kscans

Chapter 42 - The High Forest. Dead Trees Also Liven Up the Mountain

The most reasonable, or perhaps simplistic, interpretation would be that they had died of old age, but Yuri, feeling that something didn't quite add up, decided to [Appraise] the dead trees. The result...

"Why... is the cause of death salt damage for every single one of them...?"

It was true that there was a layer of rock salt in this land, so the possibility of salt damage was not zero. However... compared to the dead trees, the other trees, though somewhat smaller, were by Earth's standards quite large and showed no signs of abnormality. What was going on?

Yuri tilted his head in confusion, but the circumstances were a bit more complicated than he thought.

First and foremost, a layer of rock salt existed deep underground in this area. However, because there was a special impermeable layer on top of that rock salt layer, salt was not drawn up to the surface by capillary action, and therefore, salt damage did not manifest. However, when the roots of a large tree broke through this impermeable layer and reached the rock salt layer below, the tree would suffer salt damage and die. The suspicion arises that even if the part that touched the rock salt layer died, the root system spread out above it should be fine, but one can only say that in reality, they die. Even if you [Appraise] the rock salt to see if it contains some suspicious substance or element, it is only displayed as ordinary rock salt, and no health problems have ever occurred. One can only accept that this is some law of this world. On the other hand, shallow-rooted tree species do not extend their roots to the rock salt layer and therefore do not suffer salt damage. However, because these tree species have shallow roots, when the tree grows large, it can no longer support its own weight and topples over. As a result, trees that have grown to a certain size or larger all die, and a cycle of seedling regeneration in the resulting gap has been repeating since before recorded history. Incidentally, perhaps due to geological reasons, the rock salt layer is only present at the foot of the mountain and not higher up. For that reason, giant trees exist normally deep in the mountains.

Even Yuri could not figure out such behind-the-scenes circumstances, but he seemed to have come to terms with it in his mind, thinking that this kind of thing can happen in another world.

"Hmm, if they're this withered, they should burn. They seem a bit brittle from being dead, so maybe I can cut them down with [Wind Cutter]."

Even though they were dead, they were thick, so cutting them with a simple [Wind Cutter] was tough. But on a whim, he tried using it mixed with the magic power of wood magic, and this time it cut through surprisingly easily. Yuri was in a good mood, having obtained a magic spell for logging... But in fact, activating a spell by mixing the magic power of multiple attributes is not something that can be done so easily. There might be a possibility that he has some kind of divine protection, but more than anything, the fact that he approached it without any preconceived notions and, moreover, pushed through with brute force, relying on his ridiculous amount of magic power, was a big factor.

...Unaware of such behind-the-scenes circumstances, Yuri, in high spirits that the long-standing issue of fuel and lumber was about to be resolved, collected the dead trees he had cut down. He did not forget to be careful not to involve other trees when cutting them down. Some were displayed as being difficult to burn, but he felt that those would burn for a long time, so he took them back, thinking they might be usable for nighttime heating. If he stuck them in the kamado stove, they might just keep the fire going all night. If not, he could just turn them into compost, so they wouldn't go to waste.

The dead trees varied in species and degree of decay, which promised Yuri a supply of new resources.

"Whoa... this is..."

Yuri's eyes were glued to the mushrooms growing thickly on a decaying fallen tree.

"Maitake... no matter how you look at it..."

He appraised it just to be sure, and it seemed to be a mushroom of this world equivalent to Earth's maitake. He also confirmed that it contained a large amount of umami components. He casually looked around and saw various mushrooms growing on various decaying trees. With their colorful hues, it even gave the impression of flowers blooming on dead trees. No, in this case, perhaps it should be said that even dead trees liven up the mountain.

"Yeah... I'll stop collecting them indiscriminately. In any case, if they're infested with wood-decaying fungi, they won't make good lumber... it's better to use them as logs for cultivation."

With the words 'the right material for the right place' in mind, Yuri once again looked around the forest. He had only been looking at the dead trees as a source of lumber, but there might be other things he could use. As he reconsidered, the bark that had peeled off a tree caught his eye.

"...Could this be cork, by any chance...?"

Cork, which he had often seen in his previous life in Japan, is actually the bark of the cork oak tree. To be precise, cork material can be obtained from the bark of trees other than the cork oak, but the bark of the cork oak is particularly thick, making it versatile. Also, vertical cracks form in the bark of the cork oak, and the bark peels off from here, but the cork-forming layer underneath is not damaged, and the regeneration and peeling of the cork layer is repeated about every ten years. The tree Yuri was looking at seemed to be a different species from the cork oak that grows in the Mediterranean region, but it had a similarly thick cork layer, which was also peeling off in the same way.

"It might be useful for something... I'll collect it."

As he walked through the forest, appropriately collecting dead trees that could be used for lumber—[Storage] is so convenient—a completely decayed tree caught his eye. ...No, to be precise, it was the heartwood that still retained its shape while the woody part had almost completely rotted away. He tapped it casually with his short spear, a shorter spear with a sharpened tip made of a 'magic' stone that he carried for self-defense, and it was repelled with a sharp, high-pitched sound like 'kan'.

"Oh... hard... or rather, tough. I wonder if I can use this for something."

After brushing off the decayed parts and looking at it again, he saw that the heartwood was very dense, and was not just hard but also a strong and beautiful wood.

"Is this what they call rosewood or ebony? If it's this hard, I could use it as a walking stick... oh, maybe it could be used as material for crafts too."

With no decent blades, there was no way he could do any carving at present, but thinking that it might be useful for something someday, Yuri, who had developed a bit of a frugal streak since his reincarnation, decided to take this back as well. Looking around, it seemed there were quite a few of them left to decay.

"Well, it might be useful for something, and it won't go to waste... probably."