CH 142

"Ladies and gentlemen, I am truly sorry for the trouble and worry I have caused you."

After I finished my apology, I bowed to everyone present.

I had just made a big mess because of a prank I played when chopping down a tree that had grown with the spell of "Tree Growth".

I had grown the tree with my magic power, so I wondered if cutting it down would cause damage to me.　I wanted to tell them that there was no way that would happen, but the "prank" I used went too much and caused more worry than I had anticipated.

As I apologized to everyone, I thought back to that time.

The person I felt most bad for was Rubens.

I had asked him to cut down the trees, but he turned pale when I pretended to be in pain.

When I told him the story, he was so angry and worried that he cried and got angry with me.

"You are playing a bad joke too much, do you know how worried we all were ⁉ Everyone here can handle magic, but not all of us are as familiar with it as Master Rid is ‼ From our point of view, it's all new to us and we don't know what can happen, even if it's something simple."

"Ugh,...... Rubens is right,...... I'm so sorry,......""

Rubens was filled with tremendous anger as he scolded me.

I don't think anyone but my father could have turned that much anger on me.

I was so worried that I could feel his concern for me.

I shrugged and turned my face down.

Perhaps he could tell that I was sorry, and Rubens' anger faded, and instead, with relief, he hugged me and said, a few tears.

'But I'm glad you're safe ......, Master Rid is ...... safe and sound.

"Thank you ...... sorry ......"

My exchange with Rubens filled me with guilt and I decided to never again engage in pranks about magic-related things.

The exchange with him ended with this, but I received equally harsh words of scolding from Deanna, Capella, Ellen and the others, and I gave a small sigh.

After that, I apologized again to everyone for what I had just done.

As I was thinking back on it, Rubens called to me,

" Master Rid, I think it's time for us to get back to work and I'll take the axe to the trees again."

Rubens smiled and spoke softly, as if he cared for my depressed state.

I replied to his smile with a smile that brought back some of the brightness in my life.

"Ah ...... yes. Can I ask you for a favor?

, "Yes, . No 'shenanigans' this time ...... right?"

He smiled and gently nailed me with his words, to which I muttered "Yes ......" without effort.

Rubens then swung the axe over his shoulder as if carrying it on his back and swung down with all his might.

The dull sound of the axe clashing with the wood echoed around the area.

At the same time, I felt everyone's eyes on me, and with a slightly awkward expression on my face, I said,

" I'm fine, so you can keep on working."

"I was relieved to hear that. I'll continue working on it."

Feeling everyone here relieved to hear my words, I gave a dry "ahaha......" laugh.

Rubens then continued working silently.

As I watched him work, I asked Capella, who was standing next to me, with a curious look on his face.

'Capella, what is Rubens doing?　Shouldn't he just cut it straight?"

"Master . Rid, there is a procedure for cutting wood, if you don't mind me explaining it to you."

I would like to explain it to you. I'd like to know how to do it.

"Let's see... ......'

Capella explained to me how to cut a tree.

First of all, when you cut a tree, you make a "catch point" in the direction you want to cut it down.

The shape of the "catch basin" is a right-angled triangle.　

Once the "receiving end" is made, a horizontal cut is made from the opposite end, the "trailing end.

When making the "trailing edge," the height of the incision should be adjusted based on the "receiving edge.

Once the adjustment is made, parallel cuts are made from the "tail end," but be careful because the deeper the cut, the more the tree will naturally lean.

As the cutting progresses through the "tail end" and gets closer to the "receiving end," a certain width is left without cutting all the way through.

The part left behind is called the "vine," and it is said to be quite important, because the accuracy of the direction of the tree's fall depends on how well the "vine" is cut.

Finally, the vine becomes the fulcrum, and the tree will fall in such a way as to close the "catch basin.

As soon as Capella finished his explanation, the sound of creaking wood began to be heard in the area.

At the same time, Rubens shouted, all!

"The tree is going to fall!"

