Slave King Akito

"Master, what shall we make today?"

As usual, the morning began with those words.

In the manor’s office. Four slaves before me.

The one with the longest tenure—First Slave Risha—spoke as she always did.

The relationship between master and slave hasn’t changed, not even since I became king.

"Yuria."

"Yes."

Yuria, the Third Slave, who holds the position of secretary, answered quietly.

She acts the most mature, but looks like a grade-schooler—she’s the youngest of the four.

"Have you cleared all of today’s schedule?"

"Done. The whole day is open."

"Good. Mira."

"Yeah!"

I turned to the Second Slave, Mira.

Her energetic reply came straight off, her cheerful nature showing—she’s the most physically robust of the four.

That’s why I often assign her the more demanding tasks.

"Where’s the material I asked for?"

"All gathered, just like you said. I followed your instructions—issued the summons, paid the people who collected it, and made up the shortfall by paying extra in paper notes to get a tax exemption."

"Wow, you actually thought that one through."

I’d been sure she was just a musclehead, but turns out she’s got a brain after all.

"Mira-sama? Lying isn’t allowed. That idea was Rirya’s, not mine. Can’t hog all the credit."

Rirya, the fourth slave, piped up.

New to slavery, but she’s always calling me “the ultimate master” and worshipping me like I’m some kind of god.

"Mira…"

"Sorry."

Mira slumped her shoulders, head down, and gave a straight-up apology.

Risha, Mira, Yuria, Rirya.

All four of them are from the same species—Eternal Slaves—and my most precious, most important slaves.

"Now then, what’s on the agenda for today?"

I spread a sheet of paper across the desk.

A blueprint I’d drawn over several days.

"Today, we’re building this."

"This… is a palace? But it’s incredibly small."

Risha asks.

"Yeah, a palace. Size-wise, not much different from our current home."

"So it’s like a miniature palace, then?"

"Why would you make something like that?"

"Because I was told to."

Yuria summed up the three of them with a single answer.

"The town leaders said so. To become a king, you need a symbol—a palace. But my master doesn’t want a huge one. So I designed a house that looks like a palace."

"Wait, what? You don’t want it?"

Risha blinks.

"Not that I hate it, but it’s pointless. Building a massive palace wastes magic. All we need is something different—something that screams ‘king.’"

"I see."

"And if it’s too big, you three’ll have a hell of a time cleaning it."

"Master..."

Risha's eyes welled up.

——Magic power charged: 5,000.

A sound echoed inside her head.

I pulled out a palm-sized card and murmured the command to open the menu.

The card’s name: DORECA. Type: Platinum Card.

A cheat ability given to me by the Goddess when I transferred into this world. Every time a slave smiles or feels joy, magic power gets stored in the card. With that power, I can create all sorts of things.

Four smiles. That’s how I built a town from nothing. Now I’m king of a small nation of nearly eight thousand souls.

☆

Stepped outside, rolled up my sleeves, tied a towel around my head.

Used DORECA’s “Dismantle” ability to tear down the lord’s manor I’d been living in.

Now the empty lot stood ready. I began construction on a palace.

"Mira, the wall over there’s crooked. Fix it straight."

"It’s fine, fine—adjust it after we build it."

"But if you put it there, it’ll clash with the fountain over here."

"Lady Sisters, we’ve brought the pillars—where should we place these?"

The slaves scurried about, but I was even busier.

Usually, with DORECA, I’d just conjure a "wooden house" or a "stone house" with a single magic circle, then toss in materials and boom—home.

But "palace"? Nothing like that in DORECA. Maybe someday, I suppose—Goddess said I should aim to be a king, after all—but not now.

So I’m building the palace piece by piece, assembling it like a puzzle.

Kind of like building with LEGO blocks.

I’ve done this before.

Combined a stove with a house to make a kitchen. Linked a house with a stream and a power source to make a bathhouse.

Even bigger—lined up piles of wood and grass to make a forest.

