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 . ”

…True . It would be hard to cook when the area is filled with smoke…

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 .