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TL: ALT
Chapter 72 – Day 17 of Exploration
When I came out of the cave, I smelled the delicious aroma of baked bread.
“Good morning.”
“Good morning.”
Chel greeted me as she looked at the bread’s color. It seemed that the other three people were still sleeping.
I walked down the foggy slope, washed my face in the swamp, and took a deep breath. At the swamp’s edge, I could see the shadow of an island that was the remains of a collapsed field.
On the island, the swamp birds, which are waterfowl monsters, are screeching. I wonder if they were hurt by the razor grass. In the demonic land, it’s a constant struggle for survival, so there’s no need to check everything.
“I wonder how many days’ worth of preserved food I’ll need to cross the desert…”
If all goes well, it will take five days to cross the desert and reach the bird people’s country. Even if I leave immediately upon arrival, I’ll need enough food and water for ten days. I’m sure I’ll get lost anyway, so I’ll need an extra three or four days of food and water.
“The desert is especially dry, so I’ll need a lot of water. I wish I could get some monsters to help me.”
“What are you mumbling about?”
Hel looked into my face as she asked.
“Good morning. You’re awake?”
“I think Chel’s bread is ready. What have you been thinking about?”
“Well, I was thinking about how much food and water I’d need to cross the desert. I thought it would be nice if I could use a monster to carry the supplies.”
“I see. That’s pointless.”
“Pointless?!”
Hel walked past me and went to wash her face.
When I went back to the cave and said the same thing to Jennifer and Sylvia, who had woken up, they laughed at me.
“Did I say something funny?”
“Because you can carry more than a monster can carry.”
“A-a-and you have inexhaustible energy and don’t get tired.”
“What do you think I am?”
When I sat down in front of the fire, Chel handed me a sandwich with fried meat and vegetables.
“But you’re wrong.”
It seems that even Chel overestimates me.
“No, no, even if I could carry a big load, I’d still need a container to carry it in, and I’d have to lift it without dragging it so as not to break it.”
“T-t-then, why don’t you use a sled? T-t-the desert is made of sand, so you can pull a sled through it.”
Sylvia clapped her hands as if she had just thought of a good idea.
“In that case, we’ll help you carry it into the desert!”
Jennifer said, puffing out her chest.
“Wait, wait! You’re not going to make me go alone, are you?”
“Makyo, dryness is bad for the skin.”
Chel looked at me with wide eyes.
“You went to the desert sky island before, didn’t you?”
“That was one thing, this is another. I don’t know how long it will take to get to the bird people’s country.”
“What will happen to you if I die in the desert? Can you survive in this demonic land?”
Even without me, the four of them seem to be able to manage somehow.
“Actually, we’ll probably just be a burden in the desert, so if anyone goes, it’ll probably be Chel.”
Hel, who had just washed her face and returned, said this and picked up a sandwich.
“Eh?!”
Chel’s face froze in a stupid expression.
“Okay, now that the companion has been decided, I’ll get the water bag ready, so please help me.”
“Got it!”
“Got it!”
“G-g-got it.”
All three nodded as they ate their sandwiches.
“No, wait a minute!”
Chel’s scream faded into the sky of the demonic land.
The water bag was made from the stomach of a rock crocodile. We had been hunting them for a while, so we had plenty left over.
The sled was made from the shell of a haze turtle. It was hard and durable and didn’t break easily.
“I can’t think of any other use for it.”
Sylvia had been storing it, but it seemed she was having trouble finding a use for it.
“That’s right. You make it into a paste like this.”
“Like this?”
Chel was stubborn, but now she is being taught by Hel how to make the ointment. It seems that the women have been flattering her, saying things like, “Only Chel can fulfill the important role of negotiating with the bird people. If it’s just Makyo, they might become hostile.” It’s that simple.
The preserved foods were smoked meat and dried fruit. The smoked meat was made by catching golden bats and gibier deer and taking more than enough. Chel made the dried fruit by using magic to remove the moisture from the collected cam fruit and making about three jars of it.
