Got a Gallery in the Wild

Thanks to GrowGrow, I realized that farming was about to become much easier.

If the crops grew at incredible speed just by planting the seeds, it could barely even be called farming anymore.

All I had to do was prepare the soil a little, sow the seeds, and harvest everything once it had grown.

Since I was at it, maybe it would be better to obtain crops other than just wheat.

Thunk! Thunk!

“That’s enough. Let’s head back.”

“@#%$”

But first, there were things that needed to be done.

I gave Ludwig instructions while digging with the shovel.

At that moment, we were downstream, where there was sand.

We had come to collect more because we needed to make more cement.

Perhaps it was because of his experience as a soldier, but if there was one thing he was really good at, it was digging.

Thanks to that, we gathered the amount we needed in no time.

Splash! Splash!

Just as we were about to head back with our sacks full of sand.

A creature so enormous that it inspired awe leaped out of the water.

However, I had recently realized the truth.

It wasn’t a whale.

It was an abnormally gigantic fish.

‘It’s a fantasy world. There are probably more fish that size.’

I looked at Ludwig’s reaction.

He stood motionless, staring at the river, unable to believe what he had just seen.

Well, I never would have imagined something resembling a whale living in a river either.

Although, to be exact, it was a fish the size of a whale.

“Sir. You’ll have to get used to things like that. This place has always been like this, right?”

“…..”

“No matter what happens, from now on, you’ll only be in for even more surprises. Let’s go.”

After my persuasion, Ludwig finally reacted.

Though, come to think of it, with a talking gorilla by his side, there probably wasn’t much left that could surprise him anymore.

I handed the sack full of sand to Lackey.

He was following my instructions better and better.

It seemed he was gradually getting used to things.

‘How would he react if he saw the giant crab and the enormous crayfish from the lake?’

The thought crossed my mind for a moment, but I had no intention of going there.

If we didn’t finish the house, Lackey and Largo would have to squeeze into the cramped cave with me.

Right now, time literally meant survival.

‘Lackey could probably manage, but for Largo, it’d be pure torture.’

We returned directly to the shelter without wasting any time.

Perhaps because we had become something like a group now.

Or maybe we were simply lucky.

No animals attacked us on the way back.

‘Now that I think about it… it’s been a while since anything ambushed us.’

Creatures like Lackey and Ludwig had appeared, or perhaps we’d simply run into them by chance.

But there hadn’t been any actual attacks lately.

Maybe the animals of the Forest of the Four Seasons already considered this area my territory.

Or perhaps they were all busy preparing for winter.

I just hoped another raccoon wouldn’t show up dragging a herd of beasts behind it like last time.

“Alright. Back to work.”

“@%%#”

“We’ll start farming once we finish all this.”

Building a brick house.

It looked easy in videos.

But in reality, it was surprisingly difficult.

Someone might point out that I’d built a makeshift furnace and a small blast furnace without any problems.

But that was because they were small structures.

A house was completely different.

If I made even a single mistake, there was a chance I’d have to tear everything down and start over from scratch.

‘Keeping everything level and applying just the right amount of cement between the bricks is really difficult.’

On top of that, I had to leave space for installing a door.

And what about windows?

If I started worrying about those too, construction would take much longer.

Besides, this wasn’t meant to be a home.

It was a shelter and a hideout.

There was no need to go that far.

However, there was one enormous problem.

‘How the hell am I supposed to build the roof…?’

That was precisely the issue.

I looked up at the sky.

I needed a sturdy roof capable of withstanding the natural disasters that were coming.

But I had absolutely no idea how to build one.

It might seem sufficient to make it simply flat.

But.

‘Even if the ceiling is flat on the inside, the roof itself has to be triangular.’

Only then could the snow slide off.

If I made a completely flat roof, it would most likely collapse.

After all, I had recently discovered that snow weighed far more than I had imagined.

I had already learned that during my military service.

But actually having to shovel it all away myself had driven the lesson home.

‘First, I need to decide where the chimney will go.’

So I postponed the roof and continued building the brick walls.

