Chapter 139 – Ije’s concerns about cutting down trees
The Adventurers who had been listening nearby said,
“It’s hard when the first thing you have to do in the morning is shovel snow!”
“Aye. I don’t even want to think about having to shovel snow just to reach the dining hall so I can eat breakfast!”
“Indeed!”
And so they all agreed with me as well.
I could start the work of building it without worrying.
“Mr. Theo. Do you have enough materials? I can help!”
“Thank you. Yes…”
One of the Adventurers offered to help, and so I thought about it.
“Wood… I got some while expanding the field, so it should be fine. However…”
“But Mr. Theo. Wood is also used for firewood, so we can never have too much of it. Why don’t you just gather a lot?”
“Ahh, if I asked Hippolius and Boaboa to help, we could cut down all the trees in the area and…”
I started to say, but Ije stood up.
“Don’t cut too much!”
“Uh, oh. But, you know…”
As Ije was usually quiet, the Adventurer was surprised.
As were the others. And they all stared at her.
“Trees take long to grow.”
“That’s true…but there are so many of them…”
“Bad things happen if you cut too much.”
“What happens?”
“River grow wild. And tsunami in mountains.”
“I can understand the rivers flooding, but, no, I don’t know what that has to do with trees. But…tsunamis don’t occur in the mountains.”
Said a young Adventurer, but Ije shook her head with a serious expression.
“It happen. Father said so.”
Ije must have learned a lot from her father.
But it seemed like she hadn’t seen any of things happen with her own eyes.
“You don’t know, because you’re young. But such things happen in the mountains. But I don’t know what the reason is.”
“Ah, yes. About ten years ago, a village was washed away. I remember having to help them clean up.”
“So it does happen? Teacher, what is a mountain tsunami?”
The young Adventurer asked one of the geologists, who was eating breakfast leisurely.
“A mountain tsunami? Indeed…”
The geologist was a veteran who was in his fifties.
Recently, he had suffered from food poisoning after eating a poison red berry.
And while he had not recovered as quickly as Victor and the others, I was glad to see him looking well now.
“It’s a disaster where the mountain crumbles, so that sand and water rush down violently. Even boulders get washed away.”
“That sounds horrifying.”
The young Adventurer said as he imagined the scene.
“Have you ever witnessed it?”
“I have. As a geologist, we are often sent to places where it is likely to happen. And I almost got swept away by it.”
“But teacher, does it really happen if you cut down the trees?”
“All natural disasters are the result of multiple, complex occurrences. But cutting down nearby trees is one of the reasons. Recently, it was two years ago…”
The geologist talked about an incident that happened on the old continent.
They had cut down so many trees that there were none left on the mountain. And when the mountain tsunami came, the whole village was washed away.
“That…that’s horrifying.”
“How many trees is too much?”
“Well, we are still safe now. As long as we don’t cut down more than we need.”
“Ah, I understand. We will be careful then.”
The Adventurers now understood the danger of cutting down too many trees.
“Trees must be cut down for fields and houses. Cannot avoid cutting trees. But…cannot cut more than necessary.”
“Indeed. Ije is right. We must be cautious.”
“Yes.”
After we finished eating breakfast, we cleaned up, and then everyone went to work.
Ije, Gisela, Victor, Kelly, Boeboe, and the geologist went to work in the fields.
The Adventurers would cut down some trees.
‘Hippolius will help too!’
Hippolius said as it started running.
Indeed, Hippolius would be quite helpful.
“Be careful, Hippolius.”
“Kyuo!”
Hippolius could uproot trees and carry them as well.
Also Hippolius usually wanted me to watch while it worked.
And yet, it was now going to leave me in order to help.
“Hippolius has grown up.”
I thought.
Perhaps it was through being around younger children like Fio, Shiro, the wolf cubs and Boeboe.
Regardless, I had to do my own job as well.
“Now, time to make the hallway to connect the buildings.
And so I moved to the center of the base and looked at the buildings.
There was Hippolius’s house, where I, Hippolius, Pii, Fio, Shiro, Ije and wolf cubs lived.
And then five houses for the Adventurers and scholars.
There were separate buildings for the infirmary and toilets.
The bathing house.
And the kitching and dining hall.
And I had made a house for Boaoa yesterday.
Excluding Boaboa’s house, I wanted to connect the other ten buildings.
Thanks for the treat.
Thanks for the chapter!