Neighbors had arrived out of the blue. I didn't know why the raccoon family had moved here, but it wasn't bad news.

For starters, the raccoon was intelligent and polite. That alone was enough to make me like him more than the gorillas. He was good with fire, too, so cooperating with each other could be a big help going forward. First, though, I needed to figure out what this family wanted.

'Food would be the most basic thing... That shouldn't be a problem.'

Hunting difficulty aside, the Forest of Four Seasons had an abundance of food. I didn't know what raccoons ate, but weren't they more or less omnivores?

Besides, they were neighbors, not family living under my roof like the speed-sloth and Roundfur. They would take care of themselves to some extent. Helping them out in a real emergency should be enough.

"Chirr. Chirrr."

"This is your house?"

The raccoon family showed me where they lived: a tree not far from the cave. In fact, you could call it right next door. There was a large hole in the middle of the thick trunk. Apparently, they lived inside it.

'Good thing I wasn't planning to cut trees down here.'

It would have been a bit awkward if their home had overlapped with my logging area. Fortunately, it didn't, and they were close enough for frequent visits.

I watched the raccoon family climb into the hollow. A moment later, the raccoon peeked his head out, with the baby beside him. How could I not take a picture of that? I immediately snapped one through the forum.

A raccoon family moved in

Wild Grylls

(Photo of the raccoon family appearing in front of me)

(Photo of the herb the raccoon gave me)

(Photo of the raccoon family peeking out of their home)

(Photo of the raccoon waving happily)

The family of that raccoon who visited my cave moved into the neighborhood. He gave me an herb, like people handing out rice cakes to celebrate moving in.

They live in a hole in a nearby tree. Guess we'll be visiting each other pretty often, yeah.

At least they're more sociable than those gorilla bastards. Nice to have neighbors.

└Heavenly Demon What adorable neighbors. I hope you get along well.

└Sword Masta Wow. I'm jealous. I don't even have neighbors.

└Heavenly Demon What need have you for neighbors when you never go outside anyway?

└Sword Masta Fuck, do YOU have neighbors? You never go out either.

└Heavenly Demon I have subjects, not neighbors. Like that raccoon, they occasionally give me nice things. Have you ever exchanged gifts with anyone?

└Sword Masta ... No?

└Heavenly Demon At least show your face from time to time. There are people who would be pleased simply to see you. Ah, unless you are hideous, of course. That would have the opposite effect.

└Sword Masta I'm pretty, you know. -_-

└Pics, please.

└No pics, no believing you lol

└Heavenly Demon, you post proof too. Who are you calling uglier than whom? lol

└Heavenly Demon As I have said before, I once earned the title of Greatest Beauty Under Heaven.

└Sword Masta Well, if we're going by that, I'm famous for being beautiful too, haha.

└The clash of these two egos is unreal lmaooo

└Who in the Central Plains has been called the Greatest Beauty Under Heaven?

└Used to be Yang Seolhwa. Now it's Heavenly Demon, but the rumors are kind of scary.

└What rumors?

└Something about how even being drenched in other people's blood couldn't hide her beauty? Gruesome, but that's what I heard.

└Wasn't her epithet Blood Flower before people believed she was the Heavenly Demon?

└A bloodstained flower. Yikes.

└Scary stuff...

└Don't Abandon the Hero Hmm! Adorable! Unfortunately, I'll be banning you for one hour!

└Wild Grylls ??? Why? What did I do wrong?

└Don't Abandon the Hero There's no video! A video! I'll let it slide if you upload one!

└Wild Grylls (Video of the raccoon family) Happy now?

└Don't Abandon the Hero I'll let you off just this once!

└Just this once...

└This admin bastard tells the mods not to abuse their power, then does it himself lmaooo

└Hypocrisy is a passive skill for the mod team lol

└They are cute, though lol

└Is that a baby? I want to hold it.

└What happens if Grylls takes the baby?

