The Defensive Wall Is Complete!

A huge “slab of rock” makes its way through the forest.

Every now and then, it collides with the branches of Nishakasha trees blocking its path, but the boulder—about 1 meter thick and 5 meters tall—simply snaps them and plows forward without a second thought.

Why is the rock moving forward on its own?

The answer is simple.

I'm hidden by the brush, and since the rock is so big, you can hardly see me from a distance, but yours truly, Emi-chan, is carrying it all by herself!

That's right, by myself!

<Your monstrous strength is as impressive as ever. But you will grow further still. Let us aim higher!>

Yeah, Omake-sama.

I'm happy you're praising me, but actually, the part I want you to notice isn't that I'm strong.

I already knew I could carry a boulder of this size with ease.

More importantly!

I'm acting “alone” for the first time in a while!

That's the part that's more important to me.

<Ah...... the base has gained one perverted old geezer, after all.>

Right.

The perverted old geezer, Earthcell, who arrived at the base yesterday.

That old geezer may be a pervert, but he turned out to be pretty strong.

Strong enough that I can entrust him with guarding the old man.

That's why I'm acting alone for the first time in a while.

I don't dislike the old man, but being alone is just more relaxing.

When there's no one to protect, I don't have to stay on guard.

If it's just me, I can walk through a forest like this as if I'm out for a stroll, demon realm or not.

“Migyaaaa!”

Oops.

A dumb three-eyed snack suddenly leaped out of the brush and charged at me.

<Even if you are luring them by suppressing your magic leakage and such with 【Presence Concealment】, I can only conclude that attacking a being who carries a boulder is simply foolish. What a reckless creature.>

Did it think I couldn't fight back because both my arms are occupied by the boulder?

“Migya......”

Too bad.

I have 【Magic Slash Thread】.

The dumb snack...... the Forest Topopolock couldn't even get close to me before it was sliced to ribbons by invisible threads and died, reduced to scattered chunks of meat.

For now, I kick up a piece of thigh meat, catch it in my mouth, and walk while eating mosho mosho.

Is eating while walking bad manners?

<When you're eating raw meat bones and all, that's a bit rich, don't you think?>

......Well, well.

As for why I'm currently hauling a boulder.

This is a job the perverted old geezer asked me to do.

Apparently, he wants to use these boulders as materials for a defensive wall to protect the base.

From what I hear, it's supposedly possible to build a wall using only the perverted old geezer's magic.

But apparently, if you want to make a wall for long-term use, it requires a massive amount of time and magic power.

That's why he needs materials.

He'll use this boulder I'm carrying as a base, reinforce it with magic, and build the wall.

He said, ‘You get a sturdier wall, and it's overwhelmingly more efficient!’

Since it's for the safety of our own base, I decided I'd be happy to help out with the wall-building.

That's why I've been making several round trips between the cliffs of Mount Nanga and the base, cutting out boulders with 【Mantis】 and hauling them back!

......That the perverted old geezer can build the wall I couldn't build properly, I don't much like, though......

<It can't be helped. Everyone has their strengths and weaknesses. The right person in the right place. That perverted old geezer is a creator, good at making things. Emi, you are a genocider, good at destroying things and slaughtering enemies to the last. That's all it is.>

What does Omake-sama think I am!?

I'm not some brutal, inhuman weapon of destruction, you know!

◇ ◇ ◇

Well, well.

When I returned to the base, the old man and the perverted old geezer were having a planning session, drawing something on the ground.

A few Grim Wolf carcasses were scattered around.

It seems the old geezer did a proper job of guarding the old man while I was gone.

Good, good.

By the way, the old geezer isn't wearing panties on his head right now.

I don't really get the difference between when he wears them and when he doesn't.

In the first place, I don't even know what's so great about wearing panties on your head.

Anyway, the perverted old geezer saw me coming out of the forest and hopped up with a burst of energy.

“Foooh~~~! Welcome back, Emi-chan! I'm the one who asked, but my word, fancy you carrying a boulder like that...... wait, what's with all that blood smeared around your mouth......”

“............”

What's with that slightly twitchy smile.

I'll knock you flying.

“Well, thanks to you, it's a huge help! This has cut months off the construction time! Right then, could you set that rock next to the last one!”

“Got it.”

With a zudon! sound, the boulder stands on the ground.

“‘O ground, open your mouth and swallow my foe! 【Pit】!’”

Next, the perverted old geezer chants, earth magic opens a hole under the boulder, and the boulder sinks a little into it and beds in firmly.

According to the perverted old geezer, he's making a hole that fits the shape of the rock perfectly to increase stability, and apparently, this isn't something just anyone can do.

<Yes, that is exactly so. Originally, 【Pit】 is a spell for making a round pitfall. Fine-tuning the shape of the hole is certainly unglamorous, but applying incantation magic to such use deserves astonishment.>

“Foooh~~~! Next! ‘O earth, become a wall and protect me! 【Wall】!’”

The next spell the perverted old geezer uses is 【Wall】, the one he used yesterday to build our house.

But he's using it differently from yesterday.

Under the perverted old geezer's magic, the earth around us swells up and starts moving as if it had a will of its own.

Then, in the blink of an eye, it filled in the gaps between the boulders I had set in place.

