Without delay, I created the third house alongside the first, being mindful of their positioning to try to begin laying the foundation for a road in the future. The investigators were shaken as they watched a home materialize from nothing. Immediately afterwards, Nathan bid farewell as he stood, taking the whiteboard with him.

  He began ordering his men to perform a series of tests. First, five people were chosen to locate a weaker monster and bring it back alive to kill on the territory. While they were gone, others were instructed to grab various items from inside the houses, as well as the fruits of the new tree.

  These items were all carried off the property, at which point I heard that the household items had begun to rapidly decay. The fruits were fine, but the kitchenware and chairs from the houses seemed unable to exist outside of my territory. Instead, fresh versions of them had already appeared from where they were taken.

  When the five selected members returned with a struggling goblin, they killed it just within the border of my territory. With this, I confirmed that I had gained another C point, which went towards making a fourth house. With four houses, the investigation team would be able to stay more comfortably without having to be as cramped.

  The rest of the day was spent with other experiments, such as removing a branch from both of my trees and taking them out of the territory, or throwing random items onto the ground and asking if I could absorb them. However, no matter what was thrown, I did not receive any kind of indication that it could be absorbed.

  In addition, the branches being removed from my territory suffered the same fate as the kitchenware, immediately beginning to rot. I was personally surprised when this happened to the burnt branch from the first tree as well, but we simply didn’t have enough information to verify anything.

  The team stayed overnight, as Nathan had promised, with two members staying on watch outside of the houses at all times. When dawn broke, the previously burnt tree was restored, and Nathan looked at the whiteboard again. He had already figured out that I could communicate with it without him having to set it down, as long as he was within my territory. “You should have a full stock of points now, right?”

  I checked my balance, expecting for it to say ten out of ten. However, the number I saw instead was even more confusing. I now have… fourteen? With a new limit of one hundred.

  “Oh? That’s quite interesting,” Nathan mused. “Do you have any new options for purchase?”

  I focused, and there was indeed one new option. There is… sort of? It says that it has a variable price. It’s called a T1 C Spawner, and says that I can spawn a member of a civilized race that I’ve met and shares a mental connection with me.

  Nathan blinked in surprise, immediately intrigued. “I see. If they have a mental link, perhaps this would be a more efficient means of communication. There are also a lot more tests that could be performed with an able participant.”

  Although hesitant, I agreed, opening the option for the T1 C Spawner. Immediately, I was given the choice between a Human, a Dwarf, a Beastfolk, or an Elf. For absolutely no reason whatsoever, I picked a beastfolk. From there, I was only given the options of a cat or a rabbit. Thinking back, between Mica and the feline scout, those were the only beastmen that I had come across so far.

  Between the two… I remembered Mica’s twitching rabbit ears, and couldn’t resist choosing a bunny. For gender… well, naturally I chose a girl. If I’m going to have someone accompany me for the foreseeable future, I’d prefer if it was someone pleasing to the eyes. Did that make me human trash? Of course not! I was no longer human.

  After that was done, I was given a list of options that I could buy. These options were various skills such as cooking, management, or increased stats like speed and strength. In addition, there was an option for ‘attunement slots’. However, all of these options were too expensive for me to choose. All I could afford was the simple, default model.

  I chose to have the rabbit girl spawn within one of the houses, unsure if she’d appear with clothes. I didn’t want to spawn her naked in front of a group of mostly men, after all. Wait… is this what that guy meant by me being able to make my own friends? I didn’t mean it this literally, you know!?

  To my relief, she wore a plain linen tunic and a long dress when she appeared. She was quite cute, with short, blonde hair and red eyes, her ears twitching as she took in her surroundings. “I had best go meet our guests,” she said with a small smile, walking out of the room.

  “Excuse me, sir Invar?” a voice called out as Nathan was waiting for a response from the whiteboard, and he turned to see a beastfolk woman emerging from one of the houses. “My name is Prim, it’s a pleasure to meet you.”

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  Nathan widened his eyes in surprise, fully facing the new woman. “Are you the one that the Land has created?”

  “That’s right,” Prim responded with a warm smile. “My lord wishes for me to do anything in my power to help your investigation.”

  “It seems that you have a fair amount of intelligence for a newly created being,” Nathan pointed out, but Prim shook her head.

  “My intelligence is limited only to what my lord knows. I know that you come from the city of Leonin, but not what the name of this country is, nor any nearby landmarks.”

  Hearing that, Nathan seemed to understand. “I see. In that case, there are two simple tests I’d like to begin with for you. First, I would like to verify if you are really a ‘person’, or just a doll shaped like one. The easiest way to do that is to see if you can draw blood. I don’t mean any offense, I only mean that in the most literal sense.”

