Chapter 148

Spring (3)

My pollen allergy was not particularly severe.

It only made me sneeze and gave me a runny nose. Nothing more than that.

If I wore a mask, the symptoms practically disappeared altogether.

"Achoo! Sniff!"

Fortunately, the pollen in the Forest of Four Seasons affected me in much the same way.

Its concentration was simply incredibly high—comparable not to the yellow dust that reached Korea, but to the yellow dust in China itself. The symptoms were no different.

Once I put on the mask-like face covering that Praise the Sun had given me, I felt considerably better.

There was nothing I could do about the pollen I had already inhaled, though.

’How do the animals survive in an environment like this?’

I alternated my gaze between the speedy sloth and Wonmo.

The speedy sloth was tossing firewood into the fireplace, while Wonmo stared at me with his round eyes wide open.

I wondered how those two had adapted to this awful environment.

’Whatever else happens, having a home is essential.’

It was not optional. It was a necessity for survival.

If I had failed to claim this cave, I probably would have been swept up in one of the disasters and died.

While exploring, it would be wise to search for shelters where I could take refuge from disasters along the way.

’The pollen has... died down a little.’

The pollen storm had almost subsided.

It seemed all the flowers had bloomed simultaneously with the arrival of spring, causing an extreme amount of pollen to fill the air.

As far as I knew, pollen levels normally peaked around April or May, but the Forest of Four Seasons did not care about such things.

Spring had arrived, so all the flowers had apparently gone, Wow, it’s spring! and bloomed together. The end.

’The problem is that it all erupts at once.’

Still wearing my face covering, I headed outside.

My nose remained itchy, but not enough to make me sneeze. I could not do anything about the runny nose, though.

Thinking that I would have to wash the face covering thoroughly later, I armed myself. My first objective was to collect some gravel.

For the first time in a while, I brought the speedy sloth and Wonmo along with me. Neither of them seemed bothered by the pollen.

"Pchoo!"

Or maybe not. Perhaps they had merely been holding it in.

Judging by Wonmo’s sneeze, it seemed to vary from one individual to another.

It was a pollen allergy, after all. The difference between having it and not having it was significant.

When we eventually reached the river, I saw that its surface was still frozen.

The ice must have melted underneath, however, because the water was flowing swiftly.

’I should be able to start setting fish traps soon.’

From now on, I planned to set two traps instead of one.

Having experienced how abruptly winter could arrive, I needed to prepare more smoked food.

’Do frogs hibernate too?’

As I gathered gravel and placed it into a sack, I carefully examined my surroundings.

A frog or some other creature might suddenly leap out.

Fortunately, perhaps because spring had only just arrived, there were no animals in sight.

Once I had filled the sack with gravel, I returned to the cave. All I had to do now was spread it over the ground and compact it.

’Why is this mud so sticky?’

However, since the yard covered a fairly large area, I had no choice but to make several trips.

The ground had not been this bad when it first rained. Winter was responsible for its current state.

The earth freezing solid had contributed, but the snow was probably the decisive factor.

Even though I had scattered salt over the ground from time to time, I had still been unable to prevent it from freezing.

’That takes care of the ground. Shall I start building?’

It was time to rebuild the oven and furnace that the avalanche had swept away.

I planned to construct them sturdily enough to withstand any future disasters.

’If I want to anchor them firmly, I should dig into the ground a little.’

I dug out the ground and laid bricks at the bottom.

Then I stacked the bricks one by one, following the same design I had used before.

Between the bricks, I applied mortar made by mixing sand and cement.

Finally, I repeatedly slid the tray in and out to make sure that the dimensions were correct.

The preparations had taken a long time, but the construction itself went quickly since I had already built one before.

’Just in case, I should build a wall behind it.’

Having learned from the avalanche that had descended from behind the cave, I built the oven directly against the cave wall.

Even that did not seem sufficient, so I decided to erect a solid barrier behind the oven as well.

It would be better than having it collapse and rebuilding it every time a disaster struck.

’Hmm... Will this work?’

Somehow, however, I ended up constructing a barricade rather than a simple wall.

