that he was dropping out, Gori-chan shouted so and then charged at him. Ahhn, Ahh, Ahhn, Ahhn, Ahhn!! Gaaaaaaa!? Gori-chan let loose a storm of fierce punches, yelling a curious way with each punch. Alec-san was quiterge himself, but right now, he looked like a defenseless little child being beaten by an adult. And when he wasunched into the air, he became nothing more than a punching bag that was absolutely unable to do anything against its attacker. Haaaaaa! Gori-chan eximed onest time as she unleashed a terrifying blow that pushed Alec-san all the way out of the ring. Is he still alive? That was quite a punch Dont worry. I made sure to not hit any of his vital spots. Guhhyouyoure more terrifyingthan a monster Ahh! Hes still alive! Like that, Gori-chanwho didnt pay attention to Alec-sans wordshas advanced to the semi-finals. It was now time for the fourth andst match of the quarterfinals. This time, it was between Dorial and Selius-kun. Selens little brother, is it? I guess youll do fine as a warm up before I get my revenge on her. Hmmp, as if Id let myself be defeated by someone my sister has already bested. Sparks were flying between the two before their fight even began. I thought this was going to be another heated match, but Gahhow can this Dorial was now down on his knee, clenching his teeth in pain from all the wounds all over the body. Its over now. I will be the one to fight against my sister. Meanwhile, Selius-kun waspletely unharmed. Their fight has quickly devolved into a one-sided one where Selius-kun was dominating against Dorial. Ha, considering their matchup, of course itll turn out like this. Raul once again gave an exnation. The bald giant might be strong, but hes he slow. In contrast, Selius is great at hit and run tactics thanks to his speed. In a one-on-one fight, its more than possible for that bald giant to not be able tond a single hit on Selius. Dorials axe swings have been constantly missing, whereas Selius-kun has been having an easy timending his attacks. No matter how much confidence Dorial might have in his durability, it was only a matter of time before he reached his limit. Kukukunot yet! This fight aint over just yet! I was hoping to save this trump card for my rematch with thatss, but I guess theres no helping it anymore! By his words, it sounded like Dorial had a secret n to turn the tide. And so, he clumsily got up and then threw his axe toward Selius-kun. !? Selius-kun easily avoided it. Is this it? If you think a surprise attack like this is enough to hit me Hahaha! No, this is my trump card! *Cling!* What, a chain!? The axe that Dorial threw had a chain attached to it. Dorial then yanked the chain, causing the axe to stop in midair for a moment. And then, with all of his might, Dorial pulled on that chain sideward. *SWISH-SWISH-SWISH!* Dorial, hands still on the chain, began rotating in ce. Soon enough, the axe resembled a propeller in motion. Needless to say, just being grazed by the axe would cause a great deal of damage. Moreover, because Dorial was gradually extending the radius of his attack, Selius-kun would soon run out of space in the ring where he could retreat to. Selius-kuns in danger! Arrgh! Im gettingdizzy! it looks like Dorials in a pinch as well. Please consider supporting me. You can do this either by turning off adblock for this blog or via myPatreon page. Thank you. Chapter 222: Maybe I should go to the church and pray Chapter 222: Maybe I should go to the church and pray The fight between Dorial and Selius-kun came to a sudden end. When it seemed like there was no more safe space in the ring for Selius-kun to retreat to, Selius-kun actually leapt into Dorials direction. Jumping from such a distance was normally reckless to say the least, but by using the wind to push against his back, Selius-kun managed to travel in the air further. And as soon as he was near enough, he dropkicked Dorial who was at the center of the axes orbit. Dorial lost consciousness from that attack and identally let go of the chain. That caused the axe to fly toward the audience. We obviously couldnt have the axe hit any of the crowd, so I quickly built a wall in front of the audience. At any rate, with Dorial unconscious, Selius-kun was dered the winner. Selius-kun, you did it! You made it to the semifinals! Keep giving it your all, okay!? I apuded Selius-kun with all my might. Hey, what gives? You didnt look that happy when I won, you know. Selen said so with a discontent look on her face. I-Is that so? I dodged the question, but to be honest, I reacted like that because I was hoping that either Selius-kun or Noel-kun would be the champion. After all, I knew both of them would make reasonable requests as their prize for winning the tournament. In contrast, I was scared of what Selen and especially Gori-chan would ask. As such, I was hoping that neither of them would be the champion. But anyway, we were now down to four participants, hence the start of the semifinals. The matchups were as follows: Selen vs. Noel-kun Gori-chan vs. Selius-kun With the end of thepetition close at hand, the audience were understandably eager to start the semifinals right away. Unfortunately, they would have to wait one more day. On the flipside, the grand finals would be tomorrow as well. maybe I should go to the church and pray. Pray so that either Noel-kun or Selius-kun will win tomorrow It was finally thest day of the viges fighting tournament. Whoever it might be, the champion would be decided today. Noel-kun! Good luck! Vige Chief? Before his match began, I cheered Noel-kun on. For some reason though, he made a puzzled face. Huh? Did you perhaps not like that I cheered for you? N-no way! Its justmy opponent this time is Selen-san, soso, I thought the chief would be cheering for her W-well, of course, Ill be cheering for her as well. Im cheering for the both of you, yeah. So, Noel-kun, go do your best! Chiefhm, I will. Noel-kun tightened his fist and nodded. Seriously, I wish you luck in stopping Selen from bing champion. However, it wasnt like all I could do was cheer for Noel-kun and Selius-kun. No, I actually had a secret n. Fufufu, yes, I have a way to support them even from outside the ring. And its name is Viger Enhancement! Unlike magic, I could use it without anyone noticing. <> What, an angel Luke is scolding me!? <> And now theres a devil Luke!? < > <> <> <> <> Please consider supporting me. You can do this either by turning off adblock for this blog or via myPatreon page. Thank you. Chapter 223: Isn’t the angel side supposed to win this sort of thing… Chapter 223: Isnt the angel side supposed to win this sort of thing <> <> <> <> My inner angel and devil began to fight. Thanks to his surprise attack, my inner angel came up on top! <> <> <> After uttering its death throes, my inner devil vanished. <> I grabbed hold of my inner angel. <> <*smirk*>> <> I then crushed the angel in my hand. My mind now clear, I looked at the ring. The match was just about to start and the two fighters in the ring were raring to go. I apologized to the both of them in my mind and used Viger Enhancement on Noel-kun. I had to be careful of how much I reinforced him. Too little and it might not matter at all; too much and it might be obvious. In the end, I decided to enhance Noel-kun by 1.2 times. And so, amidst the loud cheering of the crowd, the match began. Noel-kun immediately readied his shield. Likely because she had seen Noel-kun defeat Philia-san by throwing his shield, Selen was maintaining a safe distance awayenough for her to react in timeas precaution. She couldunch magic attacks from her position, but she knew it would just be defended by the shield, so she simply anticipated what move Noel-kun would make. Just when things seemed to havee to a standstill, Noel-kun charged ahead. !? Selen was quite surprised to see Noel-kun move faster than usual. actually, Noel-kun himself was quite surprised too. Thankfully, no one seemed to suspect that Viger Enhancement was in effect. Selen retreated after judging that it was too risky to be this near Noel-kun. Noel-kun tried to pursue, but even with my reinforcement, Selen was just too quick. Hmm, should I reinforce him some more? Thatll cut the time I can strengthen him though While I was deliberating such a thing, Noel-kun suddenly fell to the ground. This made the crowd go wild. Theres something incredibly weird about the way he felso, is just my imagination or is the ring kind of sparkling? Noel-kun tried to stand back up, but he just fell down right away. And the way he fell almost seemed like he slipped N-no way For some reason, the ring was reflecting the suns rays even though it wasnt supposed produce such an effect. youve frozen the entire ring? Selenughed. How is it, Noel? You cant move properly, can you? Its so slippery Apparently, Selen wasnt simply running away from Noel-kun. She had been freezing the ring all the while. Isnt that quite amazing? Wait, this isnt the time to be praising Selen! Being rendered unable to walk, Noel-kun was in quite a pinch. However, it wasnt over just yet. Selen still doesnt have a way to damage Noel-kun, after all. *Crackle, crackle* My feet Before long, it wasnt just the ring that was frozen. The cold has crept up to Noel-kuns feet and froze it in ce as well. Surely, youll agree that having your whole body frozen in ce pretty much means defeat, wont you? Ihavent lost yet! Noel-kun decided to take desperate measures. While his lower body was still frozen, he hurled his gigantic shield toward Selen. However, as though she predicted this move, Selen nimbly and confidently stepped aside to let the shield pass by her. Without a shield, Noel-kun was now bereft of any way to attack and defend. He hung his head low and whispered something. Iadmit defeat Please consider supporting me. You can do this either by turning off adblock for this blog or via myPatreon page. Thank you. Chapter 224: It’s like the body’s made of metal or something… Chapter 224: Its like the bodys made of metal or something Noel-kun has lost to Selen! W-w-w-what should I do now!? No, calm down, calm down. I still have Selius-kunall my hopes on you, Selius-kun! I no longer had any choice but hope he could defeat Selen in the finals. Before any of that though, he needed to defeat another formidable enemy in his own semifinal match. Fufufu, another wonderful opponent. This prettydys so happy ! !! Gori-chan smiled at Selius-kun, but thetter only twitched his face. Its alright, its alright! I know you can do it, Selius-kun!! I frantically cheered like that in my mind. Gori-chan was probably a more formidable opponent than Selen, but I had no other choice than to believe that Selius-kun would triumph over her. It should go without saying that I was resolved in using Viger Enhancement to support him. Based on his way of fighting, I figured I should amplify his power by only a low amount so that I could do it for longer. Now,e attack me any which way you want! Im ready to ept all of it with my love and my body! With arms open wide, Gori-chan dered so. In response to her invitation, Selius-kun shed at her with tremendous speed. As soon as I saw him get past her, the part of her clothes that was covering the side of her torso suddenly got torn open, baring the muscles within. I had no idea exactly when the slice happened though. Youre really fast, arent you? What a tough bodyafter all that, I only made such a shallow cutits like the bodys made of metal or something It would seem that Gori-chans body was tougher than what he expected it to be. Even soIll just have to cut you many, many times! Selius-kun proceeded to attack Gori-chan multiple times. It looked like Gori-chan tried tounch counterattacks, but Selius-kun moved so quickly that she couldnt hit him. Superb! Youve been the only onending attacks so far! I dont know what it is, but my body moves so effortlessly today! Get ready to be shed some more! the reason his body was moving so effortlessly was, of course, Viger Enhancement. Thankfully, the person himself still hasnt realized it. Having been shed over and over, her clothes became tattered. And due to that, her body has be exposed here and there. No~~~ Gori-chans face turned red from embarrassment. That said, all that was exposed was her muscles. No one would be excited by that. Ohhhhhhhhhh!! Gori-chans body! What fantastic muscles! I take that back. A portion of the macho people seemed to be the exception. At any rate, Selius-kuns strategy seemed to be working against Gori-chan. Sure, her steel-like body made her very durable, but as long as he stacked damage like this, sooner orter! Ahh! There! More! Ahh! So good! Now practically naked, Gori-chan shouted repeatedly while making a face that seemed like she was in ecstasy. Here I goooooooooo! Her ecstatic shouts then turned into a throaty war cry. The moment it happened, what little remained of her clothes disappeared due to her already brawny muscles expanding further. Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!! Her roar grew louder and louder until both of her fists became enveloped in light. W-what insane fighting aura! At the same time as I heard Raulment so, Gori-chan unleashed a series of punches while remaining where she stood. Ora! Ora! Ora! Ora! Ora! Ora! Ora! Ora! Ora! Oraaaaaaaaaaaa!!! Each time she punched the air, a fist-like projectile was fired. The projectiles flew continuously like a storm and at extremely high speeds too, so it wasnt a surprise that even Selius-kun found it hard to evade them all. Aaaaa!? Selius-kun got hit by so many of the projectiles and was pushed until he was outside of the ring. Ufufu, its been a while since I went wild like this. Gori-chan said so and thenughed ecstatically. Like that, Gori-chan was determined to be the winner for the second semifinal match. In other words, contrary to my wishes, Selen and Gori-chan were the ones to advance to the grand finals. Please consider supporting me. You can do this either by turning off adblock for this blog or via myPatreon page. Thank you. Chapter 225: I…I can do that kind of thing to Luke… Chapter 225: II can do that kind of thing to Luke What should I doeven Selius-kun lost Selius-kun, the one I pinned my hopes on, had unfortunately lost his semifinal match. As such, the two who would be fighting in the grand finals ended up being Selen and Gori-chan. I was hanging my head low when Ufufu, chief-chan, Ive made it to the finals! Just one more win and youll grant me whatever I ask for, right? Hiii After her match, Gori-chan approached me with a smile on her face. I couldnt fault her for it since it happened in the course of her match, but she was practically naked at the moment. Thanks to that, my anxiety increased some more. Worse yet, the way she eyeing my bodyNo matter how I thought about it, her request was definitely something one shouldnt say in front of a child, to say the least. Dream on! Ill be the one wholl win, after all! Selen gantly interjected. And then, II can do that kind of thing to Luke Right after though, as though she was daydreaming about something, Selen suddenly broke into a broad grin. Do that kind of thingtheres no doubt about what shell wish for now! Argh, why were these two the ones who made it to the finals! Ohh, I know! Why dont I make a match with Raul be the REAL grand finalsyeah, no, Raul whos always itching for a fight might like it, but I dont see anyone else seeing that as fair Oh dear, who should my prayer to win be for? In both cases, Luke-sama will beb-but maybe its more tolerable if its his bottom thats Millia, seemingly at wits end as well, mumbled something. Did she just say my bottom? If asked which of the two were the lesser evil, I would likely pick Selen over Gori-chan. At any rate, while the semifinal matches were scheduled for morning, the grand finals was set in the afternoon. That way, both participants would have enough time to recover stamina and heal up. After a break, it was finally time to start the grand finals. OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!! The crowds excitement has just achieved a new record high. Mmm, lets have a fight worthy of the grand finals, okay? Yeah! I look forward to fighting against you! Me too. Cut me up plenty me with your swords, okay, Selen-chan. Sorry, cant help you there! Oh? The two grand finalists stood atop the ring, facing each other. At that moment, the crowds deafening cheers was suddenly reced by a chilly silence. Needless to say, the tension in the air was palpable. Everyone was at the edge of their seats, wondering what kind of fight they would witness as the grand finals of this exciting tournament. On one side was Gori-chan holding the edges of her skirt and standing cutely (?), and on the other, Selen EEHHHHH!? No one could believe what they just saw. Selen had thrown her two swords outside of the ring. Such an unexpected action left the venuepletely baffled. One couldnt be faulted for thinking she had just forfeited the match. Are you saying youll defeat me without your swords? Exactly! Oh myyou sure sound determined to win. You bet I am! I thought it was pretty reckless to fight Gori-chan without a weapon, but Selen herself seemed enthusiastic about it. The problem was, without knowing what her n was, I was unsure how to apply Viger Enhancement on her. Whats that? Am I really going to use it in the finals? Of course, I am! Nnggh? Is it just me or has it gotten real cold in here? Gori-chan said so as her body greatly trembled. On a closer look, one could see that some white smoke was rising from all over the ring. Ive been watching your previous matches, you know, and I came up with this tactic! Perhaps due to her confidence in her anti-Gori-chan tactic, Selen snappily pointed a finger at her opponent and then boldly dered something. Victory is mine! Please consider supporting me. You can do this either by turning off adblock for this blog or via my Patreon page. Thank you. Chapter 226: Don’t say it like thaaaaaat!!! Chapter 226: Dont say it like thaaaaaat!!! After Selens deration of victory, Gori-chan giggled as though she was simply amused by that. Ufufu, care to enlighten me about this tactic of yours? Gori-chan said so, absolutelyposed. At this point, it wouldnt be an exaggeration to call Gori-chan nigh invincible, so I myself was wondering what this tactic could be. With Gori-chan and everyone else on the audience focused on her, Selen spoke. Sure. Its tonot attack! whats that supposed to mean?? Ara ara, ufufu I was unable toprehend what Selen said, but Gori-chan smiled as though she was impressed by those enigmatic words. So, is Selen right? But you know, that tactic of yours has, unfortunately, a grave w. And that is In the next moment, Gori-chan kicked the ground and leapt at Selen. Im plenty strong from the start! Gori-chan released a barrage of punches. Selen was somehow avoiding it while falling back, but then Its useless! Khh!? One punch managed to graze Selen. It was just a graze, but it was enough to deal great damage and even knock her back. Fufufu, your brother could have evaded that onepletely, but I guess its too much for you. GaaI-I knew it was going to be powerful, but Gori-chan was right. Selen was mighty quick, but she paled inparison to Selius-kun who controlled the wind to make himself even faster. On the other handI have my magic! At that moment, Gori-chans body trembled some more. The ring was also covered with some white smoke. The smoke was probably more a byproduct of the coldness in the ring than the intended result. I see. So, you n is to freeze me, just like what you did in the semifinals? Ufufu, then, before that happens, Ill just have to defeat!? M-my lower halfs already frozen!? Gori-chan was surprised to see that in no time at all, the lower half of her body was about to be encased in ice. She still tried to move forward, but the condition of her feet and the slippery floor made it hard if not dangerous. Gori-chan still has that move she used against Selius-kun though. As long as she can still move her upper half, she should be able tounch those fighting spirit projectiles. Too bad you cant use that move right now, right!? Ive observed from your matches that the more you get attacked, the more powerful you be. Thinking back on it, it did feel like she grew stronger each time she punched Alec-sans greatsword or got cut by Selius-kuns swords. so, youre telling me she wasnt just being an M!? I know that carelessly attacking you will just repeat Seliuss blunder. Ufufu, its indeed as you say. The more I get attacked, the more I grow strongerIm a trueborn masochist I doubted simply being one would cause such an effect. Youre right about that technique I used against your brother as well. I can only use it once Ive been stimted a lot So thats why Selen threw away her swords Seeing through that kind of thing was amazing, but the courage to throw away ones weapons was worthy of admiration as well. For Selen, who had always rushed into things, to fight strategically like thisshe sure has grown up. I say that, but shes the older one between us At any rate, the next thing I knew, Gori-chans lower body has beenpletely frozen. She was now unable to walk a single step. I win! are you sure about that? ? Gori-chan thenughed as though she was wasnt bothered at all. Ufufu, I wonder if you know this already, but you can achieve pleasureall by yourself! Gori-chan clenched her fists and thenboom! She punched her own face. It wasnt just the once either, she punched her face over and over again. What!? Y-youre hurting yourself!? By doing so, she was perhaps hoping to forcibly increase her own might. Yes! Im pleasuring myself!! Dont say it like thaaaaaat!!! Please consider supporting me. You can do this either by turning off adblock for this blog or via myPatreon page. Thank you. Chapter 227: I’m actually smiling right now, see? Chapter 227: Im actually smiling right now, see? Ahhn! So good! Haa! Im so close! As Gori-chan intensified the rate she was hurting herself, so too did her stimtion re up. It might be worth mentioning that, except for a small portion, the crowd was quite taken aback by her actions. Selen tried to freeze Gori-chans entire body before thetters tension reached its peak. However, probably because of how high Gori-chans body temperature was at the moment, all of it was in vain. Of course, I was already supporting Selen by using Viger Enhancement on her. It was less about making Selen win and more about freezing that pervert as soon as possible. Eventually though, Gori-chan reached peak stimtion. ComingggggggggggGGGGGGGG! Gori-chans soft squeal soon turned into a fierce roar. As her voice grew louder, her bodys muscles became more and more swollen. In fact, the ice wrapped around her lower body even showed multiple cracks. Soon after, she gathered her fighting aura into her fists and then fired off multiple fist-like projectiles. Ora ora ora ora ora oraaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!!! If I dont do anything, Selen will lose! Viger Enhancement, tenfold! Without caring for how long I could use Viger Enhancement afterward, I magnified Selens power levels by a great deal. After all, what use would restraint serve me if Selen gets hit and be defeated. The superpowered Selen then moved so quickly that none of the iing projectiles managed to hit her. N-no way Even Gori-chan was dumbfounded by the feat Selen just performed. All the while, the cold continued to freeze her body until only her head was not encased in ice. I really thought I was about to win Gori-chan said so before she becamepletely like an ice sculpture. Like that, she was no longer able to fight. OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!! Believing the match to be over, the crowd grew wild. It almost seemed like the ground was shaking. However, something nobody expected happened. Selen suddenly raised her hands and said Its my loss this time. Selen out of nowhere just dered her defeat. At that, the crowd fell deathly silent. h-hey, Selen, what are you saying!? I was about to celebrate having prevented Gori-chan from bing champion, but now, I was at a loss for words. Selen then melt the ice that trapped Gori-chan. Gori-chan was quite puzzled by all of it, if her raised eyebrow was any indication. Whats going on, dear? If we fought normally, it would have been my defeat. And your victory! As though something clicked for her, Gori-chan uttered I see and nodded. My, Selen-chan, youre such an awfully earnest girl. Ohh, I think Im falling in love with you all over again Its just the natural thing to do. Its frustrating, but youve proven that youre stronger than me. Only this time though. Im gonna win our next fight! After saying so, Selen climbed down from the ring. Instead of heading to the waiting rooms though, she seemed to be headed my way. Not only that, she was ring directly at me. Her face was definitely that of anger. that cant be good I turned around and tried to run away, but before I could, Selen grabbed me by the shoulder. S-so quick! Fufu, Luke, where might you be headed? W-w-w-well, I kinda need to go to the bathroom Can I ask you something first though? Oh, can it wait? Ive got quite a lot in the tankif I dont go now, things will get messy, you see Dont worry, it wont take long. Wait, why arent you looking at me? I meanyoure furious, right? Furious? Why would I be furious? Im actually smiling right now, see? I nervously turned to look. Selens mouth might have curved upward like a smile would, but there was no joy in her eyes. Whats more, the veins around her brows were so swollen, it seemed like they might pop at any moment. Youre definitely furious no matter how I look at it! So, Luke, in my fight just nowyou used that power, didnt you? Please consider supporting me. You can do this either by turning off adblock for this blog or via myPatreon page. Thank you. Chapter 228: As promised, chief-chan… Chapter 228: As promised, chief-chan With Gori-chan being crowned as the champion, our fighting tournament hase to an end. There were many who werent particrly happy with how the tournament ended, but even they seemed to bepletely satisfied with the tournament in its entirety. In fact, a great number of people have expressed that they wanted us to host such an event again someday. Let me participate in the next one, you hear? Raul and many others have also expressed how they wanted us to expand the scope of the tournament so that people from outside of the vige could participate as well. However, when it came to matters that involved other territories, I needed to consult with the areas leaders first. In this case, I might even have to ask for permission from the king himself. While I was thinking of that This has been a fun event. If youre going to hold another, Id like to ask you to let fighters from all over the kingdom participate as well. the king, who had just exited the venue, gave me the permission I needed just like that. Actually, what would your majesty say about the royal family hosting the next one? Of course, well take care of preparing the venue and management. That sounds like a good idea. Its a great way to demonstrate the might of the royal family. For the king who was advocating for the centralization of powers in the kingdom, such an event was probably quite convenient. Thanks to that, he easily agreed to my proposal. However, theres one thing Id like for your side to take care of: the champions prize. Hmm, thats easy enough. *(yay! I wont have to be burdened about the champions prize anymore.)* *(But this vige, it cant be denied that there are so many here who possess a GiftI hope they dont get marked by the church, but)* Is something the matter, your majesty? Oh, no, its nothing. Well then, I suppose we should hurry back to the capital now. We have been gone for 4 days, so the amount of work to be done has surely piled up. Despite the princess throwing a little bit of a tantrum, saying something like but I dont want to return yet!, the kings party returned to the capital via train that very same day. Ufufu, I think Ill be asking chief-chan to grant me my request now . Unfortunately, I had little choice but to grant the champion the promised (not promised by me though) prize. Before revealing what her request to me was, Gori-chan brought me to her beauty salon. Normally, this ce would be popted by the macho employees as well as the customers, but right now, it was only Gori-chan and me. Whatll happen to me now? Gori-chan still hasnt told me anything, so when she gave me a scrutinizing gaze, I couldnt help but be scared for myself. Arrgh, I should have made a body double do this! Haahaaas promised, chief-chanyoull grant whatever I request of you, right? Gori-chan breathed heavily as she approached. At that, I unintentionally took a step back. I wantyour firssssssssssstt! HIIIIIIIIIIIII!!! an hourter. I found myself standing in front of a mirror. The one reflected in the mirror should have been me, but instead, the one in it was a cute, dressed up girl. Ufufu, how does it feel, chief-chan? Your first time to crossdress, that is. Gori-chan, smiling ecstatically, appeared and then asked so. Uhmmwho is this girl? Who, you ask? Why, its you, of course! But I can see why youd be confused. I mean, you look like a whole other person! Gori-chan wiggled her hips as she excitedly said so. At any rate, haaan!! Youre so cute! Youre exactly how I imagined youd be, maybe even more! I could tell since I first saw you that youd look like such a cute girl if you crossdress! Apparently, what Gori-chan wanted as her prize was my first time to crossdress. She did my makeup, put on and styled my wig, and made me wear womens clothing. Before I knew it, I had transformed into this. While youre all dolled up like that, why dont we show you to everyone in the vige? I-isnt that embarrassing!? Why would it be? Theres nothing wrong with showing everyone how cute youve be! I tried to resist as much as I could, but Gori-chan simply carried me off. Against such superhuman strength, I was unable to break to free. Ahhn! Getting all shy like that, youre looking more and more like a girl!!! Please consider supporting me. You can do this either by turning off adblock for this blog or via myPatreon page. Thank you. Chapter 229: Of course, all your body doubles would have to comply as well Chapter 229: Of course, all your body doubles would have toply as well Huh? Hey, whos that beauty? Its Chief Luke, believe it or not. Goritiana won the tournament, remember? That allowed her to ask the chief for anything, and apparently, making him crossdress was that wish. Kyaa! Please look this way, chief! So cuteeeeeee! In the center of the viges za, what perhaps could be the greatest embarrassment of my life transpired. Uhhthis is so embarrassing Unfortunately for me, there was arge number of people when I walked there looking totally like a girl. Actually, more and more people wereing after they got wind of what was happening. What can they find so amusing about seeing me crossdress? Aww, his faces so red! Hes so cuteeeee! I think I can see him only as a girl now You know what I think? Maybe he was a girl all along. Yeah, thats a real possibility No, its not! I have always been a boy!!! Mommy, why does the vige chief look like a girl? W-well, you seeahm(*Oh, how do I exin this?*) Stop! An innocent childs gaze is killing me the most! I dont think Id mind spending the night with the chief if he looks like that. Yeah, same Like, it doesnt even matter anymore if he has something between his legs. If anything, having something there might make things better. Huh? nope, didnt hear anything! Ufufu, youre as popr as I thought youd be. So, we can stop now, right? I mean, your request was just for me to cross-dress, right? Huh? Wasnt it obvious that my request involved this and more? Gori-chan snapped back. Lets just hang out while youre dressed like that, yeah? Not while Im like this, no! It was only due to my limited patience that I was ying along with this. Oh, what a shame. Youre so cute, so I wish youd be less reserved and just enjoy yourself. Perhaps it was because I was like that that I found Gori-chan, who was certainly not reserved when ites to crossdressing, to be quite amazing. HaahaaLuke-samaso, so cuteIll burn this sight, this form into my memoryIll never forget about this joy for the rest of my life Millia has been overly excited since a while ago. Her face was red and her breathing was hard, so it almost seemed like she was suffering from a fever or something. Whats more, she has been staring at me intensely this whole time. Y-yes, without a doubt, hes so, so cuteif he were my little sister, Id certainly be doting on him every chance I get Even Selen looked entranced as she examined me from head to toe over and over again. Ohh! And then, as though she thought of something, Selen pped her hands together. You interfered in my match, right? Ive been wondering what kind of punishment Ill give you She was truly furious after her match. I apologized profusely and I thought I was forgiven then and there, but that apparently wasnt enough. I have a bad feeling about this And now, I know exactly what I want. For one whole month, I want you to look like that! Anything but that! Also, isnt a whole month too long!? Ahh, of course, all your body doubles would have toply as well. I couldnt help but cry. Gyahahahahaha! Youre really something! Oh man, my side hurts, gyahahahaha! The oneughing so loudly was Miranda-san the freeloader. Based on the redness of her face, it would seem that she has been daytime drinking today as well. But Ive gotta say, it suits you well! Gyahahahaha! Can you stop it? This is noughing matter, you know While pointing at me who was still in drag, the drunkard bellowed once again. This was the first time I saw someone react so rudely to my crossdressing. I bumped into Miranda-san when she was just about to go to the toilet. She understandably asked me why I looked like this, so I exined how things became like this. Gyahahahagyahahahahaoh no, Iughed too hard Im gonna Then, hurry up and use the toilet! She rushed into the toilet before she could make a mess out here. Whether it was fromughing so much or not, I next heard her make vomitting sounds. Geez, what a hopeless grown-up. Please consider supporting me. You can do this either by turning off adblock for this blog or via myPatreon page. Thank you. Chapter 230: …ahm, I’m right here? Chapter 230: ahm, Im right here? After emerging from the toilet, Miranda-san irrationally med me for something. Ugh, I barfed all over the ce all because you made meugh way too hard. I was once again reminded of how much of a crass adult she was. How is that my fault? Anyway, you sure put up a great event. Made for some fantastic entertainment while I drank. You saw it? Yup, through the window in my room. Miranda-sans room was indeed overlooking the fighting tournaments venue. However, her room and the venue were far from each other and someone with ordinary eyesight wont be able to make much of the fights that were happening. Ha, I was called the sage of dusk before, remember? Enhancing my eyesights easy! I doubted she was thought of as a sage. After all, if she was indeed regarded as one, then most people of the world could be regarded as a sage as well. But speaking of her room, it was, thanks to Millia, clean and tidy. Well, aside from the many bottles of alcohol that she just drank. By the way, what kind of work do you do for Millia? Ahh, Im so sleepy now that Ive barfed all that, so I think Im gonna take a nap now. like always, she had no intention of talking about it. An incredible spectacle was happening in a training ground somewhere: countless soldiers were lying in ground as though they were lifeless corpses. Haahaa My bodycant move At mylimit The soldiers groaned in pain, but for most of them, they were hurt so bad they couldnt get back up any time soon. Hmp, very well, thisll be all for today. When their instructor said so, they all breathed a sigh of relief. Despite being only a teenager, this instructorwho was already well known as an instructor from hellwas appointed by the king himself to strengthen the kingdoms army. His beautiful adjutant then spoke. Great work today, Raul-sama. How are the kingdoms the soldiers? Just pathetic, Marin. After seeing that fighting tournament, Im more convinced that that is the case. Due to that, Raul, the teen instructor, has been more passionate in the drills he was giving. That said, thanks to this training ground, theyre far better than when they started. it seems so. Nevertheless, I find this ce to beodd. That training here can make people improve so much more than if they trained elsewhere. Its because this is one of the facilities that Luke built. Not only were Lukes buildings built instantly, they also came with mysterious, special effects. Oh, yeah, now that I think about it, maybe I should ask that guy to rebuild the soldiers barracks. That way, the soldiers will be able to recover from fatigue more quickly, which will then allow them to focus more on their training. Having made up his mind, Raul promptly headed to the royal pce. More specifically, he was headed to the room where one of Lukes body doubles resided. Even though it was only for a body double, the room in question was actually more splendid than what Raul had. hes ridiculous already, but now he can even make body doubles that have a will of their own. Its total bullshit. If ever Luke and his many body doubles revolted, Raul had no doubt that they could take over the country with great ease. And if he was being honest, he found Luke to be more fearsome than their father. Not that hes got any inclination to do so. While Raul thought of such things, he finally arrived at the doubles room. Oi, body double, Ive got a task for you The moment he burst into the room, Raul froze. After all, instead of Lukes body double, a beautiful girl he has not met before was in the room. ? Thinking he might have entered the wrong room, he quickly stepped outside and checked. However, no matter how he looked at it, this was definitely the room that the body double was using. Ahmwheres the double? Raul chose to ignore the girls identity for the moment and instead asked for the doubles whereabouts. The girls reply was not what Raul expected at all. ahm, Im right here? Huh? Please consider supporting me. You can do this either by turning off adblock for this blog or via myPatreon page. Thank you. Chapter 231: But wouldn’t they be pleased? Chapter 231: But wouldnt they be pleased? A mysterious, beautiful girl was in the body doubles room. Raul tried to ask her where the double could have gone, but was answered with something he totally didnt expect. Ha? What are you saying? Youre definitely notno, wait a minuteyour voice just nowno Yup, Im the double. Raul was shocked. And when he looked closer, he realized that the girl did look like Luke. Why are you in that getup!? Because the real Luke told me so. Whats that guy thinking!? Ahh, I guess I should also mention that the real Luke also look like this. this is making less and less sense. Despite saying so, Raul thought this in his mind: *But he does look good in ittoo good, in factc-could he have been a girl all along?? I mean, he always had a girlish faceno, theres no way thats the case, right?* Raul unconsciously began doubting his brothers gender. Luke-sama Luke-sama meeting Luke-sama in the castle Humming that curious tune and skipping through the royal pces halls was the kingdoms Princess Darinea. Ever since she was helped by Luke, she has been secretly (?) in love with him. Fufufu, if you think about it, Luke-samas body double is always within reach. It might not be the real him, but at least this one makes it possible to get my dose of Luke-sama anytime I want. After all, the real Luke and the body doubles were extremely alike. Not only did they share the same appearance, they also had the same voice and way of talking. Like that, the princess reached the body doubles room. After gently knocking, she proceeded to enter. Luke-samas body double, Ive finished my morning lessons and havee to visit! The princess said so with a smile on her face, but immediately after, her smile was turned upside-down. who might you be? Within the room was a beautiful girl that princess has never met before. Without meaning to, she ended up scowling at the girl. ?? Wait, this scent*sniff**sniff*!? Luke-sama!? The princess incredibly managed to guess the girls identity through just scent. As simr as your scents might be, I know that youre Luke-samas body double and not really him. Ive been sniffing his scent while he was beside me during the fighting tournament, after all! Without anyone asking her to, the princess exined so. At that, the body double let out a eh while its face twitched a little. That being said, why are you dressed like a girl Despite being surprised by the doubles appearance, the princess Oh my goodness, youre sooooooo cutttteeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!! She was greatly infatuated with Lukes appearance while in drag. Luke-sama Luke-sama Luke-sama ~~ H-hey!? The princess then unthinkingly embraced the double and rubbed cheeks with it. Paying little notice to the doubles bewilderment, Princess Darinea asked something while breathing heavily. Fuaaaaaaaa! Cancan I lick you!? Most definitely not! Body doubles were supposedly less emotional whenpared to the original, but in this instance, the double was denying the princesss request with all its might. <> <> After receiving reports from my doubles stationed in various ces, I nodded with aplicated expression on my face. It was, after all, as expected. <> <> <> <> The double hesitated at first but proceeded to tell me something. <> <> It was already too embarrassing for me to look like this for a month, so any longer was just impossible. This wasnt the first time Ive heard of such a request. People in the vige have also been asking so, but I simply ignore them whenever I can. <> <> <<..I dont??>> <> Upon hearing the doubles reply, I felt a sense of impending danger. Please consider supporting me. You can do this either by turning off adblock for this blog or via myPatreon page. Thank you. Chapter 232: Another beastman? Chapter 232: Another beastman? What? Did you really build all of this underground in that short amount of time Uttering such words of surprise was middle-aged man of great size. He was Duke Kaion who ruled over the northwestern region of the kingdom. Not only was he one of the only two dukes in the entire kingdom, he also possessed thergest territory. That being said, his entire territory was an extremely cold region. Whenever winteres, moving about, even in cities, was difficult due to the heavy snowfall. At any rate, underneath thergest city in his territory, a railway station was built. He was currently inspecting it. Even so, I still dont believe that if we ride this train thing, wed be able to travel from here to the capital in just a few hours Would you like to take a ride, then? Is it ready? Yes. Ive alreadyid down tracks thatll connect it to the royal capital. Duke Kaion was talking to Luke, the very person who built this underground structure. That asideLuke-dono, it was to my understanding that you were a boy, but is that not the case? No matter the angle the duke looked from, the Luke before him looked entirely like a pretty girl. Ah, yes, I am. I have to look like this due to some circumstances, but I am definitely a man. I-I see The duke couldnt begin to imagine what those circumstances might be. By the way, the duke didnt know this, but the one he was speaking to was only a body double and not the real Luke. Afterwards, the duke boarded the train and was amazed by its capabilities. After all, in just about 30 minutes, they had already reached the southernmost city of his duchy. Thisthis definitely is the city of Kirie! Did we really travel that much in such a short span of time? While looking at the townscape from the outside of the railway station there, the duke was left dumbfounded. And since this travels underground, no amount of snowfall should have any effect on itthat means we should be able to use this even in the dead of winter. Not only is it fast and can transport so many people at once, it also can provide its service all year roundthis is tremendousno wonder His Majesty is having this installed all over the kingdom. The duke was certain that the trains would bring great boons to the kingdom as a whole as well as to each territory that had it. He might be a duke, but when thinking about his territory, even he couldnt resist this trend of things. *People say that the royal family is aiming to centralize the kingdoms powers into them. I suppose this serves as preparation toward that. At the very least, its an important step toward preventing another case of uprising like the one Albert did.* For generations, House Kaion have kept a friendly rtionship with the royal family. As long as there werent any absurd demands, the duke himself intended to keep such a rtionship going forward. *Truly, just what kind of future awaits all of us? It can be said that now is a great turning point for our noble house.* After thinking of such things, the duke expressed his desire to head back home and turned around toward the station. Lets go back in an easier way, ok? What do you mean? In the next moment, the sight before the duke became that of his castle. Its teleportation. we didnt even need the train? The duke groaned, but at that same time Damn it, let go of me! Dont resist and just be quiet! When the duke turned around toward the source of those shouts, he saw soldiers dragging along someone they arrested. Upon closer inspection, the one resisting the arrest and making a fuss was an all-too-young girl. Another beastman? The duke said so and sighed. A beastman? Have you perhaps never seen one before? Well, that girl there has beast-like ears, right? Indeed That and their tails are the beastmens most distinguishing characteristics. Their kind live somewhere north, beyond my duchy. For many years, they have been a pest to my territory due to their raids to our viges and cities. Due to its position as well as the fact that thend stretched widely from east to west, this duchy served as the kingdoms breakwater against the invasion of the beastmen race. Such a role, as to be expected, was not easy to aplish when they had no idea when or where the beastmen might strike. As such, it was difficult for the duke to deploy soldiers anywhere outside of the duchy. That was true even back when the royal family requested assistance to repel Marquis Albert. Capturing the physically strong beastmen is quite a difficult task, but every now and then, were fortunate enough to do so. In order to extract information out of them, I have ordered my soldiers to bring and detain them to this castle. TL notes: just a reminder on the geography of the kingdom, ording to chapter 124, Albert is to the northeast, Schneger is to the southeast, Kaion is to the northwest, Talister to the southwest, and the royal capital at the center. Please consider supporting me. You can do this either by turning off adblock for this blog or via myPatreon page. Thank you. Chapter 233: Nope, I built it just a while ago Chapter 233: Nope, I built it just a while ago Damn it, I cant believe I, of all people, got captured by these humans The girl in the castles dungeon cells cursed at her blunder. She had a beasts ears as well as a beasts tail. Individuals who had such features were clearly not human beings. They were what was known as beastmen. They lived further up north, outside of the Kaion duchy. Theirnd was barren, so they would frequently raid human settlements in order to steal the humans produce. They would often meet retaliation from the human soldiers, but thanks to their physically strong bodies, capture was a rather rare event. Yet, it still does happen. Such was the case of the girl in the castles cells. Shewho turned 16 this yearhas been a part of the raiding party ever since she was 12. For every single raid before, she has somehow managed to escape. This time, however, she fell for a trap set up by the humans and got herself captured. Due to that trap, she was unable to move and had to be left behind. It might seem a bit heartless of herpanions, but that was their agreed upon rule from the very start. There was no useining about it. whatll happen to me now, I wonder. She has been imprisoned long enough to go from ming herself for her blunder to being anxious about her fate. She knew of people who got captured by the humans, but to her knowledge, none of them has evere back. She didnt know whether they killed, turned to ves, or something else, but she knew in her heart that she would never get to see any of them ever again. Its not like we think pigings totally alrightbut this used to be ournd, you know. You humans kept driving us further and further north The further north one goes, the further barren the soil bes. Unable to grow crops no matter how hard they tried, the beastmen gave up on agriculture altogether and instead focused on hunting to secure their food supply. However, even though they were called beastmen, they couldnt live off of meat alone. And so, seeing no other alternatives, they resorted to stealing the crops grown by the humans. There were various subraces of beastmen, so it wasnt easy to make any generalization about them. However, at least for the feline beastmen like her, they definitely didnt do the raids out of simply wanting to attack the humans. Hello. !? While she was still within her cramp jailcell, she suddenly heard a voice from behind. This shocked her so much, her heart skipped a few beats. With beastlike agility, she hurriedly jumped to the other end of the cell while turning around. W-who are you!? Ahh, sorry for frightening you. You dont have to worry, miss, I didnte to hurt you. youre a humanchild? At the sight of the one who spoke to her, she was left dumbfounded. After all, it turned out to be a human girl who was a few years younger than her. Moreover, the said human girl looked quite fancy and cute. She didnt sense any hostility from the human girl. Nevertheless, she kept her guard up and assumed abat pose. How did you get in here? The entrance to the jailcell was on the opposite end of where the girl was. Moreover, she didnt sense, hear, or smell the girl until the moment the girl called out to her. I came in through the staircase here. There was a staircase there all along!? *(Was it just hidden there? No, putting a staircase inside a jailcell makes no sense at all!)* Nope, I built it just a while ago. Youre making less and less sense She was at her wits end understanding what was happening, but it was to no avail. As if ignoring her though, the human girl started going down the stairs. Come on, follow me. You can escape through here. A-are you helping me escape. Yup. What are you nning? The girl was a human being, just like the ones that imprisoned her here. The human girl might look innocent and pure, but she wasnt stupid enough to follow the girl blindly. I simply want to get you out of here. Why though!? Wellif its possible, I guess Id like to meet with other beastmen. ? She was still not sure of the human girl, but decided to follow her down the stairs anyway. After all, the only other option was to remain in the cell and deny herself of a future. The human girl introduced herself as Luke. While thinking that Luke sounded like a name for a boy, the beastman girl introduced herself as well. Im L. Nice to meet you, L-oneechan. ! *(S-so cute)* Please consider supporting me. You can do this either by turning off adblock for this blog or via myPatreon page. Thank you. Chapter 234: …I really did escape… Chapter 234: I really did escape Im L. Nice to meet you, L-oneechan. The red-haired beastman girl introduced herself as L. She seemed to still be cautious of me, but she followed me down the stairs nheless. She was the same beastman my double saw being dragged into Duke Kaions castle the other day. I got curious after my double reported it, so I transferred my consciousness to the said double and made contact like this. but what did you mean when you said you wanted to meet beastmen like me? Well, the beastmen steal the humans crops, right? Tchthats truebut we only do so because you humans have driven us so far north that were unable to grow our own crops! She shouted so in the underground tunnel. What I said must have sounded like I was admonishing her and her people. Ahm, Im not criticizing you. I mean, whatever it takes to survive, right? y-yeah L-san said so as though she was surprised that I was being understanding. How about trading for the crops? Was that not possible? Humans detest us to the very core, so even if we tried to trade, they will likely not ept any of our offers. Is that so? apparently, way back then, we used to really attack the human-controlled territories with all our might. It was all for nothing as we still ended up being driven up further northhowever, in the course of it all, we had in many humans. Some humans to this day still hold a grudge against us for that. I see But the humans have in many of us too! Ive even heard that you used to hunt us down like were mere game! To say that humans and beastmen were at odds with each other seemed to be quite a bit of an understatement. Ugh, what use is there saying such things to a childsorry I shouted. L-san regainedposure and apologized like that. Its alright. But anyway, so long as you can grow your own crops, you wont have any need to do those raids anymore, right? Yeah, sure, but thend we live in is so barren, theres no chance we can grow our own crops Theirnd felt kind of like the wastnd where the vige was. Also, the wastnd and theirnd were quite close to each other, almost at each others nks even. Once we go up these stairs, well be outside the castle. I really did escape While talking like that, we climbed to the surface. To our backs was the duchy capitals walls. We had travelled underground all the way from the dukes castle to the outside of the city where there were no guards. Of course, in order to not get discovered, I eliminated any evidence. So, mind leading me toward your vige? You really n on following me up to there? Its a good distance away from here, you know? I dont know how long itll take me to cover that distance, let alone a young human child Its alright. I can make us a road thatll allow us to walk faster. ? I immediately built and extended a road in front of us. <> Wh-what!? Why is there suddenly a path here Lets walk along this road, ok? Youre just walking casually, so why are you so fast!? H-hey, wait for mewoah!? In L-sans panicked attempt to catch up, she exerted too much forward momentum that she ended up falling down. See, fast, right? What the heck is this!? Like that, we walked along the road for a few hours. Before long, we exited the duchy and reached the beastmensnd. It wasnt the wastnd my vige was in, but it was certainly barren as well. Moreover, even though it started snowing only a little while ago, the ground already had a thinyer of it. That way. That way? We continued to head north, making turns whenever L-san said so. Of course, I extended the road ording to her guidance. Eventually, I saw something that resembled a settlement. I didnt think wed arrive so sooneven if I ran with all my might and without any worry about the girl keeping up, I still wouldnt have made it here so quickly Is that your vige? Yeah, thats where were living at the moment. At the moment? We dont really settle anywhere, you see. I mean, we cant grow crops, so we dont really have any strong reason to remain at any one ce. Plus, settling makes it more likely to be attacked by humans. Please consider supporting me. You can do this either by turning off adblock for this blog or via myPatreon page. Thank you. Chapter 235: There’s no way a girl as cute as her can be a man, right!? Chapter 235: Theres no way a girl as cute as her can be a man, right!? Almost hidden by walls made of earth was a collection of tents, the kind that were used by nomads. Eh!? L!? Youre back!? I thought youve been caught by those humans!? Upon seeing L-san, themunitys beastmen were greatly surprised. How could they not be when they believed that it was difficult, if not impossible, to return once they were captured by the humans. And who is that girl beside you? W-wait, she doesnt have ears on the top of her head! Isnt she a human!? Their surprise then became confusion when they noticed me. However, probably due to my childlike formand also looking like a nicely dressed girlthe beastmen chose to observe first rather than take immediate action. Im already 14 but I still look like a childwhy hasnt my body grown any bigger It seemed like everyone in thismunity was a catlike beastman much like L-san. In addition to the more obvious details, their eyes were big enough to be quite catlike. That said, it seemed like there were only women here Our bosss home is this way. I followed L-san and arrived at a certain tent dwelling. L!? Youre back!? I was certain you were caught by the humans back then I was caught, yes, but I fortunately managed to escape! The woman inside the tent looked a lot like L-san. She looked like she was in her mid-twenties. She was taller than L-san and also gave off the impression that she was very strongwilled. Her abs were well chiseled too. There was no one else within the tent, so I assumed she was the boss L-san referred to. But just when I thought the two of them were having an emotional reunion You idiot! Gyaa!? The woman suddenly sent L-san flying. I told you so many times to be careful of traps, yet you still let yourself get caught in one! gahImIm sorry, Lili-neesan! Sorry doesnt cut it! Besides, how do you think the others felt when the bosss own sister made such a screw up, huh!? Seeing her angry like this, I thought she was one scary boss. As such, I decided to stealthily exit the tent for the time being. And you, who the hell are you? Oh no, she noticed me! I dont know why yer here, but dont think a human can simply waltz in here scot-free. L-Lili-neesan, shes the one who help me break out of where I was imprisoned! Didnt you stop and think that maybe thats all just a ploy for the humans to know where we live!? Hiii!! She seemed to be a highly cautious person. But then again, a boss who was responsible for the lives of those in her gang needed to be, I suppose. T-theres nothing to be worried about me, Boss-san. hmph, your scent tells me you dont have any ill intentions, so I wont cut you downfor now. Lili-san looked awfully like L-san, so maybe she was L-sans actual older sister. Im Luke. Wait, isnt that a boys name? Yeah, well Youre lucky youre a girl, you know. The moment a man, even if theyre still a child, enters ourmunity, theyll be sentenced to death, no questions asked. eh? Did I mishear or did she really just say a very unsettling thing? Men will be killed on the spot? The men and women of the catlike beastmen live separately. We can invite some men into our settlement on special asions, but outside of those times, yes, men are executed right away. So, thats why there are only women in this ce Why are you scaring her like that, Lili-neesan? L-san interjected like that, but deep inside, I was already in cold sweat. T-they absolutely must not know that Im a man. Ive got to continue being a girl here! See, its thisck of cautiousness of yours that allowed you to get caught in that trap! For all we know, hes a man dressing up like a girl. Oh,e on, just look at her. Theres no way a girl as cute as her can be a man, right!? sorry, I am actually a man. Please consider supporting me. You can do this either by turning off adblock for this blog or via myPatreon page. Thank you. Chapter 236: Aren’t they too large though? Chapter 236: Arent they toorge though? Ahm, so, ording to what L-oneechan told me, you seem to have some problems in piging crops this year, is that right? I decided to change the topic in order to distract them. Nothing good coulde from them getting suspicious and trying to confirm my gender, after all. yeah. Apparently, not much crops have been harvested this year. Thanks to that, every human vige is more vignt against us than normal. There are more traps than normal too. Its why I was caught, you see. You were caught because you were being stupid! Hiiii! Please stop quarreling! In that case, all the better to grow your own crops, right? Ha? Were taking the risk of the raids precisely because we cant do such thing, you know. Thend around heres no good in growing crops. Let me take a look. I persuaded Lili-san to let me borrow a plot ofnd within their settlement. It wasnt arge space, but if things go smoothly here, they should be able to trust me more easily. Alright, lets make a field. <> The plot ofnd that was dotted with grass instantly changed into a highly fertile field. huh? Ignoring the dumbfounded Lili-san for now, I used Facility Upgrade to greatly improve its capabilities to [make the crops nted on it grow faster], [make the crops have better quality], and [improve the workersbor efficiency]. Alright, now to nt the seeds. L-oneechan, can you help me with that? Ah, yeah, sure. L-san has seen me build the roads from before, so she recovered right away. As such, I decided to ask her to help in nting the seeds I brought from the vige. Woah, what the heck!? Im moving so much faster in this field too!? Thanks to our improvedbor efficiency, we finished in just a few minutes. I think it should begin to sprout in 30 minutes. As for the harvest, we should be able to do that in 3 days. After 3 days. In the plot ofnd that I turned into a field, arge number of crops have grown enough to be harvestable. Not only were there more crops than what one would usually expect, each one was bigger than normal as well. Thanks to that, the ground couldnt even be seen anymore. There were supposedly about 300 beastmen in this settlement, so even this small of a field might be able to feed them for a while. Crops really grewarent they toorge though? See, Lili-neesan, what did I tell you? Lukes amazing! M-maybe therge size is the only good thing about these crops. Like, maybe theyre hollow on the inside or maybe it tastes awful? Lili-san plucked a bright red tomato and bit on it as it was. ~~~~~~~~~~~~!? Lili-neesan!? Is it poisonous!? Its, its, its so gooooooooooooodd!! !? Lili-san, her eyes wide open, shouted so. What, this is so sweet!? And yet, its also quite sour! Whats more, its fresh and pulpy! Ive never eaten a tomato this good! After hearing her shout so, the other beastmen scrambled to grab a crop of their own. The food shortage must have left them terribly starved. Sooooooooooooo gooooooooooooodddddddd!!? Upon biting into the raw vegetables they picked, each of them let out a voice of amazement simr to Lili-sans. I couldnt have imagined that we will be able to get this many vegetables! And we didnt have to risk our lives too! And its so, so delicious! We dont have to worry about theing winter anymore! The female beastmen said so as they harvested the crops and prepared them to make a meal. Oh, in that case, you should use this. I then built an outdoor kitchen. <> Where did all thesee from!? What is with this ce!? Everything seems so easy, plus I somehow work so quickly! At this rate, wed be able to make lots of tasty dishes!! Please consider supporting me. You can do this either by turning off adblock for this blog or via myPatreon page. Thank you. Chapter 237: You kinda stink Chapter 237: You kinda stink Its so goooooooooooooooood!! How did this taste so good!? Its my first time to eat something this delicious!! The beastmen were in disbelief by the taste of the food they prepared themselves. They were all girls, but their way of talking was rather crude. But then again, they were beastmen, so it might be unfair to hold them to human standards. At any rate, that was their food situation resolved. Like this, their days of piging should be behind them. But I said so while not realizing that I was pinching my nose. Yeah, to be honestthis settlement kinda smells. Whats wrong? Why are you frowning like that? Well, L-oneechan, you seeIve been holding this back for as much as I can, but I think it has to be said now: you kinda stink. Thats a horrible thing to say, you know!? It might be natural for a beastmans scent to be a bit intense, but this was beyond that. It was almost like they just never washed their bodies. There wasnt any water well in their settlement, so they probably had to resort to using collected rainwater or something like that as bathwater. As for quenching their thirst, they apparently primarily drank the milk of their livestock. So, I guess the next thing I should make is a public bathhouse. < > What is this building? Its a bathhouse. sorry, a bathhouse? She apparently didnt even know what a bathhouse was. Its a ce where people can wash and clean their bodies. Like I said, you kinda stink, so why dont you get rid of it here? For someone with such a cute face, youre really harsh, you know? I pushed L-san to go inside and waited for a while. When she had thoroughly cleaned her body, she exited and met me again. This ce is amazing! I cant believe theres so much warm and clean water here! I ended up drinking lots of it! Its not for drinking though. At any rate, it feels so good to be this clean! My body smells so nice too! Yup, you sure do look so clean now. The other beastmen had, of course, noticed the building that suddenly showed up in their settlement. After knowing what it was, they decided to wait and see how L-sans try of it would turn out. And when they saw the results, they rushed inside. Nextare toilets, I guess. The people in this settlement apparently disposed of their waste by burying it down a hole. It was definitely a factor in why it smelled awful in this ce. < > Whats this? Huh? A toilet? Oh, I see. But isnt this too clean? Is it really ok do our business here? Yup. And you see that lever there? If you push down on it, water wille down this bowl to flush away whats in it. I see. Then, let me try it right now. H-hey, dont suddenly take off your clothes! Also, close the door! ?? Were all girls here, so whats the big deal? After I exined how to use it, I quickly exited the publicvatory. Hmm? Whats this? Hyaa!? Wateres out of it!? Of course, the toilets came equipped with bidets. b-butthisisnt so bad I have made the settlement clean and sanitary. The beastmen were also using the bathhouse each day and were now smelling fragrant like the soap they used. I also did other changes to the settlement, but I tried to keep those changes to a minimum. I just thought it was better to preserve their culture as much as possible. One other change I did was to remake the earthen walls that surrounded the settlement into one made of stone. I also built a small house, which I used for the duration of my stay here. L-san did offer to let me live in the tent she was using, but yeahwhen I rejected her offer, she made quite the sad face. All that said, because I couldnt afford to always have my consciousness here, I entrusted things here to the body double while I was away. Hey, lets go take a bath together today~ D-dont worry about me. As you can see, Im clean already. L-san had asked me several times to take a bath with her, but I, obviously, couldnt ept. *sniff**sniff* thats strangeyou dont wash your body, yet you smell just fine. Also, I dont think Ive ever seen you use the toilets This was a body double, after all. It didnt even excrete sweat, as a matter of fact. Please consider supporting me. You can do this either by turning off adblock for this blog or via myPatreon page. Thank you. Chapter 238: Just undress! Chapter 238: Just undress! Eh? You want me to do some renovation to the bathhouse? I asked so, a bit confused by L-sans proposal. Thats right. This is actually a request from the others, just letting you know. Besides, itll be simple for you to make some little repairs, right? Yeah, surebut can you at least tell me more details? I think its better you see it yourself! Is that so? At any rate, you should let the others know that the bathhouse would be close for the meantime. No one can use it while youre doing that? Is that really necessary? Yup, it very much is! It was extremely troublesome to make changes to a facility while people were using it. And so, we suspended the bathhouses operation the next day. So, where is the thing you want me to fix? Its further inside, in the baths. With L-san in the lead, we passed through the changing room and entered the bath proper. The baths here were quiterge. Thergest one here wasparable to themunal baths in a traditional Japanese inn. Maybe about 50 people at once could submerge themselves in it. In addition to the indoor baths, there was also an outdoor one. The beastmen seemed to love the open-air bath as well. Take a look at that bath over there. When I tried to inspect a particr steaming bath Ei! Huh!? *Ssh!