Episode 21 — The Streets of Felsen

I looked through the telescope again.

(...Since I’ve already got this set up, maybe I should look for “improvement points.”

More points for me.)

The first thing that came into view was the main road in front of the city gate.

Several wagons were lined up, people and horses and cargo all jammed together.

Shouting, waving arms, everything at a standstill. A complete bottleneck.

(Yeah, that’s a huge waste…

If they just unified the direction of traffic to one side, or split it by time slots…

Do they not have the concept of lanes?)

I shifted the telescope a little.

Around a well, a crowd had formed.

People holding buckets were lined up, waiting their turn in a sluggish queue.

(There are way too few water points…

They should dig another well or build a storage tank and spread the load.

And hauling water like that is pure manual labor…

Even if pipes are impossible, they could at least build some kind of channel.)

I moved my view to the market square.

The stalls were crammed so tightly together that the walkways had become narrow.

Every time people passed each other, shoulders bumped, cargo fell, and shouting broke out.

(The flow lines are completely dead…

Just adding one through‑only path down the middle would make things way better.

And if they zoned the stalls by type, efficiency would skyrocket.)

I turned the telescope toward the city walls.

The knights were moving more lightly than before, but they were still walking back and forth over the same spots again and again.

(The placement of the watchtowers is a bit off…

There are way too many blind spots.

If they just added a few taller towers for fixed observation and cut down the patrol routes, it’d reduce fatigue and boost efficiency.)

I looked out toward the fields on the outskirts.

Farmers were lined up in a row, swinging hoes over and over.

(Wow, that’s pure muscle work…

The furrows are all over the place, and the irrigation channels are random…

Just fixing that would change the harvest a lot.

And if they built a shared tool shed, everyone’s life would get easier.)

I pulled the telescope back a bit and took in the town as a whole.

The roofs were all different heights, the roads were narrow and winding, and there were plenty of dead ends.

(If a fire breaks out, this place is done…

Do they not have the concept of evacuation routes?

If they at least ran one wide road from the main street into each district, people could escape more easily—and the knights could move faster too.)

“Look, Tama. See that? It’s totally clogged up there.

You tweak stuff like that just a little, and it gets way better.”

“Mrow. (You’re annoyingly competent at this kind of thing.)”

I lowered the telescope and leaned against the balcony railing.

(...In the end, everyone’s just trying to brute‑force their way through with effort.

Same as the world I came from.

But tweaking the system is faster than relying on guts.)

In my head, a rough map of Felsen started to form.

The city gate, the walls, the outposts, the market, the wells, the fields, the residential areas—

their positions and the flow of people between them.

(One more outpost to split the congestion in front of the gate.

Zone the market and put a central passage through it.

Add either more wells or storage tanks with distribution points.

Adjust the watchtower positions and shorten the patrol routes.

Standardize the furrow directions and irrigation in the fields, and set up a shared tool shed…)

I let out a small, wry laugh.

(...What am I even doing?

I’m basically planning urban development…

Just because I want the Throne of Sloth.)

But—

I remembered the remaining points displayed on my phone.

(...Yeah.

I still want it.)

I exhaled quietly.

“…Alright.

Let’s think a bit more seriously about Felsen’s reforms.”

Tama let out a long, resigned sound.

“Mrrr… (Here we go again…)”

(Don’t worry, Tama. I’m not moving.

I won’t move—but the world will.)