Same idea here. Building a palace the same way.

“Is anyone free?”

Rirya raised her hand and came over.

“Yes, what should I do?”

“Bring up the lower platform—I’ll lift the upper structure for now.”

“Yes, of course.”

I hoisted the temporary building with a flick, then set down a foundation of nearly identical size beneath it.

Doreca’s ability. Things made of magic power can be lifted—by me or a slave—regardless of gravity or physics.

Rirya secured the building on top, then attached the staircase leading from the first floor to the second-floor entrance.

“Now it’s starting to look like a palace, don’t you think?”

“Yes, indeed. Very fitting for our master’s grand presence.”

I looked up at Rirya and the palace.

Building things for slaves was fun.

Like a weekend DIY project. Leisurely. Almost peaceful.

I’d stay like this forever, if I could.

“Your Majesty! Help me, Your Majesty!”

Looks like that’s not going to happen.

☆

Dressed in a mantle, looking every bit the king, I arrived at the edge of the royal capital, Rebeck.

There, the defensive artillery piece known as Neetka kept hurling rocks.

The target of that concentrated fire— a dragon.

Just a plain, ordinary dragon, with tough scales and a massive body.

So— strong.

Twenty Neetkas, each tossing rocks bigger than a basketball, rained down fire. Yet the dragon kept inching forward, step by step, toward the city.

“Huh. No way that’s gonna work.”

I arrived after being called, and I saw it right away.

I’d already cleared my schedule with Yuria, but this was unavoidable. Emergency.

“Sorry, Your Majesty… but we’re completely out of options.”

The commander of the defense force said, looking genuinely sorry.

"No, no—good. You called me. I’ll take it. But keep up the bombardment, just in case."

"Yes!"

The commander turned back to his post, already moving.

I turned around, facing the four slaves who’d followed me.

"Then let’s go."

" Yes!"

They spoke in unison.

I drew my sword from the waist.

A one-of-a-kind blade, its hilt set with four gemstones.

True Eternal Slave.

Touching the gems, the slaves were sucked into the blade.

The four stones flared to life.

The blade split—half flame, half ice—radiating white and black light from its core.

I leapt from the fortress, charging toward the dragon.

The dragon roared at the sky. The earth trembled. Cannonballs shattered midair.

"Bonus."

After a sprint, I launched myself into a full jump.

"Your blood—I’m taking it all."

Schunk! — After cleaving straight through, the dragon’s head flew off.

My feet hit the ground. A cheer rose from Rebeck.

“Long live King Akito!”

“Banzai!”

Voices hailed me.

☆

After slaying the dragon and defending the capital, I returned with the slaves to the construction site.

I turned the slaves back into humans, removed their mantles, rolled up my sleeves, tied a towel around my arm.

Time to finish the rest of the building, I thought.

“Your Majesty!”

Again. Same voice as before—calling for help.

A young man ran over.

“What is it?”

“Uh… the food stores are empty. Can’t we get five hundred rations replaced right away?”

“Five hundred rations… nah, I’ll just go myself.”

Sorry.

“Don’t worry about it.”

I left the slaves behind and headed toward the granary with the boy.

So I made a hundred Pusini at once.

After finishing, I headed back to the construction site—but then I got sidetracked by something else.

No choice but to follow the person who’d asked for help, and there I built something to fix the problem.

Yuria cleared her schedule for me, but in the end it was an emergency, and I was running from east to west.

By the time everything settled, the sun had already set.

Oddly, the palace wasn’t finished yet, so we ended up camping out.

I lit a fire in the courtyard of the half-built palace, ate Pusini with four slaves, and drifted off to sleep early.

That’s my day.

My first day as king? Still the same old routine.

The people, knowing this, call me “Slave King”—with a double meaning.

When I found out about that—felt happy, felt sad, something in between.

Incidentally, the slaves were all overjoyed—delirious, really—just from being charged with magic power.