* L-san suddenly pushed me from behind, leading to me falling into the bath headfirst. Bwahh! W-whatd you do that for!? Hahaha! I just wanted to get in the bath together with you! Huh? Then all that talk about making some repairs Yup, that was a lie! Drenched like that, I red at her intensely. And yet, L-san talked as though she didnt feel an ounce of guilt for what she has done. I mean, no matter how many times Ive asked you, you still wont bathe with me. That doesnt mean you should force me like this! Wait, why are you taking your clothes off!? Do I even need to say it? So that I can take a bath with you! !! L-san all of a sudden began taking off the clothes she was wearing. Naturally, I hurried to turn around. *Ssh!* By that sound, I assumed she has entered the bath as well. Hey, whats the deal? Were all girls here, so no need to be shy. Because Im a man! Not that I can tell you that now! Waah! I was still facing away, so I was quite surprised when she hugged me from behind. If the soft sensation pressing against my back was any indication, it would seem L-san was nowpletely naked. Come on, you too! H-hey! Worse yet, L-san was forcing me to undress as well. You shouldnt use the bath while youre clothed, right? Thats the very first rule you told us, dont you remember? But whose fault is it that Im here at all, huh? Dont worry about the details; just undress! Hyaa!? As expected of a beastman, she had overwhelming strength. Try as I might, I ended up butt naked in the bath. Even so, I tried to cover the important bit as much as I could. There you go. Feels good, doesnt it? After were done, your skins gonna be all glossy! I know that already. W-well, I suppose you would Uuuuu H-hey, dont cry! Im sorry, okay? I just thought that since you humans have these baths, you guys didnt really care about being naked. Now that things have be like this, I decided to act like someone who was embarrassed of being naked around others. To that end, I faked some tears and distanced myself. Almost like she thought she did something wrong, L-san began apologizing. You see, when I entered the bath with the others, we were somehow able to grow even closer to one another. I wanted to grow closer to you too, so I I see I appreciated the thought, but since I was hiding the fact that I was a man, it was more of an inconvenience to me than anything else. Kuku, so it is. This ce not only makes our bodies clean and all that, but even makes us more united. What, Lili-san, youre here too!? For some reason, even Lili-san was in the bathhouse. She was stark naked too! Her body was quite slender but also well-toned. The only thing that didnt fit that description were her incrediblyrge breasts. No, I shouldnt look, I shouldnt look For that reason, why not join us for a little while? Truth be told, the thought of escaping through teleportation seemed so appealing to me. I held myself back though because doing so would only make me more suspicious. yeah, I should let the double handle this and return to my real body. Please consider supporting me. You can do this either by turning off adblock for this blog or via myPatreon page. Thank you. Chapter 239: Why do you look so annoyed Chapter 239: Why do you look so annoyed What? A group from the mens settlement has arrived? That day, people who represented the mens settlement arrived in the womens settlement. Upon hearing so, Lili-san, the boss, snorted. Hmp, I bet theyre after the same thing as usual. Dont they know by now Ill never agree to that no matter how many times theye here? Go and tell them to bugger off. Hmm? Their boss is with them? Tch, I guess we cant just send them away now. What a hassle. Despite her annoyance, it seemed like her n was to meet them. Did they do something? its just that theyve asked for our groups to unite and be one. Ive always rejected their requests because the whole things full of risks and offers no benefit to make up for it. What little benefit it has, it can be aplished by meeting up with them when its mating season. By risks, she probably referred to being attacked by humans. So long as the men and women lived separately like there were currently doing, they believed there was no need to worry. Also, it would seem that outside of breeding season, the females didnt look for thepany of men. It was possible that beastmen in general didnt give much priority to romantic feelings. Well, there are those of us who sneak out to meet with men though. By the way, I heard that if one was born a boy, they were permitted to live within the womens settlement only until they turn 3 years old. After that, they get sent to the mens settlement. As such, it would seem that the bond between parent and child was also rather weak. After a while, 3 male catlike beastmen entered Lili-sans tent. There were only three of them as that was the maximum number that were allowed to visit at the same time. The one in the middle is their boss. I believe his names Gaga. L-san informed me so. We had exited the tent and were only peeking inside through a gap. The boss of the men had quite the brawny physique. Rather than a cat, he looked more like a tiger or a lion. So, what did the mens bosse all this way for? Before that, answer me this: whats going on here? I was surprised when I saw that stone wall around your ce, but more than that, I was shocked to see everything inside was so clean. Plus, its almost like theres no food shortage this year given how all of you look so plump. Hmp, is that any way to ask somebody a question? Haa, youre the same as ever. The two bosses didnt look to be on good terms with each other. I prefer you this way though. Makes me want to do it with you more when the next breeding seasones. Im sure youll bear me a healthy kid. Shut it, you creep. Lili-san grimaced and spat out those words. This was a meeting of both bosses, yet it was somehow more like a courtship. Lili-oneesan has always hated men, you see. I heard she has never taken a man during breeding season. O-ohh L-san, you didnt need to tell me that kind of information. You came here just to say that? Its a waste of time to continue this conversation then. Go and leave right away. Ill get to the point then. Why dont webine our people? No. W-wait. Let me tell you how thatll benefit you. If you agree to it, we men promise to provide you with food. That way, you women wont have to ever put yourselves at risk by participating in the raids against the humans. And then, as though he was about to reveal his ace, the male boss grinned. Ive heard about it, you know? That your sister got captured by those humans. What a pitiful thingby this time, those bastards are probably using her to pass the time, if you know what I mean. However, if you join with us, such a miserable fate never has to befall any of you ever again. Tch, where did you hear that from? well, sorry to burst your bubble, but my sisters here, you know. What?? Oi, get in here. Youre eavesdropping out there, right? ! It would seem that we were noticed. L-san looked downcast as she entered the tent. whats the meaning of this? Was it all a lie?! It isnt. But your intels outdated, you know. This idiot did get captured, but she has somehow made it back home. What? But thats Oi, why do you look so annoyed after hearing that my sisters safe? Lili-san then triumphantlyughed. Please consider supporting me. You can do this either by turning off adblock for this blog or via myPatreon page. Thank you. Chapter 240: The women are being more watchful now Chapter 240: The women are being more watchful now Were done here, right? Then, go back home. Lili-san said so in hopes of ending their conversation as soon as possible. The other boss tried to resist though. Ghhy-you just got lucky this time. The fact remains that piging is a risky task. Thankfully, we dont have to worry about that anymore. what do you mean? Im not under any obligation to tell you. Now, enough already and go back home! Or else, Ill castrate you all here and now! Lili-san shouted so, forcing the three men to reluctantly leave. After seeing them off, Lili-san breathed a sigh. Geez, who the heck bbed that to them? Oi, you better keep your eyes peeled so that this doesnt happen again. Yes, maam! The women on standby nearby replied so heartily. What the hell is going on, boss? Were having serious problems securing food, but they dont seem like theyre having that at all. Yeah, somethings strange, alright. On top of looking like theyre eating properly, their settlements be so clean too. I feel like their skin, hair, and furs all somehow glossier now too. thanks to that, Im kinda turned on now. That Lilis clearly hiding something. The male beastmen whose request was just rejected were hiding in a nearby rocky area and discussing among themselves. The sun had already set and it was now dark out, but they still couldnt head back to their own settlement. Isnt she toote though? Shes probably having a hard time slipping out because the women are being more watchful now. The one they were waiting for was their coborator among the women. Lili, the womens boss, might be strongly opposed to the unification of their two groups, but that didnt automatically mean that everyone shared that stance. And among those women, there were those who supplied the men with information. Sorry I made you wait. Finally. They were so vignt, you know. It was hard for me to find the right timing. Like that, the coborator shared the incredible things that has happened within the womens settlement recently. Oi, you being serious right now? Im not kidding you one bit. Cant me you though. I was sure I was dreaming when I knew of those things. A mysterious human girl, huhits certainly hard to believe at first, but if we assume that its all true, itll exin a lot about the changes in the womens settlement. Thanks to her, our way of life haspletely changed. We get to eat until were full every day, and we also get to clean our bodies. Theres no longer any need for us to risk our lives by going on raids. For the men who were feeling hunger even now, the thing they envied the most was the ability to get food with ease. Thanks for telling us. Fufu, youre weeand, Gaga? Theres the next breeding season, but With an excited face, the coborator leaned in close to Gaga, the mens boss. The reason she was going against her groups rules and leaking information to the men was that, frankly, she was in love with Gaga. But if youre up for it, we dont have to wait that long. We can do it now as well. Typically, outside of their breeding season, beastmen didnt really seek thepany of the opposite sex. However, as to be expected, there were exceptions. The coborator was one of them. But right after finishing her proposal, the coborator grimaced and hurriedly distanced herself. A-ahh, on second thought, I think I better get back now. Itll be a problem if they check inside my tent, you know. The coborator suddenly became aloof and told Gaga so. And without even waiting for a reply, she began to head back. It was almost as if she was escaping from them. ? Despite finding that to be odd, the men simply continued talking among themselves. Well then, what should we do now? Based on what weve been told, it seems like its now impossible for Lili to agree with us anytime soon. Yeah, were done ying nice. What do youmean? Kuku, were gonna bring them to heel. Ive got a good idea for that. That human girl might be worth the trouble she has caused us. Like that, the men have decided to use force. Have they always smelled like that and I only noticed now? After separating from Gaga and his group, the coborator calmed down and thought so. Likely due to her own body being clean now, she found Gagas strong body odor to be disturbing when she leaned in close to him. Please consider supporting me. You can do this either by turning off adblock for this blog or via myPatreon page. Thank you. Chapter 241: Ill help you out Chapter 241: Ill help you out Its an emergency, boss! The men! Theyre attacking our settlement! What did you say!? Upon being given such distressing news, Lili-san grimaced. Tch, that Gaga. I underestimated his stupidityvery well, lets turn the tables on them. Apparently, the fighting capabilities of men and women were generally of the same level for the catlike beastmen. Men might have more raw physical strength, but the women made up for it with their agility. There didnt seem that much of a difference between their numbers as well. As such, the one defending should have the upper hand. In fact, that was the reason why Lili-san didnt imagine that the other group would resort to such forceful means. However, after climbing the observation tower I built and checking the enemies, Lili-san was shocked. Whanoit cant bethe doglike beastmen!? The male catlike beastmen werent the only ones attacking, it would seem. For some reason, among them were doglike beastmen as well. And now that the enemy side had more numbers, this battle could go either way. Gaga! Whats the meaning of all this!? Kukuku, you only have yourself to me, Lili! All because you didnt agree to what I proposed! Are you kidding me!? Who in their right mind would ept your one-sided demands!? The two bosses shouted at each other like that. There was quite a distance between them, yet they could hear each other well enough. What fantastic hearing! If you surrender now and swear servitude to us, well spare you the cor! Oh, shut it! Wed never surrender to the likes of you! Kuhaha! Are you really in a position to say that? Lets see how long that stubbornness of yours willst against us and the doglike beastmen! Tchbut why are the dogs helping them in the first ce I then asked the pale-faced L-san who was beside me something. Are you guys not on good terms with the doglike beastmen? Nope, not at all. In fact, there have been many times where, instead of helping each other out in securing our loot, we have fought over them. Which begs the question of why Apparently, the men asking for the doglike beastmens assistance was totally beyond anyones expectations. Kukuku, just like we expected, that Lilis so confused at whats happening. Gaga said so while grinning widely. Thanks for the assist. more importantly, is what you told us really true? Yeah, no doubt about it. Just look at their stone wall. It wasnt like that before, you know. At least, not a few days ago. I bet ya its the work of that human I told you about. The leader of the doglike beastmen was a keen-eyed man. He was arge man, about asrge as Gaga. Moreover, he was someone who inspired great loyalty from his subordinates. As long as you have that human, youd be able to get as much food as you want. If you want proof, just look at the womens plump bodies. They certainly dont look like people who are struggling with a famine, Ill give you that. And as we agreed upon, if you help us subdue the women, Ill hand over that human to you. and you swear that? Yeah, of course. And a mans word his bond, right? Besides, well have our hands full just disciplining the women; we wont have anything left to spare to go to war against you, dont you agree? Hmp, I can never trust you cats, but just this once, Ill help you out. The leader of the doglike beastmen snorted and then said so to Gaga. Gaga could tell from the other leaders definitely thinner body that the doglike beastmen were hit harder by the food shortage than them. In other words, the doglike beastmen were desperate. Desperate enough that they would have little choice but to get involved with the affairs of the catlike beastmen they disliked so much. At any rate, the two leaders proceeded to issue an order to their respective gangs. Go! OOOOOOOOOH!! With such a war cry, thebined forces marched toward the settlement. For a basically nomadic people, it was quite rare to see such impressive stone walls surround a groups settlement. That said Haa! Its so easy to jump over a wall like this! It might as well be made of earth! Oraa!! The catlike beastmen with higher physical capabilities jumped by used the back of theirrades as stepping stones. *DOOOONN!!!* Ack!? The wall suddenly extended vertically, causing those who jumped to crash into it. Please consider supporting me. You can do this either by turning off adblock for this blog or via myPatreon page. Thank you. Chapter 242: Jump over the wall in one go Chapter 242: Jump over the wall in one go Theyre here! Everyone, engage them! Show them the might of women! Lili-san shouted hermand to her gang. However, deep inside, she was quite anxious. She was even sweating from her brows. Damn itnot just the men, but the dogs as wellwill we be able to hold out? Itll be fine. !? Do you have a n or something!? I wouldnt necessarily call it a n Wah, their vanguards starting to advance! Are they going to step on their allies to get over the wall L-san suddenly shouted so. When I looked, some beastmen were about to step on the back of their allies who had stopped in front of the stone wall in order to jump over the wall in one go. Woah, incredible. Beastmen really do have impressive physical strength. anyway, I guess I better make the wall a bit taller. Ha? What are you I used Facility Customization and made the stone wall stretch by about 2 meters. Like that, the beastmen all of a sudden found their jump to not be enough to ovee the now-taller wall. T-the wall!? It stretched!? Waaaa!!! *Dooooonn!!!* Woah, that must have seriously hurt. After the wall stretched vertically, the vanguard who tried to jump over it has instead crashed into it. W-what!? The wall grew taller!? D-dont be ridiculous! Thats impossible! Upon witnessing an unbelievable thing, the next wave of attackers involuntarily stopped in their tracks. Meanwhile, the ones who went before them had fallen to the ground and had lost consciousness. Ouch! What is it this time!? S-stones! Theyre throwing stones! While the invading beastmen were still confused, arge number of stones began descending on them. When they turned their heads, they saw that the women had climbed at the top of the wall and were the ones throwing the stones one after the other. Ack! Damn it! Are you really stooping to this!? Hiii!! Beastmen seldomly did stone throwing as a means to fight, so the men were baffled by the womens unexpected attack. Nevertheless, the thrown stones were nothing to scoff at. The women were throwing them from a considerable height, further increasing its power. Multiple beastmen have been hit in the head and have fallen unconscious already. Dont falter! Attack them right now!! Gaga shouted such words of encouragement to his men. Despite the shower of stones, a few men had actually managed to scale the wall and were in closebat with the women. Thanks to that, there were less and less stones being thrown their way. Dont let this chance go! Charge! When Gaga issued thatmand though Woahhh!? Gaa! Youve got to be kidding! When did Screams suddenly erupted from behind Gaga. When he turned to looked, he was immediately at a loss for words. Why are they The women had appeared behind the joint forces and attacked them. How the women got there, the joint forces had no idea at all. And among the women there was Lili. Oraoraoraora! Ill knock you all down! While shouting wildly like that, she fought furiously against one enemy after the other. Like that, the joint forces found themselves sandwiched. The women fighting on the wall also pushed the joint forces back, rendering thetterpletely trapped like mice. Damn it, I dont get this! This shouldnt have beenwha!? While expressing his frustration like that, Gaga found himself suddenly floating in midair. To be more urate, the ground beneath his feet had vanished all of a sudden. Gyaa!? Ghh, whats, whats going on here!? As for where he crashed down into, it was the floor a mysterious underground tunnel. While bewildered by the series of unexinable events that has been happening, he heard a voice from behind him. Hi, hello there. !? W-who are When he turned around, he saw a human girl. The one they were targeting all along has unexpectedly made an appearance. Moreover, she was all alone. If Gaga were to take her hostage, he thought he could turn the tables around. Without even taking longer than a moment to make his decision, he sprung at the girl. Please consider supporting me. You can do this either by turning off adblock for this blog or via myPatreon page. Thank you. Chapter 243: Does it really hurt if that gets bitten off? Chapter 243: Does it really hurt if that gets bitten off? Haaa, haaa, haaaashitthe hells going on The boss of male catlike beastmen said so as he panted and slumped to the ground. I-is this some kind of magic? He had repeatedly tried to attack me, but each time, I simply teleported behind him. Thanks to that, he reached his limit and was all out of breath. The fight should have finished by now, I think. Alrighty, lets go. !? Again!? I teleported again behind, but this time, I ced my hand on his back. Like that, I teleported the two of us aboveground. Wait, this is Just as I predicted, the fighting aboveground has concluded. The majority of the joint forces seemed to have sensed their defeat and escaped. As such, only the wounded and those that were captured remained. Among them was the doglike beastmens boss. Gaga! And Luke!? Lili-san rushed toward us when she noticed us. You! Distance yourself from Luke or else! W-wait! I dont want to fight anymore! No longer wanting to fight, Gaga immediately raised both his hands as a sign of his surrender. Now then, what should we do with these idiots? Lili-san asked so as she scowled at the tied-up beastmen sitting on the floor, the bosses among them. We were somewhere a little bit away from the womens settlement. Maybe we should start with biting off your things? See this? !? Lili-san threatened them by saying so and showing her fangs. In reaction, the menperhaps imagining the painturned ghastly pale. to be honest, I too felt ufortable at that moment. Hey, hey, does it really hurt if that gets bitten off? L-san asked so in an almost childlike manner. Of course, it does! Now, now, wouldnt that endanger the future of catlike beastmen? Before I knew it, I wound up helping the men out like that. The female beastmen really did need the men in order to reproduce though. Tch, you have a pointI guess Ill just have to settle with making an example of those who masterminded this whole thing. Hiiiii!? A few people who seemed to be the ringleaders shouted their desperate pleas while bowing their head almost to the ground. I was just doing what the boss said! I even tried to stop him at first, I swear! Oi, quit the nonsense!! You were so hyped from the beginning! I-in fact, I didnt even want to do this, but you see, the aggressive bunch were just making so much noise, this was all I could do to hold them back The male catlike beastmen pleaded like that. Meanwhile, the doglike beastmens boss stoically dered something. I have no excuse. The one who decided to help them as well as the one to persuade my gang was none other than me. All fault falls to me. Do with me what you please. However, I ask that you show leniency in your judgment on the others. N-no, its not your fault alone, boss! We agreed to it, so were at fault too! how do I put this? The doglike and catlike beastmen are so different, huh. Wow, our men sure look patheticpared to them Lili-san said so with a look of disdain toward the male catlike beastmen. F-fucking dogmen! You sly bastards! Shut it, Gaga. Or do you want me castrate you here and now? Hiii!! At this rate, it really looks like hes about to be castrated. Well, you reap what you sow, I guessIll leave it to Lili-san decide on their punishment. Many of them are wounded, so whatever their punishment might be, I think its better to treat them for now. Alright, everyone, Im going to be handing out potions for you to drink. Oh, wait, youre tied up. I saw no other choice but for me to pour the potion down into their mouths, starting from those who seemed more injured. Some of them protested at first because they thought it might be some kind of dangerous drink, but when they saw its effects All of their wounds vanished in an instant!? That guy had a broken bone! Give that to me right now! Having understood its effects, they immediately became more epting of the potions. Lili-san, can I ask you guys to help me? O-oh, yes, of course. Please consider supporting me. You can do this either by turning off adblock for this blog or via my Patreon page. Thank you. Chapter 244: And Ill castrate you right away Chapter 244: And Ill castrate you right away We lock up the two bosses until we were ready to pass judgment on them. As for the others, the decision was to let them go. Both bosses had a great deal of influence over their respective gangs, so we thought we thought it was unlikely that we would suffer another attack. A few dayster, Lili-san was ready to dere to the bosses their punishment. Lets start with the doglike beastmen.as long as youre the boss, if our group is ever put in danger, your group is toe to our aid, no questions asked. are you sure thats good enough? Yeah. Not like you canpensate us any other way, anyway. Butyou dont have any guarantee that well keep our word. Sure, but no matter how I look at you, you dont seem to be the type to break your promises easily. Unlike Gaga over there. But, well, we do need a guarantee Lili-san said so and then winked at me. With that cue, I stepped forward. Ahm, Bull-san, right? Ill be going to your settlement and make a field where you can grow crops easily. What? Surely, thatll help with your food situation, right? A-are you sure youre willing to do this? I mean, we tried to kidnap you From what I understood from all the interrogation weve done so far, the reason they cooperated with the male catlike beastmen was apparently so that they could kidnap me and make me solve their dire food crisis. About that. You really didnt have to kidnap me, you know. If you had just asked, I would havee and helped your settlement Eh? I could make something like a field in an instant, after all. But now, Im going to have to ask you to keep your promise with the female cat beastmen. If you break your word, Ill take it all away. I see. Then, you can be sure that well do everything in our power to keep that promise. Moving on, Lili-san turned her attention to the boss of the male cat beastmen. It was already decided that I will also go to their settlement, but before we go through that, Lili-san required something from them. Gaga, step down from being the boss. Ha? W-wait a minute!? Why just me!? You didnt ask that from the dogs! Fine, castration it is Im stepping down right this moment!! Lili-san took out a de and informed Gaga so in a serious tone. In response, Gaga immediately yielded. Additionally, Lili-san was the one to choose who the recement was going to be. I choose Dada to be your next boss. My little brother is a reasonable guy, unlike you whos nothing but a musclehead. Hes strong too. He might still be young, but he should be up to the task of being boss. Ghh, him, huh I should make it clear that you are to support your new boss fully. If I hear that youre rising against him, just like with the dogs, well take away your fields I get it, I get it and Ill castrate you right away. Ill do anything you want, just please, dont! Alright, Ill be making the fields now. I hade to the doglike beastmens settlement. Unlike the catlike beastmen, their men and women lived together here. Another difference with the catlike beastmen was that they apparently had the same partners each time the breeding seasones. ording to what I heard, they paired up with another from a young age and basically spent the rest of their lives in a rtionship with that other person. A field really just There are some seeds here. Ill leave it up to guys to nt and grow them. In 3 days time, the crops should be ready for harvest. In just 3 days!? Bull-san, the doglike beastmens boss, was shocked. As a bonus, Ill be building a bathhouse and some toiletster. I called it a bonus, but since I did the same for the female catlike beastmens settlement, this was rather standard by now. And just like back there, this settlement also has some sanitary issues. After I was done with making stuff for the doglike beastmens settlement, I headed toward the male catlike beastmens home. Ive heard about you. Im Dada, the new boss. Coming to greet me was a tall and slenderd. He was supposedly Lili-sans younger brother, but his demeanor was very soft and he also gave the impression that he was very smart. And despite being blood-rted, they apparently havent interacted much. But then again, Dada-san was made to move here when he turned 3 years of age, so the sense of being a family just wasnt there to begin with, it would seem. Just like before, I also nned to build bathhouses and toilets here. mhm? To that end, I surveyed the settlement. While I was doing so, I couldnt help but notice that there were more and more men looking my way. I thought that it was the usual case of being curious about the mysterious buildings that appeared out of nowhere, but What a cute girl Shes human, butshes not that bad, aint she *Drools* Wa-wait a minutethey cant possibly be starting to get in heat, can they!? Please consider supporting me. You can do this either by turning off adblock for this blog or via myPatreon page. Thank you. Chapter 245: You should keep that look forever Chapter 245: You should keep that look forever When the other beastmen heard what happened with the catlike and doglike beastmen, they sent requests for help themselves. Of course, Luke happily responded to each one. Like that, the beastmens food situation has improved greatly in only a short time. And since the beastmen had enough food, they didnt need to raid the duchy anymore. Hmm, what is happening? I find it hard to believe that they solve their food crisis on their own and so quickly Tilting his head in confusion was Duke Kaion. He had received reports from his vassals saying that the raids from the beastmen had all of a sudden stopped and they had no idea why. This is just a rumor, sir, but ording to it, a human girl has been using her mysterious powers and made the beastmens barrennd be able to produce a sufficient yield of crops A human girl? Can itno, thats impossible. He has been in the duchy responding to our requests this whole time Duke Kaion still didnt know that the Luke in his duchy was a body double. Whatever the case might be, theck of the raids from the north was a wee reprieve. And so, while still keeping an eye out for the beastmens movement, they began their preparation for winter in earnest. Im finally free!!! I said so while raising my fist up. I had suffered so much emotional pain during this past month. Each day, I had to endure the inquisitive looks from those around me. I was unable to say anything, whenever an innocent child asked why are you dressed like that?, but never do I have to suffer through that again. There have also been times where people have tried to pick me up without realizing that I was a man. And whenever I informed them that I was indeed a man, they would say nah, such a cute girl like you cant possibly be a man. Otherments said things like you look better this way, so you really were a girl, you should keep that look forever, but I brushed those aside as well. However, today, I could finally say farewell to that experience. Yes, today marks the end of the month-long punishment that Selen has given me. I never want to wear this again! I said so as I aggressively took off the dress I was wearing. I then proceeded to remove my wig and my make-up. Before long, I was back in my original look. When I looked at the mirror huh? Why do I not look as masculine as I thought I would be I havent seen myself look like this in a while, so maybe I was just expecting too much of myself. Regardless, this look definitely suited me more. It should, right? Luke-sama!? What happened!? Hey, Luke! Why did you stop wearing dresses!? Its been a month, you know. When they saw me, Millia and Selen looked horrified for some reason and hounded me with such questions. Meanwhile, I calmly answered them like that. B-but everyone loved it. Youll surely do it again, right? Yeah, you sure were popr looking like that! You should don that look every once in a while! I firmly rejected them. No way, okay? Im never dressing like that ever again. N-noso, I wont see that sublime form ever again!? CursesI should have made you dress like that for eternity instead of just a month! Why are you two saying such horrible things??? And then, as though she just thought of something, Millia excitedly began saying something. Ohh! Thats it! The body doubles still havent changed, right!? Im obviously going to make all of them change back soon. Why though!? At least a few of them should keep that look! The two protested fervently, but I was unmoved. Actually, I should tell them to change back nowahh! I then remembered something. If they find out that Im a man The beastmen didnt know that I was merely crossdressing. For them, I was an actual girl. If Lili-san found out that I was a man, it would almost certainly cause problems. After all, men were normally prohibited from entering their settlement. And if one were to somehow get in without the proper permissions, they would be executed on sight. And I had even entered the bath with them I see no other waythat particr body double would have to remain being in drag Please consider supporting me. You can do this either by turning off adblock for this blog or via my Patreon page. Thank you. Chapter 246: Sounds more like a thief to me Chapter 246: Sounds more like a thief to me Hmm, like I thought, I havent grown much I said so with a sigh while looking at the lines of the height measuring device. The device I was using was made in the viges workshop and was currently installed in my home. I have been measuring my height for about a year now, but I have apparently grown by only a centimeter. Andtely, it felt like I have stopped growing entirely, not even by a tiny, tiny bit. Nah, must be just my imaginationyup, Im sure Ill grow a lot one of these days. Fufufu, theres no need to stress about it, Luke-sama. Millia? After all, you look perfect just the way you are. (*Looks like her magics working, doesnt it? Like this, Luke-sama should be able to keep his young appearancegufufufufu*) Millia said so, but I for one wanted to grow bigger. I havent picked up a skill that allows me to change my appearance, have I? At any rate, winter was fast approaching our vige. But since we had railway systems that ran undergroundas opposed tost year where we only had roads abovegroundthere likely wont be a decrease in the number of people travelling to our vige even in the winter. When spring arrives after the wastnds long winter, I would be turning 14. It would also mark the second year of the vige. So many things have happened within those 2 years. This year was especially hectic though. Aroundte spring, Raul led an army of 5,000 soldiers against us. Ande autumn, we found ourselves shing against father. Thankfully, we managed to ovee both of them. The dissolution of the Albert territory has served as a major impetus for the skirmishes throughout the kingdom to die down. And then, when the kingdoms armywhich was being strengthened more and more each day thanks in part to Rauls effortsannounced that it would be intervening in any ongoing wars within the kingdom, even the most hot-blooded of lords seemed to have quieted down. It looks like the kingdoms going to be peaceful atst, doesnt it? And so, we havepletely transitioned into winter. The first winter we had here was rather rough, but we seemed to be having it easy this year. As such, I had decided to hold a few small-scale events. First in the list was to hold christmas. Christmas? Yeah, whats that? This world didnt have that kind of culture, after all. Its an event where an old man with a white beard rides a sleigh pulled by reindeers and goes house to house during the night to deliver presents to children. Christmas was originally a more solemn thing though Eh? He breaks inside homes through the chimney? Sounds more like a thief to me. uhh, well, dont worry about that part, ok? And when ites to christmas, of course there had to be christmas trees. We had nted arge tree in the viges za and decorated it. And then, it was already Christmas eve. by the way, the date I set for when we would celebrate Christmas was chosen at random. Everyone, are you ready? YES!! The ones who answered were my body doubles who, at the moment, wore red clothing as well as fake beards. Each of them was to stealthily enter the vigers homes using teleportation and ce a present by the bed of the children. As for what the presents held within, they were things that a child typically liked, such as sweets and toys. That said, since we distributed the presents randomly, there unfortunately was the chance that they may get something that they didnt exactly wish for. The following morning, the vige was full of smiling children. And it wasnt just the children. There was a present in my home too! Mine too! Since the adults thought we were only giving presents to the children, they were greatly pleased when they discovered that we left a little something for them too. Another way our Christmas was different from a traditional one was the snowball fightingpetition we did. The vigers were divided into two teams, the east and the west. Each team was to throw snowballs at the other. If one gets hit anywhere in the body by an enemys snowball, they were eliminated. The match would end when either team has all their members eliminated. The field of y was the entire vige except for the inside of buildings. It was a lot of fun, but it sure took an awful lot of time. Especially so towards the end when it was only Selius-kun of the east team and Dill-san of the west team that remained. Thepetition was now only between the two of them, so one would think it would end soon. However, it was anything but that. Selius-kun could expertly avoid the iing snowballs, while Dill-san excelled at stealth and enemy detection. The both of them carried their respective teams hope for victory, so they did the best they could to win. However, after about a week, the contest still hasnt concluded. The other vigers had already returned to their everyday life a long time ago, yet the two still continued on. It ended when Selius-kun dozed off from exhaustion and Dill-san threw a snowball at him. Like that, Dill-san managed to secure the win. I-Ill have my revenge next year! You wanna go again, huh, Selius-kun Please consider supporting me. You can do this either by turning off adblock for this blog or via myPatreon page. Thank you. Chapter 247: But isnt this too useful? Chapter 247: But isnt this too useful? Some time passed and spring was drawing closer to the wastnd vige. It still continued to be cold, but the days have been gradually getting longer and longer. In addition, the snow that piled up during the winter was slowly but surely melting away. ording to the merchants who havee to our vige, it was already warm in the southern side of the kingdom. In fact, the royal capital has apparently recently celebrated the advent of spring. I hope this year will be aidback one. Immediately after I said so, I thought wait, did I just set up a g?. And almost like it was on cue, the body double in the capital contacted me for an urgent report. <> <> <> I could sense only trouble from this. That said, it wasnt like I could simply turn down the request. its because of these things that I didnt want to get too involved with rulers and such. Like that, I reluctantly teleported to the royal capital. Oh, Luke! Youre here! Yes, your majesty. My body double has given me a rough summary of the situation, but care to borate? Very well. To bepletely honest, this situation is quite grave. Uneasiness on his face, the king gave me further details. The kingdom to the south of ours, Barste, have invaded us. Barste was originally a small nation. However, while our kingdom kept fighting amongst ourselves, their nation dedicated their time in expanding. And now, they have expanded enough to rival our military might. Its likely that theyve been aiming to attack our kingdom for quite some time now. And when they caught wind that our internal fighting was about to cease, they decided to attack before we could be fully united. Ahm, and how are things currently? Im afraid things are currently abysmal. The burden of protecting our south falls to Duke Talister, but his army is exceedingly outnumbered by themselves. Which is no wonder, considering that the enemy army is said to have a strength of 50, 000 soldiers. Rivaling Duke Kaion of the north was Duke Talister of the south. Even then though, the best they could muster up was about 10, 000 soldiers. I hate to admit it, but fathers prediction was spot on. The one to interject was none other than Raul. Not that wed be better off if he got his way and became king. I doubt hed be able to mobilize troops in time, after all. While Raul was saying so, the king made a wry smile. we have called for the support of the lords of the kingdom as well as preparing the royal army to deploy. Thanks to the railway system you built, were able to travel to faraway ces in a short timebut even with that, I fear that we still will not make it before any damage is done. After all, winter has just ended in our kingdom, while theirs have been in spring for some time. The royal family could deploy the royal army right away as it was under their direct control. However, it wasnt as simple when it came to calling for reinforcements from the other lords. Which brings us to why I invited you here. I was hoping that you, who has ovee challenges after challenges, might have an idea on how we can ovee this. A-arent you expecting too much of me And so, I teleported to the Talister duchy. My body doubles have already made this part of my vige when they built railways here, so teleporting here was no issue. Ive thought this before, but isnt this too usefullike, cant you move an entire army in a sh by yourself? I had brought along Raul and he expressed his wonder at my teleportation ability upon our arrival. People have to be touching a part of my body though, so its not as good as you might think. I could probably bring a maximum of ten people at once. So, when talking about an army of thousands, I would need to do so much back and forth. Rather than do that, Im thinking of doing something far simpler. You have something else for moving troops? No, not that. Im talking about a simpler way of driving back the enemies. What? Please consider supporting me. You can do this either by turning off adblock for this blog or via myPatreon page. Thank you. Chapter 248: I hope its alright if I change the landscape here a little bit Chapter 248: I hope its alright if I change thendscape here a little bit Duke Talister was an old man with an amazing physique. At the moment, he looked discontent. His majesty has already informed me to entrustmand here to you. Huh? I havent heard anything about that. Like, since when did I be something like a general? Kuku, well, this makes things easier, doesnt it? Your ways dont really follow conventional strategies, you know. The less people in the way, the better, if you ask me. Raul said so andughed. I couldnt imagine that such a thing was amusing for Duke Talister who has been guarding this ce all this time. *(hmp, what can ad who isnt familiar with thend do? That railway was certainly extraordinary, but warfare is apletely different matter.)* The duke might not have said anything, but his face said enough for me to certain that he furious within. Ahmwell, this capital of yours is the southernmost point, right? Its safe to assume that this will be where the enemies will attack first, isnt it? The duchys capitalwhich was a fortress citywas said to be thergest and most important fortress in the region. Not necessarily. What do you mean? You are correct that this is the southernmost point in the duchy. However, there are 3 points of interest for our enemies. This is one of those 3. It should go without saying that the other two are formidable fortresses as well. However, should either fall, defending the kingdom will all of a sudden be hellish. In other words, we must spare some troops to those other fortresses. As to be expected when fighting with a numerically inferior army, how we divide our limited war potential was crucial. hmm, yeah, I can see how its troublesome when fighting normally. Normally? Duke TalisterI hope its alright if I change thendscape here a little bit. Come again? The army of the Barste kingdom concentrated most of its war potential onto its main force. Of its more than 50,000 soldiers, a total of only about 20,000 soldiers were dedicated to the detached forces which were sent to the two fortresses to the sides. The enemy still hasnt finished their preparations! Dont give them the chance and take down their fortress right now! The man who was givenmand of the entire invading force was known to be the Barste kingdoms greatest general. He hase from a family that has yed a significant role in their kingdoms conquest of the smaller nations that neighbored theirs. As for the person himself, he has distinguishing himself in the battlefield ever since his first campaign at the age of 12. It should go without saying that failure was not an option. That said, the first thing in their way was Duke Talister who has defended the southern side of the neighboring kingdom time and time again. The neighboring kingdom was still in turmoil due to the internal fighting that has been guing theirnd for a long time, but even then, they could still gather a respectable army for reinforcement if given enough time. And so, in order to avoid a prolonged fight, the general decided that they would deploy most of their troops to assault the nearest and more essible fortress: the fortress city that doubled as the duchys capital. Also, in the generals mind, because the fortress city was the most formidable one out of the three fortresses, the enemies wouldnt expect that they would be going for it from the start instead of taking down either of the side fortresses first. Before they proceeded though, the general heard the report of the spy that managed to sneak into the enemy kingdom beforehand. As predicted, our enemies have stationed a great number of their troops to the two other fortresses. It seems that the army controlled by the royal army has already arrived, but the same cant be said about the reinforcements from the other nobles. The general nodded as though he was satisfied by the report he heard. Obviously, even with arge army, taking down a formidable fortress city with impressive walls was no easy task. However, the general was highly confident that they woulde out triumphant. At least, until *Gogogogogogogogogogogogo!!* The ground made such loud, rumbling noises. The general looked for where those noises could possibly being from. Upon realizing what was happening, he was instantly at a loss for words. eh? Gigantic walls were fiercely rising from the ground. Moreover, those walls stretched over the horizon. In effect, thispletely blocked the path for their armies to advance. Please consider supporting me. You can do this either by turning off adblock for this blog or via myPatreon page. Thank you. Chapter 249: Ill leave the rest to the body doubles Chapter 249: Ill leave the rest to the body doubles Is this tall enough? From atop an observation tower that was near the southern end of the fortress city, I built a wide rampart. It stood at about 2 meters tall, but more importantly, it stretched to the left and right for a few kilometers. W-w-w-wh Kukuku, ridiculous as always. While Duke Talister was stunned, Raul simplyughed. Having a giant wall appear right in front of them out of nowhere, I almost feel sorry for them. Im not yet done though. I want to extend it until it spans the whole border. Spans the whole border!? The duke, his eyes wide open, shouted so in reaction to my answer to Raul. I guess Ill leave the rest to the body doubles. You called? I summoned two body doubles and tasked them with extending the wall further. Where did these two peoplee from!? W-whats happening!? Kukuku, youll wind up dead if you keep getting surprised like that by each thing this guy does. When the doubles left via teleportation, I added some gimmicks to the wall. First, well want an easy way to ess the wall from this city < > Thatll do. Ok, now, lets go there. I said so and then teleported to the top of the wall. A road on top of the wall will allow faster travel here, so Ill do that next. And then, Ill add walls that are perpendicr to this wide one Like this, not only would we be able to attack the enemies from the front, but also from their sides. <> <> When the doubles reported so, I asked them head back while building a road on the top of the wall they extended. Oi, look at them. Theyre frozen still. The enemy army had stopped advancing due to the wall that suddenly appeared before them. Not knowing what to do, they stared nkly up at it. Im done. Me too. Mhm, thanks. The doubles said so when they returned. Like that, the giant ramparts construction wasplete. I call this[The Great Wall] (*giarized*). W-wow! It really does go right to the end! And its tall and solid too! No way the enemies will get over or even through this easily. Also, am I just imagining it, or are we really moving so quickly while were on top of this wall!? Duke Talisters soldiers were excited about the gigantic wall that suddenly appeared. They were so nervous about how they would fare against such arge army, but now, they were confident that the tables had turned. Still, how did all of this happen Its Luke-sama, for sure! Luke-sama? You dont know him? Hes the great messiah who built that wastnd vige! And, not only did he take back the capital from the Albert army, he also built the railways all over the kingdom, making us more united than we perhaps ever were! All of those were true? They were so absurd, I was sure it was just some made-up story or something Theyre definitely not made-up! A few folks from the kingdoms army say they got here via those railways! ! If thats not enough proof for you, Ive seen one of those underground railway stations myself, you know! Lukes name has apparently spread even to a faraway ce like the Talister duchy. Really? thats amazing, isnt it If you want to know more about Luke-sama, you should definitely give this a read! A book? Its a tome detailing parts of Luke-samas life! As far as I know, there are currently two volumes avable. Ahh, I cant wait to read the continuation! it would seem, the number of his believers has increased as well. H-horrible news, sir! Weve tried looking for the end of this mysterious wallbut it, it looks like it spans their kingdoms entire border! Thats, thats nonsense! The general of the Barste kingdom heard a report so ridiculous, he almost fell down from his horse. The wall had suddenly appeared before them almost as though it rose from the ground. He had witnessed it with his own eyes, yet he still couldnt believe any of it was real. A-ording to rumors, sir, theres ad among them thats capable of something like this What do you mean If there was indeed a monster like that among their enemy, they stood no chance at all. In the end, the Barste army decided to raise the white g and retreat before any fighting even began. Please consider supporting me. You can do this either by turning off adblock for this blog or via myPatreon page. Thank you. Chapter 250: Are you doing a bit Chapter 250: Are you doing a bit Oh, theyre retreating. Hmp, gotta give their general some credit. Somebody else would have been stubborn and push through despite theck of any solution for your shenaniganswait, did I just describe myself!? Are you doing a bit, Raul? We had noticed movement among the Barste army. It would seem though that it was to turn around and return to their home kingdom. Anyway, I guess we didnt even have to deploy the kingdoms army. Oh well, we have the trains, so its fine. But then again, it might be better to station them here for a while in case the enemy somehow decides to attack again. In the end, there wasnt any need to ask the lords for reinforcements, huh. I might not have volunteered to be themander here, but I sure hope Ive aplished that duty with this. U-unbelievableweve won without even fighting As though still in disbelief, Duke Talister said so while his lips trembled. Despite being like that, I decided to entrust him with handling the rest so that I could return to the royal pce with Raul right away. I quickly asked an audience with the king in order to deliver my report. The enemy army has withdrawn, your majesty. w-withdrawn? Care to borate? I then gave a summary of what has transpired. ? ahm, your majesty? Ahh!? E-excuse meI was so shocked I spaced out for a moment there Is he exhausted or something? But I suppose this is nothing when you can bring an entire city to the capitaldid you perhaps do that same tactic to resolve our national crisis so easily? Well, this time, I just built a really long wall. By the way, one alternative I thought about was making a deep moat that could be confused for a valley. But then I thought about how it would restrict travel to our kingdomter on and decided against it. Moreover, I didnt want anyone to identally fall down there and die. At any rate, thank you for everything youve done for us this time as well. If theres anything I can do repay this favor, you need but say the word. Its alright, dont worry about it. I didnt agree to do it because I wanted a reward, after all. Although, if I was forced to choose something, I would like to spend my days in peace and quiet. by the way, Luke, Id like to talk about my daughter, Darinea Well then, I bid you farewell, your majesty. Wait, let me finish! Before the king could tell me what it was about, I teleported back to the vige. I just had a bad feeling about it. My name is Maria. I am a pious believer and servant of god. I had entered the faith at a young age. Soon after that, I began serving as a sister in the Grand Cathedral of Areisler, thergest religious site in the nation. And now, many yearster, the head of our congregation was personally telling me that I was to perform a certain mission. Maria, you are to immigrate to a city in the wastnd and conduct an investigation there. Aninvestigation? Yes. We suspect that there might be an illegitimate church in there. Anillegitimate church? It was my first time to hear such a phrase. After all, one couldnt call itself a church without first receiving the approval of our cathedral. To begin with, they wouldnt have a priest since everyone who has received the [Oracle] Gift waspelled to be believers of our faith. Theres the chance that the city in question has gotten hold of an unaffiliated bearer of the [Oracle] Gift. Wh If that was true, we had a grave situation in our hands. I understand now. I will do my best to determine the truth. Well be counting on you then, Maria. And so, I headed to the said wastnd city. I, who has never stepped a foot outside of the dominion controlled by the church, was overwhelmed by the city that I saw. So many tall buildingsand so many people; its so bustling I was worried that they would suspect me because I was repeatedly getting surprised by all the new things I was seeing, but since the other immigrants were pretty much acting the same, I ended up blending in quite nicely. Thanks to that, I was able to start my life in the vige. Some time passed when I heard a certain rumor. Apparently, the maid of the citys leaderwho prefers to be referred to as a vige chiefwas periodically gathering the residents somewhere underground. I heard that this gathering used to be held aboveground, but when too many passing travelers attended it, they had it moved underground so as to not attract any unwanted attention. definitely suspicious. Naturally, I immediately decided to attend that gathering. And in there Luke-sama! Luke-sama! Luke-sama! Luke-sama! Luke-sama! Luke-sama! Luke-sama! Luke-sama! Yes! For Luke-sama is the messiah of the world sent down here by the gods! No matter how I looked at it, they were definitely following a crazy doctrine. The one enthusiastically preaching such beliefs on the altar was none other than the mentioned maidwho was, for some reason, doing so while still dressed in her maid outfit. Spreading such false beliefs was a grave sin against the gods. This was absolutely unforgivable. I knew I had to report it to the church as soon as I could. However, I suddenly felt a tap on my shoulder. When I turned around to look, I unintentionally let out a Hiii. Fufufu, this is your first time here, right? Then, once the service is over, allow me to personally tell you about Luke-samas magnificence. At that moment, the smiling maid looked as though she was the personification of an evil deity. Please consider supporting me. You can do this either by turning off adblock for this blog or via myPatreon page. Thank you. Chapter 251: My eyes are finally open! Chapter 251: My eyes are finally open! My name is Maria. I am pious believer and servant of the gods. I have been serving as a sister in the Grand Cathedral of Areisler, which was thergest religious grounds in the nation, ever since I was young. One day, I was tasked by the head of our congregation to go and investigate a wastnd city in the northern regions of the former Albert territory. Apparently, an illegitimate church was operating in the area. Doing things like spreading false teachings was nothing but sphemy. And so, burning with faith and righteous indignation, I epted the task and infiltrated the vige. After some time, I discovered Ahh, Millia-sama! My eyes are finally open! Its as you say, Luke-sama is unmistakably the messiah sent down to us by the gods! I have discovered the truth. Upon being enlightened like that, I was brought to tears. I have been learning about faith for many years now, but never have I been so moved like this. Indeed, Maria. Luke-sama is an existence than could stand equal to the gods themselves. He is someone who is set to rule and guide all of us here in the world. The one who zealously agreed to my words was Millia-sama, the very person who opened my eyes. Her role as a maid was nothing more than a disguise for her true calling: being a genuine evangelist. The truth doesnt lie with the Grand Cathedral of Areisler. I know now that it lies in this vige, in this church, and in Luke-sama. Thinking back on it, I did find a few things to be odd in the teachings I studied in Areisler. For example, the blessings. To be blessed, one must first give a significant offering to the cathedral. As such, only some nobles and the wealthy could receive it. ording to the priests, it was only natural to demand an appropriate offering in exchange for the power granted by the gods. To them, it was nothing short of sphemy to allow a nobody to have an easy ess to the rite of blessing. However, the nobles offerings could be traced back to the taxes collected from their people while the wealthy people could attribute at least some of their offerings to the efforts of their workers. Why then were these so-called nobodies not worthy of a blessing while the nobles and the wealthy were? Worse yet, there were some who earned their offering through foul means. And so, I just had to ask myself: would the gods really be pleased with such offerings? And speaking of offerings, the offerings that Areisler received from everybody was spent like it was nothing. The priests live in extravagant homes that could be mistaken for pces. They also dined each night as though it was a feast. And yet, not a single coin was spared for the needy. In contrast, Luke-sama and Millia-sama built this vige in the wastnd from nothing and epted people who have been suffering from the wars that have long been guing the nation. Moreover, they did so without discrimination