I Somehow Got Tasked With Managing A Realm

I Somehow Got Tasked With Managing A Realm – Chapter 61

"Now then. That was all for class today- please do your best in this battle phase! Class dismissed!"

"Finally. That class felt way too long," I groaned as I stood up from my seat and stretched.

"Really?" Julia tilted her head next to me, "I thought it was pretty interesting."

"No- it definitely was. Honestly, my brain has been going into overdrive thinking of all of the possibilities I'll have if I'm able to get one of those Mutation Orbs. That's not even mentioning all of the other prizes; they all seem insane!"

Julia nodded at my words, "Seriously! Hopefully, I'll be able to get one this battle phase..."

I smiled softly at the elf girl as I grabbed her hand, "I know you'll win, Julia. Your elves nearly managed to get a Tier II prize against those table bear things without even having bows. Since your realm actually has them now, I think it'll be pretty difficult for anyone to win against you."

"Hopefully you're right..." Julia lightly squeezed my hand as we entered the empty hallway.

With most Seedlings rushing back to their domain in a rush to declare their target, the Academy quickly emptied as their return to domain chants rang out. There seemed to be an even bigger rush than usual to get back this time.

Looks like those two are gone. I wonder what happened to them?

Not a single mark remained on the Academy's wall after the sheep instructor sent two Seedlings crashing into it at the beginning of class.

Maybe the Academy's walls have the same regeneration as training dummies in the training ground? I guess someone also just could've fixed it while we were in class...

"Are you okay, Jacob?"

"Huh? Oh, yeah I'm fine. I was just thinking about how weird this place is."

Julia tilted her head, "I mean, you're right, but I thought you would've been thinking about the little one."

I sighed, "I spent the whole class thinking of Mr. Flippers, I need a break. Someone so tiny doesn't have the right to take up that much of my brain. He can stay with Tatton for as long as he wants for all I care."

"You say that but you're walking faster-"

"... I just want to get back to my domain faster and get my realm ready for the next battle phase. After what happened last time, I need to have enough time to look deeper into the personalities of my Oracle candidates-"

My feet suddenly stopped as I speed-walked down the hall.

"Hm? What's wrong?"

"... I know this is terrible timing considering we're in a rush, but I have a question. Did you do anything to memorialize your first Oracle?"

Julia shook her head, "No, nothing really. Orisa made it through the battle phase so she didn't need a funeral or anything. Even if I wanted to make her one, it's not like I had any Resource Points to do it."

"Right... I guess that makes sense."

I began walking again with Julia following by my side.

"... Why did you ask though? And I can see you're upset, so I won't let you just walk away without telling me what's wrong," the elf girl pouted.

A sigh escaped my lips which hid a small smile at her pouting, "Fine, fine- I'll tell you. I'm probably just being dramatic, but I'm worried that my realm might be forgetting about Uunga- my first Oracle."

As we walked, I briefly explained how I put a torch tree near my realm's temple as a memorial for Uunga, but that my humans renamed it to the Tree of Victory and burnt Ferugon's Oracle's corpse at its base.

"The meaning behind it was basically taken over. It's more of a memorial to Rynn at this point than to Uunga," I eventually finished.

"Hmmm," Julia put her hand on her chin and continued thinking, "I see what you're saying, but even if the meaning of the tree changed, isn't there something else that they can remember about him?"

"... I don't know," I sighed again. "There's at least nothing physical left since he didn't leave anything behind at his old village. Actually, he was from the same village as Rynn, so even the village would be associated with Rynn instead of Uunga. My first Oracle also fought against Levon by himself, so it's not like he had an army to bring back stories. If it weren't for me being able to tell my priest about everything he did, my humans wouldn't even know that he saved my realm at all."

Julia's eyes lit up at my words, "Isn't that a solution then? If you really don't want your humans to forget about your first Oracle, can't you just have your priest remind them?

"... Yeah, I guess you're right," I groaned as I stretched to fix my slouching posture, "It just sucks that I even need to do it, though. Uunga deserves not to be forgotten."

Julia nodded, "I know what you mean. I can't even tell people about my Oracle if I tried since I don't have a priest to talk to. It's hard for my Oracle to spend time teaching about the past when she's getting ready for a battle phase."

"Ah- right. I'm sorry. Since I've had my priest since the end of the first battle phase, it keeps slipping my mind how everyone else can only talk to their realm during battle phases," I buried my head in my hands, "Between the loss and everything, you've really had it rough, haven't you? Meanwhile, I'm getting all sad about a memory."

A light punch landed on my shoulder from the girl next to me.

"I'm fine, so don't frown like that," Julia smiled faintly, "Besides, we both know it's not just a memory you're upset over. He was someone you really cared about- your first Oracle. I can't blame you for getting sad about people forgetting him."

