Chapter 9: The Safety Officers
As evening fell, the cacophony of the Bone Forest was replaced by a uniform wave of clack-clack sounds.
Kaito, who was currently up to his neck in trouble directing a group of skeletons at the construction site, lifted his skull.
From the depths of the forest, a solemn white-bone army marched out of the twilight.
Leading them were the Tier 2 Skeleton Swordsman No. 1 and the Tier 2 Skeleton Cavalry No. 6, sitting astride his skeletal warhorse.
Behind them were no longer just the fifty Skeleton Soldiers who had set out, but a massive column of eighty.
Every one of them had evolved to Tier 1, holding bone swords and shields, their steps steady and heavy.
It formed a stark contrast to the chaotic, chicken-flying-dog-jumping construction crew on Kaito's side.
Those thirty new faces had already completed their transformation from cannon fodder to soldiers via "internal duels" under No. 1's supervision on the way back.
As they approached, thirty brand new but absolutely obedient soul links surged into Kaito's consciousness.
Kaito's Soul Fire flickered slightly.
He hadn't resurrected these new recruits personally, but the Soul Fire of each one bore the imprint of his absolute Authority.
He sank his consciousness into the link with No. 1, and a sudden realization pierced through his entire soul.
At the very moment he advanced to Tier 1, he had awakened a new ability.
He could grant the ability of [Undead Resurrection] to his most trusted subordinate.
The only restriction was that currently, there was only one slot for this grant.
So, to prevent accidents, he had given it to his very first undead, Skeleton No. 1.
He had also sent Skeleton No. 6, the only one with a horse, to accompany the expansion.
And the undead resurrected by the grantee would still establish a direct soul link with Kaito, becoming his most loyal servants.
The servant of my servant is still my servant!
"Good! Excellent!"
Kaito waved his bony hand excitedly.
What did this mean?
It meant he could confidently engage in multi-tasking.
He could build his territory on one side, while letting the expeditionary force led by No. 1 and No. 6 expand like a snowball on the other.
"The future is promising! The future is bright!"
Kaito's mood instantly cleared from cloudy to sunny. Even looking at the crooked construction crew before him, he found them much more pleasing to the eye.
He cleared his throat (figuratively) and issued clearer instructions through the soul link.
"Alright, the Expeditionary Force is back, so we can't fall behind!"
"Foundation Team! Listen to my command!"
"First, clear all the tree roots and gravel from the ground! The ground must be flat! Understand? Flat!"
"Then, pile stones at the four corners I circled and along these lines!"
"Pile them high! Fill the cracks with mud, then tamp it down! Tamp it hard!"
He pointed to a huge stone slab that No. 2 and the others had just moved over.
"Use this! Smash it! Smash the foundation until it's solid! Anyone who dares to slack off gets buried in there as part of the foundation!"
With clear tools and methods, the Foundation Team's efficiency improved significantly.
A dozen Skeleton Soldiers heaved the stone slab—heave-ho, heave-ho—and smashed it onto the ground again and again.
BOOM!
BOOM!
The scene finally looked a bit like actual construction.
Kaito nodded with satisfaction, then turned to the skeletons responsible for building the frame on the other side.
"Construction Team! Look here!"
He pointed to the thickest logs.
"These four are the pillars of our house!"
"Sharpen the bottoms and insert them into the gaps in the foundation stones! Straight! They must stand straight!"
The skeletons immediately began using their bone swords as axes, hacking away at the wood—hack, hack, hack.
One skeleton apparently felt that hacking while standing was inconvenient, so it sat down on the log and started chopping vigorously between its own legs.
He now seriously suspected that what was inside these skeletons' heads wasn't Soul Fire, but cotton candy.
After much difficulty getting the four pillars to stand up crookedly, Kaito began teaching them how to install the beams.
"Gouge a groove on top of the pillar! Yes, a pit!"
"Then place this beam on top and lock it in! See that? Locked!"