to anybody. Even as time passed, instead of turning new people away, they continued to ensure that each new immigrant was going to have afortable life. And before long, their vige has developed to outrival even the royal capital. Lastly, their vige had overthrown the Albert army when thetter upied the royal capital. Like that, this era of warring was about to meet its end. it was written in the 5th volume of the holy scriptures titled [The Legend of Luke-sama], so it must be true. ording to Millia-sama who possessed the [Oracle] Gift, anybody regardless of their lot in life could receive a blessing here free of charge. At present, about 1 in 10 vigers had Gifts. Luke-sama! Luke-sama! Luke-sama! Luke-sama! Luke-sama! Luke-sama! Luke-sama! Luke-sama! Yes! For Luke-sama is the savior of the world sent down here by the gods! I was dumbfounded when I first saw the vigers chanting like this, but now, I could only see this passion as the natural reaction. I too vow to devote this life of mine towards Luke-sama! Praise be to Luke-sama! HmmI feel like there are so many vigers who have a Vige Bond Level of ultra-high nowadays Aside from the people who have been with us from the start, even the people who have just immigrated have upgraded their Vige Bond Level to ultra-high right away. Take for example a certain woman who has lived in the vige for only about a month. Name: Maria Age: 24 years old Vige Bond Level: Ultra-high Suitable upation: Sister Gift: None I have been keeping my eye on her since she showed up in the map with as an [intruder] when she first arrived. And yet now Please consider supporting me. You can do this either by turning off adblock for this blog or via myPatreon page. Thank you. Chapter 252: Nothing short of blasphemy to the gods! Chapter 252: Nothing short of sphemy to the gods! The city of Areisler was located north of a territory that was under the direct control of the royal family. It was a special area in that it was an autonomous region controlled by the Grand Cathedral of Areisler. That Grand Cathedral was the very same body who governed all the churches within the kingdom. Since all priests who could perform the rite of blessing for Gifts belonged to the churches, the Grand Cathedral was undeniably a powerful entity. Even the royal family and prominent nobles would find it difficult to oppose them. What is the meaning of this? Why is it that none of them have returned yet? The one to express such frustration was Aldera, the head of the Grand Cathedral. He was a man in his mid-sixties. He has held and abused his position for nearly 20 years now. He spends most of his day sitting down his obese bodyto the point where simply standing up took considerable effortin a luxurious sofa while garbed in opulent vestments. Young and beautiful women, whom he meticulously picked himself, attended to him all day around. The only movements he did for himself were pretty much messily devouring the endlessly-served food and asionally barking orders to his subordinates in between bites. It was no wonder to anyone how he got so fat. He was so self-indulgent he didnt at all look like a person who served the gods. However, due to his position, no one could ever admonish him for it. At least, not to his face. But at the moment, he was extremely anxious about something: the wastnd vige in the northern region of the former Albert territory. He found it puzzling that it was still referred to as a vige when it supposedly had grown into a megacity, but what concerned him more was the rumors about an unsanctioned church which was granting just about anybody Gifts. Such a church could exin the rapid growth of the said vige. Gifts were powerful things. As such, there were risks involved in giving it to someone as well. In the event that an evil person were to obtain a powerful Gift, it could mean disaster. For that reason, the church had been limiting who would receive the rite of blessing. Or so the church asserts. While there was some degree of truth to that, the main reason for limiting the recipients of blessings was so that its value would increase, thereby also increasing amount donated to the church. If some even pennilessmoners had ess to blessings, the church would have a hard time justifying their demand forrge offerings. Obviously, the nobles also benefited from themonersck of ess to Gifts. Only a few had objected to the ways the church did things. And so, as far as the Grand Cathedral was concerned, an unauthorized entity that was handing out Gifts left and right couldnt be ignored. They had sent multiple people to investigate the wastnd vige, but even now, not a single one of them have returned. Not even a report has turned up. What are those fools doing? Cant they even manage to send a report While fuming, Alderas pig-like body shook. Arrgh, enough with this slow approach! Its just a vige, so why the hell am I being so cautious!? I should just openly probe the ce from top to bottom! Late as it was, Aldera was now thinking that doing a careful covert investigation was a mistake. I had received several incredulous reports, so I had decided to y it safe and avoid provoking that ce, but what is there to be afraid of!? Were the Grand Cathedral of Areisler, for crying out loud! Even nobles and the royal family bow down to us! Not to mention, if theyve been harboring an unofficial priest, theyve beenmitting nothing short of sphemy to the gods! They must be eliminated! Oi, summon Cain! Y-yes! Upon hearing Alderasmand, a female attendant rushed out of the room. A few minutester, a man who looked like he was in the middle of his forties entered the room. You called for me, Your Eminence? The one who knelt before Aldera was Cain, the high-ranked priest who also served as Alderas righthand man. Cain had a stern face and a bald head. So, rather than a priest, he looked more like a gang member. Cain, go to that wastnd vige and search the ce thoroughly, turn it upside down if you have to! If you find any evidence of a heretical church or priest, put them to the sword at once! As youmand. Like that, the Grand Cathedral of Areisler sent arge-scale investigation group toward the vige in the wastnd. Please consider supporting me. You can do this either by turning off adblock for this blog or via myPatreon page. Thank you. Chapter 253: Consider it whatever you like Chapter 253: Consider it whatever you like As Alderas righthand man, the high-rank priest Cain has had a hand in many dirty tasks. One of those tasks was leading inquisitions. Anyone who was deemed an inconvenience, or rather, a transgressor of their just faith was to be captured and put to trial. In most circumstances, anyone proven to be a heretic were given extremely harsh punishments so as to serve as an example to others not to disobey the faiths teachings. In addition to five other priests, he was to be apanied by 20 church-trained holy knights in this mission. Each of these knights had abat-type Gift, making them an elite unit. Only a few others could hope to rival their might. This vige chief named Luke is being praised as a hero, but that doesnt matter. A heretic who has transgressed against the gods teachings must be brought to justice at all costs. For that reason, they were willing employ force. Such has always been the way of the church in dealing with a heretic. It mattered not who the other party was. And so, even though he was a bit intimidated by the wastnd city because it was more than what he expected, Cain maintained his air of superiority in his search for signs of heresy. We are the investigationmittee of the Grand Cathedral of Areisler. And were here due to the suspicions that there is a heretical faith operating in your vige. Naturally, you arent allowed to refuse us. So, by order of Aldera-sama, leader of the Grand Cathedral, we are to search every nook and cranny of this vige. <> On a certain day, Satin reported that to me via telepathy. Woah, the days finallye, huh. I said so while unconsciously grimacing. The Grand Cathedral of Areisler was the head church that governed all the other churches throughout the entire kingdom. Many have warned me that such a day woulde eventually, but today was apparently that day. Well, we did build a church of our own as well as performing blessings left and right In order to preserve their influence, their organization have been monopolizing priests who possessed the [Oracle] Gift and, in turn, the rite of blessing. As such, letting an independent church like ours to exist was just not something they would likely do. Once they heard about us, they were bound to brand us as heretics and attack. By the way, the one to tell me those details was actually the king himself. He apparently didnt have good opinions about that organization, but even he couldnt easily defy them. Theres no need to worry, Luke-sama. Do you some n, Millia? I do. I am the guardian of our church, after all. Will it be alright to leave it to her? Im kinda worried, but in a different sense I didnt have any good ideas myself though, so I reluctantly asked her for help. What are you pulling here? I thought I told you that I wanted to meet with the viges leader. Not bothering to hide his displeasure, Cain said so as he red at the woman who wore a maids outfit. Due to his features that were very much unlike that of a priestsand more of a thugany ordinary person would buckle under the immense pressure of his re. And yet, the maid showed no signs of timidness or the like, and was instead smiling. Fufufu, youre very haughty, arent you? If you want to meet with Luke-sama, you first have to do something about that haughtiness of yours. you, do you even know who I am? I take orders directly from Aldera-sama, leader of the Grand Cathedral of Areisler, and from no else. I am only acting as befits my station. If anyones being haughty here, its you. And enough of it to be considered treason against the church. Consider it whatever you like. With a low voice, Cain gave an order to the holy knights. Oi, silence that woman. Yes, sir! The holy knights replied so as they stepped forward. However, at the same time, the vigers who were standing behind the maid stepped forward to intervene. The holy knights outnumbered the vigers though. Hmp, these are the Cathedrals prized holy knights, you know. Are you really going to fight us with only that much of a force? Youre underestimating us too much. Please consider supporting me. You can do this either by turning off adblock for this blog or via myPatreon page. Thank you. Chapter 254: First, we’ve got to rectify that corrupted mind of yours, don’t we? Chapter 254: First, weve got to rectify that corrupted mind of yours, dont we? H-how can this beAreislers elite holy knights Cain couldnt believe the spectacle that unfolded before him and unconsciously groaned. The vigers led by the mysterious maid had easily defeated the holy knights he had brought along. But each of them had abat-type Gift! So, howoh, so thats it! You people have Gifts as well!? But to think youve gathered this many people who havebat-type Giftstheres no doubt about it now: the rumors about a heretical priest who wantonly performs the rite of blessing are true! Believing his conclusion to be correct, Cain shouted so. Even so, how did they easily outmatch the holy knights Its because theyve been training rigorously in our training grounds every day. On top of that, theyre also wearing top-ss weapons and equipment made by the dwarves. And just so were clear, theyre absolutely not the viges main army. This is just a special unit that I secretly organized so that I could have a force to mobilize in case things like this happen. Who, just who are you? Cain was certain that the maid in front of him was no ordinary one. The maid, meanwhile, eximed ahh, sorry for thete introduction Ahh, dear me, Im sorry for thete introductions. The maid, meanwhile eximed so while looking a bit embarrassed. Im Millia, Luke-samas personal maid as well as the viges sole priest. A pleasure to make your acquaintance. T-this is unforgiveable! Cain shouted so from behind iron bars. However, the maid, rather, the heretical priest named Millia was not bothered one bit. If anything, she smiled calmly. After the total defeat of the holy knights, Cain and his entourage were captured and crammed into this jail. Heretical, sphemous priest! You will be punished by the heavens, you mark my words! Fufufu, is that so? Im only going to ask for the sake of future reference, but what exactly is going to happen when I am punished by the heavens? You will be burned at the stake, of course! Burned at the stake? Rather than punished by the heavens, sounds more like punished by men to me. The will of the Cathedral of Areisler is the very will of the heavens! Whatever punishment we deal is divine punishment! Ehh, the gods speak to us through the Grand Cathedral of Areisler? The same Areisler who cares only about money and power, but not one bit about helping the people suffering in this war-torn world? Should I startughing at your joke now? Wh!? I mean, I heard that your leader eats meatand nothing elseall day long while being surrounded and pampered by beautiful women. Someone like that being the herald of the gods is just too absurd to believe. H-how dare you mock Aldera-sama like that! Upon hearing the heretical priests words of utmost sphemy, Cain got so upset that he forgot about the sturdy iron bars and rushed at her. Naturally though, the iron bars stopped his charge and made him fall on his backside. Mark my words, this vige is history! Once the Cathedral knows of your deeds here, all the churches in the kingdom will join forces and crush this ce! And if we demand it, most nobles in the kingdom are bound to rally with us as well! Your army dont stand a chance against such an enemy! You sure theyll really join forces with you guys? Those nobles are already benefiting from Luke-samas Gift, you knowbut its futile to exin things to you, isnt it? Nema-sama, may I ask you to take it from here? Yes, leave it to me. A small, old woman then stepped forward. At that moment, a cold sweat suddenly ran down Cains back. Before he knew it, the fear that assailed him made him retreat. The old woman, on the other hand, gave him an ominous smile. First, weve got to rectify that corrupted mind of yours, dont we? R-rectify!? What, theres nothing to worry about, you know. Were just going to make your heart as pure as a priests heart ought to be. If anything, you should be feeling grateful. My method might hurt a little bit thougheheeheehee !!? Please consider supporting me. You can do this either by turning off adblock for this blog or via myPatreon page. Thank you. Chapter 255: We didn’t find anything wrong in that village Chapter 255: We didnt find anything wrong in that vige Having finished his investigation, Cain returned to the Grand Cathedral of Aldera. Aldera, whose body was toorge that simply moving presented difficulty, was nted firmly in his sofa just like always when Cain arrived in the room. So, how was it? Sir, weve searched every nook and cranny like you ordered, but we didnt find anything wrong in that vige. Are you sure? Yes, sir. We didnt find any trace of a heretical church or priest. There wasnt any truth to the vige wantonly performing the rite of blessing either. Weve also found the people who have infiltrated the vige before, and after perfectly blending in with the vige, they reported that there was nothing suspicious happening in the vige. is that so Despite being unconvinced, Aldera nodded to that report. He found the report to be unbelievable, but he trusted Cain and he knew that thetter wouldnt lie to him. The vige chief, Luke-sama, has also stated that the Grand Cathedral of Areislers teachings are absolute. As such, he wishes to make arge donation. Ohh. Immediately after hearing the word donation, Alderas eyes glimmered. My, my, how thoughtful. Of course, it all depends on how much he donates and Ive heard he has had good fortely. . Aldera grinned and it contorted his face to an unsightly degree. Cain couldnt help but look with disdain, but Aldera was so preupied with his greed to even notice. E-e-e-emergency, your eminence! What, why are you being so loud!? Cant you see Im eating!? Aldera, waited upon by beautiful women while enjoying his meal, red at the impudent priest who entered the room unannounced. That priest flinched for a moment, but the situation was far more pressing, so he steeled himself and reported. T-the cathedral, its being attacked by an unknown group! An attack? Hmp, we have the strongest order of holy knights in here. We might not know who they are, but what cause do we have to panic? They wouldnt even make it inside the cathedral. But, your eminence, theyre already inside the cathedral! What did you say!? What are those knights doing? A-actually, sir At that moment, the door into the room opened once more. Standing on the other side was an unfamiliar ck-haired woman who, for some reason, was wearing a maids outfit. You are Cardinal Aldera, I presume? W-who are you!? I am Millia, a maid and a priest. A priest? I dont remember anyone like you being a priest! But of course, you dont. I didnt receive my [Oracle] Gift from your churches, after all. What did you say!? So, youre that heretical priestbut Cains reportno, more importantly, how did you manage to get this far!? At almost the same time that Aldera shouted so, an unknown group of armed soldiers entered the room through the same door the maid used. Hiii! Whats, whats happening!? Oi, where the hell are the holy knights!? Why are none of theming here!? Aldera continued shouting like that even when he tumbled out of hisrge couch. And then, as though his thoughts reached them, the holy knights rushed into the room. Finally! Remove them from my sight at once! ? Oi, what are you waiting for!? Why are none of you moving!? Despite shouting his orders to them, the holy knights didnt move an inch. In addition, even the invaders didnt seem to be on guard against holy knights. Its futile to resist, Cardinal Aldera. C-Cain!? The one to enter the room in such a calm manner was Cain, Alderas righthand man. And when Cain saw the maid, he uttered something truly incredible. Millia-sama, just as you ordered, majority of the people in the cathedral have been put to sleep. The potion you gave us had wonderful efficacy. Its made by the elves in the vige, so thats only natural. Upon seeing the two talk like that, Aldera finally understood the situation. Cain, whats the meaning of this!? Are you really betraying me!? Its time to change the ways of our faith, Cardinal. It no longer needs an ugly pig like you. From now on, the holy mother Millia-sama and our messiah, Luke-sama, will be the core of the kingdom, nay, the worlds faith! Cain has beenpletely brainwashed, Aldera thought. Please consider supporting me. You can do this either by turning off adblock for this blog or via myPatreon page. Thank you. Chapter 256: He has been rehabilitated Chapter 256: He has been rehabilitated From now on, the holy mother Millia-sama and our messiah, Luke-sama, will be the core of the kingdom, nay, the worlds faith! For Aldera, Cain had said an iprehensible thing. The subordinate he knew of in the past hadpletely changed, and that prompted a chill to run down Alderas back. Even so, he forced himself to shout something. Youre a high-ranking priest, yet you allowed yourself to be brainwashed by some heretical priest!? Do you even realize how much Ive helped you throughout the years!? Brainwashed? Fufufu, no, thats not quite right. My heart has been sullied ever since I joined our faith. Yet now, my heart is the purest it has ever been! It is not my brain that is washed, it is my heart! After watching Cain loudly dere so, Aldera was even more convinced that his subordinate has been brainwashed. Now, everyone, seize the Cardinal. Upon Cainsmand, the holy knights moved to capture Aldera. On closer inspection, Aldera realized that those holy knights were the same ones that went with Cain to investigate the wastnd. That led him to conclude that everyone in that team got brainwashed as well. The brawny knights proceeded to carry Alderasrge body. Before long, they were in front of a staircase that led underground. There wasnt supposed to be a staircase at that ce though. Moreover, at the bottom of the stairs was a path that seemed to stretch endlessly. Where are you taking me!? Theres no need to worry, Cardinal. By no means are we going to pass judgment on you. We are simply giving you a chance to be born anew as a pure and proper person, just like us! Cain dered so with a fiery ze within his eyes. On the other hand, Aldera felt fear the like of which he has never felt before. L-let go, let go of me!!!! PleaseI beg you! Spare me from thaaaattt!!! Luke-sama, he has been rehabilitated and broken inerr, educated, I mean. Huh? What are you talking about, Millia? I think she just said something troubling Well then, enter please. Yes, maam! Upon being invited in by Millia, a man who seemed to be in his sixties entered the room. When the man saw my face, he quickly became teary-eyed. It even felt like he murmured something like ahh, this is himhow truly divine, but that could just have been my imagination. And then, almost as though he was diving toward the ground, the man knelt down with great momentum. It is an honor to meet you, Luke-samaVige Chief Luke, I should say. I am Aldera, the Cardinal of the Grand Cathedral of Areisler. Ehhh? The very same leader of the cathedral that governs all the other churches in kingdom??? ording to the rumors though, the Cardinal has grown so fat that it was difficult for him to walk all by himself. The person before me looked quite slim. After I unconsciously tilted my head, Millia came to the rescue with an answer. He did used to be fat, but we have asked him to trim down. Trim down? The Cardinal(?) followed up while still hanging his head low. I did not believe it was right of me to stand before you in such a form. Thanks to a rigorous exercise routine and diet, Ive somehow managed to be this thin. I think he has lost over a hundred kilograms in a weeks time. A hundred!? In just a week!? No matter what kind of strict diet he does, I dont think its possible to lose that much weight so quickly. *(As long as its for Luke-sama, this is nothing!)* While I was amazed like that, the Cardinal looked at me like he wanted to say something. His eyes were also so full of passion that it scared me. AhmMister Cardinal, is there something? Could he have travelled here toin about how we were performing blessings left and right without their permission? It didnt seem like it, but I also couldnt rule it out. And then, Cardinal Aldera dered something. By the powers vested upon me as the Cardinal of the Grand Cathedral of Areisler, I hereby recognize the church in this vige to be an official church. *(I would rather dere that the church in this vige is the new center of our faithbut, sadly, we have do these things step by step)* Please consider supporting me. You can do this either by turning off adblock for this blog or via myPatreon page. Thank you. Chapter 257: I have seen the error of my ways Chapter 257: I have seen the error of my ways King Darios XIII was initially depressed when Cardinal Aldera requested an audience with him. After all, even as king, he was powerless against the cardinal and had to concede on multiple points in the past. Cardinal Aldera was an especially haughty and greedy individual. He was the kind of person that King Darios wanted to distance himself from as much as possible. Fortunately, the cardinal has gotten too fat that he hasnt made a visit to the pce in the recent years. However, on the appointed day, the Aldera that appeared before King Darios was a slim one. So much so that King Darios thought it was another person. Moreover, unlike before where Aldera dressed gaudily, his present attire was simple and subdued but still good enough for an audience with a king. A-are you really Cardinal Aldera? After kneeling down, Cardinal Aldera(?) spoke to dispel King Darioss doubts. Your majesty, its a pleasure to see you once again. Yes, there is no mistake. I am truly Cardinal Aldera of the Grand Cathedral of Areisler. Even the cardinals way of talking waspletely like another persons. Notably, haughtiness was absent from his words. Moreover, it was thought to be impossible for the cardinal kneel down before somebody, even the king, yet here he was doing so unprompted. It was only his voice that remained mostly the same. It has changed a littlelikely due to his major weight lossbut it was unmistakably the voice of Cardinal Aldera. What, what has happened to you? King Darios was beginning to worry that the cardinal might have been possessed by something. However, with a cheery face, Cardinal Aldera responded. Your majesty, I have been reborn. Reborn? Until recently, I have been dazzled by money and power. I have lived shamelessly, especially as a man serving the godsThankfully, I have seen the error of my ways and deeply regret being like that. H-hmm It was certainly true that the churches were corrupted and it was no exaggeration to say that the most corrupt of them all was Cardinal Aldera. Yet now, against all odds, that same Cardinal Aldera has apparently had a massive change of heart. I ampletely ashamed for letting myself get fat like I was some pig. Moreover, I am deeply sorry about being so discourteous to you, your majesty, multiple times in the past. Cardinal Aldera said so with a deep bow. King Darios was baffled once again. All that aside for the moment, I havee before your majesty to discuss an important matter. What is this important matter? While wondering what could be more important than discussing about Cardinal Alderas transformation, King Darios listened in with a nk face. And when he heard what Cardinal Aldera had to say, he was baffled all over again. All churches including the Grand Cathedral of Areisler shall henceforth no longer ask for offerings of any kind in exchange for the rite of blessing. The rite shall now be avable for everyone, no matter their lot in life. After Cardinal Aldera left the vige, he apparently went straight to the royal capital and met with the king. The result of that meeting was that offerings were no longer needed in order to receive the rite of blessing. In other words, even if one wasnt a noble or a wealthy person, they would still have ess to a blessing. When the king negotiated about making the rite free before, the Cathedral of Areisler was supposedly against the idea. Yet now, Areisler was one to propose it. The king has also expressed his surprise in Cardinal Alderas transformation. Furthermore, just as he dered to us the other day, the church in our vige is finally recognized as an official church. Alongside that, I am also now recognized as a real priest. Millia informed me so. Until now, the church I arbitrarily built with my Gift wasnt authorized to function by the Grand Cathedral of Areisler. Of course, Millia was also not recognized as a priest by them. As a so-called heretical church, it would have meant trouble if we got discovered by the other churches. In fact, after enough vigers and travelers were going in and out of the vige, we decided to move our activities underground. Now that we dont have to worry anymore, lets move the church somewhere it can be noticed more easily. Oh, and lets also make it grander than what it currently is. It needs to be bigger and grander if its to be the religious center of the kingdom, after all. The religious center of the kingdom? Its nothing. Forget I said anything. ? Last I checked, the religious center within the kingdom was still be the Grand Cathedral of Areisler At any rate, any idea why Cardinal Aldera changed so much? The king said it was like he met with apletely different person I dont know for surebut maybe he just heard the voices of the gods? Chapter 258: Center of faith in all of the kingdom! Chapter 258: Center of faith in all of the kingdom! While I and my doubles wereying out the railways in the kingdom, we were also registering the people in each territory as my vigers. The project consumed lots of my vige points, so this could be considered thepensation for my efforts. Obviously, I asked for permission first from the ruling lords before adding their citizens as my vigers. Register as vigers? Ive never heard of a Gift like that My territorys not a vige though? The lords looked puzzled and asked some questions, but thanks to the king messaging them beforehand, none of them declined. It also helped that the Duke Kaion and Duke Talister had cooperated already. Before long, I had registered over 1,000,000 vigers. << Ta-ta-ta-dah! Congrattions! Because you now have more than 1,000,000 vigers, your vige has be level 12!>> <<10,000,000 vige points have been acquired as level up bonus.>> <> <> <> The new facilities I was now able to make were the following: <> <> <> <> <> A gravesite, huh. We have more people now, so I guess I should consider making one soon. Thanks to a number of factorslike the overall age of the vigers being low, the hospitals, and the retirement homesdeath in the vige has been rather rare so far. For that reason, we only had a simple graveyard set up in the vige. Also, in this world where burial was the more popr method of taking care of corpses, the said corpses asionally crawled up from the ground after turning into an undead. Apparently though, a cemetery built by my Gift would help keep that from happening. If Im going to build a Cemetery, I guess its better to build it in an Elevated Ground, right? Rather, why is something like an elevated ground a facility? It was more of a terrain than a facility, I thought. Well, there are manmade elevated ground, I guess. As for the Residential District, it seemed like it allowed me to build multiple housing units at once. I could do so one by one, of course, but this seemed like the more efficient way both effort-wise and cost-wise. Now, the CathedralMillia did say she wanted a bigger church, but ording to Millia, there were now more people attending the services in the viges church. It has gotten to the point where people were almost elbow to elbow. Their solution to this was to hold multiple services at differing times instead of just the one. If it was just a matter of making the churchrger, using Facility Customization would do. However, it seemed like the Cathedralwhich essentially was the upgraded version of a churchoffered an effect that wasnt present in a church. Given all that, I decided to clear the eastern side of the vige and turn it into an Elevated Ground. On top of that elevated ground which overlooked the entire vige, I built the cemetery. Graveyards tended to give the impression of being a gloomy ce, but the cemetery my Gift built was almost like a well-maintained park or garden. Moreover, because I ced it so high, not only was it actually bright there, the view from there was also nice. It was definitely a pleasant resting ce. I should make a road all the way to the top. Oh, and build an observation tower here as well. A road made by my Gift could make traversing even slopes easy. Even the elderly shouldnt have any problems visiting their dearly departed now. And then, in front of the Elevated Ground, I built a Cathedral. Woah, its so magnificent! What appeared before me was arge, splendid structure that could rival even a pce. It even had some spires. Is this? Luke-sama, can this be the new church!? Y-yeah. It turned out to be muchrger than what I thought it would be though. Especially since youre our only priest You dont have to worry about that, Luke-sama. Churches from all over the kingdom, including Areisler, are already preparing to send priests and nuns to our vige. Huh? Is that so? How many people are we expecting? About a hundred. A-a hundred!? *(After all, the vige is now the center of faith in all of the kingdom! Fufufu!)* Please consider supporting me. You can do this either by turning off adblock for this blog or via myPatreon page. Thank you. Chapter 259: The report was true Chapter 259: The report was true Ahh, what a wonderful church!! Upon seeing the newly built church, or rather, cathedral, Millia shouted out her amazement. And, just like always, he built it so quickly. Youre just so amazing, Luke-sama! The cathedral wasnt just huge. In addition to the exteriors beautiful design, its walls were covered with intricate decorations and engravings. Whether from afar or up close, whoever views the exterior was sure to be ovee with emotions. It in itself was a marvelous piece of art. Of course, it wasnt just the outside that was beautiful; the interior was splendid as well. One of the first things to notice inside was the arched ceiling that was on top of a long hallway. It was so tall, one had to tilt their heads just to get a good look at it. The walls of the hallway were also noteworthy. Both sides were filled with beautiful, gigantic stained-ss windows, each one offering vivid colored images. And beyond that hallway was a vast, open space. Rows of benches were in there, as well as arge altar further in. Additionally, there was arge statue of a god behind the said altar. This open space was supposedly where the service was done. It could probably hold about 1,000 worshippers at once. While the faint sunlight that seeped through the windows gave a mystical atmosphere, Millia slowly walked close to the altar. She then looked up toward the idol of a god and said something with an unusually stern face. This statue, I want to reshape it in the likeness of Luke-sama so that we can use worship him through it. Ill let the dwarves know at once. Without a fear for the gods in her voice, Millia said such a thing. My name is Gullio. I am employed by a high-ranking official of the Baraste kingdom. And right now, I was tasked with delivering a message to the Celtia kingdom. There was no guarantee that I would make it back alive from this mission. After all, this was the first interaction between our kingdoms since our kingdom tried and failed to invade theirs just a few days ago. Should I make any wrong move, it was possible that I would be executed then and there. Needless to say, it was absolutely necessary that I proceed with the utmost caution. After traveling for a while, I reached the border between our kingdoms. What I saw there made my jaw drop. T-thethe report was true? Before me was a giant wall that stretched seemingly endlessly along the horizon. It was like the border that separated our kingdoms was made tangible. Seeing it now, it was no wonder our 50,000-strong army had little choice but to ept defeat and turn back without even so much as a fight. One other thing about this giant wall was that it wasnt here just a while ago. ording to General Te, it rose up from the ground right before their eyesb-but surely, that cant be the case, right? General Te was the general in charge of the aforementioned invasion. He was one of, if not the greatestmanders within our kingdoms military. Moreover, he wasnt the kind to lie about something like this. Even so, when I received the report about the wall, I couldnt help but dismiss it as crazy talk. At any rate, what matters for now is getting through that wallbut will they even let me? I quickly found out that my worries were unnecessary. Us being unarmed might have led them to immediately perceive us as just messengers. Regardless though, we were guided to a small side entrance by the soldiers that were standing guard. Walking through the narrow passageway that led to the other side of the wall made me understand just how thick the giant wall was. Also, the passageway was only wide enough to fit one person at a time. In other words, arge army wouldnt be able to pass through quickly even if they had ess to it. While being wary of the Celtia kingdoms soldiers, we proceeded to head toward the fortress city where Duke Talister, the ruler of this area, was presently. To my surprise, even though there was quite a distance between the wall and the city, there were splendid roads that fully connected the two points. There were so many roads, in fact. Maybe it was so that they could respond sooner in case there was an emergency, but from a cost-effectiveness perspective, it felt awfully wastefulbut then again, if they could build such an imposing wall, this many roads might not have been any trouble at all for them. While thinking of such things, I walked on one of the roads. huh? Did I, did I just walk a few meters in an instant!? Please consider supporting me. You can do this either by turning off adblock for this blog or via myPatreon page. Thank you. Chapter 260: I think we can get there in 3 hours Chapter 260: I think we can get there in 3 hours After walking, just walking, at an incredible speed, we were able to arrive in the fortress city in no time at all. Whats, whats with this road? It was almost like my body was as light as a feather As shocking as that was, it wasnt the only thing to shock me. The city itself was full of wonders. The moment I stepped foot in it, I immediately noticed how sublimely clean it was. There wasnt a single piece of trash or any vagrants at all as far as I could tell. The people walking around and even the clothes they wore seemed very clean as well. It almost didnt seem like this was a kingdom suffering from civil wars. Duke Talister, the ruling lord here, must be very capable. Although that shouldnt be a surprise given that he built such a gigantic wall and also easily repelled our invading army. Despite their kingdom being in turmoil, he still governed over his territory properly and even managed to prepare to defend against a foreign power. Thankfully, that lord didnt refuse to give us an audience. Of course, that didnt mean they were happy by the presence of those who tried to invade their kingdom just a few days prior. Even so, this was miles better than being turned away or captured right away. So, whats the reason youre here? Duke Talister! Id like to start with an apology. On behalf of the Barste kingdom, I deeply apologize for the recent deployment of our troops I bowed deeply and then unhesitatingly apologized. I also informed the duke that we no longer had any intention of invading again. Thanks to the gigantic wall, even the most aggressive among us have gonepletely silent. But it wasnt really them that we worried about. Rather, what we were worried about was the Celtia kingdoming to attack us in retaliation. We had grossly underestimated the Celtia kingdoms war potential, and now, we were quivering at their next move. For that reason, even if we had to pay some reparation, we would dly do it to mend our rtionship with our neighbors. With a scowl on his face, Duke Talister listened to me. He then gently nodded. Hmm, I see. I understand the Barste kingdoms intentionfor what its worth, I have no intention to risk the lives of my people for something like retaliation. T-then I started to get excited by the dukes statement. Unfortunately, there was a but But its not up to me. In case you didnt know, our kingdom is being reborn as a true monarchy again. Whatever the king intends to do, I will follow. As for what that is, I do not know yet. Apparently, their kingdoms infighting has been resolved, and the weakened royal family was even regaining its power. Would you like to have an audience with his majesty? I can arrange one for you. T-thatll be much appreciated. Like that, we were set to travel to their kingdoms royal capital. I think we can get there in 3 hours. ? What the heck is he saying, I thought. The city we were in was located in the southern tip of their kingdom. The distance between this ce and their royal capital was immense. It should take us at least a few days worth of travel even for just a one-way trip. You dont seem to be aware of our railways. I thought your spies would have informed you of this by now. But then again, our Great Wall must have made delivering that information quite hard! Hahahaha! As though he has gotten into a good mood, Duke Talister said so and thenughed heartily. I tilted my head trying to figure out what this Reylway could be. When I turned around to look at the other members of our group, they reacted the same way. Well then, follow me. We were guided by the duke himself. We followed him somewhere underneath the castle. We have been informed that there was something in the underground that could transport us over long distances in only a short amount of time. To say that such a thing was far-fetched would be an understatement. Thanks to that, I couldnt help but think that it was all a ruse to bring us to a cell instead. Soon enough, we arrived at a ce that had so much space, it was hard to believe it was all underground. That there is a railway. By simply riding that boxlike thing called a train, you can travel even to the capital. I was wary that the boxlike object was just a jail cell with an unusual appearance, but then the duke himself stepped first into it. As such, we decided to follow. The inside of it wasrge and filled with many things that resembled chairs. This areso soft, arent they? Quite nice seats, I must say At that moment though, I suddenly heard a Phsew sound, causing me to be on guard. Next, the door we used to enter closed on its own. Well then, lets depart! The duke dered so excitedly. I-i-i-its moving!?!? Please consider supporting me. You can do this either by turning off adblock for this blog or via myPatreon page. Thank you. Chapter 261: No, catch up to me Chapter 261: No, catch up to me Please wait, your majesty~~~~~! Hahaha, no, catch up to me, Duke~~~! While a cheerful melody yed in the background, two old men were riding fake horses and giggling like children. To be frank, it was quite the surreal sight. And those two werent any ordinary old men either. It might be hard to believe, but one was the king of this kingdom and the other was a duke. As ridiculous as they were being though, I couldntugh at them. After all, even I was captivated by this mysterious contraption called a merry-go-round. Hyaaaa~~~! I unintentionally shouted like that. The merry-go-round thing was arge, tent-like structure that featured several fake horses bobbing up and down as they circled around and around. And since the horses circled around at the same rate, it was impossible to catch up to the horse up front. I had no clue how it worked or why they even made it, but even so, once I got on a horse and the thing started going around, the childishness I stowed away deep in my heart came rushing out. And it wasnt just the mery-go-round. There were other structures here that stirred my childish nature awake. Duke Talister, lets go on that coffee cup next! Yes, that looks fun too! I want to go too! The moment the horses stopped from circling around, the king and the duke immediately headed for the next y equipment. I joyfully chased after them. Huh!? W-what have I been doing? After ying around until the sun set, I finally snapped back to my senses. If I remember correctly, I used that railway thing and reached their capital in just 3 hours Just the sight of their capital shocked me for quite a while. They had walls that far surpassed our capitals walls; their city was thoroughly clean; and their towering royal pce was overwhelmingly impressive. Shortly after arriving, the duke tried asking for an audience with the king. However, he was told that the king has left for an inspection of the amusement park. It seemed like even the duke didnt know what an amusement park was. And so, curious about it, he decided to meet the king there. As it turns out, the amusement park was argend full of various structures and attractions that were for having fun. Before I knew it, I had reverted to being a child and yed around. It shames me to admit it, but Ipletely forgot my duty as a messenger. Was I under some kind of spell? Ahh, but wouldnt it be nice to ride that roller coaster againah, no, no, I must cease these thoughts at once! It wasnt just me that have forgotten themselves. ahem. I-it would seem I enjoyed myself a bit too much thereI was supposed to do a simple inspection of the ce, yet Y-your majesty, for some reason, I too was ovee with excitement when I saw those recreational structures Both the king and the duke seemed not only embarrassed for their actions but also confused. At any rate, for your kingdom to be able to spare enough to build something like this in a city Cities surrounded by walls were often, if not always, troubled by the scarcity ofnd as the poption grows. If the city wanted more space, it would need to expand its walls first. As such, there normally shouldnt be much space for unnecessary buildings. In this city though, they used an incrediblyrge piece ofnd just for recreation. Not only that, such infrastructures must have consumedrge amounts of resources. Looking at the citys residents though, they didnt seem like they have been exploited financially or otherwise. If anything, they seemed to be treated well based on kings intention to open this ce to the publicter down the line. Hahaha, how right it was for us to withdraw that quickly Challenging a kingdom with this much national strength was nothing but folly. Once I return home, I would immediately report my experience here and do my best to convince my king to build a friendly rtionship with this nation. But is this really the same kingdom that has been troubled by civil wars until just a while ago? Please consider supporting me. You can do this either by turning off adblock for this blog or via myPatreon page. Thank you. Chapter 262: Of course, Ill play there too~~! Chapter 262: Of course, Ill y there too~~! Hmm, about that amusement parkits frighteningly splendid. The king seemed to be very pleased with the amusement park I built. There hasnt been any amusement park in the kingdom before, and I was kind of worried they wouldnt like having arge piece ofnd be used solely for recreation. Thankfully, it worked out somehow. Well, rather than the king, maybe it was Princess Darinea who really liked it. Id like to open it to the public as soon as possible. Im sure my people will love it. *(of course, Ill y there too~~!)* Much like the railways, I had decided to leave the management of the amusement parks to the kingdom. It didnt cost them any gold to build it, so it should be quite a favorable deal for them. And that was probably why Duke Talister expressed a desire to have one in his duchy. Please, my territory must have one as well! *(That way, I can y in there every day~~~!)* He was likely anticipating arge boost to their local economy based on his enthusiasm. A-alright, Ill build one for you. Truly!? Much obliged! Sometimeter, it would seem news of the amusement park has spread wide as I have been receiving requesting from many prominent lords. Soon enough, an amusement park could be found throughout the kingdom. Well, while Im at it, might as well give each one a theme. Amusement parks with a sea theme, a nt theme, a food theme, and a hot springs theme would be nice, I thought. If each amusement park had its own distinct thing going on, people who have already visited one would be more likely to visit the amusement parks in other ces. And the more people travel around, the more the involved territories would improve in terms of economy. Fortunately, thanks to the railway system we had set up throughout the kingdom, travelling even to faraway ces were so much easier now. Moreover, one of the reasons people rarely ventured outside of their home regions was the constant wars between the nobles back then. But as people traveled more and interacted with those from other territories more, I firmly believed that wars like that would be avoided more easily. So, yeah, Ill leave it (all the hard work) up to you, my body doubles! The body doubles sure were convenient to have around. At present, I had about 50 doubles deployed throughout the kingdom. Even with that many though, building all of the nned amusement parks in the kingdom from scratch would be quite an ordeal. Thankfully, I had obtained the [Copy and Paste] vige skill when my vige leveled up recently. [Copy and Paste] allowed me to copy any existing facility and paste it exactly as it was in another location. From then on, I could just use Facility Customization as I saw fit. Moreover, I could copy and paste more than one facility at a time, so a whole area or even the whole wastnd vige could be replicated. And so, I could use the rather orthodox amusement park in the capital as base and then just customize it in ordance to the theme. But to make this even more convenient, we could set it up so that one body double copies something and another double pastes it somewhere else like a faraway location. Replicating something requires the same number of points as building it from scratch thoughbut then again, if copy and pasting something meant using a lower number of points, the points system itself would be rendered trivial. Naturally, I built an amusement park for the wastnd vige as well. As for its theme, it was based on a certain amusement park in my memory. What are those strange things? Selen asked so while tilting her head at the buildings and contraptions the likes of which she hasnt seen before. What can thisrge cylinder be? Thats supposed to be a space shuttle. A space shuttle? Its a rocket that transports you to outer space. Outers face? Racket? Outer space is the ce where the sun, the moon, and the stars are. I dont get it at all. Yes, the theme for the viges amusement park was [Outer Space]. Unfortunately, it proved to be unpopr for the people of this world. I might have to close it down to renovate as something else. Please consider supporting me. You can do this either by turning off adblock for this blog or via myPatreon page. Thank you. Chapter 263: Can it be aiming for our livestock!? Chapter 263: Can it be aiming for our livestock!? There were two monster dens near our wastnd vige. The forest to the north was one, and the mountains to the east was the other. Because of those ces, the chances of being attacked by monsters was higher for our vige than most other ces. The orc horde and the Tree Dragons attack on us were just but a few examples. However, thanks to our ramparts and our outstanding soldiers, it was rather rare nowadays that we felt threatened by a monster attack. <> I was in my unit at the top floor of the pce when Satin contacted me with that message via telepathy. I then hurried toward the balcony and looked eastward. Woah, its true! The thing headed our way was a monster that had an overall length of 5, maybe 6 meters. Thats probably a wyvern. Selen said so after following me to the balcony. You mean the dragon subspecies? Yup. Their scales might not be as tough as a dragons, but its still plenty tough. An arrow shot from the ground probably wont cause much damage to it, if any. The elves were usually the ones who took care of flying monsters, but just like Selen stated, even their arrows were being deflected by the wyverns scales. Like that, the wyvern was able to skip past the viges firstyer of ramparts with ease and has arrived in the agricultural area in the viges outskirts. Its headed for the pastures. Can it be aiming for our livestock!? Fearing so, I, along with Selen, teleported to the pastures at once. Graaaaaaa!!! When we arrived, we saw the wyvern descend with great speed toward one of the cows in the pasture. It was probably expecting to seize the cow with its sharp-taloned feet and fly away with it, but that was not what happened. After all, the cows in the vige were gigantic. the cows almost the same size as the wyvern. Y-yeah. Unsurprisingly, the wyvern was unable to carry away the cow. Bumooooooooooooooooooooooooooo! !?! After iling for a little bit, the cow managed to free itself from the wyverns grasp. The cowthat was now much like a raging bullcounterattacked immediately after by charging at the wyvern. Graa!? The wyvern crashed to the ground and tumbled for a while. Bumooooooooooooooooooooooooooo! The other cows also rushed at the wyvern to help their fellow cow. Seeing itself outnumbered, the wyvern took to the skies. And then, after perhaps confirming that it was suicidal to continue attacking the cows here, the wyvern flew away. Luke-dono! Ah, youre here too, Philia-san. The wyvern has escaped though. I should still be able to reach it, I think. Philia-san said so as she let loose an arrow toward the fleeing wyvern. The wind-d arrow flew at a frightening speed and pierced the sky. However, the wyvern somehow managed to sense the impending danger and even evade it by ever so slightly changing its flight. Hmp, it avoided it. Shall we chase after it? It mighte back and cause some other trouble, after all. Even if we chase after it, what then? Look, its flying higher now, so my arrows wont even be able to reach it anymore. Before offering an answer, I brought Selen and Philia-san with me to the ramparts via teleportation. Okay, so what are we supposed to do now? This. I then used 3D Reposition on the rampart that we were on. *Zugogogogogo!* Unlike the normal Reposition where I could only move facilities along the ground, 3D Reposition allowed me to move facilities in all directions. I could even lift facilities off the ground. I see You can do even this!? Yup. This way, we can attack it at close distance. I positioned the rampart in the wyverns way and even made it get closer to the monster. Please consider supporting me. You can do this either by turning off adblock for this blog or via myPatreon page. Thank you. Chapter 264: We’re gonna have barbeque tonight!!! Chapter 264: Were gonna have barbeque tonight!!! The wyvern had made a quick turnaround and was now trying to escape. All of a sudden though, it crashed into a wall in the sky. !?! At this distance, shooting it is easy! Philia-san shot an arrow without a moments dy. Probably because she judged that the wyverns scales would have prevented any real damage to the body even at this distance, Philia-san aimed for the wyverns wings. Gyaaaaa!? With a hole in one of its wings, the wyvern lost its flying bnce and began twirling down to the ground. How nice of it to fall down here! Lets finish it as thanks! Yesss!!! Selens tempered group of hunters eximed so and rushed toward where the wyvern would crash. They were all quite eager too. Theyre that passionate about defending the vige, huh. Due to the fact that monsters have rarely made it past our walls recently, the hunters havent been able to disy their dedication much. I heard wyvern meats he delicious! Lets eat it!!! Dont let it escape!!! Is that the real reason why youre all so eager!? Graaaa!! The wyvern desperately fought back, but against the elites of our vige, a dragon subspecies who has lost its ability to fly was simply no match at all. We defeated it!!! Were gonna have barbeque tonight!!! SO GOOOOD!!! The wyvern meat was so delicious indeed. As soon as the wyvern was taken down, its meat was readied to be cooked right away. And that same night, we had a barbeque. The vigers had grown ustomed to the exquisite taste of orc and minotaur meat, but even they were giving high praises for the wyvern meat. Since wyverns were kind of rted to lizards and crocodiles, I had no problems believing that its meat was edible. However, what I found hard to believe was how delicious it was. Its taste is somewhere between orc meat and cockatrice meat, isnt it? Well, lizard meat tastes somewhere between pork and poultry, you know. Selen, youve eaten lizard meat before? Course I have. You would think an earls daughter would be so prim and proper, but Selen can be quite wild. By the way, it seemed like the story about wyvern meat being delicious was pretty well-known. Everyone says its delicious, but until now, Ive never known anyone who has actually eaten one. People im they have, of course, but press them a little bit about it and it bes obvious that theyre just talking shit. But thats only to be expected, considering how rare it is to defeat a wyvern. Alec-san the adventurer said so. He added that even him, a seasoned adventurer, has never subjugated a wyvern before. At any rate, where could have this monstere from? There shouldnt be any wyverns in the forest to the north, so maybe its from the mountains to the east? When Philia-san replied with her guess, Banba-santhe dwarven warrior who possessed the [Heavy de Techniques] Giftgave us some useful information. We have certainly seen somerge monsters that can be wyverns high up in the mountains. The dwarves used to live by the foot of the mountains before. Upon hearing him, the vigers eyes sparkled all at once. So, youre saying we can get we can get more wyvern meat if we go to the mountains!? Wyvern meat will be the viges newest specialty! In contrast to the vigers excitement, those from the hunting group looked troubled. The top of the mountains is extremely steep though. Its not a ce any ordinary person can climb. Plus, its still winter, so therell be a lot of snow up there. Yeah. Cockatrices live in what can still be called the lower part of the mountains, but hunting anywhere higher would be tough, even in the summer. The slopes there are almost vertical, you see. I mean, how are we supposed to fight a wyvern when we cant even wield our weapons? Wyvern meat is definitely appealing, but risks are just too high. The hunters have hunted cockatrices multiple times already, so they have experienced firsthand how steep the mountains were. Even Selen, the hunters leader, shot the idea down. No matter how strong the hunters were, it was just impossible to fight a flying wyvern while also doing some rock-climbing. But what if they have some foothold? AhmI think I can do something to help in hunting a wyvern. Please consider supporting me. You can do this either by turning off adblock for this blog or via myPatreon page. Thank you. Chapter 265: Meat, here we come!!! Chapter 265: Meat, here wee!!! 3D Reposition! I used that vige skill on the public park we were in and made it rise up from ground, taking us with it. When ites to facilities that had plenty of space, I figured that a public park was the best one. Fields and such didnt provide as much foothold, after all. Even though I called it a park, there were no yground equipment or anything like it in here. Instead, there was an observation tower and a clinic. This facility was specifically customized as a battleground to face the wyverns in the mountains to the east. The observation tower is for spotting wyvern as quickly as possible. And the clinic is, of course, in case we get injured. Whats wrong, everyone? Youve been silent for a while now you can do even this!!!? Everybody simultaneously shouted so toward the heavens. Hold on, dont tell me youre going to fly us all the way up the mountains!? Thats the n, Selen. Whats so surprising though? This is just like when I made the wall fly us up. But that was within the vige. Youre saying you can do it even outside? Well, this is technically part of the vige now. Remember when I brought the entire vige to the royal capital? For the sake of convenience, I referred to the area enclosed within the ramparts in the wastnd as the vige, but as far as my Gift was concerned, the vige was that as well as the majority of the kingdom. Of course, the mountains to the east were also part of the entire vige. Even so, the vige chief sure is amazingalways exceeding our expectations At any rate, like this, we should be able to hunt some wyverns! We can eat that meat again*slurp* By the way, the participants for this wyvern hunt were primarily the members of the viges hunting party. More specifically Selen, Philia-san, Selius-kun, Noel-kun, Balrath-san, Perun-san, Rando-kun, Goate-san, Dorial, Bazara-san, and Banba-san were here. Kurine-san, who possessed the [Healer] Gift, also participated. These people regrly hunted orcs and cockatrices together, so their teamwork was impable. In fact, even though skilled adventurers and vige guards also wanted to participate in todays hunts, it was decided that this first attempt would go a whole lot smoother if only these people who were already familiar with each others moves were involved. There was one person outside of this core group that were allowed to participate though. Ahhn! This is all so exciting! My heart cant stop beating wildlycould this possibly be love!? Just kidding, teehee That person was the muscr beautician Gori-chan who possessed the [Fist Master Techniques] Gift. Even without being able to cooperate with the others, Gori-chan would do just fine. Actually, she might just be able to take down a wyvern all by herself. While we were like that, the flying park has reached the mountains. We were about 200 meters above ground level, so the summits which were on average as about 2,000 meters above ground level was definitely far off. Due to our rtively low elevation, there were still plenty of trees in the vicinity. As we approached the summit though, the sparser the trees and vegetation became. By the time one gets near the top, the mountain has be almost devoid of vegetation. Without a doubt, climbing these mountains the regr way would be arduous, if not impossible. And if you add fighting wyverns on top of that, you might as well be serving yourself on a silver tter. Im gonna start raising our altitude, alright? I remembered that if one was to rise up in altitude too quickly, they could get what was called altitude sickness. However, the hunters seemed to be just fine. In case they suddenly werent though, we could treat it with healing magic and potions. Like that, we ascended without any worries. Theres something over there! Is it a wyvern!? When the hunters saw a figure on a cliff about a few hundred meters ahead, they immediately got excited. Unfortunately, Philia-san who was at the top of the observation tower shook her head from side to side. No, that ones a griffon. Not a wyvern, huh Mhh, wait, Im seeing some movement in that rock overhang I moved the flying park closer to the ce Philia-san was talking about. Before long, even we saw a figure that resembled our target. Theres one! Its a wyvern! Meat, here wee!!! Please consider supporting me. You can do this either by turning off adblock for this blog or via myPatreon page. Thank you. Chapter 266: That one’s a mighty big wyvern! Chapter 266: That ones a mighty big wyvern! Theres one! Its a wyvern! Meat, here wee!!! Upon discovering the wyvern, everyones excitement shot up. Even this early in the fight, they were treating the wyverns as nothing but game. I made the flying park we were on get closer to the wyvern. Gruaa!? The wyvern noticed us and suddenly made a throaty cry in its surprise. Which was probably the natural reaction when seeing andmass flying your way. While the wyvern was still stunned, I made the park descend diagonally until it crashed into the wyvern. !?! Upon impact, the wyvern was blown away and tumbled on the ground it was on. The hunters took that chance and sprung at the monster. MEATTT!!! Gruaaa!? As though it was frightened by the humans who regarded it simply as a b of meat, the wyvern tried to fly up and escape. Unfortunately for it, I immediately moved the park and blocked its way. *whoosh* Gr!? Meanwhile, Philia-san shot an arrow at the wyverns wings. With the wyvern deprived of its flying capabilities, killing the wyvern was as good as done. As we expected, there was indeed a great number of wyverns living this far up the mountains. Thanks to that, we have been able to hunt wyvern after wyvern. Even though wyverns were ssified as a dragon subspecies, as long as they were kept grounded, defeating them wasnt too hard. Gruaaaaaaa!! Look, theres three of them together! There were times where our group encountered many wyverns at the same time, but just as we had discussed beforehand, we divided ourselves ording to the present wyverns. However, each time we had to split up, Gori-chan always fought alone. I thought that even if it was her, fighting without any help was suicidal, but Shaaaaa!! Gori-chan, are you ok!? Nothing to worry about! !? The wyvern she was fighting had its mouth open in an attempt to bite her, but before it could, Gori-chan seized its open mouth with her bare hands. Oryaaaa! After her muscles swelled even more to the point that I thought her clothes would burst, she hurled the wyvern that was several timesrger than she was. Thats, thats beyond human strength, isnt it From that, the wyvernpletely lost consciousness. that proved beyond a shadow of a doubt that she was fine even on her own. By the way, I wasnt just moving the park this whole time. I had also made golems and asionally operated them so that they would prevent the wyverns from moving away. A few hours then passed as we continued to hunt the wyverns. We should call it a day, I think. When the satisfied-looking Selen told me so, we had gathered about 20 or so wyverns in the Cold Storage Facility I had prepared. Mhm? Luke-dono, theres a wyvern approaching us from over there. Philia-san called out to me and informed me so. Lets go catch one more and then get home! Mm? Wait a second. Isnt that one a littlerger than usual? A littlerger is quite an understatement. That ones a mighty big wyvern! Selius-kun rushed up the observation tower with all his might in order to confirm. With his eyes wide open, he shouted something to us. Its, its not a wyvern! Eh?? By the way its figure was gettingrger andrger, the iing creature seemed to be flying at a great speed. And in no time at all, we were able to confirm its identity with our own eyes. It certainly wasnt a wyvern. It had a simr lizard-like appearance, but it was several timesrger than a wyvern. Moreover, unlike a wyvern which were two-legged and had wings that acted as its forelimb, this creature had four full legs. Its, its a dragonnnnnn!? As soon as we ascertained its true identityand shouted in surprisethe dragon gave a thunderous roar. OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!! TL note: Ive tranted Cold Storage Facility as Refrigerator. Well, Im changing it into Cold Storage Facility. Sorry for the inconsistency. Please consider supporting me. You can do this either by turning off adblock for this blog or via myPatreon page. Thank you. Chapter 267: Like splitting the park in two Chapter 267: Like splitting the park in two OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!! The dragons roar almost ruptured our ears. Just its presence made my body stiffen and unable to move. Its super angry, isnt it? Did we trespass on its domain or something? It could be because we killed so many wyverns, dear sister. Setting that aside, I guess the more important question is, is it edible? Hmm, well, the rumors say that it is and that its even more delicious than wyvern meat. Really!? That settles it, then! We must take down that dragon at all costs! Really? You guys are more concerned on whether its edible or not!? Wait, wait, wait, youre really nning to fight that thing!? I havent fought one before, so I dont really know for sure, but well probably be alright. I havent eaten one before, so I dont really know for sure, but a dragons meat must be delicious! Its no usetheir minds arepletely overruled by their stomachs While I didnt object further, I made it clear that in the case things werent going so well, I was going to fly us away via the park. At any rate, even though the dragon was several timesrger than a wyvern, it flew at us much faster than any wyvern we had encountered thus far. Wait, isnt it about to crash into us!? I hurried to make the park move sideways and somehow made it in time. Thanks to that, instead of hitting us, the dragon zoomed past us. Waah!? My, are you alright, chief-chan ? Youre so light, you almost flew. Even though we avoided collision with the dragon, its great speed caused strong winds that nearly blew me away. Fortunately, Gori-chan managed to grab me by the arm. As for everyone else, they somehow endured the turbulent winds and stayed on the ground. *Phsew!