Survival in Another World with My Mistress!, Volume 5, page 7
“Aww, how nice!” Capri cooed. “I’m gonna copy her tonight!”
“…”
This was all a bit embarrassing; I wished they’d stop. Grande, on the other hand, looked like she was on top of the world.
I pulled at her hand and took her to the bath.
It was quick and easy.
What? No, all we did was wash off our sweat and uh, other juices, so it didn’t take very long. It was morning, and breakfast was waiting for us, after all.
Once we exited the bathroom, I found clothes ready for me, but for some reason it was just underwear and a pair of pants. Were they telling me to spend the day topless?
“No hiding it.”
“Nope.”
“Don’t even try.”
“You mustn’t hide it.”
“Ain’t happening.”
“…”
What was with this insane peer pressure? I wasn’t going to lose to—er, actually, I totally lost. Every time I tried to wear something that would hide my shoulder, Grande looked like she was going to start bawling. How could I possibly make her cry? And so, the next morning, I used my golem workbench to make a running shirt.
“Heh heh heh…”
Grande looked pleased as punch while eating the porridge the harpies and Ira made. There was dried gizma meat and vegetables mixed into it, so it was more like a Chinese porridge of sorts. The gizma meat’s juices really made it delicious.
After breakfast, we were set to meet back up with Madame Zamil, and Shemel and her girls. We’d be resting and continuing our information gathering today. At night, we’d share our findings and decide on where to start searching. Oh, and the new short spear I was supposed to have made for Madame Zamil last night would get done now instead.
“It would’ve been unthinkable to have entered the room at the time,” she said.
“Yeah, I get it.”
Just as Madame Zamil had requested, I made her a short spear made from mithril alloy. I thought the blade would end up being long again, but it ended up being within acceptable short spear range.
“If it were too long, it’d just end up difficult to use. If I’m going to be wielding it in narrow areas, I likely won’t be twirling it around much.”
“Gotcha.”
The new short spear had a wide and thick blade. Honestly, I couldn’t tell if it was designed more for its sturdiness or for its blunt force damage. It appeared as though Madame Zamil was fond of unique bladed spears.
“All right, then. So, about today’s info gathering…”
“We’re going to be flying around the area and taking a look at things,” said Pirna. “We’ll be checking the three spots we know of now, plus the roads.”
“We’re gonna catch up with some hunters and patrolmen and ask them if there are any other points of interest to look for,” Shemel said.
“I shall guard Sir Kousuke.”
So Shemel and her team were going to gather info from within the base, and Madame Zamil was with me.
“I’m going to go check in with Ovis and see if there’s anything that’s been troubling him here,” said Ira.
“Ovis?”
“The sheep beastman. He’s the one in charge here.”
“Ah, gotcha. Guess I’ll come with you then,” I said.
“I shall also accompany you.”
Grande was seemingly back to normal and wanted to tag along. She was personally cooperating with me, though; she wasn’t an official member of the Liberation Army.
After confirming the details of the day, we all went our separate ways. I held Ira’s hand with my right hand and Grande’s with my left, and Madame Zamil followed behind me. Quite the formation. Like yesterday, Ira was holding my index and middle fingers, and I was holding one of Grande’s claws. I had flowers on both arms, baby.
And so, we made our way over to Ovis, but —
“Anything troubling me, you ask?” he said.
“Yes,” said Ira. “If there is, we’d love to give you a helping hand.”
“Since I’m here, there’s plenty of issues I can solve quite easily,” I added. “Anything involving buildings, farming, expanding the base, etc.”
“Kousuke.”
“Ira, I use my powers the way I want to use them.”
“…Yeah, I know.”
Both Ira and Sylphy didn’t feel right relying on my powers so hard. It was true that an organization relying on the skills of a single person wasn’t exactly in a healthy position. But I personally felt that we should use what we had available to us. I didn’t hate self-imposed limitations and handicaps, but that sort of play was for the handful of pervs out there.
