Making Himself At Home

Dawn had broken.

What was going on? My body felt unbearably hot…

As I lay in bed with my face flushed, Setia came to wake me and immediately grew worried.

“F-Fortress Lord, do you have a fever? W-W-What should I do!?”

“Don’t worry. I don’t think it’s a cold or anything like that. Nothing hurts. My body’s just incredibly hot. Here, feel.”

I took Setia’s hand to show her how hot I was, but she turned even redder than me and collapsed.

“S-Sorry! Setia, pull yourself together!”

“N-No, I’m the one who should apologize. I’m sorry I nearly ascended to heaven just from being touched. I’m sorry I’m so happy. I’m sorry…”

“Are you two idiots?”

Karan-san entered the room to find us both blushing and looked utterly exasperated.

“Fortress Lord, you may be experiencing a growth phase in your magical power. Symptoms like that sometimes occur when your mana capacity increases significantly.”

If that was the case, perhaps this heat was something I should welcome.

“That’s a relief. I was starting to worry I’d caught some disease unique to this world.”

With my worries put to rest, I wolfed down a hearty breakfast and got to work early.

The morning after the monster attack, everyone was extremely busy.

I was currently inspecting the lights alongside Gustav and Bumps.

Fortunately, none of the lights had been damaged in yesterday’s battle.

“Oh, they’re digging a hole with magic!”

Several mages were working together to create a large pit in the wasteland.

They were probably using Earth Magic.

“That’s where they’ll burn the monsters’ carcasses. If we leave them lying around, they’ll rot and spread disease.”

Gustav explained with a disgusted expression.

“Burning that many must be a lot of work.”

“We use both firewood and magic, sir.”

“Huh? What’s that wagon over there? They’re loading monsters onto it.”

“Ah, those are Horn Rabbits and Whittles. They’re both edible monsters.”

“People eat monsters!?”

That was news to me.

“You’ve probably eaten them yourself, my lord. We use their meat in sausages and such.”

I’d already eaten them without realizing it!

It was hard to tell what went into processed meat, so I’d never known I was eating monsters.

Well, it was a little late to worry about that now.

I hadn’t suffered any ill effects, and since eating monsters was perfectly normal in this world, I had no reason to complain.

As the saying went, when in Rome, do as the Romans do.

“Still, that’s an awful lot of meat. Can everyone really eat that much?”

“Of course, we eat some here at the fortress, but most of it gets salted and sold throughout the kingdom. You could say it’s one of Gaurea Fortress’s local specialties.”

“Oh, I’ve had some ridiculously salty meat before. Was that it?”

“Most likely, sir.”

For the people of Gaurea, where grasslands were scarce, monster meat must have been a valuable source of protein.

“Butchering all that meat must be exhausting…”

“We have to work quickly before the meat spoils, but water’s always scarce around here. Makes the job difficult every time.”

Gaurea wasn’t blessed with an abundant water supply.

The fortress relied on windmills to pump water up from underground.

Apparently, preserving meat with salt required enormous quantities of water, so the soldiers had to put off washing themselves.

I’d actually wanted to start building a bathhouse today, but it seemed more sensible to provide the soldiers with a proper water supply first.

I installed three faucets along the northern wall of the fortress so they could use them while working outside.

To my surprise, my level had increased again, and installing all three faucets now took less than thirty minutes.

Well, I’d chosen fairly simple faucets, so that probably made the job easier.

The soldiers working nearby were astonished by the sheer amount of water pouring out.

“Is that Water Magic?”

“I-I don’t know. But it just keeps flowing without running out!”

“Yeah, there’s no end to it…”

“A-As expected of someone from another world.”

Had I frightened them again?

“Please make good use of the water while you work.”

“Y-Yes, sir. We’re most grateful, Fortress Lord…”

Well, at least they thanked me. That was good enough.

I was back in my room enjoying a snack when General Elietta came to visit.

“Takeru-dono, I heard you installed some water pipes! I went to see them myself, and they’re incredible! You barely turn the faucet, and water just keeps pouring out!”

“I’m glad you’re pleased with them.”

“Thank you. You have my heartfelt gratitude. By the way, could you install those faucets in town as well? Water is scarce throughout Gaurea, so I’m sure the townspeople would be delighted.”

“That shouldn’t be a problem. How about we visit each district and settlement and install one at a time?”

“That would be a tremendous help!”

“Please, have a seat, General. Aine, could you bring General Elietta some tea? Oh, and there was a no-bake cheesecake in the cabinet. Please cut her a slice of that too.”

“Cake? Really? I have quite a weakness for sweets…”

That was unexpected.

General Elietta was such a fierce, battle-hardened warrior that I’d assumed she’d prefer alcohol to sweets.

She was a perfect example of why you shouldn’t judge people by their appearances.

After taking a bite of the no-bake cheesecake, General Elietta trembled and tilted her head toward the heavens.

“It tastes like heaven…”

She certainly seemed impressed.

“I’ve never eaten a cake this delicious! Did that maid make it? Or was it you, Takeru-dono?”

“Rather than saying someone made it, it’d be more accurate to say it was already there.”

“…I’m afraid I don’t understand.”

It would probably be quicker to show her the cabinet.

“Would you like to come to my bedroom? I’ll show you the secret behind the cheesecake.”

“Oh? Now that sounds interesting.”

We all headed into the bedroom together.

When General Elietta opened the cabinet and refrigerator, her mood improved considerably.

“A box that produces sweets and drinks? There’s no treasure like this anywhere in the world! Isn’t this even more valuable than the legendary ancient magical artifacts?”

Now that she mentioned it, she might have been right.

The truly amazing thing was that creating these objects consumed mana, but afterward, they cost absolutely nothing to operate.

Of course, their average service life was only about seven years.

Just like ordinary household appliances, they would eventually break down.

The security cameras and lights were the same, so regular maintenance was necessary.

“By the way, Takeru-dono, what’s that door over there? I’m certain it wasn’t here the last time I visited…”

“I built a toilet. Would you like to see it?”

“Y-Yes, I suppose…”

Upon seeing the toilet, General Elietta reacted much the same way Aine and Karan-san had.

“Um, Takeru-dono…”

“Yes?”

“Would it be all right if I visited again tomorrow? Preferably early in the morning, then at ten, noon, three for afternoon tea, and again before bedtime…”

You’re practically planning to move in.

“S-Sure, I don’t mind.”

“Then I’ll come back tonight. And when I do, I’d like to try some of that chocolate you’ve got over there.”

From that day onward, General Elietta began visiting my room whenever she had a spare moment.