* Despite the winds, Philia-san was still able to fire an arrow toward the dragons backside. Not a momentter, her arrow directly hit the dragons wing. deflected, huh. Had it been a wyverns wing, the arrow would have surely pierced through and caused the wyvern to crash into the mountains. As it turns out though, a dragons wings were more durable. OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!! The dragon roared and made a u-turn toward us. Just like before, I moved the park sideways to evade the iing charge. This time though, I immediately made the park rise up. We were now the ones chasing the dragon. Much like with the wyverns, we were at a disadvantage in an aerial battle with a dragon. As such, we needed to chase it and force it into a ground battle. Were not catching up at all!? Which was easier said than done. We werepletely unable to catch up with the ascending dragon. If anything, we were gradually being left behind. Its so huge, so how can it move this fast? Ufufu, did you know, chief-chan, that unlike wyverns, dragons use magic to improve their flying capabilities? Gori-chan informed me so. It would seem dragons and wyverns were worlds apart in so many regards. I guess this is futile, then. I dont think well be able to catch it at this rate, so lets go back for now, alright? When I said so, everyones shoulders dropped in disappointment. Even so, they at least seemed to have understood that unless we revise our tactics first, hunting a dragon down was a tough feat to aplish. Guess theres no other choice than to challenge it againter. Maybe we can aim for when its sleeping in its nest If only we can stop if from flying up, like putting a lid on the sky or something. Not that that kind of things possible. When Banba-san said put a lid, something clicked in my mind. We can do something like that. OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!! For the third time, the dragon roared and charged at us. The park we were standing on was a facility made by my Gift. Much like with any facility, I could use the Facility Customization vige skill on it and freely change its form. In other words, I could reshape thend we were on. Things like making a golem out of the ground was an example, butrger scale transformations were also possible. Like splitting the park in two. Please consider supporting me. You can do this either by turning off adblock for this blog or via myPatreon page. Thank you. Chapter 268: To think you have cornered me this much Chapter 268: To think you have cornered me this much Watch out! Itsing back again! Get away from it!!! While the hunters were preparing to avoid the iing dragon, I used Facility Customization. That made arge fissure appear in the middle of the park. Immediately after, the side we were not in rose up almost instantly. Huh? Everyone was shocked from seeing the park bend itself like that. But even when it had bended itself to a 90 degrees form, I kept going. Before long, the other half was hanging over our heads, almost like it was ready to fall at any time. OOOOOO!? As to be expected, the dragon was inplete state of panic. After all, unless it did something, it would be sandwiched by the two halves of the park. Moreover, since the dragon was flying toward where the ground bent, it found itself close to both halves of the park. It tried to change its course, but it was simply toote. *Dogagagagagan!* The dragon first hit the half on top. It then bounced toward the half on the bottom, which then made it bounce back up. This cycle repeated a number of times until the dragon got stuck between the two halves. Even so, as though nothing has happened thanks to its resilient body, the dragon tried to escape through an avable gap. Naturally, I didnt let it. I made the two halves move again, pinning the dragon down further. Luke-dono, this? Ahm, lets call it certain death through being sandwiched by the ground. Your naming sense aside, its quite the powerful technique I wanted to crush the dragon with this, but at a certain point, the two halves didnt seem to move further. Ahhn, amazing as always, Chief-chan!! The dragons now trapped like a mouse! Gori-chan said so and then boldly charged at the trapped dragon. Rarrrrrr! Gah!? It might not be able to get itself out, but the dragon wasnt going down without a fight. It swung its rtively free tail and repelled Gori-chan away. Gori-chan tumbled on the ground until she went over the edge of the flying park and disappeared from my sight. Gori-chan!? I shouted so, fearing that she might have fallen out of the park. Thankfully, herrge hand stretched up from below just a momentter. Ufufu, that almost finished me off Gori-chan somehow managed to cling on the edge and was now climbing back up. Watch out for that tail! Attack it from long-range, or from its other side! Yes, maam! Upon receiving Selens instruction, the huntersunched their attacks in unison. Aim for its underside! Its much softer than its backside! The one to shout so was Philia-san. As to be expected, the scales of the dragons body made it hard to deal significant damage, but its underside looked to be considerably more vulnerable. OOOOAAAA!! The dragon still hasnt given up yet and was rampaging as much as it could. However, after taking away its ability to fly and even sealing much of its movement, a dragon, for all its might, couldnt put up much of a fight. Or so I thought. The moment the dragon raised its head in arge arc, Gori-chan shouted something while having an uncharacteristically serious face. Oh no! Breath attack, iing! Get away from it! Breath attack? Immediately after, the dragon released a breath of fierce mes. It then moved its head horizontally, thus engulfing the surroundings in mes. Before any mes could reach us though, I made the ground rise up to block it. When Gori-chan shouted breath attack, I instinctively knew what she was talking about despite not having encountered a dragon before. It was likely thanks to my previous lifes memory. It wasnt like the walls I put uppletely blocked the dragons fiery breath though. In fact, the mes were so intense that it melted the earthen walls I built in almost an instant. Even so, itsted just long enough for us to get away from the attacks range. Oaa Probably hoping that the breath attack would have given it the upperhand, the dragon looked dejected when it found out that the attack actually did nothing. Considering that it reserved that attack thiste into the fight, it likely had a limit on the number of times it could perform them. And if that was the only one, all that was left to do was to deal the finishing blow. <> However, I suddenly heard someones voice in my head. Please consider supporting me. You can do this either by turning off adblock for this blog or via myPatreon page. Thank you. Chapter 269: Please spare my lifeeeeeeee!!! Chapter 269: Please spare my lifeeeeeeee!!! <> I suddenly heard a voice in my head. It was a simr sensation to whenever Satin the former bandit contacted me via his [Telepathy] Gift. Selen followed with a question. What, whose voice was that just now? Luke, is that a skill of yours? No, it wasnt me. Did everyone else hear it too? Apparently, it wasnt just me that heard the voice. However, even when we tried to look around, we couldnt find anyone who could be the owner of the voice. In the first ce, there was no one else here in the park that was flying high up in the sky. The only other one here besides us was the dragon pinned by the two halves of the park. Wait, can it be <> Ehhhh!? The dragon talked!? It was technically a telepathic message, but the fact remains that it couldmunicate. <> The dragon then snorted as though to brag. Ive heard that Ancient Dragonswhich are dragons that have lived for a long, long timewere highly intelligent and that some can evenmunicate with people, but even so Philia-san ryed that information to us, but she herself was in denial of the possibility that it could be true. <> Didnt it just say that weve cornered it? <> This time, the dragon was even acting like it had the upper hand. This dragons quite haughty, isnt it? Lets pay it no mind. Lets just take it down, Captain Selen. Theres a chance that an Ancient Dragon tastes better than young dragons! Bringing back the dragons meat was the only thing in the hunters minds right now. <> The obviously flustered dragon threated us as much as it could. Hmp, Id like to see you try. <> Shut up and get on with it already. <> no matter how I looked at it, the dragon was clearly just bluffing. We dont need a minute. Lets get this started. Selen tly rejected the dragons kind offer, and was about to start attacking the dragon again. <> The dragon then opened its mouth wide. It seemed like it was about to do another breath attack. Moreover, given its confidence just now, we thought that this one might be more powerful than the one before. As such, we all braced ourselves. And then <> Its surrendering so profusely! <> In aplete reversal of attitude, the dragon was now desperately begging for its life. In reaction, everyone looked at their fellow hunters. even though its a dragon, its kinda pitiful, aint it? Besides, when you think about it, were a little bit at fault for intruding on its turf. Youve got a point. Oh, theyre reconsidering? Well, I dont really mind since eating a dragon which canmunicate is a bit, yeah Very well, guess we dont have any other choice then <> The dragons eyes were sparkling when Selen finished her sentence. Well try to give you as painless of a death as possible. Eh!? Well also cook and eat every part of you, making sure theres no waste. Well also say itadakimasu!, the phrase that the chief taught us, before eating you. Hmm, hmm. So, you didnt change your minds at all about eating the dragon!? Also, saying that phrase doesnt excuse anything, you know! Its not some kind of get-out-of-jail card! <> Please consider supporting me. You can do this either by turning off adblock for this blog or via myPatreon page. Thank you. Chapter 270: Why don’t you take this chance to visit our village? Chapter 270: Why dont you take this chance to visit our vige? Well try to give you as painless of a death as possible. <> The dragon begged for its life, but everyone was already fully set on eating the monster. Mhm? Wait, theres something strange going on Is the dragonshrinking? Nah, theres no wit really is!? The dragonsrge body suddenly began shrinking. We initially thought it was just an illusion or something, but it soon became clear that it wasnt. Just moments before, the dragon wasrge enough to be trapped tight between the two halves of the park, but there was now enough of a gap between the dragon and the top half of the park. We thought that the dragon shrank itself just so it could escape, but it continued shrinking itself further. Eventually, it became smaller than the average person. Forgive me! Please find it in you to overlook my transgression!! Before we knew it, a young human girl has taken its ce and was prostrating herself with teary eyes. Huh? That naturally shocked everyone. The gigantic dragon has now be a girl of about 10 years of age. She was probably even smaller than me. Oh my! Shes so cute Is thishumanification? Philia-san, you know something about it? Mhm. Ive heard that some of the more outstanding monsters can use a special kind of magic that allows them to take on a humanoid form. If not for the horns growing out of her head as well as her tail, no one would have any clue that the girl before us was actually a dragon. I respect you humans! This form is a testament to that! So, please dont eat me. Please? Please? With watery eyes, the dragon girl begged us to spare her. W-well, when you ask us like that. It didnt matter how much it begged us while it was in its dragon form, our decision would always be to eat it. However, when it begged in that form, we could no longer see it as food. I mean, we cant, right? Devouring cute little girls isnt my kind of thing, honey. When youre the one saying it, Gori-chan, it almost sounds like you mean something else Cant be helped, I guess. Well let you off this time. Oooh, thank you!!! The dragon girl said so while jumping up and down in joy. Acting like that, she really looked nothing more than an innocent little girl. *(Im d I killed the time back then by learning how turn myself into a human. Respect humans? Like I ever would. Kukuku, but humans sure are so gullible. Just a little bit of acting and theyre already fooled.)* Huh? Am I imagining things or did the dragon girl had a malicious expression on her face for a moment? Ahm, hello, Im Luke. Im, I guess, the leader of this group. What, youre the leader? But youre so short. uugh, I know I am, you dont have to point it out. W-well, for someone like me, you humans are all so tiny! S-so, dont worry about it! The dragon girl tried to follow up, but it wasnt much of one. anyway, sorry again for attacking you *(so, this is their leader. Kukuku, what luck that it happened to be the most gullible-looking of them all.)* Were sorry too for entering your territory uninvited. Do you live somewhere around here? Mhm, my nest is somewhere nearby. I mainly eat the wyverns here, so when I saw you people hunting them, I decided to attack. I see. I guess we should refrain from hunting them too much. Yeah, as long as you dont overdo it, I dont mind. And as long as you promise to not eat me, of course *(lets tug at this guys heartstrings more, kukuku)* With upturned eyes, the dragon girl pleaded so. Ahaha, dont worry, we wont eat you. Thank you! *(Kuku, theyre really so easy to deceive. But before they wise up, I should escape.)* very well then, Ill return to my nest now. Ah, wait. I called out to the dragon girl who has already turned her back to us. Why dont you take this chance to visit our vige? Wha? I thought that to apologize for earlier, we should treat her to some wyvern dishes. Please consider supporting me. You can do this either by turning off adblock for this blog or via myPatreon page. Thank you. Chapter 271: Once I lose it, I can’t ever grow it backkkkkk! Chapter 271: Once I lose it, I cant ever grow it backkkkkk! After we concluded our wyvern hunt, I used 3D Reposition to make the park fly us back to the vige. *(Whats happening? How is thisrge patch ofnd flying?)* We were returning together with the dragon that assumed the form of an adorable little girl. We had decided that treating her to some wyvern dishes would be our means of apologizing for entering her domain. We should be arriving in the vige soon. M-mhm *(Can this be a trap, after all? I agreed to visiting their vige, but if this is just a scheme to capture me and eat meter, I have to find a way to escape! But if I seem like Im suspecting something, they might bring me down right awayGhh, what should I do!?)* Ahm, by the way, do you have a name? !? What!? Is there something on my face!? No, I was just wondering what to call you. Dragon girl was kinda long, after all. Besides, I thought it was weird to call a dragon, dragon. That would be like calling a human, human. We dragons dont address each other with names, hence ourck of one! Is that so? Address me however you see fit. It seemed like dragons werent particr about how they were addressed. Even so, I cant think of anything good How about Dora-chan? While I was trying hard toe up with a name, Gori-chan suggested so. Thats not so bad. Are you fine with us calling you Dora? Feel free to do so. Mhm-mhm, its such a cute name, isnt it? Nice to meet you, Dora-chan! *(Ive been wondering this for a while now, but what is this person? It feels more like a monster than a human)* In reaction to Gori-chan making heart-eyes and swaying her hips, the dragon girl stepped back a little. Yes, even to a dragon, Gori-chan had left quite the powerful impression. M-more importantly, are you sure its alright for me to enter your vige full of humans? Ahaha, yeah, dont worry about it. Your horns and tail might attract a little attention, but as long as you remain in that form, everything will be alright. Everyone in the vige is kind, you know. I thought the Dora was making a troubled face because she was being reserved, so I assured her that it was fine. I-I see Anyway, we have lots of great chefs, so Im sure theyll be able to prepare something really good. *(Prepare something goodsurely, hes talking about wyvern cuisines, right!? Or is he talking about food made out of me!?)* Orc and Minotaur cuisines have been our specialty cuisines for quite some while. *(Theyre not nning to add me to their menu, right!?)* At that moment, Noel-kun asked something. There were many gluttons among the group of hunters, but he was one of the biggest eaters among them. Chiefcan we really not eat any part of her? Just her tail would do *(They really were nning to eat me!?)* In response, I chided him. You know my answers going to be no, right? Its her one and only tail.hmm? unless, of course, youre like a lizard and you can regrow it? I-its the only tail Ill ever have! Once I lose it, I cant ever grow it backkkkkk! She apparently couldnt do so naturally. It might be possible for the tail to grow back if we made her drink some elixirs though. *(Was their n worse than I thought!? Were they thinking of capturing me so that they can continuously, for eternity, harvest my tail!? How much more frightening can they be!? I really need to get out of here, after all)* While we were like that, the vige came into view below us. Dora, look, thats our vige. V-vige? When I pointed at the vige, Dora looked shocked. That looks more like a city to me Please consider supporting me. You can do this either by turning off adblock for this blog or via myPatreon page. Thank you. Chapter 272: Just replace the normal water with hot water Chapter 272: Just rece the normal water with hot water *(Ive flown over here while out for a stroll a few times before, but even on mytest visit, there wasnt anything like a vige, much less a city, here.)* Ignoring the shocked Dora for now, I made the parknd near the vige. Were here, Dora. Wee to our vige. M-mhm*(oh no! I was so preupied with the size of their vige, I didnt notice that weve already arrived. Still, I must find a way to escape!)* Oh, and you see that tower-like thing in the center of the vige? Thats where I live. T-that one? Dora looked up at the pce and opened her mouth wide. I didnt know what she was thinking at that moment, but after a while she began to talk in apetitive tone. n-not bad. Its a little tinypared to my nest, of course, but its not bad. Oh, as to be expected of a dragon. If you dont mind, how about we visit your nest next time? I dont object*(next time? So theyre not going to eat me now? No, no, it must just be some kind of ploy to make me lower my guard.)* Selen then cut into the conversation. Drop it, Luke. Going to a dragons nest is like offering yourself up as a meal. Ahaha, now that you mention it, yeah. *(Isnt that exactly what Im doing now!? Are these people making fun of me!?)* After that, I entrusted the hunters with handing over the wyvern we captured to the viges chefs and brought Dora inside the pce. Dora, being a dragon, was probably not used to arge crowd of people. So, I thought of giving her a reception in my home with only a few people. Alright, Im going to use teleportation now. teleportation? I brought Dora, Selen, Selius-kun, and Philia-san along with me to my home in the highest floor of the pce. !? The surroundings changed all of a sudden!? Yeah, I teleported us. Please take a look outside the window. Over there, thats where we were just a moment ago. You can even see the wyverns there. We could have returned from the mountains through teleportation, but I asked myself where the fun was in that. *(So youre telling me it was impossible for me to escape from the start!? Hiiiii!? He doesnt look it, but this boy is frightening!)* I had no idea why, but Doras body began trembling. Are you feeling cold? When you take on that form, can you feel cold like we humans do? After a long winter, spring was finallying to the wastnd where our vige was. That said, the days here continued to be cold. And since we flew back here, we obviously felt colder than usual. Actually, why dont we get in the bathtubs and warm ourselves up until the food is ready? Bathtubs? Hmm, how do I put this? Do you dragons also clean yourselves using water? Clean ourselves? We do, but only very rarely. Well, just rece the normal water with hot water and youll pretty much get the bathtub I mentioned. I didnt want to say it out loud, but it felt like she hasnt cleaned herself in a good whilein other words, she kinda smelled It wasnt so bad when we were outside, but in a closed space like this where air flows much less, it was hard not to notice. Millia, can you please guide her how to do it? Yes, leave it to me, Luke-sama. Through Satins telepathy, I had asked Millia in advance toe here and lead Dora to the bathroom. She should have the ce ready by now. Well then, Dora-sama, follow me this way, please. *(when I heard there was dragon who has assumed a humanoid form, I didnt expect to see such fine little gihh, Im drooling. That being said, her charms doesnte close to Luke-samas.)* *(W-what? What just happened? I suddenly felt a chill down my spineis it because of this girl? I knew it, people here want to devour me)* When Dora was about to leave, I observed that her face was a little pale. She must have been really cold, huh. I hope shell take her time and warm herself up properly. Please consider supporting me. You can do this either by turning off adblock for this blog or via myPatreon page. Thank you. Chapter 273: Those are the eyes of a predator eyeing its prey! Chapter 273: Those are the eyes of a predator eyeing its prey! Dora was brought to the bath by the maid. Now, Dora-sama, kindly take off your clothes please. Clothes? Ahh, the thing you humans have over your bodies? These arent clothes; these are scales I modified to look like your clothes. Huh? So, you cant remove them? While confused on why the maid looked surprised, Dora spoke. I will have to say no to removing the scales, but I can undo the changes I made to it Then, please undo them! ? The maid insisted so while breathing roughly for some reason. Despite being a bit frightened by the maid, Dora proceeded to remove her clothes. What was revealed was an incredibly t-chested naked body. Hmm, I was aiming to look like a human girl, but it feels like I got something wrong? Should this ce be more swollen like yours is? Also, are my limbs too short? Its so hard to adjust my human transformation, but I guess I should do something No, youre perfectly fine as you are!!! !? The maid shouted that out loud and startled Dora. A-are you alright? Your nose is bleeding, you know? this is nothing to worry about. At any rate, this way please. Dora was then practically dragged by the arm by the bloody-nosed maid to what was called the bathroom. Inside the ce was arge bath that could be mistaken for one used at a public bathhouse. First, please wash your body here. I will, of course, dly *slurp* offer my assistance. Doras whole body was then washed using a fragrant, foamy substance. And when all the foam was rinsed with warm water, her hair and skin was undeniably much smoother and shinier. Hmm, that wasnt so bad. Fufufu, look, youre so clean now. In contrast to Doras mildly-impressed expression, Millia had a satisfied-looking smile on her face. Now, please submerge yourself in the water over there. Mhm. As was suggested to her, Dora submerged herself into the bath. When the hot water reached her shoulders, she unintentionally let out a cry. Ahh~~~~~~feels so gooodddd~~~~ The slightly thicker hot water made her feel like her entire body was being swaddled. She could feel her core and even her heart warm up. It felt vastly different from when she half-mindedly cleaned herself up in the past. And when it hit her that the humans were enjoying this kind of luxury regrly, she was bbergasted. *(Maybe they arent nning to eat me)* Right before her suspicions were washed away by the bath water, Dora snapped back to her senses. *(Ill never trust humans that easily! And now that I think about it, washing something and warming it up in hot waterisnt that a lot like preparing it for cooking!? All while making me drop down my guard!)* Dora then turned around and saw the maid staring at her while breathing roughly. *(Theres no doubt about it! Those eyes! Those are the eyes of a predator eyeing its prey! Worse, a predator that patiently waits for the perfect opportunity to strike so that the prey wont be able escape!)* Fortunately for Dora, the maid was the only one with her in the room. She might be less powerful in her human form, but she could always just undo her transformation in an instant and revert to her original form. *(But its possible that some other people are watching us! Ghh, I dont have a clue where they might be hiding though. And Im quite unskilled in detecting things.!)* She was aware that once they were done preparing her, all chances of escape would have flown out of the window. Like it or not, she would have to take some risks soon. hmm? Suddenly, an extremely fragrant scent drifted to her nose. Even in her current form, her sharp sense of smell was able to tell her what the scent was. Is thiswyvern? But it smells so much better than what I usually eat*slurp* Without realizing it, she not only drooled but also put hold any attempts of escaping for the time being. Please consider supporting me. You can do this either by turning off adblock for this blog or via myPatreon page. Thank you. Chapter 274: It can’t be that they’re just making me fat before they eat me, can it!? Chapter 274: It cant be that theyre just making me fat before they eat me, can it!? Dora hade out of the bath. She was wearing a cute dress with lots of frills, likely prepared by Millia. Fufufu, it suits you really well, Dora-samasay, Luke-sama, would you like me to prepare a dress like this for you as well? No thanks. Her clothes aside, Dora looked a lot nicer than before. Herplexion has gotten better too. I-is thiscan this be food made out of wyverns? Yup, and cooked by the viges excellent chefs. The chefs have already finished making several dishes. Each of the dishes looked delicious as they wereid out on top of therge table in my home. For most of the chefs, this should be the first time they used wyvern meat yet they didnt seem to have any trouble at all producing such dishes. If the dishes looks were anything to go by, I was certain that their taste would be excellent as well. Is this for me? Yup. I did say that we were going to treat you to some food made out of wyvern, right? Ohh *(so I was worrying for nothing, huh)* ? For some reason, Dora breathed a sigh of relief. Anyway, please dont hold back and enjoy the food. Alright, I will take you up on your offer. By the way, the only people here were myself, Dora, Selen, Millia, Selius-kun, Philia-san, the viges chef. I thought having only a few people would make Dora feel morefortable. *munch**munch**munch*waah, wyverns really something! And it goes so well with alcohol too! *glug**glug**glug*, phwaa~~ What, Miranda-san!? But then, one uninvited person showed up. Why are you eating here all of a sudden? What do you mean? I smelled something nice, so I checked it out. And when I saw that it was all this food, Im naturally going to eat it, right? What kind of logic is that!? Miranda-san was a shut-in that normally eats in her room, yet now Man, this freeloader And then, Dora and Miranda-sans eyes met. What is this person? *(I dont know about the others, but I can tell that even though this persons human, theyre hiding great power.)* Oi, whats the deal with this new girl?*(I dont know about the others, but I can tell that this girl aint ordinarytheyve probably lived for long, long time.)* Miranda-san uncharacteristically stopped eating and just stared at Dora. Likewise, Dora locked her eyes on Miranda-san. Just like that, the atmosphere turned serious. I decided to intervene. Now, now, you two, theres plenty of food for everyone, so theres no need to fight over it, ok? It might not be obvious from their appearance, but both of them have lived for a long time. As such, I would like them to refrain from doing childish things like fighting over food when there was no shortage of it. *(was it just my imagination? For one, she has sauce all over her mouthshes a fool, not someone strong.)* *(I can feel a tinge of stupidness from her though, so maybe she really is just a regr girl. Those horns and that tail must be just some kind of essory. Bah, whatever. I have no time for her when theres all this food and drinks.)* The two finally stopped staring at each other. Alright, now, please enjoy the meal. M-mhm. *(that girl is eating the food normally. I suppose its safe to assume that theres no poison in the food. Not that poison works on me.)* Seated on a chair that was probably a bit toorge for her, the first thing that Dora stretched her hand toward was the hamburger steak made using wyvern meat. She picked one up, took arge bite with her tiny mouth, and identally scattered all over the juices overflowing from within the hamburger steak. ~~~~~~~~!? Its soooooooooooooooooooooooooooo delicious!! She shouted so with her eyes wide open. I was so d to hear that it was to a dragons taste. From then on, Dora consumed an unbelievable amount of food for someone of her small frame. It would seem a dragons appetite remained the same regardless of their form. Pwah, that was so good *(so, in the end, they didnt want to eat mewait! It cant be that theyre just making me fat before they eat me, can it!?)* Please consider supporting me. You can do this either by turning off adblock for this blog or via myPatreon page. Thank you. Chapter 275: Maybe you’ll have better luck next time, Selius-kun Chapter 275: Maybe youll have better luck next time, Selius-kun *chomp**chomp**chomp*! The wyvern dishes todays so delicious as well~~~~! Despite her small mouth being ready to burst from all the food she stuffed inside already, Dora munched on some more of the delicious-looking wyvern dishes in front of her. Such has been the case for the past few days. Even without being asked to, Dora has been visiting our vige almost everyday just to eat. She has apparently grown addicted to the food here in the vige. It wasnt just the wyvern-based dishes that she loved either, she has also been trying the dishes made out of orc, minotaur, and cockatrice meat recently. Hold up, why does this girl get to eat all this food for free? Miranda-san asked so with discontent in her voice. No, that just herpensation for hunting all those wyverns for us. She isnt like you who is getting all those meals and drinks for free, you know. Miranda even got her room for free. A total freeloader, in other words. Fuaa, so sleepy all of a sudden. Guess I should take an afternoon nap. Miranda-san faked a yawn and swiftly returned to her room. No child should grow up to be such a horrible adult, I thought. Anyway, its finally spring, huh. The weather today was nice and warm, convincing me that it was spring already. On days like this, I wanted to go out and have a pic. While I was thinking like that Hey, Luke! Since you can fly and all that, lets go to various ces! Selen suggested so. Various ces? Like where? Lets see Selen thought for a moment before answering. I want to go to the sea! I still havent gone to one, you know! You can do things like swimming in the sea, right? Its not the kind of pic I imagined though. I absentmindedly replied so to Selens suggestion which seemed to skip past spring entirely. Ah, never mind. But you know, even though its spring already, the sea is still bound to be cold. In the first ce, our kingdom was almost andlocked one. There was the sea to the north next to the Kaion duchy, but that one was always so close to freezing. Maybe people could swim there in the middle of the summer, but as of now, it was just too cold. I think the seas in Barste kingdom to the south are warm enough to be swam in, but yeah They are? Lets go then! Wait, we cant just go there whenever we feel like it, you know. ? Why not? Were just going to swim. That still counts as smuggling ourselves into their kingdom. smuggling ourselves? Selen tilted her head as she asked so. That was when I realized that in this world, the concept of border protection was still so simple. Things like passports, visas, and the like wasnt even a thing yet. I guess its fine then. Recently, the said Barste kingdom has attempted to invaded ours. Our kingdoms have since reconciled though and even entered a peace treaty. And so, just like when we hunted for wyverns, it was decided that I would use 3D Reposition to make a park fly. This time, I made it ferry us through the Barste kingdom and into the sea. That said, since starting our journey all the way from the wastnd vige would have made the journey take longer, we first teleported to the southernmost point in our Celetia Kingdomnamely the Great Wall I built in the Talister Duchy. Im so excited! We can swim in the sea in our bathing suits, you know!? How can you be so excited when your breasts like that? Shut up! Breasts arent everything! Actually, in the first ce, why are you here!? You ask that like the sea isnt the best ce for big-breasted women like me to shine. Whats that even supposed to mean!? By my side were Selen and Millia. Were doing all this to have a fun pic, or rather to swim in the sea, so please dont start another fight, you two. Its been a while. Since Ist visited any sea, I mean. Oh, youve been to one, Philia-san? Yes, a long time ago. By the way, including myself, Selen and Millia, there were about 20 people here in the flying park. To be honest, when I asked for possible participants in this trip, more than a hundred people instantly applied. Swimming in the sea of a foreign kingdom in thatrge of a group was certain to be conspicuous though, so I decided to take this group for now and bring the rest of them to the sea some other time. Bathing suitbathing suitPhilia-sans bathing suit maybe youll have better luck next time, Selius-kun. Even this early, Selius-kuns face was already bright red. Not to mention, he has already began grumbling things. There was no more doubt that we would have to use some potions on himter. Please consider supporting me. You can do this either by turning off adblock for this blog or via myPatreon page. Thank you. Chapter 276: If we wanted to attack, it would be so easy…” Chapter 276: If we wanted to attack, it would be so easy At the moment, we were flying over the sky of the Barste kingdom. As to be expected of traversing through an entire kingdom, our journey was taking quite a while. Have some bento, everyone~ We sat on the grass in the ground and ate some bento. These are cooked by Coch-san, by the way! Ohhhh! Everyones shouts reverberated in the sky. Coch-san, who possessed the [Cooking] Gift, was one the best chefs in the vige. The exquisite dishes he makes were so popr that to eat at his restaurant, one has to book at least half a year in advance. Fortunately, thanks to my position as the vige chief, he lets me eat his cooking whenever I asked yeah, Im abusing my authority, arent I? but eating together like this on awn, its quite like a regr pic, isnt it? Moreover, what lied before us were the endless sky as well as the nature below that seemed to stretch for a great distance. What great joy it was to be able to enjoy such a picturesque view while eating a wonderful meal. I had thought for sure that our main activity for this trip was going to be swimming in the sea, but we somehow managed to check off having a nice, somewhat traditional pic as well. So goooooooooooooddd! However, everyone else was too engrossed on their meals to appreciate the scenery. Maybe next time, I should bring some ordinary bento instead of ones made by Coch-san. Luke, over there! Theres arge city! After finishing our meal and lying on thewn a bit, I heard Selen excitedly shout so. I looked from the edge of park at where she was pointing and immediately saw a grand city that could rival our Celtia kingdoms royal capital. Near that city was arge river that probably flowed into the sea. The Barste kingdom probably would never have expected that people from the neighboring country were flying right above their capital If we wanted to attack, it would be so easy Smiling wryly were the brothers Belrith-san and Balrath-san. Huh? Why are there houses built outside of the city walls? I was confused when I saw that there houses both inside and outside of the walls that surrounded the city. Thats probably the slums, Luke-sama. It is not umon for people who couldnt get the necessary permissions to live within a citys walls to settle outside of it and form a district of their own. Millia informed me so. Now that she mentioned it, each of the houses outside of the citys walls were rather shabby. Moreover, not only were the houses built in an obviously unorganized fashion, they were also built so closely to each other. The result of which was abyrinthine townscape. But there isnt one in our capital, right? A long time ago, there was. Apparently though, the royal court nobles detested the mere sight of it and drove everyone away. And those driven away had to find new ces to live in. People living near the capital werent exactly safe, but since soldiers periodically hunted the nearby monsters, they were safe enough. And in case of an emergency, they always had the option of running toward the capital. Thinking of it that way, slums could also act as a sort of necessary buffer. Obviously, I shouldnt get involved in the affairs of a foreign kingdombut maybe I can give them at least a source of clean water as well as some toilets. Like that, I built water wells and public toilets at various points in the slums. While Im at it, why not add a public bathhouse as well? Finding a spot for the public bathhouse was hard since the houses in the slums were too close together, so decided to build it on the outskirts. Seeing the strange buildings appear all of a sudden, the citizens were understandably surprised. That said, I chose to not tell them how to use those facilities or even inform them of what they were. They would probably figure it out by themselves sooner orter. And just to be safe, Ill use Facility Customization to improve the facilities automatic cleaning features. Even if people used the facilities messily, the facilities would be able to clean itself up without anyone doing anything. Needless to say, it was truly a convenient function. Please consider supporting me. You can do this either by turning off adblock for this blog or via myPatreon page. Thank you. Chapter 277: But who could have built this, and when…? Chapter 277: But who could have built this, and when? Everyone, please line up in an orderly fashion! Theres enough for you all! Shouting so in the middle of the slums area was a young woman whose attire was totally out of ce. Yet, her current attire was actually far shabbier than the usual ones she wore. After all, she was a daughter of one of the most prominent noble houses in the entire Barste kingdom. As a person of the morous high society of the kingdom, it was only normal for her to wear the most magnificent dresses. And so, despite visiting here apanied by some guards, the question remains: why would a woman like that be in a ce like the slums? The answer to that lied in the line of people in front of her. Ahh, thank you, thank you! I dont know how long it has been since Ist had a proper meal. There were severalrge pots nearby, each one containing a healthy soup full of vegetables. And to each of the people lined up, a serving of that delicious-smelling soup was given for free. Elenea-sama truly is the saint of the slums. You said it. No other noble will do the things she does for us. The woman, named Elenea, was worried that the people of the slums werent getting enough food and thus decided to hand out food every so often. The people of the slums greatly appreciated her acts of benevolence and even praised her nowadays as the [Saint of the slums]. huh? Thats strange Whats wrong, Elenea-sama? When Elenea tilted her head upon noticing something, a nearby soldier asked so. Dont the people here seem cleaner than usual? Now that you mention it The soldier agreed. While the people of the slums still werent exactly clean, the usual stench that could make one pinch their nose was gone. Even the slumdwellers appearance has improved. Ovee by her curiosity, Elenea inquired about it to a nearby man. Its all thanks to you, of course, Elenea-sama. ? Thanks to me? Hahaha, no need to feign ignorance. We all know its thanks to your powers. I mean, werent it you who built those wells andvatories here and there in the district? Thanks to you, we now have ess to as much clean water as we need. We will no longer suffer upset stomachs due to dirty water, nor will we be dirtying the ce because we cant stop soiling ourselves. Ah, and you even gave us that marvelous ce where we can wash ourselves. Everyone goes there every day after work. ??? What that man was talking about, Elenea had no idea at all. To say that she was baffled was quite an understatement. Later on, she went to explore the slums and verified the existence of the said wells andvatories. But who could have built this, and when? Also, despite no one scrubbing these things, it somehow remains so clean? Eleneas bewilderment grew deeper. I see it! I see the sea! Selen shouted so. Wait, isnt it toorge though!? Like, it almost seems to go on endlessly! I cant believe theres so much water! Selen wasnt the only one who got excited by the great sea that stretched on and on. I-its also my first time to see one for myselfand its farrger than what I heard it would be. Upon seeing the sea for the first time, Millias eyes kept blinking in disbelief. As for me, Ive been to the sea many times in my previous life. And so, even though I havent been to one in this life, I was able to imagine what it would be like. That said, it was still a superb view, so I couldnt help but be excited, albeit not as much as Selen and Millia. Letsnd already! Look, theres a beach over there! Urged by Selen like that, I made the park touch down on the coast. Luckily for us, there was no one near the beach. The waters warm! We wont have any problems swimming here, I think! The park hasnt fullynded yet when Selen jumped down and ran toward the beach. And without even so much as changing out of her clothes, she enthusiastically dove into the water. *Ssh!!* !? Wha, its so saltyyyyy!? Please consider supporting me. You can do this either by turning off adblock for this blog or via myPatreon page. Thank you. Chapter 278: It doesn’t mean our bodies have to be in the ‘open’ too! Chapter 278: It doesnt mean our bodies have to be in the open too! Ack! Peh, peh, peh! What the hecks with this water!? Why is it so salty!? Immediately after diving into the sea, Selen returned to the shore with teary eyes. Wait, you didnt know that seawater has salt in it? Really? But if thats so, how can the fish live in it? While staring at some fish that were swimming in the seawater, Selen asked so in a curious tone. Letsdiscuss thatter. For now, lets focus on what were here to do: swim! And since we have our swimsuits, lets go change into those first. Ahh, Philia-san, dont go swimming naked, alright? Wear a swimsuit! Philia-san was just about to take off her clothes where she stood when I cautioned her like that. Mhm? Even when were going to swim in such an open sea? Yes. Just because were in the open sea, it doesnt mean our bodies have to be in the open too! Philia-san looked displeased, but we needed to do this much for the sake of Selius-kuns life. actually, even without worrying about that, I would still be asking her to refrain from swimming in the nude. This wasnt a nudist beach, after all. It should go without saying that the swimsuit I handed to Philia-san this time was one that covered as much skin as possible. Ive also handed Millia a simr swimsuit, but Fufufu, how do I look, Luke-sama? After changing so quickly in the shed built for that purpose, Millia called out to me. She was wearing a totally different swimsuit from the one I handed to her. It was a suggestive one that had a-like design from her cleavage area to her bellybutton. You can stare at me as much as you want, you know? While doing a pose that emphasized her chests and bottom, Millia said so to me. Ive been thinking this for a while now, but is she really a priest? I was thinking that when there was suddenly amotion from those around us. I turned to see what was happening and the next moment I knew, I saw something I could never have imagined. Tee-hee, how does my swimsuit look? So sexy, isnt it? Gori-chan also joined us in this pic-turned-swimming event. She has juste out of the changing shed wearing her swimsuit. If it could even be called that. S-seashells? Concealing the parts of her body that needed concealing were seashells. It seemed to be of scallops, to be more specific. Yes, the shells were too small for Gori-chansrge body. So much so, that her important bit could slip out at any moment. And for some reason, she also used seashells to cover her breasts. Her breasts wererge due to her muscles, but it still could not be mistaken for a womans. Yes I tried to buy one in vige when I first arrive, but in the end, none of the swimsuits matched my size. So, I decided to make my own. I should have asked the clothing workshop to custom-make a swimsuit for her tooof course, one that covered as much of her body as well. And then, the thing I dreaded about her swimsuit happened. After swaying her hips one too many times, the shell hiding Gori-chans crotch gave in to the pressure exerted by her astounding thigh muscles. *Crack!* Yes, the shell snapped in half. Ahhn! With frightening speed, she used her hands to cover her crotch. Did youhappen to see something? Gori-chan asked while her cheeks were blushing out of embarrassment. In response, everybody shook their heads vigorously. Naturally, I didnt see anything either. If I say didnt see anything, then I didnt see anything. Its as simple as that. Maybe you should swim in some more normal swimwear, Gori-chan? Yeah, thats a good idea! Actually, please do so. Oh my? Really? If you ask like that, I dont see any other choice. After being persuaded by everyone, Gori-chan decided to swim in a t-shirt and shorts. *phew* alright, everyone, swim in the water and y in the beach as much as you want, but be careful not to get too far away, ok? There might be some monsters in here, after all! Like that, I enjoyed the beach for the first time in this world. Please consider supporting me. You can do this either by turning off adblock for this blog or via myPatreon page. Thank you. Chapter 279: There’s no way a human could do something like that… Chapter 279: Theres no way a human could do something like that The seawater was a little bit cold, but just swimming for a while would be enough to get used to it. The weather today was nice too. The sun was shining brightly, so even when we get out of the water and stay on the beach, we didnt feel the cold much even though we were just in our bathing suits. Luke! Youre not gonna swim anymore~~? Im feeling a bit worn out, so Im gonna rest on the beach for a while. Both Selen and Philia-san has been swimming without taking a break for a while now. Their stamina was truly something else. As for Millia, she swam for a bit at the start as well. Soon though, she got out of the water so that she could drink some juice while lying down on a beach chair that was under a parasol. Luke-sama, please have a drink. Thanks, Milliaoh yeah, wheres Gori-chan? Goritiana-sama headed there. Millia said so while pointing at the open sea. When I squinted my eyes in that direction, I saw something making the water ssh as it travelled from left to right. S-so fastand, is that a butterfly stroke? It turned out to be Gori-chan swimming at an incredible speed. She was swimming too far into the sea though. But then again, Gori-chan should be more than fine on her own. As for the others: the brothers Belrith-san and Balrath-san were having a fun time ying some beach volleyball; Noel-kun and Goate-san seemed to be having a contest that revolved around catching fish with their bare hands; and Selius-kunwho unsurprisingly let out a gush of blood as soon as he saw Philia-san in her swimsuitwas taking a rest beneath some shade. We were like that when I suddenly heard a shout from behind us. What are you people doing over there!? I turned to look right away and saw a red-faced old man. Just when I worried that he somehow found out that we were foreigners who travelled here to y in their sea, the old man said something I totally didnt expect. The seas dangerous! Get out of it quickly! Havent you heard that krakens have been spotted here recently!? Krakens? If I remember right, theyre gigantic squid monsters, right? So, instead of getting mad at us for smuggling ourselves into their kingdom, it turned out the old man was shouting only out of concern for us. We called Selen and the others back immediately, of course. But while they were getting out of the water, Millia suddenly shouted something. Luke-sama, Goritiana-samas Huh? Whats wrong? Look there! I looked at the sea again and saw Gori-chan emerging from the open waters. However, she kept going up and up until she was suspended in the air. And keeping her up there was something thick that has coiled around herrge body. The old man from before shouted something. A, a kraken! I cant believe anyone will swim that far into the water in these dangerous times! That fooltheres no helping them now! In the next moment though, there was a bang, followed by the arm that was holding Gori-chan getting torn off. ha? The old mans jaw dropped and let out a dumbfounded gasp. Did the krakens tentacle really just got torn off? It was probably hard to tell from this distance, but Gori-chans power was way above what would be considered ordinary. No, it cant be, right? I must be just seeing things. Theres no way a human could do something like that Meanwhile, Gori-chan dropped into the water and didnt surface for a while. Did she dive down? Theyre being dragged downed to the bottom of the sea! Hmm, I dont know if its that, but shell probably be alright. This was Gori-chan we were talking about, after all. And soon enough, she did resurface. Shesing back. Is she carrying something? While Gori-chan was swimming back toward the shore with a butterfly stroke, we couldnt help but notice therge shadow behind her. Is it the kraken? D-dont be absurd! How can anyone defeat a kraken under the water!? The old man was in disbelief, but as the identity of the shadow became clear It, it really is a kraken! But that doesnt look too big? Ahh, it must be a child then. Even so, what a feat Ahm, considering that that person isrger than normal, I dont think thats the case. What!? Before long, Gori-chan reached the beach. Upon seeing her muscr physique, the old mans jaw dropped once more. So, so big Please consider supporting me. You can do this either by turning off adblock for this blog or via myPatreon page. Thank you. Chapter 280: We don’t need boats either Chapter 280: We dont need boats either Ahhn, who would have thought Id be courted so passionately in the deep sea Gori-chan said so after stepping onto the shore. She was dragging a gigantic squid-like monster behind her. The monsters body was about 10 meters longactually, it might berger than that. Likely because of Gori-chans attacks, the monster was visibly beaten up in ces and looked quite pitiful. That said, it seemed to still be alive since it was wriggling as though it was trying to escape toward the sea. This, this isnt a baby kraken at allits a normal one, no, actually, it looksrger than normal! The old man that spotted us eximed so as his lips quivered. This fe made a move on me, but then changed its mind and tried escaping back to the sea. So, I did what anyone would do and chased it and took it down Chasing a sea monster under the waterGori-chan, as always, was on a league of her own. Even the kraken must have been surprised to find out that there was and creature capable of that. Youre, youre incredible! I always thought that to defeat a kraken, several ships of armed soldiers were needed! And your muscles! Never have I seen a mightier man! M-A-N? The old man intended to praise her, but he unfortunately stepped on andmine instead. in his defense, the fight against the kraken had undone her makeup, plus she wasnt wearing her ribbon, tiara, and her usually frilly clothes. And looking like that, Gori-chan definitely looked like the manliest of men. Who are you calling a man? Hiii! I whispered something to the old man. She may look like this, but shes a woman. Shell be pleased if you tell her shes strong AND cute. Y-you must have misheard. I said never have I seen a mightier and cuter woman! When the old man corrected himself, Gori-chan seemed pleased. Ufufu, so long as you understand. Anyway, my hair is such a mess. My makeups a disaster toough, I love swimming, I really do, but this is just the worst. Almost like a young girl, Gori-chanined like that while looking at a mirror. Where did you get that mirror from though? At that moment though, the old man suddenly knelt down on the beach and bowed his head so low that it touched the sand. After witnessing your might, I have a request! Please help out in exterminating the krakens that are in the nearby areas! Wellpensate you properly, of course! The old man proceeded to give us more details. Apparently, multiple krakens have been confirmed to be in the nearby areas and they were causing a lot of trouble like sinking fishing boats. And because of that, the fishing industry that has been widespread in the region was facing a crisis. If things were normal, our local subjugation force would have kept the krakens far off the coasthowever, due to the krakens numbers, the local subjugation force been overwhelmed and cant do much about them. But if we have a mmmmm-woman like you, wed surely be strong enough to do something about them! While nodding, Gori-chan then replied. I see, I see. That must have been dreadful. Dont worry though, your problems will be solved in no time! R-really? Then, let me guide you to the subjugation force. Ahh, theres no need for that. Huh? I mean, our group should be enough for that. ??? Im not the only one who is strong here, you know. Every kid you see here is a great fighter! The old man was surprised once again and started to look at each of us, starting with the strong-looking people like Balrath-san, Noel-kun, and Goate-san. I-indeed Most of the people here were regr members of the hunting party, after all. However, when his eyesnded on me There are some kids that dont look like they can fight though Are you referring to me!? Anyway, Ill prepare some boats for you. We dont need boats either. We have something more convenient. Chief-chan, you can move that over the waters surface, right? Yup, it shouldnt be a problem. *zuzuzuzuzu* I used 3D Reposition and made the park that we stationed nearby move toward. Once everyone was on it, I made it travel along the waters surface. am, am I dreaming right now? The old man, stunned motionless in the beach, gradually disappeared from our view as we went forward. Please consider supporting me. You can do this either by turning off adblock for this blog or via myPatreon page. Thank you. Chapter 281: By the way, are krakens delicious? Chapter 281: By the way, are krakens delicious? So, how are we going to find the krakens? Now that you mention it We were currently on the park that was flying along the surface of the water. It was only when Selen pointed it out that I realized that there was a chance where we might not even encounter any kraken. After all, the sea was vast and the krakens tended to lurk deep underwater. Fufufu, theres no need to worry about that. You have some kind of n, Gori-chan? Yup, its this. Gori-chan replied so and then suddenly jumped from the park into the water. Or so I thought. When I ran toward the edge she jumped off of, I saw her clinging to the park. The lower half of her body was submerged. Krakens rarely get the chance to enjoynd creatures. So, if I do this, the krakens should be able to sense me ande. In other words, Gori-chan was acting as bait. It didnt take long for it to work too. Aahhn! It came! She shouted so in a coquettish way as arge tentacle wrapped around her body. Considering the encounter we had earlier and the fact that it hasnt even been a minute since she got in the water, I thought there must really be a lot of krakens lurking under the seathat or the krakens just find Gori-chan that irresistible. Whatever the case might be, they surely wouldnt have expected their would-be food to take them down easily. Here, I, go!! Along with her booming war cry, her muscles swelled even more. And then, while the krakens tentacle was still wrapped around her, she exited the water and pulled herself up onto the park. She was basically a human fishing pole. !? Oh, you dont get to escape me that easily! Before it could be fully pulled to the ground, the kraken immediately let go of its hold on Gori-chan and tried to get back into the water. Gori-chan didnt allow it to get away though; she grabbed hold of that tentacle and began dragging the gigantic kraken with all her strength. !! However, with all its strength as well, the kraken was holding on to the edge of the park. My, it can keep up with me! What power! Gori-chan, leave the rest to me. I shouted so while tapping on the krakens tentacle. [Teleportation] I moved us to the center of the park. !!? Suddenly finding itself far from the water, the kraken panicked. Youre so amazing, Chief-chan! Now! Yesss! Everyone thenunched an offensive against the monster. Now that it was out of its element, the kraken was as good as done. Thats another one down! by the way, are krakens delicious? I was wondering about that too! Just like always, the hunters were a gluttonous bunch. Sorry, but krakens dont taste too good. I see Upon learning that, their motivation visibly plummeted. From what we heard, there should be a lot more of them, right? But if we continue with this method, well be making Gori-chan do a lot of work. It wasnt like we had anyone who could substitute for her. Oh my, are you concerned for me? Youre really so kind, Chief-chan Ah, I got it! When I thought up of something, I shouted so and pped my hands together. We can use my body doubles! With life preservers around their waists, my body doubles floated in the sea. We had also tied a rope around their bodies, so there was no worry about them floating too far away. By employing my body doubles, we could have many baits at once. Moreover, because they could use teleportation, it would be simple for them tond the krakens once the monsterstch on to them. I feel like theyre looking at me resentfully thoughno, I should just ignore it I know theyre just your body doubles, but their stares are kind of unsettling, isnt it? Please consider supporting me. You can do this either by turning off adblock for this blog or via myPatreon page. Thank you. Chapter 282: Exercising in the sea is the best Chapter 282: Exercising in the sea is the best Weve fished a lot, havent we? There was now a pile of kraken corpses in the center of the park. Of course, with thates a strong fishy smell. To be honest, if I wasnt pinching my nose, I probably would have vomited long ago. For now, lets put them into a Cold Storage Facility. <> Our tactic that employed using my body doubles as bait was very effective. We hadnded and defeated krakens one after the other until we had the pile before us. But why are there so many of them here in the first ce? ording to the old man we met earlier, the krakens originally lived far from the shore, right? If we dont determine the cause, there is a good chance that they will just increase in number again soon. It was exactly as Millia said. Luke, can we go further into the open sea? Yeah. Lets try going as far as we can. Because of its increased levels, my vige has greatly expanded its maximum area. Even with all that though, we were unsurprisingly nearing the edge of the whole vige. For now, the n was to continue until we were at the very boundary. Oh, but it would be better to ask the old man which parts of the sea the krakens live in, right? And so, I teleported to the beach. Upon seeing me suddenly appear, the old man squealed gyaa!?. Before he could finish his scream though, I teleported back with him to the park in the middle of the sea. W-w-where is this!? Were in the sea. Over there is thend you were in earlier. What the heck is happening!? We exined things to thepletely bewildered old man. To determine the cause, youre going to kraken-infested waters!? Yup, thats it. And we were hoping you could tell us where that is exactly. S-sure, but a-are you right in the head? Any sailor would know to steer clear of those waters! Its justmon sense, you know!? Wed be fine. Unlike a ship, this ground wont capsize. And if something unforeseen happens I said so as I made the park rise up. We can distance ourselves from the water like this. I knew it, Im dreaming, after all. The old man thus guided us to the kraken-infested waters. Everyone seemed to be rxed and enjoying our sea travel. Swimming was fun, but this isnt quite bad too! Ahh, I can see a turtle swimming over there! The salty wind feels nice, isnt it? Luke-sama, would like you to drink something? Geez, I missed another. As expected, shooting fish under the water isnt an easy feat. Selen was excited to discover turtles. Millia was lying down at a beach chair while drinking juice and watching the sea. And Philia-san was shooting the fish in the sea with her bow. As for Gori-chan, she started some strength-training after saying exercising in the sea is the best. Meanwhile, Belrith-san and the other hunters watched her with envy, saying things like your muscles are impressive as always. Were about to enter kraken territory, so why do you people look so calm The old man said so, surprised by how we were acting. Were more or less there, so, want me to return you to the beach? no, I want to see this through with you all. Im curious about whats causing all this, yes, but more than that, I dont feel right having you people take care of everything. That said, I dont know what I can do to help. After the old man decided to stay, we continued advancing some more. And then, the weather suddenly looked ominous and the waves began gettingrger. Were about to enter kraken territory, alright. As you can see, the sea around this ce is turbulent. So much so that even if the krakens werent here, everyone would still steer clear of it. The violent waters surging towards us looked like they would have made me seasick, but fortunately, it had no effect on the floating park. ! Kraken! At that time, Selius-kun shouted so. Following his line of sight, I saw the silhouette of something that definitely seemed like a kraken. theres something strange about it Aside from being moved by the violent waves, the silhouette remained mostly in ce. Once we got near it, we immediately understood why. Its dead. Selen stated so. Rather than say its a krakens corpse, it looks like its just a portion of it. Its like something has bitten off the rest. In ordance to what Gori-chan said, bitemarks could be seen in the remains. Watch out, everyone. Theres something in the bottom of the sea. Philia-san warned us so. Almost immediately after, we saw a figure of somethingrge rapidly rising up from the bottom. Everyone, step back! The instant Gori-chan shouted so, a frighteningly gigantic creature jumped to the surface of the water and made a big ssh. Please consider supporting me. You can do this either by turning off adblock for this blog or via myPatreon page. Thank you. Chapter 283: I guess there’s no other choice than to make a fishing rod and land it, huh… Chapter 283: I guess theres no other choice than to make a fishing rod andnd it, huh Not only did the creature easily surpass the krakens in overall length, it also boasted a highly hydrodynamic body shape. Its mouth was lined with thick and sharp fangs. It now made perfect sense why that kraken was torn to shreds. Is it some kind of giant fish!? No, its a shark monster! A shark? Everyone from the vige was born and raised ind, so they had no idea what a shark was. At that moment, the old man, who was a local, shouted something. There are monsters called Devil Sharks and Blood Sharks in these waters, but neither of them is that big! Even the biggest kind, the Giant Sharks, can only grow to about half the size of that thing! *SPLASH!!!