Day Three, Just After Noon, After Departing from Kyuranoabes
On the third day past noon since departing from Kyuranoabes, Tiga-san settled on a mountain valley site he had been hoping for. It was a gourd-shaped flat area roughly 700 meters wide and about two kilometers long.
The deeper end of the gourd-shaped valley would be used as the main area of land. If a gate were built in the narrow part, it would be relatively difficult for intruders to get in… supposedly.
“Hmm, the terrain here is a gentle slope, and the bedrock is hard, so it’s not exactly suitable for building houses. Plus, there are too many trees.”
“We’ll level it using earth magic, so it’s fine.”
“Yeah, but you’re not the one doing that, right?”
Crow interjected at Tiga-san’s confident reply, and I nodded in agreement. I’m the one who’ll be doing the leveling, after all.
My MP has increased quite a bit, so I don’t think it’s beyond me.
Despite Fabek-san’s concerns about the site's suitability, Tiga-san wouldn’t budge.
Because of the gourd shape, we could set up one gate at the entrance and another in the narrower middle part. With the front end fortified, it's supposedly ideal.
Honestly, I wish he wouldn’t plan things with so much combat in mind.
Still, it’s not impossible that trouble might come, and it is better to have a place that's hard for outsiders to access, so I decided to go along with Tiga-san’s plan.
He also proposed using the slight slope to our advantage during leveling—creating an earthen wall with the extra soil to prevent intrusion. He was quite passionate about it, but I’m not great with terrain matters, so I’ll just leave that to him.
Personally, I was happy with the site since it naturally had sage trees and other useful ingredients growing there.
“Why go through all that hassle? There are better places.”
“We’ll adjust the meandering river’s flow a bit too. I want to raise the land about two meters above the normal water level to avoid flooding when it overflows.”
Tiga-san wanted to raise the back section and create an elevation difference from the front. Lowering the river would help prevent flooding—probably.
He ignored Fabek-san, who was sighing beside him, and continued planning.
“Um, if you're building a bridge over the river, that’s going to cost you.”
“Ah, of course. I’ll pay for that. Tiga-san, I’ll leave the river adjustments to you. I’ll check the trees growing around here and mark the ones I want to keep with some string. Some are useful for alchemy—are you okay with keeping those?”
“No problem. Ideally, I’d like to cut down the trees in the front area, since we’re creating an elevation difference.”
Maybe it’s a strategic advantage to have the higher ground… I wonder how much battle planning went into discussions between my brother and Tiga-san.
Well, it's fine. If there are important trees, I’ll consider transplanting them.
“Hold on. I’m against this. If there’s a big elevation difference, every time I go out and come back, I’ll have to climb a bunch of stairs. Even if it’s fine now, in ten years, it’ll be rough.”
“Make that twenty years. You’ve gotten younger, after all.”
“Even now, I’d rather not…”
I get not wanting long staircases. Even though he looks like he's in his 20s now, ten years goes by fast.
That said, it probably won’t be a huge staircase.
The slope is around 10%, so it’s pretty gentle. With about 2 km in depth, the elevation difference is likely less than 3 meters. That would mean around 20 steps of stairs at most.
Considering the dungeon terrain we’ve been through, this shouldn't be a big deal.
“I’ll ignore Crow’s opinion. First, please take care of marking the trees.”
“Tiga, don’t ignore me! As you get older, your back starts to hurt!”
“Pretty sure you’re younger than me. And compared to subway stairs, this is nothing.”
Seems like a personality thing. Apparently, Crow was more of a car person and rarely used public transit.
We could level the area without an elevation difference, but that would mean digging the river deeper, which would be more trouble.
“I’ll help too.”
“Thank you, Rust-san.”
Tiga-san decided to go survey the whole site with Fabek-san and Crow, so Rust-san, Sufino-kun, and the four rabbits came with me.
Since monsters occasionally appear, I need to protect the two who can’t fight—and the rabbits.
While defeating weaker monsters, I also gathered rare herbs and fruits whenever I found any.
Because this land hasn't been touched by people, some rare herbs are mixed in with the weeds.
Oh! There’s also Momogusa. I’ll try cultivating it deeper in. Or rather, I’ll preserve the existing wild growth.
Some herbs that spoil quickly, I decided to feed to the rabbits since I won’t have time to make potions for now.
“Um, is it really okay to feed them this?”
“Huh? My little ones practically snatch it out of my hands!”
