Let's Investigate the Top of the Cliff

A beastwoman named Nyamena had come to our house.

Apparently, she was the bodyguard Primula had hired in the city. Apparently, a young woman working alone was subjected to all sorts of harassment, including sexual harassment.

Since Primula wanted to treat Nyamena to dinner, I made stew and set it out on the table, but—

"What the heck is this, white soup?"

Nyamena's eyes widened at the white stew she'd never seen before.

Today's bread was the hard bread sold in the city that Primula hadn't managed to sell at her shop.

"It's delicious~"

"It is, isn't it?"

Everyone here had already tried the stew.

"I cooked it with flour and milk. That's why it's white."

"You cooked it in milk? I've never eaten anything like that."

"The other beastfolk said it was delicious too, so I think you'll like it..."

"Ugh..."

Nyamena cautiously lifted a spoonful of stew to her mouth.

"I-it's delicious! It melts in my mouth, and it's so rich!"

Once she realized the mysterious white soup was delicious, she began shoveling it into her mouth.

With that appetite, the plate would soon be empty.

"Oops, I forgot the alcohol. Want some?"

"Yeah."

I poured the cheapest wine I'd bought from Shangri-La into a cup for her. Even the cheapest wine seemed to be considered a fine product in this world.

"Damn, this is good! Hey, is it really okay to drink such fine wine with a meal?"

Having downed her wine in one go, she shouted.

"Yeah, we usually don't drink with meals."

"Well, thanks."

Saying that, Nyamena poured more wine into her cup.

"Want another helping?"

"Is that okay?"

"You're our guest."

I served Nyamena another helping of stew.

"Me too!"

"Me too, nya~!"

Anemone and Myaree held out their plates, but Primula seemed satisfied with what she had.

"Man, the room is bright, the food is delicious, and the alcohol is good too. Is this heaven? Hahaha."

After everyone finished eating the stew, I cleaned up with Nyamena, who was in high spirits, and decided to heat the bath.

In the darkness, I filled the drum bath with water and moved aside the step we used to get into the bath with Myaree.

"All right, Anemone, you can go all out today."

"Okay."

"What are you going to do?"

"I thought I'd heat the bath with magic."

I had moved the step out of the way because otherwise the magic would burn it.

"With magic?"

Anemone concentrated and began chanting a spell.

'Mmm! Flames of Wrath—Fireball!'

The fireball that emerged in front of her struck the drum, ignited the firewood beneath it, and transformed into a huge pillar of flame.

The blazing orange light illuminated the entire area.

"Whoa!"

"Amazing, nya~"

The fire had tremendous power, but apparently no staying power, and soon died down.

To see how effective the magic had been, I put my hand into the drum.

"Whoa, it's pretty warm already. The bath will heat up quickly like this."

"Then I'll do the other one too~!"

"Are you sure that's okay?"

"Yep!"

"Kenichi, magic gets better the more you use it."

"Like leveling up experience?"

"I don't know what experience is, but your proficiency increases. Of course, everyone probably has their own limits."

A pillar of flame rose from the other drum as well. The bath, which normally took an hour to heat, was ready in about thirty minutes.

Anemone looked tired from using magic. I wondered if she was all right.

Like Myaree, Nyamena had no qualms about stripping completely naked.

Nyamena was taller and more muscular, and her body was imposing. Every inch of her was tightly toned, without a trace of excess fat.

Myaree's butt was round, but Nyamena's was square—it looked like it would be nice and tight... Ahem. These old-man thoughts are no good.

She didn't even try to hide her beautiful, athlete-like body, which left me at a loss for where to look.

She cautiously straddled the rim of the drum bath with her legs spread wide, sank into the water, and quietly closed her eyes.

"Ahh, soaking in hot water... You must be a rich man or a noble to do this—this is seriously heaven! Hahaha!"

"How's the temperature?"

"It's perfect. I never thought there'd even be a bath here. Even if there is a bath in the city, we beastfolk can't use it."