* The monster jumped out of the water, danced in the air for a bit, and then returned to the water with a great ssh. The waves it made reached even the center of the park. When I looked around, I noticed that the remains of the kraken we found earlier was nowhere to be found. That led me to believe that the shark monster did that to collect what little of the corpse there was left. What a good eater; not leaving any leftovers. Eh, this isnt the time to beplimenting it. That monster just now must be the reason why the krakens have been lurking in shallower waters recently. Having their usual territory be invaded by the shark monster, the krakens must have had little choice but to flee near the shore. So, basically, we need to defeat that shark monster in order to solve the kraken problem? Selen asked so while making a solemn face. S-surely, not even you people can defeat that thing, right? The old man groaned as his face turned pale. But as long as that things still here, we wont be able to go back to fishingargh, just how are we supposed to make a living now It would seem like the krakens were this shark monsters favorite food. More than likely, it would remain in these waters until it has eaten the veryst Kraken. Unfortunately, that spelled trouble not only for the krakens but also to the fishermen. Unable to fish in such dangerous waters, the fishermen would lose their main way of providing for themselves. Yeahthe krakens are easy enough, but that sharks going to be too tough to deal with underwater, even for me. Gori-chan apologetically said so. most people wont even be fighting a kraken underwater, much less calling them easy to deal with, you know. Not that bringing it tond is going to be easy. Chief-chans doubles would be swallowed whole no problem. My double being swallowed whole wouldnt affect things though. It could still use teleportation from within and get the shark monster out of the water. And so, just like with the krakens earlier, I made the doubles float in the waterthem staring at me with resent in their eyes againbut nothing was happening this time no matter how much we waited. Hmm. Humans dont seem to be one of their favorites. Given that, I decided to make use of the krakens we were keeping in the Cold Storage Facility. We werent going to eat it, so we were actually nning to throw the corpses in the sea. But now that we had a use for them, storing them there proved to be a good decision. At any rate, I made the doubles tie themselves to the kraken corpses and have them float in the sea again. Wait a minute, Luke! Lets put a stop to this! They look so pitiful, dont you see!? Huh? Before the doubles could go back into the water, Selen suddenly rebuked me like that. I was honestly quite taken aback by it. I know theyre just body doubles and all that, but this is just too cruel, you know. They dont really die though? Thats not the issue! For once, I agree with the girl. I cant bear knowing that the doubles who look so much like you are going to be swallowed by the shark monster. I think so too, Chief-chan. They look so much like you that my heart cant help but ache for them. Millia and Gori-chan backed up Selen like that. Before long, the other vigers gave simr objections as well. The old man, meanwhile, seemed to be at his wits end. Why the hell are there so many of the same person? Am I awake or am I really dreaming At any rate, due to the many objections, I had decided to stop using the doubles as bait for the shark monster. We still have to do something about the shark though Like that, I tried my best toe up with something else. Before long, an idea came to me. I guess theres no other choice than to make a fishing rod andnd it, huh Please consider supporting me. You can do this either by turning off adblock for this blog or via myPatreon page. Thank you. Chapter 284: It’s still writhing wildly! Chapter 284: Its still writhing wildly! Make a fishing rod? Yup. I think were gonna need one tond that shark. ??? Everyone altogether inclined their heads, but rather than exin it, I thought it would be better to just do it. In preparation, I built a bridge. < > A bridge, after all, was strong and kind of resembled a fishing rod if a bit of imagination was applied. I built an arching bridge at the edge of the park and extended it toward the sea for about an overall length of 20 meters. Through Facility Customization, I made it as t as possible. It now lookedpletely like a fishing rod, albeit one that wasnt flexible at all. I also used Facility Upgrade to further increase the bridges durability. Now, to bend the sea-end of the bridge I made it resemble a hook. Once we ce a kraken there to act as bait, it would beplete. What about the fishing line, you might ask. Well, lets not worry about trivial details of an analogy. Just to be sure, Ill make the park float a little bit higher. The park was currently at sea level, but I decided to make it float to about 20 meters higher than the waters surface. Meanwhile, I used 3D Reposition to lower the fishing rodnow with the krakeninto the water. Its here! After a little while of waiting, we saw the outline of a shark monster once again rise up from the bottom of the sea. With frightening strength, it almost dragged the fishing rod below the waters surface, but I took that as nothing more than a sign that the hook has sessfully lodged into the monsters mouth. Without a moments dy, I resolutely used 3D Reposition and turned the tables. !? The shark monster was ustomed to dragging krakens down the water, but I bet a situation like thiswhere it was the one being dragged upwas a first for it. It was desperately iling about in the air, but it wasnt like I was gonna give it a chance to escape. I used Facility Customization again and made the hook end lodge itself deeper into the monsters mouth. Did, did you really managed tond that gigantic shark!? When I dropped the shark on the park, the old man fell to the ground on his behind due to his excitement. Its still writhing wildly! In its struggling, the giant shark bounced up and down repeatedly. Each time it trashed around, it shook the entire park. I used Facility Customization on the ground in order to restrain the giant shark, but upon a simple swipe of its tail fin, what I built was crushed right away. It would seem that a structure made of earth wasnt enough. Its scales! Its so hard my arrows cant pierce it! My punches arent effective either! Philia-san and Gori-chan shouted so. Wait, Gori-chan, its dangerous to get that close now! *Smack!!* See!? Gori-chan was blown away until she fell to the sea. I sent a body double to get her back. Still, if even Gori-chan didnt stand a chance in closebat, perhaps none of us could. In that case, Ill freeze it! Selen said so and then began using her magic on the giant shark. However, the sharks size alone guaranteed that it would take a while before it waspletely frozen. Can we really do nothing but wait for it to weaken? But the fishing rods already threatening to break The question on our minds was: would the shark fall first or would the rod break before that? The hook being removed was concern too, of course. Ahh, I got it! Lets use a cold storage facility to make it freeze faster! I shouted so as I dragged the shark toward a new cold storage facility I built. Once I threw it in there, I set the temperature inside to be as low as it could be which was 50 degrees below freezing point. Not even the coldest of seas could be that cold deep below the surface. The shark also thrashed about within the cold facility at first, but soon enough, its movements began slowing down. And before long, the shark became frozen. Please consider supporting me. You can do this either by turning off adblock for this blog or via myPatreon page. Thank you. Chapter 286: My knife’s not even piercing through! Chapter 286: My knifes not even piercing through! The people of the port city insisted on paying us back, but we firmly refused. In the first ce, we werent citizens of their kingdom. We were able to deflect Bazal the old mans questions earlier, but should the people ask for details, we would likely be exposed. I wanted us gone before that happens. Its already dark. And its getting cold. So, we probably should return to the vige for now. Cant be helped After handing over the krakens to the port city, we decided to get back home. Are we going to fly back? Nope, lets use teleportation. Travelling via the park took quite a while, after all. Hide the park somewhere, ok? Ok! I couldnt teleport a facility with me, so I left the park in the care of a body double. Ah, but what about the shark? I was only able to teleport with me living creatures and things they had on their person. The frozen shark was dead, and it obviously wasnt something one would consider on their person. I thought so, but I had to try it first to be sure. And so, I touched the body of the frozen shark and began teleporting. In the next moment, I found myself and the shark back in the wastnd vige. It worked? Wait, you cant be alive, can you? In that state? It probably was just in a state of suspended animation. What tenacity. What, what is that monstrosity!? It looks like a fish, but isnt it too big!? Where the hell did ite from!? It turns out, a giant shark appearing out of nowhere was enough to greatly startle the vigers nearby. Its alright, everyone, its just me. Ahh, its the chief who brought it, I see. just like always, the vigers were quick on epting the situation. More importantly, lets get to cooking and eating it! What does it taste like, I wonder. Cant wait! A-ah, yeah. In no time at all, the viges chef had gathered near the shark. Of course, Coch-sanwho possessed the [Cooking] Giftcame too. What, what is this thing!? Its a shark. Its a bitrger than usual though. A shark? Whats a shark? I have never cooked one beforeahh, but I have no doubt about it, this things a great ingredient. Really? Coch-sans assessments were always reliable. Perhaps it was because he possessed the [Cooking] Gift, but he could always tell things like how fresh ingredients were and more. And now, it would seem he could appraise even ingredients he had never encountered before. If Coch-san says so, then it must be true! Im getting so excited to try it out! Like that, the chefs excitedly leapt at the shark to start preparing it. They were able to produce great food out of wyvern meat despite not having used it before, so I was quite confident they could pull it off this time as well. I was thinking that when Its scales are too tough! My knifes not even piercing through! The chefs shouted such things when they tried to put in their knives on a part that has thawed already. I dont understandthis is a dwarven-made knife that can slice even a wyverns scales, so why They called it a knife, but it was nearly the size of a sword. Moreover, their knives had saw-like teeth in them. I thought these knives would have been able to cut the sharks tough scales by chipping away at it, but it barely even made a scratch at the surface. Even the brawnier chefs achieved the same results. Coch-san had a glum look on his face when he groaned something. Hmm, this bastards going to need a stronger set of arms, it looks like. In that case, leave it to me. The one to offer their help was none other than Goate-san who possessed the [Herculean Strength] Gift. His Gift alone gave him incredible power, but his time in the training grounds was sure to further boost his strength. In terms of raw strength, Goate-san was second to none. And so, Goate-san was given a serrated knife and he began sawing off the giant sharks scales. Oh, ohhh! Youre cutting through! Amazing! But its taking us all this effort just to cut through its scalescan we really cook this monstrosity? Please consider supporting me. You can do this either by turning off adblock for this blog or via myPatreon page. Thank you. Chapter 287: Why can’t I eat it today!? Chapter 287: Why cant I eat it today!? Thanks to the help of Goate-san, we had sessfully chopped up the giant sharks body. Unlike its metal-like scales, its body was surprisingly tender. Also, contrary to what the sharks terrifying appearance might suggest, its meat was light pink and looked so delicious. First, lets try it as sashimi. Hmm, its fresh, so theres no foul smell at all. After saying so, Coch-san lightly dipped the thin slice of shark meat he held into some soy sauce and put it into his mouth. ~~~~~~!? Its, its so delicious!!!! Coch-san shouted so with his eyes wide open. It has this crispy texture, but the more you chew on it, the more of its sweet juices spread in your mouth! Its so good! He praised it so highly and then squealed in his delight. You try it too, chief! O-okay. After being strongly encouraged to try it, I also dipped a slice in soy sauce and then ate it. By the way, the soy sauce was one of the many seasonings that the chefs in the vige had recreated based on the memories I had of my previous life. Youre right! Its really is so good! It was a sinewy slice, so it wasnt so surprising for it be a bit chewy. However, it also had a good amount of fat within, so, just like Coch-san said, each bite produced more juices in the mouth. Let me try it too! Me too! The chefs raised their hands in session, each of them asking to be allowed to sample the sharks meat. Vigers who came to watch the chefs also asked to sample it, but if we let them, there might not be much left to cook. So, for the meantime, only the chefs were given permission. We have to know what it tastes like in order to make good food! Right, right! By the way, I was allowed to taste it because it was apparently part of my privilege as the vige chief. Also, even though he wasnt a chef, Goate-san was also allowed to sample the meat because of his critical contribution to the cooking process. So gooooooooooooooooooooddd!! The other chefs eximed so. Ive brought a wyvern today too! After catching a wyvern, her favorite prey, Dora travelled in high spirits to the human vige in the wastnd. However, upon her arrival, she was informed that no one could cook her some wyvern meat for that day. What do you mean!? Why cant I eat it today!? The viges chefs have all gathered to cook the shark. The shark? Yup. If youre curious about it, how about taking a look for yourself? Its over in the viges za. And so, Dora headed to the mentioned ce. What she saw there was Wh, what the hell is that!? it was a fishlike monster of an overall length of about 20 meters lying on the ground as the humans took it apart it little by little. At that size, it wasparable to Dora when she was in her dragon form. I dont think Ive seen you before, little girl. Hyaa!? Dora was startled when someone suddenly spoke from behind her. When she turned around, she saw a female viger she didnt know standing there. D-d-dont just call out to someone who has their back to you! Fufu, sorry for scaring you. But leaving that aside for now, are you curious about that monster? Its quite gigantic, isnt it? Apparently, our hunters have caught it in the sea. And now, our viges chefs have gathered to cook that thing. Im sure the food theyll make will be oh so delicious. *slurp* ~~~! Upon seeing that viger drool, Dora felt a shiver down her back. oh my, whats wrong? You look paleare you alright? I, I, Im fine! Ha, hahaha! *Before I knew it, my guardspletely down! This cant go on. If I stay in this vige, who knows before they change their mind and think of me as food!? Dora turned back and made an escape. Humans really are so scaaaryyyyyyyyyyyyyy!! On her way out of the vige, she vowed never to return there again. A few dayster. Hmm, Dora? How have you been? Its been a while since youst visited, hasnt it? Yeah, there were just some things I had to do I see. Well, you came here to eat, right? Y-yeah While nodding, Dora shouted internally. *I promised myself to never return here, so why did my body bring me back here!?* As though she could now subsist on nothing but the wyvern cuisines of this vige, this dragon girl has grown ustomed to being fed by the humans without her realizing it. Please consider supporting me. You can do this either by turning off adblock for this blog or via myPatreon page. Thank you. Chapter 288: Please let me join! Chapter 288: Please let me join! Even refrigerated, the passage of time would still make things less fresh. This seemed especially the case for shark meat. ording to what Ive heard, shark meat smelled more and more of ammonia the less fresh it got. As such, I wanted us to eat all of it up as soon as possible. To that end, we were once again holding a food festival. We would have lines of stalls that offered the dishes that each chef had created out of the shark meat. Moreover, the vigers would be able to enjoy those dishes free of charge. This time, there would be no limits. People would be able to eat as much as they wanted. And even though all the dishes were going to use shark meat, I believed that there would actually be a lot of variety for the vigers to choose from thanks to the chefs adding in their own twists. Because none of the vigers has eaten any food made of shark meator special seafood for that matterbefore, we expected all of the over 2,000 vigers to participate in this event. But considering that the shark was about 20 meters long, even if that many people participated, there was just no way for our supply of shark meat to run out anytime soon. or so I thought. Theres almost nothing left after just a day Within a day of bringing it to the vige, the shark was spotlessly cleaned off. All that was left of it were its bones and scales. Chief! Please catch more of that fish for us! Coch-san pleaded so. His stall consistently had the longest line during the festival. That might be hard to do. Wh!? How so!? We were just lucky to find one. I dont think anything theres many of that thing in the sea, so catching another one is pretty much impossible, Im sorry to say. N, no Coch-san must have really thought that the giant shark was an excellent ingredient because he looked shocked and even went down on his knees when I answered like that. T-then, at least please take me when you next swim in the sea! Ill go find the next best thing! Can that still be called swimming in the sea though? Thats fine, but remember that everybody else will be swimming near the coast, so youll be alone. Well, Ill lend you a body double, at least. Sure enough, on our next swimming trip, Coch-san joined us and searched for that giant shark monster. He didnt find another one. However, he found one close enough to it. Since then, our hunters have been bringing back those monsters to the vige from time to time. This is absolutely poachingbut oh well, its not like the locals are going to catch those monsters anytime soon. Now that Ive been to the great sea, I want to go to a desert next! This seems out of the blue, Selen. What happened? She apparently had so much fun in her first trip abroad that she wanted to go to other ces real soon. And one of the next candidates seemed to be a ce with a desert. There was actually a vast desert called the Rubul desert southeast of our kingdom. People say that there were a lot of small nations within that desert. But how do people live in a ce where theres nothing but sand? Dotting a desert are these spots of fertile and greennd called oasis. Thats where people live. The knowledgeable Philia-san informed us so. It would seem she has travelled to a desert before. Traveling in the desert is quite harsh, you know. During the day, its sweltering. And at night, youll be freezing. Just walking through the sand is bound to eat at your stamina. The absence of anyndmarks is not only liable to get you lost but also to drive you mad. Its also hard to find food and water. And if all that wasnt enough, there are also ferocious monsters living in the desert. Ohh, that sounds rough. Still not fully getting what kind of ce a desert was, Selen nodded thoughtlessly. Well, wed be flying aboard the park, so we didnt have much to worry about anyway. The heat and cold could be handled by building houses that had good air conditioning. We didnt have to worry about food and water too because we could just bring enough of it. The map feature of my Gift would also prevent us from taking a wrong turn. And so, in the end, we decided to go on a trip to the desert. Our group consisted mostly of the same ones who went to the sea the other day. However Please let me join! We might discover some new ingredient! As though he was obsessed with finding new ingredients, Coch-san wanted to participate no matter what. Wont people be unhappy if you close shop for the day? They had to make a reservation several months in advance or maybe even more just to dine there, right? Please consider supporting me. You can do this either by turning off adblock for this blog or via myPatreon page. Thank you. Chapter 289: This seems like a great way to lose weight, doesn’t it? Chapter 289: This seems like a great way to lose weight, doesnt it? The Rubul desert also stretched to the southeast of the Schneger territory. And so, we followed a route that cut straight through the domain. By the way, this domain was once seized by the Albert forces, but has now been returned to Marquis Schnegers control. Amazing! The sands really everywhere! After flying over some barren earth for a while, we finally saw the desert. I lowered our flying altitude to get closer to the ground. Were finally here! Lets get down now! Wait, were still too high! Selen jumped off from the park andnded on the sand. After I hurriedly made the parknd, we got down to the desert as well. There were no nts anywhere nearby. There was nothing here but the sandy ground. In the distance, I could even easily see the hazeing out from the ground. It rarely rained in this area and there were hardly any clouds at all, so it wasnt so surprising that the sunlight here was harsh. Moreover, because the sand reflected the sunlight, we were being assaulted from above as well as from below. There was also hardly any moisture in the air. It was still just the early morning, but it felt like the sand could burn us should we make direct contact with it. Just a few minutester and we were sweating profusely already. A few more minutes of walking in this heat and we were bound to be parched This seems like a great way to lose weight, doesnt it? How about you take a fewps? Actually, Id advise you to refrain from doing that. Your already small assets willpletely shrivel up after all. I-its gotten bigger, you know!? Millia and Selen began arguing like that, but the heat had robbed me of any energy to stop them. At that time, something sprung from the sand. That something was a hornworm-looking monster that had a diameter of nearly 2 meters. I couldnt gauge how long it was because a lot of its body was buried deep in the sand, but there was no mistake that it was gigantic. Its a Worm! Be careful! It attacks from below the sand! Without any dy, Philia-san shouted so while shooting an arrow. Her arrow hit the monster, prompting it to hide in the sand right away. Did it escape? No, once a Worm has set its mind on a target, it wont stop until it takes it down. It might not look it, but its quite smart too; itll bide its time until it finds the right opportunity to attack. Nobatants like Millia and I quickly evacuated to the park. We figured the Worm wouldnt be able to attack us here. Selius-dono! Below you! !? As soon as I noticed the lump on the ground below Selius-kun, the Worm emerged from it like a geyser. The Worms round mouthlittered with sharp fangsopened widely and threatened to swallow Selius-kun whole. Haa! However, Selius-kun used his wind to jump up in the sky, thus escaping from the Worms mouth. Upon closing its mouth without getting anything, the Worm turned around to get back in the sand. Before it could do so though, everyoneunched an attack against it. !?! Upon receiving a barrage of attacks, the Worm became tattered. And yet, it still tried to escape into the sand. At that point, Gori-chan firmly grabbed it. My, theres no escaping us here ya goooo! Gori-chan vigorous yelled so as she pulled on the Worm and dragged it out of the sand. That revealed just how long the Worm actually was. By my estimate it was either 6 or 7 meters in length. The Worm continued to squirm its way back to the sand, but Gori-chans superhuman strength just wouldnt let it. Completely defenseless like that, all that was left was for everyone to finish off the Worm. W-wait! Please kill it without damaging the body as much as possible! ? Whats the matter, Coch-san? Coch-san suddenly shouted so, confusing the attackers and stopping them in their tracks. That monster With his eyes sparkling, Coch-san proceeded to exin. Will make for a fantastic ingredient!! Eehh. TL note: Luke says the monster looks like a hornworm/caterpir. Philia calls it a Worm. Please consider supporting me. You can do this either by turning off adblock for this blog or via myPatreon page. Thank you. Chapter 290: Its appearance is just no good… Chapter 290: Its appearance is just no good No way! Almost everyone retorted so to Coch-san. Huh? No, itll definitely be delicious, I tell you! The matter of taste aside, its appearance is just no good It looked like a hornworm, after all. Even if it turned out to be delicious, the fact of the matter was that it just didnt look appealing. Hmm? Humans dont eat grubs? Now that I think about it, I havent seen anyone eat one ever since I moved to the vige. Wait, are you saying that elves do? Whenever were in the forest, yeah. They taste good cooked, but theyre fine raw as well. When you bite on them, you can feel the crispiness of their husks, plus the delicious milk-like liquid that oozes out of them. Ugh Simply picturing what she said made me feel more disgusted. That being said, it wasnt so surprising. I had memories of insect-eating being a little widespread in my previous life. In some cultures, it was even eaten as any normal food would be. Moreover, grubs were probably one of the easier insects to eat. I also eat it often whenever Im training. You too, Gori-chan? Insects provide a lot of protein and so little fat, so theyre great for building muscles of course, even if youre not trying to build muscles, theyre great for your diet. Thatment earned the interest of the people interested in muscle-building and keeping their figure, especially the women. If Gori-chan says so, it must be true! I wanna eat some then! The food in the vige is so good, Ive actually earned some weight, you know. Perhaps sensing that there was a change of heart among the vigers, Coch-san addressed something. You really dont have to worry about its appearance. Its sorge, we really cant cook it whole. Certainly, cooking something this big without cutting it up was impossible. Then, I guess I dont mind eating it If it turns out to be delicious, I definitely want to give it a try. Coch-sans going to cook it, so of course itll be delicious. Wait a minute, is the group who dont want to eat the worm now in the minority? Id like to try it too! Even SelenI for one absolutely dont want to eat it Even if I didnt see the worm alive and whole, I still probably couldnt bring myself to eat food made of it. *(Ill just secretly mix the worm into the food served to the chief. Fufufu )* ? Coch-san? Whats the matter? Sorry, but you looked like you were scheming something truly evil just now, you know. Mhm? No, please, you know I wont do such a thing. What could it have been aboutwhatever it is, I feel like I should refrain from eating food made by Coch-san for a good while. Wanting to cook the worm as soon as possible, Coch-san returned to the vige. Meanwhile, the rest of us resumed our journey through the desert. Where could the oasis be though? From the top of the observation tower that was built in the flying park, Selen searched for an oasis. We figured if people lived here, it would be in one of the few oases that dotted the desert. There are monsters over there. Looks like venomous snakes. Theyre probably Basilisks. Basilisks, like you said, Selen-dono, have deadly venom on their fangs. What about thoserge crabs over there? Those arent crabs, but rather scorpions. Desert Scorpions, to be specific. They catch their prey with their pincers and then finish it off by injecting deadly venom through the stingers in their tail. Their bodies are quite tough too. A bothersome monster to deal with, in other words. There are so many venomous monsters here, arent there? At that moment, Selen looked my way. Wait, who was that? That strangeugh? Huh? No one wasughing though. Everyone looked around, but we found nothing, leaving us confused as to what she was talking about. Come on, stop kidding around. Can you really not hear that? ? Despite being dubious, we quieted down and listened more intently. *Uhyahyahyahyahyahya* We didnt know what it exactly was, but it indeed sounded like a vulgarugh. You hear it now? Yeah! Still, none of us areughing Philia-san once again offered her knowledge. Its probably that monster, the Evil Hyena. Its known for its call that sounds much like wickedughter. Once they find their prey, they dont immediately attack it. At least, not directly. No, theyre sly and cautious in that they would hound the prey throughout the harsh desert and wait until it bes weak. It is said that a traveler who constantly hears theirughter day and night is bound to go mad. Wait, I found them. It looks like theyre chasing something. Selen noticed something and pointed at it. Upon looking where she pointed, we saw a group of people. Please consider supporting me. You can do this either by turning off adblock for this blog or via myPatreon page. Thank you. Chapter 291: We’re here to help Chapter 291: Were here to help Haa, haa, haadamn it, what a persistent lot A girl who was breathing heavily said so as she stared at the pack that was steadily chasing after her and her group. Her pursuers were a pack of monsters called Evil Hyenas. A pack of such monsterswhich on average consisted of 20 or so memberswere one of most dreaded encounters in this whole desert. The Evil Hyenas individual fighting strength was frankly not great, but they were sly and prudent. They would trail after their prey continuously, never giving it any time to rest properly. Sooner orter, a moment where they would have the upper hand would present itself. Be it because the prey sumbed to the harshness of the desert environment, attacked by another monster, or simply exhaustion, the Evil Hyenas would patiently wait for that chance. The Evil Hyenas themselves take turns in resting, thus ensuring they could attack whenever the chance presents itself. These Evil Hyenas were now following the girls groupwhich consisted of less than 10 people including herfor about 3 days now. Even under normal conditions, travelling in this desert for that long and without taking breaks was bound to push people to their limits. Its alrightjust a little bit more andyes, well reach the small oasis soonwe just have to keep going until then The one to say such words of encouragement was a man with a sword hanging in his waist. He was a young soldier with a muscr body, yet even he was visibly fatigued. As for the others, a lot of them were feeling lightheaded and had difficulties walking properly. *(None of them has the energy to fight leftthose Evil Hyenas, Im sure theyll be able to tell that too. Its only a matter of time before they begin attacking usand even if we reach the oasis now, it doesnt necessarily mean our situation would improveis this the end for us?)* The girl understood that as things stood, the fate that likely awaited them was to be the hyenas meal. *(Would we really die here like this without taking back the kingdom!?)* While the girl was thinking so, the Evil Hyenas finally began their attack. Uhyahyahyahyahya The maddening cry they had been hearing for thest 3 days could now be heard all around them. The group quickly drew their swords with what little strength they had left in an attempt to fight back. The girl too drew the dagger on her waist and made a terrifying scowl as though to say I wont die without a fight; Ill take at least one of you with me! However, just when the Evil Hyenas were about to charge, the skies suddenly grew dark. huh? The girl looked up and saw something so unbelievable, she forgot the danger her group was in. T-t-the, the groundits floating? At first, she thought it was just a hallucination induced by her fatigue. But she apparently wasnt the only one seeing it. In fact, everybody else was also looking up at the sky with their mouths agape. That went for the Evil Hyenas as well. They were so shocked they forgot to attack. But the surprises werent over yet. Something dropped from the ground above them into the sand. Mh~~~m! Were here to help That something turned out to be arge, muscr man. can he really be called a man though? The said muscr man wore pink frilly clothes and had a tiara on top of his head. Moreover, his long blonde hair was tied in twin tails by a pretty ribbon. He also had just the right amount of make-up on. The girl had never met this person before, but since the person in question told them that he was going to help, she assumed that he probably wasnt going to be hostile towards them. Either way, she and her group had no choice but to rely on him for now. Here I go! After the man kicked the ground, he suddenly got closer to some of the Evil Hyenas. Just a moment after, he made those Hyenas fly far away. What speed! Evil Hyenas were highly agile, yet even it couldnt even react to the mans attack just now. Someone that tall and with that much muscle cant be that fast, can he!? Uhyahyahyahyahya Theyretheyre running away! Sensing the mans strength, the Evil Hyenas quickly started making a retreat. I wont let you! Mhm, lets crush them. !? Other people dropped down from the ground above and also attacked the Evil Hyenas. Please consider supporting me. You can do this either by turning off adblock for this blog or via my Patreon page. Thank you. Chapter 292: There’s enough room there for each of you Chapter 292: Theres enough room there for each of you The pack of Evil Hyenas were targeting a group of more than 10 people. are they perhaps travelers? Probably because they have been traveling in this desert for a long time already, the group of people were at a state of total exhaustion. If the Evil Hyenas were to attack them now, they wouldntst long. And so, I quickly flew the park toward them. Im going to jump ahead! Before I could lower the park to a safe enough height though, Gori-chan jumped off the edged. Any ordinary person attempting the same would have died, but I had no doubt Gori-chan would have been fine. Plus, what was below was sand. Upon her grand entrance, the travelers as well as the Evil Hyenas were shocked. Yup, thats the reaction I expected. Gori-chan didnt waste any time and blew one Evil Hyena far away. The others, probably understanding the difference in power between their pack and her, quickly tried to escape. I wont let you! Mhm, lets crush them. Not long after, Selen and the hunters also began attacking. Selen rained down some icicles to block the Evil Hyenas escape path; Selius-kun took them out with his two swords; Noel-kun knocked them back by throwing his shield; Goate-san grabbed the tail of one Evil Hyena and spun it around to hit the others in the vicinity; Philia-san shot arrows at the ones who have already made it far. In just a few minutes, the pack of Evil Hyenas were no more. Who, who are you? And why is the earth floating in the sky? The travelers were still shocked from the fact that we arrived here from the sky. Their tanned skin made me rethink that they might be people who lived in this desert as opposed to travelers. But then again, if that was the case, they should have been familiar enough with the dangers of the desert. Why then would they venture to a ce like this and get attacked by the Evil Hyenas? The details can wait; for now, please follow us. Simply standing up took effort for them, so I quickly offered them water drawn from the wells in the nownded park. W-water! It seemed like they havent been drinking enough water recently as well, if their excitement was anything to go by. *Glug**Glug**Glug* phwah! Thats some good water! Ahh, Im revived! Drink as much as you want; dont hold back. When I said so, they seemed surprised. N-no, we cant be wasteful like that. Water is a precious resource in the desert, after all. Yeah, you obviously need water too, so taking more from your supply No, really, drink as much as you want. We have a well here, see? I moved down the lever of the well and water flooded out. EHHHHHHH!?!?!?!?!?!? Now, everyone, take care not to suffer a heatstroke! Cool yourselves down with this water. Keep the water running as long as you want. Wells made with my Gift never run out of water, after all. In addition to water, the group we helped also didnt seem like theyve eaten much, if at all, recently. Here you go; enjoy. Whayoure even giving us food? What I offered them were the bento we brought with us. They were made by Coch-san, so many of us have been looking forward to eating it, yet no oneined that I offered it. They didntin, but they couldnt help but look with envy. Its so gooooooooooooooooooodd!? Even though everyone had their fill, chances were they still havent recovered from the extreme fatigue they had. As such, I thought it was better to let them rest for the meantime. I built a hotel, so feel free to rest as much as you want. Theres enough room there for each of you. What the hells thaaat!? Where did thate from!? It would seem they were so upied with eating the bento that they didnt notice I built the hotels. <> Please consider supporting me. You can do this either by turning off adblock for this blog or via myPatreon page. Thank you. Chapter 293: …none of what you said made any sense Chapter 293: none of what you said made any sense My name is Maribel. Itste, but I still want to express our thanks. You really saved us. The person named Maribel seemed to be their groups leader. She was a tall, beautiful woman with a toned physique. She looked to be only 20 years old, yet she had this dignity that didnt fit someone of her age. Coupling that with her rather masculine way of talking, she kinda reminded me of Philia-san. At any rate, she and the others bowed their heads deeply. We just did the natural thing to do. More importantly, have you recuperated? We have, thanks again to you. I must say though, those were some unbelievably great beds. d you liked it. It looked like that resting in the hotel has made them full of energy again. by the way, may I know which one of you is the leader? Oh, its me. Im Luke. You are? Yup. More specifically, Im the vige chief. Vige Chief This child?, the expression on her face seemed to ask. I knew I look like a kid, but still Our vige is located somewhere far away. Were just touring the desert today with this flying park. none of what you said made any sense. R-rightwhere should I begin Perhaps because I looked troubled, Millia stepped in and exined things for me. This plot ofnd that can fly quickly, as well as the ability to build things like the water wells and hotels instantly, theyre all because of Luke-samas Gift. His Gift? Yes! As for who Luke-sama really is, he is the one sent down by the gods to save this world! All of mankind, nay, all living creatures should prostrate themselves before him! Just meeting him and being saved by him is a miracle in of itsesdfasdfdsf Millia began spouting nonsense, so I covered her mouth as soon as I could. P-please disregard thosest things. She tends to say jokes like that from time to time, ahahaby the way, where are you guys headed? Mhm, actually When asked for details, she revealed that that she was actually the queen of Enb, a kingdom that ruled over this part of the desert from olden times. Eh? The queen? Then, what is she doing in a ce like this, getting attacked by monsters and almost losing her life?? though a more urate way of saying it would probably be that I am the former queen of Enb. My position has been snatched away by my older brother. Queen Maribel said so with a frown on her face. He was originally the heir to the throne, but due to his ill conducts, he was removed from the line of session and even exiled from the pce. However, one day, he returned leading some sand raiders and invaded our kingdom. The sand raiders she spoke of seemed to be the term used for the people whomit crimes such as robbery here in the desert. Pretty much the areas version of bandits and pirates. Of course, their kingdoms military fought back as much as they could, but the rebel force led by her brother employed one dirty tactic after the other until, finally, the royal pce was upied and the oasis that served as the heart of their kingdom was taken over. Queen Maribel insisted on fighting until the end, but her advisors had persuaded her otherwise. They escaped just before the other side gained control. Despite being chased and caught by sand raiders over and over again, being attacked by monsters, and even losing her allies along the way, she continued traveling in this harsh desert while keeping the hope of one day retaking her kingdom always in the forefront of her mind. However, when they encountered that pack of Evil Hyenas, even she was convinced that it was the end of the road for them. Fortunately, we happened to pass by and saved them just in time. Not only did you save us, you also provided us with food, water, and lodgings. We cant thank you enough. And now that weve recovered, we should be able to continue our journey. To where? To an oasis nearby. When we escaped from the pce, our forces had no choice but to split up. However, before doing so, we decided to rendezvous in the said oasis. If mypanions have managed to survive, they will be going there. That oasis was where they would be gathering strength in hopes of retaking their homnd. TL note: Yeah, its hard to trante how Maribel talks in a masculine way. Heck, if it wasnt mentioned, I wouldnt have thought about it. Please consider supporting me. You can do this either by turning off adblock for this blog or via myPatreon page. Thank you. Chapter 294: It seems I’m a bit tired already… Chapter 294: It seems Im a bit tired already Alright, how about we give you a ride to that oasis? R-really? But youve already helped us out a lot. We cant possibly Dont worry about it. Itll be just a short ride, anyway. By flying with us in the park, they would get there much sooner than if they traveled the sandy desert by foot. They also didnt have to worry to worry about monsters this way. So, uhh, which way is it? Over thereI think. After giving herpass a brief look, Queen Maribel hesitantly pointed her finger in one direction. after all that has happened, Ive lost track of our present whereabouts, you see. Apass was indispensable in traveling this desert. Without one, you were liable to lose your bearings immediately. And if you didnt even know where you were, reaching your destination in this ce almost devoid ofndmarks would be quite the herculean task. Selen! Do you see anything over there? Hold on a second Selenwho was at the top of the observation towerthen tried to search with her naked eyes for the said oasis. <> I decided to use Facility Upgrade so that the observation tower would boost peoples vision even more. Wow, I can see further away now! Ahh, can that oasis be what Im seeing? It looked like she found something like an oasis. R-really!? Despite her shock, Queen Maribel rushed to the top of the tower. Of course, I followed after her. There, see? WhaI do see something When I looked at where Selen was pointing at, I saw a small pool of water amid this seemingly endless sea of sand. There seemed to be lush greenery around it, making me think it really was the oasis we were looking for. As for how far away it was, it was probably 10 kilometers away. Alright, lets go toward there. I said so and then made the park fly toward that point. Like that, what we thought to be the oasis grewrger andrger in our vision. Until eventually, we saw ake that was about a hundred meters wide. A closer look also revealed a few huts as well as fields in the area. Moreover, a simple wall made from what seemed to be hardened sand was erected in the surroundings. This is a hidden oasis, not found in any map. Because this ce is managed by the royal family, a little food and weapons are stored here for use in emergencies. Naturally, our enemies should not have any knowledge of this ce. We could also see some people below. They were probably the queens allies that got separated from her group and somehow made it here ahead of them. Likely because of the surprise brought about by the iing flying park though, they looked up with their jaws dropped. Im going tond the park by the side now. I said so as I tried tond the park next to the sand wall. Understandably, the people in the oasis armed themselves, but Queen Maribel rushed down and addressed them. Heyyy! Its me! Your Majesty!? Upon seeing Queen Maribel as she waved her hand, they were baffled and shocked. Are you unharmed, Your Majesty!? A middle-aged yet brawny man knelt in front of her while tears threatened to run down his cheeks. Yeah, Ganzasu. And right back at you. At your age, I thought youd have surely dropped dead from making a journey like that. Hahaha! I might have grown old, but I wont kick the bucket from something as simple like that! Especially while our beloved homnd is under the control of those vile traitors! Mhm, youre as reassuring as always. The man dered so as he pounded his chest with a strong blow. To which, Queen Maribel nodded, assured. Not that Imining, Your Majesty, but you look so lively, as though you havent gone on a grueling journey at all. it might not seem like that, but a lot of things have happened. Its a miracle weve made it here at all. Is that so? Then, the desert gods must have listened to our prayers and gave us this miracle. by the way, Your Majesty, it seemed to me like you arrived here riding a floating piece ofndno, thats impossible, isnt itmhm-mhm, it seems Im a bit tired already Please consider supporting me. You can do this either by turning off adblock for this blog or via my Patreon page. Thank you. Chapter 295: We do that and we’d be handsomely rewarded! Chapter 295: We do that and wed be handsomely rewarded! Mhm-mhm, it seems Im a bit tired already Thats not it, Ganzasu. Youre not seeing things. I understand why you have trouble epting it, but I really did fly in the sky riding that thing. Afterward, Queen Maribel introduced us. They had saved us from a pack of Evil Hyenas. Theyve mentioned they came from somewhere outside of the desert. As for this mysterious power they have, they say its thanks to a Gift. A Gift? You mean that nearly legendary power? Apparently, no one in the desert kingdoms had a Gift. Which probably stemmed from not having anyone who had the [Oracle] Gift, the Gift needed to perform the rite of blessing on someone. Our vige was lucky enough to have Millia, but since it was an extremely rare Gift, a ce needed to have arge poption before one could even expect it to appear. It wasnt impossible, just improbable. To give an example, no one in the beastmen settlements had such a Gift. By the way, as long as one had the potential to bear the [Oracle] Gift, it seemed like they could unlock it by their own, without anyone performing the rite of blessing on them. At least, that was what happened with Millia. And once there was at least one who had [Oracle], increasing the number of Gift-bearers in an area bes possible. Anyway, how many have arrived so far? at the moment, about 50 people. Ganzasu-san seemed to have trouble answering Queen Maribels question. 50, huh Of course, much like Your Majesty, Im certain many more would arrive soon! Theyre the best our kingdom has to offer, after all! Theyre used to marching in this desert! Ganzasu-san asserted so, but honestly, the situation looked quite grim. Without the proper preparations, crossing this desert was no easy task, even for soldiers who were ustomed to the locale. If they were going to take back their kingdom, Queen Maribels side needed fighting power. I had no idea how much fighting power the other side had, but it was probably safe to assume that 50 soldiers wouldnt be enough. Almost like fate was kicking them when they were already down, a terrible report came in. E-enemy attack! A group of what seems like sand raiders are headed this way! What did you say!? How can that be!? Has the location of this ce been leaked to the enemy!? We hurried to confirm the report and sure enough, we saw a group approaching our location as they left behind clouds of sand. The sand raiders seemed to be riding arge sled that was being pulled by something. That monster is called a Sand Lizard. Its normally very violent, but those sand raiders have somehow found a way to tame it. Thanks to their body that was well-suited for traveling in the sand, the sand lizards were able to advance on top of the sand easily and swiftly. Moreover, the sleds they pulled wererge enough to fit ten people, yet they moved forward as though they werent pulling anything. At any rate, there were 6 Sand Lizards and each was pulling a sled. In other words, an enemy force of 60 people was probably what we should expect. Hyahaaa!! They found us! Look! The queens over there! So thats the woman we gotta nab! We do that and wed be handsomely rewarded! Gyahahaha! Each of the sand raiders made weird noises. Theyrenot very bright, are they? Damn! We must fight back! Their numbers mean nothing against our walls! Show those traitors the might of Enbs soldiers! Queen Maribel shouted so and the soldiers replied Oooo! loudly and in unison. And so, on top of the hardened-sand wall, we waited for the attackers to arrive. Hyahaa! Think that weak-ass wall can protect you!? Sand lizards! Keep charging and smash that wall! Shaaaa!! The sand raiders whipped the sand lizards and thetter charged forward with more force. What!? G-get away! Given that the sand lizards were about 5 meters long each, their sped-up charge would likely demolish the wall made of sand right away. Realizing that the enemies were intent on making the monsters collide with the wall, Queen Maribel gave thatmand. Just as about they were about to get down thoughI transformed the sand wall into one that was made of stone. Please consider supporting me. You can do this either by turning off adblock for this blog or via myPatreon page. Thank you. Chapter 296: Just run it over! Chapter 296: Just run it over! The wall made of sand suddenly turned into one made of stone. Aside from bing stronger, the wall also became thicker and taller. eh? Even moments before they crashed into the wall, the sand raiders thought they were seeing some kind of hallucination. In this desert, it wasnt umon for someone on the brink of copse to hallucinate. However, the sand raiders were not exhausted, not starving, and not thirsty at the moment, so they shouldnt be hallucinating. And yet, they could think of no other reason why the wall seemingly became made of stone. Regardless, their chargewhich they initiated to bring down the sand wallcouldnt be stopped now. *Zudoooooooooooooooooooooooonn!!* With a thunderous sound, the sand lizards crashed head first into the stone wall. A momentter, the sled the sand raiders were riding in also crashed hard into the wall. GAAAAAA!? The sand raiders were thrown off the sled; the sand lizards fainted; and the sled broke into pieces. W-what just happened? The wall Opposite all that destruction was a dumbfounded Queen Maribel. I rebuilt it into a rampart. The enemy should all be knocked over by now. Ok, Ill be opening it up. *zugogogogo* In order for the others to see the other side, I made the wall slide as though it was an automatic door. Arghit hurtsss Ugh Im dying The sleds were smashed and the sand raiders lied on top of the sand while moaning in pain. W-what the hell happened!? I swear that wall was made of sand just a moment ago! Maybe because they were in the very rear of their formation, one sled of sand raiders remained standing. W-worry about thatter; were in a bad spot here! Lets leg it for now! Shyaaaa! That group turned around their sand lizard and whipped it in an effort to escape. If they gain a bit more distance, it would be impossible for us to catch up. Im not letting you. Gori-chan shouted so and then leapt with tremendous force from the top of the wall. That single leap allowed her to get in front of the fleeing sled. What the heck is that!? A muscle monster!? Who gives a fuck!? Just run it over! Shyaaaa! The sand lizard was whipped into crashing against Gori-chan. Here you go Contrary to what her affectionate yell might suggest, Gori-chan grabbed the sand lizard by the jaw and slid into its underbelly by lowering her hips. Take thissssssssss! This time, Gori-chan gave a hearty shout as she delivered a shoulder-throw. Were being tosssssssed!? ~~~~!? Gyaaaaa!? The sand lizard, along with the sand raiders, was flipped and mmed into the sand. Gori-chan was amazing as always. Not only did she have unbelievable raw strength, she also had masterful throwing techniques that could overwhelm even bigger, mightier foes. Ah-hah, splendidly done, if I do say so myself. What a monster Hmm? What was that? Did you just call a beautiful woman like me a monster? Hiii! The sand raiders werent the only ones frightened by Gori-chan. Gururu Even the sand lizard was scared. And in its fright, it surprisingly made a noise that was quite like a birds chirp. A few momentster, the Enb soldiers began binding the sand raiders. Afterwards, the sand raiders were questioned. The result of which was the confirmation someone spilled the location of this oasis to their side. That means we cant stay here for long. That said, I have no idea where else we could staythere are also the other soldiers who might still be on their way here to considerreally, Im not sure what to do Queen Maribel racked her brained for the best answer. Before she could decide, I proposed something to her. Maribel-oneechan, how about we just go straight to taking back your kingdom? Please consider supporting me. You can do this either by turning off adblock for this blog or via myPatreon page. Thank you. Chapter 297: W-where might you be taking us…? Chapter 297: W-where might you be taking us? Th-this is a vige!? No matter how I look at it, its not at all inferior to arge city in Enb I had invited Queen Maribels group to our wastnd vige. While they were astounded by the rows of high-rise buildings in the vige, Millia proudly stated something. This was originally a wastnd without any nt life. However, all thanks to Luke-sama, this ce has be the vige you see in just 3 years. Just 3 years!? W-well, its mostly thanks to my Gift, though. There was only one reason why we brought them here today: to give them some support in their mission to take back their kingdom. A-a city like this is bound to have an equally magnificent army, right? If you lend us your strength, taking back Enb wont be a pipedream! Ganzasu-san excitedly said so. Were only going to give you some support, ok? Basically, well just make sure you can defeat the sand raiders on your own. I reminded them of the extent of our support. If we wanted, we could deploy all our military might and quickly take back their country. However, this was purely their nations affair, so I thought we should refrain from helping them too much. Of course. This is our fight. We cant let people not rted to it risk their lives for us. Queen Maribel nodded emphatically. Meanwhile, Selen and Selius-kun whispered something among themselves. So he says, but knowing Luke, hes going to overdo it anyway. yeah, I agree, dear sister. What could they be talking about? Well, before that, lets bring these sand raiders to that ce, shall we? What ce are you talking about? Not answering the bewildered Queen Maribel for the moment, we brought the captured sand raiders to the viges rehabilitation facility. <> Granny Nema, could you rehabilitate these people for us? Sure, no problem. Queen Maribel made a face that seemed to say: is it alright to leave these people to an old woman like this? However, the fact of the matter was there was no one better than Granny to handle such things. Its been a while since I yed with this many, I think. Just thinking how I should dote on them is making me excited. Eheeheehee. She just recently gave birth, but it would seem she was as lively as ever. ~~~~~~~!? The sand raiders were initially relieved when their would-be jailer looked like any olddy. However, as though they instinctively felt some kind of dread, panic suddenly began to set in on them. Alright, now, everyone, this way please. W-where might you be taking us? I understood why Queen Maribels group smiled nervously, but there obviously was no way that we would treat the same as those sand raiders. As for where we were actually taking them, it was the viges churcherr, cathedral. <> Lets get you all blessed! Among the 50 or so people in Queen Maribels group, only 5 of them was able to receive a Gift. One of them received the [Linguistics] Gift. It was great and all, but it didnt seem like it was of much use in a fight. The others received [Shield Techniques], [Swiftness of foot], and [Iron man], which in contrast all seemed useful in a fight. By the way, the one who received [Iron man]a Gift that greatly increased ones physical strength and endurancewas I cant believe that I got a Gift at my age! Furthermore, it suits me perfectly! As long as I have this, there is no enemy I need to be afraid of, whether they be sand raiders or what have you! Hahahahaha! Ganzasu-san said so and thenughed heartily. As for thest person to receive a Gift, it was surprisingly Queen Maribel herself. [Battlemaiden]? Thats my Gift? Yup, definitely. It was definitely what the Gift was called, but this was the first time any of us have heard of such a Gift. We tried to confirm with the church, but even after they checked their records, nothing turned up. We knew nothing about it, but based on the Gifts name, we were quite confident that it wasbat-type Gift. It seems kinda strong too. Please consider supporting me. You can do this either by turning off adblock for this blog or via myPatreon page. Thank you. Chapter 298: Ohh, you’re getting a special instructor? Chapter 298: Ohh, youre getting a special instructor? To those who didnt get a Gift, theres no need to be discouraged. Just do some drills in our training ground and youll improve quickly. After they were blessed in the viges church, we took them to the training grounds. <> Just like usual, vigers were training hard in there. Whats, whats with those two swordsmen!? Their offense and defense is amazing! That spearman over there is amazing too! I cant follow his movements! Is it just me or is everyone in front of us incredibly muscr!? It seemed like Queen Maribels group were surprised by the training that they saw. Is this, is this because of their Gifts? As though she thought the vigers here were Gift-bearers, Queen Maribel whispered theres so many of them Nope. In fact, most of the people here dont have Gifts. Huh? Are you saying this is all simply because of training? Yup. In other words, even if someone doesnt have a Gift, so long as they train enough, they can be that strong too. To be more urate, that would be the case as long as they trained enough in the viges training ground. Everyone! These people havee here to train with you all. Please guide and help them out, ok? Theyre all highly eager, so feel free to make their training more intense than usual. Leave it to us, vige chief! The people in Queen Maribels group would probably push themselves to the limit in the hopes that it would help them take their kingdom back. Yeah, bring it! No matter what, well definitely get stronger. And then, well take back our home! Queen Maribel said so, all hyped up. Ah, Your Majesty, I was thinking of assigning a more experienced instructor for you. Selen, you dont mind, right? Obviously! Her? In contrast to the proud-looking Selen, Queen Maribel looked a bit anxious. Theres nothing to worry about. Dont underestimate her by her looks; shes the viges second strongestbatant, you know. Our vige held our very first fighting tournament recently, and she got second ce, losing only to Gori-chan. Its just a shame our finals match got spoiled because a certain somebody meddled! Ugh looks like shes still holding a grudge for that. Better redirect the conversation away from the tournament then! This cute gigainst that monstrous warrior? Queen Maribel stared wide-eyed at Selen. On the other hand, Selen was giggling at the mention of the word cute. Ohh, youre getting a special instructor? Im quite envious of you, Your Majesty. Ganzasu-sanmented so with envy in his eyes. When he did so though, arge figure appeared from behind him. My, if you want, mister, how about doing some drills with me? !? Speak of the devil and all that, the one just showed up was Gori-chan. Ganzasu-san was quite therge man himself, but next to Gori-chan, he almost seemed normal-sized. Mister, youre the one got the [Iron man] Gift, right? Then, surely, youd be able to keep up with my training, right? Ahhshit, I mean, ahm, Im grateful for the offer, but Gori-chan approached without hesitation while Ganzasu-san flinchingly took a step back. Gori-chans training, to put it simply, was hellish. She had previously held a set of training sessions dubbed Gori-chans bootcamp. It was open to all, but even the macho vigers who had continuously been using the training grounds couldnt keep up. Isnt that great, Ganzasu! Youre sure to get stronger if youre trained by her! Your, Your Majesstttyyyyyyyyyyy!? Ganzasu-san shouted with teary eyes. Like that, he was rendered unable to reject the offer. Its decided then! Ahan, Ill be sure to show you lots of love! Hiiiii! Gori-chan then firmly grabbed Ganzasu-san by the shoulder and dragged him away. hope you survive Please consider supporting me. You can do this either by turning off adblock for this blog or via myPatreon page. Thank you. Chapter 299: It’s because this isn’t what we expected at all! Chapter 299: Its because this isnt what we expected at all! The majority of the Enb kingdom was built on the first or secondrgest oasis in the whole Rubul desert. And sitting in the throne within that kingdoms royal pce and being served by beautiful women was a young man. He had tattoos all over his body, and also had many ear and mouth piercings. His name was Kasim. He had lived his life as this kingdoms prince before, but due to his wrongdoings, he was banished from the pce. Since then, he has been dominating sand raiders from all over one group after the other until, before anyone knew it, he wasmanding a great force. And then, just a few days prior, he came back to this oasis to conquer it with his impressive military. Before long, he was sitting in the throne that was denied of him. So, is it true that you found where the remnants are hiding? Sure did, boss! No two ways about it! A certain report had been delivered to him. That report stated that the queen and the group that escaped with her have gathered in a small oasis and were staying there to prepare to take back the kingdom. So, the desert has chosen to spare her. What a lucky girl. But her soldiers might not be so lucky. What can she do with the few that has somehow survived? Kasim sneered kukuku, but the one doing the report continued. About that, it looked like about 200 of them have survived What? Upon hearing a higher-than-expected number, Kasim frowned. If there were 200 of them, that would mean most of the Enb kingdoms elites have managed to survive. Without any preparation, even a well-trained soldier wouldnt find it easy to survive in the harsh desert. Due to that, Kasim had estimated that a mere 50 or so of the queens forces would survive at the most. Tch, what a pain they are. No other choice then. Oi, Zel, take a group and hunt those remnants down. Understood. How many people should I bring? The person named Zel was one of Kasims most trusted retainers. He was once the leader of a gang of sand raiders, but after suffering defeat against Kasims gang, he has since served under him. Right, even demoralized, they are still elite soldiers. And if Maribel is alivemaking their morale highertheyre more a pain in the neck. Hmm, how about you bring 500 soldiers? 