Chapter 75
Who said it was comfortable here!
I did!
I did!
Hot—no, I mean, it's hot out.
Summer seems to be in full swing.
It's incredibly hot.
I don't have a thermometer, but I want to ask if it's close to 40°C.
But there's no one to ask.
...This is bad. The heat is making me lose my mind.
...
This feels great~.
Good thing there's a river.
A river instead of a lazy river.
It's a beautiful river, and the water is incredibly clear.
There are all sorts of things in it, but never mind them, never mind them.
Things that look like shrimp but are a little different.
Fish-like things that disappear and reappear.
If I start worrying about them, I won't be able to play in the river.
Nice and cool~.
Come to think of it, I've been riding on something for a while now.
I keep wondering what it is.
Could it be some kind of transparent, amoeba-like... creature?
I have no idea.
Oh, it's a living thing. I found an eye.
It only has an eye... Maybe there's a mouth somewhere too.
Its entire body is transparent, so I can only faintly make out its overall shape.
Is it three meters? Maybe more.
It's all stretchy~ in the water, so I can't tell.
This thing is cold.
Feels good.
...It's not an enemy, right?
I drifted and drifted past the field behind the house and into the fruit forest zone.
A river running between the forests.
Since the major renovations, only the forest zone has been expanded a couple of times.
It wasn't as extensive as the major renovations, so it was completed in a few days, but... the forest zone is now about five times its original size.
I don't object to the Farming Corps, but waking up to find thirty of them at the foot of my bed...
That was nothing but terrifying.
I wondered if they were going to curse me.
I floated in the river through the forest, with the forest stretching on and on.
It's so vast~.
...
I slowly drifted down the river, spinning atop the amoeba.
As I gazed blankly at the sky, I saw trees flying through it.
! They're flying!
When I was startled, the amoeba stopped.
Huh, you're a nice one.
So... I see. The trees from the fruit forest were being floated through the air for transport.
I'd been wondering about it all along, but now I knew.
Still, seeing the roots and everything from below is incredible.
...Or rather, how many trees are going to fly over here?
Tree after tree came flying past.
I don't know what to make of it. It's not scary, but it's a pretty strange sight.
Does each tree have a baby spider on it?
As I watched, one of them tried to get my attention.
I waved and cheered it on.
I could see Shion and Crow racing through the sky between the trees.
Huh? Up in the sky?
Shion and Crow were running around in midair.
Could that be magic too?
So it isn't just fire magic. Amazing.
I wonder if Core, Soa, and Hio can do it too.
I'm jealous.
Oh, is that the last tree? Shuri came riding on top of it.
Shuri raised a front paw, so I waved back.
A baby ant appeared between the leaves and waved and waved... Amazing~.
So Shuri and the rest of the family are the ones who've been cutting the tree roots so neatly for me?
That family is amazing underground, after all.
Even so, it's hot.
I slowly cooled off in the river atop the amoeba.
I thought I'd gotten used to it, but there are still so many things that surprise me~.
I'll concentrate on not worrying about things like that.