After finishing our preparations, we headed towards the northern gate of the village. Monika was already there waiting for us. She was wearing an overcoat, and instead of her usual sandal-like shoes, she had proper boots on. "Sorry to keep you waiting," I said. "Not at all. I'm glad we don't need much luggage. I can't use spatial magic, after all." I realized that must have made her journey of over 20 days quite challenging. "It must have been tough going all the way to the royal capital. I'm sorry for making you travel so far." "Oh no, not at all. That was my last job as an inspector, and I got to meet my parents and friends in the capital. Besides, I need to repay you for valuing someone like me." I felt a twinge of guilt, considering I hadn't even paid her a salary yet... We need to make some money quickly. "I'm sorry for all the trouble." "It's no trouble at all. I can see success in our future. Please leave it to me. I will surely lead us to success," Monika replied with impressive confidence. "Alright then, shall we go?" "Yes." We exited through the gate and stopped to inspect the road. It was my first time outside the village. There was forest for a short distance, but beyond that stretched grasslands with scattered trees. A dirt road ran from the forest into the plains, but it was clearly bumpy and uneven. I could imagine how a carriage would bounce around and possibly damage its wheels traveling on this surface. "This is quite something," I remarked. "Indeed. When it rains, this turns into a muddy mess that becomes impassable. We need to do something about this, or we won't be able to transport lumber even if we buy a carriage. Merchants won't come to buy apples either," Monika explained. She had a point. There was no use in producing apples if we couldn't transport any of them. "I see. Let's figure something out. Ruri, what do you think we should do?" I asked. "The best option would be stone paving, but we don't have the materials. So I believe we should use earth magic to reshape and compress the soil," Ruri suggested. That seemed doable. "Let's give it a try," I decided. I stepped forward and ,using said earth magic, manipulated the soil according to plan. The ground rippled like waves, gradually becoming smoother. "But this isn't good enough, is it?" "Yes. When it rains or carriages pass through, it'll become uneven again. We need to properly compact it," Monika explained. "Alright." I began applying compression magic to the newly smoothed road. However, nothing visibly changed. "I'm unsure. Is this good enough?" I asked, tilting my head. Monika crouched down and touched the ground. "It's quite hard now. This should be fine... Eventually, we'd like to pave it, but for now, this is more than sufficient," she said. Seemed like this would do. "In that case, I'll keep going as we move along," I said. After that, I continued the process of reshaping the road and compacting it as we progressed. The length I could do at once was about 10 meters, so our pace was a bit slow. Still, we managed to cover quite a distance, while I kept on using my magic powers. "Your magical reserves is truly impressive. Normally, one would run out of mana much sooner," Monika praised.

"Thank you. My problem is more my physical stamina than magical power. I'm exhausted..." I replied. I had been using magic while walking for about two hours now. Although Ruri was using recovery magic on me, it seemed my physical strength would give out first. "It's almost lunchtime, so let's take a break... Um, did you prepare lunch? I brought some field rations just in case..." Monika suggested. "No, let's go back to the village," I said. Regular food would probably taste better than field rations. "How's your mana?" Monika asked. "I'm totally fine." "As expected of the Great Mage-sama. Then, let's proceed as planned," she said respectfully. "Alright, we're heading back." With those words, I used teleportation magic, and in an instant, we returned to the village gate. "Incredible... With such magical power and skill, you could become anything. Tatsuya-sama, are you really content ending up in this village? If you wished, you could become a court magician or even the head of the Magic Guild, you know?" "No, I'm good. I just want to inherit my grandfather's legacy and live peacefully with everyone in this village." I had no desire for a busy life. "To possess such power yet remain humble, always striving for the essence of magic - it's admirable. I, Monika, may be utterly useless when it comes to magic, but I pledge my life to serve you forever," Monika declared, bowing her head deeply with exaggerated reverence. "Uh, thanks... So, shall we meet here again after we're done eating?" "Certainly. Until then," Monika said as she headed back to her own house. After seeing Monika off, we decided to return home as well. "Isn't that girl being incredibly over-the-top?" I asked my other two companions as we walked. "She was dead serious, meow. There wasn't a hint of doubt in her eyes, meow," Miriam replied. "Indeed. She wasn't lying at all," Ruri confirmed. Huh... I thought she was just a bit brown-nosing. Was she really not just trying to flatter me? "Really?" I asked skeptically. "Really, meow," Miriam confirmed. "I concur," Ruri agreed. Seriously... "How did it end up like this?" I wondered aloud. "If I may offer my opinion, I believe Monika-san is someone who has never been truly acknowledged before," Ruri said. "Is that so? Even though she's so intelligent?" Not only was she smart, but she was also beautiful. While she might have looked plain before, now she had a certain radiance about her. "In this world, magic users are rare and valuable. Therefore, those with magical aptitude almost invariably become mages. However, Monika-san can hardly be called exceptional as a magic user. As she herself admitted, she must have been considered a failure to end up as an inspector in a remote frontier village. No matter how excellent one might be in other areas, mages are evaluated solely on their magical abilities. I believe she's happy to be appreciated and entrusted with such an important role in these circumstances," Ruri explained. Well, as Daryl-san had mentioned, she's clearly more suited for her current position than being a mage. "Yamada, take good care of Monika, meow. And make good use of her talents, meow," Miriam advised. "I know!" I replied. What Monika was seeking was a sense of purpose. That being said, I didn't want to overwork her. That girl seemed like she'd work herself to death if given the chance...