69，開拓者
TL : Cnine
ED : akshaythedon
Part 1「Tell me Ruu, just what kind of person are you――」
「Is there something strange？ Ah, are you surprised that I’ve three classes？ Fufun, well, I’m quite the splendid one, aren’t I」
「No, that certainly is amazing, but」
Even while looking at Ruu, I can’t imagine her as that kind of muscle type with her squishy body. But, appearances are deceptive. I’m also not a macho type but, my offensive power is high.
「Could it be that you become a really amazing(wild) woman when you hold an axe？」
Ruu nodded firmly.
「Of course. Since my main weapon is axe[Berserker/lumberjack]！The runner-up is pickaxe[Miner]！ 」
「That’s too wild!」
I was looking at her making a move like showing off her biceps while laughing at her. The image of a Goddess having classes such as healer or holy attribute continued to make a crumbling sound in my mind.
「Ah, I see. You said that this place was a frontier right. In that case――」
Ruu made a rustling sound while putting her hand inside her space bag and then took out something…
「Since when did you have that kind of axe」
「Fufu, how do you think I’ll do if I do not buy my own weapon. Laurel had a really nice weapon shop. It’s expensive but, I bought it with money I received from Eiji」
「How much… is that？」
「It’s okay, I also bought other items but there’s still 30% left」
「Oi!」
This useless Goddess.
Just spending money as much as she wants.
She’s splurging it.
Toward me who became lost, she shouldered her huge axe and kept walking toward the base of a huge tree.
And then, Ruu made a huge swing and nailed her axe to the tree!
「SEIYYYAAAAAAAAAAAAA！」
Kan*. [TL* : SFX]
A huge sound, to an extent that made me astonished, resounded.
The tree is swaying greatly, the foliage is making a noise, the careless birds standing on the tree are fluttering in panic.
「A-mazing」
To reach this result in just one hit, the blade of the axe sunk inside for about one third of the trunk. She certainly can make it fall with two more strikes.
Ruu looks at me while holding her axe with an aloof and prideful face.
「Fufun, amazed？ This is the power of Goddess」
I see, so this is the (muscle)power of Goddess.
Ruu continued to swing her axe again by using the (muscle)power of Goddess to her heart's content and then, easily chopped the huge tree. Moreover, she did not stop with just that one, she kept chopping down the huge trees that are growing inside the jungle one after another.
It has become an entertainment activity for her.
「PI~O~NEE~RING~PI~O~NEE~RING」
Ruu keeps chopping down the trees one after another while humming that tone.
When I asked, it seems she had some kind of aim, it was “It should be okay to have some sort of base when doing exploration”.
Though it wasn’t a waste of time to start building something like a cabin rather than coming to this area from the city every single day.
「OOOOOOH…！」
When I am looking at this situation, beside the sound that was coming from the tree, a voice of admiration mixed together with the sound of branch breaking on someone stepping upon it becomes audible.
When I turn back, there is a man standing behind us.
This man is staring with a fixed gaze toward the tree which slanted down after being chopped by Ruu.
「Uhm, Do you have some business？」
「HA！ Ah, sorry, I just stared dumbfoundedly. Uhm, is the girl who chopped the trees over there your comrade？ 」
When I call him, that man looks at my direction in panic.
Seeing him like that, could it be that his age is around 20 ？ He’s wearing a dirty cloth, and shouldering a swelling bag like a valiant man.
「Yes. That is Ruu. And my name is Eiji」
「I see, sorry for the late introduction, my name is Drai. I’m someone from the pioneering village, Eigen but… Meeting the two of you in this place might be the guidance of the Goddess-sama. Please hear my story! 」
Ruu also came toward our direction with sparkling eyes.
Guidance of the Goddess… I wonder if it’ll be alright.
「It’s that place, I feel that the position is that place」
That place possesses a small spot for sunlight.
Maybe because of the how dense the jungle is, there’s only a small vacant lot.
