Accepted Invitation

Oh no, my lord—something’s terribly wrong!

We were resting in the temporary house we’d set up in the new town when Rirya burst in, flustered.

Panting hard, utterly flustered.

What’s wrong?

"The townspeople are protesting. They're demanding you hand over your master."

"...where is it?"

I’ll show you the way.

Step outside and follow behind Rirya.

On the outskirts of town, a storage building built for grain—inside, mountains of pshiny piled high.

I treat Psynee as a strategic resource.

They went all out, making mountains of it—eat as much as you want, she said.

A crowd of people had gathered in front of the Psynee warehouse.

What the hell's going on?

What’s this supposed to be?

The crowd surged toward me all at once.

"Lord, isn't this more than enough already?"

"Too much?"

This one, this.

One man shoved a pshiny at me, scowling.

I took it, studied it closely.

Nothing special. Just one of the many pshinies.

“What’s the problem?”

“The problem? I saw the slave girl making these. Right there.”

Hmm.

Rirya was ordered to make pshinies. And now she’d been seen.

“So?”

“So… you’re telling me to eat something made from dirt? Isn’t that a bit harsh?”

…Ah.

I finally got it.

I’d just been going along, never noticing—because it went through DORECA, that ‘magic’ process.

Right. The raw material for pshinies is dirt.

It takes one unit of mana to transform dirt into pshinies.

So now that I knew that… “feeding dirt to slaves” suddenly seemed a little extreme.

“I appreciate you, lord. You built my house. Gave me clothes. All kinds of things. I’m grateful. But this? Really? Even I can’t swallow this.”

"Yeah, yeah."

"You can't eat dirt."

"Make something else, please."

Protests rose one after another from the gathered townspeople.

All of them wore sour faces.

Closer look—puddles of Pshiny scattered across the ground.

Treated like trash.

"...Alright, I'll look into it. Give me time."

I said that, then led Rirya away from the scene.

Back inside the house, Rirya stamped her foot, frustrated.

"What was that? Utterly disrespectful."

"I get it, I really do. It's dirt, after all. It's not exactly gourmet."

"Still, we're eating for free. Complaining about it? They don’t even realize that’s the grace of our master."

Grace? More like a lifeline.

Keep the bare minimum fed, and if you want more than that, earn it yourself—that’s my rule.

"What shall we do, master? If you give the word, Rirya will build a jail right now and lock them all inside."

"Totalitarianism, huh?"

"Anyone who defies my master gets purged, that's the rule."

"Cut it out, you idiot."

I grabbed Rirya by the head and shook her hard.

A rough, jerky motion—head wobbling, like a doll on a string.

As I did it, I thought.

Prison? Purge? No way. There’s gotta be another way.

"...Rirya. Get me in touch with Mira."

"The personal guard? So it’s really a purge after all?"

"Stop grinning like that. Just do it."

"Ugh, fine. I get it."

Reluctantly, Rirya obeyed.

☆

I announced to the townspeople once more.

Pshini was something you could eat just once and feel full—stored in bulk in the warehouse, anyone could take as much as they wanted.

And as for food, we weren’t planning to grow anything but Pshini—exactly the same policy as before.

You can eat it if you want. Or not. Either way’s fine.

I reiterated that to the townspeople.

☆

The next day, Mira arrived in a rush.

I faced her in her temporary home.

“Long time no see, Akito. You gonna get all of us pregnant soon now?”

“Sorry, not quite yet.”

Every time I see her lately, it’s this kind of exchange. It’s become standard—beyond just “I’m back” or “Welcome home.”

“Anyway, I’ve got a favor to ask.”

“Purging the townspeople? I’m not exactly thrilled, but if it’s Akito asking, I’ll do it right now—”

“Just don’t take what I said about Rirya too seriously.”

Still going on about that? Seriously, what a pain.

Wait—do I even look like the kind of person who’d give a command like that? That’s kind of a shock, Mira.

“It’s simple. There’s a Pshini warehouse in this town. You just need to guard it.”

“Just guard it?”

"Yeah, only during the day. I’ll make sure no one’s allowed in then. If it comes to it, I’ll throw a full-blown scene—stage a grand hunt for a trespassing mouse, if that’s what it takes."

The more over-the-top, the better, huh?

“That’s right. So, full evacuation at night—no guards.”

...What do you think you're doing?

Meya made a face like she completely didn’t get it.

Just do it, please.

Well, I can't say no to you, I guess.

Meya made a face like she’d swallowed something complicated.

After a moment’s pause, she said, as if making up her mind.

Got it. Leave it to me. Daytime: impenetrable. Nighttime: ignore. That’s the plan, right?

