episode_0057

The sound of villagers hammering hard and repairing their homes continued all day long.

Since they were selling nails at a much lower price than before, they were willing to do all the repairs that people had been unable to do before. Of course, thanks to this, my wallet got bigger and bigger.

However, Jiena did not like it very much because nails had to be counted one by one and the price was not expensive. It was annoying to sell a lot, but there wasn’t much incentive. It was an unavoidable difference in the positions of the boss and the employees.

Anyway, as I heard people preparing for winter, sales of items began to drop little by little. This was because most of those who wanted to purchase items in advance had completed their purchases, and only a few who needed more items than expected came to purchase them.

But there was no need to worry about profits. This is because Carbon had requested a large amount of goods in preparation for the winter, and there were some who had not yet completed their winter preparations.

“Uh, guard captain! It’s been a while!”

Among those who had not yet completed preparations for winter, the largest one was the security corps.

This is because, when winter comes, there is a lot of work to be done in the security corps. There was something very important going on, not just clearing away the snow that fell in the winter.

This is because while the movement of people decreases in winter, there is an increase in movement. That is, we had to prevent monsters and wild beasts wandering in search of food from approaching the village.

Animals that could become food for monsters and wild beasts hide in order to hibernate or leave in search of warm places, and there are many cases where monsters and wild beasts approach places where humans live in search of food.

Monsters and beasts also knew that they could be dangerous in crowded places. So, monsters rarely come to the village unless they attack on a large scale, but in the winter, they often approach the village while suffering from cold and hunger.

Anyway, for that reason, the security guard requested several items.

The order was to make wire and iron nails for repairing wooden fences, shovels to clear snow that caused inconveniences in many ways, and arrowheads and spearheads to attack enemies approaching on wooden fences.

“Um… … . This would probably take about two days. I’ll bring it to you in the evening, so I’ll bring it to the security guard three days later.”

Since the villagers’ winter preparations were only half-finished, there was plenty of room for production, and it was enough to produce in two days.

The guard captain nodded and left for the guard station, as if he was very satisfied that it didn’t take much time. Afterwards, as promised, I made the items in two days and delivered them around lunch on the third day.

And from the time the items were delivered to the security guard, winter began in earnest.

Only during the day when the sun was shining did a few people move around, and most people spent time inside the warm house.

Because there was nothing special to do at this time. Even if I tried to work, there was nothing I could do because of the cold. There was no way farmers could farm in the cold, as the ground froze and plants died, and various restaurants and inns also closed for a while as the floating population decreased due to the cold.

In addition, most of the regular stores were closed. The villagers knew where the store owner lived anyway, so if they needed something, they could just go to the store owner’s house. Even the mercenaries who worked around the place had nothing to do during this time, so they left to find warmer areas or stayed confined to the inns they ran.

The people who were able to move around were hunters who had work to do even in the winter. Rather, there are animals that can only be caught in winter, and if you prepare properly, you can catch monsters and beasts more easily than in non-winter times.

Of course, even so, our blacksmith shop continued to operate. The fire that was lit inside the blacksmith shop to process the iron was quite strong, so even on a cold winter day, there was some warmth inside the store.

Even though I was bundled up in the cold on the way from home to the store, my routine was to take off every single layer of clothing when I entered the store. For that reason, it felt a little hot in the summer.

Anyway, the reason for running the blacksmith shop despite this cold weather was simple. Although business is not good because there is very little floating population, it was inevitable because people who came to buy new daily necessities or for maintenance continued to come. I had to come out to the blacksmith shop anyway because people were looking for me at home.

“Ugh, it’s boring.”

Since there were not many customers, Jiena found it difficult to expect incentives as usual, so she laid out sullenly. He said he was bored and sat down on a chair, just moving his long arms and legs.

In the end, unable to bear the boredom, Jiena jumped up from her seat and began tending the flower pots that were slowly withering in the cold. I moved my location a little closer to the blacksmith shop so I could feel the warmth, and I also took the cloth I had left to throw away and wrapped it around the flower pot.

“Just looking at that appearance, it looks like an elf… … .”

“What are you talking about? I was originally an elf.”

“Yes, yes.”

While eating barbecued whole pig, I still remembered the sight of him holding one whole front leg and biting into it. When I saw that look and the money-crazy look, I still had doubts about whether that was a real elf, but I didn’t say it out loud.

“Ziena. But how do elves spend winter?”

“Elves? uh… … . It’s not much different from here. Although elves are a long-lived species, that doesn’t mean they can’t feel the cold.”

“It seems like everything in life is similar.”

“That’s right.”

I suddenly became curious about how elves spend the winter, but when I heard that it wasn’t much different, my interest quickly cooled.

Eventually, like Jiena, I started to feel bored, so I opened a book on black magic with the thought of studying rather than doing this. I haven’t even read half of the book my grandmother left me.

