Foundations of the Nameless Village
Since it was a place where believers of the Church of the Unnamed Goddess gathered, they decided to simply call it the "Nameless Village." It was a thoroughly Falco-esque idea. Still, it wasn't bad. It was far better than plastering on some fancy, pretentious name just to look impressive. At least, that was what Yohan thought.
—Hmm. Even the Goddess, in her spiritual form, gave a reasonably positive response.
"Sure, whatever. It's not like my opposition matters anyway. You guys would just push it through with your so-called majority vote," Yohan grumbled, his sarcastic tone masking his actual thoughts.
At that, Falco narrowed her eyes and shot him a peculiar look. "Unlike last time, it seems like you actually approve, Yohan."
"Tsk." This pointy-eared elf... she was always annoyingly sharp at times like this. He scowled and clicked his tongue, while Annie, standing beside them, hid a quiet smirk.
"Fine, whatever. Since we're doing this, let's build a city so grand it'll put Valifield—no, even the Royal Capital—to shame."
"Ooh!" The priests gathered in the room gasped in unison at Yohan's declaration. It was glaringly obvious that none of them actually knew what Valifield was like, but they cheered anyway.
"So, are we going to reveal our true identities to Wilhelm and Henry now?" Annie asked.
"Yeah. Not immediately, though," Yohan replied with a nod. "Once we've built this place up to a point where it's actually livable, I'll have to pay a visit to the Lord of Balifield and settle things."
The southwestern wasteland was a place that even its nominal ruler, the Lord of Balifield, couldn't care less about. As long as they offered a reasonable sum of money, the lord would gladly recognize the Nameless Village officially. However, regardless of the Holy Kingdom's current state, whether the Lord of Balifield would willingly tolerate the worship of a dimwitted goddess was another matter entirely.
Of course, if they left the Holy Kingdom to its own devices, it would collapse on its own, and the justification for persecuting unauthorized religions would vanish with it. Yet, contrary to his initial plans, Yohan had firmly resolved to save the crumbling nation. He had seen firsthand that, putting aside the corrupt leadership of the Central Church, the citizens of the Holy Kingdom were just ordinary people.
"Anyway, do your best. I'll be busy running around up north for a while." Yohan looked at Annie and Falco as he spoke, then walked past Falco toward the exit.
"Wait a moment." Just as he was about to step outside, Annie's voice stopped him from behind. "Yohan, you aren't planning on heading straight back to the Holy Kingdom right now, are you?"
"I'm going to sleep. Why?" Yohan snapped back defensively.
"Then that is fine." Since even the usually strict Annie had gone out of her way to say that, it was only right for him to get some proper rest at home today.
Back in his own house, Yohan unpacked, changed into lighter clothes, and collapsed onto his bed. "Ahhh..." He couldn't remember the last time he had slept in a proper bed. Groaning in sheer satisfaction, he stretched his arms and legs as far as they could go.
Ever since investigating the crisis in the Holy Kingdom, he had been relying on brief rests in his Single-room to recover his stamina. But because the pocket dimension was currently being used as a communal storage unit for the Goddess Knights, he hadn't been able to stretch out comfortably like this.
"Yawn..." The moment his head hit the pillow, drowsiness washed over him. Yohan stared up at the log-beamed ceiling and let out a long yawn. Yeah. The others are managing the village perfectly fine on their own, so I'll focus on the Holy Kingdom again starting tomorrow. Whether that meant helping the Holy Knights gather their forces for an all-out war, or slipping into the Holy City in secret to break the seal and awaken the sleeping Primary God. With those thoughts drifting through his mind, Yohan quickly fell into a deep sleep.
Morning came. The moment Yohan woke up, he muttered about being pressed for time and teleported straight back to the Holy Kingdom. Meanwhile, the companions left behind in the Nameless Village resumed the expansion work from the previous day. It was grueling reclamation work—clearing the forest around the defensive walls and carving out dirt roads for people and carriages to travel smoothly. The scale of the construction was incomparable to when they had built a settlement for barely a hundred residents.
Yet, the work proceeded far more smoothly than before. For one, their prior experience with the village improvement project significantly reduced any trial and error. Furthermore, the sheer number of laborers mobilized for the task had grown exponentially.
Back when the Goddess Knights first decided to settle here, the number of people capable of enduring hard labor had been a few dozen at best. Now, the new refugees from Easthold alone numbered nearly two thousand, and among them were several skilled craftsmen with deep expertise in architecture and carpentry.
In addition, Billy had devised a method to drastically cut down construction time. By placing angular molds directly over tree seeds, Falco could use the power of her ring to rapidly grow the trees. Because the timber grew into uniform shapes—almost like metal poured into a cast—the process of processing the raw wood into usable building materials was cut in half.
This technique had been developed based on an idea Yohan had casually tossed out. He had mentioned that in his homeland, people sometimes placed molds over growing fruit to force them into specific shapes. Since a sapling normally took decades to fully mature, this feat was only possible thanks to the ring left behind by the Guardian Deity of the Dawn Dew Tribe.
"Heave-ho." Once the bark was stripped and the drying process complete, the logs were transported directly to various construction sites, with Billy actively participating in the heavy lifting.
"Whoa... as expected of an Orc, his strength is unreal."
