33. Precious Fur Clothing
An elf’s day starts early in the morning.
“Haah-.”
Yawning, Irina opens the door of the mushroom house and steps out.
It was still early, before the two siblings had even woken up, but she already had things to do.
It was a ritual that signaled the start of the day.
She went through the process of looking around the square from morning.
First, she checked if the World Tree was doing well, then she looked around the golem, a strong guardian of the gods, and the surrounding trees, placing her hand there.
When she felt the mana flowing from there, bringing a faint sense of joy, Irina quietly smiled to herself.
The trees were greeting her.
Shoaaa-!
As she approached the fountain where the deity blessed with a powerful and refreshing stream of water, she finally cleaned herself thoroughly.
“Hey, Sion…”
“Oh, are you up?”
Following behind her, the two siblings, Sion and Yumina.
Sion seemed to have already shaken off his drowsiness, but Yumina, still half-closed eyes, staggered as she walked.
Yumina approached a mushroom standing nearby and reached out her hand.
“Hello there, too…”
This was their unique way of greeting.
Elves shared emotions and communication with plants.
To them, plants were individual beings just like their kin.
It was because they could feel the vitality of plants and share emotions fully.
With a yawn, Yumina slumped down, starting to doze off.
The three wolf cubs next to her also approached and fell asleep side by side.
Seeing this, Irina chuckled lightly.
“Yumina, you shouldn’t doze off here. Let’s go inside and rest.”
Upon hearing this, Yumina, with her eyes still fluttering, got up.
Soon, she approached the World Tree and sat down with a thud.
“Hello, World Tree…”
Of course, Yumina never opened her eyes.
She just kept her hand there, eyes closed, dozing off.
Yumina was more powerful in magic compared to other elves.
Hence, just with these actions, mana flowed slightly towards the World Tree.
Every time, albeit a small amount, the World Tree grew a bit, and the area of the square expanded slightly.
It was a unique ability that only Yumina possessed.
For them, there were no predetermined tasks or roles assigned.
However, they managed to find meaningful tasks for themselves and spent each day purposefully even without anyone telling them what to do.
“Sister, should I bring the next batch of leather?”
“Yes. I’ll count on you, Sion.”
Sion started to carry the fur piled up like a small hill.
Irina began sewing the furs meticulously, one by one.
These furs were destined to become their precious fur coats.
Given that they could only obtain such valuable materials by facing dangerous monsters, Irina handled the fur with care.
In a rough world where danger could spring up anytime, their daily lives might involve always doing their best precisely for that reason.
Because maybe failing to do their best yesterday could mean not overcoming the hardships they faced today.
Thanks to this, their daily routine had been almost fixed lately.
Irina would wake up and start running lightly on the treadmill, checking on the elves’ conditions to ensure everything was okay.
She hardly ever lay down on the sofa or bed anymore.
In the past, when she finished work and returned home, it was routine to sit on the sofa, but not anymore.
Although she had been spending all day at home, amusingly, Han felt a vitality surging through her body.
Perhaps this daily repetition was shaping up quite healthily.
Today too, Han finished her day watching the busy elves.
***
“Wow-!”
“Finally completed, big sister!”
Irina seemed in high spirits.
After a long time, she had finally completed the result of her efforts.
Holding a thick coat in her hands, Irina gestured towards Zion.
“Come here, Zion?”
She started dressing Zion in the thick fur coat she had made.
“Oh.”
Han revealed her chest.
At first glance, it looked like an incredibly skillful piece of armor.
It wasn’t just a matter of being excellent.
“Covering the outside with ant exoskeleton like armor, and lining it with rabbit fur for insulation?”
She was well aware of the significant defensive capabilities of the ant exoskeleton.
Its smooth surface was so hard that it could repel arrows and had outstanding protection against most damage.
However, he never imagined she would wrap it like that to create a full-fledged armor.
Irina took a step back and asked, “What do you think?”
“I really like it!”
Zion jumped up from his seat.
Not only did it seem light in material, but it also appeared to have no restrictions in movement.
“Now, Yumina, do you want to come here?”
“…”
Yumina remained silent at that.
Instead, she just looked around as if seeking clues.
Yumina turned to her older brother for help, but Zion was currently engrossed in admiration for his first armor and didn’t pay attention.
To Yumina’s surprise, Irina then pulled out a robe she had hidden and unfolded it.
