Published: January 15, 2026
【Bellville】
I couldn’t understand what was happening at all.
To begin with, the building materials hadn’t even arrived yet, and there were no craftsmen around to start construction. I wondered what on earth was going on in such a state, when suddenly, it happened.
First, the walls at the building’s entrance started to change. The stone walls moved and reshaped themselves as if they were living creatures. The chipped and cracked stone walls swiftly transformed in appearance, and the height of the walls more than doubled.
“...W-What is this? What’s going on?”
I heard someone murmur, but no one answered that question. Or rather, no one could answer it. Even the town’s residents watching from afar voiced their astonishment, but there was no time to worry about causing a commotion.
The ground trembled repeatedly, and I assumed the interior of the building was changing as well. I glanced at Count Panamera to see his reaction, but he only crossed his arms and smiled.
“Is it shaking so much because the building materials are stone?”
“No, I don’t think that’s it...”
Near the Count, those merchants were casually chatting as if this were a normal scene...
How much time had passed? After a while, Viscount Van came out of the building. The Viscount opened the clearly large, new white double doors and smiled at us, who were still stunned and frozen in place.
“For now, the first phase is complete.”
“Oh? The first phase?”
“I thought I’d have the intended users inspect it before modifying the rest.”
“I see.”
Listening to the conversation between the Viscount and the Count, various questions sprang up in my mind.
What did it mean that the first phase was complete? What did ‘modifying the rest’ mean? I couldn’t understand why the Count nodded with satisfaction after such a brief exchange.
“Ah, please, go inside and take a look first.”
When the Viscount said this, a large knight fully opened the door. If I remember correctly, he was a subordinate of Viscount Dee. Once the doors were opened, the Count entered the building first, followed by the Viscount’s subordinates and attendants.
“...There’s no point in just thinking about it.”
I muttered this to no one in particular, nodded at Thomas nearby, and stepped inside.
Even though I had braced myself somewhat, I was surprised once again.
“W-Wow...”
“This is completely different from before...”
I agreed silently with the voices of astonishment as I examined the transformed interior.
“The staircases were in good locations, so I shifted them slightly. There are two at the left and right edges when viewed from the entrance, and two more at the far end, making a total of four. I also made the entrance a bit wider, assuming there would be a lot of traffic.”
The Viscount explained briefly, but just from a glance, it was completely different. The walls were now a beautiful pure white, with wood used on the ceiling. The floor remained stone, but it shone with a polished finish.
“The first floor is arranged as storage, dining hall, lavatory, and meeting rooms. Overall, it was rebuilt more spaciously, so I’m sorry, but the outdoor training ground was removed.”
“Th-The training ground...?”
“That... What about that?”
When a voice of confusion arose, the Viscount smiled wryly and nodded.
“Of course, I’ve prepared a replacement for that. Please come this way.”
Saying that, the Viscount headed toward the back right from the entrance. We passed the storage room, which looked nearly twice as large as before. Armor, swords, shields, and other equipment that were once crammed in were now neatly lined up. Even just that would have made taking things in and out much easier, but I was even more impressed to see there were two entrances and exits to the storage room.
This had happened many times before—when there was only one entrance, problems often occurred during emergencies. Those fetching weapons and those returning with weapons would get mixed up, causing confusion and even quarrels. But now, with separate entrances and exits, such chaos would likely be avoided.