Absolute Beast Dominion

Leo spent the whole afternoon and evening designing the hot spring structure to make it look as good as he could while keeping the functionality top-notch.

Turns out, Leo had ended up combining the restaurant and the hot spring into one big building that would naturally shift from the wooden-and-stone structure of the restaurant at the forefront to the natural, lush, and rocky terrain of the hot spring towards the back, which gave a good view of the forest in the surrounding area from the elevated ground.

For the hot spring, Leo had made it into three sections.

To the extreme right was the girls' exclusive area, where Lily and the elves would give the finishing touches and privacy. The boys' exclusive area was on the extreme left.

At Lily's and the other girls' opinion, they didn't create a mixed area; the centre divided both springs. In the centre, there was a wooden structure where various territory members would work part-time to provide services related to selling soap and towels. Some would even act as professional guides to educate the uneducated.

This was because people weren't meant to jump into the hot spring the moment they arrived. First, they would clean their bodies in a separate bath inside their respective gender-exclusive areas, and only then were they supposed to take a dip and relax.

It was to keep things clean and tidy.

Apparently, due to the lack of natural water in the area and the lack of water mages, many people went without bath for days and even weeks.

Not to mention, with all the snowfall, any natural sources of water, like ponds and lakes, were completely frozen in the surrounding area. Also, with the combination of the cold weather, many people hadn't cleaned themselves in over a month already!

And to make things worse, it was considered normal across the whole Empire among the commoner class and acceptable in the noble class.

"Sheesh! I'll need to have Zharrissa cast purification spells on them..." Leo muttered as he continued his work.

He had chosen a spot right in the middle of the various shops selling feathers, milk, and potions. This would naturally make the huge building eye-catching, and customers would become interested in trying things out.

He could already see people coming in through the teleportation array—to buy feathers and other things—looking at the construction with interested eyes. Many marvelled at how the 1st-ranked student territory was simply on a different level, able to afford such a huge building, and many seniors scoffed with jealousy. Those people were quickly escorted away by Virat or by the Gnomes on the current watch shift to let the workers work in peace.

In the surroundings, many smith-oriented Gnomes with black slave collars could be seen adding textures to the rocky areas to lend a natural vibe to the hot spring.

Some Gnomes were even working on the drainage system, while others widened the water connection from the General Pool above the plateau to the ground below the hot spring, ensuring a perfect flow and a long enough channel for the water to warm up so it would come out like any natural hot spring.

On Leo's word and with the metal he provided after buying in Aurelius Hall, some Gnomes were even crafting metal piles to be laid beneath the spring so that Howl could heat the metal comparatively faster, thus heating the water.

Some pipes were even connected to the cold storage inside the hollowed-out region beneath the plateau, where Zelut's people and Miho formed ice blocks to keep food items fresh. This was done in case the water became too hot; the cold channel could be turned on to balance the temperature.

While working, the Gnomes' leader—Torbin—arrived to talk to Leo. He was the same Gnome that Leo had picked up to talk with in the slave market.

"My Lord..." Torbin still looked very careful around Leo while addressing him.

"Torbin? Are you people lacking in materials?" Leo asked while standing up from the place where he was perfecting a slope from which people would descend to the deeper part of the spring.

"N-no, My Lord. I wanted to ask how the water will get warm? We have laidthepipelines as you instructed, but I don'tseethe mechanism throughwhich the waterwillget warm."

Leo took a second to process what Torbin had said. Being from the Gnome race, his voice was very jittery and fast, which made it seem as though he was speaking all the words together.

"Don't worry about it. I have my ways. Right now, just focus on perfecting the water supply and setting up the drainage system so it's easy to clean if things get clogged up."

"A-alright." Torbin didn't dare to argue further and simply got back to work.

By the time the sun had gone down, the hot spring work was nearly complete except for some decorative parts that would be done by the elves after they completed the construction of the restaurant.

Turns out that, with the detailed artistry Leo wanted things made with, even with Sylrael's help, it would take more than a week to complete. Especially when the building was a four-storey building. The highest ever made till now.

The fourth floor was for those who wanted to stay; the third floor was for VIP seats; and the second and first floors were for the general public, depending on the type of dish they wanted. Cheaper ones would be on the first floor; expensive ones would be on the second floor.

The kitchen area was located at the back of the second floor to make it easier for the waiters and waitresses to move between floors.

As for the ground floor, it was for general registration and ticket counters, where people would order food and then be escorted to different floors or the hot spring area according to their expenses.

Seeing that his work was completed and the rest was to be done by the elves and Gnomes, he quietly left the scene.

But he still needed one other important thing to discuss before he once again got busy with Academy competition preparation from tomorrow.

"Torbin!" Leo called, which made the Gnome stiffen with fear. He thought that he had made some sort of mistake.

But when Torbin reached Leo's location, he saw Leo calmly seated on a chair with folded legs, while Lily, seated beside him, had brought him some snacks to eat, which she was also enjoying alongside Leo.

There was another chair made out of earthen materials in front of them, to which Leo gestured.

"Sit. I need to talk about something with you."

"B-but, My Lord, it will be inappropriate for me to sit in front of you—" Saying that, Torbin immediately bowed on one knee.

But Lily simply waved her hand as a controlled flow of wind started to lift Torbin as a whole.

"Eh?! Ahhh!" he panicked, but Lily completely ignored his cries and made him sit on the chair. Afterwards, she continued to eat the berries while silently giggling at the cute-looking sight.

It seemed that Leo had made the chair a bit too high for his three-foot frame, which made Torbin's feet dangle freely while he tried balancing his body to steady himself.

"Alright, don't panic. We won't hurt you," Leo said.

"I have called you here to talk about something important, and one of the main reasons for the 160 of you to be brought into my territory."

Torbin understood that whatever Leo was going to talk about was important, so he forcefully calmed his panicked state and attentively listened to Leo's words.

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