Prologue

“Lord Luke Arvale, your gift is...” The priest trailed off, then stammered out, “Village-Making.”

The entire room fell silent. Many vassals were gathered in the largest cathedral of Marquess Edel Arvale’s domain. Both of the marquess’s sons were receiving their Blessings at the same time, so it was naturally an important ceremony that had attracted citizens from both the march and the domains beyond.

“V-Village-Making? What kind of gift is that?!” I blurted, unintentionally raising my voice.

That’s right—I’m Luke Arvale.

As Marquess Arvale’s eldest son, I’d known since I was little that everyone around me held high hopes that I’d one day take my father’s title.

So the Blessing I’d receive at this ceremony was vital.

“I-I don’t know...” the priest admitted reluctantly. “I’ve never actually heard of anyone receiving this gift before. Even so, I’m quite certain it won’t be a useful skill on the battlefield...”

“N-No way...”

Suddenly, everything went dark, and I struggled to breathe.

In the silence, I felt like I could hear the sighs of disappointment and resentment from the vassals gathered around me. “So this is the end for Lord Luke. All that hope, wasted. All our years of service were for nothing!”

Not everyone received a gift from the gods; they were only bestowed upon the chosen ones on their twelfth birthdays.

At that moment, the gift the world needed most was one that would be helpful in battle. It was a turbulent time marked by the decline of the royal family’s power and a perpetual struggle between feudal lords trying to seize each other’s lands. Naturally, lords and their offspring—who often led their troops into battle—saw combat-type gifts as incredibly valuable.

My father possessed a gift called Sword Mastery, a higher form of Sword Proficiency. The strength and the bravery he displayed each time he charged into battle were renowned at home and abroad.

Originally the son of a viscount, he had elevated the family to the rank of marquess and expanded its domain to rival those of the other powerful feudal lords in a single generation. It was no overstatement to say it was all thanks to that gift.

Gifts from the gods were highly influenced by heredity, so I’d been expecting to receive Sword Mastery like my father, especially because my mother possessed Sword Proficiency. In a situation like that, a child had more than an eighty percent chance of receiving Sword Mastery.

I hesitantly looked up at Father.

Until a few moments ago, he had been gazing at me with anticipation. Now his face was expressionless, as if he’d lost all interest in me.

Then I looked at Mother, who’d lifted her face toward the heavens as if in a trance.

“Get out of the way, Brother,” my younger brother Raoul said. “It’s my turn next. Hurry up and move.”

I bit my lip as he pushed me out of the way. He was actually my half brother, since I was the son of Father’s wife and Raoul was the son of Father’s concubine.

Raoul’s mother had been a castle maid, which lowered her social status. She had no gifts, which meant her son had less than a ten-percent chance of inheriting Sword Mastery. Not only that, he had only a fifty-fifty chance of even inheriting Sword Proficiency.

So, unlike me, few people had high expectations of him.

“Lord Raoul Arvale, your gift is... O-Oh, my! Sword Mastery!”

“Oooooh!”

The cathedral erupted in celebration when Raoul was granted the same gift as Father, a reaction that couldn’t have been more different from when I’d received mine.

Father rushed over to Raoul and embraced him with a broad smile. His mother wept tears of joy, while my mother looked like she was in the depths of despair.

My world had completely changed, and all I could do was stand there in complete shock.

“I’m leaving, Father and Mother,” I murmured sadly, preparing to board the carriage.

Of course, my parents hadn’t come to see me off, nor had any of the vassals. I’d betrayed their expectations. Not only was I no longer my father’s successor, but I’d been banished to the backcountry. So why would they have come to say goodbye?

After all, the vassals had only served me to begin with because I’d been the marquess’s son and the future lord of this domain.

Even though I had always known the truth deep down, I still felt so...empty.

My destination was an uninhabited, desolate stretch of land in the northern part of the March of Arvale. Not only was it dangerous and infested with monsters, but its soil was so infertile that the region had been abandoned. Now, it was a total wasteland.

A wasteland I had been ordered to reclaim.

Chapter One: Create a Village?

It was my younger brother Raoul who’d suggested I reclaim the land. Of course, the land’s awful conditions meant reclamation was impossible, so his suggestion was just an excuse to exile me.

Nevertheless, no one opposed the idea. I’m sure they thought a miserable death would be fitting for a disappointing, useless person like me.

“Luke, reclaiming the land will be a piece of cake with your Village-Making gift! Bwa ha ha!”

With our roles reversed, Raoul had begun to look down on me. I could still hear his laughter echoing in my ears.

Apparently, growing up in my shadow had turned him into a pretty twisted person. I suppose someone like Raoul was better suited for times like these. It was an age of chaos, after all.

Honestly, I never liked fighting. Father forced me to train with a sword. I’d taken to it quickly, but deep down, I never wanted to actually kill anyone. My sword instructor had always told me I was too kind for my own good.

House Arvale was a long-standing military family. My father loved the battlefield, and Raoul had been bellicose since childhood. Why was I the odd one out?

Well, I had an inkling as to why, but I couldn’t say for sure.

“We’re here.”

The carriage’s sudden stop pulled me out of my reveries.

We’d left the capital a week ago, and we’d only arrived at the borderlands now. It had been a long journey.

“This,” I muttered, looking ahead, “is even worse than the stories.”

It was barren wilderness as far as the eye could see. There was hardly any greenery at all, just rugged, rocky hills scattered across the land. A vast forest stretched toward the north, and a mountain range towered in the east. Both were considered monster-infested zones and were completely off-limits.

Fortunately, monsters from those areas preferred to stay in their territory and rarely ventured into the open plains. But rarely wasn’t never, so it was more than a little unnerving...

After we unloaded our luggage, the carriage quickly drove off, leaving me all alone. Well, not completely alone.

“There’s really nothing here at all, Lord Luke.”

Only one person had accompanied me to this desolate land: Myria, a maid from the Arvale estate. She was a tall, striking woman with beautiful black hair. Every time I asked how old she was, she dodged the question. But if I had to guess, I’d say she was just shy of twenty.

“But please don’t lose hope, Lord Luke.”

“Huh?”

“Oh, hm. Is it just me, or do you not seem all that discouraged?”

“Well, sulking won’t change anything,” I said.

“How wonderfully optimistic, even in a place like this! I’d expect nothing less from you, Lord Luke!”

“Are you certain about this, Myria? You could’ve been the head maid, you know.”

She’d been my personal maid, but she was highly capable and an essential member of the castle staff. There’d been absolutely no reason for her to come here with me.

“What do you mean, Lord Luke? When I became your personal maid, I swore an oath to serve by your side always, no matter what. That promise remains unchanged. I’ll follow you wherever you go, through fires or floods.”

“Myria...” I began. Knowing someone cared about me so much moved me. It felt like she’d really seen me for who I was, not my status or position.

(He he he... Are you wondering why? It’s because I’m a sucker for cute boys! Lord Luke, in all of his adorable glory, is exactly my type! He he he...)

I blinked.

Huh? Was that a chill that just ran down my spine?

Nah, I’m sure it’s just my imagination... It’s only the two of us out here, after all...

“Well then, Lord Luke, let me be frank.” Suddenly serious, Myria held up two fingers. “You have two options.”

“Options?”

“Yes. The first is to do everything in your power to develop this barren land. We have enough food to last us a month. Growing and harvesting crops between the two of us in a place like this would be nearly impossible. Of course, we could always hunt or forage in the nearby forest, but either way, the path ahead won’t be easy.”

She was right. Even a glance at the soil made it painfully clear how difficult it would be to cultivate.

“The second option is to run away with me and settle down in a city somewhere. No one’s watching us, after all. It wouldn’t be hard.”

It was obvious which choice she preferred. And honestly, her plan did sound far more realistic than the first option. Now that I was forced to choose, I hesitated.

But there was something I wanted to try before making my decision.

“I was granted the Village-Making gift, but I still have no idea how to use it, or what I’m supposed to do with it...” I said.

For some reason, however, I suddenly felt like I could use it.

Then, out of nowhere...

This location is suitable for village creation. Create a village? ▼ Yes / No

“Huh? What is this?” I said, squinting at the line of text that had appeared in front of me.

“L-Lord Luke?”

(N-No way... Did my face betray my thoughts?! This is bad! If he saw me grinning like a creep, he’s definitely going to think I’m some kind of weirdo!)

Myria was clearly panicking about something, but that didn’t matter right now. The odd phenomenon I’d just experienced came first. The weirdest thing was that the text was written in a language that didn’t even exist in this world, but somehow, I could read it.

“Wait... Is this from my previous life?”

I had memories of a life I’d never lived—memories of a world completely different from this one. They were hazy, though. I couldn’t remember who I’d been or what kind of person I was, but I did remember the language, the customs, and the knowledge with surprising clarity.

And that’s why my values had never quite aligned with those of this world ever since I was little, and it often left me confused. That’s probably where my aversion to fighting came from too.

This location is suitable for village creation. Create a village? ▼ Yes / No

“So if I move this arrow, I guess I can choose an option?”

I remembered this kind of prompt from video games in my previous life. The difference here was that I didn’t need a controller. I could interact with it just by thinking about it.

“Lord Luke, are you talking to yourself? Oh, no... Could this extreme situation have finally driven him mad?! Lord Luke! Please don’t worry! I’ll stay by your side, no matter what!”

“N-no, I’m fine!” I said quickly, realizing how panicked Myria looked. “I swear I’m fine! I think my gift is just finally activating!”

Maybe I hadn’t been able to use my gift until now because I’d always been on land that already had an owner.

“I’m not totally sure how it works, but I guess I’ll try creating a village for now.”

I selected Yes from the prompt.

The moment I did, the ground beneath us flattened until it was perfectly level, forming a circle with a radius of about a hundred meters. Nothing else changed in the surrounding area, but a new bit of text appeared in my vision.

Luke’s Village

Village Level: 1

Village Points: 50 (Gains 10 points daily)

Villagers: 0

Village Skill: Facility Construction

It looked like a status window. I wasn’t sure what Village Points or Village Skill were, but there they were. When I moved the cursor over them, short explanations popped up.

Village Points

>>Points required to develop your village.

Village Skill

>>Skills currently available for use.

Well, those tooltips weren’t exactly groundbreaking.

At the bottom of the window, I saw a section labeled “List of Constructible Facilities.” When I selected it, a new window popped up right away.

Hedge (10)

Hut (10)

Watchtower (20)

Storehouse (20)

Moat (20)

Earthen Wall (20)

Waste Incinerator (20)

Field (20)

Well (30)

Small House (50)

I wondered if the facilities would appear in the real world if I selected one. It reminded me of one of those city-building simulation games. Or in this case, a village-building game. I guessed that the number in parentheses was probably the number of Village Points needed to build each facility. The cost varied depending on the structure.

“Well, the first thing we need is a place to sleep. A hut should do the trick, right?”

A hut cost ten points, and a small house cost fifty, but it didn’t seem like a good idea to spend all my points on that right away. I still wasn’t fully convinced this would even work, but I moved the cursor over to “Hut” just in case.

Hut

>>A simple shelter sufficient for protection from rain and wind.

That was all it told me. It would’ve been nice to have had a preview image or something, but I guess the interface wasn’t all that user-friendly.

Spend 10 Village Points to Create a Hut? ▼ Yes / No

I selected Yes. The next moment, a small wooden building appeared in front of us.

“Huh?!” Myria and I said in unison.

“I-It actually worked...”

The building was a small, plain hut. It had neither windows nor furniture, not even a bed, but it looked like it’d protect us from the elements, just like the description had said.

I had no idea how long or how much work it would’ve taken to build something like this ourselves, but creating it instantly like this... It turned out this gift of mine was actually pretty useful.

“Lord Luke, this is...”

“Yeah. Looks like this is the true power of my gift.”

“Building something like this in an instant is incredible, Lord Luke!” Myria said. “As I’m sure you’re well aware, the three necessities of life are food, clothing, and shelter. You’ve already solved one of them just like that!”

“Well, technically, I didn’t do anything...”

(This will be our little love nest... Hee hee hee...)

“Um, Myria?”

I had forty Village Points after building the hut.

“Maybe we need a second hut? Or should I build a field? Or a well...”

“You can build other kinds of buildings?!” she exclaimed.

“Yes, but...” I hesitated, trying to decide which to choose.

“We should build the well!” she interjected.

“Huh? But it’s kind of cramped in there. I mean, wouldn’t it make more sense to have a second hut so we’re not...you know, sleeping together?”

“No! It may be small, but it’s more than big enough! More importantly, we need to prioritize collecting water! People can go days without food, but we’ll be dead without water!”

“Y-yeah, that’s true... All right, I’ll make the well.”

I folded under Myria’s insistence and selected the well, even though I knew we probably still had enough drinking water for a few days...

(That was a close one... But now I’ll get to spend every night with Lord Luke! Hee hee hee...)

As I moved away to create the well, I thought I caught a glimpse of Myria looking weirdly relieved.

Well

>>Easy water access. Manual hand pump with excellent water quality and unlimited water supply.

Spend 30 Village Points to create a well? ▼ Yes / No

Once again, it happened instantly. A circular well of stacked stone appeared out of thin air.

“Amazing! Hm?” Myria tried to lift the cover off the top of the well, but it didn’t budge. “The lid won’t open.”

“I think you’re supposed to use this,” I said, looking at a hand-operated device built into the well. I gave the handle a firm push, and water gushed forth from the spout with surprising force.

“Wh-What is this?” she exclaimed.

The description had mentioned it, but I also had some knowledge from my last life about this kind of thing.

“It’s called a hand pump, and it makes drawing water simple.”

“Goodness... That’s very convenient! Getting water from the well was such a pain at the estate. We had to assign it to slaves who were trained specifically for that kind of physical labor!”

Hmm, I guess hand pumps don’t exist in this world yet.

Still, I wondered where the water was coming from. Was there an aquifer underneath the wasteland? How could it be limitless? It didn’t seem possible.

Well, whatever the case, securing a safe and steady water source was a huge deal. It was incredibly rare to find any naturally occurring water sources in a barren land like this. We would’ve had to collect rainfall and find some way of storing it. And if it hadn’t rained, we couldn’t have farmed. We would’ve died of thirst, like Myria had mentioned.

“All right. We’ve got ten Village Points left.”

The status screen said I would gain ten more points tomorrow, so I could either wait and build something else later or use the ten I had left to make another hut.

“We should wait and build a field next! Definitely a field! We brought some seeds. They might not grow overnight, but the sooner we plant them, the better!”

“R-Right. I’ll go with that, then.”

Myria had a point, but did she have to be so intense?

When I looked at her, a message popped up below her face.

Register her as a villager? ▼ Yes / No

“Huh? I can register Myria as a villager?”

Come to think of it, the villager count was at zero earlier. Apparently, I wasn’t included in the tally. That meant Myria would be my first villager if I decided.

“Um, it looks like I can register villagers using this gift, and—”

“Of course! Please make me one!” she interrupted, as if knowing what I was going to say.

“Are you sure?”

“Remember what I said? I’ll follow you wherever you go, through fire or floods! If you’re building a village here, I’d be honored to help however I can.”

She seemed to have made up her mind.

“Thank you, Myria.”

Myria has been registered as a villager.

Luke’s Village

Village Level: 1

Village Points: 10 (Gains 11 points daily)

Villagers: 1

Village Skill: Facility Construction

“Oh, look! The villager count went up to one! Oh, and we’re gaining an additional point per day too?”

It seemed that the more villagers we had, the faster our points would accumulate.

“Not that we’re expecting anyone else to join us anytime soon...”

“Hee hee... I wouldn’t mind if it were just us two. Together, forever...” Myria murmured.

“Did you say something?” I asked.

“No, nothing at all.”

There wasn’t anything more we could do except wait for the points to refresh in the morning.

The sun had already set by the time I’d finished eating the food Myria prepared. Unlike the march’s capital, no city lights shone out here. It was just the moon, shining high above.

Since there wasn’t much to do after dark, we decided to go to sleep in the hut I’d created with my gift.

There was a small hole in the wall to let in light and fresh air, but the interior was still nearly pitch black. We felt our way through the darkness, then wrapped ourselves in blankets and lay down side by side.

I thought about my Village-Making gift. When I had received it, I had been filled with despair. But now I was beginning to think it wouldn’t be so bad. I didn’t like war and had no interest in fighting over land and killing others. I didn’t want to live in a world drenched in blood. I preferred a peaceful world, where people lived together in harmony.

Yeah... I’d made up my mind. I was going to use this mysterious gift to tame this barren land and build a village of my own. I’d live a quiet, maybe even modest life here... But I’d be happy and live at my own pace.

That kind of life seemed much more suited to who I was.

I closed my eyes, so lost in my serious thoughts that I didn’t notice the sound of strange breathing coming from right beside me.

“Phooo... Haaah... Phooo... Haaah...”

(Hee hee... I can’t believe I get to smell Lord Luke all night long! Am I in heaven?!)

I didn’t know what Myria was doing, but I had a feeling it was safer not to ask.

The next morning, I woke up to a thin beam of sunlight filtering through the small hole in the wall and Myria pressing up right against me.

“Yeah, I definitely should’ve made that second hut...”

“Oh, no need! One was more than enough!”

“What?! Y-You’re awake?!”

“Of course. It’s my duty as a maid to wake before my master.”

“Then why were you pretending to be asleep?”

(To savor Lord Luke’s adorable sleeping face and soft body! Tee hee!)

She didn’t answer me. Sometimes I seriously wondered if Myria was hiding something. Well, everyone had their secrets, I supposed. It was best not to pry.

“Anyway, you’re no longer a maid. You don’t have to get up so early.”

“I may be a villager now, but you’re still the mayor! And as a villager, I firmly believe it’s important to respect the mayor.”

Um... Is that really how this works?

◇◇◇

I, Myria, began working as a maid at the Arvale household when I turned twelve. I was born the second daughter of a lower-ranked noble family. Blessings required a hefty donation, which my family naturally couldn’t afford, so I was left with two choices: Marry into a noble family of equal lower rank or work as a maid for a higher-ranking noble family.

I chose the latter, but landing a position with the Arvale family, which was expanding its march like wildfire, was a lucky break.

Those days at the Arvale estate were rough on someone who, like me, had no experience as a maid.

Then, one fateful day, I faced the biggest dilemma of my whole life.

Lady Isabella, Lord Luke’s mother, treasured a specific plate. One day, I was putting it away when it suddenly slipped from my hands and fell to the floor, breaking cleanly in half.

“I’ve really done it now...” I said, agonizing over what to do.

Even if I hid what I did, she’d find out eventually—but I highly doubted I’d be forgiven if I came clean and apologized. Lady Isabella was a very strict woman, and it wouldn’t surprise me if she fired me over the offense.

As I stood there, still wondering what to do, Lady Isabella unfortunately happened to walk by.

“Oh, Myria! There you are. What are you doing just standing here?”

“Eep!”

Then she noticed the broken plate, and the expression on her face completely changed.

“Myria! Isn’t that my favorite plate?!”

“I-I’m—” I began.

“I’m sorry, Mother,” a cute voice interjected.

“Huh?”

I whirled around and saw Lord Luke, who’d only just turned three. He was the oldest son, and Lady Isabella absolutely adored him. I’d only seen him from afar and had never spoken to him.

“I told the maid I wanted to see it,” he said, “and I broke it...”

“L-Lord Luke?” I stammered.

I was completely baffled. Why would he lie on my behalf?

“I know you loved that plate, Mother. I’m very sorry...”

As Lord Luke bowed his head and apologized, Lady Isabella’s angry expression slowly began to soften. “It’s okay, Luke. More importantly, are you hurt?”

“No, I’m fine.”

“Myria, you must be more careful. Luke’s still so little,” she chided.

“Y-Yes, my lady!”

And with that, Lady Isabella left, leaving me standing there dumbfounded.

Lord Luke looked up at me with a big, innocent smile. “I’m happy for you, Miss Maid! I thought Mother wouldn’t get mad if I told her I did it, and I was right!”

“Ah...”

And that was the moment when a little lord of just three years old captured my heart. I was a lowly maid, but he had lied to cover up my offense. He was such a clever, kind little boy—and incredibly adorable to boot.

After that, I was lucky enough to have Lord Luke choose me as one of his personal maids, and I made a vow that no matter what happened in the future, I would serve Lord Luke for the rest of my life.

See? My devotion to him wasn’t just because he was so adorable; I had a good reason to attend to him with such loyalty! I swear it!

Chapter Two: Ex-Fiancée

“Father... I’m very sorry, but I need to tell you that I’m leaving home,” I announced.

“Wha—?! What’s the meaning of this, Seren?!” Father shouted with wide eyes.

“What do you think? You’ve gone too far this time, and I can’t take it anymore!”

These days, every feudal lord used his children to arrange political marriages. That’s just how the world worked.

At only ten years old, I was betrothed to a son of Marquess Arvale. I knew it was necessary to protect our domain, and I’d fully intended to respect my father’s decision—at least when I’d been betrothed to Marquess Arvale’s eldest son, Luke.

I’d met him several times, and he was a sweet, kind boy—the antithesis of his father. He was three years younger, which wasn’t unusual in these arrangements. Then, during a stroke of bad luck at his Blessing ceremony, he received a Gift entirely useless in battle. Instead, Marquess Arvale’s son Raoul, born to his mistress, inherited the father’s Swordmaster gift.

As a result, I was now betrothed to Raoul. I’d heard that Luke had been sent to reclaim the borderlands.

“I could’ve put up with marrying Luke, but there’s no way I’ll marry a man with such a twisted personality!” I shouted.

“Seren! Lord Raoul will take over the March of Arvale! If you care about our family at all...”

“There’s no way I’ll do it! I’d rather die than marry that man!” I spat, then fled from the castle.

I fully intended to leave our domain, but my father wouldn’t let me go so easily. City guards found me before I could escape.

“Please return, Lady Seren,” one of them said.

“Hmph! Try to stop me, if you can!” I huffed.

I drew both swords, determined to force my way through if necessary, and my blades began to crackle and freeze. The guards realized I was serious and slowly backed away.

They knew about my powers, of course, which meant they knew no one could stop me if I intended to fight my way out.

“P-Please, Lady Seren...”

“You’re really starting to annoy me now. Get out of my way unless you wanna get hurt,” I threatened.

The soldiers reluctantly stepped aside, their faces filled with frustration. I ignored them and walked past, leaving the domain where I was born and raised.

◇◇◇

Once I’d saved twenty points, I immediately built a field. It was about fifty meters by fifty meters in size. The soil was soft and fertile, a stark contrast to the hard earth of the surrounding wilderness. I decided to plant some seeds.

“But Lord Luke, you shouldn’t do work in the fields...”

“Don’t treat me like some spoiled noble, Myria. This is my village, and I want to do everything I can for it.”

“All right... Please go ahead, then.”

Even with two of us, planting the seeds took a long time. If we’d had to till the field from scratch, I couldn’t imagine how much work it would’ve been. And even now, there was no guarantee anything would actually grow. Since my Gift had created this field, its nature was still a total mystery.

However, just a few days later, those worries turned out to be unfounded.

“Look, Lord Luke! There are sprouts in the field!” Myria called from outside.

I rushed over to the field and saw tiny sprouts peeking from the soil.

“What? Oh, you’re right!”

She told me that they’d grown faster than usual too.

Field

>>High-quality cultivated soil. Increases both crop growth speed and quality.

A sentence explaining the properties of the field popped up, and it definitely seemed accurate.

“We did it. Of course, there’s still a lot of work to do, but at least we’ve secured a food source,” Myria said.

“That’s a relief.”

While I wanted to build another hut, Myria insisted that prioritizing the village’s security was essential in case of a raid and urged me to improve our defenses.

There hadn’t been any attacks so far, but I had seen shadowy figures I thought might be monsters off in the distance, so I agreed with her and used the Village Points I’d accumulated that day to build a new watchtower and surrounded the village with an earthen wall.

Watchtower

>>A wooden structure that provides a wide field of view and boosts visibility.

Earthen Wall

>>A wall made of packed dirt that prevents enemy intrusions. Has a customizable shape.

At about two meters high, the earthen wall wouldn’t be effective against larger monsters, but it would at least keep the little ones out.

“Oh! Lord Luke!” Myria shouted from the watchtower.

I looked up at her, wondering what was going on.

W-Wait, I can see right up her skirt! Er, this isn’t the time to think about that!

“We’ve got trouble! A goblin horde is coming this way!”

“What?!”

Myria explained that ten goblins were approaching our village. Goblins were large, humanoid-type monsters with ugly, twisted faces. They were around 150 centimeters tall and weren’t much of a threat on their own, but they were dangerous in hordes.

Hopefully, they’ll give up once they see our defenses...

“They’re climbing the wall!”

They hopped on the backs of their fellow goblins to climb over the wall. At this rate, it was only a matter of time before they invaded.

“We’ve got no choice but to fight! You stay there, Myria! It’s dangerous!”

“Lord Luke?!”

I grabbed my sword and steadied my resolve. I’d brought it from the castle for moments just like this. I’d been trained in swordsmanship since a young age, because I was told training would make it easier for me to inherit an associated gift, which was how the story goes. Of course, it hadn’t actually made any difference, but I was better off than if I’d never held a sword in my life.

“Gugyaaa!” One of the goblins made it over the wall and entered the village. It was about the same height as me and wielded an axe-like weapon made of stone and wood. Once it spotted me, it beelined toward me—but it wasn’t all that fast.

I can do this!

“Haaah!” I cried fiercely, meeting the charging goblin with my sword in hand. It raised its axe to strike, but I was just a split second quicker.

“Gyaaah?!”

An ice arrow plunged right through the goblin’s head before I could even make contact.

“Huh?”

“Long time no see, Luke.”

I turned and saw a young, blue-haired woman standing atop the earthen wall.

“Seren?!”

I knew Seren, the daughter of Earl Bazlata. Her family had close ties to House Arvale. Moreover, she was my ex-fiancée.

She’d visited our castle several times, and I remembered playing with her during her visits.

Our betrothal had been canceled when I hadn’t inherited a Gift appropriate for a future marquess; instead, she became engaged to my younger brother, Raoul.

But what was she doing here?

“Ice Needle!”

“Gugyaaaah?!”

Seren loosed arrows in rapid succession, killing one goblin after the other as they climbed over the wall. She defeated the entire horde in mere moments.

“You’re all grown up. I think the last time I saw you was about two years ago, yeah?”

“Y-Yeah. But, uh...what are you doing here, Seren?”

“I ran away from home,” she said with a giggle, sticking her tongue out.

“You what?!” I was so stunned I nearly fell over.

“Well, I guess it’d be more accurate to say I cut ties with my family.”

“That’s even worse! Why would you do that?!” I asked. “I thought you were engaged to Raoul now!”

“Nah, I broke that off.”

“What?!” My mouth fell open in surprise.

“I’d rather die than marry that guy. But I’d rather run away from home and cut ties with my family than die, y’know?” she said.

“Y-You were that opposed to it?” When I thought more about it, it wasn’t that surprising. She had been forced to marry someone she’d disliked for her family’s sake.

When my parents had decided on my betrothal, I hadn’t had any intention of rebelling against their wishes—but that was mostly because my betrothed, Seren, was a very attractive woman...

“I see... Yeah, that makes sense. I guess I thought maybe...maybe you weren’t totally against the marriage, but that was silly of me. From a girl’s perspective, it must be awful, being forced to marry someone you don’t even like.”

“Huh? Wait, are you sure you’re not misunderstanding something? I didn’t want to marry Raoul specifically.” Her voice grew soft, almost inaudible. “I wouldn’t have minded if it had been you...”

“Hm? What did you say?” I asked.

“Oh, I just said—”

“Stooooooooooop!” Myria screeched at the top of her lungs.

“Huh?!” I gasped. I thought she’d been on the watchtower still, but she’d climbed down at some point.

“I’m here too, you know,” she huffed. “And I’d appreciate it if you two didn’t make decisions on your own!”

“Wh-Who are you?” Seren asked.

“I’m the first villager.”

“The first villager?” Seren clearly had no idea what she meant by that.

“That’s right. And Lord Luke is the mayor.”

“R-right. I’d meant to ask what was going on here. I’d heard you were sent to reclaim the borderlands, so I was worried about you. But there’s an earthen wall, a watchtower, a well, and even some fields,” Seren said, looking around dubiously. “Don’t tell me you two built all this by yourselves?”

“Um... I think it’d be quicker to just show you,” I said.

“Show me what?” she asked, even more confused.

I decided to build a storehouse so she could see for herself. I didn’t need one right away, but we would eventually, so now was as good a time as any.

Storehouse

>>A storage facility built from clay. Extends the shelf life of food and other supplies by preventing spoilage and pests.

Spend 20 Village Points to Create a Storehouse? ▼ Yes / No

A fully built storage facility, made from clay, suddenly popped into existence.

“What the...” Seren’s jaw dropped.

“This is what I can do with my Village-Making Gift. I can make important facilities and upgrades in the blink of an eye. I can’t make everything, of course. Right now, I’m limited to about a dozen things.”

Plus, I needed Village Points to construct, and those weren’t limitless.

“Hey, I’ve never heard of a Gift like that before! D-Did you use it to make that field over there too?”

“Yep, I sure did.”

“Well, that explains it,” Seren said, apparently accepting my answer. “There’s literally no other way you could’ve made fields and a well in such a short amount of time!”

Suddenly, a line of text floated in my vision.

Register her as a villager? ▼ Yes / No

There’s no way Seren’s gonna wanna live in the middle of nowhere! I thought to myself, ignoring the message.

“Are you sure everything’s going to be okay?” I asked. “I doubt they’ll just let you off the hook for breaking off the engagement.”

Unlike Arvale, the earldom of Bazlata didn’t have much military power. A one-sided breakdown of the engagement could anger House Arvale. If worse came to worst and Arvale deployed its army, Bazlata didn’t stand a chance.

“Arvale’s got better things to do than worry about that,” she replied. “If they made an enemy of the Bazlatas, they’d be completely surrounded by hostiles.”

“True...” I nodded.

Although House Arvale was powerful, its territory was so large it bordered many enemy domains. It certainly wouldn’t want to damage its relationship with the Bazlatas.

“But won’t your family be in a tough spot without you?” I asked.

