With Emilia finally up, Rikuto's house-building project was officially underway.
Step one, of course: gathering wood.
Under the puzzled stares of Emilia and Puck, Rikuto raised his iron axe and gave a tree a solid thump—thunk!
The entire upper portion of the tree instantly disintegrated right where it stood, transforming into neat piles of leaves, branches, and chopped wooden blocks—all sorted and arranged in orderly stacks around him.
"This is oddly satisfying…"
"Yup. Chopping trees should auto-sort right on the spot."
Looking at the axe in his hand, Rikuto murmured in delight.
He then darted between trees, swinging with rhythmic duang~ duang~ duang~ sounds, clearing them one after another.
The thrill of reshaping nature with a few casual swings—it was intoxicating.
In just a few minutes, he had completely cleared a ring of trees around Emilia's treehouse.
Every piece of wood, leaf, and branch was now meticulously arranged on a cleared stretch of snowy plain nearby.
And even after all that, Rikuto didn't feel the least bit tired—in fact, he was only just getting into it.
Now he turned his axe to the remaining stumps. With each chop, a stump popped clean out of the ground, and the hole it left behind was instantly filled in as if it were never there.
After that, Rikuto began leveling the surrounding terrain. Every bump and dip in the ground, every uneven patch of snow or slope, was smoothed out. He even reshaped the trees surrounding Emilia's home into more aesthetically pleasing, rounded silhouettes.
"This is so much more pleasing to look at."
Surveying the now perfectly tidy landscape, Rikuto nodded with approval. As a self-proclaimed perfectionist gamer, he wouldn't settle for anything less than neat and symmetrical.
"Puck, Emilia—what do you two think?"
Turning around with a smug grin, Rikuto looked at the floating cat and the half-elf girl, clearly eager for praise.
Puck: "…"
He glanced at Rikuto, then at the dramatically transformed surroundings.
Rikuto's Divine Protection—[Process Simplification]—hadn't seemed all that impressive at first.
But now? It was dazzling in an entirely different way.
Not the kind of flashiness born from overwhelming strength or destruction… no. It was the awe-inspiring spectacle of order. Of creation.
Clearing this many trees in an instant—sure, as the "Beast of the End," Puck could've managed that.
But to cut, process, uproot stumps, flatten terrain, and leave everything pristine? That wasn't something even Puck could replicate.
And if his guess was right, once they started building the house, Rikuto could probably raise it in minutes.
It wasn't just house-building—it was rapid house-building. A feat even Puck, scratching his fluffy little head, would struggle to pull off.
So this is a Blessing with no offensive power, but exceptional creative utility…?
Floating cross-legged in the air, Puck silently reevaluated Rikuto's abilities.
Emilia: "Rikuto, you're amazing!!"
Compared to Puck's more analytical take, the silver-haired half-elf had a far simpler, more direct reaction.
With sparkling eyes, she looked at Rikuto's every move as if watching magic unfold before her.
Rikuto: "Naturally~"
He lifted his chin proudly, basking in her admiration. Emilia's wide-eyed praise hit him right in the ego—exactly the kind he liked.
That innocent look of adoration from a silver-haired beauty? Utterly addictive.
Rikuto: "Next, I'm flattening that ugly hill behind your house."
He laid out his plan with full confidence, giving Emilia a dramatic back view as he strode off.
Beside her, Puck had already frozen mid-thought the moment Emilia had started gushing about Rikuto.
Still floating in the air, Puck scratched his chin and turned to look at the starry-eyed girl.
He couldn't help but feel that lately… Emilia had been praising Rikuto a lot more than usual.
And for some reason, that left him with a strange, unsettled feeling.
Emilia, of course, hadn't noticed her spirit's subtle change in demeanor.
Her mind was too full of excitement, buzzing with the blueprint she and Rikuto had drawn up the night before.
During their long discussion, Emilia had even claimed a room for herself in Rikuto's future house.
> "Rikuto can come sleep in my room, or I can go sleep in his."
"That way we can switch off!"
That's what they'd agreed upon.
Emilia: "Puck, Puck~"
As if suddenly remembering something, she tugged at the little gray cat's paw.
Sunlight streamed down on her silver hair, and her violet eyes shimmered with anticipation.
Her radiant smile was infectious.
Faced with such a dazzling daughter, what else could Puck do?
Puck: "What is it, Emilia?"
He responded gently, tail swishing, his cat face full of affection.
Emilia: "At this rate, Rikuto's house will be finished really soon!"
"Once it's done, you should come visit."
"I even have my own room now!"
"My room's right next to Rikuto's, and there's this huge three-story balcony where we can look out over everything."
"In the morning, you can come in straight from the balcony."
"Oh, and I added a window between our rooms—right next to the bed—so that when we're sleeping, I can see Rikuto, and he can see—"
The silver-haired girl chattered away excitedly, describing her design and all the cozy little details, already lost in the joy of imagining their shared future.
Puck nodded along, tail flicking, quietly amused by Emilia's enthusiasm.
This much excitement—this level of cheerfulness—was rare even for her.
Which is why, when he glanced over at Rikuto in the distance…
…what he saw made his fur stand on end.
Rikuto, who had been happily working away, suddenly let out a loud smack!—and collapsed face-first onto the ground.
"?!!"
"RIKUTO!!!" —both of them shouted at once.
Instantly, both Emilia and Puck were consumed with panic.