With the demon dead, Sukuna quickly rushed back to the village.
Then he, along with the architect and the villagers, quickly surveyed the area he had selected to build his future kingdom.
Only to be met with their first major problem.
"Sir, this place is really unsuitable..."
The architect shook his head while pointing at the rocky terrain.
"Then what changes do you think the land will need to undergo to make this place suitable?" Sukuna asked in a calm tone.
"To make it suitable?…"
The architect rubbed his head and fell into thought before pointing at the cliff.
"Because of those cliffs, it can never become a port city like you said—"
Before he could continue, the ground under his feet started shaking.
Then, under everyone's surprised eyes, the entire cliff changed shape, lowering down to ocean level.
It was an incredible sight.
It almost felt… like the work of a god.
"What else? Tell me, and I'll change it," Sukuna addressed the stunned architect, making him come out of his reverie.
Instead of answering his question, the architect asked his own.
"Sir… are you able to control the earth with magic?"
"Yes, I can." Sukuna nodded.
The architect's eyes suddenly started glowing as he clenched his fists in excitement.
"Sir… with your magic, we can really make this… an amazing city…"
Ideas suddenly started filling his mind, making him tremble in excitement.
Quickly spreading out the map he had made on the ground, he started moving his pencil around in quick, frantic motions.
"With the cliff solved… now we can create artificial bays to counter the ocean winds…"
Sukuna crouched down beside him and started listening to his murmurs in curiosity.
After some time, the architect stood up and pointed at the land.
"Sir! Let's make the best port city ever!"
"That's the spirit!"
Sukuna cheered him on and quickly started making changes under his lead.
With his huge mana reserves, he didn't need to take a break and was continuously able to use magic to change the terrain.
And in less than four hours, they had managed to change the entire geography of the area.
Now, it was time to start building his castle.
Sukuna brought the architect and the villagers to see the blocks he had stored from the dungeon.
"These are enhanced blocks of extreme durability…"
The architect exclaimed in amazement.
"But this amount, I'm afraid, will not be enough to build both the walls and the castle…"
"Then let's focus on the walls first. We can make temporary shelters instead of a castle for now," Sukuna said, imagining a massive wall made up of the dungeon blocks.
He liked the idea. Although the inside would be empty for now, he could use wooden structures to compensate for it.
A drainage system would need to be planned beforehand. He didn't want these medieval people randomly relieving themselves on the road…
Everything was well and good.
Unfortunately, they were facing a major problem.
A severe lack of funds.
Yes, they were poor.
Which meant they would have to cut a lot of corners to make this city functional.
'I could go and steal from some kingdom… but that's unethical, not to mention very problematic…'
How he wished a random dungeon filled with treasures would suddenly pop up on his land.
Alas, that was impossible.
So they would have to do things on their own.
First and foremost, Sukuna focused on building the walls.
Based on the materials at hand, they decided to make a wall around a four-square-kilometer area.
Which was smaller than the coastal city of Warm, which covered a five-square-kilometer area.
With plans in place, Sukuna immediately got to work.
And within three days—
A large, twenty-five-foot wall surrounded the previously empty terrain.
At the entrance was a massive metal door embedded with magical green gems.
'This thing is quite convenient.'
Sukuna thought while touching the metal door and injecting it with magic.
Instantly, the green gems lit up and the door started opening on its own, revealing a vast empty space inside.
The city walls were connected to the sea, meaning the back side opened toward the ocean.
That was where he would build the port.
At the same time, there were semi-circular mud walls located in the sea with only a single opening.
It worked as a defense system, making sure ships were only able to approach his port via a single controlled passage. At the same time, it prevented massive waves from crashing into the harbor.
With the outer perimeter done, now it was time to fill the interior.
First and foremost, he divided the city into four districts.
The living quarters, where people would reside.
An education and research zone, where he would build institutes to promote magic as well as mechanical research.
One section would consist of the harbor where ships would dock.
And finally, the last part would be reserved for a marketplace.
In the middle, he would have his castle along with the guardhouse, ready with soldiers to deal with any problems that might occur.
With the plan in mind, Sukuna quickly started chopping trees from the forest and processing them using his magic technique to construct the harbor.
With his incredible speed and efficiency, he managed to create the entire harbor in less than half a day.
Afterward, he built a sewage system that connected to the sea.
Taking a design from the architect, he quickly built himself a castle made of wood and cobblestone he found nearby.
Finally, he covered the ground of the city with cobblestone as well.
With that, the initial city was built.
In less than five days, he went from a miserable log house to being the lord of a coastal city.
Progress was truly a terrifying thing.
"Mr. Sukuna, the villagers have started moving in!…" Erde explained in an excited tone.
