Chapter 83 – I made a wall!!
"Master Heal, we've finished marking it out!"
Said the kobold, Haines, as he ran up to me and bowed.
They had been marking out the area where the walls would be built.
A green paint had been made with the leaves of the World Tree, and lines had been drawn on the reclaimed ground.
What was most useful during large construction projects like this, was a 'Cave King' feature that was called 'Workshop.'
This was an ability that allowed me to take different materials in my inventory and process them into different things.
For instance, stone could be turned into blocks, or it could be crushed and turned into sand.
Stone blocks could be in various sizes and shapes. Sand would also vary depending on what kind of rock you were using.
The monsters could make smaller things, but when it came to building large structures like this, it was much safer for me to use this ability.
"It's been a while since I used this feature… Alright, here goes."
I made sure that there was no one inside of the green outline, and then I pointed my right hand towards it.
And then, square stone blocks started to shoot out of my hand.
They fit inside of the green lines like pieces in a puzzle.
I was carving the stones in a workshop that existed in some unknown place, and then unleashed them.
"This is always amazing to watch… It looks like they're coming out of your hand."
Haines said as he watched me.
"Really? I honestly feel kind of silly…"
Like I was some kind of stage magician who performed tricks in the city… At least they entertained people by pulling out flowers and flags. But I was just pulling out some boring rocks.
I wished that I was a skilled sculptor, and then I could create more intricate designs. However, I had no talent for such things.
But in any case, this wall was for our defenses. So it was best to take it seriously.
"…Alright, that's it for the first layer."
I said. And Haines replied.
"Understood. Then we shall add the mortar!"
"Ah, thank you… I wish that I could make mortar…"
Mortar was a material that was used to fill in the gaps between the rocks.
A cement was made with powdered limestone and volcanic ashes and mixed with water. It looked like mud, but would harden like a rock.
It was a vital building material in the city, but you needed to measure the ingredients precisely.
And of course, I had no knowledge of such things.
As for the monsters here, most of them had lived in the forest. And so they only knew about building with wood.
And so no one on this island knew how to make mortar.
And so I had given the task to Mappa. Mappa looked troubled at first, but after some trial and error, he was able to make us a substitute.
Mappa always came to me with a confident expression when showing me what he had made. But this time, he looked uncertain.
Even now, he looked at the barrels of mortar that the monsters were carrying, and he seemed worried.
Did he have doubts about its quality?
What he had shown me had hardened rather nicely.
Suddenly, Mappa stopped the monsters with a raise of his hand, and he then opened one of the lids of the barrels.
And then he licked some before nodding quietly.
"Uh, he's assured by the taste…?"
That being said, there was something comforting in seeing Mappa's satisfied expression. As odd as that was.
And so the monsters continued to carry the barrels and prepare tools known as trowels.
They had the roles of adding the mortar to the stone blocks I had lined up.
This was to fill in the gaps between them, and so the next layer of rocks would stick.
"If we start now…it will take about one hour."
Haines said.
"An hour… I guess I should return to mining then."
However, even if I took the trolley, it was more than a 10 minute ride to reach the deepest area.
And the trip back would be even longer.
In that case, I might only have about 30 minutes to dig…
Besides, this was just the first layer. So I would have to go back and forth for every layer.
It's not that I was lazy…but it wasn't efficient.
Perhaps it would have been better to just make larger stone blocks, so that the entire wall itself was just made of a few boulders.
Also, it would be so much easier if I could just make mortar with the workshop feature…
It was with such thoughts that I picked up some of the mortar with my finger.
Maybe I could gather it…
"…Ah."
And just like that, the mortar vanished.
Was I able to do this because it was made of rocks and mined materials?
And…
<
…Cement was used to make mortar. But, concrete? What was that?
<
I see. I suppose we could do some testing with that.
…Well, I didn't quite understand. But at least I could make mortar now.
So, I just needed to…wait, you also needed water.
I didn't have any water in my inventory.
Besides, water wasn't considered a mined material, and I couldn't gather it.