A very rare individual, Seren had received two Gifts at her ceremony: Dual Blades, which gave her the ability to wield two swords simultaneously; and Blue Magic, the ability to cast Water and Ice magic. Her battle prowess had already earned her the moniker of “Ice Blade Princess.” Suddenly, I remembered that she was the same age as me.

“I have zero intention of getting married, so it’ll be fine. Plus, your little brother’s powerful Gift should keep them safe. Besides, here I can at least be useful,” she said.

“Huh? You want to live here?”

“Sure, why not? There’s no way I’m going back home, and I don’t have anywhere else to go.”

Seren has been registered as a villager.

Whoa, she registered herself?! I didn’t even choose Yes!

I checked my status, and sure enough, the village’s population had risen to two.

Yeah, today’s Village Points increased to twelve! Er, wait a minute...

“I know I have this Gift and everything, but we don’t have proper houses yet. We don’t really have food either, since we haven’t harvested anything from the fields. Someone with your strength would be valued wherever you go, Seren. You don’t have to stay in a place like this,” I said.

“Huh? Are you trying to say you don’t want me here?”

“No, not at all...”

For some reason, Seren directed a sharp glance at Myria, who glared back just as fiercely.

Huh? Why are they glaring at each other? Isn’t this the first time they’ve met?

“There’s not a bath or a bed here for you. Honestly, I think this would be a tough environment for a noblewoman like yourself,” Myria said.

“There’s neither of those on the battlefield either. You need me in case there’s another monster attack, don’t you? Do you really think you’re strong enough to protect Luke on your own?” Seren asked.

I blinked, listening to their argument intensify.

Do they really dislike each other that much?

“I see,” Myria replied. “In that case, do as you please. But just so you know, your previous status means nothing here. As the first villager, I am technically your superior. Don’t forget that.”

“Oh? Sounds like you’re admitting that’s the only way you can imagine yourself better than me.”

It seemed like Seren was getting the upper hand.

Seriously though, can’t we all just get along?

“Well,” Myria said, smirking, “I thought it would be too cruel to bring up your chest.”

“Who’re you calling flat?!”

“You’re the one who said it, not me.”

“Sh-Shut up! I’m still growing, okay?! And for the record, I’m a B cup!”

“My breasts were three times bigger than that by the time I was fifteen,” Myria said.

“I-I’m a late bloomer, I’ll have you know!” Seren shouted. She’d been at an advantage before, but now her eyes were misty with tears. It seemed Myria had uncovered a sore spot.

Maybe I’ll just slink away and avoid getting involved in this, I thought as I snuck away.

Later that night, however, another commotion erupted.

“Have you two been sleeping in this cramped hut together?” Seren asked.

“Yes... What of it?” Myria replied.

“Um, don’t you think that’s completely inappropriate?!” Seren raised her voice in an accusatory tone.

We still only had one hut, of course, so there wasn’t much choice.

“We won’t force you to sleep here. You’re welcome to sleep outside,” Myria said.

“Why does it have to be like that?!”

“C-Can’t you two just get along?” I stammered.

“Be quiet, Lord Luke!”

“Quiet, Luke!”

“Okay...”

I really should’ve made another hut... Unfortunately, I hadn’t had enough points after making that storehouse to demonstrate my powers to Seren.

“Oh, right,” I said, clapping my hands. “I can just sleep in the storehouse.”

“No, we can’t have that. You’re the mayor, Lord Luke!” Myria exclaimed.

“That’s right. If anyone’s sleeping in the storehouse, it should be her,” Seren scoffed.

“Are you implying that you’d be the one sleeping with Lord Luke? All by yourself? What an indecent woman!”

“I never said that! Also, stop acting like you’re so much better.”

Even though I’d volunteered to sleep in the storeroom, we ended up sleeping in the hut together, with me in the middle.

(Haah, haah... Lord Luke smells so good again today... Hee hee...)

(I-I got carried away by demanding to sleep in here. How embarrassing... But I guess it’s not that bad after all... I’ll just scoot a little closer...)

I can’t sleep.

Luke’s Village

Village Level: 1

Village Points: 54 (Gains 12 points daily)

Villagers: 2

Village Skill: Facility Construction

“All right, I’ve finally saved up fifty points!”

I received my daily allotment of Village Points in the evening, at the same time when I created the village. With that day’s twelve points, I’d finally reached fifty. I could finally be free of my nightly hell. Since Seren had become a villager, I’d been stuck sleeping between her and Myria in that cramped hut.

They never stopped arguing, so I hadn’t gotten a good night’s sleep. I was feeling quite sleep-deprived.

But now that I had fifty points, I could finally build the structure I’d longed for: the small house. I wasn’t sure exactly how small it was, but it had to have been bigger than our current setup.

Small house

>>A cozy dwelling equipped with a bath, kitchen, and toilet. Comes furnished with the bare essentials.

Spend 50 Village Points to Create a Small House? ▼ Yes / No

“Yes, please!” I nodded, and a single-story wooden house appeared before me. It was about twice the size of the hut. Just like the description said, it came with a bed, desk, shelves, and other basic furniture.

“Whoa, it really is furnished! There’s a kitchen too,” I said.

“A kitchen? Like the place where you make food? Hey, there’s something weird in here,” Seren said.

“That’s a faucet. Turn the blue handle and you’ll get cold water. The red one gives hot water,” I explained.

She tried it out, and the water came out easily. “Whoa, you’re right! But how’d you know that?”

“Um... Well, it’s part of my Gift, I guess.” I couldn’t exactly tell her the knowledge came from a previous life.

“Is it magical? Hm, I don’t feel any mana coming from it all...” Seren said, tipping her head to the side. Thinking it was some magical tool made sense, of course.

“What about this, Lord Luke?” Myria asked.

“That’s a gas stove,” I said.

“A gas stove?”

“When you push that knob and turn it, fire comes out of that part there. See, watch.”

“Whoa, you’re right! But how does it work?!” Seren exclaimed.

“Your Gift is extraordinary, Lord Lucas! I’d expect nothing less from you! Until now, I’ve had to cook outside, but this kitchen will make things so much easier,” Myria said, excited.

“I wonder what’s behind this,” I said, spotting a door at the back of the room. I opened it and entered a small room. “Oh, it’s a bathroom!”

“A bathroom?” Seren said, puzzled.

“This is a toilet, and this is a bathtub.”

“You mean it’s not just a chair?” she asked.

“Nope. Look.” I lifted the toilet’s lid, revealing the seat and water-filled bowl. I couldn’t believe we had a fully functioning bathroom. I had never seen one before in this world.

“If you push this handle down, water flows into the bowl and flushes your waste into the sewer system.”

Wait—there weren’t any sewers, so where did everything go after you flushed? Hmm... I decided not to think too hard about it.

“In the castle, the lowest-ranking servants would collect chamber pots,” Seren said.

“I’ve heard of regions that use slimes to handle waste, but it doesn’t seem like this ‘toilet’ works like that,” Myria said.

Slimes could supposedly absorb and purify just about anything, even waste.

The bath had the same style of faucet as the kitchen, which meant we could wash with hot water.

I’d taken hot showers for granted in my previous life, but they were nothing short of revolutionary for this world.

“Wait, so we don’t have to use water from the well outside to wash?!” Seren exclaimed.

“Hm, I see...” Myria nodded. (Grr, at least when we washed outside, I could sneak a peek at Lord Luke while he bathed!)

Seren looked thrilled about the bathroom, but Myria appeared inexplicably disappointed.

“Well, this is our new home. There are two bedrooms, so the men and women can sleep separately from each other,” I said triumphantly.

Neither woman reacted.

Why aren’t they saying anything? I wondered, and then Myria broke the silence.

“I couldn’t possibly sleep in the same room as this woman,” she said.

“Same here,” Seren agreed.

Ah, right. They got along so poorly that leaving them alone in a room together would be a recipe for disaster—but letting just one sleep in the same room as me wasn’t an option either.

“Ugh, fine. We’ll all sleep in the same room,” I said.

The bedrooms were larger than the hut, so it was better than our previous set-up. We could take turns sleeping on the floor, at least. Or so I thought.

Somehow, I still ended up in a bed with a girl on either side of me.

“Why are we sharing a bed?!” I exclaimed.

“You shouldn’t sleep on the floor, Lord Luke. The only option is for you to sleep in the bed,” Myria insisted.

“I don’t mind sleeping on the floor, but I refuse to allow her to be in bed alone with you,” Seren said.

“I hate to admit it, but I agree with her. Our only choice is for you to sleep between us on the bed, Lord Luke,” Myria said.

“Yep.”

None of this makes any sense!

Now things were even more crammed than they’d been in the hut! If I rolled onto my right side, Myria’s pretty face was right in front of mine; if I rolled onto my left, there was Seren’s adorable one. I had no choice but to sleep on my back, trying to ignore the sensation of their breath tickling my neck and the soft pressure of their arms against mine. It all made my heart pound like crazy.

I can’t sleep like this!

◇◇◇

I had just turned ten when I visited House Arvale’s castle for the first time.

“Seren, you’re going to meet Lord Luke today. He’s going to be your husband, so act like a proper young lady,” my father warned.

They were going to hold a feast to honor my recent engagement to this boy named Luke. Even though the party revolved around me, I wasn’t too thrilled about it.

With the adults busy preparing for the event, I grew so bored that I slipped out of my room and walked through the castle gardens.

All of a sudden, a rock flew out of nowhere and landed at my feet.

Looking around, I spotted a boy holding another stone. He looked several years younger than me, and his nasty little smirk told me he was a troublemaker.

He’d probably thrown the rock, but I realized quickly he hadn’t been aiming at me.

“Oof... P-Please, have mercy!” another boy cried out. He was about the same age as the first, but dressed like a servant. Several wounds bled across his body, which was bound to a tree with a rope.

“Ha ha! Next one’s going straight for your face!” said the kid holding the rocks. He had no concern at all for the injured boy. He even laughed as he pulled his arm back to throw another.

“Hey! What do you think you’re doing?!” I shouted, stepping between them.

“Huh? Shut up. We’re just playing,” the boy with the rock sneered.

“You shouldn’t play around with something so dangerous! You could kill someone if you hit them with a rock in the wrong place! Then what would you do?”

“I’d find someone else to play with! The castle’s full of others like him,” the boy said.

“What?!” I wanted nothing more than to punch this kid’s lights out, but I was a guest here. Even at age ten, I knew it wasn’t a good idea. Plus, judging by his clothes and age, this boy could be Luke. If I punched him, it would cause a huge scandal.

On the other hand, there was no way I would marry someone like this.

As I was trying to decide what to do, the boy threw another rock, this time at me. “Take that!”

Luckily, his aim was terrible.

“Owwww!” someone screamed. “Tsssk, that hurt...”

Spotting another boy, who’d apparently been hit by the stone, I rushed over. “A-Are you okay?!”

“Y-Yeah, I’m fine.”

“You’re bleeding!” I exclaimed.

He was a cute boy who seemed younger than me. Unlike the brat throwing rocks, though, he seemed really kind. He wasn’t even angry that he’d been hit on the forehead and was bleeding.

But for some reason, the other kid started panicking. “I-I wasn’t aiming for you,” he shouted, “I promise! It was an accident!” Then bolted away.

After that, I was incredibly relieved to learn that the kind, adorable boy was Luke and the violent one was his younger brother, Raoul.

I recalled that day several years later when we reunited, and asked Luke about it.

“Didn’t you tell the marquess about it? A mistress’s son injured the rightful heir. Wouldn’t it have been a huge problem?”

“Yeah, but if I had said anything, it would’ve made Raoul’s position in the family even worse,” he said.

“Exactly! He deserved it!” I said.

“Ha ha ha... Maybe, but he’s still my little brother. His mom was a maid, so he’s had to deal with people hassling him about it for a long time...”

“You’re too good for your own good, you know that?” I said. (But that’s part of the reason I like you so much...)

“What’s that face?” Luke asked.

“N-Nothing!”

Luke was such a sweet person. And once again, I was grateful that he was going to be my future husband.

Chapter Three: Level Up

Nearly a month had passed since we arrived at the frontier, and thanks to my Village-Making Gift, we were living more comfortably than I could have imagined.

Seren and Myria were still at each other’s throats most of the time, but other than that, things were going incredibly smoothly.

Back at home, I’d spent my days studying endlessly for my future, so this might have been the first time I could actually take it easy. I realized the slow-paced life wasn’t so bad and began to enjoy my time living on the frontier.

Oh, I almost forgot: The crops we’d planted were growing well. Some were just about ready to harvest, in fact. I had four crop fields now. Since I hadn’t been able to build anything else and had figured saving up points would be a waste, I had decided to use them to plant more crops.

There was a chance some crops might not grow to fruition, so I planted a bunch of different vegetables just to be safe. Thankfully, Myria brought a lot of seeds from the march over with us.

But now things were growing so well, I worried that the three of us wouldn’t even be able to eat the entire harvest.

Storehouse

>>A storage facility built from clay. Extends the shelf life of food and other supplies by preventing spoilage and pests.

If I took that explanation at face value, then our food should have lasted a while. Still, there must have been some sort of expiration date.

“I can use my magic to keep them cold. I can even freeze the food if you want me to,” Seren said.

“Oh, right. Magic sure is convenient,” I said.

“Heh heh. See? Aren’t you glad I’m here? Meat is really important out on the frontier, and now you have it, thanks to me!” Seren said triumphantly, casting a glance in Myria’s direction.

Recently, she’d been hunting wild boar for us in the northern forest. Seren was skilled enough to hunt alone just fine, so long as she didn’t venture too far into monster territory.

“Oh? And who’s been turning that meat into delicious meals for you? A certain battle-crazed idiot can’t even butcher the animals, let alone cook them,” Myria said with a straight face.

“Grrr...”

Unfortunately, Seren wasn’t that great of a cook. When she’d challenged Myria to a cook-off, Seren had made a dish that smelled so foul, even she refused to taste it.

“Please stop fighting,” I said with a sigh. I’d pretty much given up on the hope of them ever getting along, so I didn’t say it with much force.

Seren suddenly whipped her head toward the west, noticing something.

“What is it?” I asked.

“Do you hear that? It sounds like voices.”

“Voices?”

“Yeah, I’ll go up to the watchtower and check,” she said.

Seren easily scaled the ladder to the top of the watchtower. I followed behind, wondering if it was more monsters. We hadn’t seen any since Seren had defeated that goblin horde. I reached the top of the tower a few moments after Seren.

She looked at me. “Look,” she said, pointing past the earthen wall encircling our village. “There are people out there.”

“Wow, you’re right,” I said.

A group of about fifty people stood beyond the wall. Some looked surprised, while others seemed cautious. Having already noticed us on the watchtower, they stared our way and spoke to one another, but they were too far for me to make out the words.

I was relieved to notice they weren’t carrying weapons, which meant they likely hadn’t come to raid us.

“They don’t look dangerous,” Seren said. “They’re mostly women and children. Their clothes are in rough shape, and they look pretty exhausted. I wonder if they’re refugees.”

Seren was right: about forty of them were women and children. There weren’t that many young men at all. People who’d become refugees after losing their homes in natural disasters, war, or other circumstances weren’t uncommon in that day and age.

“I heard there was another big battle recently, so maybe they fled from there,” she said.

“Hmm... Some of them look like they’re on the verge of collapsing. We can’t just leave them out there.”

There wasn’t much vegetation on the frontier, so they’d have a hard time finding food or water anywhere that wasn’t this village. If I didn’t do something, these people would starve to death.

I climbed down from the tower and headed over to the group of people.

“We never expected to find a village out here...” one of them said.

“Well, it was just built recently. There are only three of us right now. Oh, by the way—I’m Luke, the mayor.”

“You’re the mayor?” a man in his mid-thirties said. It seemed like he’d had a sturdy physique once upon a time, but his body had been wasting away due to a lack of food. He looked almost skeletal now. “Ah, p-pardon me. I’m Berlitt, the leader of this group.”

I looked around. The women and children were similarly malnourished and emaciated. I briefly discussed it with Seren and Myria, and since the newcomers didn’t seem to pose a threat, we invited them into the village. I asked them about their story and learned that Seren had been right. They were refugees who’d fled their village.

There were so few men because they’d been drafted into the war. Unfortunately, they’d had to leave the elders behind since they wouldn’t have been able to keep up. It was very unlikely that the invaders would make the elderly fight or enslave them, so they’d chosen to stay in the familiarity of their homes rather than risk burdening the younger villagers.

Berlitt’s father was the mayor and one of the people who’d stayed behind, which was why Berlitt was now leading the group of refugees.

“We were wandering around aimlessly when we reached the frontier. We were just about out of food and water when we finally saw this place,” he said.

“I see... We haven’t quite reached our harvest, so we don’t have a ton of food, but we’ll get you as much as we can. Oh, and as for water, we’ve got a well here so you can drink as much as you want,” I said.

“R-Really? Thank you so much!”

The refugees rushed over to the well, their thirst apparently a more pressing concern than their hunger. However, none of them had seen a hand pump before, so they all stared at it in confusion.

I rushed over to demonstrate. “This is how you get the water out. See? Like this.” I pressed the handle. Water gushed forth, and the refugees all gasped in surprise.

“I never would’ve imagined there’d be a well here...”

“Ahh, I feel alive again!”

“Hey, hurry it up! I want a drink too!”

Hmm, maybe one well isn’t enough? I had plenty of points, so I decided to make another.

Used 30 Village Points to construct a well.

“Everyone! There’s another well over here, so please use that one too!” I shouted.

“It’s true!”

“Wait, was that well there before?”

“Who cares? I’m grateful for it!”

While the refugees quenched their thirst, Myria started preparing the food. She used the boar Seren had hunted the day before, along with the last of the wheat.

“Are you sure about this, Lord Luke? If we give everyone some wheat, we’ll exhaust our supply,” Myria said.

“Maybe, but these people are starving.”

Even though it wouldn’t last us long if divided among so many people, I decided to use our remaining wheat.

The starving refugees were so happy to see the meal that they almost cried.

“I-It’s been so long since we had food!”

“Are you sure we can eat this?!”

“It’s not much,” I explained, “but please go ahead. You can divide the food among yourselves.”

It was perhaps because of my words that they didn’t fight over the food and divided it up fairly.

“This is yummy, Mommy!”

“It really is. I’ve never had food this delicious!”

They polished off the meal in the blink of an eye. They must’ve really been hungry. I suspected that wasn’t enough to satiate them but not one complained.

“I wish I could’ve given you more,” I said apologetically.

“Not at all! This is more than enough! I don’t know how to thank you for your generosity!” Berlitt said with tears in his eyes.

The other villagers heaped profuse praise on me, practically worshipping me.

Still, they weren’t out of the woods yet. It’d never survive in this wilderness.

Register them as villagers? ▼ Yes / No

That text popped up in my vision, like it’d read my mind.

“Berlitt... Would you like to live in this village?” I asked.

“What?” His eyes widened.

“I was actually hoping more people would come live here. See our crop fields over there? Well, it’ll be difficult for us three to harvest it by ourselves. It’ll be too much food for us too.”

“B-But we’re such a large group, and there are so many women and children! I’m not sure we can provide the labor you’re expecting...”

“Maybe not, but don’t worry about that. Helping people in need is the right thing to do.”

“Th-thank you. Thank you so much...” Berlitt wept with gratitude.

The next moment, a barrage of text appeared before my eyes.

Berlitt’s group of 51 has become villagers.

Da-da-daaan! Congratulations! Your village’s population has surpassed 10, and your Village Level has increased to 2!

You have received a Level-Up Bonus of 100 Village Points.

New facilities are available for construction!

Village boundary has expanded.

You have gained the skill “Villager Appraisal.”

Da-da-daaan! Congratulations! Your village’s population has surpassed 30, and your Village Level has increased to 3!

You have received a Level-Up Bonus of 300 Village Points.

New facilities are available for construction!

Village boundary has expanded.

You have gained the skill “Edit Layout.”

The sudden flood of text made me a little dizzy. Apparently, adding all these new villagers increased my village level by two in one go.

Luke’s Village

Village Level: 3

Village Points: 764 (+83 Per Day)

Villagers: 53

Village Skills: Facility Construction, Villager Appraisal, Edit Layout

Apparently, I’d received a level-up bonus that’d given me an extra four hundred points at once. I was gaining a lot more village points per day too. I’d wondered how fifty additional people could live in my village, but it seemed we could make it work.

I got a notification that I had new facilities to build when I reached level two, so I decided to check those out.

Moat (30)

Wooden Gate (30)

Park (30)

Livestock Barn (80)

Row House (80)

After that, I checked out the level-three facilities.

Stone Wall (50)

Brewery (50)

Outdoor Kitchen (60)

Jail (80)

Medium House (100)

“Hmm, a row house?”

Row House

>>A single-story, multifamily building. Contains five units, each with two bedrooms, a dining room, and a kitchen, plus a communal restroom.

“That sounds perfect, actually.”

A two-bedroom unit could fit five people. Twenty-five people living in one row house, which had cost eighty points, was a lot more efficient than building a bunch of small houses.

I’d have to expand the fields at some point, so I wanted to conserve as many points as possible.

“First, I need to expand the village.”

Placing even three row houses would make everything unbearably cramped at the village’s current size.

“But I’ve already surrounded the whole village with the earthen walls... Oh, wait! Maybe I can use the Edit Layout skill?”

It seemed like this skill let me move around any buildings I’d constructed. How convenient!

I began shifting the earthen walls outward to match the village’s boundary, which had expanded when I’d leveled up. As I pushed the walls farther out, I had to build new sections of wall to fill in the gaps and ensure the village remained fully enclosed.

Once I finished, I made three row houses in the newly cleared space. I peeked inside and saw that it was furnished with the basics, just like the small house, including the kitchen.

Although there was only one communal bathroom per row house, it had several toilets. It would be fine.

Since there was no bathtub, I constructed a well for each row house. In this world, only nobles used tubs; everyone else collected well water and washed themselves in basins, so I doubted there would be any complaints. Still, I did eventually want to improve the facilities.

For now, though, my new villagers had the basic needs for survival, all in a flash.

“Hey, everyone,” I called out, gesturing at the newly constructed facilities. “Please go ahead and use these.”

Their eyes widened, and their jaws dropped in shock.

“Wh-What is all this?”

“Did the walls move?”

“Those buildings appeared out of nowhere!”

“Eeeek!” One older man was so surprised he fell over.

“Oh, s-sorry if I startled you! I did that all with my Gift. It’s not some weird kind of magic or anything, so please don’t worry,” I hastily explained.

“W-Wow! Our mayor has a Gift?!”

“I can’t believe he can do all this...”

“It’s truly the work of the gods!”

Their shock just went to show how rare people with Gifts were. Even people who were eligible to receive Blessings never actually received one. The process was notoriously difficult, requiring donations far beyond what any commoner could afford. That meant only nobles or wealthy merchants could afford to receive a Blessing. There were some craftsmen whose families’ contributions to land development had earned them Blessings.

The power of a Gift was extraordinary. The world would be a much better place if everyone could receive them regardless of social standing.

At any rate, once the new villagers hesitantly shuffled into the row houses, I decided to expand the fields. Regardless of how fast the crops were growing, four fields wouldn’t be enough to feed over fifty villagers now. I constructed several new plots in the newly expanded areas of the village.

“Ten should be good for now, I think.”

Now our fields were collectively about three to four times the size of a soccer field. It’d be a pain to plant seeds with all of them, but I could always just have the new villagers do it.

It sounded like they did a lot of farming back at their own village, so they were probably more familiar with it than me.

“What else... Oh, right. I got another new skill.”

Edit Layout’s ability to move my constructed facilities anywhere I pleased had already proven useful. Now, I wanted to check out the other one.

“Now, let’s see what Villager Appraisal does.”

Villager Appraisal

>>Allows you to appraise any villager of your choosing.

Since that didn’t explain much, I decided to try it. Luckily, Berlitt happened to be walking toward me.

“Mr. Mayor, those fields weren’t here before, were they? Wait... It’s so soft, fluffy, and springy. Incredible! The soil’s texture is perfect!” he said.

“Since we’ve got so many new villagers, I decided to expand the fields.”

“Yes, you certainly have! There are so many!”

“Please rest as much as you need to first, but I’d really appreciate some help sowing the fields when you feel up to it.”

“O-Of course we’ll help! Not only did you give us food, but now we have a place to sleep as well. Everyone will be more than happy to work as compensation for your generosity!”

“Great. Just don’t push yourselves too much though, okay?” I studied Berlitt, who was breathing heavily, and said “Appraisal” underneath my breath.

Berlitt

Age: 36

Village Affinity: High

Recommended Job: Organizer

Gifts: None

A string of text popped up in my vision. Village Affinity? What does that mean? Oh, there’s an explanation.

Village Affinity

>>Indicates a villager’s loyalty and sense of belonging to the village. If a villager’s Village Affinity is low, they may resort to criminal acts or even incite rebellion, so caution is advised.

As a village’s population grew, risks and potential dangers naturally increased as well. This skill could help me spot potential issues in advance, even if it made me feel a little guilty to pry into people’s hearts.

Since Berlitt’s Village Affinity was high, he apparently already liked this village a lot.

Next, I read the description for “Recommended Job.”

Recommended Job

>>The type of work best suited for that villager.

And since it listed “organizer” for Berlitt, it seemed like he was perfectly suited for his current role.

Is it really okay for me to just discover all this so easily? It seemed like such a ridiculously powerful skill that it could be a valuable Gift all on its own. It did seem to be limited to villagers, though.

The next day, I gathered the new villagers at the center of the village. I’d kept an open space there to use as a town square.

“Good morning, Berlitt. Did you sleep well last night?” I asked.

“Yes, I had a good night’s sleep for the first time in ages, thanks to the living quarters you prepared for us. We’d been camping outside for quite some time.”

Although the rooms in the row house weren’t that large, I thought it would suffice for now. Apparently, just having a bed at all was heaven to them. They must’ve been through a lot before arriving here.

“I’m glad to hear it. Um, I’d like to know everyone’s names, ages, families, and so on. That way, I can give out jobs more easily.”

“Oh, of course. I can do that for you, though.”

“No. As mayor, I’d like to do it myself.”

After that, I went through each villager, secretly used Villager Appraisal, and registered their names and personal information. I was mainly trying to learn everyone’s Recommended Job Type, which would help me assign them roles much easier. Most of them had done farmwork at their last village, though.

When I reached the seventh villager, I saw something that shocked me.

Barlatt

Age: 32

Village Affinity: High

Recommended Job: Warrior

Gifts: (Sword Proficiency)

Hang on—a Gift section? With “Sword Proficiency” under it? What’s with the parentheses though? Maybe it means he hasn’t received the Blessing yet, so the Gift is still latent?

I couldn’t believe it! Barlatt had a hidden talent lying dormant, waiting to be awakened. Maybe there were others like him!

“Mr. Mayor?”

“O-Oh, sorry. How many people are in your family, Barlatt?”

“Sure.” He went on to explain that he was Berlitt’s younger brother.

No wonder their names were so similar. He had a wife and two children, so he was especially grateful I’d let him into the village.

After that, I continued checking the rest of the new villagers, with these results:

Ages

Children (0-11 years): 12

Adults (12-50 years): 37

Elderly Adults: (51+ years): 2

Genders

Men: 18

Women: 33

Total Number of Households: 14

I discovered a broad range of Recommended Jobs too. We had everything from run-of-the-mill occupations like farmers and merchants to slightly alarming ones like jailer or torturer, and even artistic jobs like dancer and singer—there really were all kinds.

Still, I couldn’t stop thinking about the sixty-year-old woman whose recommended role was torturer. What was up with that?!

She was the oldest of the two elders who’d joined Berlitt’s group, but she was spry enough to have kept up effortlessly with the younger folks on the journey here.

At any rate, I decided to put those with farming as their Recommended Job in charge of managing the fields. There weren’t enough of them though, so I planned on having everyone pitch in during the harvest.

It turned out there were four others aside from Barlatt with latent Gifts. They had Compounding Knowledge, Red Magic, Dungeon Exploration, and Literary Talent, respectively.

A widow in her twenties, who’d lost her husband to illness, possessed Compounding Knowledge. It could probably create complex medicinal compounds and such.

Red Magic was the ability to cast fire and heat spells. It belonged to a ten-year-old girl.

I assumed Dungeon Exploration was self-explanatory and meant a knack for exploring dungeons. A man in his late thirties had that one. He had no parents or siblings and wasn’t married, so he was the only one among the refugees part of a single-member household.

A fourteen-year-old boy had Literary Talent.

Maybe it was a complete coincidence, but there sure were people who had a lot of latent Gifts here—exactly ten percent of the approximately fifty new villagers, in fact.

My tutor had told me that over fifty percent of nobles had Gifts, but less than one in every hundred commoners did.

“If everyone had the opportunity of a Blessing ceremony, wouldn’t the world develop faster?” I’d asked once.

“One in a hundred isn’t enough to matter,” my tutor had replied.

I’d wondered if the real reason was that the nobles wanted to hoard the power of Gifts for themselves. If a commoner with a really powerful Gift appeared, that would increase the risk of rebellion. Maybe that was why they colluded with the church to limit Blessings.

Or maybe I had just been overthinking things.

“It’s starting to feel like a real village now!” Seren said, walking over. Since she was here, I decided to use Appraisal on her.

Seren

Age: 15

Village Affinity: High

Recommended Job: General

Gifts: Dual Blades, Blue Magic

A general... That definitely suited the image in my head of her leading soldiers into battle. But did we really need a general in this village?

Since we had so many more villagers than before, we were going to need more meat. I preferred if she continued hunting.

“Lord Luke, I think we should prepare for the possibility of more refugees coming to the village,” Myria said.

“Yeah, that’s a good point. It seems like more refugees are turning up everywhere.”

I used Villager Appraisal on Myria, expecting her Recommended Job to be a maid.

Myria

Age: 21

Village Affinity: Extreme

Recommended Job: Priest

Gifts: (Oracle)

I didn’t know she was twenty-one...

But more importantly, Myria also had a latent Gift! Not only that, but Oracle gave her the power to bestow Blessings upon others. Normally, the church kept everyone who possessed Oracle within its own ranks, so you almost never saw someone with that ability who wasn’t a clergy member. However, you normally had to receive a Blessing yourself before you could grant Blessings to others.

