I Somehow Got Tasked With Managing A Realm

I Somehow Got Tasked With Managing A Realm – Chapter 70

Squish. Squish. Squish.

A disguisting sound squeezed out with every step.

"Creator of the world?"

"Yeah?"

"What is this place?"

Months had passed since he crossed the massive river separating the continent in two in a borrowed dugout canoe made from a hollowed-out cherry tree trunk. For the most part, what greeted him on the other side seemed the same as what he was used to on the eastern half of the continent; the only exceptions being the lack of people and villages in comparison, as well as the fact that many of the chickens here sported white feathers instead of the green and brown hues he was used to seeing.

His confusion didn't stem from either of these changes, however. As the creator of the world directed him to the south, the forest environment gradually shifted until it became something unrecognizable. The massive cherry trees that practically dominated every landscape he came across soon thinned until they vanished completely- in their place was a new tree roughly one-third of its height and covered in sprawling branches and roots that creepily peeked through the ground. Although they still sprouted cherries, they were likewise smaller and left a slightly bitter taste.

"It's the eastern continent! Isn't it pretty cool?"

"I think muddy is a better word to describe it..."

Even more so than these odd trees, what Ruglace was more confused layed under his hide and bark shoes: the squishy ground he walked upon. Up until this point, he had almost always traversed areas dominated by soft green moss, sand, or dirt, yet now he was greeted by an extensive plain of sticky mud as far as his eyes could see.

Please let there be a village soon... walking through this mud feels disgusting. 

It took a while, but the Oracle eventually spotted rows of corn on the horizon, which he readily trudged toward with squishy steps.

"They have tipis over here, too?" Ruglace asked as some familiar structures came into view. 

"Mhm- they're practically everywhere."

The Oracle continued to analyze the village he neared, "They are a bit smaller than the ones I am used to, but I guess that makes sense. These trees are a lot thinner, so the bark they are using to help cover the frame must be harder to work with."

"Luckily for them, I doubt they're gonna need to stay in those small things for much longer," the voice in his head teased, "I'm sure you'll figure out something cool to build."

"... I can try, but all I see are these small trees, corn, and mud," he sighed.

My dad's design won't work with how unstable this mud is... and I have not seen any stone to use for my design's foundations, either.

"Why is everything so muddy, anyway?" Ruglace eventually asked.

"It's a bit complicated. Basically, there are a ton of rivers and streams down here. The ground here is so low that whenever it rains, pretty much all of them overflow and absolutely drench the ground. Sometimes, there will be an inch or so of water standing on the ground for a solid few days if the rain is really bad."

"And people live here!?" Ruglace couldn't help but retort, "Any wood they use near the ground would rot after a few years!"

"Yeah, that's probably pretty annoying," the creator of the world admitted, "But it's not all bad- there's some good benefits of living here."

"What could those possibly be?"

"Well, without any moss or hard soil in the way, the corn is extremely easy to plant. I mean- you could probably just poke the kernels into the mud with your finger. The floods self-water it, too, so farming is practically automatic for them. There's also a ton of mushrooms that grow at the base of those muddy cherry trees and any torch trees in the area, which are good to eat."

Oh. The corn situation might actually make it worth it... just barely, though.

"There are torch trees down here? I have not seen a single one in the mud so far."

"Yeah, but the standing water isn't great for them, so there's not many. You'll only really see them scattered on some higher mud piles or-"

"-In a village," Ruglace finished, pointing at a familiar tree with a flame-shaped leaf canopy in the middle of the settlement whose edge he was rapidly nearing. 

"Yep, you got it. Every village around here has one; it helps them with their work."

The Oracle tilted his head, "What do you mean by that?"

"I'll let you figure it out, but I'll just say this: the mud isn't just a burden for the people here; it's the most valuable thing they have."

Huh? What could that possibly mean?

Before Ruglace had the chance to ask, an elder figure from the village spotted him approaching and came up to greet him.

