A raccoon that breathed fire like some ninja. And breathing fire wasn't all this talented little fellow could do—he could even bottle it.

I wasn't sure what the bottled fire was for, but such an unusual ability was bound to come in handy somewhere.

More than anything, I liked his personality.

'That's the biggest thing.'

He wasn't just gentle, but polite, too. How could anyone hate him? Even the speed-sloth, so touchy about its territory, had settled for a smack on the back and nothing more. That told me what a good fellow the raccoon was, and made me like him all the more.

'Should I let him live with us? He seems perfectly capable of looking after himself.'

Whatever else he could do, he definitely knew how to handle fire. I would have plenty of uses for fire going forward, just as I always had. With his help, perhaps I could do things I hadn't been able to before. I'd also get some bottled fire out of the arrangement, even if I didn't know what to use it for yet.

The fire must have drawn him down the chimney in the first place, so surely we could reach an agreement. I'd give him a place to stay, and he'd put his ability to work.

I made the offer right away, using words and every gesture I could manage.

"Kehh."

But the raccoon turned me down. It was surprising enough that he understood me, but he even held out a paw to make his refusal clear.

Rare ability or not, the fact that he'd come all this way made it clear he had no shelter. In this hellish forest, a safe place to live was vital. When I asked why he'd refused, he picked up a twig lying near the firewood.

SCRITCH, SCRATCH.

He began drawing on the floor, and I watched closely. His drawing skills were every bit as impressive as his intelligence.

'First the speed-sloth, now him. Is drawing a basic skill for animals in the Forest of Four Seasons?'

Somehow, he seemed better at it than I was.

While I was thinking that, he finished his drawing: three raccoons in total. They looked like a raccoon family. Did raccoons live in groups?

"Keng!"

"Oh. That's you?"

He pointed to the largest member of the family. In human terms, that would make him the head of the household—the father. The smaller raccoons with him seemed to be his mate and his young.

'Well, I can't argue with that.'

Whether animal or human, a family's provider was important. I nodded to show I understood.

I'd have liked to offer some food as a gesture of friendship, but unfortunately, I could barely provide for myself. What little I did have was salty smoked food, which wouldn't be suitable.

"Keng. Kehh."

"Huh? You want some fire?"

"Keng."

"Take it if you want it."

He asked for fire instead, and I readily agreed. I could light another fire anytime, and it hardly even counted as a resource.

With my permission, he bowed his head, then held the twig he'd used for drawing up to the fireplace.

WHOOSH!

The end of the twig blazed up. It was a tiny twig to me, but in his paw, it looked like a torch. Normally, it should have burned up quickly, but whatever he'd done to it, it burned like a candle instead.

He looked satisfied with his brightly burning torch.

"Kehh!"

"All right. Bye, then. Stay safe. Come back around here if you change your mind."

Torch in paw, the raccoon went on his way. I was sorry to see him go, but perhaps we'd meet again someday. He didn't seem particularly strong, but he was clever. He'd find a way to survive.

'Such a nice, polite fellow. Unlike some creatures I could name.'

Certain bastards had stolen all my fasting pills and tried to call it even with bananas.

If possible, I'd like to stay in touch with him. First, though, I needed to find out what that bottled fire was. I watched until he disappeared from view, then opened the forum.

Met a fire-wielding raccoon

Wild Grylls

(Photo of the raccoon bowing in greeting)

(Photo of the raccoon scooping up fire from the fireplace)

(Photo of the raccoon breathing fire)

(Photo of the fire in a bottle)

(Video of the raccoon leaving with a torch in one paw)

Went out for a bit and came back to find a raccoon in my house. Same one that visited last time. Turns out he fell down the chimney.

I wondered what sort of ability he had, and it turns out he's damn good with fire...;

Are there any raccoons with fire-wielding abilities? Let me know if there are.

Oh, and I wanted to recruit him as a companion, but he turned me down because he's got a family to provide for. Bit of a shame.

└Heavenly Demon What unusual tricks this little fellow performs. Even Taoist arts would struggle to accomplish that.

└Sword Masta I've never seen a raccoon like that in my life. Breathing fire? It's not a dragon...;

└Wild Grylls He ate the fire and then breathed it out. Can mages do that too?

└Sword Masta Hmm. I really couldn't say.

└Starlight Lady Trying that would burn their mouths and tongues to a crisp.

└Wild Grylls Even eating fire?

└Starlight Lady Unless you're performing a fire-eating act, there's no reason to eat fire...;

└Dude, eating fire is weird to begin with...;

└Aren't there monsters that eat fire?

└There are, but raccoons don't lolol

└Allfather Fascinating. A raccoon with an affinity for fire rather than water.

└Wild Grylls Do raccoons shoot water out of their mouths?

└Allfather No, but they do have a habit of washing their food in water. Perhaps this one roasts its food over fire instead.

└Wild Grylls Oh...;

└Allfather But what is that fire inside the bottle? It has piqued my interest.

└Wild Grylls Hard as it is to believe, the raccoon scooped up fire and put it in the bottle. He scooped it straight out of the fire, like someone cupping water in both hands.

└Allfather Hmm... I would dearly like to study it, but unfortunately, I don't think I have the time. If you wouldn't mind, could you wait two days?

└Wild Grylls Sure. It's not urgent.

└Allfather Thank you.

└Surely that's not essence too?

└Who knows? Could be nothing special lol

└Anyway, do raccoons live in groups?

