Finally, I can Retire, Or so I Thought

Two days later, very early in the morning just as the sun was rising, Dion walked toward the entrance of the village, right behind the river bridge that served as the gateway to his domain. Trailing behind him were three golems hauling two carts loaded with iron ore and several crates of magic crystals. The villagers, who were already starting their morning routines, spotted Dion and offered their greetings.

”Good morning, Lord Dion,” they called out.

”Good morning,” Dion replied, raising a hand in greeting.

He continued walking toward the village entrance. Upon reaching the spot, ”Recall.” He immediately activated his Mechanical Crafter and Gunner personas, then turned back to face the three golems carrying the two overflowing carts behind him, who halted and snapped a crisp military salute.

”Alright, time to get to work.”

Dion pulled up his status screen and pressed ”Building Barricade” under his skill menu. A holographic display immediately expanded before his eyes:

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Building Barricade:

Walls :

1. Reinforced barricade wall x1: 50 iron ore, 30 medium magic crystals. [Process?] [yes] [no]

2.. ???

Watchtower :

1. Standard battle watchtower: 120 iron ore, 100 medium magic crystals. [Process?] [yes] [no]

2. ???

**************************************************

”Hmm... this is my first time building something from the barricade menu. Turns out the options stay locked until you actually build one... Alright, let’s test it out,” Dion thought in his head.

Dion walked over to the carts and checked the pile of iron ore, confirming that the quantity matched the requirements. Turning back, he pressed [yes]. A brilliant magic circle expanded across the ground right next to the bridge. Following his action, the three golems saluted and began shuttling back and forth, loading iron ore into the magic circle alongside two crates of medium magic crystals of various elemental types.

Dion waited patiently. Once the golems lined up in front of him and bowed to signal that all materials were placed in the center of the glowing circle, Dion raised his hand toward the magic circle.

”Construct Standard Battle Watchtower! Begin execution!” Dion shouted.

A blinding cylinder of light shot upward from the magic circle into the sky. Spotting the commotion, curiosity drew the villagers closer to see what was happening at the village gate and what their lord was building so early in the morning. Everyone could hear the heavy sounds of construction echoing from inside the pillar of light, though the glowing veil acted like a construction curtain, completely obscuring the interior.

Dion simply smiled at the sight, crossing his arms over his chest as he waited for the build to finish. Meanwhile, Luna, Mei, and Sheila, who was cradling Gina, pushed through the crowd of villagers to step up to the front line. They were slightly startled to see Dion standing in front of the pillar of light, approaching him with curious looks.

”What are you up to?” Luna asked.

”Building a watchtower for domain security,” Dion answered casually.

”Oh... so it’s currently under construction?” Sheila asked.

”Yep, exactly. Just gotta wait for the progress bar to fill up,” Dion answered, pointing toward the sky.

”Progress bar? Up there?” Mei asked, looking up with a thoroughly confused expression.

Luna and Sheila looked up as well, and even Gina looked bewildered in Sheila’s arms. Dion turned around and realized that he was the only one who could see the holographic construction progress bar floating above the pillar of light. He turned back to face the girls behind him.

”Don’t worry about it. Bottom line is, it’ll be done in just a moment,” Dion said.

”Oh, okay,” Luna replied.

”Alright then... we’ll just wait,” Mei added.

”Hmm... what kind of magic is this anyway?” Sheila asked curiously.

”It’s hard to explain. Just wait and see,” Dion said, turning back around. ”Even if I explained it, they wouldn’t believe me anyway. Forget it, it’s a waste of energy,” Dion thought in his head.

Roughly twenty minutes later, the cylinder of light began receding back into the magic circle before vanishing completely. The expressions on the faces of Luna, Mei, Sheila, Gina, and all the gathered villagers instantly turned into pure shock and disbelief at the sight before them. Even Dion was caught off guard, as this was his very first time constructing a watchtower.

Standing before them was a tower constructed from iron and reinforced concrete, towering roughly 15 meters tall, looking extraordinarily sturdy and utterly unshakeable. But what left them truly dumbfounded was the top structure, a heavy iron dome with a massive gun barrel protruding from its center.

”Wow,” Luna, Mei, and Sheila said in unison.

”Kyuu,” Gina squeaked, equally stunned.

”Hmm... so that’s what it looks like,” Dion noted out loud.

