136-123 Logging for the second time (1)

It's always better with vegetables.

I couldn't get any lettuce, so I just made cabbage. We don't even have tomatoes.

The next day, after a day off from the fresh vegetable meeting, we went back to the forest to cut down some trees.

The roller we had asked Tommy to make was completed yesterday, and we had already sold the wood we had cut down the other day to Simon.

Our lunch today was a hamburger with shredded cabbage and a hamburger.

As a result of the somewhat sluggish meeting on raw vegetables the other day, we thought it would be a while before we could actually eat it, but as expected of Haruka.

In just one day, she was able to use "Disinfectant".

Of course, it wasn't that her magic skills had suddenly improved.

She had already reached level 4 in light magic a long time ago, and the only reason she hadn't reached level 5 was because she hadn't learned the level 5 spells listed in the grimoire.

Apparently, Haruka had been practicing the level 6 "Treatment" spell, which can cure illness, in preference to the "Disinfect" spell.

In a world where doctors and hospitals are unreliable, this is certainly a very important spell.

It seems that she is "almost there" in terms of response, so I hope she will do her best.

"Nao, let's get started.　We can't take it too easy, can we?

Wait a minute. Give me a minute.

I quickly finished the remaining hamburger, drank some water, and got up.

I had already identified the trees to be cut down today and had an early lunch before the work.

As before, I climbed up the tree, hung a rope at the top, came down, set the pulley and pulled the tree.

I set the pulley and pulled the tree. "How much will this one go for?　I wonder?

"If it's just the thickness, it's about one and a half times the size and a lot longer.

I looked up at the tree with a wry smile on my face as Yuki said this with happiness.

But I can't help but understand Yuki's feelings.

The wood that I sold to Simon was worth over 400 gold coins.

That's more than twice as much as the more efficient Dindol per person per day.

Considering its difficulty and the fact that it requires the possession of a magic bag, it's not a crazy amount, but it's definitely a very good way to make money.

It sold for a very high price, but how much would it cost in Japan?

If you're talking about domestic timber, you won't normally find trees of this size on the market.

The last tree was about 20 meters long. This one is even thicker, 1.5 meters in diameter and over 20 meters long.

In Japan, old shrines and temples used to have pillars that were over 20 meters in diameter, but these days there are no huge trees left that can be used for lumber, so if one were to burn down, it would be difficult to rebuild.

In other words, it's priceless?

In the past, a piece of high quality wood could be sold for more than ten million yen, maybe even more.

Wow, ...... shrines and temples, it would be a disaster if there was a fire.

It's a cultural asset that can't be undone.

But if you think about it, 400 gold coins is cheap. ......?

Well, we just cut it down, we didn't plant it or take care of it. ......

Oh, ...... that's for sure.

It's not like forestry, which takes decades to grow, where you're just taking what grows naturally.

It's a bit ridiculous to compare the two.

Hey, Toya, how's the new axe?

How's the new axe?　The weight is just right.

While we were talking, Toya was beating his new axe against the tree, saying, "Enyakora, enyakora, enyakora.

The combination of Toya's strength, the weight of the axe, and the centrifugal force of the axe was clearly different from the previous one, and the axe was able to chop down the tree in one go.

However, if the diameter of the trunk increased by a factor of 1.5, the area to be cut would more than double. It's not an easy thing to cut down.

"Well, it cost a lot of money, so we should get our money's worth.

Custom-made axes, rollers, and various logging tools. Even excluding the magic bag, the investment was more than 100 gold coins.

It would be a shame if I didn't make enough money to justify it.

It looks like a good axe, but the downside is that no one but Toya can handle it properly.

It's heavy. It's heavy.

It's not impossible for someone other than Toya to wield it, but if you ask me if I can wield it continuously, it's quite difficult.

I would probably need to take a break after a few minutes or so, and it would affect my fighting.

It is too risky to do so in a situation where you never know when a demon will attack, let alone in a safe place.

As a result, the axe is difficult to use except for Toya, who has some leeway.

"Hmm, I'll take a break.

It was about half an hour later when Toya stopped his work.

Unlike last time, this time he was working on the receiving end first, but the new axe worked so well that the receiving end was already almost finished.

