"This place has really come along."
"It’s already bigger than the old village!"
Shiroru and I were walking through the new settlement that had been built to encircle the dungeon. Honestly, it was probably fair to call it a town at this point. As Shiroru noted, it had already surpassed the scale of the Mohawk-filled village we’d stayed in before. A significant number of people had already relocated here.
The Mayor’s House stood right next to the dungeon entrance. It also served as the unofficial Adventurer’s Guild. We were currently in the process of applying for formal guild accreditation.
I wasn’t entirely sure what the outcome would be, but I had a feeling the application would go through. I’d managed to put together a recommendation letter co-signed by several gods, after all. I just hoped the official who received it didn't have a total meltdown.
Despite being a brand-new town, there was already a healthy population of adventurers. Badis—the Young Master of the Molybdenum Group—had brought his people along with him. Since the vast majority were affiliated with his group, the concentration of Mohawks was abnormally high. To an outsider, it probably looked less like an Adventurer's Guild and more like a gang hideout.
"Muu... that smell! I’m hungry!"
A loud growl suddenly erupted from Shiroru's midsection. It was an incredibly assertive sound.
Well, I couldn’t exactly blame her. A mouth-watering aroma was wafting from the building standing next to the temporary guild office. It was the curry shop opened by Beere. Since it was the only eatery in town for the moment, he served other dishes too, but curry was clearly the specialty. While the town didn't have enough residents yet for the place to be packed, he was likely turning a decent profit since nearly every adventurer in the area ate there.
Regardless, Shiroru kept darting glances at me. It was obvious she wanted to stop in, but I had to put my foot down.
"We promised the others we’d eat lunch together, remember?"
"It’ll be fine! I’m more than capable of eating two lunches!"
Knowing Shiroru, that was probably true, but I certainly wasn't up for it. If we lingered here any longer, I was afraid her self-control would snap.
"No. We have things to do."
"Mu, muu... The curry... the curry!"
I ended up having to scoop Shiroru up to keep her from staring longingly at the shop as I carried her into the temporary guild. The space just inside the door was a wide, open entrance hall with a high, vaulted ceiling.
This hall functioned as the guild’s lobby. Since it was just before noon, the place was mostly empty. Everyone was currently inside the dungeon. The primary goal of almost every adventurer in this town was dungeon exploration—though "harvesting" might have been a more accurate term for it lately. Most of them were currently busy securing food supplies on the first floor.
"Tort? What brings you here?"
Dende, who was manning the reception desk, called out to me. He was technically the Acting Guild Master. The Mayor had personally appointed him because he was the perfect man to keep the rowdier adventurers in line. Since we weren't an official guild yet, there wasn't much high-level work to do, so his job was mostly indistinguishable from a standard receptionist's.
Entry to the dungeon was currently permit-based, but once you were cleared, you could come and go as you pleased. Because of that, very few adventurers actually stopped by the guild office. That was probably why Old Man Dende looked so surprised to see me.
"The Mayor called for me."
"Ah, right. And what’s the deal with that one?"
"Eh?"
I followed Dende’s gaze to Shiroru. She was twitching her nose, sniffing the air incessantly. I assumed she was trying to get as much of the curry scent as possible... but I figured that would only make her hungrier.
"She’s just being a glutton, as usual."
"I see. Makes sense."
Dende accepted that simple explanation immediately.
I was impressed—it seemed Shiroru had already established a reputation. But as I looked closer, I realized it might not have just been her reputation. Dende was clutching his stomach with a miserable expression. He was clearly starving too. It wasn't just acceptance; it was empathy.
Come to think of it, working a reception desk all day while the scent of curry drifted in must have been torture. I really should have thought more about the town’s layout.
"Um, would you like this?"
"Nu... My thanks."
Feeling a bit guilty, I pulled a hamburger out of my inventory and handed it over. Dende looked a bit sheepish about it, but his hunger clearly won out. He took it and immediately started scarfing it down.
"Unfair! That’s totally unfair! I want to eat too!"
"You're eating later, Shiroru."
"Later? Does that mean I get a hamburger later too?"
"No, that's not what I meant..."
I climbed the stairs while trying to soothe the noisy girl. The central room on the second floor belonged to the Mayor. I knocked, and a voice from inside told me to enter. I opened the door to find two Mohawks waiting.
There was Badis, the Mayor, and Falco, his assistant. Falco was a member of Badis's party. Personally, the concept of a "Mohawk secretary" felt like a total contradiction, but apparently, Falco was quite capable.
"Ah, Tort. Thanks for coming so quickly."
"I heard you had a request?"
"I do. To be honest, I need to ask another favor..."
Badis began hesitantly.
I wondered what it could be. Was it something difficult?
"What's the problem?"
"...The truth is, the number of people wanting to move here has spiked, and we’re running out of housing. I hate to ask this of you, but... do you think you could put up some new buildings by tomorrow?"
"Oh, sure. I’ll set up about three blocks of row houses for you."
I’d braced myself for something big, but his request was trivial. Building houses was easy.
I accepted the task immediately, but Badis’s reaction was strange. He slumped forward, his shoulders trembling. I couldn't tell what was wrong with him.
"This is wrong... Everything about this is wrong..."
"Eh? What is?"
Badis was muttering under his breath. When I asked for clarification, he snapped his head up and glared at me.
"I mean, me asking for houses by tomorrow is one thing, but you just casually agreeing to it is insane! How is that normal!?"
"Wait, aren't we a bit past that point by now?"
"That’s exactly the problem! Why is there a fully functional town surrounding a dungeon after only ten days!? Where did common sense go!?"
Well, he had a point. It was a pretty impressive town for ten days of work.
As I puffed my chest out a little with pride, Badis slowly shook his head.
"No. I can tell you're thinking about something completely delusional..."
He covered his face with both hands. He seemed emotionally unstable. Maybe the stress of being the Mayor was starting to get to him.
At that point, Falco, who had remained silent until now, patted Badis on the shoulder.
"Young Master... excuse me, Mayor. This is a man who is on speaking terms with multiple deities. There is no point in trying to explain common sense to him. Just accept it as a divine miracle and move on."
"...I suppose you're right."
Badis nodded slowly.
I wanted to point out that they had both met those gods as well, but I figured that would only make the conversation go in circles.
I didn't really think of it as a miracle, though.
Building a town in ten days is perfectly doable. Yes, provided you have a Pandora Gift!