“How much do you need to make? If you keep eating this, you’ll get sick.”
“When we come into contact with the bird people, it makes a big difference whether we have this or not.”
It seems that the calculation was that if there was some sweetness in the negotiations, the bird people might be a little more likely to bite.
“I see. It’s better to negotiate and make friends.”
I hadn’t thought about what I would do if I met the bird people. If it had been just me, I might have been in trouble.
“Makyo, if you meet the bird people, be sure to ask them about their history. There will be excavations of village ruins in the future, so find out as much as you can about the demonic land.”
Hel leaned forward and said, “You know what to do, don’t you?” and I finally realized that this wasn’t just a trip through the desert.
It wasn’t the time to joke about collecting rent from the bird people. After all, they were a race known only in documents, so that didn’t necessarily mean they were friendly.
“I think we should take some armor as well.”
“Oh, I don’t think it will be of much use. You two are strong, to begin with, so I think it’s better to have something that’s easy to hide, like a sand-colored robe than to increase your strength with equipment.”
“I agree. As long as you don’t get caught off guard, neither Makyo-san nor Chel-san are likely to be hurt by ordinary weapons, and if the weapons are imbued with magic, armor won’t be of much use, so it’s better to have clothes that are easy to move in.”
Jennifer said the same thing, so we decided to make a robe out of the bag containing the wheat. We would only take a knife as a weapon, and if we needed anything else, we would get it there.
“It could just be sand!”
“It will be fine. If the bird people are still alive, there should be enough supplies for humans to live on. Even that skeleton we found in the giant worm’s belly had flesh and skin on it before it died.”
Hel patted my shoulder.
“Well, when you put it like that, I guess so. I hope we can negotiate without fighting.”
“More importantly, we need to avoid dying in the desert.”
“That is true.
In the desert, your energy will be sapped whether it’s too hot or too cold, so it’s best to move around as much as possible in the morning and evening. We’ll probably be in our tents at noon and midnight. The basic rule is not to overdo it.
The problem is sandstorms. Even if you stay in your tent and wait it out, there is a possibility that you could be buried in the sand.
“What do we do with the tent during a sandstorm?”
“Why don’t we just tip over the sled?”
It seems that Chel wanted to camp in the shell of a turtle.
“That’s impossible because there are things inside.”
“T-t-then, why not make it out of sand? I-i-if you harden it with palm sap and then cool it down, it should be easy to make.”
Sylvia suggested.
“But won’t it be useless after a while? It’ll probably melt in the heat of the day.”
“I think hardening the sand would be effective. You know, the criminal slaves outside the demonic land also built houses with earth magic, right?”
“That’s right! Jennifer is right; let’s ask them to teach us.”
“Hmm, if we give them some food, they’ll probably teach us.”
“I’ll try that. I hope they’re still around.”
While I prepared the smoked meat, I went to the stream at the entrance with the freshly picked cam fruit and the bread Chel had burned.
The hut on the other side of the stream was still there, but there were much fewer people. I could see only two people outside the hut.
“Only two people?”
I asked the wounded elf, who was jumping across the stream and looking cautious.
The elf was so startled by my sudden appearance that he couldn’t speak.
“There are so few people now, aren’t there?”
“Oh, no, that’s right. You, no, the Lord of the Demonic Land said that if we didn’t get stronger, we would die, so everyone went to other lands.”
Apparently, they’re good at moving around. They went to the southwest, not to East Kenya or the military facility.
“You two were left behind?”
“No way. I’m not moving if I’m going to die anyway.”
“You’re such a lazy person. Even if you go to another country, you’re still going to die, huh?”
I hope they don’t die near the demonic land.
“We’re just a few weak elf criminals. If the guards find us, they’ll beat us up and hang us. Here, the monsters of the demonic land will kill us in an instant.”
