The land quickly lost its temperature once the day was over since there was nothing stopping the heat from seeping out. As such, nights in the wilderness were awfully chilly.
Since all traces of warmth had left the surrounding area, I had to erect an insulation barrier around our temporary dwelling, the stone house.
Furthermore, the rows of trees whose growth I had forcibly accelerated with magic withered in only several days due to the harsh environment.
"Sure enough, the root hasn't taken place properly because of the forceful growth… They also don't have much resistance to harsh weather."
Fortunately, at least the trees’ roots had broken around 10 cm of soil.
I removed the fallen trees with magic and grew them once again after replanting the nuts in the soil that contained the mulch, liquid fertilizer, and sprinkling water.
A row of fresh new trees with roots even stronger than before took their place whilst the fallen trees were crushed into fine pieces and mixed in with the soil to breed microbes.
"I guess this is what we can do for now. Let's go back to our house."
"Indeed-nanodesu."
After that, we continued our isolated life from civilization.
Somehow, we managed to grow trees in the «Empty Wilderness». Thus, began our cultivation of land from there.
I had my doubts when I saw the trees withering away and falling down so soon when we tried our best to keep them alive in our first month, but I soon realized that this was the mana forsaken land.
Magical power apparently had the tendency to flow from high to low density places. As such, it seemed that the mana emitted from the grown trees would spread to the surrounding area, and when they ran out of mana, they would wither away.
So, after realizing the problem, I immediately erected a barrier, one that resembled the barrier covering «Empty Wilderness», to prevent the efflux of mana around the hundred meters of our house. Then, I started with first filling the area with my mana.
Since my daily routine was to release my magic to increase the mana density, maintain the barrier, and also to increase my mana capacity, I ate «Mysterious Fruits».
By doing this, the situation around our house had finally started to stabilize.
The buds were beginning to sprout from all the seeds brought by Teto that we mixed in the soil. The moss also began to grow, and so did the slimes that fed on mana and water.
"There aren’t that many Moss and Slimes, but they're indeed releasing magical power."
They would absorb mana, further amplify it, and then absorb it again.
It birthed the tiny cycle of restoration, covering the atmosphere around our house with mana. In about just three months, we were able to bring the mana density on the same level as the outside of the great barrier.
"That wasn't as big of a deal as I thought; full restoration isn't that far away if things keep going at this rate."
The following incident happened because I let down my guard while muttering that.
"Ah一"
I accidentally cut off my connection with the barrier around our home. As a result, it only took minutes before the mana scattered in the wilderness, Slimes’ bodies broke down as if melting, the ground sucked in all the water, and the trees and microbes withered away.
"Ah, there goes our painstakingly created base."
"Majou-sama, Fight! We still have plenty of time-nanodesu!"
The mana from a tiny region of a land rivaling the small size country was thus liberated, but «Empty Wilderness» didn't show a wee bit of change.
It was like dripping a drop of water into an empty bucket.
"It's fine, I'm alright. I’ve got the knack on how to begin cultivating this place. For sure, I will do it right next time!"
Thus, Teto and I worked together to remove the fallen trees. Afterward, I erected another barrier.
However, the difference this time was barrier wasn't erected by magic, instead, I used a self-reliant magic tool to erect a barrier around our house.
The barrier of the magic tool in the shape of 16 stone pillars produced by my «Creation Magic» was maintained by the resultant magic tools that supported each other. Although this would increase the time I had to fuel mana into them daily by one, it worked as an excellent safeguard. Even if one or two magic tools were to malfunction unexpectedly, the barrier would still be preserved thanks to the other magic tools.
In this way, the mana density began to rise again as I recultivated the trees and released my mana.
My mana capacity was also increasing at a good pace due to the fact that I had been eating the «Mysterious Fruit» and exhausting my mana to the limit for the cultivation of wilderness.
Furthermore, since this was our second time cultivating this land, the land managed to return to its previous state in just two months.
Meanwhile, something else happened that even I couldn’t help but be impressed by.
"It's amazing. Slimes are produced naturally again, and even the moss has revived."
"The plant seeds have buds sprouting too!"
Although the vegetation had withered away due to the mana efflux from barrier collapsing, the moss didn’t since it had probably put itself into a suspended animation state as soon as the barrier collapsed. Thus, it grew back again after receiving mana, water, and nutrients.
The seeds that were left in the ground, even as the plants had withered, sprouted from under the dry grass.
On the other hand, as we cultivated the «Empty Wilderness», Selene soundly grew up inside the house.
I assumed that she was most likely two or three months old when she was entrusted to us. Now, look at her! She started to move her head, take turns in her sleep, and even managed to sit on her own; and in no time, she was able to crawl and run.
"She's really an energetic child, isn't she?"
Until now, I had made most things in my house perpendicular and rectangular-shaped with comfort in mind. But as Selene's range of activities increased, I realized that the corners of desks and other things were potentially dangerous for Selene. As such, I took this chance to reconstruct our house.
I arranged furniture with rounded corners in our new wood and stone house created by «Creation Magic». This would keep Selene safe and I didn’t need to worry about her hurting herselfa accidentally.
"How are you doing, Selene? It’s eating time, let’s eat. Say ahn~"
As Selene's teeth started to grow, I slowly began to feed her the baby food made from «Creation Magic».
Naturally, it was impossible to expect any foodstuff from this wilderness. But the food created with «Creation Magic», especially the bottled food for babies, was nutritionally balanced, delicious, and had a lot of variety. Thus, even Selene could eat it.
Even the clothes that were created with the creation magic had the growth of the child in mind, so I was glad that I didn’t need to replace clothes for Selene constantly.
Furthermore…
"Let's eat this too, Selene."
"Buu~"
"Come on, don't be so picky. You will feel better after drinking it quickly."
Among the medicines and mushrooms I had taken from the dungeon town, there was a medicine that increases the immunity of infants. A single dose would prevent any disease or infection for half a year. So, I made Selene drink it.
Selene had the mithril ring for purification and detoxification. Nevertheless, it was my duty as her parent to make her drink the medicine.
Just like that, the days of cultivating the «Empty Wilderness» and raising Selene continued for three years.
