Things are strange, and nobody seems to care.

Patch glanced over his shoulder as he stirred the dinner pot. Elianora and Olive were chatting lightly with each other and laughing. It was good that the eldest sister had recovered to this stage. When she had first come home, she was weighed down by guilt and grief. It could only be so, since her precious teammate had died while she lived on.

After Elianora returned from the forest, she had lost her motivation to become a two-star Mage. Even though a level three Spell was just around the corner… They hadn't done any quests as a party since then, either. Patch could feel the team drifting apart.

He thought Elianora's story didn't make sense, honestly. He, Rudan, Nostel, and Elly had worked as a team for three years. How would they not know how each team member conducted themselves? Rudan running off alone into the forest, after allowing Elianora to come and help him, sounded ridiculous.

He tried to talk to Nostel about it, but that guy was in a bad mood for whatever reason. The potions market had also soared out of nowhere, leaving Patch busy with commissions.

So, things were just left like that with the strangeness unanswered for. At this point, the wounds were closing, and it would be unnatural for him to bring it up again. But maybe he could approach it from a different angle.

“Say, Elianora, I’m sorry I wasn't around more these past few days. The demand for potions in this area suddenly went up, so I was busy.”

Elianora stopped her conversation with Olive and gave the half Elf a generous smile.

“I understand. It isn't your fault, Patch. I know you were with me the whole time in spirit.”

“Yeah, but, I was thinking that I really can't leave it like this.”

“Leave it like what?” the Mage’s eyes became round.

“I have to thank that Orc chief for saving your life. They like to eat in a big group outside, right? Kind of like they're having a big cookout? Maybe I should mix up some alcohol as a gift.”

Elianora’s eyes teared up and she nodded her head lightly. “Yeah, that sounds like a good idea.”

Olive, on the other hand, puffed up her cheeks. “Sis, are you going there without me again? You keep breaking our promise!”

“I'm sorry, Olive.” Elianora reached out and rubbed her little sister’s white gold head. “Since both Patch and I will be gone, would you mind staying at the temple for a few days?”

“Maybe I'll stop praying for you if you keep leaving me behind.”

“Now, now, don't say that.” The two sisters went back and forth.

Patch felt a pang of guilt looking at the young priestess, but he steeled his heart against it. This was something he had to do.

***

“Impossible!”

Seeing an empty clearing in front of her, Runa unintentionally let her feelings show. A man dressed entirely in black and brown tones seemed to shimmer into existence next to her. Only his eyes could be seen, as the rest of his body was hidden. Those eyes were glaring down at the Black-haired girl.

“There’s no mistake about the location?”

The Ranger girl automatically crouched into a posture where she could flee at a moment’s notice.

“This is certainly the place.”

The man looked out over the clearing. His cool eyes raked across the barren earth.

“It’s unnatural that there wouldn't be any grass grown in a clearing. The village you say was here may have been intentionally removed.”

Runa relaxed a bit, since it didn't seem like she would be punished.

“Come to think of it, that person could use earth magic, and all the houses were made of dirt.”

“Still, returning with no evidence at all is unacceptable.”

The man tapped his ring finger to his thigh, and another person appeared at his side. This one was dressed in grey and green, and was hiding his face just like the others.

“Well?” The black and brown man asked.

“There are no tracks indicating a mass exodus. However, there is a stretch on the far side with no Orc or Human footprints at all.”

“Covering their tracks?”

“Possibly.”

“And the clearing itself?”

Another person appeared in front of the leader. This one also had grey and green clothes and a covered face.

“Probing suggests there may be a large air pocket underground.”

“That place had a basement before,” Runa contributed. “Maybe she didn't have enough Magic Power to fill it in.”

“Do you know where the entrance was?”

“Yes. I went down there once before. It’s just a large empty space, but it’s not something that could form naturally.”

The leader nodded, and all four of them shimmered and disappeared from view.

***

As expected, the most space efficient way to house big Monsters like Fomors is to keep them underground. I wonder if it's strange, though, that I'm so quick to default to digging holes. I still haven't found time to return to the old village site to fill in the underground. It’s not like I'm in a hurry, though. There’s no harm in leaving it for a few more days. It’s more important that everyone has a place to sleep first.

