Chapter 95
Name
Translator : PolterGlast
Living in the forest
without using the [Home] gift brought about various inconveniences.
Among them, there were
two major problems.
The issues of food and
lodging.
First, the problem of
food.
If we were at home, we
could cook using appliances as we pleased, but that wasn't possible here.
If we tried to grill
meat, the smell would attract monsters.
But if we defeated the
monsters that came to attack, the smell of blood would attract even more
monsters... and we would fall into a loop.
Adventurers who had
been active in the monster area for a while often survived on hard-dried bread
and jerky, but that was unbearable for us, who were used to the food situation
of modern Japan.
And as equally
important, sleep was also crucial.
It was common to
prepare a tent and take turns night watch, but that was unbearable for us, who
could sleep soundly without worrying about attacks.
Even if we brought
sleeping bags and tents from home, it wouldn't change our sleeping situation.
But habit is a terrifying
thing... we gradually began to adapt to life in the forest.
"Okay, let's call
it a day here."
It was almost five
o'clock in the afternoon.
There was still plenty
of time before sunset, but once we found a spacious area in the forest, we
would end our exploration there.
This was a rule we
established after experiencing a painful lesson when the sun had completely
set.
"Earth
Control."
Since starting our
forest life, my earth magic proficiency had been steadily improving.
The reason for that was
this Earth Control magic.
Earth Control, which
allowed me to freely manipulate earth, making it soft or hard, was extremely
convenient.
What for, you ask...
to build a house, of course.
First, I created a
soft foundation, and then laid hard earth plates on top of it.
Next, I erected
pillars and made earth plates to connect the pillars.
After creating the
ceiling, it was time for the joining process.
Using Earth Control, I
could join them together so seamlessly that the seams were invisible.
Finally, I used fire
magic and wind magic to remove the moisture from the earth, and a makeshift
earth house was complete.
Well, even though it
was called a house, it was just a simple layout with a large room, a toilet,
and a shower space.
I had become
accustomed to building earth houses, and thanks to repeated practice, I could
now build one in less than ten minutes.
I had always thought
of using magic for attacks, so earth magic, which was less powerful than
others, didn't have many uses... but I never imagined it could be used for
crafting and building.
Next, I built an earth
wall to prepare for attacks and surrounded the area.
I put in as much MP as
possible to increase its strength.
Then, as a practice
for earth magic, I set up a large number of traps around the house.
Using Earth Control, I
could dig holes in the ground and set up spikes and earth stakes in them.
I set up obvious traps
on the outside and inconspicuous traps on the inside, such as pitfalls that
looked like ordinary ground.
After finishing the
wall and trap installation, I stood up and wiped the sweat from my brow.
It took more time to
set up traps for monster attacks than to build a house.
Looking back, Tinaria
was watching the work from a little behind.
"It's amazing no
matter how many times I see it... I wish I could use earth magic too..."
Since we weren't
holding back on using magic to improve our living standards, Tinaria had been
watching my magic up close.
As a result, her eyes
sparkled more and more every day.
I felt a little awkward
being looked at with admiration, but it wasn't a bad feeling.
"Oh, where's
Miku-san?"
"Ah, she's
already cooking."
When I listened
carefully, I could hear the sound of something being stir-fried from inside the
house.
Inside, Miku-san was
cooking using a gas stove.
"It's done~"
Today's meal seemed to
be a stew.
The smell wafting from
the simmering pot made my throat gulp.
"Today's boar
stew with miso. I grated some ginger-like spice to eliminate as much of the
meat's odor as possible."
Ginger-like spice was
a perennial herb that looked and tasted like ginger, which could be found in
this forest.
While I was improving
my earth magic skills, Miku-san was rapidly improving her cooking skills, and
recently she had been skillfully incorporating ingredients from this world.
Vegetables from home,
wild plants and spices from this world, and meat from the great boar, a boar
monster often seen in this forest.
The miso brought all
those smells together, making me hungry just by smelling it.
"Phew, phew...
it's delicious, Miku-san!"
"Very delicious,
Miku!"
"Really? I'm glad
then."
Before I knew it, I
had eaten it all, including the extra meat I added.
After eating, we
talked for a while and then took turns taking showers.
By the way, the shower
was a very simple one, made by putting hot water in a large plastic bag and
making holes in it to let the water out.
But even this made a
big difference in how we felt.
Of course, we used
shampoo and body soap properly.
Needless to say, we
let Tinaria use them too.
Every time she used
them, she was overjoyed.
We slept on futons
taken from the item box.
We used futons brought
from home and slept in a row.
By the way, the order
was me, Miku-san, and Tinaria from the left.
We usually slept
soundly like this, but today Miku-san seemed different from usual.
After Tinaria fell
asleep with a snore, she asked,
"Are you
awake?"
When I nodded and
opened my eyes, Miku-san's smiling face was right in front of me.
My heart skipped a
beat.
"Masaru-kun...
you're getting along well with Tinaria, aren't you?"
"Is that
so...?"
Ignoring my tilted
head, Miku-san gripped my hand tightly.
"--Call me Miku
too. I want to get closer to you, Masaru-kun... Masaru."
"Huh...
but..."
Of course, I wanted to
get closer to her.
But for a healthy high
school boy, calling a girl by her first name was quite a challenge.
But I was calling
Tinaria by her first name.
It might be strange to
be bound by Japanese common sense even after coming to another world.
"Okay, Miku.
Let's call each other by our first names from now on."
"Okay,
Masaru."
"Miku."
"Masaru."
--I couldn't quite put
it into words, but just calling each other's names was strangely fun.
We ended up staying up
late that day, but there was no one to blame us in this world.
Tinaria looked
dumbfounded when she saw us looking sleepy, but... it was okay to have days
like this once in a while.
As we traveled through
the forest, my earth magic skills improved, Miku-san's cooking skills
improved... and our relationship deepened.
While we were doing
that, time flew by in no time... and we left the forest and arrived at Went--.
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