The wall surrounded the entire oven, and its thickness was no joke either.

I wondered whether I had invested too much into it, but it was already finished. There was nothing I could do about it now.

’All that’s left is the furnace.’

I built the furnace directly against the cave as well.

As with the oven, I did not forget to erect walls around it.

I had also applied the cement meticulously, so it should not collapse easily.

’Hmm. Perfect.’

With the cave in the middle, the oven and furnace now stood on either side of it.

I left the areas beside them empty to allow for future expansion work(?).

Wearing a satisfied expression, I photographed the front of the cave and uploaded the pictures to the Gallery.

Title: Rebuilt Everything

Wild Grylls

(Photo of the cave’s front)

(Photo of the gravel-covered ground)

(Photo of the forest radiating warmth)

As of today, winter has ended and spring has arrived in the Forest of Four Seasons.

As soon as spring arrived, I rebuilt everything the avalanche swept away.

Time to resume my industrious life.

└ Heavenly Demon: They resemble wings. It seems you possess considerable knowledge of architecture as well.

└ Wild Grylls: Thank you, haha.

└ SwordMaster: Did you spread gravel over the ground because of the mud?

└ Wild Grylls: Yes. Ordinary rain isn’t too bad, but after winter the ground becomes far too muddy.

└ SwordMaster: A good decision. Incidentally, did you learn to spread gravel like that in the military?

└ Wild Grylls: How did you know?

└ SwordMaster: I did the same thing.

└ The military really teaches you all kinds of things, doesn’t it?

└ That’s because it has all kinds of people. Sometimes you meet someone who makes you wonder, Why is this guy even in the army?

　　└ The only useful thing I learned was spear fighting. Having a spear makes an enormous difference.

└ Passing Dwarf: Right. Hey, don’t tell me my mold got swept away too.

└ Wild Grylls: I could move the mold, so I brought it inside.

└ Passing Dwarf: That’s a relief. That thing’s expensive, you punk.

└ Wild Grylls: No matter how expensive it is, it can’t cost more than mithril, lol.

└ Passing Dwarf: I’ve got nothing to say to that, damn it. Lolol.

└ Wild Grylls: Oh, can you give me two fish traps? I think I’ll be making a lot of smoked food from now on.

└ Passing Dwarf: I can, but don’t you have anything to give me in return?

└ Wild Grylls: If I find anything that can be made into alcohol, I’ll tell you immediately.

└ Passing Dwarf: Okay, lol.

└ Master of Fundamentals Robert: An impressive arrangement. Are those bricks truly that sturdy?

└ Wild Grylls: They’re meaningless before the power of nature, but they are sturdy. Besides, I used cement this time, so they should be even stronger.

└ Master of Fundamentals Robert: I see. That may prove useful later. Are you planning to stop after completing those?

└ Wild Grylls: Of course not. I still need to gather firewood and make charcoal.

└ Master of Fundamentals Robert: It must be difficult having to build and cultivate everything yourself.

└ Wild Grylls: It is, but completing something is extremely satisfying.

It was difficult to put into words how satisfying it felt to complete something I had designed.

I had built these things out of necessity, but I could not deny the sense of fulfillment they gave me.

└ Master of Fundamentals Robert: I see. In that case, are you also planning to farm?

└ Wild Grylls: I might try, but wouldn’t it be difficult?

└ Master of Fundamentals Robert: Since this is the Forest of Four Seasons, it might not be as difficult as you think.

└ Wild Grylls: Perhaps you’re right.

└ Grow, Grow, Grow: You’re seriously underestimating farming;; Just plowing a field is exhausting, lol.

└ Wild Grylls: Is it really that hard?

└ Grow, Grow, Grow: Honestly, the quality of the land matters most, but farming there will probably be even harder because the weather is insane. You said the season changes every week, right?

└ Wild Grylls: Yes.

└ Grow, Grow, Grow: Then ordinary farming knowledge might be useless. With the weather changing constantly, the plants won’t be able to grow properly.

└ Wild Grylls: Hmm... Understood. I’ll take that into consideration.

