Chapter 35
A rock figure, of all things.
Please prepare boards on the third and second floors too, and lay the flooring.
Not cats' paws, but rock figures.
...
Since I had some free time, I decided to explore the forest.
I parted ways with Soa and the others, who were hunting prey, and searched through the forest.
Koa came along with me.
I want vegetables and things I can use as seasonings.
As I moved away from the rocks, the large trees started to look slightly different.
The shadows still seem to be having an effect.
The black shadows grew slightly darker than those on the trees near the rock.
I cast "Purification" so it would thoroughly permeate the trees within the barrier.
A gentler light than usual gradually enveloped the trees.
A few seconds later, the light softly gathered in the air and flew off somewhere.
I looked toward where it had flown.
This was the first time I'd seen the light after purification.
Usually, it was much brighter, and when it settled, nothing remained.
Could the source of the curse be in the direction it flew?
This is kind of scary.
When I checked the trees, their colors had become more vivid, as if the shadows' influence had vanished.
That's good. Still, it's huge.
Even if there were fruit growing on top of the tree, harvesting it looked difficult.
...
I stood in front of one tree.
Looking up, I saw it laden with red fruit.
This was the first red fruit I'd seen in this world.
The problem was whether it was edible, and how to harvest it.
As I wondered what to do, the boss spider came over to me.
The boss spider climbed the tree...
???
There were lots of boss spiders.
Eight of them? Huh?
Those little ones... Could they be the baby spiders?
Oh, they don't have wings.
They're bigger than when I first saw them.
They look about as big as the boss spider.
Have they grown?
In just a few days?
...
While I was staring in surprise, the baby spiders brought me a red fruit.
The red fruit in my hand.
Thank you.
Eight baby spiders, each the size of a 500-yen coin.
You've gotten bigger.
The fruit they'd brought me was about the size of a small watermelon.
I cut it open with a knife made from silver-colored ore and took a bite.
It was crisp, and the taste was... juicy and sweet, like a peach.
Yum!
Fruit other than meat, for the first time in several days.
It was perfectly ripe, so its sweetness was somehow soothing.
We all finished it and resumed harvesting.
...
The baby spiders harvested dozens of red fruits for me.
How am I going to carry these home?
The things I had with me when I was transported to this world were the clothes and shoes I had been wearing.
My wallet and smartphone, plus the black cloth bag hanging from my shoulder.
I'd brought the bag in case I found something to harvest, but...
It could hold only one fruit the size of a small watermelon.
Could this bag become like the pocket of a famous robot?
That thing could store as much as you wanted.
The bag suddenly felt lighter.
Startled, I looked in the bag, and the red fruit that should have been there was gone.
"Huh? ... It disappeared?"