Daily life in another world 「Isekai no Nichijou」

After all goodbyes and farewells were said, I left the village.

For good this time.

"I'm already feeling jittery… is this homesickness or anxiety?" I spoke out loud.

I was so sublimely excited and I couldn't stop wondering what awaits before me.

There is a satisfying feeling of freedom, no burdens, no responsibilities. Just a path forward and all the time in the world to do whatever I want. A strangely pure hedonistic desire that I can't help but indulge in.

With a spring on my step and a tune on my lips I stride forward.

。。。

On the first day. The novelty of traveling, something that past me would abhor with fervor, kept me in high spirits.

Bathing isn't exactly viable on the road, apparently it's common to use a sort of oil or special soap to rub off the dirt and grime on the fly without needing much water.

It is something that I will need to get used to.

On the second day I tripped because I wasn't looking where I was walking, and ended up ripping my clothes.

Thankfully I knew how to sew now. Though nothing as complicated as modern techniques that only machines can do, it is something I picked up both as an artisanal curiosity on my time in Daivette and just useful stuff to know.

My backpack is a little too large because of all the stuff I am carrying. Better safe than sorry though, even if walking is somewhat awkward because of how it is almost as heavy as me, I can lift it without struggle.

On the third day I thanked whatever gods there might be for not encountering any more unreasonable beasts. I had more than enough experiences with those.

On the fourth day I began realizing just how big the forest is.

On the fifth day the novelty wore off.

——— –– –– -- - -

"I forgot to ask Granny about that cleaning magic!" I groaned while pulling my hair.

Nothing could soothe the feeling of loss I was going through.

That magic could be revolutionary! (To me)

A day passed where I lamented and cursed my own forgetfulness.

Some time later, during the night I finally decided to open the grimoire I was given.

A note fell out of the book.

Picking it up, it said: "You forgot, so I took advantage of the opportunity and glued a few more pages in the back."

Turning the grimoire around, the last few pages stood out with brand new paper.

"Ｍａｌｐｕｒ　Ｅｘｐａｒａ" The Cleaning spell.

Detailed in a… thirty page long manual.

A tier Ⅲ spell.

"Uuuugh…" I flop downwards, a whine of pure despair coming out of me.

'I'm barely even stepping foot on tier Ⅱ magic and you're telling me that the magic Granny did with a wave of her hand is tier Ⅲ?!'

The dream is still a long way away, so I decide to peruse the rest of the grimoire.

"Wait… oh. Oh this is nice, very nice…"

It would take time, and generous amounts of practice, for me to progress throughout the many spells written in the book.

'In this case, there's no time like the present!'

——— –– –– -- - -

[Four weeks since Syuufarin's departure]

'JUST HOW BIG IS THIS DAMN FOREST?!'

If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

At some point, I began making active use of the encyclopedia Clauren gave me. As a sort of past time and learning experience, I tried identifying the myriad of life present in the forest.

I still do that sometimes, but I grew knowledgeable enough to use it sparingly. Instead of having it open all the time, I only look inside sometimes when I am unsure if my guess is correct or not.

The forest, with its constant danger, darkness, and dwellers, isn't really a nice place to live in. I grew exponentially more irritated as time went by.

I could handle myself just fine, perhaps I'd say that I am even thriving. But the truth is I am more than fed up with the dirt, the grime, and the animals.

More than one time I checked to see if I did not get lost, the sky hardly shines through the thick canopy so it is easy to become disoriented.

After I used the predators that were ballsy enough to try make a meal out of for the nth time as a punching bag. They stopped showing up.

I'm usually against animal cruelty… but when they keep appearing like mosquitos in a jungle patience is bound to wear thin. So I began testing the magic I was learning through the grimoire on them.

And that's not to mention the actual mosquitos.

I swat off another one that flies irritatingly close to my ears, a large smear of insect guts appears on the back of my hand.

"I HATE IT HERE!"

I couldn't wait to figure out cleaning magic.

——— –– –– -- - -

I love my magic staff.

…in a completely platonic way mind you.

It does everything I dreamed it to be and more.

I don't know how Granny did it, but she apparently fused that monster's horn with that old stick I found in the forest.

The bloody treant wood isn't much different from ordinary wood, the difference is that it excels in drinking. Like a spongy rock, any liquid that comes in contact with it gets sucked up.

Really, the main thing is that if it gets wet it dries almost instantly. Maybe there is something else she didn't tell me.

I have a thirsty magic rod.

I… don't know what I should do with that information.

Anyways.

