Upon restoring the Dragon Vein between “Abandoned Castle” and “Hazama Village”, I understood.

(1) Castles and villages— so to say, places surrounded with walls, are highly likely to have a magic circles within them.
(2) The magic circles from the era of Dragon Emperor are powered through the magic of the land without needing to be recharged
(3) In order to activate said magic circles, a castle lord needs to be appointed. (I cannot be the castle lord.)
(4) The person who becomes the castle owner can use the magic of the land.
(5) When there are multiple castles, they are connected by magic power lines.

That’s all for now.

I try asking Lizette and Haruka about other unused castles or villages surrounded by walls, but—

[Sorry, Shouma-nii-sama. Lizette hasn’t heard of any.]
[Is that so?]
[Yes. There may be some small forts, but any information about that is not known by Lizette either. Of course, if you go to the territory of humans, there will be many castles and villages, although… just about all of them are already occupied.]

Lizette thinks about it with a sullen expression.

[There is a castle about a day and a half’s walk from “Hazama Village”, but it belongs to a lord-san of the human world.]

Haruka explains to me.

[The closest castle belongs to “Kitoru Taishu”. To get there from here, you need to take the main road southwest? Taishu-san’s territory has numerous castles and villages. Furthermore, there’s “Kitoru Taishu”-sama’s personal castle. That said, I’ve heard rumors their military is quite strong. Even with Aniue-sama’s abilities, conquering them would probably take quite some time…]
[Wait for a second, who’s conquering?]
[Aniue-sama.]
[Why!?]
[Because Aniue-sama is the “Aberrant Overlord, Kiryouou Shouma”.]
[Guha!!]

Stop making critical hits with that refreshing smile.

[“Overlord” refers to kings whom expands their land through military force, right? So, I was under the impression Aniue-sama had such ambitions…… was I wrong?]

Haruka’s eyes shine as she looks at my face.

No, it’s not like that. During my chunnibyo years, I thought characters with a large number of strokes were cool, so I just call myself “Haou”[1]. Even though writing the character “Ha” without using a reference was really hard too, not using it was too wasteful, so I couldn’t stop. Really, there’s no special meaning behind it……

[Haruka, don’t bother Shouma-nii-sama.]

I glance upward and see Lizette, with a hand on her waist, staring at Haruka.

[Shouma-nii-sama isn’t someone who dominates others by using military might to expand his territory.]
[So-sorry, Lizu-nee.]
[Don’t you think that we, as his sworn imouto, should have a proper understanding of him?]

Lizette’s shoulders heave as she exhales from anger.
What a relief. Seems like someone understands me.

[Of course, if nii-sama were to claim himself as a King, then I would offer my full support as your sworn imouto.]

….hey.

[However, instead of the overlord path, nii-sama is better suited to the [principles of royalty]. Nii-sama doesn’t just possess power, but can also capture the hearts of people……. Such is what Lizette believes is appropriate. The same way nii-sama captured Lizette’s heart……]

[…..For starters, we need to start with enriching the village.]

Is what I say.

Lizette is also a chunnibyo… No, it’s better to say that it’s the “world temperament”— Because of this, I also need to be careful with my words and conduct. In this world, not only am I an outsider, I’m also the irregular summon of a goddess.

[Thinking about the world means being diligent to our surroundings. Suddenly changing the world (enacting a ritual of awakening or searching for evil), could lead failing our daily lives (like an entrance exam).]
[Just like Nii-sama said, suddenly trying to change the world (raise an army or going around punishing the misconducts of other lords), may result in our failing in our daily lives (face food shortages and lack talented personal).]

Lizette crosses her arms and nods a few times. It seems like she understands this time.

[For now, since mamono have been cleared from the forest, clearing up some space… should be fine?]

Naturally, the residents of this village are knowledgeable about farming. During the era of the Dragon Emperor, the devastated land was enriched….. thus, it became open for development and was reclaimed. During that time, the Oni too seem to have participated in those projects and ended up learning a various assortment of knowledge.

[That’s true. Everyone says we first need to clear the forest from around the village and cultivate it.]
[I see.]

Since the Oni are powerful, they should be able to finish clearing out the land soon. In the meantime, Haruka, Lizette, and I are pretty much free to do as we please. Or I should say, we need to decide how to run “Dragon Tree Castle”. Management of the castle and surrounding forest has been entrusted to us.

However, “Dragon Tree Castle” is quiet a distance from here. Furthermore, no hands are free to spare at the moment. Still, we can’t just leave it alone. While the mamono have been removed, it’s possible other humans or aijin[2] might settling in. Having to taking it back again would be troublesome.