└It's just going next door to play lol

└Ohhh.

└More importantly, wouldn't Roundfur eat it?

└Roundfur: Why are there more emergency rations now that I'm awake?

└Who were the original emergency rations? Don't tell me it was Grylls lol

└He IS emergency food lmaooo

They were joking, but I couldn't dismiss it as just a joke. I might have accepted the raccoons as neighbors, but would Roundfur? At least the speed-sloth seemed to approve, but there was no telling what Roundfur's appetite might lead to.

'The weather seems to be warming up, so Roundfur should wake up soon.'

I looked up at the sky rather than the tree and exhaled. The temperature had risen noticeably. Even the mist of my breath had thinned a little. By tomorrow, the weather would either have changed completely or be showing signs of it.

'I can just watch for when Roundfur wakes up.'

Roundfur had gone into hibernation as soon as winter began, so the reverse should hold true as well.

After gazing at the raccoon family for a while, I returned to the cave. Since they were so good at using fire, I planned to light a campfire in the yard.

CRACKLE! POP!

I built a campfire for the raccoons to use, then went inside. First, I needed to identify the herb he had given me in place of rice cakes.

'Heavenly Demon would probably know about this sort of thing, right?'

Heavenly Demon knew quite a lot about herbs like these, as well as inner cores. Even if she didn't recognize it, she could quickly work out what sort of energy it contained. I turned the snow-white snow ginseng over in my hands, then sent her a message.

Heavenly Demon, are you there?

Heavenly Demon

Speak.

You know that photo in my post?

The thing that looks like white ginseng.

Heavenly Demon

I was looking at it.

It seems to be an extraordinary herb.

My guess is that it is snow ginseng brimming with yin energy.

Would you like to examine it if I send it over?

I'm a little reluctant to just eat it.

Heavenly Demon

Very well.

I shall send word once I have examined it.

I sent the white ginseng to Heavenly Demon. A reply would probably come soon. In the meantime, I pondered how to get along with the raccoon family. Simply lighting a campfire might not be enough.

'If they're good at finding herbs, they could be a huge help.'

If the white ginseng turned out to have beneficial effects, I would ask him directly: I'll give you food, and you give me herbs. I could eat those herbs myself or send them to Heavenly Demon to make fasting pills.

That was mutual aid, and how an economy worked. Calling it an economy without any currency was a bit of a stretch, but never mind.

Heavenly Demon

My honored friend.

Are you still there?

Yes.

I'm here.

Have you figured it out?

Heavenly Demon

That raccoon has given you a truly precious herb.

It is no ordinary ginseng. Its internal energy rivals that of thousand-year ginseng.

So it's really valuable?

Heavenly Demon

Though it falls short of human-shaped snow ginseng or the king of all ginseng, the Ten-Thousand-Year Ginseng King, it is still an exceedingly rare herb.

Its potent yin energy is a concern, but since you already possess cold energy, it should pose no great problem for you.

Can you make fasting pills with it?

Heavenly Demon

I could, but it seems a waste.

I believe it would be better for you to consume it yourself, my honored friend.

Then how much longer until the fasting pills are ready?

Heavenly Demon

A sack will be ready soon.

I'll use that as payment instead.

I'm having trouble controlling my energy as it is. Eating that too sounds like asking for trouble.

Heavenly Demon

A reasonable point.

I shall give this to one of my close aides.

A close aide could probably sell it for a high price. That would be much more useful than giving it to me. I asked Heavenly Demon to wait a moment and went outside. I had something to ask the raccoon.

"Chirrr."

"Chirr."

"Chirp, chirp."

Outside, I found the raccoon family gathered companionably around the campfire. They were all holding out both paws to warm their cold bodies. The baby, in particular, was impossibly cute with its tiny hands extended toward the fire.

'This is nice, but...'

