Chapter 223

“Administrator Information [Unknown] — Limited authority granted, only partial functions operable.”

“Please select a management category.”

“Base Management”

“Subordinate Management”

Only two options appeared.

Until now, I hadn’t touched any categories unrelated to my purpose, but I decided to examine both this time.

Base Management

“Operate the terrain within your authorized range.”

“Natural Environment Settings”

“Environment Maintenance Settings”

“Effective Range Settings”

Hmm… this, then? It seems this category allows control over the surrounding environment of the console.

I’m eager to try it immediately, but I restrained myself and checked the other option.

Subordinate Management

“Set authorized guardian entities within the barrier terrain.”

“Set guardian entities within layers.”

“Set final defense guardians.”

“Sub-Dragon Race — Deceased”

“New Authority Core generation: one month remaining”

“Barrier terrain cannot be operated; new guardian details cannot be set.”

“Automatically generated based on surrounding environment.”

Hmm… this “barrier terrain” must refer to the dungeon, right?

Then the guardian entities are probably the final boss set in place instead of a Dungeon Master, and the “New Authority Core” must be the dungeon core that naturally generates in this dungeon.

“For now, I won’t use it… Alright, seems like I can manipulate the forest, so let’s try it.”

“I see… probably the ‘Effective Range’ and ‘Environment Maintenance’ options are the key.”

“I can’t read these characters… Are they from Shizuma’s world?”

“Most likely, the characters displayed are those the person who activated it is most familiar with.”

“I see… so lots of complicated symbols, huh?”

Indeed. Hiragana or katakana are easy enough, but kanji would probably just look like patterns to someone unfamiliar.

“I see, with this option I can control both the forest’s range and… its growth and regeneration rates. Right now, it seems the regeneration rate is at maximum, and the effective range is also at its peak. Maybe this was necessary for the Empire’s timber needs, but at present, there’s no heavy demand or large-scale export… Let’s reduce the scale to half, and growth speed to maybe one-fifth. That should still be plenty fast and sufficient for supply.”

“Looking at the map, even if the untouched deep forest disappears, enough remains for people to maintain their livelihoods. The reason new paths, even to neighboring towns, weren’t developed before may have been the abnormal growth rate and the sheer size of the forest.”

“It seems we can also reduce density, so future logging should be a bit easier.”

When handling previous collection requests, I noticed areas where lumberjacks had cut trees in the forest. Yet nearby, fairly large trees were already standing.

Since they were so close to the stumps, these must have grown after the initial trees were cut.

Honestly, the growth rate is far too extreme, and it’s unlikely there’s that much demand for timber.

If there were, they could have exploited the rapid growth and built a large sawmill at the forest’s origin, supplying timber continuously.

Since there isn’t one, the demand probably isn’t that high. Besides, reducing the forest’s scale won’t make it suddenly vanish, so there’s still plenty of wood available.

Even if the environment doesn’t change immediately, the village’s living conditions won’t improve instantly.

But with this, the village can expand. After all, the forest won’t regenerate at an abnormal rate anymore.

“Operation complete… the core has been safely returned to the earth. That probably means one more person can now be Order-summoned.”

“Then let’s report to the guild branch chief, giving our predictions about the forest’s future.”

“Really…!? The abnormal growth of the forest around this village has stopped!?”

“Yes, that seems possible. Could you tell us how the village has been expanding or developing new land until now?”

“Every year we expand slightly. But… in just one year, trees grow to a size that normally takes ten years. If this slows down, we can extend the village paths, transport timber on a larger scale, and expand the village further.”

“I see, that’s the situation. Experimentally, try cutting just one tree soon. It doesn’t have to be fully grown. Previously, even overnight, it would have grown significantly, right? The thick trees?”

“Yes, the seedlings grew overnight, and in three days, they reached about my height.”

“That’s… beyond expectation. Definitely try it. Based on the results, large-scale expansion and development could begin immediately.”

This allowed us to report the possibility that the forest’s abnormality has ended while suggesting verification.

Next is our own verification: did the number of people who can be Order-summoned actually increase?

Back in our room, I accessed the menu.

Checking the number of Order-summonable characters in the Craft menu:

Order-Summonable Characters 0/1*

• Silent — [Gatekeeper][Gathering]
• Rent — [Gatekeeper][Gathering][Observation]
• Seira — [Gatekeeper][Gathering][Cooking]
• Shijima — [Gatekeeper][Gathering][Blacksmithing]
• Selene — [Gatekeeper][Gathering][Alchemy]
• Hash — [Gatekeeper][Gathering][Composition][Performance]
• Rue — [Gatekeeper][Gathering]
• Still — [Gatekeeper][Gathering]

Low-Rank Order-Summonable Characters 0/1

• Rent — [Gatekeeper][Gathering][Observation]

The list confirmed the updated summonable capacity.

“Wha… what is this…”

The options displayed had changed drastically from before.

The upper list of “Order-Summonable Characters” remained as usual. However, the number of slots was still capped at one.

But a new page had appeared, labeled “Low-Rank Order-Summonable Characters.”

The only one summonable was Rent… Could it be that this only allows characters below a certain level, ones that haven’t been trained much, to be summoned?

Does this mean that with the dungeon core we just obtained, entities above a certain strength cannot be summoned?

“Shizuma? What’s wrong?”