A moment later, several holographic readouts appeared in Dion’s field of vision hovering over various parts of the tower. Since this watchtower was built specifically for combat rather than mere surveillance, it came equipped with a weapon designated as the Phantom Gatling Gun, engineered to fire magical artillery rounds the moment an intruder was detected.

”Hmm... I see. Very impressive. This will keep the village safe,” Dion thought after scanning the holographic user manual detailing the watchtower’s functions.

Next, the barricade construction menu popped back up right in front of Dion’s face. He scanned down the updated list:

**************************************************

Building Barricade:

Walls :

1. Reinforced barricade wall x1: 50 iron ore, 30 medium magic crystals. [Process?] [yes] [no]

2. ???

Watchtower :

1. Standard battle watchtower: 120 iron ore, 100 medium magic crystals. [Process?] [yes] [no]

2. NEW Inferno Watchtower: 200 iron ore, 100 medium fire-element magic crystals, 50 large fire-element magic crystals. [Process?] [yes] [no]

3. NEW Blizzard Watchtower: 200 iron ore, 100 medium water-element magic crystals, 50 large water-element magic crystals. [Process?] [yes] [no]

4. NEW Tornado Watchtower: 200 iron ore, 100 medium wind-element magic crystals, 50 large wind-element magic crystals. [Process?] [yes] [no]

5. ???

**************************************************

”Hmm... unlocked new watchtower variants, huh... Nice. Once I gather the required materials, I’ll give them a try. All my current stock is completely spent... and I still haven’t built any Soldier Golems... sigh,” Dion muttered in his head.

”Dion,” Sheila called out, pointing up at the Gatling gun barrel mounted atop the dome. ”What is that thing? A magical weapon? What does it do?”

”Oh, that’s...”

Before Dion could finish his sentence, psiuuu! the tower suddenly discharged, and blam! a projectile slammed into the dirt far out in front of the village, sending a loud detonation echoing across the open plains. Sheila stood completely frozen in shock. Gina, startled by the explosive roar, squirmed out of Sheila’s grip and flew over to perch on Dion. Dion, equally startled but trying desperately to maintain his composure, turned to Sheila with a strained, awkward smile.

”So... that’s what it does,” Dion said awkwardly.

Before Sheila could even react, ”Look out!” Mei screamed, pointing toward the watchtower. Dion spun around just as, blaaam! three massive fireballs slammed directly into his brand-new watchtower, blasting it to absolute smithereens.

Dion’s face turned deathly pale as he watched his tower explode into a heap of burning rubble, his mood disintegrating right alongside it. Drawing both of his handguns from his waist holsters,

”W-what?! Who the hell is shooting back?!” Dion asked, completely bewildered.

He sprinted out of the village compound to investigate the source of the attack. Dion’s eyes widened at the sight of Cleo hovering in mid-air, her staff pointed straight toward the ruined watchtower, a swirling vortex of fire rising from her feet and shrouding her body.

Standing behind Cleo were several adventurers alongside dozens of refugee slaves from the capital of Thetor who had apparently accompanied her. Dion sprinted straight up to Cleo.

”Cleo... what on earth do you think you’re doing?!” Dion screamed in sheer frustration.

Luna, Mei, and Sheila sprinted out of the village after Dion, with Gina flying right above them. They were naturally stunned to see Cleo hovering in the air with her staff raised and her body enveloped in flames. On the ground right in front of Cleo sat a small impact crater, the exact spot where the watchtower’s warning shot had landed moments earlier.

”Cleo?!” Luna and Mei shouted in unison, utterly shocked.

”Umm... who is that?” Sheila asked.

”The Royal Mage from the Lutherias Kingdom. Her name is Cleo,” Luna explained.

”Oh... I see,” Sheila said, unslingshotting her battle axe from her back.

”Hey... Sheila!” Mei warned.

”She’s attacking us, isn’t she?” Sheila replied, dropping into a battle stance.

Luna and Mei quickly readied their weapons upon seeing Sheila prepare for combat, while Dion marched right up beneath the hovering Cleo.

”Cleo... get down here! Why did you blow up my watchtower?!” Dion yelled in frustration, standing with his hands on his hips as he glared up at Cleo, who was looking down at him from the sky.

Gasp! Cleo, catching sight of Dion standing down below, looked thoroughly surprised. She slowly levitated back down to the ground as the swirling flames surrounding her body vanished in an instant. Standing before him,

”Oops,” Cleo said casually, though her eyes were locked onto Dion in a sharp glare.