CH 37

Here’s the chapter, enjoy~

After breakfast, I got back to work. The first thing I need to do is to make dormitories and dig a well, but…

“There’s something I want Jagira and Pirna to do for me.”

“What is it?”

“What is it?”

After eating breakfast, Jagira recovered and was full of energy. By the way, our breakfast consisted of baked bread, soup, salad, and steak. I made all of it in advance using the crafting menu and served it to them. You might think it’s a bit heavy for breakfast, but the people here are basically manual laborers, so they gobbled it all up. In fact, everyone but Pirna and I had another serving.

Well, that’s okay. I took the ammunition out of my inventory and piled it up in front of Jagira. There were 500 bullets in total.

“I want you to shoot them all; I don’t care if it destroys the gun. I want you to test its durability.”

“Really?”

“Yeah. But there is a danger. The barrel will naturally heat up from continuous firing. This will degrade the accuracy, and in some cases, there is a risk of the gun exploding. Besides, not only the barrel but also the firing mechanism and loading mechanism may be damaged. It’s risky, but can you do it?”

“I’ll do it.”

After placing the large basket on the table, Jagira filled it with ammunition and climbed on top of the wall. This is one to start with.

“As for Pirna, I want you to check the weight of the grenades. I want you to measure the limit of weight that you can hold and fly without any problem. By flying without a problem, I don’t mean just being able to carry it, but assuming you’re going to be dropping bombs from friendly territory to enemy territory over and over again. If it’s too heavy, you won’t be able to fly it as many times, and if you’re not careful, you’ll end up crashing in the middle of enemy territory, so I think it’s best to have enough leeway.”

“I see, I understand.”

“I’ll leave some tools, wood, iron, and stones in place, and I need someone to help out. And this.”

I took out four dummies of stick grenades from my inventory.

“These are dummies without gunpowder. Please use them as a reference.”

“Yes!”

“Let me help you.”

It appears that Ms. Zamir will be assisting Pirna. That’s a relief for now.

“Then, Sylphy and Sir Leonard will be accompanying me.”

“Okay.”

“Understood.”

Everyone dispersed to their work. Now, I’m going to build the dormitories.

“I’m going to build the dormitories. Sir Leonard, you should also think about what kind of mithril weapons you want to use.”

“Oh! Leave it to me!”

“Kosuke.”

“Hmm?”

I turned around when Sylphy called me, but she seemed to have a serious expression on her face. What’s wrong?

“What’s wrong?”

“…No. Good luck with the construction.”

“Eh? Yeah, I got it.”

What’s going on? I don’t know, but now that she’s asked me to do my best, I’ll do my best. But I’m just going to build a tofu house. It’s a certain shape and size, so there’s nothing complicated about it.

It’s really just a place to put some stuff and sleep. There would be four two-person rooms and a living room that could accommodate eight people, and the same layout would be used for the two-story building. It was calculated that 16 people could live in one building. If I build 20 of these buildings, there will be enough housing for 300 people.

To be honest, I would like to ignore the issue of livability. There are windows in every room. The windows are made of wood and have shutters. The building’s size and layout were made yesterday under Melty, Qubi, and Isla’s supervision. The number of shutters needed was already crafted, so installation was easy.

“But it’s amazing how fast the building is being constructed, isn’t it?”

“Yes, it is. I can only describe Kosuke’s power as amazing.”

Hahaha, even if you praise me like that, nothing will come out.

The last thing the three of us, Sylphy, Sir Leonard, and I did was to check the finished dormitories, and then the dormitory construction was finished.

The next step is to dig a well.

“Sylphy, please take care of me.”

“Leave it to me.”

I dug the well by digging straight down. There was no need to worry about the air because Sylphy would use her wind magic to blow it in from above. To prevent the walls from collapsing, the walls will be fortified with stone blocks. They’re easy to make with just stone and clay, and they’re pretty sturdy.

After digging down about 7 meters, water started to flow out. I dug another meter, and now the depth was 8 meters. I can use a hand pump for this. I’ve read on the Internet that they can only be used up to 10 meters deep.

By the way, I’ve already made a hand pump. I made one and installed it in the well of the refugee camp, and they were delighted. It made me very happy as well.

I promised Isla that I would install them in all the wells in the refugee camp. Also, Isla took one of them for research. She said she was going to gather some of the most skilled refugees to study it. The structure of a hand pump is surprisingly simple, I suppose.

