Chapter 31

Occupation of Ofilis Hall (1)

The initial goal was to completely secure a stable living environment before the end of the vacation.

The hastily constructed wooden shelter was so poor that I couldn’t even remember the last time I had a proper night’s sleep.

I thought that everything would be completed before the end of the vacation at least, so that I would be able to go to school in the cabin from the second semester, but even now, with the second semester starting in a week, there is still a long way to go.

“Hmm...”

The completed cabin had a wooden entrance and windows. If the hinge becomes loose, it gives me a headache, so I bought a fairly large one... but I’m a little worried that it might make a loud creaking noise if it rusts. Well, it’s better than having the hinge fall off entirely.

Anyway, there were at least a few more things left to do before moving into the cabin and living there.

The most important things are the fireplace and furniture.

Among them, I was particularly worried about the fireplace. It may not be cold at night right now, but as the seasons change, internal heating becomes essential.

Moreover, at night, only the light from the fireplace provides a proper light source, and it is also needed for cooking food... so lighting an internal fire is essential for any other survival activity.

However, if you make a fireplace out of wood in a hurry and a fire occurs, you will have to prepare a separate sturdy material to make the fireplace. The first thing that comes to mind is brick.

Elte Company is a general store, but even so, there was no way it could even distribute bricks for building materials to educational facilities like this, so I had to get them from the nail pipe construction site or buy them to use them... They would give me the bricks that had already been delivered in the quantity needed to be used. There was no way.

In the end, I decided to start making bricks starting today.

[New finished product]

The miscellaneous wood left over from the brick casting work was simply connected into a square shape and nailed. If you fill it with mud, it seems like you can mold it into a brick shape.

Production Difficulty: ◐○○○○

“Phew...”

After creating a casting mold in about 5 minutes, I threw the hammer on the workbench and wiped my sweat.

They scoop up mud from the river, put it into the casting, press it down, then take it to a shady place and just peel off the casting. The plan is to repeat this process dozens or hundreds of times to mass-produce standardized bricks, then dry them for about a week and stack them well to create fireplaces and chimneys.

However, the role of cement that maintains the joint between the bricks also needs to be solved with mud, but it is so weak and seems like it will collapse quickly, so I thought I would have to make a support bar to support it.

Besides that, it would be nice to be able to make some furniture to be used inside, but there are no concrete plans for that yet.

My woodworking skills have improved considerably and I have gained quite a bit of knack for it, so I think I can make simple furniture in no time. The methodology itself comes to mind easily.

It’s like a chair or table, and it’s relatively simple if you have the materials.

The bed frame itself seems to be easy to make. As for the mattress... I think it would be good to get a large cloth or bag and fill it with feathers, cotton, hay, etc.

If possible, I’d like to replace my windows with glass ones, but I’m wondering if there’s anywhere I can get them.

While organizing those thoughts, I tied my bow and walked through the forest again today to find daily bread.

[Combat ability details]

Grade: Combat Beginner Specialty: Bow Bow proficiency Lv 6

– Critical point sniping Lv 3

– Rapid shooting Lv 2

– Retreat shooting Lv 1 Aiming sense Lv 2 Expanded field of view Lv 1 I can feel it all over again. Ed Rosstaylor has no talent in combat skills. I force myself to use a bow every time I go hunting, but even after one semester and half of the vacation, my proficiency in bow-related skills is still sluggish.

This also seems to require some special measures. I need to somehow create an opportunity to properly accelerate growth.

“found.”

Suddenly, I spotted a fawn walking through the woods. I took out my bow and hid myself between the trees, muttering those words to myself.

Recently, there have been quite a few guests of various types visiting the camp.

Bell Maia used to stop by every now and then to hand out various ingredients, but these days, it’s been a bit less frequent.

Ziggs goes through the forest for a jog once every 3-4 days. From the looks of it, he’s not only running through the forest, but also running all over Aken Island, and his physical strength is definitely not normal. If Elka wasn’t in the Ministry of Magic, he would have joined the Combat Department.

