The day after the building site was prepared, Kousuke brought Shurein and Silvia with him.
“Hohou. So this is the site, is it? It’s quite nice, isn’t it?”
“Certainly, if it’s here, the number of people who can come here will be limited to some extent,” Shurein and Silvia nodded in agreement as they looked at the neatly prepared land.
“Right?”
Kousuke beamed at their reactions.
“I understand you’re using a magic tool to keep this place hidden for now, but will you leave the magic tool here even after the house is built?” Shurein asked, a curious look on his face.
“No. While making the house, I’ll incorporate a magic circle that produces a similar effect, so I’ll remove it partway through.”
Kousuke’s explanation piqued Shurein’s interest. “Is that possible?”
Generally, it’s said that you cannot layer persistent barriers of the same type.
For example, if you cast a barrier of type A, “No wolves allowed,” and then cast a barrier of type B, “No foxes allowed,” you cannot create a single barrier with both effects. You can make it so that foxes can pass through the space between A and B, but wolves cannot pass through B. Unfortunately, it’s common knowledge that you can’t have a barrier that excludes both. It’s a troublesome rule, but if you want to create a barrier with both properties, you have no choice but to create it with those properties from the start.
Kousuke nodded in response to Shurein’s question. “Yes, it’s possible. Or rather, I think any magic tool craftsman could do it if they wanted to. It’s just that it would be a waste, so they don’t.”
“Hmm? What do you mean?”
“Well, if using tools with the same effect doesn’t make it stronger, it’s a waste of magic power, isn’t it? I’ll just use one magic tool continuously.”
If using two tools doesn’t produce synergistic effects, there’s no point in using multiple tools in the first place. Although it’s known that magic tools can be activated simultaneously, most people don’t do it because, as Kousuke said, it’s a waste of magic power.
“I see. That is indeed a waste of magic power.”
“Right? Well, in this case, it’s necessary, so I have no choice but to activate both.” After all, building this house will take a considerable amount of time. Since I can’t create all the functions of the barrier from the beginning, I need to use two magic circles even though I know it’s a waste.
This time, Silvia’s expression became worried as she listened to Kousuke’s explanation. “Is that alright, Kousuke?”
“Hmm? Oh, you mean the issue of magic power (divine power) consumption?”
“Yes.”
“Then there’s no particular problem. In fact, it’s precisely because that problem has been resolved that I thought about specifically building a house this time.” Actually, Kousuke had considered building a house before. However, he had given up because the power consumption was too high. If you make something as large as a house into a magic tool, the magic power consumed during its creation will also increase. Since this problem has been cleared up with my latest growth (?), I suddenly wanted to try making one.
“So, how are you going to build it?” Shurein asked Kousuke with an expression that practically screamed excitement. Kousuke gave a wry smile and answered casually, “You don’t need to think of it as anything complicated. I’ll just borrow the power of the fairies, with Noel at the center.”
Kousuke’s proposal of an unconventional method made Shurein’s expression turn to one of bewilderment. “Fairies? Is that possible?”
“Yes, it’s possible. Well, to be precise, I’ll give instructions to the fairies and have the spirits work.” Kousuke had followed a similar procedure yesterday when preparing the site. Building a house requires more complex instructions, but he wouldn’t have started the work if he didn’t think it was possible.
Shurein shook his head sadly at Kousuke’s answer. “I see. That’s a shame. If I could do the same, I would have wanted to teach it to the people of the village.”
“Hmm. I wonder about that? It might be possible to do something similar even without using fairies or spirits, you know? For now, how about we just observe the situation?”
“Yes, let’s do that.” Shurein, who already intended to do so, nodded in agreement.
***
The first thing Kousuke did with Noel’s power was to create large bricks.
“What is this?”
“It seems to be infused with considerable divine power, doesn’t it?” If they were ordinary bricks, Shurein and Silvia wouldn’t have reacted like this. However, when each brick was found to contain a significant amount of divine power, it was a different story. Simply making such bricks would consume a tremendous amount of power. Even with the help of fairies, it’s not something that can be prepared so easily in such quantities.
Silvia picked up one of the bricks and examined it. Tremblingly, she asked Kousuke, “You’re not planning to use these bricks for the house walls, are you?”
“That’s the plan, though?” Silvia’s question, desperately hoping for a negative answer, was met with Kousuke’s blank expression. For Kousuke, the act of making bricks itself was not a big deal. He even considered the fairies and spirits to be the ones who would have a difficult time.
“I-I see. That is… well. Never mind. It’s Kousuke, after all.”
“Indeed. If we worried about every little thing, we wouldn’t be able to cope,” Shurein said, his expression becoming resigned, nodding at Silvia’s almost defeated look. Kousuke looked as if he had something to say, but wisely kept quiet.
The bricks Kousuke made were intended to be used as building materials for a normal brick house, as well as to incorporate various magic circles into the walls. While it’s possible to embed them after the house is built, it’s far more effective to incorporate them from the brick stage. Since each brick is infused with divine power, it has the advantage of being easier to create magic circles in than embedding them later. However, there’s a disadvantage: you have to plan the brickwork with the magic circles in mind from the beginning, which takes time. But Kousuke knows that this time issue can be resolved by using fairies and spirits. Therefore, he chose to use bricks this time. In the future, he might use other materials, but for Kousuke, bricks were the easiest material to handle.
The bricks Kousuke made are valuable in themselves, but Kousuke himself doesn’t realize it. Naturally, Shurein and Silvia, who noticed immediately, exchanged glances and nodded at each other. It was obvious from Kousuke’s expression that he didn’t understand what he had done. Considering this, stopping the construction of the house here would be one option, but they chose to let it proceed without saying anything. This was solely driven by their desire to see what kind of house Kousuke would build with these bricks. Whether this decision was the right one will only be known after Kousuke has finished building the house.
Yes. This time, it will be a brick house. Whether wooden houses or other types will be built is still unknown.
By the way, Kousuke’s house construction might seem unbelievable to experts, but please accept it as “magical architecture” lol.