That’s enough. If anyone comes asking for Pshiny, you can give it to them normally—just—

Can't let you in, can they?

Meya grins.

She didn’t seem to know the purpose, but she clearly understood what she was supposed to do right away.

That’s right.

"Got it. Make it tighter—don’t let even the inside show."

With that, Meya steps away, already moving.

☆

Meya carried out the order exactly as instructed.

She brought a hundred women—her personal guard—around the Pusini warehouse, lining up Neetka in a straight row.

Maximum security, as best as possible.

If someone wanted a Pusini, they took only what they’d ordered, and nothing more.

Do it during the day. Clear out completely by night.

Repeat it every day.

Meanwhile, I kept building the town like nothing had happened.

☆

About a week after the guard detail began, Meya arrived.

"Akito, the warehouse’s contents have been stolen."

"Ah."

So it came, I thought.

"Tell me the details."

I set down my work and listened to Meya.

"Same as usual this morning—guarding the place. Some townsperson came asking for psinyi, so we went in to fetch it. Noticed it was less than yesterday, that’s all."

"Sure about that? Not just a mistake?"

"We took the job guarding it. The leftover amount was counted and accounted for, every last bit."

"Ah."

Ah, ah. So it finally came.

"Seems happy, Akito. You’re the one who said it was stolen."

"Because that’s exactly what I wanted."

"What’s that supposed to mean?"

"First off, the townspeople hate psinyi. ‘What kind of nonsense is this, making us eat dirt?’ they’d say."

"Real fancy folks, huh."

Meya said.

A remark that carried a strange weight—after all, she’d once been a thief herself, starving with her comrades.

“Tried to persuade them, but it was a pain. Even if I managed, it’d feel forced—leave a bad taste. So I called you two. Guard them with everything you’ve got. Make it clear—this is important.”

“So that’s why they made the night easier to sneak through—just leaving an opening to make it simpler to steal?”

That’s the gist of it.

"Anyway, they fell right for it."

Mia laughed softly. Her face was utterly delighted.

That’s the gist of it. Anyway, Pshinyi’s definitely something important. We can mass-produce it, sure—

I know, you know how much Akito values it… and how much we’ve been helped by it.

Meya stared at me with eyes wide open, full of gratitude—exactly as the words said.

Benefactor. No—more than that.

"Another few days of escort duty. The townspeople's thoughts will shift soon—swap me out then."

Yes.

☆

It was surprisingly quick.

The next day, while Rirya and I were laboring steadily on the town’s outer wall, a townsman arrived.

The sturdy young man—the one who’d raised his hand first during tutorial.

“Ah… you’re…”

“Zahar.”

“Right. What is it?”

“I’ve got a request for the lord. That food… um…”

“Pshini?”

“That’s it. Pshini. Could you make more? Just went to pick some up—said there’s none left.”

“None left?”

I played dumb.

I’d already heard from Mira this morning.

They’d been robbed again last night—worse than the night before—and nearly all of it was gone.

Exactly as predicted.

Once the sense of “might run out” sets in, people take more than usual.

I’d known it’d start accelerating somewhere along the line.

Today was that day.

I looked up at Zahar, who was staring at me.

Got it. Go to the food storage—go now.

Zahar went ahead.

“Rirya.”

“Yes, master.”

“I’m leaving the making of the Pusini to you.”

“Will you obey your brother’s command? But wouldn’t it be more efficient if you did it yourself? I can only make one bronze at a time.”

“That’s exactly why.”

Rirya tilted her head.

☆

The Pusini were made by Rirya.

Silver allowed for batches of ten, gold for hundreds—but the slave card Rirya had (bronze) only let her make one at a time.

One magic circle. One lump of earth. One Pusini.

The magic cost was only one—very low—but the work was immense.

She did it. In front of the townsfolk, drenched in sweat.

Rirya says nothing. She’s my slave—she’ll gladly do whatever I tell her to, even if it’s hard.

But from the outside, she looks like she’s struggling.

No—she’s not just *looking* it. Producing enough food for every townsfolk member, one meal at a time, after an hour of effort? That’s real labor.

The townsfolk watch. Then one by one, they step in to help.

Soon, Rirya’s spreading the magic circle, and the townspeople take turns placing materials in.

“Guess this Pusini thing is way harder than I thought.”

“Tastes terrible, but it fills your belly, that’s what matters.”

“Just giving it away for free? The lord’s really something.”

Voices rise from every side. Nothing like the way they acted a few days ago.

Even one who’d yelled “You’re feeding us dirt?” before now stands there, bowing slightly, thanking Rirya for her effort.

Exactly as planned.

That should take care of Pshiny too.