Level Eater
Chapter 139

Tatsuro began experimenting with the possibility of using Wood magic to procure food from seeds. He used Earth and Wood, mixing magic to create nutrient-rich soil in large flowerpots and spread it over the flowerpots.

Once that was done, He sowed the seeds and sprinkled water on them as well, although he did not know whether it would be there or not since it was done by magic.

“Can't you just magically make them grow directly from the seed?" (Ai)

“I don't think I can do that yet. But when I get to level 10 or so, I'll be able to do it without even seeds, like Marikka and the others." (Tatsuro)

“What's that? That amazing. Then, maybe you can make the fruits of our world, too?” (Ai)

"Maybe, but right now, it's better to lay the groundwork.” (Tatsuro)

Saying this, Tatsuro put his magical power to sprout the seeds in front of him at once with Wood magic.

Then, a cute little sprout appeared and gradually grew, producing a thin, small tree about one meter long.

The tree grew at a slower rate, but when it reached about two meters in height, small, apple-like fruits began to hang from its branches.

Tatsuro and Ai each took a piece of the fruit and bit into it at the same time.

And the taste that they felt was…

“Yucky!" (Ai)

"Bad!" (Tatsuro)

It had a ridiculously bland flavor and a strangely harsh taste, making it hard to imagine anyone wanting to go for a second bite.

"Eh, why? The description said it would be a sweet fruit with a little sourness. I wonder if we were deceived..." (Ai)

“If they did that in a store run by the Merchant Guild, they won’t be allowed to do business again, and I don't think I've been cheated. And if that description isn't a lie, then my magic is more likely to be the cause…” (Tatsuro)

While saying this, Tatsuro picked some of the other berries and tried them, but they were all generally inedible.

So Tatsuro put the flowerpot and the tree in the [Item Box], took out a book on Wood magic and began to investigate various possibilities for the cause of the problem.

In the meantime, Ai spent some time enjoying herself, cuddling next to Tatsuro and kissing his neck for a while.

Tatsuro eventually found the item he was looking for, read it carefully, and put the book back in the [Item Box].

“Did you find anything?" (Ai)

“Ah. Apparently, if you use Wood magic to grow trees to eat them, if you grow them all at once, they lose their flavor and nutritional value.” (Tatsuro)

“So, does that mean we should grow them slowly? Then, doesn't that defeat the purpose of the magic?" (Ai)

“It seems that if you don't eat it, you can use it normally, so it's not meaningless. In fact, it seems that a lot of cheap wood is made by magic." (Tatsuro)

It seems to be the norm in this world that the wood actually used for firewood and other purposes is magically mass-produced and bought cheaply for use.

However, it is said that its role as firewood is decreasing with the development of magical tool technology, but it is still in high demand among the poor.

Incidentally, if it is created from scratch by magic, it cannot be used as a material for equipment because it cannot handle energy and magic power well. Therefore, even if rare wood is created from scratch with tree magic, it cannot be sold at a high price. Furthermore, it seems that the number of plants that are created from scratch by magic is not strictly speaking a plant, so there is no increase in the number of plants.

“But it's kind of shocking because our whole purpose was to learn to get food along the way." (Ai)

“But it seems that fruits and vegetables from plants carefully grown with magic are quite tasty and seem to grow faster and more vigorously than those from plants grown normally.” (Tatsuro)

“That's fascinating. But if we take that long, I don't think we'll be able to return to our original world." (Ai)

“If we do it right, yes. But I have an idea. I'm going to give it a try.” (Tatsuro)

“Perhaps you mean the idea of fast, tasty fruits and vegetables?” (Ai)

“Yeah, But we won't know until I try it. Let's just prepare for today and see what happens tomorrow after we leave town.” (Tatsuro)

“Understood. See you tomorrow." (Ai)

So Tatsuro made the preparations, then had Cardina and the others sleep in him, and when no one was around, he held Ai by the waist and went to bed with her.

The next day. It was a perfect day for setting out, with a few clouds hanging over the sun but that was it, and no sign of rain.

Tatsuro and Ai quickly changed their clothes, ate breakfast, and headed for the gate as soon as they left the inn.

Along the way, the town seemed to be abuzz with talk of the mayoral election, and posters with the names and manifestos of Marikka and other candidates were posted everywhere.

“Is the election campaign starting today?” (Tatsuro)

“I guess so. We are leaving this town, so it doesn't really matter, but I hope Marikka-san will do her best.” (Ai)

“But, well, it seems it's pretty much already decided, so I don't see the problem." (Tatsuro)

“Yes, and I'm sure Marikka-san will make it a better town.” (Ai)

When Tatsuro and Ai reached the gate on foot, they took their turn in the queue and set out from the town of Lyadas.

