“The orb broke? What do you mean?”
“Hakel, did you do something wrong?”
The members of the investigation unit came rushing over in a crowd.
And—
Step, step.
The investigation commander walked up in front of me.
His gaze looked as if it would pierce straight through me.
“…Just now, an abnormal amount of mana was detected.”
Ah, am I screwed? I released it as briefly as possible and controlled it so I would not be caught….
How was I supposed to know my body had this much mana?
“D-Did I do something wrong…?”
“Hmm. Enough mana to shatter the orb to pieces—”
There was something in common between a knight who handled “aura” and a mage who used “magic.”
Both made use of a resource called “mana.”
A mage processed mana.
Through formulas, they transformed it into fire, ice, or lightning.
On the other hand, a knight used the raw material called mana as it was.
They poured mana directly into their sword and body.
“—It must have been defective. You were unlucky.”
The commander narrowed his eyes for a moment, then shrugged.
“I-I am sorry!”
“There is nothing to apologize for. There is no way a body that has not even fully grown could use mana.”
Perhaps that was why. Magic could be used from a young age, as long as one was born with mana inside the body and learned formulas.
But aura was different. Even with talent, one could only use it properly in one's mid-twenties at the earliest, or past thirty at the latest.
“Hakel, how much of this village have you investigated?”
“We finished everyone over twenty years old. Even including this boy here, there are fewer than ten remaining.”
“Is that so? Then… the investigation ends here.”
“Yes, Commander!”
The investigation unit members in black robes vanished in an instant.
My family hurried to my side.
“Mikael! Are you hurt anywhere?”
“You did not cause another incident, did you? What on earth was that just now?”
“Mom, didn’t Mikael say he was going to meet the lord earlier?”
“That is what I mean… And he even broke the magic orb…. Mother was so shocked my heart nearly dropped!”
I pulled the contract from my coat and waved it.
It was conditional, but a victory report was still a victory report.
“…It seems there was a little happening. More importantly, Sister Lisa helped a great deal, so we decided to lease a warehouse site.”
Father, who had been keeping silent, brightened.
Blood really did tell.
Father was a merchant too, after all.
“Is that so? You mean the road leading to Oxhorn Pass that you mentioned?”
“Yes. So the thing is…….”
“Hm?”
“We do not have time. We have to build the warehouse quickly.”
“What?”
Father stared blankly at me for a moment.
The Raphael Family's cottage industry—
No, it was time for our family's civil engineering project to begin.
I explained what had happened at the lord's castle to my family one thing at a time.
Before I had even finished the story, my third sister's voice burst out first.
“Mom! I told you Mikael brought more work without discussing it with us again!”
…Of course, soldiers always acted first and reported afterward.
***
From the next morning, our family had to devote ourselves to our household civil engineering project.
The importance of a warehouse in trade could not be overstated.
As a simple example, grain rotted if it was rained on for even a single day. Was there not even a saying that one should build the warehouse before the house?
“Father, I drew up a warehouse blueprint.”
I unfolded the parchment.
∿∿∿∿∿∿∿∿∿∿∿∿
[ Temporary Warehouse Plan for Heindel Outskirts ]
▪ Foundation: Compacted gravel layer (drainage secured)
▪ Floor: Wooden pallets (moisture barrier)
▪ Walls: Stacked logs (improved insulation)
▪ Roof: Straw + waterproof cloth (rainwater runoff)
⤷ Use straw for now and cover with waterproof cloth later
▪ Entrance: Double wooden doors (south-facing)
⤷ To be installed later
▪ Vents: 4 side openings (air circulation)
⤷ To be improved later
※ Estimated construction period: 2 days
※ Workers: 6 people (our family)
∿∿∿∿∿∿∿∿∿∿∿∿
In war, an engineering corps was indispensable. Building bridges, digging trenches, and even raising barracks were all their duties.
…To think what I learned then would be used like this.
The cart may have failed, but this time would be different.
“This should be enough. We must secure the materials first.”
Father stared at the parchment for a long while, then nodded.
