I had received permission from Shogun Ieasu to construct the railway, so I immediately decided that I should make the route go under the mountain range.
“I’ve heard the explanation, but to be candid, I still don’t fully understand…”
Masamine-san, the one assigned to supervise the project, tilted his head as he asked questions.
“Simply put, we’re go to be digging a tunnel under the mountain range. Once that’s done, a large thing made of iron will run back and forth the tunnel to transport people.”
“Even with that explanation, I still don’t comprehend…I simply don’t see how that’s possible…”
“Hmm, just so we’re on the same page, people over here also have Gifts, right?”
“Gifts? Could you perhaps be referring to ‘Talents’?”
“Oh, so that’s what you call them.”
In the eastern side of the mountain range, it would seem that the people who effectively gave others Gifts were not called a priest but rather a shinto priest. Moreover, rather than a ‘blessing’ at a ‘church’, it was holding a ‘prayer service’ at a ‘shrine’.
“What I’m about to show is the power of my Gift, err, my Talent.”
“Your Talent…? It still doesn’t makes sense to me…”
“Well, for now, let’s just dig out the underground tunnel.”
<<Underground Tunnel: a road for underground travel. Always illuminated and air-conditioned.>>
By the way, the place we’re starting with our dig was somewhere within the Date estate. We could always adjust where the official entrance and exit points would be later, so the plan for now was to start from here.
“You say dig, but you’re all alone…? And you don’t seem to have any tools on—”
When stairs that led underground suddenly appeared, Masamine-san froze.
“—huh?”
“Let’s go down, shall we?”
“What just happened!? There are stairs all of a sudden!”
Bringing along the shocked Masamine-san, I descended the stairs.
“It’s short for now, but this is what the underground tunnel would be like. This time, I’m going to extend it.”
The wall that served as the dead-end was in front of us, but it steadily moved farther away.
“Am I dreaming…?”
“It’s not a dream, no. Anyway, the next step is to set the railway.”
<<Railway: the path for trains to travel on. Allows for mass transport of people and cargo. Has a function that prevents monsters from coming near.>>
“I’ll go ahead and build a station here.”
This time, a train platform and a train appeared.
<<Railway Station: a terminal for trains. It is the place where people and cargo board and alight. Comes with a train.>>
“This large thing made of iron is a train. This will be the one that’s going to transport people and things.”
“It can. Anyway, that’s pretty much the process. My body double will handle it from here.”
A body double who looked exactly like me appeared at my side.
“There are two Luke-dono!? What’s the meaning of this!? Is it an illusion trick!?”
“What you’re seeing is real. This is also a power of my Talent.”
“I can talk too.”
“But I’ve never heard of a Talent do something like. Just what is your Talent!?”
“It’s called [Village Building].”
“What does any of this have to do with a village!?”
At any rate, the rest—extending the underground tunnel and the railway all the way to the wasteland village—was up to my body doubles.
“Alright, tell me when it’s done.”
“Roger.”
While my body doubles were busy with the underground railway, we decided to tour the Edou city we were in.
“Hey, hey, that thing kinda looks like a gate! It doesn’t have any doors on it though!”
“That’s a Torii. It’s the entrance to a shinto shrine.”
“It sure is crowded here though. Is today a day of worship?”
“No, this is apparently because there’s a festival going on right now.”
While Selen and Gai-san talked like that, a noisy group of people from the other direction drew closer to us.
“““Wasshoi, wasshoi!”””
“““Wasshoi, wasshoi!”””
“““Wasshoi, wasshoi!”””
While chanting like that, the group carried something that looked like a large box.
Upon a second look, the box was shaped like a shed, only gaudily decorated.
“What is that!?”
“It’s a portable shrine. It’s to temporarily carry the gods who usually live in the shrine so that they can tour the city.”
“So, the gods over here really love all this liveliness, huh.”
By the way, the ones carrying the portable shrine were muscular men who were wearing almost nothing but underpants. Gori-chan looked at them and then let out a ‘hmmmm’ in a suggestive voice.
“What a marvelously sexy getup. Just looking at them’s enough to excite me. ♡ ”
Perhaps because they sensed Gori-chan’s intense stare, the men stopped moving for a moment. That was almost enough to topple over the portable shrine.