The town squirmed and wiggled.

The town of Rebeck, the lord’s manor.

I held my DORECA, scanning the menu, listening to Yuria’s report.

“Commoners rescued from Maxim’s place. Their original town’s been reduced to rubble—gone. When we talked, they said they want to live in the master’s town.”

“Should we settle them somewhere? Or would it be better to build a new town?”

“A new town’s better. They’re all worn thin—bodies and minds. Better to start fresh somewhere else.”

“Huh.”

I nodded.

I mentally gathered Yuria’s report, sorted it through, then gave my orders.

“Set them out on the edge of town for now—same spot as always. Once we pick the new town’s location, I’ll go out and lay the first foundations.”

“Understood. Moving them to the refugee camp.”

Yuria nodded, scribbling something on the paper in her hands.

These days, we keep temporarily housing residents and moving them into the same district—did it actually get named a refugee town, then?

Or rather, something else caught my attention.

The people from Permi, and these ones now.

How many of the current refugees are even original townsfolk, really?

Feels like it’s already hitting numbers that’d break the town, if we just kept going like this.

Check DORECA’s remaining mana. Should be safe from collapse for a while.

“Next, the people from Permi. One of their representatives says they want to follow their master back to the town.”

“Follow, like with Beisk? So they’re asking to come under my rule?”

“Yes.”

“Got it. Then teach them the basic rules, and tell them everything we’ve done so far. Explain my way of doing things. And make sure to double-check at the end—ask them if they’re really okay with that. If they still say yes, then keep things just as they are.”

“Understood.”

Yuria scribbled something else in her hand.

Yuria reports back what she’s sorted through. I judge it. Then I give her orders to carry it out.

Just another routine exchange.

With that, Maxim’s affair was settled. Most of the post-war cleanup was complete.

Thanks to this incident, the population grew by a thousand, and the town expanded to include two more settlements.

The scale grew ever larger.

"Master, this..."

Yuria said that, and handed me a single sheet of paper.

“What’s this?”

"Map"

"Huh."

Now that I think about it, this is the first time I’ve seen a map since arriving in this world.

Staring at the thing handed to her.

"Good about the map, but what's with all this blacked-out area?"

"That’s where your master’s territory lies."

"Huh."

She looked at the map again, even after being told.

The map, scrawled with mountains, valleys, and all manner of terrain, was mostly filled in with the same color.

If this is what they call territory, it’s quite large… but what is it, really?

I thought for a moment, then asked Yuria.

"Where's Rebec?"

"Here."

She leaned in, pointing.

"How big is it?"

"...About this much."

This time, she picked up a pen and drew a frame on the map.

A trapezoid widening at the southern end—the shape of the town of Rebec.

Judging by its size and the area claimed as territory.

The area would be roughly a quarter of Tokyo Prefecture.

Only six thousand people, most of it still wasteland—but purely by size, that’s about right.

Huh, I thought. Not bad.

☆

Around noon, the sun high overhead.

Fourth slave Rirya, and the ordinary people we’d rescued from Maxim.

We moved everyone to a relatively open spot within the territory marked on the map.

That’s where we started building the town.

"Menu open."

Surrounded by a circle of people, I summoned a magic circle using DORECA.

“Rirya, the sacred droplet and the other materials…”

“Yes, mistress.”

The cute slave placed the materials she’d brought in advance into the magic circle.

In an instant, it became Ilya’s Spring.

The most crucial item in town-building— Ilya’s Spring, repelling monster incursions.

As soon as it formed, a wave of relief washed over the crowd, and murmurs of awe rose up.

“Ilya’s Spring…”

“This feeling… it’s real.”

“Can it really be done so easily…?”

Hundreds of people began to buzz with excitement.

This was a demonstration.

These were people who knew almost nothing about me. Who had no idea of my abilities.

I did this to calm them. To smooth the way for the next steps. A show of force right at the start.

It worked. So we moved on to the next plan.

“Rirya, set up the magic circle over there.”

“Yes, mistress.”

As planned, Rirya went to a spot ten or so meters away and summoned the magic circle using her slave card.

The arrows that emerged all pointed in the same direction, in unison.

