Chapter 4

First Comes Food (2)
Under the sky that would soon darken, Marylia walked along the river under the dappling sunlight until she found a spot where the water had pooled, forming a small pond.

"Oh my, how lovely. There are even aquatic plants growing... it's ideal."

Marylia leaned in to look into the water, saying "There we go..." and there, under the sunlight reflected off the surface, she saw a small shadow moving.

"They're here."

She whispered quietly, smiling. Yes, what Marylia had caught a glimpse of was undoubtedly a fish.

"I hope there's something caught by tomorrow morning..."

With that thought, Marylia submerged a trap into the water. To prevent it from floating up, she placed stones and some aquatic plants inside, hoping they might act as bait.

There was no guarantee of catching anything. Honestly, it was up to luck. She wished to set up multiple traps to increase her chances, but that would have to wait for another time.

Things that need to be done continuously should be started as soon as possible, even if it's just one or two. With that in mind, Marylia placed the trap and hummed a tune as she walked back to her base.

Later...

"Ah~ I've finished one side~..."

By sunset that day, Marylia had managed to complete one side of the roof.

"Oh my, it's quite comfortable even with just one side done!"

Even just having a windbreak made a significant difference. Smiling, she sat down in front of her newly completed roof, which was more like a wall for now.

"... This might suffice for the time being."

Though ideally, the roof should cover her completely, just finishing one side had been hard enough. It should protect against light rain. She decided to lower the priority of the other side of the roof for now and started a fire, putting a pot on to boil water.

This was her third time starting a fire, and she was starting to get the hang of it. It was all about rubbing the driftwood together, and she was learning the best way to apply pressure.

As she waited for the water to boil by the fire, Marylia began weaving vines. She could always use more baskets for gathering. For now, she needed one for berries. Today, she had only eaten berries in the morning. It was time to have a proper meal soon.

In the future, there would be days when she couldn't go out foraging due to rain. She needed to stockpile some food for such days.

"... I wonder if it would be better to look for food by the sea."

Marylia continued weaving, hoping to find enough food to fill the basket she was making.

After drinking some water and moving the morning's water into a bottle, she finished weaving a large basket and a smaller one before deciding to go to bed.

"... I need a bed too."

The ground she lay on was covered with leftover thatching material, but it wasn't very comfortable.

At the very least, she wanted to sleep off the ground for hygiene reasons. But that would have to wait a bit longer.

The next morning, Marylia woke up to the light of dawn.

"... I'm starving."

She felt the familiar pangs of hunger. Yesterday's food hadn't been enough. Not nearly enough.

But she had hope. This morning, she would check the trap she had set in the pond!

After drinking some water, she headed to the pond.

The trap was just where she had left it, submerged at the bottom. Marylia carefully pulled it up...

"... My, there's something in it!"

Inside the trap were two small shrimp and a fish about the size of her palm!

"Yay! No worries for breakfast now! Hehe, fish, fish..."

Overjoyed, Marylia headed back to her base when she heard a rustling sound from the bushes.

Startled, she drew her knife and took a defensive stance, watching the bushes on the other side of the pond shake. Then, from the bushes...

"... It’s a slime."

A transparent, jelly-like creature emerged, slowly oozing towards the pond. It seemed round, as recent research suggested slimes preferred this shape.

The slime, whether aware of Marylia or not, moved to the edge of the pond and began drinking water, its body absorbing a small shrimp and bits of waterweed together wit the water.

Watching the slime, Marylia found the sight fascinating. The transparent body with waterweed and shrimp floating inside looked like some kind of artistic jelly.

"... Slimes are edible, aren't they?"

Marylia eyed the slime seriously.

"Well, the taste is neither good nor bad… just so-so."

The slime fled with a "peep!" sound after Marylia sliced off a small part of it and tasted it.

"Mm, hn… but, it's not bad as a source of water."

After tasting the slime, Marylia concluded that it was mostly water. Not particularly tasty, but not too bad. She decided slimes would be her emergency water source.

"Well... while slimes are like that, for storing food for winter, it might be more efficient to catch meat... I'll need to consider hunting monsters."