"Then bind it with vines! Bind it to death! Make it tight!"
One skeleton grasped the essence of the "gouge a pit" command. It raised its bone sword and chiseled furiously at the top of a load-bearing pillar.
CRACK!
It chiseled right through the top of the pillar.
The skeleton looked quite proud, waving the bone sword in its hand at Kaito, as if asking for credit.
Kaito felt like his skull cap was about to be flipped by these clowns.
He took a deep breath of air he couldn't breathe.
Suppressing the urge to dismantle this skeleton for firewood, he stepped forward personally to demonstrate, teaching them hand-in-hand how to make a mortise and tenon joint.
The frame was finally erected, albeit teetering.
Next were the walls.
"See this? Stack them one by one like this!"
"Use the alternating stack method! This end presses on that end, and the next layer reverses it!!"
The skeletons faithfully executed the commands.
But soon, a new problem arose.
One skeleton was stacking the wall when it realized the log in its hand was a bit short and didn't align.
It tilted its head to think, and then... it detached the shield from its left arm and wedged it under the log.
Hmm, now it's level.
It clapped its hands in satisfaction.
Another skeleton copied the example. It found its side was too high, so it pulled out a log that its companion had just stacked.
CRASH—
The wall, which had just reached half a meter, collapsed.
Kaito covered his face. He didn't want to speak anymore.
On the other side, the Roof Team.
According to Kaito's plan, the roof needed a layer of bark first, then thatch, and finally mud to seal it waterproof.
One skeleton climbed onto the beam, responsible for laying the first layer of bark.
Another skeleton didn't wait for him to finish. It climbed up hugging a huge bundle of thatch and dumped the grass directly onto its companion's head.
The skeleton covered in thatch wasn't happy. It grabbed a piece of bark and threw it back.
The two skeletons, perched on the beam four or five meters high, started a throwing match—one throwing grass, one throwing bark—having a great time.
"Holy sh*t! You two! Get the hell down!"
Amidst Kaito's roar, the bark-throwing skeleton slipped.
SPLAT!
It fell from the beam and shattered into a pile of parts.
After that skeleton stood up again, Kaito pointed to the bone pillar buried in the foundation pit with only its head showing.
"See that? Do you want to go keep him company?"
The newly reassembled skeleton shook its head frantically.
"Then work properly!"
After finishing his lecture, Kaito ordered Skeleton No. 1 and No. 6 to take the eighty skeletons and continue expanding the army.
He instructed them to return and report every second night.
"Gah!"
The Soul Fire of No. 1 and No. 6 flashed in unison as they accepted the order.
The army of eighty-two skeletons quickly disappeared into the depths of the forest.
Having arranged the Expeditionary Force, Kaito called No. 2 through No. 5 over.
"You guys, stop moving stuff."
The four skeletons stopped and looked at him in unison.
"You've learned enough from me. Your brains are sharper than those rookies."
"From now on, you are the Safety Officers!"
"No. 2 and No. 3, you're in charge of the foundation and construction."
"No. 4 and No. 5, you're in charge of logging and transport."
Kaito pointed at the group of Skeleton Soldiers who were still clueless.
"Your task is to do what I just did!"
"Whoever works improperly, whoever tries to get creative... send them to the ground to be a bone pillar!"
The Soul Fire in the eyes of No. 2 through No. 5 flickered. They looked at each other.
They seemed to be digesting this brand new command, which was much more complex than moving bricks.
Although they didn't really want to take on this troublesome job, the Ruler's will was absolute.
"Gah!"
The four skeletons responded in unison, then walked to their respective jurisdictions.
Having done all this, Kaito felt his entire soul had been hollowed out.
He found a relatively clean rock, flopped his bony frame onto it, and decided to sleep—enter "Fantasy Time"—to take a good rest.
Although undead creatures didn't need sleep, ever since he discovered he had an endless lifespan...
This method of emptying his mind had become one of his few hobbies.