Chapter 22: Empire of Twilight

"CASTLE!"

When did I say I wanted a castle. I mean I'll take it, but why do I get a castle and everybody just gets a house. I would be fine with just having the same house like everybody else.

"Forgive us for deciding on our own, but we thought sleeping in a cave is inadequate for you. We also decided to make the castle out of your cave since it seems like you liked it," said Akio.

That's not true, it's not like I have any special attachment to this cave.

"It's fine I don't want to waste your hard work," I said.

Akio and 2 other builders lead me into my cave where nothing has changed. The cave was not different besides the 3 hallways all the way in the back and to the sides. It seems they also removed the bed I had always slept on so the cave was very barren.

The first corridor that we entered was the one to the left.

"Oh yeah, all of the hallways are connected to each other," said Akio.

I didn't reply and just continued to follow them.

"Woah," I said.

The walls of the hallways were a very basic form of grey and silver rocks stacked together to make different patterns that were beautiful. But the thing that caught my eye the most would definitely be the ceiling. It was pitch black and had tiny shards of Nodril in them. Akio told me that he decided to do this because the color of it changes depending on the weather and if polished enough it can look like stars that change color with the weather.

[Black Stone]

[A very rare stone that is as black as night without the moon.]

"This looks familiar, did Kumo recommend this?"

"Ah yes, Kumo said that you 2 used to look at the starry night when the sun had set so, I thought this would be nice to add. Also, the black stone that was used for the ceiling was extremely hard to find so it is the utmost thinnest layer that we could do for the ceiling. It is also used throughout the entire castle but just for the ceilings and pilla- oops," said Akio.

It seems like it's another secret that I will see soon.

We continued to walk down the halls and he showed me dozens of rooms that weren't filled with anything yet because he wants me to decide what to put in them. There were windows without glass from time to time but we were still in a mountain so they were rarely seen so for lighting they were using a common rock called Glow Stone.

[Glow Stone]

[A common stone that glows when it comes in contact with fire. The Glow Stone can glow for 1 week at most until it goes out.]

The time felt so short because of how impressive the castle was so far but then we arrived at a huge room that had a... throne.

The room that we had just arrived in was huge with pillars made of black stone and filled with nodril. The walls this time were just silver rocks stacked on top of each other to give that castle wall feel. Finally, there was a huge yellow and red carpet that led to an elevated throne 2 steps up. The throne was silver and black with rocks that look like gold fused into different spaces of the throne.

[Gold]

[A very rare type of metal that is used for mainly aesthetic purposes. It is also commonly used as currency in most kingdoms and empires.]

"Master would you like to sit down on the throne, it has cushions that are made from the highest quality of poisonous silk and the highest quality cotton we could find, Wet Cotton. If you are not satisfied with it please let us know and we will adjust it to your liking," Aiko says.

I can't inspect the wet cotton yet since it's inside the cushion and I can't see it.

As I walk up the steps I get a closer look at the grand throne in front of me and the only thing that came to mind was,

"It's beautiful,"

I sat down on the throne and it was definitely the most comfortable thing I have sat on even including my past life. I looked down on the barren stone floor with the red and yellow carpet leading up to my throne. The way we went into this throne room was through a side entrance on the right, well from how I'm sitting right now. There was another side entrance to my left but opposite from my position was a grand entrance that was twice the size of the other entrances.

Akio who was standing right next to the red carpet walked onto it a kneeled down on 1 knee which the other builders kneeled on 1 knee behind him.

"Master I hope it's to your liking. The maids will clean the entire castle and when it's time for a meal they will set up the dinner table right here and roll up the carpet so it doesn't get dirty. I recommend hiring more maids so the ones working right now won't get overworked," Aiko recommends.

[Congratulations on creating a kingdom]

[Please name your kingdom]

Oh, I kind of thought this would happen. Does every kingdom get this, I should ask Kumo but she still might not know because she doesn't know much about humans. Are there even humans roaming this world?

Nevermind that what should I name my kingdom.

"Akio, say... we created a kingdom... what should we name it?"

"That is entirely your decision but I would maybe name it after this mountain since I think this is the first monster kingdom on [The Mountain of Twighlight]," Akio suggested.

"I see,"

Kingdom of Twilight

[Are you sure you would like to name your Kingdom [Kingdom of Twilight]?]

Yes

[Congratulations on creating the [Kingdom of Twilight]]

[Special Condition has been achieved]

[Multiple former tribes and villages live in your kingdom]

[Kingdom has been promoted to Empire]

"Master, what was that, are we an Empire now?"

All I do is nod my head and dismiss Aiko and the other 2 builders. Once they had left I started to explore on my own. I first went to the left entrance from the throne room it was identical to the right side. After walking for a bit I arrived in what used to be where I slept, I felt like cringing after just seeing my newly made castle.

Aika was talking with Akio at the entrance while Sophia was talking with the other maids. It seems she has become comfortable in her new home. I walk up to the maids and Sophia and order them to go pick out a room on the left side of the castle, they were also supposed to split up with 2 people in each room. I told Aika and said that she had to share a room with Sophia, which she didn't seem dissatisfied with. They briefly tried to bring up the topic about the empire but I quickly shut them up and said that I would explain it to them later.

"Akio sorry for interrupting on your conversation with Aika but can you show me to the interior designers,"

"As you wish your highness," Akio replied.

Ah... that sounds nice, being called "your highness."

While we were walking to the location of the interior designers he told me that there were 3 of them and they were all Amazonians. Even though they have a different job they are still technically part of the builder team.

When we walked past the houses everybody started to wave at me which I waved back. It seems like some residents even fell in love either it was with their same race or even the opposite race. Must be nice to fall in love.

When we got where they were they were all drawing on the ground right next to a desk. It seems they were using that drawing to do a blueprint for requests they got. You would've thought they would be exhausted from all the people wanting to decorate the insides of their homes but they just had huge smiles on their faces.

"Hey, who was the one that designed my thrown room,"

"I did your highness," said a man while kneeling down on one knee in front of me.

"I need your help in designing my bedroom and the rest of my castle,"

"As you wish," she replied.

Akio then called over 3 more builders which were then assigned to the interior design group making that 5 of them.

Akio decided to stay and help the new interior designers get adjusted to their new job while I and the man who designed the throne room walked towards my castle.

"Do you have a name?"

"My name is Leo," he replied.

"I want you to become my direct subordinate and you shall be the leader of the interior designers. If you ever need help you can always ask the other interior designers and they will never be able to decline you unless it is something dangerous," I said.

All he did was nod and then I thought of making him my subordinate.

[Would you like to make [Leo] your subordinate?]

Yes

[Would you like to name him?]

No

I thought this was the right decision since I feel like I would end up giving him a shitty name.

『Status』

[Name: Leo]

[Race: Amazonian]

[Status: None]

[Level: 12/100]

[HP: 150/150 MP: 10/10 SP: 80/80]

[Strength: 2]

[Defense: 15]

[Magic: 2]

[Speed: 15]

[Luck: 1]

[Charisma: 5]

[Skills: [Body Enhancement] [Contortion] [Berserk] [Intense Focus]

[Body Modification: [Natures Tattoo]

[Titles: [Direct Subordinate] [Interior Designer]

...

Oh, his status is lower than Sophias...