CH 136

Fluffy Kingdom Site – i novels

()x11-14 minutes

After having a hearty dinner and carrying the animals, we returned to the spring hourse.

“…The homes of the flying squirrels and the little monkeys are gone.”

Upon returning to the spring house and putting Sara to bed, I realized the problem I hadn’t considered. While carrying Bell and the others who had been sent back earlier, I pondered over the difficult question. The ball rabbits and the regular rabbits could dig burrows, so there would be no problem for them. If they didn’t like it, I could dig their burrows.

The problem lay with the flying squirrels and the little monkeys. The flying squirrels used to live in tree hollows, but there were no hollows in their forest since Dolly had made all the trees grow. As for the little monkeys, we had caught them while they were up in the trees, so I didn’t even know where they slept.

If I could make a nest box for the flying squirrels, there would be no problem, but what about the little monkeys?

“Dolly, the flying squirrels can make do with a nest box, but do you know how the little monkeys sleep?”

“The little monkeys? Since this continent is warm, they didn’t have a designated dwelling. I think they chose a place that could shelter them from the wind and rain and where they could easily escape.”

If that was the case, there was no need to go through the trouble of making a dwelling, considering that it doesn’t even rain in the Land of Death. But if that’s the case, it would be easy to just prepare a nest box for the flying squirrels. Let’s hurry up and prepare the nest boxes for now.

…I wonder if the flying squirrels have any preferences for the type of wood they like? Well, I don’t know what they would like, so I’ll just make them with different types of wood. Maybe the little monkeys will also go inside, so I’ll make the entrance a bit larger.

I took out the wood I had collected from the forest earlier, cut it into slices with a magic saw, and then drilled holes of appropriate sizes with a hand auger. It’s hard to hollow out the interior if the entrance is too small. Hmm, I wonder if the holes are too big for my hand to fit through? It would have been easier to make and assemble a box.

Huh? I see, if the entrance for the flying squirrels is narrow, they should feel more comfortable, so if I fit the wood into the larger hole… This method is still troublesome. Let’s just hollow it out normally. I quickly finished making six nest boxes.

…It just occurred to me, but if I had asked Dolly to make tree hollows, wouldn’t that have solved all the problems…? It would damage the trees, though, and I wonder if Dolly would dislike it.

“Hey, Dolly, can you interfere with the trees and make tree hollows? If it’s an act you don’t like, you don’t have to do it, but what do you think?”

“Tree hollows, huh? Well, it’s not a good thing to do, but I can make hollows without putting too much burden on the trees. Should I do it?”

It’s not exactly a favorite activity, but it seems like making hollows is fine.

“For now, I’ll try using the nest boxes I made. If the flying squirrels don’t like them, I might ask you to make tree hollows. Is that okay?”

“Yes, understood.”

I’d be happy if the nest boxes I made are to their liking. I moved to the forest and decided to fix the nest boxes to trees that bore fruits.

I put one flying squirrel each into the nest boxes I made and observed their reactions. It would be nice if they just settled in after waking up. As for the rabbits, I dug holes in the ground and put them inside. I wasn’t sure what to do with the little monkeys, so I placed them at the base of a tree. Will this work?

“Sylphy, do you know around what time these little ones wake up?”

“I don’t know. But they should wake up as time goes by.”

Hmm, part of me wants to wait and see until they wake up, but the animals might get scared if I’m nearby, so I’ll just quietly leave them be.

“Understood. Since everyone has been a great help today, I’ll serve some alcohol. There are only two barrels, but which alcohol do you prefer?”

Sylphy and the others cheered in delight. Oh? Nomos has joined us without me noticing. When did he come back?

“Hehe, Yuuta, let’s go with red and white wine today.”

“Got it. I’ll also arrange some snacks.”

I arranged the barrels of red and white wine and some snacks on the table. I bid everyone a good night and left. Bell seemed curious about the alcohol, so I reminded them not to drink it. I’m a bit worried though.

Well, I did mention there’s a risk of going wild, and Sylphy and the others probably wouldn’t want to give alcohol to Bell and the others. We’ve been moving around in the forest today, so they should be able to sleep soundly.

————-

After greeting everyone upon waking up, I became curious and went to check on the animals. I sneaked a peek from behind a rock, but there were no animals in sight.

Hmm, the animals might get scared if the children and I go inside, so it’s probably best not to enter for now until they settle down in this new environment.

“Bell, Rain, Turu, Tamamo, could you go and check on the animals we brought yesterday?”

I could have asked Sylphy to do it, but I want Bell and the others to take on some responsibility. Checking on the animals should be an easy task for them.

“Catch them?”

Bell happily wiggled their hands. I’m starting to feel a bit uneasy.

“No, you don’t have to catch them. I just want you to see how the animals are doing. Can you do that?”

“Got it!” “Kyukyu!” “We’ll go see!” “Kuu kuu!”

Bell and the others flew around, observing the animals. Occasionally, they stopped and nodded their heads. They must have found the animals.