There was a cart, piled high with raw materials.

Supplies they’d brought beforehand.

“Everyone, try putting whatever the arrows are pointing at into the circle.”

A murmur rippled through the crowd.

The refugees looked confused. Some looked like they might give it a try, but hesitated—couldn’t quite take that final step.

“…I’ll try.”

Amid the uncertainty, a young man stepped forward.

Tall, broad-shouldered, his hair cropped short, with a clean-cut, no-nonsense look.

“Just do it. Put whatever’s glowing into the circle.”

“Got it.”

He nodded, then walked toward the materials.

Just as I’d instructed, he picked up the glowing piece the arrow was pointing to—and placed it into the circle.

The youth did it over and over again, alone.

While waiting, he glanced toward Ilya's Spring.

Funny how it felt like being the first to build a power plant in SimCity.

Akitō’s town had been chaotic at first—lost, flailing—but now, after all the experience, he knew the order to build things, how to do it efficiently.

The more he thought about it, the more it felt like playing that game. Gotta keep it from turning into a grid pattern.

—Ooooh!

A cheer erupted, yanking him back from thought.

He looked up. A wooden house stood before the youth.

Everyone around him was stunned, and so was the youth who’d actually carried the materials.

A demonstration. A tutorial for the people.

Seeing it succeed, I stepped forward and spoke to the man.

“Then this is your house.”

“M—my house?”

“You built it yourself just now. So it’s yours.”

"My house..."

The man stared at the wooden house, overwhelmed.

"This is the first time I've had a home..."

"Where should we put it? If there's a good spot, I'll move it for you. No one else has a house yet—right now, you can pick any place you like."

"Right in front of the spring!?"

"Yeah. Rirya."

"Yes, ma'am."

Rirya lifted the wooden house with a flick of her wrist and placed it squarely in front of the spring.

The door opened straight onto the spring.

"Is this good, ma'am?"

"Y-yeah."

The wooden house now stood exactly where the man had wanted it.

A murmur of awe and soft sighs rose from the crowd around them.

The spot... it meant something special, it seemed.

Perfect. Just what I needed for the demonstration.

The man stepped inside. A delighted "Woo-hoo!" echoed from within.

The reaction was exactly what I wanted.

Jealousy spread through the refugees. I raised my voice.

"This is my power. I built this town like this."

Rustling. Murmuring.

"I'll lend this power. Let's build a town together, everyone!"

With a rallying tone, the crowd—townspeople—cheered.

☆

Rirya and I split up, handling houses, clothes, bedding, and other basic furnishings.

We conjured each essential item in turn with magic circles, then left the rest to them.

From the edge of Ilya's Spring’s reach, visible to all, we surveyed the scene.

The men had just demonstrated by crafting a house from raw materials, and everyone had seen how it worked—how it turned out.

Now, everyone was fired up.

Magic circles spread across the field, and houses popped up one after another, fast as breath.

"Quite the curious sight, isn’t it?"

"Rirya, this is your first time growing a town like this?"

"Yes, it is. Do your elder sisters all have experience with this?"

"Risha and Mira are here, but Yuria isn’t."

"I see."

A woman ran over from afar.

"Akito-sama, the spacing between the houses next door is too tight."

"Rirya."

"Yes, ma’am."

Rirya went off with the woman.

A distant sight caught my eye—houses being lifted and moved.

After a while, Rirya returned and stood beside me.

Almost at the same moment, another man approached.

"Lord, will the food… be manageable?"

"Already prepared. It’s a hassle to make from scratch. Rirya."

"Yes, ma’am."

Rirya led the man away.

Inside the supplies we’d brought, there was a storage chest. From it, Rirya pulled out a Pshini and handed it to the man.

Then Rirya returned once more.

This time, a child arrived—wearing new clothes, but way too big.

"Uncle, these clothes are kind of big."

"Rirya."

"Yes, I’ll make a small magic circle for you."

Rirya led the child away.

She’d been bustling around nonstop since just now, her face bright with joy.

The joy of being allowed to serve as a slave.

Not that there was much to do, so I left most of it to her and just stood there, watching the town grow.

The town grew—fast, overwhelming, unstoppable.