If only I could add water somehow…
Or I could just gather all of the mortar here and apply it myself.
"Alright… All of you. Leave this to me."
And so I put all of the barrels into my inventory.
Haines watched this and asked,
"Master Heal? What are you doing?"
"This way, I can add the mortar all at once. Just watch."
I said as I raised my right hands towards the stone blocks.
And then I ordered the mortar to be unleashed…
And just like that, the gray liquid burst out of my hand.
"Woah!? That's very powerful…"
I adjusted it a little and then made it rain over the stone blocks.
Yes…this would be quite useful.
When I had fought the Leviathan before, I attacked it by unleashing boulders into its mouth. This was similar to that.
It was muddy, but slowly got harder. So if we were ever attacked by a giant monster again, I might be able to use this to take out its eyes.
Once I was done, I just lined up more stone blocks on top of it.
Two layers, then three…it went on…
"Oh! And it's only been a few minutes!!"
Haines and the other monsters shouted in awe as they saw the wall grow taller.
The wall was now about four or five times taller than me. It was impressive, even when compared to the walls of Sanfaris.
Now, I just need to make the battlements. So people could walk on the top and protect the wall.
Oh…
Mappa was trying to climb up on top of the wall.
"Mappa. It's not completely hardened yet! That's dangerous… Ahh."
A yellow bug…that looked like a bee appeared in front of my face, and so I tried to brush it away.
However, my hand didn't touch anything.
I quickly looked around to see where it had gone.
"…Bees on this island? Huh?"
And then I saw it. A bee that was the size of a human was behind Mappa, ready to sting him.
0
0
0
Chapter 84 – I caught a bee!!
"Mappa!! Behind you! Behind you!!"
I shouted. As Mappa hung on the side of the wall, he looked around with annoyance.
What he saw was a giant bee and…
"Mappa! Move out of the way!!"
Mappa's mouth opened in surprise, but then he offered his buttocks to the bee with a hint of bashfulness.
And then the buttocks that peeked out from under Mappa's skirt, was stung by the bee at a speed my eyes couldn't even follow.
Mappa's face contorted with agony, and then he fell from the wall.
"Mappa! …I mean, why did you offer it!?"
As always, Shiel the slime caught Mappa before he hit the ground.
At the same time, I cast some healing magic while I ran up to him.
"Mappa!! Hey, Mappa!!"
I shouted. Mappa's cheeks flushed and he looked at me with a stupefied expression.
He wasn't bleeding…but he was drooling.
Just to make sure, I checked to see if he was poisoned, but it seemed like he was alright.
"You bastard! How dare you do that to Brother Mappa's plump bum!!"
Haines immediately started to fire arrows at the bee.
However, while the giant bee seemed a little unstable, it was able to dodge them.
"You-you!!"
Haines unleashed even more arrows.
But now the bee turned away and seemed like it was going to fly off.
"He-hey! Wait!! Ah."
It was just as Haines started to shout angrily.
The bee seemed to have been caught in something invisible, and it was thrashing around wildly.
Eventually, the light reflected on it, and I saw that there was a thin string.
"…This…"
Haines and I turned around to see the giant cave spider, Taran.
Taran had quickly spun her webs and captured the giant bee.
It was being pulled towards Taran now, like it was a fish caught in a net.
The bee's body was then wrapped up in webs and lowered to the ground.
"Good work, Taran. Still…I didn't expect to see bees coming here…"
Killer Birds, Satan Shellfish, Devil Hoppers…and now a bee.
That being said, our previous guests had all come in swarms.
But this bee seemed to be alone.
Taran raised her front legs proudly when she heard me.
Spiders made spiderwebs and so perhaps she had always been good at catching bugs.
I ignored Mappa's slack face, and moved towards the giant bee.
It was still flailing around wildly. It seemed like it was trying to escape from the spider web.
Haines sounded scared as he said,
"It's very big…"
"Yeah. It's the same size as a human, only with wings."
Its head and body were about the same size as a human's.
But it's clear wings were a little larger.
It had the same black and yellow pattern that I was used to seeing.
