CH 33

Chapter 33 – I Thought of a New Food Source

As everyone celebrated the reunion, I quickly devoured some meat, and then headed towards the south of the village.

This was so I could make some small houses for the freed demihumans.

While the Ents slept in the forest, it was a different matter for the Kijins and werewolves.

And so I had to build them at once.

“Two hundred… I think that should be enough.”

I muttered as I looked at the small houses in the north of the village.

From the sky, it would look like a square district where rows of small houses were making a grid.

Now the freed demihumans would have a place to sleep.

I had some experience making barracks on battlefields in the past, so I built these houses in a similar fashion.

They were simple, but durable and would keep out the cold.

And they should hold for quite a while.

The surrounding demihumans all raised their voices in awe as they saw the neat rows of buildings.

Melk and some of the werewolf children, who were in their wolf form, began to play by jumping from roof to roof.

In the meantime, Iria passed me a piece of cloth.

“That you can build such things this quickly… Thank you so much, Sir Joshua.”

“Thank you, Iria… I feel bad for letting you help me.”

I wiped my sweat with it and then looked at the demihumans who moved around me.

Not only were they cutting down trees, mining ore or hunting, but they also gathered the weapons and armors of the enemy we defeated yesterday as well. Everyone was working.

While the linen cloth was not soft to the touch, I barely noticed as I watched them.

As soon as they saw me start building the houses, the demihumans had started to work as well.

Some of them even brought me wood materials to use for the houses.

It was like we were all working together…

No one had awknowledged or appreciated my work back at the Knights Order. And no one would offer any help, except for Wiz.

Perhaps that was why I felt such a strong sense of fulfillment now.

Iria shook her head.

“Not at all. Everyone here is working on their own, so that we can keep up with you, Sir Joshua.”

While no one had appreciated me at the Knights Order, here, they were all happy whenever I made something.

“Besides, while today is a day of celebration, we cannot put our guard down just yet.”

“Aye, that’s right. There are limits to how much food we can secure through hunting and gathering. If possible, I would like to plant some fields.”

That being said, I had no knowledge of farming.

At best, I could tell them what kind of farm tools were used for what.

But first, we’d have to get rid of the weeds… Burn them with fire, and then use a shovel or plow to prepare the soil. Only then could we plant crops.

However, Iria opened her mouth.

“About that, Sir Joshua. It seems that some of those who were imprisoned were forced to work in the fields to the north, where they grew wheat and turnips.”

“Oh, so that means there are people who have experience with farming. But we’ll then need to acquire the seeds of those crops… And if possible, cows and horses as well.”

It would be very difficult to acquire seeds and livestock on our own.

I suppose we could search the fortress and surrounding area once it was empty.

Either that, or I could buy them in the southern cities.

In the south, my weapons and tools should sell quite well.

And we were able to get some iron now, so I should go and sell some things.

“However, I doubt we can do anything so soon… But by the way, could we start fishing again?”

I had seen nets in the Kijin tents.

In other words, they used to go fishing.

The reason that they hadn’t been going was because of the Hell Alligators and Armor Boars.

“Yes! Everyone is able to defeat the Hell Alligators with ease now, and so they do not fear the river.”

“I see. Then I’ll make some more fishing nets as well…”

Now, I just wanted to make fishing a little safer.

I should make it so that the area around the bridge and quarry can be monitored.

“Also, maybe I’ll make a tower nearby. So that even if an Armor Boar or something comes close, they can be detected in advance. Yes, I’ll go right now.”

“I’ll go with you!”

I gathered some stone and wood materials from the village, and then went with Iria to the river.

“…I stored quite a lot.”

I had wanted to test the limit of how much I could store in my magic workshop.

And when I tried, I was able to store a whole tower’s worth of stone materials.

A part of me wanted to see if I could go any farther, but right now, I had to prioritize building the tower.

Besides, to be honest, I was quite sleepy. So I wanted to finish this quickly and go to bed.

By now, I was quite used to building towers.

And so it did not take long to stack the stone blocks, and I finished it in about three minutes.

“All right, it’s finished. Let’s go up to the top and see what the view is like.”

“Yes!”

And so we climbed to the top of the tower.

Not only did we have a good view of the river, but I could also see the quarry to the east, as well as the village to the west.

“Yes, this is adequate.”

“Indeed! We can even see to the south and…. Huh? What is that?”

Iria’s eyes stopped at the grasslands to the south.

When I looked as well, I saw that clouds of dust were rising.