"You need to stack the logs this way, kid."
"Yes, sir!"
"How are the women doing?" asked a worried man.
His wife was pregnant, and the situation had been terrible. Now that they were safe, he wanted to know her condition.
The white-haired woman in charge of births, who had just left the hastily built house, reassured him. "She's doing well. It seems the newborn is healthy. She still needs rest, so please be careful."
She was a bit tired but smiled.
The man seemed reassured and went back to work with a smile. "Thank you, elder."
"That woman is skilled."
Behind her were several human babies crying, but their expressions showed they were born in good condition. At least they weren't stillborn.
We usually think of daily stillbirths in a time where the modern world is absent. I thought so too, but with competent people, that worry fades.
"Yeah? She's the one who took care of births in the village. Since the slaves didn't have access to medical facilities, she supported all the women. Practically everyone owes her a debt."
Nuga smiled as if approving my words.
"Well, it's only by chance that we can smile and live like this."
Several houses were under construction. We settled the humans according to their familiarity with each other and encouraged childbirth. Singles were grouped with other singles, and large families were housed together.
The roads were being marked, and humans were walking around and working in good spirits. It was only a matter of time before the town was finished.
Luckily, I'd done internships in companies.
Since my experience was lacking, they had asked me to assist the project manager. Through observation, I learned many things with interest. I clearly remembered my talkative supervisor.
"Don't forget to drop the materials in the storage room."
I think my skills are being used the right way. Building a town according to a precise plan requires a deeper arrangement, but for a small population, this is enough.
Still, we needed to prepare the foundations of a city, just in case the population grew significantly and housing became scarce. It's a necessary base for city development.
"This is shameful... Why? Why?"
Nuga was fighting a crow weakened by my chrysalids. After a few minutes of combat, she killed the crow.
With its wings torn off, the fight was swift.
"Feeling?"
Nuga frowned. "I feel nothing. I've killed many monsters, but the sensation of leveling up is absent. My status window shows nothing. Are we cursed by the gods?"
Seeing her gloomy expression is a bit sad.
"How do you do it? Give me the secret! Tell me! Tell me!" She widened her eyes and hit my body with all her strength. Nuga's strength was that of a teenager; it only felt like a massage... Quite pleasant, actually.
"Wow!" Was Nuga having a teenage tantrum?
"You shouldn't feel too tense."
It's an absolute situation in this world. Humans are ultimately incapable of leveling up. Perhaps it's because progress is just too slow to notice.
But that doesn't change the situation.
"Damn it! I'm fed up!"
She suddenly dropped her spear, grabbed a fruit from my harvest tree, and ran into the forest.
The forest was still dangerous. We'd cleaned most areas, but some monsters still hid from our sight. I wondered if bringing her back was a good idea. But with my chrysalids scattered throughout the forest, I eventually let it go.
I'd be alerted quickly if a problem arose.
"Ah?! Why didn't you catch the log?! No!!" A man stumbled over one of my roots, and the log slid into the river. The material was ruined.
Year 37 Month 2
Looking at the sky, a certain thought came to me. "The sky has grown dark."
"But the sky is already dark?" Nuga replied.
"Yes, but now it's even darker."
Nuga looked confused but went back to her concerns.
Staring at the sky intently, I eventually thought something was amiss. A bad premonition pressed on my chest.
"Ah, screw it! I give up, I quit! I can't level up! How do we survive in this world? It's doomed to destruction, gah!" Nuga shouted angrily and dropped her sword.
She'd tried every available weapon.
Spear. Sword. Axe. Saber.
None seemed to give Nuga any strength. Well, considering how crows constantly harassed her...
"Hey, are you mocking me?"
Huh, she heard that?
"I'm sure you're mocking me. My woman's intuition is never wrong."
She frowned and hesitated to hit me or not.
"Gah!" Finally, she gave up.
I felt a little down.
"Instead of insisting on melee combat, why not use a ranged weapon?"
I didn't know if crossbows existed in this world, but bows must be a universal standard for ranged weapons, right?
Nuga suddenly became curious. "Ranged weapon?"
"Yeah, ranged weapons. Haven't you read novels? Bows, or even crossbows, are quite impressive when you consider their penetration and power."
Elves should use bows, at least according to universes where all long-eared humans naturally wield bows as their primary weapons.
But Nuga should already know that, shouldn't she?
However, an entirely unexpected response came.
"Yes... Yes?! Treon, you're really a genius! Genius isn't enough—you're Einstein?! We should just use modern weapons!"
A worrisome premonition arose. She's not going to say it, is she...
"Guns!!"
She jumped around energetically.
How could she connect ranged weapons to modern firearms? I mean, I understand the logic, but in another world? This is a completely different realm.