With Ludwig and Lackey helping me, the pace became much faster.

After about an hour, we managed to finish all the walls.

They would still need reinforcing to withstand possible snow avalanches, but I’d think about that later.

‘It really is tall…’

Since I’d taken Largo’s height into account, the building was about as tall as a two-story house.

Now I had to put a roof on top of it and then build the rooftop as well.

Just thinking about it gave me a headache.

Even so, there was no other choice.

I immediately opened the Gallery.

[WildGrills: Mr. Dwarf, are you around?]

[DwarfPassingBy: What is it this time?]

[WildGrills: (Photo of the roofless building) I need to put a roof on this. Any advice?]

[DwarfPassingBy: ? Why the hell did you make it so tall?]

[WildGrills: Because Lackey and the giraffe have to live here.]

[DwarfPassingBy: The giraffe? The one with the long neck?]

[WildGrills: Yes.]

[DwarfPassingBy: Good grief. Even we don’t build barns that huge. I’m getting out of breath just looking at it.]

[WildGrills: Can you help me? I also have to build the rooftop.]

[DwarfPassingBy: I’ll teach you the basics. Just pray the whole thing doesn’t collapse. To begin with, this isn’t something a beginner should be attempting.]

[WildGrills: Well, if it collapses, Lackey will just fix it himself.

Although I said it as a joke, I had no intention of letting something like that happen.

I wasn’t planning to cut corners in the slightest.

Poor construction was a sin.

‘Just to be safe, I’d better reinforce the walls even more.’

To prepare for possible snow avalanches, I added several extra layers to the walls.

That took us about another hour.

Meanwhile, the dwarf posted a reply.

Title) How to Build the Roof of a Well

DwarfPassingBy

(Illustration 1 showing how to build the roof of a well)

(Illustration 2 showing how to build the roof of a well)

.

.

.

(Illustration of the final step)

Build it more or less like this. If necessary, I can also provide you with materials to cover the top.

ㄴWildGrills) I assume you’ll want something in return. Go ahead.

ㄴDwarfPassingBy) I saw in your previous post that a user said he just spread some soil and the crops grew amazingly well.

ㄴWildGrills) Yeah, that’s what I heard. So?

ㄴDwarfPassingBy) Later, I’ll give you some barley seeds. Once they grow over there, could you give me some? I want to try beer made from barley grown in the Forest of the Four Seasons.

ㄴWildGrills) You dwarves really only think about alcohol… Fine.

ㄴDwarfPassingBy) Thank you, thank you.

I carefully read through the dwarf’s entire explanation.

The so-called well roof was, quite literally, a roof built in the shape of a well.

To make it, I would need logs cut to the proper length.

And what did that mean?

That Lackey was about to have even more work.

“Hey, Lackey. I’ll measure the length and width. You handle the rest. Got it?”

“Unfair. Very tired.”

“Stop complaining and get to work.”

“Evil master.”

“Then no food today. I’m building you a house, and you’re talking back to me?”

“Actually… I really wanted to work. My hands were already itching.”

“Good. Then let’s eat first.”

Work always went better after a good snack.

After that, Lackey began preparing the lumber, while Ludwig and I plowed the field.

Apparently, it had been worth explaining everything to him the night before, because he worked perfectly without me having to correct him.

‘Once the wheat grows, will we finally be able to make bread?’

Maybe, after all this time, I’d finally be able to eat processed food again.

Of course, someone might ask,

“Then why don’t you just buy food from the Auction House?”

After all, it was full of food.

Wouldn’t doing everything yourself just be a waste of time?

And they’d be right.

But this was something I was doing to grow as a person.

Who was it that said if you wanted to become rich, you should first start by making your own bed?

It was a similar idea.

Obtaining something through my own efforts.

Growing little by little through that sense of accomplishment.

It wasn’t growth in strength.

It was personal growth.

Putting it that way sounded rather strange.

“#%$”

“Hm? Is there something there?”

“@#%%”

“Oh, a big rock. Hold on.”

Now it was time to focus on plowing the field.