"It appears our village will be welcoming a new face," the elder paused, seemingly examining Ruglace head to toe, "That clothing... you must be from a northern hunting tribe across the river."

"You recognize it?"

The elder nodded, "Yes... I have been in this village all my life, yet I can count the amount of times I have seen a traveler wearing such attire on two fingers."

"... So twice?"

"Yes! That is exactly how many others I have seen! You are a good guesser- follow me," the elder started walking into the village, oblivious to the judgemental stare of the man following behind him, "You have come quite a long way, traveler. So tell me, what brings you to this village?"

"Ah- well, I am actually the new Oracle. The creator of the world has been sending me traveling around the world to teach people how to build better homes."

"Pffft! An Oracle in beast clothing- what a familiar story! If you are going to mimic Oracle Rynn, at least think of a better mission! What is with you claiming to be an Oracle who builds instead of fights? Ha!" the elder reached into a pouch tied to his side and held out an odd mushroom with a bright yellow and pink head, "If you really are the Oracle, then prove it by eating this."

Before Ruglace even had the chance to eye the mushroom suspiciously, a loud voice shouted in his head.

"DON'T EAT THAT MUSHROOM, RUGLACE! Why the heck do these idiots keep trying to kill my Oracles!?"

"... I will have to pass on your offer," the target of the poisonous mushroom sighed and gently pushed the man's hand away, "Also, the creator of the world wants you guys to stop trying to kill Oracles."

"Tsk. You are no fun."

With a click of his tongue, the elder put the mushroom back in his pouch and continued his trudge through the muddy village.

"Hey... would you have actually let me eat that thing if I took it from you?"

The elder shrugged at the Oracle's question, "You are an Oracle, right? If you can throw trees, surely you can withstand a bright little mushroom."

"..."

Ruglace stopped following the man, instead narrowing his gaze into a sharp glare, to which the elder immediately faltered.

"I-It was a joke! Stop giving me that look!" the elder defended, waving his hands, "No one is stupid enough to eat a bright mushroom!"

That last comment only deepened the Oracle's glare, causing the elder to break out in a cold sweat.

"E-enough about mushrooms- how about I treat you to some dinner? Y-you must be hungry after your long journey, right?"

After one last glare, Ruglace simply sighed, "Alright, fine... but if I see one of those mushrooms near the food, I will not be happy."

"Of course! I would never do such a thing!"

... I can already tell that I will regret this.

Contrary to his worries, the elder immediately prepared some food over a fire pit. It was a simple meal consisting of roasted corn and fish that had apparently been caught in a lake not far from the village. As a fish addict, the annoyance Ruglace held toward the old man seemed to slightly vanish with every bite.

"You eat well, Oracle! Ah- let me get you something to drink, " the elder retreated back into his tipi before emerging moments later with a large jug that he promptly handed over to Ruglace, "Here you go!"

The Oracle stared at the jug in his hand bewilderedly, "What is this?"

"Huh? It is a jug full of water- I just filled it up yesterday, so it should still taste pretty fresh."

"Yesterday!?" Ruglace twirled the nearly full jug, his expression turning to awe after hearing the water slosh inside, "It is still completely full! Does it not leak? What kind of material even is this? I have never seen anything like it before!"

The elder seemed almost equally stunned at his reaction, "Do you not have pottery across the river? It is so useful that I figured someone would have spread the teachings once we found a way to cross over."

Ruglace shook his head, "I just traveled around most of the east, but I have never seen anything like this. It is nowhere near as strong or heavy as stone, but it can completely hold in water without leaking. The shape is odd too... is it even possible to carve something like this?"

A genuine smile crept onto the elder's face as he watched Ruglace intensely examine the jug, "You have a good eye, Oracle. It was not carved- it was shaped by my hands. Wait here."

The elder once again vanished into his tipi before returning with two small clay cups in hand, placing them on the ground in front of Ruglace and pouring some water from the jug into the two of them. After filling them up, he handed one to Ruglace who took a sip.

