The night after the victory feast, I released Walter’s [Disguise] in my room. His silhouette is still slim, but he’s returned to a body more like a young boy’s.
Mmm. Young girls are good, but young boys are good also.
I seem to be able to satisfy both preferences with my skills. It’d have been a tragedy if my desires disappeared after I came to this world.
“Ha… I’m finally free…” Walter sighed.
“Hey, Walter, I have something to ask of you,” I said.
“Huh? What is it, Ms. Shino?” Walter says, looking at me suspiciously.
Oh dear, I was hit with those intense androgynous eyes of his.
“You’re a pretty well-known face among the drifters here in Port Sazan, aren’t you?”
“Yeah, I am… why do you ask?”
“Hmm…” I hum. “How many people do you think would come if you told them you had a part-time job for them?”
“… Didn’t the waitress gig pay well enough..?” Walter says, giving me the evil eye.
“No, I had something else in mind,” I said. “Normal physical labour, help with clearing out my property.”
“Oh, I see…” Walter says, relaxing. “But why bother asking? Isn’t it faster to hire professionals for this?”
“Well, the mansion wasn’t just where you and the girls stayed for shelter, you said others did too, right?”
“Yeah, the three of us were the only ones that stayed there the most, but it was kind of a hideout for all of us.”
“That’s why I want to give you all something like ‘Squatters Rights’,” I said. “I think they’ll be fewer problems in the future if I do this, regardless of how long they’ve been staying at the mansion.”
“I have no idea what you mean by ‘Squatter’s Rights’, but I think you’re saying you’re going to give them jobs rather than kick them off the property?” Walter asked.
“Well, that’s what it means if you cut straight to the point,” I said.
“Hmm… in that case, I think I know about 10 boys who’ll do work if the pay’s good enough,” Walter said.
“Oh, and I think some girls and the younger kids can help with the cooking, include them, too.”
“In that case, you’ve got 15 heads total.”
“How’s this sound: 2 silver coins a day, four per day for the labour, 1 silver coin at the same right for the cooks?”
“… Oh, oh…” Walter mutters. “Don’t you think that’s a little much?”
“Fufu, it’s with eviction compensation included.”
“Well then, I’ll get back to you tomorrow morning,” Walter said.
“See you then, Walter,” I said.
“… And by the way, Ms. Shino?”
“Yes?”
“… Why are you undressing in front of me…?”
“I’m getting ready to go to bed,” I replied. “I only sleep with one piece of underwear on, after all.”
“Ugh, that’s too much information!
“… Don’t you sleep together with two other people? Girls, at that?”
“… I’m leaving now…!” Walter yelled. “Big Sis Nellie is going to sleep soon, too, so I’m leaving now…” he said, fuming red with an expression of anger and embarrassment.
This is fun.
“Right, sorry,” I said. “Good night, Walter.”
“Good night, Ms. Shino,” Walter said as he opened the door and went back out into the hallway.
I wonder if I should tell him he’s still wearing the Anna Marie’s uniform…
…
… Nah.
“Woah! Waaaaa…!” Walter screamed from the hallway. “No, no, this isn’t a hobby! Just forget about it! Wait, no, don’t call the guards!”
Well, that didn’t take long. I feel blessed.
Day 1
“So, today, I’d like you all to start by chopping down the trees,” I said.
It’s the afternoon of the next day now, and I’m speaking to a crowd of children gathered in front of the abandoned mansion. There are 15 boys and girls, ranging from elementary school-age to junior high school-age; if you include Walter and the girls, there are 18 total.
“Yo, Walter, is she really gonna pay us those 2 silver coins?”
“How are we doing this anyway? We can’t the clear a tiny forest like this without tools.”
“We’ve been tricked… shows you can’t trust a noble’s words after all…”
I’ve made a huge mistake. The children with the hopeless and dead eyes are already murmuring. Calm, calm down. Everything will be fine.
“O-kay, quiet everyone!” I said, clapping my hands to get their attention. “Right, we’ll cut down the trees, someone else will carry it, so I’d like all of you to prune them for me. I’ll lend you all the needed tools shortly.”
“Hmm… are you really sure about that, noblewoman?”
“At least I can assure you I can pay?” I said as I take a hemp bag out of my inventory. “Here, I’ll bring out the silver coins… and by the way, I’m not a noblewoman.”
I drop the sack on the ground and open it wide to let everyone see what’s inside.
“… Amazing… are the coins all the way up to the brim?”
“Hey, you’re really going to pay us if you’re showing all these coins up front, right?”
“N-No way…”
“Now that you’re all convinced”–I walked up to a tree as thick as a utility pole and readied my [Iwakiri Kodachi]–”shall we get started now?”
I made a slash so fast they could only see the light gleaming off the blade.
