Twenty-seven in the Wild

Risha took Mira with her, searching for the material to make collars.

One by one, the humans who had returned from Schrejju began to wake.

Questioned in the order they awoke.

All of them, like Yoshif and the others, remembered being killed by a monster at the end.

That settled it—Schrejju was what happened to humans who’d been killed by monsters.

"Hey... the village... the village was... I mean..."

"...Yeah."

A woman spoke, and a man nodded slowly.

Looking around, several others—ten in total—wore grim faces, caught in the same story.

Those ten sat apart from the other nine, huddled together on the ground.

Something clicked.

"You all... come from the same village?"

"Yeah. We all lived in Tomari Village."

"Tomari Village?"

"...Attacked by monsters. Burned down. Probably gone now."

"Ah."

I nodded. I’d expected as much.

“Everyone else… same deal? Attacked by monsters. Their village or town wiped out?”

They went quiet, all of them.

Nineteen people, all with the same story—no place left to go, no home to return to.

I offered them a proposal.

“There’s a town being built a little ways off. Want to come?”

A murmur ran through them.

“Details later. This world’s on its last legs—but the Demon God’s already dead. So now it’s time to rebuild. I want to build a town, grow it, and one day bring back a world worth living in.”

No real reaction. They were still lost in thought.

I took a breath, then added:

“Right now, it’s just one town—small, sure, but we’ve already set up Iris’s Spring. We’ll develop that—”

“Iris’s Spring!?”

The man from earlier shouted. Closer inspection revealed most of the nineteen were stunned.

What’s with that?

“Is Iris’s Spring really real?”

“Ah… yeah…”

“Can we live there?”

“That’s what I’m inviting them to.”

“T-taxes? Resident fees and such?”

“Huh?”

Questions came fast and furious. Something strange was happening.

“Wait, wait—why’s everyone so shocked? Is Iris’s Spring that big a deal? I thought it was just something ‘a town needs,’ so I went ahead and made it, a little reckless, maybe.”

Everyone chorused back, “You made it?”

Even more shocked than before.

At the same time, a few shot me looks of sudden respect.

“What’s going on? Was I lied to?”

“No, not at all.”

The first man answered.

“Sure, the Fountain of Iris is necessary for a town. With it, you can keep monsters out. But only towns with a fairly large population can afford it. Places with, say, over a thousand people.”

“Something like the village we used to live in… that’s way too small…”

“And even then, towns like that charge you just for living there.”

One after another, they spoke.

That’s when it finally clicked.

Not a mistake. Not a mistake at all.

It was just… an absurdly powerful item.

Yoshif, who said we needed it… probably didn’t understand country life. City dweller, I guess.

I cleared my throat and said again.

“I’ll invite all of you to my town. No resident tax. Let’s build a town together, right there.”

☆

Two slaves with collars, and nineteen townsfolk.

We returned toward the town, leading them all.

“Oh wow… it’s really the Fountain of Iris.”

“Unbelievable…”

“We can finally live in peace here.”

Everyone gathered around the Fountain of Iris, awestruck.

“But… we don’t have a house.”

“Just build one. I used to do carpentry a little back in the day.”

A former carpenter, huh.

That’s good—but we don’t need that yet.

I stepped toward the nineteen of them.

“Uh, wait a sec.”

“What’s wrong?”

“Menu open.”

I pulled out the DORECA that had turned into a Frond’s Card and selected the wooden house from the creation list.

“Risha, I’m counting on you. Mira, help Risha.”

“Yes.”

“Understood.”

The two entered the warehouse, carried out the required materials, and placed them in the magic circle as Risha directed.

The materials assembled. A wooden house appeared.

“W-what is this?!”

“Magic?!”

Everyone stared, stunned.

"I’ve got the power to make things like this with magic. Just build the circle, add the materials—like I just showed—and it’s done. I made the Spring of Iris with this. Hell, everything here was made by me."

"Whoa…."

Everyone stared, even more awed.

They looked at me like I was some kind of hero.

"The magic circle can make seven more houses. I’ll set it up here—gather the materials, everyone. Let’s build."

"Got it. Let’s do it, team!"

The guy spoke, and the others echoed in unison.

Kind of weird—he’s already acting like the leader.

After confirming the nineteen of them were getting to work on building houses,

"Menu open."

I opened the menu again, checking the creation list.

Something had been bugging me since earlier.

Among the newly unlocked items on the Frond Card, one stood out.

A two-story wooden house. Magic cost: 1,000.

That was what had caught my eye.

A regular wooden house costs 2,500 mana—yet this two-story one? Less than half that.

I touched it. Checked the materials.

"Ah, so it needs an entire wooden house whole... good."

I verified the other materials, confirmed I could build it, then returned to my current home.

"Master."

"Master."

Two slaves followed from behind.

Both staring at me like, what now?

"Both of you—help me. We’re expanding this house."

"Expanding it?"

Risha sounded surprised.

"Three of us now… ah, wait—does Mira want a different house?"

I asked Mira. She shook her head violently.

"Being with Master is best! I’m a slave, after all!"

"Right."

Confirmed Mira’s wishes too. I set up the magic circle for the two-story wooden house right next to the one I was living in now.

Then, the house closest to me started glowing. The other arrows pointed to the warehouse.

"Good. You two, carry the stuff out from inside. Once that’s done, go gather the other materials."

"“Yes!”"

Just as instructed, the two of them carried out bedding, clothes, and such things from inside.

Then they set off to collect the materials. Both of them smiled slightly, quietly.

I noticed something odd—she seemed to perk up a little when given a firm, directive tone.

A tiny difference, barely noticeable even to herself.

Watching them, I looked at the now-empty house. Well then, what now?

I could leave the other materials to them, but what about the wooden house?

In a way, it’s the same as with the Eternal Slave—turning something you made into raw material.

But back then, it was a steel sword.

Something you could hold normally. Something you could place normally into a magic circle.

This, though… is a house.

"Can't be lifting this... wait, hey!"

I joked, reaching under the tree to lift it—then it just... lifted.

The wooden house that was standing there a second ago was hoisted up like it weighed nothing.

Not a hint of weight. I started wondering if I was even really holding it.

I lifted and lowered it like a dumbbell—seriously, I could do it.

"Whoa... Master..."

"Unbelievable, unbelievable!"

The two slaves who'd returned looked at me with awe.

I get it—me too, I’d be stunned if I saw this.

Even I’d be shocked if I saw someone lifting a house like it was a dumbbell.

...How it’s even possible, I’ll figure out later.

For now, I placed the wooden house into the magic circle, added the materials the girls had gathered.

After glowing, a two-story house was complete.

Standing out among the single-story cottages, this one had two floors.

Town mayor or not, you need some perks.