Ch.30Regular Report

The day after the shocking experience of ‘that day.’

‘….Sigh.’

Waking up from what felt like an incredibly long sleep in my personal tent, I suddenly noticed it was dawn, with the sun slowly rising.

The red light of sunrise penetrating through the tent’s fabric. Immediately grasping the situation, I put on some suitable outdoor clothes and stepped outside the tent….

‘….This much already?’

Before my eyes lay the settlement’s landscape, which I hadn’t properly noticed yesterday due to being so overwhelmed.

Just the third morning today. Until yesterday, the only structure in this settlement was a temporary supply warehouse, and naturally, it’s impossible to erect proper buildings in just a few days.

Therefore, the interior of the settlement was still bustling with activity—leveling the ground, paving roads, and so on.

Rather than building houses right away, they were establishing the foundation and determining where to place pillars to set up the framework of the settlement.

But this scenery… was enough to give a quiet resonance to my heart, which might be immersed in the dawn’s sentimentality.

As the sun slowly rose, illuminating the settlement, people exposed to the light penetrating through the tents began to wake up one by one, gathering at the communal kitchen.

Judging by the sacks of grain flour being moved and large pots being filled with water, it seems they’re preparing breakfast early.

And as I watched these people enthusiastically preparing to live their lives….

Suddenly, the problems I was worrying about began to seem meaningless.

Of course, my concerns and theirs would differ in direction, and which problems are more serious or better would be difficult to determine as it depends on perspective.

But when you see people living intensely and diligently to extend their days longer, don’t you feel like you’re just a fool grumbling alone?

Thinking that perhaps my worries were those of someone with a full stomach, I was gazing at the rising sun when….

“Prrrr.”

“Gus? Why are you out here?”

Startled by the sudden appearance of the warhorse beside me—Gus, who should have been in his temporary stable—I asked in confusion.

“….Prrrrrr.”

“Don’t play dumb. How did you get out?”

Seeing that Gus seemed to know he’d done wrong, avoiding my reproachful gaze and changing the subject, I was about to scratch his muscular body with the brush attached to his saddle when….

“….Ah.”

Seeing that one side of Gus’s enclosure had been smashed, I decided to use my bare hands instead of the brush.

“Prrrr, prrrrrr─!!”

“What, you rascal. Didn’t I tell you it would be annoying to fix if you broke it? You should have known better than to break it?!”

Since he seemed to be thinking of nothing but mischief, I massaged (painfully) his back muscles with my hands, and only then did I realize my mind had been freed from the spell of my dreams.

Of course, there were still many thoughts and things I wanted to say, but for now, I decided to focus on the tasks at hand with renewed energy.

“Let’s go, Gus.”

“Prrrrrr….!”

After all, as the lord of this small pioneering village—though it’s almost too small to call a domain—I must fulfill my responsibilities.

※ ※ ※

After steadying my mind, which had been briefly shaken by the shocking experience, with the help of the dawn’s sentimentality.

“Has everyone had breakfast properly?”

“””Yes, we have!”””

Around the time everyone had finished breakfast.

As part of the scheduled third-day interim check, I gathered the key personnel of the village in front of my tent to assess the current situation and review workforce allocation as needed.

The leader of the construction team, a veteran builder. The most influential representative among the veteran farmers. The blacksmith, the implicit leader of the “Artisan Team (tentative name).” Felix Jäger, the representative of the village hunters.

Along with Priestess Joanna of Debona, Administrator Charlotte Meister, and myself—’Lord Camille de Alzar’—the leader of this pioneering village.

With these seven individuals who lead this settlement gathered in one place, I tried to calm my slightly nervous heart as I began the meeting.

“Today marks the third day since our settlement was established. Could you report on what has happened so far, in order?”

“Yes, I’ll start first.”

The first to report was, naturally, the veteran builder from the construction field, which currently has the highest priority.

“First… the foundation work for a village large enough for us to stay in has been completed.”

“The foundation work is already finished?”

At first, I was surprised, drawing on my limited modern construction knowledge, but thinking about it a little more… this is the medieval period after all.

The foundation work is being done this way because I requested sturdy houses that would last as long as possible, but in this era, a small rural house could typically be built in a day.

Of course, the builder, unaware of this internal dialogue in my head, like the veteran he is who has worked with many clients, skipped any unnecessary explanation and went straight to the point.

“Yes, Lord Alzar. What remains is to erect the pillars and build up the structures. At the current rate… the residential facilities and warehouses should be completed within two weeks.”

“Two weeks… then we’ll have some surplus workforce.”

“Yes. About 30 people should be enough to finish the construction work now.”

The builder calmly concluded his explanation of the settlement’s construction status, and following him, the representative of the artisans, the blacksmith, spoke up.

“Lord Alzar. We are currently looking for locations for the blacksmith’s forge, the sewing house… or the woodworking shop.”

“Very good. Have you already consulted with the construction team?”

“Yes. We are designing the layout according to your instructions, dividing the areas as you specified.”

“Good, you’re doing very well.”

While the highest priority was given to house construction—since rain would complicate matters—the second priority would probably be those artisans’ workshops.

Essential items for pioneering village life: ironware, woodwork, textiles, tanned furs, and proper animal pens.

Even though domestic handicrafts have a strong influence in this era, one cannot deny that times are gradually changing, and an age of specialization is approaching.

Next was Felix Jäger, the head of the hunter family currently responsible for maintaining security and supplying food (meat) to this settlement.

“Hunter Felix Jäger. Are there any hostile entities in the vicinity?”

“No, sir. With you having hunted the ogre warrior, who was the top predator in this area, there’s little chance of any creature threatening the entire village appearing for the time being.”

“Good. What about the wildlife in the surrounding area?”

“Ah, it’s quite standard. In that small forest where the ogre lived, there are no predators except for wild boars and wolves, and in the northeastern forest, no dangerous magical beasts have been spotted on the outskirts.”

Jäger further explained that the only potential threats to the settlement right now would be wild dogs or goblins.

In other words, creatures with combat abilities so modest that a farmer could beat them, but cunning enough to enter at any time since there’s no palisade surrounding the village yet.

And after these three briefly explained the current situation, finally, the representative of the eight veteran farmer families—or more precisely, the head of a farming family—also stepped forward and began speaking.

“For now… the condition of the surrounding soil is very good. We could start farming as soon as the land is cleared, and with the river not far away, we’ll be relatively less affected by drought.”

“Is that so? Then… your family should switch from construction to agriculture starting today. Would that be possible?”

Since the builder had already mentioned that there wouldn’t be a shortage of manpower, I proposed starting farming, even if simple. In response, the head of the farming family brought up an unexpected point.

“It’s possible, Lord Alzar. However, given the current season… there aren’t many crops we can plant.”

“…Ah, that’s right. If I remember correctly… it’s a bit late to sow wheat now.”

It’s late spring, almost early summer now. I don’t know how it compares to Earth’s wheat from my previous life, but it’s actually too late to sow spring wheat, the mainstream variety in this world.

Even if we somehow planted wheat now, it would all freeze to death before the ears could ripen when the winter cold arrives, making it impossible to plant wheat despite having the optimal environment for wheat farming….

“Then, plant cabbages and turnips. And if possible, beans and rye too.”

“…Would that work?”

If that’s the case, we can simply plant other crops, can’t we?