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Volume 2 Chapter 29 - An Overnight Fort Anyone Can Build?

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“Rebecca-san. What is this?” (Iseria)

“Umm... Is it a fort?” (Rebecca)

Rebecca and Iseria were stunned as they looked up at the huge wooden wall, perhaps four meters high, towering in front of them.

The wooden wall was made from the part of the trunk that was close to the bark of a treant, and looked like a log house with its row of logs.

The two managed to regain their composure, put the treants they had brought on the spot, and started walking along the wall. Then, along the square-shaped wall that was about 10 meters wide on each side, they found what appeared to be an entrance in a part of it.

“I'm kind of scared to go inside. I think Len-nii is there though.” (Rebecca)

“It’ll be okay, it should be.” (Iseria)

“No, Iseria-san. Please be sure about that.” (Rebecca)

“That’s impossible.” (Iseria)

The two of them balked at the strange sight, but proceeded towards the entrance.

Judging by their strained expressions, it was clear that they were reluctant, but as expected, there was no way they couldn't go inside in this situation.

It was certain that Allen was here, and they both understood that he was probably the one who constructed the scene in front of them, but the sight of a fort-like structure that suddenly appeared in the middle of a forest was so unbelievable that they were afraid to look inside.

While pressed against the wall, the two of them peeked out their faces. The sight that unfolded there took their breath away.

Inside was a room. 10 meters in all four directions, its entire floor covered with wooden boards, and one section of it has tables and chairs made from logs placed there.

Iseria, who was standing as she peeked inside, lowered her gaze, and Rebecca, who was crouching down as she peeked inside, looked up. The two looked at each other and silently spoke, ‘What is, this?’ that doubt.

“You guys, what’re you doing?” (Allen)

““HYAH!!”” (Rebecca & Iseria)

Hearing a voice from behind, Rebecca and Iseria jumped up like startled cats. The two then ran away with the same gesture as if they were twins, and watching them, Allen, the person who called out to them himself, tilted his head and laughed.

Seeing that, Rebecca regained her senses and approached Allen.

“Len-nii, what is this!?” (Rebecca)

“Eh, a rest area?” (Allen)

“This isn't on the level of a rest area! It's a fort, a fort. What kind of thing are you building? Or rather, how did you even build this?!” (Rebecca)

“No, this isn't a grand thing like a fort. It looks splendid from the outside, but it's kinda half papier mâché. You'll understand once you get inside.” (Allen)

Saying that, Allen walked inside, and Rebecca and Iseria followed him inside.

Unlike the log-like wall outside, the wall surface inside looked like planks that were cut straight, and Allen approached it and tapped it.

“This is just a bunch of leftover scraps that I stuck on the ground and lined up. I doubled it up to make it harder to fall over, but I didn't think about durability at all, so it's almost like a blinder. By the way, the floor is also just scraps I laid out.” (Allen)

“Blinder?” (Iseria)

“Just scraps you laid out? There’s almost no bumps on the floor, you know.” (Rebecca)

The way Allen said it was too much for her that Rebecca tilted her head further and further, and when she slid her feet to check the bumps on the floor, she was surprised to find that the joint was smooth.

Seeing the two’s reactions, Allen grinned.

“Well, there's a trick to that. By the way, if you intentionally put your weight near the joint or step on it as hard as you can, it will probably slip off, so don't do it.” (Allen)

“There’s no way I’m that heavy. Len-nii, you have no delicacy! Even Iseria-san is lighter than me. Even though she's taller than me...” (Rebecca)

“No, I think what you said is lacking delicacy even more. Or rather, don't get depressed by the things you said yourself.” (Allen)

‘Zuun,’ a dark shadow shrouded over Rebecca, and looking at her, Allen smiled wryly.

He also noticed Iseria blushing in embarrassment at the edge of his vision, but he didn't know what to say to her, so he decided to ignore her.

“Well, Rebecca eats a lot after all. And if you think of it as stocking up on nutrients for a long trip, isn't that the right move for a peddler?” (Allen)

“That's right, as a peddler... wait, as if I'm like that! What the heck’s a stockpile? I'm normal. I might have more muscles than a normal girl, but it's within an acceptable range. Rather, there are even people who say it’s a good thing...” (Rebecca)

“Whoa, whoa. Just calm down.” (Allen)

“What? Is Len-nii saying that I have muscles like a horse?” (Rebecca)

“No, I didn't say anything like that. What do you want me to do?” (Allen)

* (T/N: どうどう - whoa! (command used to stop or quieten down a horse, etc.). That’s the dictionary entry. I translated it as ‘whoa, whoa’.)

Rebecca had developed a complex about the fact that she had gained enough muscle that it was barely visible while working as a peddler and an adventurer, and her rampage was unstoppable.

Looking up at the sky at the situation where no words of any kind could go through her at all, Allen remembered the divine punishment that would occur if he interfered with Rebecca when she was in the god state of thinking about something important.

“Hey, Len-nii! Are you listening properly?” (Rebecca)

“I am.” (Allen)

‘Fuu,’ Allen let out a small breath as he made up his mind and listened to Rebecca's words. Because he knew from experience that if he shut up and listened seriously, Rebecca would eventually regain her senses.

