Chapter 197

Cultivar (4)

First the flock of sparrows, and now moles.

Farming really was difficult. It was infuriating too.

Ludwig seemed to feel the same way, because the moment the sweet potatoes were stolen, he set out to find the moles.

The first method he tried was scattering more sweet potato seeds and grabbing the mole with his bare hands when it came for them.

I asked why he couldn’t simply stab it with his sword, but apparently that would be difficult.

The creature was extremely fast, and since Ludwig couldn’t use mana, he seemed to think his hands would work better.

Yank!

"Aaaaaagh!"

"Holy shit!"

Surprisingly, he succeeded in grabbing the mole with his bare hands.

The problem was that the mole was so strong that it nearly dragged Ludwig underground.

Fortunately, he somehow managed to break free, but he didn’t emerge unscathed.

Dangle—

Judging by the way his arm hung limply, his shoulder appeared to be dislocated.

Still, perhaps he had experienced dislocations before, because he immediately popped it back into place. I gave him an elixir as a precaution.

From now on, we shouldn’t mess with moles.

It seemed better to think of another solution.

***

Title: Don’t Mess with Moles... Ludwig Dislocated His Shoulder

Wild Grylls

(Photo of the traces left by the mole’s theft)

(Photo of Ludwig’s dejected back)

The sparrows stole our grain, so we switched to famine crops... only for the moles to steal those immediately. Absolutely ridiculous.

This mister got pissed and tried catching a mole with his bare hands.

It grabbed his arm in an instant and tried dragging him underground...

I panicked and pulled him free, but his shoulder ended up dislocated. It was a complete mess.

At least the sparrows stay aboveground. These fucking moles live underground, so they’re difficult to catch too.

└ Heavenly Demon: You were not injured, were you?

└ Wild Grylls: I’m fine.

└ SwordMaster: If it pulled hard enough to dislocate that man’s shoulder... it must be incredibly strong. That’s terrifying.

└ First sparrows, now moles, lmao. The forest is telling you not to farm.

└ Grylls, just buy bread from the auction house, lmao.

└ Passing Dwarf: Hey. Come to think of it, what happened to my wheat? Couldn’t you harvest any?

└ Wild Grylls: ? You said barley earlier. Why are you changing your story?

└ Passing Dwarf: I remembered that you can make alcohol from wheat too. Can you send me some?

└ Wild Grylls: I can. I’ll send it later.

└ Passing Dwarf: Thx, thx.

└ That bastard cares more about alcohol than Grylls, lmaooo.

└ Alcoholic dwarf bastard, lmao.

└ Passing Dwarf: He’s always complaining about being in pain, but he survives just fine. I’m the one whose body can’t survive without alcohol.

└ Wild Grylls:(Photo of a severe scar) The fuck did you say?

└ Passing Dwarf: ...Is what I should not say, correct?

└ That instant change in attitude, lmaooo.

└ These two crack me up every time they talk, lmao.

└ Grow Big and Strong: Moles are... troublesome. Your only option is to locate their tunnels and catch them yourself.

└ Wild Grylls: There aren’t any machines or chemicals we could use?

└ Grow Big and Strong: There are poisons, but they might affect Wonmo too.

└ Wild Grylls: Tsk... Understood.

***

In the end, we had no choice but to postpone capturing the moles.

However, we couldn’t offer them crops like we had with the sparrows.

At least the sparrows had brazenly plundered our field through sheer force. The moles had stolen from us like common thieves.

In the former case, I could tremble with rage and plot my revenge for another day.

But the latter meant they regarded me as an easy mark.

I had to stop them somehow.

"Mister."

"...?"

"Let’s dig up this entire field."

Without a trap, catching the moles was impossible.

Therefore, our only option was to dig up the entire field and line its outer surfaces with bricks.

No matter how good moles were at digging, they shouldn’t be able to break through solid stone.

If they managed to break through even that, we would have to find another solution.

In any case, what did that conclusion mean?

It was time for more manual labor.

Thud! Thump!

"Ow, my back."

"#%%#"

I had lost count of how many times I had shoveled today. My back was beginning to ache.

Ludwig grimaced as well, apparently suffering from the same problem.

He normally wore such a stoic expression, so the fact that he looked visibly exhausted showed how difficult the work was.

Still, we can’t give up.

If you couldn’t avoid something, you were supposed to enjoy it...

No. If you couldn’t avoid it, you had to confront it.

I would have loved to enjoy myself if I could. But this wasn’t civilization. It was the wilderness.

