One autumn day, I went looking for the Flying Carpet, but it was nowhere to be found.
I wondered where it could have gone. After wandering around the village head's mansion for a while, I finally discovered it. It was currently serving as a nap bed for the children. I had intended to ask it to help haul some cargo, but that clearly wasn't going to happen.
It couldn't be helped. I called out to a few others instead.
Zabuton's children raised their legs in response. It was a bit of a trek from here—would they be alright with that?
They seemed ready. "Alright then, I’m counting on you."
Of course, I went along with them. Our destination was the forest to the west of the Village of the Great Tree. We wouldn't go as far as the river; our goal was near the Shrimp Pond along the way.
I set off in the mood for a stroll. My companions, Zabuton's children, scattered around me to stay on guard. Because there were quite a few of them, it looked a bit like a swathe of black was moving through the forest with me at the center—at least, from a distance.
Further out than the spiders, Kuro's children had taken up positions to secure the perimeter before I even noticed. When I made eye contact with Elis, Kuroyon's partner, she scolded me for trying to leave without them.
In my defense, I really had intended to invite them. It was just that the High Ogre maids had just given them some big-sized sanma heads, and they looked so happy munching on them that I didn't want to disturb their meal.
Well, that was just an excuse. "My bad. I'll make sure to ask you next time."
Elis seemed satisfied with my apology. She led a few of the wolves and moved out ahead of the group. I thought she would stay by my side, but perhaps she was yielding that spot to the spiders? I felt bad for making her feel like she had to be so considerate. I’d have to make it up to her later.
Still, did Elis even know where we were going? We were just heading straight for now, so it would probably be fine. Shaking off the thought, I continued walking with Zabuton's children.
We eventually arrived near the Shrimp Pond, where Elis and the vanguard were waiting. To a casual observer, there was nothing here, but if you looked closely, you could see vines wrapped around the surrounding trees. These were mountain yam vines.
These yams were my goal. They weren't growing naturally, of course; the Universal Farming Tool had put in the work to grow them here. Some might argue that if I was using the tool anyway, I should just grow them in the village fields. I didn't disagree, but this was the place where I’d first thought of growing mountain yams, so it had become their dedicated production site. It was a bit inconvenient to have to come all the way into the forest to harvest them, but it served as a nice change of pace.
Now, if I wanted Zabuton's children to carry them back, I had to dig them up. Digging up mountain yams isn't particularly hard if you don't mind breaking them, but digging them out whole is quite the challenge. It requires a lot of physical strength and even more patience. Apparently, it isn't uncommon for it to take several hours to unearth a single yam.
Since I used the Universal Farming Tool, I didn't struggle much. Personally, I was of the mind that since they’d be sliced up for cooking anyway, it didn't really matter if they snapped during the harvest. However, the Civil Official Girls cared about how they looked for sales, and for some reason, the High Elves, Mountain Elves, and High Ogre maids all took great pride in seeing perfectly whole yams. Thus, I made sure to be careful.
Not wanting to keep the spiders waiting too long, I briskly dug up about fifty of them. Zabuton's children used their silk to bundle the harvested yams together. I told them they could eat any of the smaller ones, and they swarmed over the bite-sized yams immediately. They vanished in the blink of an eye.
I figured I should probably harvest a few more. I also wanted to give some to Elis and the guards.
"Whoa, Elis, I want to take that one home. Wait a bit longer. The ones over here look smaller."
You can usually tell the size by how the vines look. I started digging. "Wait, what?" This one was actually quite long. "Alright, fine. You and the others can have this one."
Before the spiders shouldered the yams to head back, I asked them to indulge me in a short detour. We headed in the opposite direction of the Shrimp Pond. A short distance away sat a large, flat rock. I had dug out a cellar using that rock as a roof.
To be honest, I used this place to hide a portion of my personal stash of alcohol and fermented foods. If I kept them in the village, they tended to disappear before I knew it—especially the alcohol. The culprit was known to be the Sake Slime. It occasionally left Reward Medals behind as payment, and only a creature with that level of intelligence would think to "buy" the alcohol it stole.
I didn't necessarily mind it having a drink now and then, but it was frustrating to find the shelves empty when I actually wanted a drink myself. It was even worse when the bottles I was trying to age went missing. Hence, this secret storage room outside the village.
While there was a risk of monsters or magic beasts breaking in since it was in the forest, the area was surrounded by Great Tree Village and the three subsidiary villages. Between that and the proximity to the Shrimp Pond, it hadn't been touched so far. It likely fell right within the wolves' patrol routes.
What I wanted today were pickled plums. I had a craving for mountain yam tossed with pickled plum pulp. We had some in the village, but we’d used them all up making ramen recently. It was the pickled plums' fault for being such a perfect match for salt ramen. I needed to replenish the village supply from my stash.
I told the spiders to leave the yams there for a moment, but they looked anxious. "You want to bring them along? I see. Sorry about that. It’s not far, so bear with me. Look, the rock is right over—huh?"
The large, flat rock was there, looking exactly as it always did. However, there was something new standing right next to it. It was a structure with a roof and pillars but no walls. At a glance, it looked like a bus stop, but it clearly wasn't one. Instead of a bench for waiting passengers, there was a bar counter under the roof.
Judging by how clean the wood was, it had been built very recently.
"We just finished it a moment ago."
Three dwarves climbed out from behind the counter to answer my silent question. Why on earth would they build a bar here? I didn't even have to ask to know the answer. I had to admire their restraint for not just breaking into the cellar to take the alcohol, and I was honestly impressed by the sheer effort it took to see me head into the forest, grab lumber, and build an entire bar counter here before I’d even finished my harvest.
I pulled a jar of plum wine that had been aging for quite a while out from under the rock and handed it to them. I warned them not to drink until they were unconscious since we were still in the middle of the woods.
"Are you going to drink it straight? Oh, you've even prepared water for diluting it. And snacks, too?"
I would have loved to join them, but I couldn't keep the spiders waiting any longer. I grabbed the jar of pickled plums I’d come for and prepared to head out. Before leaving, I shared some of the mountain yams and pickled plums with the dwarves as an appetizer.
I called out to Zabuton's children and Kuro's children, and we began the trek back to the village. I was already looking forward to the mountain yam with pickled plum pulp that would be on the table tonight.