The nearest church where she could receive a Blessing was really far away, plus we didn’t have enough money for that.

“Hm, what to do...” I muttered.

“What’s the matter, Lord Luke?”

“Well...”

There was no point in hiding it from her, so I told her about it—which meant admitting to my Villager Appraisal skill, which I’d kept a secret until now.

If I only shared it with Myria, Seren would get angry later for being left out, so I might as well tell them both at the same time.

“Villager Appraisal?” they exclaimed in unison.

“That’s right.”

“Don’t you think your Gift is a little too outrageous?” Seren said with exasperation.

“I’d expect nothing less from Lord Luke. The gods must adore him!” Myria praised.

“Anyway, I secretly used Villager Appraisal on you,” I said.

“I-I don’t mind, of course.” (I-I hope he didn’t learn about my naughty feelings...)

“Why do you look so flustered? Are you hiding something?” Seren asked suspiciously.

“Be quiet, brat! Lord Luke is talking about me right now!”

“Who’re you callin’ a brat?!”

I sighed. Please, just stop fighting already...

“Anyway,” I said, “it seems that Myria will get a Gift if she receives a Blessing.”

“You know all that from your Gift?” Seren asked, surprised.

I ignored her and told Myria about her Oracle Gift.

“Oracle? I see... With that, our villagers could receive Blessings here in the village!” Myria said.

“That’s right. But first, you’d need to receive a Blessing.”

I knew chatting wouldn’t solve much, but they at least deserved to know.

“Hm,” Myria wondered, “isn’t there something I can do to activate my latent Gift?”

Three days after the new villagers arrived, we decided to start the first harvest.

“Whoa, what the heck is this? It’s huge!”

“These vegetables are unbelievably big!”

I heard comments like those coming from all over the fields. That’s how incredible the harvest was.

With everyone pitching in, we finished the work in about two hours. That day, we harvested two of the first four plots I’d created. Even though I’d intentionally chosen to sow vegetables with a relatively quick harvest time, the fact that they were ready to pick in only a month was decidedly not normal.

“This is amazing, Mayor. I’ve never seen vegetables this big!” Berlitt said.

“Really?”

“Yep! I think it’s because the soil is so rich here.”

Berlitt seemed to know a lot about farming and gave me high praise. His calling me “Mr. Mayor” had embarrassed me way too much, so we compromised. Now, he called me just plain “Mayor.” He’d also said there was no need to be so formal with him, so I was being as casual as I could. It was a strange feeling, though. Perhaps it was because of my past life, but I always felt the urge to use polite speech with those older than me.

“Even the vegetables you don’t usually plant this time of year are growing well,” he noted.

There were crops traditionally grown in autumn that were growing normally in the other plots. They weren’t ready for harvest yet, though. It was still spring.

Hm... I don’t know much about farming, so I just planted things at random. All’s well that ends well, I guess.

“Mayor, since you’re here... Would you like to taste some of the freshly picked vegetables?”

“Huh? Are you sure that’s safe?”

“Yeah. These ones are fine to eat raw, of course.”

I was grateful they’d grown big and healthy, but I wondered how they tasted. Berlitt handed me a turnip, and I hesitantly bit into it.

I gasped.

“Mayor?”

“Th-This is delicious!” I blurted, causing everyone in the vicinity to turn and stare. “Um, sorry. It tastes so good—I couldn’t hold back!”

“I’m glad to hear that.”

“You try some, Berlitt.”

“I-If you insist...” he said, taking the turnip. After he tried it, his eyes widened. “Amazing!!! Nom! Wh-What in the world?! Nom!” Berlitt excitedly chomped on the turnip between words. “I mean, fresh turnips are always good, but I’ve never tasted one this incredible! Nom, nom...”

Talk or eat. Pick one or the other, please! Pieces of turnip are flying out of your mouth...

In the end, we decided to have a feast to celebrate the harvest. The women cooked the vegetables with the wild boar and venison Seren had gathered while leading a hunting party out in the woods.

I used sixty points to construct an outdoor kitchen for the occasion, allowing a lot of people to cook simultaneously. It also had a butcher table, so it was an efficient use of the space.

Outdoor Kitchen

>>A covered outdoor cooking area. Increases work efficiency and makes meals taste even better.

Hmm, it says it’ll improve the taste of meals... But is that really true?

“Let’s see...” I muttered, considering what my toast would be. “Here’s to a successful harvest and to all our new villager friends! Cheers!”

“Cheers!” everyone replied.

We didn’t have any alcohol in the village yet, so we were just toasting with well water.

A few moments later, cries of disbelief erupted around the table.

“Wh-What the hell is thiiiiiis?!”

“It’s so gooooood!!!”

“Hey, hey! I’ve never tasted anything this good in my whole life!”

“Did our wives really make this?!”

“It’s the ingredients. Those fresh vegetables are incredible.”

“No, seriously! For whatever reason, your cooking was way better than usual today. It’s seared to perfection and the seasoning’s just right!”

Everyone was shocked at how good the food was. Apparently, the outdoor cooking area had actually boosted the food’s tastiness.

Just then, a young man serving as a sentry scrambled down the watchtower’s ladder.

“M-Mayor!” he called, panicking.

“What’s the matter?”

“A group of people is approaching the village!”

It seemed another group of refugees was on its way to our village. There were about fourteen of them, all of whom looked exhausted. When I let them in, they looked shocked to find a village out here.

We fed them with the prepared food from the feast and gave them water to drink.

“It’s nice to meet you all. I’m Luke, the mayor here.”

“You? The mayor? But you’re just a kid— Er, sorry. My name’s Donga,” said a man in his thirties.

“Donga? Whoa, long time no see!” Berlitt piped up.

Donga’s eyes widened. “Wait... Berlitt?! Is that you?!”

“You two know each other?”

“That’s right, Mayor. Donga used to visit our village a long time ago. We’d always had strong ties to his village, but then Donga fell for our little sister! She rejected him, though, so nothing ever came of it,” Berlitt said.

“Y-You didn’t have to bring that up! It’s ancient history, you know! Anyway, I have a wife and a child now!”

It looked like the two of them had an easygoing friendship. And incidentally, Berlitt’s sister ended up marrying someone else from another village.

“But if you’re here... Then that means your village...” Donga trailed off.

“It’s true. We had to abandon our homes and flee, just like you. That was only a few days ago. Things were really rough until we reached this village.”

“Still, I never expected to find a village out here in the wilderness.”

Well, if he’s a friend of Berlitt’s, then it makes things easy.

I figured they hadn’t eaten in days now. “We can discuss the details later,” I said. “For now, how about you join us? We’re having a harvest festival.”

Chapter Four: Celebration

Clutching her brother’s hand, a young girl walked through the frontier.

“Brother...” she groaned. “I’m hungry...”

“I know...”

She’d only just turned eight, and he was trying to act brave for her—even though he was so hungry and exhausted that he was reaching his limits.

His name was Noel, and his life had just turned upside down.

Noel and his sister had lost their parents at a young age, leaving them as orphans who’d been living alone together ever since. One day, government officials had arrived at their village to conscript all the young men.

Mandatory service didn’t begin until fifteen, but Noel already stood over 180 centimeters. The officials had accused Noel of lying about his age and drafted him.

Since there was no way he could leave his little sister alone, he’d decided they should run away from their village.

They wandered aimlessly until they were lucky enough to come upon a group of refugees who had abandoned their village and were now searching for a new place to live.

“We’re in the same situation, so come with us. Still, you’re sturdy for a kid your age,” one of the adults said with a friendly smile. His name was Gordy, and he seemed like a reliable guy even though he was smaller than Noel.

“It’s dangerous that way,” Gordy continued, gesturing toward the direction Noel was talking. “Could be bandits.”

Thanks to his warning, they took a long detour. If they hadn’t crossed paths with the other refugees, he and his sister probably would’ve been captured by the bandits and sold into slavery.

Eventually, they arrived in this wasteland.

It was better than the alternative, but the frontier was an inhospitable place where finding food and water was next to impossible. Not only that, but this region bordered the demon lands, and monsters were said to appear from time to time.

Noel offered up a silent prayer as they kept walking.

Gods... Please let there be a future beyond this hardship where I can live peacefully together with my sister.

“Huh? What’s that up there?”

“Earthen walls? Wait, is that a—”

Finally, his prayers were answered. Just ahead, they came across a village in the middle of nowhere.

◇◇◇

“How is everything, Donga? Any complaints?”

“Mr. Mayor! No, of course not. No complaints here. We have delicious food and a comfortable place to sleep. And we don’t have to worry about the war either. This place is paradise! My group and I are really grateful.”

Several days had passed since Donga and his group of refugees had arrived at the village. They seemed to be thrilled to be here, which of course made me happy as the mayor.

Yup, that’s right. I’d officially made them the next residents of the village after Berlitt’s group. Forty-four newcomers in total had joined, bringing our village’s population to ninety-seven. We were just shy of one hundred villagers.

Naturally, that meant I’d had to expand the village’s boundaries and build more row houses. And since the vegetables we’d harvested were much larger than expected, we still had plenty of food.

But just in case, I constructed four more new fields.

Like Berlitt, Donga had arrived with mainly women and children. Including the children, who were split evenly between boys and girls, there were roughly twice as many women as men.

I used Villager Appraisal on them and began assigning jobs. There still weren’t many types of work to give out, so I couldn’t always assign them roles that matched their Recommended Jobs.

There were four among the new villagers with latent Gifts. Once again, it felt like letting a treasure go to waste since they couldn’t receive their Blessing. It was incredibly frustrating.

Just as Donga’s group was getting settled, another group showed up.

“Mayor! Another group of refugees!” the lookout called.

This time, it was a big one—over seventy people.

“What should we do? Surely we’ll be over capacity if we let all those people in!” Seren said.

I shook my head. “Nah, that’s not true.”

At first glance, it probably looked like the fields and row houses took up the entire village area, leaving no room for expansion. In reality, we still had plenty of land available. All I needed to do was extend the earthen walls to make more room. And thanks to the daily point increase, I had more than enough points to do it.

Seren and the others had been working hard hunting, so we could manage as far as food went as well.

I decided to welcome the new refugees into the village.

Leon’s group of 76 has become villagers.

Da-da-daaan! Congratulations! Your village’s population has surpassed 100 villagers, and your Village Level has increased to Level 4!

You have received a Level Up Bonus of 1,000 Village Points.

New facilities are available for construction!

Village boundary has expanded.

You have gained the skill “Facility Upgrade.”

Whoa, I leveled up? The messages always pop up so suddenly. It startles me every time...

I checked the village map, a useful feature that showed where each facility was located and how it was performing. The village’s boundary was twice as large as it had been at level three.

Based on the trend so far, it seemed like leveling up doubled the village boundary. That meant our total usable area had already increased by a multiple of four.

Huh? But if that’s the case, it’ll eventually become ridiculously large... Well, I’ll cross that bridge when I get to it. Anyway, let’s check out the new facilities I can construct.

Guard Post (80)

Workshop (80)

Public Restroom (80)

Rehabilitation Center (100)

Church (150)

Church

>>A place to worship the gods. If you pray here with a sincere heart, you might receive a Blessing!

Might receive a Blessing? What exactly does that mean? Normally, only priests can bestow Blessings. Well, let’s set that aside for now. First, I need to focus on preparing proper living conditions for the new residents.

Facility Upgrade

>>Enhances the functions and performance of a facility.

My new skill seemed incredibly useful. For example, if I upgraded a storehouse, I could choose to enhance one of several attributes, like its storage capacity, spoilage reduction, and security.

Each upgrade cost twenty points.

Meanwhile, upgrading a field offered options like accelerated crop growth, improved crop quality, and increased work efficiency. A field of the same size could grow crops at a quicker rate or have larger yields, which would save valuable village space. Honestly, it was a huge relief.

It was possible to upgrade the facilities to a higher tier altogether too. For example, I could upgrade the earthen walls to stone, or a small house to a medium house, and so on.

But first, I decided to extend the earthen wall to gain more usable land. Then I built new earthen walls to fill in the gaps.

I also added more row houses and wells for the new villagers. Even after all that, I still had some points left over.

“Hm, should I make a church?”

Spend 150 Village Points to Create a Church? ▼ Yes / No

I decided to go for it. After selecting Yes, a small church popped into existence. It was the perfect size for our village.

“Lord Luke, is that...”

“It’s a church, Myria.”

“How strange... Suddenly, I have an uncontrollable urge to go inside and pray.”

Myria went right into the church like she was drawn to it. I followed her.

The interior resembled a simple chapel, with an altar in the back. Myria knelt in front of it and began to pray. I stood there watching for a moment, but I didn’t want to disturb her, so I left her alone in that solemn atmosphere.

After that, Myria immersed herself in the church. She’d get up in the morning, take care of me, and head straight to the chapel to pray from morning till night, without even eating lunch.

Her dedication was finally rewarded a few days later.

“Lord Luke! I did it! I received the Gift of Oracle!”

“What? Really?!”

Myria

Age: 21

Village Affinity: Extreme

Recommended Job: Priest

Gifts: Oracle

It’s true! The parentheses disappeared!

“That’s amazing! I can’t believe you received a Gift without a priest!”

“I think the church had a lot to do with it, of course. I did it in just a few days, but I think it would usually take several years under normal circumstances.”

“Maybe it’s because of your talent for being a priest?”

“That’s probably part of it.” (But I think it was mostly the power of your love, Lord Luke!)

“What do you mean?”

“Oh, nothing,” she replied, giggling.

If prayer alone took several years, that would be too difficult for most. But now that Myria finally had the Gift of Oracle, she could start bestowing Blessings on people.

I hadn’t used Villager Appraisal on my seventy new residents yet, but we had nine villagers total with latent Gifts. Two of them were young children who would need to wait, but we brought the remaining seven to the church.

Young children were forbidden from receiving Blessings, as the process apparently put a lot of stress on a child’s body.

“Mayor? What’s going on?” Barlatt said. He and the others looked totally baffled.

I explained the situation.

“M-Me? Receive a Gift?!”

“But I thought only certain noble lineages could receive Gifts? My family’s been farmers for generations!”

“That’s not actually true,” I said. “Some people are more likely to inherit gifts due to their family’s lineage, but social standing has nothing to do with it. People who are capable of receiving Gifts can acquire them, regardless of whether they’re a noble or not.”

Stunned, they stared at me in silent disbelief.

I decided it would be better to simply show them. We’d start with Barlatt.

The sun shone through the chapel’s windows, bathing us in a holy glow as Myria offered up prayers. After a while, she slowly lifted her face and spoke. “Barlatt. I bestow upon you the Gift of Sword Proficiency.”

“Wh-What is this sensation? It’s like...” Barlatt said, “It’s like something just entered my body!”

Barlatt

Age: 32

Village Affinity: High

Recommended Job: Warrior

Gifts: Sword Proficiency

I used Village Appraisal on him to check, and sure enough, the parentheses had disappeared.

“Take this sword, Barlatt.”

“Are you sure, Mayor?”

“Positive. You’ll make better use of it than I.”

We couldn’t make swords in the village yet, and the only blade we owned besides Seren’s was my personal weapon.

“It’s strange... I’ve hardly even touched a sword before, but it feels so familiar...” Barlatt murmured as he gripped the handle, looking totally mystified. “Thank you, Mayor. I know I’m not exactly in my prime anymore, but I’ll do my best to get stronger and protect this village,” he vowed firmly.

After that, Myria bestowed the Gifts of Compounding Knowledge, Dungeon Exploration, Literary Talent, Master Farmer, Green Magic, and Spear Proficiency.

I’d never heard of Master Farmer before. It obviously had to do with farming, and since the person who received the gift was a twenty-year-old man already working hard in the fields, I’d have him continue to do that.

Green Magic came with a knack for wind and weather spells. It seemed like a high-level practitioner could summon rain at will, which could come in handy for farming.

Spear Proficiency was basically the spear equivalent of Sword Proficiency, and a fifteen-year-old boy received it. I had high hopes that he’d grow into a valuable member of our village as a guard or hunter.

With its population now at 173, the village was bustling with activity. I could barely remember the time when it was just Myria and me here.

The ratio of women to men was roughly two to one. Since the population skewed younger, the village felt vibrant and lively—probably because of all the young women.

“Good morning, Mayor Luke. Hee hee. Looking handsome as ever today.”

“Oh, Mayor! Your skin is so plump and glowing! I’m so jealous of you.”

“I think you must be the cutest mayor in the whole world, Luke!”

Teasing me was one of the women’s favorite pastimes. I knew very well that I didn’t have the imposing presence a mayor usually had, but still...

Most women over twenty were already married, but almost all of their husbands had been drafted for war. Some had young children, so I was sure they had a lot on their plates. That’s why I couldn’t really begrudge them their new hobby.

I was never good at dealing with older women anyway, so I couldn’t bring myself to protest... Case in point: I still slept sandwiched between Myria and Seren.

“I’m jealous of the mayor. Two beautiful wives?!”

“You can say that again. Only our mayor could snag two women like that at his young age!”

“He may look adorable, but I bet he’s tough underneath! Ha ha ha!”

At some point, the villagers had started referring to Myria and Seren as my wives. We did live in the same house, so it made sense that they jumped to that conclusion... Strangely enough, neither Myria nor Seren corrected the other villagers—which meant that even when I insisted that they weren’t my wives, the other villagers just said, “Aw, he’s blushing! It’s so cute!” or “Guess he’s just at that age where he’s shy!” and no one took me seriously at all.

One day, I heard sharp male voices and the metal clash of swords coming from the town square.

“Ha!”

“Phew!”

Clang! Clang! Clang!

Barlatt and the others were practicing swordsmanship. In addition to Barlatt, a twenty-six-year-old named Peren from the new group of seventy-six had also received the Gift of Sword Proficiency.

They often sparred together. Even though neither had previous experience with a sword, they improved very quickly. Before long, their movements were so swift I couldn’t even keep track of them.

The power of a Gift was extraordinary. I finally understood what people meant when they said no ordinary person, no matter how hard they tried, could ever close the gap between them and someone with a Gift.

And I’d wished so desperately to inherit Father’s Gift of Sword Mastery too...

Once they finished their training, the men stared one another down, shoulders heaving as they struggled to catch their breath. Finally, they put their swords down.

Nearby villagers who’d been spectating immediately broke into cheers.

“Amazing!”

“So that’s the power of a Gift. I can’t believe it...”

“You’ve gotten quite good. Next time, you two can lead the village hunts,” Seren said haughtily.

“Yes, Master!”

Seren had been training with a sword since childhood. That, plus her Gift of Dual Blades, meant she’d taken charge of teaching the two men.

Still, it felt kind of strange to have these two much older men calling fifteen-year-old Seren “Master.”

When I’d used Villager Appraisal on the new group of sixty-seven, I’d been shocked to discover eight people with latent Gifts. Two of them were still young children, so only six had received Blessings.

Besides Peren’s Sword Proficiency, there was Giant’s Strength, which boosted physical power, Beast’s Nose, which granted an extraordinary sense of smell like that of a beast, Danger Detection, making it easier to detect threats, and Poison Resistance, which reduced the effects of poison. The last one was Shield Mastery, an advanced version of Shield Proficiency and an exceptionally rare Gift said to rival Sword Mastery in value.

Shields didn’t offer many offensive capabilities, but the Gift bestowed extremely high defensive power and even allowed the user to absorb damage in place of their allies.

A thirteen-year-old boy named Noel had received that Gift. He was only a year younger than me, but he was already as tall and sturdy as Barlatt. He seemed like the perfect match for a Gift like that.

He was a quiet boy and a bit awkward, but I could tell he had a gentle heart. He was very grateful I’d welcomed him into the village.

When he’d learned about his Gift, he’d said, “Mayor... I’ll use this gift to protect you.”

“Thanks, Noel.”

We only had wooden shields, but I hoped we could someday get him one worthy of his strength.

“Our hunting party has grown a lot,” Seren said. “Both in number and enthusiasm. They just keep getting stronger.”

She went on to tell me about the piglike monsters called orcs in the northern forest. “Could be a good idea to start hunting them,” Seren said.

Orc meat was said to be very delicious, and its rarity meant it fetched a high price.

Right now, Seren’s hunting party consisted of around ten people, including Barlatt and Peren (both with Sword Proficiency), a young boy named Rand who had Spear Proficiency, and Noel with his rare Shield Mastery. Another village with Giant’s Strength accompanied them, carrying supplies and weapons, while the two with Beast’s Nose and Danger Detective served as the party’s scouts.

They’d been bringing in a good haul each hunt, and the Giant’s Strength Gift was especially useful for lugging all the game back to the village.

“Mayor! It looks like there are more refugees coming!” a lookout called from the watchtower.

When I went over to meet them, I saw the group numbered ten. Unlike the others I’d welcomed so far, these people seemed absolutely terrified.

“My name is Luke, and I’m the mayor of this village. Just about everyone here is a refugee like you, so please don’t worry.”

They didn’t answer.

At first, I thought they were still in shock at stumbling upon a village like this out in the wastelands, but then I suspected there was more to it.

“Did something happen?” I asked.

Whatever they’d experienced must’ve been pretty scary, because it took a while for them to open up.

“Well, actually...” someone eventually said.

They told me that they lived in a village of about one hundred people, but had been attacked on the road by a band of thieves.

“Anyone who resisted was killed. They took most of the others away. We were lucky to run away and somehow make it all the way here...”

“I see...”

Having to abandon their village was bad enough, but then they were attacked by bandits. It was no wonder they were so exhausted.

“Bandits that target refugees aren’t that unusual. I’m sure they’re trying to sell them as slaves,” Myria said.

She was right. Anyone who’d reached the village without incident was incredibly lucky. Worst-case scenario, they could’ve run into those bandits too. Everyone seemed to be thinking the same thing, because they had grave looks on their faces.

“It’s terrible...”

“It’s a horrible story. But it’s not like this doesn’t affect us,” Seren said.

“That’s true. Most of our villagers are refugees,” I nodded.

“That’s not what I mean,” Seren said.

I blinked. “Huh?”

Suddenly, the refugees bowed their heads to me. “W-we’re so sorry, but the bandits might have followed us here!”

“What?!”

Chapter Five: The Bandit Attack

“Ha, I’ve got the worst luck,” I sighed as I trudged across the wasteland.

Kidnapping refugees to sell as slaves was just what we had to do as bandits to make ends meet. And it just so happened that a big war was starting up, so people were fleeing their villages and wandering around left and right.

It had been the perfect opportunity to make a ton of money, so we’d captured refugees around the clock, with no time to rest.

We’d captured a group of people, but they’d escaped before we could actually sell them to slave traders. All because of my screw up.

Eh, I’m sure there are plenty more where those came from. It’ll be fine, I thought, but unfortunately, the boss had found out and I’d gotten an earful.

Not only that, but he’d told me not to bother coming back until I’d recaptured the refugees who’d escaped. So I had no choice but to follow the group, which was how I’d ended up wandering around in this hellhole.

How the hell was I supposed to bring back ten people single-handedly, anyway? Might as well kill the ugly women and the low-value men. I’m sure it’ll be enough if I just bring back the ones actually worth selling.

I was lost in thought, planning my next move, when I discovered something really strange: a village out here in the middle of nowhere.

The refugees I was after seemed to be heading right toward it, in fact.

At first, I cursed, thinking it was just one thing after the other, but after I snuck closer to the village to get a better look, I realized this was actually my lucky break.

It was a small village of about 150, mostly women and children. I didn’t see many young men at all.

I decided to contact my boss right away.

Someone in my gang had Telepathy, a convenient gift that allowed us to communicate just by thinking words in our heads.

“Hey, Big Bro. Got a minute?” I thought, contacting a member named Saten.

“What is it, Baul? You better be callin’ to say you found ’em.”

“’Course I did. But that ain’t all. I found a village out here in the wasteland!”

“Huh? The hell are you talkin’ about? No way there’s a village out there in the desert.”

“I-It’s true! I took a look around, and most of the folks inside are women! I think a bunch of refugees formed the village, so I bet we could take ’em all, easy.”

“You swear?”

“I swear!”

“All right, I’ll talk to the boss. If it’s true, this is a big win.”

“Thanks!”

I ended Telepathy and clenched my fists.

Hee hee hee. This is how I can make up for my mistake! Might even get a promotion outta this!

“Huh?” I said, blinking. “My body suddenly feels so heav—”

The next moment, I was waking up inside a jail cell.

Ugh, what happened? Last thing I remember, I was tailing those refugees who escaped...

“Ah!”

Suddenly, it all came back to me.

That’s right! I found a village out in the middle of nowhere, snuck inside, and let one of my comrades know it was an easy target with lots of women and children.

Then, for some reason, my body froze up, and I couldn’t move a muscle.

“Hey, Baul! Can ya hear me? Baul!”

“Huh? Big Bro...”

“Tch! Why didn’t ya answer me if you can hear me, huh?”

With a start, I realized it was just Saten using Telepathy to communicate with me. “S-Sorry...”

“We’re headin’ to that village you told me about.”

“R-Really?”

“Yeah. Just checkin’ one more time, but you sure about this?”

“Yeah, I’m sure!” I quickly replied, but then I started freaking out.

It was mostly women and children here, yet they’d caught me ridiculously easily and put me in a jail cell. Maybe this village wasn’t as ordinary as it seemed, after all...

Should I tell him? Nah. If I do, the boss’ll be furious with me, and I might even get kicked outta the gang. Worst-case scenario, they might not even rescue me.

“Yeah, I swear! This place is nothing but women and kids! Real easy target! Some of ’em will sell for tons too!”

It wasn’t a complete lie. I knew the girl with the blue hair I’d seen before passing out would definitely go for a high price. And coincidentally, just as I thought that, she appeared on the other side of the bars to my cell.

“Looks like you’re awake, huh?”

◇◇◇

That evening, I felt something strange.

“What is that?” I hummed, focusing on the odd sensation in my body. On a whim, I checked the village map and saw a red dot that hadn’t been there before. I moved the cursor over the dot, and the word “Intruder” popped up.

Apparently, this map could also detect enemies and even mark them with a red dot.

“Do you think it’s one of the bandits we were talking about earlier? But why is it only one?” I asked.

“I’m sure they’re being cautious after spotting a village out here in the middle of nowhere,” Seren said.

So like a scout?

“Can you tell where they are?” she asked.

“Yeah, over there by the fields.”

We decided to head over to investigate. With the sun already dipping below the horizon, it made it difficult to see. Plus, our crops had grown tall. It was the perfect place to hide.

But thanks to the map, I knew exactly where they were.

“They’re over there,” I said.

“Got it. Forgive me if I destroy some of the crops in the process, okay?” Seren said before activating a spell. “Freezing!”

“Huh? My body feels heav—” the man started before his body froze solid.

“Looks like we got our intruder,” Seren said.

She showed me a man whose body had been completely turned into ice.

I built a jail, then we put the intruder we’d caught into one of the cells. I was able to build a Level 3 jail.

Jail

>>Contains sturdy cells from which escape is nearly impossible. Reflect on your crimes and repent!

Reflect on your crimes and repent, huh?

The facility descriptions could be weird sometimes...

“Looks like you’re awake, huh?” Seren said.

The man had lost consciousness when Seren had frozen his body, but he seemed awake now. He looked in his late twenties and was a slender, agile-looking man. He definitely had the build and clothing I’d expect from a bandit. Even though we’d confiscated the knife he’d had hidden on him, we’d still shackled him to the wall just in case.

“Who are you?” Seren asked.

He didn’t answer.

“I’m sure you’re a bandit, huh?”

Having apparently decided not to answer any of her questions, he said nothing.

“What are you doing here alone? Where are the others? How big is your gang?”

Still no answer.

The other bandits could have been preparing to attack the village, so we needed to get information out of him as soon as possible to prepare.

Suddenly, creepy laughter rang behind me.

“Leave this to me,” a voice said, and then the oldest woman in our village appeared.

“Oh! G-Granny...”

Her Recommended Job was a torturer. She was very short, about the same height as me.

Granny approached the shackled man, her voice becoming low and gravely. “Hey, you. You’re gonna answer my questions now, ya hear?”

No answer.

“Are you listening?”

No answer again.

“You better listen when I ask you a question, you rotten brat!”

Suddenly, Granny shrieked and kicked the man right between his legs, causing him to let out a gasp.

She let out a sadistic chuckle as she looked down at him, writhing on the floor.

“Hee hee. Hurts, doesn’t it? That was just a preview. Now, I’m going to gently take those little balls of yours into my hands...and crush them!”

“Eep...”

Um, I’m scared, Granny... Also, she’s pretty lively for someone so old...

“N-Not that! Anything but that, please!”

“Then spit it out! I’m an impatient woman, ya hear?!” Granny yelled, grabbing hold of the man’s family jewels.

“A-All right already! I’ll talk! I’ll talk—Just stoooop!”

All color drained from his face, he proceeded to tell us everything.

Just as we’d suspected, he belonged to a gang of bandits and had been tailing a group of refugees that’d escaped captivity. He was alone because the refugees had gotten away due to his mistake, and he’d been single-handedly tasked with recapturing them.

I thought the rest of his gang wouldn’t find out about the village since we already had him in custody, but unfortunately, that wasn’t the case. He’d already told them about the village, and they were on their way.

“Hmph. The Gift of Telepathy, eh? You got a pretty important Gift for a scummy bandit,” Granny said with a snort.

He told us there were a little over sixty members in his gang, although he wasn’t sure how many were heading this way. These bandits had a track record of violence and theft, but now it was time for us to attack them.

◇◇◇

My name is Saten. I was born into a pretty prestigious family, but due to certain reasons, I became a member of a band of thieves.

I’d received Telepathy when I was twelve. It was a handy ability that allowed me to transmit my thoughts to someone else without having to ever open my mouth. However, a side effect of the Gift was that I could hear the thoughts of anybody around me.

That’d caused some resentment within my family, and after some other troubles, they’d kicked me out about twenty years ago. I’d wandered around from place to place for about ten years, then I’d joined Boss’s bandit gang about ten years ago.

I really liked our gang. I’d become the boss’s right-hand man, and all the others called me Big Bro. Boss was a scary guy when you made him mad, but he understood the value of my Gift and made good use of it.

He had a combat Gift and was a powerful fighter.

