Xellos, the old mage, was in trouble.

　Ever since he came back from mining, he has been busy making tools.
　A metal cylinder three times the size of a drum set up underground. Standing three abreast, these are the silos with dryers that Xelloss created.
　Using the existing magic formula, the temperature can be smoothly adjusted, and the rice can be stored at the optimal temperature at all times.

　He was overjoyed to have made a refrigerator using the same technology, a foot-operated thresher, and a portable ashtray, but then he realized that he had overlooked something.

"No rice!

　That's right. No matter how fast it grows and how many times it can be harvested, the rice is still only ankle high.
　It would be a few weeks before the rice could be harvested.

　It's all well and good to hastily create a tool, but you won't be able to use that tool for the time being.
　There was no need to rush into making them.

　The discovery of rice seems to have made him very excited.

"It's no use, I'll just look for some ...... koji.

　Koji is a fermenting bacterium that is essential for making miso and soy sauce.
　The trick is to keep the seed koji growing and keep it on hand.

　Incidentally, the same fermentation also applies to yeast, and Zeroth had already tried the old noodle method.
　This was easy to propagate because the orphanage was baking bread, but he could not find the essential koji mold.

　Xelloss opened the front door to find the koji mold.

"......, what are you doing...
Yes?

　When he opened the ...... door, he found Naguri, a carpenter, standing there.
　He is not only a carpenter, but also a professional builder who does all kinds of construction work.

"Yes? No, you're not!　I'm sure you've got a job for me starting today.
...... Ah... I believe you were the guy who worked on the foundation of the bridge piers. Did it start today?
I said next week!
You should have a specific date. How am I supposed to know if you vaguely said next week?
Didn't you say ......?
No, I didn't.

　There was a miscommunication there.

　When a craftsman says that he will start work next week, it is usually on Monday, and other days are usually indicated by the day of the week.
　However, this common sense does not apply to businessmen.
　Even if they are told vaguely that the work will start next week, they do not know which day of the week it is.
　The way of thinking and the way of understanding words are completely different between a rough craftsman and a man who makes a schedule by the minute.

"Oh, well. You're going to have to help me out a bit, so follow me, okay?
Hey, I'll be working on ...... today.
Oh, you'll be working construction today. You'll have to work hard, okay?　It's a big job, you know.
The words are the same, but the meanings are different. --------

　And so the old man was sent away.
　Too bad!

　Most craftsmen are selfish.
　Unless there is an accident at the site, they always do their job.
　There is no compromise in that, and that is what makes them professionals.

　Incidentally, the foreman was Nagri himself.

　They will continue to challenge the hottest sites even today.

　Involving one old man's part-time job, .......


　　This is a very good idea.


　---The last power was gone...

　The forest grizzly breathed its last, perhaps running out of steam.
　It's a huge bear, over three meters tall, but it's a true demon with four paws.
　It is a mid-level demon in this country, but it was the four mercenaries who defeated this giant bear.

I'm not going to let you take the time to ...... make me hungry!
That's right. But I'm hungry. ...... Lately, I've been feeling a little hungry.
You too? I've been feeling really hungry lately, too, and no amount of food is going to fill me up. ......
But you know what, this stuff works great, right?　I'm starving. ......

　In the past few days, the mercenaries have received multiple requests to take down the enemy, and they have succeeded in all of them.
　Their skills as mercenaries are not that great, but their situation has changed drastically in the past few days.

　They took on requests that the four of them would never have been able to fulfill, such as dangerous orc nests and armor lizards, and defeated them all.

　They grew stronger so fast that even the mercenary guild was astonished, and today they received another request to kill a demon and completed the job.
　Their cash flow has also improved in the past few days, and they have just bought some new equipment.
　The reason for this is an amulet given to them by a mage in a tavern some time ago.

　The amulet was a very tasteless piece of black dull stone fixed with silver fittings.
　However, when I poured magic power into this amulet, I felt an incredible surge of power.
　Originally, amulets were magical tools for protection, and most of them were used to develop attribute resistance or magical barriers.

　However, the amulets they possess give them an unusual power.


　No matter how much they ate, the feeling of hunger did not subside.
　In fact, the hunger is getting worse and worse.

"I'm starving. ......
Oh, this is hell. ......
"I want to eat...
That looks good. ......

　What caught their attention was the corpse of a forest grizzly.

