21st Century Archmage

Chapter 92: Thank You, Elves

Translator: Lei

Proofreader: Imagine getting sick from milk tea

“Kyre-nim! Kyre-nim!!”

As soon as I returned to the covert, Aramis came running over, calling my name.

‘I was sorry for nothing,’ I mused. I spent the night out, but the angel I worried about came flying over with a huge smile.

“Did something happen?”

Jumping down from Bebeto, I looked at Aramis’ flushed face.

“They woke up! Hohoho, the little ones woke up last night!!”

“The little ones?”

“The wyvern babies! Babies hatched from the eggs you entrusted to the temple.”

‘I completely forgot.’

I received five wyvern eggs from the pirates. Because they were supposed to be incubated with daily servings of holy water, I had left all of them to Aramis.

“Come quick and see. The way they’re chirping like they’re looking for their daddy is so cute.”

Aramis was enjoying the fascination of birth. She grabbed my hand and dragged me to the temporary temple.

‘I’m thankful for the little guys.’

If not for the wyvern eggs hatching, Aramis would have definitely waited for me like Hachiko.

‘Five wyverns, huh… What should I use them for?’

Wyverns needed to grow for at least a few years before they could go into battle. Their monetary value had skyrocketed just with their successful birth, but I didn’t want to sell them off.

Kuguuuu.

Piiiiiiguuuu.

‘!! Wha, what are those fried chickens?!’

I entered the temple while contemplating various ways to take care of them and saw five creatures the size of roosters.

“Hohoho, they’re so cute.”

I got goosebumps when the fried chickens charged after spotting Aramis, but Aramis reacted with a bright smile.

“Children, Daddy is here!”

Flap flap.

Kugiiiiiiiiiiii!

Kigaaaaaaaa!

As if comprehending Aramis’ words, the strange-looking KFC wyvern babies scrambled over and started biting my cloak with their teeth.

‘Oi!! Why am I the daddy of these birdbrains?!’

The Kang family pedigree was about to be overrun with bird blood (not even dogs!).

“If I am the daddy, then Aramis-nim is…”

“Me? Naturally, I’m the mommy. Why, do you not want to be the daddy?” she asked, taking up the mommy mantle like it was natural.

“Not at all! Absolutely not, never. I would never dislike it. Haha, looking closer, this little one’s mettle resembles me.”

Unlike the others, one of the chicken babies was flapping and vigorously trying to fly. I gave the baby a slight pat.

Crunch!

“OW!”

Just then, burning pain radiated from my hand. I had taken off my gauntlet when entering the temple as a sign of courtesy, and the damned chick was biting my incredibly vulnerable middle finger.

‘You fuckin’ birdbrain, I’ll—!!!’

If not for Aramis, I would have thrown the damned thing into a pot to cook.

“Oh my, it truly does have mettle. It already knows how to play with Daddy.”

My finger was throbbing, but Aramis was busier praising the courage of the babies rather than paying any heed to my pain.

“Haha, Aramis-nim.”

“Yes?”

“This, too, seems to be the heavenly intent of the Goddess of Mercy, Neran.”

Aramis blinked her doe eyes at my out-of-the-blue words.

“These creatures were born in the embrace of God. I will donate them to the temple so they can be used by future paladins.”

“R-Really?”

“Of course.”

“Thank you! Thank you! Kyre-nim!!”

Aramis bubbled with mirth and then very naturally jumped into my embrace.

‘Wow, I didn’t know she would be this grateful.’

I felt like a blessed man receiving love from his wife after staying out overnight. I put my arms carefully around Aramis.

PIGAAAAAA!

KUUGUUUUU!

As for the squealing chicken babies causing a ruckus next to us? I didn’t hear them at all.

I only felt endless delight from the warmth of the big fish in my arms.

* * *

“Please come in, Jamir-nim.”

“Haha, I offer my felicitations, Count Kyre de Nerman.”

“What, for something so minor. Ahem ahem.”

Jamir, Executive of the Rubis Merchants, bowed deeply as he congratulated me. He had personally led the merchant group to Nerman.

“Please sit.”

“I was surprised. How can so much change every time I come to Nerman… I’ve been to my fair share of places in the world, but I’ve never seen such a dynamic shift before.”

‘Hey, we’re barely getting started. Don’t get too surprised already.’

“Did you encounter any difficulties on the way?”

“That is…”

Jamir trailed off, unable to answer my direct question.

