There was no doubt now that I had come to this town at the worst possible time.

However, as the situation was not related to monsters, I didn’t feel the need to leave as soon as possible.

If anything, if the requests were all as safe as gathering wood, then it suited me just fine.

After all, the job of gathering wood and storing it was very easy with the slimes.

There couldn’t be a job more easy for me.

…That being said, I hadn’t decided to stay either.

I couldn’t decide until I had eaten.

I thought about this as I searched for the restaurant.

The place that Tina had recommended was called ‘Tiger Fire.’

It was supposed to be close to the guild… That being said, there was an easier way to find it.

‘Can just one of you split from the others?’

‘Just one…you mean to fly?’

‘Exactly.’

‘Okay!’

And with that, one smaller slime split from the large slime that was on my shoulder.

The united blob was too large to throw, and so a smaller single slime was the perfect size.

‘Okay. I need you to scout out the place!’

I said as I threw the slime. At the same time, I activated ‘Shared Senses.’

And then I saw a sign that read, ‘Tiger Fire’ near the guild.

‘Thank you.’

I said as I caught the slime.

And so we headed towards it…

“I’m sorry, but we are no longer taking any orders today.”

What awaited me when I arrived, was this cruelest of declarations.

…But then again, it was quite late.

The taverns would be open, but a normal eatery would probably close around this time.

I had come a little too late.

As I had no choice, I would just have to stay the night in Rikardo.

“Alright. I’ll come back tomorrow.”

“I’m terribly sorry, but I doubt we will be open tomorrow… In fact, we were supposed to be open until midnight today, but all of the firewood went to the stoves. And now we do not have enough to cook with.”

…Apparently, the reason for closing was a lack of firewood.

As it was normally a warm place, the sudden cold had forced them to use the firewood that was used for cooking.

You wouldn’t die without a delicious meal. But the cold was something else.

However, I wanted to eat some delicious food.

It was half of the reason that I even came to this town.

“So, you just need some firewood?”

“We could open if we had some… But this town no longer has any firewood that could be used for cooking. If we used new wood that hadn’t been dried out yet, it would be like smoking it, not cooking.”

Good restaurants took care of what kind of flames were used.

I could try going to a different town and acquire some wood, but in this cold, there would probably be a lot of compet.i.tion.

And that seemed like a lot of work just for some food.

In that case…

“Would I be allowed to cut down some of the trees around here for firewood?”

“Not the trees within the town. But you could go outside the walls and cut those trees. …But we wouldn’t use them for cooking unless the wood has been dried out for a year.”

I see. So I could cut the trees outside.

Why not see if I could make some firewood then?

It would usually take a whole year to dry them properly. But maybe I could do it with magic.

After all, I had a skill called ‘Altering Magic.’

“Okay. Thank you for the information.”

“No problem! …Please come again when we have more firewood!”

And so I left after this conversation and went out into the forest.

I still had to think of a way to dry them, but the acquisition of the materials came first.

…But before that…

I tried using the magic I had just found.

“Magic Insulation.”

I said. And then all of the coldness I had felt disappeared as if it had never been there.

I had looked through my magic while walking and had found the perfect one.

There was lots of snow in the forest, and so it would make a big difference.

Now I could go and gather wood without worrying.