CH 315

Chapter 315 – Establishment of Collecting Base

After storing all the wooden boxes that had been prepared in large quantities in my inventory, I decided to board the air board.

This time, the crew consisted of the usual members: me (an adult male), Grande (child-sized but with a huge tail), the oni girl Shumel, Bella, and Tozume (all over 2 meters tall), plus Aquawill-san (child-sized), Gerda (almost as tall as the oni girl), and Leviera (an adult female). My own air board was made large in case of battle, but it was impossible for this number of people to ride on it.

Incidentally, the three harpies were supposed to accompany us while flying in the sky and keeping a watchful eye, so they were not counted as crew members.

“If we packed together tightly, we might be able to board…”

“In that case, considering the space requirement, the princess would have to sit on Kosuke’s lap.”

“Rejected.”

Aquawill-san quickly rejected the idea, so we ended up splitting up into two vehicles. Shumel, Tozume, and Grande would ride on the air board I was driving, and Aquawill-san, Gerda, and Leviera would ride on the air board Bella was driving.

As for me, I wanted Aquawill-san to ride on my air board, but from a security standpoint, it was necessary for Shumel and the others to ride on the air board I was riding on, and Gerda and Leviera had to ride on the air board Aquawill-san was riding on. I wanted to talk to her a little to shorten the distance between us, but I had no choice in the matter.

“So, what’s your goal this time?”

“Anything I can get my hands on. Any amount of stone, clay, and wood that can be used for building materials. It would be nice to have some humus, too―or should I say a farm block, or would that lead to overproduction?”

“Wouldn’t it be nice to be able to harvest a lot?”

“I mean, the farmland I’ve built――”

I began to explain to Shumel, who tilted her head.

There are several grades of fields I make. The best ones are the ones that I cultivate from humus or other farm blocks, which can be harvested in a few weeks without any work from me, just by other people sowing seeds and taking care of them as usual. Of course, the required growing period varies depending on the type of crop, but at least one crop can be harvested every month. If we grow crops that are resistant to low temperatures in the winter, we can harvest at least 12 times a year.

The next pattern is that I cultivated the original well-fertilized land. This is a pattern in which I cultivate land that was originally farmland or land that was cleared from forests and has a lot of humus, which can be harvested in one to two months without any work by me. If we consider wheat as a standard, it takes only one-fifth of the time to harvest, which is a tremendous reduction in the growing period.

The next is a pattern of cultivating ordinary soil that is not particularly fertile, which can be harvested in three to four months. The wilderness where little or no grass grows is, of course, the Omit Wilderness.

Normally, wheat is sown in the fall and harvested in late summer or early fall of the following year, but with my farmland, I can harvest twice a year if I do well, even in a land where little grass grows. Considering this, my ability to boost agricultural production is amazing, isn’t it?

“Now you know why the Liberation Army’s food situation and financial situation were unusually good…”

“Wheat can be harvested in a few weeks… If you just spend a day looking at the fields, you’ll see the crops growing.”

“I don’t think it’s possible to make all of the fields special… well, I guess I should probably collect some humus as well.”

Well, food is not the only thing that agriculture produces. There’s also hemp, flax, cotton, tea, sugarcane, and other commodity crops. We could make beer from wheat and hops and wine from grapes. We could also grow oilseed rape and olives and extract oil from them. Sylphy and Melty would take care of that, so there was no need for me to interfere.

“I think it would be good to go for stone and clay and harvest wood if there is any. However, it is difficult to cut timber because if you cut it down indiscriminately, you might cause a disaster.”

This is not a game world, and of course, the day you do something like uprooting a forest, the ecosystem of the land may collapse, and a monster disaster may occur if, and if there are people who were simply gathering or hunting in the forest, their lives may be directly affected. Furthermore, there is a possibility that nearby water sources will dry up or that flooding and landslides will occur. Both Sylphy and Melty have told me that I should not be careless with the forests, so I must be careful to cut down the trees in moderation.

“I want to gather as much as I can this time, so I’d like to do it in a secluded place as much as possible.”

“Well, it would be good to go through the plains in the southwestern direction to the foot of the Sorel Mountains. There are a lot of monsters in that area, so people don’t tend to gather there.”

“I wonder if it’s safe? Wyverns sometimes fly over that area, don’t they?”

“I’ve thought of a countermeasure against monsters, so don’t worry.”

After saying that, I started to drive the air board following Shumel’s guidance. First of all, drive slowly and safely in Merinesburg. Once we get out of Merinnesburg, we’ll go a certain amount faster.