Now, I'll have to be careful digging underground around here. There’s a huge river just twelve feet beneath the surface, after all. I don't want to cause a flood. If the sediment got disturbed too much, all the houses I went to much trouble to make would collapse.

Oh! I think I've come up with a good idea.

Using , I combined the effects of and to lower a large rectangular section of soil by about six feet. Then, with , I turned it into a stable foundation.

Goblins are easy to house because they're small and have a habit of sleeping all together. On the other hand, from the looks of their villages, Fomors have a habit of sleeping apart. With that as a consideration, I created a series of square huts fourteen feet tall. Thanks to the lower foundation, they actually look shorter than two-story Orc houses, though they're almost the same height.

The Fomor houses have wider walls, so it doesn't feel too cramped. They also have door and window shutters just like the Orc houses.

There doesn't need to be space reserved for a kitchen or a bathroom. So far, all the Monster races I’ve met eat communally and relieve themselves in the woods. So, the houses only need to serve as living and sleeping space. It makes things much easier on me, but we will need something like communal bathrooms at some point. I’m almost desensitized to going behind trees and bushes now, and that in itself is a problem.

I only made enough Fomor houses for the slaves we already have. I made some stairs so it’s easier to climb down to the lower platform.

Since the idea in my head is fresh right now, I create a large tablet to draw it out on. Using the tablet borders as to represent the city walls, so that ten fets on the tablet is equivalent to one mile in reality, I start to sketch out a proper plan for the city.

The main gate should be the one we entered from: the West Gate. If Humans or Orcs visit the city, they will surely come from there. If we were to meet Beast People, they would most likely come in from the South Gate. Elves would enter from the East Gate. To the North is the Black Mountain, so the North Gate is least likely to receive heavy traffic.

Things like commerce areas, industrial sites, farms, and slave housing, should be kept closer to the wall. Moving inward, next would be regular housing, state institutions, upper level housing, and military facilities. At the center would be the political institution’s core: my castle.

The castle should be large, with strong walls to protect it. If the city ever falls under siege and the outer wall fails, the citizens must be harbored inside.

The messy things will be kept closer to the North wall. Industrial sites and slave housing should go there. It’s likely to become a slum-like red light district due to the lack of foot traffic, but the slaves can act as spies on my behalf. If anyone tries to pull something funny, I'll know about it. Naturally, it’s convenient for the slaves to also work in the industrial sites.

The East Gate will probably have the second lowest traffic rate. We’ll put the farms there. Obviously, what we have now will not be enough forever. I'll also have to keep the Goblin communal housing nearby for convenience, as well as several buildings for food storage.

I want restaurants, inns, and shops spread throughout the South and West. There will also need to be guard posts placed regularly along the wall.

As for state institutions, we will need a library, a school, a research facility, a hospital, a colosseum, and space for things like Guilds. The military facilities will require training facilities, soldier housing, weapon storerooms, a mess hall, and somewhere to keep captured training Beasts.

The citizens will stay in the temporary housing I've built for now, working in the temporary fields. As the various fields and residences are completed, they will be moved, and this area will be razed to construct a commerce district. I expect the full construction to take some time, so I wanted reasonably comfortable housing. I may have put too much effort into it though.

The city is quite large, though, at one square mile. I'll have to ask a favor from Fiara and Adelai before it can become properly functional.

Currently, more than any other external resource, we will need domestic beasts. Having two hundred Orcs in one spot is already a strain on the environment. A typical Orc village has only one hundred occupants. Before all the meat from the Fomors is eaten, a new food source must be procured.

What would be best is if we could raise monsters as food. If it’s something that can quickly grow to full size, like Orcs, by supplying Magic Power, it can be quickly harvested. The Magic Power put in can be perfectly retrieved afterwards from the magic core, and it would increase the availability of magic cores overall.

As expected, I'm hesitant to treat races I've already taken under my wing this way, but I do have one in mind. They've been on my mental chopping block for a while.

I think it would be fine to consider livestock of that nature as something belonging in the North District. I'll make a place to keep them in in the morning, then I’ll send some boys to go grab them. For tonight, I'll use the rest of my Magic Power to make some sturdy cages.