Episode 71
Lumberjacks at the Logging Camp
071 ? Lumberjacks at the Logging Camp #1
Rattling, rattling-.
I always feel this way, but the carriages in this world are very uncomfortable to ride.
It may seem like that, but in reality it is no different from a cart in name only, with only a cargo space.
To be more precise, the problem is that the roads and paths that can be called roads in the first place are extremely bumpy and unorganized.
Rattling.
Every now and then, when the wheels creak on a protruding rock, my butt hits the hard wooden floor, which is really painful.
It seems that the nobles and high-ranking adventurers of this world purchased and rode their own special carriages.
I wish I could one day buy a well-cushioned carriage and pull it around.
Anyway, for the time being, I had no choice but to toss and turn in various ways to find a comfortable position in order to get used to this unfriendly ride.
If you drive like this for about half a day, you will arrive at a logging camp located west of the city of Sodomora.
“So, how many people have you killed, dear?”
While I was silently organizing my equipment while looking at the changing landscape of the fields and trees, Rene, a bronze tier warrior who was wiping the oil off her sword, spoke first.
The grumpy elf, who had been mumbling a prayer to himself, answers.
“The Hinayana does not kill life. The nature of the world is not to be taken or taken, but to coexist with one another.”
“Real elves make their nonsense sound plausible. In the first place, believing in a large tree as a god is nonsense. A god should be strong and cool. Like Mars.”
“Faith takes many forms.”
“Okay, so let’s say you don’t kill life. Then you don’t eat meat either?”
“I don’t eat. Eating is just to fill my stomach.”
The tight-fisted elf Kalidur was a bit eccentric, just as he looked. In a world where there was no particularly tasty food other than grilled meat, what on earth could one eat if one did not eat meat?
Do fairies have their own preferences? Elfriede never touched a meal without meat.
Luna opened her mouth and spoke for the first time in a long while, as if she was interested in the story.
“If you don’t eat meat, you only eat grass?”
“Yes. We eat mainly vegetables and fruits. That is enough for us elves of Alfheim. How sad it is to torment other living beings just to fill our stomachs.”
Is it something like a vegetarian from another world? Well, not eating meat is also the most basic doctrine when discussing religious matters.
It’s in the same context as prohibiting killing. But in this barbaric world, it’s a bit surprising that there is a religion that prohibits killing.
The Mars Guild I belong to right now has the motto of “Kill a lot and fight a lot.” A non-violent religion, you know? It’s a world apart from the fairy Elfriede.
Then Luna said.
“But even the grass and trees feel pain. So do you ask for their permission to eat them?”
Rattling, rattling-.
Luna’s question caused a moment of silence in the carriage. Soon, Kalidur burst into laughter, revealing his white teeth between his brown beard.
“Haha, Sister from a foreign land, what interesting things to say. It’s the first time I’ve heard that grass and trees feel pain.”
After saying that, he bursts out laughing again as if he had heard a really funny story. Rene also frowns as if he is saying something really strange.
I remembered a news article I saw while browsing the Internet a while back. It was about an experiment that found that plants also feel fear and pain.
In some ways, Luna’s opinions contain pioneering foresight that was hundreds or even thousands of years ahead of its time.
“True, it’s true. Even the grass and trees feel pain…!”
“Quiet. Let’s stop talking about what to eat. Anyway, don’t bother the logging camp. The warriors of Mars will kill anything.”
As he said that, Rene put his sword back in its sheath. Once again, only the rattling noise could be heard in the carriage, and an awkward silence enveloped the surroundings.
I asked Luna, who was looking at the clouds in the sky.
“What can I do when I go to the logging camp?”
Luna has been an adventurer longer than me. So, she seems to have a lot of knowledge, even if it seems like she doesn’t know it.
“A logging camp? You do all sorts of things when you go there. You cut down trees, pull out weeds, and chase away monsters and beasts that appear nearby. Actually, I don’t know much about it. It’s a job that you can do starting at Bronze Tier, so this is my first time going there myself.”
Should I just assume that they do all the chores that are done in places with lots of trees? I guess I’ll have to go there myself to find out more.