500? Yeah, that should do. Actually, you sure you can spare that many? Hisrge gang of sand raiders consisted of at most 1500 people. Ruling this kingdomwhose poption was several times their numbersrequired a proportionatelyrge military force. Even as they were now, uprisings were happening here and there. Course. Who do you think I am? Im more than enough by myself, you know. of course. Like that, Zel took 500 sand raiders and left to hunt the remnants. While watching that group depart, the man who reported the whereabouts of the queen and the other remnants to Kasim secretly grinned. <> Chief Luke, I just received a report from the sand raider we asked to infiltrate. He says 500 of the enemy force have departed from the oasis to hunt the queen and the other remnants. Understood. Thanks, Satin. After the captured sand raiders were fully rehabilitated and had a change of heart, we had sent them back. Our n was to get them to reduce the enemy force. It would seem they seeded. If we didnt count the troops patrolling the city, there should be only a hundred or so left to defend the pce. The ground above should already be the oasis of the city. Ive connected this path to somewhere inside the pce, so lets continue down this way. We were currently headed to the enemy base through an underground tunnel beneath the desert. Traveling in the sky would obviously alert the enemy on our approach, after all. Thanks to 2 weeks of intense training, the queens group had gotten a whole lot stronger. So much so that they should be able to take their country back now. But then, I noticed something. huh? Were going to be fighting soon, so why arent you, I dont know, more alive? Before we departed, they were saying stuff like even if it costs me my life, were going to take our kingdom back! In response to my confused look, the queens group shouted something. Its because this isnt what we expected at all! Please consider supporting me. You can do this either by turning off adblock for this blog or via myPatreon page. Thank you. Chapter 300: They’re like completely new people! Chapter 300: Theyre likepletely new people! Only 2 weeks have passed, but Queen Maribels group has gotten a lot stronger already. At the rate were going, it wont be long before we could take back our kingdom! Ohh? Lets move to the next phase then! Already!? What do you mean? I thought you wanted to retake your kingdom as soon as possible? Y-yeah, but we assumed it would be half or a full year before we take action Actually, we already made various preparations toward that goal. I agree, we cant afford to dillydally. We have the people forced to be under their rule to worry about. Queen Maribel subtly nodded and said so. Likely thanks to her powerful Gift, [Battlemaiden], Selen has already dered that she was battle ready despite training for only a short while. As for Ganzasu-san, who possessed the [Iron man] Gift, it would seem that Gori-chans spartan training has made his muscles bulge to the point that his armor no longer fit him. Right. We might have been training for only a short while, but were nothing like we were before! As we are, were toteserr, that is, certainly going to seed! it would seem Gori-chan passed not only battle know-how to Ganzasu-san but also the way she talked. By the way, the group has grown in number from 50 to 80. We had collected the soldiers who finally made it to the small oasis from before as well as those who were just wandering around nearby. We might have gotten stronger, but the enemy still far outnumbers us! Moreover, this time, they can use the town as part of their defenses. So, make no mistake, this will be an arduous battle! And yet, failure of any kind is not an option. This is ourst chance to take back our kingdom! Even at the cost our lives, we must take back our home! OOOOOH!! In response to Queen Maribels heroic resolve, the soldiers of Enb raised their fists in the air. Mhmm. In acknowledgement of your resolve, Ive prepared some additional numbers for you. Additional numbers? Yup, and there they are. Them!? Upon seeing the arriving group, Queen Maribels group gasped and brought up their guard. Its alright, you can all rx. Everyone here has been fully rehabilitated, right? Yes, sir! We have turned over a new leaf!! The new arrivals shouted their reply and then snappily saluted. As for who they were, they were the sand raiders who have been recently sent to the viges rehabilitation facility. Theyre, theyre likepletely new people! What happened to them!? Queen Maribel was surprised by the dramatic change and asked so. To which, Granny Nema grinned and asked something back. Eheeheehee, do you really want to know? N-noIll have to decline Now that the reformed sand raiders were part of our forces, their first task was to shave off as many of the enemy soldiers as they could. I wonder how big of a subjugation force the enemy will send once the reformed sand raiders falsely reports the Queens location? After that move, they were to blend in with the enemy force and cause confusion by attacking their supposed allies in various locations of the city. I seethen we can advance all the way to the pce with minimal resistance. Ohh, were actually getting inside the pce through a tunnel. Tunnel? What are you talking about? I had already setup an underground tunnel that led directly inside the Enb kingdoms royal pce, so we could storm the ce at any time now. huh? Were going to be fighting soon, so why arent you, I dont know, more alive? Its because this isnt what we expected at all! which brings us back to this moment. How do I exin this? We imagined that we would be risking our lives more to take back our kingdom, I guess. We totescertainly didnt think this operation would be this well setup. Well, we can never be truly prepared, right? Ahh, I almost forgot, we have prepared many potions, so feel free to carry with you one or two of them. You even have potions!? By the way, to assist Queen Maribels group in battle, Gori-chan as well as 10 hunters led by Selen were participating in this operation. Moreover, we also nned to have vigers who could use healing magicsuch as Kurine-san, the elf who had the [Healing hand] Giftwait in the underground tunnel just in case. Alright, lets go, shall we? There should be a hundred soldiers guarding the pce, but I think our side should be able take care of them. TL note: Im putting this project on pause for the meantime. Im focusing on Swine Noble for now while also letting the source material for this title umte. I wille back to it soon enough. Please consider supporting me. You can do this either by turning off adblock for this blog or via myPatreon page. Thank you. Chapter 301: Our destination is the center of the palace! Chapter 301: Our destination is the center of the pce! N-no doubt about it, this is the pces courtyard! We really made it all the way inside the pce After emerging from the underground tunnel, we found ourselves in what seemed to be a garden. The ce was supposedly once pretty, but likely due to the invasion of the sand raiders, the many flowers here were cruelly trampled on. All units, spread out as discussed! Our primary goal is to gain total control of the pce! Yes, maam! When the soldiers received Queen Maribels signal, each one hurried to to the positions they were given beforehand. They were familiar with the pcesyout, so naturally, they moved with ease. It was no exaggeration to say that victory or defeat could be determined in how quickly they could gain control of the pce. The sand raiders we managed to get on our side were surely causing havoc for the enemies in the city, but a prolonged battle in the pce could only mean reinforcements for the enemies. Needless to be said, that would be disadvantageous for us. Our viges hunting group were distributed to each unit to provide support. Well be going now as well! Our destination is the center of the pce! In contrast to the other units that were deployed elsewhere in the pce, the 30-strong force led by Queen Maribel was headed for the pces center. With me (via body double) were Selen and Noel-kun. Who the heck are you!? How did yall get in here!? Are they Enb soldiers!? How did they? Even when the enemy sand raiders within the pce noticed us, they were far too shocked to pose much resistance. Haaaaaa! With a valiant shout, Queen Maribel led the charge against the enemy sand raiders. Gah!? She drew her sword from its scabbard and then a sh! With just that, three sand raiders were cut and fell to the ground. Satisfied with the result, Queen Maribel immediately sprang at the other sand raiders. Yes, like that! Show them what its like to be trained by me! In response to her pupils performance, Selen puffed out her chest proudly. It cant beshes the queen!? I cant believe she herself is fighting! Ha! That just makes it more convenient for us! Now, all we have to do is bring her down here and now! At that moment, a knife aimed at Queen Maribel came flying. The queen had justunched an attack on another sand raider, so she was unable to notice the thrown weapon. I wont let youuuu! Hmp! Putting his own self in the way of the knife was Ganzasu-san. The knife made a direct hit on his arm, but at the same time as when a nk sound could be heard, the knife started to fall to the ground. Not even a scratch could be found on Ganzasu-sans arm. A-are you kidding methat definitely hit, didnt it? My thrown daggers could pierce through thin iron armors, so why? The sand raider who threw the knife said so, dumbfounded. Hahaha! But of course, my muscles are now harder than steel! It wasnt just them; the other Enb soldiers who didnt have a Gift also overwhelmed the sand raiders standing in their way. A-arent these guys abnormally strong!? Damn it, theyll breakthrough at this rate! What are the others doing!? It looks like everywheres being invaded! After routing enemy lines, we reached an open, luxurious space that seemed to be the center of the pce. In the back of the room was a seat that I thought to be the throne. Despite of what was happening, one man calmly sat on it. He was young. He had lots of tattoos and piercings as well. He was probably Kasim, the leader of the sand raiders. With his snake-like, sharp eyes, he red at Queen Maribel and spoke with irritation in his voice. whats the meaning of this? Werent you hiding in that hidden oasis of yours? And how did you get this far? Were not obligated to exin ourselves to you. Instead, were here to demand that you vacate the throne at once. If youply, trust that your execution will be a tad gentler. Ha, you sure like to talk down to me. Wait, dont tell me you really believe you can defeat me? Kasim then slowly stood from the throne. Before I knew it, he cheerfully licked the de of what looked like a saber. Naturally. Thats what were here for, after all. Kukuku, listen to this guyshe tells the funniest jokes!! Kasim shouted so and then sprang at Queen Maribel. Please consider supporting me. You can do this either by turning off adblock for this blog or viamy Patreon page (link here).Thank you. Chapter 302: Even if you say that, I can’t tell which one is real! Chapter 302: Even if you say that, I cant tell which one is real! There must have been a distance of 10 meters or so between the throne and Queen Maribel, yet Kasim closed that distance in one leap and then attacked the queen with his saber. Doha worry, I wont kill you right away! First, Ill strip you and parade you all over the city! And then, in front of the people, Ill have my guys have their with you every single day! Just imagining that collected face of yours contort in pain and humiliation is making me so excited! youre as disgustingly vile as always. *ng!* Wha? You caught my sword? Ill say it again. If you surrender peacefully, Ill make it so that your execution is less painful. quit your nonsense! Kasim shouted so and then made another shing attack. Even to the untrained eye, it was clear to see that he was on another level than the other sand raiders. Which wasnt so surprising, especially so after I stealthily registered him as a viger and appraised him. I discovered that he had the [Darkness Sword Technique] Gift. Wait, he has a Gift? I thought no one in the desert had one? I had no idea how or where he could have gotten that Gift, but it was certainly the greatest factor that allowed him to lead all of these sand raiders. His arrogance probably partly stemmed from the Gift as well. As far as he was concerned, there was nothing but weaklings here in the desert. This time though, that would not be the case. Haaaaa! Ghh!? Youve gotta be? Kasim evenly crossed swords with Queen Maribel. No, actually, Id say the queen is superior to him. Youre overpowering me!? How, how can you? Ive trained and grown stronger all so that I can defeat you! Dont think that I am the same as I was before! Queen Maribel continued her fierce attacks and further pushed Kasim back. Boss!? Dammit, we gotta assist the boss! You think well let you? Hahaha! None may intrude upon Her Majesty! The sand raider minions tried to help Kasim, but Selen and Ganzasu-san stood in their way. And like that, an intense skirmish began among them. What the, these guys are? T-theyre too strong Gyaaa!? They were likely the elites among their group, but they were easily overwhelmed by the Enb soldiers. When the hecks reinforcement going to get here!? What are those guys doing!? Our other units were probably smoothly containing those said reinforcements, so none woulde for some time, if ever. At this rate, we should be able to take control of the pce pretty soon. While I was thinking like that Gah!? Your Majesty? Queen Maribelwho was pushing back Kasim just a moment agowas knocked back and tumbled on the ground many times over. Khhw-what just? Kukuku, you didnt think youre the only one with a trick up their sleeves, did you? The queen grimaced as she wondered what just happened. In contrast, Kasim chuckled gleefully. And then, something unbelievable happened: his body blurred for an instant and then he split into three, no, four. Huh? What is this? Some kind of body double? I thought so, but when the queen swung at one of them, her de just passed through. Apparently, those others werent corporeal and were merely shadows. It was likely one of the powers given to him by his [Darkness Sword Techniques] Gift. Maribel-oneechan, watch out! Only one of them is real! Even if you say that, I cant tell which one is real! The queen was in quite a pinch after being surrounded by the many Kasims. Your Majesty! Nope, youre not going anywhere! Ganzasu-san tried to help her, but it was the sand raiders turn to stand in his way. Uhh, what should I doah, yes, of course, I registered Kasim as a viger, so I should be able to see through the map function where the real one is! Lets seegot it! Maribel-oneechan! The real one is the one to the right and behind you! Oh! Haa!! Are you kidding me!? How can you tell!? The queens sword then made a deep cut into Kasims torso. TL note:(Body double) can be read as shadow warrior. Thats why Lukemented about shadows when Maribel cut straight through Kasims illusions. Dont know how to pull this y on words after tranting it as body double all this time. Please consider supporting me. You can do this either by turning off adblock for this blog or viamy Patreon page (link here).Thank you. Chapter 303: This is your last chance Chapter 303: This is yourst chance Guaaa Kasim knelt to the ground due to the attack he received. Fresh blood was starting to pool beneath his feet. The shadows that surrounded the queen just a moment ago vanished immediately after he was attacked. A-are you serious? How, were you able, to tell which, were the shadows, and which was the real one? Kasim asked so as he red at me. Uhm, intuition? When I gave a nomittal answer, it was the queen whomented. Just intuition? I trusted him and moved without hesitation, but it was all just The queens voice trailed off. Splendid work, Your Majesty. Weve suppressed everybody else. Ganzasu-san remarked as he rushed to the queen. When I nced back, I saw that all the sand raiders had copsed to the floor, and the only ones standing were the Enb soldiers. Ok, Ill be making a jailhouse now, so please put them inside. < You will pay for your crimes!>> Kasim and the sand raiders were surprised by the sudden appearance of secure jail cells. They were put inside right away. At that moment, Philia-san who was with another unit came to us to report something. Luke-dono, weve almost gained full control of the pce. Then, that just leaves those in the city. Ill have the sand raiders on our side spread the news. If the sand raiders in the city were to know that Kasim had been beat and that the Enb forces had taken back the pce, perhaps some would surrender. That way, we could prevent unnecessary sacrifices. Around the time the main force led by the queen had defeated Kasim and gained control of the pce. Many sand raiders had gathered in front of the pce gates after receiving urgent reports. Yet despite them having assembled there, not one one of them were able to pass. The reason for that was the muscle monster that stood in the way. Ahaan, if you want to pass through, you gotta defeat little old me Yes, it was none other than Goritiana. The sand raiders in the area boldly charged at her but each one of them were dealt with in an instant. Against that overwhelming show of strength, none of them even wanted to try again. They simply kept their distance and shivered with fear. Oh my? Is no one going to approach me? Thats boring, you know. Tell you what, Ill offer something too good to be true to the first ones to approach me now. And that is my being showered with my love. Goritiana said so and then winked, to which the sand raiders took a step back. This has got to be a joke, right? How are we supposed to defeat a monster like that!? They were already hesitant to fight, but when they heard a certain piece of news, they lost the will to fightpletely. O, oi, listen to this! It looks like the pce has fallen! What did you say!? The boss is in the pce, you know!? I heard the boss was defeated! For real!? It sounded like every enemy that attacked the pce was as strong as this monster! Every one of them!? The sand raiders collectively turned ghostly pale. Its true, you know Goritiana nodded and winked. Now then, since things seemed to have wrapped up inside, I guess I should clean up here too. !?! If youre ever going to surrender, this is yourst chance. In the next moment, each of the sand raiders in the area prostrated themselves. We surrender!!!!!!!!!! Meanwhile, Kasims trusted retainer, Zel, was headed toward the hidden oasis to attack the remnants of the Enb military. He had about 500 sand raiders with him and all of them were stunned in ce. Oi, oi, oi, whats going on here? Why is there no one here?? Without meaning to, he raised his voice after finding out that not a single person aside from them was in the oasis. Was our information wrong? no, there are traces of people living here not long ago. So, does that mean they learned of our arrival and escaped? Or And then, they heard a thunderous sound. At the same time, they saw before their eyes massive walls rise up and encircled the oasis. W-what!? Whats going on here!? Those walls enclosed the oasis but had nothing that looked like a gate they could use to exit. Moreover, on closer inspection, the walls were so smooth and t that there wasnt anything they could use as foothold to climb over it. Were trapped here? Please consider supporting me. You can do this either by turning off adblock for this blog or viamy Patreon page (link here).Thank you. Chapter 304: Its seal has been undone Chapter 304: Its seal has been undone After we safely took back the pce, we soon wrested control of the city from the enemy sand raiders. Thanks to the majority of the sand raiders surrendering though, almost no further fights broke out. I guess Ill just lock up the 500 who went to the hidden oasis for now. Lock up? Queen Maribel asked so with a puzzled look. It might be best to go with her thereter. When I thought that, my footing all of a sudden got unsteady and even the whole throne room rumbled. An earthquake? No, earthquakes rarely happen here The queen was doubtful that it was an earthquake. One might expect the shaking to be weaker as time passed, but it instead only grew stronger. Y-your Majesty! The ruins!? Ruins? The throne room was located in the highest point in the pce. Thanks to that, if one looked out a window from here, they could see the oasis townscape and its surroundings. And on the edge of the city, a gigantic pyramid-like structure arose and towered over everything else. The ruinsare shaking!? Even from where we stood, we could see the ruins shake. The stones it was made with were crumbling with each shake. The ruins is the hypocenter of this? No, it cant be As though she just realized something, Queen Maribel gasped. And then, we heard some loud sound. This was apanied by the upper half of the ruins bursting open. something is there? At the top of the ruins was arge, gaping hole. It almost looked like there was something moving within that hole. The ruins didnt look especially big, but that was only because we were a great distance away from it. Factoring that in, the structure must have easily been 200 meters in height and its base was likely double that in width. If something was asrge as that structure, it was only natural that I shuddered. W-what, is that? I dont know eitherall I know is that something truly unbelievable is in there. I would have been more than fine if what I saw was just a figment of my imagination, but that didnt seem to be the case. Selen and Philia-san saw something too. Kasim! Did youy your hands on the ruins as well!? Queen Maribel shouted so at Kasim who was inside a cell. You were once royalty, so you should know more than everybody else how dangerous the ruins are! B-but thats just something people are told so that they dont enter the ce, when in truth, theres great treasures waiting inside You idiot! Just when I thought you cant get any stupider!!! !?! Even though there was an iron grill separating them, Kasim was ovee with fear thanks to the queens menacing re. He had arbitrarily assumed that the ruins was the grave of some ancient king. Dazzled by the treasures that mighty within, he sent his sand raiders to investigate. However, the only result that produced was what was happening right now. A terrible monster is sealed in there, you see Her voice trembling, Queen Maribel informed us so. this region is said to once be a lushnd, but that monster turned all of it into the desert we now know. Huh? It turned a lushnd into a desert? For a single monster to change thendscape, honestly, it was quite hard to imagine. There are records that say this monster is a follower of a Demon Lord who tried to rule the world long, long ago There are Demon Lords in this world? While I was thinking that, the ruins destruction continued, with the debris being scattered all around it. Before long, the monster could be fully seen. PAAAAOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!! Almost like it was celebrating its revival, it held its long nose up and made a loud cry. Having a height of nearly 200 meters, it was almost like a small mountain. Owing to its gigantic ears and tusks, it was certainly simr in form to an elephant. Like I thought, its seal has been undoneits the Beast King Behemoth! Please consider supporting me. You can do this either by turning off adblock for this blog or viamy Patreon page (link here).Thank you. Chapter 305: It’s just the like in the legends Chapter 305: Its just the like in the legends Beast King Behemoth That was apparently what the giant elephant was called. PAAOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!! !?! Even though it was far away, its cry was enough to make the pce rumble. It then used its long snout to trample about, causing the debris from the ruins to rain down on the oasis city. Watch out! R-run!! Some of the debris even reached us, so we hurriedly tried to avoid it. Lure Shield! Noel-kun raised his shield overhead and used it to draw in all the debris that was falling toward us. However, after absorbing the impact of what were basically meteorites, he fell to his knees. Noel-kun, are you alright!? yeah, somewhat. When I looked at his shield that was made of mithril alloy, it was full of dents. I didnt want to think what would happen if one of those debris fell on my head instead. The city The debris fell not only just near us, but on the whole city as well. Clouds of dust rose up here and there as the citizens screamed and ran to escape. *Zudon**Zudon**Zudon* However, true dread was only just about to start. The Behemoth started walking toward the city. Each of its steps caused the ground to quake. Nothing good could possiblye out of that monstrosity entering the city. We have to do something! Even from the sky, it looks so big! It looks like a truly absurd monster has woken up. From high up in the flying park, we observed the Behemoth as it walked on the ground. Dragons, Krakens, weve been fighting gigantic monsterstely, but this This is indeed beyond the norm, even for us Selius-kun and Philia-san gasped at the sight of the Behemoth. Meanwhile, Queen Maribel had the blood drained from her face. After doing all that to take back the country from the sand raidersbut at this rate, the whole country would get destroyed..! The Behemoth was following a straight path toward the city. Fortunately, perhaps because of its size, it was moving quite slowly. Im going to try to attack it! Ice Spear! Selen announced so and thenunched ance made of ice at the Behemoths back. With the help of gravity, it descended at a great speed and made a direct hit. It just broke into pieces!? And it didnt even make a scratch! Its skins so tough! Philia-san also fired an arrow while Gori-chan let out a self-induced fighting aura projectile, but both had no effect as well. It hasnt even noticed us after all that, has it? Wait, its not aware of us? Then, how about if I do this? I then made a moat under the Behemoth. It was an ultrarge one that could fit the entirety of Behemoths gigantic body. !?! The Behemoth fell in the hole that appeared out of nowhere. Due to its heavy body, all it could do was thrash around in the hole and was unable to climb itself out. Alright, at least weve stopped its movement for now. Amazing, Luke! But how are we going to defeat it? None of our attacks have had any effect At that moment, the Behemoth raised its long snout up at the sky and then expelled something out, much like a fountain releasing some water. Is thatsand!? Large quantities of sand rained down on the oasis city. Before long, the oasis was covered in ayer of sand. Its, its just the like in the legendsthat monsters really the one responsible for turning this entire region into a deserthow are we supposed to defeat a fiend thats basically a natural disaster?? While looking down at the city that was now covered in sand, Queen Maribel was aghast and talked with her voice trembling. Even our hunters werent able to inflict damage on Behemoth after all. I wonder, will it still be undamaged if I make a very heavy facility fall down on it? Or maybe we can attack it from within? Please consider supporting me. You can do this either by turning off adblock for this blog or viamy Patreon page (link here).Thank you. Chapter 306: You know, like Issun-bōshi Chapter 306: You know, like Issun-bshi Thats it! We should attack it from inside! Thinking it was a good idea, I unintentionally pped my hands together. What are you saying? Selen was less convinced though. Isnt it amon strategy to attack giant enemies from inside their bodies? You know, like Issun-bshi. Issun-bshi? Right, Selen wouldnt have an idea on who Issun-bshi is. Anyway, Ill be entering the Behemoths body. Ahh, I mean using this body double. Under normal circumstances, everyone would probably get mad again if we put my body double in such a dangerous role, much like when we were fishing out the Krakens. Even though it was just a body double made by my Gift, they thought it was an incredibly cruel treatment. However, this was an emergency and they knew we didnt have much choice. And so, I teleported inside the Behemoth. It stinks!? My surroundings waspletely dark. To make it worse, when I breathed in, the odor in the air made me wrinkle my nose and even almost made me vomit. The ground beneath my feet was also so soft and slushy, so walking was quite hard. (I guess this is inside the Behemoths stomach. It has been asleep for a long, long time, so it hasnt eaten anythingotherwise, this ce would probably have stunk even more.) Not that I could stay here for long either way. And so, I decided to begin my attack. Well, by attack, I meant making onerge facility after another. The sturdier, heavier, andrger the facility, the better. (I also should consider vige point efficiencybut rather than worry about minor details like that, I should just make things as I see fit!) First, I made the ever-familiar ramparts. I made 3 rows of 5-meter high, 50-meter long ramparts and lined them up inside the Behemoths stomach. !?! Even from within, I could tell that the Behemoth was quite startled. Just imagining somethingrge and heavy suddenly appearing somewhere inside me was enough to make me shudder, after all. Anyway, I rode on the roof of a shed, moving it through 3D Reposition. All the while, I kept on making things like apartments, hotels, and high-rise apartment buildings. By the way, a facility could only be made when there was enough space for it. For that reason, it was impossible to make onerge enough to pierce through the Behemoths organs and outer skin. (Building facilities inside something of a normal size is impossible, but the Behemothsrge size turned out to be its undoing in this instance.) Once the stomach was full of facilities, I teleported myself outside. PAOOOOOOOO!! The Behemoth cried out in pain as it thrashed about. Probably deeming it not the best course of action right now, it had stopped expelling sand sand through its snout. Youre back! What did you do to it, Luke!? For a little while now, its like its in some kind of immense pain! I just built a small town inside its stomach. The Behemoths body, which was gigantic to begin with, now seemed to have swelled more due to my actions. If it was any ordinary creature, it would likely die from exhaustion if we simply left it alone. The problem was that this was no ordinary creature; it was a legendary monster. Not only would it not die so simply, the shaking it caused with each of its movements meant the city would only incur more damage as time passed. But if I simultaneously move all the facilities inside it through 3D Reposition *zuzuzuzuzuzu* The Behemoth!! Its floatinggggg!? By lifting the facilities I made inside the stomach up in the air, the Behemoth was lifted up along as well. PAOOOO!? Having never experienced such a thing before, the Behemoth tried to resist as much as it could by iling its snout about. Unfortunately for it, that achieved nothing. Thanks to it being suspended in the air, the quaking stopped. Now, what to do? Should I carry it to the sea and drown it? Or TL note: Here is a link on Issun-boshi Please consider supporting me. You can do this either by turning off adblock for this blog or viamy Patreon page (link here).Thank you. Chapter 307: So why is it us who are getting the benefits? Chapter 307: So why is it us who are getting the benefits? With all that weight, it wont be able to resurface once we drop it into the sea, will it? Through the use of 3D Reposition, I could move the Behemoth somewhere else. I was thinking of bringing it to the sea and drown it there, but I reconsidered after realizing I wouldnt have any peace of mind until it was confirmed dead. It being a legendary monster, there was a real possibility that it wouldnt die from drowning. It might even have some kind of resuscitation ability. Then, how about if we keep attacking it until its dead? I made the facilities inside of it move up and down; I had it make loops; and even scatter to different directions. Each time, the Behemoth cried in anguish. I, I somehow kinda pity it now Against the chief-chan, even legendary monsters are nothing. That was all fine and well, but the Behemoth was still alive. It really did have incredible endurance. How about if I sharpen the facilities? I used Facility Customization topress each of the facilities within and turned them into spear-like structures. And if I move it this way PAOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!? The Behemoth cried out remarkably louder. Good, it sounds like its working. I had stabbed the Behemoth with the sharpened facilities. As to be expected, its insides were much softer than its exterior. I stabbed it up, down, left, and right many times over. Until, finally, its cries no longer had any strength to it. Its snout dangled down limply, and arge amount of sand was being discharged from its mouth and said snout as though it was frothing. Is it dead? Nope, I can still feel some life from it. But its so weak, Id say its nearly there. Then, lets deal the finishing blow. I made one of the rampart-turned-spears rotate and then made it drill itself into the base of the Behemoths neck. After a while, the spear tore through hard meat and skin. As soon as I saw a part of it exit the body, I made it stop. I mean, just the sight of it seemed so painful. It looks like its finally dead now. The Behemoth was once in by a hero. However, it is also said that when its corpse was left as it was, it gradually revived itself. As a solution, those ruins were built and had a powerful seal applied to it. Supposedly, even if the Behemoth had fully revived within, it wouldnt have been able to see the light of day ever again. The legends passed down in the Enb kingdom made it more usible that the Behemoth would someday resurrect itself again. And so, I thought our vige should take care of the gigantic remains of the Behemoth. Whaatttttts thaattttttt!? When we brought back the giant elephant to the vige through air travel, the vigers were more shocked than when we brought back the giant shark. As long as we dismantle it, it shouldnt revive, right? I thought so and asked the vige craftsmen to work together to dismantle the Behemoth. Due to its size as well as its incredibly tough skin and flesh, the task of dismantling it was bound to be more than challenging, but the viges amazing craftsmen gradually disassembled the monster. Unfortunately, the flesh was too tough to be used as an ingredient in cooking. The skin and bones, however, could be used by the dwarves as valuable materials for weapons. Moreover, the internal organs were used by the elves in making medicine. Why is there a ridiculous monster here!? After seeing the gigantic elephant monster lying on the ground, Dora the dragon girl shouted so in shock. The giant shark she saw in the vige before was asrge as her in her dragon form, but the monster before her now was nearly 10 timesrger than that. Most shocking of all was that this monster was defeated and being dismantled by the humans. Humans really are scaryI have to make sure to never antagonize them By taking back the oasis from the sand raiders and also defeating the Behemoth, peace was restored to the desert kingdom of Enb. We owe all of this to you. Truly, thank you. As a show of her gratitude, Queen Maribel wanted to give me a reward in the form of a treasure that was passed down in the royal family through the generations. I politely turned it down. You dont have a need for the treasure, I seethen, how about peerage? I dont need any other titles. The king of Celtia once offered me a non-inheritable noble title, but I made my refusal clear by stating that I could only ever be a vige chief. But then what could we do for you!? If we dont offer you a reward of some kind after all youve done for us, our kingdoms honor would be stained! Hmm. Then, is it alright to extend our underground railways all the way here? Your underground railways? At first, it would just be to increase the interactions between the wastnd vige and this kingdom. However, if all went well, that would eventually lead to active trade between Enb and Celtia. Moreover, if we were to dedicate a line from the capital of Celtia to the capital of Enb, then one would be able to reach many of Celtias major cities in just a few hours. And once word of those things about Enb get out, then it was likely that the other desert nations would want to trade with Celtia as well. If we were to extend the railway system throughout the desert in ordance to that desire to trade, then that would lead to the desert nations to interact with each other more. The desert merchants who had to brave the dangerous desert each day would surely weep in joy after finding out they could now travel to and from safely and quickly. wait a minute. The whole point was to reward you, so why is it us who are getting the benefits? Its best not to worry about the minor details. Please consider supporting me. You can do this either by turning off adblock for this blog or viamy Patreon page (link here).Thank you. Chapter 308: That can’t be mere coincidence. Chapter 308: That cant be mere coincidence. Luke-dono, weve discovered something astonishing! That day, Leonius-san hastily ran up to me. He was Philia-sans father and the elves former patriarch. For the first time in decades, he and his wife were expecting another child. In fact, the child should be born soon. Hmm? Have you found out what the babys gender is? How can we find that out before the babys even born!? No, this obviously about the Behemoth materials we obtained! The Behemoth materials? After defeating it in the desert, we brought the Behemoths corpse to the vige and dismantled it. Its internal organs were handed over to the elves. Elves were our forefront experts on making medicines such as potions, so we all thought they would be able to make good use out of those materials. Before using it in potion-making, we decided to investigate the materials for things like its properties and suchupon doing so, we came to know of one such unbelievable property. A-and that is? Please follow me to the workshop so I could exin better. We thus headed to the elves potion-making workshop. <> Luke-dono, please observe. This is a portion of an internal organ from the Behemoth. Leonius-san said so as he ced a cut of organ flesh on top of a table used for experimentation. And this is another. Actually, these two were originally joined together. And when we ce them near each other like thisdo you understand now? Woahtheyre moving!? The two cuts of organ flesh both began moving closer to each other, as though they were mas. Its easy notice now that theyre this close to each other, but they seem to exhibit this property of moving toward one another little by little even when they are apart. So, you mean to say that if we left them be, they will stick to each other on their own? Exactly. Its our theory that once every part of the Behemoth have eventually fused together to the point the Behemoth is back to its original form, it will be revived. We had thought that dismantling the monster would be enough to prevent it from resurrecting, but that apparently wasnt the case. It was, without a doubt, a frightening monster. That is not all that we have discovered. Just when I was wondering what that could be, Leonius-san produced out of nowhere a hammer and swung it down on one of the cuts of organ flesh. When Leonius-san lifted the hammer, what was revealed was a ttened cut of organ flesh. Even when squashed like this, the Behemoth part will soon revert to its previous state if nothing else is done. And, when we sprinkle a little potion on it Leonius-san then added a little bit of an elven-brand potion into the cut of organ flesh. In what was almost a blink of the eye, I saw the squashed organ flesh revert to it original shape. This was by no means an ordinary phenomenon. In most situations, if one were to apply a potion on a damaged part of a monster corpse, that part would not be restored to its original form. Potions had no effect on the dead, after all. To say nothing of fixing a part that had been separated from the main body. Does that mean that cut of organ flesh is, by itself, considered alive? Yes. However, the real interesting thing is this Theres still more? This time, the cut of organ flesh that wasnt smashed with a hammer was held over a me. If we do this and then apply some potion When that cut of organ flesh was burnt to the point that it resembled charcoal, Leonius took it out of the fire and applied some potion into it. Unlike before, it wasnt restored to what it was originally. This was apparently the way to make recovery harder. However, lets look back on the other cut. Apply some potion on it again and How can that be When the potion was poured on the unburnt cut, it slowly swelled and expanded until it was about double in size. Please look at it. Wouldnt you say its about the same size as the two cuts from earlier? That cant be mere coincidence. So, does it mean if a cut of organ flesh senses that its counterparts are gone, it will regenerate itself as though those lost counterparts are now fused to it? Please consider supporting me. You can do this either by turning off adblock for this blog or via my Patreon page (link here). Thank you. Chapter 309: What, the sword’s moving!? Chapter 309: What, the swords moving!? The other cut of organ flesh regenerated itself up to a size it would have been if it had fused with the burnt cut. That means as long as there is a part that can regenerate itself, the Behemoth could resurrect itself, doesnt it Indeed. On the other hand, thanks to this property, we can indefinitely make use of Behemoth materials. I see. Obviously, not only its meat and internal organs but also its bones, hide, and other parts also had this property. Moreover, we also discovered that the Behemoths internal organs could be used in making that concoction, the elixir! Eh? The elixir was a legendary medicine that could regrow lost body parts and cure congenital disorders plus various illnesses. The elves had identally discovered how to make it some time ago, but in fear that war would break out specifically for the elixir, we decided to hold off on the manufacturing of the elixirs. If Im not mistaken, didnt we say not to mass-produce it because, even though we knew of the recipe, we would need arge amount of materials? Thats where the Behemoth materialse in. Not only will it make the whole process easier, it will also allow us to mass-produce elixirs! We can mass-produce them We were afraid a small supply of elixirs would cause others topete over it, but if we could mass-produce it, would that mean wars wouldnt ur? Nah, its better avoid making unnecessary friction. But Luke-dono! Even if other kingdoms were to attack us, our vige right now can easily turn the tables on them! Do you really want to mass-produce them that much? I stared directly at Leonius-san, but he slowly turned his gaze away. Well, you cant, alright? I mean, I dont mind if you make some, but keep their numbers low and absolutely keep it a secret, you hear? Understood. *(even though I want to mass-produce them and make a grand saleeven though I want to mass-produce them and make a grand saleeven though I want to mass-produce them and make a grand sale haa, haa)* Youre breathing quite heavily though! Are you sure youll be able to restrain yourself!? Chief Luke, we were able to make some fantastic weapons with those Behemoth materials! Dn, the leader of the dwarves, excitedly informed me so. Believe it or not, the weapons we made gradually repair themselves! The dwarves, being great smiths, were given the Behemoth bones and hides. It would seem that weapons and equipment made with those materials had a self-repair property. I followed Dn-san to their workshop. There, Dona, a girl with the [Weapon Craftsman] Gift, pointed my attention to a certain weapon. Mhm, observe, Dona hit a sword on the desk with a hammer and broke it into two. Normally, repairing this would have been hard, but now, even if we just left it be, itll repair itself Dn-san said so, but that didnt mean it would repair itself right away. We still had to wait a while. Mhm, this would take about a whole day. Itll take some time, but its amazing, so please watch it! They dont intend to make me watch it here for a full day, do they? Im unfortunately not that free, so Ill just have a body double At that moment, I had an idea. uhm, how about we pour some potion on it? It might not speed it up, but lets give it a try first, shall we? And so, we applied some potion onto the broken sword. What, the swords moving!? Its, its repairing itself so quickly! Woah Without anyone putting in any force, the top and bottom part of the broken sword moved closer to each other and joined together. We continued to watch as the gaps between the pieces gradually disappeared and the de returned to its original form. What? Whats the meaning of this? Potions only work on living beingsso, does that mean this sword is alive? It would seem our vige had given birth to an absurd sword. Please consider supporting me. You can do this either by turning off adblock for this blog or via my Patreon page (link here). Thank you. Chapter 310: Probably almost like the way plants are alive Chapter 310: Probably almost like the way nts are alive The potion we poured on the sword made of Behemoth material proved to be effective. This swordis alive? Mhm, seems like it. Probably almost like the way nts are alive. Ohh, nts, huh Potions took effect on nts too. When applying some of it to a damaged trunk, it would be mended. At that, a question popped in my mind. Up to which point is something considered a living thing? Are moss, bacteria, virusesare microbes considered living things, I wonder? Back terria? Bairuses? Dona tilted her head upon hearing my murmuring. I guess its no use asking her that when doesnt seem know about things like bacteria and viruses. At any rate, this material will be useful in magic swords. Youre right! This will definitely ovee the magic swords greatest w! The magic swords greatest w? Magic swords were special weapons which allowed one to fire off magic spells by simply swinging it. It was supposed to be a weapon of legend, but Dona had been producing them from scratch recently. Mhm. Magic swords break after repeated use. Oh, is that so? It would seem that while they were powerful, they were also quite fragile. But with a material that makes it so that it automatically repairs itself, it can still be used after it breaks, is that right? Mhm. Hence, why I tried to make one. Dona then said ta-dah but without a change in her expression as she pulled out a new sword from somewhere. You already made one!? I really wanted to show it to the chief. The sword was apparently a magic sword made with Behemoth materials. It didnt look much different from any ordinary sword though. Lets begin our experimentation. First, well use it until it breaks. When Dona swung the sword at a target, a mass of mes of over 2 meters in diameter flew at great speed. The mass of mes hit the mark and exploded, sending out mes all over the surroundings as well. Hot wind also blew my way and I unconsciously used my arm to cover my face. Thats so much more powerful than the ones Ive seen before! Mhm. Ive improved its power. On the other hand, this one is going to break much more easily. After the 4th use, we noticed a crack on the de. on the other hand, the target we were using was still the same one and not a single sign of damage could be seen on it. Which begged the question, just what could it be made from? Maybe two more uses will break it. On the 5th swing, the crack grewrger. And on the 6th, the de was smashed to pieces. It broke. So, at this power level, 5 or 6 uses is the limit. We can wait for it to repair itself, but lets use a potion for now. After gathering as much of the de fragments as we could, we poured the potion on those fragments. Upon doing so, the fragments began to slowly move toward the other fragments and fuse together. Eventually, the de returned to its original form. In just about 5 minutes, the de was repaired to the point where one might believe it never broke in the first ce. Mhm, its restored. Now, lets try using it again. Dona raised the sword and swung it once again. Just like before, arge mass of mes flew out toward the target. It still works! Perfect. This material does indeed allow for a magic sword to be used even after breaking. In a rare disy of excitement, Dona pumped her fists. It would seem that at this was the moment, another terrifying weapon was born in the vige. All that being said, it sure is hot here Due to us experimenting by makingrge explosions of mes, the temperature inside the workshop had risen to a high level. Doran-san and Dona, who were likely used to the heat due to their smithing work, looked quiteposed though. Then, lets cool it down? Dona said so and swung a different sword. Upon doing so, a fierce blizzard emerged and the whole workshops temperature plummeted in an instant. Cold enough? to produce those mes and that blizzard so easilyyeah, these are definitely weapons we cant tell the public aboutI dont mind if you make some of them, but keep their numbers low, alright? And absolutely never sell them. Mhm, understood. *(I want to make lots and lots of those magic swords thoughI want to make lots and lots of those magic swords thoughI want to make lots and lots of those magic swords thoughhaa, haa)* Youre breathing quite heavily; are you alright? More importantly, are you sure youll be able to restrain yourself? Please consider supporting me. You can do this either by turning off adblock for this blog or via my Patreon page (link here). Thank you. Chapter 311: That’s just the start! Chapter 311: Thats just the start! There sure are a lot more of them now. We had made one corner of the vige into a vast farnd for our livestock. That area, which was filled with barns and pastures, now had noticeably more livestock. <> < > The pastures I mentioned were just repurposed public parks, by the way. Well, rather than say there are more livestock, I guess its better to say there are more animals mixed in now. Ahh, Chief Luke, thanks for all your hard work. Thanks for all your hard work too, Neruru. Neruru was a girl with the [Heart of the Animals] Gift. She was the one managing this ce. Of course, because she alone couldnt do all the manual work, she had lots of caretakers acting as her support. We seem to have so much more animals, dont we? Other than the livestock, I mean. Yup! We probably have over 50 specie now! Initially, we had nothing but the typical livestock: cows, chickens, sheep, and horses. Nowadays, there were a whole lot of other animals like dogs, cats, monkeys, rabbits, foxes, roons, bears, and deer, just to name a few. Many of these animals werent suited to be livestock to begin with, but those that could normally be kept as pets could no longer be due to their new size. This state of affairs was apparently because merchants were fascinated by how big all of the animals raised here could be and thus brought some here and left them in Nerurus care. Naturally, those animals also ended up growing so muchrger than usual. Dont the cats look more like tigers, and the monkeys more like goris The bear was over 10 meters in length too, making it almost like a monster. That bear was just a cub when it was brought to the vige, but it grew that big already. Does the bear not attack the other animals though? Nope! Its a very good kid, you know! Neruru dered so while embracing the bear around its stomach. Yup, weve been training them properly, after all! At that point, a young man brimming with confidence appeared. He was small, had close-cropped hair, and overall gave off a rather homely impression. He was Hassen. He was a native of the Kaion duchy and moved here after hearing the rumors about the vige. Every animal here listens to what Hassen says! All thanks to the Gift I received after being blessed! The Gift he got was called [Training]. He had always liked animals, and with this power, it was no wonder he was working here. By the way, it might be called [Training], but it didnt specify that the targets it could be used on had to be animals. For that reason, it could probably be used on humansbut he had never tested it out to my knowledge. *(It seems the person himself thinks it can be used only on animals, so better not suggest otherwise, just to be safe.)