Chapter 66

It's time to depart.

The total number of people on the boat is 13: me, Melcia, the captain (hired by Melcia), three crew members, and seven employees who will be responsible for the harvesting.

Despite the size of the boat, there aren't many people on board, so it's not cramped.

"By the way, how do you decide the course of the ship? Is there something like a compass?"

In the cockpit, there are a rudder and a large lever to adjust the thrust of the magic stones, but I don't see anything that looks like a compass.

I'm guiding this time, but I wonder if they don't get lost when someone else is in charge.

"Compass? What's that?"

"It's something used to keep the ship from getting lost during navigation, and it should indicate precise directions."

There's also a way to use a compass by saying, "Let's spin the compass," and rotating the base to determine the direction, but that seems to be a special method.

Rotating a heavy object is dangerous, and it's unlikely to go in the intended direction.

In other words, it doesn't function as a compass.

I'd really like to avoid that.

"What do you need to check directions for? Just use the Anchor."

"Anchor?"

"Yes. When used in a set of two, it shows the direction of the other one. The fuel efficiency is so good that it can be left alone for years, but the response is slow, and it takes some skill to use."

"That's convenient. Could it be used in battle?"

"No, it's not possible. The response is too slow, and the battle would be over by the time the Anchor shows the correct direction. At most, you could use it to mark your way back to town when entering a forest."

"I see."

I thought something like GPS would be useful, but it seems that's not the case.

Is there any other way to use it?

"What happens if one of them breaks?"

"While both are intact, the direction of the paired Anchor glows brightly, but if one is lost, the whole thing turns dark, making it easy to tell."

...Oh.

"Is there a magic tool that can communicate with the island?"

"There's no such thing. If there were, the guild would have used it long ago."

"...Can the Anchor be used for communication?"

"Communicate with the Anchor? How?"

"Just hold one each, and break it when something happens."

"You can only convey that something has happened, right?"

"You could line them up and break them in a specific order to convey more information."

"...I never thought of that! Why didn't you say it sooner? It's a long-distance communication technology that guilds and large trading companies would desperately want, even if it's expensive!"

"I just thought of it. And I just learned about Anchors."

It seems like someone should have thought of it, but apparently, no one did.

Maybe it's because magic is too convenient.

"Well, if you want to use it, you can use it here, or you can tell the guild or something. I'll leave it up to you."

"Really?"

"Compared to medicine, it's a bit iffy as a technology, and it doesn't require any special materials."

While talking, we arrived at our destination.

The distance to the island is a few hundred meters.

"Wait a moment. I have something to do."

I had forgotten that there was something to do before setting up the house.

I need to level the ground where the Zunana grass will be harvested.

It's not necessary for me to harvest, but the employees will be using magic tools, and it's better to have a flat surface.

The work itself is simple: just walk around the island while activating reverse landslide.

If you walk around with the intention of making it flat, it will become flat.

It took less than 30 minutes to make the entire island flat, except for the pond.

Finally, I set up the house and finished the work.

"Alright, the work is done. You can come now."

I returned to the boat and gave instructions to the captain.

"The island is flat... What...?"

"It's just a bit of land leveling. If it were Steve, he could finish it in 20 minutes."

"Steve...? I don't know him. The people moving to the island should board the landing craft."

"Got it. I'll fly, so just board the rest. Those who can fly can do so if they want."

"People don't usually fly..."

It seems I was the only one who could fly, as everyone else, except for the captain and two crew members, boarded the landing craft.

The operation was handled by one crew member.

"Alright, let's go."

At the captain's command, the landing craft rose and smoothly flew toward the island, a few meters above the water.

I was ready to support from below if something happened, but the landing craft arrived safely and landed in front of the house.

"Pretty smooth."

"We practiced a bit during the test. The fuel efficiency is a bit iffy, but we managed to get a feel for it."

"In such a short time?"

The landing craft might be easier to handle than I thought, or the crew member might be skilled.