The two of them walked out of the gate to a secluded place for about 30 minutes, where they took out the rhino cart from the [Item Box] and asked Cardina and her sisters to come out as well.

Then, after having Jeanne connect the fittings of the rhino cart, Nana climbed on top of it, and Cardina flew to a special seat at the top of the rhinoceros wheel and immediately began exercising her Dispel magic on all sides.

The next destination is the town of Tergeni, which belongs to the neighboring territory of Lüsiten, and from there, after passing through two more towns, the blacksmith town of Hormuz is the goal at hand.

The road to the first, Tergeni is a bit complicated, so for once, Tatsuro and Ai did not enter the rhino, but instead took their seats and signaled Jeanne to depart.

“As expected, this chair we bought from Reginald-san is really fluffy and you can sit on it for a long time.” (Tatsuro)

"Oh. It's amazing how quickly they get us a chair that we can sit in for a long time without getting tired and is as lightweight and stylish as possible.” (Ai)

As the speed gradually increased, they moved their hips contentedly in the driver’s seats, each fitted with a chair of the same design in a different color, green and red respectively.

Until now, they had been using a sleeping bag, which was also made of a soft material and was not bad to sit on, but it was no match for the comfort of a chair in the real job.

Then, when the speed of the rhino cart had reached a certain level, Tatsuro used the map function to convey directions to Nana looking at him, while riding Jeanne.

“Come to think of it, it's great that Nana has become a beast master, but I wonder how Cardina and Jeanne will grow up?” (Tatsuro)

"Hmm. Even as it is, her magic is strong enough, and her physical skills are pretty good, so she can even appear in the vanguard, so it's hard to get lost." (Ai)

"At the worst, it's possible to stay in the same class and grow to the average." (Tatsuro)

“I don't know if that's the way to go. But my children are strong regardless of which class they join, so I think it would be better to let them go with the flow just like Nana-chan or let them make their own decisions.” (Ai)

“Well, that's the best. Even though they are like familiar, they have their own will as individuals, so let's raise them freely.” (Tatsuro)

“Yes!" (Ai)

After such a small parenting meeting, the first fork in the road came into view.

Then Jeanne remained facing forward and only Nana, who was on top of her, turned around and asked for instructions.

Tatsuro, not wanting to be misheard by the driving noise, told Nana to turn onto the second street from the right with a gesture that he had decided on beforehand.

Nana showed the same gesture to Tatsuro for confirmation, and after confirming that Tatsuro nodded, she gave Jeanne the correct directions.

"That looks like it's fun. Let me do it next time!" (Ai)

“Well, next time the path is the left road, I'll ask you to do it for me then.” (Tatsuro)

“Ryokai."(Roger???) (Ai)

At exactly the same time as Ai's words, Jeanne also passed through the path as instructed.

They kept moving from morning to noon, doing such things along the way, hunting for the occasional Imomu.

Then, at noon, Tatsuro told Jeanne and Nana to park the rhino cart at a place a little off the road, and they began to rest with the remaining breakfast that they had ordered more of.

While Tatsuro and Ai were eating, Cardina and her sisters did not need to eat, so the three of them were cautiously playing with each other, as if they did not want to disturb the meal.

As she was watching the scene and bringing the ready-made food to her mouth, Ai, as if suddenly remembering, asked Tatsuro about the topic.

“Hey, by the way, what happened to the preparation you mentioned yesterday?” (Ai)

"Oops, I forgot. Well, let's take a look now." (Tatsuro)

Saying this, Tatsuro took out a flowerpot from the [Item Box] that he had prepared yesterday.

Then, a two-meter-long tree was growing, which had somehow more leaves and branches than when it was rapidly grown yesterday, and its trunk appeared to be about one meter thicker.

Also, the nuts that Tatsuro and Ai were after, were green and did not seem to be ripe yet.

"Whoa, it is doing pretty well, isn’t it?" (Tatsuro)

“Really, I feel it is more alive than the tree that bore the tasteless fruit yesterday. Maybe we can get some tasty berries from this one!" (Ai)

“Ah, I think it can be eaten if we let it rest in the [Item Box] a little longer. So, let’s reapply the magic here.”  (Tatsuro)

Tatsuro approached the flowerpot and crouched down. He pulled out a total of eight iron rods inserted at the base of the tree, and then he granted a mixture of Curse and Wood magic to them to promote plant growth.

First, the condition set to the several iron rods is to gradually send magic that promotes plant growth to the tree, and then the rods are inserted at the base of the tree.

