n

n

n

"What are you fiddling with?

" Irea asked when she entered the house initially designed as Layn's lodging.

nWith the lack of manpower that the camp constantly struggled with, all the plans for the grand mansion were abandoned. All in favor of small, practical lodging.

n

"That's a long story,

" Layn smiled as he explained.

"Do you want to sit down and listen, or are you in a hurry?

" he then asked, raising his head from the floor filled with all sorts of tools, scraps, and materials.

n

"I already prepared the dinner, and today the boys have a barbecue at night,

" Irea recounted out loud before looking down at Layn with a happy face.

"Yeah, I have the time for the long story,

" she announced cheerfully.

n

"Then, if you could get us something to drink, I would be more than glad to invite you to sit down with me,

" Layn replied cheekily, even going as far as to show the girl his tongue.

n

"You little...

" Irea initially acted as if she took the bait, only to playfully shake her head and disappear from the doorway.

n'She's is too damn cute,' Layn thought, unable to contain his feelings.

nEver since he confessed everything to the girl, it felt as if a massive load was taken off his shoulder. Whether it was from the fact that he was no longer all alone with his truths, or the fact that he would be remembered for who he was really, not who others believed him to be... Layn couldn't decide.

nThat's why, rather than trying to tackle the heart issues that many philosophers over the ages would be troubled by, Layn decided to focus on the work instead.

nBecause no matter how much he drove his people into work, no matter how motivated and efficient they were, they were reaching the dead-end.

n

"I hope some herbal tea will be enough,

" Irea spoke when she returned a moment later. With how quick she was to return, Layn couldn't help but guess that she had both cups prepared even before she first entered the house-turned-workshop.

n

"That's strange,

" Layn leaned to the back, watching how Irea set up a small stool for them to have somewhere to put the glasses away.

n

"What is, dear?

" the girl asked, turning her head to Layn with confusion in her eyes.

n

"You see, we don't really know each other, but I feel like I already know everything about you,

" Layn said, closing his eyes.

"But then comes a random moment like that, and you manage to surprise me how much you have still hidden, still for me to see,

" Layn said, getting into a philosophical mood.

n

"Don't tell me you are going to figure out the new morals now?

" Irea probed her man a bit, sitting right beside him and casting a glance at the materials dirtying the floor.

"What are you doing with those?

" she asked, grabbing a few pieces of crystal into her hands.

n

"Exactly the same thing that started our little adventure,

" Layn said with a small smile before picking up one of the coins that made up nearly half of the mess.

"This one is already a finished product, but the others are still quite bad,

" Layn said, passing the small, round piece of luxury metal to the girl's hand.

n

"This isn't a normal coin,

" Irea noticed out loud pretty quickly.

"Wait, isn't it generating mana? It might be a small amount, but...

" she spoke before suddenly turning silent. For a moment, her eyes danced from one item to another on the floor before she reached out and grabbed another coin.

nThis time, it was the one made from gold, the rarest of the semi-precious metals of the world.

"This certainly does produce more mana...

" Irea muttered before suddenly raising her eyes at Layn.

"Don't tell me...

"

n

"Yes,

" Layn replied even before the girl could form her guess. From the look in her eyes, the archmage was certain that she already figured his plan out.

"This is going to be the currency of this place. I intend to create some sort of barrier that will stop those coins from leaving the country that we are going to establish here. But that's not all,

" Layn explaining before putting on a mysterious smile.

n

"So there is something else...

" Irea said and smiled as well, enjoying this little game of guessing. Her eyes once again scanned through the materials and things that were within Layn's reach.

n'If he is working on something, then everything necessary to make it has to be within his current reach. Anything outside would only need to be used early on or sparingly in general,' she formed a frame of what she should look at and how to interpret it. And injust a few moments, she noticed several layers of strange discs, all of which had a hole in their middle.

n

"Another shrine?

" Irea guessed, trying to put various parts she saw together with her imagination alone.

n

"Close, but not right on the spot,

" Layn chuckled before the laughter took over his body for a moment.