The elder watched him drink with a sly grin, "All of this was made from mud."

"Pffft-" Ruglace immediately spit out his drink, "Huh!? What do you mean by that!?"

"I mean what I said," the elder chugged his cup, placed it on the ground, and gestured for the Oracle to follow him, "Since you are so interested, how about I show you directly?"

"... Okay."

The two weaved between some scattered tipis before reaching a few flat pieces of wood resting upon an area raised on artificial mounds of mud. Dozens of cups, bowls, and pots were placed on these wooden boards, which seemed to shine with gleams of moisture. This display was mere feet away from a group of women who sat in front of smaller wooden boards with blobs of brown mud slapped on top of them.

Ruglace watched the woman curiously as they sloshed the ball of mud with water from a filled bowl by their side before beginning to mold it with their hands.

"That is so weird..."

His eyes shifted down to the mud he was currently standing in.

There is no way that mud is the same as this... it seems much stickier.

"That is a special kind of mud," the elder explained, seeing his gaze, "It is a bit thicker than the mud we stand on- we can usually find quite a bit near tree roots and on the edges of the nearby small rivers and streams. We also have a method to turn some of the mud below us into thick mud, but it is much easier to find it near the streams."

"That thick mud is really all they need to make everything you showed me?"

The elder nodded, "For the most part. After they shape it how they want, they are left to dry in the sun for a day or two to harden before we heat them with fire. Without that, water would still seep through and the things we make would fall apart much easier. "

He went on to explain that they did this by building a small pit which they filled with wood and small torch tree branches before placing the sun-dried pots on top of them. After about 8 hours, the fires are extinguished and the creations were left to slowly cool down overnight.

"There are a few that crack and crumble during the process, but a good amount come out perfectly fine," he finished, "Sadly, once they are burned, there is nothing we can do to mold it again if they break."

As he spoke, his eyes locked onto one of the bowls a girl was making, "Hey- that is uneven!"

With the elder walking over to point out the mistake, a voice in his head filled the long-awaited silence.

"What do you think, Ruglace? The pottery is pretty cool, isn't it?"

He readily nodded, "I never thought mud could be so useful; the fact that it can hold water without leaking is crazy... wait-"

"It looks like you have an idea, Ruglace~"

"If the cups can hold in water, it should be able to hold it out, too!" Ruglace exclaimed with glimmering eyes, "If I can make a giant cup for people to live in, it could keep out the flood water without rotting!"

"Pffft- that's what you came up with!?"

The Oracle rolled his eyes at the creator of the world's sudden laughter, "It is a great idea! I do not know why you are laughing. All I need to do is make a giant cup and then flip it upside down once it is done drying. It should have much more room than the tipis if I make the cup wide."

"Y-you know what? Go for it, Ruglace," the creator of the world encouraged while struggling to stifle his laughter, "I can't wait to see how this turns out."

"It will turn out perfect- just wait!"

.

..

...@@novelbin@@

"Pfffft-"

Ruglace endured the laughter in silence, staring at the blatant failure before him. There was no retort that could salvage it.

He had spent weeks gathering thick mud, which the creator of the world eventually told him to just call clay. Although he followed the elder's advice and dug up a ton near the roots of trees and on the edge of the nearby streams, what he managed to scavenge was nowhere near enough for his planned giant cup home, so he was forced to refine the mud near the village instead.

It was an easy, yet extremely time-consuming process that only required two large pots to accomplish. First, he filled one of the pots halfway with water before filling up the rest of it with mud. Over the course of around an hour, the mixture settled—the heavier silt and dirt sank to the bottom, while the lighter clay particles floated in the muddy water above. This muddy water was then poured into the second pot and left standing for another hour. As the heavier particles settled again in the second pot, he discarded the dirt from the first and poured the liquid from the second back in. This process of removing the dirt and silt from the clay that floated in the water was repeated until there was very little settled between pours. This final refined mixture was then poured over large strips of wood, leaving behind nearly pure clay once the water slowly evaporated under the hot sun.