The inner core and the tip of the staff is made out of treant stuff, the rest is made out of monster stuff. The exact material characteristics of the horn are unknown, but it made for a good foundation for the staff.

The gemstone, if you can call it that, is pretty standard compared to what else the staff is made out of. A hefty piece of polished quartz. It's nothing as fancy as some fancy magic stone made out of dragon blood, If that is even a thing that exists.

As a foci, it does its job at being a conduit well enough. If I were to compare it to my old reliable wand, it is akin to upgrading from a tiny pistol to a rifle with a bigger caliber.

I wondered what happened to that stinky and spindly thing I took from the monster's body. Granny told me to not worry about it. I wanted to press for answers but when she tells you don't want to know, you probably really don't want to know. The prospect of a fancy magic stone had gotten my hopes up but if the wisest, oldest person in the village is treating it like some kind of nefarious infohazard that could irreversibly traumatize people then there was nothing I wanted to do with it.

Though I don't have any experience with other magic staves to say if it is good or a great magic staff , overall I couldn't be happier.

——— –– –– -- - -

[Six weeks since Syuufarin's departure]

"FFF—" I thrust my fists in the air in great jubilation "—FINALLY!!"

I am out of the aptly named death forest.

It doesn't seem like it, as I managed to cross it in relative peace. But that is because I knew what I was doing this time around. The amount of times I had backtracked and walked around death traps and dangerous territories led me to walking a dizzying pathway that took ages.

For the first time in what feels like eons I see the clear sky without anything obstructing it.

"...now what?"

I could go straight, keep walking until I stumble onto something. Left or right would lead me to contouring the edges of the forest.

"Oh! I have an idea."

Planting my staff upright on the ground, I let go of it.

*thud*

"That way then!" A random direction is chosen.

。。。

It took another three days of aimless meandering before I found anything.

The forest gradually petered out and gave way to normal plains.

No more unreasonably large trees surrounded by things that can kill you. Just… normal hills. Clusters of trees here and there. The odd rodents that I could spot poking their heads out here and there, and I think I spotted a deer looking thing in the far distance.

Or was it an elk? I'm not sure.

Sleeping on a relatively sane biome did wonders for my health.

As far as I'm aware, there aren't any overly lethal beasts and monsters, nor plants that can literally creep on you while you are asleep. I wouldn't say that the death forest is completely unreasonable, I can live inside that place if I really wanted to, but resting with one eye always open can get tiring very quickly.

Being able to finally have a proper full night rest made me very happy.

"GYAAHH!!!"

I woke up to a wild boar sniffing me.

"GO AWAY!" I reflexively whacked the animal away from me with my staff.

*Buhii!~* *...Gweh…*

"..." I clutch my chest to calm down. "Okay, maybe I should still stay at least a little wary of my surroundings when I sleep."

"..."

"Wait— no way it died from just that?!"

It seems that the creatures from this side of the forest are much more fragile.

On the bright side, I got a free barbecue.

——— –– –– -- - -

"A river!"

I had never personally seen a big body of water in my previous life. Photos and videos didn't count.

Daivette had a river too but that was more like a tiny stream with the occasional eel.

The river was around the size of a gas station, the water was pretty clear but became cloudier on the bottom, and the ground was composed mostly of rocks and sand. Overall not too big, a small fishing boat could maybe cross through.

I was excited, the presence of a river means that finding civilization somewhere along its length is possible.

More importantly though.

I could finally do laundry and properly rinse off the dirt and grime.

…

"C-cold!"

Despite being sunny the water felt like freezing.

'Too bad I don't have any fire spells.' I sulk, but enter the water anyway.

Most of my clothing and plethora of cloth is hanging off a line tied to a tree and a random stick I fixed on the ground.

You might ask: You have water magic, why don't you use that?

And to that I say… you make a good point, I hadn't thought of that.

I groan to myself, slapping my face with both hands.

"Ok, but, even if I did try, the best I could do was become drenched in a dark and humid place that barely has any good sunlight…" I try to placate my own dumbness. "...Maybe I would catch a cold or something, I don't know. Using water magic for laundry feels like I would be trying to clean with a hose instead of a tub."

Eventually I finished basking in the water.

One time I saw a fish passing by and had the bright idea of trying to catch it with my hands… only to slip and hit my head.

Thankfully nobody saw that, never trying that again.

"Hmm… now should I go upstream or downstream?"

I am not an expert on how or where people build their cities, after debating with myself for a while I decided that downstream would be better as port-towns are a thing.

"Hm? What is… that?..." My stomach dropped.

While I was contemplating that…

…A body slowly drifted towards me from upstream.

"...Shit."

——— –– –– -- - -