Construction Begins

The viscountess ruling Astrantia pleaded with me, so I ended up agreeing to help with the construction of an irrigation canal.

Since this was a joint project with other territories, falling behind would damage their prestige.

I accepted the job because I was promised a valuable grimoire if it went well.

Well, we'd arrived at the site—and sure enough, construction was already in full swing.

Many wagons stood in rows, and simple tents had been set up. They were probably a merchant caravan supplying provisions for the workers here.

But there was a forest right in front of us.

"A forest?! Don't tell me we're supposed to clear it too?"

"That is correct."

"That's... oh boy."

At this rate, most of the remaining five kilometers would run through the forest. There was no way human labor could finish construction like this in time.

"I can't believe we arrived this quickly!"

When I stopped the car, the viscountess opened the door and headed toward an official who appeared to be the site supervisor.

A slightly stout man in green clothing was bowing repeatedly. He didn't look like someone who had risen through the ranks, either.

He was probably the son of some noble or had a similar background.

"Kenichi, I'm sorry... I let something slip. I never imagined this construction project would be so difficult."

"Don't worry about it. The viscountess has been tempered by noble society. She was probably one step ahead of you in cunning. That's the wisdom of age."

"Who are you calling old?!"

The viscountess, who had been inspecting the site a short distance away, turned toward us.

"Whoa! Talk about sharp ears..."

But now that I'd accepted the job, I had to do something about it. For the time being, this would be our campsite.

I cleared some grass a short distance from the site and set up the house.

Bell got out of the car and immediately began patrolling the area. Once she entered the grass, she really did vanish from sight.

If a monster approached and attacked us like that, we might not be able to respond—but that was why Bell was patrolling.

Besides, we had beastfolk with excellent hearing too.

"Is this where the house is going to be, nya?"

"Boss, shouldn't you clear a little more grass?"

"For now, this should do. Once the construction site moves, the house will move too, so this is good enough."

I went over to the viscountess and discussed the work ahead with the site supervisor. There were many laborers working nearby, and as one would expect from heavy labor, a lot of them were beastfolk.

Nearly all of them were catfolk like Myaree and Nyamena. I didn't see any dogfolk.

"Did you bring that house here?"

"Yes. That's why I chose a small house."

The viscountess introduced me to the official.

"Borij, this is the mage I hired."

"Pleased to meet you. My name is Kenichi, and I am the mage hired by Kanan-sama."

"I'm Borij. Nice to meet you."

"Borij, this man will use his summoned beast to carry out the work, so make your preparations accordingly."

"H-his summoned beast?"

The site supervisor looked at me suspiciously.

"Kanan-sama, it would be best to show him what I mean."

"Indeed."

I had the workers move aside and summoned Ko○tsu-san.

"Summon!"

There was no need to shout, since I was merely taking it out of my Item Box, but I was presenting it as magic, so the gesture was for show.

With a ground-shaking rumble, the enormous yellow machine emerged from my Item Box.

"Whoa!" "What the hell is that?!" "It's a monster!"

Amid the fleeing workers, I coolly climbed into the driver's seat and scooped up a bucketful of the earth the workers had been digging out with the steel bucket.

Each scoop probably weighed about one ton.

"Indeed! This is it! What incredible strength and dependability! What do you think, Borij? With this summoned beast, you can see the end of the construction, can't you?"

"Y-yes, exactly..."

"Amazing!" "Is it a steel monster?" "It keeps growling—will it be all right?"

The workers watched Ko○tsu-san nervously from a safe distance.

"Good for you, Borij. If this construction had not been completed in time, you would have lost your head. Kenichi-dono is therefore your savior."

"Kanan-sama, it isn't over yet. Most of what remains is forest."

I shut off Ko○tsu-san's engine and jumped down.

"Indeed! But with this summoned beast, surely we can manage somehow?"

"Borij-sama, I will dig the canal with this, so have the workers cut down the trees in the forest."

"I-I understand."

"Do you have enough axes on hand?"

I asked just in case, but...

"No, not yet..."

Their preparations were far too inefficient.

Astrantia and Akimenes were both a hundred kilometers away from here. Just going there and back by carriage would take four days.

Even if they ordered them from merchants now and gathered them from various places, it could easily take a week.

They were going to run out of time.

"Kanan-sama, for now, I can sell you the axes I have on hand, so—um..."

