Chapter 183: Emi's Superhuman Deforestation Act

* * *

Now then......

A clear blue sky on an early summer morning.

The myogomyogoshugo had not yet begun singing, and all that could be heard were the sounds of the trees growing in the Zamago Forest, the leaves of the large nishakasha trees rubbing against each other in the wind.

The rich aroma emanating from the white flowers of the nishakasha tickled my nostrils as I closed my eyes to focus my mind......

"......Hyah!!"

And I!

The next instant!

Manipulating my body and magic power with optimal timing, I kept my hips lowered and back bent as much as possible in a low stance, swinging my right hand, shaped like a knife hand, horizontally from left to right!

Of course, I didn't merely wave my hand.

From the tips of the fingers on my right hand, thin, thin blades of magic power extended as long as I could currently manage.

The magic blades that could cut through anything, [Great Mantis].

Around this time last year, in Grounoddka Village, the limit of this [Great Mantis] was extending wide blades like a sword for a few meters, but as a result of daily training, I could now focus and take time to extend wire-thin blades up to several dozen meters in length.

Producing such a wide-range [Great Mantis] took time and was extremely tiring, so it wasn't a technique that could be utilized in combat.

However, what I wanted to do now was fell the trees in the Zamago Forest.

To cut down the forest trees all at once, this [Great Mantis] was an exceedingly useful technique.

Mishimishimishi......ZUDOOOOON......!

Here and there in my field of vision ahead, the large nishakasha trees toppled over with thunderous sounds......

"Watch out!!"

At that moment, such a voice rang out from behind me!

It was the old man Giovanno!

I instantly surveyed the surroundings, but there were no monsters specifically targeting me.

What was dangerous, I wondered?

For now, I caught a large tree falling toward me with my left hand and tossed it aside somewhere, then turned around to face the old man.

"Dangerous? What is?"

I approached the old man while tilting my head.

The old man had a pale face and was breaking out in cold sweat.

His mouth was flapping open and closed.

Oh, by the way, I had torn off the old man's chains since they were annoyingly clanky.

"Was there some dangerous creature?"

"......Ah, there was......"

"Where?"

"Right now, in front of my eyes......"

However, reflected in the old man's eyes as he said that was only a black-haired, black-eyed beautiful girl.

It seemed the old man was seeing hallucinations.

Poor thing.

He must be fatigued.

* * *

Now then, going back in time a bit.

"Let's make a base."

Emi said that to Giovanno right off the bat as he emerged from the cavern.

"A base, huh."

"Yeah. Old man, you're weak. Can't take you hunting. Need a safe place for you to stay put."

"Hmm......"

Giovanno pondered.

Certainly, she was right.

But......

"This is an unexplored region, you know? Do you have any places in mind that would be safe?"

"Nope. Do you, old man?"

"If I did, I wouldn't have gotten buried alive."

"Don't boast."

"It's my nature."

The quickest solution would be for Emi to take Giovanno and leave this unexplored region right now, but Giovanno couldn't accept such a proposal from Emi.

Being exiled to this land of Zamago was the sentence handed down to him.

And if that was the case, though Giovanno had brazenly chosen to live, he wanted to abide by that decision.

If he was being honest, he probably thought it would be better to die, but for appearances' sake, living in this land was legally designated as his atonement.

"Just deceive them and run away."

"I can only see a future where I'm tormented by my conscience, become mentally ill, and waste away if I run."

"You're a selfish old man."

"I'm a villain, after all."

"A villain shouldn't bend his knee to something like a conscience."

Emi said such things with a sigh, but she did not object to Giovanno's plan.

And after thinking a bit, she asked this question.

"Then, what kind of place do you think would be safe?"

"Hmm......"

Asked that, Giovanno pondered for a moment.

He was a nobleman who had once been granted the rank of count, and he was relatively knowledgeable about information on surrounding countries.

