And then, morning came.
The first to wake inside the tent was Rest.
"...Finally, morning, huh."
He sat up from bed and let out a deep sigh.
He had somehow managed to fall asleep, but the presence and warmth of three girls had kept his sleep shallow.
His body felt a little heavy.
It didn't seem like he had gotten any quality sleep.
"...……"
Rest raised his upper body on the bed and gently glanced to either side, and there they were — three flowers in full bloom.
Viola, Primula, and Yuri, all softly breathing in their sleep.
"Ku, ku..."
"Suu suu..."
"Suya suya..."
Three beautiful young women, each with her own way of sleeping.
All three were wearing nightgowns in the form of negligées, but... the hems of their disheveled clothing had ridden up, revealing their dazzlingly smooth thighs.
"Suyaaa..."
The worst offender was Yuri.
Yuri's negligée had hiked up significantly, fully exposing the southern hemisphere of her twin motherly planets.
It was easy to overlook given her rather boyish personality, but seeing her like this really drove home just how feminine her body actually was.
"…………Hah!?"
Having been half-asleep, Rest had unwittingly become entranced by the underside of Yuri's breasts.
They were incredibly beautiful. They were incredibly large…!
"No good, no good… get a hold of yourself, me. Stay calm…!"
Rest tore his gaze away from the underside of Yuri's breasts and tapped himself on the head.
If he stayed here, the morning physiological response would never subside no matter how long he waited.
Slipping quietly out of bed without alerting the other three, Rest threw on a jacket and stepped out of the tent.
"…It's a little chilly."
The season was at the end of summer, on the cusp of entering autumn.
The four seasons in this country weren't all that different from Japan's. Summers were naturally hot, and winters were cold.
It was still early morning, and the sun had yet to rise.
The sky was gradually turning white… but the dawn light was still beyond the other side of the mountains.
"The 'magic hour,' huh…"
Looking up at the brightening sky as the stars faded away… Rest murmured to himself.
Even though the sun hadn't come up, the sky with its faint glow was apparently called the "magic hour."
(A literal translation would be 'the hour of magic'… Now that I've become a mage, maybe the name suits me after all…)
Rest quietly cast his magic and rose into the air.
Levitating and manipulating the wind, he soared to a height of several dozen meters—high enough to look down upon the frontier development team's campsite.
Below, he could make out a few figures moving about.
Some were lookouts on guard against monsters, while others could be seen preparing breakfast over cooking fires.
When he gazed into the distance, he could even spot monsters racing across the plains.
"Hah… hah…"
Rest stood in midair and spread both arms wide.
Wrapped in the crisp air of early morning… he took a deep, slow breath.
The progression of seasons was the same as in Japan, but the air itself was an entirely different world.
Unpolluted and free of impurities, the cool, refreshing air rushed into his lungs with every inhale.
"This air tastes incredible…"
And on top of that… the scenery was breathtaking.
The sun slowly peeked over the far mountains, painting the plains in shades of gold from one end to the other.
It was a sight you would almost never see in Japan.
The untouched beauty of nature. The view was so primordial that he even found himself entertaining grandiose thoughts—as though the creation of the world itself were beginning right here.
(But… I'm about to develop these very plains and build a town on them, aren't I…)
A twinge of guilt crept in at the thought of driving the knife of civilization into this pristine wilderness.
If Rest hadn't subjugated the magic beast Sabnock, these plains would have remained exactly as they were—forever.
"…I'm sorry. Forgive me."
He felt genuinely remorseful about carving up this grand wilderness for the sake of human convenience.
But… by developing the demon realm, countless people's lives would grow easier, and they would be freed from the threat of monsters.
(I'm only human, so I'll always put people first no matter what… but maybe I should be thinking about ways to coexist with nature rather than simply trampling it underfoot.)
At the very least, he had to make sure he never repeated the environmental disasters of his past life on Earth.
Rest let those thoughts settle in his heart, then slowly descended toward the ground.