* * *
The logging camp was exactly as I had imagined it. A forest of tall, large trees stretching out, stumps scattered here and there, and the appearance of rusty axes stuck in them was both affectionate and ominous.
The only thing that went beyond my calculations was the size of the trees.
The tree is fucking tall, dozens of meters high. It’s also incredibly thick, so much so that it’s bigger than Luna’s barn.
In fact, there were holes between the trees, which seemed to be used as resting places and offices for loggers. It felt unrealistic to think of a house built on a tree, so I frowned.
But when I went inside, it was so nicely decorated with all kinds of furniture, candle holders hanging on the wall, and even tablecloths, that it felt very cute and like I was in a fairy tale.
The problem is that the sizes are small, so I, a big guy, inevitably have to bend over. Of course, the reason the sizes are small is because of that person.
“Ah, you’re here. I placed a request to the guild and have been waiting anxiously for the adventurers to arrive!”
Joseph, the logging owner, was a man much shorter than Luna. He was a dwarf, a race of short, muscular men who looked like boulders.
It’s a race I’ve seen many times before, but it’s still amazing no matter how many times I see it. How can there be such things?
Anyway, he shouted, his red beard twitching in a stylish braid.
“These bastards are trampling on my logging site without permission! Do something about it!”
Our group was all bewildered by Joseph’s intense excitement. What on earth could be making this man so excited?
Then the party leader, Rene, calmly opened his mouth.
“Calm down. What the hell is wrong?”
“It’s true! Those devil bastards are eating away at my purse strings! Those bastards are Pluto’s minions. They’re the real bastards from hell!”
A brief silence fell over the lumber yard at the mention of Pluto’s servants. Everyone furrowed their brows with serious expressions, so I also crossed my arms and made a serious expression.
“Have Pluto’s ruins surfaced nearby? If they are demons or beasts that escaped from there, it’s not something we can handle.”
Rene, who always seemed confident, made a noise that sounded like he was being pushed away.
But her words are very reasonable, as anything related to the ruins of Pluto is a heavy task that most Silver Tier adventurers have to solve.
In other words, this has nothing to do with deep-sea users like me and Luna, who have just reached the bronze tier.
“Nothing like ruins came to mind. There was just a tree. But it was a damned terrible tree!”
Joseph, the lumberjack, spoke as if he was trying to scare us. Shit, I just came here to pull weeds and cut down some trees, but is this really that serious?
Luna asks me as I am feeling slightly nervous.
“What do you mean the tree is terrible? Is the tree sick or something?”
“If they’re similar, then you could say they’re similar. Anyway, listen carefully-.”
Knock knock, knock.
As Joseph was about to explain something, a loud noise was heard outside the wooden house, as if something was breaking and falling.
“Hey, you little brats! You ended up showing up here!”
Joseph, the lumberjack, runs outside, clutching the axe he had propped against the wall, looking very angry.
Because of his sudden appearance, all of the party members, including Luna and I, had no choice but to follow him outside.
Oh my… . Oh my… .
Nimuuu… .
When I went outside, all I could see were trees moving around. Trees the size of me were moving on their own, with their roots planted on the ground!
Shit, how can a tree be alive and moving? I thought maybe I was hallucinating, but it seems like this is totally real.
“You little shits, I’ll turn you all into tables!”
Joseph slashed his torso-sized axe at the moving trees.
Kwajik-.
Nummmmm…!
Then the tree fell to the ground with a thud, oozing pumpkin-colored sap as if it were blood, making the earth shake.
“What are you doing! Hurry up and cut them down! You, you can’t let these little bastards take root! They’ll suck up all the nutrients in the soil!”
Slurp, slurp.
Only then did Rene and I draw our swords at the urgent voice of the lumberjack Joseph. However, while I was seriously contemplating whether I could cut down a tree with the Shiva sword, Rene charged with his sword raised high.
“Ararait-!”
Then he stabs the sword directly into the thick trunk of a tree that is squirming strangely.
Bam-.
Mmmmmm…!