☆★☆

“Let’s make our camp here.”

“…Here?”

Aquawill-san, who came down from the air board, looked around and then gave me a disturbed look. It’s no wonder. This is the foothills of the remote Sorel Mountains. In front of us is a desolate, rocky mountain surface, and to our right is a deep forest. To the left is a wilderness with huge rocks lying around.

Wyverns may fly in from the Sorel Mountains, and there is a danger of monsters coming from the forest on the right and the wilderness on the left. Moreover, the visibility is poor due to the forests and huge rocks, and there is a concern about whether or not we will be able to respond quickly if monsters attack us. It was not a suitable place for a campsite.

“Wait a minute.”

Saying that, I summoned and equipped my mithril pickaxe from my shortcut and first went around destroying the rocks that were lying around the area. Even if the rock is bigger than a man, it’s as good as tofu before my mithril pickaxe.

“…Eh.”

“…I’ve heard some rumors about it, but seeing it in person is amazing.”

“It’s been a while since I’ve seen it in person, but I think it used to be a little more restrained.”

Aquawill-san and the others were surprised to see me clearing the rocks around the area in no time.

“It’s always the same, isn’t it?”

“I guess so.”

“We’re used to it now, aren’t we?”

“We usually escort him when he goes out to collect, after all.”

In contrast, Grande and the oni girls are calm. Grande has been using earth magic to flatten the land I’ve cleared without me having to say a word. It’s like we’re on the same page.

“Thank you, Grande.”

“Mufufu, it’s a mutual aid between two people, whether they are dragons or humans.”

She comes close to me and presses her head against me, which is very cute. When I patted her head, Grande happily tapped the ground with her tail. The ground, which had been leveled earlier, was now uneven, but that was nothing to be concerned about.

“It looks like you have cleared a fairly large area. Should we pitch the tents now?”

“No way, I’ll build a simple base now.”

“A simple base?”

It is a simple base, basically on stilts. It would be fine to build on the ground, but this would require the construction of a wall or some such structure, which would be troublesome. It would be the quickest and safest to build a base on the floor at a height where monsters could not easily climb up even if they attacked. Fortunately, my ability keeps the blocks in the air, so they won’t collapse even if the pillars are broken.

“I’ll just use the rock I just collected as the material.”

Using the blueprint function, the foundation structure of the stilt base is created on the land that has been cleared and leveled―a stone floor on top of pillars about 10 meters high. It is an orthodox stilt platform with pillars at the four corners and in the center.

“Wha!”

Aquawill-san’s eyes roll back in surprise at the huge stone structure that suddenly appears.

“There are ladders on the four corner pillars, so use them to get in and out. There is a hatch at the top, so make sure you close it when you get up there.”

By the way, the hatches are made of thick steel and are very sturdy. If it was Melty or someone like her, she would be able to smash through the hatch with bare hands. Probably, to stop Melty’s invasion, it would take a building and hatches made of all mithril. Even if only the hatch is made of mithril, if the walls are made of stone, they will break through the walls.

“? What’s the matter? You suddenly became silent.”

“No, I’m thinking that even if it’s impregnable against monsters, if it’s against Melty, this base is going to be destroyed like a piece of paper.”

“…She’s a demon species, after all.”

Yeah, it’s useless to think about the defensive base in anticipation of Melty, so let’s stop thinking about it. More than that, it’s about building a base.

I quickly and easily built the quarters, dining room, baths, etc., on the platform. These structures have already been optimized and registered in my blueprints, including interiors, so installation is a matter of seconds.

“The construction is complete. If you have any requests, please let me know.”

“It’s nice to have a bath, but why only one?”

“Since I’m the only man, it’s useless to go to the trouble of making two baths. If we enter at different times, we won’t run into each other, so please discuss and decide on that.”

If the ratio of men to women is 50-50, it’s fine to make two. And I don’t know what the oni girls will do, but Grande and the harpies will definitely want to go in with me. If we split up the group into two groups, those who go in with me before dinner and those who go after dinner, there would be no chance of an unfortunate accident.

“All that’s left is to set up the defense equipment, and we’ll be all set.”

“Defense equipment?”

“Yeah. I’ve never used it before, but now that I’ve used the golem soldiers, I can’t afford to be stingy with it.”

It was so easy to make because it was easy to combine the golem core, which gives the vessel advanced self-judgment capabilities, with the guns I make. Now it’s perfect for both ground and air attacks, hahaha.