After thinking for a moment, Ovis spoke aloud.
“Farming, you say?”
A sheep that walks on two legs sure is a cute image, even if this guy does sound like a grizzled older man…
“It’s quite difficult getting timber here, you see,” he said. “Having it transported from the Black Forest is no simple task, but there are no trees growing naturally in this area. We’ve gotten seeds from the forest and tried planting trees here multiple times, but even if we water them properly, they wither outside of the base. They do grow around the fields, but…”
“Ah, I see, I see,” I said. “Making the Badlands green, eh? That sounds like quite the struggle—”
“It’s actually not,” said Ira. “The land you cultivate, even in the Badlands, grows produce and plants at a normal rate. Even if it’s not a farming block. We tested that out when we were first building the base.”
“Oh, that’s right. I totally forgot. Plus, we have this now.”
I reached into my inventory and whipped out a single hoe.
Mithril Hoe +9 (Auto Repair, Effect Strengthening III, Area Strengthening III)
“Er, what’s with the extremely fancy-looking shining hoe?” said Ovis.
“It’s a hoe made from magic mithril,” Ira explained. “When Kousuke swings it, about one tenth of a hectare gets cultivated.”
“Um… You’re joking, right?”
“Unfortunately not. It’ll be faster to show you.”
Together with Ovis and a few other onlookers, we went outside of the base, mithril hoe in hand.
“If we’re going to restore this land, where would you wanna start?” I asked. “Too close to the base walls would be bad, right?”
“Considering future expansion of the base, somewhere a little ways away would be good,” said Ira.
“Indeed,” Ovis agreed. “Let’s walk for a bit. Thanks to the anti-monster barrier, gizmas don’t really get too close.”
We walked for about thirty minutes, listening to any potential problems Ovis might be having. There didn’t seem to be anything pressing at the moment, but there was someone who got sick rather often and an elderly person who had thrown out their back, so I said I’d take a look at them later. Other than that, things were going well.
“If we can expand the greenery, our farming efforts will be even more fruitful. And if we can raise livestock better too, our food situation will greatly improve.”
“Ha ha ha, just leave this to me.”
The ground we were on seemed fine enough, so I immediately swung my mithril hoe + 9.
“Let’s go!”
Swoop!
My hoe stabbed into the ground, and the next moment, a massive impact-wave washed over the area, instantly cultivating a plot of land 20 meters wide and 50 meters long. Ovis and the others’ jaws dropped.
“All he has to do is repeat this process,” Ira explained. “The soil he cultivates can be used to raise crops. Normal weeds and so on, too.”
“But it doesn’t rain much around here, right?” I pointed out. “What should we do about water?”
Even if the dirt had been improved, crops couldn’t grow without water. Irrigation was necessary.
“We’ve got a few options,” said Ira. “We can create a waterway from the base leading here, we could make a magic tool that produces water magic… We can make as many magic crystals as we need, so the running cost would essentially be zero.”
“I see…”
The base’s water supply came from multiple unlimited water sources, so we could draw water from there. In the center of the rear base was a water tower taller than the base walls, and it used an unlimited water source, so… And like Ira suggested, we could even utilize magic tools.
“There are magic tools that sprinkle water, eh?” said Ovis.
“Normally, nobody would think to use magic tools just to sprinkle water on a field,” Ira replied. “It’s only possible because of the way this base operates.”
“Then, to the drawing board?” I suggested. “I have an idea, in that case.”
“Really? Let’s hear it.”
If we had a magical tool that worked like a sprinkler, we’d be set. If we were going to magically produce water, it wouldn’t need a canister to hold the fluid, either. I could make it shaped like a stake and jab it into the ground, then modify the head so that magic crystals could be swapped in and out… No, having to swap out crystals for each one of them would be a drag. Instead, we could link tens of them together and connect them with wiring to pass magical energy through, connecting them to the main unit with a slot for magic crystals…
No, we didn’t have to do anything that complex. I could just make uniformly spaced unlimited water source towers.
