"Ugh... it's hot again this morning. It'd really help if the clouds tried a little harder."
Rei muttered while looking up at the sky.
Not a single cloud marred the blue expanse above, which seemed endlessly, relentlessly high.
The sun hung in that sky, asserting itself as if to say, "How about this?"
It was as if the sun were silently declaring itself the protagonist of this summer sky.
Of course, for Rei Wearing a Dragon Robe, which functioned as a Simplified air conditioner, his working conditions were vastly different from the others laboring away... no, the difference in their work environments was truly like heaven and hell.
"With an area this wide... there's no helping the heat, you know."
The one who responded to Rei's muttering was not the Dark Elf Marina, but the Elf Filma.
Last night, they had celebrated their long-awaited reunion at the Wheat Inn at dusk, partying and having a reasonably good time.
At first, Vihera had some reservations about Filma, but once she realized that Filma's feelings toward Rei were those of a friend rather than romantic interest, their relationship had improved considerably.
"Can't you do something with Spirit Magic? At this rate, some people are going to collapse from the heat."
"Impossible. Trying to manage this vast area with Spirit Magic is something my magic power alone could never keep up with. Marina-sama too... right?"
"Unfortunately, that's how it is."
Marina, who received a glance from Filma, replied with a smile, not sweating a single drop despite the heat.
What Marina was doing was easy for Filma to guess.
She was using Wind Spirit Magic to create a comfortable space at least around herself.
"Marina-sama... just for yourself..."
As Filma said this with displeasure, Rei tilted his head in puzzlement and spoke.
"If you're envious of Marina's situation, wouldn't it be fine for you to do the same thing, Filma?"
"Impossible."
To Rei's question, Filma immediately shook her head.
"There's a big difference in proficiency with Spirit Magic between me and Marina-sama. Besides, the amount of magic power we have... if I tried to do the same thing as Marina-sama, I think I'd run out of magic power for today's work."
At Filma's explanation, Rei nodded as if to say, "Is that how it is?" for the time being.
For Rei, who possessed tremendous magic power, running out was something he had almost never experienced.
Rei's trump card, the Flame Emperor's Crimson Armor, consumed a large amount of magic power, but even so, he had never been depleted to the point of exhaustion.
Perhaps understanding how Rei felt, Filma sighed and directed an envious gaze toward Rei and Marina.
"Talented people, I tell you..."
"Lord Rei, Lord Rei, Lord Rei!"
As if to cut off Filma's words, an old man approached Rei.
Who it was... if he recalled yesterday's events, Rei understood immediately.
And an unpleasant expression appeared on his face.
Having seen Rei's... or rather, Death Scythe's skill up close, the old man must have developed a strong interest in Rei.
Yesterday as well, he had approached Rei during breaks trying to talk about various things, and even after work was finished, he had tried to call out to him.
However, perhaps understanding that his persistence was not well-received by Rei, he had ultimately backed down quietly partway through the day... but with the date changed, perhaps those feelings had been reset, as he now approached Rei directly.
"Ah... even though there are already a lot of people done in by the heat this morning, you're certainly energetic."
"Saying 'you' so formally... please, call me Malz."
"No, formal or not, I only just met you yesterday. Why are you being so casual? ...Well, I don't mind calling you by name, I guess."
In response to the old man's—Malz's—words, Rei replied with a somewhat displeased expression.
"Oh, thank you very much. ...So then, I would like to ask that you let me accompany you today as Lord Rei's assistant. What do you say?"
As Malz asked with eyes shining brightly, Rei pondered what to do.
His manner of speaking was not the obviously elderly one from when they first met, but rather felt somewhat rejuvenated.
Whether his curiosity toward Rei had stimulated him and as a result made him feel younger, or whether this had originally been his natural way of speaking and he had adopted that dignified tone to project authority—Rei wasn't sure.
The circumstances behind that were unclear, but regardless, for Rei interacting with him, this manner of speaking was definitely easier to deal with.
What Malz was after in saying such things was obvious to Rei if he considered yesterday's incident.
The Terrain Manipulation skill that Rei had used while wielding Death Scythe must have struck a chord with Malz.
According to what Rei had heard from Marina after work yesterday, Malz was a practitioner of Earth Magic... and was somewhat well-known as a Researcher.
For such a Malz, the Terrain Manipulation skill Rei used was apparently shocking in various ways.
He had been repeating behavior that wouldn't be strange even if described as pestering Rei since yesterday.
But fortunately for Rei, and unfortunately for Malz, Malz had been properly assigned his own work area.
He couldn't possibly leave his assigned area on the first day, so he had approached Rei during breaks and after work finished, but...
"What about your assigned area?"
"Ah, that I finished up during the night yesterday."
"...During the night?"
At those words said so casually, Rei looked at Malz once again.
The fact that his robe was the same as yesterday was not particularly strange, but the fatigue visible on his body was probably not Rei's imagination.
"Did you... by any chance stay here since yesterday?"
"No, I did step away for various errands, but..."
"No, go get some proper rest."
At the response that was as expected—or perhaps beyond expectations—Rei muttered weakly.
The fact that Malz showed no signs of magic power depletion despite working all night was not explainable merely by the fact that he possessed high magic power compared to an ordinary person.
No matter how high one's magic power, if they had tremendous magic power like Rei it might be one thing, but for an ordinary mage to continue using magic all night and still be this energetic was slightly abnormal.