After countless hours of labor, he finally put together a large enough blob of clay to work with.

Days of work followed, filled with molding, stacking, and burning with torch tree branches. The result of all of this effort was the massive pile of collapsed half-hardened clay laying at his feet.

"... I really thought that would work," he sighed.

"Even if it did, you'd have people living in giant cups!"

Ruglace did his best to ignore the laughter in his head as he slipped into thought.

"... Did I make the walls too thin? Maybe I could make them extra thick like stone... wait-"

A spark of inspiration hit him, followed by a flood of regret so intense that he collasped on top of the pile in shame.

"You alright down there?"

"No," the Oracle groaned into the clay pile, "I could have just shaped it into a bunch of stone and stacked them like my foundations." 

"I think that's a great idea," the voice encouraged, "Honestly, I couldn't believe that wasn't your first plan, but the giant cup was a cool experiment."

Ruglace shot up, "Huh- you already thought of it!? Why did you not tell me before I wasted all of this clay!?"

"I retired from building after making the mud you're standing on; it's your turn to build now~"

The Oracle pulled himself out of the clay with another groan, "Is there really no way to turn this back into normal clay?"

"Sadly, there's not. Once clay is heated with fire, it changes a ton and can't change back; the most you can really do is crush it down. Still, you didn't finish burning it with that torch tree branch before it collapsed, so there's probably still a lot there you can use."

"... I am not sure whether or not I should be thankful for that," he sighed, dropping down to begin sifting through the mess.

Hopefully there is still a good amount I can use... I really do not want to share a tipi with that old man any longer than I have to.

.

..

...

"Finally... I think it is finally finished!"

Ruglace stepped back to admire his work. Before him stood a small, 12ft-by-12ft-by-10ft rectangular clay brick structure topped with a slanted bark and corn husk roof.

The actual design took him days of thinking and weeks of experimenting to figure out. It started with a small foundation dug into the ground, but rather than leaving it hollow, this was filled in by hardened clay bricks to make a sturdy platform to prevent the structure from having to rest on top of unstable mud. 

His full structure went through many iterations. He first involved stacking clay bricks to form the home's wall, but he quickly found out that without anything to bind them together, the walls crumbled with even a light push. His attempt to use wet clay between bricks that would stick them together after it dried was still not as stable as he wanted, so Ruglace thought of another solution.

Instead of using full clay bricks, he instead created a snug hole through the middle of the bricks before treating them with fire. Once this was done, he slid a wooden pole through their centers which he connected to the home's foundation. This kept all of the bricks snuggly connected together with practically no gaps showing, though Ruglace did lather the structure in an additional layer of mud mixed with some of the ground-down wasted clay from his giant cup attempt to fill in any small cracks as it hardened.

Using a similar method, he slid wooden planks through the top layer of clay bricks to make an internal roof for support before building his typical slanted one on top. 

"You did amazing, Ruglace! I think it's way better than a giant cup~"

"I think so too," the Oracle said with a proud smile, "It will give me a comfortable place to stay, at least. If I have to hear that old man's snoring another night, I might go crazy."

"Honestly, you put up with that way longer than I would've been able to," the creator of the world confessed, "But you're gonna stay here longer?"

The Oracle nodded, "If I can. I want to teach the people here how to make this kind of home, but..."

"But?"

"I also want to try something else while I am here," he finished, "While I was building it, I realized that I really only needed hardened clay for where the flood water reaches. I might be able to make something else that has the rest of the structure made out of less refined mud."

"Now that sounds interesting!" the creator of the world supported, "You can do what you want for now, but just keep in mind that I'll need you to head to the northern mountain range in a few years to get started on the project."

Ruglace's eye widened in shock, "Is it really almost time for that?"

"Mhm- it's already been fifteen years since I picked you to be my Oracle."

"Wow... has it really been that long? Time really went by fast..."

The Oracle's gaze shifted east.

Hopefully everyone else is doing alright.