Extreme Cold Era: Shelter Don't Keep Waste
Chapter 149: Logging Knight

Chapter 149: Chapter 149: Logging Knight

In the forest next to the fjord camp, twenty Steam Knights are diligently using Chain-Saw Swords to fell trees, then roughly processing them before dragging them back to camp to be chopped into firewood.

Tree felling itself is not a simple task, and that’s especially true for these knights.

A White Bear Knight cleared the snow from the base of a tree a bit, then used the Chain-Saw Sword in his hand to cut through about two-thirds of the trunk, leaving a V-shaped notch, before moving to the other side to ram the trunk with his hefty shoulder armor.

Simply toppling a tree with tools isn’t difficult; even a tree with the girth of a human embrace can be felled by these Extraordinary Knights with regular knight swords, let alone with their currently equipped steam armor and Chain-Saw Swords.

However, ensuring the fallen trees go down in a safe direction is the most critical and dangerous step in timber work.

Under normal circumstances, experienced lumberjacks will only cut one side of the trunk and then lightly pull it with a rope, causing the big tree to fall in the intended direction.

Yet a tree with the girth of an embrace is usually over ten meters tall, and the large canopy can interfere with surrounding trees, often causing collisions or simply getting stuck when the tree is pulled down.

In these situations, the direction in which the tree falls can become completely uncontrolled; if lucky, it will fall the intended way, but if not, it can sway to the side or even be blown in the completely opposite direction by the wind.

If the lumberjack doesn’t run fast, being crushed to death isn’t uncommon.

These knights obviously aren’t aware of this, and it’s unlikely there’s a professional lumberjack among them, so they can only rely on instincts to cut through the trunk, then push hard to force the trees over.

If they’re lucky, the tree will naturally fall in the intended direction, but if not, it could get stuck by other trees nearby, or worse, topple in the opposite direction, crushing the knight cutting it down.

Fortunately, they’re all wearing steam armor, though the fallen trees still pose a certain danger to them, like a direct hit to the head or arm could still cause injuries.

But to kill an Extraordinary Knight wearing steam armor? That would be underestimating Perfikot’s masterpiece.

The fallen trunk crashed down on the White Bear Knight who was cutting below, leaving him momentarily stunned and unresponsive.

Or rather, he did react, but the cold and the heaviness of the steam armor, along with the soft snow underfoot, prevented him from responding quickly, making him a bit slow.

This prompted his companion to shout, "Gus, watch out! Danger!"

Saying this, the companion rushed over to Gus’s side, reaching to catch the falling trunk.

Only after being shouted at by his companion did Gus react, swiftly lifting the Chain-Saw Sword in his hands, holding it above his head as if shielding himself from an impact, lowering his body while using both hands and the sword to block the falling trunk.

"Bang!" A deep sound of collision echoed as Gus and his companion caught the falling tree, but both stumbled under the impact, the bases of two Steam Knights nearly pushed into the ground.

A tree with the girth of an embrace, along with its canopy, weighs several tons, not to mention the added weight of the snow on its crown!

Although the two Steam Knights held the tree, they were thoroughly buried in the snowfall from the crown, leaving the area around the tree in a white haze, much like a fog.

Nonetheless, the two wearing steam armor weren’t hurt, and they didn’t even need their nearby companions for help; after pulling their legs out of the snow, they freed themselves from the predicament.

"Phew, good thing you were here, Griffith, or I’d surely have been hit on the head alone," Gus thanked his companion while the two worked together to lay the caught tree onto the ground.

The snow atop the crown fell in flurries, the elastic branches even bounced the whole tree twice on the snow.

"With the Steam Knight’s defense, even if you got hit on the head, you wouldn’t die," Griffith opened his steam armor visor, smiling brightly and reassuringly at Gus without blaming him: "But you should still be careful about being reckless, lest you damage the steam armor, Brandelis Count would surely be angry."

They were all formal knights, aware of how precious and valued such a set of steam armor was.

"Griffith, you’re always so reliable, I know." Gus, smiling at his companion, joined her in dragging the felled tree aside.

Gus raised his Chain-Saw Sword, preparing to trim the branches of the tree, because they were here to chop wood; such a large tree was impractical to drag back, best to cut the branches off for easier transport.

However, when Gus twisted the handle of the Chain-Saw Sword, he noticed the blade had bent during the earlier block, causing the chain to jam and not turn smoothly.

"Looks like it got damaged from the earlier hit, that’s not good," Gus said as he looked at the stranded Chain-Saw Sword in his hand, showing a somewhat pained and awkward expression.

During previous training, Gus and his companions were intensely jealous of the senior knights who first donned the steam armor.

After all, who wouldn’t want such handsome and powerful equipment? For every knight, such a set of armor is something they yearn for.

But today they finally got their wish, only for Gus to break the newly acquired Chain-Saw Sword, an undoubtedly unfortunate outcome.

Especially as they now rely on the Chain-Saw Sword for felling, providing firewood for both the camp and Eagle’s Beak Cliff base, solving fuel supply problems; the damage significantly impacts their productivity.

"Let me see; I’ve watched the Knight Commander maintain the Chain-Saw Sword before, its structure isn’t complicated, it shouldn’t be hard to repair." Griffith handed his Chain-Saw Sword to Gus, then took the damaged one from him: "You use mine first, chop the branches off and stack them aside, they’re usable for burning, I’ll inspect your sword."

Griffith said this and went to the side to examine Gus’s Chain-Saw Sword.

Seeing Griffith’s manner, Gus felt a touch of emotion but quickly composed himself, gripping Griffith’s Chain-Saw Sword to begin trimming the felled tree.

They had a heavy task today, needing to fell enough trees to drag back as firewood to ensure the fjord camp ran smoothly.