Our line of work often had us in frequent quarrels with the local guards, but we’d always been able to beat them back thanks to Boss.

Just now, another bandit returned from his scouting.

“It’s true, Big Bro!” he called. “There really is a village out here!”

Earlier, another member had contacted me via Telepathy to say he’d found a village in the wasteland while chasing escaped refugees.

“Yeah? I wasn’t sure if I believed Baul, but I guess he was telling the truth.” I breathed a sigh of relief. Thankfully, we hadn’t wasted our time coming all the way out here.

I activated Telepathy to check in on Baul’s.

“Hey, Baul. We found the village, just like you said.”

“R-Really? Everyone in the village is asleep, so now’s the time to strike! I snuck around and opened the gate for you! So you can come in real easy!”

“Heh. Thanks for being so considerate.”

I went to report the good news to Boss.

“Ha,” he said with a snort. “Why even bother going to the trouble of attacking a village like that at night? Eh, waiting till morning’s too much of a pain. Let’s just get it over with.”

Boss picked up his beloved battle axe and then began walking toward the village.

He stood over two meters tall and with a nearly superhuman physique. His axe, equally enormous, was too heavy for most people to lift, yet he could easily swing it around with one hand.

The rest of us followed him. Some stayed behind to keep watch over the refugees we caught, but about forty of us went on to the village. Plenty to take it down.

As we approached the village, we saw what looked like the gate.

Up to this point, we’d approached without torchlight, relying on the moon and stars instead. Now, we set our torches ablaze all at once.

“All right, men! Follow me! Yaaaaah!” Boss yelled, leading the charge. He swung his axe and sliced through the gate. Even though it was made of sturdy wood, it buckled open as if it were made of nothing.

“Yeeaaah!” The rest of us followed Boss and stormed the village.

Then something strange happened. Suddenly, the solidity of the ground beneath my feet completely disappeared.

“Huh?!”

I felt like I was floating, which immediately turned to falling. It was happening to everyone else too, and we all began to panic.

Wait, did they set up a pitfall here?!

That would’ve been better. Instead, we fell into a river.

It happened so fast that I swallowed a few mouthfuls of water, but I somehow managed to get to the surface.

“Bwuh! Damn it!” I roared. “There’s a moat between the walls?!”

The water was surprisingly deep. I’m average height, but my feet couldn’t even touch the bottom of the trench.

Flames appeared one by one on the other side of the moat, along with several silhouettes.

Not only did the villagers know we were coming, but they’d planned this?!

“You don’t know who you’re dealin’ with! We can swim across a little moat with no—” Suddenly, the temperature of the water plummeted. As it turned into ice around me, I flailed my arms. “It’s f-freezing...”

I stared in disbelief as the surface of the water began freezing solid. At this rate, I’d rather have been completely immobilized.

“Hey, Baul! What the hell’s goin’ on?! Hey! I know you can hear me!”

Tch. My Telepathy to Baul wasn’t working. It was all his fault that this happened in the first place, and he was gonna pay for it.

Wait, what if that idiot got captured by the villagers? They could’ve ordered him to feed me lies...

If that’s what happened, then we’d already fallen for it hook, line, and sinker.

I frantically tried to swim with all my might, but the ice stopped me from making much progress. The other bandits were struggling too.

“Ha! You really think something like this can stop us?!” Boss yelled. Unbelievably, he was the only one who waded through the icy cold water like it was nothing at all. I guessed it was because of his ridiculous strength.

He reached the shore in no time.

“It was you, wasn’t it, ya little brat?!” He glared at a young woman with blue hair standing near the moat. “You’re the one who froze the water with magic!”

Apparently, she’d used magic to freeze the water.

Boss charged at the girl, battle axe in hand. “Take this!”

The next moment, something incredible happened.

Not only did the girl dodge Boss’s crushing attack, but she whipped out two swords and slashed him as she darted past.

Given Boss’s Gift of Axe Proficiency, seeing someone evade his attack, let alone wound him, was insane. Only someone with another Gift could do something like that.

“Gah! You bitch! You can use swords on top of magic?! Don’t tell me you are Twice Gifted!”

Someone in this village is Twice Gifted? What the hell is going on? I thought, trembling with fear. People with more than one Gift were incredibly rare.

Then it hit me. The moment Boss had started fighting with the blue-haired girl, the water had begun thawing. This was my chance to swim to the other side! My body had lost most of its feeling, but I kicked and flailed as best I could. The effort paid off when I finally reached the shore.

The other bandits, right behind me, climbed onto solid land one by one. I was stunned to see the blue-haired girl fighting Boss on equal footing, but as long as he kept her occupied, we could suppress all of the defenders’ potential threats. All we needed to do now was take the villagers hostage...

“Bah?”

“Argh!”

Looking behind me, I saw villagers armed with swords and spears driving the men who’d come onto the shore back into the water.

“Damn it! You got no idea what we’re capable of!”

“Get ’em!”

It didn’t matter that the cold had sapped our strength and slowed our movements. We were still a band of battle-hardened thieves. Who cared if the villagers had weapons? At the end of the day, they were amateurs who couldn’t stand a chance against us.

Or at least, that’s what I thought.

“Nngh!”

“Oof!”

“I-Is it just me or are these guys way too strong?!”

One after one, my seasoned comrades got the crap kicked out of them.

Most shocking of all, Boss was still engaged in fierce combat with the blue-haired girl.

“Argh... You little wretch!” he roared. He’d grown sluggish, blood leaking from wounds scattered all over his body.

No, wait...

Upon closer look, it wasn’t just his injuries that were slowing him down.

“My body... It’s getting colder... It’s your magic, isn’t it?!”

“That’s right. Every time I cut you, I drain some of your body heat. Your muscles are pretty thick, so it’s hard for my blade to get through, but the cold has no trouble seeping inside, huh?” the girl taunted.

“I’ve heard of you... You’re the Ice Blade Princess of Bazlata, aren’t you? What the hell are you doing in some backwater village?”

“I have my reasons.”

“Tch... I had no idea you were this strong... Looks like you’ve defeated me...” After that declaration, Boss’s gigantic body toppled backward.

Wait, Boss lost?! You’ve gotta be kidding me!

Now that he’d been defeated, there was no way the rest of us could keep up our motivation to fight. We all surrendered and let them capture us without a struggle.

◇◇◇

“I’m glad everything went well,” I said.

“Yes, it’s all thanks to you, Lord Luke!” Myria praised.

We stood on the watchtower, where we’d watched our villagers contend with the biggest danger our village had faced thus far. I breathed a sigh of relief.

It had started with the man we’d caught named Baul. He’d let us know someone in the band of thieves had the Telepathy Gift, so we’d used it against them.

“It was a brilliant idea. You may look cute and harmless, but I think you have the talent of a military strategist!” Granny said.

“No, I have you to thank, Granny. Without your convincing, he never would’ve lured the other bandits in so perfectly.”

“Hee hee. Once I got my hands on him, it was a piece of cake!”

“Y-Yeah...”

Baul had folded rather quickly after Granny started threatening him. After that, I’d waited until all the bandits made it inside the village and built a moat right beneath their feet.

Moat

>>A water-filled trench designed to stop enemy invasions. You can customize its shape to suit your fortifications.

If I’d built it in advance, the ones in the front might have fallen in or noticed the moat, warning the bandits in the back. That’s why I’d had to wait for the perfect moment to construct it.

And it had worked beautifully. The bandits had all fallen into the moat with a splash! Seren had followed it up with some Blue Magic to quickly freeze the water. We’d planned to have her freeze the entire moat, bandits and all, but that’s where we’d hit a bit of a snag. A big man about twice the size of Barlatt had forced his way through the freezing water. From the information Baul had given us beforehand, I’d known that was their boss.

He’d figured out Seren was the one freezing the water and attacked her. She’d had no choice but to engage him in combat, which interrupted her spell. With the water unable to finish freezing, the other bandits had swum to shore.

It hadn’t been too big of a surprise, though. We’d positioned our villagers with combat Gifts there to greet them, led by Barlatt. They’d defeated the villagers in no time, partly thanks to the fact that their bodies were nearly frozen.

Our village forces had ended the battle by shoving the bandits back into the icy waters. At almost the same moment, Seren had managed to defeat their boss, effectively snuffing out the last of the bandits’ fighting spirit.

And that’s how we successfully protected our village from the bandits.

First thing in the morning, Seren led a party, including Barlatt and the others, to search for the other refugees the bandits had captured.

“Luke, we brought back the refugees the bandits captured,” she said upon returning.

I was thankful she’d gotten to them before the others had sold them as slaves.

“Great job, Seren. Sorry you had to go to so much effort,” I said.

“It’s no big deal. At first, the remaining bandits there put up a fight. When they realized there was no chance in hell that they could beat us, a few minutes later, they ran away.”

She told me that about twenty bandits had stayed behind to watch over the captured refugees. There wasn’t anyone strong left like their boss, so it wasn’t much trouble to take care of them. Barlatt and the others went with her as well.

And of course, our elderly Granny got a lot of information out of them.

“Hee hee. Once I got my hands on ’em, it was a piece of cake!”

I was a little frightened to ask what she did, so I just decided not to.

Tamilia’s group of 94 has become villagers.

The rescued refugees joined our village, increasing the population to 267. Meanwhile, the captured bandits were getting along just fine in jail. A single facility wasn’t enough to fit all of them, so I had to make three.

“But what should we do with all of them?” I wondered.

There was no way I could judge them for their crimes. Their gang operated in such a wide area that I knew I should’ve handed them over to the lord who governed this territory.

My only hesitation was that the world had recently become so unstable that bandits were often left unchecked. Sometimes, no proper trial was held; they were just executed. Other times, shady, backroom deals went down, and the entire lot would get off without so much as a slap on the wrist.

Register the bandits as villagers? ▼ Yes / No

Um, absolutely not.

Sure, I’d allowed the refugees to join the village, but this was entirely different. Who knew what kind of crimes the bandits had committed? It’d be too dangerous for my citizens if I let these bandits live in our village.

I thought about it some more.

You know, this “Villager” designation is just a function of the Gift. If I register them as villagers, that doesn’t mean I have to treat them the same as other villagers. Plus, if they were villagers, I could use Villager Appraisal and maybe get some of them to change their ways. Come to think of it, wasn’t there some kind of rehabilitation facility?

Rehabilitation Center

>>A place to reform criminals and wrongdoers. Increases chance of repentance.

Hm, according to the description, if I put the bandits in the rehab center, it makes it easier for them to reform. I wonder if that’s really true? Well, the descriptions haven’t been wrong yet, so it must be. And if some of them can’t be rehabilitated, then I can exile them or have them work as slaves or something.

With Village Affinity, I could also see the chances of them falling back into bad habits.

Basically, I could make them villagers regardless of whether they wanted to or not. As long as they stayed in the village for a certain period of time, I could forcibly register them.

That was a little scary, though.

For example, that meant if travelers were in the village for long enough, I could force them to become villagers as well.

If someone’s Village Affinity became too low, they’d automatically stop being counted as a villager after spending a certain amount of time away.

Register the bandits as villagers? ▼ Yes / No

I selected Yes.

Doriel’s group of 43 has become villagers.

Da-da-daaan! Congratulations! Your village’s population has surpassed 300 villagers, and your Village Level has increased to Level 5!

You have received a Level-Up Bonus of 3,000 Village Points.

New facilities are available for construction!

Village boundary has expanded.

You have gained the skill “Facility Customization.”

>>Facility Customization

Allows you to freely modify the layout and features of existing facilities.

Previously, every constructable facility had been predesigned. While I could pick a shape from several options, I couldn’t change it once it’d been placed. I could only use Facility Upgrade to boost specific attributes. But with this new skill, I could adjust the length, depth, and curvature of an earthen wall—or even repaint it completely.

However, customizing things required Village Points depending on what I wanted to do. I looked into the details.

High Cost

>>Add new equipment to or expand facility (increasing overall size)

Moderate Cost

>>Change the layout of a facility (no change in overall size)

Lower Cost

>>Remove features or repaint

I guessed I’d have to try each option later to see how many points each required. For now, I decided to build that rehabilitation center.

It’d be too much trouble to transport everyone at once, so I planned to move bandits in five at a time, starting with the ones who seemed the least problematic.

Much to the bandits’ horror, Granny volunteered to oversee their rehabilitation.

“Hee hee... Well, you just leave this to me. I’ll turn these fellas into upstanding citizens, mm-hmm... Hee hee...”

“Aaaah!” they screamed.

Uhh, is this really gonna be all right?

Chapter Six: Effortless Customization

Before starting anything else, I wanted to get a clear picture of the village’s current facilities. First off, I had one small hut and a storehouse. Then there was the small house I lived in with Myria and Seren.

We had sixteen row houses where the villagers lived and sixteen wells. There were thirty fields now, and I’d upgraded them several times to improve their yield. I’d built about fifteen sections of earthen walls and placed gates in each cardinal direction.

Wooden Gate

>>A wooden gate and door that can be locked with a bar. Treated to resist rot.

We had four watchtowers, one in each corner of the village. Then there were the three jails for holding the bandits, along with one rehabilitation center. Incidentally, I’d already filled in the moat I’d used to trap them.

We also had one outdoor kitchen and a single waste incinerator.

Waste Incinerator

>>Plenty of firepower. Keeps the village clean by burning waste.

And finally, there was the church. Our village had turned into something pretty amazing.

Next, I wanted to check out the facilities that had become available thanks to my level-up.

Road (5)

Waterway (10)

Stone Watchtower (100)

Public Bath (150)

Large House (200)

“A road for five points and a waterway for ten? Isn’t that awfully cheap?” I muttered to myself. But apparently, a single section only covered a few meters, so I’d have to construct multiple units and link them together.

Road

>>Paved with stone. Reduces fatigue and increases movement speed.

I found that the road was sturdier than I’d expected when I actually made one. It was made of stone, just like the description said, but the gaps between the individual stones were almost nonexistent. The surface was even and smooth. Even the main highways connecting Arvale’s capital to the major towns weren’t that flat.

Waterway

>>A stone waterway to channel clean water throughout the village and prevent a buildup of debris and sludge.

The waterway was solidly built from neatly stacked stones. This would make irrigation projects easier.

Stone Watchtower

>>A sturdier watchtower built of stone with far greater visibility.

It looked like the stone watchtower was the upgraded version of the regular wooden watchtower.

Public Bath

>>A bath for communal use. Restores fatigue, maintains health, and raises Village Affinity.

“Oh, I bet everyone will love this.”

The row houses didn’t have bathtubs. Only the small house I lived in had one, in fact. That meant the villagers always washed themselves with cold well water. It was fine now in the warmer weather, but once winter came, bathing would be miserable.

After thinking it over for a while, I decided to improve the village’s defenses first. I upgraded all the earthen walls to stone walls, then used Facility Upgrade to reinforce the wooden gates.

Thankfully, we’d managed to thwart the bandit gang’s plan, but leaving the walls as they were felt too risky. Not to mention, they’d destroyed one of the gates.

“Wh-What’s happening?”

“The walls are moving!”

“And they’ve turned to stone!”

Previously, the earthen walls had been two meters tall, but they transformed in front of the villagers’ eyes to stone ramparts two and a half meters high. Everyone was confused and panicking.

“Oh, sorry. That was me.”

“Ah, it was just Mr. Mayor!”

“I should’ve guessed. Only Mr. Mayor can pull off something like that in an instant.”

“Isn’t everyone getting comfortable with this a bit too quickly?” I muttered.

But the moment the villagers realized it was my doing, they accepted it without question.

I shook it off and moved on to upgrading the small house. I’d left it that way for a while since the villagers were still living in row houses, but everyone had started telling me that my house was way too tiny.

And now that I could build a large house, I decided to at least upgrade it to a medium one for the time being. It cost fifty points to upgrade.

“Whoa, it turned into a two-story!”

I stepped inside and saw that the first floor had a living room, kitchen, and one bedroom. There were two more bedrooms on the second floor. The small house had basically been like a one-room studio, so this felt incredibly spacious.

“There’s only one bed, though...”

The house was mostly furnished, but unfortunately, there was just the one bed upstairs.

At least it’s bigger than the old one. Probably a double bed.

And then it hit me.

“Wait, if I use Facility Customization, maybe I can add more beds!”

I would have to sleep in the middle of a sandwich every night. I’d finally be free!

I put my new skill into use and focused on picturing a new bed.

A translucent image of a bed appeared. If I concentrated, I could resize it or move it anywhere I liked. There was a little number displayed in the corner next to the bed. It read 2 Village Points, but climbed to three when I enlarged the bed and dropped to one when I shrank it.

A double bed was two points, but even the one-point size seemed more spacious than our old bed.

I ended up placing a new bed in one of the upstairs rooms and another on the first floor.

“Perfect. I’ll finally get to sleep alone tonight!”

Even if I’d gotten used to sleeping between Myria and Seren, I still couldn’t get over the idea of sleeping co-ed, all crammed onto one mattress. It was absurd.

“I’d like to add more toilets and another bathtub too.”

The toilet and bathtub had been in the same space before, but were now separate in the medium-sized house. There was only one of each, which meant there was bound to be another incident.

I won’t go into detail, but there’d been a few accidents already.

“Wow, that costs more points than I thought.”

Adding a bed was one point, but a toilet cost ten, and a bathtub five. Still, this customization was absolutely necessary to prevent further disasters.

After I expanded my house with an extra toilet and bath, I decided to put a public bathhouse in the village’s open space.

“What exactly is this, Mayor?”

“Oh, Berlitt!”

He’d shown up at the perfect time, so I gave him a quick explanation. Since he managed the villagers, I needed him to help spread the word on how to use the facility. I wanted him to write up some rules for it, if possible.

“A public bathhouse?” he asked, totally lost.

Now that I thought of it, only the capital of Arvale had anything like it. No wonder he’d never heard of a public bathhouse before.

“All right, how about I give you a tour?” It would be easier to show him rather than explain, so I led him through the entrance. There was a small foyer, then the space split into two separate passages. Each had a curtain hanging over it, one for men and one for women. For some reason, it was in the language of my old world, but...I guess they’d just have to learn it.

“Looks like there are separate areas for men and women,” I said.

“So is this something like a public toilet?” he asked.

“No, that would be a public restroom. This is different.” I pulled aside the curtain to the men’s side and stepped in. “This must be the changing room.”

“Changing room?” Berlitt tipped his head to the side, confused.

I motioned him further inside and opened the door.

A massive pool of hot water stretched before us, a sparkling layer of white steam hanging in the air above it.

“Wait, it’s like a giant bathtub!”

“Yeah, it’s a bath everyone can use together. That’s what a public bathhouse is.”

“It’s incredible...” he murmured.

There were washing stations all along the wall. I told Berlitt I wanted everyone to clean themselves properly before getting into the tub. However, I knew there’d always be people who’d climb in while dirty.

“Using the well water is fine now while it’s warm out, but it’ll be miserable during winter,” I told him.

“To think you’d create something so wonderful just for us... Thank you!”

“Well, it only took a few seconds thanks to my Gift,” I shrugged.

“A few...seconds?”

The public bathhouse became a huge hit with the villagers. People couldn’t wait to use it the instant it was finished. The women’s bath became particularly crowded.

Incidentally, a young man tried to take a peek inside and was caught immediately. The women gave him a thorough beating, and then he was thrown into the same jail as the bandits.

Yikes...

But thanks to that example, no one would dare try the same thing again. Besides, this village had more women than men, and women were definitely stronger. Voyeurism was absolutely forbidden.

“You’re always welcome to join us, Mr. Mayor,” one of the older women said one day.

“Yes, we’d love it if you came to bathe with us!”

“We’d be happy to wash your back!”

“No way! I’m absolutely not going in there!” I turned and bolted away as fast as I could.

Honestly, do they think I’m some kind of pet or something?!

I walked over to the stone wall I’d built on the edge of the village, eager to try something with my new Facility Customization skill.

“Some stairs on this side of the wall would be pretty convenient,” I muttered. Having a way to get on top of the wall would be helpful during an emergency. I pictured it in my mind, and suddenly a semitransparent staircase blueprint appeared, leading up to the rampart’s walkway.

It said it would cost five Village Points to construct.

“I should probably put a set of stairs in each direction.”

So I walked along the wall, installing sets of staircases at equal intervals.

“What should I do now? Hm... Oh, I know! If I make little holes, maybe we could attack through the wall...”

I hollowed out a small space using one Village Point.

“Hm, it’s deeper than I thought...”

The wall was over a meter thick, so it didn’t seem like a spear could reach through the hole. Still, I was worried enemies would use it to attack us. But what if I cut it at an angle instead?

Now that I was thinking of it though, I realized we didn’t have many weapons in the village. Most of them were made from wood too, so I was worried about their durability. Even wooden armaments weren’t easy to make. You had to cut down trees and carve them by hand, which required a lot of work.

They had to be hard, but if they were too hard, they’d be difficult to use. That was why the only villagers with decent weapons, even wooden ones, were in Seren’s hunting party.

Honestly, it was amazing that they’d managed to defeat the bandit gang with just those weapons.

“Hmm... There’s gotta be a better way of making weapons...”

We were smack-dab in the middle of the wilderness. Even if we made it back into the March of Arvale proper, I doubted we’d be able to find any quality arms in the small cities and villages scattered along the march’s border.

Suddenly, an idea popped into my head.

“Oh, wait a minute!”

I returned to the first small hut I had constructed in the village center.

No one was living there, so we’d been using it as a storage facility.

“I’ll just borrow some wood from this hut...”

I looked at one of the wall’s planks and imagined it turning into a stick, then that shape appeared as a semitransparent blueprint. After constructing it for two Village Points, a wooden rod clattered to the floor.

“I did it! Wow, I had no idea you could use the Facility Customization for this!”

I shook off my surprise and tried to modify the rod; however, no matter how hard I tried to imagine it, it wouldn’t change. Apparently, once you’d separated a piece from its original facility, it was no longer customizable with the village menu. I tried again, but this time, I continued customizing the plank until the slat went from a rod to a sword.

Finally, I pulled the plank-turned-sword off the wall.

“I did it!” I yelled.

I’d successfully made a sword just like I imagined. Normally, it would have taken several hours to carve a piece of wood into a blade, but I’d done it in seconds. And the entire thing had only cost three points. I could make as many as I wanted.

“Where did that sword come from, Lord Luke?”

“Oh, Myria! I was making swords from the hut’s walls.”

“The hut?” Her eyes widened.

I made another sword to demonstrate. Since it was the second one, I was able to make it even faster than the first.

“W-Wait... What was that?!”

“Oh, Seren! Perfect timing. I tried to make some swords using the hut’s wood, and it worked!” I said.

“I don’t get it... If your Gift is Village-Making, why can you do something like that?!”

“Oh, it’s an ability called Facility Customization.”

“Sounds pretty versatile,” Seren said.

It really did seem like this feature would easily let me make all kinds of things, not just weapons.

“Anyway, can you see how this sword performs?” I asked.

“Sure. Hang on a second.” Seren went to fetch Barlatt, who had the Sword Proficiency Gift. “Use this,” she told him.

“Okay.”

Apparently, they were going to test it out in a mock battle.

Barlatt took the sword I’d made and charged Seren so fast I could barely track him. He unleashed a flurry of slashes, but Seren deflected them effortlessly with her two swords.

Snap!

“Ahh!”

The sword had snapped clean in two, barely a minute into their bout.

“Well, it broke... But how did it feel to use?” she asked.

“Honestly, not very durable. I’d be worried about using it in a real fight,” he said.

It seemed like the hunting party’s wooden swords had been crafted from a much tougher wood, but even those were fragile compared to Seren’s swords, which had been forged by a master blacksmith. The swords I’d made were substantially weaker than the hunting party’s.

“Hmm, it doesn’t seem wise to make a bunch if they’re just going to break. And you can’t take them on hunting trips either. I guess I’ll just have to find a way to make them more durable. What if I could build a sturdier hut? And if I used its wood...”

I was still brainstorming ways to make better weapons when Granny came over to us.

“Hee hee hee...” she cackled. She’d brought along the bandits we’d placed in the first rehabilitation center I built. “I’ve finished whipping these boys into shape!”

“Thanks, Granny.” Then I turned to look at the bandits. “Um...”

The five men stood at attention, backs straight, arranged shoulder to shoulder like a line of well-trained soldiers. They stared at us with total focus.

“Listen up, you lot!” Granny shouted, sounding like some mafia queen addressing her lackies. “You’re gonna do whatever the mayor tells ya from now on. If he tells ya to work, you work! If he tells ya to die, then you die!”

“Yes, ma’am!” they shouted in unison, saluting with perfect synchronization.

They’re like totally different people!

“Mr. Mayor! We are your slaves! Please give us your next instructions!”

Are these guys really the same bandits? Were their personalities transformed by some kind of magic or something?

“Eee hee hee! See how obedient they are? They’ll never do another bad thing again, mark my words!”

“G-Granny, how did you get them to behave like this?” I asked warily.

“It’s all thanks to my expert guidance!” (Honestly, my plan was to scare the daylights outta ’em and beat ’em into submission... But for some reason, they went into that rehabilitation center and popped up like this!)

I checked their Village Affinity just in case, and it was marked as High, so I guessed it was safe to say they had reformed after all.

“Hee hee hee! Well then, I suppose I’ll get started on the next batch!” Granny headed cheerfully over to the jail.

“Mr. Mayor! What would you have us do?” one of the bandits asked.

“Um, right. For now, why don’t you help out Berlitt?”

“Yes, sir!” the former bandits replied cheerfully, then ran off to find him.

Sorry, Berlitt...

Then I suddenly realized something—the jail! Its windows were covered in iron bars.

“That’s it! I can use the cells to make the swords!”

I hurried over to it. The bandits still imprisoned inside glanced at me, and I flinched under their gaze, but I did my best to ignore them. I reached out to touch one of the bars separating us.

“Yep, definitely iron!”

I intended to use the customization feature to turn the iron into weapons.

“Hm, but if I do that, won’t there be a gap in the bars? First, I should add another one.”

I spent two points to create an extra iron bar.

“What the—?!”

The bandits had been eyeing me suspiciously, but now stared in wide-eyed shock as a new bar appeared out of thin air.

I cut off one end of the new bar, compressed it vertically, stretched it horizontally, and thinned it out.

Next, I sharpened the tip into a point. Once it looked right, I cut off the other end and separated it from the structure. It fell to the floor with a clatter. It definitely looked like a sword.

The bandits stared, even more bewildered than before.

“All done!” I said, picking it up. “Whew, it’s heavier than I expected.” It was probably because I’d compressed it so much, but that should’ve made it more durable too.

I lightly tapped it against the wall.

Claaaang!

The vibration rattled up my wrist and elbow.

“Ow, ow! This thing’ll break someone’s arm!”

It was my fault for making the grip out of iron too. Normally, the handles were made from wood, leather, or something similar.

After that, I experimented and eventually decided to make the blade from iron and the handle from the wood from the hut. At first, I intended to make them separately and combine them afterward, but that didn’t work since I could no longer customize items once I separated them from the facility.

Having to think of a new approach, I came up with the idea of connecting the two parts before I finished the customization process.

I moved the hut next to the jail, shaped the blade from the iron bars, then peeled off a wooden plank from the hut’s outer wall to wrap around the base for the grip. When I compressed the wood, I could also increase its strength.

“A-Am I dreaming right now?” one of the bandits muttered.

“N-No, I’m seeing it too!”

“Yeah, the hut moved over here by itself, then a sword came out of the iron bars! What the hell is going on in this village?!”

Staring with strained, anxious expressions, the bandits watched me forge a sword right before their eyes.

Once the weapon was complete, I detached it from the jail and the hut.

“Perfect! And since I used wood for the grip, it’ll absorb the impact properly,” I said with satisfaction.

I decided to make spears too. I made the pointed part from the iron bars and the shaft from wood. Even the wooden parts would be strong enough if I compressed them properly.

Using the same process, I made some spears. Afterward, I brought the new weapons over to Seren.

“Look, Seren. I managed to make proper weapons this time!”

“Wait, is that iron? Where in the world did you get them?” she asked, astonished.

We quickly decided to have her spar with Barlatt again to test them. This time, the weapons didn’t break, no matter how many times they clashed.

“It definitely seems more durable,” Seren said.

“Yeah, I think these would hold up just fine in actual combat,” Barlatt nodded.

It seemed like I’d finally earned a passing grade.

Next, I called over Rand, who had the Gift of Spear Proficiency, to test out the spears.

Rand was thrilled since he’d only ever used wooden spears. “This is really easy to use,” he said, trying it out, “and cuts so much better than the wooden kind! Now I can really contribute to the hunts! But where did you get it?”

“Oh, I made it.”

“You made it?!” Rand exclaimed in disbelief. “But I can’t possibly use it for battle!”

“Huh? Why not?” I asked.

“Because this spear is the first gift you’ve bestowed upon me, Mr. Mayor! I need to hold on to it and cherish it like a treasure—no, a family heirloom—for the rest of my life!”

“That’s going a little overboard! Go ahead and use it!”

Also, I think “bestowed” is a bit too fancy a word to use referring to someone like me!

“Argh... If I’d known that, I never would’ve sparred with mine!” Barlatt groaned.

Not you too, Barlatt!

Weapons were made to be used, but Barlatt and Rand insisted on treating them like heirlooms now that they knew I’d made them.

I had no choice but to make a bunch more. Well, I’d always planned on doing that anyway.

The bandits were once again mystified when I returned to the jail and started mass-producing swords and spears.

“Is there some kind of weapons workshop here?” one asked.

“No, it’s just a jail...”

Just then, Granny came over. “Eee hee hee! Now, who shall I send to the rehabilitation center next?”

“Eeeeek!”

“You? Or maybe you? Hmm, maybe this one? Eee hee hee!”

“Nooo!”

Granny swiped one of my spears and stalked past the jail cells, appraising the bandits. She swung her spear a few times, then threw her head back and cackled at the bandits cowering behind the bars.

Scary stuff...

“All right, I’ve decided. You, you, and you. Oh, and you two over there.”

The color drained from the faces of the five bandits who were chosen. As Granny led them away, they looked like they were in the depths of despair.

“H-Hey. You over there.”

Hm? Did I just hear a voice? I thought. Or was it just my imagination?

