Infinite Adaptation: Starting As A Level 1 Slime-Chapter 22: No House For You

"Fine," he said. "I agree to your proposal."

He felt a little guilty for breaking one end of the barrier - which would have allowed the creature to easily escape after breaking through the other side.

Luminous’s smile brightened.

"A wise choice."

With that, her form began to fade.

"Wait, about the promise..." he shouted.

"It’s already settled," her voice echoed as she disappeared completely.

He was surprised.

She already did it?

Wait. Did she already know that I would accept?

Dammit. Why do I feel like I’ve been tricked?

Well, he supposed it wasn’t much of a problem for him given the benefits.

He looked at the others.

"It’s getting late. We should return."

They agreed, and the group began walking back toward the village.

...

As they walked, Lunaris spoke up.

"Roselle."

"Yes, my Lord?"

"Why did you call the spirit a traitor?"

Roselle’s expression soured.

"It’s a matter of history, my Lord." She took a breath. "All beastmen worship the Moon Goddess. And humans worship the Eternal Dragon Azurath. But there are creatures known as elves."

She continued walking, her voice growing bitter.

"They were once considered beastmen, as they were not human. But they later shifted from worshiping the Moon Goddess and began worshiping the forest instead - since it gave them food and shelter."

She scoffed.

"Quite stupid, right?"

Well...

Lunaris felt it was better than worshiping the moon, who gave nothing.

But he felt it was best he didn’t say this.

"Their worship of the forest then turned to the worship of spirits, who kept said forest," Roselle continued. "Then they eventually settled on the World Tree, who gave birth to the spirits and the forest. Also known as the Eternal Brilliance."

She glanced back at Lunaris.

"It is who the spirits worship."

He considered this.

"I still don’t see why they are traitors."

Roselle looked at him as if the answer were obvious.

"How could you not see, my Lord? They are allies with those elf traitors - which makes them traitors by extension."

He paused.

"Ah. I see."

He bounced along in silence for a moment.

"Very sound logic. I’m amazed."

...

They arrived at the village.

Lunaris took out the huge spider from storage, its massive corpse materializing before the gathered crowd.

Instantly, the villagers dropped to their knees.

"We thank the Moon for this blessing!"

"Praise be to Lord Lunaris!"

"The Goddess provides!"

"Is praying the only thing you people think about?" Lunaris scolded. "Get to work already! You need to cook this food for everyone. We’re going to have a feast tonight."

The villagers scrambled to their feet and rushed toward the spider, chattering excitedly as they began preparing the meal.

...

The group walked toward the edge of the village.

When they arrived, a crowd of villagers who had gathered huge logs noticed them and approached. They bowed low.

"We have completed the task, my Lord."

Well, at least these guys are hardworking.

He had ordered one group to gather wood for construction and the other to hunt - which was the group he had accompanied.

He looked at the wood they had gathered.

This should be enough for a few houses.

The reason he had picked wood was because it was much easier to work with. They could build a few houses - or one large one, at least - for the women and children to sleep in during the night so they wouldn’t be exposed to the cold.

"Do any of you have paper?" he asked the men.

"Paper?" They looked at each other in confusion.

I’m guessing not.

He wondered how he was going to draw the blueprint. Clothing could work, but he also had to worry about making ink.

Ah, why am I even worrying about this?

After all, this was a fantasy world. He could just use magic.

He concentrated on his mana and slowly, gently, through Mana Manipulation, drew it out. Then he began controlling the stream of magic to create light. He bent and shaped this light, and in just a few moments, he had built a three-dimensional illustration floating in the air before them.

"This is the design I have in mind for the houses," he announced.

The gathered villagers looked at the glowing illustration with interest, murmuring amongst themselves.

Roselle stepped forward.

"My Lord, if I may ask - what kind of house are you thinking of making?"

"Just normal houses for people to live in," he explained. "So they don’t have to sleep in those huts anymore."

Roselle’s expression shifted.

"I’m afraid we cannot do that."

"What?"

Is it another weird custom related to the Moon Goddess?

"Whenever we are moving to a new area," Roselle explained, "the first thing to be built should always be the Church of the Eternal Moon. Only then can we think of houses and other facilities."

"Well, we could just designate one house as the church."

"That won’t do." She shook her head firmly. "It has to be the largest building. How could our common houses be on the same level as the house of the Lord?"

Lunaris was hesitant.

"Are you worried about cleaning the large house?" Roselle asked. "Then you shouldn’t worry. The priestess lives in the church and takes care of it for the Lord."

She placed a hand on her chest.

"My cleaning skills are top-notch."

Yeah, that’s not really the problem here.

"We need houses so the women and children aren’t exposed to the elements at night," he explained. "Can’t we compromise?"

"Absolutely not." Her voice was firm. "Even if you build them, no one will dare use them if they’re built through abandoning tradition."

He sighed.

"Fine."

She just smiled.

He readjusted the design, making the church just double the size of a normal village house.

"This should do, right?"

Roselle seemed against it, but she didn’t have any valid counter. She could only silently say, "...Yes."

"Good. Then we can get started with the building process."

He began making calculations.

There were about a hundred women and roughly twenty children. The way he wanted the housing system to work was one woman living with two children, or two women sharing a single house.

Making the calculations, this came to forty-five houses. He decided to round it up to fifty so they could accommodate some men who were physically weak or unwell.

As for the other men, there would be no house for them.