Episode 52: Castle Construction?
“Claffy-sama, is it alright for you not to return?”
“It’s a hassle, so I’ve decided to return to the domain capital after leaving the village.”
After all, I have to return every night. The construction of each residence is complete, and I need to assign work to each person and give instructions to the Drones. I also need to explain the electrical-related facilities like faucets and water systems. There are precautions to take when establishing their lives.
Barbatos and Beatrice can’t do it, and even the Support Drones, which can’t understand or speak our language, have their limits.
“Besides, I’m the only one who can use Spatial Jump.”
I could have prepared a Magic Item, but spatial magic can lead to disaster if interrupted, so I don’t want to take my eyes off it.
The Support Drones, a total of about two thousand, are working non-stop day and night in a massive construction rush. Their houses were all completed in just two nights. Even though I’m the one who set it up, I feel like it’s beyond the realm of common sense.
“It’s the result of preparing the land in advance.”
“Does that really matter?”
Quiet.
“Alright, let’s start with the first family. Move only yourselves and your valuables. You can leave everything else in the house for the Support Drones to transport.”
At this level of civilization, individuals don’t own much, and they haven’t had money since they lived in the closed space of the village. So moving things is easy.
Conversely, the Support Drones can’t distinguish between objects and garbage, so I’ve had them gather things to some extent beforehand.
“Be careful with the wooden furniture.”
The most common item is furniture. Whether they continue to use it or not, we’ll transport everything.
“Also, clothes and bedding. Choose what you like after you’re done cleaning up. First come, first served.”
“Clothes!?”
“This much!?”
“Are we really allowed to have them?”
“Yeah.”
Because everyone’s clothes are tattered. I bought a large amount of used clothes and bedding for commoners in the Royal Capital. Apparently, cloth was a valuable commodity in the Forest, only obtainable from Monster materials. They seem to have a lot of fur, but what about summer? Indeed, a large amount of cloth was a standard souvenir in the village.
Since distributing them was a hassle, I just dumped them all on the ground. Help yourselves in order after your houses are cleaned up.
I exchanged a large amount of Magic Stones when I fought the Black Ant, so I’m rich now. I have enough money to buy out the entire stock of cheap items like used clothes.
“It helped that wheat was cheap too. Hooray for Running Wheat.”
I thought about distributing food for disaster relief, but it’s not like they can’t cook.
Besides, they’re not used to receiving handouts. They’re people who take action and do things themselves if they can.
So I’m providing the ingredients and tools, but they’re doing the rest themselves.
The Support Drones are showing videos on their monitors to the elderly, so they’ll probably learn how to use them soon.
“Your Majesty, Your Majesty.”
“I’m not His Majesty.”
“…Regardless of the title, there’s a problem.”
“What is it?”
Ryuga, who lost his leg, is temporarily moving around in a wheelchair. I want to throw him into a Medical Capsule as soon as possible, but it helps to have his words as the village chief to lead this many people.
Grandma Hotaru is also here, but the village chief seems to be an absolute figure.
“I heard that’s supposed to be my mansion.”
“Yeah. Because you’re the chief.”
He has a wife and children. Well, his child is in the Medical Capsule.
“It’s bigger than His Majesty’s house! Or rather, how is it that His Majesty’s house is smaller than everyone else’s?”
“Well, I don’t need it.”
A container house is enough. It’s more convenient than a fancy house.
“A castle and a mansion are necessary!”
“I don’t need them?”
“What about governance!?”
“Is there a need to govern?”
Ryuga and Grandma Hotaru have been doing it until now, right?
“What if a rebellion breaks out!”
“Are you guys going to rebel?”
“Absolutely not!”
“Then it’s fine. And don’t shout.”
You’ll die, you know? Taichi is panicking behind me.
“Hmm. Do Barbatos and Beatrice need a mansion too?”
“Well, honestly, the small house you gave us is enough for us to live in, so I’m not sure if we need one…”
“Hohohoho, there’s no need. However, hmm. It’s true that it’s not a suitable appearance for my master to reside in… A castle, you say?”
“Building a castle again after clearing the land is such a waste, isn’t it?”
“…Spending money and effort on that waste is what nobility is all about. Claffy-sama, I have a proposal.”
“A proposal? A proposal!?”
From Beatrice!?
“W-Why are you so surprised… Ahem. The point is, they’ll be satisfied if there’s a castle in appearance, right? If so, wouldn’t it be good to put the Magical Power Charging Device and Electrical Equipment inside the castle? You said you could move them quickly.”
“…Oh.”
“Of course, we should also create an audience chamber, a throne, and a conference room, but… Honestly, the only ones who will use them are Claffy-sama, Barbatos-sama, me, and the two representatives of the village.”
“That’s right. That’s about it.”
“Besides, you said that the charging equipment and electrical equipment are the linchpins of this base. Even though the villagers are obedient, there are children. We can’t have accidents. More than anything, you’ve been worried about defense.”
“Oh, that’s a more thoughtful proposal than I expected.”
“What do you mean? Anyway, how about building a castle that concentrates the important equipment in one place, even if it means putting that small house in Claffy-sama’s room? Of course, I’ll advise you. You see, I’ve been in and out of castles before.”
“Eh? Ah, yeah. That’s right.”
I haven’t asked her in detail, but she’s a lady from the Sandfelds House, after all.
“Well, I can make a castle because there’s a manual.”
Since it’s assembled with blocks, the Support Drones are very busy. They were building houses until yesterday, and today they’re assembling a castle.
In parallel, we’re moving the Magical Power Charging Device and Electrical Equipment. The castle will also serve as a radio tower and watchtower.
The castle’s facilities are things like the throne room and conference room. The residential area is a different type of castle. There are a lot of empty rooms so that we can increase the equipment. Yeah. It’s a huge waste.
“In the end, it’s still block production, so what they’re doing hasn’t changed…”
It seems appropriate to use larger blocks than when building houses, so the Recycler’s settings have been changed, and each block is quite large.
The Support Drones transport them in bulk with heavy machinery and assemble them according to the layout.
“It looks like it’ll take some time. Well, we’ll get to it eventually.”
The villagers’ houses have been built, and workplaces have been created for each of them to do their jobs. We’ve also prepared a communal warehouse, kitchen, bathhouse, and firewood shed.
The ground has been paved, and fields are being cultivated in the area outside the outer wall. By the way, all the crops from the village’s fields have been moved. The Support Drones are very skillful.
“Even so… there’s still a lot of land left.”
This was originally the capital of the principality. There’s no way it’ll be full with just sixty people moving in. Still, there’s too much left over.
The charging equipment and electrical equipment have been consolidated into one place, so that area is also empty.
I might have to seriously build a shooting range or training ground. I also have combat vehicles, aircraft, and transport aircraft.
Aircraft are always attacked by Monsters. Aerial Monsters have a strong sense of territory. Also, Barrier magic is weak unless it’s fixed, so it’s easily penetrated. There’s a limit to magic in this regard.
Space battleship class ships can deploy high-output magical and electromagnetic barriers, but the engine size is different.