Now that we had a good supply of water, it was time to climb up. I took out the 10-meter long wooden ladder I had made in advance from my inventory and propped it against the stone wall’s wall to climb out.

“Thanks for the good work.”

“Did you get the water?”

“Yes, yes. I had to dig deeper than in the forest, though.”

“I see. We’ll test it tomorrow to see if it’s drinkable.”

“Spirit magic is surely an amazing thing.”

It is said that water spirit magic can determine whether the water is drinkable or not. It seems that the well must be filled with water to a certain extent, and the water must be left for some time to become clear.

“You said we need to dig four wells in total, right?”

“Yeah, let’s get a move on.”

Despite the intermittent sounds of gunfire, I continued to dig the well. So far, it seems that the firing has been going smoothly. I repeat the same process and dig three more wells. Water came out of all the wells without any problems. That’s a relief for now.

“I wonder why there’s no vegetation in the Omit Wilderness when you can dig for water.”

“I heard that as a result of abusing the spirit stone’s event disintegration attack, the spirit power of the land had been disrupted, and no plants could grow properly.”

“Who’s doing that? The Elders?”

“Umu.”

The power of the Spirit Stone is terrific! I hope it doesn’t have any harmful effects on the human body. I’m starting to get scared.

Once the wells were completed, I proceeded to build the entire fort. The toilets will not be simple holes dug, but full-scale pumping toilets. There was a person among the refugees who were familiar with the structure, so I asked her about it.

The royal capitals and large cities of the Merinard Kingdom were equipped with water and sewage systems using magic, and the toilets were flushable, but small and medium-sized cities and rural areas where such systems were not available used pumping toilets. She was a craftsman who had built toilets in such places several times.

Well, that’s good. Toilets are also related to gunpowder making, so I asked her quite seriously. I actually made one right in front of her, and she gave me some instruction. Perfect.

“Do you have a special attachment to toilets, Kosuke-dono?”

“No, not really. Cleanliness is important, you know. You can easily get sick if it’s unclean.”

“That’s true.”

Dozens or hundreds of people live in a fort-like this. If public hygiene is not maintained correctly, it could quickly become a hellish picture of a plague. Real biohazards are a no-no.

“It’s true that plague is a terrible thing.”

Sir Leonard seemed to be convinced of my obsession with the toilet. Well, I’ll use anything, even dirty bombs, against my enemies. In that sense, feces and pee are strategic materials.

In fact, in the old days, the defenders would drop human excrement along with boiling water or hot oil during siege battles. And then they would paint the arrowheads with it. How horrible… I shudder.

I’ve made as many toilets as I think I’ll need. It’s for up to 300 people. The number of toilets will naturally be numerous. And because of the gender ratio, there will be far more women’s toilets than men’s. I guess it can’t be helped.

Now that the toilets have been completed, it’s time to build the farmland. However, as for the farmland, there are farmland blocks made from the soil of the Black Forest. So I’m going to try using this one first.

After all, it’s the one I made with my crafting ability. I won’t be surprised if Isla’s eyes go blank again. No, it’s a survival game ability that I pulled directly from the game. It wouldn’t be strange to be able to harvest crops within three days after planting the seeds, I think.

That’s why I dug down with a shovel and placed farm blocks in the area I planned to turn into farmland.

“That’s pretty fertile soil.”

“That’s because the farmland blocks are made from the soil of the Black Forest. It’s no wonder it looks the best when my abilities and the soil of the Black Forest are combined.”

The next step is to cultivate the farm block with a hoe. I have to make ridges, there, there, and there.

“I’m beginning to understand why Her Highness and Isla sometimes have trouble wrapping their heads.”

“Do you understand?”

“I love cultivating!”

With a single swing of the hoe, a square meter of ground can be tilled and ridged to a reasonable degree, with just one swing. I use the command action to slide backward over the farm blocks and plow them up. More ridges appear—more plowing. More ridges appear. It’s so much fun.

Once I’ve finished plowing, it’s time to plant the seeds. This time, I prepared grain seeds. Not the corn kind that Melty always makes me grind, but the wheat kind.

“My head is starting to hurt.”

“Do you understand?”

“Planting seeds is fun!”

I hold a bag of wheat seeds in my hand, and with a right click of the mouse, I instantly sow the seeds in a square meter of rows, and they germinate instantly, producing green sprouts. Sow the seeds. It germinates. Sow a seed. It germinates. It’s very, very fun.

