We decided to discuss our next plans a little more, and I decided to take a look inside the mine.
There might be something I could do besides taking a bath.
Whether everyone continued to live here or moved to another city, improvements to the current situation were necessary.
"Inside the mine? It doesn't matter, but there's nothing there."
"You have a hut, but you live inside the mine, right?" (Yuna)
"Basically, it's only when I go to sleep. Everyone has their own jobs during the day, so I'm often outside."
So that's it.
They had to take care of food, clothing, and shelter, and do the laundry, and they also had to gather ingredients.
Most importantly, if they didn't get sunlight, their body clock would go awry, and their health would deteriorate.
They couldn't survive just by staying in a cave.
"I'll be waiting for everyone here, so Lise, please show Yuna-san and the others around." (Bollard)
"Yes" (Lise)
Leaving Bollard-san waiting for the others to come out of the bath, Kagari-san and I entered the mine with Lise-san's guidance.
Kumayuru and Kumakyu followed behind.
It's dark inside the mine shaft.
When I was about to use light magic, a light lit up next to me.
Before I knew it, Lise-san was holding a lamp.
Lise-san's lamp containing a light magic stone that illuminated the mine shaft.
"Isn’t there a magic stone of light installed inside the mine?" (Yuna)
A magic stone of light was installed in the mine where the golem was subdued, illuminating the tunnel.
"It was installed. However, since it was no longer possible to obtain new magic stones, I collected all the light magic stones that were used in the mine, and I try to use it only when necessary." (Lise)
It's obvious, but the more you used things, the less it would be. There's no need to use precious magic stones in unnecessary places.
That's how I lived for three years, using things with care.
I didn't use any light magic, and only used the light from Lise-san's lamp to enter the tunnel.
We entered the mine and after a while we found a door.
It looked like it was installed later.
We opened the door and went inside.
When Lise-san touched the magic stone on the wall, the light magic stone installed on the ceiling lights up, illuminating the room.
"I'm sleeping here with all others." (Lise)
There were 8 beds. It really just looked like a place to sleep.
For three years in this place...
"It must have been painful." (Kagari)
Kagari-san said what I thought in my heart.
"I was crying all the time and was bothering my father and everyone else." (Lise)
If she's 15 now, she was 12 back then.
She lost her mother and someone close to her, her precious things froze, and she lost everything.
It would be strange if a 12-year-old girl at the time didn't cry.
No, maybe even adults would cry in such a situation.
"Everyone kindly comforted me." (Lise)
Lise-san nostalgically talked about those days.
It must have been a very difficult life for her, I couldn't even imagine.
Kagari-san approached Lise-san and touched her hand as she didn't know what to say.
"Kagari-chan?" (Lise)
"You must have cried many times. There's no one to blame for that. You overcame everything to be where you are today. You should be proud." (Kagari)
"Hehe, Kagari-chan, I was thinking that when I was talking to my father, but it seems like I am talking to someone older than me." (Lise)
It was the correct answer.
Although she looked like a little girl, on the inside she was an old woman who had lived for 100 years...
As I was looking at Kagari-san thinking this in my mind, Kagari-san turned her attention to me.
"Yuna. Aren't you thinking something strange?" (Kagari)
She's sharp.
"I'm not thinking anything." (Yuna)
She looked at me suspiciously, so I slowly averted my gaze.
"I don't think I could have done it alone. I was able to do my best because of my father and everyone else." (Lise)
"Still, it doesn't change the fact that you are strong." (Kagari)
"Thank you" (Lise)
I looked at the bed. There was something that looked like cloth sewn together. Maybe it's a comforter.
I put out a spare futon on the bed.
"Futon?" (Lise)
"Use it" (Yuna)
"Is that ok?" (Lise)
Lise-san asked while touching the futon.
"It’s a spare, so don’t worry about it." (Yuna)
"Thank you very much" (Lise)
Lise-san seemed happy even with such trivial things.
After finishing the renovation to make it easier to sleep, we left the bedroom.
"We also have a warehouse to store food." (Lise)
When I took a look at the warehouse, there was ice and fish.
"What is this ice?" (Yuna)
"It's ice I brought from the city." (Lise)
"Is it okay?" (Yuna)
"If it's a small amount, it's fine. That's why we use it to preserve food." (Lise)
"Then I'll leave the meat for you." (Yuna)
I magically froze the wolf's meat so it would last longer.
