How to Use the Lord’s Future Diary

Chapter 57

Chapter 57

There was always a certain image that came to mind when one thought of a wizard.

A robe, a staff, and a slender build.

Of course, wizards in this world felt more like engineers, but still, the image itself wasn’t all that different.

In fact, even the alchemists of the territory gave off the same vibe of ordinary nerds.

Thin bodies, dark circles under their eyes, things like that.

But the Builders of the Golem School were… something else.

‘A tough construction foreman?’

They wore something resembling robes, but the bulging muscles underneath could not be hidden.

‘Come to think of it, Elder Benetrang also had a pretty imposing figure.’

I asked if Builders were always like that, but apparently, the other schools weren’t the same.

In the case of the Golem School, they often had to gather the required materials themselves, so they never neglected physical training.

In fact, the very reason the Golem School joined Johnson without a fuss was because the region had many places to gather special materials.

Supposedly, they couldn’t even create the type of golems they wanted with the materials gathered around the Haken Territory.

Since they were people who loved unusual things, I figured they would get along well with Dr. Nickel.

–Not bad, isn’t it? In this region, you won’t survive without muscles anyway.

‘No, it’s not to that extreme, is it?’

If Builders, who were supposed to be desk workers, had to be thrown into battle, then the territory was already half-ruined.

Still, their strong muscles made them look healthy, and I had to admit, it was reassuring.

It didn’t seem like they would collapse or faint no matter how hard they were worked.

But despite their rugged appearance, their working process looked surprisingly smart.

Watching them quickly demolish damaged houses with Restoration Magic Circles gave off the impression of veteran foremen, but the way they constructed new houses looked truly fascinating.

First, they used illusion magic to project the blueprint in their head onto the building site.

Then, they summoned all kinds of building materials and assembled them.

The laborers working alongside them didn’t need any particularly great skills.

That was because the virtual house conjured up by the Builders’ magic was so precise that just by looking at it, one could immediately tell where each piece went.

In fact, since the process involved slotting materials directly onto the faintly outlined illusion, mistakes could be spotted instantly.

It was practically as easy as stacking blocks with the answer sheet right in front of you.

There was no need to bother with things like electrical wiring, plumbing, heating, or even interior design.

The houses were simple one-story homes, which made it all possible.

‘It does require quite a lot of mana crystals though.’

Projecting the house with illusion magic and summoning materials both required mana crystals.

That was the true value of Builders—burning mana crystals to create bricks and other building materials.

Pulling magical bricks out of the soil and turning iron ingots directly into rebar was something I hadn’t expected to see.

Of course, reaching that level supposedly required countless hours of training and practice.

The veteran Builders working here had about ten years of experience each, so it was no easy feat.

“…What the hell is that?”

–Oh, now that’s real magic.

But there was someone who built houses even more unbelievably than those Builders—Elder Benetrang himself.

What unfolded before my eyes surpassed my imagination.

‘The bricks… they’re moving on their own?’

Bricks and construction materials were moving by themselves, slotting perfectly into the schematic drawn on the ground.

All the laborers had to do was apply construction adhesive each time a new layer of bricks was stacked.

“Team 2, handle the interior.”

Once the framework was completed, one Builder went inside to set up the interior.

They engraved magic circles for water supply, heating, and sewage, and embedded mana crystals so that everything could function for years.

The Builders left outside strengthened the house exterior with reinforcement magic and finished the job.

Everything proceeded as smoothly as flowing water, and in no time, a house was standing complete.

“Do Builders of the Golem School always work like this?”

“Haha, my friend, of course not! Normally, the Builders just produce the materials, and the laborers do the building.”

“Then this means…?”

“Why do you think we’re called the Golem School, even though we can’t even make proper golems? It’s because we have techniques we developed through golem research.”

“So those bricks moving by themselves earlier were…”

“Exactly. Isn’t it much faster for us to construct it ourselves than having the laborers do it?”

“It is fast. Honestly, I’m impressed.”

“Fast indeed. We’re fast at everything. But we’re also the fastest in the world at burning through mana crystals, tsk tsk.”

The one drawback of the Golem School, who could build houses at a miraculous pace, was their excessive consumption of mana crystals.

It was said they needed several times more than the Builders of other schools.

Even Elder Benetrang’s one-man show just now, and the illusion-projected houses, were methods that weren’t used by any other school.

An insane cost-performance ratio.

Of course, in the bad sense of the word.

‘Why does it feel like everyone who gathers here has terrible cost-performance?’

Thanks to them, what should have taken several days of work was finished in a single day, and I had to admit it was astounding.

“Not that we always work like this. It’s just that this time, things are quite urgent, aren’t they?”

“That’s true.”

It was starting to get cold, and without houses, what would people do?

If they were immigrant families, of course there would be children and the elderly among them.

If mana crystals could buy them time, then it wasn’t such a bad deal.

“The true strength of the Golem School shows best in fortification. I noticed the walls had plenty of weak points earlier, so I’ll be looking forward to it.”

“Oh? Don’t tell me, even when building walls…?”

“You’ll get to witness the miracle of stones building a fortress by themselves.”

Now that was a real miracle.

Moving bricks had already been absurd enough, but stones stacking themselves into a fortress?