That place has become the ground to make the base, several logs have been placed over there.
She even made a small and stretched ground similar to a road.
Following Drai, we’re guided to a slightly separated place which has a cabin.
Drai told us about it along the road, and about the already lost pioneering spirit.
Though everyone in Eigen village have decided to lead a quiet live, Drai believed that there’s still more resources in the mine and this forest.
Despite there being nothing in shallow regions, it definitely is available deep inside.
If that can be proved and used to motivate the villagers, he believes that his action will bring back the hustle and bustle that the village has lost.
「It’s similar to revitalization of the village huh」
「He~, you’ve quite a good taste huh~」
Ruu said that after turning around in a circle in the surroundings of the cabin, Drai hung his head down in silence.
「Though it’s quite rude of me for suddenly asking for this, please cooperate with me！」
「Cooperate？」
「Yes. As you can see, though I’m planning to explore the interiors of the forest, this kind of place is necessary. The advancement is slow and troublesome with just me alone. It should be okay if anyone wants to cooperate with me, but if it does not resulting in something, everyone won’t take an action while saying “it’s useless“. By establishing a base camp in this place, if we discovered something in this place again, I think it’ll spread to everyone after that」
I see.
He has an admirable intention huh, it feels like the saying “Youth who burns with his dream” right.
So, what should I do now. It definitely will be more useful to our exploration if we cooperate. But, if we’re not doing this forever, rather than building a house,it’ll be faster if we keep it at normal pace.
「Accepted！」
The one who accepted without hesitation while I’m thinking about it is Ruu.
「We’re cooperating！ In that case！」
「REALLY!? THANK YOU VERY MUCH！」
Ruu seems to be in a very good mood when Drai bowed very deeply to us again but, WAIT A MINUTE!
「Oi, Ruu. I know of your kindness but, it’ll be extremely troublesome later if you easily give a promise without considering your situation」
「It’s okay, this kind of thing is my speciality you know. Moreover, I can’t just keep myself in a single place when I hear about pioneering. I’ve established quite the reputation when it comes to pioneering, you know」
This is the first time I heard that she has that kind of reputation, anyhow, Ruu is completely fired up.
Well, if Ruu’s saying that she wants to do it, I don’t have the right to stop her. Whether I’ll do it or not is another story.
If I were to speak on it――
「Drai-san, I want you to say this as a gratitude for our cooperation, will you tell us information regarding this forest? We also think that it still has some resources, thus we came looking for a rare thing. But, I won’t expect something great from it though」
「Naturally. I will tell you everything I know. I’m looking forward to it！ 」
Yosh. Local information is always useful.
In this way, Drai and us made a decision to cooperate.
「I’ll work hard for it」
And then, I was looking at those two people who are swinging their respective axes.
They keep on chopping down the trees to continuously build a road, moreover, the chopped tree is being used for making the cabin.
Drai is also quite a good axe user, the forest is rapidly being cleared.
On the other hand, I’m keeping a lookout.
The thing I’m looking for is rare material such as the egg of the beetle or a spirit tree. Same as ever but, I was taught the place to find it by Drai.
Even for me, obtaining those items are lucky encounter, and according to Drai, if one ever found something precious in this place, that action itself will make him closer to his goal.
Walking inside the jungle is quite interesting.
I can hear the chirping of bugs and birds coming from between the densely populated trees and also smell the verdure.
The feeling of damp and moist air is making the exploration more comfortable.
「Ooh」
At that time, I found a tree with black branches in front of my eyes. It only has one long charcoal-like branch, there’s no doubt about it, this is one of the spirit trees, Lacquer Ebony. Even my【Judgement（Plant）】 skill is also saying that name. [TL : Judgement skill = appraisal]
In order to not damage it, I gouge the primary part of the branch and then only take the black branch.
As I thought, the forest really has raw materials. The only difficulty is to look for it.
「It definitely must have more to it. Oh, blood tree. I am looking for you」
Thus, I continue with my rare material hunting.
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