If you froze it, you could thaw it later and eat it.
I built a freezer and stored the meat there.
I made a bear ice and strengthened it.
Also, I put out any vegetables I had.
There might not have been a fight because so few people were saved.
If there were a lot of people, food, clothing, and shelter would be difficult.
10 people, 100 people, 1000 people. The less you are, the less you need. The more you are, the more food, clothing, and shelter you will need.
If there were a lot of people, it wouldn't be strange to have a fight over them.
However, the more people we had, the more we could do.
It was impossible to judge whether the fact that fewer people were saved was a good thing or a bad thing. This was something you only realized once you woke up.
"If you don't have enough ice, just let me know and I'll get it for you." (Yuna)
"Well, then, can I ask you a favor?" (Lise)
I made a bear ice and left it there.
I didn't think bear ice would melt easily.
If you think about it, it might be similar to the Ice Dragon's ice.
"Hehe, that's cute." (Lise)
Lise-san looked at the bear ice and smiled.
"Fox is cuter." (Kagari)
Kagari-san created ice foxes as she was competing.
Ice magic should be difficult, but Kagari-san made it easy.
"Can Kagari-chan use magic too?" (Lise)
"That's right." (Kagari)
"But you're child...?" (Lise)
"I am different from normal children, so don't worry about that." (Kagari)
Well, just like my Bear's Transfer Gate, I couldn't say anything about the mystic fox.
Lise-san must have sensed something as well and didn't mention anything else.
After leaving the warehouse, Kagari-san and I decided to ask her to show us where the spring water was coming from.
"It's complicated inside and you'll get lost, so please don't leave me." (Lise)
The mineshaft was illuminated only by the lamp held by Lise-san.
I couldn't say it's bright at all.
Did they walk down a dark road like this every day with only the light of a lamp?
"If you leave me and get lost, please look at this and come back." (Lise)
Lise-san shined a lamp on the wall of the passage.
On the wall was written "Exit" with a "→" arrow.
"A long time ago, I tried to carry water by myself because I wanted to help everyone. But I got lost. All I could do was cry. But everyone came looking for me." (Lise)
They're kind.
"Then, the next day, my father and the others made this for me so I wouldn’t get lost." (Lise)
"Everyone is so kind." (Yuna)
"Yes" (Lise)
I wanted to do something about it.
"Here it is." (Lise)
The spring water was about a 10-minute walk away.
It's closer than I expected.
But 10 minutes of carrying water was a long time.
"If it's bamboo, I'd just run water through it." (Kagari)
It's not Nagashi Somen though. Bamboo was used to drain water.
The spring water was at about the height of Lise-san's head.
It certainly seemed possible to make it flowed if you created diagonally.
But it didn't have to be bamboo.
"Then why don't you make it with magic?" (Yuna)
"That’s certainly true." (Kagari)
Kagari-san and I talked and decided to create a stone tube using magic and connect it to the mine's exit.
We created a saucer where the spring water comes out and adjusted it so that it would flow from there into the stone tube made with magic.
Making a cylinder was easy, but making it diagonally was difficult.
If you raised the angle, the water would stop flowing, and if you lowered it too much, no more water would flow.
Of course, there was a way to drain it to the top, but it's a hassle.
I set up the tube on the wall so that the water would flow smoothly.
Then, we came to the area where the bedroom and storage room were located.
"Is this area okay?" (Yuna)
"Please stand next to that wall." (Lise)
Under Lise-san's instructions, Kagari-san built something like a reservoir.
I extended the tube so that it would flow there.
Water flowed down from the stone cylinder and fell into a reservoir built by Kagari-san.
"Now we can use water anytime. Thank you, Yuna-san and Kagari-chan." (Lise)
While we were talking, Bollard-san and the others came from outside the cave.
"Lise, what are you making a fuss about?" (Bollard)
"Yuna-san and Kagari-chan pulled the spring water all the way here." (Lise)
The Bollard-san looked on in amazement at the spring water we drew.
"That's not all. They also made the bed and storage room easier to use." (Lise)
Bollard-san and the others went to check.
Bollard-san and others who saw it thanked us.
Author's Note
...
*Thank you to everyone who reports typos.
Please note that some kanji have been revised to match the book, so some may not have been revised.