Just imagining it sounded like a spectacular sight.

‘Well, good is good.’

Mana crystals could be replenished by continuously hunting monsters, but magic powerhouses like these couldn’t just be found anywhere.

From the looks of it, their “performance” was nothing short of incredible, so the best course was to keep them appeased and cooperative in the affairs of the territory.

The Golem School’s contribution was immense.

They restored abandoned houses that still had Restoration Magic intact, demolished the hopeless ones, and rebuilt them anew.

Preparing homes for the immigrants took only five days.

Afterward, they visited each household of the existing residents and restructured their Life Magic Circles.

Now, they were even stopping by the beastmen’s homes to repair and improve them.

They secured the Rabbit Tribe’s dugout homes so they wouldn’t collapse and engraved new Life Magic Circles.

In the lion beastmen’s treehouses, they added reinforcement magic and also Life Magic Circles.

“So this is human civilization.”

“I heard of it before. They say everything’s different on this side, even the way they walk.”

“Water comes out directly inside the house. This is incredibly convenient!”

Even beastmen, used to the wild, began to succumb to the comforts of civilization.

Soon enough, they wouldn’t be able to go back to their old beastmen villages.

‘Beastmen can’t use magic, so they have no choice but to rely on humans.’

–They can’t use magic, but shamanism exists.

Of course, only a few tribes can use it.

‘So, is it possible to implement Life Magic with shamanism?’

–No. That’s not it. They’re more like casters. At least, that’s how it used to be. I’m not sure about nowadays, but in the past, yes.

‘Oh, really? Then they could be used in actual combat?’

–Of course, though not exactly in the way you’re imagining. Think of them more like buffers.

‘Heh, that’s pretty interesting in its own way.’

Beastmen who used shamanism, huh.

I’d like to meet one of them someday.

The Rabbit Tribe or the Lion Tribe didn’t seem related to that sort of thing though.

“Lord! We see people ahead!”

The immigrants who had left the Haken Territory arrived in the Johnson Territory the very next day after we had finished all preparations.

There were about a thousand people—families of those who had been squeezed out of the Haken Territory, along with relatives of the Golem School.

Dozens of wagons carried their belongings, pulled by a fair number of draft horses.

Maybe the draft horses could be requisitioned for farming?

With more people, we’d need to expand farmland anyway.

Or perhaps they could be used to pull wagons during trade with Haken.

‘Well, I’ll just decide depending on the situation.’

The one leading the group was Sir Selin, the vice-captain of the Crimson Comet.

“Sir Selin.”

“Pleased to meet you, my lord.”

“Yes, likewise. And Rudick…?”

“He contacted me in advance. He said he’d be going on field training with the new knights.”

That brat.

Even in the middle of everything, he still kept in steady contact with Sir Selin.

Typical Rudick.

I clicked my tongue and looked at the troops lined up behind her.

The most eye-catching was the Horn Assault unit, which was composed entirely of women.

Considering how the Crimson Comet was originally formed, I guess it wasn’t that surprising.

Still, at this rate, the female military force of the territory was going to grow considerably.

Starting with the lion tribe’s warrior women, and now the Crimson Comet’s Horn Assault as well.

Thankfully, the newly recruited territorial knights were all men, so at least that balanced things out somewhat.

Not that I minded, being an extreme advocate of gender equality myself, but it could give off a strange impression.

‘In truth, that’s not really the important part.’

What mattered more than the gender ratio of the troops was the other soldiers—those who had followed us here simply because they wanted to leave the territory.

“Sir Selin, a word.”

“Yes, my lord.”

I pulled Selin aside and asked about those who had left the Haken Territory and followed us here.

If any of them had serious issues, they’d need to be sent elsewhere.

Of course, Irene wouldn’t have brought people carelessly, but as lord, it was something I had to confirm personally.

“There’s no major issue. They simply…”

“Simply?”

“They just said no to what they didn’t want, and refused what they couldn’t do.”

“And? That sounds like the natural thing to do.”

“It is natural, but in some cases, it wasn’t treated that way.”

“I see. Alright, I understand. You’ve done well to bring them this far. Get some rest.”

“Yes, my lord.”

I had a rough idea.

So, they were basically stubborn individuals who got marked by those above them without any real cause.

For soldiers, that might not be surprising, but for knights to be treated that way—it was a serious problem.

Even if the number of knights reached five hundred, wasn’t that a bit too neglectful?

At least they weren’t people with genuine problems, which was a relief.

Still, it did raise my awareness a little.

Our territory was growing larger, and who knew—rot could start setting in where I wasn’t looking.

‘Perhaps we really do need someone reliable to manage things properly.’

Until now, I had been handling almost all of the territory’s affairs myself.

The occasional support from Butler Harold or Peter had been enough.

That was only possible because the Johnson Territory had a mere 3,000 people.

Besides defending against monster attacks and securing food, there hadn’t been many issues to deal with.

The mindset of the residents was purely survival-oriented, so little could shake them.

But now, things were bound to change.

The beastmen had increased greatly, and with the new immigrants as well.

The population had more than doubled, so things couldn’t continue as before.

‘Still, among the new immigrants, there should be capable people who can take on proper work.’

Once I finished sorting the troops, I’d need to meet those people first.