“…!”
Yumina blinked her eyes widely.
Just as she was about to approach like entranced, Irina quickly grabbed her and swiftly draped the robe over her.
The confusion was momentary.
Initially, Yumina flailed around, but soon, feeling the soft rabbit fur inside the robe, she brightened up with a warm smile.
“It’s so soft. Feels just like a blanket.”
“Do you like it?”
“Yes.”
The lad who answered calmly felt Irina’s hand patting his head, and she kindly opened her mouth.
“Yumina gets cold easily, so she should dress warmly.”
“hehehehe.”
Yumina, who finally started laughing out loud.
Her appearance, which was so adorable that it seemed to melt one’s heart, was indeed very pleasing.
“Oh, let’s also tie a small bag like a bundle behind the robe. So you can untie it and use it when you need it.”
Watching this, Han was equally impressed.
“From making things by hand from one to ten, it’s certainly remarkable.”
Certainly, Irina had exceptional insight.
To the warrior Zion, it was armor, and to Yumina, who was also a magician, it was a robe.
Like caring parents of a gentle child, she knew what her two siblings needed.
Moreover, she even provided gloves and boots.
Nothing was left out.
Perhaps it was their unique skill that even modern people like nowadays would not be able to replicate even if they were paid to do so.
“Let’s gradually make what’s left that we need.”
Whether Han knew he was being observed or not.
Their conversation was constant and uninterrupted.
“We’ll need something to cover up, and it would be nice to carry around a small tent-like thing. We never know when something might happen.”
***
The street corner leading off the square.
The Earth Golem stood there, silent and motionless.
It was a perfect non-living being.
Not being alive, there was no sense of fatigue.
Therefore, there was no need for separate rest time.
Unlike the elves who needed rest, it could stand guard without a break 24 hours a day.
[Current damage level 47.75 percent.]
[Injured level.]
[Currently auto-recovering….]
However, even for such a golem, there were still constraints.
Gooong-.
From Noble mtl dot com
Under the Earth Golem’s feet.
Tiny pieces of rocks and dirt around floated like dust, gradually settling on the golem’s golden surface.
“Hmm… the recovery is a bit slow.”
The golem’s recovery function was progressing slower than expected.
It had already been two days, but the damage level was still hovering around 47%.
Well, it was not entirely incomprehensible.
For the past few days, there had been continuous battles.
Battles with soldier ants.
Subjugation of the queen ant and dungeon, along with battles against a pack of monster rabbits.
The consecutive battles naturally put a significant strain even on a sturdy golem.
Especially this time, the rabbits were particularly threatening.
They were a group more agile than golems, with a bulky physique matched by their destructive power.
Dealing with them, who were naturally large and robust, posed a significant risk for the golems.
Golems were lifeforms devoid of intellect.
Hence, the very concept of recognizing enemy attacks and assessing their danger did not exist.
Their approach was entirely different from the elves, who prioritized evasion with swift movements when under attack.
Instead, they faced the enemy head-on without hesitation.
In essence, it meant that if the opponent attacked, they would simply take the blow.
Thanks to this, in battles with the monstrously agile monster rabbit group, the golems ended up allowing considerable attacks, leading to a series of shocks that increased the golems’ damage.
The only fortunate aspect was that golems possessed an automatic recovery function.
If they didn’t have this feature, it would have been a disaster.
They would have had to spend 2,500 points without hesitation to acquire a new golem.
Well, in any case.
For this reason, the surface of the golem was riddled with large cracks.
Some parts of the head were completely shattered and in a damaged state.
“Still, it feels like it’s gradually increasing by about 10% per day…”
Yesterday, the damage rate reached a staggering 60%.
On the day of the previous battle, it had reached 70%, reaching a critical level.
The recovery rate was far from sufficient than anticipated.
Of course, having something is better than nothing, but still, what was lacking was lacking.
“It would be great if there were no monster attacks until the golem’s recovery is complete.”
But that was just wishful thinking.
Since it was impossible to predict when monsters would appear.
All they could do was hope for the best.
The golem was also one of the invaluable forces for the elves.
Solid defense.
Added to that, continuous defensive capabilities based on their natural physique.
It seemed like they would have to pay more attention to their surroundings for a while.
It would certainly be better to have more means at their disposal.
The existence of the golem was one of them.