I Began Pioneering ①

“Man, that was a disaster.”

I was casually walking along an animal trail.
Just now, my flight magic had failed, and I crashed landed into a forest somewhere.

I also know why it had failed.

The first problem, was the refinement level of my magic.

At first, I wanted to test things out, and tried going directly upwards.
However, in reality, I went diagonally up.

If I was launched directly up, I should have returned to the same place I launched from, but because of the angle, I was thrown far away as a result.

Besides, if I had taken the blow from directly below, the area hit by the wind should have been small.
In reality, it ended up hitting me from my backside, and the distance I was blown off to was extended.

The second problem, was [Windbreak].

True to its name, it kept the wind away, but for some reason it also took away my wind resistance.

Not having air resistance in the air means that there was nothing to slow me down.
As a result, my body experienced the “throwing a ball in a world without air resistance” experiment.

Without a doubt, I drew a beautiful parabola.

The third and final problem, was [Wind Mallet].

Calling it the biggest shortcoming wouldn’t be an exaggeration.

I activated [Wind Mallet] diagonally upwards for 10 seconds.
Moreover, since I was also using [Windbreak], I thought it would be fine to make it slightly strong, but it wasn’t.
It would seem that magic applied to oneself, was out of [Windbreak]’s coverage, and [Wind Mallet]’s pressure hit me full on.

Now that I think about it, it makes sense.

If it repelled anything and everything, then it would fail as defensive magic.
If that occurs, then something funny like recovery magic not being applicable, because defense magic is applied, would happen.

Well, to think all my magic is out of its scope would be unlikely.

There aren’t that many people who would use their magic to hurt themselves, but I’m sure there are many who apply magic to themselves to accomplish weird things.
I’m one of them after all.

Incidentally, the length of 10 seconds was not good either.
When moving normally, the timing to gain propulsion is not that long.

Considering a running situation, you will get propulsion for a moment when you hit the ground, and the rest from the momentum of that hit.
Constant acceleration is the same as free-falling.

Everyone knows that if you continue falling for 10 seconds, then you rack up quite some speed.

That’s how my first flight ended in a blunder.

“Well, it can’t be helped.
As a result, the goal of coming to a distant country has at least been achieved, so I’ll call it a success.
I’m never doing that again though.”

The impact upon crashing was pretty serious.

It was fortunate that I was using [Robustness] and had properly changed into the armor with high defense power that I always use, because if I hadn’t, it wouldn’t have been pretty.

“Keeping that aside… where am I?”

I fell into the woods, and truthfully, I couldn’t afford to check my surroundings while in mid-air.
Which means I don’t know how deep this forest is either.

I don’t think it’s the Demon Forest because I didn’t meet any monsters even after walking this much.
Those guys head straight in the direction of a person, as soon as they sense one.

That said, it doesn’t mean this place is safe.
Even normal forests have beasts which normal people couldn’t compare against.

In fact, the beast trail I’m heading down towards is pretty thick.
The existence of a beast trail of this scale is proof that animals about the size of a bear inhabit this forest.
In addition, I’m not even sure if I’m actually walking straight.

“I wonder if I’ll have to sleep in a tree, if I don’t find anything by dark–?”

However, contrary to my expectations, the forest boundary appeared after some while.

In front of me, were a number of poorly-maintained houses.
I had successfully arrived at a human settlement.

“But what should I do now…”

I made a full circle around the settlement I had arrived at.

It was a small village with less than 10 houses in all.
The houses were crude and looked like they would collapse soon, plus there weren’t even any fences.
It took less than an hour to do a full circle, so you could tell it was really small-scale.

I also felt that a poor village like this had little information to offer.

It may be better to go past this village to another one.
Fortunately, there was a road while I was headed in its direction, so if I followed it in the opposite direction, I would surely reach another village.

“Are you the new pioneer?”
“Eh?”

As I was thinking with my arms crossed, I heard a female voice from behind.
Looking back, a girl of the same age stands with her fiery red hair and bright red eyes which seemed to possess a strong will.

“Are you alone? Well whatever, there’s a lot to do so get in quick!”
“Eh? No, I-“
“What! You’re not going to say that you can’t work today because you’re really tired, are you?”

“No, that’s not–“
“Then, go inside the village and get ready!”
“……Understood”

Apparently, she misunderstood me for the new pioneer.
I tried correcting her multiple times, but she didn’t seem to listen.

Well, I guess I’ll help out until she calms down.
For better or for worse, I have nothing to do now.

If I help her to an extent, she might even lend me a roof to stay under.

I follow her while hiding my intentions.

***

After following her in silence, the girl leads me to a large vacant plot.
Weeds were growing wildly, and it didn’t seem well maintained.

“This is your land.
You’re allowed to use it freely, so pay taxes properly.”
“Huh?”

This is a vacant plot, right?
Moreover a vacant plot outside the village.

There isn’t even a hut, let alone a house.
What should I do here?

“Umm, what should I-“
“Aria~! Could you come here~!”

When I tried to question the red-haired girl who had guided me so far, I hear a loud voice coming from the village.
Based on the voice, it sounds like a girl.

“Coming~! You! Work properly till I come back.”
“Oii!”

Without hearing my protest, the red-haired girl runs towards the village.

“…What should I even do here.”

I’m at a loss seeing the vacant plot called “my land”.

“Should I just run away?”

That kid seemed annoying.
But I need to at least know where I am.

Even if I wait for her, she seemed to want to keep me in this village, so waiting here would just be a pain.

“I guess it’s fine.
I can always leave a village like this when I want to, and if it becomes too annoying, I’ll just sprint away.”

It’s not like they took my picture.
I can leave when I want.
Worst case, if they make wanted posters of me, they sure won’t be able to chase me after I skip one or two countries.

The frontier village too had many wanted fugitives from other countries, and now I’m also the same.
If that Count finds me, he will definitely harass me.

Though I think this place is far away enough that he won’t be able to do so.

“…In any case, I don’t feel like sleeping in a vacant plot, so let’s make a small hut.”

I take out an axe from [Storage] and head to the nearby forest to get the materials for my house.

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A redhead named Aria… not the first time I’m hearing that ^_^

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