Chapter 16

I will create a hidden place.

While performing the [Magic Power Injection] on the servant beast egg, I was thinking.

I was recalling the time when I was scolded by my mother the other day.

I am still a child and, needless to say, under my parents' protection.

Therefore, basically, it is not right to spend money freely as I please without my parents' permission.

However, there was a bigger issue.

It lies in the fact that the customs around here are rather old-fashioned.

The head of the household, the father, holds all the decision-making power.

This is no exception even in the poor farming family I was born into.

The father's decisions are absolute, and the eldest son is supposed to inherit them.

In a sense, the mother and children are the property of the head of the household, the father, and are in a subordinate position.

And I am not the eldest son in this household.

I cannot inherit the family.

The younger sons of farming families have no choice but to work as the hands and feet of their father or older brother for their entire lives or try to become independent.

Of course, I will end up the same way.

The quickest way to make a name for myself is to join the army and achieve some merit in battle.

Since I might be forcibly taken to war anyway, I started saving money to get a good weapon.

However, if I think about it, there is a possibility that when I have saved a considerable amount of money, it might be confiscated with the claim that "this is our family's money."

So, I thought it might be a good idea to start thinking about my future after independence now.

"Alright, they say good things come to those who act quickly."

And so, I immediately began to take action.

※ ※ ※

The village where I was born is surrounded by a wooden fence.

Outside of it, a forest spreads.

There are no mountains, and it is basically flat land.

From my memories of my previous life, I had a strong image of forests being on mountains, but apparently, that is not the case here.

This village is said to have started as a pioneer village, where the dense forest was cleared to create farmland.

At that time, the government was stable.

They received a large number of people from outside to help cut down the trees and successfully create farmland.

However, as times changed, so did the situation.

Now, it is an era of constant warfare, and the area of farmland has decreased compared to before, and the village is barely maintaining its current state.

They are trying to prevent the forest from spreading while maintaining their lives.

On the other hand, the land outside the village is currently unowned, and it is said that if you clear it, it will be recognized as your land.

I went to the forest outside the village and looked around to see where I could clear the land.

"Let's try making a hideout around here for now."

I chose a spot near a small stream that flows through the forest.

After making my way through the tall trees and grass, I found a slightly open area.

I decided to build a house here.

"Body Reinforcement"

I muttered the spell to reinforce my entire body.

Even though I am still a child, I can exert considerable strength by using magic to reinforce my body.

Using that strength, I started to wrap ropes around the surrounding trees.

I tied the ropes to distant trees, pulling the trees that were in the way of where I planned to build the house.

I pulled the ropes with my reinforced strength, pulling the trees.

Then, I squatted down at the base of the trees and sent magic power into the ground.

The trees that had grown in the forest had deep roots spreading in various directions.

I turned all the soil where the roots extended into soft, fluffy soil.

The trees, which had firmly rooted in the ground, began to collapse from the base.

Furthermore, the ropes tied to pull them slowly but surely made a creaking sound as the trees tilted.

Finally, with a loud thud, the trees fell to the ground.

In this way, I pulled out the trees, roots and all, from the land where I planned to build.

※ ※ ※

"Land Leveling"

The space that opened up in the forest after the trees fell.

I moved the fallen trees to the side and used another spell.

It is the same spell used to level the land for farming, with the same name.

A 10-meter square of land instantly became flat.

The roots left in the soil, various weeds growing in the soil, and the stones and rocks scattered around were all gathered and turned into a flat surface.

I can't help but be impressed by how convenient this spell is.

I repeated this land leveling process several times, changing the location each time, and secured a spacious area.

"Well, what should I do from here?"

So far, everything has gone smoothly.

However, I am now thinking about how to proceed with the next task.

I have built a shed before.

Based on that, building a hideout should be sufficient.

However, mass-producing bricks again is not very interesting.

Well, whether it is interesting or not is a different matter, but it is quite a lot of work.

My bricks are clean rectangles, and stacking them like building blocks can create a fairly solid structure.

However, creating a large number of bricks with magic and stacking them to build a structure is very difficult.

I would prefer a spell that can create a building in one go.

However, I remember fainting from exhaustion when I ran out of magic power in the past, so I can't take any risks.

After all, I am not in the backyard of my family's house but in the forest outside the village.

"Right. I don't necessarily need to build a house..."

I was thinking hard for a while, but suddenly my mind became clear.

Reflecting on it, the reason I failed to build a shed before was probably because I tried to create it all at once.

Based on my hypothesis, the amount of magic power required for a spell is related to the volume or capacity of what you are creating.

In other words, when trying to create a building with a single spell, the internal space also consumes magic power.

Naturally, in the case of a house or shed, the interior is hollow, and it is a waste of magic power to create that space.

So, the solution is simple.

Instead of creating the entire building at once, I should create it wall by wall.

This simple change should significantly reduce the consumption of magic power.

I put my hand on the ground and closed my eyes.

I repeated deep breathing to refine the magic power within me.

While doing so, I visualized the completed structure in my mind.

The basic idea is to use the bricks I have made before as a base.

I imagined stacking them neatly to form a single wall.

To secure the bricks, I prepared mortar to place between them, making the structure more stable.

The moment my visualization was complete, I infused the magic power within me into the soil and activated the spell.

In this way, I successfully created a hideout in the forest in an extremely short time.

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