With that, the foundation of the wall for this section is complete.

“Foooh~~~! I'm warming up now! While I'm at it! ‘O rock, become a sharp spear and run my foe through! 【Rock Spear】!’”

The perverted old geezer chants this and gives the finished wall a slap, peshin!

“............?”

But nothing seems to have happened.

“Perv...... Earthcell-dono, what was that just now?”

The old man also looks bewildered.

“You'll see from the forest side! Follow me!”

Doing as told, we went around to the back of the wall, and the old man and I understood.

On the forest side, countless sharp spikes, like spears, are protruding from the top of the wall.

“This is for the Zamago Toads! They're fairly clever, you see! If the wall has spikes, they won't even try to jump it! And any Forest Topopolock that tries to climb the wall gets knocked off, too!”

““Ooh.””

The old man and I let out cries of admiration without thinking!

Truly, this Earthcell is a capable old geezer.

<If only he weren't a pervert......>

Omake-sama sighed quietly to herself.

“If only he weren't a pervert......”

The old man whispered the exact same thing.

◇ ◇ ◇

For the next few days, I kept hauling rocks.

By now the wall stretches all the way around the base, except for one part.

To fill that final remaining gap, I returned from the cliffs of Mount Nanga carrying a boulder as usual.

Zudon!

I set the boulder into the gap in the wall.

“Foooh~~~! Emi-chan! Come in through the gap!”

At his invitation, I step inside the base, where the old man and the perverted old geezer are.

“All righty! Right then, here's the finishing touch! ‘O ground, open your mouth and swallow my foe! 【Pit】!’”

The last boulder sank a little into the earth.

“‘O earth, become a wall and protect me! 【Wall】!’”

The gaps between the boulder and the wall around it were filled with earth.

“‘O rock, become a sharp spear and run my foe through! 【Rock Spear】!’”

And sharp spikes formed, to keep out invaders.

“AND WITH THAT, THE DEFENSIVE WALL IS COMPLETE~~~!”

The perverted old geezer raises his fist and lets out a war whoop!

I...... looked around, and up at the wall surrounding us.

This place, which was nothing but forest.

Felling trees, making a field, building a wall......

is becoming a place where people can live.

Somehow......

Somehow, I'm deeply moved.

“Here, Emi, take this.”

While I was trembling with emotion, the old man held something out to me from the side.

It's the cup the perverted old geezer made with earth magic before.

Inside it, sparkling clear water and...... ivy.

This ivy is “vinegar ivy”.

In other words, this is vinegar-ivy water.

A tasty drink with a refreshing tartness, the old man's own invention.

“Foooh~~~! Thank you kindly!”

The perverted old geezer also happily took his cup.

“......Now then! By all of us joining forces, we have safely completed the defensive wall around the base! Ahead of us, there is much still to do: building a gate, building a moat, building a waterway...... building, a road! But for today! Let us honor one another's efforts! And raise a toast to the completion of the wall! ......Cheers!”

““Chee~rs!””

After hearing the old man's toast, we clink our cups together and gulp down the vinegar-ivy water.

Delicious.

“Pwah~~~! That's good! If only we had some liquor, it'd be perfect!”

“Even if we had liquor, I wouldn't bring it out here. I can hardly have Emi drinking.”

“I see! My apologies! Fuwahahaha!”

The old man and the perverted old geezer laugh together.

It's strange.

Just a few days ago, they were total strangers, and now they stand side by side drinking vinegar-ivy water.

By now, a strong bond of trust had formed among us.

The villain-faced old man, who calls himself a great sinner.

The super capable, but perverted, old geezer.

And me, the cursed child.

Each of us carries something.

But even so, we're close enough that none of that matters.

Right now, we were “comrades”.

“......Emi-chan, you've worked hard too! You were the biggest help of all!”

Earthcell approached me this time.

“It's, nothing, really......”

“To you, Emi-chan, perhaps it isn't...... but, you know, we truly have been helped by you, Emi-chan! Thank you kindly!”

“............”

......I got praised?

<Yes, you were praised.>

I got praised.

Um, um, when I get praised, what am I supposed to do, Omake-sama?

<Well, to ‘praise’ Emi is a touch disrespectful! Let us train them to worship and revere you!>

Right, I'll ignore this one.

Um, um......

“............”

Feeling kind of embarrassed, in the end I could only turn away without a word.

Earthcell gazed at me gently......

“......Emi-chan. You, perhaps, are someone I can entrust this to......”

He whispered softly.

“Eh.”

“I'd be happy if you'd just take it without a word!”

With that, Earthcell took something out of his pocket and pressed it firmly into my palm.

Earthcell opens his rough, gnarled hand.

At that moment, what leapt into my eyes, his gift to me, was......

Panties.

I punched the perverted old geezer into the air.

The strong bond of trust shattered, easily.

Earthcell applies 【Wall】 to build houses and such, but if you ask whether this world has no “incantation magic for building houses” in the first place: it does.

It does, but it has been lost.

Why? Because if such a spell existed, nearly every house would be built with magic and the building trades would be lost, so the Architecture God and others protested to the God of Magic.

There are actually quite a few incantation spells like that, which the God of Magic made but which can't be used because of complaints like this.