CH 234

Chapter 234 – The Thing Is That In the End, What You Do Is The Same Everywhere

“The day before yesterday, it was medical treatment, yesterday was cooking, and today it’s civil engineering work.”

I guess they want me to do everything I can in the time available to me while taking control of Gleiseburg and setting up a system. The more power I wield in public, the more my authority, or rather my reputation as an apostle of God, grows.

What I am doing today is demolishing a complex of shacks in the southwestern part of Gleiseburg and constructing a housing complex to replace them. It is said that the area is on the verge of becoming a halfway house for the poor, and it is hoped to at least reduce the incidence of disease by replacing the shacks, which are unsanitary and drafty, with decent housing. I don’t know how effective this will be in practice.

“Hey, that’s…”

“Is that the saint or the messenger of God we’ve heard so much about…? What’s he doing here?”

The residents are talking in whispers and anxiously when they see me with many priests and guards in tow. In the midst of all this, the commander of the guard squad that was accompanying me raised his voice.

“From now on, all illegal structures in this area will be demolished, and the Apostle will provide you with new housing! Cooperate with us, and accept the situation with solemnity!”

“Hey!”

What he said is not wrong, but there is a way to say it.

“Are you trying to destroy our home?”

“Don’t be ridiculous!”

Trash and pebbles rained down on the commander.

“You trash who don’t even pay the tax! Don’t get carried away!”

“Stop it, stop it! Don’t draw your sword! Calm down, all residents, too! Calm down!”

I pulled the commander back by pinning him down from behind and managed to get the residents to calm down as well. Or rather, the residents seemed to have lost their rebellious spirit when they saw Ms. Zamir, who was holding up the Meteor of the Mithril Cross spear and looking deadly. You should calm down, too, Ms. Zamir. Calm.

“For now, it’s better to see the proof than an argument. I will not harm you in any way, so please cooperate with me. I promise you that you won’t have to worry about finding a place to sleep today, and if it comes to that, I’ll find you a place to stay.”

Maybe it was the fact that not only I but also the Adol clergy had gone out of their way to persuade them, or maybe they were afraid of Ms. Zamir standing there with her meteor in her hand, but for the time being, the owner of the four shacks in the row offered to cooperate, and the owner and the guards moved the furniture out of the shacks.

“They’re not so much furniture, though.”

The owner of the shack, who said this self-deprecatingly, brought out some crude shelves, chairs, and tables, as well as some small items such as dishes and water bottles. The other shacks were similar, and the rest were boxes that seemed to contain a change of clothes.

“Then I’ll break it down first.”

I took out my shiny mithril logging axe. The shacks in this area are mainly made of wood, so this is better suited for the job than a pickaxe.

“That’s a very fine axe…”

I guess the old man might think that no matter how big the axe is, it would take all day for me to break it down by myself since I am not that physically fit. In fact, no one else is working to tear down the shack except for me, so the old man’s concern is understandable.

But that’s assuming I’m a normal person.

“That’s!”

I obliterated about half of the shack with a single swing of my mithril logging axe. The shack seemed to be of low durability, and one swing was enough to obliterate the entire structure. It appears that my inventory was filled with wood and cloth as materials.

“Am I dreaming…?”

I swung my mithril logging axe in rapid succession, destroying four shacks in less than a minute. The scattered debris and pieces of furniture were stored in my inventory and disassembled to be used as materials again.

“Clearing the ground, clearing the ground.”

Using my mithril hammer, which had never been seen in Japan before, I hit the slightly uneven ground and leveled a wide area. It is a useful piece of equipment that, with a single stroke, will level a wide area and make the ground solid and suitable for building. It does not make much material, but it is also moderately helpful in destroying structures. Or rather, too much standing.

I tried it on a stone building I was going to demolish a while ago, and it crushed it without a trace with a single blow. Furthermore, there were no materials left. To be honest, the pickaxe is a hundred times easier to use if it is not used for destruction. However, since it can flatten a wide area by hitting the ground, it will likely be useful for building foundations for the construction and maintaining city roads. Since its destructive nature is so absurdly strong, perhaps it could also be used as a weapon. I don’t think I’ll have a chance to use it, though.

“Then, I will build it now.”

What I will build is a two-story house with four rooms on the first and second floors, for a total of eight rooms. There are no drafts, and each room is suitable for up to two people. Compared to one-story buildings, the use of space on top of the building is more efficient in terms of housing supply per lot area.

