Morning light poured over Emberleaf like warm syrup over a campfire pancake. The village was stirring—soft chatter, clanking tools, sizzling pots, and a very annoyed goblin yelling something about misplaced boots.
Kael stood on a flat stone overlooking the clearing, Rimuru balanced on his head like a sleepy crown.
"Alright, Great Sage," he said. "Time to build some history. What’s the plan?"
"Recommended priorities: housing expansion, reinforced defenses, food storage infrastructure, and sanitation improvements."
Kael winced. "Sanitation? Can’t we start with something cooler, like a bathhouse-slash-arena?"
"Current hygiene levels present a 62% outbreak risk."
"Ugh. Fine. But I’m naming the outhouses."
He hopped down and joined Nanari, who was already drawing chalk runes across packed dirt. A ring of goblins surrounded her, watching like it was a magic show. She adjusted her glasses and pointed to the circle.
"Mana array A focuses on warmth distribution. Array B regulates water flow. If either explodes, run."
"Wait—explode?"
"Just a little."
Zelganna stomped past with a log the size of a canoe on her shoulder. She dropped it beside a half-finished shelter and nodded at Kael.
"We’re ready for stonework. Gobtaeus thinks he can enchant hammers."
"Enchant hammers," Kael repeated. "To... hit harder?"
"To hit cleaner. Less splintering."
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Kael blinked. "I love that you think about splinters."
Meanwhile, Gobrinus was organizing a team of young goblins to collect wood from the safer edge of the forest. He held a crudely drawn map.
"Group A, stay within the moss line. Group B, if you hear buzzing, run. If it glows, don’t touch it. If it talks—definitely don’t talk back."
Rimuru bounced off Kael’s head and floated beside the teams like a sparkly security drone.
Kael exhaled, hands on his hips, watching it all move—chaotic, imperfect, but alive.
Great Sage chimed in: "Progress rate: acceptable. Projected village stability within three months, assuming no large-scale disruptions."
"That’s the most optimistic thing you’ve ever said," Kael replied.
"Statistically accurate optimism."
By midday, they had two new structures framed, one enchanted well functioning, and three near-fires caused by a curious goblin mixing herbs into a torch pit.
That Afternoon
Nanari pulled Kael aside near the edge of the worksite. "Watch this. Prototype number four. Heating rune stone."
She activated it. The stone glowed blue, then orange—then red.
"Uh, Nanari?"
"It's within spec. Probably."
Kael yelped and tossed the hissing stone into a nearby pond. It exploded in a geyser of steam.
"You made soup rock."
"It’s a *prototype,*" she said defensively.
Rimuru buzzed through the sky like a squishy overseer, making indignant chirps every time someone dropped tools or walked into a post.
One goblin kid put a pot on his head and followed him around.
"It’s the sacred slime eye," the kid whispered.
Kael groaned. "Please don’t start a religion around Rimuru."
"A cult of personality is statistically probable," Great Sage added.
Over by the woodpiles, Gobrinus broke up a shovel-related argument between two goblin boys.
"We build together or not at all," he said. "You wanna fight? Fight the mud."
The kids looked ashamed and went back to stacking lumber.
Kael watched from a distance and murmured, "He’s going to be their general one day."
As the sun dipped, Kael found himself standing beside Zelganna on the watch ledge.
"You miss the castle?" she asked without looking at him.
"Nah," Kael replied. "I have a slime, a treehouse, and a goblin girl threatening to electrocute people if they use the wrong runes. I’m good."
Zelganna let out something like a grunt of amusement. "You’re strange. But not bad."
Kael smirked. "I’ll take it."
Kael collapsed under a shaded tree as Rimuru landed softly in his lap.
"We’re actually doing it," he whispered. "We’re building something real."
Rimuru pulsed gently, as if to say, You’ve always been real.
Kael smiled.
For the first time, it didn’t feel like a game. It felt like a kingdom.