The moment I let myself relax, I could lose my lifeline—or my life. I had no choice but to remain prepared at all times.

We dug deeply into the ground and constructed brick walls along every outer surface of the field.

Just in case, we made the walls two layers thick.

Nothing would be able to break through them.

Once all the preparations were complete, we scattered the sweet potato seeds again.

Swoooosh!

Before long, the sweet potato vines began to grow.

Scrape, scrape, scrape!

We could clearly hear a mole scratching against the bricks underground.

Both the sparrows and the moles noticed the crops the instant they grew. It was truly fascinating.

Perhaps they possessed some kind of sensor, or maybe it was because the crops had come from outside the forest.

Whatever the case, we had confirmed that the mole couldn’t penetrate the bricks.

All that remained was the harvest.

Swish!

But first, I had to catch that damned mole.

I approached the place the sound was coming from and thrust the Heavenly Demon’s sword into the ground.

Couldn’t feel it piercing flesh?

Then I stabbed a few more times.

Thrust!

Before long, the sensation of piercing flesh traveled up my hand.

At the same moment, the sound of the mole scratching the bricks stopped completely.

It had probably been so focused on digging through the bricks that it failed to notice the sword entering the ground.

Let’s see what your ugly mug looks like.

I picked up a shovel and began digging. I was curious about the mole’s appearance.

Ludwig seemed to feel the same way. Instead of asking questions, he picked up his shovel and helped me.

"...Is this really a mole?"

"..."

When we pulled the dead mole out of the ground, its size was terrifying.

As far as I knew, an ordinary mole was about the size of two fists placed together.

This thing was nothing like that.

It was roughly the size of a medium-sized dog, similar to the golden frog I had caught in the beginning.

What had it been eating to grow this large?

First, I needed photographic evidence.

"Please hold this."

I handed the giant mole to Ludwig and took a picture.

When Ludwig vaguely imitated a pose for the camera, I gave him a thumbs-up.

***

Title: Caught the Mole

Wild Grylls

(Photo of Ludwig holding the giant mole and giving a thumbs-up)

Are moles normally that big?

└ Heavenly Demon: How large are moles ordinarily?

└ SwordMaster: As far as I know, they are extremely small. That creature is the abnormal one.

└ What kind of mole is as big as a human torso? Lmaooo.

└ Just imagining that thing burrowing beneath the ground is hilarious, lmao.

└ At some point, Grylls’s posts turned into a farmer’s diary, lmao.

└ Then what does that make Ludwig?

└ A serf?

└ Don’tAbandonTheHero: Sir Ludwig is not a serf!

└ The admin is throwing a tantrum, lmao.

└ Admin, what have you been doing lately?

└ Don’tAbandonTheHero: I’m currently heading to El Dorado’s capital! It feels like something major is about to happen!

└ Isn’t El Dorado’s capital dangerous right now?

└ Yeah. Paladins are roaming everywhere. It’s no joke.

└ Didn’t they say several people had already been taken away?

└ You should probably avoid going there if you can.

Now that we had caught the pest, it was time to harvest the sweet potatoes.

As for the mole... I figured Wonmo would happily eat it.

There was a chance it might have parasites, though, so I should give him an elixir afterward.

"All right. One, two!"

Yank!

When we pulled on the sweet potato vines, enormous sweet potatoes came tumbling out of the ground.

Would you believe that each one was as thick as my forearm?

This was the very definition of a bumper crop. It seemed we wouldn’t have to worry about food for a while.

We’ll have to eat them all before winter arrives.

Grow Big and Strong had warned me about something.

Sweet potatoes were extremely vulnerable to cold.

Unlike potatoes, they couldn’t withstand low temperatures and often rotted. That remained true even after they were harvested.

We would have to finish them before winter arrived, or immediately afterward.

I should roast a few of them.

Few things were as delicious as roasted sweet potatoes in winter.

We already had a fireplace inside the cave, so it should be easy enough.

I brushed the soil off the sweet potatoes and stored them in sacks.

I wanted to plant something else too, but I was exhausted.

"Finished."

"You’re done? Then come help me."

"Want rest."

"Are you going to keep talking back to me?"

"Bad man. Very bad man."

The work still had to be done.

Using the logs Kkobong had prepared, I began constructing the ceiling.

It wasn’t as simple as placing the logs on top. We had to hammer them into place as well.

The dwarf hadn’t called it difficult for no reason.

Still, it had to be done.

The auction house has plenty of nails.

Surprisingly, nails were incredibly expensive.

It was probably because factories hadn’t been introduced yet, meaning every nail had to be made by hand.

