19. Ranma hates the rain.
19. Ranma hates the rain.
After getting soaked in the rain and just rinsing off without soap, I returned under the eaves. What awaited me was a damp body and soggy clothes. Who knew putting on wet clothes would be this annoying? I struggled to put them on, then used my Wooden Axe to smash the planks I'd set up as a makeshift door, shoved them into my Inventory, and went inside. I'd probably have to use this Hut for quite a while, so I figured it'd be better to just build a proper door.
"Back already? Did you wash up?"
Asagi, who was resting in the corner, asked while looking at me. I puffed out my chest triumphantly and shouted, "Go ahead, take a sniff!"
"I'll pass."
Asagi answered immediately. She's making me feel bad again. Just you wait until tonight. I'm going to sneak out and have my way with you in my imagination!
Still, it's a relief I built a Hut. Since everyone will be sleeping in the Hut, wouldn't it be easy to have some 'happy time' in secret if I go out at night? Or, I could just build a dedicated 'happy time' space for myself so no one can see.
Ranma was already fast asleep, hogging the Bed all by himself, snoring away. I felt a bit miffed. Asagi is a girl, yet he's the one using the Bed instead of giving it to her.
Good for you!
"What are we doing tomorrow?"
"I need to mine and move the Dirt Blocks."
"Dirt Blocks?"
"Yes. We're going to need a lot of materials. I'm going to space them out so the Oak saplings can grow well."
I have to mine everything except for just one. Since I'll be doing it based on the position of the remaining block, it won't look bad. I need to leave one Grass Block for later use.
The Dirt Blocks we have right now are, to be precise, Grass Blocks. Blocks with grass on top of dirt. The moment I mine this, the Grass Block becomes a Dirt Block. There is a way to mine it as a Grass Block, but that's impossible right now; I need an enchanted tool.
That's why I plan to leave one block untouched. If there wasn't a single Grass Block, I might never see one again in my life. I have to leave one so I can connect Dirt Blocks around it later to create more Grass Blocks.
Therefore, I'll leave one Grass Block, install Dirt Blocks at regular intervals with a 3x3 space in between, and grow Oak saplings on top to maximize the growth of the Oak Trees. I should put a fence around the Grass Block so no one touches it.
"Are you going to sleep now?"
"Yes? There's nothing else to do. The rain hasn't even stopped properly, and it's night."
At my words, Asagi looked tense. Why is she like that? Does she think I might actually jump her?
Asagi does have a body that turns me on, but I'm a person with common sense and a brain. If I jump Asagi now, the ending will be my death. There was absolutely no way I'd do that. Or is there another reason? I thought hard and came up with a hypothesis.
"Are you... still smelling me?"
"..."
Asagi didn't answer my question. Seeing Asagi avoiding my eyes and just staring at the wall, I started to get anxious. Do I really still smell? Even after scrubbing myself so hard?
"I asked if I smell!"
"...You do."
Ah!
Why is she so sensitive!
I huffed at Asagi's words and went straight out of the Hut. Asagi asked, looking flustered.
"Are you going out?"
"I think it's better if I sleep somewhere else."
"Umm... I'm sorry. This is really my problem. I'm really sorry."
Huh? When I spoke with annoyance, Asagi actually bowed her head and apologized as if she were truly sorry. I felt my heart soften a little at that. Is Asagi naturally sensitive to smells? I don't know if that's part of her character settings. Originally, I only knew Asagi for my 'happy time', I wasn't the protagonist of a game digging into her exact character settings.
Anyway, my heart softened just a little bit at Asagi's apology. Though it didn't change the fact that I had to go out and sleep alone.
"Then I'll go out and build another Hut. I'll just live there."
"I'd appreciate that."
Ha! Look at that shameless woman! Asagi took my bait immediately after I said that. Although she couldn't hide her apologetic expression, maybe because I'm wearing rose-colored glasses, it just looks hypocritical. While the Asagi in my imagination was destined to suffer more and more, I let out a deep sigh and went outside. First, it's important to build a space where I can sleep. The rain was still falling without stopping.
I didn't want to work in the rain either, so I decided to use the Oak I'd gathered all day to extend the eaves and build a Hut. There's no need to go far away to build a Hut and live alone, right?
