The people who had been banished from Count Bruno were warmly welcomed by Alfred.
It was decided that Brooks would put his previous experience to use and manage the internal affairs of the Lindrott territory together with Flora.
”Is it really all right to entrust the territory’s internal affairs to someone like me, who arrived so suddenly?” Brooks asked, frowning.
Alfred waved a hand. “You’ve been doin’ this sort o’ work for the Viscount’s Family for ages, right? We’re short-handed here. No way I’m lettin’ good experience go to waste.”
”But what if I were a spy from the Riegel viscounty?” Brooks pressed.
Alfred chuckled. “Spies don’t usually bring their wives along, do they?”
Brooks hesitated. “……My wife might be a fake.”
”If the way she was fretting and looking so worried behind you when we first met was an act, then it’s a performance worthy of the history books,” Alfred shrugged. “Well, if it turns out that way, I’ll just have to admit I’ve got no eye for people and take the loss.”
Brooks straightened, his expression turning serious. “……I understand. If you place that much trust in me, then I cannot fail to repay such goodwill. I, Brooks Gardner, swear to serve you with all my life, even if this body of mine should be torn apart.”
And so, a loyal worker was born.
By the way, Brooks was the third son of the Gardner Earl family, but he had left home years ago and had not spoken to them since, so he did not care about his old family anymore.
Camilla, the former head maid, was to keep working as a maid alongside Luche, the tough one who had kicked Count Bruno in the groin.
She was put in charge of watching over both the Lindrott residence and the house built next door for Flora. They already had Lina as a live-in maid at their place, and Flora had her own maid Sarah, but you could never have too many helpers.
With an eye to the future, Alfred wanted Camilla to use all her experience as a head maid.
Luche, on the other hand, was a bit clumsy-she often knocked over buckets of water, stumbled and grabbed Alfred, or fell over and showed her skirt-but she was lively, so he figured it was fine.
Elenora, who used to be the vice-captain of the Knight Order, was put in charge of picking quick and strong people from among the villagers and the people sent by Margrave Rommel. She would start the Lindrott territory’s first volunteer guard and become its leader.
Elenora was very excited about this-so much so that Flora’s own knight, Mireille, was shocked by how hard the training was every day.
But maybe it was because the men were drawn to Elenora’s chest bouncing during drills, or because they liked being yelled at and kicked, the guards stayed close to her with great loyalty. Not a single one had quit yet, so Alfred let her handle it.
And then there were the Earth Magic users-twenty of them, led by Kirsten-who surprised him.
Alfred had them help build the moat and walls. When they used Earth Magic to harden the dirt inside the wooden frames, a very strong wall was finished in no time.
……A wall that rang like metal when you knocked on it-just how hard was that…?
It turned out this happened because the magic power in the White Demon Stone mixed into the dirt reacted with Earth Magic. The result was amazing.
Because the dirt placed in the wooden frames got hard right away without needing to dry, the work went very fast.
Best of all, with this much strength, even that Red-Haired Quanine Fang Bear probably could not break through this wall.
Also, because the dirt could be hardened on the spot, the bank, which before could only be piled up to five meters high, could now be raised three times higher-fifteen meters.
Together with the outer moat, a wall this tall would make it impossible for anyone to climb over and get into the village unless they could fly.
By the way, the dirt used to raise the height came not only from digging the outer moat but also from the work of lowering every road in the village by two meters, filling them with fine White Demon Stone gravel up to the original ground level, and then paving them with thinly cut and smoothed White Demon Stone slabs to make stone roads.
Going forward, they planned to dig paths from there to the outer moat, fill them with White Demon Stone gravel to dry the ground, send rain water into the moat, and turn the whole village into good land that never stayed wet.
The work was going this fast because of the Earth Magic users, without a doubt.
They were said to be weak, but they worked hard every day until they ran out of magic power, and Alfred was very thankful.
And surprisingly, as they used magic for work every day, their magic power grew without them even noticing. Their magic control got better, and their levels as Earth Magic users went up too.
And that made the building go even faster.
In this way, the village was growing very quickly.
Then one morning, while Alfred was looking at the day’s schedule, Mary, a magic user, pulled on his sleeve again and again.
He looked down. “……Hm?”
Mary stared up at him. “……Bored. Everyone else is doing something. I want to do something too.”
Alfred sighed. “……Hmm, I like that you want to help, but right now there’s nowhere I need you to use magic…”
”……Then I’ll move the mountain.”
He blinked. “……Huh?”
Mary pointed east. “This village gets little sun because the mountain blocks it. Then just move the mountain. I’ll do it.”
Alfred’s voice went high. “……Wait…what?”
And so, Alfred and Flora, along with three helpers, butler Brooks, head maid Camilla, guard leader Elenora, and-not to be forgotten-everyone’s favorite, his little sister Misha, went to a spot where they could see the mountain to the east. That was their target.
Misha tugged on Alfred’s sleeve. “Big brother, what’s gonna happen?”
The way she tilted her head was so cute it hurt.
Ahhh~, Misha really is a little angel~!
Next to him, Flora was also looking at Misha with shining eyes.
Yes, yes, Misha is cute, isn’t she?
……But he was not giving her to anyone, got it?
Mary raised her staff and pointed it toward the mountain. “……Then, I will begin.”
