Winter has come.
We have no food problem this year.
Because of that, I’m focusing on either my side job or studying.
My side job is making small things made of woods and stones.
As for studying, it is mostly about magic or the geography of the surrounding area.
Besides magic, I’m really interested in this place’s geography.
After conversing with the demon king’s envoy Beezel and Gulf of the Howling village, I feel embarrassed that I know nothing about the surrounding places.
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Presently, our village is like in the center of a huge basin.
The forest that stretches through this entire basin is called the forest of death.
The size of the forest of death….the others are not too sure too but the high elves say that it will take them one month to cross from one end to the other.
If their goal is just to cross it and won’t carry anything, they said that they can cross it in half month.
However, thinking about the Gulf’s group of beastkins, they took them one month to come to this village from the foot of the west mountain. What should I consider as the standard?
By the way, it seems like the angels can cross over it at the sky within half a day.
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It seems like Doraim’s nest is in the mountain range on the south of the forest of death. It is called mountain of dragons.
Because the dragons live there, it is a peaceful place so there are those who chose to use that place as a pass.
Beyond the mountain of dragons is another forest called Iron forest.
Beyond the iron forest, further down south, Doraim said that there was a sea.
I heard that there is a human town near the sea so I would like to go there for some shopping.
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It seems like the demon king’s castle and castle town is beyond the western mountain of the forest of death.
TN: Castle town is usually the capital city of a country/territory. It is also usually named after the country/territory.
It seems to be a lively place. Should I talk to Beezel about me visiting that place?
It seems like the demon king’s territory spread like a circle around the castle. The human town in the south and the human town in the east are part of the demon king’s territory.
Seeing how the demon king’s territory spreads up to the castle on the west to the town on the east, it is obvious that the forest of death is under the demon king’s sphere of influence.
Had he left it unattended because nobody had lived in this place until now?
They are currently at war with the human kingdom on the west side of the demon king’s sphere of influence. They are fighting against the Kingdom of Full Heart.
Since they are located on the west side of the demon king’s castle, I think that the possibility of this village being involved in that war is low.
By the way, the demon king’s territory is the demon king’s kingdom. It is named after the present demon king so it is called Demon King Gullgald’s Country.
TN: Below is the image of the demon king. I can’t find a higher resolution image so I don’t know if I spelled his name correctly.
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From the village’s point of view, the Howling village is on the mountain in the east.
Across that mountain is a human village called Tarotte village.
Both of those villages are part of the demon king’s territory;y but it seems like both villages doesn’t have demons.
It seems like there are also small villages around Howling and Tarotte village but nobody knows the details.
Even though the beastkin Senna heard about those villages from the villagers of Howling village, they only trade with them so she doesn’t know any details.
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There seem to be something conspicuous in the mountain in the north and the mountain beyond that.
It is said that nobody can travel to that place during winter and will be difficult to thread to even during summer.
There are rumors that something dangerous is sealed in that place since the ancient times but nobody knows the truth.
Please stay as a rumor.
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By the way, if one wants to go to the Howling village in the east from the demon king’s castle, they would have to head south, travel along the coast, then go north.
I thought that that was one hell of a detour but it seems like nobody would like to pass through the forest of death, or the mountain of dragons, or even the iron forest.
What are they being cautious of?
Loo, Tier, and Flora managed to come here alone. Even the the onis and the lizardmen successfully came here too.
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「Where was Ria’s village located?」
「It is located to a place beyond the mountain northwest from here. It is in the forest north of the demon king’s castle.」
「Where did Loo came from?」
「Galbart Kingdom. It is a country north of Full Heart Kingdom.」
「Hee」
「I was living there alone before until the human’s came.」
「….I will not ask for your age.」
「That’s very wise of you. Tier and the other angels came from further north of the Galbart Kingdom.」
「That’s right. However, angels are usually working independently. We are only using that place to communicate with each other.」
「Angels are famous and they are a mysterious race.」
「There was a time that they became a subject of worship.」
「Those people worship us by themselves. We did not ask them to do so.」
「I also heard that you are collecting donations.」
「That’s….we also need to have a proper life.」
It seems like they have it hard.
