Since the night Akatsuki Tsudzuki received its name, Kouichi hadn't been sleeping well. The faces of the people gathered around the bonfire lingered behind his eyelids. The voice of the little girl who had murmured "it's a solid roof." Serika's face as she laughed while saying "a place where dawn is woven." That moment had been truly, genuinely joyful. Which was precisely why he couldn't sleep. (People have started coming here. Can I properly protect the people who came?) Kouichi leaned his back against the wall of the lodging facility "Tabi-Tsuru's Bed" and looked up at the night sky of the wasteland. There were many stars. The stars in this world seemed slightly more numerous than in his original world. Though it might just be his imagination. He opened his notebook. A list of things to do today continued on. Expansion of the food storage, plans for a simple water channel drawing from a tributary of the clear stream Leene River, reinforcement of roof materials for the academy "Tsudzuki Fire Academy"—there was no end to the tasks. But the section on defense remained blank. Kouichi held a pencil in his hand but couldn't write anything. --- The commotion came suddenly the next morning. "—Get out of the way! Clear the road!" The voice of Tobias Rune—a thin peddler with a scar on his nose who had become the first merchant to take up residence in Sunny Plaza—echoed across the ash plain in the morning. He was running at full speed while dragging a cart. The cart wheels kicked up pebbles, making a loud clattering sound. The moment Kouichi looked up, he saw red stains trailing in the cart's tracks. Blood. "Tobias!" "I'm alive! I'm alive! All my legs are intact! All my fingers are intact!" Tobias stopped the cart in front of Sunny Plaza, placed his hands on his knees, and breathed heavily through his shoulders. His face was pale. Some of his cargo had collapsed, and the cloth wrapping was dragging on the ground. "What happened?" "Bandits! Three of them! On the road south of the Leene River! I thought I was done for! I really thought I was going to die! I mean, if this young man hadn't shown up, I definitely would've been dead!" Tobias pointed behind the cart. There stood a young man. The moment Kouichi saw him, he momentarily lost for words. He appeared slightly older than Kouichi—or perhaps about the same age. His black hair was cut short with a hint of red mesh mixed in. His eyes were golden and sharp. Yet despite their sharpness, his expression was calm. Even after combat, the way he brushed dust from his clothes was meticulous, and his posture was perfectly straight. The young man looked at Kouichi and quietly bowed his head. "I apologize for the sudden intrusion. The merchant was in danger on the road, so I lent a hand. I heard that Akatsuki Tsudzuki was in this direction, so I came to report." Report. He had just used the word "report." "Ah, yes... well, thank you very much." There should have been a better response, but words failed him. "Did you build this place?" "...I started construction. Yes." The young man slowly surveyed his surroundings. The roof of Sunny Plaza, the wooden walls of Tabi-Tsuru's Bed, the figures of people beginning to scatter across the ash plain. Something passed through his eyes. Something Kouichi couldn't read. "My name is Ren. If you have time, could I speak with you for a moment?" Then, water-colored hair cut through the wind as it came running. "What what what!? I heard Tobias came running covered in blood!?" Serika saw the red stains in the cart's tracks, then Ren, then Tobias again. Her pale purple eyes moved restlessly. "Serika, calm down—" "You saved him!? Three bandits, alone!?" Serika rushed toward Ren. He looked slightly surprised but quickly returned to his calm expression. "There were three, but they were all inexperienced opponents." "That's amazing! Thank you so much! You really saved us! I mean, Tobias is okay, right!? The blood!?" "The blood was on the cargo! Not mine!" "Thank goodness! But really, thank you so much! What's your name!? Where are you from!? Have you eaten!? Are you injured!?" Ren paused for a moment. Struggling with the speed of Serika's questions, his mouth opened and closed. Opened and closed. "My name is Ren. I was coming from the eastern direction until recently. As for food—" "You haven't eaten, I can tell! Kouichi, did we have anything left at Tabi-Tsuru's Bed!?" "There's dried meat from yesterday..." "That's settled! This way!" Serika began pulling Ren's sleeve. Even as he was pulled along, Ren kept his back straight and meticulously brushed sand from his shoe soles. Tobias stood beside Kouichi and spoke in a low voice. "That girl has zero hesitation." "Yes." "But seriously, if this young man hadn't come, I'd be dead." Kouichi watched Ren's back as they walked. He walked straight, one step at a time, with meticulous precision. --- The meal at Tabi-Tsuru's Bed was simple. Dried meat, hard bread, and water drawn from the well. Serika grumbled about "wishing we had something more proper," but still efficiently prepared the dining area. Ren politely said "this is sufficient" and ate properly. During the meal, Kouichi explained Akatsuki Tsudzuki's current situation to Ren. The circumstances, the Building Master—what that power was like, explained as clearly as possible. Ren listened, occasionally interjecting with brief confirmations. He nodded frequently, listening to Kouichi's story with the eyes of someone taking notes. After the meal, Kouichi decided to show Ren around the settlement. --- The wasteland wind was gentler in the morning. Dust didn't swirl as much, and visibility extended far. Kouichi was explaining the structure of Sunny Plaza when he suddenly noticed something and looked at Ren. Ren had stopped. He stood facing the direction of the wasteland. Kouichi also stopped. Serika tilted her head and asked "what's wrong?" Ren remained silent, slowly kneeling down. He placed his hand on the ground, tracing the contours of the wasteland with his eyes. As if trying to read the terrain. After a moment, Ren stood up. "...May I confirm something?" "Of course." "The road continuing south—how frequently do merchants pass through?" Kouichi thought for a moment. "It's rare now, but... since Tobias came, they've been trickling through. Why?" Ren paused. Something heavy mixed into his otherwise calm tone. "This location overlaps with a branch point of the main trade route controlled by the Steel Fang Collective—an armed force that dominates the mining regions to the south." Something stopped in Kouichi's mind. "...Overlaps?" "Yes. I once investigated the geography and trade routes around settlements as part of a self-defense militia. The positional relationship of this ash plain matches the area the Steel Fang Collective has used as a relay point for cargo traveling north from the mining fortress Kanaduur." "That means..." "The Steel Fang Collective has systematically destroyed new powers that appear on trade routes." His voice was quiet. It was a recitation of facts stripped of emotion. Which was precisely why it was heavy. "...My settlement was one of them." Only that last sentence was short. That brevity spoke more than words could. Kouichi had nothing to say. Serika was also silent. Only the wind made sound. Tobias stopped a little behind the three of them and looked at Kouichi, Serika, and Ren in turn before speaking. "Wait, so this place is dangerous?" All three turned to look at him. Tobias made a face that said "oh, I didn't read the mood right?" and shrugged slightly. --- That evening, when Ren passed in front of the lodging facility, it happened. "The water made my stomach feel better!" A child's voice. A small girl ran toward her mother. The mother crouched down and embraced her. A relieved smile spread across her face. The well water, passing through the blessing effect of Tabi-Tsuru's Bed, had gently eased the child's body. Light leaked from the windows of Tabi-Tsuru's Bed. Within that light, refugees sat in a circle, laughing together. The words weren't audible, but the laughter reached him. Ren couldn't move for several seconds. Kouichi watched from a slight distance, observing Ren's profile. It was as if he were seeing something, remembering something—an expression slightly different from his calm, factual tone from earlier. Serika stood beside Kouichi and began quietly explaining the blessing effects of the buildings. That Tabi-Tsuru's Bed had an effect promoting fatigue recovery, that the market had an effect heightening trust in transactions. Ren turned around. He started to say something, then stopped. In that moment, Kouichi felt Serika gently tug his sleeve. (Ah, maybe I shouldn't say anything right now.) He thought so, but it was a moment too late. "The construction cost of the lodging facility is primarily scrap materials, so when building the next facility—" Serika pulled his sleeve a bit more firmly this time. Kouichi realized mid-sentence. His sleeve was caught? No, being pulled? Looking at Serika, her eyes clearly said "not now." "...I'm sorry, that was an irrelevant topic." Serika let out a small breath. --- The next morning. Ren appeared with a piece of paper. Spread out in front of the lodging facility, the paper showed the outer perimeter of Akatsuki Tsudzuki and the placement of watchtowers, drawn in neat lines. The height of the outer wall, the spacing of watchtowers, even the movement paths for residents to evacuate in emergencies—all precisely calculated. Kouichi was drawn in the moment he saw the paper. From an architectural perspective, it had merit. The dual evacuation routes were contingencies for when the primary route was blocked. The watchtower placement wasn't uniform; the density was higher on the south side—the direction of the Steel Fang Collective. "A draft of defensive facilities. I've kept the scale manageable with current personnel." "...It's well thought out." "Thank you. However, with the current plan, the outer wall height is limited to four meters. That's sufficient against bandits, but inadequate against organized assault from the Steel Fang Collective. If we reduce the planned expansion space on the east side of the market and part of the lodging facility expansion area, we can add two more meters." Something stopped in Kouichi. "Reduce, you mean..." "The roof sections planned for construction and part of the lodging facility buildings. We'd use the materials for the wall." "That's... impossible." His own voice surprised him with its clarity. "The market roof is where merchants work. The lodging facility is where people sleep. Using those spaces for a wall would mean—using places built for people for the sake of a wall. That's backwards." Ren's expression didn't change. "Buildings that can't be defended are ruins." That one sentence struck something in Kouichi. "They're not ruins." "Currently, they are. But if the Steel Fang Collective moves—" "We don't know if they will yet. But there are people here now. People sleeping tonight, people using the market today. I can't put that space toward defense first." A long silence fell between them. Serika raised her voice. "Um..." "I don't think either of you is wrong!" Both Kouichi and Ren looked at her. Serika flinched slightly. "...Yeah, this is the kind of thing that doesn't get through." The debate continued. Kouichi couldn't move from the single point that "buildings exist to make people happy." Ren wouldn't budge from "only protected people can feel happiness." Both statements were rooted in the past. Both were right, which they perhaps dimly understood. But that was precisely why neither could yield. "I don't think either of you is wrong!" A second time. Still didn't land. The debat