Chapter 73

"Miss, the master carpenter in charge of the Kiba site has arrived."

Melvin brought the lion-headed man he had been working with earlier. The man was over 2 meters tall and had a distinctive mane. He was quite intimidating when he stood in front of us.

If he hit me, I would die instantly.

"It's been a lot of trouble. I'm sorry for visiting so suddenly."

Cherina greeted the lion-headed man with a light nod, as if she felt no fear at all.

"Hey, I'm Grieva. Nice to meet you."

...Huh?

I thought he would have a deep, gruff voice... What?

"I'm sorry for disturbing you during work, but I would like to ask about the recent situation with the timber."

"Sure, sure. Recently, we've had a lot of good raftsmen, and a lot of timber has been flowing in. Many of them seem to be aiming for a quick fortune. Most raftsmen wanted to sell at a high price to the merchants in Sevites, but the world isn't that kind. Long-time trading partners are given preferential treatment, and even though Sevites is a big city, they don't need to buy everything. A lot of it has been flowing down to us. With the oversupply, if it's not sold here, it will just flow out to sea, so the price is dropping day by day. Well, the selling price is also dropping, so it's a mixed bag."

Despite his lion head, the way he explained the situation in a chatty manner was almost comical.

"I see, so the inventory is sufficient?"

"Yes, we have plenty. Miss Cherina, please buy a lot and study it."

Wow... The contrast between his fierce appearance and his demeanor is too much. What a disappointing lion.

"I don't have any plans to use timber at the moment, but if the price is at its lowest, it might be worth considering."

She says it so casually.

"Of course, now is the best time to buy! Right? Right?"

"But if so many raftsmen are coming down, the price will likely continue to drop."

"No, no! If the price drops any further, we won't have enough people to process it! There's even a possibility that the price will rise as we hire more people!"

"Is there demand?"

"The demand for firewood is high, but it's already at a throwaway price. It doesn't make a profit."

"What about construction materials?"

"The economy is a bit sluggish overall. There are a lot of vacant properties, and only a place like yours would build new ones. Please buy a lot for large ships... The baron would be happy, and we would consider it a favor, right, right?"

The disappointing lion, Grieva, bows his head repeatedly. Yeah. It's a shame to be scared and lose out.

"I'll think about it."

She showed that the conversation was over with her attitude, but the disappointing lion didn't back down.

"In the past few days, we've received various orders for timber from the Veriello. Not just the types of timber we handle, but even separated by the number of days they've been dried, as if they're using them for some kind of research."

"..."

"No, I have no intention of prying. I just want to receive the orders as soon as possible, so I can really study."

Oh, I thought he was just a disappointing lion, but his business sense isn't bad at all.

"Hehehe, did you not think I ordered everything here on purpose to make that clear?"

"Huh?"

"You need more training, Grieva. You should make your move at a more appropriate time. For example, it would have been effective if you had brought it up when we first greeted each other."

"Ugh..."

Indeed, I've already shown my weakness.

"I can't promise anything, but I might come to place an order soon. When I do, I expect you to be well-prepared."

"Miss Cherina, you're too much. I really appreciate it... I'll do my best..."

Grieva stopped speaking.

Then Grieva's expression suddenly changed to that of a fierce beast, just like a lion hunting in the wilderness.

"What...?"

"Everyone! Gather! Spirits! Something's wrong!"

"What's going on?"

Grieva, Yarai, and Hagg followed.

"Is something happening?"

I looked around, but all I could see were piles of timber in the wilderness.

"Anyway, let's get closer to the two of them."

I took Cherina's hand and moved to Hagg and Yarai's side. The four guards around Cherina also gathered around us.

"So, what's happening..."

"Shh! Be quiet!"

Then he started singing in a mysterious melody. It's the same as when he uses wave logic... or spirit magic.

"...Animals, coming this way!"

Everyone focused on the direction Yarai pointed. All I could see was the horizon of the wilderness... but wait? What is that?

Straining my eyes, I could see a faint dust cloud rising on the horizon. At first, it was just a dot, but I could tell it was a dust cloud rising into the sky.

It looked familiar. I racked my brain to remember where I had seen it before and finally recalled the scene. Right, it was the Paris-Dakar rally on TV!

The dust cloud looked exactly like the one raised by a large 4WD racing across the horizon. In a world without cars, what could be raising such a dust cloud...

"It... It's a stray! A stray buffalo has appeared!"

One of the workers, who had been lifting logs, shouted from the top of a pile of logs. He must have spotted it from a higher vantage point.

Upon hearing this, all the workers immediately started screaming and running away.

"Quick! Run! We might be able to escape into the city gate!"

Indeed, the city wall was close enough to be within sight, so running along it would not be a long distance to the city gate.

"...It's pointless, the guards have probably already seen it and closed the gate by now."

"Indeed."

Hagg and Yarai remained calm.

Well, these two could probably handle a buffalo or two.

"Cherina, I haven't taken any requests, but is it okay to hunt the buffalo?"

Yarai asked Cherina.

"Huh? Yes... If there's a danger of being attacked, it's fine, especially since strays are dangerous..."

"Alright, I'll hunt it."