Rubis might be one of the continental Big Five merchant groups, but they held the lowest position and didn’t have that much power. I was sure that the pressure on them had increased. The Bajran and Laviter Empires hadn’t yet shown concrete hostility, but the Rubis had probably garnered unwelcome attention from the other major merchant groups, the magic towers, and now the Temple of the Goddess of Mercy.

On top of that, the Havis Kingdom was most definitely prickly to them as well. Seeing as how the usually-confident Jamir was holding back his words, it was clear to me that the war had already begun.

“How is the atmosphere on the continent?”

“It is severe.”

‘Eh? It’s really severe?’

The steadily increasing tension could kind of be felt even from here, but from Jamir’s hard expression, it seemed the situation was worse than I thought.

“Is it because of me and Nerman?”

“No. Your actions can be likened to throwing a stone into an enormous lake.”

Information Guildmaster Smearns had been chased out of the territory like a dog. Because of his absence, we were unable to acquire specific information about the mood on the continent, so I was craning my ears to listen to the information Jamir was passing over.

“Then…”

“The continent will soon be enveloped in the flames of war. Because there hasn’t been much warring in the last few decades, empires and kingdoms alike have secured enormous forces. In addition, the number of nobles is at a saturation point, and belligerent sovereigns are appearing everywhere. Rubis has determined that continental war will erupt in 1 year at the earliest and 3 years at the latest.”

‘Haah, 1 year, you say…’

The difference between knowing something vaguely vs. concretely was palpable.

“In preparation for war, most of the merchant groups have begun to stockpile war goods. Of course, our merchant group is also transforming into a war merchant group.”

“What kind of items exactly do you deal with if you become a war merchant group?”

“Goods related to war, of course. The big ones are prohibited items used for wyverns like armor and Blessed Spears, and then war horses, armor, and weaponry, as well as military supplies like provisions, and finally, slave trade.”

Jamir gave me a broad overview.

‘Many people will lose their homes.’

This continent’s setting was similar to the Middle Ages on Earth. War between nations meant the participation of lords, and the participation of lords meant the conscription of territory residents. If they suffered defeat, the people would become slaves and sold during the forceful claiming of land by the victors.

“On my way here, I noticed that Nerman has certainly achieved a bumper crop this year. If the winter grain is this good, one can expect a great harvest of spring grain and barley. With that, you will not have to import any more food.”

As expected of a quick-witted merchant, it didn’t take long for Jamir to calculate the yield.

“If war erupts, in the beginning, it will seem like force is the determining factor, but as the war drags out, in many cases, victory and defeat will be decided by supplies like provisions rather than direct war goods like weapons. Moreover, even after the war ends, until the devastated farmland is restored and productive again, the price of food will skyrocket for several years. I know you are aware and doing your best, but if I were to give you a word of advice, it would be to not take any chances with food procurement.”

“Thank you for your concern.”

“It is nothing. Thanks to Your Lordship, the fame of the Rubis Merchants is ringing brightly across the continent these days.”

They had probably reaped a pretty profit from the dwarven goods and various transit trades.

‘We’ll only know for sure after the harvest begins in full force, but just from the harvest this year alone, we’ll have more than enough reserves to be self-sufficient until next year.’

According to the various reports I had received in the last few days, the yield from the crops that were planted after being disinfected with holy water was double the usual amount. That was the result from the crops growing rapidly on originally fertile land without being affected by blight or pests.

“I have something to ask.”

“Please go ahead.” said Jamir, wearing the trademark humble smile of a merchant. He looked me in the eye with his light purple eyes.

“Do you have any interest in selling salt?”

“Salt? Of course, we have an exceedingly high interest in it. We are already selling the dwarven goods to the nobles, but we are unable to sell salt only because we do not have it. The decisive reason why our merchant group has been unable to challenge the bigger groups is because we do not have major connections with salt and provisions,” said Jamir, expressing his delight. “But why do you mention salt, sir? Could it be…?”

Jamir trailed off, searching my eyes.

“I am currently thinking about producing salt in the territory.”

“What? Salt? But Nerman doesn’t have a salt mine…”

“We have the ocean, do we not?”

“Yes, of course, but salt production does not hinge on the presence of the ocean. In order to make thermal salt, one needs mountains where you can acquire a stable source of firewood, but from what I know, Nerman does not yet have such conditions. Also, making salt with magic incurs too many expenses, so it is not unprofitable.”

As expected of a top dog of a merchant group, he was well informed.

