Atelier Tanaka

Book 4: Chapter 1 (3)

Territory Pioneering 1

I’m starting to feel a little anxious about this.

Maybe I should just start by experimenting.

“Let’s see here….”

I placed my hand down in the middle of the patch of purple gromwell and shot out recovery magic. Within seconds several patches of the plant around me began to glow with that familiar dim light. There’s no doubt that these plants are the source of the glow.

I wonder if by absorbing recovery magic instead of raw mana these plants begin to act like a healing potion.

But this effect seems insignificant. There must be hundreds of the plant glowing around me right now but the feeling just reminds me of taking a hot bath. How many of them would I need to regrow a lost limb? It isn’t exactly the most convenient thing.

“….”

Now that I think about it, I’ve seen mana potions before but I don’t ever recall seeing healing potions in this world.

It’s possible that items like that are rare. There are medicinal herbs used to cleanse the body or that act as an anesthetic, but there aren’t any herbs, at least to my knowledge, that are capable of healing lost limbs.

The herbs that goblin gave me just sped up the body’s natural healing rate.

Actually, if there were such a herb, it could potentially do terrible things. Imagine eating a random plant and having a new arm sprout from your body.

“That must mean….”

It may just be my assumption but all of the evidence seems to suggest it. From what I saw at the markets in town and at the Adventurer’s Guild there are no potions or herbs available to heal. If you’re worried about getting injured on a quest, you bring along someone capable of using recovery magic and you buy mana potions so they can continuously heal.

“It seems likely.”

I should’ve brought the noble mage with me. I’m sure even Ester-chan could’ve given me an answer. When the members of the Twilight Company arrive I should remember to ask them about it.

“….”

My priority now should be attracting customers.

I need to find some way of earning fifty gold coins per month.

“From what I can tell, the effect doesn’t diminish over time…but it’s not terribly efficient.”

During all the time I spent in Kalis, I never saw a single place where you could stop in and get healed quickly. This should work. There’s no reason for me to change my plan yet.

“…for the time being, I should begin constructing a building.”

I can worry about everything else later.

Status window, open.

Good, my level is still increasing.

I’m glad I worked so hard during the conflict. My level went up by five. It’s not as dramatic an increase as the last time I checked. There must be some scaling I don’t know about that occurs with levels the higher you get.

Still, five levels are enough for what I need.

Skill window, open.

My skill points increased as well.

I don’t know what I would’ve done if I stopped earning one skill point every level.

I guess it’s about time I decided on what skills to learn.

“Civil Engineering Magic! Civil Engineering Magic! Civil Engineering Magic, please!”

I screamed out in my mind.

I silently prayed for a few seconds before the sound of a chime echoed throughout my mind.

It’s done.

Environmental Engineering Magic?

It’s a little different from what I wanted. Maybe it just adjusted itself to better fit this world. Well, there’s nothing I can do now.

Ah, that level five purification magic hurts whenever I look at it. Such a waste. I only ever used it once to send away Edita Sensei when she was a ghost. There’s no point regretting it now, but I do wish Edita Sensei had taken advantage of me when she was in her ghost form.

Anyway, I should be able to start building now.

“All right, stone wall!”

Following my command, I pointed my hands down at the earth.

And a magic circle emerged before me.

A mound of earth began to grow out of the earth and became as tall as me.

It’s like a large monolith.

“It worked.”

It’s exactly as I pictured it in my mind. If I didn’t know better, I could easily mistake it for a modern-day concrete wall. I pushed on the wall with all of my strength but there was no give in it. Let’s try one more thing.

Yakuza kick!

Gogon!

The wall didn’t budge. In fact, my foot is hurting now. I felt uneasy about it because of its low level, but it seems sturdy enough for what I’ll need it for.

“…I did a good job.”

Now that I’ve confirmed its sturdiness, it’s time to get on to the real work.

I flew up into the sky and conjured a massive magic circle a few hectares in size in the middle of my territory. Several walls sprouted up out of the ground and formed one gigantic square around ten metres tall.

I had originally intended on enclosing my entire territory within these walls but now that the soothing glow was gone there was no reason for me to do so and I didn’t want to make a giant sectioned off area with nothing to put in it.

I cut away a few metres of each of the walls facing the Penny Empire and the Pussy Republic. At either side of these two openings, I summoned four identical cylindrical pillars.

With a few more flicks of my wrist, the two gates were complete.

With soldiers stationed on either side, it will look like a proper entry gate.

“This is quite enjoyable.”

It was fun burning down the grass but this is even more satisfying.

“Good. Now, let’s try a road.”

While still floating in the air, I activated my Engineering Magic once more.

A stone square rose out of the ground. It was only a few centimetres high but it was several metres wide. I extended this square out from one gateway to the other. I can have all of the other roads branching off this main street to form the rest of the town.

I feel like I’m building a town in a game. It’s great fun.

“This is going great.”

The stone walls look even better than I imagined. I’m really happy that it’s this easy to create everything I want.

Now that main street is done, a well is necessary. No people will stay here if there’s no water. There is no river in my territory and if I can’t find a place to build a well, I’ll have to bring some in from outside my territory.