　They couldn't resist the feeling of hunger that came over them.
　The four of them ran at once to the corpse and bit into it without dismembering it.
　They tore the flesh, sipped the blood, chewed the bones, and their appetite was unstoppable.

　In a matter of seconds, the forest grizzly was devoured without a trace, and all that was left behind was a trail of blood.

"Not enough .........
It's not enough... I want to eat...
I want to eat. ...... I want to eat anything...
I want to eat ...... anything...

　The four of them are rapidly going crazy.

　At the same time, their muscles swelled from inside their clothes, exposing their hairy arms.
　Blood vessels appeared on their faces, and just like their arms, their entire bodies were transformed into something else.
　What was there was no longer a person.
　It was something that used to be a person.

　Each of the former mercenaries began to move individually, and one of them took a step in a certain direction.
　What lay ahead was a small village.
　It was the village that had sent the request to kill the Forest Grizzly.

　The beast, which was once a man, salivated profusely and ran out at once, attacking a house.

　Soon, a scream rang out in the small village.
　A deformed creature that attacks anything that moves and devours its dead flesh.
　A ravenous hunger had taken over the creature. 　

　On that day, the village of nearly 200 people was attacked by the unidentified beast, and less than 20 survived.
　Most of the villagers fled but were still attacked and eventually devoured by this beast with the addition of three other beasts that joined them.


　　◇ ◇ ◇ ◇ ◇ ◇ ◇ ◇ ◇ ◇ ◇ ◇ ◇ ◇ ◇ ◇ ◇ ◇ ◇ ◇ ◇


　In the forest, there was an unbelievable figure.

　They were two in number, but wearing the same black clothing.
　They kept observing a certain direction with binoculars from the top of a tree, and wrote down detailed information about what they saw.
　Through the binoculars, they could see the four mercenaries.

"How are they?
There's no change in their appearance, but they're getting stronger. Their appetites are abnormal.
Hmm. ...... Is this within your expectations?
Wait!　What the hell is that? ......

　The man who had been looking through the binoculars was astonished by what was happening.

What's wrong?
He's eating a forest grizzly. ...... No, you're taking it in...?
I can't see it, so just tell me what it is.
"And the human became a monster. ......
What?

　My hands were shaking as I held the binoculars.
　His hands were shaking as he held the binoculars. The sight was so terrifying that he was terrified.

"No!　They're coming this way.
What the hell?　They must have smelled us!
Let's get out of here!　We don't stand a chance.

　They started to retreat in a hurry.
　As soon as they retreated, they sprayed the evil perfume, a potion that attracts demons.

　It was a strategy to attract demons and distract themselves from man and beast.
　Soon, all the demons in the area will gather here and begin to eat each other fearlessly.

　The people who created this situation disappeared without a trace.


　　I'll be back.


I was supposed to be on vacation for a few days at .......
I understand. This industry is so sketchy that the only accurate date is when the work is supposed to be finished.
You see, ...... I was about to make my favorite food, 'Mecca Beans', to go with my drinks when suddenly the master appeared and gave me a good shot in the tail...
I found myself on top of a carriage?　That's terrible.
Right?　I had just soaked the beans in water and was about to cook them. The master is an ogre.

　A rare beardless dwarf and an old man rocking in a carriage and making small talk.

　After three days of carriage rides, Zeroth and the rest of the Hamba Civil Engineering team were about to arrive at the bridge construction site.


　But since he was taken in unprepared, Xellos has no time to waste.
　He has the building materials on site, but the problem is that the foundation for the bridge piers is not working, and the bridge cannot be built.
　The reason why Xellos was hired is because the dwarves are currently having difficulty using the Gaia Control magic, and he was hired to do the foundation work for them.

The problem is that they didn't set a date for the work, but they were taken away suddenly.
"Well, it's a difficult place where other territories have failed many times. Well, it's a difficult place where other territories have failed many times, and since the whole country advertised it, 'the bridge didn't get built' wasn't going to cut it.
So, in a last-ditch effort, Hanba Civil Engineering was chosen. ...... It's a terrible story. It's not planned.
Oh, ...... "Mecca Beans". My soul food. ......
What is it?　What is that dish?

　Mecca beans are a dish similar to chili beans.
　It was a simple country dish that harmonized the spiciness of chili with the sweetness of beans.
　It is famous as a snack with a deeper flavor.

