From the next day onward, the land development continued.

My job was to reshape the terrain.

While creating ponds and rivers, and leveling the land, I also built earthen walls that would serve as defense points to keep out monsters and other intruders.

I had to do this as discreetly as possible so others wouldn’t see. Since Mr. Fabek is currently the only carpenter available, I want to finish shaping the terrain while I still have the chance.

Following Mr. Tiga's vision, I began leveling the land.

On the eastern side, I created elevation differences and formed a cliff along with a river. That way, monsters that come to drink water shouldn’t be able to cross.

On the northern side, I made a large pond to avoid water shortages, and separately from the main stream, I constructed a canal in the center for irrigation. Since we plan to build ranches around the pond, I tried to preserve the grass as much as possible.

Right now, snowmelt from the mountains is increasing the water supply, but in other seasons, the water might decrease... I'm a bit worried that splitting the flow into two might cause it to dry up in summer.

To the west, there was a large tree, along with sage trees and several other useful material trees growing naturally. I decided to preserve them as much as possible while doing minimal maintenance. That side still carries the risk of monsters appearing, but I’d like to keep it as it is for resource gathering.

As a precaution, I’m thinking of building a two-layered stone wall in the residential area near the mountain range to block off any intrusions.

But creatures like the Shimaou can leap over such barriers, so it's not impossible that other monsters could too. And creatures like the Gigant Snake probably wouldn’t care about walls at all... so maybe it’s pointless.

Keeping monsters out is still a challenge to be addressed later.

But more importantly, this land is excellent!

It’s even richer in alchemy materials than I expected, making it a great candidate for a base of operations.

On the west side, Mr. Fabek is hurriedly building a temporary hut while carefully preserving the area from being trampled. It should be finished in a few days, so we’ll be able to have at least a place to sleep soon.

As for the southern side, there’s a narrow gourd-shaped section where I plan to install a gate to block entry.

In the center, we’re planning to build rice paddies and fields, but that hasn’t been done yet. Well, I think it can wait until Ms. Luna and the others arrive.

---

On the sixth day since development began…

My brother arrived with Luna, Ryunne, as well as Mr. Leonis and Ms. Mary. Even Rana-chan was with them... Along with four unfamiliar foreigners. They also brought some lionesses with them, for some reason.

Even though Naga-kun isn’t here, why are the pets multiplying...? The rabbits were frightened, but they said the creatures would understand if we explained things properly.

Sphino-kun can’t tame them, but he’s still doing his best to keep them in line... well, if this reduces the threat from monsters, then I guess it’s fine.

---

But more importantly—Master, it's too soon for you to be here.

Even though we have some accommodation prepared… building a proper residence will still take time.

“Master!? It’s still not safe here!”

“No need to worry... besides, that hut will do just fine, right?”

“No, but... monsters still appear around here!”

Since Mr. Leonis was there too, I looked to him for help, but he shook his head... so persuasion seemed impossible.

When I asked Mr. Fabek about when proper construction would begin, he said the foreman would be arriving soon.

Ugh... I really hope he gets here quickly.

“You’ve found a great spot. Looks like we can do quite a bit here without drawing attention.”

“Yeah. It was Mr. Tiga who chose the location. He’s thinking of building a guesthouse and a simple lodging facility in the front section and making the back section off-limits.”

“Sounds good, doesn’t it? I doubt anyone in the group insists on living in a luxurious house. We can reserve the front for nobles. With this terrain, it’d be better to make the back private property and keep it off-limits.”

In that case, I’ll need to level out this smaller gourd-shaped area too. Since we don’t plan to harvest materials from it, I might as well just flatten it quickly.

“Meow~”

“…Hey, brother. What’s going on?”

“Well… I wasn’t expecting this either.”

While talking with my brother, a cat was playing around my feet.

Well, it’s probably Momo, but it’s gotten quite big. Just the other day, it was small enough to fit into a hood, like a newborn kitten, but now it’s about 50 centimeters long?

It seems even bigger than a large cat… and it’s trying to hang onto my shoulder.

“Momo?”

“Meow~”

Yeah. It responded. So, it really is Momo. But why has it grown so big? Naga-kun isn’t here, so maybe it evolved, I guess.

