The Patrolling Village Chief: Part Two

"Come to think of it, there's only preserved foods here. Where does everyone buy their food?"

Surely not everyone eats only at our inn or the bar. The prices are fairly steep, after all. So there should be people who cook for themselves.

"There's a new shop specializing in food that opened over that way."

Dyne pointed toward the district where the villagers' houses were clustered together haphazardly.

In terms of location, it's behind the inn, across the plot I have reserved.

Kantra's smithy is also in that direction, but it's a bit further away.

… Even so, have we gotten enough people to warrant opening a food-specialty shop?

Then let's check out the residential district next. I bid farewell to Dyne and moved on with Ichika.

"Though, there's not much to see there. It's just a residential area."

"Not so fast, Goshujin-sama. Check this out."

Ichika pointed at a shack in front of us.

"Next, over there."

She then pointed at a regular wooden house. There weren't many, but they were arranged in what looked like a proper block.

The area between them showed a gradual upgrade in quality.

"Kusaan and the helping carpenters have gotten better, so now they can build pretty proper houses."

"… Um, was there a river around here? How are people getting water?"

"They've got water pitcher magic tools that Kantra made. They work with mana or magic stones, and even the junk magic stones from goblins work to some extent. For adventurers, a trip into the dungeon is basically like going to draw water."

I see, goblin magic stones are basically free in the dungeon.

… But goblin magic stones are like seed-sized particles inside their brains, right? That's a pretty gross way to get your water.

"Eventually, the earlier ones will be torn down and replaced with new ones."

"Hmm…"

Actually, I've been wanting to fix up the parts of our inn that were built first too… Nah, that's a hassle. It's fine as-is until it breaks.

As we continued walking through the residential area, I saw residents hanging laundry normally, and some heading out with hoes in hand… Hoes?

"Oh, look over there, Goshujin-sama. There are fields that way. They're growing vegetables and everything."

"… Wow. They've really cleared a lot of the forest."

Looking at it, the area had been developed more than I expected… I was a bit concerned about environmental destruction, but checking the map through the menu, it wasn't even 1% of the forest. Nature here is abundant. Overly abundant, even.

… Well, even if the environment is destroyed, there are magic skills like [Grow Wood], so we could replant if it came to it. Magic is convenient.

"Oh, Ichika and Village Chief-san. Ya doin' well?"

"Village Chief just sits at a desk all day, ya need to move yer body. Wanna help with the fields?"

"Here, take this. It's vegetables we grew."

As we continued our walk… no, patrol, villagers with an oddly rustic accent came up and gave me some vegetables… You guys were just ordinary adventurers, weren't you? I recognize your faces.

"… Also, you're getting actual harvests already? How long have you been farming?"

"Since this spring, so about one or two months? There's plenty of magical power around the dungeon, so you can harvest most things in about that time."

"It's prime land for us farmers. Though, if ya overdo it, the soil gets depleted."

"But if ya use fertilizer, it's fine. Goblin corpses are easy to come by."

Seriously? Fast vegetable growth is related to magical power? And goblin corpses as fertilizer? These are some gory vegetables. From drawing water to fertilizer, goblins are really pulling their weight.

Also, you guys were definitely ordinary adventurers. When did you start talking like that, and when did you become farmers?

"Well, actually, my family were farmers and I was the fifth son… Having my own field was always a dream."

"I was imitating my grandpa's way of talking, but using this accent really makes ya feel like a farmer, ya know?"

"Wait, you guys don't normally talk like that? I thought I was the one putting on more of an act here."

I don't really get it, but it's good that they're enjoying village life.

Then, while munching on the fresh vegetables I'd received, I headed to Kantra's smithy.

"Compared to the vegetables grown with [Grow Weed], these are night and day."

"Yeah, they're pretty tasty. Like actual vegetables… Oh, looks like Kantra's there."

Kantra was hammering metal into shape… Is he making a single-handled pot?

When he noticed me, he stopped and waved with his hammer still in hand.

"Oh, Kehma-dono. You're back? I heard you were going to marry into the Tsuia family or something?"

"That's quite the misinformation. More importantly, is that a pot? A regular one, not a magic tool?"

"Yeah. Got an order for a regular pot. They want a small one to use with a stove."

I also went through a phase where I thought blacksmiths only ever made weapons and armor.

Well, besides the obvious things like kitchen knives, they also make nails and pots.

"Oh right, Kehma-dono! Check this out, it's something new I made!"

"Oh? What's this, a… spear?"

"Yeah, when you press the switch on the handle, fire comes out from the base of the blade and heats it up. Getting cut by this would be hot!"

So, Kantra has been learning alchemy with the goal of making his own magic sword.

By the way, when he says fire comes out, it's about lighter-level, stove-burner at most.

"I see, so it increases the offensive power a bit."

"The downside is that it takes time to warm up, and if it's cooled down suddenly, it becomes brittle and breaks easily."

"Isn't that a pretty big weakness? If you turn on the fire after a battle starts, wouldn't it be too late?"

"If you kept it on the whole time… aah, but that would use up a ton of magic stones."

By the way, the reason he made it a spear instead of a sword is because the handle would get too hot to grip.

It's full of flaws, isn't it.

"Well, it needs improvement. Why not make the fire come directly out of the blade instead?"

"Mmm, true… fire coming out directly would definitely look cooler, like a flame-wreathed spear. But balancing that with durability is tricky. If the material was orichalcum… hah, that'd be a legendary weapon. How about black steel… Kehma-dono, have you seen any black steel golems appearing deeper in the dungeon?"

"Not so far."

I am considering using a golem with orichalcum-infused joints as a dungeon boss, though.

I've been mainly using iron golems lately and that's been working fine, but maybe it's time to introduce higher-tier metal golem spawners.

Black steel golem spawners are 1,000,000 DP… Whoa, that's expensive. Would I be able to afford it if I used all my current funds?

"I see. Well, if you spot any, let me know. It'd be cheaper than importing it."

"Yeah, will do if I see any."

Thinking it was about time to check somewhere else, I bid farewell to Kantra.

"Still, Kantra-han's doing some pretty impressive stuff, I think. But honestly, since Goshujin-sama can just make magic swords with [Create Golem]…"

We left the smithy. Let's see, what other facilities does the village have…

"Next is the inn, I guess. Though we don't really need to check that, it's our own base."

"Let's have a look anyway. And then the dungeon."

Having made my rounds patrolling the village, which had grown quite large, I headed back to the inn.