I decided to talk it over with Ira.
“But first, time to cultivate!”
“Mm-hmm. Good luck.”
I ended up cultivating the shit out of the Badlands. To be honest, getting around to each spot of uncultivated land ended up being more tiring than the cultivating itself.
***
“Well? How’s it feel? Great, right?”
“Mmph, real good…”
It was the night of the second day of our time at the rear base in our quest to locate ancient scriptures.
I was lying on my side on the bed, and the red ogre Bela was giving me a massage. Since I’d cultivated a huge chunk of the land around the base, I’d done a ton of running around and swinging my hoe.
Needless to say, I was tremendously exhausted after getting home. When Shemel and the ogres returned, they found me lounging about.
“It would be rude of us not to do somethin’ for you after all you’ve done for us.”
“Bela, how about you give him one of your massages?”
“Me? I ain’t mind, I suppose.”
Things rapidly came together, and before long, I was brought to the bedroom and on the receiving end of a Bela massage. She was using just the right amount of power, and it felt incredible. I felt like everything in my mind was melting away.
Where had Ira and Grande gotten off to? What was everyone else up to? Ah, this was all too amazing for me to be thinking about any of that. Bela’s big hands gripped my not-at-all slender calves and thighs, putting the perfect amount of pressure on them. My whole body felt warm; my blood flow must’ve been improving. I could fall asleep.
“You can sleep if ya want!” Bela assured me. “I might roll ya around a bit if need be, but don’t even worry ’bout that.”
“Aye…”
I let myself lean into the good feelings and allowed my consciousness to fade.
***
“Good morning, sleepy head.”
I woke up to someone shaking me lightly and found a large eye gazing down at me in the darkness. It was Ira.
“Huh? Um…”
It took a moment for me to remember why I had fallen asleep. Bela had given me an amazing massage that put me to sleep. I could see light creeping in from the living room, but it was already pitch black outside.
“Sorry, we were supposed to discuss our findings, right? I totally fell asleep.”
“Mm, it’s fine. We’re all done.”
“Wait, what?”
“Yup. The meeting’s done. We decided to investigate the ruins in the northeast that we heard about yesterday.”
“For real…?”
“You seemed tired, after all. Should we have waited to talk things over with you?”
Ira looked concerned, but I shook my head.
“Nah, it’s no problem. I’ll just have to apologize to everyone tomorrow.”
They were probably being considerate, but it wasn’t a good look that the guy who organized the meeting couldn’t even be bothered to show up because he was asleep. I’d have to apologize to Madame Zamil, Shemel, and the other girls tomorrow.
“Sorry, Ira. And thanks for looking out for me.”
“…It was nothing.”
Ira didn’t seem all that happy. Was she thinking that it was her fault I felt like I needed to apologize to everyone?
I gently rubbed her head, hopped out of bed, and stretched out.
“I’m feeling a lot more energized, but I am hungry,” I said. “Time to get some grub, hit the bath, and then get some more shut-eye.”
“Mm, I’ll make your dinner,” Ira announced, clenching both fists triumphantly.
I dragged the little lady to the living room, where the harpies and Grande were excitedly chatting away. As soon as they noticed me, they all greeted me and waved their hands (wings?).
“Morning!” I said. “Er, even though it’s already night. Sorry for missing the meeting, ladies.”
“No worries, Kousuke. We know you were hard at work during the day.”
“Exactly. Even from up in the sky, I couldn’t believe what I was seeing. You cultivated a crazy big area of land.”
Apparently, Grande and the harpies forgave me. I felt terrible, quite frankly.
After that, I took a bath with the girls, then ate the dinner Ira made for me and immediately went to sleep. Dinner was on the light side: slightly sweet porridge, fruits, and lukewarm milk. Ira felt it wouldn’t be wise for me to eat something too heavy before sleeping.