But that secret was immediately revealed.
"Hey, who the hell is throwing empty potion bottles around in a place like this! And... isn't this a potion for recovering magic power?! Why the hell are they using these when the construction work has just barely started!"
A craftsman's voice echoed through the surroundings.
And Rei, Marina, and Filma all fixed their gazes on Malz.
Because they had figured it out. Who had used those potions.
"Malz... you..."
"Ah, I saw Lord Rei arrive and just couldn't help myself."
At Malz, who showed not the slightest sign of remorse for some reason, Rei raised a question.
"What did you do with those potions?"
"What do you mean, 'what did I do'?"
"Weren't those prepared by Gilm for use in this construction?"
If so, he would be subject to all kinds of blame.
As Rei continued, Malz shook his head and denied it.
"No, no. Of course these are my own supply. I prepared them when I accepted this job."
"...Hey, I know it's a bit late to ask, but why is your way of speaking different from when we first met?"
"My way of speaking, you say? It must be because I wish to learn various things from Lord Rei, I suppose. To seek instruction while speaking in a haughty manner to the very person I'm learning from seems inappropriate, after all."
Hearing those words, Rei was slightly surprised.
Changing his manner of speaking to ask for instruction from someone younger than himself was one thing, but the fact that he had thought this through carefully and was actually acting on it was another.
Considering that this showed just how serious Malz was, combined with the matter of the magic power recovery potions, the option of refusing him here disappeared.
If he had been the kind of person to take a high-handed attitude, Rei could have just cut him off easily—not in a physical sense—but that wasn't the case.
"Ah... right. Your work is really finished already, right, Malz?"
"Yes. There is no mistake about that."
"...Got it. Then, I won't be teaching you anything in particular, but if you want to tag along, that's fine by me."
"Is that so! Thank you very much!"
After bowing deeply to Rei, Malz immediately departed, perhaps to prepare something.
"Is this okay?"
Marina asked Rei, but Rei nodded, indicating there was no problem.
"It's not like I'll be revealing any of my secrets. He's just watching, so there's no issue."
"Is that so?"
"Yeah. I don't plan to do anything from my side. ...If he figures something out from watching me, then that's fine too."
Filma, who had been listening to the conversation between Rei and Marina, looked at Rei with a somewhat surprised expression.
"Huh, you're quite tolerant, aren't you? I figured you'd come down on him much harder."
"...Well, if he had come at me more aggressively, I would have responded accordingly. But if he's going to take that kind of attitude, he's just watching, and I don't mind."
As Rei, Marina, and Filma were talking, Malz, having apparently finished his errands, came heading toward them.
"Thank you for waiting."
"No, it didn't take that much time, so don't worry about it. ...Alright, I'll take Malz with me. You two have your hands full today too, so good luck."
Being the two who excelled at Spirit Magic, while not to the same extent as Rei, they were expected to create solid foundations as groundwork for the wall.
No, rather, compared to Rei who had the limitation of one meter, Marina, who had no such restriction, could be said to be even more relied upon than Rei in some respects.
Of course, due to magic power constraints, she inevitably had a limit on the number of uses, unlike Rei.
"Yes, you too."
Exchanging brief words, Rei and Malz, Marina, and Filma each headed to their assigned areas.
"Well then, shall we go?"
As Malz said this to Rei, Rei nodded and headed toward the place where he had last used the Terrain Manipulation skill yesterday.
"Yo, you're here. I was waiting for you!"
The one who said this happily upon seeing Rei was the craftsman man who had been entrusted with this location.
But upon seeing Malz together with Rei, he floated a puzzled expression and spoke.
"Hey now. What's with the old man there? He was a mage, right?"
Malz was the oldest person among the Earth Magic users, and that was likely why the craftsman man remembered him.
"Ah, apparently he's finished his work for today, so he says he's going to tag along with me. ...He says his work is done, so there shouldn't be a problem, right?"
"Hmm... well, if his work is finished, then I can't really say anything about it."
If his work was finished, that was that. The craftsman man didn't say anything more.
If it turned out to be just talk and his work wasn't actually finished, Malz would likely face some sort of penalty later.
Still...
While watching the craftsman, Rei directed his gaze to Malz standing next to him.
He thought there was no way he'd do such a thing... but given that Malz harbored an extraordinary curiosity toward him and Death Scythe, it wouldn't be strange if he had.
"Anyway, I understand about that. In any case, sorry to rush you, but please get started. It looks like it's going to be hot again today, so I want to get as much done as possible while it's still cool this morning."
"Got it, let's start right away then. ...Just to confirm, I should lower the ground further where it's already been dug over there, right?"
While looking at the spot where the ground had apparently been dug out considerably by about fifty centimeters—likely done with magic during the night—Rei asked.
"Yeah. That would help us out a lot. Once that's done, our guys will take over and continue from there. ...Still, for such a powerful magic, not being able to move from that spot once you use it is a troublesome one, huh."
"Well, that's true."
While replying, Rei took Death Scythe out from his Misty Ring.
Seeing that, Malz directed a gaze full of expectation toward him... but while noticing it, Rei showed no particular concern, plunged the ferrule of Death Scythe into the ground, and activated the skill.
"Terrain Manipulation!"
Simultaneously with the words leaving Rei's mouth, the ground began to change into the shape Rei envisioned.