I'll do it again while you take a break.

"Wait a minute. I'll take care of this.

I stopped Haruka who was about to start working on it when Toya sat down away from the tree.

The one who looked at me strangely was Yuki.

I'm not sure if this is a good idea or not.

"Hmmm, we'll see.

During the four days off, I wasn't just making sauce.

I was working hard to achieve the magic Yuki had told me about. Secretly!

However, the "Water Jet" itself is only a level 1 spell. I was able to use it right away, but it's only a high-pressure washer, just like Yuki's.

In order to be able to cut wood, you need to do something more.

"Water jet!

"...... Oh?　...... Oh!　...... Oh!　It's cutting, it's cutting!

"Hmmm, what do you think?

Although the name of this magic is "Water Jet", it is not a simple water magic, but a combined magic with earth magic.

In the beginning, he had tried to make the nozzle smaller to increase the water pressure, but as expected, there was a limit to what he could do, so he changed his policy to adding abrasives to the water jet.

It took a lot of effort to activate it, probably because of the two attributes of water and earth, but the effect was dramatic.

"Abrasives?　You mean like diamond dust?

Bollocks!　If I use something like that, my magic power will be depleted in an instant!　It's silica sand, silica sand!

I know when I made the bathtub that the amount of magic power consumed by the Create Earth depends on the rarity of the item being made.

In the event that you have any questions regarding where and how to use the site, please feel free to contact us.

Silica sand. Not a bad choice. It's harder than most metals.

Is that so?

Yes. It's quartz, so it's harder than iron.

The only drawback is that it's still got a short duration.

Shoo!

I heard an unpleasant sound.

I stopped the spell as soon as I could.

At that moment, Haruka shouted.

"Toya!　Pull the rope!　And Yuki and Natsuki!

At Haruka's voice, Toya immediately jumped onto the rope connected to the pulley and pulled the slack rope at once.

While doing so, the "creaking" sound became louder and louder.

Haruka, on the other hand, comes closer to me and inspects the trunk.

"Nao!　It's not balanced!　Cut this one too!

As Haruka hurriedly hits it with her "Air Cutter", I also release my "Water Jet" at another location as she instructs.

After a few seconds of this process.

A few seconds later, the tree's slope suddenly increased and it fell to the ground.

--Somehow, it managed to reach its target.

Seeing this, we all looked at each other and let out a big breath.

"...... Huh. That was a little rushed.

"Oh. ...... Sorry, my bad.

I checked the stump and bowed to everyone.

As Toya cut the opening, I used the water jet to cut the other side of the stump, where there was no cut, from left to right.

Originally, the other side of the receptacle should have been cut in a balanced manner, but only the left side was cut a lot, and the balance was slightly disrupted.

Yeah, it looks like that. If it's so powerful, you should move it quickly and repeatedly from side to side instead of slowly.

"Well, I was a little surprised, but I guess it turned out okay.　Now that I know how powerful Nao's magic is, I'm sure I'll be able to work faster next time.

"It's only our second time. We're amateurs.

We didn't have time to say, "We're going to die.

They all follow me on ......, though Toya is different.

But if he hadn't, he could have been seriously injured.

I should have examined it more carefully and not gotten carried away because I did it a little better. .......

I'm sorry.

But you got it done pretty quickly. Nao, how much magic do you have now?

"About half. There's enough left for a normal battle.

To put it another way, that's how much I have left after pouring in all the magic I can spare.

It's also unexpectedly fast for me, but if you consider the safety margin, you can't use this spell to cut straight through.

If Yuki is able to use it, with Toya's strength and my Air Cutter, she should be able to cut two of them in a relatively short time.

"I might be able to do it twice, once in the morning and once in the afternoon. If you don't encounter too many demons, that is.

Considering the recovery of magic power, if you eat lunch and rest for a few hours, you may be able to do it with a margin of safety. Of course, if you're attacked by a demon, that's a different story.

"It'd be great if I could get four of these a day, wouldn't it, earning money?

If you sell four of them, you'll earn more than a thousand gold coins.