“Hey, I’ve shot all the… eh, fields? Eh? How come?”

Jagira, who has a bolt-action rifle hanging on her shoulder with a sling, rolls her eyes at the field in front of her, or rather, the ongoing expansion of the field.

“…Your Highness the Princess, the first sprouts are already growing, but…”

“…That’s what Kosuke does.”

Oh no, I have to water it. I’ve made a watering can, so I’ll use… well water. I’m not sure if it’s a good idea to drink it, but I think it’s safe to sprinkle a little on the field.

I used both my own speed dash and the command action dash to get the water into the water tank. I poured some bottled water into the pump and pumped it out. Oh? What’s with the clear water? Well, I don’t have to worry about the details. Just start watering!

I went back and forth between the well and the field several times and finished watering all the wheat. Hmm, this needs improvement. Maybe I should build a well for the fields and a tank to store rainwater.

No, wait…? If the blocks can float in the air, maybe I can use “that”…? No, but… I don’t think there’s anything like “that”… Should I just try it?

The problem is to find a water source… Oh man, should I have drawn water from the river? Can well water be used instead? I should just give it a try.

I dug a hole 4 meters wide, 4 meters deep, and 2 meters deep next to the field.

“What are you doing?”

“No, I’m just experimenting.”

I put stone wall blocks at the bottom, and then I put stone wall blocks around the edges. This creates a hole 2 meters wide, 2 meters deep, and 1 meter deep. Pour water into the hole with a bucket on the diagonal.

“Kosuke?”

“What is it?”

“Why is this hole filled with two buckets of water?”

“Haha, I wonder why.”

As I said this, I filled the empty bucket with water and put it in my inventory.

“I’ve been pumping water into the empty bucket for a while now, but it doesn’t seem to be diminishing.”

“Maybe I’m imagining things. It’s probably just an optical illusion.”

“No, I don’t think so.”

“Sylphy, this is a well. It’s a little strange well. Okay?”

“A-all right.”

Perhaps sensing something in my uncompromising attitude, Sylphy nodded obediently. She’s a good girl. I can’t say that I’ve created an infinite water source, so I’ll just say that this is a strange well.

I made it on a whim, but it’s very dangerous. The source of the water is never-ending, no matter how much you draw. Isla’s eyes will blank out again.

Speaking of the torch’s never-ending flame, that thing is infinite as a light source, but for some reason, the flame isn’t hot enough for the torch I set up. When it’s in hand, it can burn other things properly… It’s strange.

“Oops, that’s right. How’s the rifle, Jagira?”

“I’ve fired all 500 rounds and haven’t had any trouble. I think the accuracy is almost the same.”

“Seriously? All right, I’ll keep that one. You take this one.”

“All right.”

I took the bolt-action rifle that had completed 500 rounds of test firing and handed the spare new bolt-action rifle to Jagira. I think I’ll make a quadruple scope next time.

Even so, there is no problem at all with 500 rounds… and it is difficult to judge whether the original performance is excellent or whether it is the crafted product that I made. However, it’s a relief to know that it won’t become useless after just one battle. This is not much of a sample, though.

As I was thinking this while checking the bolt-action rifle I had received from Jagira, Pirna, and Ms. Zamir also showed up. They were astonished when they saw the field I had plowed. It’s a good field, isn’t it?

“Where did this field come from…?”

“It’s already sprouting and growing…”

I bring the two stunned people back to their senses and ask them about their results. They said that they had decided on the best shape of the handle and the bomb’s weight.

“It’s pretty heavy, you know. Are you sure you can handle it?”

“That’s about right. I can go back and forth as many times as I like, about 10 kilometers each way.”

“Hmm, I see.”

The prototype model was made by modifying a dummy stick grenade. A thicker piece of wood was added to the end of the handle, and it was processed into a T-shape. I see; it’s easier to hold and throw this way. A metal weight was added to the grenade’s tip, making the overall weight about four times that of a standard dummy grenade. It can hold a lot of explosives. The weight of the grenade is about six times that of a standard dummy grenade. It’s probably about three kilograms.

“All right, I’ll make some prototypes based on this. Ms. Zamir, I want you to think about the design of your mithril weapon.”

“Understood.”

Now that the maintenance of the fort was finished, I would work on weapon development after lunch. I’ve decided to have Sir Leonard, Ms. Zamir, Jagira, and Pirna scout the area around the fort. Sylphy will stay with me.