"I hear that's how it is."

After the bath, I dried everyone's hair and fur with the jet heater as usual.

"This is magic too?!"

"Yep."

"Fwaaah~ If I had this, my fur would dry right away after our usual baths."

Nyamena turned her rear toward the warm air and dried her tail.

"What do you usually do?"

"A campfire."

"With campfires, your fur gets singed before you realize it, nya."

"Exactly!"

Apparently, that was a common beastfolk experience. Their fur acted as insulation, making it difficult for them to feel the heat until it was too late.

Once our fur and hair were dry, we all went back inside. Anemone had study time, while Primula was preparing the ingredients for tomorrow just as I had taught her.

I brought out a bed for Nyamena—the one Anemone had slept in yesterday.

As soon as the bed appeared, Nyamena jumped into it.

"This bed's nice and fluffy too~ Maybe I'll live here."

"No way, nya! If we add any more people, the room will be too cramped, nya."

"Aw, come on~ What's the harm?"

"No way, nya!"

Nyamena had been arguing back and forth with Myaree, but she was staring intently at Anemone's studies.

"You're teaching her?"

"Yeah. Being able to read, write, and do arithmetic will expand her job options. Besides, apparently there aren't many jobs for women."

"Yeah..."

"Anemone, why don't you go with Primula and learn how to run a business?"

But Anemone shook her head at my suggestion.

"I'm going to learn more magic and help Kenichi!"

"What will you do after helping me?"

"Go adventuring with Kenichi!"

"Huh? Adventuring? I don't really want to fight if I can avoid it."

"You could even defeat a dragon, Kenichi!"

Anemone hugged me as she said that, but...

"No way~! Have mercy! No number of lives would be enough. But I hear someone in the Empire defeated a dragon."

Nyamena, who had been lying on the bed, sprang to her feet.

"Yeah, I heard that too. The guy who defeated it was a mage, apparently. He killed it with magic."

"Does magic work on dragons? For that matter, are dragons worth money?"

"I don't know about magic, but of course they're worth money! Meat, fangs, scales, dragon's gall, ambergris—it's a mountain of treasure!"

"Is dragon meat good?"

"Apparently."

Nyamena folded her arms behind her head and lay back down on the bed.

"I'd like to eat some... So did the guy who killed it become rich?"

"Normally he would have, but apparently that mage was the First Imperial Princess's court mage, so they say the princess took it all."

"That's awful."

"Well, that's royalty and nobles for you. Anyway! They say she used the money from selling the dragon to build a war chest and raise a rebellion against the Emperor."

"Oh! That's pretty interesting."

"For nobles and merchants languishing in the provinces, it's a good chance to return to center stage. Some of them are bound to join."

"So that's the Einstürzende Neubauten family?"

"Boss, you know your stuff!"

"Well, only a little."

While we were discussing the Empire, Myaree suddenly hugged me.

"Fgyah!"

"Whoa! What's gotten into you, Myaree? Don't scare me like that."

"I won't steal him from you. But if the boss asked me to..."

"Fgyah!"

What, was she jealous? Myaree was being noisy, so I moved away from Nyamena and sat on the opposite side of the bed.

She never said anything about Anemone or Primula, so apparently a beastwoman's rivals were other beastwomen.

"Primula, how did you meet Nyamena?"

"She was a customer."

"The food was so good that I ended up getting seconds. But after eating the food here, I can see why."

The food cost 1,000 yen per serving, while seconds cost an additional 500 yen.

"A woman makes a better bodyguard for another woman, don't you think? A beastwoman is strong, too."

"Yeah, I have confidence in my skills, so leave it to me. Still, running a business alone as a woman is impressive. You've got guts."

"Her father is an incredible merchant."

"Ah, so that's why. I knew she wasn't just some ordinary young lady."

In the middle of our conversation, Primula took out some money—two silver coins worth 100,000 yen. This included the proceeds from the books.

