Conflicts Of Interest Often Begin From Trivial Matters (3)

Nearly fifteen days had passed since the notification was completed. In the meantime, I had worried so much that the only thing I had done recently was produce an excessive amount of supplies for the fortress and the marksmen.

Everything was going smoothly.

“I’d like to touch up the fortress this time, and I’m thinking of creating firing ports for the safety of the marksmen. What does everyone think?”

First, I kindly explained what firing ports were to the people who asked after hearing my words, and once they understood, the vassals commented that it was a good alternative.

“I believe creating firing ports in various places, including the watchtowers, will definitely be a great help in maintaining the defensive line. However, there is one unsettling factor.”

Those were Richard’s words, and when I asked what it was, he opened his mouth.

“It is that there is no preparation at all against magic. There are two Great Mages in the Empire. Those two possess such incredible abilities that the term ‘strategic weapons’ suits them. I believe we must prepare for this.”

“Hmm, since I don’t know the level of a Great Mage… I don’t have a sense of what to prepare or how. Can you explain?”

At my words, I saw Richard create ice in his hand with a short chant. Then, pointing at it, he spoke.

“They are monsters who can easily create ice 100 times the size of this, just as I created this now.”

“….100 times?”

The piece Richard created was already the size of a child’s head. To be able to make something like that 100 times larger?

I wondered if the fortress walls could hold up. So, while looking for a comparison, I first asked Wijel.

“Wijel, between a Master and a Great Mage, who is more dangerous?”

“Both are dangerous, but if given time to prepare, a Great Mage is far more dangerous. The term ‘One Who Prepares’ didn’t come about for no reason.”

“Hmm… how much of a threat is it?”

“Should I say it feels like two Masters charging at once?”

I didn’t know. Since I knew almost nothing about the martial aspect, I couldn’t calculate an average, but Hare, who had been listening, spoke up.

“I can roughly imitate the level of a Great Mage; would you like to see?”

Because it was an unexpected remark, everyone inside looked at Hare, and she spoke.

“It’s not perfect, but it’s enough to satisfy the Lord’s curiosity.”

At those words, I said let’s go check it out immediately and stood up to go outside, and everyone began to follow Hare and me.

Then, after finding a suitable empty lot, I used Construction to build a tower with the same strength as the fortress walls when they were built, and pointing at it, I spoke.

“If that tower collapses, it seems I’ll have to reinforce the fortress walls to prepare for a Great Mage, so could you give it your all?”

“Understood. Then, could everyone please step back 50 meters?”

I was puzzled by the sudden request, but Wijel pulled me along and spoke.

“We shouldn’t ignore the influence of magic, so let’s step back for now.”

“Is the aftermath that strong?”

“You will see once you watch.”

Then, I stepped back about 50 meters with Wijel and watched Hare, and I felt her moving her mana while drawing a magic circle.

Thanks to the talent Blessing of Mana, I began to feel the flow of mana very vividly, but it seemed I couldn’t imitate it.

‘Looking at this, it’s not that I don’t have talent for magic… I wonder if I can learn magic?’

I briefly had such a thought, but I soon shook my head and cleared it.

I already don’t have much free time, and to split my time even further?

It would be no different from just working until I died without any rest, so I declared a quick forfeit. And after a moment, I could feel the magic circle was complete.

I felt the sensation of powerful mana swirling quietly. Just then, as Hare raised her hand, a massive chunk of ice began to form above her head.

No, it wasn’t the 100 times level Richard had mentioned.

It looked even larger than that, and as I watched, I confirmed Richard also looking at Hare while tensed up, and I could feel one thing.

That Hare might be a being close to the Great Mage class…

‘Well, I can just ask later…’

Just as I thought that, her raised hand dropped forward quickly, and the chunk of ice that was in the air flew toward the tower.

Then, it struck the center of the tower accurately, and with a tremendous roar, ice fragments sprayed in all directions, and I saw them gouging the ground piece by piece.

‘It’s incredible…’

The ice fragments were the size of torsos; they were definitely sharp, and there were many of them.

But everyone looked straight ahead as if they were surprised. Unlike me, who examined the fragments, they were looking at one spot, and wondering why, I turned my head to see that the tower was perfectly fine.

“How… can it be fine?”

It looked like some scratches had formed, but no cracks were visible, and there were no traces of the tower collapsing or being pushed back.

So, I approached Hare and asked her, confirming she also had a surprised expression.

“How was it?”

“What on earth did you do?”

“….Why are you asking me that?”

“No, clearly with such powerful force…”

To be honest, it could be said that the amount of mana I used when raising the tower was greater than the amount of mana Hare used.

I wondered if it was related to this, so when I mentioned it, a surprised Hare asked me.

