The next day, they immediately began preparations for the town's construction.
They invited surveyors and architects from the Marquis of Rosemary and had them draw up blueprints for the town.
Having relayed the wishes of Viola, Primula, Yuri, and Rest in advance, they had the experts design the town from a professional standpoint based on those requests.
Where to place the major facilities, how to route the aqueducts and sewers, what countermeasures to take against monsters, how to handle garbage and waste...
As the saying goes, leave it to the experts — they had abundant knowledge in these areas, and after synthesizing Rest and the others' opinions, they came up with practical proposals.
Surveying the land would take time, so actual construction was still a ways off... but in the meantime, Rest had a mountain of things he needed to do.
"[Stone Wall]"
Rest cast the spell, and a stone wall materialized before his eyes. He then toppled the wall, laying it flat on the ground.
"That's about one kilometer... Still a long way to go."
Rest wiped the sweat from his forehead and let out a heavy sigh.
What Rest was doing was road construction.
He was building a road from the Marquisate of Rosemary to what would become his domain — conjuring stone walls and toppling them in a row.
The benefits of a stone-paved road were enormous. Dirt roads were susceptible to rain, and the potholes and puddles that formed could make it difficult for carriages to pass.
By paving with stone in advance, people and goods would be able to travel smoothly.
(The domain I'll be governing will end up depending on our neighbors, House Rosemary. Road construction is essential... This is something that needs to be done. Yeah.)
"[Earthen Wall]"
Muttering to himself as he went, Rest used magic to pave the ground.
Paving the ground with magic wasn't particularly unusual. It was a common practice.
However, this was originally something that required dozens of magicians working together to carry out. It wasn't the kind of light task one person could handle.
It was a feat made possible only because Rest possessed infinite mana.
(Mana isn't an issue at all... but even so, casting the same magic over and over is tiring. Mentally.)
Repetitive manual labor. It felt like doing endless piecework at home.
Having infinite mana meant it was never physically grueling, but after hours on end, his spirit wore thin.
"Rest, want to take a break? I brought food!"
The one saving grace was that Yuri had come along with him.
Yuri was bringing water and meals for Rest, who was paving an empty stretch of plain.
For the record... Viola and Primula weren't here. The two of them were handling other tasks, and only Yuri—whose help was of little use in office work—was out here supporting Rest.
"A little while ago, I saw some delicious-looking birds flying around over there! I skewered one, so eat up!"
"Birds... Thank goodness it was something actually edible..."
Yuri was a gourmet in the best light, and a glutton for anything in the worst.
Whether it was insects or monsters, if she decided something "looked tasty," she'd eat absolutely anything. And without the slightest ill intent, she'd offer it to others too.
Having been on the receiving end of that quite often, Rest was understandably anxious about what kind of dish Yuri might bring.
"Thanks, this really helps."
Without stopping his magic, Rest took the water and drank, then took the skewer and bit into it.
Around them, several other people were working alongside the two.
Some workers were filling in the gaps between the stone walls Rest had created, connecting them together. Others were adjusting their positions and orientations by small degrees.
Yuri was handing out food to all of those laborers too.
"Here you go, everyone! Food's ready!"
"Thank you, ma'am."
"Thanks, miss!"
"Much appreciated, milady."
The workers received their food from Yuri and thanked her with smiles on their faces.
Innocent and carefree—despite her status as a marquis's young lady, Yuri never put on airs, making her a favorite among the workers.
Everyone wore fond smiles as Yuri giggled with a dopey grin at being called "ma'am."
"…Say what you will, she's actually pretty popular, huh."
It was a feeling close to that of a sports club's team manager.
She might not carry herself like a noble young lady, but she certainly had the aptitude for leadership.
Even if she couldn't handle the refined duties of nobility the way Celestine could, there seemed to be a place where Yuri could shine in her own way.
"Guess I'll keep relying on her then… But anyway, back to work, work…"
Rest bit into a piece of skewered chicken and continued the simple task of generating stone walls.
It was only later that he learned the bird he had eaten was indeed a monster—an aberrant creature with the body of a bird and the head of a frog—but that is another story entirely.