"Shh, watch your mouth. He's not an Orc, he's a half-troll."
"Oops."
Though he occasionally overheard the other workers whispering, Billy paid them no mind. He knew well enough that they didn't mean any harm.
In truth, Billy had noticed that his physical abilities had grown remarkably stronger lately. Ever since the number of believers in the Church of the Unnamed Goddess reached around two thousand, the members of the Goddess Knights—who had received the Goddess's direct blessing—had begun to undergo a transformation.
While they couldn't channel her Authority directly like Yohan did through his contract, every single member of the order was now capable of performing Miracle Arts. Beyond healing wounds or dealing devastating blows to demons, Miracle Arts granted even ordinary humans tireless stamina and immense physical strength. The proof was right here. Billy was currently carrying two massive logs on his shoulders all by himself—logs that would normally require several grown men to lift.
Of course, he had been capable of such feats of strength even before the Goddess's divine power grew. The difference now was that he could sustain this level of power continuously, rather than in short bursts.
... As he carried the logs, Billy briefly imagined himself fighting a cannibalistic troll. If it's now, maybe I could actually stand a chance against that cursed chieftain.
"Found you." Just then, a familiar face popped out from the side.
"Falco? What's going on?"
"Here, take this. A gift Yohan left behind." Falco suddenly pulled a book from her coat and held it out. Billy carefully set down the logs he was carrying and took the book.
"This is..." The book was about the stone architecture of the Holy Kingdom. It wasn't just filled with dense text; there were also several detailed sketches of buildings that looked hand-drawn by the author.
"I found it in Yohan's house. It was sitting right by his bed, and no matter how I looked at it, it seemed like he brought it back specifically for you."
"Thank you."
"Don't thank me. Save it for Yohan later."
Billy felt a sudden urge to sit right down and read the book on the spot. But shaking off the temptation, he tucked the book into his belt and hoisted the logs back onto his shoulders.
"Well, I'm off then." Falco turned to head back the way she came.
"Wait a moment, Falco." Billy called out, causing Falco to stop and tilt her head in confusion. "What is it?"
"You said you just brought this out from the leader's house, right?"
"Yeah. That's right."
"Doesn't that mean you went in without permission?" In other words, she had trespassed into Yohan's home while the owner was away.
"..." Hit right where it hurt, Falco bit her lip, her eyes darting around nervously. "I-I just went to check if he was oversleeping, that's all!" As she stammered out her excuse, Billy let out a soft chuckle.
"Well, let's go with that. Anyway, I'll make good use of the book." Before Billy could even finish his sentence, Falco bolted like a startled rabbit.
"Alright then." Time to get back to work. Billy quickened his pace. He wanted to finish today's quota as quickly as possible so he could head home and read the book Yohan had given him. He felt a fresh surge of energy.
The stone masonry of the Holy Kingdom was truly exceptional. Not only was it aesthetically superior, but there were also numerous technical aspects worth studying and adapting. Moreover, since there were now several craftsmen from the Holy Kingdom residing in the village, they might be able to construct much sturdier stone houses in a settlement currently dominated by wooden structures. Perhaps... Yohan had brought this book back despite his busy schedule with that exact intention in mind. Or so Billy thought.
"We are truly in your debt, brother. If not for you, who knows how many more Holy Knights would have fallen..." Ever since Yohan had actively intervened, the tide of battle in Patermachi had steadily turned in favor of the Holy Knights.
"Save it. I'm only doing this because your survival makes my life easier down the road," Yohan replied, waving off the commander's gratitude.
At first, the Holy Knights had been unable to hide their wariness upon seeing the divine Authority he wielded. But at some point, they had begun to view Yohan as an ally sent by the Primary God Himself. That wasn't all. Rumors about Yohan had spread like wildfire throughout Patermachi. A young inquisitor who soared through the sky on wings of light, purging evil with a blazing divine flame. His existence was now widely known not only to the Holy Knights, but also to their enemies, including the corrupted inquisitors. Rumors circulated of a corrupted inquisitor who had seized demonic power, aiding the tainted Holy Knights to capture and forcibly corrupt the faithful servants of the Primary God.
"Hear me, everyone!" the commander of the order shouted to the Holy Knights lined up around him. "Thanks to the tireless efforts and sacrifices of everyone here, including Brother Yohan, the liberation of Patermachi is finally within our grasp!"
The moment the commander finished speaking, the Holy Knights erupted into cheers. Having fought continuously without proper supplies, the state of the Holy Knights was far from ideal. Their signature plate armor, which once shone with brilliant light, was now dented, scratched, and dulled. Most of the knights looked pale and exhausted from the lack of rest. No matter how much Miracle Arts could heal physical wounds, they could do nothing for accumulated fatigue and mental anguish.
"And tomorrow, we shall reclaim the Patermachi Cathedral, which has been occupied by our fallen brothers for far too long!" Yet, despite their exhaustion, the knights' eyes remained clear and resolute.
"For the Primary God!"
"For Teodoro IV!"
In the distant past, a legendary Holy Knight had raised an army in Patermachi, eventually defeating the Demon King and ascending to the seat of the Pope. The time had finally come to reclaim the Patermachi Cathedral, built to commemorate the great Teodoro IV, from the clutches of demonic madness.