We made preparations to camp for the night at the site Rusty had scorched.
Since the enemies in the immediate area had already been cleared out, there were no concerns. We even managed to secure some food in the process.
"Shall I just teleport everyone back to the village with magic?" Progenitor-san asked.
"I appreciate the offer, but I shouldn't rely on your magic for everything."
The truth was, while I wanted to save his power for true emergencies rather than using him for errands, I also had a more selfish reason: I wanted to fully savor the camping experience.
Cutting a journey short to head home feels like cheating. There was a certain animated movie where the characters went on a jungle adventure but commuted back to their house every day; in my opinion, that’s not an adventure. That’s just playing pretend!
...Well, it was a movie for children, so I suppose it was fine for them.
To be honest, I did feel a tug at my heart to go back and see the children's faces. I even considered the idea of sending Urza back ahead of us. However, if I did that, Ann—whom Urza had grown quite attached to—would have to go with her. One thing would lead to another, and before I knew it, the whole group would probably end up heading home, so I dismissed the thought.
If Urza were exhausted, it would be a different story, but she was currently running around with boundless energy. It really was just my own whim. Perhaps the open air was making me feel liberated. Or maybe, despite my efforts to live a stress-free life, the pressures of village management had been piling up more than I realized.
"I don't suppose you’d mind if I personally made a quick trip back?" Progenitor-san asked.
"I don't mind, but did something happen?"
"It seems we’re running low on seasonings."
Progenitor-san glanced toward the High Ogre Maid Ann and the Devil Race girls, Bulga and Stifano, who were busy preparing the meal. They must have put him up to it. Personally, I preferred the food to be delicious as well, so I gave him my blessing. Not that he really needed my permission, of course.
While the others handled the cooking, I got to work with the Hoe form of the Universal Farming Tool. I tilled the earth and then switched to the Hammer to pack it down, creating a level foundation for the tents. Once the site was ready, Ria led the High Elves in pitching the tents, assisted by Daga the Lizardman and Galf the Beastman. Since these were the same tents we had used at the hot spring, everyone was well-practiced in setting them up. A small village of canvas appeared in no time.
I built an outhouse a short distance away from the sleeping quarters. Proper sanitation is the single greatest hurdle of outdoor living, after all. Though, I might be the only one who truly obsesses over it.
After crafting a table and chairs for our dinner, I continued tilling the scorched earth until the meal was ready.
Lu, Flora, Tia, Granmaria, and Kierbit took turns with Kuro and the wolves to patrol the perimeter. This was a precaution to ensure no Undead from the earlier incident escaped. I was told that in this region, any Undead would be immediately targeted by monsters or magic beasts and couldn't last more than a few days, but it paid to be cautious.
"No Undead detected," Lu reported.
"That's good."
While the Undead were gone, they apparently spotted several types of monsters and magic beasts they had never seen before.
"Kuro-san and the others are usually enough to handle them," Granmaria noted.
"I’d like to see a bit more action myself," Tia added.
"You’ve certainly done more than I have," Lu teased.
Aside from scouting, Lu and her group were also tasked with water duty. They used magic to gather massive spheres of water from the river and floated them back to camp. They looked like giant, liquid slimes. Urza was delighted by the sight. It was a charming scene, but the spheres were enormous—far too much for the barrels we had prepared. When I asked what they intended to do with the excess, they simply splashed it onto the ground nearby. I suppose that worked well enough.
Hakuren was busy looking after Urza. It seemed like they were finally starting to bond, but...
"Don't go over there, you'll get muddy..."
"Beh!"
It looked like they still had a long road ahead of them.
Rusty was off on a separate mission. After clearing the local monsters, I had asked her to head to the Giant Race Dungeon. Her job was to rendezvous with Makura and warn the Giants not to wander into the Earth Rat Tunnels. We had considered asking Progenitor-san to teleport her, but since he was going to need his mana to seal the Earth Rat Holes later, I’d hesitated to ask. Given that he had enough energy to pop back for seasonings, perhaps I could have asked after all—but Rusty had been so eager for the task that I decided it was fine.