* Hassen, show that to the chief! Ohh! Right! While I was thinking like that, I was brought to another location. The two of them talked with one another for a while, and when I thought to ask them what they were doing, Hassen whistled. The animals from all over the pasture then gathered to our location. They even formed neat lines. Ehh, theyre all lined up so nicely. Like theyre in the army or something Youre up first, dogs! Hassen then gave signal after signal, to which the giant dogs did something for each one. They sat, rose up, and then lied down. Amazing Thats just the start! Its the others turn now! It was one thing for dogs to learn to do tricks, but the other animalsthe cows, chickens, cats, and even rabbitsalso did tricks upon being signaled by Hassen. Some joined in the jumping rope being held by two monkeys, while some others spun a ball on their heads without it ever falling. There were even some that made use of their cries to make it sound like they were ying some melody. Gifts were amazing indeedthis was a show that was worth paying for. I guess I should make that zoo some time soon. If we hold a show with these animals every now and then, we would probably get another attraction for the vige. Were also training some aquatic creatures! Please take a look at them too, vige chief!! and maybe also an aquarium. Please consider supporting me. You can do this either by turning off adblock for this blog or via my Patreon page (link here). Thank you. Chapter 312: Where did all of them come from? Chapter 312: Where did all of theme from? At the waterfront of the viges pasturing grounds. I was surprised to see lots of creatures living in a water moat I built and customized there. <> Dolphins, turtles, even penguinswhere did all of theme from? Naturally by now, each one of them wasrger than usual. Even the fishes leisurely swimming within the water moat were easily over 1 meter long. Weve taught the dolphins to do some tricks! Theyre about as smart as dogs, so I think theyll surprise you with what they can do! Hassen gave a signal and therge dolphins speedily jumped out of the water. Woahhh!? Overwhelmed by the sight of therge dolphins, I unintentionally let out a shout. Each one of the dolphins dancing in mid-air was over 3 meters in length. After a moment, they then dove down into the water with all their might. The impact producedrge sshes of water which eventually poured down on the surroundings like rain. .ahh, weve gotten soaked. Hahaha! How was it!? Pretty amazing, isnt it!? I get moved whenever I see it! The three of us got soaked, but Hassen and Neruru didnt even seem to notice and just excitedly chatted. Oh well, its one thing if its winter and we can easily catch a cold, but since it has gotten a fair warmer recently, this feels rather nice. Afterwards, we began to make a zoo somewhere in the farnd for livestock. I was confident that a regrly held show by the animals was going to be a hit among the vigers. Before long, tourists hoping to visit the zoo would surelye, making it a new attraction for the vige. In a small forest located in a corner of the viges area for fields. It might look like any ordinary forest, but if one looked carefully enough, they would immediately notice the phenomenon that couldnt happen in any of those ordinary forests. The phenomenon in question was the trees moving on their own. Tri-chans kids have grown up! The Tri-chan that Neruru mention was the Tree Dragon that moved to this vige from the monster-infested forest near the vige. It might look like a dragon, but it was actually a kind of tree-like monsters called Trents. For some reason, it had decided to put down its roots, literally, here in the fields. Moreover, it had spread its seeds here. What grew from those seeds were unsurprisingly not yet asrge as the original Tree Dragon, but even now, they had grown into marvelous trees. And thanks to that, we had this small forest so near the fields. The trees were all Tree Dragons, so each of them were able to move. They would sometimes move to a different spot the next day, the sight of which shocked the people visiting and touring around the vige. Despite it being a forest of Tree Dragons, children had recently been visiting the area to use it as a kind of yground. Waaaaaah! Yahooooo! Some kids rode on swing-like things that were suspended on the Tree Dragons branches and were being spun around. The children were also using the trees trunks like they would a slide. Some of them slept in hammocks made from the trees leaves. Some hid inside the secret bases they built around the trees bases. Some of the more athletic kids even jumped from branch to branch. Because the trees could move even its trunks and branches, this forest was basically different with each visit. Thanks to that, it was quite a great yground for the children. But theyre still monsters, right? Its alright! No need to worry! Tri-chan and her children like little kids! They wont even let the kids get hurt. Look! One of the little kids suddenly jumped from a high ce. Just as I wasprehending the situation, a Tree Dragon extended its branch. The kid grabbed onto that branch, swung circles around the branch, and let go of their hold. The kid, now airborne again, then spun circles in the midair until theynded on a cushion of gathered leaves. I wanna go too! Me too! Me too! Dont forget about me! Vige chief, please watch me! The other kids all together raised their voices like that. I thought the first kid would have been the only one to be able to pull off something like that, but the other kids also managed to perform equally great aerial stunts of their own. There were even kids of maybe only 5 years old among them and those kids were able to do 2 spins in the air. Arent the kids, I dont know, too athletic? Apparently, ying in the forest freely made them acquire physical abilities that shouldnt be normal for a child like them to have. Please consider supporting me. You can do this either by turning off adblock for this blog or via my Patreon page (link here). Thank you. Chapter 313: One of them seems to be on maternity leave Chapter 313: One of them seems to be on maternity leave Trade within and with those outside of the vige was thriving, and the number of people visiting the vige was also steadily increasing. A lot of that was probably thanks to our railway system being put in ce in various ces. Among those that visit us, there was a non-negligible number of adventurers. Their main goal naturally was the dungeon in our vige. Thanks to Luke, I have more dungeon points than I know what to do with! Ahri, the fairy who ruled over that dungeon, said so with a little snort. So recently, mostly to entertain myself, I have been building lots of areas in ces where they would go unnoticed! Ahri then showed me a few of the hidden areas she built ording to her whims. One of them had its whole floor be filled with protrusions much like a pincushion, making me wonder how anyone would ever get across. There was also an area that was an endless series of holes of about 1 meter in diameter. Theirmon factor was that each one would frustrate any challenger, to say the least. Despite being a dungeon master, Ahri had no sense at all when it came to bncing her dungeon. We always had to discuss her dungeons design together. Oh well, I dont think many people will enter these ces anyway. Her dungeon back when we first found it only had 2 levels, but it now boasted over 50. The adventurers say they have never seen a dungeon asrge as this before. Fufun! As the dungeon master, those words pleases me greatly! By the way, the deepest level anyone had reached was the 42nd floor. This was achieved by Alec-sans partyor rather, the honor would have belonged to them had the viges hunting group led by Selen and assisted for this mission by Gori-chan didnt reach the 50th floor. To be beaten by the hunters who didnt usually venture into dungeons, Alec-san and his party were considerably vexed. As could be guessed, adventurers werent the only ones challenging the dungeon. The hunters and the viges guards were making use of it as training grounds. And recently, even the soldiers of nearby territories were doing so too. Even the kingdoms armymanded by Raul would sometimes visit as well. The ordinary vigers challenged the dungeon too. Oi, look. Thosedies, they couldnt be those women, could they You mean those women who, despite not being adventurers, managed to make it all the way to the 30th floor? Yeah. Based on their looks though, they seem nothing more thandies who came to gossip. But there are only four of them. Werent there supposed to be five? One of them seems to be on maternity leave. Maternity leave In the open space in front of the dungeon entrance, a certain party was attracting the attention of the adventurers nearby. This was the 5-member (although one of them was on maternity leave) partyposed of only women from the vige. They called their party [the Ladies Association]. Weve got these fighting-type Gifts, so we might as well make use of them. The one to make that im was Barbara-san, the leader of party. She had the [Greatsword Techniques]. She was the mother of two sons and 1 daughter, but right now, she had arge sword hanging on her back. True. Luckily, theres a dungeon so close to our homes, so it almost feels like some kind of part-time job. The one to liken conquering the dungeon to a part-time job was Pn-san. She had the [Yellow Magic] Gift. She, who had one son and 3 daughters, apparently specialized inunching stones like they were bullets and making themnd right in the middle of a monsters brows. What should I do for dinner, I wonder. The one racking her brain on what dinner should be was Amelia-san. She had two sons and also the [Assassination] Gift. Supposedly, by erasing her presence, approaching a monster unnoticed, and striking at its weak point, she took down monsters with ease. Hey, have you heard? About Amelia-sans son, I mean. Hes just 10, but hes got a girlfriend already. And that girlfriend, you see And the one to gleefully initiate idle gossip like that was Bene-san. She had 3 sons. She also had the [Storage Vault] Gift. Since her Gift allowed her to store things in another dimension, I heard that she was able to bring with her arge amount of things, like the elven-brand potions, into the dungeon. Incidentally, thest member of their party was Hanna-san who had the [Shield Techniques] Gift. True to her Gift, she seemed to be her partys shield. She had her third son just recently. To sum it up, each member of their party had a powerful Gift. Lets go, everyone. We dont have anyone to act as a shield, so do your best but dont be reckless, ok? Kay!! Please consider supporting me. You can do this either by turning off adblock for this blog or via my Patreon page (link here). Thank you. Chapter 314: But I have no regrets in life! Chapter 314: But I have no regrets in life! Haa, haa, haa A traveler was breathing heavily. The traveler was a young woman with long ck hair that was tied together behind her head. She was wearing a peculiar armor. In her hand was a slightly curved, slender sword. Lots of blood clung to its de, mostly from the numerous monsters corpses nearby. However, in exchange, she became quite battered. To begin with, she was within a vast mountain range that was considered a monster den. On top of the harsh environs, many dangerous monsters also made this ce their home. It was unthinkable that any human with enoughmon sense would enter such a ce alone. Just a bit morejust a little bit more and Ill be see whats on the western sidetraversing, this mountain, aloneachieve, what no one has, before But it would appear that this woman was not a human with enoughmon sense. She did exactly that, after all. However, when she was about to reach the summit of the highest ridge that ran through the central part of this mountain range Ahh, shit! She lost her footing and fell from the cliff she was climbing. She tumbled over many times as she fell, and somehow stopped only after several meters. Gahmy foot Thanks to her employing falling techniques with each tumble, she managed to survive. Still, she hurt her foot, leaving her unable to stand, much less walk. And as if that wasnt enough dragon! Unlike her whose only option was to somehow climb back up, a figure in the sky leisurely circled around. She watched it for a few moments, but then she realized that it was starting to head her way. Graaahh!! Cursesso, this is the endbut I have no regrets in life! And I would rather be eaten by a dragon than slowly die because of this injury! Without readying her sword, she bravely weed the iing fangs. mm? She fully expected to be swallowed whole, but no such thing happened. Instead, the dragon simply held her in its mouth and carried her along in the sky. Its not going to eat me? No, thats not it She realized the dragon could just be carrying her to its nest where it could take its time to devour her. Whatever the case might be, there was nothing she could do. And so, she simply let herself be carried. Luke! This ones gotta be one of yours, right!? On a certain day, Dora carried something to the vige. She might look like a little girl, but she was actually a dragon in human form. She lived in the mountains to the east, but since she had fallen in love with the viges wyvern cuisines, she visited us quite often. Huh? Isnt thata person!? She would usually bring with her the wyverns she caught, but what she brought this time was a young woman. The woman in question could still be called a girl though. It might simply be because she lost consciousness, but the woman wasnt moving. Wait, are you sure shes still alive!? No clue. She was alive when I found her though. Upon closer inspection, I discovered that she had been badly hurt and her face was pale. I quickly sprinkled some potion on her. Unless it was to heal serious injuries, elven-brand potions should be enough. For times where a potion wouldnt suffice, one should use a high potion instead. At any rate, after applying the potion, herplexion gradually became better. It looked like she would be alright now. I found this one near my nest, so I brought her along! Near your nest? Based on how she looks though, she doesnt look to be one of our vigers Dora said so with an expression that demanded me to praise her, but the woman was someone I had never seen before. That being said, the vige had grown in poption, so it wasnt surprising that I couldnt remember all of the vigers faces. I tried to use Viger appraisal on her, but it didnt work. So, at the very least, she didnt seem to be a viger. But it was possible that she visited us. One pretty much had to pass through our vige to challenge that mountain range, after all. Theres also her strange equipment. Unlike the usual armor, hers had a curious design. And for some reason, it felt nostalgic to me When Philia-san arrived and saw the girls appearance, she said something. This distinctive armor and helmet. Can she be a samurai from the east? Please consider supporting me. You can do this either by turning off adblock for this blog or via my Patreon page (link here). Thank you. Chapter 315: You would rather have me go through this hell on earth? Chapter 315: You would rather have me go through this hell on earth? Having lived for a long time and also having traveled far and wide back in the day, it was no surprise that Philia-san was a veritable fountain of knowledge. This distinctive armor and helmet. Can she be a samurai from the east? Samurai? Mm. Beyond the monster-infested mountains, there is a nation whose warriors are called Samurais. Ehh. ording to Philia-san, the separation brought by the mountain range and the vast desert had made it develop a different culture from ours. Apparently, this odd-looking armor design was one of those. The single-edged swords they wield are called katana. They have many excellent cksmiths, so its more likely than not that their des are awfully sharp. Single-edged swords are so rare! I wanna see one! Selen said so, her eyes sparkling with great interest. Now that I think about it, it does feel like something is missing from her. The womans katana seemed to have been left somewhere. Around that time Mmh Groaning came from the unknown woman. It seemed like she had awakened. W-where? !? Upon noticing us, she quickly put herself on guard. To that end, she ced her hand somewhere on her waist, likely to draw her weapon. But there was unfortunately nothing there. She gasped when she realized how defenseless she was. I quickly uttered some words to calm her down. There is no need to worry. This is the girl who saved you when you copsed. Copsed? I do remember undertaking the challenge of traveling through the mountain rangeand then Her memory seemingly returning to her albeit bit by bit, she took a deep breath. I seeII failedmoreover, despite taking on the challenge fully prepared to die, I survived in such a waywhat a disgrace I am Grimacing in frustration, her lips trembled with each word. And then, as though she had decided something, she took out a dagger from her breast pocket. Rather than suffer a life with such a dishonor, I would much rather take my own life! Witness me as Imit seppuku! Woaaaaaaahhhhhhhh!? Hey!! Dont just go and kill yourself all of sudden!! The woman tried to tried to stab her belly with the dagger, but we quickly stopped her. I beseech you, dont stop me! Tis a good thing that a failure such as I shall end their life as soon as is possible! Youre not making sense! What a thoroughly disturbed person! Haa! Selen swung her sword and knocked off the dagger. Like that, her attempts tomit seppukuto disembowel herselfshoulde to an end. Whaare you stating you would rather have me go through this hell on earth? What are you even saying? Look, I dont really get it, but you just failed to cross the mountain range by yourself, right? I dont see the need to take your own life for something like that. Selen irritably admonished the astounded Samurai girl. Upon hearing so, the grim expression on the girls face vanished and she spoke hesitantly. Ugghbut what face can I show to everyone who tried to stop me back then? Especially after I boasted worry not for I will surely seed. And in the event I fail and die, that only proves the extent of what I can do. It ended up being a more trivial reason than I expected. Ahm, Philia-san, are all the samurais of the east like her? Hmm. Their culture do resent dishonoreven then though, I dont think most of them resent it to this degree. Apparently, this samurai girl was an extreme case. At any rate, weve gone to the trouble of saving you, so dont let it go to waste by taking your life as you please, alright? Ah, I still havent introduced myself. Im Luke, this viges chief. Oh!? Despite you saving me, I still havent uttered a word of gratitude! Whats more, I didnt even introduce myself! What a colossal blunder! Ive brought great dishonor to all samurais! This is undoubtedly the worst mistake of my life! Now that it hase to this, I can only hope to apologize bymitting seppuku! The samurai girl took out a new dagger from her breast pocket. Dont cut yourself! Rather, how many knives are you hiding!? TL note: Shes a samurai, so as perhaps to be expected, she speaks with degozaru. Think of it like ye olde english. Ill refrain from making her talk all weird like ending her sentences with that I am or something. Ill make her choice of words quite formal, but thats it. Also, it might be better to leave certain words, like katana and seppuku, untranted. I think these are popr enough words that most of the general public might already know. Katana is a no-brainer since its part of the narrative that its just their version of sword. For seppuku though, I just thought the phrase disemboweling oneself sounds as foreign as the word. Please consider supporting me. You can do this either by turning off adblock for this blog or via my Patreon page (link here). Thank you. Chapter 316: I think there’s a high likelihood of that Chapter 316: I think theres a high likelihood of that The samurai girl pulled out a second knife from her breast pocket and once again tried to disembowel herself. Selen swung her sword again to knock off the second knife. Why wont you let me dispose of myself!? Look, why dont you tell us your name first? The samurai girl somehow calmed down after that. Atst, she was going to tell us her name. I am called Akane. I am 17 years of age. I was born in Edou, the nation of the samurais. I have been devoting myself to the way of the sword ever since I was young. And to prove my skills, I have resolved myself to aplish that which no has ever done: to traverse the vast mountain range. However, somewhere along the way, when she was exhausted and was about to die, Dora rescued her. From what I could observe, we are in a western nation, correct? I was certain I was doomed when that dragon caught me in its jaws though Akane-san said so and tilted her head, confused. That dragon is over there, by the way. Yes, Im the one who saved you! Eh? Sorry but no matter how simple-minded I might be, I wouldnt fall for a jest like that. Except for the horns on her head and her tail, Dora looked nothing more than an any ordinary girl, after all. It was really me, you know! Observe! From a room in the highest floor of the pce being used as the vige chiefs residence, we moved to a balcony. Otherwise, it would have been quite troublesome if Dora was to transform into a dragon inside. This balcony was veryrge, containing things like a pool and an open-air bath. Dora often used this spot as hernding point whenever she visited the vige as it had no problem even with herrger size as a dragon. Do you believe me now!? It, it was the truthI thought you were simply having augh at my expense Akane-san said so and then put her hand inside her breast pocket. Surely not, right? I apologize for ever doubting you! s, I could not imagine a satisfactory way to apologize! I suppose, the best I could offer is this life Enough with that already! She had a third knife and with it tried to disembowel herself once more. Of course, we stopped her again. Seriously though, just how many knives is she hiding With my human transformation magic, I can make myself look like a human. Im from that mountain range, but thanks to this and that, Im in friendly terms with this vige. Ive been visiting this vige quite oftentely. To be this friendly with a dragonthis vigejust what!? Akane-sans words trailed off, unable to finish her sentence. And then, her eyes wandered to the vige spread out below the balcony. T-this is a vige!? Dont you mean a major city!? Further, isnt this building were in unbelievably high!? Well, I suppose in terms of scale, it would be better to describe our vige as a city, but But since the whole ce was built through my [Vige Building] Gift, I felt like calling it a vige was the only correct option. And there are plenty of buildings Ive never seen beforeso this is that rumored westernwhat should have been a sight reserved for when I made it across on my own power! We hurriedly moved to restrain Akane-san. Mm? Whats wrong? we thought you would take out another dagger and try to disembowel yourself again. Hahaha, something like this is no reason tomit seppuku. Akane-sanughed as if to ask what sillyness are you talking about?. Ipletely dont get what criteria she uses when deciding to disembowel herself. That aside, what do you say to me giving you a tour of the vige? This isnt how I imagined itll go though, since youve already seen the vige. Mmthen, I think I will take you up on your kind offer, Luke-dono. say, Philia, if this is the first vige someone sees on this side, do you suppose theyll think this is the norm here? I think theres a high likelihood of that, Selen-dono. Please consider supporting me. You can do this either by turning off adblock for this blog or via my Patreon page (link here). Thank you. Chapter 317: Grit your teeth then Chapter 317: Grit your teeth then I didnt know a world like this existed west of that mountain rangethe many gigantic walls and buildings, the clean people and streetsthe splendid fields, the delicious foodthe outstanding medicines and weaponsjust about everything here is superior to what could be found in my own country After I gave a quick tour around the vige to Akane-san, she had a look of astonishment on her face. Theres just no other exnation: I must be dreaming! The me in reality is probably in the dragons nest after it carried me off there! I have to wake up quickly! Another dagger!? Didnt I already say enough with the disemboweling!? This isnt a dream! If you cut yourself, you wont wake up, youll die for real! How did this person live this longif left to her devices, shell die before long, by her own hands no less. The most people will do to prove theyre not dreaming is hit themselves, you know Then, please hit me! Eehh!? Fine, grit your teeth then. Selen clenched her fist and then brought it toward Akane-sans face. Aaack! You really hit her!? Thats better than her cutting herself, isnt it? Selen replied nonchntly. Meanwhile, after tumbling for a bit, Akane-san stood back up while pressing a hand on her cheek. I can certainly feel pain! So then, Im not dreaming It looks like shes finally epting that this is reality. At any rate, you are Selen-dono, correct? You have quite the fist. Ande to think of it, from the skill you exhibited in the many times you knocked off my daggers, I could tell youre better with the sword than the average person. Yup, Im really confident with my swordsmanship! If only I had my katana, I would have absolutely asked for a match already Akane-san said so dejectedly. Mhm, there might be something simr to one in the vige. Truly? And so, we went to the dwarves smithing workshop built within the dungeon. Doran-san, you make many kinds of swords here in your workshop, right? Yep. Failures, experimental stuff, and even weird things that we cant sell, weve got lots here. Then, among those you mentioned, do you have a sword thats like this but longer? I said so and then showed him one of the daggers Akane-san had hidden in her breast pocket. It had the same kind of shape as katana, so I thought this would make things easier to understand. If you mean single-edged swords, I think Ive seen a few of them. Their des slightly curved like that too. Really? We were guided to a corner of the workshop that acted as its storage space, likely where they put the duds and the experimental weapons Doran-san mentioned earlier. There were a lot of swords which one could tell was strange with just a nce. Swords which had two des, swords whose des were long and thin, swords whose de part spiraled, and many others. Ah, there it is. A de like this one. At the ce Doran-san pointed were many swords that certainly fit the bill. Ahh! Those are indubitably katana! If Akanewho knew what a real katana was likesays these swords were katana, then there was no mistaking it. I think theyre made by the same smith. Maybe there was a dwarf among the viges smiths that loved to make this particr kind of sword. Heavens, this is an unmistakably sharp sword! Take whichever one you like. Theyre all free of charge, of course. Wha!? Youre giving away a katana like this for free!? Yep. We cant sell those anyway. While Akane-san huffed with excitement, she picked up a certain sword. A-amazing! Ill take this one! With her weapon in tow, we relocated to the viges training ground. Now that you have your weapon, we can have a match! Im really excited to see how a swordsman of the east fights! Simrly, I am deeply honored topete against a swordsman of the west. Selen and Akane-san stood opposite each other in the center of the training ground and readied their swords. As representatives of the samurai, victory is my only option. Akane-san proudly dered so. ah, but doesnt feel like shell try to disembowel herself again if she loses? Please consider supporting me. You can do this either by turning off adblock for this blog or via my Patreon page (link here). Thank you. Chapter 318: Wasn’t there another person Chapter 318: Wasnt there another person I lost With both her hands on the floor, Akane-san woefully hung her head. She and Selen just finished their match in the viges training grounds. Despite Akane being quite the powerful individual and performing almost toe-to-toe with her opponent, Selens pride as the viges hunting group leader pushed her to emerge victorious in the end. That being said, Selen did not make use of her magic in the fight. By the way, I secretly registered Akane-san as a viger and appraised her. Name: Akane Age: 17 years old Vige Bond Level: Low Suitable upation: Warrior Gift: Samurai Sword Techniques She had the [Samurai Sword Techniques] Gift. Unlike the regr [Sword Techniques] Gift, it probably involved the sword techniques peculiar to the samurai. Youre quite strong. There were a few times I could have lost back there. The swordsmanship of the east is nothing to sneeze at, I see. Selen praised Akane-sans strength. On the other hand, Akane-san spoke with her lips trembling. I fought as the representative of the samurai, and Ilost! And it was after I was given this incredibly sharp sword! This is inexcusable! Ah, here ites. At this rate, people of the west will think we samurai are weak! Never mind for my whole life, this disgrace will remain for generations toe! Now that it hase this We needed to stop her as soon as Akane-san made a move. Without me even saying so, Selen and Philia readied themselves to move at any moment. I mustmit seppuku to apologize! Thought so! We had collected all of her daggers beforehand, so Akane-san was now trying to disembowel herself using the katana she held. Before the katana can touch Akane-sans stomach, Philia-sans arrow made a direct hit on it. That caused the katana to be knocked off Akane-sans hand, twirl in the air, and then pierce the ground. Selen immediately set off to collect the katana. Akane-dono, there is nothing praiseworthy about how cheaply you treat your life. Yeah, what Philia says. If youre that upset about losing, why not just train to make yourself stronger and get revenge? Ill ept your challenge anytime. Mhh Without any de to use in disemboweling herself, Akane-san reluctantly epted Philia-san and Selensints. After youve be stronger from training here, I think you should also try crossing the mountain range again. It was a lot faster to get stronger when training in the training grounds I built with my Gift. <> Like that, Akane-san stayed in the vige for a while. But then I want to see the other side of the mountains! In line with Selens recent whims of asking us to travel to all kinds of ces like the sea and the desert, she dered so. We had traveled to the monster-infested mountain range many times before to hunt wyverns, but we had never tried to go beyond it and cross to the other side. What kind of ce is the eastern side of the mountain range like? I asked so to Akane-san. At present, there are 3 major nations there. My own Edou, the nation of the samurai. The nation ofmerce, saku. And then, the nation of faith, Kyou. Our nations had been in an era of constant war before, but for a while now, we are enjoying an age of peace and harmony. There seemed to be minor nations as well, such as Iruga the nation of the shinobi; Anui the northern naiton; Ryukkyu the southern inds nation, just to name a few. At any rate, it was a foreign realm we almost had no information on. If possible, we wanted Akane-san toe along with us as our guide. As I was unable to cross the mountain range on my own, I cannot do something as shameless as going back home. However, Akane-san rejected us like that. After saying she would rather disembowel herself and die rather than to go back home right now, I naturally backed down from convincing her. Hmm? Now that I think about it, wasnt there another person who is from the east? A realization came to me. If Im not mistaken, much like Akane-san, that other person also usually wears unusual clothes Ahh, I remember now. Theyre in Alec-sans adveturer party. Gai-san! TL note: Im no expert in geography of any kind, especially of Japan, but here are what I believe to be the equivalents of the ces mentioned here Edou is a reference to, well, Edo which is now called Tokyo. Osaku is a reference to Osaka Kyou is a reference to Kyoto, Japans old capital. Iruga is a reference to Iga Anui is a reference to the Ainu people, who are known residents of Hokkaido. Ryukkyu is a reference to Ryuukyuu Inds. Maybe youll be more familiar if I mention Kyushu Please consider supporting me. You can do this either by turning off adblock for this blog or via my Patreon page (link here). Thank you. Chapter 319: I have no regrets on my choice Chapter 319: I have no regrets on my choice Name: Gai Age: 28 years old Vige Bond Level: Average Suitable upation: Warrior Monk Gift: White Magic Good day, Gai-sanahm, Gai-san, youre from a nation in the east, arent you? Mhm, yes. This was Gai-san, a member of the adventurer party led by Alec-san. With his brawny physique, he was a monk who could fight in close quarters using his cudgel. And apparently, he was originally from the eastern side of the mountain range. His head was shaved, and he wore clothes that were apparently a clergys attire for the people in the east. Unlike Akane-san, he seemed to be from Kyou, the nation of faith. Gai-san, did you perhapse here through the mountain range to the east? Oh, no. I traveled here alongside my fellow monks not bynd but by sea. Ahh, I see. ording to Gai-san, there were 3 main routes to arrive here from the easternnds. There were basically 2nd routes: a direct path across the monster-infested mountain range, and a slight detour by way of the vast Rubul desert. Thest route was by sea. The journey for each of those routes was extremely harsh, but assuming good weather, the sea route was apparently the safest and most time-saving route. But then, why did you make that kind of dangerous journey in the first ce? It was because I was determined to spread Buddhas teachings to the westernnds no matter the risks. It would seem he was a missionary. I had never seen him in the act of spreading those teachings though Vige Chief, its dangerous to take what this guy said seriously. Huh? The one to cut into our conversation was their partys leader, Alec-san. What he said might be usible for anyone else, but for this guy, Im willing to bet good money he just heard someone say that the women here haverge chests and butts. Despite what his appearance suggests, hes not a devout monk; hes a debauched one. Ahh, is that so When I asked for details, it was revealed that people from long ago who had journeyed to the western side and back had left behind documents which stated that the women here were more voluptuous. Thats why you left your hometown and made a dangerous journey? Womens chests and butts are this worlds truths! I have no regrets on my choice. Really? Then he really was hopelessly perverted monk. Anyway, it has been a while since youve seen your hometown, hasnt it? We can fly like always, so it wont take us that longIm just going to be honest: are you willing to be our guide? Gai-san looked toward the mountain range and contemted. Hmm, the opportunity toe home quickly doesnte everyday, and it has been a while since I have been there. Very well, I shall be your guide. Really? I greatly appreciate it! Chief, that sounds fun, so dont take just Gai, take us with you too. Wed just be taking a break from dungeon diving anyway if Gais going to be away. Alec-san said so. Sure, lets all go together. Lets say 3 days from now. As usual, we rode the flying park and departed from the vige. Including myself, there were ten of us on this trip. The others were: Selen, Millia, Philia-san, Selius-kun, Gori-chan, Alec-san, Gai-san, and the other members of their party which were Hazena-san and Dill-san. This time, I wanted our group to be as few as possible. We were visiting an unfamiliarnd and would most likely be interacting with its people, so I wanted to avoid our group getting anyrger than it had to be. But because of that, Coch-san who wanted to join to obtain ingredients had to be left behind. Maybe when another opportunityes, I said. Ive seen this thing fly many times before, but this is my first time riding on it Amazing, isnt itthis would be so convenient in adventures Yeah, now that I think about it, they havent traveled via the park before. Alec-sans party eximed so as they looked at the ground from the parks edge. Mhmhhm, it has been so long since I visited the eastern nations, hasnt it Youve been there before, Gori-chan? Once, a long time ago. What route did you take to go there? The sea. I went there by swimming across the sea. Swimming Gori-chan was as inhuman as always. Please consider supporting me. You can do this either by turning off adblock for this blog or via my Patreon page (link here). Thank you. Chapter 320: Feel free to bury yourself in my bosom Chapter 320: Feel free to bury yourself in my bosom The monster-infested mountain range was an area where a few mountains were linked, but at around the center of it was a particrlyrge ridge. Its elevation was most likely over 3,000 meters above sea level. And despite it being summer already, there were still piles of snow everywhere. The snow probably stayed like this all year round and never really melts. I actually had to increase the parks flying altitude in order to get over the wall-like ridge. I expected it, but it really is cold at this height. Selen remarked so while she was exhaling white breath and rubbing her arms. Luke-sama, if you feel cold, feel free to bury yourself in my bosom. Ahm, thanks for the offer, Millia, but Ill decline. I mean, this is a body double in the first ce. Body doubles did not feel pain. Naturally, they also didnt get hot and cold. So, even if a body double were to be frozen in ice, they wouldnt be bothered by it in the slightest. At any rate, after we passed that ridge in the center, I lowered our altitude. And before long, we could see the ground on the other side of the ridge. While looking like he was nostalgic at the sight of his homnd, Gai-san put his hands together. When the boat left the port, I thought I would never again return to this side, to never again return to my homndthis must also be a providence of Buddha. He said such an impressive line, but wasnt his lust the reason he left to begin with? The ce we were going first was Edou, otherwise known as the nation of the samurai. This nation was Akane-sans homnd. Apparently, people known as samurai were the ruling ss here. A samurai was something like a soldier or knight. And since Edou was and ruled by such people, it was fair to say that it was a rather militaristd. I also heard that instead of a king, their ruler was called a shogun. In line with that, rather than call it the kingdom of Edou, it was more apt to call it the Shogunate of Edou. Hmmsomehow, I get the feeling like Ive heard something like this before You might have gotten the impression that its a warmongeringnd, but its quite a peaceful ce at the moment. Peaceful, really? Dont they oftenmit seppuku though? That is an ancient custom. You wont find many who adhere to that nowadays. Supposedly, Akane-san was really, really peculiar. Hmm, Ive been seeing that green thing spread like a carpet here and there for a while now. Those are paddy fields. Paddy fields? Upon hearing a word she wasnt familiar with, Selen tilted her head. Thats where they grow rice, the staple food around here. In the west, theyre called rice** Ehh, rice, huh? And this is how theyre grown, huh? The rice found in our vige were more or less brought to us by the merchants. But since it wasnt exactly a popr ingredient in the western countries, there werent that much of it that could be found. If we were able toe to a point where we could reliably import it, we would likely be able to make more kinds of food in the vige. Before long, we drew near near one of Edous major cities. Naturally, it was impossible for us tond flying park anywhere in the city. So instead, while the park was still up in the sky, I teleported us in its downtown area. So this is Edou The houses here give off such a mysterious atmosphere. Just like Millia said, the wooden houses in thisnd were quite unlike anything weve seen before. For some reason though, it all felt nostalgic to me. Perhaps it was due to the memories of my previous life. Maybe the houses there were kind of like this? I wonder what those things on top of the roof are When Hazena-san asked so, Gai-san answered a momentter. Those are roof tiles. y are baked to make them harder when they cool. Like that, they canst for a great number of years, protecting the houses from rainfall. Its also effective in preventing the houses from catching fire. Ohh. Then, what about those mask-like things attached on the edge there? Those are decorations installed to ward off evil and misfortune. Theyre called onigawara. At that moment Suspicious people! You will be punished here and now! When I heard that roar and turned around, I saw a young man holding a sword, rather, a katana. Ah, no, we arent suspicious at all, I swear Lies! I saw it with my very own eyes! The strange sorcery you used to appear out of nowhere! Apparently, he saw us as soon as we teleported. I thought there was no one here when I chose this ce though TL note: apparently, the easternnds refer to the rice grains as kome () while the western side called it rice. I dont want to call it kome and rice separately. Please consider supporting me. You can do this either by turning off adblock for this blog or via my Patreon page (link here). Thank you. Chapter 321: He’s too stunned by my appeal that he can’t say anything Chapter 321: Hes too stunned by my appeal that he cant say anything Suspicious people! You will be punished here and now! A young man who appeared to be a samurai shouted so while holding up his katana. We already told you were not suspicious at all. H-hey, Selen! If you fight in a ce like this, itll cause amotion, dont you think? I said so as I tried to stop Selen from drawing her own sword. Maybe, but it doesnt look like hes willing to at least listen to us. Leave this to me. The one to dere that and step forward was none other than Gori-chan. At the approach of the muscr and over-2-meters tall Gori-chan, the young man quickly flinched. And then, Gori-chan shut one of her eyes. In other words, she winked. Uuuu, Mis~ter~Sa~mu~rai Can~you~let~us~go~for~~~me? She said so with a shake of her hips at every word, and then finished it off by blowing a kiss. ~~~~!? Ufufu, observe. Hes too stunned by my appeal that he cant say anything. It seemed like Gori-chan tried to use her charms to persuade the young man. the person herself might be confident about it, but honestly, I dont think this is going to work at all. KhhI-I wont fall a trick like that! Huh? Can it perhaps be having some effect? I cant believe theres someone in this whole world whos affected by that pink machos seduction Alec-san asked so, shock in his voice. Say, Gai, can it be that people on this side have a different sense of aesthetics than those from ours? Not at all. It just so happened that this particr samurai has that inclination. Gai-san resolutely denied so. At any rate, thanks to Gori-chan, the young man was able to calm down for the moment. I-I see now. Youre a kind of Ayakashi that disguises themselves as a human, arent you!? First youll seduce me, then youll capture and devour me, wont you!? Oh my. You think Im so beautiful that I must be in some kind of disguise instead? It would seem that, in the end, Gori-chans seduction strategy failed. I mean, I didnt expect it to work from the start anyway But then, another person in our group stepped forward. It was Gai-san. Samurai-dono. I assure you that we are not Ayakashi. Allow me to introduce myself. I am Gai, a monk hailing from thend of Kyou. What? Your appearance is certainly that of a monks, but Namu Amida Butsu, Namu Amida Butsu, Namu Amida Butsu. As you know, no Ayakashi can transform themselves to look like a monk. Much less recite the nembutsu prayer. yes, its as you say. The young samurai then sheathed his katana. Great work, Gai-san. Im so d you came along with us. But the question still stands: who are you people? Based on your appearance, you look to be from a foreign country, but Truth be told, we have traveled here from a nation to the west of that mountain range. Travelers from the west, I see. So then, why did youe to the estate of House Date? Mm? House Date? Can it be you entered here without knowing that this ce is the hantei of House Date? It would appear that a hantei was the residence owned by a feudal lord in the capital, to be used whenever they needed to stay there. In other words, we had broken in someones home. This ce was sorge that I mistook it for the citys downtown area. I had chosen it because there were only a few people, but now I could see how I was wrong in that decision. What is going on there? ! My lord!? The young man hurriedly turned to the source of that shout. And the one there was a man with a strange hairstyle. Pfft, whats with his head Dontugh, Selen. Thats called a topknot. Its a hairstyle worn by those of noble birth. A topknot? You sure are well-informed about these things, Luke. Now that you say that This was my first time to see it in this world, so I probably knew of it thanks to my previous lifes memory. The man with the topknot also had a ck eye-patch that looked like a katanas cross-guard over his right eye. The young man kneeling down as he exined things convinced me that the man with topknot was indeed a person of high status. These people im to have traveled here from a western nation by crossing the monster-infested mountain range. By crossing that mountain range, you say? To be precise, we came here by flying over it through the flying park, but since it seemed like a hassle to exin all that, I decided to just let things be and not correct them. While I was thinking about such things, the expression on the man with the eye-patchs face changed. Did you happen to see a woman who hase of age somewhere along the way? Please consider supporting me. You can do this either by turning off adblock for this blog or via my Patreon page (link here). Thank you. Chapter 322: We’re used to it by now Chapter 322: Were used to it by now Did you happen to see a woman who hase of age somewhere along the way? A woman? The one-eyed samurai excitedly asked, and Gai-san replied with a question of his own. Yes. Truth be told, my foolish daughter left our home after dering she would cross the mountain range all by herselfI told her not to do something so foolish, but she just didnt listen Huh? That sounds like Can that woman perhaps be Akane-san? !! You know of her!? Apparently, the person in front of us was Akane-sans father. Can I take that to mean that shes safe? Yeah. At least she was when we met her along the way in the mountain range For the sake of Akane-sans honor, I chose to not say anything about her being rescued by a dragon and being brought to our vige. Otherwise, she was at risk of attempting another seppuku. We met around the midpoint of the mountain range, so she should have made it to the western side by now. I cant believe itthat girl who tries tomit seppuku for every little thing, she really crossed the mountain range all by herself it would seem even her father was troubled by Akane-sans tendency to disembowel herself. Mm,e to think of it, I havent introduced myself. I apologize for not doing so sooner, but I am Masamine. Date Misamine, to be exact. I presently serve as the feudal lord of the Sende domain. A feudal lord was like and-owning noble back in the west. That would mean that Akane-san was ady of such an illustrious family. While youre here, how about telling me stories about the west? We agreed to Masamine-sans suggestion and were then guided to the inside of their residence. Along the way My lord! My lord! Weve been looking all over for you! A middle-aged man who looked to be a retainer came rushing toward us, his face a burning red. With a frown, Masimine-san asked something to the middle-aged man. What is it? As you can see, I havepany at the present. Company The man was surprised when he nced at us, probably because he didnt notice us at all at first. Despite that, he immediately spoke again, in what seemed to be an admonishing tone. More importantly, my lord, it is time for your audience with the shogun! If you dont depart soon, youll bete! !?! To those words, Masamine-san let out a sound of surprise. That was immediately followed by the color on his face draining all at once. T-thats right! Today is when I am supposed to visit the Edou castle and have an audience with the shogun! To think Ive forgotten about something so important For whatever reason, Masamine-san threw away his upper garment and drew out the short katana-like de that had been hanging on his waist. W-wait, this sequence This is the gravest error I have made in my life! As the head of the Masamine household, I have brought dishonor upon us thatll endure for generations toe! Now that it hase to this, I can only hope to atone bymitting seppuku! So it really led to seppuku! M-my lorddddd!? Stop, I beg youuuuu! The lord has gone mad once again! Help us stop him!! Retainer-looking people simultaneously rushed in and stopped Masamine-san from his attempt at seppuku. it seems like Akane-sans seppuku tendencies was something she inherited I apologize for showing you something so unsightly. N-no, its fine. Were used to it by now thanks to your daughter. Masamine-san somehow looked soposed right now. Meanwhile, the retainers who stopped him from his desperate attempt at seppuku were all lying on the floor while breathing hard. Moreover, I also apologize but I must now leave for Edou castle. Might I ask you to give me the detailster upon my return? Of course, until then, feel free to take it easy and rx here within my estate. After apologizing like that, it looked like Masamine-san suddenly thought of something. Wait. Its rare for us to have travelers from the west. You are bound to have many valuable stories you can share with us. If thats so, it stands to reason that one of the first things a vassal like me to do is introduce you to the shogun. It was such an obvious thing, and yet I almost failed to realize it! As I thought, I am ill-suited to be the head of the Date household! For the sake of my house, I offer my life Stop, my lordddddddd!! if you dont hurry this up, youll really bete, you know. TL note: Date Masamine is a reference to Date Masamune. Date, pronounced like dah-te not the English word date, is the family name. For at least Edou characters, I think its safe to assume that family names will alwayse first. Sende is a reference to Sendai. Please consider supporting me. You can do this either by turning off adblock for this blog or via my Patreon page (link here). Thank you. Chapter 323: Why not yours, sister…? Chapter 323: Why not yours, sister? Gai-san, the Edou castle is that one over there, right? Therge building, I mean. Yes, that is indeed the castle in which Shogun Tokogawa resides. However, that part in particr is not the residential space. It is the castles tower, to be used to watch over the surroundings. It looked like a spire that towered over the rest of the buildings in the center of the city. It had manyyers of roof, and from the very top, you certainly could look over the rest of this Edou city which didnt have many tall buildings to begin with. Lets relocate there, shall we? I used teleport and brought Masamine-sanwho was on the verge of beingte but was still busy wrestling with his retainersto the Edou castle. My lord! If we dont go soon, we would bete! All the more reason to preserve the honor of the Date household! Huh!? But no, now isnt the time for this! We must hurry Ahh, dont worry, were already here. !?! Upon realizing that their surroundings had changed, Masamine-san and his retainers were at a loss for words for a moment. T-this isthis is the Edou castles gate, isnt it!? When did we? Ahh, but this means we should make it in time! Despite being puzzled, Masamine-san immediately headed toward the gate. After telling the guard about us, we were made to wait a whilelikely to get permissionbut was eventually allowed to enter without issue. By the way, I had heard that the Edou state had been ruled by a Shogun Tokogawa for generations. Edou was said to once be part of the nation of Kyou, but by capitalizing on a long period of unrest, the Tokogawa household founded this nation and dered independence. Of course, there was a time of conflict with Kyou which didnt recognize the deration at the beginning, but that time has long since passed and, in fact, the two states were said to be friendly with each other at the present. I am Shogun Ieasu. Ive been told about you, travelers. That youvee here by crossing the monster-infested mountain range. We were brought to a vast and tatami-matted audience room. The one to greet us like that in back of the room was none other than the ruler of the Edou state, Shogun Ieasu himself. He was middle-aged and had quite the broad shoulders. Moreover, like Masamine-san, he had a topknot as well. However, for someone holding the title of shogun, he looked quite gentle. Indeed. Wee from the Celtia kingdom, which lies to the western side of the mountain range. Im Luke, and I represent our group. Your appearance suggests youre only 10 or so, yet youve traversed that mountain range at that young age. Companions or not, that is an impressive feat. Actually, Im 14. O-oh, is that so? Thats still quite young considering the feat. On instinct, I immediately corrected the shogun. Masamine-san was looking at us with anxious eyes, but thankfully, the shogun didnt seem to mind. I then took something out. This is a western-style sword made by a cksmith who stood out even in whole of the Celtia kingdom. I hope youll ept. Ohh, are you quite sure? Rather than a gift, it was more like an offering. When I was made aware that I was going to have an audience with the shogun, I instructed one of the doubles who was in the vige to teleport and bring the offering to me. This sword actually has a self-repair ability. Self-repair, you say? Yes, it was a sword made using behemoth parts. Even if it breaks in two, or even worse than that, it will return to its original state after a while even without doing anything. Frankly, being told that its a sword like that all of a suddenits simply so unbelievable Then, would you like a demonstration? Swords made of the behemoth parts was already on sale in the vige. The demand for it was quite high though, so our supply still hasnt caught up. Our hunters were the first ones it was sold to, so Selen and Selius-kun already had their own swords. We should put it to the test, right? Selius, hand yours over. Huh? After Selen got Selius-kuns sword, she then handed it over to Gori-chan. Why mine? Why not yours, sister? Teehee, all I gotta do is smash this sword, right? Ignoring Selius-kuns grumblings, Gori-chan punched the sword at the t of its de. And so, with a loud boom, the swords de broke. Gai-san, please use healing magic on it. At once. When Gai-san did as I asked, the de returned to its original form right before our eyes. It would have repaired itself even when left alone, but we could make the process go faster by using healing magic on it. Think of it like healing a human body. W-what! The sword was really repaired Please consider supporting me. You can do this either by turning off adblock for this blog or via my Patreon page (link here). Thank you. TL note: Tokogawa Ieasu is a reference to Tokugawa Ieyasu. Chapter 324: I would like to have plenty of that kind of katana Chapter 324: I would like to have plenty of that kind of katana There are swords like this in the west? Yes. We were able to make this sword thanks to the parts from a special monster. At least in theory, this sword could be used forever. We only just became able to make such swords recently, so we didnt have anything to serve as proof to that im. Incidentally, do you think its possible to make a katanaour nations style of swordthat has the same property as that one? I think so, yes. Really!? My answer surprised Shogun Ieasu. Shortly after, Masamine-san huffed and shouted something. For us samurai, our katana is more important our own life! However, no matter how excellent a katana is, repeated use will wear it down and cause its inevitable end toe much sooner! It is sadly not rare for a katana to be beyond repair after an intense battle! The death of a cherished katana is worse than the death of ones own child! It is no exaggeration on my part to say that a katana that can be perpetually used is a dream that all samurai share! Masamine-san was so excited that Shogun Ieasu cautioned him to c-calm down a little. What have I done? To be so impolite in front of the shogun himself!? This is the gravest error I have made in my life! The only way I can atone for it is tomit Another gravest error of his life? Dont he have one too many of those? Masamine-san tried to, again,mit seppuku. And again, his retainers did their best to stop him from doing so. While acting as though it was all business as usual, Shogun Ieasu left them be and moved the conversation along. I would like to have plenty of that kind of katana no matter what. We cant make too many of it at the moment, but wed do whatever we can to answer your request. However, there is something we want in exchange for the sale of those katana. What might that be? Rice. The food culture in the vige had be exceedingly rich at this point, but unfortunately, rice was still in short supply. And what we did get, it just didnt taste great For that reason, I absolutely wanted to import to the vige the rice that this nation produced in abundance. After all, if they were willing to have that many paddy fields of rice, it was all but certain that their rice was delicious. In fact, it was no exaggeration to say that negotiating for rice was the reason I epted this audience with the shogun despite initially wanting to say no as much as I could. We have plenty of rice. Youre free to buy as much as you want. Really? Yes, but do keep in mind that the mountain range still stands in between our two nations. Just transporting the rice to your nation is quite an ordeal. Ahh, thats no problem for us. We have a way to travel easily. What method might that be? Our nation has been making these things called railway systems recently. I say our nation, but really, I was the one who built them. Reyl way systems? Yes. I suppose its better to think of them as the evolution of horse-drawn carriages in that it can transport arge number of people quickly. By using our railway systems, a journey that could have taken a few days by horse-drawn carriage would now only take a few hours. You have something like that? Furthermore, even across mountains and deserts, our railway systems have no problem whatsoever in transporting people. After all, its all underground. Underground!? Speaking of deserts, we actually had installed railways in the desert. So, even now, people from your nation should be able to visit our kingdom easily by making use of the one there. Eh? The shogun was astonished by what I just said. Which was only natural given that there was a mysterious mode of transportation so close to his nation that he had no knowledge of. *(But if thats true, then if their side ever felt like it, they can attack us at anytime, cant they? For me, the shogun, to not know that such a thing was built recentlymoreover, considering that they have the technology to make those swords, its clear that making enemies out of them is quite the dangerous endeavorthen, establishing friendly ties seem to be the only option.)* The shogun then timidly asked something. B-by the way, have you already visited the other eastern nations? We havent, but we do n on doing so. I seeapart from Kyou, I am certain that at least Osaku will wish to tradevery well then, I want a reyl way system of yours to pass through the mountain range. How much manpower and time will its construction take? If we start now, it should be done by tomorrow at thetest, I think. Tomorrow at thetest!? Please consider supporting me. You can do this either by turning off adblock for this blog or via my Patreon page (link here). Thank you. Chapter 325: Am I dreaming…? Chapter 325: Am I dreaming? I had received permission from Shogun Ieasu to construct the railway, so I immediately decided that I should make the route go under the mountain range. Ive heard the exnation, but to be candid, I still dont fully understand Masamine-san, the one assigned to supervise the project, tilted his head as he asked questions. Simply put, were go to be digging a tunnel under the mountain range. Once thats done, arge thing made of iron will run back and forth the tunnel to transport people. Even with that exnation, I still dontprehendI simply dont see how thats possible Hmm, just so were on the same page, people over here also have Gifts, right? Gifts? Could you perhaps be referring to Talents? Oh, so thats what you call them. In the eastern side of the mountain range, it would seem that the people who effectively gave others Gifts were not called a priest but rather a shinto priest. Moreover, rather than a blessing at a church, it was holding a prayer service at a shrine. What Im about to show is the power of my Gift, err, my Talent. Your Talent? It still doesnt makes sense to me Well, for now, lets just dig out the underground tunnel. <> By the way, the ce were starting with our dig was somewhere within the Date estate. We could always adjust where the official entrance and exit points would beter, so the n for now was to start from here. You say dig, but youre all alone? And you dont seem to have any tools on When stairs that led underground suddenly appeared, Masamine-san froze. huh? Lets go down, shall we? What just happened!? There are stairs all of a sudden! Bringing along the shocked Masamine-san, I descended the stairs. Its short for now, but this is what the underground tunnel would be like. This time, Im going to extend it. The wall that served as the dead-end was in front of us, but it steadily moved farther away. Am I dreaming? Its not a dream, no. Anyway, the next step is to set the railway. <> Ill go ahead and build a station here. This time, a train tform and a train appeared. <> Thisrge thing made of iron is a train. This will be the one thats going to transport people and things. Can it thing really move? It can. Anyway, thats pretty much the process. My body double will handle it from here. A body double who looked exactly like me appeared at my side. There are two Luke-dono!? Whats the meaning of this!? Is it an illusion trick!? What youre seeing is real. This is also a power of my Talent. I can talk too. But Ive never heard of a Talent do something like. Just what is your Talent!? Its called [Vige Building]. What does any of this have to do with a vige!? At any rate, the restextending the underground tunnel and the railway all the way to the wastnd vigewas up to my body doubles. Alright, tell me when its done. Roger. While my body doubles were busy with the underground railway, we decided to tour the Edou city we were in. Hey, hey, that thing kinda looks like a gate! It doesnt have any doors on it though! Thats a Torii. Its the entrance to a shinto shrine. It sure is crowded here though. Is today a day of worship? No, this is apparently because theres a festival going on right now. While Selen and Gai-san talked like that, a noisy group of people from the other direction drew closer to us. Wasshoi, wasshoi! Wasshoi, wasshoi! Wasshoi, wasshoi! While chanting like that, the group carried something that looked like arge box. Upon a second look, the box was shaped like a shed, only gaudily decorated. What is that!? Its a portable shrine. Its to temporarily carry the gods who usually live in the shrine so that they can tour the city. So, the gods over here really love all this liveliness, huh. By the way, the ones carrying the portable shrine were muscr men who were wearing almost nothing but underpants. Gori-chan looked at them and then let out a hmmmm in a suggestive voice. What a marvelously sexy getup. Just looking at thems enough to excite me. Perhaps because they sensed Gori-chans intense stare, the men stopped moving for a moment. That was almost enough to topple over the portable shrine. Please consider supporting me. You can do this either by turning off adblock for this blog or via my Patreon page (link here). Thank you. Chapter 326: Oh no, oh no! Chapter 326: Oh no, oh no! And with that, the railway isplete. Themute to our vige on the other side of the mountain range should take about an hour or so. My body double had notified me that they had finished connecting the railway station here to the one in the vige. I quickly ryed that information to Masamine-san, the supervisor of this project. I still cant imagine how this will take us all the to the western side. Well, you might get it once you try it for yourself. I asked the half-convinced Masamine-san to enter the train. We then departed for the wastnd vige. After an hour inside the shaking train Were here. The train stopped at the tform under the vige. Well then, wee. Beyond those stairs is our vige. We climbed up those stairs and exited the station. Upon the sight of the vige, Masamine-san almost fell down as he shouted. What is this aaaaeeeee!? This is the vige for which I am the vige chief. Vige!? How is this ce a vige!? Isnt this arge city!? There are so many tall buildings I can barely see the sky! You can see the other side of the monster-infested mountain range there. Considering the position of the sun, you can tell were on the eastern side now. S-so, we really went through that mountain range in that short amount of time? Masamine-sans body trembled as he said so. Then, for whatever reason, he suddenly drew the katana on his waist. Im being tricked by a fox, I must be! Pain should dispel this sorcerys hold on me! H-hey, please dont disembowel yourself! This isnt a sorcery! We were once again flying in the sky through the park. We can see it now. That over there is Osaku, the nation of trade. Amazing. There are are rivers and waterways all over. Yes. That is why Osaku city is also known as the water capital. After we had toured most of the city in Edou we were in, we visited the neighboring nation of Osaku. Osaku city was near the sea and was also surrounded by rivers and waterways, so there was quite a number of boatsing and going. Osaku is ruled by House Toyotoki. The head of their house, that is to say the head of the nation, is called the chancellor. Although their house had once been a poor one, they gained power and wealth during the warring states era until they became their nations rulers. Hoping to imitate a fraction of their sess, the merchants of Osaku tend to be determined and passionate. The castle that was home to their chancellor came into view. The castle in question had a tower that wouldnt lose to the one in Edou, by the way. But is it really alright for us to just suddenlynd the park within the castle grounds? There is no need for concern. The chancellor is known to have unparalleled enthusiasm for new things. If anything,nding there should pique his interest and wee us more warmly. Gai-san reassured me that it was no problem tond the park in the vast castle grounds. I still worried about it, but I nheless did as he suggested and lowered the park. Given their peoples strong mercantile spirit, it was more than likely that they wouldnt be able to ignore the fact that Edou has begun to trade with the east through an underground passageway once they knew of it. And then, it was only a matter of time before they would have made contact with us. So, Gai-san advised that if that was going to happen anyway, things would go much faster if we were to barge in like this. Something odd is descending from above! Oh no, oh no! Is this an attack from the people of the skies!? Its an invasion! The parknding on castle grounds quickly made amotion. I-is this really alright? They wont think were some kind of ayakashi again, will they? I dont know whats going on, but if they seem like they want to talk, wed be alright. Wed be in trouble if they end up being monsters though. You think we can also ride that thing? If we had a flying ground like that, travel would be easy. Rather than traveling, Im more interested in whether it can be used for our trade routes. Somehowsomehow things look ok, I guess? Gai-san then proceeded to introduce himself and our group. I am Gai, a monk from Hozo-ji temple of the nation of Kyou. And these people with me are travelers from the west. What, a monk? A monk from Kyou? Those guys got their priorities all mixed up. Abandoning their possessions as well as their old life, to then live off of on nothing but what is donated to them, I cant think of something more foolish. Well, I heard there are some monk who only think of earning money though. it would seem monks from Kyou are not well liked here TL note: Hozo-ji temple is likely a reference to Honnoji temple. Please consider supporting me. You can do this either by turning off adblock for this blog or viamy Patreon page (link here).Thank you. Chapter 327: I didn’t know he was expelled Chapter 327: I didnt know he was expelled Contrary to our expectations, Gai-san didnt seem to be liked by the people of Osaku. That monk, least to me, hasntpletely discarded his worldly desires yet. What, you mean to say hes like us? Nah, rather than money, I think his lust still remains. A perverted monk!? Well, that still makes him like us then! Nahahahaha! Ahh, they saw through him That is just the case. While I did stay in Hozo-ji temple, that was a long time ago now. When the head monk knew that I gave in to my worldly desires and yed around with women, I was expelled. Ever since, I had been looking for a new path of faith, one where we live alongside our worldly desires. I didnt know he was expelled. A new path of faith? Yes. In my opinion, even if one entered monkhood without discarding their worldly desires, or even if an ordinary person was so swayed by their worldly desires, those people could still be saved. After all, Buddhas heart is deeper than the oceans and vaster than the skies. As long as we wholeheartedly recite the nembutsu prayer, I believe Buddha will still guide even the most sinful of us to Sukhavati, the Land of Bliss. Gai-san vigorously argued so. I couldnt help but think that it was all a convenient justification for his lust though However, the people of Osaku didnt seem to think so. I think its a fascinating idea. It might just be for us, but thats one wee teaching. We work ourselves to the bone to gain all our weath, but we have to throw all of that away if we wish to be monks. So, if there is a way to salvation while continuing our trade, I would be very happy. Can you tell us more about it? Why is Gai-san starting to look like the founder of a new religion!? Before any of that, our group would like to request an audience with the chancellor. These fellows had traveled to thesends from the west by crossing the monster-infested mountain range. Very well, Ill pass along that message to my superiors! Please wait a while! After a while, it was confirmed that we could have an audience with the chancellor, the title given to the what amounted to be the king of Osaku. In the back of the luxurious tatami-matted room we were led to was a man of incredibly small build. I am Chancellor Hideyotsu. I bid you wee, travelers from afar. The chancellor introduced himself as Toyotoki Hideyotsu. Despite us showing uninvited, he weed us warmly. Much like with Shogun Ieasu, I began with an offering as a way to introduce ourselves. This is a potion made in our kingdom of Celtia. A potion? What a fine gift. However, I have never heard of the Celtia Kingdom producing potions. Osaku had ships go to and from the western nations. In other words, they traded, albeit on a small scale, with those nations. Seeing as there was the Barste Kingdom between the sea and the Celtia Kingdom, plus the fact that the Celtia Kingdom was in a state of civil war until recently, Osaku did not trade directly with our kingdom. However, it seemed like they still gathered information through the other merchants. We mass-produce them now. Truly? That makes it more of a shame that we cant send people your way so easily then. Yes I then exined like I did back in Edou. After hearing me, the chancellors eyes were sparkling. What a sudden and unbelievable tale! However, if that Edou of all ces has begun trading with you, we cant afford to fall behind any further! This railway system you speak of, is there anyway to implement it in our nation as well? Yes, of course. So long as you sell us your freshly caught fish, that is. A one-way trip should take only an hour or so, so the goods should still be fresh on arrival. Only an hour!? We had been importing fish and seafood through Barste recently, but there was quite a distance from Barste to our wastnd vige, which affected the freshness of the goods involved. It would be much faster if we purchased it from Osaku itself and transported it directly to the vige. And like that, we received permission from the chancellor to connect a railway to Osaku. I had already established a station in Edou, so it only took my body doubles half a day to finish it. Afterwards, the chancellor decided to ride the train himself and went all the way to our vige. He was astonished by our high-rise buildings. Such a grand city! I didnt know such a thing existed to the western side of the mountain range TL note: Toyotoki Hideyotsu is a reference to Toyotomi Hideyoshi. The title used for him here is Taiko which I believe is moremonly tranted as retired regent. Seeing as any kind of regent(that is someone ruling in ce of someone else) doesnt really make sense in the setting in the story, I decided to use his chancellor title instead. Please consider supporting me. You can do this either by turning off adblock for this blog or via my Patreon page (link here). Thank you. Chapter 328: Eradicate this epidemic! Chapter 328: Eradicate this epidemic! Osaku was a very bustling city. As to be expected from a ce hailed as the nation of trade, themercial area was full of energy, if the shopkeepers enthusiastically touting their wares were any indication. Blue-haired foreignerdy! You gotta try our takoyaki! Ours is the best here in Osaku! Takoyaki? When one of those shopkeepers called out to Selen, she stopped and tilted her head. Octopus bits and other stuff like seasonings are put in wheat flour and then cooked! Its Osakus specialty! Its so cute! Its so round and cute! After seeing the perfectly round takoyaki as they were being cooked, Selens eyes sparkled. And for the ck-haireddy over there, you ought to try our skewered deep-fried meat and vegetables! Whats that like? Wow, mister, you sure arerge. Bet you have to eat a lot to maintain that size. Then, I rmend trying our okonomiyaki; we serve them in generous amounts! Ufun, dont, you, mean, miss? Some called out to Millia and Gori-chan as well. While we were touring the city like that, I happened to hear a curious rumor. When do you think we can do business in Kyou again? Its hard to say right now. The thing that spread only in their slums has apparently spread throughout their capital now. I even heard some of their nobles have contracted it. Thats awful This isnt the time to be worried about others, you know. If that reaches us, well, now thats awful. It seems like traveling to and from Kyou is being limited at the moment, but I wonder what theyre talking about. His homnd being the topic, a concerned Gai-san asked the men who were talking. Sorry, but can you tell me more about that topic? Wah, youre a monk from Kyou, arent you!? Donte any closer, you hear? I dont wanna catch it! Upon noticing Gai-sans shaved head, the men hurried to distance themselves. Theres no need to worry. I havent gone back to Kyou in years. What the heck, dont scare us like thatI mean, havent you heard about that epidemic in Kyou? Epidemic? Yup. They say its an illness that produces wart-like things all over your body and gives you hellish pain. To top it off, I hear theres a good chance youll die from it too. That cant be Apparently there was an epidemic, that is to say, a serious disease have spread and was continuing to spread. Upon hearing of the misery guing his homnd, Gai-san grimaced. Sorry to break it to you, but I dont think its wise to return home right now. Yeah, unfortunately, your monk prayers alone cant heal the illness away. Gai-san said something after the city people gave some advice and left. but maybe my healing magic can cure it. Gai-san had the [White Magic] Gift. There was a chance he could cure even this illness. However, he was still only a single person. Treating over a hundred or even a thousand people was too much. There werent much practitioners of healing magic, so suppressing an illness that has be an epidemic was no simple matter. If one was unlucky, they might get sick themselves and even lose their life. My power will probably be a drop in the ocean. Even so, I cant turn a blind eye when my homnd is in crisis. Gai Probably deciding Gai-sans mind couldnt be changed now that he has resolved himself, Alec-san held his words back while wearing a frustrated expression. *(if I cure a cute girl, there should be a chance shell do it with me, right?)