Though, I’m sure there has to be water flowing beneath my land. This is a grassland after all.

“Please, be there….”

Hole. Dig a hole.

Another silent prayer to myself.

“Dig earth!”

Please, I need there to be groundwater. I can’t get started on anything else until I find water.

Another magic circle formed a few metres in diameter beneath me. The design on this formation was different from the one that created the stone walls. The centre of the geometric formation slowly sank into the ground with a loud groan. A depression around thirty centimetres squared appeared beneath me.

At least I know this magic can be used to dig holes easily.

But the water is what’s important now.

“….”

My heart rate increased the further the magic circle sank into the earth.

The magic circle was still shining brightly.

But nothing changed besides the depth of the hole.

And my MP continued to drain.

“…this isn’t looking good.”

How far have I dug down? It’s hard to judge from my position but it has to be pretty deep by now.

I just need to penetrate a little deeper.

I never thought digging could sound so perverted.

“Should I just wait for a while?”

I stared down the dark hole and waited.

It’s entirely possible this world’s planet is different than Earth. It’s possible there are certain magical qualities that allow plants to grow without any water in the area. With the magic in this world, anything is possible.

“….”

The longer I wait, the more nervous I get.

Hurry up. Fill with water already.

Mother Earth’s love juice.

The womb from which all human life is born.

“Oh….”

It’s coming. A small tinkling sound was coming out of the hole.

Then, in the next moment, pusha, water came rushing into the hole.

“Yes!”

The liquid started gushing out and squirted into the air at me.

Hot. The water is hot.

I was already a few metres in the air but still had to retreat further back to avoid the boiling hot water.

I quickly activated my recovery magic and healed the burned areas of my body.

“Uuooo~!”

The boiling water that shot out of the hole kept going. The water continued gushing out until it was around several metres in height. There was steam coming off the water as well.

This isn’t good.

“Oi, oi, oi….”

How am I supposed to deal with this? If the water keeps shooting out like this it will flood my land and ruin the quality of the soil. Damn it. I’m nowhere near finished but Mother Earth is already gushing.

I’ll need to cover the hole for the time being.

“Stone Wall!”

In response to my yell, a thick stone wall began to cover the hole, cutting off the gushing boiling water. It was a large stone pillar like those you’d see supporting a tall building. It reminded me of those plugs people use to stop nosebleeds.

I could still hear the hot water gushing in, filling the hole below, but the stone wall did its job.

“…did it work?”

I waited for a while but there was no sign of any of the water getting through.

Good.

I was able to stop it before my entire territory was flooded but there was still a large pool of water around the hole now. I can easily evaporate all of that using my fireballs.

A well will be hard to create if all of the water beneath my land is like that.

It would be easier to just turn this place into a hot spring.

“….”

A hot spring.

Complete nudity.

Mixed bathing.

“…how nice~”

I can’t believe I got so lucky even though my LUC decreased after levelling.

Mother Earth is guiding this virgin to the promised land.

This must be destiny.

At first, I had planned on building a sauna or massage and utilising the soothing effect of the glowing grass to enhance the experience for the customer. The pessari grass could even heal some minor wounds if the customers stayed long enough.

Both plans involve creating a relaxing environment for visitors.

I’ll turn my land into something that resembles a sectioned off area of a large city that has nothing but luxury services. I can start off with the base hot spring, but over the next several weeks and months I can expand into a multi-levelled building. I can set up a monthly parking lot for the horses and carriages of those that visit, maybe have a ramen expo on one floor, and the unused land can be turned into a survival game.

This could definitely work.

With no people or resources, I’ll have to bring in outside help. Fortunately, this grassland has a decent location. It’s about a day’s journey by carriage from Tricklis and a half day’s journey from Drill-chan’s city. My territory could also open up relations between the two countries.

I’ll continue with my original plans, but this hot spring will really be the foundation of everything I want to build here. I can take the pessari grass that’s eaten by poor people and turn it into an excellent bath additive that will heal all of the aches and pains in your body.

I’ll also be able to use the greatest line known to man.

“Please do not enter the water with a towel on as it will dirty the water. Thank you.”

The man that came up with that is a genius.

They’ll have no way of covering up.

“I’ll do my best. As a man, I’ll do my best to see all of the naked noblewomen.”

A public bath.

I’ll make a public bath!

“Stone Wall!”

My wild roar echoed out through my territory.

And a new earthen wall shot out of the ground.

A square of around one hundred metres square formed around the pillar blocking off the geyser. These walls were slightly shorter than those I had built previously, around five or six metres. I lowered one section on a wall to create the entrance.

The beginnings of a building.

“Once more: Stone Wall!”

Another slab of stone started extending out from the top of one of the walls.

The sunlight was slowly blocked off until it was pitch black beneath. The new stone wall began grinding against the others until it finally settled into its place. The ceiling is now complete.

“It’s quite dark without any windows….”

In addition to the entrance, I cut out a few small holes for windows.

I give you sunlight.

A cozy little concrete building had been built.

It actually looks decent considering how quickly I put it together. It reminds me of a modern apartment.

“All right, time for the bath.”

I can feel the inspiration bubbling up in me.

***