"Fuu~~~"

Squinting as I stepped out of the tree trunk, otherwise known as my temporary shelter, I looked up at the sky that still hadn't fully cleared and took a deep breath.

Although the sun had not yet shown itself, it was clear enough to be able to see the surroundings.

Rin and Kurama who were sleeping beside the trunk woke up and immediately came to me.

"You guys seem pretty energetic," I stroked both of their heads. "How was your night?"

As if trying to explain, Rin picked Kurama and lifted him up. Placing it next to her head, she propped it up while making some strange sounds excitedly.

Put into words, it looks like she's figured out that she can use Kurama as a pillow and get a good night's sleep.

As for Kurama, although I don't understand him, from the sad look on his face, it looks like the night wasn't easy for him.

"You can't do that anymore, understand?" I took Kurama out of Rin's hands. "If you do that, he won't be able to sleep properly."

Making goblin sounds, she was trying to argue.

"Don't worry, I'll prepare a pillow for you, so don't use him anymore."

After scolding Rin, I went to wash my face in the river and gargle with water.

One thing that's been bothering me these days is the fact that I don't have a toothbrush. Since I've been here, I've only been using my fingers, but that's nowhere near enough to keep them clean.

Even though I'm doing well at the moment, it seems that every day I encounter more disadvantages for choosing the forest as my point of arrival.

***

Since I still had plenty of time before dawn came completely, I searched the goblin carcasses for magic stones. Even though I say I searched, it was actually extremely simple. Since I already knew where the stones were, all I did was open them up and take them out.

Unluckily, not everyone I opened had one, but it was something like about an eighty percent or higher chance of getting one from the goblins.

As for the carcasses, since I couldn't just randomly throw them, I kept them inside the inventory while I decided what to do with them.

After that, I went to check out the clay pots.

While I was careful not to get burned by the still-hot embers, I gathered up all the pots and put them in the inventory. Even though some were cracked, the vast majority looked usable.

Making a quick breakfast, I set off for my new camp with Rin and Kurama.

On the way, while walking along the river bank, we came across another boar and a herd of deer. Unfortunately, unlike the boar, the deer fled at the first sign of danger.

Something I hadn't noticed along the way yesterday was that there were some fruits that looked like mangoes, only in miniature size. They were the size of normal grapes and when ripe, the skin of the fruit was yellow with red.

When I tossed one of them on my mouth, it tasted exactly like a mango, it was juicy and sweet. The only difference between this mini-mango and a regular one was the size and lack of seeds.

I tried to offer them to Kurama and Rin, but they wouldn't eat. Seeing that an omnivorous creature like Rin didn't want to eat made me worry that they might do harm.

But since it didn't look poisonous no matter how I looked at it, I kept a bunch in my inventory. In case something happened to me, I could take the potion I got from Shadow-san, but in case nothing happened, I would have a large stock of delicious fruits.

As we walked, I looked everywhere carefully and managed to find several fruits that looked edible. Although most of them were tasty, they weren't as good as the mini mangoes.

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***

When I arrived at the old goblin cave, I checked the place out again. Since this was to be my new temporary home, I needed to make sure there weren't any venomous animals or insects.

After a thorough inspection, I found nothing, the only thing that could end up being a problem was the persistent stench of the goblins. Although it wasn't as strong as Rin's, it was still enough to be a nuisance.

According to Rin, the goblins hadn't occupied this place for a long time, so if I was lucky, I could get their stench out of this place. I had an idea in mind, but although I didn't know if it would work, I immediately tried it.

Walking to the river, I put my hand in the water and tried to store some of it in inventory. To my happiness, it ended up working better than I expected. The best part was that the river water didn't mix with the drinking water I already had in it. It seems that even though they are water, both are classified differently.

With the quick test done, I stored an absurd amount of it, then I went back to the cave and released everything inside. Since once wasn't enough to get the stench out, I repeated the process a few more times.

Even if it did not completely remove the stench, the place had become habitable

Since I already was with my hands dirty, I also took the opportunity to give Rin her daily bath. It looks like it will be a long time before she gets used to it.

***

Despite my desire to run around exploring and hunting more goblins, I restrained myself. Safety had to come first.

With that said, I needed to prepare a door to the cave. The initial idea was to just rip off a large bark from a tree and use it as a door. But after a little test, Rin was able to destroy the shell easily, so this would be no different for the other goblins.

With a sturdy door in mind, I put my sword to work.

After felling a tree that had a thick trunk over a meter in diameter, I shaped it into the shape of a rectangle, with the long side being about two and a half meters long.

With that done, all that was left was to make some rough adjustments to make the log fit into the cave entrance. Although my sword was sharp beyond comprehension, it still took me a few hours.

Once finished, the final product was a door that weighed a few dozen pounds. Obviously, I didn't plan on using it as a normal door. My idea was simple, whenever I needed to open or close it, I would put it in and take it out of my inventory.

Since a place to lie down was also essential, I gathered several leaves so I could sleep on top of them. I wouldn't be the only one sleeping there, Rin and Kurama would also be with me, so I gathered a considerable amount.

Even though Rin still had a lingering stench, she proved to be quite useful, so I thought it best not to risk it and let her die by being attacked in her sleep.

Although it was a bit laborious and time consuming, I managed to complete my new temporary home before noon.

***

After lunch, we immediately started exploring. Of course, we didn't just randomly go looking for goblins, we headed to the place where Rin claimed there were more goblins.

"But still, it seems to be further than I expected. We've been walking for a long time now." Looking at Rin, I asked, "Are you sure we're on the right path?"

As if affirming, she pointed in the direction in which we were heading and nodded.

Since I could only believe that she was not wrong, I decided to continue following the direction she pointed.

"At least we managed to catch two more greasy boars on the way."

As I muttered that for comfort, I noticed Kurama go into a state of alertness.

A moment later, I began to hear the rustling of undergrowth that seemed to be approaching from our direction.

Before I could even get on my guard, less than five meters away from us, in the bushes, a fox came running at full speed. It came toward us while being chased by three goblins.

Freaking out at the sight of us, the fox changed its direction, but unlike it, the goblins kept coming towards us.

I'm sure they simply changed targets because they thought they could devour us. Unfortunately for them, that was the wrong choice.

Due to how close they were, Rin didn't wait for my order and advanced wildly towards them.

Wasting no time, I drew my sword and followed her towards my wonderful source of XP.

As she approached the goblins who were not expecting an attack from they fellow goblin, Rin easily knocked the first one down by catching it off guard.

As the other two's attention shifted to her, I took the opportunity to launch my attack. Extending my arm, the blade of my sword easily pierced through the chest of the second goblin.

As for the third, it viciously attacked Rin with its wooden club. However, its attack failed in the end due to Rin quick defense.

Not missing a chance, I came forward and struck a blow on its neck. With a lot of blood gushing out, the goblin’s body separated from his head.

After collecting the bodies, we headed back in the direction Rin was pointing. Along the way, we encountered four more goblins, and without any difficulty we easily eliminated them. Continuing our journey for a few more minutes, we finally reached our goal.

"Well, how can I put it... that's completely out of my expectations..."

Hiding behind a tree, I looked off into the distance as I was jaw dropped at the place Rin had brought us.