“Sheele… actually—”

Sheele might have been expecting that we could add a new companion.

I felt bad for having to disappoint her, but I decided to be honest and tell her the truth.

“I see… I had considered that possibility as well. So… you’re thinking of summoning Rent and giving her autonomy, then?”

“Rent-chan!? Does that mean I could be with Rent-chan!?”

“Ah, well, not decided yet… I guess I need to have a little discussion with myself about this.”

“That’s right, we should hear everyone else’s opinion too.”

“Oh, okay. Shizuma, do you want to lie down on the bed?”

“Yeah, let’s do that.”

For some reason, Melt was lightly patting her own tail.

“You can use it as a pillow! It’s all fluffed up, so I want to weigh it down a bit.”

“Eh~? Well, it looks comfy, so that’s fine.”

Having just bathed a little while ago, I buried my head in Melt’s soft, fluffy tail that still smelled of shampoo.

Ah… this feels incredible… I instantly drift into unconsciousness—

We were already completely accustomed to the roundtable.

But this time, by the time I noticed, everyone who could come had gathered, and there was a slightly tense atmosphere in the air.

“I… I’m not weak because I want to be!”

“Yes, yes, of course. But still, I can’t help but feel jealous. Only you are automatically chosen next.”

“Still… calm yourself. Shizuma is already here; this is unseemly.”

“Oh? How unpleasant to witness.”

“Shizuma! Still is bullying me!”

From the seat two over, Rent ran up.

Oh, oh, what childish behavior! Well, well, well.

“What is it, Still? Did you make a sarcastic remark just because only Rent can be summoned?”

“Yes, exactly! I’m jealous that she is mainly protected and able to go on the journey.”

“That’s not my fault! And… I don’t want to be a burden.”

From Still’s perspective, this was probably half-teasing, but for Rent, it might be a sensitive issue.

Being left behind, still weak, and now finally able to help me learn magic—this situation is a bit confusing for her.

Being the only one allowed to go outside right when she could start contributing is understandably unsettling.

“Still, stop this. You should understand that she’s suffering.”

“Yes, indeed… You’ve been lamenting your weakness while working hard for your master. Considering that, you’re the one most confused right now. Let’s apologize this time.”

“Ugh… Even if I manifested now, I know I’d be a burden. And with how I look… I could easily be kidnapped. I’m cute, after all.”

“You’re saying that yourself? Well, yes, you are cute… enough to make people want to tease you.”

“But that’s true. An elf who can’t defend herself yet… could be a liability on the journey. It’s better not to push it and gather a few more cores before considering it.”

I agreed with Seira. Appearance is an important factor.

With her childlike appearance, as she said herself, she’s cute. And elves are rare, as we’ve noticed because we’ve seldom seen them.

Being kidnapped or exposed to danger is a real possibility.

…However, personally, I do want to test how strong a character can be and still be summoned.

I’ve trained Rent a little since arriving in this world.

Then it might be good to experiment with other characters who are a bit more developed.

I considered using some of the underdeveloped characters I’ve kept as storage, train them just enough to be summonable, and see if they appear under the low-rank order list.

I shared this idea with everyone at the roundtable as a proposal for testing.

At that moment—faintly, a small whisper came from the darkness.

“—If… you would… like to try summoning me? I… am the one with the weakest connection.”

Hearing that weak, timid female voice, I recalled which female characters weren’t present yet.

…Two. And only one of them described herself as “having a weak connection.”

“Who is it? Shizuma, do you have any idea?”

“I do… yeah. Right. This is the last character I made, in a way the complete opposite of Silent.”

The characters I had put in storage, or stopped raising because they didn’t suit me—she falls into the latter category.

A character that’s a bit difficult for me to handle, hard to raise, hard to fight with.

I had stopped her development, stored her, gave her various items, and left her dormant.

There’s some guilt there. But if she’s willing to volunteer for me… I want to respond to that.

“Got it. Once you awaken, we’ll fight in that form for a while and see if you can be order-summoned. I’m not planning to give you autonomy yet, but is that okay?”

“‘It’s… an honor. To… be of use… that’s enough…’”

“Then… after this, you’ll appear at the roundtable as well. Nice to meet you properly, ‘Shizuka.’”

I called out her name one last time, and let my consciousness drop back to the roundtable.

Returning to the real world—

A soft, fluffy, pleasantly scented pillow—shampoo still lingering.

I woke to Melt’s tail, and her face was right in front of me.

“Oh! You’re awake! You were sleeping so soundly!”

“Good morning, Shizuma. How did the meeting go?”

Being carefully observed while asleep by both of them is… a little embarrassing!

I first told Sheele, who was curious, the results of the roundtable meeting:

That Rent wasn’t particularly eager to have autonomy, and that for testing purposes, I would try using a slightly more developed character, Shizuka, until she became order-summonable.

“Uh… well… Shizuma, are you sure about this? Um… Shizuka—meaning the combination of ‘Dancer’ × ‘Songstress’—the backstory… it’s not depicted in the game, but…”

Sheele, having the developer’s memory, probably knows the story more thoroughly than we, the users, do.

I could tell she was concerned about me inheriting not just the character’s stats and abilities, but also their personal setting, background, and life experiences.

Yes… in the case of this combination, the story… though not depicted in the game, is completely—

“Adult, non-consensual erotic content (18+) story”…!