I'm sure you'll be happy to hear that," he said, but Natsuki looked a little skeptical.

It's great, but if you do it every day, I don't think Simon can afford it.

It's true that you can't hold too much inventory.

You can't keep too much stock. It's a high quality material, so it's not something you can sell very often.

But it was Yuki, who had known Simon the longest, who dismissed such concerns.

I think it's safe for the time being. I'm sure that the entire city of Laffan doesn't have enough wood from this forest, so they'll be reselling it to other companies. ...... The lumberjacks' guild won't like it if we do it too loudly, though.

I'm sure we'll be competing for a certain amount of the pie.

The price range is different from the lumber from the southern forests cut by the lumberjacks, but it is hard to say whether they can be completely segregated.

The availability of high quality wood may lead to the use of high quality wood in areas where ordinary wood has been patiently used in the past.

Not only that, but if the budget of the entire furniture workshop is constant, the more high-quality wood is purchased, the less room is left for the purchase of ordinary wood.

This would be a problem that the lumberjacks could not ignore.

Well, I don't want to get into a confrontational relationship with you to make money, so maybe you should talk to Simon about it.

"Yes. Fortunately, there's no need to rush to make money right now.

That's right. In our case, just selling one bottle would be enough to cover our living expenses for a year.

For those of us who are able to provide food, clothing, and shelter for ourselves, most of our money is actually used for the things we need for our adventures.

Aside from land and buildings, our only major purchases are weapons, armor, and grimoires. I don't usually spend much money.

If I choose to live a leisurely life, I already have enough money to live on for the time being.

You'll be able to find a lot of people who are interested in this kind of thing.

I'm not sure about that.

It's a good idea to have a good idea of what you're going to be doing in the future.

I'm not sure what to make of it.

I've been here for less than half a year and I think it's too early to start looking for a marriage.　If you get married, Toya, will you quit being an adventurer?　At your age, are you going to live off the money you've saved up?

"That's the point, isn't it? If possible, I'd like a partner who can be an adventurer with me. ......

Unfortunately, I haven't seen any beast-eared adventurers in this town that would tug at Toya's heartstrings.

There are no beast-eared adventurers in the city, and almost no female adventurers either. If Toya really wants to get married, she'll need to change her environment.

"Do you want to raise ......?　Orphans?

"Project Light Source?　It smells like crime, man!

I can't help but comment on the strange things Toya has said.

Haruka and the others are not saying it directly, but they are giving Toya a subtle look.

"Call me a philanthropist. If you raise a lot of girls, maybe one of them will say, 'I'm going to be my brother's wife! I'll be your brother's wife!

"Oh, so you're more sane than I thought, huh?　I thought I was going to have to take in a girl I liked and brainwash her.

I'm not sure what to make of this.

I'd like to have a discussion with you about your perception of me, .......

No, we don't need to discuss it. That's what I know.

I demand that you change your perception!

I'm sorry, but I was thinking the same thing.

I'm sorry, I thought so too.

Because that's why you're a beast.

When I glanced at Yuki and Haruka, they were nodding slightly, so I guess they were thinking the same thing.

But it seems to be quite feasible, except for the point of 'how many beastman orphans are there to take in?

"Yeah, vicious. If you take them in and raise them, there will be children like that depending on how you treat them. It's not the result, it's the purpose that is ...... pretty bad.

"Yeah, that bad?　In this world, it's not a bad thing for orphans to be taken in as marriage partners. ......

Apparently, Toya had done her research beforehand.

In this world, where social welfare is not in place, the most important thing a marriage partner needs is economic power. If you say, "As long as I have love," you will easily starve to death.

Since ugly rich people are more popular than cool poor people, it is normal to marry more than one person as long as you have enough money.

In particular, it is very difficult for orphans to get a decent job, so being taken in as a marriage partner or heir is said to be quite a winning combination.

Is that how it is, Haruka?

Yes. The first thing a man needs is financial strength. Secondly, character. Appearance comes second. It's the other way around for women, but if a woman has economic power, they're similar, so it goes both ways.

So men who only have their looks to show for themselves are going after women like that.

I'm not sure what to make of this.

I'm still at the age where I want to dream about love. .......