I looked around but didn’t see anyone.

“It’s not your imagination. It’s me! The guy in the far corner of the cell.”

Apparently, I wasn’t hallucinating. When I looked at that spot, I saw a middle-aged man who seemed pretty elegant for a bandit. He sat with his back against the corner of the cell.

Hm, come to think of it, we were told one of the bandits had Telepathy.

“My name’s Saten, and I used to belong to a prestigious family of merchants. But something happened, and I got disowned. I ended up joining the gang and doing some pretty bad things to keep food in my belly.”

And then he began to tell me his story. It all made sense now. I’d wondered how a bandit had a Gift when only nobles or rich merchants received Blessings.

“In all sincerity, I feel really bad about it. I should’ve just let myself starve instead of stealing from others.”

I didn’t answer him.

“I swear I’ll work in this village to atone for my crimes! So please, kid! Let me outta here!”

Are you really sorry for what you’ve done?

“Yeah, you bet I am!” the bandit pleaded, so I used Villager Appraisal on him.

Saten

Age: 34

Village Affinity: Rebellious

Recommended Job: Communications Officer

Gift: Telepathy

His Village Affinity is “rebellious,” huh? Yeah, he doesn’t regret a single thing.

“Please, kid. I’m beggin’ ya...”

He was obviously planning to win me just to get out of jail.

Do you really want to avoid Granny’s rehabilitation that badly?

“Th-that’s part of it... But that’s not all! I wanna get to work for this village and atone for my crimes!”

Wow, you’re really scared of Granny, huh?

The moment I asked, he went pale. Too bad for him. I was sure he was just trying to trick me, so there was no way I was setting him free.

“Hey, Granny?” I said.

“Hm? What is it, sonny?”

“That man over there says he’d really like to go to the rehabilitation center.”

“What?!” Saten exclaimed, his eyes wide.

“You bastard! What the hell are you thinking?!”

There, now your true colors are showing.

“Ahh! You little brat!”

Granny examined Saten with an amused grin. “Hmm, you’re a pretty exceptional one, aren’t ya?” She let out her usual cackle. “We’ll just do a little swap then.” She put back one of the men she’d already pulled aside, and Saten reluctantly came out from the jail cell. “Since you were so nice to volunteer, how about I go a little extra on ya during rehabilitation? Eee hee hee!”

Granny must’ve sensed something in his demeanor because her grin was positively sadistic.

“W-wait, I didn’t mean it! I was totally lying! I’m really sorry, I promise! C’mon, I’m beggin’ you... Please!” Saten sent me a desperate telepathic plea, his eyes full of panic.

I ignored him.

Good luck with your rehabilitation!

“This doesn’t make any sense...”

That night, I lay in bed frowning, totally confused. My bedroom in the larger, upgraded house had come with a proper double bed, much bigger than the one before.

Large enough that it didn’t feel that cramped at all—even with three people lying side by side.

But that wasn’t the issue.

“What’s wrong, Lord Luke?”

“Yeah, what’s up?”

Myria and Seren gave me curious looks.

“Don’t give me that! I made you two brand new beds, so why are you still trying to sleep in mine?!” I demanded.

I’d gone out of my way to use the Facility Customization feature to build them two extra beds, and I made sure they knew it. Yet here they were, crawling back into my bed like nothing had changed.

“Lord Luke, you should get some sleep soon, or it will take a toll on your health,” Myria said.

“Didn’t you hear me?!”

“She’s right. Quit whining and get to bed already,” Seren said.

“Not you too, Seren!”

Damn it.

They weren’t backing down. They were dead set on sleeping in here no matter what.

“Fine. I’ll just sleep in one of the other bedrooms.” When I tried to escape, two pairs of arms clamped around me.

“And just where do you think you’re going, Lord Luke?” Myria asked.

“I just need to use the bathroom,” I muttered.

“You already went,” Seren said.

“Argh...”

“Come on, Lord Luke.”

“Good night.”

And just like that, the two of them dragged me back into bed. I didn’t stand a chance.

They usually did nothing but bicker, but turned into a terrifying team when it came to stuff like this.

“Haah... Fine, you win.” I gave up and ended up stuck between them, same as always.

(Whew, we barely pulled it off... A night without getting to savor Lord Luke is unthinkable! Sniff, sniff... Sniff, sniff... Hah, hoo...)

(That was a close call, but we managed to push through! Mmm, Luke’s scent... Sniiiiiff...)

One day, there was a commotion when Seren and the others didn’t return from a hunting trip in the northern forests.

“Seren’s hunting party still isn’t back yet?” I asked.

“Not yet. They’re usually back by this time.”

The forest was dangerous at night, which was why they always made sure to return well before sunset.

But now the sun was dipping below the horizon, the sky was growing dim, and there was still no sign of them.

“I mean, this is Seren we’re talking about. I’m sure she’ll be fine, but...”

A fourth wave of refugees had recently joined our village. Because a few had combat-type Gifts, our hunting party had grown to fifteen. I’d fully equipped them with custom-made weapons using Facility Customization too.

Lately, they’d been hunting a monster called an al-mi’raj, which was basically a giant rabbit. Cute in theory, but they had long, sharp horns on their heads and could grow over a meter tall. And they were so fast that they gave even experienced warriors trouble.

Still, with Seren leading the charge and a solid number of people who had combat Gifts on the team, they usually didn’t have any trouble and brought back two or three on a good day.

“Mayor! The hunting party just returned!” someone shouted from the watchtower. “And it looks like they’ve brought back something huge!”

Something huge?

A few moments later, Seren and the others entered the village carrying two massive monsters over their shoulders.

“O-Orcs!”

“They brought back orcs!”

“Whoa, those things are huge!”

Orcs were massive monsters with piglike heads. Each one easily towered over two meters tall, with big, muscular frames that could rival even the bandit boss we’d taken down a while back. And they’d brought two of them home.

Wait a second... One of the guys is carrying an orc all by himself. Oh, right—he’s the villager with Giant’s Strength.

That alone was pretty wild.

“We got held up because we ran into these orcs,” Seren said casually.

Even a single orc was so dangerous that it could easily wipe out a small village like ours if it went on a rampage. Because of that, orc meat rarely made it to the market. And when it did, it sold for several times the price of pork since it was genuine, gourmet-level meat.

Yeah, we definitely have to eat this!

“It’s barbecue time! We’re having an orc feast tonight!” I shouted, and the villagers erupted into cheers.

“We get to eat orc meat?!”

“I always thought it was just for nobles...”

“That’s Mayor Luke for ya! We’ll follow him to the ends of the earth!”

Well, now they’re just going overboard.

I’d eaten orc once at my parents’ home, but it honestly tasted like any decent-quality grilled pork. That’s how I remembered it, at least.

My first bite of the grilled orc meat had proven me wrong.

“What the heck?!”

This stuff was incredible.

“What is this? My whole mouth is filled with juicy, meaty bliss!”

Forget decent-quality pork. Whatever I’d eaten back home didn’t even come close to this.

“It’s because it’s so fresh,” Seren explained. “Orcs aren’t the kind of monster you just stumble across anywhere. It takes days to get the meat to market.”

I nodded, finally understanding. If an orc appeared near a city, local soldiers or adventurers would be immediately dispatched to take care of it before it could multiply. The only places they could really flourish were deep in the wilderness or remote frontiers like this.

Orcs were way too dangerous to keep as livestock, so the only way to get their meat was to hunt them in the wild.

“What is this?!”

“It’s delicious, that’s what!”

“Mayor, you’re incredible!”

The meat’s flavor was making the villagers lose their minds. None of them had ever tried it before, and their expressions of shock were transforming into expressions of pure joy.

Someone even broke out the booze we’d brewed recently, so our feast ran late into the night.

“Wow, these things are massive...” I muttered, staring at the freshly harvested veggies laid out before me. I felt a little overwhelmed.

The carrots were as thick as my thigh, and the potatoes were the size of my head. That wasn’t to even mention the cabbage, which was bigger than my whole body!

Our first harvest had already proven that our crops were larger than usual, but this time the fields had really gone and outdone themselves. Plus, the growth cycle was shorter now, and the yield had skyrocketed. It was probably because I’d upgraded the fields’ capabilities.

Honestly, I’d been a little worried we’d start to run low on food after taking on a fourth wave of refugees and the former bandit gang, but now it seemed like we had nothing to worry about.

“Mayor, there’s something I’d like to talk to you about,” said Berlitt, the refugees’ representative. He had a serious look on his face, so I stopped what I was doing and gave him my full attention.

“What is it, Berlitt?”

“Like I mentioned before, many of us left our elderly parents behind in our old villages...”

I already knew where he was going. “Oh, no problem,” I said.

A lot of the refugees had to make the terrible decision to leave behind the elderly, who’d been too weak to make the journey or were liable to slow them down. Now that the refugees had found a permanent settlement, it made sense that they’d want to return to their villages to bring them here.

They’d probably kept quiet until now out of fear that they’d be a burden on the village.

“You want to bring them here, right? Go ahead,” I said.

“R-Really?!”

“Yeah, we’ve got plenty of food to spare. Hey, Seren.”

“I heard. You want us to handle the escort, yeah?” Seren replied.

I confirmed, asking Seren and her hunting party to guard the refugees on their journey back to their villages, seeing as they could run into bandits on the way. And some of the hunters had probably left family behind too.

“Mr. Mayor! Please allow us to help!” a chorus of enthusiastic voices called out from behind me.

I turned around in surprise, only to find a bunch of newly rehabilitated bandits staring at me.

“Whoa!”

“While we might not have combat-type Gifts, we are experienced fighters!”

“And worst-case scenario, you can use us as shields or decoys. We won’t complain!”

“Our crimes are weighing heavily on us. We’d gladly sacrifice ourselves if needed!”

Okay, they’re a little too fired up about this. It’s kinda scary, actually...

“Um, sure. I’ll take you up on that offer,” I said.

And so the hunting party set off with the reformed bandits to bring back the elders that the refugees had left behind.

Of course, we couldn’t send everyone with a combat Gift out of the village, so I had a couple of them stay behind to keep the peace.

A few days later, the team returned with everyone safe and sound.

“Dad!” Berlitt yelled.

“Berlitt! Barlatt! You’re both alive!” an old man exclaimed.

“I’m so glad you’re safe, Dad!”

Berlitt and Barlatt reunited with their elderly father, who’d stayed behind in their own village. He’d been the mayor there, in fact, and looked like he’d made it through just fine.

Similar reunions happened all around us, full of happy tears and emotional embraces, as people who’d feared they’d never see their loved ones realized they were here now, alive and well.

It was no wonder they were crying.

“Well, look who’s still breathing. I figured you’d kicked the bucket ages ago!” Granny cackled.

“Oh-ho! You’re safe, old girl!”

“Get off me, ya old goat! You’re all sweaty and you’re already gettin’ on my nerves!”

Wow.

Apparently, Granny, the village’s torturer, had a husband. Even more surprisingly, he actually looked like a sweet, gentle guy.

However, not every family was whole yet. Villagers who’d been drafted into the war still hadn’t returned. The refugees said they’d left letters behind just in case those folks made it back later.

“Is it just me,” I wondered, “or is this a lot more people than we expected?”

I’d estimated that fifty elderly folks would join in total between four different villages, but counted about four times as many just at a glance. A bunch of them weren’t even old as well.

“We ran into more refugees along the way,” Seren explained, “so we brought them with us.”

“Oh, that makes sense. Wait,” I said, spying a group of about thirty on the edge of the crowd, bound with rope. “What about those guys over there?”

Judging by the rough looks on their faces, they didn’t seem like law-abiding citizens.

“Bandits. They attacked us, so we took them down. But get this,” Seren said, “it turns out they were the ones who escaped from us last time.”

After they’d run away, they’d formed a new gang. Now, they were having a heated argument with the reformed bandits who’d helped capture them.

“You guys better repent too!”

“H-Huh? What are you talking about? This isn’t like you at all!”

“Well, I’ve seen the light. There’s nothing more noble than living a righteous life!”

“Dude, what happened to you? You’re like a totally different person! Wait, don’t tell me they brainwashed you?!” one of the captured bandits exclaimed.

“Ha ha. Brainwashed? If getting brainwashed means turning into a decent human being, maybe it’s not such a bad thing?”

“Uh-oh... They’re totally gone...”

“Don’t worry. You’ll understand soon enough.”

“P-please don’t hurt me...”

He’s totally terrified... But what are they even talking about? Eh, well. We can just toss the bandits into jail for now.

Chapter Seven: State of Our Hometown

“C’mon, Dad,” my son exclaimed. “There’s no way there’s a village out here. There’s not even any grass anywhere!”

“We only just reached the frontier,” I said, shaking my head at my son’s pessimism. “We won’t know anything until we push ahead. Either way, we didn’t have enough food left in the village to survive the winter. We’d have starved if we stayed. This is our last shot.”

Our lord had recently announced a massive tax increase in our territory. Rumor had it that the lord had found a new enemy to fight and was gearing up for another war somewhere.

Raising taxes during times of unrest wasn’t unusual, but this one had been bigger and more brutal than anything we’d ever seen. Small villages like ours didn’t have any room to breathe. We were already struggling with food shortages from a poor harvest this year. Faced with a bleak winter ahead, I’d made a gamble.

“They say the marquess’s son was banished to the frontier and told to start a settlement there. If he’s succeeded...”

New settlements were exempt from taxes, so if we sent some of our villagers to work there for the winter, maybe we could make it to spring.

“That’s just a fairy tale! That wasteland’s been abandoned forever—no one’s ever managed to settle it. They dumped a couple kids out there with no real followers or support. I bet he got a useless Gift or something, and that’s why he got booted from their house. He’s probably either dead or he escaped to some other domain,” my son said.

He had a point, but doing nothing meant certain death.

“Man, why’d I have to be born in some backwater village in the first place?” he muttered. “We don’t even have any decent girls there. Maybe if I’d left when I was younger and tried to become an adventurer, my life would’ve turned out way better.”

Something snapped inside of me.

“Stop whining like a damn child, idiot son!”

“Huh?!”

“I’m so terribly sorry our village isn’t good enough for you, but do you think it just sprang out of the earth?! Our ancestors bled to build that place with their bare hands! And now they’ve gotta listen to you whining from the afterlife?! What a joke! I can’t believe my son is such a narrow-minded brat!” I yelled.

“D-Dad?”

“And what’s this about becoming an adventurer? You’ve never had the guts! You gave up before you even tried, ya coward! You would’ve pissed yourself and run away the second a monster showed up!”

“H-Hey, you don’t gotta say it like that...”

“I certainly do, and I’m not done yet! You’ve never once come up with your own plan, but you’re always the first to shoot down someone else’s, just like now! All you ever do is complain and make excuses! You’re the reason I’m still stuck being mayor in my damn fifties! I’m the one out here trekking through a wasteland because you were too scared to go alone!”

“L-Look! Over there!”

“As if I’d fall for the oldest trick in the book! Today’s the day I beat some nerve into y—”

“There are stone walls! Huge walls, right in the middle of the frontier!” He pointed frantically, his eyes wide.

“Huh?!” I sighed and followed his gaze. “Stone walls...”

“You can see ’em, can’t you?! Don’t tell me your eyes are that bad! I’m telling you, they’re there! He might’ve actually made a village!” He suddenly took off running.

“Hey, wait!”

At first, I thought he was just lying to get out of a lecture, but the vague shapes came into focus as I chased after him.

“Wh-What the... You’re right! They’re real...”

The walls looked over three meters tall and stretched far in both directions, solid and unbroken. It wasn’t some makeshift barricade either. It was a real city wall.

“But that’s impossible... That would take years to build...”

“Right?!”

We stood there, completely dumbfounded.

Had they been building the city before we’d even heard of it? That was the only thing that would make sense.

“L-Let’s go. We gotta check it out!” my son exclaimed.

“Y-Yeah...”

◇◇◇

The weather began turning cool as summer passed into autumn and autumn gave way to the start of winter.

“We first came here in the spring, so that must mean it’s been half a year already...” I said one day.

“That’s right, Lord Luke. I wasn’t sure how things would turn out then. And to think you built this whole village in just a few short months. It’s incredible,” Myria said.

“Well, I mostly have my Gift to thank for that.”

Little by little, more refugees had shown up, and the population had grown to nearly seven hundred before I knew it.

At first, everything had been crammed inside one set of walls, but I’d eventually built a second layer of concentric walls and sandwiched our farmland between the inner and outer layers.

I’d left extra space so we could expand the fields as needed. And, worst case, I could just use my Gift to reposition the stone walls.

With winter approaching, our food stores were the biggest concern. So far, however, the harvests had been steady, and the hunting party kept a good supply of meat coming in. I thought we’d make it through our first winter just fine.

Just then, a report came in that two men had arrived at the village gates. At first, I thought they were refugees, but that didn’t seem to be the case. I headed to the entrance to check for myself and saw two men standing there with wide, anxious eyes, looking completely baffled.

One looked over fifty, while the other was maybe in his early thirties. Their faces were similar enough that I figured they were probably father and son.

“Hi there. I’m Luke, the mayor here,” I said.

“Y-You— You’re—” the older man sputtered before dropping to his knees and bowing his head.

His son glanced at his father and quickly followed suit.

“We’ve come from a village called Mao,” the old man continued, “to the south of here. I’m the mayor, Mack, and this is my son Manta.”

Ah, so they’ve come from the March of Arvale.

“Um,” Mack said, hesitant. “Would you happen to be the son of Marquess Arvale?”

“You know about me?”

“I knew it! We heard the marquess sent you to the frontier to establish a settlement, but judging from all this, you must’ve been here for quite a while now,” Mack said.

“Not really,” I said. “There was literally nothing when we first got here.”

He looked at me like I’d just spoken gibberish. “Huh?”

But it was true.

“S-So you were exiled after all?” Manta asked. “And the rumor that you got stuck with some useless Gift was true?”

“Shh!” Mack elbowed his son. “Don’t say that!”

“No, it’s fine. He’s not wrong.”

I gave them a quick explanation of the situation about my father’s Gift, which my brother had inherited instead of me, and how creating a new village had just been a pretext so my father could get rid of me. Despite all of it, I told them, I’d actually managed to establish a village.

“So, what brings you two out here?” I asked.

“Well, actually...”

Now their turn to explain, they hesitated to tell me what was going on back in Arvale territory—maybe because it involved criticizing the lord. After I reassured them I wasn’t on good terms with my family anymore, they quickly opened up about how bad things had gotten for their village.

“Who cares if the war expands our borders when it won’t do squat for our village? And they still bleed us dry with taxes! They don’t care about the people at all!” Mack shouted.

He must’ve been bottling it up for a while, because his face was red with anger.

“D-Dad...” Manta looked nervously between me and his father, worried he’d crossed a line by ranting in front of the marquess’s son. “Um, sorry about my dad.”

“M-My apologies. I lost my temper...” Mack stammered.

“Nah, don’t worry about it. I think waging nonstop war is pretty stupid too,” I said.

Mack blinked in surprise. He probably hadn’t expected the noble’s son to agree with him.

“Let’s get to the bottom line. You guys can’t make it through the winter and want to come work here, right?” I said.

“Y-Yes, exactly.”

“You’re more than welcome. Honestly, don’t feel like you have to stop there. You can come live here if you want. We’re not capping numbers, and we’ve got more than enough food. Bring your whole village if you want,” I said.

“R-Really?!”

It wasn’t unusual for entire villages to abandon their territory and flee somewhere safer these days.

Still, if this was really the biggest war so far, I had a pretty good idea of who my father was gearing up to fight. He’d been a longtime rival of the neighboring march, governed by Marquess Schneiger. He and my father were both among the five dominant noble houses right now. So if Arvale won, they’d emerge with the largest territory of any noble.

“I wonder if Raoul’s heading into battle too. That’s pretty rough for your first fight. Not that there’s anything I can do about it,” I muttered.

As we were talking, Seren and the hunting party returned.

“We’re back! We got a massive haul today!” Seren looked extra pleased with herself, and sure enough, the party was dragging loads of game behind them. I’d asked her to do extra hunting to prepare our stores for the winter, and it looked like they’d gone above and beyond.

Once he saw Seren, Manta looked ready to float into the air. “Whoa, she’s gorgeous... Wait, huh?! Ack!”

Then he caught sight of what was behind her and fell flat on his bottom.

Eyes bugging out of his head, Mack scrambled like he was about to bolt away. “A-A-An orc?!”

“Relax. It’s already dead,” Seren said.

“D-Don’t tell me you guys actually killed that thing?”

“We sure did. We bagged it in that forest over there. And not just one either.”

“Eep!”

It seemed like today’s haul tallied up to five al-mi’rajs and three orcs. We’d prioritized monsters lately since their meat tasted better than most animals. Still, a three-orc take wasn’t that unusual. They’d gotten that many before, so Seren’s earlier gloating of a massive haul didn’t quite match up.

“Look over there,” she said with a grin.

I turned to look and froze, watching the party drag something enormous toward us.

“What the heck is that thing?” I asked.

“A great boar.”

It was a boar-type monster with giant tusks jutting out of its snout. Easily over five meters long, even one of its legs was bigger than me. That thing could even send an orc flying.

“How the heck did you take that down?”

“Noel and Gordy blocked it with their shields, and the rest of us went for the neck. Those iron greatshields you made came in real handy!” Seren said casually.

Similar to the swords and spears, I’d made shields by layering iron bars together. I’d given one to Noel, who had the Shield Mastery Gift, and Gordy, who had Giant’s Strength.

I’d made them thick too, so I was surprised to see how badly one of the shields was dented. That just went to show how much force the boar packed when it charged.

Gordy was in his mid-thirties and only about 175 centimeters tall, but Gift allowed him to pull a monster several times his size like it was nothing. He was the one dragging the boar over.

It was honestly kind of surreal to watch.

“U-U-Um...”

Mack and Manta were paralyzed by shock, unable to speak. I wasn’t sure if they were surprised by the sheer size of the great boar or by seeing Gordy’s absurd strength in action. Maybe it was a little of both.

“D-Dad, am I dreaming right now?” Manta whispered.

“Want me to pinch your cheek?”

“Y-Yeah, go ahead. Oww! Hey, that hurt! It’s not a dream! Ow, ow, ow! Dad, stop! How long are you gonna keep pinching?! Owww!”

It seemed like they were a really close father and son. Honestly, it made me a little jealous.

◇◇◇

After leaving the frontier village behind, we started making our way home, but honestly, it still felt like it’d all been a dream.

“Double-layered stone walls, fields of massive crops, hundreds of healthy villagers, clean houses for everyone, and even a public bathhouse and a church...” I muttered.

And then there’d been that orc.

Apparently, a group of people from the village regularly hunted monsters in the northern forest like it was nothing.

Back in our village, driving off a single al-mi’raj would have been cause for celebration. If an orc showed up, no one would have been surprised to see the entire village wiped out.

“Seriously, that thing scared the hell outta me! First, I spotted a ridiculously cute girl, and then bam! There’s an orc right behind her! Still, she really was cute, you know,” Manta said.

“You’re more than twice her age, you know.”

And let’s not forget the great boar. I’d heard a story once about one of those things taking down an entire battalion of over a hundred men, yet those villagers had taken one down with only a dozen people? It was beyond ridiculous.

Had a village like that actually been built in a mere six months? Actually, at this point, it didn’t even feel right calling it a “village” anymore.

“They did say it was all thanks to the mayor’s Gift, but still...”

It was hard to believe, no matter how you looked at it, and it hadn’t stopped there. They’d even said they were willing to take our entire village in.

“No one’s gonna buy this story when we get back,” I said to Manta.

“Yeah, it ain’t like you’re that popular, old man. Not compared to that kid mayor, anyway.”

“And whose fault do you think that is, you idiot son? Hah... That Luke kid built all that, and he doesn’t look a day over twelve! Think what you could’ve accomplished if you’d put in a tenth of his effort,” I said, but Manta turned his head and pretended not to hear.

Can I punch him?

◇◇◇

Soon, Mack and the rest of the folks from Mao started pouring in.

“It—It was all true...”

“There’s really a town out here in the middle of the wasteland...”

“See?! I told ya, didn’t I?”

“I thought Mayor Mack had finally gone senile...”

Listening to the newcomers mutter among themselves, you could tell nobody had believed it until they saw it with their own eyes.

“Hello, everyone,” I said, emerging to greet the new villagers. “I’m Luke, the mayor here. Welcome!”

“He really is a kid...”

“Is he Marquess Arvale’s son?”

“H-Hey, what is that? The big thing near that house?”

I looked toward my house. “Oh, that? It’s a great boar’s skull.”

Seren had gotten a little too carried away after the hunt and decided to put it on display in the most conspicuous spot possible—even though I’d asked her to move it to the edge of the village, since it was a bit intimidating...

“G-Great boar?!” the new villagers exclaimed in unison.

“We’ve got some of its meat left, if you want to try it,” I offered.

It hadn’t been quite as delicious as orc meat, but it was still pretty good. Since we had way too much of the stuff, I was considering asking Seren to freeze it or turn it into jerky to extend its shelf life.

“Anyway, I’ll get your housing set up,” I said, turning to summon a new row house right in front of them. I figured it’d be a good idea to expose them to my Gift now, considering more buildings were liable to materialize like this. The sooner they got used to it, the better.

“Th-That house came out of nowhere!”

“A-Am I dreaming?”

And just like that, all ninety-two people from Mao joined our village. But that wasn’t all.

“If you know of other villages struggling nearby, feel free to invite them too,” I said casually.

Before long, others abandoned their homes and began showing up at our village. The recent tax hike really must’ve pushed them over the edge.

Looks like it’s time to build more row houses.

By the way, we’d started using the former bandits to scout new settlers. Although they’d been fully reformed thanks to Granny, I still couldn’t treat them the same as the other villagers, given their criminal backgrounds.

So while their row houses were the same as everyone else’s, I’d put them between the inner and outer stone walls and tasked them with keeping watch over the wasteland beyond the outer wall in shifts.

“Mayor Luke, looks like we’ve got more people asking to join us,” I heard Saten say.

“Got it, thanks.”

Saten and his Gift of Telepathy had become especially helpful. He’d once tried to trick me and break out of jail, but he’d turned a new leaf and now consistently pitched in for the good of the village.

Plus, having him send me messages straight into my head was incredibly helpful.

“There are still two bandits locked up in the jail,” I said.

The others had turned their lives around and were now working hard for the village, but I couldn’t let the last two out.

One of them was huge. His jail cell looked comically small around him. When I went to see him that day, he locked eyes with me. His gaze was so intense it almost made me take a step back.

Doriel

Age: 36

Village Affinity: Low

Recommended Job: Warrior

Gifts: Axe Proficiency

He’d been the boss of the bandit gang.

“No matter what I try, he doesn’t even flinch!” Granny explained. “You can beat the crap out of him, and he won’t even blink. He’s got balls of steel. No wonder he kept that whole gang under control.” She sounded almost impressed. “He’s too dangerous. We can’t even risk letting him out! Maybe we should just execute him.”

How does she still say stuff like that with a straight face?

Doriel remained expressionless in the face of her threat. It wasn’t just physically intimidating. Having clearly survived more near-death experiences than I could count, the man truly did have nerves of steel.

He hadn’t spoken a word since we’d put him in jail, but for some reason, he suddenly opened his mouth. “What happened to the blue-haired girl?”

“Huh? You mean Seren?” I asked.

“So that’s her name. The one who beat me,” he said.

Why is he bringing her up?

“I don’t follow people weaker than me,” Doriel said.

“Excuse me?”

“But if she’s the one giving orders, then that’d be a different story. I’d listen to her.”

“Um, what?” I said in disbelief.

I called Seren over to the jail.

“So anyway, that’s what he said,” I said after explaining.

“Hmm...” Seren glared at the gigantic guy on the other side of the bars, clearly suspicious. “What’s your angle here? You think if you say that, we’ll just let you out? Is that it?”

“Nah, I’m not scheming. I just want to show proper respect to the one who defeated me,” Doriel said. “Just to be clear, I’m not asking you to let me out. But if the time ever comes when you need my strength, I’ll be there.”

I knew this guy was a seasoned fighter, and he’d probably be a hell of an asset. But for now, he needed to stay right where he was.

“And what about the other one?” Granny asked.

“He’s the first bandit we caught, right?”

That bandit was still sitting in the same corner of the jail, which was now very quiet. We’d used him as bait to lure the rest of his gang into the village so we could ambush them.

Baul

Age: 23

Village Affinity: Low

Recommended Job: Street Performer

Gifts: None

“O-Ol’ lady!” he gasped. “You’re back for real this time!”

“Who’re you callin’ ol’ lady?! You got a death wish, sonny?!” she roared at him, but Baul only quivered in—uh, anticipation?

Then she started smacking him around with her wooden switch. Whap, whap, whap! Just listening to it hurt.

“Nngh, yes!” Baul cried out in the throes of ecstasy. “M-More! Hit me harder, please!”

Granny made a face and then stomped down hard on his crotch. “You filthy little pervert!”

“Hngh! O-Ohh... Hee hee...”

Ouch... I instinctively reached down and covered myself.

“Guh... H-Hnngh...” Meanwhile, Baul writhed around on the ground, drool dribbling from the corner of his mouth. His face should’ve been contorted in pain, but instead, he looked pleased. “Th-That was...incredible... Ooh hoo hoo... Hee hee hee...”

Okaaay, now it’s getting disturbing.

Granny sighed, looking at him like a bug she couldn’t squash fast enough.

“See, Mayor? I’m out of options.”

“How in the world did he end up like this?” I asked.

“Beats me. At first, he actually looked a little scared and acted like it hurt when I was roughing him up. But, over time, I guess he started enjoying it.”

How can anyone enjoy getting beaten up? I wondered.

“In any case, this is way beyond my abilities now,” she said.

“What’re you talkin’ about, ol’ lady?! I need you to break me more!” Baul wailed.

“He even started calling me ol’ lady on purpose, just to get me riled up.”

“Ohh, I see...”

“I’ve never seen a freak like this before. Honestly, I don’t wanna get involved with him ever again,” she said.

Sheesh, even Granny’s intimidated? That alone is terrifying...

“Y-Yeah, I think we need to put this issue on hold too.”