And the sharp stinger that had pierced Mappa was the size of a sword.
Aside from its size, it was just a bee… However, to me it didn't look as thin as most bees. Its stomach was swollen up.
"…Well, should we do it? I don't really like bugs, but it should be edible."
Haines unsheathed the sword at his belt and was about to stab the bee.
It had to do with how they were raised, I think. Kobolds tried to turn everything into food…
"Wait, Haines. It doesn't seem so dangerous. I think…"
"But Brother Mappa's… No, that was definitely his fault."
"Yes. If it wanted to kill Mappa, it could have done it. I think it just stung him out of curiosity."
"I-I see… Perhaps? Well, there is certainly something about Mappa's bum that is…"
Taran drew back upon hearing Haines's words.
"Th-that's not what I meant! It's just that the shape and color are… No, you have it wrong!"
Haines said desperately to me and Taran.
"Well, I think we can agree that it was Mappa's fault…perhaps the bee thought he was mocking or provoking it. In any case, does anyone know anything about this bee? I need to learn that first."
"Indeed… It might be best to go and ask Baris about it."
"Yes. But…it seems to have become very weak…"
"So it has. Its movements already seemed odd when it was dodging my arrows."
On closer inspection, the giant bee had wounds all over it. Even parts of its wings were torn.
And it wasn't as if Taran had done it. Clearly, some time had passed since that happened.
It had been unstable when flying, so perhaps it was already quite weak.
Eventually, the bee seemed to give up as it lay limply on the ground.
However, its legs continue to move as if protecting its belly.
Did it have a stomach ache? No, was there something else…?
In any case, it might just die before I could speak to Baris about it.
"I could treat it…"
"Ar-are you sure? It might attack us again."
"But Taran has it bound up. And if it comes to it…I'll kill it myself."
"Ve-very well. But I will hold my sword ready."
Haines looked unsure, but agreed.
"Alright…here goes."
And so I cast healing magic on the bee.
Just like that, the bee's wounds healed. It was almost unbelievable how pretty it was now.
The bee seemed surprised as it started to look around.
"Does it still hurt?"
I asked. And the bee looked at me and stared for a moment.
"Uhh… If it still hurts somewhere, I could…bbbffoo."
Suddenly, the bee unleashed a torrent of yellow liquid all over my face.
"Ma-master Heal!! You bastard!!"
"Mma…aait…aines…"
I wiped off the substance as I stopped him.
"…It's sweet. It's honey."
And it wasn't just any normal honey. Aside from its sweetness, it felt like it was filled with the scent of various fruits and flowers.
"Ho-honey?"
Haines wiped some of it off of my face with his finger and tasted it.
"This…! …Rooooooff!"
After tasting the honey, Haines's tail wagged happily and he let out an adorable bark.
This was certainly a side to him that I had never seen before.
Then he suddenly remembered himself.
"…I-I have shamed myself in your presence! Forgive me! But I am very fond of sweet things!"
"No, I think I understand… I've never eaten honey so delicious in my life."
"Does this mean that…this honey is a gift of gratitude to you, Master Heal?"
"Maybe…"
"That being said, it is quite rude to shoot someone in the face like that…"
"Well, I don't think it meant any harm."
It was a bee… If anything, I was surprised that it felt any gratitude at all.
That's when it happened.
<>
The Advisor's voice rang in my head.
"It seems…that I can tame it. So, does that mean that it's a monster?"
"Huh. So it isn't just a giant bee then."
"It looks like it… Uh, why did you come to this island?"
I tried asking it. But of course, it could not understand me. The bee did not answer.
However, it seemed to constantly hold its stomach while looking towards the World Tree. Perhaps it wanted to make a nest there.
As for me, I didn't want to tame anything without its permission…
That being said, if it was going to live on this island, everyone would feel safer if it was tamed.
"I suppose I'll just have to…tame you then. As for a name…bee…bees… What about Heath?"
It was a common name in Sanfaris. So everyone would remember it.
The bee did not reply, but there was a sudden burst of light.
<
And like that, Heath became one of us.