Fortunately, I had plenty of money, so I could purchase as many as we needed.

I would have liked to make the nails myself, but... there wasn’t enough time.

Come to think of it, didn’t the dwarf say that if I wanted to forge a sword by hand, I should start by making nails?

I decided to leave that for another time.

Finishing the ceiling and roof came first.

Ludwig, Kkobong, and even Largo helped me.

Someone might wonder how Largo, a giraffe, could possibly assist with construction.

"Largo, could you lift that timber for me?"

"Groo."

Surprisingly, he was enormously helpful.

He served as a natural crane.

That was possible only because giraffes were inherently so strong.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

We hammered the timber firmly into place, added another piece, and repeated the process.

If the ceiling collapsed, it would cause a catastrophe, so I made certain to build it sturdily.

The same applied to the roof.

I had never imagined that building something at an angle could be so difficult.

"It’s finished!"

I was glad I hadn’t been working alone.

Looking at the completed shelter, I couldn’t hide my satisfaction.

To be honest, it wasn’t particularly attractive. It was little more than a large rectangular structure.

But who cared about appearance in the wilderness?

Practicality was all that mattered.

"Do you like it?"

"Ooh! Good!"

"Groo."

Once I laid mats across the floor, both Kkobong and Largo seemed pleased.

I taught Kkobong how to use the fireplace in preparation for winter.

Since Kkobong knew how terrifying winter could be, he listened closely to my explanation.

"Come to think of it, how did you survive winter before? You didn’t even know how to start a fire."

"Just endured."

"Uh... Right."

His body wasn’t merely somewhat sturdy.

It was absurdly sturdy.

Otherwise, he would have died long ago.

At least he would be able to spend the coming winter somewhere warm.

After carefully inspecting the shelter for defects, I went outside.

Perhaps because we had spent the entire day laboring, evening was already approaching.

***

[Wild Grylls: Here’s the wheat we harvested today. By the way, can you send me some cooking oil?]

[Passing Dwarf: I can. What are you planning to make with it?]

[Wild Grylls: Something. And if you send the barley seeds, I’ll harvest them immediately and send you the barley.]

[Passing Dwarf: Okay.]

***

I completed another trade with the dwarf.

I agreed to send him wheat and barley, while he gave me cooking oil.

There was something I wanted to make with it.

"Mister, please peel these sweet potatoes. I need to prepare Wonmo’s dinner."

"#%#%"

I asked Ludwig to peel the sweet potatoes.

Meanwhile, I fed my animal companions and began preparing our own meal.

Since we had harvested sweet potatoes today, I planned to make something special.

Honey should work as a substitute, right?

I was making matang—candied sweet potatoes.

Since I didn’t have sugar, I used honey instead.

First, I cut the sweet potatoes into bite-sized pieces and thoroughly removed the moisture.

Then I fried them in the oil I had received from the dwarf.

Once they appeared golden brown, I removed them and wiped the pan clean.

Normally, I would heat rice syrup or sugar in the pan, but I substituted honey.

As long as it’s sweet, it shouldn’t matter, right?

One of the most common ways to ruin a dish was to alter the recipe however you pleased.

Still, honey tasted similar enough, so wouldn’t it be fine?

I thoroughly coated the fried sweet potatoes in honey.

And thus, my Forest of Four Seasons–style candied sweet potatoes were complete.

"All right. Let’s eat."

"#@%"

Eating nothing but candied sweet potatoes would quickly become tiresome, so I also prepared some fish.

Now we didn’t have to eat only a main dish. We even had side dishes.

I would have liked to harvest some rice too, but I decided to leave that for another time.

"It’s good, isn’t it?"

Ludwig nodded in response.

Perhaps because the candied sweet potatoes had been made with honey from the Forest of Four Seasons, the speed at which his fingers moved was no joke.

He might eat them all if I wasn’t careful, so I didn’t stop moving my chopsticks either.

"Wonmo, try this."

"Kyuuu!"

"Kkobong, Largo, you two have some too."

"Ooh!"

From time to time, I fed some of the candied sweet potatoes to my animal companions.

And then...

"Kyuaaaa!"

"One more! One more!"

"Grooooo!"

"You bastards! This is our dinner! Get away from the plate!"

War broke out.

That day, I learned what happened when sweetness was combined with even more sweetness.

It seemed I should avoid making candied sweet potatoes whenever possible.

Someone once said that if you couldn’t avoid something, you should enjoy it.

"Hey, human! Stop stuffing your face by yourself and help me!"

I couldn’t enjoy this at all.