My hands fell from my face as I turned to look at her understanding expression.

"... You really are strong, you know that?"

"I have to be. My elves take after me, you know~" Julia smiled and grabbed my hand, "So keep doing your best for them, too."

"I will... thank you, Julia."

Man... I don't know what my life was like on Earth, but I must've done something amazing to have a girl like this by my side now.

Although we walked in comfortable silence for a bit, the elf girl soon looked at me with a teasing expression.

"You know, for someone being so concerned about his Oracle being forgotten, I'm surprised you're not worried about the little one forgetting about you, especially considering all the time he's been spending playing with Tatton~"

"Huh? There's no way Mr. Flippers forgot about me..."

Despite my mutter, I could feel my heart start racing in my chest.

He could've been in there for well over 100 years from his perspective because of the time difference. Even with all of the battle phases, isn't that more time than I've been with him!?

"Shoot!"

"J-Jacob!?"

I suddenly began sprinting down the hall, dragging the unfortunate elf girl still gripping my hand behind me.

"Mr. Flippers! You better not forget me!!"

"I was joking! There's no way he-"

"I'm coming, my baby!!"

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Prior to Jacob dragging Julia through the Academy in a desperate rush to see his penguin, a burning desire was forming in the mind of a human in his realm.

"I want to cross this stupid river!"

A desperate cry, translated for your convenience, echoed off the tree line sprawling out behind the riverbank he layed upon. With a groan full of frustration, the young adult rolled across the mossy river bank until he reached his small camp on the edge of the cherry tree filled forest.

"Why did he make this stupid river so big..."

Such grumbles escaped the man's mouth as he lit a branch of a torch tree and warmed his soaked body with its heat.

As the guy dried off and began preparing himself some chicken and mushroom stew in a carved wooden bowl, he began reflecting on his fixation that was forcing him to endure sure wet trials.

The man grew up in a small village near the upper mudflats in the southeast of the realm, constantly hearing stories of the previous Oracle who visited his village to gather volunteers to protect the world. These stories of the Orcale's quest infatuated the kid who desperately asked families descended from those fighters to tell tales of their triumph.

Through this, the now-adult learned of a temple supposedly housing the one who created the world on the other side of the continent.

If there is anyone I could ask for stories of that fight, it would have to be the one who guided the Oracle!

With this motivation in mind and oblivious to the concept of a statue, his quest to find the temple began- only to come to a screeching halt the moment he reached a massive river far too wide to see across.

I heard there was a log pathway across the river... but I do not see it anywhere.

After weeks of travel, the man eventually found himself in a small village along the river's edge. It was there where he heard the dreaded news.

"The pathway got destroyed!?"

"Yes... a long time ago. Not even my great-grandparents were here when the last log dotting the river washed beneath the waves."

"... It was that long ago?"

Although the man was demoralized, he was not one to give up so easily.

His first attempt was obvious: a swim across the river! Unfortunately, he lacked the stamina to swim any notable distance before he needing to turn back.

With that failure, he decided to make his own pathway across... only to quickly find out that he was nowhere near strong enough to carry such heavy trees.

Such an attempt wasn't completely in vain, however. Seeing a leaf let loose from the log he used floating on the river inspired his next try. That's right- holding a pile of leaves in his arms and attempting to float on them!

... Obviously that didn't work.

Yet the man kept trying! There were numerous attempts including balancing on sticks, riding chickens, and floating on his back to save stamina, but all of them ended in failure.

This led him to where he was now; a retry of where he started- another failed attempt to swim across the river.

"How am I supposed to see your temple with this giant river in the way!?"

Finally finished with his stew, the man chucked the empty bowl into the river in frustration.

Splash!

"This is impossible... is there really no way to- huh?"

The man's groan came to a sudden stop as he noticed something in the corner of his eye.

"The bowl... is floating!?"

The man dashed over to the river in disbelief and watched as the bowl slowly floated downstream.

"Some small sticks also floated, but is the bowl not too heavy?" he wondered aloud as he followed it along the riverbank.

After watching for a few minutes, the man waded into the river and grabbed the bowl before heading back to his campsite.

"Can I float if I make a bowl big enough to fit in?"

Though a sudden new source of inspiration entered his mind, a defeated sigh escaped from his lips. It was a promising idea- far greater than holding a bunch of leaves, yet it seemed to be an impossible project.

His eyes wandered over to the towering cherry trees nearby. Even the tallest trees only had a trunk diameter of around 2ft- it would not be wide enough in a bowl shape to house him comfortably enough for the long journey even if it could hold him.

"... Maybe a long bowl would work?" he wondered aloud while tilting his head.

Guided by this thought and with only primitive stone tools in hand, the man approached the tree and started working.

.

..

...

"It worked! I finally crossed the river!"