「Anyway, I now have a rough understanding. Of names of places…」
「Right. Please do your best to remember them.」
I studied continuously during winter.
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Something special happened during winter.
Even though it is cold, a dwarf came.
Un, I think that it is an exaggeration to call this place forest of death.
One can come and go as they please.
「I heard there is a good wine here. Will you let me drink some?」
「As long as you pay for it.」
It was Ria who received him.
「This is bad, I don’t have money. However, I have knowledge.」
「You’re a blacksmith?」
「No, I’m a wine brewer.」
「….so the compensation of drinking wine is a method of making wine?」
「From what I heard, the wine you make here is made of grapes. I know a method to make wine from something else other than grapes.」
The dwarf grins.
「If the wine here is delicious, I’ll even consider settling here.」
「Good. I’ll accept your challenge. Give this person wine!」
The number of residents increased by one.
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「Areh? I can’t find the right words to say.」
「Is it no good?」
「No, that’s not it….」
「Then, there is no problem. Please stay in this inn this winter. There will be a welcome party tonight. The preparations are ongoing. Please greet the village chief immediately as soon as it starts.」
「….a-affirmative」
During winter, there are few events so the residents did not miss this opportunity to drink.
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Things that started this winter.
It is warm inside but cold outside the house so I don’t want to go out as much as possible.
The others think so too so everyone is doing something indoors.
Silence.
As expected, it is difficult to continue playing just those all this time.
Everyone is playing the thing I made before, chess and reversi.
But now, everyone is participating in the new mini bowling I made.
「It’s not easy to make it straight.」
「Why can’t I hit that pin?」
「Kuh….there were three left.」
I neither know the lane size nor the pin size. I made them smaller than what I remember since the indoor space for playing is limited.
I made a wooden lane with 1 meter in width and 10 meters in length. The pins are made of wood too. I made them from tree branches.
「What’s the point of knocking them down?」
With that simple question, I carved faces on the pins and made them look like an evil person.
It won’t be good if all of them looks the same so I changed each and put some identity.
The ball is a curved stone sphere.
Because it is difficult to make a hole that one can put their fingers to, I made it into the size of a softball to make it easier to roll.
Though my goal is to have them do some light exercise, it is good that the villagers love it.
「I can’t knock down that murderer on the right no matter what I do!」
「I think hitting the pyromaniac on the left is more difficult.」
「Ah, I almost hit them all if not for that fraudster. 」
It was so popular that I made six lanes this winter.
「We should make a dedicated building for this. 」
It was decided that when the spring comes, a new building will be created in the pretext of recreation hall.
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By the way, the mini bowling is not the only thing I made.
The first thing I made is darts.
I made a target then I thought about the things that need to be thrown.
After thinking about it, I made knives.
Rather than darts, I think we should call it knife throw.
I tried throwing it but it only scratches the wall.
I got fired up and continued but it was useless.
I took some rest and during that time, the high elves said that they wanted to try. They hit it continuously.
「There’s no problem even if the distance is further. 」
Well, they were living in the forest so I guess they will not able to live that long if they can’t do that much.
The onis also tried and they also hit it continuously.
「Why not make the target a humanoid? It will be a good practice. 」
…
The lizardmen also hit it continuously.
「We’re better using spears compared to knife…. I almost didn’t hit the center. 」
……
My heart broke down when I saw a drunk dwarf hit it.
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Because of that event, I made the mini bowling but I was not able to escape.
My score in mini bowling is low.
「Village chief, make more ball.」
「Make a new bandit pin please.」
「Eh, make a monster series first.」
Currently, I am devoted to making tools.
Perhaps this is my escape.
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