The next day, and the day after that …… for several days, as I continued to make my way eastward with Lydia and the dolls from morning until dusk…
“Mr. Alex. There …… Don’t you think that something is strange?”
When I looked at where Lydia was pointing, there was definitely something strange about it.
It’s as if the ground is broken off there …… Wait, it’s actually broken off!?
For starters, I made a stone wall as a passageway…
“…… So this is the edge of the demon territory.”
A precipice, or rather the edge of a table …… suddenly the ground was gone, and there was ground far below.
However, as we fearfully peered down, we could see the same bare earth below, but beyond that–even though it was some distance away–we could see the large lake that Yudit had seen, as well as what looked like a village.
“I believe it is said that this fourth demon territory was cleared by the demon tribe …… Does that mean that a large amount of soil was put on top of the original land and hardened?”
“I think that’s what it means. There are huge underground caves and huge underground lakes, after all.”
I don’t know much about demons, but I guess it would have been easier to cover the land with soil than to clear it from its original state ……?
That may require a certain amount of effort, either in terms of magical power to produce large amounts of soil, or in terms of bringing it in from somewhere else.
“First of all, to get to the village, we’ll need to down here. Can you call Nina?”
Nina, who makes the dolls’ weapons and pots and pans, was called via Meilin, and she appeared a short time later.
“S-Sorry for making you wait. What’s wrong, big bro?”
“I’m sorry to make you come so far. I want to go to that village, but there is a break in the ground here, and I have to go down to the bottom.”
“I see. So you want me to dig diagonally across the ground so that you can get out to that area?”
“Yes. Ideally, it should be a gradual descent, like the cave on the north side of the cabin, but can you do it?”
“Well, it’s a bit tricky to gauge, but I’ll give it a try anyway.”
Nina, who had been peering over the precipice, stood up and headed back west down the passage.
After quite a bit of walking…
“I’m not too sure, but I’m guessing it’s somewhere around here? I’ll start digging for now.”
“Thank you, please do it. That’s right …… As I recall, Shelly told me that I could use the mineral-specific storage skills that Nina gave me, but is there anything I or my doll can do to help?”
“Hmmm …… then I’d be glad to have big bro by my side to cheer for me.”
For starters, I asked Lydia and the dolls to move on to other cultivating work, and Nina’s dolls were called in to take their place.
Then, as I was cheering at Nina’s side as she began to dig diagonally down into the ground…
“Big bro. I’m glad you’re calling me that, but I’d love it if you could give me …… a kiss or something.”
I got a specific request for a specific way to cheer her up …… or rather, she begged me.
Nina would dig away at the ground, occasionally stopping to look at me, and when she came to me, we would kiss. Digging a hole and kissing. After a few more times of that…
“Papa and Mama are so lovey-dovey! Hey, Papa! Give Nia a kiss too!”
Nia, Nina’s doll, whom I had completely forgotten I had invited, came to me.
From there, Nia joined in, digging while kissing, and..
“Papa! They’ve said it’s already starting to get dark outside!”
She must have gotten the call via Meilin.
Nia said and we decided to finish the day’s work.
We all went back to the cave we dug, and when we came back to the surface…
“Welcome back! Thanks for the hard work!”
Nora and Fiine greeted us, and a slightly larger house had been built right next to the cave.
“I’m sorry I built it without your permission. I thought it would be hard to get back to the house from here, so I built a house with the dolls to rest in ……”
“Oh, no. I’m not mad at you. I’m just surprised. You built it for Nina, didn’t you? Thank you.”
I patted Nora’s head and she hugged me happily …… Wait, I feel a soft touch on my right arm!?
“Sir Alex! Fiine also made a lot of monster ward and had the dolls expand the wall! Please praise me!”
“Yeah, thank you too, Fiine!”
Kuh …… Fiine hugged me on my right arm and clamped my arm between her chest!
Nora’s still here, though!
And now my left hand is being held?
“Big bro. Praise me too!”
“Of course. Nina did the best.”
I praised Nina who was holding my left hand…
“Papa! Praise me too! Give me a kiss, just like Mama!”
Nia started to say a lot of things …… For now, I decided to go into the house that Nora had built for us and rest my body.