Auto Hunting (2)

"Here. This is my reply to the princess."

"Kieeeek!"

The small commotion caused by the phoenix's visit didn't last long. The fire spirit snatched my letter in its beak and flapped its wings toward the sky. Whoosh—! It vanished, leaving only a trail of flames in the air.

Only then did Miroa bring up the earlier topic.

"But… are you sure that was all right?"

She didn't say it outright, but she meant the part about the princess's name.

"It's just a superstition. Doesn't matter."

Rather than a demon's curse, it was an incredibly convenient ability—long-range communication, eavesdropping, and even teleportation. I'd simply used it to cleanly tell the princess to give up.

That was all. Apologizing for the interference would itself be an interference, so there was no need to apologize.

Meanwhile, the princess's letter had read:

Honestly, that kind of menhera behavior felt like an overinflated ego. It was true that her constant visits had been annoying, and I really hadn't liked it. Still, it felt wrong to say something harsh to someone who had already apologized first. So I'd simply tossed out a single line telling her there was no need to apologize any further.

I'd briefly considered other possibilities. Maybe after I left, the academy romance-fantasy idiots had belatedly realized the true value of my magic and the princess had tried to contact me quickly because of that. But nothing like that had happened, so it really was just the princess's simple menhera.

A thought occurred to me around then.

'Did I compress it too much?'

Looking back, I might have packed the meaning too tightly. Maybe this was why people said you shouldn't date mages. A little late, but I decided to ask Miroa for her opinion anyway.

"Miroa. What did you think of that letter I sent?"

"You're asking for my opinion on the contents of the letter to the princess, correct?"

Miroa, who understood even my vague phrasing perfectly. She pondered seriously for a moment, then answered in her usual straightforward tone.

"I don't know how the princess will feel, but I thought it was sufficient."

"Yeah?"

"You haven't completely let go of the unpleasant feelings. But since you received an apology, there's no need to feel sorry anymore. With time, emotions will naturally settle and you might even forgive each other. I believe you conveyed that meaning efficiently."

"See, you get it!"

"It's not because it's me. You also used the automatic letter-writing magic, so your intent should have been properly delivered to the princess as well."

Right. If Miroa said so, then it must be true. I was extremely tired right now anyway, and I didn't have the energy to cling to unpleasant human relationships. Time to move on to the next task.

I opened the status window and quickly scanned the floating text. The contents moved according to my will. I browsed the menu briefly before selecting the function ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠I'd already marked.

It was one of the important features of the healing farming game—item crafting. I wondered what it would look like when cast in reality.

"Miroa, step back for a bit. I'm going to use magic."

"Understood."

[Craft]

When I pressed the craft button in the status window, a change occurred in the inventory provided by the bag. The materials disappeared, replaced by a new furnace-shaped icon. I could summon the newly crafted furnace by gesturing over the icon.

Thud!

A furnace the size of a kimchi refrigerator appeared in the farmyard.

"W-wait, just now—"

Miroa was so shocked she couldn't even finish her sentence.

"Did you just create something that size out of thin air!?"

She seemed genuinely shocked, so I corrected her.

"Not out of thin air. I synthesized the materials inside the inventory to craft it."

"Even so, it far surpasses the empire's magical standards."

"Don't artifact craftsmen do things like this?"

"You are not a craftsman, Master. I've never heard of magic alone enabling something like this."

Same story again.

"How can the people of the empire ignore magic like this…"

"This isn't that kind of magic."

This was the system.

"I know. The real thing is the one you were researching…"

I let Miroa's words go in one ear and out the other. Efficiency calculations were more urgent. The question was how many furnaces to make. If I made a bunch, smelting would go faster. The problem was the production cost was quite high.

It required quite a lot of stones. Coal too. It even consumed copper ore, an extremely precious early-game resource. And this was to make a furnace for smelting copper!

'Making too many would be inefficient.'

So I reached a conclusion. Someone would have to stay by it for a long time anyway. I'd make exactly two. While someone stayed nearby, once the ore was fully smelted, they'd remove it and add new ore. Maximizing turnover that way was the right approach.

Some more time passed. Right now, I was in the middle of putting the ores I'd brought from the abandoned mine into the furnaces for smelting.

Crackle, crackle.

Flames ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠sparked inside the furnaces. I looked up at the sky. The sunset had clearly been visible earlier, but before I knew it, the sun had set quickly and the surroundings were now completely enveloped in darkness.