“Let us talk again in more concrete terms next spring.”

“I understand. I will just trust you, Your Lordship.”

‘Just know you’re scoring a jackpot this time, too.’

“Also, Your Lordship…”

“What, do you have something to say?”

“I heard there are many madir in the sea here as well… Could something be done if you have the time?”

‘I guess it’s already time to catch tuna.’

They had to be caught here and delivered to nobles everywhere on the continent, which would take nearly a month. The month of the Goddess of Abundance and Festivities, Sapphire, was this upcoming month.

“I understand. How many do I need to catch?”

“Of course, the more, the better. I have prepared plenty of magic refrigerators.”

Jamir had prepared in advance, knowing I would accept his request. I grinned back at his bright smile. The tuna would go to waste if they weren’t caught, anyway, so I was merely grateful that he would buy them from me at a pretty penny.

‘It’s been a while—shall we throw a tuna party?’

The days were trudging along as I waited for news from the elves. It had already been a week since I returned from the Elven Village.

* * *

‘Alrighty, let the tide come in.’

I was about to employ the tuna-catching method that only I knew. Thanks to Aramis praying towards the sea every day for the past few days, no sea monsters showed up. As a result, the fishermen who acted fast made small fishing boats and were enthusiastically catching fish.

‘Nice, I see the tuna over there!’

Around 2 kilometers away from the harbor, hundreds of tuna were energetically moving along, flopping in and out of the water.

“Bebeto, let’s go!”

GUOOOOOOOO!

Flap flap flap flap flap flap.

Kyuuuuuuuuuu!

As Bebeto descended to the school of tuna with his wings outstretched, the five Gold Wyverns behind us followed suit. Having received proper mental education from the beastmen, the Golds were perfectly under control now.

“Chain Lightning!”

I cast the 5th Circle spell towards the front of the swarm.

Ziiiiing!

My mana and will combined to draw out the mana in the air and form the spell. Blue sparks flew in the air for a moment before a globe of lightning flew towards the sea.

Booooooom!

Bzzzzzzztttttttttttttt!

“Chain Lightning!”

“Lightning Cross!”

“Lightning Field!” 

“Lightning Blade!”

“Lightning…”

5th Circle lightning spells were cast consecutively after mine.

Craaaash! Booooooom!

ZIIIIIIIINNNNNNNNNNNG!

The calm sea rippled with a blue sparkle made of lightning sparks in moments.

BZZZZZZZZZTTTTTTTTTT!

‘Hooh! Impressive!’

The volley of 5th Circle spells covered an area around 200 meters in diameter with glowing lightning. From above, it was an impressive sight to behold.

After a short while, an enormous quantity of fish floated to the surface belly-up.

‘Jackpot!!’

In this sea, because of the sea monsters and demons, there was an overwhelming amount of fish. Their greatest predator, humans, were absent, and because the sea was unpolluted, it was half water, half fish. And just as I planned, the thousands, no, hundreds of thousands of fish that floated to the surface were pushed towards the shore due to the rising tide.

‘Today, I’ll play the part of the lord properly for once.’

Thousands of people were gathered at the shore. I had informed the people living in Denfors to come pick up free fish, and the number of residents was steadily increasing.

‘More of them are coming over!’

Unaware of what was happening, another school of tuna came flopping our way.

Guooooo! 

I grasped Bebeto’s reins and soared upwards.

I wanted to give all the people living on our territory a present: the madir that could only be eaten by nobles.

I was always an awesome lord, after all!

“Eat lots, children. It’s a present from Daddy.”

Kugiiiii.

Kagaaaaaaa.

The wyvern babies had grown from rooster size to dog size in the blink of an eye. They flapped wings about 1 meter wide as they played on the covert runway, eating a hefty tuna that I had caught.

“Derval, did you take care of all the things I ordered you to do?”

“Yes, my liege. We even converted the merchant group carriages and sent them all to the concrete production facilities.”

“It will be harvest season soon. Besides the soldiers stationed in the major forts, give the soldiers a temporary break in the places that are lacking manpower.”

“Understood.”

Thanks to the dravits, we had cultivated a considerable amount of land, upon which winter grain was steadily ripening. However, we lacked manpower. Because most young men in Nerman made a living as soldiers or mercenaries, the sudden increase in yield was difficult to handle.

‘The road has to be repaired to some extent before we can begin fort construction.’