……Hm?
Could this be…?
That thing? After all, it is that thing, isn’t it?
Is it coming? That weird show-off stuff!?
Is it coming? Is it coming? Is it really coming!?
Well then~!!!
……O spirits who soar the heavens………
Here it comes!? Weird show-off magic incoming!?
O spirits who soar the heavens, o souls of old heroes who once ruled the earth, I, as a worker of the great god’s miracles, do hereby wish. Now release your power, become burning wings of fire, become showers of thunder-hammers, become arrows of blue light, and show your form before me.
Ultra Grand Magic 《God’s Punishment of Total Wipeout》
…………pop.
……………………..huh?
O spirits who soar the heavens, o souls of old heroes who once ruled the earth, I, as a worker of the great god’s miracles, do hereby wish. Now release your power, become burning wings of fire, become showers of thunder-hammers, become arrows of blue light, and show your form before me.
……………poof.
………………huh?
– Ultra Grand Magic 《God’s Punishment of Total Wipeout》
………….puff
………………
Alfred and the others stood still, not able to say a word.
Brooks stepped forward. “That is the difficulty that girl has.”
Alfred turned to him. “Explain.”
”It’s true that Mary’s magic is strong enough to shake a country. But she cannot control it well, and it ends up like this most of the time,” Brooks shook his head. “Mary tries her hardest, but on this point, there appears to be no effective solution.”
Alfred frowned. “So it fails more often than not-which means it does work sometimes, right?”
Brooks nodded. “Yes. That is correct.”
”Then, Brooks, have you ever seen Mary’s magic when it does work?”
Brooks looked away. “……Sadly, no.”
Alfred stared at him. “…………………”
He and the others had nothing left to say.
Even sweet little Misha knew to stay quiet.
Ultra Grand Magic 《God’s Punishment of Total Wipeout》
………….pst.
Ultra Grand Magic 《God’s Punishment of Total Wipeout》
………….pef.
Ultra Grand Magic 《God’s Punishment of Total Wipeout》
………….pon.
《God’s Punishment of Total Wipeout》
………….pech.
《God’s Punishment of Total Wipeout》
………….push.
Before he knew it, Alfred was watching Mary keep trying her spell through tears, and he could not take it anymore.
He called out from behind. “……Mary, looks like today’s not your day. Let’s give it another go some other time.”
Mary’s shoulders shook. “……sniff… I’m not a failure… hic, I’m not a useless good-for-nothing… sniff, sniff… I’m, I’m…”
Alfred could not help it. He stepped forward and held Mary from behind.
”……Mary, I know. You’re an amazing magic user. It just happened to be a bad day today. Let’s give it another go sometime.”
Mary’s voice was tiny. “……hic, you won’t get mad? You won’t hit me?”
……What!? She had been treated like that all this time? Getting angry at a weak girl like this just because she could not use magic right? Hitting her!? Alfred felt hot anger rise in his chest.
He held her tighter. “……Mary, listen here. There ain’t anyone here who’s gonna get mad at you for not bein’ able to use magic. And of course, there ain’t anyone who’s gonna hit you. Even without magic, Mary is Mary. You don’t need to worry about a thing. You can stay here, just as you are, forever.”
Mary sniffled. “……Really?”
”Course,” Alfred patted her head. “All you’ve gotta do is talk lots and smile lots.”
”……Okay.”
The tightness left Mary’s body.
She leaned against him, still holding her staff. “……sniff… just one more try…”
Mary pointed her staff at the mountain.
O spirits who soar the heavens, o souls of old heroes who once ruled the earth, I, as a worker of the great god’s miracles, do hereby wish. Now release your power, become burning wings of fire, become showers of thunder-hammers, become arrows of blue light, and show your form before me.
……As she said the spell, light that came from somewhere wrapped around Mary, and the wind blew her skirt up……
Ultra Grand Magic 《God’s Punishment of Total Wipeout》
……Creeeeeeee……
Light began to gather at the tip of her staff, slowly forming into a huge ball of light.
Everyone’s eyes went wide. “””……!? “””
Mary laughed with joy. “Ahah! It’s coming!?”
Goooooooooo!!!
With Mary’s yell, the ball of light shot forward.
Creeeeeeeeeeeeeee……
…………
……..
….
Crump…….BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
””””………!?!?””””
Right after the light burst, a huge wind and cloud of dust swept over them.
The mountains around them shook. Countless birds flew away in fear across the sky, and those that were too slow got caught in the storm.
Everywhere, the scared cries of monsters and animals rang out, and the noise did not stop for a long time……
When the dust cleared, all that was left was empty space where the tall mountain had once stood.
Everyone’s jaws dropped. “”””………………huh?””””
They stood frozen, eyes wide……
Mary stuck out her flat chest and made a V-sign with a proud smile, but no one saw her victory pose.
”Peace, peace.”
Trivia:
- The White Demon Stone’s reaction with Earth Magic creates metal-hard walls that ring when struck, a byproduct effect that unexpectedly revolutionized construction.
- Mary’s chuunibyou incantations are not merely theatrical—they are the genuine trigger for her magic, and their failure pattern suggests a deep link between her emotional state and magical control.
- Alfred’s instinctive embrace of Mary reveals he instinctively understands that safety, not technique, is the missing ingredient for her magic to succeed.