The tree screamed as it moved with the sound of the blade being deeply embedded. Shit, a tree screaming, it’s strange even if I describe it, but what can I do since it’s true?
“Hey, why isn’t this coming off! What should I do!?”
Anyway, Rene, who had stuck the knife in, was startled by the blade being stuck deeper than expected and started to struggle around.
Mwaaaaaa!
Just then, the tree that was spurting sap and writhing in pain moved its branch and hit Rene in the face with all its might.
“Ugh-!”
Then, as if shouting his last words, Rene fell far away. And then he started to squirm, twitch, and convulse, and it looked quite pitiful.
Mmmm… .
Nimueuuuu… .
Duduk, duduk.
But the problem wasn’t Rene lying down. The trees, angry at being attacked, began to surround us all at once.
Honest, honest.
The sight of the living, moving forest closing in on the siege really drains all the blood from my body.
Moreover, those kids didn’t seem to be seriously injured by Rene’s sword strike, they just spurted sap.
“Hey, Luna, why is there no way?”
“Stomps can be easily taken down by setting them on fire. Their sap is highly flammable!”
Are the Stomps the name for those tree monsters? Anyway, they set fire to it. There’s nothing that works on trees as much as fire.
In fact, it is no exaggeration to say that most of the problems in this world can be solved by burning them.
“No fire! Do you want to see all the trees in the logging camp burn down!? If I could have caught them like that, I would have caught them a long time ago!”
However, Joseph, the lumberjack, was strict about never using fire. He probably hated the idea of the trees in his lumber camp, which were his livelihood, burning down more than he hated death.
What the hell, what should I do then?
Just then, as Luna and I were trembling in fear as we closed the distance between us, the tight-lipped elf, who had been observing the situation for a while, suddenly stepped forward towards us.
“The monks of Alfheim always take nature as their friend, following the teachings of the great tree, the World Tree. The Stomps are also a part of nature. Let me step forward and try to solve this-.”
Slurp-.
Before the boy could finish his sentence, roots and branches were wrapped around his ankles.
The elf’s body was lifted into the air as if it were a rabbit caught in a trap. Branches and roots began to penetrate between his clothes and his body!
“Friends! Put this down!”
“Hey, let go of this! What is this! Hey, where are you coming from! Aah!”
Not only Pakpagi, but also Rene, who was lying on the ground, had the roots seeping through the joints of his armor.
I was worried that if things continued like this, Luna and I might also become victims of the terrible tentacles. So, I swung my twin swords with the determination to do something about it.
Phew, bang- bang!
The two swords soon become lodged in a huge wooden pillar, rendering them unable to move. Shit, chopping down a tree with a sword is impossible!
Ugh!
Still, I managed to pull out my sword by using all my strength. And Stomp, who was spraying sap like blood, also hesitated and retreated.
If I do well, I might be able to take on one of them. With that thought in mind, I swung my sword again.
Thud-!
Just like before, the sword that was swung hard did not get stuck in the wooden pole but was easily bounced off.
I was curious to see what was going on, and the sap that had been attached to the sword was coating it and killing its sharpness.
Sticky, sticky-.
Shit, it’s impossible to cut it like this. What should I do!?
“There, big guy! Use this!”
At that moment, something flew in front of me with a whoosh and slammed into the tree trunk. The impact caused Stomp’s body, which was trying to attack me, to fall to the ground with a thud.
I wondered what it was, and it was a very large axe. In fact, it was more appropriate to call it a giant block of iron or a battle axe rather than an axe for cutting down trees.
“Oh, shit!”
But I was in no position to be picky, so I grabbed the thick handle, pulled the axe out of the tree trunk, and then struck Stomp’s body with all my might.
Sling, squeak-!
Then, with a very loud noise, Stomp’s thick body splits vertically.
[Work Review]
Thank you so much to Kadeom and Vurgil who sent me sponsorship coupons!!! And to the readers who sent me manuscript fee coupons..!! Thanks to you, I had a fruitful May ㅠㅠ..
We will definitely add new illustrations through voting on the settlement date in June…!!