The beginning and end of everything was the road. A sturdy cement road had to be completed in order to increase the transit speed of cargo, the cargo that would complete this territory. If large-scale war erupted next year like Jamir predicted, Nerman would not be exempt from danger. Rather, it wouldn’t be strange for the Havis bastards to come attacking right away.

“Did you acquire all the goods necessary for getting through the winter?”

“They are stockpiled in more than adequate quantities. The weapons made by the dwarves are also being swiftly distributed, so the morale of the soldiers is excellent.”

In other places, you had to reach knight level to dream of getting a dwarven weapon. They were made of regular steel, but a dwarven-made sword or spear did not break easily. Because of that, it was only expected that the morale of the soldiers would skyrocket.

‘I hope the magic crystals arrive soon…’

Chrisia had probably arrived at the Kesmire Kingdom by now. If I could, I would have liked to ride Bebeto and haul back the magic crystals myself—they were necessary for the large buildings scattered here and there in the territory. We were running low on the low-grade magic crystals used in Blessed Spears, too.

“I’ll be at the production facility, so if something happens, contact me immediately.”

“Have a good trip, my liege.”

Because he had exceptional administration skills that my other knights lacked, Derval was always busy. He must have lost weight due to his busy routine, because his face was gaunt.

‘He might even kick the bucket at this rate.’

I was sorry, but it couldn’t be helped. Janice and the other high-level knights were terribly busy with daily territory patrols and formation training. At least the Temir were quiet these days.

“Children, Daddy is going to work. Give your farewells, hohoho.”

Thanks to the wyvern babies, Aramis had a constant smile of joy these days.

Kugeeeehh!

Kagaaa!

As if understanding her, the wyvern babies squawked at me as I prepared to jump onto Bebeto.

“I’ll be back.”

“Yes.”

When I met eyes with Aramis in a farewell, her eyes crinkled with mirth at me. She was like an energizer who could boost your strength just by looking at her.

I jumped onto the waiting Bebeto.

‘We have to get started, even without the help of the elves.’

Turning my head, I saw the beastmen who were waiting atop wyverns on my command. As long as they were given a place to sleep, food to eat, and magic formulas to study, the beastmen had zero complaints.

“Let’s go!”

Guooooooooo!

Bebeto stretched his wings wide and thundered forward. As he did so, I didn’t have any extravagant emotions like disappointment.

Today as well, I was simply running onwards with my eyes looking forward.

* * *

Cla-clang! Cla-clang!

‘As expected, human strength is mighty.’

At the limestone mine where cement was produced, slaves were diligently working their pickaxes in tight clusters, mining the limestone. They weren’t working underground, so it wasn’t very hard work. I had also commanded the soldiers standing guard to not work them too hard.

‘A ton has been gathered.’

I took a bunch of decent engineers and had them produce cement, so there was plenty of it piled up in the wooden warehouses standing around the facility.

‘It’ll harden if it isn’t used.’

Packaging techniques weren’t developed like in the 21st century, so the produced cement would soon harden if it was left too long in the warehouses.

‘Let’s start here.’

Not just slaves, but reserve soldiers were also prepared, totaling 3,000 men. There were also hundreds of carriages bearing shells and sand.

‘There’s an abundance of shells and sand around the river.’

Even as Bebeto steadily landed, the gears in my head were turning swiftly.

“Saaaalute!”

The cement production facility had very nearly been turned into a fort. Once Bebeto landed, the thousands of soldiers standing in wait cried out a salute towards me in tandem.

“Welcome, my liege!”

The ten or so knights in charge of the production facility gave their own military honors.

“Is everything ready?”

“We have taken care of everything as Sir Derval relayed. The slaves and soldiers have been organized into groups of 100.”

“Then let us begin at once. Pour the sand, shells, and cement at the determined positions. At the same time, take the slaves and make a path from here to there!”

“As you command!”

‘It would be easy if the elves would lend a hand.’ Be it time or manpower, everything was lacking if we wanted to achieve this feat with human strength. ‘Ah well, we just have to put our shoulders to the wheel.’

“Hasifor.”

“Speak, master.”

‘Geh!’

I really couldn’t get used to the sneaking ability of the beastmen—he had been standing behind me without a sound.

“When the soldiers make the path, use the spell Rock Wall on both sides, around 50 cm high…”

CLANG! CLANG! CLANG!

“E-ENEMIES HAVE APPEARED!”

“Everyone, prepare for battle! Unknown wyverns have appeared!”