At some point, questions like, “Where did you learn something like this?” had disappeared.
“Yes, exactly. I will cut some wood.”
“Good. Then I will have your first and third sisters collect gravel. Your second sister can take care of the straw.”
“Yes, good. Father.”
“Your mother and I will compact the ground first. We need to raise the frame by the end of today.”
And so, the family scattered in their own directions.
My first and third sisters went to the stream to gather gravel.
My second sister set out to visit homes where the harvest had ended to get straw. She had probably gone as far as the outer farms half a day from Heindel, so it would take about two days for her to return.
I took an axe and headed toward the mountain.
“Hup—!”
Thud, thud, thud.
Every time the axe blade bit into the tree, the vibration traveled all the way to the ends of my arms.
If I used aura, I could cut down a tree like this in one stroke—but I should not do that now.
As long as the Magic Corps was looking for an Awakened, reckless actions were forbidden.
What was stranger than that was the amount of mana in my body.
After waking up, I had thought the heat in my body was just a simple aftereffect, but when I shattered the orb, I became certain.
‘My amount of mana has increased abnormally.’
…It seems to have happened after I fainted that day.
What on earth happened?
“Hoo…….”
Now was not the time to dwell on the reason.
When useless thoughts grew too numerous, using the body was the best solution.
“Hup—!”
Thud, thud. Crack—
I loaded the wood onto the cart and returned to the warehouse site.
Father was scattering soil with a shovel as if spreading it out, then striking the ground with a wooden club he held in his hand.
Mother had laid planks down and was standing on top of them, stomping hard.
……I feel like an undutiful son.
“The foundation must be done like this if it is to last.”
“Aha, I see! I just brought the wood.”
Father wiped away his sweat and spoke.
As the soft dirt floor gradually grew firm, Mother filled the empty spots with soil and evened them out while compacting it.
The soil, which had been soft enough for our toes to sink deep into it, gradually hardened firmly.
And a little while later.
My first and third sisters also returned with gravel loaded on a cart.
“Father! We brought the gravel!”
“Mikael, you wild little brat. Just you wait. Hm? Our youngest was here?”
……That was a lie.
“You saw me here earlier.”
Mother, whose forehead was dotted with beads of sweat, spoke.
“Now we need to make a water channel. Dig it to the depth of your palm. Lumiel, make a path over there with the shovel.”
“Me?”
“Yes. If not you, then who?”
Mother brushed off my third sister's grumbling as if it were nothing.
“Mariel, fill that path with gravel. At the end, cover it lightly with soil.”
“Yes, I understand…….”
And so, a drainage channel gradually began to form.
When it rained, that waterway would let water flow through the gravel.
If the floor did not get wet, the warehouse would not rot and would last long.
“Youngest, let us set up the pillars.”
“Yes, Father.”
I set down four logs I had cut from the mountain.
They were logs with one end thick, cut with the roots.
“Ones that are too thin will snap in the wind, so we must use the root side so they can endure.”
“Then we dig holes at the corners, right?”
“Yes, knee-height. Let us dig them together.”
Once four holes were dug, Father raised the logs.
While Father inserted the pillars, I mixed soil and stones beside him and filled the holes with them.
“Father, can we stop here for today?”
My third sister spoke with her lips protruding in a long pout.
Well… the sun was already setting.
“Hoo… That would be better.”
We organized the tools and brushed the dirt from our hands.
It was then.
Step, step.
“Oh? Who might everyone here be?”
A man wearing a dark-purple robe approached us. A monocle flashed among his golden hair.
At a glance, he had the impression of a pretty boy who lived off others.
The association head of the Oxhorn Pass Workshop Association also wore a monocle… but this man had eyes that seemed to judge people from beyond the glass.
“I am Raphael, and this is my family.”
“Is that so? Strange. This site was already about to be contracted by our merchant company, you see.”
“Would it not be proper for your side to introduce yourself first?”
A faint edge appeared at the end of Father's words.
“Ah ha ha ha, that is true.”
The man laughed, adjusted his monocle, and offered his hand to Father.
