Chapter 163
Chapter 163
Southern Kirhen District of the Empire.
A region that had embraced countless travelers every year, with hot springs and forest tourism well developed.
A wonderful resort, good for traveling with friends or family.
……Yes, that was how it was supposed to be.
Clank-, clank-.
Thud, thud-!
The sound of iron colliding and vibrations transmitted through the ground.
As soon as I got off the train, instead of people leisurely enjoying rest, all I saw were armed individuals.
‘Of course, they say you shouldn’t judge by appearances…….’
But it didn’t feel like they had come here simply to enjoy a vacation.
Drag-. Drag-.
I turned my gaze to Lapin, who was pulling a bag beside me.
When I stopped walking, Lapin looked up at me and tilted her head.
‘Lapin…… doesn’t seem to care much about those people.’
As I was thinking that, Lapin spoke first.
“Villed.”
“Why?”
“I think this trip is fun.”
Lapin didn’t have any particularly expressive look as usual, but somehow she seemed full of anticipation.
Maybe because I had made a <Animal Farm> contract with Lapin, our hearts were connected like with other spirit creatures.
“Well, we haven’t done anything yet.”
“Yeah, but still. Being outside the academy with you, Villed. Just going anywhere together makes me happy.”
“…….”
I showed a light smile.
“If you’re happy, then that’s enough.”
Lapin was focused solely on traveling together with me.
‘Yeah, let’s not think about anything else. I should just relax for the next few days.’
By then, the sky had darkened, and heavy snow was falling. We needed to find a place to stay first.
After the train left, and the adventurers and mercenaries all dispersed, I moved my steps across the empty platform.
“Lapin, let’s first look for a nearby inn.”
“They don’t have rooms here either?”
“Y-Yes, I’m truly sorry…….”
“……Damn it.”
“Hiiik!”
When I clicked my tongue, the innkeeper flinched in fright.
I had no intention of threatening or intimidating him at all.
Since there was nothing more to do, I left the place together with Lapin.
‘This is bad. To think everything was already full.’
I felt like we had already checked around ten inns near this village.
Without exception, every single room was sold out.
‘Should I have made a reservation somehow.’
However, mana communication was only possible between mages who possessed mana, and they also had to share unique mana patterns—something like phone numbers in modern times—to contact each other.
But people who possessed mana were extremely rare.
This world was a society where commoners made up the majority, and even among them, those with mana were scarce, so it wasn’t possible to use mana communication with inns.
Moreover, in this era, telephones were still not widely distributed, making long-distance reservations quite difficult.
Of course, there were ways to reserve rooms using letters or through merchant guild staff. But with all the festival preparations and other tasks piling up, I simply hadn’t prepared for it.
In the first place, in the game, there was never a time when accommodations had no available rooms, so I hadn’t paid any attention to it at all.
‘I shouldn’t think only according to the game.’
That’s right. I had fallen into a world with game settings, but I wasn’t inside the game itself. This place was another reality.
“Lapin, aren’t you cold?”
“No. Thanks to the clothes you bought me, Villed, I’m warm.”
“…….”
When I looked more closely, the tip of Lapin’s nose was bright red. She said that, but she clearly seemed cold. I didn’t particularly enjoy wandering around in this kind of cold weather either.
This place was a highland climate region. During the day it was relatively warm, but once night fell, the temperature seemed to drop sharply, with a large daily temperature difference.
I turned my gaze forward. In the distance, I could see a building about five stories tall.
“Let’s check that place…… and if there’s no lodging there either, we’ll have to walk all night to a more bustling area.”
“Yeah, that’s fine too.”
It really didn’t seem fine to me.
Shivering from the cold, we nearly reached the building. Even as I walked, I couldn’t take my eyes off the area around it.
It was clearly different from other inns.
‘For a yard, it’s pretty big.’
No, was it really a yard? With heavy snow piled up, a vast white field stretched out before us. It looked quite spacious. Just looking at the snowy scenery made my chest feel refreshed.