He drew a black needle, an estoc as thick as a child's arm, from his back and held it in one hand. I'm amazed he can hold it in one hand.

"What's this, trying to hog it all, you elf?"

"..."

"A buffalo is easy for me to handle alone, you stay back."

"..."

"Go work on some iron, you're in the way."

"What did you say, you twig elf! You go stab some wood!"

"..."

"Who dies first? Dwarf."

"I'll make you a side dish, you!"

Hagg pointed his giant iron hammer at Yarai. The two glared at each other, causing dust to fly.

"Wait, wait, wait, wait! Do you guys understand the situation?! It's dangerous now! Why are you fighting?!"

I don't know how dangerous the buffalo is, but judging from the reactions around me, it must be quite dangerous. The only dangerous animal I know is the wild boar, which is actually very dangerous. Even a machete can't penetrate its thick hide.

...I really thought I was going to die that time.

Japanese readers, if you see a wild boar in the mountains, don't try to fight it. You can't finish it off with punches to the forehead like in a manga. It's really impossible.

So, how big is a buffalo? Is it as big as a cow?

With this question in mind, I looked back at the dust cloud.

The shape was becoming clearer.

It had a long face with two vicious horns. Its neck was low, or its back was high, so its back was visible above its head. Its fur was a mix of black and brown, and it seemed to have shorter fur overall compared to the buffalo I knew. Its ears extended horizontally and bobbed up and down with each step.

It was roughly the animal I had imagined, but something was off.

...What's off?

I couldn't figure it out for a while.

The surrounding screams were making it hard to concentrate. Even the brave Cherina was pale and clinging to me, and the four guards and Melvin, with swords in hand, surrounded her.

By the way, I still hadn't fixed Melvin's "light sword"... I'm sorry.

Hmm. It's coming straight at us.

I decided it would be safer to hide behind the logs, so I hid with Cherina and the guards.

"Akira, don't move from there."

"Got it."

There's no way I can handle it. I've only just started learning wave logic and haven't even built up my basic strength.

The buffalo is getting closer.

It's coming, but it feels off.

The sound of its hooves is gradually getting louder.

...Isn't that strange?

I could see the buffalo a while ago, but I'm only hearing its hooves now...

"Oh."

I realized. I realized.

"Hey... Isn't that thing too big?"

It was easily the size of the city wall.

---

"Evacuate! Evacuate!!"

The master, Grieva, shouted loudly.

"Where should we go!?"

"Just run anywhere!"

"Ah!"

It was a scene of chaos. The commotion was so intense that it made me even more anxious.

"Hey, Yarai, Hagg! Let's run too!"

I shouted to the two from behind the logs. I had to shout to be heard over the buffalo's hooves and the surrounding screams.

"Huh? Where are we going to run now?"

"Where...?"

That's the problem. That's why everyone is panicking. Some were jumping into the river or clinging to logs to float downstream.

"How about that? Let's go downstream on the logs! The city wall is close, and we can get into town once we get past it!"

The area we would end up in is a slum, but that's not the time to worry about it.

"What? We don't have time for that? Look."

I turned my head at Hagg's casual words and saw a huge... no, a gigantic buffalo standing just a little ahead. It was a miracle we weren't run over. I don't want to die for the second time by being run over by an animal.

"Hey, Hagg, why did it stop?"

"Just watch. It's noisy."

As he said, the buffalo started gnawing on the logs.

...Eating logs in one go is just weird!

"Hey, Cherina... Isn't that thing... too big?"

"Yes... It's... big."

"Right?"

"Yes, I think it's about 30% larger than the average size."

...What?

"What?! Just 30%?! The average size is only 30% smaller?!"

"Huh? Yes, that's about right. I've only seen dead ones, but they're that big."

Damn, I underestimated this world.

"Yarai! Hagg! Let's run!"

"It's just a herbivore, there's no need to run."

"...? Run? Why?"

I don't understand what they're saying.

"Why... It's so big! There's nothing we can do!"

"No problem... I'm going!"

Yarai started running and began to chant in a strange rhythm.

"...Spirits, spirits of the wind, lend me your power. Wind, wind, dance and rage around me!"

For some reason, I could clearly understand Yarai's words this time.

And they weren't in his usual broken language.

I think he might have used the local language, which the mysterious translator translated for me.

"Let me hog it all! I'm the iron hammer! The iron hammer that crushes everything! I'll smash everything that stands in my way! I'm the iron hammer!!"

Hagg started saying something like a chuuni disease, snapping his fingers.

I thought it was weird, but as soon as he finished, his muscles bulged even more, and his eyes began to glow fiercely.

It wasn't a metaphor; they were actually glowing. Or maybe his whole body was faintly glowing.

"What's that?!"

"That's wave logic! It's very powerful!"

"Wave logic?!"

"I've never seen wave logic that emits such a powerful force."

"You can tell?"

"Wave logic is said to emit light the more powerful it is."

"I see, Hagg is glowing."

You're glowing too.

Sorry, I just wanted to say it.

If you evaluate or bookmark this, I will be moved to tears with joy.

I'm also looking forward to your comments (comments are accepted in the activity report).