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TL: ALT
Chapter 75 – Day 20 of Exploration
It is cold.
I’m shivering in the desert morning, but the sky’s gradation is beautiful. The forest is near, and the wind is light.
Since I was banned from the cave, I tried to spend the night in the desert with the fur of an ice weasel. There are no branches around, so I can’t even make a fire. The only thing I have for warmth is the ice weasel’s fur. I also take off my leather armor when I sleep.
There are no enemies or monsters around to provide food. There is only the endless sand.
“Just looking around makes me thirsty. I want some bread.”
I brushed the sand from my fur and strapped it to the shoiko. I quickly changed my clothes and ran to the forest I could see to the north.
Of course, when you travel in the desert, you have to carry a water bag, but you also have to think about how you take in water. If you take in too much, you’ll sweat and get tired, and if you don’t take in enough, you’ll get dehydrated and collapse. There must also be an optimal amount to take in at one time.
I entered the forest thinking about my water intake.
There is water in everything, including the moving monsters and the leaves of the plants. Especially at night, the plants that grow in the desert must be strong against the dryness.
As the types of plants change as I travel east, I take my time to observe and collect them. There are many thorny plants. Is there any particular rule for where the forest erodes? The white sand seems to be something that plants do not like. The ground is hard and easy to walk on. When I lick it, it tastes a little salty, so there must be a lot of salt in it.
As the sun rises higher, the forest recedes. I go deeper into the forest so I don’t get left behind.
I had a water bag with me, but of course, I started looking for a water source. Maybe because it was morning, I could hear the cries of the monsters.
Kyoe-kyoe!
Guwa-guwa!
I quietly approached and peeked in, only to see house-sized beavers and mallard ducks fighting over the meager water source.
This is a common sight in the demonic land, so I left them alone. I listened carefully for a large water source nearby, and as I continued, the ground gradually turned muddy.
“A marshland?”
This place is probably southeast of the cave where we live. It must be south of the beach where we usually go to get salt.
“I’ve never been here before.”
There are still many places in the demonic land that I haven’t explored. There are many tall reeds and other plants taller than me that block my way. There are also many monsters, and I can hear the sound of thumping from time to time.
There was only grass and no trees, so I couldn’t tell what the sound was.
Then I saw something familiar.
“It’s a shell!”
The shell of the Christmas Island crab had fallen off. Apparently, it had been preyed upon even in this marshland. It had grown bigger than when we hunted it, and the shell was as big as a cow. It had been eaten to the bone, so this swamp is also dangerous.
Although I didn’t get lost in my own territory, I knew that I could return to the cave by following the clam.
“Well, even though I’m not allowed to go there, I’m sure they’re worried about me.”
Saying that, I stepped forward without checking my footing and was eaten by a blue flower. I quickly cut the petals and escaped, but my shoes began to melt. The poison from the melting flowers didn’t come off easily, so I quickly threw away my shoes and wrapped my feet in cloth.
You can’t be too careless.
“When you’re alone, you end up thinking about all sorts of unnecessary things.
For the time being, I decided to leave this swamp and look for a palm tree. When I pushed aside the grass in front of me, I found crab shells and legs lying around, so without hesitation, I made my way out of the marsh and reached the river.
There were palm trees growing by the river, so I cut a leaf with a knife and covered my feet with the sap. After sitting on a rock for a while to rest, the sap hardened, and I had shoes that fit my feet perfectly.
The smell of crabs filled the area by the river, and little insect monsters gathered there.
I had to trudge through them, so I also made a pair of boots from the palm sap.
“Even in the desert, you need a spare pair of shoes, don’t you?”
If I lose my shoes, I’ll get either frostbite or burns, and I’ll be seriously injured. Spare shoes are a necessity, so I’ll have to have Sylvia make me some.
I put my palm sap boots on both feet and walked down the river. On the way, I saw a fight between a green tiger and a giant centipede, but since they were both bleeding, it didn’t look like either one would survive. I also saw a cockroach and a grasshopper monster fighting each other, but I left them alone because this is also typical of the demonic land.
Once again, life in the demonic land is a battle.
“There’s nothing in the desert, and there are too many monsters and plants in the forest, so is there a suitable place?”
When I finally found a rock crocodile while making my way along the riverbank, I was relieved that I had returned. It wasn’t like I had lost my way or gotten lost or anything like that.
