"Hey, Rei! Over here, over here! Look, take these logs with you! Please! Trees are getting cut down one after another, and we've run out of space to put them!"
The Adventurer Man shouted this to Rei, who had arrived at the Treant Forest riding on Set.
Rei dismounted from Set's back, tilting his head at the Adventurer Man's words.
"Really? From what I can see, it looks like there's still plenty of space to put them."
In truth, since they were felling the trees growing in the Treant Forest, it wouldn't be strange for the cleared land to expand with each tree cut down.
However... even though they felled the trees, there were many places where the stumps and roots were left as they were.
Normally, those sorts of things would need to be pulled out as well, but... with winter approaching now, there was a need to fell as many trees as possible, so the work of digging up roots was kept to a bare minimum.
As a result, it was faster to transport felled logs than to dig up the roots, and they found themselves struggling with where to put them.
"These tree roots have their uses too, right?"
"If you're asking whether they do or not, then yeah, they do. But even if you wanted to use them as winter firewood, there's no time to dry them... and besides that, there are all sorts of other hassles, so it inevitably gets put off."
"...I see."
Of course, that was in the context of drying them naturally.
For those like mages and alchemists, turning tree roots from raw green wood into usable firewood was not a difficult task.
But... the mages and alchemists were also extremely busy with the Expansion Construction right now.
At first, there were other adventurers who envied the high rewards the mages and alchemists received, but upon seeing how exhausted the mages and alchemists looked when they came to the Guild to collect their pay, they couldn't help but think that no matter how good the pay was, they were glad they weren't mages...
Particularly now with winter approaching, being worked to their absolute limits meant that the mages and alchemists had absolutely no leeway to spare on drying green wood into firewood.
In other words, in the current situation, even if they went to the trouble of digging up the stumps, there would be no use for them at all.
Since there was no point wasting effort on such a futile task, they currently only pulled up the bare minimum of stumps—only those that were directly in the way of moving around or transporting logs.
"...They're in the way."
Naturally, since they were leaving things as they were, even if one could walk around, the stumps spreading out underfoot were undeniably an obstacle.
It was only natural for Rei to mutter that as he walked.
"Ah, sorry about that. But once you get used to it..."
It gets easier to walk.
The Adventurer Man was about to say as much, but Rei opened his mouth as if to interrupt.
"There's no need to leave these stumps as they are, right? Based on what you were saying earlier, you'd ideally want to do something about them, but you're leaving them as they are because felling trees takes priority right now."
"Well, that's true, but..."
Even as he said that, the Adventurer Man directed an expectant gaze at Rei.
No, it wasn't just the Adventurer Man who was looking at Rei with anticipation; the other Fleeing Adventurers keeping watch around the area to guard the woodcutters were the same.
Doing something about the stumps was quite a laborious task.
Perhaps Rei could take care of it effortlessly... Under those expectant gazes, Rei nodded readily and opened his mouth.
"Then I'll do something about it. However, what I'll do is handle the earth so the stumps can be pulled out right away. Is that fine with you?"
"Umm, hold on a moment. For now, could you show me how you'll do it? If it looks like there's no problem after seeing it, I'll go tell the woodcutters."
Even as he said this, it was easy to predict that if Rei really could dig up the stumps so effortlessly, the woodcutters wouldn't oppose it either.
In reality, the countless stumps were a significant nuisance.
It took tremendous effort to dig them up, so they had been left as they were... but if that effort could somehow be managed, it was only natural to want to do something about the stumps.
With expectant gazes from the surrounding Fleeing Adventurers directed at him, Rei took out the Death Scythe from the Misty Ring.
Several of those watching Rei cast dubious looks at him.
Naturally, they understood just how powerful a weapon Rei's Death Scythe was and how easily it could reap human lives.
They understood that, but... they still didn't understand why he was bringing out the Death Scythe here.
They wondered if perhaps he was going to use the Death Scythe to dig up the stumps, but while that might work for one or two, if asked whether he could handle the entire field of stumps spread out before them, they thought it impossible.
However, among the adventurers, there were those who knew that Rei's Death Scythe served as a Catalyst for magic... in other words, it fulfilled the same role as a staff for a mage, and such people wore expressions of understanding instead.
While being subjected to so many gazes, Rei showed no particular concern and lightly pressed the butt cap of the Death Scythe into the ground...
"Terrain Manipulation."
He said only that, briefly.
But the result brought about by that short phrase was enormous.
The stump in front of Rei floated up.
No, that wasn't precisely correct. It was more accurate to say that the ground where the stump had been rose up by about one meter.
If Rei had been serious, he could have raised the ground even higher, but if the goal was simply to deal with the stumps, there was no need to go that far.
The roots that had stretched deep underground were forcibly moved by Rei's Terrain Manipulation, and as the stump was lifted, most of them snapped inside the earth.
...The roots digging into the soil, which had been the primary reason the stumps couldn't be moved, were gone, and furthermore, the ground had been raised by the Terrain Manipulation... yes, it now had the softness of a tilled field.
"There."
Uttering a brief phrase, Rei swung the Death Scythe.
It was a light strike... one that looked as though he had only swung it with the lightest of effort, but the Death Scythe weighed nearly one hundred kilograms.
That much weight, swung by Rei's arm strength.
With the roots snapped and the soil softened in the current situation, there was no way the stump could withstand that strike.
As a result, the stump was effortlessly blown away by Rei's swing of the Death Scythe.
(Well, with this method, it's not like the roots are completely removed and some still remain in the soil... so at worst, there's a possibility they might sprout again from there, but even that wouldn't be immediately. It would definitely take some time. At the very least, it won't be a problem while the Expansion Construction is ongoing.)