I built my Hut right next to the one I'd painstakingly built where Asagi and Ranma were sleeping. I figured it would be better to build it big, even if it's a bit hard when I wake up. I built a makeshift Hut just big enough for one person to lie down in, then went inside and lay down. I felt unnecessarily miserable.
Is it my fault I'm dirty? This is all because of male hormones. It's inevitable that a guy smells like an old bachelor when he doesn't wash! Everyone smells like that!
But why is Ranma sleeping with Asagi just fine?
Are guys too young to have that old bachelor smell?
Ranma and I aren't that far apart in age.
Since I couldn't figure it out at all, I gave up thinking and went to sleep. Tomorrow, the day after tomorrow, probably until the moment I leave this place, I'm going to have to keep doing manual labor. I need to get some good sleep so I can move energetically tomorrow. That said, lying on the ground, my back feels sore. I feel like I'm going to be aching like crazy when I wake up tomorrow.
Tomorrow, I have to move like crazy to build the Oak Tree farm and the Monster Farm. I'm short on Spiders. To be precise, I'm short on Spider Webs. I want to sleep in a Bed too. Including Asagi's and mine, I need 24 Spider Webs for the Beds. I have 1 now, so I just need to get 23 more.
Fuck.
ㅡㅡㅡㅡㅡㅡㅡㅡㅡㅡㅡㅡ
When morning came, the rain had stopped. But I have no idea how long I slept. When I slept outside, the sunlight would annoy me, so I had no choice but to wake up in the morning, but since I slept inside the Hut, I couldn't tell if the sun had risen or not while I was sleeping.
I didn't know how much time had passed, so I went outside, and I saw Ranma already chopping down the grown Oak Trees with the Wooden Axe I'd given him yesterday. Certainly, he was strong enough to use his fists, but using a Wooden Axe was much faster than chopping wood with his fists. It was a spectacle to see the trees, which used to fall only after he gathered strength, took a stance, and BAM! hit them, now falling over one after another from the Wooden Axe Ranma was swinging around carelessly.
If I had been dropped here alone, it would have taken an age just to chop down the grown Oak Trees.
"You're up?"
"Yeah. How long has the sun been up?"
"It's midday. The sun's been up for a while, but I knew you had a hard time yesterday, so I couldn't bring myself to wake you."
Ranma said that while wiping his nose and laughing. What a thoughtful kid. You know how hard I had it!
"You're just too weak and have no stamina."
"......."
I'm grateful, but why does it sound like an insult? Is he insulting me or worrying about me?
"Is that an insult or are you worried?"
"Is it originally an insult or a compliment?"
"It doesn't sound like a compliment no matter how I hear it."
"It's not a compliment. But you really do need to build up more stamina."
I was speechless at the criticism from Ranma, who is younger than me. It's not like I wanted to come here! Whether I thought that or not, Ranma shrugged his shoulders and pointed his hand at the items scattered messily on the ground.
"Hurry up and eat."
I didn't really know how to answer that. So I didn't say anything and looted the items Ranma had chopped. The Oak saplings that hadn't grown yet were still planted in the dirt, so I quickly pulled them all out and put them in my Inventory. It seemed like I needed to organize my 30-slot Inventory now. There were so many items that if I didn't make a Chest, I wouldn't have enough space to carry them.
"Why are you pulling those out?"
"I have to move the position of the Dirt Blocks."
"Position? Why?"
"To make the trees grow better. Now there's really nothing left but manual labor."
I said that, then ran to the Crafting Table and made a Wooden Shovel. This should be enough to mine all the Dirt Blocks. From now on, I have to be careful. Dirt Blocks are a really valuable resource. I identified the Dirt Block with grass, the Grass Block, that I would leave, and mined all the Dirt Blocks except for that one. Since it would be a huge blow if the Dirt Blocks fell off the cliff, I immediately inserted an Oak Slab in that spot the moment the Dirt Block was mined to prevent the item from falling into the void. I succeeded in looting all 22 Dirt Blocks.
Now it's time to build the Oak Tree farm and the Monster Farm. How long will it take to collect all the Iron Ingots? Ah, I should put a fence around the Grass Block so no one touches it.