“Your meat is delicious, and you can make coats out of your skin, so you’re the best!”
When I approached the rock crocodile, it immediately ran away, probably thinking I was its natural enemy.
From there, it was a familiar path, so I headed straight for the swamp without any problems.
Splash!
I jumped into the swamp and soaked my whole body in the water.
“So much water. Water is the best!”
I also washed the ice weasel’s fur.
“Oh, welcome back.”
Jennifer greeted me with her face painted white. The white paint was probably a healing ointment. Did she hurt her face before her wedding?
“What’s wrong? What happened overnight?”
“Well, I saw a flower that smelled nice, so I went to it, and then I got splashed with liquid!”
“H-h-her face was all red and swollen in the morning. Pukukukukuku…”
Sylvia told me, stifling her laughter.
“I see. Don’t overexert yourself.”
“What about you, Makyo-san? What happened to your shoes?”
“Oh, they were eaten by flowers in the swamp and melted. I’m using palm sap as a substitute, but Sylvia, could you make me a few spare pairs of shoes?”
“W-w-will do.”
“So, is that magician duo, Chel and Hel, still mad at me?”
I asked while looking for some bread for lunch.
“They’re not mad, but they’re still holed up.”
“And sometimes I hear them say ‘Kanpai’ (cheers), so it seems like things are going well.”
“I see. Hey, do you have any bread?”
“Oh, we don’t have any bread right now. We ate everything, so please wait for dinner.”
Jennifer shook her head and replied.
“What is this? No bread? I’ve always had some every morning, so I’m a little hungry.”
I moved my feet closer to the fire and melted the palm sap.
“Sylvia, do you have sandals or something?”
“I-I-I’ll get them now. M-m-men’s are bigger.”
Sylvia brought me a pair of leather sandals.
“Thanks. I haven’t eaten since this morning. I’m hungry, so I’ll get something.”
“There are some crabs left.”
“No, I’m getting a little bored. Do you want anything?”
“No, I don’t. You said you hadn’t eaten since this morning. What did you do on the way from the desert to here?”
Jennifer asked with a white face.
“I just took a little detour. I didn’t get lost or anything.”
“What? Did you get lost? This is your territory; you should be more careful!”
“It’s annoying when white-faced idiots like you tell me that. Sylvia, is there something you want?”
“A-a-a skin of a monster with short fur.”
“Okay, I’ll go hunting if I find some.”
I went to the east side of the swamp, wearing sandals and leather armor.
“I hope I find something tasty.”
I can easily find imps and treants, but there are no monsters that look tasty.
“It would be great if there was something like a gibier deer…”
I was talking to myself aloud when a wild boar charged at me from more than 20 meters away. It was bigger than me, so I jumped onto a nearby branch to avoid it.
Fugo, fugo, fugo…
It spun around and ran into the trunk I was standing on. I plunged my knife into the boar’s neck as I fell. I’d put some magic power into it, so I was able to kill it with a single blow.
I took the body of the wild boar to the swamp and drained its blood. I bound its limbs with vines and carried it back to the cave, and when I got there, everyone was gone.
I looked around to see where they had gone and found Jennifer and Sylvia holding Chel and Hel’s heads and sinking them into the swamp.
“Hey, hey! Even if you’re disgusted, don’t kill them!”
I tried to stop them, but it seemed that Jennifer and Sylvia wanted to help them.
“I-i-it’s acute alcohol poisoning.”
“They’ve drunk too much! Both of them!”
“Ugh… it hurts~!”
“I think I’m done for.”
Chel and Hel had collapsed.
“Did you drink all the barrels of alcohol we traded before?”
“There’s no way we have that much alcohol! Hel made it from honey.”
“Making moonshine and getting drunk. There’s no excuse for that. Leave them alone, and let’s dismantle the boar.”
Chel and Hel were also banned from the cave for making it dirty this time. Rules like this are made one after another. It was decided that if you destroy something important to someone else or make the common area dirty, you will be banned from the cave.
“The only ones left are Jennifer and Sylvia. Don’t do anything unnecessary.”
“We won’t.”
“T-t-the living space has gotten bigger.”
Three out of five of us had to sleep outside.
It looks like it’s going to be a long journey across the desert.
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