  Prim simply maintained her smile, holding her palm out. “I understand. You do not need to worry.”

  Seeing her consent, Nathan retrieved a small dagger from his waist, pricking one of her fingers. Sure enough, a small dollop of blood formed from the wound, satisfying his curiosity. “The other test is… possibly a bit more cruel, given our recent findings. Would you mind trying to leave the territory?”

  This time, Prim blinked, seeming to hesitate. However, after a moment of silence, she nodded her head. “I suppose that this is an important test for you as well. You’re no doubt worried that if people like myself can be produced en masse, they might be able to infiltrate other cities, becoming an information network controlled by my lord?”

  Nathan flinched slightly at the remark, but he couldn’t deny it. “That’s… certainly one possibility. As I’ve said, we just need to assess what limits exist for this Land.”

  Prim didn’t speak further, walking towards the edge of the territory. “In truth, I myself do not know what will happen. However, if I begin to feel ill, I will immediately return. I trust that is alright?”

  “Of course,” Nathan agreed. Hearing this, Prim sighed and took a step forward. Or, at least, she tried to.

  With an “oomf”, she was stopped by an invisible wall, her body unable to move past the barrier. Surprised, Nathan quickly stepped outside the territory himself, confirming that there was no wall preventing his exit. However, looking in at Prim, she seemed to be pressed up against a sheet of glass, her hand pressed flat against an invisible surface. “That’s… remarkable. So, spawned beings like yourself can’t leave the territory.”

  Curious, he reached out to grab her wrist, trying to pull her through to see if she was only stopped by leaving under her own power. Yet, he could feel a clear resistance stopping him from doing so. Not from her, but from the same wall that was stopping her.

  “Sir… this is becoming most unpleasant…” Prim grunted, pushing back from the wall and straightening out her dress.

  “Ah, my apologies. I just had to confirm,” Nathan explained, releasing her wrist. He entered the territory himself, and led Prim through more tests, while also explaining to her some of the common sense of this world, such as local currency, the names of major kingdoms, and so on.

  Before the day ended, Nathan requested a fifth house be built for Prim, that way she would not need to share a living space with the investigation unit. This house was added to one of the rows, bringing it only a few meters away from the previously burnt tree.

  On their third day, I hadn’t gained any new options for purchase. However, my points had gone up to seventeen. I couldn’t tell why my points were only increasing by fourteen, despite having over twenty people staying on my territory.

  Still, there was another day of tests, after which Nathan informed Prim that they would be leaving with the next dawn. They had gathered all of the information that they could, so they needed to return and make their report to the guild. Though, he did assure me that there had been no major problems found, especially since I had happily cooperated with the experiments.

  When the last dawn broke, I witnessed everyone preparing to leave, which would inevitably leave me with just Prim to speak with. Admittedly, that was far better than having nobody at all, but it felt lonely to see them go.

  Out of habit, I checked my interface, finding my total points at thirty-one. In addition, there were two new items that could be unlocked. I focused, sending this information to Prim, and she perked up.

  “Sir Invar,” she approached the man as he was packing the last of his things. “My lord has found that there are two new items that can be purchased, and wished to inform you.”

  Nathan blinked in surprise, looking at Prim curiously. “Oh? Something appeared as we were getting ready to leave?”

  “I believe it was more because the points were finally sufficient,” she clarified. “As I said, there are two options. For twenty-five points, he can create a well, which can apparently provide a steady supply of clean drinking water.”

  “For twenty points, he can create a tavern. The tavern can create basic food and drink both, but requires currency to be spent to receive it.”

  Nathan listened to these options carefully, seeming surprised when he heard about the tavern. “You can accept currency to produce food and drink? That is quite fascinating… I’ve heard of similar awakened items in the past, which could convert money into power to feed itself.”

  But, as he looked at Prim, his thoughts changed. “He should get the well first. Although I am personally more interested in the tavern, that will do you little good after we leave. Without the money to purchase goods, the only water you will have access to is the juice of those fruits. Thinking from a practical standpoint, a well is more necessary for actual inhabitants of this territory.”

  Prim seemed surprised at this decision. “I was certain that you would ask for the tavern. However, your compassion is commendable. My lord would welcome you any time you wish to return.”

  As she spoke, a well silently appeared behind one of the houses, a simple bucket tied on a rope and attached to a crank. The final ‘experiment’ that they conducted was to refill their water supplies with this well before leaving. Once again, our visitors had left, and this time there was no telling when we might receive more guests.