“Then, we’ll go now.”

“Be careful.”

Since Gizma was basically the only one in the area, the four of them would not fall behind. I take out the blacksmithing facility and workbench from my inventory and start developing sniper scopes and air bombs for the harpies.

Since I got the Creator skill, item creation has become much easier. Even if I have a pretty vague idea of what I want, it’s very easy to optimize and create a recipe. I’ve noticed that items with recipes added by the item creation function take longer to craft than items that are registered from the start, and the materials are heavier. Well, I guess that’s a reasonable disadvantage.

・Quadruple Scope ― Materials: Glass x 5, Iron x 1, Mechanical Parts x 4

The materials aren’t too heavy. However, the crafting time is long. It takes about 30 minutes… Well, it can’t be helped. Should I make ten of them to use my mass-producer skill? That way, I can save one.

The improved workbench has been filled with scopes, so I’ll make a new, improved workbench. I have the materials so I can make it quickly.

“ is an air bomb for Harpy.”

I thought about the design while looking at the samples that Pirna and Ms. Zamir had made for me. It’s basically for anti-personnel use, so there’s no need to make it shell-shaped, right? The shell should be thicker to improve the fragmentation effect, and the amount of gunpowder should be increased. The fuse should be the same type, but the string should be improved to make it easier to attach. I’ll make the weight part into a hook so that it can be fixed just by wrapping it around and hanging the hook. By the way, the recipe looks like this.

・Hand Stick Grenade ― Materials: Gunpowder x 2, Iron x 1, Wood x 1, Mechanical Parts x 1

・Harpy’s Air Bomb Type 1 ― Materials: Gunpowder x 6 Iron x 3 Wood x 1 Mechanical Parts x 1

It’s three times the cost of the stick grenade… I hope the effect is worth it. I’ll make about ten of them for now. I’ll probably make about 30 stick grenades as well.

When I finished reserving my crafting, I looked up and saw Sylphy staring at me with an expression that indicated she wanted to say something. What is it? She looked troubled and embarrassed.

“What’s going on?”

“Um… are you okay, Kosuke?”

“Okay with what?”

The question is too vague for me to reply to. There’s nothing hard about it, but…? Rather, I only realized that I’m doing fine and lively.

“Kosuke lived in peace, in a safe country, didn’t he? Well, to be honest with you, I got a little scared. Bolt action rifles and stick grenades are very powerful weapons. I hope you don’t think it’s too hard for you to create something like that, even for me.”

“Oh, I see… To be honest, I didn’t think too much about it.”

It’s an honest feeling. It may be irresponsible, but I found enjoyment in creating powerful weapons until Sylphy told me to do so. I’m making a weapon that is completely intended for use against people, in other words, a tool for killing people.

“I have a lot of responsibility for what I’m doing if you put it that way. People in the Holy Kingdom are going to die in droves because of the weapons I’ve made…”

I’m sure I’ll be greatly resented. In the future, it will be each and every soldier who will directly kill the enemy in the war to come, but I, who make the weapons, will have to bear many times, dozens of times, hundreds of times, or even more deaths than the soldiers.

“I’m destined for hell, aren’t I?”

“Hell?”

“It’s a concept in my world. There’s a terrifying god called Enma-sama who judges the dead according to their sins and punishes them accordingly. Of course, it’s not proven to exist.”

I shrugged my shoulders and smiled. Well, what do you think? I’m starting to wonder if there really is such a thing as a supernatural being in another world. I don’t know if there really is a hell or something.

“I see, the afterlife… In this world, when a person dies, their soul is said to turn into a star.”

“That sounds rather romantic.”

There are stories of people turning into stars after death, even in my original world. Orion, for example.

“But if Kosuke is going to this place called Hell, I will be with you. Because I’m the one who’s forcing Kosuke to make weapons.”

“Should I be happy about that? As for me, I hope I’m the only one who goes to hell. I can’t bear to see you go to hell too, Sylphy.”

“Even the heaviest of sins is only half as heavy if both of us bear it. I won’t let Kosuke be the only one to suffer.”

“You’re a kind master. Then, I’ll do my best to do good deeds so that Enma-sama in hell can lighten my sins as much as possible.”

“Yes, we will. It’s not only about killing, but also about saving.”

Sylphy smiles at me. Yes, her smile is always cute. From now on, I’ll probably kill a lot of people. But I will save a lot of people for that. I want Sylphy to keep smiling.