I searched Shangri-La. They cost about 10,000 yen each. I bought one as a sample and showed it to the viscountess.

"This is what I had in mind..."

The viscountess took the axe, examined it carefully, and called one of the workers over.

"Can this cut trees?"

"Y-yes... It's brand new, isn't it? Are you really letting us use such a fine axe?"

"Indeed!"

While she was occupied, I called Primula over and whispered to her.

"Primula, if we sold that axe in the city, how much would it fetch?"

"Hmm, since it's newly forged, perhaps one gold coin (200,000 yen)?"

"Kanan-sama, the normal price is one gold coin per axe, but as a friends' price, I will sell them to you for two silver coins (100,000 yen) each."

"What?! A friends' price?"

"Is that unacceptable? Then I will charge the regular price of one gold coin..."

"No, no, we are friends! Yes, exactly!"

"Understood. Then I will sell you twenty of them for a total of ten gold coins (2,000,000 yen)."

"Very well."

I immediately bought the remaining nineteen new axes from Shangri-La. When I pressed the purchase button, the axes came clattering down from the air.

"A-an Item Box?"

"Exactly!"

For some reason, the viscountess looked proud beside the astonished Borij.

"Borij, give these axes to the workers and have them start cutting down the trees at once!"

"Understood."

Carrying the axes I had given them, the workers began filing into the forest.

I wondered how dangerous monsters were in the forest. The main road ran nearby, so perhaps it was relatively safe.

"Borij-sama, how dangerous are monsters in the forest?"

"It should be safe during the day, but... I've never heard of anyone being attacked on the main road."

So it was safe during the day. But as construction progressed, we would gradually have to camp deeper in the forest.

"Are all the beastfolk here catfolk?"

"Yes. Since this is construction in a forest, we often encounter Black Wolves, so..."

"Black Wolves are said to be servants of the dogfolk's god. If they attacked us in the forest, we would have no choice but to exterminate them..."

"That is the situation."

In any case, we had to make progress, even if it was only a little at a time, or we would never finish.

I decided to start working immediately.

"Boss, what are we supposed to do?"

Nyamena had nothing to do.

"Prepare food for the summoned beast."

"Huh? How?"

Ko○tsu-san consumed 400 liters of fuel a day. We wouldn't have time to make biodiesel, so we would use the white kerosene sold by Shangri-La, as originally planned.

White kerosene cost 2,600 yen per four-liter can. Four hundred liters meant we needed one hundred cans every day.

I entered 100 for the quantity and pressed the button. One hundred square iron cans came rattling down from the air and piled up.

Exactly one hundred had appeared. I wondered whether the item could ever sell out.

If it sold out halfway through, we'd have to buy four hundred one-liter cans instead... I really hoped that wouldn't happen.

I could probably buy even larger heavy machinery, but we'd definitely be defeated by the problem of preparing enough fuel.

Then I bought four blue plastic tubs that held 120 liters each.

"Click."

Four large plastic tubs fell from the air. On top of that, we needed reforming agent to mix with the white kerosene and turn it into diesel fuel, along with a little two-stroke oil—this was getting ridiculously complicated.

"All right, your important mission is to pour the oil from these iron cans into these blue containers."

"Do we just open the lids and pour it all in?"

"That's right. There are a lot of them, but it should be easy if you divide up the work."

"Kenichi-dono, is all that oil the food for your summoned beast?"

"That is correct."

"Hmm... We are going to go bankrupt buying oil..."

Besides, the sea-beast oil used as kerosene around here couldn't be used as fuel for heavy machinery, and it was expensive too.

I asked everyone to prepare the fuel. At the same time, I took tables and ingredients out of my Item Box and began setting things up.

I assigned each of them the things they were to prepare, such as bread and soup.

Anemone was an expert at baking bread, while Primula was a master of soup. I could have the beastfolk provide the game.

As I was about to climb into the heavy machine, Bell came over from the grass.

"There, there... Was everything all right in the forest?"

While I stroked Bell beneath the chin, a black-furred beastman spoke to me.

"Mage, sir, is that forest cat your familiar?"

"Yes, she is. She's my girl, so don't lay a hand on her, all right?"

"N-no way would I ever lay a hand on Lady Forest Cat!"

The beastfolk began lining up and sitting before the forest cat, who was seated regally beside me.

