About ten minutes passed before Takarada-san and his colleagues finally recovered from the shock of the tunnel being opened. They looked at us with a mixture of bewilderment and astonishment, bowing slightly as an apologetic aura settled over them.
"Goodness, my apologies. Seeing something so far beyond my expectations left me completely dazed."
"Ah, no. Please don't worry about it. We weren't even sure if we’d actually break through ourselves, so..."
"Haha. Honestly, we thought it would be amazing if you could dig even a few meters, let alone bore through the whole cliff. If you were using specialized power tools, it would be one thing, but this was manual excavation by just three people, regardless of how high your levels are. And yet, you actually finished it..."
Takarada-san, still reeling from the impact, gazed at the tunnel we had hollowed out with a hollow look in his eyes. Since we had simply dug it out and hadn't confirmed its safety, it had zero practical utility, but I figured it could be used for people to pass through if it were properly maintained. While the three of us weren't exactly a standard example, I imagined similar results would be possible if a dozen or so mid-level explorers were brought in.
In fact, unlike the three experts who were still in a state of shock, Yuta-san—who seemed to have grown accustomed to our shenanigans—wore an expression that suggested he was already running the numbers in his head. He was likely calculating how much the value of land in these inaccessible regions would skyrocket if explorers could be utilized for development. Yuta-san has certainly grown tough...
"We feel like we just got lucky, honestly. We struggled at first because we weren't used to the work, and since we're just amateurs who dug with brute force, the safety isn't guaranteed. We haven't reinforced the walls, so they could collapse at any second."
"No, no, just the fact that such a small group could dig a tunnel big enough for people to pass through in such a short time is incredible! Normally, even with a larger workforce and heavy excavation machinery, you’d be lucky to dig a few meters in a single day!"
"If you put it that way... then I suppose what we did is an extraordinary result."
Faced with Takarada-san's insistence on the magnitude of our feat, we could only respond with noncommittal smiles. Since we didn't know the industry standards, it was hard to feel the reality of what we had achieved.
Still, if a professional reacted like this, we must have truly done something amazing.
"That being said, it is still amateur work. For practical use, explorers doing the excavation would need to learn specific construction methods. As it stands, there's no telling when the walls might collapse, so it's not safe enough for the public to use daily. Tunnels are places where users are prone to feeling anxious as it is."
Takarada-san voiced his thoughts while inspecting the walls of the tunnel, a slightly disappointed expression on his face. I thought we had dug them as neatly as possible, but the marks from the pickaxes and shovels were clearly visible. It was true that with the walls being this uneven, anyone used to properly paved tunnels would probably feel a surge of anxiety, wondering if the whole thing was about to cave in.
As I listened to Takarada-san's evaluation feeling slightly apologetic, Yuji poked my shoulder and whispered.
"Hey Daiki, couldn't we use Earth Magic to smooth out the surface of the tunnel?"
"I wonder. I only just acquired the Earth Magic skill, so it'd probably be difficult, at least at my current proficiency. I mean, since I can make the earth protrude, leveling the walls shouldn't be that hard, but the surface area is so large that I don't know how many times I'd have to cast it. The range you can affect right after getting the skill isn't that wide, after all."
"Well, you've got a point. But it is possible depending on proficiency..."
"I don't think one person could handle it all in a day, but if you brought in a team of mid-level explorers with Earth Magic and decent proficiency, it might be doable, right?"
A team consisting of a few people for excavation and a few for reinforcement with Earth Magic could work in shifts. If you had a tunnel excavation expert as the site foreman, you’d have a professional excavation squad ready to go.
As I was discussing this in a low voice with Yuji, Takarada-san noticed us and spoke up.
"Oh? Do you have a solution?"
"Ah. Well, we don't have it ourselves, but we were talking about how some explorers can acquire a skill called Earth Magic. We thought maybe it could be used to smooth out the jagged walls. We've heard Earth Magic can make the ground protrude, so it might be able to tidy up the tunnel surface."
It would be a hassle if he asked me to try it right now, so I decided to claim that I hadn't acquired the skill yet.
"Oh! Such a convenient skill exists?"
"It might be possible, at least. Since we don't have it, we don't know the specifics. Though, from what we've heard, someone with a high enough level could probably just bore a tunnel through directly without all this digging."
"Such a skill... should I try asking someone with that ability to cooperate with the experiment too?"
Takarada-san seemed intrigued and struck a thoughtful pose. It was true that experiments on utilizing skills for civil engineering should be done, but I wondered how many explorers would actually cooperate. Anyone with a magic skill would likely be either a reasonably successful explorer or tied to a corporation. He could probably issue a request, but I doubted he could scrape together the high "cooperation fees" required.
This experiment was only possible because our interests and Kiritani Real Estate's interests aligned. Hiring advanced explorers like us for research would normally require a massive budget.
"Takarada-san, I think it’ll be quite difficult to hire people with magic skills. Generally, those people are either mid-level explorers or above, or beginners who just happened to get lucky."
"Hmm? Why would it be difficult? The students who work as explorers were happy to cooperate as a part-time job."
"Well, those part-timers probably don't have the skills you're looking for, or if they do, they can't use them effectively yet."