"Well, that's the long story I mentioned before. I'm not sure if you realized it already, but we are about to hit a bottleneck,

" Layn said, moving his eyes from the tools on the floor to the doors of the small building.

n

"Huh? Aren't we progressing pretty well?

" Irea asked, surprised by the sudden change of topic.

n

"For now, we do,

" Layn admitted, but instead of smile, his lips took up a sour form.

"But it's only a matter of time. Without men to make more bricks, we can only set so many houses every day. And by dedicating everyone to building and crafting bricks, we will soon run out of food and other stuff necessary to keep going here,

" Layn explained, turning his eyes from the opening of the door only to lay them on the dark wall of the building.

nBut he wasn't looking at the wall per se. Rather than that, his eyes moved in the direction of the dominion of the neighboring overlord.

n

"So those things are... a weapon?

" Irea attempted to make another educated guess.

"Weapons for us to fight with those monsters?

" she precisied her suggestion, turning her head over her shoulder as she awaited Layn's reply.

n

"Not quite that,

" Layn shook his head.

"Right now, I'm trying to construct a small tower capable of holding those coins and connecting their effects,

" Layn explained. He then picked up the same discs that Irea noticed a moment earlier before stacking them on top of each other. The finishing touch came in the form of a metal rod that fit perfectly into the holes of all the discs, turning them from a pile of elements into an actual piece of craft.

n

"Wait, what are those grooves for?

" Irea asked as she inspected the discs a bit closer.

"Place to insert the coins?

" she raised her eyes at Layn.

n

"Just look,

" Layn smiled as he grabbed several of the coins wasting away on the floor. Not even bothering to be precise, he pushed the coins into the grooves the girl mentioned before retracting his hands.

nAt first, nothing happened. Even after a prolonged while, there didn't seem to be any effects.

n

"And it should start about...

" Layn waited for a moment before finally saying,

"now!

"

nRight when Layn articulated the last word, the spine that held all the discs together suddenly turned bright red. Then, it looked as if all the discs melted together, finally turning into a single item rather than a bunch of elements bound together with nothing but a force of gravity.

nAnd then, just like the same shrine that caused them so much trouble back in Irea's academy, the small pyramid started to produce energy.

nThe energy that anyone could use for themselves.

n

"Wait, are you going to attempt trading with the monsters?

" Irea asked, opening her eyes wide.

n

"Pretty much, yeah,

" Layn confirmed the girl's guess without the slightest care in the world. For him, this kind of idea didn't seem to be in any way or form disturbing or surreal.

"You see, from what I learned about being the Overlord of any area, they perceive magic... in a slightly different way,

" Layn said as he squinted his eyes.

n

"In short words, I believe they can control all the magic that naturally occurs through their lands. And the total amount of magic they possess seems to be tied to the lands they control,

" Layn added before a sudden smile appeared on his face.

n

"You know what, I've been thinking about how to solve this problem of conflicting interest. We want the land because of its resources. They don't want us to take their lands because that's where they get their magic from.

" Layn explained how the situation looked to the girl, not involving just their perspective but also the needs and points of importance for the monsters.

n

"So, what are you going to do about it?

" Irea asked, too confused with everything that Layn said to be able to guess the rest of the picture on her own.

n

"You see, I was curious how one would look at this item if they weren't interested in changing the form of magic,

" Layn said before suddenly standing up. He picked two rings from the single shelf decorating the room before grabbing the pyramid itself and walking outside.

n

"Come, wear those rings,

" he ordered the girl before placing the pyramid right at their feet. He waited for a moment with his hand stretched in the obvious 'stop' sign before suddenly raising his eyes at the girl.

"Now, try to get some mana from the air,

" he ordered.

nAt first, Irea had a confused look on her face. Then, as she looked at the material, the rings were made from and the small glister it had, she nodded with understanding. But then, her expression soured. Then, her face tensed, as if she was trying hard to do something that she lacked the power to achieve.

n

"I give up,

" she said after a moment, taking off the ring.

n

"Good,

" Layn smiled happily, clearly knowing what to expect from this small test.

"That means that my theory was correct.

" Layn's smile only widened as he looked in the direction where the neighboring dominion was.

n

"I wonder if they are smart enough to understand what they can use those towers for,

"

n