[Before that, it seems like we need help developing…..]

Incidentally, the number of slots in the “Naming Bless” has increased by 3. It happened the moment Haruka became the lord of “Oni Royal Castle”. In other words, the requirements for increasing the number of slots were fulfilled upon her appointment.

As of now, there are 6 empty slots. Therefore, I decided that those slots not being used should best be used for the reclamation. As such, for the sake of enchanting tools, I borrowed an axe and a hoe from the villagers.

[“Ono” and “Kuwa[3]”…..short, single character words are hard.]

With the axe and hoe in my hands, we leave the house while in thought.

[If they can be considered as old, then how about “copper axe”?]
[“Copper axe”? So something like that is also possible….]

I got it.

[The axe and hoe here in my hands are to be recognized as an “iron axe” and an “iron hoe” by the two of you, is that okay?]
[It’s good.]

With this, it doesn’t matter how I recognize them. These are an “iron axe” and an “iron hoe”—

[Activate! “Naming Bless”— “These words I speak are the words of the King”—]
[[[[[Ooooh!]]]]]

The villagers gathered around us without my noticing. There are adults who are on their way to work and the children too. There are even some I fought together with the other day. In the front row are Lizette and Haruka. Their eyes are shinning. Speaking of which, I’ve never used “Naming Bless” in front of them before. Well, I guess that’s fine.

[“Your name is iron axe”— “Accept these words that resemble your soul”— “I confer upon you the attribute”]

In order to easily cut down trees, it needs good piercing ability. “Piercing power”, for example, a bullet that pierces through armor, an “armor piercing round”.

[“Iron axe” become “tetsu no ono” (Axe of Piercing). “Tetsu” means to pierce. I grant you the “power to pierce”. Pierce the things you touch and aid this village…]

I take a breath and declare.

[Accept the king’s christening!! “Naming Bless”!!]

Lines of light run over the surface of the “iron axe”. With that, everything should be set. Now to test it. First, leaving the village. Then….

[Yes, nii-sama!][Aniue-sama, let me!][Let me!][4][No, let me.][Shouma-nii-chan, let me.][Me too, me too, I want to do it.]
[No, after this, everyone will be able to use one. I will do more enchantments afterwards. There’s no need to fight over it.]

Everyone from the village is cheerful.

[Then, Haruka.]
[Aniue-sama, I love you!]
[Great, now use this and try cutting a tree.]

I passed the enchanted “axe of piercing” to Haruka.

[One—-two!]

Zun.

Bajyun.

Haruka swung the axe with her strength and a shock wave bursts from the axe’s head. The tree falls.

[……Just one hit?]

Speaking of that, Haruka is the lord of “Hazama Village”—-, no of “Oni Royal Castle”.
Since the area around “Dragon Tree Castle” strengthens the magic power of Lizette, then the area around the village should strengthen Haruka’s magic power. The magic power of an Oni influences the strength of his or her body. In other words….

[Since you’re no good as a reference, we need to test with someone else.]
[That’s awful, Aniue-sama!]

It can’t be helped, Haruka. You’re too strong. Also, it’s not something you really need to cry about.

With that, I try the experiment again with Haruka’s uncle, Garunga-san.

[Fun tsu!!]

Garunga-san swings the axe.
A shockwave bursts once again— and the axe strikes into to the center of the tree.

[Two! Three!]

Zun.

On the 3^rd swing, the axe completely cuts through the tree. Under everyone’s cheering, the tree slowly falls. Everything ends in the blink of an eye.

It’s obvious, but here we are within the barrier of “Oni Royal Castle”. In here, everyone is enchanted with “15% increase in strength”. That along with the piercing power of the axe leads to a powerful blow. With the Oni synergizing both of those effects, the trees of the forest don’t seem like they’ll stand much of a chance.

….Which means, it I use “Oni Awakening”, “Orga force, Drai”, one strike—
….I’ll test it out on secret later. In a place no one will see me.

[Well then, can you lend me all the “iron axes” and “iron hoes” in the village? I’m going to enchantment them. This will let you work more efficiently and give you more times to rest afterwards. How about it?]

Upon saying that, the villager raised their hands all at once. The children take the lead and run off into the village and gather all the axes and hoes within. Once they are brought to me, I begin bestowing “Naming Bless” off on the side.

After a few days of working to reclaim the land—

The area of forest near “Hazama Village” was quickly cleared away.

---

[1] 覇王=Overlord, read as Haou
[2] Demi-humans
[3] Ono = axe and Kuwa=hoe
[4] At this point, others start jumping in to interrupt

<Chapter 21.2
Chapter 23.1>