Toda Village... but Not "Toda"

In addition to the dungeon proper and the five gate-front towns, where people had long dwelt, settlement began in earnest, in the village granted as the warrior band's fief, and in several farming villages besides.

[Kishi Village]

"Director of Books-dono, Tsuji Village has its 'Tsuji Elementary School,' Nishi Village its 'Nishi Elementary School,' and Senba Village likewise its 'Senba Elementary School,' so why is it that Kishi Village's is 'Kishimachi Elementary School,' with 'machi' tacked on?"

Kishi Harima-no-suke spoke as he eyed the village's nameplate.

"Because we replication-summoned an otherworld school and repurposed it, the school simply happened to be called that from the start. The most we could do would be to paste paper over it and hide it."

"That's unsightly, surely. That sort of thing."

"For Noyo Village and Mamushi Village, no school of the matching name could be found, so they had to make do without."

"Is there one to be had anywhere?"

"I'll have a look… Well, there's no help for it. There's no elementary school, but Kishi Village will grow into a fairly large town, and it'll need another school eventually anyway. Let's summon one."

So saying, Marie summoned another school and set it beside the first. Such schools existed only in worlds where the educational system had changed, so the dungeon energy ran a touch dear. That last part, Marie kept to herself.

"Hm, 'Kishi Middle School,' is it? It's Kishi, and 'middle' is better than 'small,' so this is fine. While we're at it, is there no such thing as a 'Kishi University-School'? Big, middle, and small."

"In this dungeon we can summon only national or local-government schools, and at the very least, there's no university by that name on the summon list."

"No help for it, then."

Just then, Kinran, who handled this district, arrived with a man and a woman of the warrior class in tow, driven by Farigole, who holds a manual-transmission license.

"Marie-han, I've gone an' found the next warrior band. This here's Heta Tsuno-no-Tairyō Yaichi-han, an' his lady wife, Tomi Yuno-han."

Neither "Yaichi" nor "Yuno" was a taboo true name.

"Heta? As in 'clumsy'?"

"Ahh, it's written like this."

Kinran presented the writ of commendation he'd been entrusted with.

"Um… Toda?"

The handwritten document was hard to make out.

"It is read 'Heta.'"

The Tsuno-no-Tairyō answered.

"With this, the southern side of the Nakayama Highway is complete. Place Toda… no, Toda Village (it reads 'Heta') out past Kanae Village, and one can reach Hiratsuka in the Toshima Magistracy without sleeping rough. It's the very front line; only the other day a host of a hundred thousand came surging in. But a holder of that writ of commendation will manage."

"I have some skill with the naginata, so I'll show you ten or twenty enemy soldiers cut down. But a hundred thousand? Then there's nothing for it but to hole up in the castle and await reinforcements."

Yuno answered. That she did not say the castle would fall was perhaps a sign of her confidence in her own valor. Incidentally, the naginata is ill-suited to massed open-field combat, but it sees much use in siege defense, and so it is often wielded by women.

"There is, however, the problem that the distance is too great. We can't make out the details of approaching soldiers, and the cars and drones run out of battery partway. A bicycle has no battery troubles, at least."

"Toda Village is forty ri, a hundred and sixty kilometers off, isn't it. However good a bicycle is, it'd take two days. And it tires you out something fierce. Farigole-han can use a car and Rāja-han a horse, but as for me an' Anne-han, we've got a problem with how to get about."

As Kinran said, once a dungeon grows large, transport becomes a problem.

"We'll have to think of something. Perhaps we ought to repurpose the inter-tier-group elevators for horizontal travel after all."