Chapter 38— Forest management

"Maddock-san, can you help me with my work?"

　After thinking for a while, I understood the reason for the lumberjacks’ anger and said to Maddock-san.

"What do you mean by work? Is it the pioneering that Ars is doing?"

"I think it's a little different. I thought about it after listening to Maddock-san's story. I'm thinking about managing the forest from now on."

"Forest management?"

"Yeah. Without the dissatisfaction of the lumberjacks who love the forest, I think that there is only merit if I want to cultivate it. It will not be the forest that is left to nature anymore, but one where people manage it. I'm thinking of creating an artificial forest."

"Wait, wait, you can't do that. Forests aren't like that. The power of nature is so great that humans won’t be able to do it."

　Maddock-san listens to what I said and immediately expresses his dissenting opinion.

　But I'm not saying something that’s not achievable.

　Rather, it's not just an idea.

　I conclude that my previous life’s knowledge is better.

　I think my land-expanding speed is abnormal.

　I've heard that the forests to the north of the village are vast, but no one in the village knows exactly how big they are.

　This is because it is said that no one will come back if they get lost inside the forest.

　However, if I combine my magical abilities with the Valkyries, who inherit those powers, I think that the size of the forest will be greatly reduced.

　Even so, deforestation is a serious environmental destruction.

　When trees disappear from the ground, the water holding capacity of the land will decrease sharply.

　Then the fields will not be harvested and the rain may deplete all the nourishing soil.

　In severe cases, it can become desertified.

　It's not just about environmental destruction.

　Speaking of environmental destruction alone, it probably won’t happen while I'm alive, but it's more likely that another problem will arise in my lifetime.

　It's the disappearance of firewood.

　If all the trees are cut down, it will be difficult to obtain firewood.

　This will be a terrifying thing if you live here.

　I never thought about firewood when I was warmed up in my home by gas or electricity in my previous life.

　However, in this world, firewood is used for heating.

　You can burn things with [Ignite], but without firewood, there is nothing to burn.

　If winter comes in such a state, everyone will surely freeze to death.

　I don't think it's a bad thing to think about measures for that.

　I'm going to manage the forest, so to speak, forestry.

　I've heard that well-managed forests are very beneficial to humans.

　As before, the effects of deforestation can be suppressed.

　There will also be a stable availability of high-quality forest resources.

　In a forest left to nature, trees and grass grow to the point where light cannot reach the ground, not letting other things grow quickly.

　The thick, solid clumps of trees will be the main cause of that.

　It will be possible to process them as durable wood by thinning them out appropriately to allow the sun to reach the ground.

　Besides, my business plan includes the cultivation of magic mushrooms.

　Logs are needed to produce magic mushrooms.

　I don't want to bother to dig up the forest.

"That's why I want to manage the forest. It's like planting trees in a field. I've grown vegetables and wheat, but I don't know about trees. I don't know much, so I wondered if a forest expert like Maddock-san could help me. "

"Hmm. To be honest, I can't imagine what would happen after the trees in the forest disappeared ..."

"Maybe, but you can somehow see the effectiveness of forest management. And if Maddock-san doesn't agree, I'll be chaotically knocking down trees anyway. I don't think it's a loss to act with me to prevent this."

　Somehow, I feel that the sentence has become half-threatening, if I have to say it myself.

　However, although he is at a loss, Maddock-san seems to be beginning to show interest.

　After a while, I asked him to tell the other lumberjacks about my idea, and I went home.

　A few days later, Maddock-san seemed to persuade the lumberjacks by telling them what I was saying.

　It seems that the lumberjacks were skeptical about what I was talking about.

　Maddock-san seemed to have settled down with the opinion that if he could see me doing my job, he would be able to look over my actions.

　In this way, I decided to manage the northern forest while cultivating it.

　I don't care about this thought, but is it okay to say that I want to manage the forest, because it is like admitting that the forest belongs to me?

　Should we say that we don't look at the trees and look at the forest, but instead look at the trees and look at the land? (TLN: *** (x_x). WTF? I- I don’t know anymore.)

　During this period, the rumor that the area north of the village was somehow under my jurisdiction began to spread in the village.