He shouted, but there was no one in the direction of the falling tree.

It was probably a warning, just in case.

Soon after, the tree fell, making a loud sound that echoed with the cracking and creaking of its branches and the crunching of leaves against each other.

It is a powerful sight.

'Phew, ...... Mister ...... Rid, is this okay?'

"I'll put this tree near the charcoal kiln. Later, I will process it so that it can be put inside the charcoal kiln."

"Then, let's take turns felling and moving the trees.'

Following Rubens' words, the knights move the felled trees near the charcoal kiln.

Then, they repeated the process of cutting the trees again.

The knights were quick to move the felled trees, as they were all knights who could use physical enhancements.

I was surprised at how quickly they were able to cut down the trees, but Capella told me there was a good reason for that.

"The reason why the work went so fast is because the axe that Ellen and the alex made is very sharp,'

"What?　Is that axe really that sharp?"

After Capella told me, I took a closer look at the way Rubens chopped the axe against the tree.

It is true that the axe sticks deep into the trunk of the tree each time.

In fact, I could see that he was having a hard time pulling it out because it was sticking so far into the tree.

Perhaps the combination of physical strengthening and the sharpness of the axe has dramatically increased the speed of the work.

I looked over at Ellen and Alex, both of whom were smiling smugly with expressions of satisfaction on their faces.

The shovel and axe they had prepared for me both seemed to be workhorse grade, and I marveled once again at their skill.

Soon after, the work of cutting and moving the trees was complete, and I called out to the others,

I asked everyone to help me cut down the trees and move them to the charcoal kiln.

"Thank you very much."

After that, we all worked together to reduce the size of the trees that had cut down near the charcoal kiln.

This was the fastest work we had done so far, as there were no precautions to be taken.

We also secured enough wood for the roof of the charcoal kiln, so that should be enough for today.

I thanked everyone for their help today, and said, "All right, everyone, we're going to leave the wood here to dry out a bit, and then we'll move on to the next task.

Everyone who heard my words nodded their heads and responded individually.

After the work was done and the cleanup was settled, we returned to the mansion.

I went to my room to change my clothes, and then went to my father's office to inform him of the progress of the work.

After knocking and receiving an answer, I entered the room, and he stopped working on his paperwork.

He looked at me and said with his usual stern expression,

"How is the work progressing?　Is everything going well?

"Yes," . Thanks to the tools that everyone in the Knights and Ellen and Alex used for us, we were able to make considerable progress. I hope to be able to show you the completion of the charcoal kiln and the black charcoal in the near future.'

"It's good that the work is going well ......, but that's another matter than this. Don't you recognize this?"

Father nodded after hearing my words and then moved a certain document fluttering it with one hand as if to show it to me.

What's the matter

I gave him a puzzled look, and he began to read the document in a slightly angry voice.

The document reads, "I will be conducting magical research and experiments with . Sandra. Rid, I know I told you to report it, but you're being very clever by submitting it in writing in anticipation of a late confirmation, aren't you?"

'Oh, ...... it's just that, well, I thought father was busy with work. ...."..

Father's eyebrows twitched at my words.

no good .

Immediately after I sensed the scolding from my father, he was furiously angry with me .

Furthermore, he had already heard about the "prank" I had pulled today.

He seemed to be furious about that as well, and spun angry words without changing his expression.

"You don't seem to know your place in all this, with the documents and the prank. Now, I'm going to beat all shit out of you . ......⁉ We're going to the training ground for".

"......?　Now?"

"Of course."

On that day, I was to undergo an urgent training for gallantry from my father.

In this training, my father would attack me with a real sword, and I would just keep on dodging and ducking.

Thanks to my father's skill, the sword passes around me with a single stroke of the brush.

But today, my father's eyes are scary, and his deadly spirit is even stronger than usual.

I concentrated on my training more than usual, but even so, there were many times when I felt chilled.

And he continued to instruct me until I could no longer move. ...