Hut
>>A simple shelter sufficient for protection from rain and wind.
That was all it told me. It would’ve been nice to have had a preview image or something, but I guess the interface wasn’t all that user-friendly.
✦ ✦ ✦
Spend 10 Village Points to Create a Hut? ▼ Yes / No
I selected Yes. The next moment, a small wooden building appeared in front of us.
“Huh?!” Myria and I said in unison.
“I-It actually worked...”
The building was a small, plain hut. It had neither windows nor furniture, not even a bed, but it looked like it’d protect us from the elements, just like the description had said.
I had no idea how long or how much work it would’ve taken to build something like this ourselves, but creating it instantly like this... It turned out this gift of mine was actually pretty useful.
“Lord Luke, this is...”
“Yeah. Looks like this is the true power of my gift.”
“Building something like this in an instant is incredible, Lord Luke!” Myria said. “As I’m sure you’re well aware, the three necessities of life are food, clothing, and shelter. You’ve already solved one of them just like that!”
“Well, technically, I didn’t do anything...”
(This will be our little love nest... Hee hee hee...)
“Um, Myria?”
I had forty Village Points after building the hut.
“Maybe we need a second hut? Or should I build a field? Or a well...”
“You can build other kinds of buildings?!” she exclaimed.
“Yes, but...” I hesitated, trying to decide which to choose.
“We should build the well!” she interjected.
“Huh? But it’s kind of cramped in there. I mean, wouldn’t it make more sense to have a second hut so we’re not...you know, sleeping together?”
“No! It may be small, but it’s more than big enough! More importantly, we need to prioritize collecting water! People can go days without food, but we’ll be dead without water!”
“Y-yeah, that’s true... All right, I’ll make the well.”
I folded under Myria’s insistence and selected the well, even though I knew we probably still had enough drinking water for a few days...
(That was a close one... But now I’ll get to spend every night with Lord Luke! Hee hee hee...)
As I moved away to create the well, I thought I caught a glimpse of Myria looking weirdly relieved.
✦ ✦ ✦
Well
>>Easy water access. Manual hand pump with excellent water quality and unlimited water supply.
Spend 30 Village Points to create a well? ▼ Yes / No
Once again, it happened instantly. A circular well of stacked stone appeared out of thin air.
“Amazing! Hm?” Myria tried to lift the cover off the top of the well, but it didn’t budge. “The lid won’t open.”
“I think you’re supposed to use this,” I said, looking at a hand-operated device built into the well. I gave the handle a firm push, and water gushed forth from the spout with surprising force.
“Wh-What is this?” she exclaimed.
The description had mentioned it, but I also had some knowledge from my last life about this kind of thing.
“It’s called a hand pump, and it makes drawing water simple.”
“Goodness... That’s very convenient! Getting water from the well was such a pain at the estate. We had to assign it to slaves who were trained specifically for that kind of physical labor!”
Hmm, I guess hand pumps don’t exist in this world yet.
Still, I wondered where the water was coming from. Was there an aquifer underneath the wasteland? How could it be limitless? It didn’t seem possible.
Well, whatever the case, securing a safe and steady water source was a huge deal. It was incredibly rare to find any naturally occurring water sources in a barren land like this. We would’ve had to collect rainfall and find some way of storing it. And if it hadn’t rained, we couldn’t have farmed. We would’ve died of thirst, like Myria had mentioned.
“All right. We’ve got ten Village Points left.”
The status screen said I would gain ten more points tomorrow, so I could either wait and build something else later or use the ten I had left to make another hut.
“We should wait and build a field next! Definitely a field! We brought some seeds. They might not grow overnight, but the sooner we plant them, the better!”
“R-Right. I’ll go with that, then.”
Myria had a point, but did she have to be so intense?
When I looked at her, a message popped up below her face.
✦ ✦ ✦
Register her as a villager? ▼ Yes / No
“Huh? I can register Myria as a villager?”
Come to think of it, the villager count was at zero earlier. Apparently, I wasn’t included in the tally. That meant Myria would be my first villager if I decided.
“Um, it looks like I can register villagers using this gift, and—”
“Of course! Please make me one!” she interrupted, as if knowing what I was going to say.
“Are you sure?”
“Remember what I said? I’ll follow you wherever you go, through fire or floods! If you’re building a village here, I’d be honored to help however I can.”
She seemed to have made up her mind.
“Thank you, Myria.”
✦ ✦ ✦
Myria has been registered as a villager.
Luke’s Village
Village Level: 1
Village Points: 10 (Gains 11 points daily)
Villagers: 1
Village Skill: Facility Construction
“Oh, look! The villager count went up to one! Oh, and we’re gaining an additional point per day too?”
It seemed that the more villagers we had, the faster our points would accumulate.
“Not that we’re expecting anyone else to join us anytime soon...”
“Hee hee... I wouldn’t mind if it were just us two. Together, forever...” Myria murmured.
“Did you say something?” I asked.
“No, nothing at all.”
There wasn’t anything more we could do except wait for the points to refresh in the morning.
The sun had already set by the time I’d finished eating the food Myria prepared. Unlike the march’s capital, no city lights shone out here. It was just the moon, shining high above.
Since there wasn’t much to do after dark, we decided to go to sleep in the hut I’d created with my gift.
There was a small hole in the wall to let in light and fresh air, but the interior was still nearly pitch black. We felt our way through the darkness, then wrapped ourselves in blankets and lay down side by side.
I thought about my Village-Making gift. When I had received it, I had been filled with despair. But now I was beginning to think it wouldn’t be so bad. I didn’t like war and had no interest in fighting over land and killing others. I didn’t want to live in a world drenched in blood. I preferred a peaceful world, where people lived together in harmony.
Yeah... I’d made up my mind. I was going to use this mysterious gift to tame this barren land and build a village of my own. I’d live a quiet, maybe even modest life here... But I’d be happy and live at my own pace.
That kind of life seemed much more suited to who I was.
I closed my eyes, so lost in my serious thoughts that I didn’t notice the sound of strange breathing coming from right beside me.
“Phooo... Haaah... Phooo... Haaah...”
(Hee hee... I can’t believe I get to smell Lord Luke all night long! Am I in heaven?!)
I didn’t know what Myria was doing, but I had a feeling it was safer not to ask.
The next morning, I woke up to a thin beam of sunlight filtering through the small hole in the wall and Myria pressing up right against me.
“Yeah, I definitely should’ve made that second hut...”
“Oh, no need! One was more than enough!”
“What?! Y-You’re awake?!”
“Of course. It’s my duty as a maid to wake before my master.”
“Then why were you pretending to be asleep?”
(To savor Lord Luke’s adorable sleeping face and soft body! Tee hee!)
She didn’t answer me. Sometimes I seriously wondered if Myria was hiding something. Well, everyone had their secrets, I supposed. It was best not to pry.
“Anyway, you’re no longer a maid. You don’t have to get up so early.”
“I may be a villager now, but you’re still the mayor! And as a villager, I firmly believe it’s important to respect the mayor.”
Um... Is that really how this works?