And so, with everyone huddled up against me in bed, I went to sleep. The harpies’ feathers made for tremendously comfy sleepage.
***
When I woke up the next day, I immediately apologized to Madame Zamil and Shemel’s crew, but they didn’t hesitate to forgive me.
“I’m really sorry about yesterday,” I said.
“No, it’s no biggie. The only new info we got was that there was an unnatural rocky area off to the south-southwest.”
“Indeed. And it’s quite far away, so it would be wise to start with the ruins to the northeast.”
“Man, my bad too. He was so fast asleep that I couldn’t help but let him be.”
“Seems like things worked out for the best, no? You look recharged.”
It was true that I’d recharged; I slept with everyone clinging to me, so that was probably why I looked so good. I was quite fond of those kinds of peaceful nights. I’d love to get that kind of thing into the rotation after getting back to Arichburg.
“So, um, it’ll take about half a day of walking to get to our destination, yeah?” I said.
“Mm-hmm!” Ira nodded. “We leave now, camp out for the night, and then get there around noon tomorrow.”
“Then shall we get going? Shemel’s squad will take point, Ira and I will be in the center, and we can leave the rear to Madame Zamil. How’s that sound?”
“I’m fine with that! What about you, Zamil?”
“I also do not mind. I am, however, somewhat surprised. I didn’t think you were aware of the tactics used for moving in a group like this, Sir Kousuke.”
“Let’s just say I picked up a thing or two in my old world.”
When it came to party tactics in SRPGs, putting your most powerful characters in the front and the back was a staple of the genre.
Apparently, when wolves moved in a pack, the point would be led by the strongest, youngest wolves, the middle would be the weaker wolves, then the rear would be protected by other young and strong wolves, with the one in the absolute back being the leader, the strongest wolf in the pack. To be more specific, the older but more experienced wolf would follow up the rear and make decisions for the whole group.
Adhering to the harpies’ aerial guidance, we took small breaks every hour and a half to two hours to rehydrate and get some calories in us. Because Ira was so small, her strides were short, and she didn’t have much in the way of stamina, so I ended up carrying her for a bit. She said she wasn’t having any problems, but that was true for me, too; I had zero issue carrying her.
“I can’t help but feel uncomfortable when I look at the way you…move, Sir Kousuke,” said Madame Zamil from behind me.
“He barely shakes, which means you can’t get sick,” said Ira. “It’s extremely nice.”
I was imagining the command action W in my head, which allowed me to move forward while barely using my legs. It was basically the same as just standing still, so even though I was moving at a normal walking speed, I didn’t get tired at all. Hell, I could probably even do the moonwalk if I wanted to.
Moving like this slowly carved away at Madame Zamil’s sanity, but we nonetheless continued walking until we reached our destination around noon.
Barren badlands covered in rocks and gravel stretched out in front of us. But among that nothingness were rocks that clearly had been altered by human hands, along with the remnants of busted stone buildings.
“Is this it? Are these the ruins?” I asked.
“It’s all collapsed… It’s hard to imagine what this all looked like from what’s left,” Ira said. “Other than there was a large building here at one point.”
Ira descended from my back and immediately started touching one of the altered rocks nearby. Madame Zamil was standing near us on guard, and Shemel’s squad began exploring the upper area of the ruins to make sure there wasn’t anything dangerous waiting for us.
“Suppose we should make a base of operations to start with.”
Fortunately, there were plenty of materials on the ground here. It only made sense to use what was on-site.
Chapter 4:
Comfortable Ruin Exploration in the Badlands
SINCE WE’D ARRIVED at our destination, I immediately got to making a base of operations so we could stay here for the time being. In terms of safety, a raised floor made the most sense. Even if an enemy decided to pick a fight with us, we’d be too high for them to reach us, so we wouldn’t even have to be concerned about it. There was nothing safer than that.
