Laughing and chatting along the way, Allen and Ymira ended their holiday and returned to Fisslet before sunset.
For the past ten years, Allen had lived and worked in a plain three-story villa.
It was reasonably well equipped, with a conference room for discussing important matters, a study for reviewing documents and working out details with his subordinates, and a dining room where small banquets could be held.
It had been enough to meet Allen's basic daily needs.
But as his domain continued to develop and Fisslet grew increasingly prosperous, the three-story villa began to look out of place.
After all, it was the king's residence, and those who came and went frequently were all influential people in the town.
Gradually, many people found this situation unacceptable, whether out of reverence for Allen or for other reasons of their own.
More and more voices called for the house to be demolished and a palace built for the king.
In the end, it was Bunduk's argument that persuaded Allen, who had been hesitating over whether to undertake such a major project.
As Allen's retainer and Commander of the Imperial Guard, Bunduk offered a very simple reason: guarding the villa was becoming increasingly difficult.
When Artimenner first began building the town, he had planned to construct a castle for Allen, so he had left a large stretch of open land around the three-story villa.
Apart from a garden, stables, and warehouses, that land had contained nothing but empty lawns and rows of ornamental trees.
To keep others from disturbing the king's daily life, Artimenner had enclosed the reserved land with a brick wall.
Later, to make it easier for his men to monitor the surroundings, Bunduk had temporarily added several watchtowers beside the wall.
As commerce gradually developed, the town's transient population