Sufino-kun hesitated a little when I handed him some Momogusa. I wonder if Caro and Lott just have different taste.
The rabbits sniffed it, but didn’t seem eager to eat.
Since it feels like I took Caro and Rot away the first time we met, I don’t really know how to react.
“They’re a little different from ordinary grass, right?”
“Yeah. Around here they’re treated as weeds and grow naturally, but they’re actually valuable alchemy ingredients. I consider them high-quality materials. If we can cultivate them, it might be worth moving here. Then again, if we can just gather them nearby, we don’t need to grow them. Maybe I’ll focus on cultivating something rarer.”
After a moment’s hesitation, the rabbits start eating.
They seemed to like it after one bite, munching eagerly on the momo grass I gave them.
“They’re eating it so happily.”
“The essential components are stored near the roots. I think that’s why they don’t eat it on their own—they’d have to dig it up.”
Once I fed them, the rabbits warmed up to me. Unlike Caro and Rot, they seemed to actually like me. I petted them. They’re cute.
While exploring, we reached about the center of the development area, which was forested, and began cutting down trees all at once.
“Wind Scythe .”
I cast a wind spell, chopping off branches and felling trees from the roots. While I was slicing through them with countless blades, Rust came over.
“Hey, how are you doing that?”
“It’s wind magic. I’m generating several wind blades over a wide area. For thinner trees, the roots can be cut just like the branches. I’m making sure the trees fall away from us, but still, be careful.”
“Do you not need to cut them one by one?”
If I did that, the sun would set before we made any progress.
Even with countless blades, I still need to cut off branches and turn the logs, so I can’t do too many at once.
Doing this alone is tough. We also need to secure a place to sleep soon.
“If we don’t clear some land, we can only pitch tents near the river. There might be monsters at the water source, or ones that come to drink, so we should keep some distance from it.”
Sphino-kun nodded seriously at my words. Rust-san just said, “I see~,” but I couldn’t tell if she understood or not. She’s kind of laid-back and hard to read.
“I’ll gather the branches.”
“Thanks, Sphino-kun. Rust-san, could you help too?”
“Sure, no problem.”
Since they were collecting the branches for me, I focused on clearing the area and leveling the surroundings.
I secured enough space for a few tents, then used Earth Wall magic to flatten the land after pulling out the tree roots with magic. They said the ground was firm, but it didn’t seem like a problem.
Next, I organized the roots, branches, and logs into separate piles.
Securing visibility around the camp is crucial. I could light some incense to ward off monsters, but I don’t like the smell, and it might affect the rabbits too, which would be a shame.
“For now, I’ll start preparing the meal.”
“Will Tiga and the others be alright?”
“As a combatant, Fabek-san can fight too, so I think they’ll be fine. I’m just simmering this, so please stir the pot occasionally. I’m going to keep cutting trees for a while.”
“Take care~”
Yeah… you be careful, really.
I’m staying alert for monsters, but that doesn’t mean they won’t appear.
I felt like the reply was a bit off, but if all he’s doing is stirring, it should be fine. I made a cream stew-like dish. Since I could buy butter and milk, I gave it another go.
After my previous failure, I asked my brother for advice and improved the recipe. It turned out tasty. As long as it doesn’t burn, it’ll be fine, so I asked Sphino-kun to take the pot off the fire if it looks risky.
Meanwhile, I’ll keep gathering and cutting trees a bit longer.
“Huh? What the heck happened here!?”
“Ah, welcome back.”
“No, seriously, what is this!?”
“You’ve really cleared it out, huh.”
Fabek-san kept repeating himself in surprise as he looked at the clearing I made. I secured enough land to pitch our tents.
He seemed amazed by the newly created space, but honestly, we need to keep clearing land like this if we want to build anything here—let alone a field.
“Yeah. I figured it’d be good to at least secure a safe place to sleep. How did things go on your end, Tiga-san?”
“Well, let’s talk after dinner.”
Since we’ll be doing large-scale land clearing from tomorrow, we decided to have a meeting after dinner.
“I’m thinking of running the river’s main stream along the east side. I’d like to create a height difference there and have the river at a lower level. Ideally, I want it near the base of the mountains. Can I ask you to handle that?”
“Got it. So, create a slope and build a wall on that side too, right? I’ll prioritize that work tomorrow.”
“Exactly. To keep monsters from invading. Then, on the north side, I want to create a large pond and branch off a smaller stream from there for agricultural use.”