***

A Holy Knight.

A knight who placed his faith in his religion and gained strength from it.

“Dig over there.”

“Understood.”

Though, every now and then.

He also ended up being used as manual labor.

Ludwig diligently worked beside Grills, plowing the field.

When he heard they were going to start farming, he had been extremely excited.

But once they actually began.

He discovered it was far more difficult than he had imagined.

To begin with, removing all the rocks from the ground was genuinely difficult.

Just preparing the soil was exhausting work.

And if they encountered a boulder too large to move.

There was no choice but to look for another plot of land.

After overcoming all those obstacles, they finally finished preparing the field.

But that wasn’t the end.

‘Will it really grow immediately?’

Grills had already told him.

The person who had received soil from the Forest of the Four Seasons claimed that crops grew instantly.

And they hadn’t even planted the seeds directly in that soil.

They had simply scattered it like fertilizer.

Hearing that, Ludwig couldn’t help but feel a little disappointed.

He had wanted to take up farming precisely because he wanted to enjoy watching the crops grow with his own eyes.

But if they grew instantly.

He wouldn’t even have time to feel satisfied before everything was over.

‘It can’t be helped.’

Right now, surviving was what mattered.

Compared to that, such a minor detail was insignificant.

Real farming would begin once they escaped the Forest of the Four Seasons.

He didn’t know how long it would take.

But surely they could manage it within ten years.

As long as they stayed alive, escaping wasn’t impossible.

“Here are the seeds. Just sow them.”

“Thank you.”

Ludwig accepted the small wheat seeds from my hands.

All that remained was to sow them so beautiful golden wheat could sprout.

Whoosh. Whoosh.

Ludwig and I scattered the seeds across the entire field.

Before long, they would germinate and grow into enormous stalks of wheat.

Just to be safe, we also watered them thoroughly with the hose.

And then.

Shuuuuuuk!!!

Just as GrowGrow had said.

The wheat began growing instantly.

Ludwig and I watched the sight in amazement.

But we soon tilted our heads in confusion.

“Why is it so…?”

“Too big.”

It was enormous.

Absurdly enormous.

Not only was it thick.

It was also incredibly tall.

We had to tilt our heads back just to see the tops.

It was almost as tall as Largo.

Those seeds had come from outside the forest.

So then.

Why had they grown this much?

“Nom nom nom.”

“Hey, don’t eat it. Shoo.”

“Get back.”

Even Largo calmly started eating it.

Ludwig and I barely managed to pull him away before turning back toward the wheat.

The fact that it had grown so much was good news.

But what really mattered was the taste.

Whether we were making bread or noodles.

It had to taste good.

Just as I was about to harvest it with a sword instead of a sickle.

Flap.

A small sparrow flew down.

It was a tiny sparrow, exactly like the ones you could see outside the forest.

“Huh? Where did this one come from?”

“Hmm…”

While we both wondered what it was doing there.

Frrrrrrrrrap!!!

An extremely unsettling sound reached our ears.

It sounded exactly like a swarm of locusts approaching.

The moment I heard it, I came to a conclusion.

It wasn’t insects.

Insects made a high-pitched buzzing sound.

This was.

Yes.

The beating of countless wings.

‘But why all of a sudden…?’

Just as I was beginning to understand.

We discovered the source of the noise.

“Chirp! Chirp! Chirp!”

“Chiiirp! Chirp! Chirp!”

An enormous flock of sparrows that resembled a plague of locusts.

The entire flock descended straight onto the wheat we had worked so hard to grow.

While Ludwig and I watched the scene in complete disbelief.

Frrrrrap. Frrrrrap.

The sparrows finished their feast and calmly returned to the forest.

All that remained were completely stripped stalks.

It hadn’t been a locust invasion.

It had been a sparrow invasion.

“…Damn.”

“…What a shitty situation.”

As we stared at the tragedy before us, we muttered almost simultaneously.

Our countries, our races, and our languages were completely different.

But for once.

We were thinking exactly the same thing.

Those birds were a plague.