Even while I couldn’t take my eyes off the view, Lapin and I entered the building.
A freckled girl with brown hair was standing behind the counter. She looked to be around our age.
“Ah, welcome, guests.”
However, she had an awkward expression on her face.
Since the answer was obvious, I spoke first.
“Looks like there are no vacant rooms here either.”
“Yes…… I’m truly sorry.”
She seemed unnecessarily apologetic. There was no need for that kind of guilt. Since there was no reason to stay any longer, I was about to turn away.
Then something suddenly came to mind, and I opened my mouth.
“Come to think of it, your yard is quite spacious.”
“Ah. That’s a campsite. Because the temperature difference is large these days, there aren’t any people using it.”
……A campsite.
In that instant, a thought flashed through my mind.
“Can it be used right now?”
“What? Sir, with the snow piled up and this cold weather, it’ll be hard to endure with just a tent.”
“That’s fine. How much is it?”
“It’s 3 gold, but…….”
I handed three small gold coins to the flustered girl.
“Um, sir, would you at least like some blankets? It’ll be really cold…….”
“No, it’s fine. I’ll use it starting now. I can choose where to set up the tent, right?”
“Y-Yes…….”
After hearing that answer, I walked with Lapin toward the campsite in front of the building.
After taking several steps, I stopped and lightly tapped the ground with the tip of my shoe.
‘……This spot should be good.’
The terrain here was flat and firmly packed.
“Villed, are we sleeping here?”
“Yeah. They said there were no vacant rooms here either, and there aren’t any more inns to check, so we don’t really have a choice.”
“Mm.”
“Wait a bit, Lapin. Even so, don’t just lie down like that. If you lie down as is, you’ll get cold.”
I helped Lapin back up after she had lain down using nature as her bed, and brushed the dirt and snow off her clothes.
“Lapin, can you bring me some branches? As many as possible.”
“Got it.”
Lapin nodded and moved toward a place where there seemed to be a lot of trees.
Watching her, I grasped at the empty air. In my hand was a turtle card.
‘Boogie.’
Bang-!
In an instant, an earthen wall about two meters tall rose up.
The thickness was roughly forty centimeters.
‘This should block the wind and keep the heat in well enough.’
I also laid the floor with earthen walls. A four-meter square.
Floor, walls, ceiling, even a doorway—
the house made of earthen walls was completed in the blink of an eye.
It could also be dismantled easily.
Whenever I used the ability, the earthen walls disappeared in an instant.
When we left this place, all I had to do was restore it to its original state.
Before I knew it, Lapin returned with her arms full of branches and peeked her head out from behind the earthen wall.
“……So this is where we’re staying.”
“Yeah. It’s just for one day, so I made it simply. Come on in.”
Lapin placed the branches down in the center of the floor.
“Hwayo, lend me some fire.”
I summoned Hwayo.
Hwayo yawned, then brought its flaming tail close to the branches.
The fire caught instantly, and the once-dark space brightened. The cold air warmed up as well.
Lapin and I warmed ourselves in front of it.
“……It’s warm. Thank you, Hwayo.”
When Lapin thanked Hwayo, Hwayo responded as if it understood, popping bubbles with a ‘popong-’ sound.
As I watched that, I took out four cards into the air.
“Boogie, Shurk, Pau, Ramji.”
Pop-!
I ended up summoning all the spirit creatures from the farm.
After contracting with Lapin, it seemed the limitation on summoning spirit creatures simultaneously had been lifted. While experimenting with various things to understand the connection between Lapin and the Animal Farm, I had learned this for the first time last night in the detention cell.
‘……Is it a bug?’
I didn’t know the reason, but…… whatever the case, wasn’t it better if it was beneficial?
Before I knew it, Boogie was nestled in Lapin’s arms.
Ramji climbed onto her shoulder.
Pau sat on top of her head.
Even Shurk was running wildly around Lapin.
“They already look really close.”
“Yeah. These kids say they’re happy to come to a new place together too.”