I've heard that vegetables grow very fast, is that so great?
I've heard that vegetables grow fast. According to the mages, the magic flowing through the earth causes them to grow faster.
But hey, it's unusual for a mage to carry a sword. Most mages use wands.
Magic isn't a panacea. I'm not sure what to do, but I'm sure you'll do fine.
You can just retreat. I'm not sure what to make of this.
It would be better if you allow me to retreat. In the first place, logic does not work in battle. Not even in war.

　In war, there are clear rules only among nobles and royalty, not among ordinary people or mercenaries.
　Mercenaries will seek credit for their work and concentrate on mages and noble generals, and if they attack a city, they will commit barbaric acts.
　Discipline and military discipline exist only for those who serve the state, such as the military, and there is no such discipline for those who are hired for money. Even if there is, it is usually tolerated because of emergencies.

　When I was waiting at an airfield for a connecting flight in my original world, I was caught up in a battle between a terrorist organization and the national army of a certain country, and I was stranded there for three days.
　When I tried to take a rest at a hotel designated as an evacuation site, a stray bullet came flying through the window and almost killed me. Fortunately, he was only injured in the shoulder, but ever since then, Zeroth (Satoshi Osako) has refused to go on overseas business trips to a certain explosive zone.

　I'm not sure what to make of that.
　I felt that the most correct scheme was to continue to harass people in the name of attack and then attack them, and the principles and arguments laid out in the statement of crime sounded like excuses that were just added after the fact.
　In the name of justice, they kidnapped women and children, raped them, made them into soldiers, and repeated their barbaric acts as much as they wanted.

　This world is more primitive than the original one, but because of that, the consciousness of royalty and nobility values pride and honor.
　However, in a political world where war can easily break out, to what extent can people remain rational and intelligent?
　As there are people who have been fighting wars for a long time in the original world, we can expect that this world will also have fierce battles because of the purity of its roots. If a war is started there, I am more afraid of those who will be provoked into violence by the fight.

　It is not only knights who fight wars, but also civilians and mercenaries, and knightly orders and magical orders are only a few percent of the total force. Most of the soldiers fighting were recruited civilians, and the Knights were not expected to be able to control their untrained forces.
　Most of the barbaric acts were committed by the gathered people. If they were allies, fine, but if they were enemies, they would come after them relentlessly. They hope to take credit and make a living by earning money from it.

　It is not safe to retreat.

You sound like you're having a hard time with this. Do people say you're crooked?
I'm often told that. They say you're biased. They say you're crazy.
This country is peaceful, you know.　Well, the mages seem to be a little more important.
Half the nobles are mages. I'm sure you'll be able to find something that will help you.

I'm not sure what to do. (Some of the mages might decide to do something stupid like the old Japanese army ......)

　It's no use thinking about it, but now that the world itself has changed, maybe Zeroth can't afford to accept everything.
　In fact, what he's doing is reckless, and it's more like "destroying enemies because you're afraid of them" than "defeating them.
　No matter how strong he is, in his heart he is just an old man.
　It is highly likely that he was afraid of the dukes, thinking that they would take advantage of him.

　The question is whether he is aware of this or not.
　The question is whether or not he is aware of this, since he is currently just living as he is.

"Oh, I see it now. That's where we're going.
Oh, I didn't get your name. I'm sorry it took so long.
Me?　My name's Boring.

　In my mind's eye, I saw a split pin bouncing off the ball and knocking over the opposite pin.
　It was a scene I had seen in an old bowling show.
　Bowling and bowling are similar, but have different meanings. This is an old man's misunderstanding.

"Did you think of something rude just now?
"No, no, it was just my imagination. I'm...
I heard from the master. It's Xelloss's grandmother.
"You?
Humans don't live as long as we do. You're just a kid to me.



　He seemed to be an older man.
　Dwarves, and spirits in general, are hard to tell how old they are.

　The site was a wide road in the upper reaches of the Great River Aulus, paved with cobblestones, but the road was cut off in the middle.
　A bridge will probably be built there, but the problem is the foundation.

　We could hear the sound of water flowing into the river even just by being here, so we could expect that the river was actually quite raging.
　When I approached the Auras River to see what was going on, I found a terrifying torrent of water below the cliff.

(I wonder if magic can do anything about it?　It seems to be quite a torrent.