└ Master of Fundamentals Robert: So there was such a problem. I only just realized it myself.

They said pleasure came after hardship.

But after hearing the explanation from a registered user who appeared to be an actual farmer, I began to hesitate.

He added that if I was going to gamble in a casino, I would be better off farming instead.

Farming was labor every bit as unpredictable as gambling, and this was the Forest of Four Seasons.

’I’ll need fertilizer, and I’ll have to water everything... There certainly is a lot to consider.’

I already had plenty to do. Adding farming to the list would make things difficult in many ways.

The Forest of Four Seasons was also a region where disasters erupted whenever they felt like it.

I was already busy enough looking after myself. I had no spare capacity to devote to farming.

The only consolation—if it could be called one—was that I was not planning to operate an actual farm. It would be closer to maintaining a small vegetable garden.

’Should I ask the raccoon family to help?’

I immediately discarded that idea.

The father raccoon was busy searching for medicinal herbs.

The mother raccoon would have her hands full caring for the baby raccoons. I could not think of any suitable source of labor.

’Still, I should at least look for an appropriate plot, just in case.’

This was merely preparation for the possibility. I would only start farming if I genuinely had enough free time.

I spent the rest of the morning cleaning everything up. For lunch, I ate the fish that remained in the metal container.

It had been so long since I last ate fish that it tasted even more delicious.

[Passing Dwarf: Here are the two fish traps. Be careful not to let them get destroyed again.]

[Wild Grylls: I’ll try. I can anticipate the changing seasons, but I never know when it will rain. Oh, can you give me a barricade too?]

[Passing Dwarf: Just build a thick wall out of bricks. That would be far better.]

[Wild Grylls: You think so too?]

[Passing Dwarf: Yep. No matter how exceptional wood might be, it can’t compare to stone. Unless it comes from the World Tree, I suppose.]

The World Tree.

Come to think of it, I had once seen an incredibly enormous tree.

It was when I experienced an out-of-body state after receiving the second mnemonic verse from the Heavenly Demon.

I could not be certain that it was the World Tree, but it might be worth investigating.

[Wild Grylls: Is the World Tree really that tough?]

[Passing Dwarf: Its branches perform better than steel. Need I say more?]

[Wild Grylls: Damn. Then what about the gloves I received from that elf before? Are the leaves just ordinary leaves?]

[Passing Dwarf: Yeah. But the silkworm wasn’t an ordinary silkworm either. I don’t know what was going through that knife-ear’s head, but they gave you something genuinely valuable.]

The gloves Planting Trees had given me.

I had been making excellent use of them.

I had given them the Guardian’s Core in exchange, but I had no idea what they were doing with it now.

They occasionally appeared in the Gallery, but as always, all they ever talked about was planting trees.

’World Tree or not, I hope there’s something useful there.’

The place was extremely far away to begin with, making a round trip difficult.

After thanking the dwarf, I examined the fish traps.

Normally, it would have been better to visit the river tomorrow, but food had to be gathered whenever the opportunity presented itself.

I could break the ice myself and install the traps today.

’There’s a grassland across the river this time.’

The region on the other side of the river changed at certain intervals.

I did not know how long those intervals were or what determined the next environment.

Perhaps I needed to uncover that pattern soon. Doing so would expand the range within which I could operate.

"...Huh?"

Wait. What was that?

I blinked.

Since it was a grassland, I could accept that it contained various animals.

Therefore, I could overlook the presence of a giraffe. I could even overlook that giraffe fighting back against a predator.

But I could not simply overlook the person riding on the giraffe’s back and swinging a sword.

It was not as though a giraffe were a horse.

Rub, rub—

The sight was so unbelievable that I rubbed my eyes and looked again.

Unfortunately, it seemed to be the exact moment when the region was changing. The grassland across the river blurred like a mirage.

A barren, rocky wasteland then replaced it.

The knight who had been riding the giraffe had vanished without a trace.

’Are there really people here?’

For a moment, faint hope arose within me.

’But he was riding a giraffe.’

He had even fought like a knight while doing so.

Confronted by such an utterly bizarre sight, I could not help feeling confused.