* Gaiyou know we can more or less tell what youre thinking, right? I decided to say something to them. I think the cure potions that the elves made could help. Mhm, our cure potions are incredible items that is effective on all sorts of illnesses. Philia-san gave her stamp of approval on the potions efficacy. I see. Cure potions, right, we have that option. We adventurers rely mostly on the ordinary potions, so I totally forgot about those. Hazena-san pped her hands and nodded so. Ill ask the elves to make lots of cure potions. Then, lets go bring them to Kyou and eradicate this epidemic! Please consider supporting me. You can do this either by turning off adblock for this blog or via my Patreon page (link here). Thank you. Chapter 329: This is my home Chapter 329: This is my home Of the three major nations of the east, Kyou is the oldest. Their rulers are called the Divine Emperor. Once upon a time, the whole of this easternnd was under their rule too. While we were headed for the nation of Kyou, Gai-san exined so. The Divine Emperor is also the head of Shintoism. That is why Kyou is known as the nation of faithhowever, toplicate matters, the teachings of Buddha have spread throughout thend in modern times, and even the Divine Emperor has be a devout follower. Huh? The head of the nations religion is a believer of another religion? Is that alright? The one to ask that was Hazena-san. To which, Gai-san nodded solemnly. Mhm, yes. In fact, the teachings of Shinto and of Buddha are so deeply connected that they are nothing but 2 sides of the same coinor so it is said. That felt a bit contrived, but, oh well After abdicating from being the Divine Emperor, quite a few of them enter monkhood. Kyou is surrounded by mountains, and in those mountains monks throw themselves into rigorous and harsh training. The Hozo-ji temple, which I used to be part of, was also in such a mountainI was expelled though because I repeatedly descended the mountain to fool around with women While Gai-san was talking like that, the capital of Kyou came into view. Soon enough, Selen shouted something. The citys like a grid! In ancient times, when this ce became the capital in ce of Narura, people back then decided to build this ce like this. In the center of the capital city, the imperial pce where the Divine Emperor resided could be found. Even from far away, I could tell howrge it was. While the park was still floating in the sky of the capital, I asked where we should teleport inside the city. Any suggestions on where we should teleport? Perhaps in that estate. That one? Alright. Following Gai-sans suggestion, I teleported us in an estate that was quite near the imperial pce. It wasnt asrge as Masamine-sans estate, but it was still fairlyrge. With the mossy ground and the elegantly ced rocks, there was a peculiar atmosphere in the ce. Hmm, how nostalgic This is someones garden, isnt it? Is it alright for us to enter without permission? This ce also looks kind of high-ss When Alec-san asked so, Gai-san answered matter-of-factly. No need to worry. This is my home. Eh!? All of us were surprised. You were from a well-off family!? Hazena-san shouted so. Yes. Despite what I look like, I am born into a noble household. A noble? But you still left and became a monk? It is not that unusual. Especially considering that I was the youngest of 6 siblings. If anything, entering monkhood was rathermon in this nation for people who had low chances of inheriting their household. While we were talking like that, a man who looked like a guard dashed toward us, screaming. Who are you!? And where did you peoplee from!? Gai-san answered the man as he pointed his polearm against us. I am Myougai. How is father? Myougai? You mean, that Myougai-sama? Apparently, Gai-sans true name was Myougai Yes. Im back for the first time in a decade. P-please wait a minute! The man shouted so and dashed off. After a while, he came back along with several people arrived. Myougai! Among those people, a white-haired old man sprinted toward us. He looked to be over 70 years old, but he still had a pretty good physique and overall looked energetic. Father! Myougai! Father~~! Myougai~~! It was an emotional reunion between parent and childor so I thought Where have you been all these years, you stupid child! Oraaaaa! The old man took a great leap forward and nted the sole of his foot onto Gai-sans face. Bugoho!? Gai-san was blown away, crashed, and writhed in pain on the ground. On the other hand, the old mannded easily and then grabbed a polearm from a nearby guard. Ill personally send you to the afterlife!!! Oh no! Is Gai-san going to be killed!? TL note: Narura>>>Nara Please consider supporting me. You can do this either by turning off adblock for this blog or via my Patreon page (link here). Thank you. Chapter 330: I acknowledge my faults Chapter 330: I acknowledge my faults My, my lord! Calm yourself, my lord! How can I calm down!? He went a decade without any contact after being expelled, but now he has the gall to march here so nonchntly! Whats more, I heard the reason he got expelled from the temple is because he frequently rendezvoused with women! This stupid, little! The master of the estate, who was also Gai-sans father, was vehemently angry. He ignored his retainers pleas and began wielding a polearm. And when he was about to sh his son !? A-da-da-da-da!? He held his back, rolled on the ground, and began toin about his pain. This was what we were warning you about! Your back can re up anytime, so please refrain from extraneous movements! Ghhhjust when I was able to send this stupid child to the other side with my own hands! Apparently, this old man had a bad back. Meanwhile, Gai-san whose life was spared just now was prostrating himself on the ground and father. I acknowledge my faults. I have no defense. Nor do I have anyints to any punishment you deem fit to pass onto me. Hmp, at least you seem ready. HoweverI ask that you dy your punishment. The reason for which is I want to make use of the power I gained in thest decade in the service of my homnd in its time of crisis. What are you going on about? Gai-san approached the old man with his head still prostrating himself, and then extended his hand. Excuse me. W-whatshow? The pain in my backits fading? Its because of healing magic. Before long, as though the pain waspletely gone, the old man was standing straight. The pain is gone Yes. Despite my appearance, I have confidence in my ability. Moreover, I could cure not just external wounds, but also illnesses. I am told that the capital is currently suffering from an epidemic. I decided to endure the shame and return, all so that I could ease the suffering of my people even a tiny bit. For that reason, I ask that you dy my punishment. Our original purpose ining here was to sight-see, but I obviously couldnt say that. Perhaps deciding that he couldnt just cut down Gai-san after that sincere appeal, the old man lowered his readied polearm while making an embittered expression. My lordperhaps we can have Myougai-sama take a look at Myouken-sama? Whatit cant be that brother has? I, Im afraid so. About a week or so ago, he contracted the diseasewart-like things appeared all over his body, and he was in so much pain that he couldnt hold himself back from screaminghaving bing so thin in a short amount of time, the doctor concluded he wouldnt have much time left Then, please take me to my brother at once! follow me. After a while ofplete silence, the old man said so and then began walking toward the inside of the estate. We followed after him as instructed. Before long, the old man stopped at a detached small house. To prevent the disease from spreading to anyone else, we isted him here. Leave the rest to me. Gai-san entered the building all by himself. After seeing him enter, the old man turned toward us. While were waiting, Id like to know more about you. Based on your appearances, you seem to be from a foreign country, but While waiting for the treatment to finish, we exined our situation. I wondered where that brat could have gone, but to think it was to the westno wonder I didnt hear any rumors about him. Ahh, before that, I must thank you for all the help you have given my stupid son. No, its alright. He has been quite a big help to us too, after all. Alec-san shook his head to Gai-sans father who suddenly became so courteous. Its quite a surprise though. To find out that Gai was from such a splendid family, I mean. In the end though, we are nothing more than a house with a long history. Even when our heir contracted the disease, we werent able to call a good healer. But then again, theres not much to be done with the epidemic making its way within the court and exhausting the stock of medicine and healers to call upon. Especially considering that were nothing but a low-ranking house Please consider supporting me. You can do this either by turning off adblock for this blog or via my Patreon page (link here). Thank you. Chapter 331: Let’s start distributing Chapter 331: Lets start distributing To begin with, the whole nation of Kyou itself had a storied history yet not much wealth. Even its nobility were said to live quite the humble life. There were only quite a few healers originally, so when the disease spread, there werent enough of them to go around. Ive heard many a tale of people getting tricked by fraudulent healers or taking strange medicine that ended up making them worse. Gai-sans father told us so with a sigh. Things here might be more serious than I thought. At that moment, Gai-san returned. Ah, Gai-san, how did it go? The treatment was aplete sess. A few momentster, a man who looked a lot like Gai-san emerged. This man had hair though. Moreover, although he was emaciated, there were none of the warts peculiar to the epidemic. Myouken! Are you? Yes, Im fine now, Father. Myougai has rid my body of all the warts and made me feel so much better. It looked like Gai-sans healing magic worked. However, based on how hard he was breathing, it looked like the process consumed an absurd amount of mana. Seeing him like that, Gai-sans father spoke with a solemn expression. Myougai, it seems like curing even just one person has taken a great toll on you. In other words, your powers alone wouldnt make any significant change against the epidemic which has spread so much already in the capital. It would seem so. If youre not careful, you yourself might fall victim to it and quite possibly die. You do realize that, right? I do and Ive readied myself for that possibilityor so Id like to say. ? At that point, Gai-san took something out of his vestments. It was a cure potion. Id like to show to you this medicine! This is the fabled potion made by the elves! This one is specialized to cure diseases. If one were to drink this, they are sure to recover from the epidemic in the blink of the eye! Gai-san made ims akin to some shady online seller, but despite it all sounding too good to be true, the effects he stated were real. A potion? That medicine works against the epidemic? I guarantee it. Gai-san confidently nodded. For the people of Kyou, that must have been quite the unbelievable story. After all, we just heard that fraudsters have been selling shady medicine. However, thanks to the fact that he had healed his brother earlier, everyone including his father looked at the potion Gai-san was holding with beseeching eyes. I decided to say something. Why dont you give it a try for now? Is there somebody else here affected by the epidemic? At present, only the servants are affectedbut these are valuable arent they? Its alright. Were mass-producing them at our vige, after all. When the servant who was was afflicted drank a cure potion, as expected, it was very effective. With this, we have proven that the potion works against the epidemic. Whats next is for us to administer them to all of the afflicted. To, to all of them!? Is that even possible!? Yup. We should have enough for a lot of people. Myrger concern is that the afflicted are scattered all over the citysure would be nice if we could gather them all in one ce then, how about you leave that to me? Ill do something about it as member of the nobility. Really? Then, please. A few dayster, the afflicted have gathered in the shrines in various locations in the city. You gathered a lot of them. Yes. I managed to have the Divine Emperor recognize the efficacy of that medicine and then issue a decree to the whole city in his name. Gai-sans father said so, looking tired. He must have worked himself hard to convince various people. Despite being nobility, he apparently had a low rank and thus shouldnt have been able to directly contact those at the top. In an imperial court as ancient as theirs, it would seem like political maneuverings were quite intense. Well then, lets start distributing the cure potions, shall we? Please consider supporting me. You can do this either by turning off adblock for this blog or via my Patreon page (link here). Thank you. Chapter 332: Maitreya Bodhisattva Chapter 332: Maitreya Bodhisattva Is that medicine really going to cure this disease? Ive heard no medicine has worked against it so far Just going outside and traveling here has drained mesoit better work Its none other than the Divine Emperor who called us here today. Surely, that means its effective against the epedimic. The afflicted gave off the impression that they were dubious of the cure we were offering. However, when the first few people nervously drank the cure potions All my warts are gone! M-mine too! The pains gone too! Thanks to the cure potions fast-acting effects, the others saw the ones who drank the potions be rid of the disease in the blink of the eye. As such, their impression on the potions changed. It really works! Theres not even one trace of the warts! Oh thank goodness! If there were traces of the warts even after Im healed, I dont think Ill be ever be able to get a bride! The others then quickly drank their potions and were cured as well. We have another patient at home! They couldnt move anymore, so we had to leave them home but! Then, please give this to them. Ahh, thank you very much! By the way, people had also gathered in the other shrines all over the city and had simrly been given cure potions. Our group and Gai-sans family had been working hand in hand to facilitate this event, but even then, wecked manpower. For that reason, I deployed my body doubles as well. Just to be on the safe side, I should make everyone in our group drink a cure potion as well. Coming into close proximity with these many patients gives them a pretty good chance of catching the virus as well. My body doubles dont get sick, so there should be no need to worry about them though. Luke andpany, you have done us a great service. Through your efforts, our nation has eradicated the epidemic. As the representative of my people, I thank you deeply. After the epidemic has mostly been vanquished thanks to the cure potions, we had an audience with the Divine Emperor, the nations ruler. I wasnt able to see them directly, but the voice I heard from the other side of the wooden blinds was clearly feminine. It would seem the one known as Divine Emperor Meisei was a woman. I wasnt sure of her age, but she sounded quite young. I only did what anyone would. Still, I cant imagine preparing such arge quantity of the medicine to have been an easy feat. It certainly wasnt easy, but Then, I must offer you some reward. Unfortunately, ours is not a wealthy nation. I know not if we could grant it, but please state your wish. I see To be honest, this country didnt have much in terms of fascinating local specialties. However, given that Edou and Osakuwho sold us rice and fishwere already connected to us via the railways, it might lead to international issue if Kyou found out that they were the only one excluded from such a thing. But then again, Kyou was a rather conservative nation, so it might not be so simple to get the permission to build our railways here Well, theres no harm in asking, I guess. A Reyl road can make travel from here to the west take only an hour, you say The Divine Emperor asked so, sounding bewildered. As for the officials around us, they made faces that said it was preposterous to build something so dubious. In the end, the decision was postponed forter. They said I would be contacted when any decision was reached. After the group from the west left the audience chamber. Your Majesty, one from their group wanted you to give this a read What is this? The Legend of Luke-sama? Divine Emperor Meisei was handed a suspicious-looking book. Despite looking like that though, the Divine Emperor flipped through the pages one after the other. The Divine Emperor couldnt believe what was written in it. Unceasing war, grave famineand an epidemicit is said that a merciful bodhisattva shall walk among us when the world has entered the age of degeneration of thewLuke-donos acts as they are written here mirrors that almost exactly The Divine Emperor, a firm believer in the teachings of Buddha, said so with her voice quivering. There were also the reports that stated he was in every shrine all at the same timesuch a feat couldnt be aplished by any ordinary individual! There can be no mistake! That person is the Maitreya Bodhisattva who would save us from this age of degeneration! TL note: Meisei likely refers to Emperor Akihito of Japan who ruled during the Heisei era (1989-2019). As for Maitreya Bodhisattva, they are said to be the one to be the next Buddha or the next one to gain enlightenment. I really dont know anything about Buddhism, so I advise you to google it yourself. I opted to use the actual word to make it easier to research. Please consider supporting me. You can do this either by turning off adblock for this blog, buying me a ko-fi, or via my Patreon page (link here). Thank you. Chapter 333: Ten times bigger Chapter 333: Ten times bigger Millia, what did you talk about with that official? Oh, fufu, its nothing, Luke-sama. After our audience with the Divine Emperor, Millia for some reason stayed behind instead of returning with us right away to the waiting room. The person herself was ying dumb, but I had a bad feeling about this. In any case, now that we were done with our audience and have left the pce, it was decided that we would be touring the city, using Gai-sans family home as our base point. However, while we were touring around, there was quite a bunch of people who rushed toward us as soon as they spotted us. Thank you for saving my family. Thank you, thank you Thanks to you all, we no longer have to be scared of that epidemic! You guys must be Buddha in human form! They thanked us with teary eyes. It would appear that because of our distribution of arge amount of cure potions, rumors had spread about us. If you dont mind, please give this a read. Heres one for you too. Millia sneakily handed something out to those people. Millia, what have you been giving to those people? Oh, its nothing, fufufu. At any rate, I couldnt help but notice that there really were a lot of temples in this city. We were told that monks with shaved heads lived there while following some strict precepts everyday. In each of the temples, there always was a statue of Buddha. Buddha was more or less their god, but there seemed to be a quite the variety of them, if the different statues enshrined in each temple were any indication. From a stern man holding a weapon in his hand, to those who had multiple arms. Among the statues, there was one that was over 10 meters in height. This Buddha statue was built to pacify arge-scale gue that urred back then. It is the depiction of the Matreiya bodhisattva would save us from the age of degeneration. The former monk Gai-san informed us so. Thisrge statue was open to the public, so we also gave it a visit. With an appearance that was neither definitively male or female, it had a smile that seemed to suggest that it was deep in thought. The statue was massive, yet it didnt feel daunting. If anything, it gave off a sense of being weed and embraced. Is this Buddha supposed to be a man or a woman? Its really hard to tell. The concept of gender does not apply to the Bodhisattva. Gai-san gave that answer to the puzzled Selen. Its magnificent, isnt it? If we could build a statue this big in Luke-samas likenessno, if were building arge statue, we might as well make it ten times bigger than this Millia mumbled something. Whatever she said, I felt like a chill ran down my spine for some reason. We spent our days touring like that, but on a certain day, a messenger from the Divine Emperor came to Gai-sans family home. I suspected it concerned their reply from the discussion the other day. We would absolutely love a reyl way in our nation. From the way the high-ranking officials were reacting back then, I thought it would be harder to convince them, but it apparently was approved already. There is one more matter. It is a request of the Divine Emperor A request? What can it be? Some kind of condition to the deal? We, the nation of Kyou including the Divine Emperor themselves, hereby request to be added as your vigers. Unable toprehend what was just said to me, I replied with a cracked voice. Huh? Added as my vigers? This wasnt at all part of our conversation back in our audience the other day. In the first ce, they must know about my Gift before they coulde up with such a request. Ahm, do you understand what that would mean? But of course. We have read it, after all. Read it? Read what? Fufufu, isnt that great news, Luke-sama? Were going to have more vigers! say, Millia, did you do something again? Whatever do you mean? More importantly, we must strike while the iron is hot! Lets add them as vigers and also connect our ces through the railways so that they coulde and go! *(and then, I can introduce the new vigers to our scripture and make them new believers of Luke-sama! Of course, we should do the same for the people of Edou and Osaku too!)* Please consider supporting me. You can do this either by turning off adblock for this blog, buying me a ko-fi, or via my Patreon page (link here). Thank you. Chapter 334: Is it really that!? Chapter 334: Is it really that!? After traveling to the 3 nations of Edou, Osaku, and Kyou, we returned to the vige. Never would I have imagined that there was such arge city on the side of the mountains! Look there! Theyre selling potions so casually! Its true! Wait, are they selling minotaur meat on a skewer!? Is it really that!? We already had merchants from the east going around the vige. And most likely, they were Osaku merchants who likely arrived here through the newly made railways. As to be expected I suppose from the nation ofmerce, they were quick to adapt. Unlike Edou and Kyou, Osaku conducted its trade with other nations on a private, civilian level. Through these merchants, in other words. Any merchant authorized to trade were free to do so in any way they wished. That being said, after a little while, samurais from Edou soon arrived in the vige as well. They werent here to trade though. Stories about our vige having many talented fighters had apparently spread among the samurais, so those who wished not only to test their skills but also to improve it through this journey hade to the vige. That reminds me, how has Akane-san been doingtely? When Masamine-san visited the other day, she said she was still wasnt able to face him just yet Akane-san was training in our vige without going back home, all so that she could one day aplish the feat of crossing the monster-infested mountain range all by herself. Given her samurai pride, she likely was training herself hard. With that motivation and the effect of the viges training grounds, it shouldnt be long before she was ready to undertake that challenge again. Huh? Shes not here? When I took a quick look at the training grounds, I couldnt find Akane-san anywhere. I decided to ask the vigers who regrly trained here. Is Akane-san taking a break? By Akane, you mean that girl from the east, right? Now that I think about it, I havent seen her around heretely. She used toe here so often though. Oh, is that so? Maybe she delved into the dungeon so that she could get morebat experience instead? I thought so and visited the adventurers guild who oversaw the adventurersing and going to the dungeon. Akane? Sorry, but we dont have any records of such a person passing by here recently. Eh? Really? Then, that means she didnt go into the dungeon, huh? Yes, most definitely. We check everyone at the entrance to the dungeon, even if theyre not adventurers, after all. Even those not registered as adventurers could enter the dungeon, but their entry to the dungeon must be recorded first at the entrance. Hmm, then where could she have gone to train? Or has she decided she was ready to undertake the challenge again? or has she gone through with disemboweling herself? Such a thing was unfortunately not impossible. It was a very real possibility that she, a girl who was all too eager to disembowel herself, had killed herself in the room that we had lent her. I should use the map feature to check her whereabouts. As long as she was registered as a viger, I could use the map feature to check where she was. I was hesitant on doing this because it felt like an invasion of privacy, but I saw no other choice. Lets seesearch for Akane-sanah, there she is. This isnt the residential area though. Its the district for bars and restaurants? A ck dot representing Akane-san was in the area where many restaurants have opened. Could it be that shes just having a meal? But isnt it still too early in the morning to have lunch? Whatever the case might be, I decided to pay a visit. She should be around here, but At that moment, I noticed an especiallyrge woman in front of a certain shop. That shop was a hamburger shop. A hamburger was a kind of food that didnt exist in the kingdom before, but after our vige made it, it exploded in poprity and there were now so many copycat restaurants across thend. One could eat inside that particr shop or get takeout. The woman I saw apparently decided to get takeout. In her hands wasnt one or two burgers thoughshe had 5 whole hamburgers. Moreover, looking closely, there was already sauce around her mouth. So, those 5 are her extra helpings? And all that in the morning That probably exined why she looked easily over 100 kilograms. The katana on waist almost got hidden by her bellywait, a katana!? Akane-san!? Please consider supporting me. You can do this either by turning off adblock for this blog, buying me a ko-fi, or via my Patreon page (link here). Thank you. Chapter 335: You can’t fight on an empty stomach, you know!? Chapter 335: You cant fight on an empty stomach, you know!? I found a rather thick woman in the restaurant district. I couldnt really believe it at first, but the katana hanging from her waist left little room for doubt that she was actually Akane-san. Akane-san? When I called out like that, the one I assumed to be Akane-san who was also holding over 5 hamburgers turned around. Mhm? Why, if it isnt Luke-dono. Is there something amiss? I think I should be the one asking that. What are you doing here? W-w-whatever do you mean? To buy burgers, of course. I must say, these are astonishingly delicious! Theres nothing quite like it in my homnd! Akane-san, who was clearly flustered, hurried to hide a few of the 5 burgers behind her. Its toote for that though. I mean, lets not mind how many burgers youve had for now; what happened to your training? Im, Im just having a meal before I start! You cant fight on an empty stomach, you know!? Sure. But ording to what I heard, youvepletely stoppeding to train recently. Ghh When I asked further, sweat began to form on Akanes face. By any chancecan I visit the room we lent to you? N-no! I mean, how do I say this, right now isnot a good time for me If I remember correctly, that room is around here, I quickly grabbed Akane-sans hand as she was getting those words out and used teleport. So fastif I could do that, I wonder how easier it would be to get food What are you mumbling? Anyway, this is your room, right? Can Ie in? Wha!? No, no, wait a Alright, Iming in! Without waiting for her answer, I opened the door. When I did so, an intense stench assaulted my nose. It was probably the stench of the food scraps going bad. Woah I reflexively pinched my nose as I entered. The leftover scattered on top of her bed immediately caught my attention. Of course, there were also the hamburger paper wrappers, the skewer sticks, and the used but unwashed cups, just to name a few. She sure ate a lot in this room. There are remains even on the bedand it hasnt been that long since you got this room, right? So why are the sheets so stained? But I see nowin other words, instead of training, you locked yourself in this room doing nothing but eat and sleep. As though to confirm that my deduction was spot on, all Akane-san could do was groan. But werent you staying in our vige solely so that you can train? its all! With her bs shaking, Akane-san shouted something. Its all this viges foods fault for being too delicioussssssssssssssssssssssssssssss!!!! She grabbed one of the burgers she just bought, undid its wrapping, and then bit into it. Youre going to eat now!? Uuuu, so delicious! *munch**munch*!Like I expected, its so delicious! *munch**munch**munch**munch*! Once I get a bite, I just cant stop! *munch**munch**munch**munch**munch**munch*!! In the blink of an eye, she finished that burger. And without skipping a beat, she started on the next one. I cant be satisfied with just one! *munch*! Ill have another one, then another, then another! Before I know it, all 5 or so are gone!*munch**munch**munch**munch**munch**munch**munch**munch**munch**munch*! Eating like that without sweating it off was a sure way to thicken anybody up. was that resolve you showed back then just a lie? Is someone whose determination is so easily overturned by their appetite worthy of being a samurai? Because if so, then I suppose samurai arent all that big of a deal. I purposely made made my remark to be scathing. Wha!? As though she came to her senses, she stopped her hand from putting a burger into her mouth. What have I been doingIve forgotten my pride as a samurai and lost control of myself to all these food The burger fell from her shaking hand onto the bed, staining it further. This is a shame that can only be washed away with my death! Witness me as I conduct seppuku! Waaaa! Hold on! mm? Akane-san suddenly tried to disembowel herself, but as she was taking out a dagger, her hand stopped. I cant take it out my dagger; my flesh is in the way!? At that, I dropped to the floor without meaning to. Please consider supporting me. You can do this either by turning off adblock for this blog, buying me a ko-fi, or via my Patreon page (link here). Thank you. Chapter 336: You should take a good look at yourself in the mirror Chapter 336: You should take a good look at yourself in the mirror W-why? Why cant I reach into my bosom!? Akane-san tried to disembowel herself but was unable to take out the dagger from her breast pocket. Well, you are too plump now, after all. Too plump? Huh? Havent you realized? Apparently, the person herself wasnt aware of herrge increase in size. You should take a good look at yourself in the mirror. Lets see, a mirror that could show the whole body I once again teleported with Akane-san. This time, we went to the entrance lobby of the first floor of the viges pce. The whole surface of a wall there had a mirror stretching over it. Upon taking a look at her whole body, Akane-san was at a loss of words. Whthis is me? Yup. Youve gotten so plump all of a sudden. I cant believe Ive be this slovenlyS-seppuku! I mustmit seppuku to atone for this! You cant take out your dagger, remember? Wha!? This forms not even letting me do such a thing Shocked, Akane-san fell to her knees. Loudly, if I might add. Rather than do that, why not just get back to training yourself. That way, you get to be thinner and also work toward your goal of traversing the mountain range by yourself. Killing two birds with one stone, as they say. yes, Ill do just that. Despite looking despondent, Akane-san agreed to my suggestion. But can you even draw out your katana? O-of course. A samurai who could not draw their katana is no longer one Whats wrong? M-my bellys in the way of my arm! I cant pull out my katana at alllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllll! What value is there in the life of a samurai who cant draw their sword!? None! I mustmitbut I cant! Yup, you definitely have to lose weight first before whatever else I must say, the factory is amazing for our productivity. Thanks to it, weve managed to produce a lot of cure potions so quickly. <> In order to prepare all the cure potions, I made a factory with my Gift. All potions were previously manually made by the elves. However, after assigning as much of the process as we could to the machinery, our productivity has seen a great boost. I mentioned to the Divine Emperor that it wasnt easy to make all the cure potions, but with the factory, it wasnt difficult either. We nned to keep making use of the factory for our potion production from now on. People could travel to our vige from all over now, so the demand for them is probably only going to keep on growing. We would naturally need a lot of ingredients like medicinal herbs, so I also added more fields for their cultivation. Potions werent the only things being produced in a factory though. The processing of foodstuff for export, the making of clothes, and even the production of daily necessities and other misceneous goods were all being done in factoriestely. Additionally, we have also been making machinery for agricultural purposes within the factories. I based their designs off of my previous lifes memories and the dwarves made my designs a reality. Thanks to that, we were able to make significant advancements in our farmwork. Now that I think about it, Millia had asked me to make a factory for printing purposes. But even after that, I still havent seen any books being publishedor newspapers and leaflets for that matter. What are they printing then? This facility called factory is wonderful indeed. Luke-samas powers are as impressive as always. Indeed, Millia-sama. It has made mass-production of our scripture possible. One of the factories made by Lukes Gift was turned into a printing factory. In there, scriptures for proselytizing purposes titled The Legend of Luke-sama were being printed one after another. it should go without saying that Luke had no idea of the scriptures existence. Please keep on printing them. Were going to need a lot of them soon. At present, there was already arge order for the scripture from the nation of Kyou. Moreover, their missionary work in Edou and Osaku was making good progress. Of course, after taking over the Areisler Grand Cathedral, the number of their domestic believers have increased dramatically as well. Fufufu, the day the world all over knows of Luke-sama draws ever closer. Please consider supporting me. You can do this either by turning off adblock for this blog, buying me a ko-fi, or via my Patreon page (link here). Thank you. Chapter 337: I think I’ve heard it somewhere before…? Chapter 337: I think Ive heard it somewhere before? Ahh, what a sublime, holy ceI cant believe a temple like this was built in the blink of an eye A beautiful, foreign-looking woman unintentionally let out those words of astonishment. She was currently in the wastnd viges cathedral. It has be one of the viges most important facilities, bringing in a great number of people from all sorts of ces. However, the woman was no ordinary visitor. She was actually the Divine Emperor Meisei, the one who ruled the nation of Kyou. She had never showed her face in public back home, yet she nheless secretly traveled out of her nation, crossed the monster-infested mountain range, and arrived here in the vige. In the past, such a dangerous course of action would be impossible to aplish. By making use of the railways system that ran underground, however, one could could now quickly and safely travel from the center of Kyou to other ces. And its not just this temple. This whole city was built in only a few years, and in a wastnd like this of all cesif this is not the power of our savior, I dont know what is. Like I thought, Luke-sama truly is the Maitreya Bodhisattva given flesh. Convinced of that all over again, she made an oath while shedding tears. To be born in the same period as him is undoubtedly the greatest fortune of all. I shall devote my life serving him, acting as best as I could to be his arms and legs. There have been a sudden increase in the number of people from Kyou visiting our vige. Unlike the samurai from Edou who came here to train and the merchants from Osaku who came here to trade, these people from Kyou apparently traveled to visit our cathedral. <> Our cathedral could amodate about a thousand or so visitors, yet many people from Kyou were still lining up in front of it. To remedy this, many priests from the Grand Cathedral of Areisler were dispatched to our vige so that several services could be held in a day. But why are so many of them here? I mean, the people of Kyou practice an entirely different faith, dont they? I would have been quite unsure of what to do in case a war in the name of religion broke out, but strangely enough, a lot of the visitors were monks with shaved heads. It was quite strange to see those who should be the most adherent believers of the teachings of Buddha excitedly visit another faiths establishment. I suspect even more wille soon, so it might be a good idea to build amodations for them. While I was thinking that, someone who seemed to be a visitor from the east suddenly caught my attention. Tears? A girl in the middle of her teens was crying like Ive never seen before. Worried that something bad might have happened to her, I was unable to leave her alone and thus decided to call out to her. Ahm, are you alright? AH! L-Luke-sama!? The moment she turned to look, her eyes became wide open. I had never seen her before, yet she already knew my name and even addressed me with a sama. Those things wouldnt have been all too strange, but Huh? That voice just now, I think Ive heard it somewhere before? *(I cant believe Luke-sama called out to me!)* Have we met before? *(Ahhh! I could revere Luke-sama directly, without any bamboo screen in the waybut that also means he could see my own face directly!)* Ahmare you alright? Your face is so red *(Aaaaaaa! T-this is so embarassing! Ive only talked to people through the screen, so just speaking face-to-face is enough to make me tensed. Thats to say nothing of talking to Luke-sama of all people!)* The girl just acted flustered and didnt answer any of my question. *(He must be thinking Im some strange person! W-w-w-what should I do!? No, now that it hase to this, what else can I do but escapeeeeeeeeee!)* Ahand shes gone. The girl turned on her heel and ran at full speed. Did I say soemthing strange? Please consider supporting me. You can do this either by turning off adblock for this blog, buying me a ko-fi, or via my Patreon page (link here). Thank you. Chapter 338: I’m about to be exposed Chapter 338: Im about to be exposed One day, something I feared would happen happened. It concerned the report my body double stationed in the beastmens settlement sent me. <> <> It all started when the vige held a martial arts tournament. Many things happened in that tournament, but what mattered for this topic was this: my punishment for interfering was that I was to dress like a girl for a set amount of time. Unfortunately, during that period, I had found myself in a female-only settlement of cat beastmen. Their punishment for any man entering their settlement without prior permission was execution, no ifs or buts. Due to that, even after I was allowed to stop dressing like a girl, the double stationed there continued being dressed like that. <> <> <> Many people were still skeptical, but it was nheless well-known within the kingdom by this point that I could make doubles thanks to my Gift. <> <> It seemed quite the bind. Judging that the double couldnt handle it by itself, I transferred my consciousness into it. As soon as I did so, I found myself having my arms restrained by a cat beastwoman. Worse yet, the skirt the double was wearing was down and revealing about half the doubles underwear. Youre already stripping me!? Hey, wait, stop it! Oi, ya better fess up everything. If you dont, well have everyone in the settlement, heck, every beastwoman see your little boy. You want that? The one to threaten me like that was Lili-san, the leader of the cat beastwomen. If I talk, youll stop stripping me? Still will, but well let you off with only the women in the settlement getting a look. That means people will see either way! Unless of course, you want your punishment be death instead? Hiiiiiii!? Lili-neesan! Theres no way a girl this cute can be a man! Surely, theres some kind of mistake here! Meanwhile, L-san was trying to stop her older sister Lili-san . Whether there is or not, well find out once we see whats down there. ce on! Wait, Lili, dont tell me this will be the first time youre going to see a mans thing? Its not something you should get so nervous about, yknow? I-i-i-its nothing like that, of course! Fine! Lets go see whats under that skirt! L-san said so, her eyes wide open and eager to look. Right, now, go pull it down Upon Lili-sans orders, a brawny cat beastwoman fully pulled down on my skirt. the underwear I was wearing was normally for women. This is so embarrassing! Now, lets have a nice look at what you really are*slurp* Why do you look like youre enjoying this!? I could erase the body double at any time. However, since it would cost a lot of vige points to make a new one, I would rather it didnte to that. That being said, I would prefer having my naked body be exposed to a crowd of people even more. Even though this was just a double, it was still a perfect copy of my body, after all. Teleportation Huh? In the blink of an eye, I disappeared and that caused the beastwomen to be dumbfounded. S-she vanished? Hey, look! Over there! When did she get there!? I escaped to the roof of a nearby house. While there, I pulled up my skirt and then dered Fine, since things have be like this anyway, Ill tell you everything! I began exining myself. Why I had to enter their settlement while cross-dressing, the start of this whole tragedy Please consider supporting me. You can do this either by turning off adblock for this blog, buying me a ko-fi, or via my Patreon page (link here). Thank you. Chapter 339: It’s not like looking at ‘em’s gonna make them smaller Chapter 339: Its not like looking at ems gonna make them smaller Gyahahahahaha! So thats why you dress like a girl, huh? Gyahahahaha! After I told Lili-san the whole story, sheughed to her hearts content. That means, shes not angryright? Seeing the chance, I immediately thought up of a defense for myself. Y-you see, this body is just a body double! So, sure, the double might have vited your settlements rule, but the real me has never actually step foot inside this ce! If they were going ahead with an execution anyway, I wanted them to be content with only the doubles execution. I seebut the way youre answering now is so much better than before, arent you? Gh Could it be that the real you is able to control the doubles? Ghk So, if my guess is right, even though the one in front of me is a body double, inside it is the real you. So, can you still im that the real you has never set foot inside our settlement? Ghkghk Shes so sharp She just learned about my body doubles, but she figured out so much on her own already. But that would also mean that the real you can see what the double is seeing. So, have you ever gone into the bath with us? I-I didnt look! I didnt look!! Ohh? That reaction tells me you at least know the double took a bath with us. !? Crap, everything I say only exposes me more Weve bathed together tooso, Ive been in a bathwith a manuuu With teary eyes, L-san blushed and groaned something. Youre the ones who forced me to go into the bath with you in the first ce though! I wanted to protest so, but I had a feeling Lili-san would only use that to drive me deeper into the corner, so I held back. Kukuku. Oh well, we do owe you a lot. Dont worry, your punishment wont be execution. R-really? Mhm? That phrasing But in exchangeyoull have to show us you p**p**! Everyone, strip him! Gyaaaaa!? Haa, haa, haadamn it, I cant believe youre running all over the ce! Lilli-san breathed heavily as she bellowed out her annoyance. I mean, obviously Ill run! Whats the fuss? Its not like looking at ems gonna make them smaller. Thats not the problem! Following Lili-sans orders, the settlements women jumped me and tried to strip me down. I managed to get away though. Well, if anything, through teleportation, it was only natural that I was able to escape. Tch, no helping it, well have to give up on exposing his thing for today. For today? Are they aiming to strip me every chance they get from now on? If so, it might be a good idea to have underwear that couldnt ever be taken off be made and wear them. At any rate, it felt like a weight had been lifted off my shoulders. I was hiding from them all this time the fact that I was a man, after all. Plus now, I didnt have to pretend I was a girl anymore. In other words, I was nowpletely free from cross-dressing! While I was celebrating internally, Lili-san said something totally unbelievable. Ah, by the way, whenever you visit beastmen tribes, be sure you do it dressed like a girl. excuse me? Obviously, that goes not just for our settlement. You have to do that whenever you go the others settlements. W-why!? I can sort of understand doing that in here, but whenever I go the other beastmen settlements too!? Oh well, guess if you really dislike dressing like that, I dont mind however you dress when its outside of our settlementbut the other beastmen think youre a real girl, dont they? And thats how theyve been treating you all this time, in case you didnt know. Upon hearing that, something dawned on me. Whenever my consciousness wasnt in a particr body double, they moved autonomously. So, without me realizing it, the doubles might have put me in a situation where it would be more troublesome than I expected if other beastmen found out I was a man. I wont go over the details, but I think its better if you keep up the act, no? There are beastmen far worse than us, you know. At that, I fell to my knees and heartbrokenly hanged my head low. I thought I was finally free from dressing up like this Please consider supporting me. You can do this either by turning off adblock for this blog, buying me a ko-fi, or via my Patreon page (link here). Thank you. Chapter 340: I’ll make sure to educate them properly later Chapter 340: Ill make sure to educate them properlyter One day, I received summons from the king. Are they going to push something troublesome on me again? Or are they angry that I began trade with the eastern nations without consulting them first? I wasnt enthusiastic about it, but I had to respond nheless. At the very least, I didnt have to suffer a longmute as I could simply teleport all the way to the castle. That said, some part of me was wishing I had been a bit more secretive about my teleportation. It just felt like they were all casual in summoning me because they knew I could teleport with ease. In fact, they even had a room reserved for me to teleport to. We have been expecting you, Luke-sama. princess And in that said room, I almost always found Princess Darinea herself waiting for me. Fufu, Luke-sama, how many times have I asked that Id rather you call me by my nickname Dari? Well, even if you say that, to address our kingdoms princess so casually like that is just When I tried to turn down her unreasonable request like that, the princess arched her brows, looking dejected. Why not? Especially when your body double had deemed it eptable to address me as such Ill make sure to educate them properlyter. One body double was always stationed in the royal pce. I wanted to call it back when the work it was required to do was finished, but the king and the princess both pleaded to let it stay in a room within the pce instead. If you wont have that, how about I address you as darling? And why would you do such a thing!? It was then that I remembered I didnte here to talk with the princess. Ahm, I dont want to keep the king waiting, so I concluded our exchange there and headed for the audience chamber. Ohh, Luke, thank you foring. Sitting atop the throne was King Darios III, King of the Celtia Kingdom. Age-wise, he was in thetter half of his thirties. In contrast to the kings of the past who were nothing more than puppet rulers for the court nobles, King Darios III was exceedingly talented. And after the defeat of House Albert, he had worked tirelessly to bring power back to the crown in this kingdom that used to be in a state of civil war. How may I be of service today? do not be so on guard. I admit we had been continuously relying on you, butbut today, it is not I who has business with you. Instead, there is someone who has expressed their utmost desire to meet with you. Someone wants to meet me? As I tilted my head wondering who that could be, the king signaled and a group of people entered the audience chamber. Representing the group was a young woman who seemed to still be in her mid-twenties. It is a great honor to meet you, Luke-sama. I am Ian, and I stand before you as an envoy of the Gobaldo Republic. Gobaldo Republic? You mean the country to our west? The Gobaldo Republicwhich was not ruled by a monarch but instead of a parliamentwas a union of many autonomous states. That being said, the size of their country was still smaller than that of the Celtia Kingdoms. Indeed. But what does an envoy of a neighboring nation want with me? To be frank, we heard of rumors about the wastnd city you govern. I am told you have built such an advanced and magnificent city in only a short span of time. Its just a vige though. We would absolutely like to visit and observe your vige in hopes that doing so will help us in our own urban development. Hmmeven considering that youre from another nation, I dont seen any reason to refuse your request to visit us. So, I suppose youre wee to observe as much as you want. I must say though, I dont think youll find many things that you can use The vige was made with my Gift after all. So, even if they asked me about our infrastructures, I wouldnt be able answer much of anything. Thank you very much! Ian-san and the rest of the envoys looked so pleased, I didnt have the heart to put a damper on things. Please consider supporting me. You can do this either by turning off adblock for this blog, buying me a ko-fi, or via my Patreon page (link here). Thank you. Chapter 341: That’s our amusement park Chapter 341: Thats our amusement park Thus, it was decided that I would show the envoys from the Gobaldo Republic around the vige. The fastest mode of travel was undoubtedly through teleportation, but We had heard of the reyl ways that Luke-sama invented. Perhaps we can convince you to let us ride it? They requested it, so it was decided that we would be taking the train. As such, we headed for the underground station in the capital. This is where we will be boarding. I dont suppose that gigantic rectangr box is It is. Riding that one will take us to our destination without us having to do anything else. T-that thing can move? Yup. Just please dont ask me about the principles involved. I dont have any answers for you. Once everyone was on board, the train began to move. Its, its really moving!? By the way, the management and operation of the railway system which connected various points within the kingdom was presently entrusted to the nation and its officials. Among other things, they were publicizing the train schedules and making sure that schedule was followed. There were generally a lot of people making use of this service, so I went ahead to reserve a whole car for the envoys. For the most part, well be traveling underground, but to make it easier to understand that we are actually, physically moving, weve made a section of the route be above the ground. Ahh, we should be surfacing soon. Likely because of the unchanging scenery on the windows when only traveling underground, some people thought we were using some kind of magic. And since some also expressed simply wanting to see the view above ground, it was decided that the train route would have a section that traveled along the surface. In order to prevent monsters and people from trespassing onto the railway tracks, the above ground section was also elevated. I did this by customizing a bridge facility. < > Its so fast! I can see the capital shrinking! Look over there! Its almost like the birds in the sky have stopped! This certainly is faster than any horse at full speed! The envoys excitedly shouted so. Before long, the train went back to traveling underground. As the view outside the windows returned to being pitched ck, calm returned to Ian-san and she asked a question. By the way, Luke-sama, Ive also heard that this reyl way too was made almost in the blink of an eye, but is there any truth to that? Ahh, yes, it is something like that. Despite being surprised that such information had spread even to foreign nations, I nodded. Or did she hear that from the king? I made this with my Gift though, so even if you want me to exin the principles behind any of it, I simply cant. I seeincidentally, does your Gift also allow you to make gigantic walls in an instant? Like the so called Giant Wall in your border with the Barste Kingdom She apparently also knew of the Great Wall. It doesof course, its not like I can infinitely make things. I say that but with the number of vigers registered at the moment, there was almost no longer any danger of my vige points of being depleted. At any rate, after about an hour of travelingalthough I traded ces with a body double along the waywe reached the vige. And when we climbed onto the surface, Ian-san was wide-eyed. This is a city built on a wastnd that was empty just a few years ago? Its even better than their capital Look over there! Somethings floating in the sky! Thats our amusement park. Its theme is sky, so all of it is up there. ??? The space-themed amusement park was a flop, so I remade it into a theme the people of this world was more familiar with. In contrast, this sky-themed amusement park was packed with visitors each day since its reopening. *(I was skeptical before I arrived in this country, but it would seem everything we heard from the Barste Kingdom was trueif we could somehow borrow this mans power, our nation would surely! Failure is simply not an option!)* ? Ian-san? Is something the matter? You look like somethings troubling you N-no! Its nothing! I was just so surprised! Please consider supporting me. You can do this either by turning off adblock for this blog, buying me a ko-fi, or via my Patreon page (link here). Thank you. Chapter 342: I’m not a king after all Chapter 342: Im not a king after all I decided to take the Gobaldo Republic envoys to the pce in the center of the vige for the meantime. Ahh, its mister vige chief! Mister vige chief! Lets go y again! The ones to say so and rush toward me were the viges children. I was about to tell them I was with guests so I would have to y with themter, but then one of the children boasted about something. Mister vige chief! Ive grown taller again! I might just be taller than you now! Huh? A girl who was still just 10 years of age said so. While the girl was certainly taller than the other kids her age, there shouldnt be any way for her to be taller than me, a 14 year old. See? !? The girl stood face to face with me. Our eyes were at the same levelno, is mine a little bit lower? It, it cant be Despite me being utterly shocked and unable to ept the truth, the other children began uttering the cruelest of words. Ahh, youre right! Mister vige chief is shorter! Youve already outgrewown him! Yeah, youve got a whole centimeter on him already! Gahand its a whole centimeter? Ahhaha, at this rate, Id be towering over mister vige chief soon enough! I, Im still growing, you know!? I could still be taller than you! You say youre still growingbut mister vige chief, have you grown at all thisst 2 years? Ack The girl was among the earliest groups of refugees to move into the vige. Back then, I was clearly, obviously taller than her, but now No, that cant Aw, dont be sad, mister vige chief! After all, the way you are right now is the cutest! Gah A 10 year old girl calling me cute made me stagger for a bit. Id rather be manlyso why While I was being crushed by reality like that, Ian-san spoke up. Dont worry, Luke-sama! Youre surely going to grow taller! R-really? Yes. Unlike girls, boys tend to reach the peak of their growth muchter! If youre 14, then theres still a good chance for you to take the lead in height! Theres still a chancethats right, its still too early for me to give up! Youre right! As long as I do my best, Ill surely grow taller! Exactly! *(it would seem Luke-sama has aplex about his heightI managed to get quite a valuable piece of information!)* After entrusting a body double to y with the children, I resumed guiding the envoys toward the pce. There were floors within the pce for asions such as this to amodate guests. Ahm, Luke-samaI might be mistaken, but earlier, it looked like another you appeared out of nowhere That is a body double made with my Gift. They can move autonomously, so theyre quite useful. Standing in front of the pce which towered over the other buildings, the envoys were shocked for a good while. After a moment, I took them inside. And thats the gist of how we use each floor. By the way, you will be staying in the 10th floor. After I gave a brief exnation of the floors in the pce, Ian-san asked a question. Which floor is the audience chamber? I dont have one? Im not a king after all. We did have a spacious room which the king could use as an audience chamber though. But since I was but a vige chief, guests could talk with me in an ordinary conference room. And for those I was a bit more familiar with, we could use the top-most floor of the pce that I used as my residence. Ahh, I almost forgot! Please ept this gift from us. It is one of our nations specialty products. Ian-san said so and then presented handicraft items such as jars and tableware. Given their captivating vivid colors and exquisite shapes, they were likely high-ss items made with a considerable level of craftsmanship. I considered refusing to ept such expensive items for a moment, but doing so might actually be the more impolite course of action. Are you sure? Of course. Please take it as a token of appreciation for readily epting our request to observe your city. If anything, we worry that this might not be enough Ahh, no, this is plenty generous of you. I wont call itpensation, but do allow me to prepare some of our viges specialty dishes for you. Its so goooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooodddd!!? Please consider supporting me. You can do this either by turning off adblock for this blog, buying me a ko-fi, or via my Patreon page (link here). Thank you. The Novel will be updated first on this website. Come back and continue reading tomorrow, everyone!