Tailtiu’s misunderstanding was cleared, and we had a barbecue party like usual.
The dragon meat was of outstanding quality, even when compared to everything I’d eaten up until now. Personally, I thought it was better than the Emperor Boar. I unconsciously moaned when I took a bite, but others were shouting louder than me, so I wasn’t embarrassed. According to Katima, dragons were rare, so it was rather difficult to catch one. Because of that, Reina and I agreed to save most of the dragon meat for another special occasion.
“Ahhh...”
“Hrmmm...”
Although Luna and Tailtiu whined, sounding like they wanted to eat more, I chided them, saying that truly tasty foods were best kept in reserve as a reward. They did eventually understand, but their eyes were on the meat until the very end. And they were drooling the entire time.
Then, yet another week passed after that.
“It’s finally over...”
After about a month, the road from our house to the Divine Beastfolk village was all but complete. Katima and Reina had cleared the land, and as I went along I had put the trees they felled into my Storage spell. Then, while walking, I used earth magic to flatten out the game trail to the point that there was now a surface smooth enough for a carriage to travel along without shaking.
“Yep, it’s perfect,” I said, looking anew at the finished road.
“It is. To be honest, even the continent doesn’t have any roads as smooth as this. You really are absurd, Arata,” Reina said.
“Oh, not at all. I mean, I think everyone was amazing.”
In fact, we had only finished this quickly because everyone had each taken on a part of the work to which they were best suited. This was only an example, but say someone like me who was still unskilled at magic control had cleared the land for the road. In that case, we might have finished earlier, but I would have been rushing the whole way, and the width of the road would end up totally uneven. We had only been able to make a civilized road because of Katima cutting down the trees with her axe and Reina using her precise magic.
Suddenly, there was a tug at the hem of my shirt. I turned and saw Katima, looking up at me with a blank expression that was nevertheless brimming with confidence.
“Arata, I think I did a really amazing job,” she said, singing her own praises.
“I think so too. It turns out you can do anything if you put your mind to it.”
“Heh heh heh...” She smiled happily.
And of course, all of this wasn’t just due to Reina’s or Katima’s efforts. They weren’t here now, but Zelos’s and Merlyn’s participation had been essential to the road’s completion. In fact, they were so skilled at manipulating magic that it would be wrong to even compare them to someone like me. This was no doubt the difference between me, who could only use magic because I’d copied it, and those who had undergone enough consistent training to be called Celestial Archmages.
Maybe I should get some serious magic lessons from Reina next time.
“Well, at any rate, now it’ll be easier to travel to the Divine Beastfolk village,” I said. I looked at the newly smoothed road, but there was still a cause for concern. “After all the time we spent on it, I just hope it doesn’t get damaged by magic beasts or something...”
“There’s no need to worry about that,” Katima said.
“Really? Why not?”
“It’s because this road is full of your mana. Pretty much all of the beasts should stay away because it’s scary to them.”
“I see. Well, that’s a relief.”
“You’re a scary guy, after all.”
“I could do without you putting it like that, though...”
I had been hearing for a while about how the magic beasts on this island were sensitive to the presence of powerful individuals. It was a survival skill unique to those who lived on an island full of staggeringly powerful beings like Divine Beastfolk and Ancient Dragonfolk. My existence was apparently already known far and wide among the island’s beasts, and they hardly ever got near. The only ones who did were idiots who either had a great deal of confidence in their strength or lacked a sense of caution. I really had to be grateful to the god that had given me this power, as it was because of her that Reina and the other Celestial Archmages would be quite safe when walking down the road alone.
“With this, I’ll be able to casually visit the Divine Beastfolk village,” Reina said. “I always got you to come along with me.”
“I didn’t mind, though,” I said.
“But I did.”
I had accompanied Reina, Zelos, or Merlyn each time they went to the Divine Beastfolk village to trade for foodstuffs, but from now on they would be fine alone. Of course, I hadn’t disliked going with them, and I wished they wouldn’t be so hesitant to rely on me, but perhaps it was stressful having me always be around even during their private time.
“Well, at any rate, it looks good,” I said.
Up until now, the tall trees had blocked all but a trickle of sunlight on the game trail. Now, the ground was brightly illuminated and almost appeared to be sparkling.
I had done all sorts of things since coming to this island, whether it was constructing a house or building a road to the river, but this was the first development on such a large scale. Its completion marked an end to a period in my life here. Now, there was only one thing for us to do.
✦ ✦ ✦
After going back home, we each set about getting things ready. The Emperor Boar’s attack had leveled the area, turning it into a rather large clearing. There was also more than enough space for Luna, Tailtiu, Grr, and Garr to run around and play.
“All right, before the kids make themselves hungry from playing, why don’t we finish setting up?” I said.
“Yeah. We have plenty of ingredients, after all,” Reina said.
We had finished putting in the road from here to the Divine Beastfolk village. Now, we were working on a party to celebrate its completion. Zelos and Merlyn had gone to draw water; Katima was with them as an escort, but the road to the river was also maintained, so it was unlikely they were in any danger. As for Reina and I, we were getting ready to receive all the Divine Beastfolk who would soon be arriving. That said, Reina was taking care of the cooking, so I was mainly doing other things like setting up the venue.
Last time, the Divine Beastfolk had set up the feast at their village, so today it was on us to work hard. Elga had said that he didn’t mind, but I knew that with things like this, it was necessary that we all show respect to each other by not making any compromises.
“Well, there was no way we could make something for everyone, but still...”
The villagers had talked things out among themselves, and this time the Divine Beastfolk were the only ones coming. The ordinary Beastfolk had declined to come, and this was the one thing I couldn’t do anything about.
They had always treated us amicably, and with this, the distance between us would no doubt shrink. Once that happened, we could have a lot to learn from each other, including my knowledge of Earth. At any rate, more people brought more obligations, but in exchange there were also more things one could do.
“I’m looking forward to it,” I said.
Actually, I had used my spare time between working on the road to get Elga to teach me things, like how to make furniture out of wood. I still wasn’t any good at making clean cuts, but the piece I had made was stable, and I thought it had turned out well. It had a simple design, but next time I was hoping to make something with more style. And maybe it would be fun to try out something like drawing too.
It felt like in the beginning, I had been completely occupied with coming up with ways to improve my living conditions, but lately I was thinking of nothing but how to have more fun.
“Are you done, Arata?” Reina asked.
“Yeah, everything’s perfect.”
We looked at the finished venue and smiled, satisfied. A short distance away, Zelos and Merlyn were working hard as well.
“All right, let’s make this a fun party,” I said.
“Yes, definitely!”
And so, we lit the bonfire in the center and prepared to make merry late into the night.