Apparently, she'd bought the books wholesale from me. That meant half the sales had come to me.

In fact, it was Primula's achievement that she had sold all the books for 10,000 yen apiece, when I had estimated their price at 5,000 yen.

"What? You don't need to give me my share."

"I couldn't do that. I'm borrowing the magic-stone stove too. A merchant must pay for what she receives."

"I see."

Given that, I had no choice but to accept it. She probably had her pride as a merchant.

"You're an amazing merchant too, aren't you, boss? Why don't you do business?"

"I've earned enough for now, so I'm taking it easy. There are things I want to do too."

"Huh, you're an unusual merchant. Merchants are all money, money, money—selling even their own family for money is the norm—oh, I don't mean you."

After saying that, Nyamena realized she'd put her foot in her mouth and apologized to Primula.

"Heehee, that's certainly true."

"I just want to take things easy."

"You're a strange one, boss."

"I get told that all the time."

Well, that was all because Shangri-La allowed me to live a comfortable life with plenty of leeway.

Without this ability, I would probably be too busy struggling to survive to spare a thought for anyone else.

After studying and preparing food for about two hours, we turned off the lights.

"Haha—no one would believe me if I told them a Forest Cat sleeps in the same bed. Being close to an emissary of God... You're not actually God yourself, are you?"

"Good heavens, I'm God—no, of course not."

"I see..."

Still, even a spacious double bed was cramped with four people and a Forest Cat sleeping in it.

Anemone and Bell always climbed on top of me too. Wasn't there a wider triple bed?

I searched Shangri-La, but there wasn't one.

However, I found a bed that could be connected to another—but it was expensive! It cost more than 100,000 yen...

Hmm, it was a difficult decision.

Besides, if I put it in the room, the beds would fill the entire place.

Well, I put the beds into my Item Box when we got up, so it wasn't really a problem.

------◇◇◇------

――The next morning.

After we all ate breakfast, I took Primula to the city. Naturally, Nyamena went to work with her too.

Apparently, Primula had gotten up early and cooked everything herself.

That's probably how her father, Marlowe-san, had risen from nothing too.

Even though my cooking was delicious, selling out on her very first day showed that Primula had exceptional talent for business.

After seeing Primula off to the city, I returned home.

So, what should I do now?

It was about time I expanded my range, but there were monsters deeper in the forest.

Crossing the lake seemed frightening too. Besides, I could barely swim.

I could just about swim from one end of a pool to the other. I could ride the motorcycle around the lake's shore, but—

Just then, I noticed a waterfall some distance away.

"Come to think of it, there's a forest on top of the cliff too."

If it was an isolated landscape like the Guiana Highlands in my original world, there might be plants but no animals other than birds.

And if it was unexplored, there should be plenty of plants that nobody had harvested yet.

No monsters, and plenty of plants—

Then it was decided. I would climb to the top of the cliff.

Once I had decided that, I headed out to scout the cliff. I had already been to the waterfall, but I hadn't examined the cliff itself yet.

The cliff was about 100 meters away, so I walked there.

Up close, it was a gigantic wall, a massive cliff rising at almost a ninety-degree angle—about ten meters high, perhaps?

"It's huge!"

It was truly high when viewed from nearby.

Layers of colorful strata formed stripes across it, making it fairly beautiful.

There might even be fossils, but fossils probably had no value in a world like this.

However, Shangri-La might buy them for a decent price.

How was I supposed to climb it? Rock climbing? I couldn't do that even if I tried.

"For now, let's scout it out."

I took the drone I'd bought earlier out of my Item Box and launched it.

Being able to scout a destination beforehand was a major advantage. For example, I could find out how far the forest continued.

I should have flown this thing around the first forest I'd come to in this world to scout the forest and its surroundings... But I hadn't thought of that at the time.

I had only been thinking about finding food and things like that.

As the drone rose, the landscape appeared on the monitor built into its controller.

