Ah, What Should I Do?! (3)

It was not long after I left the lord’s residence.

“My lord? What brings you out at this hour?”

It was a bird-type beastkin among the domain’s people. As expected, birds seemed to rise early.

“Good to see you, Jorban.”

“I heard humans sleep a lot, but you don’t seem that way, my lord.”

“Well, you could say that. I had work to do. But what are you doing?”

“Preparing breakfast. I have many children, you see.”

I recalled the chicks I was introduced to when Jorban became one of the domain’s people—small, chick-like children, and many of them.

“Preparing meals for seventeen must be exhausting.”

“They don’t eat much. Still, I hope they eat well and grow healthy.”

Jorban had told me that bird beastkin lost many children during the Demon God’s month. Being avian, they were weak to disease and frail in combat compared to other beastkin, making them a tribe that suffered heavy losses. Yet this time, he seemed to have hope.

If they could control mana, their immense fertility might make bird beastkin the main population of the domain.

Moreover, bird beastkin had the peculiar custom of using a common syllable in their names—‘ban’—as the final part.

“Take care, Jorban.”

“Whatever you’re up to, take care yourself, my lord!”

It was a light encounter. Frankly, meeting beastkin who treated me without stiffness was refreshing. Maids or Vincent were always too formal, weighed down by my title as viscount.

But beastkin felt like friendly neighbors. Carrying that pleasant feeling, I headed to my destination: I was to quickly build a number of houses in secret from the imperial entourage, then return to the manor.

The place was a bit removed from the manor, deeper into the forest. It was a residential site for beastkin who had refused to live too near the manor. Seeing the dogfolk digging crude burrows for shelter made clear how poor their quality of life was.

Then, some dogfolk sensed that I had intruded into their territory and came out of their burrows to confront me.

“What business do you have, human lord?”

Though they looked tense, I spoke casually.

“I came to build houses for you.”

“At this hour…?”

“I have my reasons. For a time, I’ll work at dawn. If that’s a problem, please say so. Is it?”

“N-no, but you must tell us whose house you will build first.”

“As for that, you can decide among yourselves. I don’t have much time. Whoever will live there can come to the manor and register as residents later. For now, I’ll start construction.”

“…P-please, then.”

It was strange. I didn’t know why they were so nervous. I thought I’d ask Debik about it later, then began shaping a house with Construction.

But I realized I hadn’t asked what type of houses they wanted. So I turned to the dogfolk.

“Sorry, but what type of house would suit you best?”

“…Any type?”

I nodded. As long as I could picture it, Construction could raise walls.

One of them snapped a branch and scratched a drawing into the ground.

It was a domed house they desired.

There was to be a single entrance, with the floor slightly dug into the earth.

“Is this possible?”

“Why do you want this shape?”

“Before coming here, we lived in round-dug caves. It was comfortable, and we’re used to such structures.”

I understood. Caves didn’t allow cutting vertical walls easily, so they had dug domes.

Though I saw no mountains nearby, I hadn’t gone deep into the forest. For now, I imagined a domed house of the type they wanted.

“What size would be good?”

“Hmm… big enough for ten to lie down.”

Ten… maybe around twenty pyeong of floor space.

“I’ll build one first, and you can judge the size.”

The dogfolk nodded, and I began imagining the structure. Too tall a ceiling would make insulation poor, so I thought a yurt-style dome best.

I included openings for windows and then used Construction. The building rose silently in an instant. Startled, the dogfolk yelped and drew back.

They seemed greatly shaken.

But I had no time to calm them.

“Please go inside and check if it suits you.”

“What power is this?!”

Those with Construction skills did appear sometimes, but never among beastkin. It was natural they were shocked. But I didn’t have time for idle questions.

“I’ll explain later. For now, check the house and tell me your thoughts.”

“V-very well. Forgive me.”

He went inside, exclaiming in awe, then came out and surprised me with his words.

“It’s good, but too big.”

“What? Why?”

“We prefer underground spaces. We don’t need such size above ground. Still, if you build large, we’ll be grateful.”

“Then I should build smaller houses a bit apart, correct?”

“Yes, if you build them slightly smaller, we can manage ourselves.”

“I suppose I won’t finish the floors?”

“We’ll handle that.”

I thought this was a stroke of luck.

Smaller buildings meant I could build over twenty with my stock of mana potions.

Since they were satisfied, I said:

“I’ll build about twenty. Agree on locations among yourselves, and don’t forget to register as residents. All right?”

“W-what?!”

Leaving the surprised dogfolk, I raised more buildings at intervals, then returned to the manor exhausted—only to find maids rushing about busily, which puzzled me.

“What’s going on?”

At my voice, one maid turned, but before she could speak, a man came running at great speed.

It was Muriel. He grabbed my arm and said:

“You must come at once.”

“…Suddenl—uwaaah!!”

I truly felt the world was spinning. Muriel, madman that he was, dragged me at full sprint. Strangely, he seemed to protect me with mana so my arm wasn’t torn from its socket.

It was only the dizzying speed that made it painful.

We arrived at the guest chamber where the princess stayed. Muriel released me and explained.

“Her Highness seems to have been bitten by a venomous insect.”

“A venomous insect…?”

Muriel nodded and showed me a spider wrapped in cloth. The moment I saw it, recipes flooded my mind, revealing how to make an antidote.

And the description: ‘extremely potent.’ I couldn’t help but be shocked. Muriel added:

“It’s a venomous spider common in Ingrad. It’s not the lord’s fault, but if anything happens to the princess, responsibility will fall on you, me, and everyone charged with her safety. Please, purge the poison.”

His tone was less stiff than usual, but his face was desperate. I recalled the merchants saying the noble faction had intruded forcefully into this affair.

If so, this could be spun as an ‘assassination attempt,’ putting the noble faction in jeopardy.

Though I bore some blame for lax facility management, now was not the time.

“Let’s go.”

I ran to the workshop, picked antidotal herbs from the Forest of the Demon Dragon, and began extracting juice.

I prepared both a topical antidote and an oral one. Just then, a maid ran in, saying the princess was convulsing and vomiting all she had eaten. I hurried to make another antidote.

“Viscount Muriel, please take this to the guards first.”

“What is it?”

“An oral antidote. She may vomit it up, but it’s worth trying.”

Muriel nodded. I handed him another.

“This one is topical. Apply it to the bite after bleeding the wound to expel venom. It also heals, so recovery should be fine.”

There was risk of infection, but survival mattered more.

Muriel was about to leave with the medicines, but then asked:

“Viscount Ingrad, aren’t you coming?”

“I’ll prepare one more and follow.”

“…Understood. Please be quick.”

Worry etched deep on his face, Muriel left, and I set to work on another medicine.

‘Hopefully this won’t be needed…’

The last one was the most potent. The venom attacked the colon, paralyzing organs, blocking water absorption, and desiccating the intestines.

‘Chances of detoxifying… about forty percent. Deadly poison indeed. I hope we won’t need this, but I must make it.’

It required direct administration to the colon. In short, a suppository. I dreaded using it on a grown woman, but with such venom, there was no avoiding it. Sighing, I took up antidotal herbs and began preparing the medicine.