“I am Lucian de Bernard. I am in charge of this place on behalf of the Bernard Merchant Company.”
It seemed this was the merchant company the lord had said was aiming for this site.
Bernard Merchant Company… I had never heard of it.
Judging from the surname “Bernard,” he seemed to be from the western region or the Southern Kingdom.
In any case, it was irritating that someone who was not even the merchant company head was continuing a conversation with Father.
I put on an innocent expression and opened my mouth.
“Hello, Lord Lucian. I received permission from the lord and am using this place.”
“…You received permission? Ah, you received permission?”
“Yes. Would you like me to show you the contract?”
“Let me see it.”
In any case, once they went to the lord's castle, the Bernard Merchant Company would also learn the contents of this contract.
Lucian held the contract and said nothing for a moment. A subtly distorted expression passed across his face.
Soon regaining his composure, he looked at us from beyond his monocle and spoke.
With a slight smile, no less.
“Heh heh… So the temporary contract ends in two months……. May I come again then?”
“I am not sure. By then, this place will already be a completed warehouse.”
“Ha ha, even better. Taking over something already prepared will be much easier.”
They say people behave the way they look, and his words were just as slick as his appearance.
“I am not sure. By then, you will simply pass by this place.”
“Well, fine. Then I will greet you again at that time.”
After the man left, silence flowed between our family for a moment.
The first to speak was my eldest sister, Mariel.
“But was he not handsome?”
“Ah…….”
Throb—
The back of my head pulled, and I felt dizzy.
I sighed and pressed my forehead.
***
Muscle pain came over me all night, but when the sun rose, I had to move again.
“Now. Let us start again.”
After a simple breakfast, we devoted ourselves to the warehouse construction again. Father opened his mouth while holding a pillar.
“Bring some rope. If the pillar heights do not match, the roof will be crooked.”
“Yes!”
My sisters and I raised two pillars and hung a rope across the tops.
When the line grew taut, I grabbed one side and spoke.
“A little more! Now it is standing straight.”
But it only lasted a moment.
Clunk—
The pillar tilted to one side.
…Then we had to do it again.
“Ah, the ground must be soft.”
“We need to dig it again.”
“Will we finish today…?”
At Father's words, I picked up a shovel, and my eldest sister let out a sigh.
The work of digging up the soil again, mixing in stones, and compacting it continued.
Only after quite some time had passed did the pillars firmly settle into place.
“Good. Now let us place the crossbeams.”
Father lifted a thick log over the pillars. The wood fit perfectly into the grooves on both pillars.
Thud.
With a heavy sound, the four pillars connected as one, and a wooden box open on all sides stood beneath the sunlight.
“Let us stack the walls one row at a time with logs.”
Father tapped the wood with his palm.
“We need to fill the gaps with soil or clay so the wind does not get in.”
“I will fill the gaps! Youngest too. Heh heh heh.”
My third sister came running over with a bucket. Her dirt-covered fingertips moved smoothly along the wooden wall.
My sister, who had been spreading soil, looked at me with suspicious eyes.
“Mikael, where did you learn all this?”
“Me? You know I have always liked books. I saw it in a book.”
“Really…? Still, seeing it and doing it yourself should be very different.”
“I told you, I am good with my hands.”
As the soil dried and the gaps were sealed, the air inside changed. The cold draft stopped, and the inside of the warehouse grew much warmer.
“We could sleep inside now.”
Mother smiled.
“Good, only the roof is left now.”
“But why has Sister Seriel not come back yet after going to get straw?”
“Wait. Your second sister always does her work thoroughly. The village outskirts are quite far, so even when she went to the market before, she was about a day late, was she not?”
It was then.
“Oh! Seriel is coming!”
At my eldest sister's shout, I turned my head.
My second sister?
In the distance, I could see someone riding a mule.
The sight of her walking with the sunlight at her back looked somehow dignified. Like a triumphant general.
But the closer she came, the stranger I felt.
‘Huh?’
…There is not just one mule?
Behind her, four more were following in a line.