Shing… a line runs straight across the trunk.
Creak… groannn….!
The tree crashed noisily to ground, about 15 meters in size. The stump is so smooth it’s as if you’d sanded it and finished it with lacquer.
“You all start pruning this tree, okay?” I say as I lay out dozens of ropes I’d bought at the general store. “Put the branches of similar lengths together then tie them up with rope.”
I suddenly noticed that the children’s noisy murmuring had suddenly stopped. They were staring at the fallen tree in shock as if they’d seen a miracle before their eyes.
“Oh, right, I forgot to mention it this morning…” Walter said with a glint in his eyes and a smug grin, “did you all know that Ms. Shino’s a B-rank adventurer?”
“Huh…?!” they all go.
“That’s why it was such a piece of cake for me,” I said. “Come on, we’ll be handing them out now.”
I’d already handed Walter [Single-Edged Saws +5] earlier. They had no special magic powers or abilities, but they are high-quality tools that are so sharp and simple the children could handle them no problem.
“With that done, I’ll handle the thicker trees, so Nellie, please handle the thinner trees,” I said.
“As you wish,” Nellie said as she pulled out her [Shinoichi-type Yamagi Knife] and cut down another tree.
The children descend on it in no time at all, using the saws to cut the branches off.
“Woah, how is this saw cutting this like bread?”
“I feel like I could cut anything with this…”
The trees are stripped bare and we fell another and another. Work continued smoothly, and after four hours and several breaks, the landscape was looking very good.
“Hey, doesn’t it seem like we’ve got a lot of wood?” I said. “Plenty of branches gathered, too… well, since it’s all piled up in a corner, you can take it as firewood and use it however else you like.”
“Will you give us the branches instead of the money?” a girl of about 12 asks me, looking anxious.
“Why would I do that?” I asked. “Well, since you’re so worried, why don’t we get the money in your hands first… Nellie?”
“As you wish,” Nellie said. “Everyone please form a line in front of me. We’re paying out the day’s wages now.”
Wow, the children are here in an instant.
“Hey, get in line, no pushing.”
“Awesome! It’s really a silver coin!”
“I can buy a lot of bread with this!”
“Milk and fruits, too!”
Wow… this makes me realize how different it was growing up for me back in Japan.
“Are you kids going home already?” I asked. “We’re cooking a meal for all of you.”
As if on cue, Laurina, Mavin, and the rest of the cooking team carries out a large, steaming pot of fresh rice porridge. “Ms. Shino, we’ve cooked the rice!”
“We made a lot…” Mavin said.
“Thank you, Laurina, Mavin, it looks delicious!” I said as I hug them for their work.
“Ehehe…” Mavin giggles.
“We made it with love, don’t you know,” Laurina adds.
We gave out the cooking team’s wages and sat down to have a meal together.
Porridge was on the menu, but I originally wanted to make rice balls. Unfortunately, there was no Koshihikari rice in the markets, just Indica, so I decided to make do. We’ve also prepared this world’s equivalents of carrots, green leafy vegetables, shiitake mushrooms, onions, and chicken; simmered everything in dashi stock; seasoned them with salt and pepper; then topped it all off with eggs.
I suppose it was more like a risotto at this point, for how much raw rice we used.
We give everyone a bowl and a spoon then ask them to line up in front of the giant pot, the cooking team included.
“Woah… what is this…? ‘Rice’?”
“Is it a vegetable? I’ve never heard of it before.”
“… Oh, but it smells so good!”
“Hey, I can’t stand it any longer! Hey! Can I eat already?”
Do they consider rice a vegetable in this world?
“Well then, let’s all say ‘Thank you for the meal’!” I say as I press my hands together.
The children look curiously at me and at the spread.
“In my hometown, we have this tradition of giving thanks before meals, as gratitude to the cooks and those who produced the ingredients,” I explain.
“Hmm… then let’s do that!” one of them says, before they all go, “Thank you for the meal!”
These are good kids, willing to adapt to foreign customs.
“What is this? It’s so good!”
“Is this salt? Pepper? And eggs?! There’s even meat here…”
“My body is so warm…”
“So good…”
It seems it’s all become super popular, too.
“There’s still more work to do tomorrow, so won’t you all return at the same time then?” I said.
“I’ll come! I’m definitely coming!”
“The wages are great, the work is good, dinner is included… you can even take back the leftover stuff with you… this is too good!”
“Way good!”
Hah, seems I’ve secured a loyal labor force for tomorrow and the future.
Day 2
Today’s task is leveling the ground.
The logs that were left lying here and there yesterday are now all neatly gathered in one place. I’d changed characters to my Onmyoji (“Diviner”) last night and summoned an [Ogre Spirit] to do it for me. I’d also had it pull out all the stumps, so now the ground’s got holes everywhere.