The two rivers join upstream, and the current is pretty fast. Can't you do something about it?
"Mr. Naguri, ......, you've taken on an absurd task. If we put up piers, we might be cut off by the torrent.
The bureaucracy's estimate is too low. The bureaucracy's estimate is too low.　We can't go against it.
I thought you were going to punch out the royalty and nobility?
We would have if we were the ones who got the job in the first place. But you know, we're not the only ones taking on this job.

　If it was just Hanba Civil Engineering, they would have beaten the officials to the punch and gone to the king.
　However, if other civil engineering companies were involved, the blame would be directed at them.
　There is a strong sense of camaraderie among craftsmen, even among different contractors.
　There is a strong sense of camaraderie, and even craftsmen from other trades may help out.

(What are you going to do about this? ...... Even if you want to build piers, you can't do it if the flow is so fast.　Before you can use Gaia Control or Rock Forming, the sand and soil collected by the current will just be washed away.
　I think we need to fix the foundation to the hard rock first.　(But if the current is too fast, ......)　

We need to make a compound magic. There will be no one who can handle it. ......
"Can you do that?　I know I'm talking out of my ass. Please, you have to do something!
Give me three days. I'll see what I can do to improve the magic.

We don't have any PCs or friends in this world, and we'll have to use existing formulas. That means I need to combine multiple spells into a single process. .......
　It's not like you're tapping away at a keyboard, so you don't have much time to spare.　(What should I do? ......)

　I'm not sure if I'll be able to handle the fury of nature.
　But if we don't do it, the craftsmen will be punished.

I want to punch the person who proposed this job as hard as I can.
"You're the lord of the land across the river. He's Count Yokubukeno and he's always trying to haggle the cost of construction. By royal decree, no less.
"What's the point of building a bridge here?　The ships are sufficient for the business to the Duke of Solistair's territory.
Actually, not at all. It's a long way to get merchants back and forth, and even if it were completed, it would be a place for bandits to make money.
Isn't he embezzling the construction costs?　If they screw up, they can blame us for it. ......
Oh... that sounds like a good idea. But when it's finished, it's going to be in the red, don't you think?　I'm sure you'll be happy to know that I'm not the only one who has a problem with this.

　This place on the other side of Count Jokubukeno's territory seems to be a gray zone between the county and the duke of Solistair's territory, and it seems to be a neglected land with no nobleman to manage it.
　If you go upstream, you'll come into contact with a section of the Great Dark Green Zone of Farflan, where the strength of the demons is different.
　There was a possibility that building the bridge would increase the risk of being attacked by stronger demons.

It's possible that you're not thinking about it and you're just blinded by short-term profit. That's just a theory.
I can't throw that out either. He's that kind of guy.
Either way, it's the worst. You're making unreasonable demands on a craftsman. ......
Exactly.

　In the old days, there was no useful magic related to civil engineering in this world.
　Aside from the civil magic created by the old man, magic is only a tool for attack and defense.
　That's why the so-called magic aristocrats, seeking only power, have formed various factions to study offensive magic, but the reality is not good.

　The development of magic requires a certain amount of knowledge, but in this world where magic power has the same value as gunpowder, no magic has been developed that can be used by the general public.
　Even the development of magic has been dismissed from their minds, and they are pursuing how to gain an advantage on the battlefield.
　Ordinary mages are only learning alchemy for a living, or serving their country and seeking a stable salary.
　It is the nobles and those around them who are eager to study magic, while the rest are just looking for their future livelihood and do not care much about the development itself.
　In this way, there is no way to improve the study of magic, and it is no different from just going through the motions.

What are you planning to do with it?
"Well... I'm planning to build an elliptical foundation for the bridge piers by casting a spell on the hard bedrock. It will be sharply pointed on both sides so as not to strain the current. ......
"Well, this is interesting. But isn't the width too thin?　I've done similar work, but if it washes away, that's it, right?
How many piers are planned?
Two. ...... I see. So you're increasing the number of piers to reduce the burden.

　While writing the schedule of the construction process on the ground, he began to review the design.
　Before we knew it, the other craftsmen had gathered and the changes in the work were progressing rapidly, and we even began to calculate the strength on the spot to make it stronger than the previous design.


　The work process meeting lasted until the end of the day.


　　...


