Chapter 73

Ubooo……

Wonn woooooooon……

"……Huh!! Damn!! What time is it now!?"

I immediately grabbed the clock I had placed by my pillow and checked the time.

"It's only a little past 6... I was startled..."

In the town of Bezart, the church rings the bell around 6 in the morning, so for many residents, it serves as an alarm clock.

I used to wake up to the sound of the bell, but of course, there’s no one to ring a bell in the Ruru Forest.

Not to mention, there isn’t even a bell.

If I oversleep, I might endanger Alb and the others who come into the forest with high spirits. I feel a bit regretful, as I’ve taken on a significant responsibility in exchange for money.

“Hmm… This wristwatch doesn’t have an alarm function, does it?”

Even with a faint hope, I examined the watch from various angles but quickly realized it had no such convenient feature. I muttered to myself that if I don’t go to bed early and wake up early, it could lead to someone’s death, and then started preparing breakfast.

They won’t arrive until around 9 or 10 in the morning at the earliest.

So, I can take about an hour to have breakfast leisurely before starting the hunt.

After gathering the remaining branches from yesterday, I threw them into the fire pit I had made at the entrance of the hole and lit them with a finger match.

I sprinkled salt on the oak meat (premium) that I had cooked last night and reheated it.

It’s summer, but since it was cooked once, it should be fine for half a day, right? ... This is quite a casual approach to cooking.

While warming it up, I thought that my magic power would also recover to some extent by the time the hunt started, and I continued with my plan to improve the hole.

By the way, I had already made some expansions before going to bed yesterday.

I had expanded the space of the hole by about a meter to the back and leveled the uneven ground.

It seems that using [Earth Magic] to create a hole doesn’t make the soil disappear but rather compresses it.

Evidence of this is that the walls are hard enough that they don’t easily collapse. So, creating a hole also solidifies the surroundings, making it a two-for-one deal.

However, it made my back and buttocks hurt when I slept.

I can lay down leaves or a Small Wolf’s skin to solve this problem gradually.

So, what else do I need to do?

The current hole is about 1 meter high and 3 meters deep.

This is enough to live in, but...

（It’s a bit dull, so maybe I should make some storage space?）

With that thought, I continued to expand the hole.

However, digging further back is dangerous.

I haven’t stepped on the other side of the river yet, so I have no idea what the terrain is like behind this cliff.

If I dig through, it would be pointless, so I decided to make the hole T-shaped.

I expanded it to the left and right at the back.

Since the cliff extends along the river, this should be fine.

『Form a hole. Form a hole.』

Bokoboko...

Bokoboko...

This should improve safety.

I can lie down while looking at the entrance, and since the inside of the hole is not very high, a large orc shouldn’t be able to easily get to the back.

I think I’ll use the other hole as a storage area for equipment.

（While I’m at it, I might as well make this too...）

『Form a small hole.』

Bok...

A hole about 30 cm wide and deep appeared in the wall.

I’ll use this to store small items like salt, health pills, and soap, acting as a shelf.

It’s a bit oval and hard to place things, but it can’t be helped.

If I were to order it to be square, it would require [Earth Magic] level 3, so I can’t use that much magic power just for a shelf.

I failed with the cutting board yesterday!

So, what else...

The idea of a toilet pops into my head, but there’s no toilet in the hunting grounds to begin with.

My life in this different world has mostly involved using the great outdoors, and since there’s a river in front of me, I’ll continue to release my waste into nature.

It should be good for this world.

So, the only thing left is a bath, right?

It’s the most desired and challenging wish right now.

（Hmm...）

Looking around, it’s clear that building a bath inside this hole is not practical.

How would I even bring water from the river to this 3-meter-high hole?

If I were to build one, it would have to be outside, an open-air bath.

Thinking about it, the first thing that comes to mind is a goemon bath.

Not exactly, but a drum can bath or something similar where you can fit inside and light a fire from below.

There are burnable materials everywhere, and if I could generate iron...

Thinking this, I immediately tried it.

“Iron, generate!”

—But it didn’t work.

No blue-purple mist appeared, and it ended in failure.

I can generate stones with [Earth Magic], but not iron. There are a few reasons I can think of, but I’m not sure.

Iron is called iron ore, and it’s a matter of the amount contained in the soil?

Or is it the level of [Earth Magic]?

It could also be that it’s beyond the scope of what [Earth Magic] can do.

If I don’t know the reason, I can’t force it by allocating skill points.

So, what other methods are there...

I think deeply, as usual.

（The problem is whether I can effectively use the river water, heat it properly, and create an environment where monsters can’t enter.

If I get [Water Magic], it would lower the barrier to making a bath, but I don’t want to use points to get it just to secure water, and I don’t know how much magic power is needed to generate the water for a bath. Getting [Water Magic] is not an option right now.

So, should I use [Earth Magic] to build a stone wall by the river that monsters can’t enter? No, that won’t work. Once built, I can’t drain the water, and if I make a gap to drain it, I can’t heat the water.

Moreover, it’s inefficient to use stone pillars to enter and exit naked every time, and the stone pillars would eventually fill the bath area...

Then, what if I bring the river water into the inside of the cliff where I’ve dug the hole? By connecting the base and the bath area with a hole and building up the entrance with soil, I should be able to block the water from entering and exiting.

It’s easy to remove the soil, but the bath would be muddy... If I use stones, it might only be a one-time thing, and it’s a bit wasteful. If I’m going to enter, I want to do so to clean my body.

So, what if I build it in the open grassland outside? That way, I can ensure safety, and since no one is around, I don’t need to cover the bath. But it’s about 1 km away... It’s too far to go to the bath. Moreover, if I encounter monsters on the way, I’ll end up sweating after getting out of the bath, which is not ideal.

Then, should I compromise and make a cold bath for the summer? No, no, if that’s the case, I might as well jump into the river right now. Ah, I could use the Rig Spider’s sticky threads...）

With my mind preoccupied with the bath, I didn’t notice that the oak meat I was cooking had turned black and burnt. It was only 30 minutes later that I realized it.