I turned to Daryl-san, intending to move on to the next topic. "Daryl-san, are there any other petitions or opinions?" "Well, many people are asking for magical tools," he replied. "That again, huh... Should we prioritize that?" "I think we should. Winter is coming soon, after all." It was October now, so winter would be approaching in Japan too. Did this world also have four seasons? "All right. Let's make that a priority then." "Yes. Also, someone has suggested to sell lumber in addition to apples." "Lumber?" "Yes. There's an excess of lumber that you, Tatsuya-dono, have cut down and processed. The saws and files are very easy to use, so everyone's been making all sorts of things, but we still have too much left over. The trees in this forest were tough to fell, but that means the wood is of high quality." I see. Lumber would certainly sell well. "Isn't it heavy?" "Indeed it is. So related to that, there are requests for wagons and suggestions to improve the roads." Those things seem essential for running an apple orchard too. "Wagons, huh... We can buy those, but what do you mean when you say road improvements?" Monika explained, "Tatsuya-sama, you'll see for yourself when you head to town, but the road is very bumpy and in poor condition. It's easy for wagon wheels to get stuck, making travel extremely difficult." I nodded thoughtfully. "Ah... that sounds tough. What should we do?" Road improvements would be quite a challenge, I imagined. Ruri spoke up again. "Tatsuya-san, road improvements are a breeze with earth magic." "Since you're going to town anyway, might as well give it a shot, meow. It's good training, meow," added Miriam. Oh, so I'm the one who's supposed to do it... Makes sense, i guess. "Alright... Monika, it takes half a day to walk to town, right?" "That's correct." I'd heard somewhere that people walk at about 4 kilometers per hour. I wasn't sure exactly how many hours "half a day" meant, but it sounded like quite a distance... I shook my head. "If we're going to be repairing the road as we go, it'll take overnight, won't it? Camping out? I've never done that before." The only experience I had camping, was when i still was a kid. "We can just teleport back, meow," Miriam suggested. "Teleport?" I asked, surprised. Surely we couldn't just return in an instant, right? "There's a thing called teleportation magic, meow. You can jump to your destination in an instant, meow," Miriam explained. Just as I thought... "Is that really possible?" I asked, amazed. "It is, meow. I think even you could use it, so I'll teach you, meow," Miriam offered. "Magic is incredible, isn't it?" I mused. Then a thought struck me. "But wait, if that's possible, couldn't we have just sent Monika to the royal capital that way?" I had made her travel for over 20 days round trip. "You can't teleport to places you've never been to, meow. That's why we can't go to the royal capital or Harrier town yet, meow." So there were restrictions after all. Basically, we could easily return here, but nothing more. "I see," I nodded. "Tatsuya-sama," Monika interjected, "I'm no longer surprised by your magical abilities. However, please understand that teleportation magic is legendary-class magic. Therefore, I beg you to refrain from using it in front of others or talking about it to people," she warned me. "That makes sense," I replied. "If it were a common magic, this place would be much more developed... I understand. I'll make sure not to use it in front of others." "Thank you," Monika said, relief evident in her voice.

Magic itself was too mysterious for me to understand which spells were problematic and which weren't. "Daryl-san, as we discussed, we'll be heading to Harrier town while fixing up the road," I restated our current plans. "Understood. I'll leave that in your hands." "Should we prioritize buying magical tools and a horse-drawn carriage with the money from selling apples?" I asked. "I think so. However, please make the poll tax payment our top priority," he replied. So that comes first, I thought to myself. "Also, I asked Cody-san about the wheat situation earlier. How are we on that front?" "We do need to procure more, but we have some reserves, so it's not urgent," Daryl explained. We're okay for now then. Well, worst case scenario, wheat is cheap. I could always buy some from the supermarket and bring it back. "All right. We'll be off to Harrier town then," I concluded. "Safe Travels!" We left the house as Daryl-san bowed his head. "Monika, I'm going to prepare a bit. It'd be tough to walk around in these clothes," I said. I needed something more suitable for ground work, after all. "I need to prepare as well. Let's meet at the village entrance," Monika suggested. There was a wooden gate to the north of the village. "Alright. We won't need much luggage since we'll be using teleportation to return," I reminded her. "Thank you. I'll keep that in mind." We parted ways with Monika and returned home once more. I changed into the coveralls I had bought earlier, grabbed my boots, and headed to the laboratory. "Yamada, get me that blue book over there, meow." Miriam said while pointing at a bookshelf with her tail. I took the correct book and showed it to Miriam. "Is this the one?" "That's it, meow. It contains the teleportation magic, so memorize it, meow," Miriam said. "Huh, so legendary magic is just casually sitting on our bookshelfs," I remarked. "Indeed, meow." I began reading the book, learning the method for teleportation magic. Perhaps because I had already studied several books and learned to control magical power, this magic didn't seem particularly difficult. "Is this really legendary?" I asked. "It's legendary all right, meow. The method itself isn't that difficult, meow. The problem is that it uses an enormous amount of magical power, meow. I'll say this since Monika isn't here, but even ten Monikas couldn't use it, meow," Miriam explained. Right, Monika's magical power is quite low... It's not even half of what Yuusei-kun or Kyouka have. "Alright, I think I can do this. Let's give it a try," I said confidently. I used the magic while imagining the destination as described in the book. Suddenly, I found myself in front of the apple tree outside the laboratory. "Did it work? No..." It was a failure. "Ruri, bring me my boots!" I called out. I had ended up outside in just my socks. Ruri quickly came outside and placed my boots in front of me. "Thank you," I said gratefully. "It's nothing. You need to be careful around here. It'll make a mess inside the house," she replied. I made a mental note to be more cautious. If I tracked mud all over the room, Ruri would probably get angry. "I completely forgot to warn you about that, meow," Miriam chimed in. Well, I suppose cats don't wear shoes, after all.