First Things First, Let's Start With A Toilet

While I was trying to decide where to put the toilet, Karan-san arrived.

“Good morning, my lord. May I ask what you’re doing crawling around on the floor?”

Karan-san stared at me without the slightest change in her expression.

She didn’t even seem surprised to find the fortress lord down on all fours.

Nothing ever seemed to faze this woman.

“Good morning. Actually, I was thinking of using my Construction Company abilities to build a private toilet for myself. Oh, is it all right if I just go ahead and build one? Do I need permission or something?”

“That will not be a problem. You are the one who grants such permission, my lord.”

Come to think of it, I was the highest authority at Gaurea Fortress.

I still hadn’t quite come to terms with that.

“By the way, shouldn’t I be doing some work as the fortress lord? Surely I can’t just spend all my time playing around.”

“I am relieved to see that you are so diligent, my lord. However, I would suggest taking at least today to rest. You must be exhausted after such a long journey.”

I was feeling perfectly fine thanks to the healing magic, but I appreciated her consideration.

It looked like I could devote the entire day to building my toilet.

“Oh, that reminds me. I received a report from a maid named Aine Rurudora. Apparently, you appointed her as your personal maid.”

“Yeah, that’s right. Could you take care of the necessary paperwork?”

“Certainly, but…”

“What’s wrong?”

“Have you slept with that maid?”

“W-What!? Where did that come from?”

While I panicked, Karan-san continued questioning me with complete composure.

“If she is your mistress, her treatment will be different. Clarifying the precise nature of your relationship will allow the necessary arrangements to proceed more smoothly.”

“There’s nothing like that going on! She was just a kind, pleasant person, so I thought it would be nice to have her as my personal maid.”

“I see. In that case, there is no problem.”

Apparently, being a fortress lord was more complicated than I’d imagined.

I really needed to start taking my position more seriously.

After explaining my schedule for the day, Karan-san departed.

As soon as breakfast was over, I got straight to work on my toilet.

I decided to put it in the bedroom.

That way, I wouldn’t have to worry about needing to use the bathroom in the middle of the night.

For starters, I would construct walls to separate the toilet area from the rest of the room.

It would be incredibly dangerous if they turned out like the concrete block wall that had toppled over so easily.

I’d need to make sure the walls were firmly connected to the ceiling, floor, and existing stone walls.

Pouring my magical energy into the construction, I began working on the walls with complete concentration.

It took until nightfall, but I somehow managed to finish building the walls.

My magical energy was completely depleted, and I didn’t feel like doing anything else.

Utterly exhausted, I collapsed onto the floor and sprawled out with my arms and legs spread wide.

Ugh, my head was spinning.

“Excuse me. I’ve brought your pajamas.”

The person who entered was Aine.

“My lord!”

When Aine saw me lying on the floor, she rushed over.

“What’s happened? Don’t tell me you’ve fallen ill!”

“No, nothing like that. I’m just exhausted because I used up all my magical energy.”

“Oh, dear… Here, please make yourself comfortable.”

“Wait, what!?”

Aine immediately sat down sideways on the floor, lifted my upper body into her arms, and rested my head on her lap.

Something large and soft pressed against the side of my head, making my dizziness even worse.

“Let’s stay like this for a while. If you’ve simply exhausted your magical energy, you’ll recover eventually.”

Would I, though?

For some reason, my heart was pounding even harder than before…

“Heehee. Don’t worry. I’m right here with you.”

Aine smiled, her cheeks flushed.

And was it just me, or was her breathing getting a little heavier…?

I had a feeling Aine actually enjoyed seeing me in a miserable state.

“Hey, Aine… You’re not secretly happy that I’m such a useless fortress lord, are you?”

“O-Of course not… I simply want to support you when you’re completely worn out, my lord! It’s not as though I love hopeless men or want to make you so dependent on me that you can’t live without me! I don’t have any interests like that!”

Yeah, I felt like I was beginning to understand Aine a little better.

The next morning, I woke up feeling completely refreshed.

My magical energy, which had been utterly depleted, had also fully recovered.

Actually, I even felt like I had more magical energy than yesterday.

Was it some kind of rebound effect from using so much of it?

Perhaps magical energy was like muscle, and the more you used it, the greater your capacity became.

Maybe my Construction Company abilities had improved as well.

Just as I was preparing to work hard on my toilet again, Karan-san arrived carrying a stack of documents.

“Good morning, my lord. I would like you to review these documents today.”

The documents concerned the purchase of equipment and food supplies for the fortress.

Apparently, they required my approval.

After reading through everything, I decided to be honest with her.

“I don’t know how much money is worth in this world, so I can’t really tell whether these prices are reasonable.”

