When we finally reached the site, it turned out that a huge chunk of what had once been forest had already been cleared. The only things left poking out of the ground were stubby tree stumps, dotting the earth like some kind of weird mushroom infestation. Honestly, it felt less like a frontier village expansion and more like we’d accidentally wandered into a logging camp.
And, well… the cleared area was a lot wider than I’d expected.
“…Wow. Cutting down this many trees—this is practically environmental destruction.”
I muttered that to myself, and beside me, Kamshin tilted his head.
“Environmental destruction, sir? But trees grow everywhere.”
Ah. Good point. I nodded at that with sudden enlightenment. Come to think of it, this world has way too much nature. Forests so deep you can get lost in them, mountain ranges so endless you start doubting you’ll ever see people again. A “quick trip to the next town” usually means “see you in two weeks, if you don’t get eaten first.”
Compared to that, the forests around Ceat Village getting a little bald probably isn’t the end of the world.
“…Right. Let’s not worry about it too much.”
With that comforting lie to myself, I went back to studying the cleared ground.
The adventurer town was being built along the main road, so if we expanded toward the Wolfsburg Mountains, the shape would end up kind of awkward—like a crooked L if seen from above.
Ugh. That’s going to bug me forever.
“How should we even shape this thing…”
I muttered while glaring at a stump as if it owed me money. Kamshin, standing beside me, frowned deeply.
“…Well, the high ground is always advantageous in battle, but—”
“Ah, of course. Defense, huh? You really do think about fighting first, Kamshin.”
I laughed at how typically boyish his thought process was, but his words sparked a new image in my head.
He wasn’t wrong. In battle, the high ground usually decides who wins. Arrows raining from above, rocks tumbling down—those below can hardly retaliate. Even in melee combat, a single step’s elevation can throw you off.
So maybe Kamshin’s idea wasn’t just “boyish,” but actually brilliant.
The issue was Ceat Village being right next door… but if I treated the adventurer town itself as a buffer line, then problem solved! Just make sure no defenses point toward the village, and concentrate all the firepower toward the road and the mountain side.
Yes. Perfect.
“Alright… let’s make the adventurer town’s walls about twenty meters tall. On the Ceat-facing side, just five meters. That way, even if the place gets taken, the village stays safe. Now, the shape is the tricky part…”
If I tried to maximize space, the outline would look like a warped magatama bead. Weirdly stylish, but not exactly practical. Ideally, it should match Ceat Village’s aesthetic.
And then—it hit me.
Ceat Village’s layout was a hexagram. So why not make the adventurer town a crescent moon? A star and a moon together. Brilliant! Nations like Turkey or Malaysia might put them on their flags, but who else could say their actual towns were shaped like celestial symbols?
“Alright. Let’s do some surveying.”
I turned and called back to Bora and her squad.
“We’re going to prepare for construction. First, we’ll make a simple map. Everyone, take your positions!”
“Y-Yes, sir!”
They answered energetically—without the faintest clue that this was about to become a grueling endurance exercise. Poor souls.
“Hmm… Bora, a little more to the right. No, wait—maybe make the whole thing bigger. Actually, if we place the wall markers outside the circle, that’ll work.”
“Bora! Move a bit to the right!”
Kamshin relayed my half-baked thoughts in a commanding voice, and below us, Bora and her team quickly obeyed, hoisting round iron shields over their heads as makeshift markers.
We’d already erected a twenty-meter section of wall at the far end of the cleared ground, and from up here we were directing the mechanical bow squad to stand at the designated points. It sounded simple in my head. In practice? It was like trying to draw a perfect curve with human chess pieces.
And, well, the results weren’t… flattering.
“…It looks like the ‘rear end’ part came out too small,” someone muttered.
“Huh? Oh, you’re right… Will it look better once the actual wall is built?”
That was Arte and Til, who had shown up with tea and sweets like they were on a picnic rather than a construction site. Arte, I noticed, had gotten braver lately—she actually voiced her opinions now.
“Yeah, that’s the problem. We’re not looking from directly above, so our sense of proportion gets warped at long distances. Maybe I should gather another ten or twenty people…”
I sighed, sipping the tea Til handed me. At this rate, Bora and her squad were going to collapse from exhaustion.
And then, a loud shout rose from the ground.
“…Was someone calling me?”
I peered down—but leaning out over a twenty-meter wall with no railing is terrifying, so I ended up crawling forward like a lizard before poking my head over the edge.
“Lord Van! Do you need more hands!?”
“Huh? Dee? Why are you here?”
Down below stood Dee, leading over twenty knights from Arv and Lou. All in light armor, too. I could’ve sworn I’d ordered them to take a week off after the march, but here they were, assembled like an impromptu honor guard.
And before I could blink, Dee was gone.
“Lord Van!”
“Wha—?! Don’t sneak up like that!”
I yelped, nearly losing my grip, as Dee suddenly appeared beside me on top of the wall. I was still belly-crawling at the edge, so the surprise almost sent me plummeting.
“Hah-hah-hah! Running up these stairs is excellent training! For the new wall, you must install plenty of stairs!”
“…You’re planning to use my walls as gym equipment?”
Only Dee could say something so insane with a perfectly straight face. I quietly added “install elevators” to the mental blueprint. If I didn’t, he’d probably force me into endless stair drills until I collapsed.
“Well, whatever the case… I’m glad you’re here. Mind lending a hand?”
Dee grinned. “Leave it to us! I’ve already asked Espada-dono to oversee the village defense, so time is no concern!”
“…That helps a lot.”
I couldn’t help but smile at Dee’s enthusiasm, even if it meant they’d sacrificed their rest to be here. Honestly, I’m blessed with companions like these.
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