"Let them make the type of homes I have selected…"
Sukuna replied while sitting on the empty ground of his castle.
Beside him sat the middle-aged architect, with several blueprints in his hand.
They were discussing how to build the academic district.
The port town was fine and all.
But what he truly wanted his city to focus on was magic and engineering research.
"Heh, he will make a mini Hogwarts in this world!"
The only problem was…
Even if they created the structure, they needed skilled people to run it all…
'Will the living grimoire, the relic of the ancient past, the Lolita Serie be interested? Nah, no way.'
She would definitely kick him out, if not outright try to kill him.
He wasn't her student; hell, he wasn't even human!
'Forget it, let nature take its course. I believe as I keep promoting my city, curious mages will definitely gather on their own…'
He would start with the villagers, teach them the magic knowledge he knew along with mana body-strengthening techniques.
But first of all, there was one thing he had to do.
"Mr. Architect, I heard you wanted to live here?"
"Yes! Sir, if you won't mind, then I would love to be of service to your city…"
The middle-aged architect said with shining eyes while rubbing his hands.
He had seen Sukuna's building proficiency with his own eyes, along with the various ideas he spoke of. The architect could already imagine the future metropolis in the making!
"I will serve you with my all! Work hard—"
"Alright, stop."
Sukuna raised his hand, interrupting him.
Then, under his curious eyes, Sukuna removed his cloak.
Revealing two clear horns coming out from the sides of his head.
"I am a demon."
Sukuna said in a calm voice.
After revealing his identity, he expected the architect to jump out in horror, but surprisingly, the middle-aged man remained calm.
This made Sukuna blink his eyes in surprise.
"You knew?"
"Ah, well, it's hard not to notice when you were building the walls…"
The architect said while scratching his cheeks.
'Oh, I did remove my cloak at that time.'
'Well, that sucks. I kind of wanted to see his fearful face…'
Seeing Sukuna shrug his shoulders, the architect continued.
"The villagers were the main reason I stayed, even after knowing your identity, sir…"
The architect was indeed horrified when he found out Sukuna's real identity as a demon.
But then, he met up with the villagers who told him how Sukuna had saved their lives twice before and even healed most of them from grievous injuries.
Seeing the genuine look on the villagers' faces, the architect fell into doubt and started observing Sukuna on his own.
And the more he saw, the more he understood.
'He doesn't seem like a demon at all.'
He had personally never encountered a demon, but had heard stories about them, about their vicious, indifferent nature.
But Sukuna didn't appear as any of that…
If he were some experienced adventurer from the north, then he would have definitely believed that Sukuna was simply acting, like every other demon.
Alas, he was an architect who had never stepped foot out of his city except for a few rare instances.
That is why he was easily persuaded by what he saw instead of what he had heard.
"Sir, after observing you, I can say with confidence that the demons are misunderstood—"
As he was speaking with confidence, Sukuna suddenly raised his hand and stopped him.
"What did you say?"
"Sir, I said the demons are misunderstood…"
"No, they're not."
"…?"
"All demons are monsters. Don't be fooled just because I am different, understood?"
Sukuna said with a serious look on his face, leaving the architect feeling confused.
"But sir—"
"Do you remember the demon we captured before?"
"Yes."
"Care to guess what I did with him?"
"…?"
"I killed him."
"!!"
The architect's eyes instantly widened.
Sukuna continued explaining in a plain voice.
"Demons are ruthless beings who like to eat humans. It's not even that they have to eat humans, they just do it because they want to."
"They will deceive you, act pitiful, use your emotional weakness against you. In short, they will use every opportunity, every chance to weaken and kill you, no matter what relation you have with them."
The architect gulped down a mouthful of saliva and asked in a low voice.
"Then sir… you?"
"You can think of me as an anomaly, a change that was not meant to happen and will never happen."
Sukuna shook his head and reminded the man for his own sake.
"Never trust demons. Just keep this in mind, okay?"
"Yes…"
The architect lowered his head and fell into thought.
Sukuna smiled and patted his shoulder before saying,
"Now that you understand the truth, you can leave if you want."
They had already paid the man for his work when they had brought him out from the port town.
Now that his work was more or less done, he could leave if he wanted to.
The architect raised his head and stared at Sukuna's clear eyes.
Unable to find anything, since he wasn't some psychic who could tell how people were by simply gazing into their eyes, he simply decided to trust his gut and go with it.
"Sir Sukuna, please allow me to work for you."
"Sure, since you have decided, you're now a part of my city."
"Thank you, sir. By the way, the name of the city?…"
"Name? Hm, let's call it Dawn."
That way, he will become Dawn Lord.
That was his username whever he played online games in his previous life.