A few of Zabuton's children went with her. The sight of one of them riding on the back of Rusty’s dragon form, raising a single leg in a gallant salute toward us as they departed, was truly impressive. Urza was absolutely ecstatic seeing Rusty in her dragon form. Hakuren tried to compete by transforming into a dragon herself, but Urza didn't give her a second glance.
I spent some time comforting a dejected Hakuren.
Then came dinner. Progenitor-san had returned with more than just seasonings; he’d brought a haul of fresh produce from the village. Apples, pears, and mandarins were spread across the table. Urza was thrilled, so I couldn't complain... but then I noticed the alcohol.
"Wait, isn't this from Donovan's secret stash?"
"The Parent Spider... Zabuton-kun gave it to me," Progenitor-san replied smoothly.
I just hoped Donovan wasn't somewhere crying right now. I made sure Urza stayed away from the adults' drinks, telling her to be content with her fruit juice.
Morning came after a peaceful night. Thanks to Kuro and the others keeping watch in shifts, I slept soundly. I woke to find a decent pile of hunted game nearby. They must have taken them down silently; I wondered if they were being extra quiet so as not to disturb our sleep. When I went to pet the affectionate Kuro and Yuki, a long line of wolves quickly formed, stretching out into the distance. I told the ones who were still half-asleep that they didn't need to get up just for a head pat, but none of them left the queue. It took a while to get through them all before breakfast.
After a leisurely meal, Progenitor-san began his work. He was going to collapse the tunnels, but before that, we went down to inspect the black rock at the bottom of the shaft. To be honest, there wasn't much I could do just by looking at it, but since everyone insisted it was an unusual stone, I wanted to see it for myself.
It was indeed a black rock. Deep, pitch black. I wondered if I could carve it into tableware or something. When I mentioned this to Progenitor-san while he was examining the stone, he just laughed.
"If you can actually manage to shave it down, feel free."
Apparently, the material was incredibly hard. I see. I readied the Universal Farming Tool in its Chisel form.
Wait.
What was that?
Oozing from beneath the black rock were several strands of that same Mist Thread that had been attached to Urza. There was no visible end to them; they just writhed like dark tentacles. It was sickening. I switched the tool to its Hoe form and began hacking at the threads. They snapped easily enough, but no matter how many I cut, more just kept seeping out from under the stone. The source had to be directly underneath.
"Progenitor-san, are you finished with your investigation?"
"It was really just a formality."
"Did you learn anything?"
"I've discovered that there is nothing to be discovered."
"Hahaha, fair enough."
"Shall we head back up?"
"Before that, do you mind if I do a little work on this rock? Since it doesn't belong to anyone, I figured it would be fine."
"I suppose so."
A massive black rock with repulsive Mist Threads bleeding out from underneath it... I considered tilling the entire thing into the ground to destroy the source, but I was worried I might not be able to reach deep enough. The threads were genuinely unsettling. So, I decided on a different approach.
Half a day later, the massive black stone had been transformed into a statue of the Creator God. I left the base untouched to serve as a pedestal and carved the rest of the rock's upper mass. I’d worried the black color wouldn't suit the image, but as soon as the carving was complete, the darkness began to fade into a soft gray. It looked like it might eventually turn pure white.
More importantly, the Mist Threads that had been seeping from the base vanished entirely, and the very air in the cavern felt refreshed. Perhaps it was because Progenitor-san had immediately dropped to his knees to pray.
Come to think of it, he’d mentioned there was another black rock further down the tunnel. It likely had Mist Threads of its own. I suggested that we should probably process that one as well before filling in the tunnels. When I said that, Progenitor-san looked at me with a face that was almost tearful, asking if I really intended to bury such a masterpiece.
Even with him making a face like that, my mind was made up. We were burying it. I had a feeling that leaving things like this exposed would only lead to trouble down the line.
"No, no, no! Anything but that!"
It took a considerable amount of effort to persuade Progenitor-san to let me finish the job.