In addition, a student came in and ran away in disgust when he saw me holding a bunch of squirrel carcasses, and Princess Fenia’s bodyguard, Claire, came to visit and seemed to be checking to see how I was doing these days.

What should I say? It feels like the number of people who know that I live in the North Forest is increasing... I hope it doesn’t end up in the Bachelor’s ears and become a problem...

Anyway, the entire Aken Island is an area managed by the Bachelor. Since it’s not, there’s no reason to kick their butts out right away. There is no need to be too scared.

Anyway, among the frequent visitors, there are three people worth mentioning.

Customer A is a rare genius wizard, and his main visit time is completely random.

There are times when they come in broad daylight when the sun is high in the sky and lie down and sleep next to a campfire, and at other times they are found on the roof of a cabin under construction in the middle of the night.

When I returned from a hunting trip by the river, I found myself lying in a hammock made of mesh, looking at the cabin with twinkling eyes. He asks me all the time whether it feels like he has a secret base or a hideout.

“You know. Are you going to build a chimney too?”

“Oooh! There’s a door!”

“Let’s make a back door too!”

As I was chopping firewood by the river, someone appeared from a tree and asked,

“Can’t the windows be glass?”

“It won’t collapse, right? You shouldn’t use magic near it.”

“What if we put a window in the roof?”

As I was collecting snares to improve my hunting trap, a voice appeared from the bushes and asked,

“Can I use magic inside?”

“How about putting sable skin inside first?”

When I was sharpening my dagger on a rock, I sat on the rock and swung my feet and chattered.

“If possible, why not open the door in a sunny direction?”

“You know, you have to have two windows for good airflow.”

Anyone who sees it will think you are building it, you bastard.

I felt tired of answering them all, so I just picked up the wizard and threw him into the wooden rest area over and over again.

This guy is customer A.

And customer B is a second-year senior and quite a capable spiritist. This is a position that I rather welcome.

“Ta-da, I brought you an egg. I got a deal that Belle would be happy to bring Ed.”

This guy, who smiles and puts down a basket of eggs next to the bonfire, is actually a grateful neighbor who brings food and other daily necessities that are difficult to find in the forest.

This spirit master comes every day to sit at the base of a tree, read a book, photosynthesize, or chat with the spirits.

One day, the spirits appeared and brought something like a large basin and boiled water out of nowhere.

“I’ll show you something amazing. Don’t worry, just stay Ed!”

I was so busy laughing that I just stopped paying attention and was scooping mud into a brick mold by the river. Then, when she came up to eat, she was stepping on something in the basin with her sleeves rolled up and her skirt pulled up.

“So to speak, you insulted Tailley and Senior Ed at the same time... so Ziggs could have been doubly angry.”

That’s why I tried to minimize involvement with the main characters... but it’s still hard to deal with it if it’s like this.

“Normally, I would have scolded him, but Elvira told me that he got even more angry that day and was completely upset. Well, he said he went to apologize after his anger calmed down, but... it was a somewhat emotional action.”

After saying that, Lortel sighed.

“I also don’t trust such emotional people.”

And then he looked straight at me and spoke.

“Anyway, it’s not that difficult. All you have to do is get the key from Mr. Ellis, go inside the Ofilis building, and open the door when low-ranking students come in.”

“I’m sure there are many people besides me who can do that.”

“It’s not as much as you think. No matter what the situation, you have to be cool-headed and above all... you have to have a reason to participate in something like this.”

Why does Lortel say this?

“Even if they give me a lot of money, there’s no way I won’t tell the truth to the university’s internal investigators after the incident is over. In fact, what would be my position if I tell them that first-year Lortel is behind all of this? “You can’t trust just anyone.”

After hearing that, I think I understand why Lortel came to see me.

I am in the position of being kicked out of Ofilis Hall. He spent his school life being ridiculed, belittled, and even looked down on by students.

Honestly, I don’t really care. In the first place, Ed Rosstaylor was a person who deserved to be treated like that. It’s a bit unfair on my part, but right now I have to focus on surviving.

Well, student evaluations will somehow fade away as time passes. In fact, it seems like some favorable evaluations are starting to emerge among first-year students.