The large pond was to provide a habitat for Olive.
It made sense. Even though she’s currently disguised as a snake, it’s probably safer for her to guard this place than to travel with us.
“Understood. If we leave Olive in the pond, she should prevent any invasions from that side. The eastern side connects to the border mountains, so strong enemies might appear from there.”
“Right. Also, can we make a clearing near the southern entrance as well? I want to build a temporary house there first.”
“That’ll make height adjustments tricky, though.”
I made the center of the area flat as a temporary base so we could easily adjust it later.
If we flatten the entrance area first, it’ll end up too low, and if we adjust the rest of the land to that height, we’ll have excess soil. We could use that to build a dirt wall at the gate or something, though.
If we want to adjust elevations while developing, it’s easier to start from the center.
“Making a house before seeing the whole layout might not be ideal.”
“How about near the big tree on the western side? We’ve already decided to collect its leaves and sap. There’s also a sage tree nearby, so building a temporary house there and turning it into a warehouse later might be a good idea.”
“Let’s go with that. Can you start building the house tomorrow?”
“Yeah. Without some place to stay, the craftsmen will be stuck too. Should I make it wood?”
“Definitely wood, please.”
Honestly, that place might become a brewery later, so wood is preferable. You don’t want smelly stuff being made near where people live.
Even if it’s a big temporary home, we’ve got a plan to repurpose it later, so it’ll be useful.
Then, I’ll build a path there and level the land, and leave the rest to Tiga-san. Meanwhile, I’ll check his plans and draft a diagram.
Maybe I’ll expand the pond before the river’s main flow. According to Tiga-san’s plan, the central river will be partly filled and narrowed to be used for irrigation and rice paddies.
“Uh, you’ve been using quite a bit of magic… Are you okay? Will you still be able to use magic tomorrow?”
“Huh? Of course. Crow will handle the logging starting tomorrow, and I’ll switch to using earth magic for the layout.”
“Me, huh… Well, guess I have to. Tiga can’t really help with this part.”
“Sorry. I’ve improved a bit, but… I just don’t have enough MP. I can’t spam spells like you guys.”
“I’ve learned some too, but I don’t think I’m ready yet~”
Rust-san seems to have decent magical talent, as expected.
Since angels are a magic-specialized race, I figured demons would be decent at it too.
And just by watching me and getting a simple explanation, he already picked up both wind and earth magic, so he’ll probably manage the rest if he tries.
Once he levels up his magic, he should be able to use it fairly well. But… is he even meant to be a mage?
Hmm… He’s a bit airheaded, but he managed to block attacks with a shield during our travels, so he seems competent on the frontlines too. He’s pretty sturdy, physically.
“Rust-san, are you planning to focus on magic?”
“Hmm? I’m not really sure yet. I haven’t thought about it much.”
Well, if Tiga is mentoring him, he’s probably not going the adventurer route, so it doesn’t really matter how he grows.
“Don’t do it. Putting him in the front line would be nerve-wracking—he spaces out too much.”
“Ah, true.”
I nodded at Crow’s comment. Rust really is the kind of guy you can’t be sure won’t zone out mid-fight.
"Um, sorry, but… can I check everyone’s roles in the party?"
"Tiga-san is the tank and scout, Crow is the magic attacker, and I’m the healer and scout."
"No, that doesn’t make sense. On the way here, you were acting as the attacker, right? And healer?"
"Well, there’s no one else who can be in the front line. Leonis-san trained me to be able to handle everything solo, just in case."
"Oh yeah, you're Finn’s kid, right? Wait, huh?"
"My older brother—the main attacker—will be joining us eventually, so until then, let’s avoid risky fights and keep it safe, please."
Don't sweat the small details.
I’m Finn’s kid. I got trained by Leonis-san in all sorts of things. And really, they knew I was an outsider from the very first meeting.
Anyway, Fabek-san, you’re not exactly fit to call yourself a scout anymore. Tiga-san and I are the ones actually spotting monsters properly.
Well, he was an adventurer. Not anymore, so I guess I can’t expect much.
As for tents, we set up two. One for me, Sufino-kun, and the rabbits. One for the four guys.
The rabbits got really attached to me and wouldn’t leave my side. I don’t mind protecting them. For night watch, Tiga-san, Crow, and I took turns—and morning came without incident.
Alright then, let’s keep pushing forward with the development!