Episode 33 — Isekai Construction Lead Time.
“Phew… Alright. That’s the water and sewage plan settled. Step one, complete.”
I gave a massive stretch in my study chair. I closed the laptop, letting the heated body cool down while I took a swig of my cola.
(…Actually, thinking about it rationally, this is basically nothing compared to the ‘death marches’ I used to pull right before a deadline.)
The days of my life as a corporate slave, surviving for seventy-two hours straight on nothing but energy drinks and supplements, swimming through a sea of bugs… Compared to that, chatting with a soft-spoken craftsman and clicking a few buttons on a printer is less like "labor" and more like a "slightly elaborate hobby project."
But to someone who’s spent over half a year slacking off in this house with Tama, even this much gave me a massive, self-satisfied sense of “Wow, I’m really putting in the work.”
“The rest is up to Garam, Elishua, and the others. …Alright, time to be a total bum for a while!”
I dove onto the living room sofa and scooped up Tama, who was curled up next to me.
“Tama, we’re on vacation for a bit. Nothing but naps from here on out.”
“Mrow. (Think again.)”
Watching Tama’s exasperated face while thinking “Man, she’s cute,” I began to sink into the sea of indolence.
—However, that “slacking-off period” came to an end much sooner than I ever anticipated.
One week later.
The shrill ring of the intercom made me bolt upright in a panic. I checked the monitor and saw the usual trio lined up.
(What is it this time? All three of them…?)
A beaming Gustav, Bartos holding the camera with a stone-cold expression, and Elishua striking a pose directly for the lens.
I had a terrible feeling about this, but I couldn't exactly ignore them. With a sigh, I let them into the living room.
“Mr. Zect! Sorry to bother you while you’re busy. We’ve come to report on our progress!”
Gustav, the lord himself, led the way and dropped a bombshell with a refreshing smile.
“Thanks to your guidance, the underground waterways are eighty percent complete. The dam upstream was also a success—we even finished the initial discharge test!”
“…………What?”
What did he just say? Discharge test? Success?
Wait, wait, wait. A dam is a massive structure, dozens of meters high, that blocks off an entire canyon.
“Hold on, Gustav. It’s a dam, right? You have to pour concrete, let it cure…”
“Oh, yes! Master Craftsman Garam roared, ‘I’ll be damned if I defile Mr. Zect’s blueprints!’ First, Elishua used her earth magic to summon massive blocks of stone from the ley lines with a great rumble. Then the craftsmen swarmed over them to carve and process the stone with precision, and the golems stacked them without being off by even a fraction of an inch. To finish it off, we poured that Magical Concrete into the gaps to lock everything down. …Man, it was a sight to behold. Truly, it was built in three days.”
(…Summon, carve, transport via golems, and lock? That’s not just heavy machinery; it’s a fully automated production line that combines the foreman, the equipment, and the laborers into one set. Modern general contractors would be on their knees crying. Isekai technology is terrifying…!!)
I was genuinely shaken.
In modern Japan, that’s a national project that would take years of surveying and over a decade of construction. But apparently, when you combine the supernatural power of magic, the skill of otherworld craftsmen, and the automated transport system of golems, you can go from groundbreaking to testing in a week.
(…Wait, if they had this kind of spec, why has this world been stagnating at a medieval level until now?! Talk about wasting your potential!)
“Master Zect. I have captured the state of the site perfectly with this ‘Magic Recording Device.’ Please, have a look.”
Bartos handed over the camera I’d lent them for the topographic survey.
When I peered at the screen, I saw high-quality footage shot in “movie mode,” which I hadn't even taught him how to use. Bartos’s camera work was flawless—no shaky cam—vividly capturing the madness of the construction site.
(Bartos… are you sure you wouldn't rather be a film director than a knight?)
‘—Lady Elishua’s earth magic… what incredible power. The mountains of rock are moving. …Oh, Lady Elishua, that’s the materials storage area. Watch out.’
In the video, a mass of earth was moving at breakneck speed, followed by Master Craftsman Garam’s roar of “Hey, watch it!” Bartos calmly captured the entire sequence with zooms and pans, framing it like an action movie.
And, of course, Elishua was in the corner of every shot.
The moment her skirt threatened to flutter in the aftershock of her magic, she’d glance at the camera and strike a calculated “Oops!” pose.
Even in scenes where she should have been exhausted from overusing magic, the second Bartos’s lens pointed her way, she’d fix her hair and tilt her head with a look that said, “Oh, were you filming?”
(…Bartos is one thing, but Elishua is totally into it. This is supposed to be a construction site, right?)
“Um, Master Zect… the spray from the water was so cold and refreshing, you know?”
The real Elishua standing in front of me spoke with the exact same expression she had at the end of the video. The clip didn't even end with a shot of the dam; it was a close-up of her with a rainbow in the background.
“The end is just an Elishua music video… What are you even promoting?”
My mutterings were drowned out by the trio’s enthusiasm.
“Mr. Zect, what do you think? The craftsmen are all waiting with bated breath for your ‘next instructions’!”
Gustav looked at me with sparkling eyes. Bartos exerted silent pressure from behind his imaginary lens. And Elishua was striking a model pose, as if to say, “Take more of me next time.”
(…This is bad. Things are moving way faster than I can slack off.)
My vision of a “leisurely slow-life construction project” was crumbling before the bizarre passion of these craftsmen and the mysterious teamwork of this trio. At this rate, their expectations were going to skyrocket even further.
“…Ah, yeah. …Impressive. …Anyway, the city design is mostly finished. …I think I can hand it over to you by tomorrow… haha…”
“Tomorrow! As expected of Mr. Zect—your work is so fast! I’ll go tell the craftsmen right away!”
“Tomorrow, then. I shall ensure we have proper lighting and coordinate Lady Elishua’s outfit changes.”
“Tomorrow… I’m looking forward to it, Master Zect!”
(…Yeah, I should definitely take that camera back for a while.)
The three of them left with the force of a hurricane.
(…Crap, I slipped up and said ‘tomorrow.’ Why did I feel the need to show off?!)
After seeing them off, I, who was supposed to be sinking into a sea of indolence, let out a heavy sigh and booted up my PC.
The Felsen New City construction project had begun to accelerate at a terrifying pace—racing toward a very "high" and very chaotic destination.
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