“I’ve built it. If you want to put locks and stuff on it, you have to do it yourself.”

“O-oh… which room am I supposed to use?”

“How about you four natives talk about it and decide?”

At my suggestion, the owners of the four shacks that had been demolished gathered to discuss the matter. As a result, it seemed that the two older men would live on the first floor and the two middle-aged men in the second room.

“Although we are fine for now, it may become hard to walk up and down the stairs in time…”

“The house looks warm with no drafts. I’m glad it’s warm because it will get cold from now on.”

The two older men watched as the guards brought in the furniture.

“I will rebuild it like this, so will you cooperate with me?”

“””Okay!”””

Once they saw what was actually happening, they were quick to respond. The residents were autonomously carrying their belongings out of their dwellings and helping with my work without my instructions. They were very cooperative since I would change their dwelling from a drafty wooden shack to a sturdy and beautiful stone room.

“By the way, they say it’s going to get colder from here on out?”

“Yes. It will be winter in less than a month. It won’t snow much, but the temperature will drop, and the wind will be very cold.”

It’s a hard season for me, Ms. Zamir said, letting out a sigh. Ms. Zamir apparently doesn’t like the cold. She is a reptile, so when it gets cold, she can’t maintain her body temperature and goes into hibernation.

“Winter, huh…?

There have been some hot days, but there hasn’t been much that has happened to make me feel the four seasons. Maybe it’s because I’ve been watching crops being grown that I don’t care what season it is, or maybe it’s because I’m still getting used to the calendar here. It’s been quite a while since I’ve been here, and I may have arrived here just after winter had ended.

“Anyway, let’s get some work done.”

“Right.”

Although Ms. Zamir does not do anything directly since she is only guarding me, it is advantageous to have a stern and obvious-looking guard like her. If a sharp-eyed lizardman carrying a large crossed spear emitting a glistening, swarthy shine glared at you, those who would think of doing something insolent to me would leave in a heartbeat. If someone makes a bad move, they will be cut in half with a single blow from the spear.

I destroyed the shack with my mithril logging axe, leveled the ground with my mithril hammer, and set up the house. After repeating this process over and over again, not a single shack was left, and a residential area was created, with two-story apartment buildings neatly lined up in rows.

“What about the extra rooms?”

“The area will be taken care of later when someone from the lord’s mansion comes.”

The guard who was questioned by the residents replied in this manner. They are also probably concerned about how they will be treated in the future. The temperamental commander who pulled out his sword earlier said something about not paying population tax, so the people living in this area are probably too poor to pay tax. It is not enough to just rebuild their houses, and that will solve everything. We have to deal with the most powerful enemy that made them live in such shacks and cannot pay taxes.

That enemy is poverty.

☆★☆

“It’s a tough problem.”

“Tough problem, isn’t it?”

After finishing my work during the day, I met up with Ellen at the lord’s mansion, and while sharing a dinner table, we were reporting to each other about the events that had happened today.

I am good at solving short-term problems, but saving the people who lived in the southeastern section of this city was quite a challenge. I could probably solve some of their problems by giving them farmland to cultivate, but farming is not that easy. No, it may be that simple in the case of farming on the blocks of land I have laid out, but usually, it is not that simple. It is not just a matter of plowing the ground and scattering seeds.

“But I can’t let Kosuke’s reputation suffer. Kosuke gave them a new home, but if they end up losing their home because of it, they may think of Kosuke as a pest.”

“You think they will take some kind of action?”

“I think so. The actual burden will be on the side of the Merinard kingdom. But of course, we will cooperate with them in any way we can.”

After all, it would be good if they had some kind of work to earn money. Creating jobs… is not something that can be done overnight, but I’m sure they will do something to make it work. Well, the soldiers of the Holy Kingdom and the people who are not willing to live with subhumans who have been treated as slaves will probably leave for the Holy Kingdom, so it is highly likely that the Merinard Kingdom will fall into a labor shortage in the future. If that happens, there will naturally be more jobs. That’s where Sylphy and Melty will come in.

“I guess I’ll just have to do what I can do.”

“I guess that’s the way it is. For the time being…”

“For the time being?”

Ellen blushed as she turned her red eyes away from me.

“How about rewarding Kosuke for your hard work today?”

“OK!”

What kind of man would refuse such a cute offer? No, no one. I’ll spoil myself to the fullest.