I left the fired bricks to cool and moved on to laying the foundations for the other buildings. After about two hours, the count came to call me.
「Holy Knight-sama!」
「Oh? What is it, Count?」
「It’s almost time for lunch, so I came to fetch you!」
「Already that time…?」
「Yes! Today we have whole-roasted Hiruidori and Hanuki wild boar that my soldiers hunted!」
「Those are pretty rare catches, aren’t they?」
「Indeed… but in my territory, we have a hunting method that makes them fairly common.」
「Hee～」
After that, I enjoyed lunch. Then I went to the bed-making team and cut a huge amount of lumber for them. Once that was done, I leveled the ground for the simple barracks.
「Thank you so much～ With this, things will move much faster～」
「Glad to hear it. Then I’ll leave the rest to you.」
When I returned to the bathhouse construction, the bricks were ready.
「Now just stack the bricks… reinforce them with earth magic while I’m at it, make the entire floor, and finally create the tubs with earth magic and tiles… Done!」
The first one was complete. It took half a day, but it came out beautifully.
「All right… right now no one’s around…」
I quickly built a simple changing area and screens, then filled the tub with hot water. After that, I lit a fire underneath to raise and maintain the temperature.
「Hmm… this should be about right?」
I checked the temperature with my hand. It was holding steady enough. The water I added first made the far side a little lukewarm, but…
I undressed in the changing area, washed my body, and was rinsing my hair when I felt a gaze.
「No way…」
I shook the water from my head and turned around. There was Croco, completely naked, washing herself.
「Croco!?」
「Hyau!? I’m sorry I’m sorry I’m sorry!」
She clutched her head and crouched down. Apparently, she thought she’d get scolded for sneaking in.
「Ah, you just surprised me. It’s okay… but why are you here?」
「Um… everyone asked me to… check on Yuuki-oniichan. Then I saw you in the bath… and it’s my first time seeing a big bath, so…」
Her voice grew smaller and smaller. It seemed she was fascinated by the large bath.
「Ah, I see… the baths in the castle are usually single-person ones…」
Large public baths are normal in my world, but they’re probably a first in this one. Of course she’d be curious.
「I’m sorry. I’ll go back into the shadows right now!」
「Wait a second!」
I quickly stopped Croco before she could slip back into the shadows all covered in bubbles. If she went back like this, she’d definitely bring everyone else along…
「Since we’re already here, why don’t we bathe together?」
「Fweh!? B-But!」
「I just want to take my time for once… If you go back right now, everyone’s going to find out…」
「Ah…」
She seemed to understand.
「So come over here. I’ll wash your hair for you.」
I wrapped a towel around my waist and pulled out another bath stool, along with women’s shampoo and other items, from spatial storage (item box).
「Come on.」
「E-Excuse me!」
After she sat down, I used water magic to form a sphere of warm water and poured it gently over her head. I created a light current to rinse her hair.
「All right, next is shampoo. Close your eyes.」
「Yes!」
I squeezed shampoo onto her hair and worked it in, massaging her scalp as I lathered it up. When I gently rubbed in circles, Croco let out a blissful little sound. Yuha used to make the same noise…
「How’s that? Feel good?」
「Fai… It feels really good～」
Just like Yuha, she was melting. I smiled warmly, rinsed it out thoroughly, and applied conditioner.
「Okay. Let’s put this on and get in the tub.」
I slipped a shower cap onto her head, then we both stepped into the bath. A sigh escaped from both of us at the same time.
「Aaaah～ This feels amazing～」
「Fwaaa～ It feels so good～」
After so long, being able to stretch my legs fully in a deep tub… the fatigue just melted out of my body.
◇◆◇◆◇◆◇◆
After soaking until we were completely relaxed, Croco and I climbed out and drank some milk.
「Phew! That hit the spot.」
「Fwaaa～ So delicious～」
「All right… I can see some improvements already. Let’s do some renovations and build the rest!」
「Then I’ll go report back!」
「Yeah. Thanks, Croco.」
Still steaming from the hot water, Croco slipped into the shadows and disappeared.
Right… I’ve still got until sunset. Let’s finish the other four!
Feeling refreshed, I threw myself back into the work with renewed energy. I finished installing the drainage and matching sewer pipes.
「Next is the water supply lines… What should I do…」
Was it the siphon principle? That thing with the hose that transfers water over a hump.
「In that case… the well is on the mid-slope… Maybe an aqueduct would be best?」
If I build auxiliary reservoirs at various points and connect pipes from one main well, I could probably keep the water clean.
「Then again… if I raise the original well higher and split the flow from there to each location, that might work. Any excess can go into a large storage tank…」
I returned to the well and built a tall tower around it to enclose and protect the site, while also creating a separate, simpler well nearby just for drawing water by hand.
With that done, I began constructing the aqueduct. Starting from the bathhouse as the center, I extended the lines in the remaining three directions.
「Phew… This should take care of distributing the well water. Okay… next is…」
「Holy Knight-sama～」
One of the senior soldiers from the carpentry team came running up.
「What’s up?」
「The houses are finished, so we came to get you!」
「Really? That was fast.」
「Yeah yeah, some demons can fly or are huge, so it goes quick～」
「Makes sense. How do they look?」
「Pretty good～」
「Nice. Are we running low on materials?」
「Wood’s enough, but we’re not cutting fast enough～」
「Then I’ll make pre-cut lumber.」
「Thanks a ton～!」
When we arrived, five sturdy houses were already standing.
「Whoa, that’s quick!?」
「Ahaha～ We’ve got plenty of people, just not enough cut lumber～」
「Got it. I’ll make a ton right now!」
I pulled raw logs from spatial storage (item box) and sliced them precisely with Blood Frenzy Magic.
Cut, build, cut, build, we repeated the process, moving from spot to spot. By the time the sun set, roughly five hundred houses were completed.
Three hundred bed frames had also been finished, so I kept pulling them from storage and placing them inside.
「Haa… I’m beat…」
From the hilltop I looked down at the soldiers joyfully inspecting their new homes. Tomorrow the water system should be finished, and the baths will be usable too.
「Here, Yuuki.」
「Thanks.」
I took the offered canteen and unscrewed the cap… a canteen?
I turned slowly, grinding noises in my head, and there they were: Amilia smiling brightly, Liliana puffing out her cheeks, Selene with droopy ears, Shia glaring resentfully, and Croco looking extremely guilty.
「H-Hey… what’s up, everyone?」
「Hee… so you’re going to play innocent to the very end?」
「So cruel! You won’t bathe with us, but you’ll bathe with Croco-chan…」
「Is it okay just because I’m small…?」
「Unfair unfair unfair…」
「Sorryyyyy～」
Ah… there’s no escaping this one…
「Want to take a bath?」
At those words, all their faces lit up instantly.
「「「「「Ehhh!」」」」」
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