“Can you tell the amount of mana other people use?”

“Well… I’ve become quite familiar with mana now… But is that something to be surprised about? Most people who use mana can do that, can’t they?”

“They can’t. Not like that….”

Hare had an expression of feeling a sense of self-defeat, and when I turned my head to look at Richard, he had the same expression as Hare.

I thought I had made a comment that made them feel discouraged.

“I didn’t say that to discourage you. I thought everyone could generally feel it. Since Ms. Demina, Wijel, and several others noticed when I used mana.”

“That’s because… they are skilled individuals equivalent to Masters, so they can feel it. No, setting that aside, it wouldn’t be a sense to the point of being able to notice even the amount of mana used!”

So I looked at Wijel, and he was nodding his head as if agreeing with Hare’s words.

“…Well, since the result turned out well.. Ahahahaha, haha… Now, shall we go to work?”

At my words, the two magic users eventually dropped their heads.

In any case, what I could tell was that if the walls I built functioned properly, they would sufficiently hold up against several spells from a Great Mage.

This could be called a sufficiently outstanding advantage. Furthermore, as Hare had advised while moving, she said it would become even more excellent if an ‘Anti-Magic Barrier’ was installed, so I planned to take Hare with me for a while to patrol the fortress walls.

“Why does it have to be me?”

“That’s because the person who made the suggestion is you, Ms. Hare.”

Hare was disgusted, but she eventually followed me, making it a trip together after a long time; upon arriving at the fortress on the first day, I could see a village scene that had developed enough to make me exclaim in admiration while looking around.

“Does the sight of people and beastkin living together not look quite plausible?”

At my words, Hare also nodded her head with a light smile, as if it was good to see.

“It feels a bit awkward now, but I believe as time passes, it will definitely become a better sight than it is now. Moreover, I plan to make sure the tragic love in stories never happens. I’m looking forward to the future.”

“I think we could have lived among humans sufficiently if it weren’t for the Month of the Demon God. Actually, I read in Lord Dragon’s library that we lived among the human world before the Demon God’s curse existed.”

“Does Lord Dragon have a library too?”

“Yes, he keeps a collection of millions of books. He seems to remember all the contents himself, but he said that knowing and collecting are two different things.”

It was another moment where I felt the greatness of a dragon. To remember millions of volumes…

If it were me, I wondered if my brain would break just because of those memories. After that, while looking around the village, I could examine the expressions of the people, and generally, their expressions were not bad.

Moreover, because they were free citizens who had migrated as families, most of them gave off a stable feeling, and while examining the various convenience facilities that should be in a village and the busy merchants coming and going, I could see that the district itself was being operated quite actively.

“It doesn’t seem like anything is particularly needed, but it doesn’t feel like food is circulating in abundance, does it?”

“Still, seeing as seafood is being delivered from Rad Harbor to here, it doesn’t feel like there’s a shortage, does it?”

“Well, for now, that’s true. But as the population increases, waste problems are occurring again.”

The thing that caught my eye and displeased me then was the waste. I could newly recognize that I had to purchase a large number of incinerators, and I was able to head to the fortress while checking the sight of beastkin and humans working on land reclamation.

“The overall standard of living itself is not insufficient, but perhaps because it is a new village, it is not smooth.”

“I think time will solve it.”

“…Indeed, there is no need to be impatient… but it’s because I’m anxious since I don’t know when war will break out.”

“Lord, you have too many worries. Why are you so anxious after preparing to the point where it could be considered excessive?”

There was something I learned in the military. That war is not a game that goes according to plan, and just how terrifying war is, and so on; honestly, these were things I learned while just skimming through, but thinking that war is actually right in front of me after coming to this world, the things I had skimmed through were recalled and I became afraid.

This is because if my judgment is practically a wrong one, truly many people will end up dying.

I didn’t mind the ‘enemy’ dying, but honestly, it was uncomfortable for the people of the domain to die.

“It’s because I want to be someone who always prepares. It might be because I have many worries… but I don’t want to lose those smiles.”

The smiles of the children I saw in the village; that alone was a point where I could tell how much better Ingrad had become to live in.

In the past, the Ingrad Domain was a place where even outstanding mercenary groups hesitated to enter because of monsters, but now the monsters were wiped out, and even the ones that remained had been reduced to practice targets for the marksmen.

I could meet Hare’s warm gaze as she looked at me, and at her expression of wearing a soft smile, I inwardly scratched my head and just smiled back awkwardly.

‘I have to do well… so I can see these smiles always.’

The burden weighed down on my shoulders, but I thought enduring it was also my share.

Afterward, while looking around the fortress, I created locations that needed reinforcement and emergency escape routes in case of an emergency, and I was able to spend a day at the fortress.