His Village Affinity was Low, which wasn’t as bad as Rebellious, but letting him out would just be asking for trouble...in more ways than one.

So I decided to keep in for now and reassess later, just like with Doriel.

Da-da-daaan! Congratulations! Your village’s population has surpassed 1,000 villagers, and your Village Level has increased to Level 6!

You have received a Level-Up Bonus of 10,000 Village Points.

New facilities are available for construction!

Village boundary has expanded.

You have gained the skill “Territory Takeover.”

It looked like the village had leveled up again once the flood of new villagers took us past the 1,000 population mark.

“Territory Takeover?” I muttered.

Territory Takeover

>>Allows you to forcibly annex land governed by others into your village territory. Effective only within a fifty-meter radius of the village mayor’s location.

I hadn’t been able to build the village on land with a clear owner, which was why I’d had to come all the way out to this unclaimed wilderness in the first place. But thanks to this new skill, I could now override a territory’s ownership and claim it from someone else without their permission.

“But isn’t that a little too aggressive?” I said, doubting I’d ever actually need to use it.

Besides, our new Village Boundary, thanks to our recent level-ups, comprised the entirety of the frontier. The actual village enclosed by the outer stone wall was only a fraction of that total area, but even that felt like it’d become too large to be called a village.

Why would I need to take over someone else’s land? I didn’t intend to conquer others like my father, with all his grand territorial ambitions. This village was enough for me.

Now that your village has reached Level 6, the following new facilities can be constructed:

Underground Tunnel (20)

Shop (50)

Gatehouse (50)

Training Grounds (100)

Apartment Building (300)

“A tunnel, huh? So I can make a road that goes underground?”

Underground Tunnel

>>An enclosed, subsurface passageway that is always lit. Equipped with automatic climate control.

I decided to give it a shot. A stairwell leading below ground appeared, surrounded by sturdy walls reinforced with stone. I went down the steps.

“Hmm, dead end. Guess this is all 20 points gets you.”

I placed another tunnel, and a few more meters of stairwell popped into existence. “Amazing... I can just dig through solid earth like it’s nothing.”

There was no real use for it right now, but maybe it could double as an evacuation route in an emergency.

Apartment Building

>>A reinforced concrete housing complex four stories high, containing twenty units with two bedrooms each.

“An apartment building, huh?” They’d been pretty standard in my previous life, but this world definitely didn’t have anything like that.

It cost a hefty 300 points, but its twenty units meant it was technically more economical than a row house. And to make it even better, each apartment came with its own bath and toilet.

Chapter Eight: The Governor

My name is Dant.

I served as the governor of the northern region of the March of Arvale, an area commonly referred to as simply “The North.”

Originally, my family had once ruled this region as local nobility. But during my father’s time, we bent the knee to the previous Marquess Arvale. We’d been a family of minor nobles, and it had been obvious we couldn’t win even if we’d tried to resist. So we’d opened the gates and surrendered the castle without a fight. Not only had that spared our lives, but Father had been appointed governor of the North on the spot. I’d merely inherited the role afterward.

Since those days, the March of Arvale had continued its aggressive territorial expansion. As a mere governor, I’d had no choice but to support it in full.

“Lord Dant, we’ve received reports that the residents of another village have vanished.”

“Again?” I let out a deep sigh. “Now, I know taxes have gotten tough. I understand that. But entire villages packing up and fleeing in the middle of the night? It’s just happening far too often!”

After Marquess Arvale’s recent decree, we’d had no choice but to raise taxes even further. I’d expected some of our subjects would be unable to pay or try to run, but the scale of it was far beyond what I’d anticipated.

It wasn’t like leaving the march guaranteed them a better life. If anything, it risked putting them in an even worse situation. Most commoners understood that fact, so they stayed put, shouldering the burden of heavy taxes.

“Some of our scouts have returned with strange news.”

“What do you mean?” I asked.

“Well, apparently, a new village has sprung up somewhere in the northern wasteland. They say it’s safe, its homes are comfortable, and no one goes hungry. It’s practically a paradise!”

The story was so suspicious I couldn’t help but frown.

The wastelands to the north were barren and totally infertile. Farming was impossible, and to make matters worse, the nearby forest was infested with monsters that occasionally emerged. There was no way people could live out there.

I shook the idea off, but then reports of the exact same thing began trickling in from multiple sources. I started to think there had to be something to the rumors, so I ordered a formal investigation.

“L-Lord Dant...” one of my subordinates eventually informed me. “Th-The rumors are true...”

“There’s actually a village out there?” I asked, incredulous.

“It’s—It’s more like a city, my lord.”

“A city?!”

The report was too incredible to believe.

◇◇◇

As winter set in, more and more people began fleeing the March of Arvale and showing up in our village. Apparently, the rumors had spread much farther than I’d expected. At this rate, someone in authority, most likely the governor in charge of the nearby region, was going to come knocking.

Still, it wasn’t like I’d gone rogue and built this village without permission. I was acting under my father’s orders to develop the frontier. I wasn’t stealing citizens. We were just building something new, so I figured it’d be fine.

“Eh, whatever. Nothing beats a hot bath in winter...” I sighed. There was something magical about melting your worries away.

I sank deeper in the steaming water, letting it seep into my bones. Not that I’d done anything particularly tiring lately.

This was my own personal, open-air bathtub, which I’d installed using the customization options for the large house. I’d already upgraded all the villagers’ homes from row houses to apartment buildings, so I figured I’d earned a little luxury. I’d recently upgraded my house from medium to large and, honestly, it was amazing. It was practically a mansion now, easily big enough for twenty people, with a huge garden and even a pond.

I added a bath to the garden using Facility Customization. The cold outdoor air only made the hot water feel even better.

A private outdoor bath in the garden was the best.

But I did have one complaint.

“It feels so free!” Seren sighed.

“Now I can enjoy bathing with Lord Luke whenever I want,” Myria chuckled.

That’s right. It was co-ed bathing.

“Didn’t I build a separate one for you two? Why aren’t you using that one?”

“We’re allowed to use either, aren’t we?”

“Which means we’ll obviously choose the one you’re using, Lord Luke!” Myria said.

I already knew nothing I said would change anything with these two.

“Fine, but just don’t come any closer, okay?”

“Pardon? What was that you said, my lord?”

“Hey! I just said don’t come any closer! And at least cover yourselves with a towel!” I protested.

(Lord Luke’s shy face is too cute! I’m going to die from the sheer cuteness overload!)

(Tch... That woman’s doing it on purpose... How shameless! B-But maybe I should be bolder too?)

We were going back and forth like that when...

“Mr. Mayor, a suspicious group just entered the village,” Saten said telepathically.

“More refugees?”

“No, they say they’re with the March of Arvale. One of them claims to be Governor of the North?”

Well, that was fast.

◇◇◇

As the governor of the North, I handpicked my best soldiers and set out across the wasteland with them. I had to see this so-called village—or city, if the word was true—myself.

“But Lord Dant, why are you personally leading this investigation?” Bazara, the commander of the elite unit accompanying me, asked with a puzzled look.

His family had served mine for generations. He also possessed a combat-type Gift and was strong enough to take down an orc single-handedly.

“There’s something about this that’s been bothering me. I figured it was best I see it with my own eyes.”

“It’s bothering you, my lord?”

“Yes, indeed. The one residing in this wasteland city may be none other than Lord Luke, Marquess Arvale’s son.”

“What?”

Lord Luke, the eldest son, had always been considered the heir apparent. Everyone had considered it only a matter of time before he’d inherited the domain. But, for some reason, he’d been sent off to develop the frontier immediately after his Blessing ceremony.

Whatever had happened, the Arvale family clearly hadn’t wanted it to be public. Even I hadn’t been told any details.

On the other hand, when the second son, Lord Raoul, had inherited the Sword Mastery Gift during the same ceremony, the news had spread through the march like wildfire.

If Lord Luke had received that kind of Gift, word would’ve spread just as quickly. The fact that it hadn’t likely meant he hadn’t inherited a combat Gift.

He’d been sent to “develop” the frontier, but that region was harsh and inhospitable. I suspected the wasteland we were heading to now was that very place.

“But still,” I muttered, “to think someone could have built an entire city in such a barren backwoods in just a few months? I don’t believe it.”

Well, we’d find out soon enough.

Eventually, the wasteland came into view: an empty stretch of dusty land, dotted with nothing but sand and rock. Even weeds barely managed to grow out here.

But there it was, right in the middle of all that desolation.

“Wh-What is that?” Bazara’s eyes grew wide.

I couldn’t blame him. Even though I’d already been briefed, seeing it for myself defied belief.

A massive stone wall receded into the horizon in both directions, a rogue piece of civilization slicing out into the wilderness. And it wasn’t just any old wall—it was as solid and imposing as the ones surrounding the capital city of Liesen.

“This is no village. It’s a full-blown city!”

“You’re saying they built this in just half a year?”

Bazara and I stared at each other, speechless.

One glance at the surrounding, red-tinged wasteland was enough to tell anyone that there was no way this had happened naturally or gradually.

As we approached the city gate, a man poked his head out through a small hatch built into the wall. His face looked rough, like the kind you’d see plastered over a wanted poster.

Don’t tell me they’ve got bandits manning the gates?

“What business do you have in the village?” he asked gruffly.

“I am Dant, Governor of the North of the March of Arvale. Apologies for the sudden visit, but I would like to request an audience with the representative of this city—or village, if that’s what you prefer to call it.”

He’d called it a village, so I figured I would play along. But what kind of village had walls like this?

A city this size would have usually needed a lot of time to verify and vet outsiders before letting them in, but the gate opened in less than a minute, and we were welcomed inside.

“Rest assured, Lord Dant. Even if this place seems odd, it’s still just a frontier settlement. As long as we’re here, you’ll be perfectly safe,” Bazara said.

The moment we passed through the gate, we were completely taken off guard.

“Huh?!”

Instead of the urban landscape of a city, we found ourselves greeted by farmlands.

“There’s agricultural land within the walls? This village has a double-walled layout?”

Constructing fortifications around large areas required a ridiculous amount of money, so crops were usually planted outside a city’s walls, while the interior was reserved for housing and administration.

“My guess is the residential area is within the second inner wall,” Bazara said, seeming relieved. “So it’s smaller than we thought.”

Still, that only raised more questions—uncomfortable ones, at that.

Just how did they manage to build all this?

“What in the world are they growing?” At first glance, their fields resembled a usual farm—but as we got closer, they became stranger. For one, every single one of the crops was massive.

Plus, these crops had no business growing this time of year. That golden field in the distance had to have been wheat, but wheat shouldn’t have been taking root at all in this wasteland, let alone thriving in the middle of winter.

What in the world is going on here?

“And these stone roads...”

The road beneath our carriage, paved with smooth stone, easily rivaled the famous Alpira Highway. It was so well-constructed that I barely felt any bumps, even sitting in the carriage. With roads like this, traveling to the capital would have been far more comfortable.

“Double-layered walls, high-quality stone roads... Not only would it require significant technical expertise, but also a massive workforce...”

There was no way this had all been done in half a year.

“Perhaps,” I mused out loud, “the construction of this fortress city began years ago in secret, and now they’ve sent the heir here to occupy it?”

It seemed possible, but then I frowned. What would be the strategic value in building a city out here?

The forest of monsters and mountain ranges to the north and east made the terrain impassable, and House Arvale already controlled the land to the south.

The west was currently contested by two rival factions, and wasn’t particularly desirable for Arvale either.

Eventually, our carriage reached the inner walls and stopped after we passed through the gate. I stepped out of the carriage only to meet a boy who looked to be barely in his teens.

◇◇◇

I jumped out of the bath the moment I got the report and hurried to the village entrance. I was still flushed from the hot water, but that didn’t matter. There were bigger fish to fry.

A carriage rolled down the stone road I’d constructed with my Gift, passing the fields that quilted the soil between the outer and inner walls. A squad of well-armed soldiers flanked the carriage.

Guess that makes sense.

I’d recently raised our walls because frigid winds had been sweeping in from the mountains to the east, making it seriously unbearable. Now that the walls stood over five meters tall, they helped block the wind and kept the village much warmer.

“At this point,” the villagers had said, “these aren’t palisades anymore. We’re practically living in a fortress!”

The carriage passed through the gate and stopped just beyond it. A well-dressed man, probably around forty years old, stepped outside. He looked around, an expression of pure shock on his face.

The March of Arvale was so vast that twenty appointed governors administered the regions spread across its lands. Naturally, Father was the one who chose them all, though the circumstances of their appointments varied.

When Arvale annexed territory during conquest, the local lords were usually executed, and someone loyal to Arvale was sent to take over. If the previous rulers surrendered quickly and swore fealty, they were often allowed to live and sometimes even remained in charge as governors.

If I remembered correctly, the northern region of Arvale fell into that second category. But the transition had occurred during the rule of the previous head of the family, not my father’s.

“Welcome. I’m Luke Arvale, mayor of this village.”

“I am Dant, Governor of the North.”

Since I was the son of the marquess and technically of a higher rank, Dant dropped to one knee as he introduced himself.

“My deepest apologies for not coming to greet you sooner,” he said, bowing his head.

Normally, if the heir to the domain showed up in a bordering region, the local governor would rush to greet him. That was just common courtesy. But in this case, I wasn’t here for some prestigious mission. I’d been unofficially exiled.

I mean, who would have gone out of their way to greet a disowned son dumped here in the middle of nowhere? There was no way Dant could’ve imagined that I’d actually manage to build a village out here. Honestly, he might not have even known I’d been sent here in the first place.

“It’s fine, really,” I said. “You’re all very welcome here. Please take your time and enjoy your stay.”

Since Dant was in charge of a neighboring region and we’d probably be seeing a lot of each other in the future, I figured I should do everything I could to leave a good impression.

I didn’t realize, however, that while I was focused on making a good impression, my villagers were giving Dant and his entourage some seriously suspicious looks.

◇◇◇

I had seen him once in the capital, a long time ago. There was no doubt about it: This was really Lord Luke Arvale.

“Welcome. I’m Luke Arvale, mayor of this village.”

“I am Dant, Governor of the North.”

I dropped to my knee. “My deepest apologies for not coming to greet you sooner.”

Of course, I’d never really been told he was here, so it wasn’t my fault. But formalities were formalities.

Lord Luke smiled kindly. “It’s fine, really. You’re all very welcome here. Please take your time and enjoy your stay.”

After that, it was one shocking thing after another. The buildings were nothing like I’d ever seen before: long, rectangular structures stretching high and wide, not made of wood or stone, but something else entirely. Lord Luke told me the villagers lived in these buildings.

“They’re called apartment buildings,” he said.

“Apartment buildings?” I repeated.

The village itself was remarkably clean. In frontier settlements like this, it was common to see people relieving themselves in makeshift holes, which filled the air with an inescapable stench. But there was none of that here. The capital city of Liesen smelled worse than this, in fact.

Even more shocking, every home had something called a “flush toilet.” I’d never even heard of such a thing, let alone seen one. And the villagers themselves were clean too.

In most frontier settlements, people were lucky if they could occasionally splash themselves with clean water, let alone bathe. Everyone ended up reeking because there was just not enough water to go around.

But even though their clothes were ragged, these settlers looked freshly washed—spotless, really.

“Every home has a bath. We also have two public bathhouses,” Lord Luke explained.

“Two public bathhouses? And every home has a private one as well?” I asked, dumbfounded.

“Yes. We originally built one bathhouse, but it was so popular we added another,” Lord Luke said as if he were talking about throwing in another side dish for dinner.

Building a facility like that was no easy feat.

On top of all that, the villagers all looked incredibly healthy.

Maybe it wasn’t surprising, considering the size of the fields, but I hadn’t seen a single person who seemed malnourished.

And then there was the thing that stunned my elite guard: the massive skull hung on the front of the mayor’s residence.

“W-Wait... Is that a great boar?” I asked.

“Oh, yeah. Our hunting team brought it down in the forest,” Luke said with a nod.

“You hunted it? Forgive me, but are you sure it wasn’t already dead when you found it?”

“Ha ha... Well, I didn’t see the boar myself, but I did see the warped, steel greatshield that took the brunt of its charge.”

I turned to Bazara and murmured, “Could our best troops even pull that off?”

All the color drained from his face, and he gave a slow, emphatic shake of his head.

“M-Maybe they’re just bluffing...” he muttered to me.

“I certainly hope so...”

Deep down, I was beginning to regret ever coming here.

◇◇◇

I gave Dant and his men a full tour of the village. We walked around once, just enough to show them everything.

“Well, that’s just about it,” I said. “That’s our village.”

“L-Lord Luke, forgive me, but I must ask again: Are you truly saying all of this was built in just six months?” he asked.

“Yes. It was nothing but wilderness when I arrived,” I said, but he looked like he still couldn’t believe it. “It’s all thanks to my Gift. Village-Making.”

“Village-Making?”

“Yes.”

I gave him a simple explanation of how it worked.

Myria and Seren had made me promise not to talk about things like skills or leveling up, so I kept that part to myself.

“I see... So that’s why the marquess sent you out to the frontier...” Dant muttered.

“No, actually. I didn’t realize my Gift could do any of this until after I was sent here,” I said.

I wondered what would’ve happened if we’d found out back when I was still living at home. Maybe I wouldn’t have been exiled. But honestly, I was glad things turned out this way.

Life here was peaceful, simple, and fun. I really wasn’t cut out for the chaos and politics of wartime anyway.

Later, I asked the villagers to help me throw a big feast in the central plaza to welcome Dant and his entourage properly.

The women pulled out all the stops, whipping up a meal using orc meat and veggies from the fields.

“Th-This is delicious!” Dant exclaimed when he tasted it.

“I’m glad you think so. We grow all our vegetables right here in the village.”

“What about the meat?”

“It’s orc. We hunted it from the nearby forest.”

“Orc meat?!” Dant and the soldiers guarding him all exclaimed in unison, so surprised they nearly dropped their plates.

“It seems like there’s a healthy orc population in the forest, so we end up with a lot of meat. Please, eat as much as you like,” I said.

“Y-You hunt orcs frequently...”

“They have to be bluffing... It just has to be...”

They still seemed a little tense.

I figured a bit of alcohol would loosen them up eventually. I didn’t drink myself, but I’d heard the stuff from our brewery was really good.

Brewery

>>A facility that produces ale. Boosts production speed and quality. Warning: Always drink responsibly!

It was definitely important not to overindulge.

Just then, Myria stepped forward to address the crowd. I had no idea what she was up to.

“We’ll be hosting an exhibition match featuring some of our most skilled fighters as entertainment for tonight’s feast!” she announced.

Um, what? Nobody told me about this...

But she did bring up a good point: An event like this would probably liven things up. I stayed back and watched as Barlatt and Peren, both of whom had the Gift of Sword Proficiency, stepped into the town square.

Then the fight began. Their blades clashed at speeds too fast to follow, captivating the crowd. Some people started cheering, and some even leaped to their feet to shout their support.

It was incredible. I’d seen them spar before, but they were definitely stronger than the last time I’d watched.

Hm?

I noticed that Dant’s guards had stopped eating.

“Oh, I’m sorry. Is the food not to your liking?” I asked out of curiosity.

“I-It’s not that at all! It’s delicious! We were just completely drawn in...” Bazara said. He frantically shook his head, his eyes bugging wide.

Well, I guess it made sense. As fellow warriors, it was only natural they’d be engrossed by a match like this.

“T-Two of them... Both have Sword Proficiency Gifts? In a village like this?” Bazara mumbled under his breath, probably trying to work out something only a soldier would notice.

The match ended, and then the next pair stepped forward. They started their own exhibition match in front of the cheering crowd as well.

“Wait... There are more Gifted here?”

As our population had grown, the number of Gifted villagers had naturally gone up in kind.

Roughly ten percent of my villagers had Gifts, which equaled about a hundred, including kids whose Gifts hadn’t been awakened yet. Of those, twenty-four had combat-type Gifts—nineteen total when you excluded the elderly and the kids who couldn’t yet use their Gifts.

Those combat-type Gifts included Sword Proficiency, Spear Proficiency, and Axe Proficiency, but also Martial Arts, Whip Proficiency, Bow Proficiency, Staff Proficiency, and even Grappling Proficiency.

Each Gifted villager stepped up one after another to showcase their unique styles. And since the drinks were flowing freely, the villagers only got rowdier.

“Holy crap, he’s swinging that whip like it’s part of his body!”

“Yeah! That’s the way! Take him down!”

“You’re so cool, man!”

Meanwhile, Dant and his men continued to gawk, speechless. Were they just focused, or was it something else? They looked a little too pale...

Once the fighters were finished, the villagers blessed with magic Gifts stepped forward. Apparently, they were going to put on a show next.

Magic-type Gifts were a lot rarer than combat ones. We only had eight villagers, including Seren, with those—only six if you took away the kids.

“M-Magic Gifts too? Just how powerful is this village?!”

“Everything okay? Still not to your taste?” I asked.

“N-No, it’s not that! I-I swear, everything is fine!” Bazara shook his head so hard I thought it might fly off his neck.

Yeah, they’re definitely not fine...

◇◇◇

Once the banquet ended, we were led to an impressive mansion that was nearly a replica of the mayor’s house. And if my memory served me right, this building hadn’t existed when we were given the tour earlier.

He must’ve used his Gift to build it... But still, it’s shocking he can put something up like this at the snap of his fingers.

“Please use this house tonight. It’s big enough to comfortably accommodate your guards as well.”

“Thank you, Lord Luke.”

My men and I cautiously stepped inside, half-expecting some trick. But it was no illusion. The interior was fully furnished and utterly real, right down to the last piece of furniture and decoration.

It even had bathtubs and flush toilets. It was hard to believe this was something created by a Gift.

I sat down on the sofa in the living room across from Bazara. “So what do you really think of this village?” I asked.

“It’s unusual. Incredibly unusual,” he said.

I honestly couldn’t have agreed more.

“There’s something I need to apologize for, Lord Dant,” Bazara admitted.

“Apologize? What is it?” I asked.

“Just before we arrived, I assured you you’d be safe as long as we were here. I must take back that statement.” Bazara was a seasoned warrior, but he spoke with a stiff, uneasy expression. “I mean, it’s impossible to guarantee, my lord. Even our elite squad wouldn’t last one minute if they decided to ambush us. I don’t think our entire forces combined could capture this village.”

“Hrm, I see...” Honestly, I’d suspected as much, but it was becoming clear that this place was far too powerful to be called a village.

“I never imagined so many of them would have combat- or magic-type Gifts. I was under the impression that most of the villagers were refugees from the west, or people who fled from our domain...” Bazara said.

“What if he bestowed Blessings upon them?” I wondered, remembering a building that looked like a church in the village. Strangely, it hadn’t been included during our tour, which I’d thought was odd at the time.

“Blessings? But where would they get a priest?!”

Normally, only priests with the divine Gift of Oracle could grant Blessings, but all of them were under the church’s control. There were certain exceptions, of course, but they were strategic ones. In the end, only the church itself could even bestow the Gift of Oracle in the first place.

But what if this village had found a way around that system?

“Even if ordinary villagers could receive Blessings, how would that explain the sheer number of Gifted here?” Bazara asked.

“I’m not sure. The church insists that less than one percent of commoners have Gifts. But what if they’re wrong?”

“But that means...”

If the church ever found out what was happening here, they wouldn’t be able to ignore it. Even in times of war, the church still held a certain degree of power.

“Lord Dant, what do you plan on doing about this village? Will you report it to Marquess Arvale?” Bazara asked.

“No, I won’t make any reports,” I said, shaking my head.

“What?!” His eyes widened in surprise.

“His lordship is currently focused on preparing for the next battle. I hear he’s left most of the political matters within the domain to Lord Raoul. Of course, he’s assigned aides to support him, but still...”

I suspected that once he’d won his battle with House Schneiger, the lord would claim that territory for himself and leave the Arvale domain to Raoul.

“In other words, any report I made would have to go through Lord Raoul first, and from what I’ve heard, he’s always viewed Lord Luke, his half brother, as a threat. He wouldn’t take kindly to learning how much influence Lord Luke has now.”

Lord Raoul had inherited the Gift of Sword Mastery, which had all but guaranteed his succession as the next lord of the domain. And if he saw Lord Luke as a genuine risk to his power, there was no telling what he’d do to eliminate him.

“He might try to destroy the village before Marquess Arvale even finds out about it,” I said.

The church was definitely one threat to the village, but Lord Raoul might pose an even greater one.

“B-But Lord Dant, if anyone finds out you concealed this...” Bazara started.

I let out a sigh. I was a governor under House Arvale’s command. If word got out that I’d gone rogue, I wouldn’t live to see the consequences.

“I know, but I want to bet on this village, Bazara. I want to bet on Lord Luke.”

I’d spent my whole career as a governor doing what I was told and enforcing my lord’s orders. I told myself it couldn’t be helped, even though I knew the people were suffering. I collected ridiculous taxes without mercy. Sometimes I even used force to keep the people in line, according to my orders.

It was who I was: A selfish coward always looking to save my own skin.

Yet here I was, ready to make the biggest gamble of my life on a village in the middle of nowhere.

“Lord Raoul isn’t fit to inherit House Arvale. It should be Lord Luke. And I believe without a doubt that he will become the greatest ruler this domain has ever seen,” I said.

◇◇◇

Beneath the floor of the living room where Dant and Bazara were speaking, a hidden figure eavesdropped. If that conversation had gone a little differently, those two men might’ve never left the wasteland again.

They would never know that it had been Dant’s words that saved their lives.

◇◇◇

“Good morning, Dant. Did you sleep well?”

“Good morning, Lord Luke. Yes, thanks to your hospitality.”

Dant looked surprisingly refreshed the next morning. He’d seemed a little pale the day before, but perhaps it had just been fatigue from traveling. Even his escorts had seemed a bit haggard, but they looked better this morning too.

“Lord Luke, there was so much going on yesterday that I neglected to say this properly...” Suddenly, Dant’s expression grew solemn.

I tilted my head, curious what was going on in his mind.

“Thank you for accepting the people from the North.”

“Oh, um... Don’t mention it. If anything, I should be apologizing for poaching your people,” I said awkwardly.

“No, our people were forced to abandon the village. My failures left them with no other choice. I’m the one to blame. I should be thanking you.”

Phew, at least he’s not upset.

“And, well...” he continued. “I realize this is asking a lot, but would you be willing to sell us some food? The North is enduring a severe famine right now.”

He explained that this year’s harvest had been abysmal; on top of that, the people had been hit with a massive tax hike. Many had already fled to our village, but there were still scores more who had remained behind and were starving.

I honestly didn’t see how they could focus on war with things like this going on.

“Sure, we’d be happy to help. Honestly, we’ve got more food than we know what to do with at the moment,” I said.

“R-Really?!”

“I can expand the fields more if I need to, and we’ll probably be able to harvest through the winter due to our soil quality.”

Most of our population, which numbered over a thousand now, was working the fields anyway. We had plenty of manpower to handle more farmland.

“I’d appreciate that very much, but I must admit the North’s coffers are a bit low. We’d prefer to barter goods instead of using coin, if possible,” Dant said.

“That works for us. Our village is still new, so we’re in need of a lot of things. Honestly, we’d welcome a trade like that,” I said.

“Th-Thank you so much!” Dant bowed his head over and over again.

Since his family had ruled over the North for generations, he—unlike outsiders who were assigned to rule foreign land—likely felt a deep responsibility for his people. But he couldn’t outright defy my father. He must’ve been frustrated by the hopelessness of his position.

“How should we handle the trade?” I asked.

“I’ll contact a trustworthy merchant guild and have someone sent here. They’ve got branches all over the territory, so it’ll be quicker and smoother than going through the local office.”

“I see. That sounds good to me,” I said.

I hoped we’d be able to barter for some clothing since we still didn’t have the means to produce proper clothes. Everyone was washing and re-wearing the same ratty outfits again and again.

He said they wanted to trade a few times before winter set in. Once the snow began to pile up, merchants would have trouble trekking out to the frontier.

Dant said his party would be leaving soon. I asked if he would stay a little longer, but he said he wanted to hurry back and arrange things with the merchant guild.

I walked him and his group to the outer gatehouse.

“Please visit again, Dant,” I said.

“Of course. I look forward to returning to see the village’s development,” he said with a smile.

“Ha ha. I don’t think it’ll change that much.”

Just as Dant was about to climb into the carriage, an idea popped into my head. “Ah, please wait a minute. It must’ve been a pain getting through the wasteland by carriage, wasn’t it? I’ll build a road for your trip back.”

“Pardon?”

I quickly built a road that stretched straight through the rough terrain. I couldn’t see the end of it from here, but I was pretty sure it reached to the edge of the wasteland. Now, merchants wouldn’t have to deal with a bumpy, miserable ride every time they came through you.

“Th-Thank you so much...” (“A project like this would normally take years of work! And he just said the village wouldn’t change much...”)

Chapter Nine: Elves

“Seren and the others still aren’t back?” I wondered aloud.

Earlier that day, Seren’s group had gone hunting. It was now evening and they still hadn’t returned. The days were getting shorter lately, and it was already starting to get dark.

I hoped they were okay. The hunting party had grown larger and more skilled recently, so I figured they must have slain something massive, which was slowing their trek home down.

But then the sun fully set, and the darkness settled in.

Then, just as I really began to worry, I heard Saten’s voice in my head, telling me that some of the hunters had returned.

“Only about a third are back,” he said.

“Did something happen?”

I ran for the north gate, which was the one closest to the forest.

The gate creaked open, and Barlatt led the hunters through. I scanned the group, but there was no sign of Seren.

“Wh-What happened?! Where’s Seren and the others?!” I asked in a panic.

“It’s okay, Mayor. Captain Seren and the others are safe,” Barlatt said.

I let out a sigh in relief. “Well, where are they?”

“Well,” Barlatt said, “we were hunting in the forest just like always when we suddenly heard shouting and screaming. We thought it was odd to hear people, given how dangerous the woods are, so we followed the noise and found a group of rampaging bear monsters called mad grizzlies. They were locked in a desperate battle with a party of elves.”

“E-Elves?!”

Elves were supposedly close relatives of us humans. They had long, pointy ears and very long lifespans. Most were said to be very beautiful. Once upon a time, they’d co-mingled with humans, but they’d been persecuted for their appearance until contact between the races had faded completely over the years.