After flying around inside the Fluffy Kingdom for a while, they gathered their heads together and seemed to be discussing something. Did something strange happen? Oh, it looks like they finished their discussion and are coming back.

“How did it go?”

“The flying squirrels were sleeping in their homes.” “Kyu kyu ktu.”

Their homes, meaning they were sleeping in the nest boxes, I suppose. Unless they’ve been waking up and leaving, they’ve accepted the nest boxes as their homes for now. There’s still a possibility that they haven’t woken up yet, so continued observation is necessary.

“The rabbits are trembling inside.” “Kuu kuu kuu.”

Seems like the rabbits are awake. The trembling might be because the environment suddenly changed, and they’re feeling frightened. I’ll have to keep an eye on them as well.

“The monkeys are just sitting quietly on the trees.”

Hmm, it seems the little monkeys are also on guard. It’s only been a night, so it’s understandable that the animals haven’t settled down yet. If they can adapt, it should be comfortable for them since there are no external threats. But whether or not they will truly get used to it is the question.

With an abundance of food and no external threats, they should eventually settle down. I’ll take my time to gradually acclimate them.

Wild animals are said to be unapproachable, but I hope they can at least get used to me being around without running away. Otherwise, I won’t be able to experience their soothing effect.

“I understand. Thank you, everyone.”

I expressed my gratitude and petted them one by one. It has become somewhat of a routine now. After having some lively fun, Sara called out to me.

“Master, how are the animals doing?”

Right, I still haven’t explained it to Sara and the others.

“Well, it seems they’re still cautious. I think it’s better for both me and you not to get too close to the forest until everyone gets more familiar with this place.”

When I mentioned it, Sara and Kikka looked a bit disappointed. Come to think of it, they were fond of ball rabbit, and they enjoyed petting the sleeping rabbity. It’s a shame they can’t get closer.

“Is it okay to watch from afar?”

As long as there isn’t too much human presence, it should be fine. I want the animals to get used to people as much as possible, and Sara and the others are probably less intimidating to the animals than I am. Small animals are said to be good for character development, so I hope they have a positive influence on Sara and the others.

“It’s fine to watch from afar. But let’s give it about a week before doing so. We’ll gradually acclimate them.”

“Understood.”

Sara and Kikka nodded. It might lead to the birth of another muffler, following Turu. Fukuchan and the others can’t be seen or touched, so they can’t enjoy the fluffiness.

“Well then, shall we have breakfast soon?”

Upon hearing the word “breakfast,” Bell and the others, who had been observing the animals, flew over. “We’re hungry!” Bell said, but they shouldn’t be hungry.

Marco often says he’s hungry after training, so maybe they’ve learned that it’s natural to get hungry before a meal? They seem to be picking up strange things.

I set the dishes on the table. Recently, my breakfast has consisted mainly of rice and fish, but today, I’ll try going with meat from the morning. We were quite active yesterday, and dinner was simple, so it should be fine.

While watching the children start their breakfast, I took a bite out of a thick sandwich. It’s quite a luxury to be able to choose the menu based on how I feel in the morning.

By the way, the base is also becoming more developed, so it might be a good idea to reconsider how to expand it. It’s quite messy right now, and we’re planning to add more houses and increase the number of animals and fish. If I don’t confirm it, it might become confusing.

Let’s see… It’s a square with a side length of 100 meters and 25 blocks, forming a large square. In the center, there’s a fountain spring, and there are houses, fields, and a pool.

I’ve connected waterways in the square, swirling counterclockwise from the spring. Below the center block is the forest, which I’m currently calling the Fluffy Kingdom. It has a round pond and a large pond, which will be turned into a fishing pond at the end of the waterways. Then I turned the block in front of the large pond into a rice field.

On the block just above the center, Dolly grew a large spirit tree, so I turned the area around it into a lawn. It has become a favorite spot where I can lie down on the grass under the shade of the large spirit tree.

And beyond the spirit tree, I turned the area into a forest to increase the number of animals. I also plan to release carnivorous animals here. Let’s divide it into areas for herbivores and areas for herbivores and carnivores. One area will be for cute small animals to gather and relax. In the other forest, we’ll gather cute small carnivorous animals, and as for the meat… we’ll increase the number of rats… No, that’s a bit harsh.

Rats are surprisingly cute, so what should I do? If I’m always at the base, it’s possible to provide meat every day, but it’s difficult since I often go out. This will be a future challenge.

What else… What else… Huh? I can’t think of anything else. I thought I had done quite a lot, but it seems that I’ve only used five out of the twenty-five blocks.

Hmm, well, I could rapidly expand with more forests, rice fields, and fields to make use of the land, but I don’t know what will happen if it becomes a sanctuary. It might be better to have a serious discussion about the base with Sylphy and the others. Maybe I should set aside some time for that tonight.

It’s smoother to have some plans in mind rather than developing haphazardly. After breakfast, I’ll have Sara and the others attack the nests, and I’ll go around the base while considering what to do with it.