After Passing Through the Tunnel

We hurried on our way home.

"Wataru. Golen Village has apparently turned into Golen Town."

"Apparently? What's that supposed to mean?"

I asked him while we were passing through the tunnel under Mount Tsuia, but judging by his reaction, it seems Wataru has no idea either.

"Do you two know anything, Rokuko? Nerune?"

"Not really? But can you even turn a village into a town in the short time we were traveling?"

"We left things in Amelia-san's hands, right? Maybe one of the Four Heavenly Generals has a spell to make a town? It must be earth magic, don't you think~?"

A spell to make a town, huh… If I don't use dungeon functions, I could probably manage the buildings using [Create Golem].

And with the Divine Beddings, my MP is practically infinite. Which means, even without me, someone could technically use similar means to build a town.

Of course, if they used dungeon functions, that would make things even easier.

Heck, if they used dungeon monsters that can mimic humans—like in the Demonlands—they could probably whip up a full population in a single day.

… Don't tell me Haku-san built a town near the village and started calling it Golen Town?

I mean, I can't think of any other possibility.

Ontentoo wouldn't do something like that. And if he did, he'd definitely give me a heads-up.

If it's that guy from "Paradise of Light," Dungeon No. 219, based in Tsuia, then it must be under Haku-san's orders. He's one of her underlings after all.

"Maybe this is Haku-san's doing."

"Or what if it's Ichika-san? Like, she wanted to eat good food, so she made a whole town to have street stalls or something."

"If that's the case, then Golen Town is probably a food court now. That actually lines up with what we heard about it being profitable…"

Well, no point speculating. Better to just go take a look.

Once we get through the tunnel, we'll be in Golen Village.

 

＊ ＊ ＊

 

Once we got through the tunnel… it was Golen Town.

No, to be precise, the area right past the tunnel—around the [Dancing Doll's Pavilion]—looked exactly like the Golen Village I knew.

But off in the distance… there was a huge wall.

Golen Village is on a mountain slope, and heading "away" from it means descending the mountain.

So we had a great view—and that big wall further down was clearly visible…

I quietly opened my map from the Menu to check, and saw that the wall had been built just inside the outer edge of our dungeon's territory.

Now that we're back and the dungeon is reconnected, the DP display updated… and DP is increasing at an insane rate… Judging by that, this isn't just a fake town. It's the real deal.

… Why the heck is there suddenly a whole town!?

"Wow. That wall looks just like the one Tsuia has. What on earth happened?"

"It… really is a town. Though it looks like the area around the inn hasn't changed."

"Oooh~? I wonder what kind of magic was used~? Did Rei and the others use earth magic~? Hmmm~?"

What the heck happened while we were gone!? I was still in shock when Kantra passed by.

"Oh, Village Chief. You're back—welcome home."

"Hey—Kantra!? What's with that wall!?"

"What do you mean? It's a wall, obviously."

… Yeah, but that's what's confusing me?

"Kantra-san~? What kind of magic was used to make that~?"

"Magic? Nah, that wasn't magic. Misha-sama and Kusaan built it, just like that. Real quick, too."

"Misha-sama and Kusaan…? If it were about magic, it'd be Dolce-sama or Amelia-sama… So it really wasn't magic~? … Maybe they used some kind of magic tool~?"

"They probably used Basilisks. I believe their stone-gaze was involved."

"Stone-gaze magic, huh~…"

"I wonder if we could replicate that with a magic tool…"

"Ooh, that sounds like fun~! Maybe we could use an actual Basilisk eye as the core~?"

"Yeah, that's probably the most straightforward way… Not that they're easy to get."

Nerune and Kantra got all excited. Then Nerune started glancing at Wataru.

"U-Um, I could probably go get one if you need…"

"Thank you, Wataru~! You're the best~!"

"That's our Hero! Oh, and I'll make sure you're paid. Was it 20 gold coins for one of those?"

"I'll cover half~"

"… Let's call it 10 coins—I'll pay Nerune-san's share."

… Right, the only info I really need is that Misha and Kusaan built that wall in a short time. The Basilisk stuff is kinda irrelevant.

I should just go ask someone who actually knows. That would be—Amelia, who I left in charge.

It's still early in the day, so she's probably at the village chief's house.

"Anyway, let's break up here. Nerune, can you return the horse to the Dyne Trading Company?"

"Got it~"

"Rokuko, we're heading back to get the story behind what's up with the wall and the town."

"Right. Looks like I've got more work to do now, so let's hurry back."

And so Rokuko and I headed toward the village chief's house.

… By the way, the view down the street was a full-on townscape. It really was a town now.

The part that was Golen Village is still there, unchanged—but at this point, calling it Golen Town wouldn't be an exaggeration.

Seriously, what the heck happened here?