"Alright, let's test the magic tools."

I took out the magic tools prepared for harvesting Zunana grass and had the employees test them.

They seemed to be a type of earth magic and were quite useful.

Since they are reusable, the employees can use their excess magic power.

The magic tools for transporting the grass on the island also worked perfectly.

Then, we found out that edible plants were growing in the pond on the island.

Thanks to the pond, they escaped the violence of the land leveling.

They were like wakame that grows in fresh water, and they tasted good, so I collected some for the employees' food.

Thirty minutes later.

After placing the food, Anchors, and other necessary items in the house, we gathered on the boat again.

"Alright, is that everything? Did we forget anything?"

"I think we're good."

"Alright, let's go. You guys, do your best."

"Yes!"

Five of the employees will stay on the island to harvest the Zunana grass.

They need to work hard to ensure a stable supply.

I'll pay them a high salary and plan to increase the number of employees to a shift system.

"Alright, see you. Let's go!"

"Got it."

The landing craft used to get here rose again and flew back to the boat, landing quietly.

The boat then returned to the town, taking us back.

By the way, we picked up a foolish boat killer that had hit its head on a sturdy boat and floated by.

We still have enough food, so we might sell it at the store.

It might be fun to try fishing for boat killers.

One week later.

The first contact ship to the island (which we named First Zunana Island) since the settlement set sail.

On board, besides the crew, were me, Melcia, and three new settlers.

The ship arrived at First Zunana Island without any issues.

The purpose was to transport additional personnel, collect the harvested Zunana grass, and gather the wakame (which is called Numeza in this world, but it's essentially wakame).

We arrived at the island with the landing craft and looked at the landscape.

The Zunana grass was as resilient as ever.

The island, which had almost no grass after the land leveling, was now a lush green meadow.

The grass-cutting team seemed to be working hard, and about a quarter of the island had shorter grass, but the rest was still tall and untouched.

"The ship has arrived! Gather!"

The call went out, and the grass-cutting team, armed with mithril scythes, returned to the ship.

They had been cutting the untouched part on the other side of the island.

"Alright, you're all here. It looks like you've only cut about half the island. Was there any delay in the work?"

I had expected that with this number of people, it would take no more than three days to clear the island.

Half of it being untouched was surprising.

"No, we've already cut it multiple times... Over there."

One of the team members pointed to a pile of tall Zunana grass.

"Then, what about that area?"

I pointed to the lush green meadow that looked untouched.

...Could it be?

"We can cut it all day, but it grows back. The areas we cut in the morning are back by evening."

"I don't understand..."

I'd like to see a battle between bamboo, waranabu, and these things.

It might be interesting to see these ecosystem-destroying bio-weapons lose to medicinal herbs.

"Well, having a lot of resources is a good thing. It's a bit creepy, but please keep up the good work."

"Understood! We'll do our best!"

"Also, these are the additional personnel. To be honest, we can never have enough Zunana grass, so we plan to increase the number of employees."

"Wow, more personnel. I'd like to see the day when the Zunana grass on this island is all cut down."

"Well, it will probably grow back in two days. If the Zunana grass isn't enough, we'll use other islands. ...Is there anything else troubling you?"

Even though the residents of this world are generally physically strong, it's not surprising if they get back pain from cutting grass all day.

I have potions prepared, but other issues might arise.

"Ah, there is one thing. The pond..."

"What about the pond? Did it dry up?"

"No, the pond is fine, but the Numeza has been eaten by fish, and the number has significantly decreased... The environment changed suddenly, so the fish population increased. In short, our food supply is in danger."

What?

I was eating it carefully because it was in limited quantity.

Those fish are outrageous. They must be eliminated.

Chapter 5 is planned to be the final chapter, but I won't make it a long, heavy, serious part.

I plan to keep it light and fast-paced until the end.

I wrote it as Chapter 5 because there's a possibility of a second part.