Upon hearing that, Karan-san nodded with satisfaction.

“That is perfectly acceptable for now. I have also reviewed the documents, and there appear to be no irregularities or attempts at deception. You may sign them without concern.”

Karan-san carefully walked me through the figures, explaining how the prices compared with prevailing market rates.

Apparently, there was no sign of any wrongdoing.

I picked up a pen and signed my approval.

Oh, right. We’d gained the ability to use this world’s language and writing when we were summoned.

It was rather mysterious, but our proficiency in this world’s language seemed to correspond to our understanding of Japanese. In other words, the students who had been good at Japanese language studies back home were also more proficient in the language here.

Japanese had been my strongest subject among the five main school subjects, so I hadn’t encountered any problems with reading or speaking so far.

“That concludes your duties for today.”

“Huh? That’s all?”

Barely an hour had passed.

“The fortress lord’s duties are not particularly numerous. If you wish, you may also inspect the soldiers’ training. Would you care to do so?”

“No, that won’t be necessary.”

After all, I didn’t know the first thing about military affairs.

I’d much rather get back to building my toilet.

It had already been two days since my last bowel movement, and my stomach was feeling terribly bloated.

I’d even considered going somewhere outdoors, but I didn’t feel comfortable leaving the fortress alone.

And asking someone to accompany me just because I needed to poop would be rather awkward…

“In that case, please enjoy your leisure time until lunch.”

As soon as Karan-san left, I resumed work on my toilet.

Since I’d completed the walls yesterday, I planned to work on the plumbing today, including the water supply and drainage pipes.

The strange thing about this plumbing was that it possessed certain functions even I, the person creating it, couldn’t fully understand.

Frankly, I had no idea where the water came from or where the wastewater went.

Apparently, the pipes connected to another world, but I had no idea where that world was.

Well, there didn’t seem to be any particular problems, so perhaps I didn’t need to worry about it…?

First, I embedded a water supply transfer portal beneath the floor and connected a pipe to it.

With that, I could draw as much water as I wanted.

Next, I embedded a wastewater transfer portal and connected the drainage pipe to it.

That completed the preparations for the plumbing.

I intended to use these pipes for a bathroom with a bathtub eventually, too.

“My lord, lunch is ready. Please come to the dining hall.”

Aine had come to fetch me.

“I’ll be right there. I’m getting pretty hungry anyway.”

“How is your work progressing?”

“Pretty well. I’ve already finished the most difficult part.”

“You certainly seem energetic for someone who’s been working so hard. Last night, you looked positively haggard.”

“Well, after a good night’s sleep, it feels like my magical energy has increased. I think I’ve gotten a little better at using my Job’s magic, too.”

“That is wonderful news. Although, I must admit, I feel a little lonely.”

Aine smiled with her eyes lowered.

“U-Um… There’s still plenty of work left to do, so I might end up completely exhausted again tonight…”

“Really!? Then I shall have to take especially good care of you! Would you prefer another lap pillow tonight? Or perhaps a massage?”

Aine clasped her hands together in front of her chest, looking absolutely delighted.

Hmm… She was a sweet girl, but she certainly had some peculiar tastes!

I spent the rest of that day constructing my toilet, stopping only when my magical energy was completely exhausted again.

Incidentally, Aine gave me a thorough massage that evening.

An ordinary massage, of course!

She’d told me, “I’ll give you an oil massage, so please take off your clothes,” but I’d refused.

That would’ve been far too embarrassing.

I was fairly certain Karan-san had already seen my most private parts, but having Aine see them too would be a little much.

As she gently massaged my back, the sensation was so pleasant that I drifted off to sleep and didn’t wake up until morning.

When Karan encountered Aine in the servants’ waiting room, she addressed her with her usual businesslike manner.

“Where is the fortress lord?”

“He has retired for the night. He must have been exhausted, because he fell asleep almost immediately after I gave him a massage.”

“Exhausted? Ah, yes. He mentioned something about building a toilet in his bedroom.”

“Have you seen it?”

“Yes. There appears to be a new wall, along with several pipes. An ordinary earth mage could probably create something like that almost instantly. I wonder if there is any particular significance to it?”

“I couldn’t say, but apparently, my lord expended a tremendous amount of magical energy creating it. He was so utterly exhausted that he could barely remain standing…”

Aine’s face lit up with a blissful smile, but Karan deliberately ignored it.

She was not the sort of person who enjoyed engaging in unnecessary conversation.

Instead, she returned to her desk and continued writing her report.

Karan McWell’s Report

The subject has been observed amusing himself with earth magic. Perhaps he is attempting to prove that his existence has some value? His magic remains crude, but as he has not caused any inconvenience to those around him, I have decided to continue observing his activities for the time being.