“Skeleton Knight… … . It is an entity specialized in combat, and can strengthen its body using dark magic… … . Oh, it’s also possible to imbue a weapon with dark magic or curse it? Is there any way to use this?”

And, the boredom quickly began to disappear. I don’t know if it was because I was constantly improving rather than studying like I did in my previous life, but my interest was rising.

Moreover, for me, who uses skeletons to do various things, just thinking about how I could use a new type of skeleton was quite fun.

“… … But this also requires a special object, right?”

However, when I thought about the Skeleton Mage, I thought that a special entity would be needed to create it successfully, so I was a little disappointed about that part. Still, it seemed fortunate that warriors were more common than shamans.

Anyway, I began to spend the winter feeling peaceful, bordering on boredom. I spent time meeting one or two customers a day, chatting with friends who came despite the cold, and practicing black magic.

Thanks to my diligent training in black magic during that time, my skills have improved considerably. Although I wasn’t able to do anything special, I learned how to use dark magic more efficiently. Thanks to this, it became more powerful even when using the same black magic, and it became possible to create a slightly more powerful entity by making the same skeleton with the same materials.

However, it was not possible to spend the winter comfortably. This was because the news from Father Thomas, who came regularly, had suddenly stopped coming. Since I did not send a skeleton mage to where Father Thomas was, it could be said that news from Father Thomas had stopped.

Skeletons can be transported safely even in snow, rain, or bitter cold, while humans cannot.

“… … I’ll have to ask Father Thomas about this later.”

I thought I would talk to Father Thomas later and try to get him to use my Logis Skeleton. I couldn’t decide whether the bride would be happy to be transported as a skeleton.

Anyway, I achieved growth, but I was at a standstill due to not being able to supply the blood essence. I thought that winter would have passed a little faster. Only after winter passed would blood to be used to make blood essence be supplied, mercenaries would move actively and bring back monster corpses, and people would purchase many items from the blacksmith shop.

Hoping for winter to pass, I slightly opened the window and looked at the snowy sky. Of course, it wasn’t a window with glass like in my previous life, but was literally made of wood, so I couldn’t look at it for a long time because the cold wind blew in. I only got some cold air for a moment, but the tip of my nose was already cold.

The wind must have reached Jiena, who was nearby, as her long ears trembled. I smiled at the sight, closed the window, and lightly rubbed the tip of my cold nose.

However, as I was rubbing the tip of my nose to get rid of the cold feeling, the store door burst open and a customer came in.

“Welcome, heeik! president! Bear!”

Jiena, who was about to open the door and welcome the guest, got startled and ran towards me. This was because the customer who opened the door was wearing thick fur like a bear.

“… … A bear, that’s too much.”

“The voice… … . Are you a grill?”

“Yes. Even though I wore a thick bear skin, isn’t it too much to call it a bear?”

The customer who Jienna momentarily thought was a bear was Grill, one of the hunters in our village and one of my friends who was born and raised in this village with me.

He was so large that he had been nicknamed ‘bear’ since childhood, and his entire body was covered in fur that clearly belonged to a bear, so he looked even more like a bear. It was no wonder that Jienna was surprised, thinking it was a bear.

“You should have said “excuse me” when you came in. You wouldn’t have mistaken it for a bear, right?”

“You must have been surprised to see it was a talking bear.”

“Then don’t look like a bear.”

“It’s too much, really.”

Grill pursed his lips as if he was pouting and placed a crossbow on the counter.

“Here, the mill is broken. Can you fix it?”

“Um… … . All you have to do is make the parts and install them. It won’t be difficult. I’ll do it by tomorrow.”

“Thank you.”

Grill pulled out only the parts he wanted and handed them over to the Skeleton Mage who managed the blacksmith shop. If you do that, you will be able to control the skeleton on its own and create objects of the same shape.

After giving instructions for making the item, I had a quick chat with Grill, whom I hadn’t seen in a while. Even during this time when everyone was stuck at home, they were hunters who went hunting, so it was not easy to meet them.

“How are you these days? Do you have any prey?”

“Open. Perhaps because this winter started a little early, there were no animals left. Even though we went a little far, all we could do was catch one wolf. That wolf was also skinny, as if he hadn’t been able to catch anything. Since I only came back after catching the wolf, I went further, and even the goblin village was completely wiped out.”

“Is it that much?”

“Uh. Although it was small, there seemed to be about five huts built by goblins, but they were empty except for one corpse in the corner that looked like it had starved to death. ”

“If the goblin village is in that situation, it will be difficult to hunt anything nearby.”

“What should I do? It’s not even a day or two where the hunter is wasting away. I’ll have to go a little further out next time.”

I nodded to Grill, who shrugged his shoulders and said it was okay. Even though he was a hunter, he couldn’t successfully hunt every day. Especially in winter like this.

“I have to go deal with the wolf I caught first. Please take care of the mill.”

“Yes. Go in.”

Grill carried the wolf carcass on his back and hurried away.