“I went back to Mare and visited the priest, and for some reason, it suddenly evolved there. Naga, its owner, isn’t around, but apparently, it’s normal for wild creatures to evolve and grow bigger. Apparently, this is still a juvenile, and it hasn’t reached full adulthood yet.”

“Well, it’s been almost three months since we made it a pet, so I guess it would’ve been strange if it stayed the same size. But if it’s still a juvenile at this size… when it matures, will it be big enough for me to ride, like a Shimaou?”

“If it grows to the size of a mother leopard, you’d definitely be able to ride it.”

“Meow~”

Momo meowed, as if to say "Leave it to me," so I petted its head. But, seriously, I wish it would stop trying to climb onto my shoulder or back. It’s too heavy now.

“So, uh, what about Mary?”

“Hey, what about me?”

“I thought Mr. Leonis might be here to guard the master.”

“Well, that’s not entirely wrong… but, Crain, the old lady is moving out of her house and is going to live here.”

“…I’ll protect her, no matter what.”

“Yeah. I plan to show my face here, too.”

I nodded in response to Mr. Leonis. He probably didn’t mind, and I’d make arrangements so that he could stay at our house.

Should I just build a room for Mr. Leonis from the start? Hmm, that might not be a bad idea. I’ll talk to my brother about it later.

“Well, it’s my turn, right?”

“Mary, I’m sorry for troubling you and having you come all the way out here.”

“No, no. It’s my job. Since I’m a mage who can use earth and water magic, I was sent here.”

“Eh?”

Apparently, there aren’t many mages with high-level earth magic. Since it’s useful in construction and related work, they get a fair amount of jobs and aren’t in short supply.

“Granos was generous with the pay, so I came here.”

“Uh, is the guild okay with that?”

“The stampede’s over, so everything’s fine for now. Also, it’s for the purpose of not letting other adventurers snoop around too much.”

“Oh, I see.”

Mary seemed to have been dispatched because she knows a lot about things.

It’s very nice that she’s offering to help, but things here are mostly wrapped up. I just need to finish maintaining the smaller southern side.

After that, I’ll have to make a path to the mushroom forest, or at least to Mare. It seems like Mary is aware of this too.

“And then, about the future… I’d like to ask you to continue assisting with the alchemy work. Since Mr. Leonis will be the one to transport things, could I ask you to take care of that?”

“Can I take care of it at home? If it’s fine with not just me, but my brother and Crow as well.”

“Yeah. Of course.”

Mary will be helping starting tomorrow. She’s also going to teach magic to Luna and Ryunne, which is a huge help.

“By the way… could you also help out with Rust?”

“Sure. I’ll teach them everything during the two-week period I’m here.”

Apparently, the four other foreigners who arrived will also be receiving magic instruction. This is strange… I thought there wasn’t going to be any magic instructor.

“I don’t normally teach magic, but this time it’s special. Granos also asked me to do it, so leave it to me.”

“Thank you so much.”

I had heard that the guild doesn’t provide much in the way of magic training, but it seems Mary can use magic normally.

“I’m not great at attack magic and not suited for combat, so I never took on the role of a teacher.”

“That’s too bad. Even just being able to cast water or fire spells would be really helpful.”

I think it’s fine that she can’t cast attack magic—support spells are still incredibly useful. However, the people wanting to take the lessons apparently expect magic that has more offensive power.

Since Mary excels at support-type magic, it seems that’s the reason she hasn’t taken on teaching roles.

“But, isn’t the guild going through a tough time?”

“Crain-san, since I’ve mostly only dealt with you, anyone trying to gather information tends to come to me… There’s that situation as well.”

It seems like they’re seriously trying to dig into my information… It’s troublesome.

If the nobles have set their sights on me, it’s nothing but a hassle.

“Granos said he’s leaving that house and leaving Mare, so I wanted to talk to you as well.”

“Eh…?”

I hadn’t planned on leaving the house, but I suppose I’ve been getting involved in more and more troublesome things. I had left the house under the care of Larna-chan, but maybe there were some dangerous circumstances that made it unsafe.

“Is there a commotion going on?”