Then, by storing it in the [Item Box] and accelerating the progress of time, he was able to achieve both slow and fast speeds at the same time.

“I still have plenty of room in my [Item Box] and if this experiment works, I'll be able to grow a lot of our own food." (Tatsuro)

“I guess you can be a walking farm now. Then let's grow some vegetables next time! Salad kind of go with the meat!" (Ai)

“Now that I can produce vegetables like that, I want some fish. I wonder if there is a fish-shaped dragon or something.” (Tatsuro)

“It would be perfect if we could have meat, vegetables, and fish on land, sea, and air!” (Ai)

“It takes some culinary skill to be perfect, though." (Tatsuro)

“Oh... That's a pain in the ass. We have the money, so let's hire a full-time chef.” (Ai)

"You shouldn't get used to the way we feel about money here. Back in Japan, we are just ordinary people.” (Tatsuro)

“I know.” (Ai)

They had bought some cookbooks, but they hadn't thought of trying them, partly because the meat tasted good with just a sprinkling of seasonings and partly because they had a lot of money to spend.

However, a monotonous diet is not good, and they ended the meal with an unconfirmed agreement that they would read each other cookbooks next time.

After that, the rhino cart started running again after Jeanne and the others were replenished with a full dose of magic.

“If we keep going at this rate, we should be in the town of Tergeni by noon tomorrow.” (Tatsuro)

“I believe that's where Reginald-san was before he first met us.” (Ai)

"Oh, I heard that he went to a business meeting in person at the request of the lord, but maybe there's something unusual there.” (Tatsuro)

“When you put it that way, it makes me wonder about places that were just passing through." (Ai)

After all, it was certain that there was something that the lord would ask for in person. Their expectations naturally rose, and they headed for Tergeni with excitement.

This night is also the first day of the month because it is a day of darkness. Therefore, there is no moon and there is no light on the road, so it is pitch black.

Despite this, Nana appealed to Tatsuro on behalf of everyone that they should continue through the night, but he decided that it would be dangerous to continue in this darkness, so they stopped before nightfall and camped in a suitable place.

Once that was decided, they quickly ventured off the cobbled, well-maintained road before the sun set completely, and stopped the rhino cart a short distance away from the road.

Once they confirmed that the rhino cart had completely stopped, Tatsuro and Ai got off and laboriously removed the clamps from Jeanne to free her.

Then Cardina and Nana worked hard as well and began to prepare the evening meal.

They should have looked through a cookbook on the way here, but they were sticking together and talking all the time, so it was the same BBQ style as usual this time.

However, there is one thing that is different from usual.

“Fruit!” (Tatsuro)

“Keep it going." (Ai)

Ai's eyes sparkled, and Tatsuro took a large flowerpot from the [Item Box] praying that it would work.

The tree had not changed in height, but the trunk was thicker and the leaves were leaner than at noon.

As for the fruits, there were many edible ones, although some were overripe and had rotted while falling to the bottom.

“I think I took them out of the [Item Box] a little too late, Looks like I ruined some of it.” (Tatsuro)

“But there are a lot of good ones, too! Can I pick some right away?" (Ai)

“Yeah, let's take it together." (Tatsuro)

“Yes!" (Ai)

The two of them reached up to the tree that had grown in a flowerpot and picked a few berries together, which were more like princess apples than apples.

They only knew what it tasted like before and were afraid of failure, but they looked at each other once, nodded, and took a vigorous bite.

“Yummy!" (Tatsuro)

"Delicious!" (Ai)

The taste was so delicious that one could not help but exclaim.

It was incomparable to the ones they had eaten before, with a slight sourness mixed with sweetness. It was so great that they would not feel uncomfortable if it was served as a high-end apple without being informed of the source.

“This is at a level where it can be sold normally.” (Ai)

“Hugh it's crazy that something like this can be done in about a day.” (Tatsuro)

“Hey!” (Ai)

“Ah!” (Tatsuro)

After Both Tatsuro and Ai finished about ten in no time at all, they picked up a few more, cast a mixed magic of curse and Wood on the iron rod, and put the flowerpots away in the [Item Box] after setting them individually so that the elapsed time would be slower this time.

“The experiment was a great success. We need to explore switching time speeds, but this should allow us to make other vegetables and fruits!" (Tatsuro)

“Well done! When we get to Tergeni, we'll buy more of all kinds of seeds!" (Ai)

“Okay! Let’s buy everything that looks Delicious!" (Tatsuro)

“I'm looking forward to it!" (Ai)

The two of them, still in high spirits, danced around and planted some of the other seeds they had on hand.