Count’s Parting Gift

Two days had passed since then.

After turning half of the vacant land into fields, I was standing in front of a rock formation with a drill in hand.

The rock formation was, in a word, gigantic.

About three times my height, placed in a way that blocked the path.

Although unnaturally placed, it may have been a setting like, it rolled in from the island’s interior due to the impact of the Dimension Wave――or something like that.

In any case, breaking this with a hammer would be a bit difficult.

「Dri…」

I stopped myself from shouting halfway, and pulled the handle of the drill.

It then started rotating with the sound of a motor.

At the same time, my shield energy changed from 700 to 699.

The drill seems to be a tool that consumes MP to use, so it consumes energy instead.

Using too much energy for pioneering work is dangerous, so I’ll slowly break the rock formation.

In other words, I carefully use the drill on the rock every day to deal damage.

Cracks were gradually forming, so it wouldn’t be long now.

「If only I could use skills…」

It’s probably a mastery skill, but it’s tough without being able to acquire it.

Well, maybe it was a mistake to head for the sea when trying to find the Fourth City.

Oh?

I felt the same sensation in my hand as when the drill broke the rock.

The rock formation then made a cracking sound and split in half.

…I had imagined breaking it up a bit more before removing it, but whatever.

I proceeded onward, using the split rocks as makeshift gates on either side of the path.

Literally advancing toward the center of the island, so it was a slight slope.

Since the ruins of the mansion were a little before midway up the mountain, it shouldn’t take too long.

Yes yes, I can see it, I can see it.

Like the village, the mansion was quite weathered, a reminder of the era Count Havenburgh supposedly lived here.

Could this also be a misdirection?

If Soul Eaters existed decades ago, it would mean the Dimension Waves themselves didn’t suddenly appear recently…

No, to begin with, the worldview and such wasn’t explicitly stated whether this was the first or thirtieth Dimension Wave.

This area may also be part of the story’s mystery for players to unravel.

Anyway, there’s no point standing around here.

I opened the door to the old mansion.

「Eh?」

Not a speck of dust. Unbroken floors. Not even a hint of weathering.

To my surprise, the interior of the mansion was pristine.

What does this mean?

Then, a translucent object came drifting down.

It’s a ghost, no matter how you look at it. Thank you very much.

There were two ghosts, a man dressed in a military uniform, probably Count Havenburgh.

The other was a woman… the countess, perhaps?

When the ghost of Count Havenburgh noticed me, he smiled and spoke.

『So you’ve slain the monster. This frees me as well. Thank you, benefactor. The island is in your hands now…』

「Huh?」

Before I could make sense of it, the two ghosts ascended to heaven as if attaining Buddhahood.

And like a fog clearing, the surrounding scenery changed.

The mansion visible just before had vanished, leaving only traces of the pillars.

And at the center was a large box.

Approaching it, the box had four buttons on it.

Meat, fruit, fish, and carrot.

Food? Ah, was it one of those selection boxes where the contents change to correspond to the chosen item?

I checked to make sure it was safe and tried opening it, but it wouldn’t open. Naturally, the buttons seemed to be the key.

「Well, among these, there’s only one choice, isn’t there?」

Lures, or a high-performance fishing rod, or fishing hooks or something.

It’s probably a gift from Count Havenburgh given the situation, so I should expect something good.

Without hesitation, I pressed the fish button.

『Pen!』

「Uwah!」

When I pressed the fish button, something came flying out of the box, screaming.

Don’t scare me like that.

Damn it Count, I thought you left some kind of treasure, but it’s a trap.

What came out of the box was a deformed monster that looked like a penguin.

It had something like a Santa hat on its head.

Its size was about chest-high for me.

…Big? Well, considering I was just a little girl, maybe it’s a modest size.

Without hesitation, I took out my Cerberus Slaughter and faced off against the monster.

「Peckle is not a monster-pen.」

「It talked!?」

The monsters I’d defeated until now had never understood human language.

Or rather, I’d prefer they didn’t talk. Then I can’t defeat them.

「Pe, Peckle?」

「A penguin and a Korpokkur combined their powers――and became Peckle-pen.」

The Peckle started explaining in a bit of a lecturing tone, though I hadn’t asked.