"It's already night."

"It seems difficult to track the passage of time outside while in the mine."

The stamina consumption of the mine content far exceeded expectations. Swinging a pickaxe and mining ore all day long made it inevitable.

"Stamina—Master, are you all right?"

"I can still manage."

Honestly, I was dying of exhaustion. I wasn't showing it in front of Miroa, but I definitely was. A warning window had even appeared before my eyes.

My stamina was at rock bottom, so I couldn't do anything else and was just breathing. I moved carefully to avoid fainting, only swapping out the ore in the furnaces.

Apart from stamina, I also needed to sleep. It was common sense, but seeing the status window state it so plainly made me feel a bit rebellious.

'What happens if I don't sleep like this?'

The status window kindly explained fainting and debuffs.

If I fainted, morning would come the next day and I'd feel absolutely terrible. Back pain, muscle soreness, halved work efficiency, reduced movement speed, and so on. It even said luck would decrease, making me unlucky.

'Aha. I see.'

So that's how it was. The status window's contents were almost threatening, but I saw it differently.

'Even if I collapse, as long as I get proper rest in bed afterward, it's fine?'

I'd come up with something I wanted to try, so I decided to keep working today. That night, I kept the furnaces burning almost until dawn.

Unlike a real forge, the results were incredibly clean. An icon floated above the furnace, and clicking it made the smelted metal pop out. I had Miroa collect them neatly in the storage shed.

'It really feels like a game.'

How exactly was this game system being applied? Could it really be incorporated into the magic system I knew? That kind of worry didn't matter. To be precise, it was a matter of priority. The healing farming game system could be applied and reproduced, and it even came with kind explanations. Level up by gaining experience, learn skills. Buy items with system gold. Combine items to create useful facilities. And so on. The input and output were consistent, predictable, reliable, and even highly efficient. If I'd had to stack bricks and light fires to build a furnace myself, I couldn't have done it like this. As an engineer, there wasn't much to do right away.

'Isn't this the best?'

Rather, what was truly satisfying was the current state. Unraveling the principles? Figuring out how the healing farming game system itself was established and obtaining its source? That was far too late-game content. Thus, copper and refined quartz began steadily accumulating in the storage shed. Thanks to gathering so many ores from the abandoned mine, there was no end to smelting them no matter how many I processed.

"Master. It's late. You should get some sleep."

"No way."

Miroa shook her head vigorously as if her patience was wearing thin. Honestly, I understood.

"This isn't the academy, it's a rural village! The countryside! Even after coming all the way here, you're still pulling an all-nighter?"

"If you want to sleep, you can go by yourself…"

"I can't do that while you're awake, Master. I'll stay up until the end."

"Then I have a favor to ask."

"Please say it."

"During ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠this time, could you clear the weeds in the farm and dig up those pine trees over there since they're in the way?"

"……"

Miroa looked down at me with cold eyes. It was especially scary because she'd just received an axe from me.

"Please. Okay?"

A moment later.

Crash!

An innocent pine tree fell with a scream. And a little more time passed, after we'd added several more copper ingots and quartz to the storage shed.

"Ooh."

My vision began flashing red. A red status window appeared, signaling real danger.

But an engineer doesn't get scared in a place like this. Rather, my heart raced at the new possibility. I could finally test the theory I'd just come up with!

The status window text changed once more, this time to a hazy ashen color. Before I knew it, Miroa had finished chopping wood and returned to my side. I quickly raised my hand to signal for help.

"Miroa. ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠Please…"

"Aigoo."

In my fading consciousness, I saw Miroa sighing. I could feel my body being lifted up. Miroa princess-carried me all the way to the mansion. Then she gently laid me on the bed.

Tap.

"Sleep well, Master."

The next morning.

Chirp chirp chirp—!

I woke up feeling incredibly refreshed and stretched. There was no sign of the terrifying muscle pain, back pain, or reduced efficiency the status window had warned about.

'See? My theory was right.'

Even if I fainted outside, as long as I slept in bed afterward, there was no problem. The experiment was a complete success.

Early morning. In perfect condition, I stepped outside and opened the storage shed door. What appeared before me were copper ingots and refined quartz. And the status window I'd just opened.

Starting today, I planned to begin running full-scale auto hunting.