"Well, the food situation has finally become critical."
Adriana made the declaration just as the snow began to vanish from the area surrounding the laboratory.
"Y-yeah."
"I thought we’d be fine for another year or so, though."
"...Is it because of me?"
When a food supply calculated for one person is suddenly consumed by two, it’s only natural for the math to fall apart.
"I think I’m going to head back home for a bit. Actually, I have to."
There was no helping it. If they stayed here, they had no way to be self-sufficient.
"So, we’re going to the nearest town, Battalf."
"How? And how far is it?"
"Let’s see... it takes about three days if you walk at a normal pace."
Shuuki did some quick mental math. Assuming an average of thirty-five kilometers a day...
"So it’s roughly a hundred kilometers..."
If they were weighed down by food and water, it might take even longer than three days. Neither Shuuki nor Adriana were particularly known for their physical stamina.
"How much food do we have left, exactly?"
"At this rate, it won't last ten days."
Even with strict rationing, they wouldn't make it two weeks, Shuuki calculated. For the two of them to suddenly set out on a three-day trek was the height of recklessness.
"...Let's build a car."
After much thought, Shuuki reached a conclusion. If they built a vehicle with its own power source—an automobile—it would be possible to travel a hundred kilometers in a single day.
"Ado, let's finish a car in three days and use it to reach Battalf!"
"O-okay!"
Shuuki immediately set to work on the design for the "automobile."
The frame of the bicycle Shuuki had been riding was warped and the tires were flat, but it had somehow retained its original shape.
"Look, this is a bearing."
"Hmm, that’s a delicate structure."
"But I’m sure you can replicate it, Ado."
"Ehehe, I am a genius, after all!"
Thanks to Shuuki's knowledge, Adriana's talent, and the bicycle serving as a reference, the "car" was completed in two days.
It was essentially a four-wheeled handcart, but it was the first automobile to ever appear in the Ars world.
The power source wasn't an engine, so whether it could truly be called an "automobile" was debatable, but it was driven by the Golem's arms they had created during the development process of the magi-doll.
Handles called cranks were attached to the axles of the wheels on the left and right, and the Golem's arms turned them to generate driving force.
"Alright, we'll take two days' worth of food and water and leave tomorrow morning."
"I’m looking forward to it!"
＊ ＊ ＊
"I... f-feel... s-siiick..."
"............M-me too............"
To put it bluntly, the ride quality was abysmal.
Since they had nothing equivalent to rubber, the wheels were made of metal, and the makeshift suspension did precious little to reduce the vibrations.
Traveling at a speed of fifteen kilometers per hour on an unpaved road was a recipe for disaster. It was their own fault for setting off without performing a proper test drive, but that didn't make the nausea any easier to bear.
Even so, they managed to reach the town of Battalf before dusk.
Adriana's name seemed well-known even here, so despite arriving in such a strange vehicle, they didn't draw too much unwanted attention and managed to collapse into an inn safely.
"...Gonna sleep. Don't want to do anything today. Can't... do anything..."
"...Me too..."
They couldn't get separate rooms, so they shared a double. Both Shuuki and Adriana were so exhausted they dived into their beds without even changing clothes and fell asleep instantly.
Because he had gone to bed in the early evening, Shuuki woke up at dawn. It was only natural after sleeping for over ten hours.
His stomach had settled, and he was incredibly hungry. He hadn't eaten since the previous morning, skipping both lunch and dinner—or rather, he’d had zero appetite, so it was no wonder.
"The time is... about 5:00 AM, I guess."
Looking over, he saw Adriana was still asleep.
Wrapped in a blanket and curled into a ball, she reminded him of a kitten.
Trying not to wake her, Shuuki quietly left the room to wash his face.
After stopping by the toilet and washing up at the basin, he felt refreshed. The sky was clear; it looked like the weather would be fine today as well.
When he returned to the room, Adriana appeared to have just woken up.
"...Ah, Shuuki. Morning."
"Morning, Ado. Go wash your face."
"Okay."
After straightening her slightly disheveled clothes, Adriana left the room to wash up.
Left alone, Shuuki looked around the inn room.
Plank floors, plank walls, plank ceiling. Even the bed was made of wood. The blanket seemed to be made of wool or something similar.
"I bet they don't do things like reforestation here..."
In worlds with vast, undeveloped lands, forestry often involved cutting down trees and simply moving on once an area was cleared. Few places shared the mindset of Japan, where limited land and forest resources must be carefully regenerated and utilized.
Unless the climate was particularly rainy, the regeneration speed of a forest was slow. In the worst-case scenario, cleared land could turn into grassland and eventually a wasteland.
"...Why is that?"
When he mentioned this to Adriana after breakfast, the question came back just as he expected.
"Well, you see, trees—or rather, forests—store water. Also, tree roots hold the soil firmly in place. If you cut them all down..."
"They won't store water anymore, so plants won't grow. Also, the soil will be washed away by rain and the like. As a result, it becomes a wasteland, right?"
"Exactly, Ado. That's it."
"Hmm, that’s serious. I'll have to talk to my father about this first..."
Adriana wore a troubled expression, but she also looked as if she had made a firm decision.
Beyond Battalf, there were towns every twenty to thirty kilometers, and there were rest areas and villages along the highway. The two of them reduced the speed of their automobile to under ten kilometers per hour. As a result, they avoided the severe motion sickness of the first day.
"...But I still feel a little sick."
"...Agreed."
Being shaken all day long eventually took its toll.
"H-hey, Ado."
"...What?"
A pale-faced Shuuki spoke to an equally pale Adriana.
"Can't motion sickness be cured with magic?"
"...I didn't think of that."
"That’s not like you."
"...Sorry."
In her defense, it couldn't be helped that her brain wasn't working at half its usual capacity in this state.
"Let's see..."
"Since motion sickness happens because the semicircular canals go haywire..."
"I just need to use healing magic on the head....'Healing.'...How is it?"
"...I feel refreshed all at once!"
The nauseating weight in his chest vanished, and his vision cleared.
"Really?...'Healing'... Oh, wow, it’s so much better!! You should have realized sooner, Shuuki."
"Don't ask for the impossible."
The day before, Shuuki's motion sickness had been so bad he couldn't even begin to think straight.
"But with this, we can go a bit faster."
They increased their speed to about fifteen kilometers per hour. Although they had to rely on Healing twice more, the two of them managed to reach the town of Naminte before the sun went down.