Then, one after another, they bowed before returning to work.

"So it really is true that Forest Cat is a messenger of the catfolk's god."

"Of course it is, Boss."

Well, I should get to work too.

Ko○tsu-san roared as it scooped up a mound of earth with its enormous bucket and piled it up to one side.

Of course, I wasn't digging at random. I had to dig in a straight line according to the survey, making the canal shallower where the ground dipped and cutting away more where it rose.

By evening, we had dug a straight canal as far as the forest entrance. It was probably about 200 meters.

In this world, once it grew too dark to see what you were doing, work was over. In a world without proper lighting, people rarely worked overtime unless it was absolutely necessary.

They might do it for high enough pay, but if we made the workers do that, they would flee and continuing the work would become difficult.

If I wanted to, I could turn on lights and work through the night by myself, but things weren't desperate enough to require that.

Well, this was good enough for today.

The workers who had finished their tasks emerged from the forest. It seemed we would be camping here tonight.

The men were receiving something from what appeared to be the official's wagon.

"Do they receive their wages there?"

I asked the viscountess, who was with me.

"No. What they receive here is this."

The viscountess showed me an iron token. Apparently, it served as currency usable only here.

It was like the Pe○ka from some manga. Carrying the tokens, the workers went to the merchants' wagons and bought various things.

They were holding food and alcohol, but apparently the system required them to settle the final amount in the city and exchange the tokens for gold and silver coins once construction was complete.

"Why use a system like this?"

"If we kept large amounts of real money in the wagons, bandits would target us. Besides, even if someone stole it, it couldn't be exchanged elsewhere."

"What about that wagon with the flashy lights?"

Were they kerosene lamps? Or lamps using magic? They emitted fairly bright red and pink light.

"That is a traveling brothel."

Ah, there were more than a hundred men here, so they certainly wouldn't lack customers.

Apparently, many of the men spent all the money they earned here.

"So they don't carry money over to the next day."

It was hard to say whether that was admirable or simply short-sighted—but it was their money, and they were free to spend it however they wanted.

Well, time to return to the house.

"Kanan-sama, if you would like, you may dine at my house. It may not be the fine cuisine a noble is accustomed to eating, though."

"My carriage has not arrived yet, so I shall accept your hospitality."

But when I returned to my family, the beastfolk seemed somehow displeased.

"What happened? Is something wrong?"

"Some people think this place is a brothel, nya!"

"The nerve of them!"

I see. They had mistaken it for something like the traveling brothel.

"Well, we do have a collection of beautiful women with fine coats, after all. The rumors will probably have spread by tomorrow."

"Heh-heh. They would never dream that we had brought a house all the way out here."

Apparently, that was just the sort of thought an ordinary human would have.

"But what is that pile of birds and animals?"

A tall pile of birds and small animals had been placed in front of Bell, who was sitting in a cat loaf.

"They're offerings to Lady Forest Cat, nya."

"We're working in the forest, so we're making offerings to Lady Forest Cat."

"Is this a common ritual?"

"Yes, nya. Sometimes we hang them from tree branches, nya."

"I see."

Still, if we left them there, the meat would spoil. I offered Bell some canned cat food and put the game in my Item Box.

As it began to grow dark, orange campfires were lit here and there, their smoke rising straight into the air.

"The bread is ready!"

"The soup is ready too."

"We caught a bird too, nya!"

"I've dressed it!"

"Oh, thanks! Since we have a bird, shall we make fried chicken?"

"Ohhh!"

I had the bird meat cut into bite-sized pieces, dipped each piece in beaten egg, and coated them with the fried-chicken seasoning I had bought from Shangri-La.

Then I fried them in oil heated on a portable gas burner.

"Anemone, raise the oil's temperature with magic for a moment. Don't heat it too much."

"Okay! Mmm—Warm!"

The oil in the pot soon began to sizzle.

"Anemone's magic really is convenient."

"Hee-hee."

I added the coated chicken pieces one after another. Meanwhile, I took dishes out of my Item Box and had everyone arrange them on the tables.

"I never imagined we could have such a proper meal outdoors."

The viscountess was amazed as dishes and bread appeared on the tables. Finally, a large platter piled high with fried chicken was set down.

I gave Bell some plain fried chicken.

"All right! Let's eat!"