“Don’t you want to give me a punch? Senior Ed.”

But Lortel says that and smiles deeply.

He guessed that I was secretly harboring a grudge against the bachelor. Needless to say, that is speculation.

“I don’t really want to do that.”

“Oh my goodness.”

“But I still have to listen to your conditions.”

I didn’t panic and came to a conclusion in an instant.

Yes, when I came to my senses, the affair was already twisted. However, it is not a twist so massive that it is difficult to deal with like in the first act. Rather, this is cute.

If I reject Lortel’s offer and Lortel leaves to find someone else, I would be even more anxious. It is completely unknown who will play the role of wind catcher in Phase 1 instead of Tote.

It would be better if I took on that role, opened the door appropriately, and lost to Tailly. In the first place, Tote was only that kind of person.

The key point is that Tote, the boss of Phase 1, is not doing his job properly. If only that part is resolved somehow, the story will flow smoothly again.

However, that doesn’t mean you have to do the work for free. That person is a person with sufficient ability to pay, so it is right for them to accept as much as they can.

“Twenty coins.”

Lortel muttered softly. Considering the difficulty of the work to be done, the compensation is ridiculous, but if you consider that hush money is included, the calculation seems to be correct.

Anyway, as I hope the story goes smoothly, I have no intention of revealing that Lortel is behind this incident. In fact, it’s almost like free money.

If I behave well in the first place, I won’t be investigated. All you have to do is stay out of sight for a while, send Tailley up, get a cup of tea in Yenica’s room, hide for a while, and then run away.

“call.”

I said that and started polishing the dagger again.

There’s nothing more to talk about. It was an action that seemed to have that in mind.

It’s like he’s become a Phase 1 boss.

*

“I feel out of place.”

In the forest at night.

The young colossus and the maid were walking side by side, returning to Ofilis Hall.

The taciturn maid, who never opened her mouth, spoke with a clear voice only when she was alone with Lortel.

“There’s almost no ‘why?’ in anything he says.”

A mature maid knows how to insight people. At least it was enough to know that Ed Rosstaylor was not an ordinary person.

Actually, if you just listen to the conversation, there was nothing special. It can be funny to say that Ed can’t be seen as water after just this much conversation.

However, the identity of the sense of discomfort that Maid Chang was talking about was... Lortel was also clearly feeling it.

“I guess Mr. Ellis felt that way too.”

Lortel smiled.

“If you think about it, that guy is always like that.”

I don’t feel the curiosity that humans should naturally show.

If Lortel had come forward with a proposal like this, common sense would have prompted the question ‘Why?’ dozens of times.

Why is Lortel trying to intervene in the Ofilis Hall occupation?

Why is Maid Jean Ellis joining Lortel?

Why do you feel no resistance to this type of group action by low-ranking students?

There are many other whys? why? Why? should pop out. It is a backroom transaction where 20 gold coins are traded back and forth. As a human being, you cannot help but feel curiosity as to what the purpose is and why you do something like this. In order to answer that curiosity, I have even prepared a false justification.

But Ed Rothtaylor uttered the word ‘why’ only once.

Why are you asking me to do this?

“Well, the reason he reacts like that is... one of two things. Either he’s a person who doesn’t care about anything else as long as he can get money...”

Lortel felt a rush of heat running down his spine for the first time in a long time.

“...He’s either a human who sees through the situation here from the beginning.”

I still clearly remember the warmth that remained in the three gold coins I received back. At least Ed Rothtaylor is not a man who sells his life for gold coins.

Then, by elimination, there is only one possibility left.

“How much do you know? There must have been no clues.”

Lortel closed her eyes and smiled her signature fox-like smile. It’s a feeling I haven’t felt in a long time. It is ‘fear of the unknown’.

The night deepens. Lortel’s steps through the darkness of the forest are unstoppable.

While Lortel was talking excitedly, the boy was just sharpening his dagger across the campfire.

What is the boy thinking as he sits in front of the bonfire after Lortel leaves?

Unable to guess what was going on, Lortel’s heart raced.

It smells like my own people.

Absolutely. Absolutely.