└Depends on the individual, as far as I know.

Everyone found the raccoon fascinating. The fire-eating part seemed particularly hard for them to believe.

Well, this was the Forest of Four Seasons. Best to just accept it and move on.

'It's not like he'll be visiting often, either.'

I'd never seen him before winter arrived. During the other seasons, he must have stayed in or near his own territory. Winter seemed to have depleted his nearby food supply, naturally driving him farther afield.

Could that tiny little fellow keep getting by in this forest? I was a little worried.

'He's got a special ability. He'll manage.'

He was already well adapted to the Forest of Four Seasons. Perhaps his odds of survival were better than mine.

Anyway, now that he'd left, I counted my remaining Snowfrost Flowers. I still had about two to use for something, and I could find more by searching the area.

'I should probably put cold resistance on hold, right?'

Mixing these up and eating them without Starlight Lady's help could get me into serious trouble. Still, leaving them unused felt like a waste.

'I could combine one with a mandrake and give it to All Hail the Sun...'

I checked how much Elixir I had left. After using some in the mandrake mixtures, I had about three and a half bottles remaining. Since Roundfur, the speed-sloth, and I might all get hurt at once, that was the bare minimum I needed to keep.

'That looks like just the thing to mix with it, though.'

The fire the raccoon had bottled. Couldn't I combine it with a Snowfrost Flower?

But that was only a guess, not a certainty. An expert opinion was absolutely necessary, and with even Allfather currently unavailable, I was stuck.

'I'll just get the resistance another time.'

I still had plenty of time. There was no need to rush. More importantly, didn't I need to train to control my cold first? Besides, once winter ended, the amount of work I had to do would increase exponentially.

'Bricks, cement, and sand go here...'

I prepared in advance for warmer weather. I planned to build the oven and furnace as soon as it warmed up, and I had an emergency exit in mind, too. There was plenty to do.

'How should I build them so they won't get swept away by an avalanche?'

An avalanche would come roughly once a month. And avalanches weren't the only concern—I had no idea what other natural disasters might strike. I'd have to survive another fortnight or so before I understood the rules of this goddamn forest.

'Whatever I build has to be sturdy. Should I just put up a small building?'

I had bricks and cement, so I could erect a building to house the oven and furnace. It would take a long time, but I could make sure it was solid.

Of course, an absurdly powerful monster like the gorilla chief would be another story. There was nothing I could do about that. Withstanding natural disasters would be enough.

'I'll have to make the most of the space, build a separate drainage ditch... What a headache.'

Maybe things would be different if I'd gone to college. Unfortunately, I'd only finished high school. Money had been tight, and just putting food on the table had kept me busy. At least I'd learned a few things in the military. That was some consolation.

I bought a large sheet of paper and drew the cave and its surroundings.

'A rectangular layout would be the safest bet, right?'

That would require cutting down more trees. I intended to clear up the path the gorilla chief had personally made for me myself.

After spending the entire day drawing up plans, I found night falling before I knew it. Snow began to fall, but it wasn't a blizzard. Just ordinary snow.

'This is a sign that it's warming up, right?'

According to my esteemed predecessor's diary, the weather should warm up in another two or three days. I needed to do everything I could before then. With luck, perhaps I could even hunt.

I added wood to the fire and sat beside the speed-sloth. Unless it was eating, it seemed to spend all its time in front of the fireplace.

'Winter has its upsides, but I still hate it.'

The early sunsets and late sunrises were the biggest inconvenience. It was certainly good that the other animals were less active, but the same applied to me.

As I sat quietly by the fireplace, something suddenly occurred to me, and I got up.

'I can't just sit here. The snow might pile up again overnight.'

I went around liberally scattering salt. Without calcium chloride, salt was my only substitute. The emergency exit was still only in the planning stages, so I needed to take precautions.

That finished my preparations for the end of the day. The night was long, and there was nothing to do.

'At least the forum has something different to talk about.'

Thanks to the recent sports matches, discussion of Eldorado had almost died out. In other words, it was on the verge of being buried. It might not matter to me, but it couldn't be good news for the people outside.

'That's for the people outside to sort out.'

All I could do was wait for winter to pass. I posted a wrap-up of my day on the forum and quietly whiled away the time.

"Hey. Aren't you going to sleep?"

"..."

"Sigh. Never mind."

The fire-gazing speed-sloth could look after itself. I quietly closed my eyes, hoping no blizzard would strike before dawn.

I had no idea what was going to happen next, but whatever it was, it would be hard, not easy.

'If I'd known it would be like this, should I have forced the raccoon to stay?'

With that thought still in my mind, the next morning arrived.

"Kehh!"

"Uh..."

As soon as I got up, the raccoon greeted me outside the cave. And he wasn't alone—he'd brought his family.

There was one raccoon I assumed was his mate, and a baby raccoon hiding behind her. Everything about the family seemed to announce, "We've just moved into the neighborhood."

"Keng!"

"... What's this?"

The father raccoon held something out to me. It looked like an ordinary bellflower root or wild ginseng, but its color was anything but ordinary. Pure white as snow, it practically advertised itself as a potent medicinal herb.

"Kehh! Keng!"

I accepted the herb in a daze, and the raccoon bowed from the waist. His mate and baby did the same. The little one's shy greeting was particularly adorable.

'... Is this their version of giving the neighbors rice cakes when you move in?'

It seemed I'd unexpectedly acquired some neighbors.