　In the original design, the bridge had a spectacle-shaped foundation supported by two piers.
　On top of that, an arched base was to be built to divide the center of gravity, and the main body of the bridge was to be built on top of that.
　However, two piers would not be enough for a river that was nearly 250 meters from the other side.
　At least four piers were needed, and based on the technology of the world Xelloss had come from, it was decided to add vertical bumps to the sides of the piers.

　The idea was that the unevenness of the piers would agitate the fast-flowing river water and regulate the water flow as gently as possible.
　At the same time, the burden on the bridge piers will be distributed, and the life of the bridge will be prolonged.
　In addition, it is intended to reduce flood damage downstream.

　It is possible for the dwarves' magic to build the abutments to the piers, but this time it was the old man who built the piers.
　It was a big responsibility.

We need a similar type of foundation on the other side of the river to agitate the water flow. If we fix it, it might be much easier.
Can we do that?　Maybe we should investigate after we build the piers.
Yeah, using the current to regulate the water flow. That's smart, mage.
Where's the mage? I can't see him.
Pick and choose which spells you're sure of. They say he uses the worst spells in succession, so be very careful.

　While the dwarves were drinking and talking in their temporary quarters, Xellos was working with Nagri.

"How deep is the water?
About, let's see, ......5 guilds, right?
How deep is it?　Six or seven guilds, I think. I don't know if it's down to bedrock.
I'm familiar with the process, but it's my first time. We have to be careful or we'll collapse, and we have to be as successful as possible in one go. It's going to be very hard work.
It can't be helped that it takes time. It's a crazy job to begin with, so I don't mind if the deadline is a little late.

　The magic of the construction has already been decided.
　To build the piers, you must first surround the area where the piers will be built with steel plates, and then drive steel piles into the bedrock to form support columns.
　The water is drained from the piers, the steel frames are fixed to the piers, the formwork is made, and then cement is poured.

　Since there were no pillars, no cement, and no formwork this time, the entire process had to be done by magic.

　The elliptical magical barriers blocked the water flow, and at the same time, the piers were constructed using bedrock and the surrounding earth and sand, and then fixed in place using "rock forming" from the bottom up.
　It was unknown how much magic power would be consumed and how quickly the piers could be constructed.

(Double deployment of [Silver Wall], simultaneous use of [Gaia Control], and [Lock Forming]: ......)

I'm not saying it can't be done, but it's not going to be easy. It's not impossible, but it's a challenge.
Not really.　I don't know anything about magic.
The magic of the formwork and the formwork barriers that form the piers is that you don't know how much pressure the water flow will put on them. Water pressure will consume magic power.

　The more powerful the physical attack, the more magic power is consumed by the barrier spell, and the faster it drains.
　In most cases, it is caused by the bow or the enemy's magic attack, and the impact of the attack is instantaneous.
　However, this is not the case when the opponent is a torrent. Even if the magic power is consumed, the practitioner is in a state of constant loss of magic power.
　Even if the magic is gathered from the natural world, it takes magic to maintain it, and at the same time, other processes must be controlled.

The piers will be as sturdy as possible, but they will be very rough.
That's unacceptable for a craftsman, but why?
Because I can't afford to use magic myself. The stones and soil used to build the piers can be made from the earth and sand that comes down from the river, but when it comes to stopping it from taking shape and making it strong, ......
This is why the hands can't keep up. ...... Magic isn't all that useful.
It would be useful to have a large tool to assist you in your work. It's a good idea to have a good idea of what you're looking for.

　It was a troublesome job that made me want to grumble.

　If I had a PC at home, the work would be easier, but this time I had to create a magic formula using existing magic characters.
　It's good that I have the necessary magic formulas, but I don't know what kind of harm I'll do if I have to reconstruct them by connecting spells that are already completed.

　Attack spells are also constructed with multiple processes using magic letters, but this time the amount of magic formulae was so huge that I was worried about whether I could control it.

(Even if I stayed up all night to make prototypes, experiment, and make further modifications, three times would be the limit. (Even if he stayed up all night to test and modify the formula, he would only be able to do so three times.

Please?　You're the one I'm counting on.
I'm not sure what to do. I'm still a small-minded guy.
What do you mean?

　To the untrained eye, he seemed to be living a bold life.

　However, he is always tormented by anxiety inside.
　Living in another world is quite a burden on the mind.

　While complaining, the old man devoted himself to making the magic formula.