I was explaining the plan to the beastmen who were listening with blinking eyes when soldiers from the production facility’s watchtower yelled out at the top of their voices.

‘What?! Are the Havis bastards attacking already?!’

The production facility was located halfway between Denfors and the Havis Kingdom’s borders. It was definitely possible for them to attack us unawares.

“They aren’t wyverns.”

“They’re harpies.”

‘Harpies!!’

With their incredible eyesight, the beastmen looked into the distance and alerted me of harpies.

‘HARPIES!’

After focusing my eyes with mana towards the western sky, I also saw some familiar creatures.

“It’s elves.”

“Our friends.”

It was the elves. To my surprise, the elves that hadn’t appeared on the continent until now were flying towards us on over 20 harpies.

“M-My liege, what should we do?” The knights looked at me, flustered.

“Guests have come.”

“G-Guests?”

“Everyone, prepare.”

“As you command!”

The knights tensed and accepted my calm command.

‘Narmias…’

Leading the giant eagle-lookalike harpies that had quickly neared the cement facility was a certain elf.

That elf was the warrior Narmias.

* * *

Flap, flap, flap flap flap.

The harpies with elves on their backs slowly landed on the facility’s clearing. They were either highly trained or the elves had a strong connection with the harpies, but the elves landed in perfect, orderly rows.

The limestone powder on the ground flew up, and after all the harpies touched down, a short moment of silence enveloped the facility.

The soldiers were staring at the harpies they had never seen before with shocked gazes, and the beastmen were also tense, even though they had called the elves their friends.

‘They’re super cool, huh?’

With magnificent longbows made of mithril and some unknown metal on their backs, Narmias and the elves made an awesome picture, like a cinematic game intro.

“My friends whose steps are filled with green life, I welcome you.”

I gave a greeting to the elves wearing thin, full-body mithril armor and mask-like helmets.

Swoosh. Whumpf.

The elves jumped down from their harpies and fell into ranks in front of me like one fluid entity.

‘What a relief.’

From the mood, I could clearly tell they were not here as enemies.

The elves removed their helmets.

“!!”

“E-Elves!!!”

“My goodness, elves have appeared!”

The soldiers who had stopped working to gawk exclaimed with shock.

“May green serenity be with thee…” The elves greeted me.

‘They’re tense.’

Most of the humans had forgotten the events that happened over a thousand years ago, but for the elves, the war had happened during the time of their grandparents, so they were hesitant towards the human world. So it was no wonder that they would be full of tension now, with humans looking at them with great interest.

‘But they’re also happy.’

It wasn’t just tension—I could also see traces of the joy that only someone who had left the well and experienced the endless sky could show. Tension and excitement was seeping from the elves into their surroundings.

“The elders have given their permission. We wanted to observe the world, so we are the first to come,” explained Narmias. She might be clumsy at expressing her emotions, but her eyes were full of joy.

‘I won’t forget this favor for as long as I live.’

This lovable elf was devoting her life to me, for me. I decided to express my emotions by giving her lips a big smooch tonight.

“Thank you very much. The difficult but precious decision you made today will forge a new history for humans and elves.”

I bowed my head to show my sincere gratitude.

Among the mostly young elves, the elf who looked the oldest stepped forward. “No, brother. We should thank you for guiding us to the outside world.”

“Friends, it has been a while.”

“Oh, beastmen!”

“Good to see you.”

“May green serenity be full within. The elders looked so hard for you, but we are meeting here in the end.”

“Our master is a good person. You can trust him.”

Without even giving the elves who recognized their energy time for surprise, the beastmen gave simple but sure praise about me. They ate a lot, but they were just as handy to have around.

“Kyre-nim, how may we be of assistance?”

The smart Narmias had read the mood and could see we were in the middle of something.

“Are all the brothers and sisters here all summoners?”

“Yes. Everyone can summon intermediate and high spirits.”

“!! H-High Summoners!”

“Mm…”

The knights listening to the conversation looked stunned.

‘Huhu. Jackpot!’

The appearance of the elves was like giving me a forklift, bulldozer, and concrete mixer truck all at once. Their numbers could have been a bit higher, but this was more than enough.

“Please call earth spirits to dig from here to there, around this deep and this wide. Also, please put up walls around this high on the sides, sturdy enough that they will last like stones for several days.”

The elves nodded after I showed the depth and width with my hands.

“That’s easy.”

‘These beautiful bastards.’