“……You can even talk to spirit creatures? I’m kind of jealous.”
All I could do with spirit creatures was sense things like liking or disliking. I could feel their emotions to some extent, but concrete conversations were still impossible.
But since Lapin was registered as a spirit creature, maybe that was why they could communicate with each other.
“Hwayo.”
At some point, Lapin was holding Hwayo in her arms. Knowing Hwayo’s temperament, I spoke urgently.
“Lapin, be careful. If you hold Hwayo like that—”
“Hwayo, you’re a good kid.”
Popong…….
Just as Lapin said, Hwayo stayed still in her arms.
‘It’s surprisingly calm……?’
Was it reading Lapin’s mood, or was it flustered? Why was it being so docile…….
Hwayo seemed a little embarrassed by Lapin’s sudden skinship, but it didn’t seem to dislike being in her arms.
However, the flame on Hwayo’s tail looked bigger.
Had its tail flame ever grown that much before?
Was it getting angry?
……No.
The moment I realized the truth, I shouted urgently.
“H-Hey! Lapin! Your clothes!”
“Clothes?”
Whoosh-!
The fire from the tail spread to Lapin’s clothes.
“……Ah.”
“Take off that coat and throw it on the ground, now!”
To protect the summoned spirit creatures, I put them back into the Animal Farm system.
As Lapin dropped the burning coat onto the ground, I took out all the water containers from subspace and poured water over it.
……The fire finally went out.
Water splashed everywhere, the walls were scorched, and the inside of the house was almost a mess. There was also a burnt smell.
Of course, I could just rebuild the house. Taking out Pau’s card, I spoke to Lapin.
“Are you hurt anywhere at all? Burns or anything.”
Lapin shook her head. But she looked somewhat sad.
“I’m sorry.”
Lapin held up the completely burnt coat. More than half of it had burned away, and the once-white coat had discolored into brown. It looked difficult to even repair.
“It was the first outfit you bought for me, Villed…….”
Lapin clutched the coat tightly, as if it were something precious.
“Why are you looking so down? It’s a relief you didn’t get hurt. Clothes can always be bought again. Tomorrow, at another clothing shop— no.”
Something came to mind, and I closed my mouth.
Right. It might end up unusable again in the same way.
‘Then…… wouldn’t it be better if I just made it myself?’
That seemed to be the case. My equipment crafting skill had already reached the ‘Grandmaster’ rank.
It would be a waste not to make use of it.
‘And there are monsters around these snowy mountains that drop valuable materials.’
Of course, the snowy mountains where monsters appeared were designated as restricted areas……
I thought of the golden compass in subspace. With that compass symbolizing a member of Finders, I would be able to enter restricted zones legally.
Making good clothes would take quite a bit of time and effort, but while I was at it, I could also make equipment for myself.
Design considerations and other things made it complicated in many ways…… but shouldn’t I at least give it a try?
“Lapin, for now, change into your uniform.”
“……Okay.”
Lapin opened her bag and took out her uniform.
I stepped out of the earthen house for a moment. I saw someone walking over this way.
They probably came to check on the fire just now.
“Sir, are you okay?”
When the freckled girl who had been at the counter asked, I nodded.
“Sorry for causing a disturbance. Do I need to compensate for anything?”
When I asked, the girl waved both arms and shook her head exaggeratedly.
“Ah, ah, no! An apology? Not at all! Besides, it was put out quickly, and you didn’t cause any damage to the campsite. I’m just glad no one was hurt. Ah, but!”
The girl looked at the earthen house I had made, her eyes full of curiosity.
“……Are you perhaps a mage?”
I was briefly lost in thought about how to answer that question.
Just then, Lapin, now in her uniform, slipped out of the earthen house and peeked her head out. Seeing that, the girl exclaimed in excitement.
“Ah! A Yggdrasil uniform? Then are you a student there?!”
“……That’s right.”
When I answered, the girl’s eyes sparkled excessively.