Lined up before me were a middle-aged butler, a female mage, and a girl who introduced herself as a "little girl maid."
The middle-aged butler was Asa Fougma. His hair was streaked with gray, giving him the look of a man who had seen his share of hardships but never let his standards slip. His trademark was a pair of round glasses with non-prescription lenses, worn purely for style.
The female mage was Futa Fougma. To be precise, she was apparently a fortune teller rather than a mage. However, she could use magic, so she told me not to worry about the distinction. She appeared to be in her thirties, which was a rarity in our village. Her chest was quite modest. Since she didn't particularly care for the name Futa, she asked that I call her Fu-chan instead.
The little girl maid was Miyo Fougma. At a glance, she looked to be about seven or eight years old—roughly the same age as Urza. I wasn't entirely sure what the official age range for a "little girl" was, but since she introduced herself as a "little girl maid," I had no choice but to accept it. That said, if Urza were to put on a maid uniform, I don't think I would ever call her a "little girl maid."
The three of them belonged to the Mercury race, the same as Bell and Gou from Village Four. They had been physically ready to work for some time, but it had apparently taken a significant amount of effort to drill modern common sense into them. I could guess the extent of those hardships just by looking at the exhausted expression on Bell’s face. Gou, who had stayed behind in Village Four, must have had it rough too. I wondered if he was really just watching the place, or if he had actually collapsed from fatigue.
There, there, Bell. Don't cry. You did a great job. Do you want some tea? Ah, you'll brew it yourself? If that helps you relieve some stress, be my guest.
Perhaps thanks to Bell and Gou’s rigorous education, the three newcomers didn't behave strangely at all. They seemed relatively normal. I wondered if I should just treat them as their appearances suggested: a butler, a mage—no, a fortune teller—and a maid.
"We can handle anything," they claimed.
I felt like "anything" was a bit of an overstatement. They insisted they were proficient in internal affairs, diplomacy, housework, and combat. If that were true, they were incredibly talented. It felt like a bit of a waste to use such versatile people just to manage a Teleportation Gate.
Currently, the dungeon side of the gate was being managed by the Lamia race, the Giants, and Arako the Arachne. These three were meant to manage the destination side. Apparently, the staff felt that a manager for the Teleportation Gate needed that level of versatility just to be safe. That made sense, I suppose. I wanted someone with both the administrative ability to run it and the combat power to handle emergencies.
Still, I wanted to see their combat skills for myself. I considered having them spar with Kuro and the others, but that seemed too much. Granmaria? No, that wouldn't work either.
In the end, it turned out they couldn't beat Galf.
"Want to try one more time?" I asked.
I didn't mind, but they'd have to ask Galf. They decided they wanted a different opponent. Galf, do you have any recommendations?
Bell, the tea you brewed is delicious. I'll have another cup.
"Claiming we could do 'anything' was an exaggeration. My apologies," one of them said.
I wasn't trying to force an apology; I just wanted to see where their skill level sat. I consulted with Galf about them.
"It’s not for me to say, but I think they’re quite good," Galf noted. "All three of them moved with a perfect grasp of their own physical reach and center of gravity."
He mentioned they could handle weapons, unarmed combat, and magic reasonably well. If these three were roughly as strong as an average fighter from Howlin Village, did that mean the beastman girls in our village—who had fought them to a draw—were actually incredible?
"I'm not sure," Galf replied. "Everyone in Howlin Village was more or less at that level."
I see. So their strength was on par with the general population of Howlin Village. If it turned out they were overqualified for gate management, I figured I could have them help with chores around the village, though that might result in them being sent back to Village Four.
The three of them hadn't come just for introductions, though. They were here to help set up the Teleportation Gate. The first phase was an experimental connection between the Village of the Great Tree Dungeon and the hot spring area.
"The dungeon side is already prepared," I was told. "We just need to take this stone to the destination at the hot springs."
It was a Coordinate Specification Stone. The process involved placing the stone at the intended destination, then returning to the main gate in the dungeon to activate it. It was a bit of a hassle having to travel back and forth. It would have been easy if Progenitor-san or Beezel were around, but since they weren't, we had to do it the hard way.
While we were discussing how to get there, Hakuren offered to fly us. I was grateful. Me, Bell, Asa, Fu-chan, Miyo, Galf, Lu, and Ria all climbed onto Hakuren’s back and headed for the hot spring area.
Man, it was hot. But the Death Knights were working hard there, so I couldn't afford to look lazy. It had been a while since I'd seen them. I asked if there were any problems and explained that we were here to install the Teleportation Gate as planned. I told them it would make it much easier for them to attend festivals and martial arts tournaments.
The Death Knights performed a "Dance of Joy" for us. It was certainly passionate, but to my eyes, it looked like they were casting a horrific curse. One song was plenty; I had to stop them before they started a second.
I asked about the lions, but I told the knights they didn't need to call them over. As long as they were healthy, that was enough.
I headed toward the spot I had picked out earlier—a patch of land to the south of the lodging facilities. I wanted to place the gate there. It would be out in the open for now, but I planned to build a structure around it later. Without a building, rain and snow would be an issue, and it would be dangerous if monsters or magic beasts accidentally wandered through. Besides, the person stationed here would probably prefer being indoors.
"I’ll improve the facilities as we go, but for now, who wants to be in charge here?"
"I will take this post," Asa, the middle-aged butler, said as he raised his hand. I decided to leave it to him.
"Don't push yourself too hard," I cautioned.
"Understood. I shall do my best to meet your expectations."
I had Asa, as the future manager, set the Coordinate Specification Stone. It didn't technically matter who did it, but it felt right. Lu gave me a look, but I ignored it.
Since we were already there, we all decided to take a dip in the springs—separated by gender, of course. In the men’s bath, it was me, Galf, Asa, and the Death Knights. It felt great. Despite what I'd said earlier, someone must have called the lions, because they came splashing in. I didn't mind. Even the lionesses joined in... well, I decided not to overthink it. It was time to relax.
I ended up lazing around until I felt completely refreshed. I made a mental note to install one of the cooling devices here eventually. Galf looked like he had melted into the water. Hakuren seemed perfectly fine, and Lu and Ria looked quite lovely and refreshed after their bath. Bell, Asa, Fu-chan, and Miyo looked a bit drained, so I told them not to push themselves. We waited until everyone had stopped sweating before heading back.
Back at the Village of the Great Tree, we headed down to the fourth floor of the dungeon. Arako the Arachne guided us down to the fifth floor, where the main Teleportation Gate was located. I asked Asa to handle the activation here as well. It wasn't difficult; he just had to trigger the Activation Stone.
Without a sound, the Activation Stone began to drift in the air. Then, a "plate of light" appeared, forming the gate. It looked like it was consuming a massive amount of magic power, but the actual drain was surprisingly low. Furthermore, the magic power was being drawn from the earth itself via the stones set into the floor. Once started, it would function indefinitely unless manually deactivated.
"I will go and confirm the connection," Asa said.
He reached out and poked his hand into the plate of light. His hand disappeared into it. Then, he stepped through entirely. He returned almost immediately, followed by a Death Knight. The connection was perfect.
"The Teleportation Gate is functioning without issue," Asa reported.
The Death Knight started another Dance of Joy, but I cut him off after one song. Naturally, the lions came through as well. I suppose I couldn't blame them.
For a while after that, heading to the hot springs at night became a popular trend in the village.