But we found them in the middle of that wild, dangerous forest?!

“They were struggling against the mad grizzlies, so we jumped in to help. We managed to slay the monsters together. None of us was seriously hurt, but most of the elves were badly wounded. They seem to be living in a settlement deep in the forest. It would have been risky for them to travel when they were hurt and exhausted, so Captain Seren offered them an escort.”

She’d known I’d panic if they disappeared without a word, so she’d sent a few people back with Barlatt.

“So Seren and the others are at the elves’ village?” I asked.

“Yes, that’s right. The forest is too dangerous to venture out now. I expect they’ll be back sometime tomorrow.”

An elven village... I wonder what it’s like?

In any case, I was just glad Seren and the others were okay.

The next day, Seren and the other hunters returned.

Hm? Wait a minute... Who are those people with them?

After a closer look, I realized they were elves.

One of them stepped forward and looked at me. “Are you Lord Luke, the mayor of this village?”

“U-Uh y-yes, that’s me,” I squeaked out. I mean, it was my first time ever speaking to an elf. I was understandably nervous.

“My name is Philianus Mel Revole Leoninus Selenerale.”

What a mouthful. There’s no way I can remember all that!

“Er, just call me Philia. It’s shorter.”

“Th-Thanks. That really helps.”

I can manage Philia.

The elves wore leather armor and carried bows across their backs. They all looked like warriors, but they were also incredibly attractive, just like I’d heard. Philia was especially pretty. She was tall, with sharp, well-defined brows and a commanding, cool beauty.

“I’ve come to thank you on behalf of our chieftain for the kindness your villagers showed us,” she said.

“Oh, I see. That’s very kind of you. There’s not much here, but please make yourself at home.”

And with that, I welcomed the very first elves into our village. Word spread fast, and the villagers rushed over to get a look at our mysterious new visitors.

“Whoa, are those really elves?”

“They’re all gorgeous...”

“Wait, some of them are guys, right?”

“Huh? For real? That was a guy?!”

“That’s enough, you guys,” Seren said sharply. “Quit gawking. They’re not here for your amusement.”

“S-Sorry...” Everyone quickly looked away, some even glancing at the sky with sudden feigned interest. I could still see them sneaking peeks though.

“Sorry about that, Philia,” Seren said.

“No need to apologize, Lady Seren. Our villagers weren’t much different when we brought you there.”

They seemed quite comfortable with each other already. The other elves looked tense and wary, but Philia stood tall, completely unfazed by all the attention. Honestly, she was pretty cool.

“How did a village like this spring up in the middle of the frontier?” she asked. “I didn’t think that crops could grow out here. And what is that massive structure? I don’t see any houses.”

“Oh, that’s where the villagers live. We call it an apartment building. It’s a big complex with a bunch of individual homes inside it.”

“An apartment? You humans live in strange structures,” she said.

“Well, this one’s unique to this village.” Next, I took them to the mayor’s house. Once we passed through the yard’s gate and got out of the view of the villagers, the elves looked visibly relieved. Everyone except Philia, anyway, who still had an impassive expression on her face.

“Please relax. It’s just us,” I said.

The welcoming party was just me, Seren, and Myria. I’d considered having a few hunters on standby just in case, but I chose to trust Philia and her group. They didn’t seem like they meant us any harm. I even checked the map. There were no red dots in sight.

“Thanks for your consideration.” Philia seemed to pick up on my intentions and offered a polite nod. “Honestly, we haven’t had the best experiences with humans. But at the very least, I believe we can trust you.” She smiled ruefully. “Though perhaps it’s not my place to say such a thing to the people who saved our lives.”

“Don’t worry about it. I’ve heard what humans have done to your people. There are definitely bad ones out there.”

We moved into the living room, and just as I was about to offer them seats on the sofa, something struck me. I hesitated a moment, but then decided to go for it.

“Actually, would you like to bathe first?” I asked.

I didn’t want to say it outright, but Philia and the others were pretty grimy—and they didn’t smell the greatest either.

“Great idea!” Seren quickly added, likely having been thinking the same thing. “Our village has hot baths available all the time.”

“I see... That explains why your villagers are so clean,” Philia said.

She explained that their village didn’t have any baths at all. They washed themselves in the nearby river.

“But now that winter’s coming,” she said, “we’ve been filling basins and rinsing off instead.”

Yeah, that makes sense. It’s too cold to be swimming in a river.

“But don’t you think this is a bit careless, Commander Philia?” an elf spoke up.

“It’s fine,” Philia said without hesitation. “They wouldn’t need to lure us into bathtubs if they wanted to hurt us.”

“The men’s bath is over here. Seren will show the ladies to the women’s bath,” I said.

Our house had two outdoor baths and the original indoor bath as well. About half the elves were guys, much to my surprise. I honestly hadn’t been able to tell the difference. Their builds and faces weren’t much different from the women’s. Philia was the tallest of them all.

I led the men outside.

“Your bath is outdoors?”

“Isn’t that just a pond?”

“No, look! Steam’s rising.”

They stared in awe as they began undressing. I figured joining them might help put them at ease, so I started stripping too.

And then I heard a voice behind us.

“Hmm, so this is the open-air bath? It certainly is very freeing.”

“Right? Soaking melts all the day’s fatigue away.”

For some reason, Philia and the rest of the ladies had followed us.

“Wait, what are you doing?” I said, turning around.

“Oh, not to worry. Gender isn’t a big fuss among elves. We grew up like siblings, so communal bathing isn’t a big deal,” she said, starting to take off her clothes.

“W-Well, it’s a bit different for humans!” I shouted, averting my eyes. Sure, I bathed with Seren and Myria sometimes, but that didn’t mean I was used to seeing naked women.

But Philia didn’t care one bit. She boldly stepped right into the bath, completely naked, and the rest of the female elves soon followed suit.

“Mm, it feels so good!” they all said in unison.

“Ahh... This open-air bath is so open, warm, and safe... It’s incredible,” Philia said.

I scooted over to the edge of the tub to give them some space. “Is bathing in the river dangerous?”

“Of course. Monsters live in those waters. We scatter the monster repellent potion around the area, but they still attack sometimes. Every year, there are injuries—sometimes even fatalities—from elves attacked while bathing.”

I guess that made sense. It was a river in the middle of the monster-infested forest, after all.

“I can’t believe your village has something like this,” she said.

“There’s only one open-air bath like this though. Each house has a smaller, private bath. And if people want something bigger, we’ve got two public bathhouses,” I said.

They must’ve really liked the bath, because Philia and the others soaked for nearly an hour. I got out before them because I didn’t want to pass out from the heat.

Once they’d cleaned up, I led them back into the living room.

“Mad grizzlies don’t usually travel in packs, but even a single one is as dangerous as several orcs. If Lady Seren and her team hadn’t intervened, things could’ve been much worse. I truly want to thank you.” Philia bowed deeply, and the rest of the elves followed suit. They looked much more relaxed now.

“We didn’t lose a single life thanks to Lady Seren’s escort,” she said.

“I’m really glad to hear that.”

“This is just a small token of our appreciation.” She handed me ten small vials of a liquid I didn’t recognize, all carefully sealed. “Please accept it.”

“Are these potions?” I asked.

Potions were so rare that they were almost considered myths. It was said that drinking one could rapidly heal the imbiber’s wounds. The knowledge of making them had been lost long ago, and the few remaining were nothing but relics of a past age.

“Our elven tribe has passed down the recipe for generations.”

“A-Are you sure you’re okay with giving us something this rare? And ten of them, no less?” I asked.

“It’s only right. You saved our lives. Not even a potion can bring back someone who’s already gone.”

After that, we hosted Philia and her people for a meal made with local ingredients. I figured they wouldn’t want too much attention, so we kept it to a simple dinner party at my house instead of the elaborate feast we’d had when Dant visited.

“I’m sorry to ask, but may I use the restroom before we eat?” Philia asked.

“Sure. It’s down the hallway. First door on your right.”

I watched her walk down the hall.

After a few minutes, a sudden, earsplitting shriek came from the bathroom.

“AAAAIIIEEEEE!”

It sounded a lot like Philia’s voice.

I rushed down the hall and caught her bursting out of the bathroom, pants around her ankles and lower half on full display.

“Whoa! Ph-Philia?!”

“M-My rear! It attacked my rear!” she exclaimed.

“Um...what?”

Other elves came running to her aid. “Commander! Blast it! Was there a trap in the bathroom?!”

“What did you do to her?!”

They crowded around Philia, who had collapsed in the hallway, clutching her butt in a panic. The elves were furious.

I peeked into the bathroom and finally understood what had happened.

“N-No, no! It’s not a trap! That toilet has a bidet. It just sprays water to clean your bottom when you press that button!” I hastily explained.

“It— What?!”

“I see... So that thing—bidet, you called it—is a toilet with a built-in cleansing function. I must’ve pressed it by accident, and it shot water at me,” Philia said.

“Y-Yeah. Sorry, I should’ve explained it first.”

I couldn’t blame her for being surprised.

Bidet toilets simply didn’t exist yet in this world. People wiped with scraps of hemp or linen cloth after doing their business, but that was a luxury only nobles could afford. Commoners used dried leaves, sticks, or washed themselves with water they’d collected ahead of time.

In the early days, when we lived in basic level-one and level-two houses, we used water to clean our bums. But now that we’d upgraded to the large houses, the toilets had evolved too.

And even the apartments came equipped with bidet toilets. They even had warm water. The villagers had been thrilled.

“Everyone here has one of these? I’m jealous...” Philia said, mystified.

“Ha ha. Yeah, they’re definitely convenient.”

“Oh, it goes beyond convenience.”

“Beyond?”

What does that mean?

“A-Anyway, how do you even make these toilets?” she asked.

“I’m not sure. I used my Gift to make everything, including the house and bathroom.”

“Your Gift?”

“Right, right. I guess I never explained.” I gave her the rundown of how I’d gotten my Village-Making Gift, how everyone had considered it useless, how I’d been basically disowned by my family and exiled to develop this wasteland into a village.

“That’s... That’s absurd! That Gift is obviously powerful. Is your family stupid?” Philia asked bluntly.

“Well, no one knew. It only works on unclaimed land. The Gift won’t activate if I’m on land that’s already owned.”

If they ever found out what my Gift could really do, they might try to drag me back—but I had no intention of ever returning.

“Tch.” Philia released a frustrated sigh. “If you need the Gift to make it, then I suppose there’s no way to bring that toilet technology back to our village.”

We invited them to spend the night in the village. Since they were a much smaller party than Dant’s, we let them stay at my home rather than offering the guest house.

The next morning, I told Philia she could stay another day if she wanted.

“No, the others will worry if we stay too long.”

“That makes sense. Please visit again sometime, okay?”

“Of course. You have delicious food, warm baths, and a clean place to stay. This village is amazing. I’d love to come back anytime.”

Even though they looked a little reluctant to leave, Philia and the others seemed set on going.

They’d arrived hesitant and guarded, but all of them had eventually warmed up to our village and seemed to have genuinely enjoyed their stay.

And they’d liked the baths a lot. So much in fact that they’d snuck out for another soak last night and even woke up early this morning to get in one more.

“Huh? Where’s Philia?” one of the elves said.

“The commander? She said she needed to use the restroom before we left.”

The restroom, hm...

Now that I was thinking of it, Philia had been going in there a lot since yesterday.

Maybe she has an upset stomach? I was starting to feel a little concerned, so I went to check on her. When I reached the door, I immediately heard the sound of her voice coming from inside.

“Mm, haah... Ooh, that feels so good... Aah, yes... Right there... Nnhaah...”

I silently turned around.

Yep, I heard nothing. Not a thing.

A few minutes later, Philia returned from the restroom looking ridiculously refreshed.

“Well, then! Thanks for everything. You wouldn’t mind if we came back to visit sometime, then?”

“O-Of course... Anytime...” I nodded, trying my best to act normally.

I didn’t hear a thing... Not a thing.

After that, the whole village emerged to see the elves off. They finally departed, Philia and her party disappearing into the woods.

Chapter Ten: The Great Orc Meat Bounty

The group of merchants Dant had mentioned arrived just as Philia and the others departed.

“There really is a village out here in the wilderness?!”

“The rumors weren’t wrong...”

“What’s that building over there?”

They stared at me with wide eyes.

“It’s nice to meet you,” I called out. “I’m Luke Arvale, the mayor.”

“I’m Brookley, the leader of this group of merchants,” said a short man in his mid-thirties. “And I have to say, I’m amazed! I’d started thinking this village wasn’t real until I saw it with my own eyes...”

Brookley came from the family who’d founded the Kane Trading Company, one of the largest merchant guilds of the North. He was already serving as vice president at his young age.

But why would someone like him come all the way out here?

They’d mostly brought supplies our village lacked, such as clothing, household goods, crop seeds, medicinal herbs, and spices. All we had to offer in return were our crops. The orc meat would have sold for a high price, but the villagers had begged me not to part with it. I guess they really loved the stuff.

It is really delicious...

As it turned out, those crops were just what the merchants needed at the moment.

“Those are the biggest vegetables I’ve ever seen!”

“Oh, want to try a sample?” I asked.

“Are you sure?” The merchants all eagerly gathered around.

“Hrm, there’s no sign of insect damage. They look like they’re in perfect condition!” one said.

“Growing big vegetables isn’t that difficult, but usually they don’t taste very good.”

“Are they even edible?”

The merchants eyed the giant vegetables suspiciously. Regardless of the fact that they’d been sent by the governor, they were determined to carefully assess the products with the discerning eye of a true merchant.

Then they tried a taste.

“Th-This is delicious!”

“They’re so juicy and sweet!”

“These are supposed to be out of season, right?”

I was pretty happy to hear them praising our village’s crops so openly.

“They’re huge and the taste rivals even the finest produce. To think they were grown out here in the wasteland...”

“Well?” I said.

“I didn’t expect them to be this good. We’d be happy to buy them from you,” Brookley said.

After a brief negotiation, we settled on a price much better than I’d hoped. That meant I could afford to buy everything they’d brought over.

“I’m not sure if we need all of it, but I’d like to buy everything you brought, including the special products,” I said.

“What?! Really?” Brookley exclaimed.

“Yes. I’ve heard that many villages are struggling with food shortages, so I’d like to help however I can. And if they’re still having trouble after our trade, please let them know about this village. We’re always happy to welcome new residents,” I said.

Brookley stared at me.

“Is something wrong?” I asked, puzzled.

“No, I was just thinking... If all nobles were like you, Lord Luke, then the commoners would have much better lives. O-Oh, I’m sorry! I don’t mean to speak badly of the marquess...” he said.

“Ha ha. Please don’t worry about it. I’m not very fond of my father’s way of doing things either.”

Brookley gave me a thoughtful look.

“But I’m just a village mayor. I have no interest in becoming the lord of some big domain,” I said.

With our first trade concluded, the merchants promptly left. They had other goods to sell and needed to get moving right away.

Incidentally, I’d bought more than just supplies.

“Mooo...”

“Meh eh eh...”

“Bawk bawk bawk!”

I’d purchased cattle, goats, and chickens so we could have milk and eggs.

“Come on. I’ll show you to your new home,” I said, leading them toward the barn.

Livestock Barn

>>A barn designed to house livestock. Boosts growth, health, and reproduction.

I’d built it with my Gift, of course. I just hoped they’d like it...

“Moo, moo, moo!”

“Meh eh eh!”

“Bawk! Bawk! Bawk!”

“Huh?! What’s going on?!”

The moment the animals entered the barn, they started running around excitedly.

“It looks like they really like their barn!” a girl standing nearby said.

“Oh, you’re—.”

“Yes, I’m Nerulu! My Gift is Wildheart!”

Nerulu was a year older than me and could understand the emotions of animals.

“Do you think you can take care of these guys for me?” I asked her.

“Sure! I’ll make sure they breed and produce plenty of milk and eggs for us!”

We already had plenty of orc meat, so I had no plans of butchering these animals for food.

◇◇◇

Deep in the forest, a great crisis was breaking out in the elven village. Screams and chaos filled the air.

“Argh! No! We can’t hold them off!”

“If they break into the village, it’s all over!”

A herd of massive, pig-headed monsters was pushing the village’s stone walls to their breaking point.

“We can’t hold them off much longer... We have to run while we still can!”

“Run?! But where to?! The hungry ones will just chase us until they eat us all alive!”

“Then what do you suggest we do, huh?! Just let them break in and kill us all?!”

Normally, the elves were a calm people, but now they shouted at each other in a frenzy as the reality of the situation set in.

However, one elf raised her voice above the others to speak in a commanding tone: “We must escape immediately! Head south! There are fewer of them there! Warriors, take point and break through!”

It was Philia, the captain of the village’s warriors. Elves scattered at her command, racing toward the southern exit. They’d already made it to the south gate by the time the orc horde broke through the walls. Just as she expected, the orcs had spread their forces thin on that side, and the vanguard was able to achieve a breakthrough.

“I’ll cover the rear! Just keep running!” Philia shouted as she landed a headshot on one of the orcs.

But most of the elves, being highly intelligent beings, knew there was no hope ahead. The number of orcs chasing them was overwhelming, and it was clear they’d eventually be run down and overpowered.

Since they were a long-lived race, there were few children. Although they could withstand old age better than humans, even their elders slowed them down. Nevertheless, leaving their comrades behind was not an option for the noble elves.

No, there is hope! If we can reach the frontier, we’ll be safe!

Philia suddenly thought of the village she’d visited recently. Despite having only been built six months ago, it was so comfortable and safe that it almost seemed unbelievable.

Elves typically didn’t have the best opinion of humans, but Philia was certain after just one visit that the villagers were kind, gentle, and trustworthy. But above all else, what had captured her heart wasn’t the bidet toilet, but the young village mayor.

I hate to say it, but we have no choice but to ask him for help!

Philia quickly turned to one of the elves who’d visited the village with her and gave the command.

“Lute! Hurry ahead to the village and tell them about the situation!” she said.

“Understood!” Lute instantly bolted off at full speed.

Philia watched him for a moment, then nocked a new arrow, aimed for the throat of an approaching orc, and released it without hesitation.

◇◇◇

Thanks to the word spreading from Kane Trading Company’s visit, immigrants had been arriving in the village nonstop. With more visitors, there were bound to be some oddballs.

Luckily, if they posed a threat, they’d appear as a red dot on my map. I also used the Villager Appraisal skill to double-check them, just in case.

Delt

Age: 32

Village Affinity: Rebellious

Recommended Job: Physical Labor

Gift: None

“Rebellious, huh? That makes it easy enough. Let’s throw him in the rehabilitation center,” I said.

“Yes, Mr. Mayor!”

My ex-bandits turned guards forcibly dragged off Delt, who struggled and shouted. It was the perfect job for them, given their former experience.

“Huh? What’s a rehabilitation center? Hey, let me go! Where are you taking me?!”

Just then, a report came through.

“Mr. Mayor, there’s an elf approaching the village from the forest,” Saten said telepathically.

“An elf?”

“Yes, and they appear to be in a hurry.”

I wondered what was going on. Maybe they’d forgotten something the other day? Nah, it had to be something else.

“Let’s try reaching out to them with Telepathy.”

Saten usually manned the watchtower at the center of the village. It had been upgraded from a regular lookout post, enhancing its visibility so much that Saten could now see clear into the forest. With his Gift, Saten could communicate with the guards stationed all over the village and relay the situation in real-time.

A short time later, another message came in.

“They’re seeking help from our village.”

“Huh?!”

◇◇◇

“Captain! The vanguard has exited the forest!”

“All right!” Philia shouted between grunts of exertion. “Pull back immediately!”

She and the others had been holding off the orc horde at the rear, but they turned to quickly retreat once she received the message. Before long, they emerged from the forest as well and reached the frontier.

“Raaaah!”

The orcs burst out from the woods, still in hot pursuit.

“Keep going! We’re almost there!”

“Head for that fortress wall!” the elven warriors shouted, urging their comrades forward.

But then, something unexpected happened. Until then, the small and agile elves had been able to use the forest terrain to their advantage, but now, in the open wilderness, the larger orcs had the upper hand. With no grass and trees to block their path, the orcs could move freely.

Damn it... Maybe we should’ve stuck it out longer in the forest, Philia thought, but there was no point in having regrets now.

The orc horde surged forward like a tidal wave. They already outnumbered the elves and began overwhelming their exhausted warriors. It was clear that the elves could no longer hold them back.

This might be it! I must buy time, so maybe some can make it to the village!

Philia vowed to fight to the end as a warrior. Just as she turned, ready to make her final stand, several orcs charged her.

If only I could use that damn toilet one last time... She prepared herself for death, giving a wry chuckle for having such an absurd final wish. But then...

Ruuuuumble!

“Huh?!”

“Brawr?!”

A stone wall suddenly materialized in front of her. The orcs crashed into it at full speed, their cries echoing from the other side.

“What in the world?! Wait! That stone wall... It’s from the village!” The stone wall had completely separated the elves from the charging orc horde.

“Captain! Now’s our chance!” an elf called to her.

“R-Right!” Philia had been stunned for a moment, but now she snapped back to reality and quickly turned to continue the retreat. As she did, her sharp eyes—which had been honed from years of archery training—spotted a figure observing her from the central watchtower of the village.

“Lord Luke... You saved us...” she murmured before bolting toward the village.

◇◇◇

“That was a close one,” I muttered, watching the elves flee the orc horde from the watchtower. Thanks to the structure’s bonus effects, I could see even the farthest elves. Philia and the others had been staving off the pursuing orcs, but I quickly erected a stone wall to shield them just before they’d become overrun.

Our village seemed like it was limited to the confines of our outer wall at a glance, but in reality, our territory reached far beyond—that was why I could easily create a stone wall so close to the forest.

“But now what?”

The elven vanguard was almost at the village, and Philia’s party at the rear would likely make it to safety soon. But the real problem now was whether our village could successfully fight off that orc horde. From here, I could already see over a hundred of them, and more were pouring out of the forest.

Our only fighters were our guards and members of the hunting party, which only amounted to a few dozen people. Even though our defensive position gave us an advantage, I wasn’t sure we could take on that many orcs.

“Hmm... They just destroyed that stone wall with no problem. Maybe I could make more walls or even dig a huge moat to wear them out first? But orcs are really tough...” I muttered, brainstorming out loud.

Then it hit me.

“Wait! I think I know how to wipe them out all in one go!”

I left the watchtower and headed toward the northern gate near the outer stone wall. I’d upgraded it from a wooden structure to a much more solid gatehouse.

Gatehouse

>>A fortified gate with a tower and double drawbridge.

Still, I was anxious to face off against that many orcs.

“What are we going to do?” Seren asked nervously. “Even all of us together can’t take down that many orcs.”

Meanwhile, Saten continued updating me telepathically, telling me the horde now numbered over two hundred. We’d probably need at least a thousand seasoned soldiers to take on so many. There was no way we could stand up to them head-on, even with our combat Gifted villagers.

This crisis was completely unprecedented, and now that Seren was panicking, the villagers would be even more shaken.

That was why, as the mayor, I needed to stay calm and steady.

“Right... But if we make the stone walls higher and thicker, they shouldn’t be able to get through. We could seal the gate completely too.”

“That could work, I guess.”

Normally, a regular stone wall could be destroyed or scaled, but if I used Facility Customization to make them gigantic, even the orcs would struggle to break through. The downside would be that we’d be surrounded by orcs outside the village. Luckily, we produced our food inside the outer walls, so we could easily hunker down for siege warfare.

“Leave it to me. I’ve got a better idea. Open the north gate!” I ordered the guards to raise the drawbridge. They probably thought I intended to shut the doors in the elves’ faces. “Now leave the gate and move back!”

They stepped back, confused.

I quickly created two long stone walls perpendicular to the outer wall, leading toward the fields. They formed a narrow passageway that funneled anyone approaching toward the northern gate.

“Wait, are you planning on reducing the number of orcs we have to fight at once? I mean, sure, we could probably take on about five orcs at a time, but we’d run out of stamina really quickly,” Seren said.

“Not exactly. Oh, here they come!”

Just then, the young men of the village arrived. Although we had more women, we did have nearly three hundred adult men in our village of over a thousand. They all carried spears I’d mass-produced through the Facility Customization feature.

“Wait, don’t tell me you’re planning on having them fight?! That’s crazy! They won’t be any match for those orcs, regardless of how many of them there are!” Seren protested.

“Don’t worry. I’m not sending them into battle the usual way,” I reassured her before turning toward the men. “I need you to help us,” I said.

“We got it!”

“We’ll gladly give our lives for the village!”

“We’ll defeat the orcs, even if it means going down with them!”

“Y-You don’t need to be so extreme...” I said.

Meanwhile, elves began pouring through the north gate and charging down the makeshift path. I’d delayed them a bit, so we had a few moments before the orcs caught up. The elves quickly made it down the path and reached us.

“Haah, haah... Lord Luke! I’m so sorry to drag you into all this...” Philia immediately said when she saw me, panting heavily. She was covered in cuts and bruises but didn’t seem seriously wounded.

“We can talk about the details later. I’m sorry to ask this, but I need the elves to help out right now,” too I said.

“Of course! We’ll do whatever it takes! That said, the number of those still able to fight is pretty low...”

You said whatever it takes, right?

“All right. Can I ask the elven warriors to hold this position? And ready your arrows, just in case.”

“Wait, so you want us to lure the orcs into this path and rain arrows on them? That might not be enough...”

“It’s just a precaution, like I said.”

The important thing was positioning the elves in a visible spot so we could lure in the orcs. They would be decoys, but I didn’t say that part aloud.

“All right. Hold on to those spears and spread out evenly along the stone walls on both sides!” I instructed the villagers.

Before long, the orcs arrived at the northern gate and entered the narrow passageway.

“We won’t have to worry about meat for a while with this many orcs...”

◇◇◇

“Graaaah!”

One particular orc was hungry.

Their overpopulation had depleted the amount of prey in the forest, which was why the orcs had attacked the elven village. Although they were smart enough to recognize the wall was fortified, they believed they could easily crush it by virtue of their sheer numbers.

Elf meat wasn’t exactly delicious. Most of the time, they caught elves for sport, to torture, and then kill. But right now, they were too hungry to be picky, and all this orc saw was a feast of elf meat to fill its belly.

He’d chased Philia’s people all the way to the frontier, driven by hunger. And just when he thought he’d finally caught an elf, a stone wall had suddenly appeared out of nowhere, blocking the way.

“Graaaah!”

The orc furiously smashed the stone wall, trying to follow the elves. But just as he was about to catch up, another stone wall appeared, and then another. Around him, the orcs’ hunger and fury reached their peaks, and it seemed they’d have no choice but to eat their own kind soon.

Although he had been near the front of the horde earlier, he’d fallen behind and was now caught in the tide of his kin.

The next wall was even bigger than the ones before. Surely even he would have trouble breaking through this one, but when he examined it closely, he saw an opening at the center of the wall. Glancing through it, he spotted the fleeing elves.

“Graaaah!”

The orc rushed toward the gap without hesitation, and his comrades followed suit, pouring into a narrow passage surrounded by stone walls. The elves had collapsed at the far end, exhausted and gasping for air.

The orc pressed forward. He was so close now he could almost taste the elf meat. It wouldn’t be great, but it would fill his belly.

Then the stone walls on either side rumbled as they began to shift, drawing closer to one another.

“Bwuh?!” he grunted.

The passageway was closing in on him. Even though the orc’s intelligence was limited, he realized what was happening. He began to pound on the walls, but they were too thick. All he managed to do was crack the outer layer.

His only chance now was to sprint through before the walls completely closed. The others had the same idea, and the orcs at the front began to speed up.

Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!

“Bwaah?!” Just then, a barrage of arrows rained down on them, piercing their bodies one by one.

The elves were attacking.

The orcs slowed down due to the relentless flurry of arrows; meanwhile, the stone walls continued to close in until the passage became so narrow that not even a single orc could continue forward.

“Graaaaah?!”

◇◇◇

“Ha ha... You really are as reckless as ever,” Philia muttered in disbelief.

“It’s not over yet. Plenty of orcs are probably still alive,” I said, before turning to the villagers. “Are you ready, everyone?”

A loud, energetic cheer rang out: “Yes, Mayor!”

Most of them had never used a spear before, but it was simple enough that I was confident they could manage.

“Stab the orcs through the holes in the walls! Let’s go!”

I used Facility Customization to create small gaps in the passage where the orcs were trapped. The villagers, who’d been waiting outside the walls, charged in and began stabbing their spears through the openings.

“Raaaaah!”

“Graaaaaaarghhh?!”

It was like shooting fish in a barrel. Shrill screams echoed from between the stone walls, one after the other. And just like I’d planned, we took out the entire horde in one fell swoop.

Chapter Eleven: The Orc King

When I’d heard over a hundred orcs were heading toward the village, I hadn’t known what to say. I’d felt so hopeless that I’d collapsed on the spot.

The hunting party dealt with orcs regularly, so I’d almost forgotten how dangerous they were. But these were monsters that even a group of seasoned soldiers would struggle to take down. A single orc could’ve destroyed our entire previous village, and now a horde of hundreds were attacking... What other word could there be to describe the situation than “hopeless”?

Mayor Luke approached me while I was in a daze.

“Berlitt... I have something to ask you.”

Then he said something that completely caught me off guard: He wanted me to arm the men of the village and have them fight for our survival. He was essentially asking them to risk their lives. But as I looked at his face, courage stirred within me. I didn’t know where it came from, but I found myself immediately responding, “All right! Let’s do it!”

“Oh, and just to be clear, you won’t be directly fighting the orcs, okay?”

“We might not have any Gifts or combat experience, but we can each take down one orc for sure! We can wipe them out in no time if we all work together!” I said.

“Um, are you listening?”

Luke was already preparing to head to the front lines, so I went around to persuade the men to join. But honestly, I didn’t have to do much to convince them—everyone had already made up their minds. They were deeply grateful to this village.

We might’ve already been dead if we hadn’t found this village, and now we were living comfortably. My wife and kids had been so thin and weak, but now they were finally healthy again. We’d even brought back the elderly we left behind.

But most of all, Luke was a kind village chief who’d encouraged us all. I heard he was the son of a great noble family, but he never acted above us. He treated people with warmth and respect. And no matter how small the problem, he addressed our concerns right away.