The kids’ duty is to fill the holes and flatten the dirt. And since yesterday made them confident they were definitely getting paid, they were working hard from since the start of their shift.
“Woaah…! My [Spade +5] is awesome!”
“What the? My [Wheelbarrow +4] can carry so much!”
Haah… I’m sure the kids can get the jobs done even as they play around… probably.
Later, we had freshly baked bread with meat stew.
Day 3
As my Onmyoji, I burned down the undergrowth, so I decided to till the remains into the soil to turn it into flower beds and crop fields.
Mavin was happy to hear it. She loved flowers in the first place and is more than willing to lead the planting and tending. “Flowers are amazing…” she hummed. “They can live with just water and the sun.”
“You’re amazing, Mavin!” I said. “I’ll start collecting leftover fruit seeds so you can grow them.
I decided to leave the gardening to her when the mansion is finally completed.
Later, we had bacon pilaf and pork soup (or at least, what I hoped was this world’s equivalent?). At any rate, it was delicious.
That night, I summoned a [Mountain Giant] and had it demolish the mansion.
Day 4
Today’s work is carpentry.
First, we take care of the remains of the mansion. I dug up one of the holes we’d filled two days ago and then dumped the unusable materials there.
… However, it now looked like a giant mountain of trash.
With that taken care of, we moved onto constructing small buildings like animal housing and storage sheds for the future sections of the mansion… though the architecture wasn’t that good. Afterward, I bought two Cucco birds (which resemble chickens)1 and two goats as livestock then let them loose on the property.
Laurina was taking charge of this job. “Ms. Shino! Do you really want me to keep these animals? Hey, hey, let me take care of them, I’d love to do it!”
“Lady Shino,” Nellie said, “it seems the animals already love Laurina for some reason. I think it’s safe to leave them with her.”
“Alright,” I said, “you’re in charge of the animals here in House Kagura!”
“Wow…!” Laurina said. “I love you, Ms. Shino!”
Later, we cooked rice porridge as we had on day one. However, this time there was salmon. (Or this world’s equivalent. Could I even call it Salmon Porridge…?)
Day 5
There are no children today. It’s time to build the mansion and I can’t show them that.
As of last night, their total wages and other costs came to exactly one gold coin, but I’ve already received 65 gold coins from the Commerce and Industry Guild thanks to the [Rescue Water Spiders]. So, my current balance is sitting at 134 coins.
“Now, let’s build my mansion,” I said.
“… How are you going to build it?” Walter asked. “You haven’t hired any craftsmen, right? You can’t build a mansion without them.”
“Don’t worry about it…” I said. “Oh, Walter, it’s dangerous if you stand there, so please move.”
“I will, I will…” Walter said, looking suspicious as he does.
He’s seen a lot of strange things these past few days. I wonder if it’s okay for me to do this while he’s watching.
“Now…” I said as I open my inventory and select [Luxury Samurai Residence] from the buildings tab. “Set build location… confirm angle…”
The Samurai Residence appears on the empty ground without a sound. In the game, I wouldn’t need to do anything for maintenance as it’s the highest grade. But looking at it now I’m starting to feel that I’m going to need additional manpower for that…
… At least I know what jobs I’m giving Walter and the girls now.
“What the hell is this?!” Walter yelled.
“What else?” I asked. “It’s the mansion we’re going to live in.”
“No, no, not that!” Walter said. “Where did it come from?”
“Why all the questions, Walter?” I asked. “Didn’t you see I took it out of my inventory?” as I placed stepping stones on the front yard. I added tatami mats, shoji screens, and sliding doors, as well.
“No, I did… but this thing is way bigger than anything you’ve pulled out before!”
“True…” I hum. “But still, this is a house no matter how big it is, yeah?”
“No, what I mean is…”
“So you’re not worried about the size of the mansion,” I say. “You’re worried about becoming the head butler of House Kagura, right?”
Which was pretty inevitable considering he’s the only male staff I have so far.
“Eh…? The head… butler?” Walter says, blinking. “… Yeah, yeah, never mind what I said, this place isn’t that big, I can handle it!”
“As expected of Lady Shino…” Nellie says quietly.
“Mhmm,” Laurina says back, “she’s getting Big Bro Walt to do exactly what she wants.”
“Fufu…” I hum. “There are so many empty rooms inside, so shall we start deciding who’ll be using what?”
“Let’s!” everyone cries.
And so, on this day, the first Japanese-style [Samurai Residence] was built in Faylias.
- Cuccos are from The Legend of Zelda series.
ruff Translations 
Thanks for the chapter
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Just started rereading this
Thanks for picking this up + thanks for the chapter!!
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Thanks for the chapter.
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