It was nice to have neighbors, but I had to leave this place someday. Still, we'd be living alongside each other until then. The fact that they had shown goodwill first put me at ease, too. Until I left, we might as well help one another and both benefit.

"Hey, Raccoon."

"Chirr?"

Somehow, he understood that I was calling him and poked his head up. The others did the same. His mate and baby raised their heads to look at me, too.

'Should I give him a name?'

Or maybe I should just call him Papa Raccoon.

In any case, I took Papa Raccoon aside for a moment. He followed me without a trace of wariness. Once inside the cave, I headed straight for the map—the one I'd been marking as I explored.

"Now, Papa Raccoon. See this thing you gave me?"

"Chirr."

"If you find anything similar, could you give it to me? If you do..."

SCRAAAPE

I showed him the white snow ginseng he'd given me, then dragged over the metal tub. The fish inside were still frozen solid. Environmentally friendly frozen storage.

"I'll give you these fish. They're frozen right now, but the weather will warm up soon, and you'll be able to eat them."

"..."

"If you don't like these fish, I can give you something else. I'll be getting some fasting pills soon. I'll give you those."

PAT

The moment I said that, I felt someone place a hand on my shoulder. I turned to see what was going on and found the speed-sloth staring at me. Its look practically said, You're giving those away when I don't even have enough to eat?

The speed-sloth was normally almost entirely free of greed, but fasting pills were another matter. It had been particularly touchy ever since the gorilla stole them last time.

"You only eat one at a time anyway. Besides, we can make more from the herbs he brings."

"..."

"He could basically be our supplier for fasting-pill ingredients, so cut him some slack."

Apparently persuaded, the speed-sloth withdrew its hand. The Forest of Four Seasons might be filled with medicinal herbs, but I was practically clueless about them. Wouldn't it be better to leave things to an expert(?)? Naturally, I'd compensate him appropriately.

"..."

Papa Raccoon seemed to mull over my proposal for a while. Maybe he didn't quite trust me. Above all, this was essentially a trade. He could end up getting the short end of the stick, and he had a family to support.

But perhaps he decided I was trustworthy, even if the deal carried some risk.

"Chirr!"

The raccoon held out a hand, readily accepting my proposal. I shook his tiny hand to seal the deal.

That wasn't the end of it, though. There were things I needed to tell him. That was why I'd brought him to the map.

"Now, see here and here? This is where the gorillas live. They're prickly about intruders, so you mustn't ever go in."

"Chirr."

"And this is the cave where the kangaroos live together. See that pig-like fellow over there? He got attacked the moment he went in. They're not nice guys. Down here is the lake, and on the way there, there's a deer..."

I carefully explained the dangerous areas in case something happened to him. He might know his old home well, but this neighborhood could be unfamiliar. With my deal with Papa Raccoon concluded, I sent the white ginseng to Heavenly Demon.

'I'm glad I've found good neighbors.'

Or were we business partners now rather than neighbors? Either way, it didn't matter as long as we got along.

'On another note, should I build them a house near the campfire?'

That was worth considering.

* * *

Around the same time, at the Heavenly Demon Divine Cult.

"I FOOOUND GINSEEENG!!!"

A demonic martial artist clutched a snow-white ginseng root and shouted at the top of his lungs. It was Wi Seorak. The white root in his hand was a gift Heavenly Demon had abruptly given him after summoning him.

He had been puzzled at first, but soon realized it contained an enormous amount of internal energy.

'I-it must have come from Grylls... But to give me something like this...!'

Converted into money, it was worth several years' budget. Selling the inner cores had been a delicate matter because their origin was unmistakable, but ginseng was different. He could simply brush off questions by saying he'd found it buried in the hill out back.

In a world ruled by money and martial might, this was worth far more to Wi Seorak than welcome rain in a drought. No, perhaps it wasn't rain in a drought at all, but the herald of a bountiful harvest.

'Heavenly Demon is a god. And Grylls is invincible.'

His affection for Grylls began to skyrocket.