I exit the residence, and yell that the food is ready.
Three gluttons come. Well, one person and two monsters each raise their voices.
I place food cooked on an earthenware pot and metal plate on a table outside.
We’ll sit two at each side, with a big plate in the middle. Then the three come from the forest.
I put my hands together, thank some sea turtle, and start eating.
I boiled those things that look like potatoes, simmered vegetables, and roasted a lot of some sea turtle’s meat.
The vegetables were harvested from the forest, and the meat… is the same as usual.
I’m getting tired of it, but it’s the only edible meat I have. I tried meat from monsters that appear in the forest, but the only thing that was edible there was the stag beetle that we encountered when we first entered the forest. And since I’m out of that, this is it.
I used fruit and spices as flavorings, and the other three aren’t complaining, but I just can’t accept it.
I could make better things if I had more ingredients.
Being able to do it but not having the means is putting me at my limit as a cook.
I’d have to explore the forest more and get more ingredients… but I can’t.
That’s not what’s important right now. I need to find a way to break through this situation.
We’re stuck in the only open space in the forest.
After I noticed that, I advanced while leaving marks, and after a while, I saw them again.
The area where we’re stuck is probably pretty wide too, and it would probably take a day and night to run through it.
We’re in a forest, but Fuuma wasn’t doing a hundred kilometers per hour or anything. It was moving at an incredible speed, and it still took a lot of time.
If I was walking or didn’t leave marks, I might not have noticed the loop.
We moved around looking for a way out, to no avail.
Instead, I found new vegetables and fruits
That means I shouldn’t be living by the lake, I should be exploring the forest looking for a way out, but unfortunately, there’s a reason why I can’t.
“Kyururu.”
The winged Hinata lets out a happy voice as it eats meat.
It’s grown since it was a baby, and now looks like a three year old.
It’s because of Hinata that I stopped exploring.
When it was a baby, I just had to fill its stomach and pay attention to what it did. Now it’s been going after monsters when it gets hungry.
I figured we should stay in one place waiting for the parents, since for some reason monsters don’t come here.
But they’re not coming. No one’s coming to get Hinata.
I thought maybe it was because monsters don’t approach the lake, but that’s not a problem for Hinata, so I assume it wouldn’t be for its parents.
I thought for a second about abandoning it and resuming the exploration, but it’s way too late for that, so I dismissed the idea.
Hinata takes a wooden spoon and fork and eats.
As it gets bigger, the magic energy leak accidents have stopped, so I don’t need to deal with that.
It still loses control when it’s not feeling well, but it’s okay. Hinata has a lot of magic energy, but its flow is light, so I can easily handle it with the magic mirror shield.
I don’t know how long this lifestyle can go on for. Either Hinata’s parents come to get it, or it grows until it can stand on its own.
I could take it to the surface, but I don’t know how Hinata would be treated. Worst case scenario, it would be subjected to experiments or be put down.
I’d protect it if it happened, but how much could I… I feel like I could actually do a good job.
Jokes aside, right now, I feel like I wouldn’t lose to Kuroitsu, Seiju, the weapon store owner, or the guild old woman.
I don’t know how strong the old woman is, but I feel the oni I fought had more pressure.
I think I could do it…?
Well, let’s think about that later.
If Hinata’s parents come, that will be that.
The two that aren’t sitting down finish eating, and position themselves to take a nap.
Fuuma neighs, and fake Nessie goes gyuo.
By the way, I gave fake Nessie a name to make things easier, Totaro.
Hinata and Fuuma don’t like it, but Totaro looked satisfied, so Totaro it is.
Totaro is the owner of the lake, and it’s there sometimes, but it’s mostly with Hinata when Hinata is awake.
It seems Hinata wants that too, because it goes to the lake to see it when it wakes up. Because of this, I have to cook three times the food, but Totaro offers fish from the lake, so I can’t complain.
We have this stable life now, but it wasn’t easy at first.
I made a house with Earth Magic, but no matter how sturdy I made it, it collapsed under its own weight. I made it smaller like a shed, but then Fuuma couldn’t go in.
I told it it could stay outside, but it stubbornly tried to go in anyway, so I needed a bigger house.
After some trial and error, I made a frame out of wood, and it went surprisingly well.
Maybe these trees are just tough, but after cutting and drying them, they were strong like steel.
That said, an amateur built it, so it was still just a shed. I continued through trial and error, but it didn’t go like I wanted, so I continued living in a shed.
As I figured that was all I was getting, Totaro offered to help, and for some reason I ended up with a three story mansion.
No no, how did that happen?
Who’s gonna live here? Who’s gonna use the more than twenty rooms?
Totaro made most of it, but where did it learn
Join my patreon to support me and read ahead.
<<Previous Chapter Index Next Chapter>>