Using Terrain Manipulation again, Rei returned the raised ground to a flat state.
"That's how I do it. I just blew the stump away with one strike, but the roots are snapped and the soil is soft, so you should be able to dig them up by hand easily. ...How about it?"
The Adventurer Man, who received the "How about it?" gaze, finally came back to himself at those words.
The man had been completely captivated by a result that exceeded his expectations.
"How about it... no, all I can say is that it's amazing. ...Got it. With this, we should be able to dig up all the stumps without taking much time. I'll go talk to the woodcutters right away, so wait here."
Saying that, the man left Rei where he stood and began running deeper into the forest... toward where the woodcutters were felling trees.
After seeing him off, Rei decided that leaving the stump he had just blown aside as it was would be in the way, so he carried it over next to the felled logs.
Several people directed surprised looks at Rei holding a sturdy stump with roots extending to a certain degree in one hand.
The stump, given that it still had a considerable amount of roots extending from it, should have been quite heavy.
Even among those who had watched it get effortlessly blown away by the Death Scythe, they probably hadn't expected Rei to display that level of strength.
"H-hey. That... lifting the stump along with the ground, that's magic, right?"
"Hm? Ah, that's right. It's Earth-type Magic."
There was no way he could tell the truth—that it was a skill of the Death Scythe obtained through Beast Magic—so he deflected it as usual.
"Since you hold the alias of Crimson... ah, no, sorry."
The man trailed off there, but Rei understood what he was trying to say.
The reason for his alias was that he had burned away the Bestia Imperial Army using Fire Whirlwind.
From that, the man had apparently assumed that Rei could only use magic of that type.
(Well, he's not wrong about that.)
In fact, Rei was specialized in Flame Magic and could not use magic of any other attribute.
However, thanks to the skills on the Death Scythe, it was entirely possible to make it look as though he could use magic of the earth or wind type.
Yes, precisely as he was doing now.
"Hey! I told them! They said you can go ahead! No, they said if you can do it, then by all means, please do!"
The Adventurer Man from earlier came running back.
Nodding at those words, Rei told the Fleeing Adventurers around him to gather near him, asked Set to fly overhead and keep watch over the surroundings, and pressed the butt cap of the Death Scythe into the ground.
"Terrain Manipulation."
What came from Rei's mouth were the same words as before.
But... what happened at the same time those words were spoken was on a scale that couldn't even be compared to before.
The ground rose up across the entire surrounding area, at every single place where there were stumps.
So much so that the sound of roots being torn apart reached the ears of Rei and the Fleeing Adventurers even through the soil.
"Whoa..."
At that sight—if anything could be called too much, it was too much—everyone who had gathered near Rei let out voices of surprise.
To be honest, it would be more accurate to say they were taken aback by the bizarre spectacle.
Even Rei hadn't expected the sound of roots being torn apart to be so blatantly audible, and despite having done it himself, he was slightly startled.
"Ah... for now, the stumps can be pulled out by hand normally, so... right, just gather them all where the felled logs are for now."
At Rei's words, the Fleeing Adventurers finally came back to themselves and sprang into action.
Though somewhat tentatively, they reached out to the stumps in the raised earth and gently pulled.
At first, they didn't move, but with just a little force, the stumps were pulled from the soil the next moment with almost no resistance.
Of course, having extracted them from the earth that had been supporting them, the full weight of the stumps fell on the adventurers' hands.
However, those present were adventurers. Supporting a stump was not a difficult task for them.
The roots that had burrowed deep were snapped, and the soil was no longer trampled and hard but almost indistinguishable from the soft earth of a freshly tilled field.
"Whoa, it really came out effortlessly."
One adventurer muttered that, and the others began pulling out stumps one after another.
It was probably amusing how easily stumps that had rooted so firmly could be pulled out.
Everyone pulled out stump after stump...
"What in tarnation!"
Suddenly, a loud voice echoed through the surroundings.
When Rei turned his gaze toward the source of the voice, there were several woodcutters.
They must have seen this sight through the gaps in the trees, of course.
But even so, most of it should have been hidden by the trees and out of view.
However, having actually come out, they found mounds of earth piled up before their eyes, so it was unreasonable to expect them not to be shocked.
One of the woodcutters, upon spotting Rei's figure, approached with a pale, alarmed expression.
"Hey, Rei! Was this your doing!? Right!?"
He was half-accusing him, but since it was indeed true, Rei didn't deny it.
"That's right. It was my doing. The stumps were getting in the way of everything. Or would you have preferred I leave them as they were?"
"No, that's... we're better off without the stumps, but..."
Perhaps calmed by Rei's words, the Woodcutter looked around again with a troubled expression.
There, many adventurers were pulling stumps from the earth and carrying them near the felled logs.
"Ah... yeah. We appreciate you removing the stumps, but the question is what to do with them. They're in the way no matter what you do. ...Rei, sorry, but could you take them somewhere and burn them for us?"
"Are you sure? I'd think they could be used as firewood or something."
At Rei's words, the Woodcutter looked around... particularly toward the forest where they had come from, where trees were still growing.
"Yeah. We have this many trees. Honestly, the stumps are nothing but a nuisance. If you're going to handle them like this for us, our work efficiency will definitely go up too."
"I'm glad to hear you say that. ...But, right. In that case, is it fine if I take all of those stumps?"
"Huh? No, we don't mind, but... what use are they to you?"
"Well, in my case, I have various uses for them. ...Yes, various."
Saying that, Rei floated a meaningful smile.