She pondered hunting monsters after tasting the slime.

Monsters, strengthened by magic, were generally ferocious but essentially just beasts. They were edible.

The Man-Eater she encountered yesterday was also edible, said to be crunchy and tasty. Although Marylia had never tried it herself.

"… Which means, to expand my range and increase efficiency in gathering, I need to acquire enough strength to hunt monsters as soon as possible. Oh, it's going to be tough..."

Though Marylia lamented about the difficulties, her mouth was curving into a smile.

… Having tasks to do was surprisingly enjoyable. Especially when those tasks were directly connected to one's own living.

Well then.

Back at her base, Marylia started a fire and cooked the fish and shrimp she had caught. While grumbling, "I wish I had some salt," she still enjoyed the meal. The fish was delicious, and she could feel her body absorbing the nutrients it lacked. Indeed, meat and fish are important.

After finishing her breakfast, Marylia stood up and headed to the riverbank with her makeshift shovel.

"I'll postpone the roof for now... Let's make a golem first."

She began mixing riverbank soil with water to create a mud golem!

Creating golems was easy for Marylia.

She just needed to roughly form a human shape, carve commands into it, and infuse it with her mana. That was enough to complete it.

For larger golems, a ritual and precise arrangement of magic were necessary, much like how others made golems. But Marylia's mana seemed particularly suited for creating and controlling golems, although she couldn't do much else with it.

… Because of this, Marylia's effort in making and using golems was significantly less compared to others. However...

"Collecting enough mud for a human-sized golem is tough!"

Though easier for her, it was still laborious. Especially on this deserted island with hardly any tools, gathering and molding the mud into a human shape was a challenge.

Marylia used her makeshift shovel to break up the soil, mixed it with water by stomping on it, and once it reached the right consistency, she scooped it up and formed it into a human shape on the ground where she had sprinkled ashes from the fireplace.

… Marylia thought about how much easier it would be with a proper shovel while she continued to work hard, shaping the mud into a golem.

Once she had a rough human shape, it was time to carve the commands.

"Ahh~ it's really hard to carve commands into mud... Small letters just collapse immediately."

Marylia struggled to carve the commands with the tip of a thin branch. The mud was too soft, and the letters kept getting smudged.

… This is why using harder and more durable materials for golems was beneficial.

The commands carved into a golem literally become its "life." The golem moves according to these commands, and if the commands are lost, the golem self-destructs. Hence, making golems from materials that deform or wear down easily shortens their lifespan.

Additionally, golems consume mana to maintain their bodies and execute commands. When they run out of mana, they also fall apart.

Moreover, the compatibility between the golem's material and Marylia's mana also matters. Generally, the harder the material, the better the compatibility.

Thus, mud golems are considered the lowest tier of golems.

But having a golem, even a mud one, made a big difference. Marylia needed some form of labor, even if it was just one or two golems.

… And so,

"There, it's done! Wakey-wakey!"

With her hands and cheeks smeared with mud, Marylia smiled as she infused mana into the first golem.

The mud golem stood up and, ignoring Marylia, sat down.

Then it picked up a small stick and added it to the small campfire Marylia had prepared.

"Yay~! It's a success~!"

… Indeed.

The first golem Marylia created was a fire-tending golem!

A very simple golem. Its command was straightforward: "Add one stick to the campfire every five minutes." More complex commands were too difficult for a mud golem.

But this was enough. Because…

"Now I won't have to keep starting the fire over and over. It will use up my stock of fuel, but… well, I can't help it."

With this, Marylia was freed from the arduous task of repeatedly starting a fire! Smiling with satisfaction, she watched the fire with the golem for a while.

… Indeed, a campfire is nice!

"Alright. Next, I'll make a golem to craft stone axes. Hehehe..."

Marylia started making another golem.

Transporting and shaping the mud took effort. Moreover, the golems could only follow very simple commands… Even so, having them was significantly better than not having them. That’s the value of mud golems!

… Later, around midday,

"It's gotten lively here."

There was one golem tending the fire and two golems grinding stones by the riverbank. Her base had become a bit livelier!