As Rebecca rampaged and Allen listened with a serious but slightly amused look on his face, Iseria watched from a distance with a hint of envy flickering on her face.

.

.

.

“So this is all made from treant scraps, and Len-nii built it randomly, right?” (Rebecca)

“Yeah. Isn’t that what I’ve been saying from the beginning?” (Allen)

“That's, amazing.” (Rebecca)

After Rebecca calmed down, Rebecca and Iseria looked around the interior again before asking for Allen's explanation.

“But why did you build this thing?” (Rebecca)

“No, at first I just wanted to set up the chairs and tables over there so it’d be easier to take a break, but you never came back so I had a lot of extra time, you see. And having so much scrap material left over felt like it was a waste anyway.” (Allen)

Allen answered Rebecca's question while pointing to the table and chairs placed in a corner of the room.

What Iseria needed was treant magic stones, and what Rebecca needed was treant building materials. At first glance, it may seem like an economical deal, but in reality, it was not.

After all, even though it was called building materials, not all of the treant trunks were used.

What was processed into building materials was the center of the trunk of the treants, and parts such as the outside layer and the part of the trunk near the branches had to be cut to make the length uniform, generating a large amount of scrap material.

Allen didn't have time to worry about them while he was dismantling treants, so he threw them far away so that they wouldn't get in the way, but that place became a mountain of treant scraps.

The two returned late, and there was still time left over after building a simple table and chairs for them to rest in with those scraps, so Allen, thinking that they were going to spend a few more days here anyway, showed a spirit of unwastefulness, which resulted in the current situation.

“But, even though we will be working with Iseria-san on her investigation for the next two or three days, isn’t this too much? I feel like it’s so much that it shouldn’t be possible though.” (Rebecca)

Saying that, Rebecca looked at Allen with some suspicion, but Allen didn't care at all, and in fact, he had expected her to say something like that, so he replied with a smile.

“Then, how about you try building one too, Rebecca?” (Allen)

“Heh? Can I even do it?” (Rebecca)

“Ou. Being a peddler and an adventurer, you often use the earth magic Dig, right?” (Allen)

“Un.” (Rebecca)

As he said that, Allen and Rebecca left the room, and Iseria followed after them.

Then, they stopped at a pile of treant bark and trunks about five meters long, shaped like a semicircle stretched out horizontally at one corner of the outside wall.

“Then, Rebecca. Use Dig here. Dig in the shape of this opening.” (Allen)

“Eeh, I don't normally do that. Dig is for things like putting out fires and cleaning up after picking flowers.” (Rebecca)

“Well, it doesn't matter if it's a little big, so give it a try. The depth should be about 1 meter.” (Allen)

“Okay. Dig.” (Rebecca)

At Allen's urging, Rebecca pointed her hand toward the ground and casted the spell. When she did, the soil on the ground swelled up, creating a semicircular depression in the center, and surrounding it was a small mountain of dirt that had been packed from that hole.

“Oh, you're pretty good.” (Allen)

“Eh, really?” (Rebecca)

“Yeah. We need it deeper, so keep doing it.” (Allen)

“Okay. Dig.” (Rebecca)

Rebecca kept digging the hole with magic while looking happy after being praised by Allen.

This magic called Dig was known as a very useful magic for traveling. The effect was simply to dig a hole with magic, just as Rebecca did, but digging a hole was very important when camping.

This magic could be used as a trap and also contributes to hygiene, so it could be said that this magic was indispensable for adventurers and peddlers.

“Alright, this is about it. Now, shove this into this hole. Try it.” (Allen)

“Un.” (Rebecca)

Rebecca easily picked up a 5 meter piece of treant scrap and shoved it into the hole.

It entered the 1 meter deep hole, but the hole was a little wide, so the scrap wobbled, so Allen supported it as he stuffed leftover soil into the gap in the hole and stomped on it. That alone stabilized the scrap considerably and made it look like a pillar.

“Ooh, it really is that easy.” (Rebecca)

“Right? After that, all you have to do is repeat this and the wall will be done.” (Allen)

“Dig. Hmm, this might be a pretty good way to control magic.” (Iseria)

Iseria expressed her impressions as she created a hole with much higher precision than the one Rebecca made. Because it was more difficult than she expected to dig a hole in the shape she wanted.

Iseria picked up a scrap, shoved it into the hole, filled the gaps with soil, and stomped on it, just like Allen did earlier. Seeing this, Allen cracked his neck and let out a breath.

“Then I'll go make some food. You two can just keep that up and make a small hut here.” (Allen)

“Eeh. Why?” (Rebecca)

“I thought you might want to take a bath and refresh yourself, so you should build a hut that can block the view, but if you don’t need it, that’s fine.” (Allen)

“Yosh, Iseria-san. Let's build it strong so that Len-nii can't peep through it!” (Rebecca)

“Like I would!” (Allen)

The two of them made happy faces and laughed at Allen's retort. Then, the two of them chatted happily as they started erecting pillars, and after confirming this, Allen also started preparing for the midnight meal.

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(T/N: my priority is to make sure the story can be understood, sorry if the talking styles and the likes that are too hard to translate are inaccurate.)

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