Reincarnated As The Heroes Guide

Chapter 109: Landscaping

It was only a few hours before he was back with the plan, and a dozen other people, including the student council, Sanchez, Temple, and a few people from each of the apartments.

"We had to revise it once already, but I think that we found the issue, and we’ve fixed it well."

Kalli nodded. "What issue did you find?"

"Drainage. If we’re clearing out all the ash from inside the perimeter, we need somewhere for water to drain so we don’t flood ourselves out.

The alteration was to have most of it run to the tubers, and the rest to flow down the cliff.

We’ve also added a defensive wall on that side, just in case. It will make the Academy much like an inner keep in a castle, and it will give us room to expand, while still keeping everyone within the safety of the compound.

That’s a winning proposition to the common folk, as they’re not up to fighting with whatever shows up out there.

We’ve also noted that they’re beginning to pack up, by the way."

Kalli made notes as he spoke, and then took out a separate book for the threat assessment.

"Alright, I’ve got it noted down. I’ll see what I can do about it in the morning. Are you intending to work through the night?"

The men shrugged. "The glow in the distance is the only light we’ve got right now. If we didn’t check our watches, nobody would know what time it is anyhow.

Fortunately, the temperature isn’t as bad as we feared.

The ash is still hot enough that the ground is radiating heat, and the cold winds have begun to die down. We’ve got the heaters turned off to save power, but we’re using more than usual on lights.

Even if the windows were open, half the population can’t see much in this light."

That was concerning. As far as Kalli knew, the first few hours after the eruption were supposed to be the worst, but if the sky was getting darker, there might be something more going on out there.

When the worlds had first begun to merge, the sky here was deep blood-red. Much less bright than they were used to. But if that sort of darkness was customary for the planet, and not just a difference in the local time zone, their solar output might need extra support.

"I don’t see any issues with this. The exit bridge is manageable from a defensive standpoint, the trench outside will make a great natural moat, and the drainage maps look correct to me.

Though, I am not an engineer of any sort.

It looks very defensible, and it should keep even those strange monsters out.

Now, we just need to get this done as soon as possible, and see if there is a quest for the new monsters in the morning."

Sergeant Sanchez hid a small smile, as he was quite certain that it was just Kalli making up the quests as she went. But the illusion that they all came from the System was an important one.

At least for now.

Once they had a proper town, fortified and producing the basics of what it needed to survive, they could start making it more obvious that she was the one making the decisions.

Infighting during a crisis did nobody any favours.

With the approval of everyone else in the room, the plan was settled, and Kalli began to search her store for a cement mixer.

There wasn’t one.

At least, not in the conventional sense. But there was a massive metal cauldron on a wagon in the vehicle section, marked as a "Beast Drawn Wagon".

Kalli didn’t know what the original purpose had been, but it was five points, and it had to hold two thousand litres. That should be more than enough to create a batch of concrete to pour over the barricades once they were shaped to the fortification that the teams wanted.

"Well, that’s not quite what I had in mind, but it will work. We’ve got the manpower, and the superhuman strength, to operate this efficiently. Thanks Coordinator."

Kalli just laughed. "I’m looking forward to seeing what you can manage to do for the area. Our little town of Marimgar will soon be a proper fort."

The heroes all laughed at the medieval fort reference, but they weren’t really wrong about what they were doing to the area.

They also didn’t have many choices.

If they didn’t fortify the area, they wouldn’t survive much longer, even if they could keep the food and supplies flowing. They had already run into multiple incidences where they had nearly met with disaster because monsters could get to the front of the Academy, and the apartments outside the gates.

If they just continued to let that happen, it was only a matter of time before there was a miscalculation that cost them everything.

She could only hope that this construction project would be finished on time.

The heroes were all exhausted from working shifts to keep the buildings from collapsing, then working even harder to clear the fallen ash from the compound, only to have it continue to fall.

However, the weather was changing again.

The winds had fallen still, and with that lack of airflow, the air had begun to heat again.

They would be spared some fuel for the apartments, as the heaters could be turned down or off, and that would buy them some spare power to safely cook meals without worrying about overloading the generator.

Kalli didn’t realize how late it had gotten until her alarm went off, informing her that she had watch tonight, and should be headed to bed.

The sky was so dark, that it had become nearly impossible to tell what shift should be on.

But she dutifully turned in early, so she was fresh for her shift, and kept watch as the teams worked through the night, under the orange glow of something in the distance, and under the constant rain of volcanic ash, to build up the fortifications, and to turn the entire ring wall into Roman concrete with the assistance of one massive metal vat and a pair of earth element mages.

Now, they were ready to start their hunt.

{New Mission Queued For Dawn} [Protect Fort Marimgar] Hard Difficulty. Defeat 5 of the magma corrupted monsters, maximum 10 members.

{New Mission Queued For Dawn} [Collect Firewood] Easy Difficulty. Individual Quest. Collect 25 kilograms of plant material suitable for firewood.