He was nothing like those other nobles who ignored the commoners and only thought about expanding their lands. We loved the mayor and didn’t hesitate to give our lives for him and to protect this wonderful village, if need be.

And now it was our time to spring into action.

“Are you ready, everyone?”

“Yes, Mayor!”

“Stab the orcs through the holes in the walls! Let’s go!”

“Raaaaaah!”

We charged in response to the mayor’s command, plunging our weapons through the gaps in the wall with all our might.

“Graaaaaaarghhh?!”

The orcs were trapped in the passage, and we heard their death rattles.

“It worked, everyone! Thank you!”

Wow... That was even easier than I’d thought...

◇◇◇

“Wh-What the—” an elf muttered in disbelief.

“The stone walls are moving?” another asked. “What in the world is going on?”

“Did we...did we make it?”

Ruuumble...

I moved the stone walls again to open the passageway, revealing the orc horde that now lay scattered across the ground, dead. The villagers’ spears had finished the job. None of the orcs were moving.

“So that’s why you gave them the spears,” Seren said, her expression between shock and admiration.

“At first, I thought we could just attack them over the walls, but I realized it would be difficult if the orcs could still move. I decided to trap them between the walls so they couldn’t escape,” I explained.

“I swear, only you could pull off a strategy like that,” Seren said with a laugh.

I knew roughly how fast I could move the walls with Facility Customization, but still, the timing was a challenge. I had to ensure the orcs were far enough down the passageway, but if I waited too long, they’d just run through.

It’d ended up being pretty close, but the elves’ arrows helped me adjust.

“Hm, it looks like some stragglers did survive...” Some orcs that had been farther back had escaped through the north gate. I could spot a few of them still outside, looking as though they might flee at any moment. They were clearly terrified to see so many of their fellow orcs slain.

“Wait, one’s coming in!”

One of the orcs stepped through the northern gate, stepping over the bodies of his fallen comrades.

Wait, that one’s huge!

After closing more closely, I realized he was clearly twice the size of an average orc.

“What?!”

The massive orc let out a terrifying roar, releasing all the fury it had built up from seeing its comrades slaughtered. It charged at us with unbelievable speed before we could even react.

“Grrrrooooaaar!”

How can something that big move so fast?!

“Watch out! That’s no regular orc! It’s an orc king!” Philia shouted in a panic.

O-Orc king?!

Under normal circumstances, this monster was so dangerous that it took a full battalion to deal with it. It did, however, explain why the horde had been so large. An orc king could organize a vast horde and lead it as if it were an extension of its own body. Still, based on its size and speed, it was clearly not something we could handle easily.

This thing was so terrifying that I worried I might piss myself.

I quickly tried to close the stone walls in its path, but the orc king moved too fast. At this rate, I wouldn’t make it in time. I quickly built a new stone wall to block its escape route, trapping it like the others.

Craaaaash!

But the orc king barreled right through the wall, shattering my plan instantly. I’d made that wall as thick as I could, but he destroyed it in no time.

He kept charging toward us, seemingly unstoppable. I tried to erect another stone wall, but...

I’m out of Village Points?!

Unbelievably, I’d used up all my Points. I could do nothing now but stand there, frozen, as the giant orc charged at me.

He’s heading straight for me! Could he know I’m the one who built the walls?!

“Mayor! We won’t let him take you!”

Two massive figures leaped in front of me, each wielding a huge iron shield.

“Noel! Gordy!”

Klaaaang!

They slammed their shields together with a deafening crash, then braced against the orc king’s massive body. In the blink of an eye, the monster sent them both flying backward.

They stopped the charge of a great boar, but they can’t stop an orc king?!

Their efforts altered the orc king’s trajectory, however, and he charged right past me. He kept going, his momentum carrying him right toward a nearby field.

“Graaaaargh!” He quickly turned back, roaring again. He was over three meters tall, bulging with muscles. Seeing him up close made his sheer size even more overwhelming.

“Luke, get back to safety!” Seren shouted as she charged toward the massive monster.

Noel and Gordy, seemingly okay, regained their footing, took up their shields again, and followed Seren. The rest of the hunting team followed suit while the elven warriors readied their bows.

“Be careful, everyone!” I stepped back, retreating to safety while I glanced toward the western sky. Luckily, it was nearing sunset. It wouldn’t be long now...

Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!

The elves loosed a volley of arrows. One after the other, the projectiles cut through the arrow and riddled the orc king’s massive body. Rather than harm him, the ranged attack just seemed to piss him off. His skin and muscles were just that thick.

At that moment, Seren charged in.

The orc king swung his arm, trying to smash her. She narrowly dodged, slipped past him, and fired a spell at point-blank range. An ice arrow jutted out from his right leg, but that didn’t seem to faze him much either.

Watching her engaged in the tense battle made me so nervous I could scream. Can you please be more careful?!

“Cover the rear!” Noel shouted.

“Captain Seren, focus on magical attacks from the rear!” Gordy yelled, rushing forward alongside Noel. They must have been thinking the same thing as I was.

They took the brunt of the orc king’s attacks while the others laid into him with arrows, magic, and other ranged assaults or tried to find openings to use their swords and spears.

The only problem was that the orc king’s brutality was too taxing for the shield bearers to manage for long. They took hit after hit, sometimes getting knocked clean off their feet, but they stood their ground, covered in cuts and bruises.

“Noel, don’t tell me you’re about to fold! You’ve got that fancy Shield Mastery Gift, remember? It’d be pathetic if a dumb brute like me outlasted ya!” Gordy shouted.

“I’m fine! I can still fight! I’ll protect this village and the mayor—no matter what!” Noel yelled back.

I could tell both were way past their limits. I thought about using one of the rare potions the elves had given us to heal them, but we just couldn’t afford to use them.

“Damn it... This isn’t working...” Seren’s face twisted with frustration as she kept casting spells. I knew she could tell how bad the situation was.

A hulking figure suddenly stepped onto the battlefield. “Looks like you folks could use a hand,” he rumbled.

He was easily as big as the orc king we faced.

“Y-You’re—!”

It was Doriel, the former boss of the bandit gang. He held a huge shield like the kind Noel and Gordy used.

“Can’t say I’m a shield expert or anything, but hey—it ain’t like anyone else’s steppin’ up.”

“What are you doing here?” Seren asked.

“Don’t ya remember? I told ya when the time came that you really needed my strength, I’d be there for ya. Pretty sure this qualifies.” Doriel snorted and lifted his shield, charging straight at the orc king with a thunderous roar.

“Gork?!” The massive orc king staggered, thrown off-balance by Doriel’s shield attack.

It was just as I’d expected—only the former boss could take on the orc king.

“Thanks, Saten.”

“Honestly, I wasn’t sure whether he’d actually help...”

I’d used Telepathy to ask Saten to get in touch with him. I’d had my doubts about letting him out of the cell, but at the very least, it meant Noel and Gordy didn’t have to take the brunt of the attacks anymore.

“Argh! Damn it, this overgrown pig’s strong as hell! I’m not gonna last long at this rate!”

Well, maybe even he isn’t a match for an orc king.

Sure, he was built like a tank, but his Gift was Axe Proficiency. He’d never trained with a shield before, so expecting him to perform at Noel and Gordy’s level was asking a lot.

Still, just having three shield bearers made a huge difference in stabilizing the battle.

Rand darted between them, waiting for the opportunity to thrust his spear. Barlatt and Peren struck in hit-and-runs, slashing from behind and retreating. They were starting to deal some solid damage.

Seren and the other Gifted magic-users continued blasting away nonstop, burning through their mana without hesitation.

Even Philia and the elves were still firing arrows like crazy, their fingers bleeding from how many times they’d drawn their bowstrings.

“Blaarghhh!” the orc king roared, stumbling.

All that effort was adding up, little by little. The orc’s body was covered in blood by this point, but his monstrous strength seemed inexhaustible. Even now, one swing of his arm could launch our frontliners, shields and all, into the air.

I watched them fight, holding my breath. “Just a little more, guys... We’re almost there...”

And then it happened.

You’ve received your Daily Bonus of 1,214 Village Points!

Yes! Perfect timing!

I’d been waiting for that exact moment, and it proved to be just what we needed. I had over a thousand now.

“Everyone, fall back!” I shouted.

Without hesitation, they backed off.

I hadn’t even explained my plan, but they’d moved without question. It was because they believed in me.

Thanks, everyone.

The orc king bellowed and lunged after the retreating villagers, but I summoned a stone wall right in front of his face. It was the biggest, thickest wall I’d ever built. Not even an orc king would have an easy time busting through that thing.

He sensed danger and turned to flee, but I blocked him with another wall, this time shaped like a big C.

Between the two, I’d completely boxed him in. Even though the stone, I could almost feel his confusion. He pounded on the wall, trying to escape.

“Sorry, but that’s not gonna work.”

I’d upgraded the walls using Facility Customization and used Reinforced Durability on them. There was no way he could get through with his bare hands now.

“Now to add a watchtower.”

I mounted the structure above the stone walls and then used Facility Customization to compress the tower from all four directions. Once it became smaller than the gap between the top of the walls, it’d fall right in...

“The watchtower’s made entirely out of stone, so it’s gonna be seriously heavy.”

A second later, the enormous building crashed into the orc’s makeshift enclosure. There was no way even he stood a chance against that.

“Bllaaaaaargh!”

Splat.

“D-Did we really get him?”

“He’s gotta be dead after that...”

No matter how tough that orc king was, not even he could walk away from my new signature move, Facility Press.

Still, we’d all seen how absurdly strong he was, so nobody wanted to get their hopes up too soon.

“Okay, I’m gonna remove the stone walls and the watchtower now. I doubt he’ll get back up, but be careful, just in case!” I cautioned.

And with that, I removed both structures, revealing the crushed body of the orc king. It looked like he’d shrunk by a good twenty percent.

I crept closer and saw he wasn’t breathing at all. “Yeah,” I called out. “He’s dead.”

“We... We really did it...”

“We seriously took down an orc king...”

And with that, all the built-up tension was released in an explosion of cheers. It felt like a dam had burst.

“Woooooooo!”

Villagers grabbed anyone within arm’s reach and clapped one another on the back, hugged, and high-fived.

“The mayor did that last move, right?”

“No one else could’ve pulled it off.”

“The mayor’s insane!”

Heh. Well, they aren’t wrong.

Everyone had done great, especially the hunting party. Although—

Wait, are they okay?!

The shield bearers had it the worst, so I rushed over to check on them.

“Mayor, did I protect you?” Noel groaned.

“Yeah, Noel, you did. But you’re a total mess! Here, drink this potion!”

“B-But those are really rare!”

“It’s fine. Just drink it.”

I forced the bottle into Noel’s hands and made sure he drank it.

Sure, the potions were valuable, but I was positive that we’d earned a favor from the elves after today. They’d repay us somehow.

“Great work, Gordy! Here, have a potion too!”

“Thanks, Mayor.”

He must’ve realized resistance was futile, because he accepted it without protesting.

“Hey, what about me?” Doriel asked.

“You barely did anything at the end. And you were kinda useless with that shield.”

“Wow, that’s cold.”

Hey, the guy was a criminal. Letting him out of jail was already a big enough favor. He was in for a rude awakening if he thought he’d get the same treatment as the others.

Still, I owed him for stepping up, so I figured we’d sort it out later.

Just then, one of the elves hesitantly walked up to me. “Pardon me...”

He was older and had a distinguished beard, which was rare for an elf, and looked utterly exhausted.

“You must be Lord Luke, the village mayor?” he asked.

“Yes, that’s me. And you are?”

“Apologies for the late introduction. I am Leoninus Mel Revole Landelinus Elshibora, chieftain of the elves.”

Oh, so this is the chieftain. Are all elven names such a mouthful?

“We are deeply, deeply sorry!” He bowed down low, and the other elves followed suit.

“We had no choice but to seek aid from your village. But I know that, from your perspective, we’ve just led a horde of orcs right to your doorstep! That makes us no better than criminals. We will accept whatever punishment you see fit!”

His face was filled with resolve—so were the others. They looked like they expected me to sell them into slavery or something.

“Um, putting that aside for now, I can tell you’re all exhausted. I’m sure you haven’t eaten properly in days either.”

“Pardon me?”

“Coincidentally, we just happened upon a bounty of orc meat. Way more than we could ever finish ourselves, honestly. Would you like to join us for a feast?”

Leoninus blinked. “What?”

As the elves tried to process what I’d just said, I turned to the villagers. “We’re going to have a big orc meat barbecue! Let’s get ready, everyone!”

With a loud cheer, the villagers scattered to haul orc meat toward the houses.

The terrifying monsters that had nearly wiped us out were now nothing more than dinner.

“L-Lord Luke... What just happened?” the bewildered elven chieftain stammered.

Philia, standing beside him, released a loud laugh. “I told you, Father. Lord Luke’s generosity is vaster than the forest.”

Oh, so he’s her father.

“And thanks to his example, the people of this village are just as kind. I doubt anyone here is even thinking of blaming us,” she said.

“It would seem you were right, Philianus,” he said, finally smiling. “Everyone, listen! I am convinced the people of this village are our good neighbors and friends! Let us be grateful for their kindness and build a new bond between us!”

“Yes, Chieftain!” the other elves shouted back.

“How about a bath?” I asked. “I’m sure you’re all feeling sweaty from the battle.”

Naturally, I omitted the fact that some of them had started smelling a little ripe.

Later, I overheard some elves talking.

“I’ve heard about it,” one said, “but I never imagined it would be this comfortable...”

“A warm bed, a bath we can use anytime, delicious food...and that toilet!”

“Yes, the toilet! I used it several times, just for the experience. Are humans really living like this?”

“No, I heard this village is special. Apparently, the mayor has some kind of powerful Gift.”

I decided to approach. “Good morning. Did you sleep well last night?”

“M-Mayor!”

“Yes, thanks to you!”

“I’m glad to hear that,” I said. I’d let them stay the night after the barbecue. They’d insisted they could sleep outdoors, but as their host, I refused to let them do that.

I’d managed to house all two hundred elves by reassigning some empty apartment units, opening up my place and the guest lodgings, and building two brand-new apartment buildings.

They’d been stunned by how the buildings just appeared.

Leoninus approached me, looking much better after a proper night’s rest.

“Lord Luke, I have something I’d like to discuss with you,” he said, his tone somber. “We had scouts check the state of our village earlier. As expected, the damage was severe. It’ll take quite some time to make it livable again. And with winter just around the corner...”

“In that case, why don’t you and your people stay here until your village is back on its feet?”

“A-Are you sure?!”

“Of course. I built this village for refugees and immigrants from all over. You’re in the same situation as them.”

“Thank you so much!” (“Now I can keep using that amazing toilet!”)

“Did you say something just now?” I asked.

“N-No, nothing at all.”

The chieftain told me their village walls were in shambles too, so step one was fixing those. They wouldn’t stand a chance against monster attacks without proper defenses. For all we knew, there were stray orcs still lurking nearby.

“In that case, how about I make it easier to travel safely from your village to mine?” I suggested.

“Hrm? And how would you do that? There’s a monster-infested forest between us.”

“Not underground, there isn’t.”

“Pardon?”

“It’s true...” I muttered, looking out at what had once been a beautiful, forested settlement. “You really do have a long road ahead.”

I’d gone to visit the elven village with Philia and some others. Immediately, I could see how badly the stampede of orcs had damaged the place.

“That’s right,” Philia said. “It’ll be a long time before we can live here comfortably again.”

The outer wall was in particularly terrible shape. There was no way it could hold back monsters like that.

Incidentally, this was my first time setting foot in the forest. I’d had to come in person to carry out my plan, but everyone back at the village had tried to stop me. Seren and the hunters practically begged me not to go, but in the end, they let me go as long as I brought them along.

“Are you sure? I could fix the wall in no time,” I said.

I understood them not wanting me to rebuild their houses, because there was aesthetics to consider, but a wall should have been fine, right?

“It’s tempting,” Philia admitted, “but you’d be spoiling us more than you already have. Rebuilding the village must be our own responsibility.”

“That’s fair.”

I could tell that these elves were very proud and resilient.

(“All right! This means we can spend the winter in that cozy village!”)

(“Good call, Captain!”)

Hm? Why do all the elves look so excited all of a sudden?

Ignoring that thought for the moment, I studied the village and then pointed toward the southern gate. “Well, mind if I use this area over here?”

“What exactly are you planning to do with it? You mentioned safe travel between the villages, but—”

“Just watch.”

This area is currently under someone else’s control. Would you like to seize it? ▼ Yes / No

The wording was more aggressive than I would have liked, but I chose Yes. I was using a feature I’d learned after unlocking level six, Territory Takeover.

This territory has been annexed. It is now part of your village.

And just like that, a portion of their village became part of mine.

Would you like to construct Underground Tunnel? ▼ Yes / No

Now that this area was part of my land, I could build facilities on it. I spent twenty points, and a stone staircase suddenly rose out of the earth.

“Wh-What was that?!” Philia gasped.

“Let’s go.” I ignored her reaction and began descending the stairs. At the bottom was a short tunnel that led to a dead end.

Would you like to extend Underground Tunnel? ▼ Yes / No

I spent another twenty points to add onto it and, if I kept going, I’d eventually reach our village. I’d burn through a lot of points, but I’d been saving up for this. I was pretty sure I had just enough. As fate would have it, I made it just as I dropped below a hundred points. All I had to do now was create another set of stairs on this end to connect the tunnel to the surface.

“Home, sweet home!” I said.

As we emerged at the surface, Philia stared in disbelief at the familiar farmland. “Y-You just connected our villages with this underground road?” she asked.

“I think you’ll get that reconstruction work done in no time using this passage,” I said.

“Y-Yes, definitely.” (“Damn it, but this means we get less time to enjoy this village... Fine. I’ll just make sure we work really, really slowly...”)

◇◇◇

“Everyone, I’ve called you here today to deliver a divine revelation of great importance,” Myria’s solemn voice rang out. The villagers inside the chapel stirred in anticipation. They were all Gifted who’d received powers, which was why every one of them listened with deep reverence and trust as Myria spoke from the altar.

“This is about our village mayor, Lord Luke.”

The villagers leaned forward with serious expressions, hanging onto Myria’s every word.

“The mayor?”

“What kind of revelation?”

She looked over the audience with satisfaction, then raised her voice, full of conviction. “Lord Luke is a savior sent by the gods themselves to bring peace to this war-torn world!”

The magnitude of her proclamation left the whole crowd frozen in place, unable to process what they’d heard.

She wasn’t finished either.

“That’s right. Lord Luke is our savior. He was granted an extraordinary Gift by the gods, as you’ve all seen for yourselves. And that’s just the beginning. His power will grow far beyond what you’ve witnessed.”

The Gift of Village-Making came with a leveling system; the higher the level, the more advanced facilities and skills I could unlock. Even though I’d only just started, my powers were already way beyond normal limits.

The villagers glanced at one another.

“He has even more power?”

“I-I knew the mayor wasn’t ordinary, but I never imagined he was that important...”

“This makes sense, though. If anyone could be that powerful, it would be him. It looks like we ended up in the right village after all.”

The villagers were all shocked, but not one of them doubted Myria. After all, she was a priestess who’d received the Gift of Oracle.

That meant no one had any way of knowing the truth.

(“The gods haven’t given me revelations, but I don’t need divine insight to know that Lord Luke is the gods’ messenger, sent to save this world!”)

I knew, of course, the truth: all this came from Myria’s own deeply personal convictions.

“Come, everyone! Let us all praise Lord Luke and devote ourselves to his cause, work for him with all our strength, and build this village into a beacon of hope so that we will one day save the world!”

“Yeaaaah!”

And just like that, a new religion had been born, without my knowledge or input.

Epilogue

“Lord Raoul, are you ready?”

“Whenever you are.”

“This way, please.”

Raoul’s retainers led him to the training grounds. Usually, the domain’s soldiers sparred here, but today was different. A massive cage stood at the center of the arena, surrounded by knights with tense, solemn faces. There were no monsters inside the cage, but people. Death row inmates, in fact. Each of them looked terrified, like they had no clue why they’d been brought here.

When the cage door opened, Raoul walked inside without hesitation. The knights tossed swords, axes, and whatever they had on hand onto the ground near the inmates.

“Each of you, choose a weapon. You’re going to fight that man,” a knight announced. “If you win, your sentence will be reduced. You’ll be spared from execution.”

At that, the prisoners instantly perked up. “What?! Are you serious?!”

“It’s true.”

“You mean we’re allowed to kill him?!”

“You are.”

“Hell yeah!”

“This is our lucky day!”

They rejoiced as if they’d already won. And who could blame them? The boy they were about to fight looked barely in his mid-teens. These convicts were former mercenaries and adventurers who’d seen real combat. They knew how to fight.

“We’re really blessed, huh?”

“Ha! What the hell did that kid even do to end up here?”

“Who cares? Let’s just finish this quick and cash in on our freedom!”

They all smirked and grabbed their weapons, closing in on Raoul.

The first man rushed in without delay. “Die, you little shi— Huh?!”

Before he knew it, his severed arm was sailing overhead, still clutching its sword. It landed with a dull thud.

“Arrghhhh!”

“Shut up,” Raoul said, thrusting his blade into the man’s throat.

“Nggh!” he gurgled before crumpling to the ground.

The rest of them had been all smiles a few moments ago, but now they looked deathly pale.

“H-He’s...”

“What’d he just do?!”

“I couldn’t even see i—”

Raoul drove his sword straight into the man’s heart before he could even finish his sentence. No one had even seen him move.

“Two down already. Tch, what a letdown. These guys are chumps.”

“All together now! Attack at once!”

“Yeaaaah!”

The inmates realized they couldn’t take him one-on-one, so they banded together—but Raoul dodged their blows with casual ease, emerging without a scratch. One by one, they fell to his blade until only a single prisoner remained. He was the only one who’d managed to block even a few attacks.

“Wh-Who the hell are you?! I’ve got the Gift of Sword Proficiency, damn it! So why can’t I even touch you?! D-Don’t tell me...”

“Pathetic. Die, scum.”

“Gaaaah!”

The last man fell, and the knights around the cage whooped. “Lord Raoul has crushed them all!”

“He’s only had his Gift for six months, and he’s already this strong?!”

“That’s the power of Sword Mastery!”

As the knights gawked, one man approached Raoul, who dropped to one knee.

“Father,” the boy said, looking up at Marquess Arvale.

“Well done, Raoul. You’ve passed. You will join me in my next battle,” Arvale said. He wasn’t just praising his son; he was acknowledging him as his fellow warrior.

“I’m honored. I shall deliver results worthy of your name,” Raoul vowed, and the knights burst into cheers once more.

As Raoul left the training grounds after his victory, one of his vassals hurried up to him.

“Lord Raoul, I have a report!”

“What is it?”

“It’s about that village rumored to have been built in the northern wastelands. The local governor confirmed, after a formal investigation, that no such village exists.”

“Ha. Of course it doesn’t. As if anyone could build a settlement out in that desert,” Raoul snorted. “Pfft. I don’t know where that idiot dropped dead, but it’s a shame I didn’t get to see it happen. Could’ve been fun to drag him around as my errand boy until he croaked.”

Either way, it was clear he wasn’t coming back. Raoul had only looked into the rumors because they’d nagged at him a little, but now he could wash his hands of it.

“And regarding Lady Seren... The Bazlata family says there’s still no sign of her.”

“Tch. Don’t tell me they’re deliberately hiding her just to keep her from marrying me.”

“I-I seriously doubt that’s the case...”

It left a bad taste in Raoul’s mouth, but he wouldn’t dwell on it. “Once winter’s over, the real war begins. It’s the most critical campaign Father’s ever fought.” A smirk curled Raoul’s lips.

“And if we win, my father will gain control of even territory. He’ll hand off the March of Arvale to me, which means this entire vast domain will become mine to rule! Ha ha ha ha!”

Raoul’s triumphant laughter echoed throughout the winter sky. He was already counting down the days until spring, unaware that in the northern wastelands, the greatest threat against him had already quietly taken root.

Extra Story: The Secret Dangers of a Bidet

I, Philia, served as captain of the elven guard stationed in the monster-infested forest. A series of events led my people and me to seek shelter in a human village. We’d first encountered them when we were swarmed by a pack of mad grizzlies. The villagers, out hunting in the forest, had saved us.

Before that, I’d left our home to travel the world, so I’d already met many humans. Some had been kind; others hadn’t. By the time we encountered that village, I’d known how to judge their character by now—which was why I’d warmed up to them immediately, even though my kin were wary. I’d offered to visit their village myself and personally express our gratitude.

And that’d been when I had a fateful encounter with Lord Luke, the inventor of the greatest creation in the world: the bidet.

It’d been love at first sight. That toilet had changed my life.

That experience had introduced me to a pleasure unlike anything I’d ever known. Honestly, part of me hadn’t even wanted to return to the forest. I’d seriously considered staying in that village just for the toilet.

But, of course, I’d known I couldn’t do that, so I’d reluctantly left.

Then fate intervened when our village was destroyed by a horde of orcs. We’d fled for our lives and ended up back in that same human village, reuniting me with Lord Luke.

With the bidet.

Lord Luke graciously allowed us to stay until our village could be rebuilt. He even gave each family their own home, with a bidet. And as captain of the guard, I got my own house. Which meant...a bidet of my very own.

“Oh, my beloved...”

That night, I knelt before it, overwhelmed. It was pristine. Untouched. Unable to help myself, I rubbed my cheek against it. The cool porcelain felt oddly comforting. I pulled down my pants and lowered myself onto the seat.

“Haah, haah... This is the button that activates it, I believe...”

After touching my finger to it, I began to pant. It was labeled with something, but I couldn’t read human script. My finger trembled, and I pressed it.

Whoosh!

“Ahh, nngh... Aha!”

A sound escaped me as the stream of water hit just the right spot. But that was only the beginning. I shifted slightly to line it up better, fine-tuning the angle.

And there it was.

“Ah, yes! That’s the spot! Hnngh, so good!” Now that I was all alone, there was no need to hold back. I could let it all out.

After that, I used the bidet daily. But as my body became used to it, the sensation dulled, and the thrill faded.

I recalled the welcome briefing and remembered the other button, which adjusted the pressure of the spray. “Ha ha... I suppose that’s what this one is for.”

It was finally time to test it out.

“Bidet, show me your true power!”

Whooooooooosh!

“Ngaaaaaaah?!”

Unfortunately, the results weren’t what I was expecting.

“My butthole hurts...”

I’d given myself hemorrhoids that were so painful I had to walk bowlegged. Of course, Lord Luke noticed right away.

“What’s up with you, Philia? You’re walking kinda weird...”

“Ah ha ha... I just pushed myself too hard in training, that’s all...”

“Oh, okay. Take it easy.”

“Y-Yeah, I will...”

There was no way I could tell him I’d gotten hemorrhoids from overusing a bidet.

“Maybe healing magic will work? It’d be super awkward to ask someone to cast it on my butt, though... But what else can I do?”

Thankfully, we had a skilled healer among us, so I went straight to her. Her name was Clinetophanus, but we all just called her Cline.

“Your butthole hurts?”

“Yes. The pain started suddenly yesterday, and I don’t know why.”

“I see. May I take a look?”

I pulled down my underwear, trying not to die of embarrassment, and let her inspect the area. She studied it for a while, then finally asked, “Have you perhaps been stimulating the area for an extended period of time?”

“U-Um, no! Definitely not! Never!”

“Mm-hmm. I’ll cast the healing spell now.”

Whew, that was close. I had no idea what I would’ve done had she pressed any further.

Soon, a gentle warmth began to spread across the affected area.

Ahh, nngh... This, this actually feels kind of... No, you have to hold it in! You can’t make a sound in front of her!

“There, all done.”

“The pain’s completely gone!”

My butt was finally healed, and I was satisfied.

Yes! That means I can use the bidet again!

“There’s one thing I’d like you to be careful about,” Cline said.

“Hm? What’s that?”

“Please avoid any kind of stimulation to your bum for a while.”

“R-Right. Not that I, um, normally do that or anything!”

“Of course. It’s just a precaution.”

◇◇◇

After Philia left, Cline, who possessed a Gift called Healing Hands, muttered quietly to herself, “Yeah, that was definitely from overusing the bidet.”

If she didn’t put up warnings soon, there’d be even more victims. She knew its dangers better than anyone—from firsthand experience, of course. “There’s no way I can tell anyone I gave myself hemorrhoids from overusing the bidet and had to heal my own butt...”

Just then, someone else arrived.

It was Chieftain Leoninus.

“Is there something wrong, Chieftain?”

“Y-Yes. Well, you see...” He waddled over awkwardly, and Cline understood right away.

“Oh, Chieftain. Not you too!”

“Huh?”

Afterword

Hello! I’m Shichio Kuzu, the author of this novel.

Thanks to a stroke of luck, I had the opportunity to publish this series under SQEX Novels, the new light novel label by Square Enix. They have been kind enough to support my manga work in the past, but this marks my first foray into novels with them. And to top it off, I’ve been given the incredible honor of being part of their very first launch lineup!

I thought, “Seriously? Are you sure about this? You’re putting me in the opening lineup?” I was shaking in my boots!

All jokes aside, the pressure was intense. I knew I couldn’t just phone it in, so I buckled down and put everything I had into revising, polishing, and adding content for this book release.

If you enjoyed any part of it, then it was worth it.

I’d like to give a few special shout-outs.

I’m so grateful to everyone who supported the web novel version. Thank you so much. It’s because of your support that I was able to bring this work into print.

To the amazing illustrator, Yasutaka Isegawa-sama: thank you for breathing life into these characters, who’d only ever existed in words until now. You made them feel real.

To my editor, I-san, and everyone else involved in the production of this novel: thank you so much for your help and guidance. I look forward to working with you again.

And in a bit of exciting news, this series is getting a manga adaptation! It’ll be illustrated by J1 Kaido, and I’ve already seen a few of the designs. They’re really fantastic, and I can’t wait to share them with you. So please keep an eye out for the manga as well!

Finally, to every reader who picked up this book: thank you from the bottom of my heart.

I hope we’ll meet again in the next volume! Until then, thanks so much for reading.

Shichio Kuzu