After the parade concluded, Rigne departed along with the Demon King’s party as they headed back to the Royal Capital. The trio of beastman boys accompanied them as well. I thought they might have stayed a bit longer, but it seemed their classes had already resumed. I made sure to ask Rigne to look after the three of them, and asked the boys to look after Rigne in return.
Malbit and Ruincia also left. Neither of them showed any inclination to depart on their own, so it would be more accurate to say that Kierbit forcibly dragged them away. Since Kierbit mentioned that she wouldn't be able to handle both of them at once if they truly resisted, I suspect they realized that staying any longer would be crossing a line. I sent them off with plenty of souvenirs.
Dos and his family, Progenitor-san, and the others also gradually trickled away. It started to feel a bit lonely. To shake off that melancholy, I threw myself into my work.
I plowed the fields. I didn't expand the ones in the Village of the Great Tree, but I did increase the size of the plots in Village One, Village Two, and Village Three. Village Four has limited space, so there wasn't much I could do there. As for Village Five, it seems they intend to handle things on their own.
Once the fieldwork was done, I moved on to constructing a new reservoir. I had originally planned for the Universal Ship's dock in the south to double as a reservoir, but since I ended up building it as a dry dock that didn't store water, I needed a separate source. I decided to build the new reservoir on the south side.
How big should it be? ... Right, let's go big. A hundred meters square. Ten meters deep in the center. I put my back into it. "Hah!" I couldn't finish it in a single day, so I decided to take it slow.
Spending all my time on work isn't good for the soul. I needed a creative outlet, so I did some woodworking. Heh heh heh. I churned out wooden plates and wooden bowls one after another. I kept the designs simple—no gaudy decorations. I just wanted them to have a smooth, rounded finish. Yes, they turned out quite well. While I’m fully aware this is mostly thanks to the Universal Farming Tool, I'd like to think my own skill has improved at least a little bit. I certainly hope it has. After making about twenty of each, I felt properly refreshed.
Ah, children of Kuro. I’m sorry to disappoint you when you’re looking so expectant, but these aren’t new flying discs. I know, I know. I’ll play with you for a little while. Let me go grab the real balls and flying discs.
The south reservoir was finally finished, but it was taking a long time to fill up. I was drawing water from the first reservoir I’d built, but the distance between them was significant. Well, there's no rush.
Next, I expanded the shrimp pond to the west. This was a request from the Lizardmen who manage the cultivation ponds. I’m just glad to hear the shrimp farming is going so smoothly. I also greeted Kuro's children who were on guard duty there. Good work, everyone.
It wasn't exactly a problem, just a minor event: a creature I’d never seen before had settled into the first reservoir on the west side of the village. Because I’d been diverting water to the south reservoir, the water level had dropped temporarily, revealing the creature's presence.
"It's a Pond Turtle," Lu said, identifying it immediately. "Is it dangerous?" "It's a monster so gentle people call it the Guardian Deity of the Pond." I suppose even the monster world has its outliers. "What do you want to do? I can help you remove it if you want," she offered. "If it's harmless, why bother?" "Well, it's harmless, but... I wonder if it eats slimes?" "...Exactly how many slimes are in this village?" "I don't think anyone knows that better than you do." "It's not like I'm counting them every day. Though their numbers have definitely been increasing."
Wait. A Pond Turtle poked its head out at the edge of the pond. It was massive. Its shell was a rounded, mountain-like dome, about two meters in diameter. Its height was also about two meters. ...It had such gentle eyes. It looked as though it were pleading with me, asking if it could stay. Very well. I'll give you permission to live here.
"The only issue is food. You don't eat slimes, do you?" The turtle nodded. It seemed remarkably intelligent. "Is your staple food fish?" It shook its head. "Oh? Meat, then?" That wasn't it either. What on earth did it eat? Even Lu didn't know. This was a bit of a predicament. For now, I decided to run some tests.
The conclusion: it was an herbivore. It ate the grass growing in the forest. It was particularly fond of cabbage and daikon. For its size, it didn't seem to eat much. I hoped it wasn't just being polite. Fine. In that case, I’ll clear some land around the reservoir and grow some grass specifically for the Pond Turtle. If it ever ran out, it would need a way to tell me... but that might be difficult. How should we stay in touch?
The Pond Turtle made its own suggestion. It would come ashore on the eastern side of the pond, near the Village Head's Mansion. I see. Someone would definitely notice it there. Let's go with that. We can always adjust the plan if problems crop up. "Oh, hold on a second before you go back in." I needed to introduce it to the other villagers first. No? The Pond Turtle gestured for me to wait, so I stood by for a moment. It dove under and returned with something in its mouth.
"What's this?" Lu's reaction was much faster than mine. "Pond Turtle Shell Skin!" she cried, buzzing with excitement. I needed an explanation before she got too carried away. What exactly was shell skin? "Turtle-type shells don't stay the same size forever. To grow, their skin peels off periodically. See? The pattern on these pieces is just a bit smaller than the ones on its current shell." I saw. "And Pond Turtle Shell Skin is so rare it's practically legendary!" "Is it a medicinal ingredient?" "Not just that; it's used as a catalyst for magic and as a material for high-end magic items!" "Huh. Interesting." "Your reaction is way too understated!" "I'm sorry, but... if you look, the Pond Turtle brought us quite a few pieces." There were about twenty of them. How could it be legendary if it just handed them over? "To get Pond Turtle Shell Skin, you have to actually reach the pond where one lives, right?" "I suppose so." "The skin is kept within its territory, which means you'd normally have to fight it." "I thought you said it was a gentle monster?" "Even the gentlest monster gets angry if you invade its territory!" That made sense. "And on top of that, Pond Turtles usually eat their own shed skin to help themselves recover." "So that's why it's considered legendary." "Exactly. If the skin is taken, the turtle usually flees." I see. So, by offering this skin to me, it was demonstrating that it had no hostile intentions. Hahaha. Don't worry about it. As long as you get along with everyone else, that's enough for me. The shell skin must be precious to you, so you should probably take it... Lu?
"Let me have five—no, at least three pieces! Please!" I really didn't want to see my wife prostrating herself like that.
And so, the village gained a new resident. Once a year, the Pond Turtle would shed its shell skin and present several pieces to the village as a gift.