“Since Crain-san wasn’t here, some malicious rumors started spreading. But there are also adventurers who are worried about you. However, the general sentiment against foreigners is growing stronger… and it’s even spreading to you.”

“I see… I’ve heard that the rumors have spread even to Kyuanoedes, and it seems to be spreading among both adventurers and nobles. I’m sure whatever I do, they won’t like it, so I think I’ll just take it easy and focus on development for a while.”

“Taking it easy in the countryside sounds nice~ You look healthy, and there are adventurers who’ve been through big injuries, so it’s probably good for you. I’m also planning to take this as a long-needed vacation.”

Mary seemed to be worried that I might be too downhearted to return to Mare. But since I’m looking energetic while developing the land, she’s reassured.

On top of that, since I hadn’t had a proper rest, I’m taking a longer vacation. In the meantime, I’ve been taking on requests from my brother.

“That being said, Crain-san, isn’t the development here going a bit too fast?”

“Huh? Well, if we do it while there are fewer people around, there will be fewer people who know about the secrets.”

Sphino-kun is a good boy and will live here in the future, so he won’t leak any secrets. If I do it before the foremen come, it’ll just be Favek-san knowing.

“Well, I think more people will come to snoop around eventually. It would be nice if the houses were ready quickly.”

“That’s true.”

Building the houses will probably take a bit of time.

After finishing talking with Mary, I guide her to the cabin, which serves as the base.

My master’s eyes were sparkling. Yeah, it’s a treasure trove of materials. I get it. I’m excited too.

Afterward, everyone introduces themselves.

The four people my brother brought are Setiko-san, Pyure-kun, Purisuku-kun, and Raunen-san.

All of them are male, and Pyure-kun and Purisuku-kun are a bit younger than me and Naga-kun. On the other hand, Raunen-san seems to be in his 30s, so he might be the oldest among the foreigners. Setiko-san is probably in his early 20s, about the same age as my brother.

Based on their self-introductions, I got the feeling that they’re somewhat jaded or not quite up to par. Even when I listened to them, I had a sense that things wouldn’t go well.

I hope nothing happens.

Since Larna-chan also left Mare, she will now be living here. It turns out that she’s actually Sphino-kun’s sister.

It’s heartwarming to see them interacting so happily.

First, I’ll build the houses. Next, I’ll work on the building for alchemy and storage, as well as the barns for the livestock. After that, I’ll work on building the guesthouse and a shop.

“How should we handle the number of houses?”

“I think we should prepare several houses for 4–5 people, assuming they’ll be shared. We’ll need one for us, one for Tiga and the others, and one for Setiko and his group. For Luna and Larna, we can separate them later, but at first, they should make do with houses for four people. If someone really wants a single-person house, we can figure that out later.”

“Yeah. Also, should we have the carpenters stay in a house? Maybe make an inn near the front?”

“Yeah. We should at least prepare a place for the carpenters near the guesthouse. It’d be tough for them to sleep outside all the time.”

Even if we have extra rooms or houses, we can make good use of them.

Five people… Does that mean we’ll be preparing a room for Mr. Leonis at our house as well? If he’s coming and going, it makes sense to have a room for him, but… I wonder what we’re going to do with Diana-san.

“Still, Tiga sure picked an interesting place.”

“It’s a secluded terrain, so it’s easy to hide away. But it seems like he wants to retreat because he’s fed up with being investigated by the nobles. I think it’s fine, though. If he loses his earnings as an apothecary, things might get tough in the future…”

“Considering the income from alchemical honey, I think we’ll never run out of money as long as we’re alive. The soothing flower honey sells for 5,000G each, right? If we make 100 pieces for 500 bodies, just in development and production costs, that’s more than enough to feed everyone here.”

“Well, as long as we don’t increase the number of people too much, we should be fine. After that, we can just live off the land and do what we want.”

“Yeah.”

Even though there will be necessary expenses for building the structures, we have more than enough funds for now. My master is also wealthy.

It seems like I’ll be supplying medicines to the adventurer guild going forward, so there shouldn’t be any problems. Yeah, I’ll keep pushing forward with development until Naga-kun and the others return.