Jigglypuff's Diary

“Ready? Let’s get started then. Oh, but don’t forget, safety first.” [Ryouma]

“GOB!” [Goblins]

It was the morning of the third day inspecting the experimental site.

Yesterday afternoon the others showed me the eastern plateau, so now I’m mobilizing all the goblins from the Dimension Home and giving them axes and saws transformed from Metal Slimes and Iron Slimes to cut down trees and flatten the plateau.

We’ve already checked the logging area, cleared the underbrush, and done some test cutting yesterday, so there shouldn’t be any problems. We’ve secured the perimeter too, so it should be safe. If anything else still comes up, they can contact me through our contract.

“Well then, shall we get going too?” [Ryouma]

After seeing off the goblins, it was time for us humans to lay out the road that will double as a firebreak. Rosenberg-sama stayed behind at the mountain cabin to read through the documents about the lost magic, but other than him, everyone else was with me.

We are going to be constructing a road from the foot of the mountain to the cabin, so it be running along the safer eastern side.

The mountain slope will be running from the northwest to the southeast, and the cabin will be built somewhat above the southern side, so we’re thinking of building a road that curves like an S tilted almost 90 degrees to the left, connecting straight down to the highway at the base.

To make it easier to maintain and more convenient for the wagons and carts, we’ll be making it longer to keep the slope gentle.

Since it’ll be crossing halfway up the mountain from one end to the other, once it’s done, it should look like the road is splitting the mountain into an upper and lower part.

“Alright, let’s begin. Everyone, just like we discussed.” [Ryouma]

“Roger that!” [Everyone]

At that, the operation began. All the preparation was already completed yesterday, so we quickly made progress.

“Let’s start from the lower end of the road.” [Ryouma]

I gave the Soil Slimes their orders and used slime magic to manipulate the earth.

As they dug up the earth and knocked down the trees in the construction zone, the earth loudly shook, but the slimes could blend into the ground, and we were also keeping a good distance from the others, so there’s nothing to worry about when it comes to safety.

As for the fallen trees, the adventurer team will push aside the ones that are in the way for now, then we’ll collect them later and use them for something.

We wouldn’t want to waste anything, after all.

Maybe for timber or firewood, or maybe even that mushroom cultivation via logs that I was thinking about.

Anyway, like that we dug up the ground, compressed it, and secured space for the installation of the retaining walls that will prevent the road from collapsing, leaving behind rocks of various sizes underground.

After that, I sent in a Huge Rock Slimes, and it proceeded to eat the rocks left behind, transforming its body to create the L-shaped retaining walls that would integrate with the foundation.

Each wall would be about 1 meter high and 1.5 meters wide, but it only took about 20 seconds to set one up.

Who knows how long it would’ve taken if I had to rely only on the heavy machinery and manpower from my previous life?

“That’s one installed.” [Ryouma]

“Leave the rest to me, nyaa!” [Miya]

As soon as Miya-san said that that, she jumped straight into the gap between the new wall and the soil. We’ll have to fill those gaps later, but anyway, there were several walls along the walls to serve as drainage.

Miya’s job here is to place burlap sacks as water-permeable mats to keep the soil from washing out through these holes.

While they’re doing that, the slimes and I continued with our work and erected one wall after another.

We didn’t need to dig all that deep, so after repeating this a few times and connecting them, we’ll be able to prevent landslides, and these’ll also be able to double as curb stones.

“I said the same yesterday, but this really is quite something, isn’t it?” [Eleonora]

“It does feel a bit like we’re cutting corners, though.” [Ryouma]

Eleonora-san marveled at the speed and took notes as usual, but really, this rate of construction was only possible because of the use of magic and the slimes, both of which didn’t exist in my previous world.

Everything was going well right now, but there’s a chance problems could crop up later.

…But then again, even if that were to happen, we should be able to figure out the cause and rebuild.

This mountain is an experimental site, after all, so in a sense, this too is just another experiment, just on the civil engineering side.

Anyway, we continued with the constructions like that and eventually…

“Ah, wait a sec.” [Yurdumn]

Yurdum-san called out to me and pointed at a tree just up ahead.

“We’re almost at the cluster of Kareppashi trees.” [Yurdum]

“Those are the ones that store up a lot of water, right?” [Ryouma]

“Yep. The ground’s gonna get pretty soggy too, so we should be careful.” [Yurdum]

I don’t think water will actually gush out because of the construction, but we are knocking down trees, so the soil might become unstable. We should slow down a bit just in case.

“…Come to think of it, we didn’t really get a good look at the Kareppashi trees yesterday, did we?” [Ryouma]

“We had to check the construction area, so that took priority. I collected the cuttings for propagation myself… Wanna take a look now?” [Yurdum]

Yurdum-san ran over to a Kareppashi tree and swung the machete from his belt to cut off a branch, then he came back and handed that branch to me.

