— — — — — —
"City Lord!"
"Huh?"
Kira blinked, pulled from his thoughts by the voice of a moon rabbit at his side.
The moon rabbit gave a quick report. "According to Miss Kawashiro's progress update, the North wall will be finished within the day. The entire city should be fully restored in about half a month."
"…That fast?"
Kira honestly didn't know what to say.
His city might not have been enormous, but it had been a pile of ruins. Even with all the repairs and reinforcements Nitori had planned, half a month sounded absurd.
"The work speed of these yokai is insane," he muttered.
If it were humans doing it—Even with modern technology—it'd be impossible to rebuild an ancient-style fortress city that could house thirty or forty thousand people in just two weeks.
And those walls were at least fifty meters high! Just clearing out the rubble should have taken days.
Yet Nitori's crew was barely a hundred kappa youths, and somehow they'd have the place done in half a month. That was… terrifyingly efficient.
"City Lord!"
The moon rabbit puffed out her chest proudly. "If it were our moon rabbit clan doing the repairs, we'd only need ten days!"
Kira couldn't help but laugh. His moon rabbits were actually competing with the kappa now?
"Auntie invited them, remember? We can't exactly send them home empty-handed."
The moon rabbit huffed quietly but didn't argue.
Not that Kira would've let them take over anyway. The moon rabbits were amazing, sure—but not at ancient architecture. If he let them handle this, they'd probably turn the place into a gleaming futuristic city before the week was out.
He preferred the old, elegant style the kappa were using—it would make it easier for future citizens to settle in.
Later, he could have some high-tech systems installed inside—discreetly. Maybe he'd have Nitori's people do it, or let the moon rabbits handle that part themselves.
---
After Ten days
The results were stunning.
The city was coming back to life at a visible pace. The thick, towering walls—ten meters thick, fifty high—rose around the perimeter like steel cliffs. Inside, buildings took shape with incredible speed.
Nitori clearly understood what Kira really wanted.
From a distance, it might've looked like a city under repair—but up close, it was obvious this was more like a royal palace complex.
At the center stood the lord's mansion, surrounded by gardens filled with birdsong and flowers. Miniature mountains, flowing streams, pavilions, and play areas were everywhere.
It just screamed, "Yep, this City Lord's totally building a harem here."
---
"Wow…"
Rika Minami couldn't help clicking her tongue. "Living here will make everyone think we're the City Lord's women. Even I'm starting to think so myself."
Saeko Busujima chuckled softly behind her hand, while Shizuka Marikawa clapped in delight.
No training today meant they could finally relax and enjoy themselves.
"Eirin."
Kira approached the silver-haired woman calmly sipping tea nearby. He'd heard Rika's teasing but didn't take offense—honestly, she wasn't wrong.
Still, he had other concerns.
"You're really okay being away from Eientei like this?"
Eirin Yagokoro set her teacup down and smiled faintly. "It's fine. I've already placed a concealment spell over this entire city. The Lunar Capital won't detect a thing."
"I see," Kira nodded, relieved.
Eirin continued, "Those three girls have now grasped basic spirit power. Each has begun specializing in her own area."
"Next, I'll link them through a spell and send them back into the Apocalypse world. To hunt zombies and locate suitable candidates."
Kira's eyes lit up. "So by repeating that cycle…"
"Exactly. Repetition will steadily enhance your 'Power of Plague' in that world."
"Good. Let's do it."
He'd been waiting for this. It was all part of the original plan.
"By the way…" Kira looked around. "Where's Kaguya? Haven't seen her in days."
"Father!"
Before Eirin could respond, Kaguya suddenly popped up out of nowhere.
Over the past two weeks, her growth had slowed dramatically—or maybe stopped entirely. She'd only accelerated her aging before to avoid looking like a baby, and now that she was around five or six years old in appearance, she'd decided that was enough for now.
"Kaguya."
Kira picked her up easily, the size just right to rest in his arms.
"What have you been up to lately?" he asked, amused.
With her usual poised smile, Kaguya answered, "Father, I've been staying at Eientei, assisting Eirin in training Saeko, Rika, and Shizuka."
Kira nodded with a faint smile—though he didn't believe that for a second. His runaway lunar princess daughter wasn't exactly the helpful type.
Still, he let it slide for now.
Eirin didn't comment either. She knew perfectly well what her "princess" had been doing—mostly playing around with whatever new amusements Shizuka brought her.
While father and daughter chatted, Eirin began weaving her spell.
By the time their conversation ended, the formation spell was complete.
In that instant, Kira, Saeko, Rika, and Shizuka all felt something connect them.
The women sensed only a faint link—like a thread of energy tying them to Kira—but little else.
Kira, however, felt something shift deep within. His brows furrowed as the sensation abruptly stopped—then a new message pulsed through his mind.
A brand-new trait appeared before him.
.
.
.