“I see; you don’t want to go through the pain. Before you die, I’ll give you some fruit and bread, so teach me the magic to build a hut.”
“There is no magic to build a hut, Lord of the Demonic Land.”
“Then how did you build this hut?”
I asked, leaning forward. The two elves began to discuss. I don’t think it would be a problem for them to teach me, but maybe they don’t like me.
“You’re both going to die anyway, right?”
“No, if the Lord of the Demonic Land continues to share his food and water with us, we might be able to live.”
“Are you saying that you two are my dependents or something? I don’t like to marry men.”
“Are you going to make us your slaves? It wouldn’t be so strange if we were the lord’s slaves, would it?”
It wouldn’t be strange, but I don’t really understand how to treat slaves.
Both Sylvia and Hel were originally slaves, but now they’ve become normal residents of the demonic land. As a lord, I want people to live in my territory, but these two elves have committed some kind of crime in their own country.
“Slaves? Slaves, huh? By the way, what did you two do to become criminal slaves?”
“We led the overthrow of the government, and in short, we took over the nobleman’s house. And then there was the attempted murder of the noble. We had no choice.”
Hel did something dangerous, but she didn’t try to kill anyone. If they’re unhappy, these elves might kill me one day. This is not good. I’m not sure I can take their discontent into account.
“I already have enough slaves.”
“You don’t want slaves that badly? Even if it’s just the two of us, we can use magic and be of some use.”
“Can you do calculations?”
“Of course, we are over 100 years old.”
“Can you negotiate? Well, I don’t think I need you. I don’t feel like taking care of you at all.”
“You are a very honest lord. You could easily get free labor, you know.”
The two elves are stunned.
“It’s a pain to have to take responsibility for you. But if the negotiations go well and the road to the military training facility is built, I’ll be happy to share some food with you as a reward.”
“Well, that’s fine for now. It looks like we won’t be able to gain your trust no matter what we do.”
“Then, will you teach me how to build a hut?”
“Fine.”
In the end, the elves were beaten down by my attitude and agreed to teach me how to build a hut with magic.
“It’s the same as a stone wall or an earth wall. You just make a wall with earth magic and then give it a strengthening spell to make it last.”
“So it’s that simple?”
“Well, it will easily collapse if it’s not strong enough, but it should last for about a week. You can just reinforce it with mud or clay-like soil at that time.”
The elves explain, holding up their fingers as if they know everything.
“Wait a minute. If it’s not strong enough, will it collapse right away?”
“Of course it will.”
“So it’s not possible with desert sand?”
“There’s even a desert in the demonic land?”
“That’s right. I was thinking of crossing the desert and going to the bird people’s country. Is it impossible, even for one night?”
“You’ll never know unless you try.”
If the stickiness isn’t enough, I’ll take the honeybee’s magic stone and make a sweet hut.
“Do you think I could learn to make a mud wall with practice?”
“It’s a simple spell. It shouldn’t take long.”
I should ask Chel.
“Okay, thanks.”
I thanked them and gave them the camomile and the burnt bread.
“When will you come back, Lord of the Demonic Land?”
The elves called to me as I was about to leave.
“I don’t know when. It takes about ten days to get to the desert and back.”
“In ten days, we’ll starve if we only have this.”
“Did you take the rock crocodile meat I gave you yesterday?”
“We all shared it.”
“Well, then you’ll have to hunt for it yourself. Do you know that there are flowers here that hunt monsters, called sleeping flowers?”
“Plants hunt monsters?!”
The elves were surprised, and their eyes widened.
“It’s a small white flower that grows in the demonic land. We planted it so that monsters would die around it. It can also be used to make sleeping pills, so you should remember it.”
After that, the elves listened intently to the sleeping flower’s characteristics and uses. Until now, they had been hopelessly resigned to death, but perhaps people would move if there was a chance of survival.
“If you’re alive, I’ll see you again!”
I said, returning to the cave in the demonic land.
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