Explorers at a level where they could utilize magic skills would make far more money in a dungeon than they would at a university part-time job. The student explorers who do those jobs are likely the type who lack the aptitude to even defeat a goblin and can't make a living as explorers. Even if they did have a magic skill, they’d probably hit their limit after using it a few times. You might be able to pressure intermediate student explorers into it using their grades as leverage, but that’s a bad idea—it would only breed resentment.
Paying a proper fee was the only way, but the problem was whether a research budget could cover it. A student explorer with a magic skill would be the mainstay of their party. If they were pulled away, the whole party would have to stop exploring, and the compensation for that lost income would be astronomical.
"Is that so?"
"Yes. You might find some who’d cooperate if their rest periods happened to line up, but you'd have to be very lucky. The students who helped you before were likely just beginner level. They're physically stronger than ordinary people, but there's a world of difference between them and mid-level explorers. In fact, given how surprised you were by our work today, isn't this your first time seeing the abilities of a mid-tier explorer or higher, Takarada-san?"
"...Now that you mention it, none of the students ever demonstrated the kind of power you all have."
Takarada-san furrowed his brow, realizing Yuji was right. A mid-level explorer with a magic skill could earn several times a student's wages in the same amount of time; they wouldn't go out of their way to participate.
I suppose it was still a meaningful experiment in terms of seeing the difference between ordinary people and beginners, though.
"I see. This requires further consideration. I need to gather more information about the explorer industry before we conduct more tests."
Takarada-san's experiment was temporarily put on hold while he reevaluated the prerequisites.
Since the experts had recovered, we asked about backfilling the tunnel. After a quick check, they told us there was no immediate worry of it collapsing. While there was no urgent need, they advised that we should eventually either reinforce the walls or fill it back in.
We thought about doing it right then, but since there were other things to verify, we decided to save it for a later date.
"With that, I'd like to begin the next phase of the test."
Having moved away from the cliff, Yuta-san made the announcement and yielded the floor to Niimi-san, the forestry professional. Niimi-san stepped forward looking a bit hesitant, wearing a look of weary resignation as if he had already accepted his fate.
Even though we hadn't done anything yet, he already looked exhausted.
"I’m going to teach you about felling trees now. Please be careful not to get injured."
"Yes!"
"...First, let's start with how to cut one down."
Niimi-san gripped an axe and stood before a tree about thirty centimeters thick.
"When you want to fell a tree, you first make a cut called an undercut on the side you want it to fall. You do it like this..."
Niimi-san swung the axe and drove the blade into the tree at an angle. The blade bit into the trunk with a high-pitched crack, heavily splintering the bark and gouging out the wood.
Then, Niimi-san pulled the axe out and struck again, this time horizontal to the ground.
"You drive the axe in like this, as if you're carving out a triangle. You want to gouge out about half the trunk."
Even while explaining, Niimi-san swung the axe in alternating diagonal and horizontal strokes, carving a wedge into the tree.
After about two or three minutes, he had created a triangular undercut in the trunk.
"Phew, something like that. If the undercut isn't facing the direction you want the tree to fall, it’ll go down in a strange direction. Always make sure your undercut is adjusted properly."
"Understood."
"Next step: once the undercut is finished, you go around to the opposite side and start making your back cut. The tree will eventually start to fall, but stay sharp—it can behave unexpectedly."
"What kind of unexpected behavior?"
When Yuji asked, Niimi-san shared some of his own experiences.
"In my time... I've seen trees fall the wrong way, trees get caught on other branches and snap them, and trees that look like they're falling but the tip gets snagged, causing the butt of the trunk to kick out wildly. I almost saw someone get killed that way."
"I see... We'll be careful."
"Always check your footing and warn everyone nearby so you can move the instant something goes wrong. Right, let's actually bring it down."
Saying that, Niimi-san began driving the axe into the side opposite the undercut.
After several strikes, the tree let out a loud, sharp crack and began to lean.
"Timber!"
A few seconds after Niimi-san's warning, the tree hit the ground with a heavy thud and a cloud of dust.
"Once it's down, you strip the branches and buck the trunk into the right lengths for transport or use. That’s the general flow of felling. Right, why don't you all give it a try?"
Now that the explanation was over, Niimi-san encouraged us to start. The process was simple enough, so I didn't think the practice would be difficult.
The only question was who would go first... but since the axe Niimi-san held out was pointed toward Hiiragi-san for some reason, she was up.
"Um, well then, I'll go first."
"Be careful not to hurt yourself. You probably don't use an axe in your daily life, so just focus on getting used to the weight. Focus on accuracy rather than power—just swing it lightly."
"Swing lightly... I understand. Lightly, then."
Taking the axe from Niimi-san, Hiiragi-san stood before a tree about the same thickness as the one he had just felled. She swung the axe back at a slight angle... took a short breath, and then brought it down in one smooth motion.
The axe Hiiragi-san swung sliced through the trunk without a sound. It didn't even rough up the bark; it simply sheared through the entire tree at a sharp angle.
"...Yeah, I figured it would turn out like that."
Watching Hiiragi-san's 'felling,' Niimi-san muttered in a hollow, enlightened tone.
I... I'm really sorry.
Common sense is meant to be discarded out here, isn't it?