My heart was fit to bursting with joy at Narmias’ words. It might be easy for the elves, but it really wasn’t easy for us.

“Then, I leave it to you.”

Two elves came forward.

“My friend, come forth.”

“My dear friend, I have something to request.”

The two elves closed their eyes and summoned spirits.

Ruuuuumble.

‘It’s the high earth spirit, Terran!’

High spirits even I was unable to contract with, Terrans, were forming before my eyes.

“Wooaah!”

The knights drew back in alarm at the dirt that suddenly gathered into two humanoid dirt piles 4 meters tall.

‘Ohh! Amazing!’

They were made of dirt, but the powerful mana they emitted was awe-inspiring.

“My friend, please pack down the ground to this depth until over there.”

“Oh friend I respect, make walls around the packed down earth.”

Ruuuuuuumble.

I thought I understood why elves had such a high affinity with spirits.They treated the spirits so sincerely like friends, so how could the spirits not like them?

“H-How can that be?!”

The Terrans burrowed smoothly into the ground, and the earth was suddenly stamped down, flattening it with a depth and width that were exact down to the last centimeter.

At the same time, another Terran formed earth walls on both sides.

‘Hnng…’

An indescribable emotion welled up within me. The spirits finished something impossible to finish in one day with the beastmen in just a few minutes.

“Stone Field!”

After the ground was perfectly leveled, centimeter exact, and thick walls were raised on both sides, the elves used magic to harden the ground. Several hundred meters of the road just like the one I had imagined were completed in mere moments.

“Is there anything else we can do?” asked the friendly Miss Narmias, her refreshing smile almost bringing me to tears.

“What are you all doing! Quickly pour in the cement powder, shells, and sand! Fill the entire pit!”

“As you command!”

The knights who had been dazed out of their senses because of the sudden appearance of the elves hastened to obey.

“Move! Quickly, pour the cement powder and sand into the pit, with plenty of shells!”

A wire mesh would be icing on the cake, but right now, we had to make do with what we had.

Ruuumble.

It was difficult to use horses here, so soldiers and slaves were joining hands to drag a heavy carriage.

“Hasifor, put a weight reduction spell on the carriage.”

“Got it, master.”

I didn’t need to say much.

“Lighten!”

“Lighten!”

The beastmen immediately ran forward and applied weight reduction magic on the carriage. It was one of the 2nd Circle status spells, so the spell was cast without a hitch.

“Please make it so that the contents of the carriage can be poured from the side of the dirt walls.”

“Understood.”

Ruuuuuumble.

As soon as I gave the command, sturdy dirt lifted the area around the carriage, and then cement, shells, and sand were poured into the mold formed by the dirt walls. After hundreds of carriages were moved at once, the pit several hundreds of meters long was filled in no time.

“Summoners of water, please come forward and fill the pit with water and mix it.”

“Yes!”

The elves moved in perfect order at my command. They were probably ordered by Elder Parciano to obey me well.

“Ciquelle, my friend, I earnestly call upon thee.”

Shaaaaaaa!

At the summons of a beautiful female water summoner with blue hair, the high water spirit Ciquelle appeared with a flash in the air. Twice as big as a regular wolf, Ciquelle’s body was adorned with sharp fins, creating a very dashing sight.

“Please pour water over the materials in there and mix them all.”

Shaaaaaaaaaaaaaa.

Ciquelle jumped right into the cement materials. The dry materials quickly became wet before mixing together before my eyes.

And then, while I was dazedly standing there, drunk on happiness, our very first road was completed. A perfect path of wet concrete wide enough for two lanes was stretching forward.

‘Oh, Gods above!’

I almost cried tears of joy. If the elves hadn’t shown up, even I would have had to jump in and labor away, but a beautiful path several hundred meters long was made in less than an hour. Of course, it still needed time to cure, but now I could proceed without worries. At this rate, as long as we had enough materials, we could probably lay down several kilometers of cement in a single day.

‘Huhuhu, you want to observe the world, you say? Just believe in me. I’ll show you that life isn’t so easy.’

After completing the work, the elves were standing around calmly like pretty mannequins. As if they heard my inner thoughts, they all suddenly trembled as if catching a chill.

“My dear Narmias.”

“Yes?”

“Please take care of it over there as well.”

“Yes!”

Narmias shouted a happy “yes” to my approach and quiet whisper.

I did have somewhat wicked thoughts, but whatever! My only crime was making full use of the abilities the gods had granted the elves.