Chapter 9: Wood processing
“Now that I’ve gotten my hands on rice, I kind of want to have miso soup but ... that is probably impossible.”
Ryo previously speculated that the house was located between the equator and the Tropic of Cancer judging from the surrounding conditions.
In fact, he harvested pepper and wild rice to back that speculation.
Well, there was something essential in making miso soup.
And that would, of course, be ‘miso’.
Soybeans were needed to make that miso.
But the origin of soybeans was from East Asia such as Japan.
The Rondo Forest was too hot.
And the humidity was high.
Soybeans grow easily in well-drained land ... therefore when soybeans are sown in a field, high ridges are created to allow good drainage.
With those conditions, it probably doesn’t grow in the wild.
“Well, I can’t help it. It’s already good fortune that I obtained rice.”
The barrier with a 100-meter radius around the house was large enough for regular life.
However, if he planned to create a field ... it was too narrow.
“It seems like I will have to make it outside the barrier. Moreover, if I do so, I will have to cut down the trees and clear a space ...?”
Cultivating new land quickly with magic and sword ...
“A pity that Water Jet can’t cut trees yet.”
On Earth, people would usually cut trees with a chainsaw.
At sawmills, a giant rotating saw would be used to cut the wood.
“Perhaps instead of a water jet, I could make a rotating saw made of water and use it as a long-ranged attack.”
He imagined it in his head. The image of a circular saw with a 10 cm radius forming on his right palm and starting to rotate.
“<Water Saw>”
Just like he imagined, a rotating saw made of water was formed.
“Now, fly forth!”
Basha
The moment it left his hand, it splashed to the ground.
“Ah ...”
He collapsed to his knees and hung his head.
Ryo remained frozen in that posture for about ten seconds.
He spoke while maintaining that posture.
“Let’s think through the process.”
As usual, it fell to the ground.
However, today Ryo was not depressed.
He generated an elongated ice bowl in his left hand. He filled it with water.
And targeting it as it was filled with water.
“<Icicle Lance>”
The icicle lance was created while still attached to the ice bowl.
“Fire.”
The ice bowl flew forward at considerable speed.
That was – breathe. He adjusted his breathing.
“Don’t worry, I can fire it. I am different from the past.”
That was close to self-suggestion ... but it was very important.
Because that had crushed a hardened misconception within Ryo’s imagination.
He imagined in his head.
Generation of the icicle lance.
And the image of sending that spear flying from his right hand.
He repeated over and over until he could almost see an illusion in front of his eyes. He imagined it clearly.
“<Icicle Lance>”
An icicle lance was formed in front of his right hand.
“Fire.”
It flew forward with great speed.
“This ... I don’t know when it started but at the very least, before I tanned the leather, I had the means to fire it forward.”
The image was crucial in magic.
For good and for bad.
The thought that ‘I can’t fire the icicle lance’ was stuck inside Ryo’s mind.
Of course, he probably couldn’t have fired it the first few days after reincarnating.
However, as a result of the training that followed, he learned the technique to fire it.
But, it seemed that the thought that he ‘could not fire’ impeded him.
Could that be called a mental block?
“What did I work so hard for ... That said, I can be sure that I acquired a lot of power. This is a win!”
The next day, Ryo was in a desperate situation.