"Guns are nice. But do you have the knowledge to make one? Can you handle the consequences?"
There's also the issue of cultural contamination. Introducing firearms from another world—wouldn't that destroy this world?
Suddenly, Nuga, who had been hopping around energetically, froze and turned her head slowly toward me with a trembling smile. "I trust you."
If I still had a human body, I would've facepalmed.
"Gah, get back to work immediately."
I sent Nuga off, who ran away as if fleeing my intense gaze. I didn't forget to bring my support chrysalids for transport. Humans were wary but changed their behavior upon realizing they no longer had to carry logs by hand.
Should I replace part of the human workforce with chrysalids?
And regarding the development of firearms...
I had some knowledge about how they were produced. I hadn't mentioned it to Nuga, but it would be interesting to see the reaction of the inhabitants of another world if modern weapons were developed. It would require a significant amount of labor, but with Nuga being more of a musclehead than an intellectual, I wasn't sure about the project.
I shelved the idea in a corner of my mind and fell asleep.
Thinking had made me tired.
Year 37 Month 4
"Treon, is it natural for the water flow to have decreased so much?"
Nuga seemed to have noticed the diminishing flow of water.
"I was thinking the same thing."
However, there was still a good amount of water flowing down from the mountain. Since it was sufficient to sustain our population, I didn't worry about it for long.
"We'll check it out later."
Year 37 Month 5
"Let's continue heading east. Then we'll move north before shifting westward." Leading a battalion of nearly 500 chrysalis soldiers, we encountered various native monsters that had taken residence in certain areas.
The outer part of the forest housed three times as many monsters as the forest's center. Perhaps it was due to the abundance of food and water sources from the mountain.
In any case, we fought relentlessly, hunting down hidden monsters in their caves outside the forest. Three-quarters of the forest had been cleared, and a safe zone was marked on the terrain.
I leveled up three times in the process [Level 39].
New skills:
Alarm Tree
It allows ordinary-looking trees to be placed at the territory's borders. When unauthorized individuals enter the perimeter, an alarm is sent directly to my mind.
Link Network
Special roots are used to form connections between all the trees.
Additionally, I felt my mana reserves increase.
I think I could expand my army even further.
Chrysalises are expensive in mana, and their upkeep remains significant. It wouldn't be a bad idea to go all-in on them.
If my 700 chrysalises (500 of which are soldiers) take up 7/20 of my 2,000 mana units, then increasing my mana pool by 1,000 units would allow me to allocate more resources to the military.
But considering the continuous development of the city, I would also need to increase the number of chrysalises to assist the humans.
There's a lot to think about.
"We should continue hunting the remaining monsters before nightfall."
However, we had to pause when I sensed someone requesting my presence from the other side of the forest.
"Treon?"
"Yes?" I was a little surprised.
I hadn't expected Nuga to suddenly call out to me. Normally, she only responded when spoken to—excluding her occasional outbursts.
"That thing between your roots. Where did you find it?" Nuga pointed at the cube trapped in my roots. I had completely forgotten to store it back in subspace.
"Oh. That strange cube. I picked it up when the crows suddenly dropped it from the sky. I tried to activate it, but it didn't respond. At first, I thought it was some sort of mechanism, but after failing to figure it out, I gave up."
Too complicated.
How do you solve a puzzle?
I wasn't particularly smart, just average.
Still, the mechanism was too complicated even for me.
Nuga had a conflicted expression as she stared at the cube.
"Can I hold it?"
"Yes." I allowed her, releasing the roots that were gripping the cube. Nuga immediately picked it up but held it gently between her fingers, unlike me.
"Hmm." She focused on it, forgetting her surroundings entirely. Since I wasn't in a hurry, I waited patiently.
Finally, she sighed while holding the cube carefully in her hands.
"Treon, I don't know what to say. Are you lucky or unlucky?"
"That depends on how you explain it."
Nuga nodded.
"It's a skill cube. It grants a skill to its host when certain conditions are met. But the conditions are usually strict."
"Oh, I see. Since the conditions haven't been met, it's impossible to open it."
No wonder I hadn't been able to figure out how to open the thing. The conditions for unlocking it needed to be met first.
"What's the condition?"
"It's both simple and complicated. You need a large amount of mana, comparable to a powerful high-level mage or a strong warrior. Considering this is a high-tier skill cube, the requirement must be astronomical."
Nuga lamented being born human.
"It will be impossible to open it."
"Uh? Are mana sources allowed?"
"Huh? Oh, yes. But they're usually monopolized by major nations, so for people like us, it's impossible."
"Can you hand it back?"
"Yes? Why do you want it?"
"It seems there's a mana source below us. LOL?"