A penguin and Korpokkur became Peckle?

It’s a bit of an odd made-up word.

Its appearance was about 80% penguin, 20% Korpokkur.

Two Peckles came from the mountain and approached Santa hat one, who seemed to be the leader.

It’s wearing a straw hat and a cowboy hat respectively.

I see. The hat each individual wears seems to differ.

「Peckle is going to develop this island-pen.」

「I, I see… Good luck with that.」

「That’s why I want the master to give orders-pen.」

「Who’s the master?」

「You are-pen. I’m giving this to you-pen.」

Before I could confirm or deny anything, I was handed a strange item.

It was like an old-style PDA information terminal called the Peckle Counter.

The Peckle Counter showed the three Peckles in an image with the status『Standby』.

Pressing the standby button seemed to let me assign them tasks.

And each Peckle apparently has some kind of 『motivation』 gauge.

The Santa hat one was at 100%, while the other two were at 70%, but what did that mean?

Ah, was it like a hunger gauge or something?

Well, they are penguins, so eating fish should recover it.

Come to think of it, the button I pressed was for fish.

「So it’s about food, huh…」

In that case, I wonder what would have happened if I pressed the other buttons?

My guess is that a corresponding lifeform would have appeared.

「You two over there.」

I called the straw hat and cowboy hat Peckles over and handed them some squid from my item pouch.

Taking the squid, the two Peckles ate it.

Their motivation gauges on the Peckle Counter then increased by 30%.

While all individuals were now at 100%… what am I supposed to do?

This must be one of those support character things, right?

The condition was probably reaching Count Havenburgh’s mansion, and now they’ll help me with pioneering.

Well, if it’s a system feature, I’ll make use of it.

The individuals probably have different abilities too.

The straw hat for fieldwork, the cowboy for hunting. The Santa hat… what is that one good at?

For now, I’ll check the relevant task categories.

There were eight: Agriculture, Hunting, Ranching, Fishing, Logging, Construction, Pioneering, and Command.

What does Command mean? It sounds leadership-ish, so that one might suit it well.

But I already feel like I’m giving the orders, you know? Anyway, to check what Pioneering means, I’ll assign that task to Santa hat for now.

「Get to work-pen.」

Saying that, the Peckles scurried off.

I’m sure they’ll carry out the tasks I assigned.

Let me head back to the village for now.

†

When I returned to the village, I was dumbstruck.

The Santa hat Peckle was gripping a hammer with both hands, demolishing the houses.

It hadn’t actually collapsed any yet since it just started, but they looked ready to come down any moment.

「What are you doing!?」

「Master, this is a pioneering work-pen.」

「That’s called demolition! Why are you demolishing the houses?」

「To build new ones-pen.」

「……..」

I understand the meaning, but… if these ruins get demolished, I’ll lose my sleeping quarters.

It mentioned building new houses, so I assume it will handle the construction part later.

But what should I do until then?

Well… support characters being inflexible is to be expected, I guess.

「Alright. You focus on construction.」

「Understood-pen.」

Saying that, it put the hammer in its hat and took out a saw instead before leaving.

What kind of mechanism is that? Is it operating on the same principle as the item pouch?

Curious, I followed Peckle who was carrying a saw and wearing a Santa hat, and ended up at the remains of Count Havenburgh’s mansion.

It then took out lumber from its hat and started sawing it.

Where did that lumber come from?

With an ominous feeling, I checked my item pouch and sure enough, it had decreased.

Is that hat linked to my item pouch?

No, but I never had any saws.

…Oh well. I’ll go crazy if I dwell on it.

What are the others up to?

I checked the Peckle Counter.

A simple map of Kalmira Island was displayed, with the three Peckles shown as deformed icons moving around. This is basically a different game now.

One Peckle was near the field I had tilled, the other in the forest.

Their actions matched my expectations, so no need to check on them.

In any case, with these convenient support characters appearing, the work became easier.

「Well, I might as well do this pioneering thing…」

That day until evening, I demolished the ruined village with a hammer but left my sleeping quarters intact.

…Demolishing houses felt pretty good.