When the striped wall ended, a green forest came into view.

The drone's maximum altitude was over 100 meters. This height was well within its range.

But I wanted to understand the plateau as a whole, so I raised it almost to its maximum altitude.

As it climbed higher, the table-like highland gradually came into view.

I could see the city of Astrantia, but there was no road leading to the highland, and there were no signs that it had been developed.

The highland seemed to continue farther into the distance, but I couldn't see what lay at its end.

However, it didn't appear to be connected to any mountains.

Was the river that flowed into this waterfall supplied solely by water collected on the highland?

The Guiana Highlands had a massive waterfall called Angel Falls, and I think even its flow was supplied entirely by water from the highlands.

"Could this work?"

I brought the drone back and began considering ways to climb up.

"What are you doing?"

Anemone had come over, binoculars hanging around her neck.

"There's a forest on top of this wall, so I thought I'd try climbing up there."

"Can you climb this?"

"Well, there must be some way."

"Oh..."

Anemone peered at the wall through her binoculars.

"See anything?"

"I can see striped rock—and hey! There's a bird's nest! Chicks are poking their heads out! Flowers are growing in a hollow too!"

Plants really did grow in gaps in a cliff like this.

If it were eggs from a particularly rare bird, it might be worth climbing the cliff, but—

In my original world, people harvested swallow nests by putting up scaffolding on sheer cliffs.

"Ah! What's that?!"

Anemone, who had been looking through the binoculars, cried out in a way that piqued my interest.

"What is it? Is there something rare over there?"

"I can see a flame-colored stone inside the rock..."

This world had neither oranges nor the color orange, which was why she called it flame-colored.

"A stone? Is it shining?"

"Yeah, it looks sparkly."

When I looked in the direction she was pointing, I thought I could make out a faint orange line along the black-striped strata.

Could it be some kind of gemstone? I had to find out.

I took out the drone again and sent it beneath that orange color.

What appeared on the controller's monitor was a layer of transparent orange stone wedged between the rocks. It certainly looked like a gemstone.

But were there even any orange gemstones?

I wouldn't know until I actually extracted and examined it. The spot was high up on the cliff, so I had to think of some way to reach it.

"Hmm, when you think of high places—aerial work platform?"

I immediately searched Shangri-La.

They were selling them. There were various models, but they cost between 2.5 and 4.5 million yen.

There was a large model with a 15-meter arm. Since this cliff was about ten meters high, buying that would solve the problem easily.

However, I hadn't measured the cliff's height accurately, so I didn't know the exact figure.

"I want to know the exact height..."

I searched Shangri-La for a laser rangefinder. I remembered seeing one carried by a forestry worker before.

A Japanese-made Ni○n model cost 15,000 yen. According to the description, it could measure up to 550 meters, and it probably had plenty of other uses too.

For accurately measuring the distance to an enemy, for example—what enemy, exactly?

"Click."

After quipping to myself, I pressed the purchase button, and the laser rangefinder dropped down. I immediately tried it out.

I held the device like a video camera, looked through it, and pressed the button with my thumb. The distance appeared on the display inside—12 meters.

This could work.

In that case, buying an aerial work platform with a 15-meter arm would solve everything.

Wait, wait! Let's not solve everything with heavy machinery.

An aerial work platform kept the vehicle's engine running the entire time it was being operated.

If I was going to do excavation work, putting up scaffolding was still the sensible approach.

Shangri-La sold single pipes, clamps, joints, and other items used for construction-site scaffolding.

How about I first put up ten meters of pipe scaffolding, then use a ladder for the final two meters to climb onto the top of the cliff?

In an emergency, I could remove just the upper ladder and put the entire scaffold into my Item Box.

Single pipes were used for scaffolding on tall buildings, so this height shouldn't be a problem.

To investigate the glowing orange object that looked like a gemstone and explore the top of the cliff, I decided to put up scaffolding.