What came to Giovanno's mind were the appearances of towns existing on the edges of unexplored regions, such as Yoshanka in the Kingdom of Teenidys and Liheid in the Tezonka Kingdom.

"I suppose having a good vantage point or being surrounded by stone walls, such preparedness against monsters would be necessary."

"That's true."

"In the 'Fantasy Continent,' where the entire region is said to be an unexplored land, I've heard magical barrier defense techniques have also developed, but on this continent, installing physical defense facilities like stone walls is mainstream."

"I see."

"In the end, while walls are a relatively easy facility to come up with, they are a reasonably effective measure against monsters."

"Amazing. Old man, you're starting to seem pretty smart."

"Kuku~, the trick is to talk at length in a way that sounds plausible......but you know, Emi."

And here.

Giovanno shrugged his shoulders.

"This is an unexplored region. There's no way there would be a prospective base location with such walls."

And saying that, he sighed.

"Old man, you don't get it. What I'm trying to say."

But seeing Giovanno like that, Emi shrugged her shoulders and sighed back at him.

"What do you mean?"

"I said let's make a base. If there isn't one, we can just make it. A base like that."

Looking utterly confident, Emi puffed out her chest with a blank expression and began walking into the forest, taking Giovanno with her!

* * *

And what Giovanno witnessed in the depths of the forest he was taken to was Emi's superhuman deforestation act from the beginning.

While Giovanno looked on with wide eyes, she felled the surrounding trees one after another, and the forest around the slightly elevated hill-like spot where Giovanno stood was completely cleared.

Currently, Emi was arranging the felled large trees around Giovanno in a horizontal position, constructing a makeshift wall.

(I had thought she was strong, but......)

From the fact that she was operating alone in an unexplored region, and the imposing aura of a strong individual that leaked out considerably, as well as her monstrous strength to tear through chains, Giovanno had not doubted Emi's abilities.

(I never imagined it would be to this extent......)

However, he had not imagined she would be such an irrational, monstrous existence.

Even now, it was indistinguishable whether the sweat on his brow was from the early summer sunshine or cold sweat.

To Giovanno in such a state, Emi, who had taken a break from her work, hopped over a tree trunk and came running up to him.

"Old man, I finished felling the trees. The view is better now. I made walls too."

"Ah, aah......good work, Emi."

"Now you can feel at ease too, old man."

"Uh, uhm......"

Though Emi said that with her chest puffed out, brimming with confidence, Giovanno was at a loss for a response.

He glanced sideways at the walls Emi had hastily created.

The large trees she had felled and arranged as walls were all very big.

Lying horizontally, their height was taller than Giovanno's.

(But is this......really effective as a defensive wall against monsters......?)

After all, it was only about the height of a person.

The stone walls of Yoshanka and Liheid were much, much taller.

Furthermore, there were gaps here and there between the large trees that made up Emi's walls.

Emi's work......while there was no doubt the output was extraordinary......to put it bluntly......it was very sloppy......

A refreshing early summer breeze blew through the area.

But Emi's walls did not make the whistling sound of wind passing through gaps.

Because the gaps themselves were too large.

"Alright. Well, I'm going hunting."

"Waaait!? Wait, wait! Wait a minute, Emi!"

Paying no heed to Giovanno's confusion, Emi turned her back and tried to run into the forest, but Giovanno desperately stopped her!

"What?"

"T-Testing! Don't you think testing is necessary? Don't you want to see the performance of these walls you went to the trouble of making?"

"............"

"Trial operation before rollout, warm-up, trial period! It's always necessary for any product! Do you understand!?"

"......It's not a product, though."

"It's necessary even if it's not a product!"

"Really?"

"Really!"

"........................Okay."

Perhaps feeling like her creation was being nitpicked, Emi fell silent for a while, but she finally nodded her head reluctantly.

And it was the next instant.

......Her presence began rapidly diminishing.

Emi's shortcoming of being sloppy and rough.

Put another way, it also meant she had a high ability to handle things flexibly and improvisationally.