"Meow!"

The beastfolk pounced first. They had no table manners whatsoever.

"My apologies for our lack of manners."

"I do not mind. I am the one imposing on you by asking to be treated to a meal. Besides, are we not friends?"

But when the viscountess took a bite of the fried chicken, she was astonished.

"Oh! This is delicious! It is wonderfully crisp, yet when you bite into it, the juices flood your mouth. Simple, but remarkably refined!"

"I'm glad you like it."

I poured wine for the viscountess and let Nyamena serve herself.

"Good heavens! This wine is excellent too. It is rare to find such a fine wine!"

It was one of the cheap wines sold by Shangri-La—the same kind Nyamena always drank.

"Freshly baked bread really is delicious. Anemone, you've become a true expert at baking."

"Hee-hee."

"Indeed, the bread is delicious... and sweet, too. The soup would be perfectly suitable for a banquet. It is delicious enough to be served at a royal feast."

"Would it really be all right for members of the royal family to eat it?"

"I would stake my reputation on it."

The viscountess seemed to enjoy the meal for a while, but before long she grew quiet.

"Kanan-sama, is something wrong?"

"No... I was just thinking that everyone seems to be having such a good time."

"Of course we are! Delicious food and good alcohol with our friends! Ha-ha-ha!"

Nyamena was in high spirits, having had a little too much to drink.

"I see. Indeed..."

Everyone was eating and chatting noisily, and the workers nearby seemed interested, but with the viscountess present, they apparently couldn't bring themselves to peek.

Now that dinner was over, it was time for a bath. I was tired after driving the car and heavy machinery all day.

But with a noblewoman here, heating an oil-drum bath beside the road where all the workers were camping seemed inappropriate.

"Hmm..."

After thinking it over, I took the cabin we had used for the treehouse out of my Item Box and decided to put the baths inside it.

That way, we would be hidden from outside and could relax.

Until now, we'd heated bathwater with campfires or Anemone's Wrathful Flame—Fireball, but after she learned household magic, we could heat it much more easily.

An oil-drum bath would be improper for a noblewoman, so I searched Shangri-La and found a white FRP bathtub.

It was an oval, bowl-shaped tub with golden feet like a cat's paws—the sort of thing a beautiful woman might use for a bubble bath in a Western movie.

It cost about 100,000 yen each. Similar tubs costing several million yen were also available, but those might have been made of genuine ceramic.

This one was light and sturdy, and FRP would be good enough. I bought two and placed them side by side inside the cabin.

At this point, I used a trick I had discovered recently.

My Item Box contained many large plastic containers filled with river water.

I put the FRP bathtub I had just bought into my Item Box, selected water from one of the plastic containers, and dragged and dropped it into the tub.

Then, when I took the bathtub back out of my Item Box...

A white bathtub full of water appeared right in front of me.

I couldn't select only water from a river or lake and put it into my Item Box, but this method let me move water around.

Naturally, I could also select the water as it was and throw it into the trash.

Two white bathtubs brimming with water now stood inside the cabin, which was lit by a hanging gasoline lantern.

I went outside the cabin and called for Anemone.

"Hey, Anemone!"

"Coming!"

"Heat these two white baths with magic. Is heating both of them okay?"

"Sure! They're about the same size as our usual bath, right?"

"Probably."

"Mmm! Warm!"

It was a bath, so there was no need to bring the water to a boil. Steam soon began rising. Magic really was convenient.

Unlike the Wrathful Flame—Fireball, this apparently consumed very little magic power.

Until now, I'd been doing things like making fried eggs with a flamethrower—Fireball.

"Kanan-sama, the water is ready. Please enjoy your bath."

"What?! A bath here?"

"Yes, this way."

I led the viscountess into the bathing area inside the cabin. The floor would get wet, but after draining the bathwater, Anemone could dry it with magic.

"Good heavens! This is truly a bath!"

The viscountess stepped inside and cried out when she saw the tub filled with hot water.

"This is a washcloth, and this is a robe for after your bath."

When I showed the bathrobe to the viscountess, she took it and felt its texture.

"This is extraordinarily fine..."

"Then please take your time."

"Are you not bathing?"

"I will bathe with my family."

"Very well, then. This is an order: you shall bathe with me."

Good grief. Nobles were troublesome because they immediately started saying things like that.