When I held it, I realized how how thick and heavy it was.

“It’s still freshly cut, so the water is still inside, but if you leave it for a while, water will begin seeping out. Just like this–‘Exudation’.” [Yurdum]

He casually chanted a spell and magic covered the branch, then water oozed from the cut end and flowed about as strong as a faucet would. You could probably use it to wash your hands.

“It takes time to seep out naturally, so I gave it a little push with magic, but all this water is really just what’s stored in this little branch.” [Yurdum]

“That’s a lot of water for something so small. By the way, what was that spell you used?” [Ryouma]

“That’s a spell to force moisture out of plants. Not super common, but pretty handy for when you need it.

I often use it to secure water when I’m out traveling, while my old man would use it to drain water from weeds and other stuff he’s throwing out to reduce the bulk and make them lighter, and my mom and sister would use it for their hobby of making dried fruit and dried flowers. It uses mana, so it’s not all that great for mass producing stuff, but it’s handy still.” [Yurdum]

Hmm… I usually only use stuff like “Grow” for plants, but I see there’s uses for a spell like this too. Interesting.

While I was thinking that, I heard the dry snap of the branch breaking in Yurdum-san’s hand.

“Whoops.” [Yurdum]

“You okay? No splinters or anything?” [Ryouma]

“It’s cool. Once the water’s out, this wood gets super brittle, so it’ll barely poke you.” [Yurdum]

As he said that, he handed me half of the cleanly snapped branch. When I took it, it crumbled right in my grip. Actually, even before that, the thickness had shrunk to less than a third of what it was before.

When I examined the cross-section, I found that the inside was full of noticeable cavities, like a sponge. Oh, I get it. So while alive, those cavities fill with water and swell up. Looking closely, the trees do seem a bit rounded, like balloons.

“…Yeah, it feels rough to the touch, but definitely nothing sharp enough to pierce the skin.” [Ryouma]

“Right? No poison either, and while it’s not great as timber, it’s a very safe tree.” [Yurdum]

Yeah, something this brittle wouldn’t work for building, and it’d be tough for carving or crafting too, really even as a firewood, it’s so fragile it seems like it would crumble just holding it, so it’d burn up too fast, and you won’t be able to control the heat. Wouldn’t last long either. It’s tricky in its own way.

“Yurdum-san, does the whole tree get this brittle when dried and not just the branches?” [Ryouma]

“I’ve never fully dried a whole one, but it should. Something on your mind?” [Yurdum]

“I was thinking this might be a good material for my ritual tools.” [RYouma]

I was thinking of the “incense sticks” back on Earth. Methods vary by country or region, but the common incense used in Japanese funerals and memorials uses powdered bark from the tabunoki tree called “tabu powder.” They use that for the main base.

If I powder this crumbly Kareppashi wood and mix it with fragrances or grain flour, I should be able to make incense sticks. If I mass produce that, it should make offerings and purification rituals a lot easier and more accessible.

“Anyway, for now, we can consider collecting these Kareppashi trees for that.” [Ryouma]

“They don’t have any other uses anyway.” [Yurdum]

“If the wood works for your rituals, then it might be good to set aside a spot to grow them too.” [Eleonora]

While we’re on that, maybe I should build a sake brewery for the goblins too. I use the liquor they brew as offerings, and the especially clear sake work even better. Man, the more I think, the more the ideas keep on coming.

For now, building this road is top priority, so we should get back to work.

And so, we installed the retaining walls, and while taking care to have a break now and then, in about just three hours, we were already halfway through the stretch.

“Good work, everyone. We’ve finished the section planned for this morning, so let’s take a rest then head back.” [Ryouma]

We could keep this up and finish the road in one day, but there’s no need to rush. It’s better to start the lunch prep a bit earlier and just take it easy.

Come to think of it, how are the goblins doing? Depending on their progress, I could transfer some goblins over here.

“Some refreshments please.” [Sebasu]

While Sebasu-san handed out some refreshments from his item box, I checked on the goblins through our contract and melded our senses.

Well, things are going fairly smooth for them.

The goblins have split into four teams: logger, delimbers, trunk haulers, and branch haulers. The loggers and trunk haulers consisted of the bigger and stronger hobgoblins, while the delimbers and branch haulers consisted of the weaker goblins. SO, they divided themselves according to their strengths.

There were eight goblins not in any of those teams. It was the old-timers that I caught and formed a contract with first. They acted as leaders and directed everything.

Though they weren’t quite as organized as us, quantity was a quality of its own, and they cleared at an astonishing rate. Before long, piles upon piles of logs and branches gathered.

That area is eventually going to be used for farming, but for now, it will serve well as a storage spot for the trees that have been cleared. If they keep this up, we’ll have more space than we know what to do with by evening.