The hours of paddling were nothing compared to the long journey it took to reach this point. Simply felling the tree with his simple tools and splitting off a six foot portion took him weeks to accomplish with his tools. Hollowing out the horizontal log to give himself room to sit inside took another three months.

The log itself was around 2ft wide and 6ft long- it was a tight fit width-wise, yet it was still barely enough to allow him to sit. Laying down was possible thanks to the length if he were to scrunch up his shoulders or lay on his side.

Although the first model of his creations did seem to float, it was completely unstable in the water and flipped over the second it entered the river. Eventually, he was able to remedy this by giving the log a somewhat flat bottom. Once out on the water, further testing revealed many more issues at play; mainly water gradually seeping through the cherry wood.

Why does water seep through this log, but not my bowl made of the same wood?

The man went back to examining his bowl to look for clues. While he was unable to realize that the fat from the chicken he was eating had helped seal the pores in the wooden bowl, he did notice the charring from the flame he cooked it over and attempted to charr his creation to match it using a branch of a torch tree.

He cautiously burnt the outside of the log with the river mere inches from him in case something went wrong- miraculously managing not to set his work ablaze. Against even his own belief, this new charred layer actually did help slow down the rate at which water seeped into the log's opening, but it was not enough to stop it fully.

"I can scoop up the water that leaks inside with my bowl... but I do not know how long it will take to cross the river."

Worried he may fall asleep and sink on the journey, the man tried everything he could think of a way to stop the water, yet moss, nor feathers, nor leaves, nor crushed mushrooms seemed to make a difference. While he was just about to give up and risk crossing despite the water seepage, the man happened to recall a phenomenon he observed back in his home village in the mudflats.

His village in the mudflats was known for its giant chicken traps, which required digging pits for the creatures to fall into. The dug-up mud from this process was left in small piles, which seemed to dry and harden in the sun. He had even seen puddles that lasted for days form on top of some dented piles after rain that held for days. 

"Could that work to stop the water?"

It was a desperate plan requiring him to travel for weeks carrying the mud from near his village back to his camp at the river, but left with no other option, the man did just that. He lined the interior of the hollowed log with this clay-filled mud and let it dry in the sun's heat, aided by torch tree branches, before the man finally tested his creation one last time in the river.

"It worked! It really worked!"

Even after hours of sitting in the floating log, no water appeared to soak through.

"RAAAAAAA!"

A shout of victory echoed off the water, and following a small victory feast of chickens and cherries, the man created what was essentially a paddle to help him move the log through the water before immediately setting off without a moment of hesitation.

That led him to where he was now- taking his first step onto the eastern half of the realm.

His excitement couldn't be understated; his hard work had paid off. All that stood between the man and the temple was a long walk, but a rumbling in his stomach needed to be addressed prior him starting such a journey.

"There should be chickens on this side of the river, right? Hm?"

His eyes which had been scanning the area for any signs of a delicious, feathery bird suddenly spotted what looked to be a ton of small and thin green trunks off in the distance.

Curious, the man pulled the log he used ashore and trotted over to the field of odd plants, soon hesitantly approaching one and running his hands over its long leaves.

"... These are not trees."

"Obviously."

"Ah!?"

Thud!

A sudden woman's voice spoke to him from behind some dense stalks, causing him to trip over a small pile of husks and fall to the ground.

"You are not from this village. Why are you trying to steal our corn?" she asked, taking the opportunity to squeeze through the stalks' gaps and stand above him.

"Corn? Is that what this is?"

"Obviously. And you were trying to steal it!" The woman squinted her eyes.

"I was not! I was just looking at it since I have never seen something like this. Besides, it was out in the open! How can I steal something that is growing naturally? That is like yelling at me for picking a mushroom in a forest!"

"It is nothing like that! Our village had to work hard planting every single one of these plants!" she defended, before pausing at the man's shocked expression, "Do you really not know what corn is? I have not even heard of a village nearby without any. Where are you from?"

"I am from across the river."

"Pfft- that is impossible. Not a single person has crossed the river since the Oracle's pathway collapsed."

"Then I am the first," the man declared as he picked himself off the ground, "I am trying to get to the temple. If you can guide me in that direction, I will gladly show you how I got across it."

"The temple?" the woman looked at the man for any signs of lies, yet ultimately just sighed, "... Fine. But you will need to apologize to the village for trying to steal the corn if you are lying."

"I have nothing to worry about then."

A few months after the man showed off the realm's first dugout canoe, he eventually stepped foot into the temple only to discover it housed a statue and not the actual creator of the world himself.

Even so, his journey was not for naught; the priest inside the temple was inspired by his efforts and happily told him of the stories passed down by the previous priests.

And so, after exploring the western half of the continent to his satisfaction, the man went back home with a gift from the priest in hand.

Kernels, and the corn they grew, would soon cross the river in the man's canoe. 

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