Eastend—New City Ket Gwy.
Three months had passed since the incident with the Wind Cats. When the Wind Cats villagers asked for a name for their settlement, I borrowed the name of Felice's pet, the cat spirit Ket. For "Gwy," I borrowed the name of the feline guardian deity passed down in this East Region.
"Mm, yes. It's really starting to look like a proper village."
Neatly aligned buildings in an architectural style rare in this world stood beside paved stone walkways. All in all, I felt it had turned out rather well.
Since I had a mountain of architecture books obtained in the labyrinth, I drew up blueprints together with those from the Subjugation Compendium who specialized in construction and civil engineering. Guided by my construction-savvy companions, Alice and the rest of the Lost Forest carried out the development based on those designs.
And the result was this settlement. Well, the reason it remained small in scale was that there were currently very few permanent residents living here, meaning there was no need to build anything larger.
Even if the people of the Three Great Underground Powers had become citizens of the territory ruled by Rose, that didn't mean all of them could remain in this land. They had numerous subordinate organizations, and it was easy to imagine the utter chaos that would ensue if all of them suddenly vanished. Therefore, to prevent even temporary disruption, we decided to entrust the maintenance of order across the entire underworld to the Tao Family, whose control over the black market was necessary for selling potions. With the Tao Family boasting the largest numbers among the Three Great Powers, this village currently housed just under a thousand people. In short, it was slightly large for a village, but small for a city. It was nothing more than such a settlement.
Even so, we utilized knowledge gained from the labyrinth during development, setting up a waterwheel to draw water from a nearby lowland river and installing heating systems using chimneys and stoves.
I had plenty of other concepts for new technology, but currently, we lacked the manpower to build anything satisfactory. That happened to be our biggest issue for the time being.
"Hmm-hmm-hmmm♫"
Even now, humming a tune under her breath, the little girl Alice in her green robe and pointed hat was working in the town square. Perched proudly atop a wooden crate beside her sat a kitten.
Ah, come to think of it, Girimehkala recently consulted me about the village's defense system. Apparently, using a stone statue placed at the entrance as a core, it would trigger a vicious curse on anyone who entered without permission. The world was full of powerful beings, so I had approved the proposal itself immediately.
The problem was that Girimehkala insisted on sculpting the statue in my likeness.
Seriously, spare me from that. That was why I decided to offer up Ket—Felice's pet and the namesake of "Ket Gwy"—as the sacrificial substitute.
And so, having dumped the modeling duties entirely onto Ket, here we were. Right now, they were hard at work on that very modeling.
"Ah, Great One!"
Noticing me, Ket leaped onto my chest and nuzzled against my cheek. For some reason, this kitten had grown extraordinarily attached to me, demanding this sort of fluffy skinship every time we crossed paths.
"Mm. Ket, your fur is as wonderful as ever."
I gently stroked the kitten's head.
"Heheheh."
Smiling wryly as Ket narrowed its eyes in utter bliss, I turned to Alice.
"Good work, Alice. That's water magic, right?"
Compared to her sleepy appearance, Alice was unexpectedly dexterous, carving stone statues by shooting high-velocity jets of water.
"Yup! Water magic is super handy! If you make it as thin as a thread and shoot it at high speeds, you can carve wood, stone, and even metal! Not only that—"
With sparkling eyes, Alice began rambling at a dizzying pace. I raised my right palm to stop her.
"Understood. If you need a new grimoire, just let me know."
"I don't need one yet! Not until I've thoroughly squeezed every last drop out of this magic, and then—"
Heh-heh-heh. Alice let out a sinister chuckle entirely unfitting for a little girl, sinking deep into her delusions.
Isn't this girl hurtling further and further down a strange path? Well, it wasn't causing any real harm, so I suppose it didn't matter.
"R-Right. Well, I'm counting on you two."
"Yup! Ket will do its best!"
Ket raised a tiny paw.
"Leave it to me!"
Alice raised her right hand as well and resumed her work.
I made my way into the exceptionally large, magnificent four-story building located at the center of town. This was the lord's manor, serving as the administrative office of the land.
I had taken part in designing the building myself. My priority was purely functionality; I didn't possess grand aesthetic sensibilities like the folks from the Subjugation Compendium. So, I left the exterior to them and focused entirely on creating an interior space optimized for efficient administration.
When I entered the fourth-floor conference room, everyone—starting with the lord herself, Rose—was already assembled.
Incidentally, Faf, Mew, and Fen were currently out playing in the nearby forest, so they weren't here. Sitting through meetings was still too much to ask of them, and it was better for kids to be kids anyway.
As always, the villagers immediately stood up and assumed a posture of fanatical devotion. That part was nothing new. If there was any difference this time...
"Absolute loyalty to our supreme King!"
At the cue from Oboro, leader of Akegarasu, all of them pressed their right hands against their chests and bowed in deep reverence.
These guys too, huh...? Surely I wasn't the only one thinking that.
I mean, Rose! What's with that look of utter exasperation in your eyes?! I didn't think it would turn out like this either! In the first place, I specifically entrusted their training to Nemea instead of Girimehkala to prevent this exact situation!
"Well, can't say I didn't see that coming."
At Zack's comment, Asta gave a silent, solemn nod.
Rose let out a long, heavy sigh.
"Now that Kai is here, let us begin the regular meeting."
With that, she declared the conference open.