Subcontracting work to Papa Raccoon had lightened my workload and saved me plenty of time.

Right now, time was more precious to me than gold—no, diamonds. So I intended to be flexible in managing him, to keep him happy.

'Still, how should I build their house?'

Since they were neighbors I'd be seeing often, I was thinking of building them a little rest area in the yard. But I wasn't sure what sort of design they'd like.

They'd already made themselves a tidy home, so I had no intention of making them move again. I was only planning a place to rest somewhere they could relax comfortably by the campfire through the cold winter.

'A house would be too much. A little rest area should be just right.'

A structure that let them enjoy the campfire's full warmth would be enough.

Still, I had too many problems of my own to build it right away. The furnace and oven were urgent, not a rest area for the raccoon family. As I'd said, they already had a home, so it could wait until I had time to spare.

'I should at least lay down a mat.'

I checked the wind direction. It was blowing from behind the cave entrance. Whatever else changed, the wind always blew the same way, which made designing things easier.

'More importantly, I need to make sure Roundfur doesn't see them as food.'

Roundfur, who'd been so plump before hibernating, had already slimmed right down. He'd rapidly gained and then lost all that weight in less than ten days.

The speed-sloth, on the other hand, hadn't changed at all. Maybe it had some resistance to the cold.

'It's already been three weeks since I got here.'

Today was exactly day twenty-one. Three weeks. Another week would make four weeks—a month.

At first, time had seemed to crawl, but lately it was the opposite. The winter sun set early, and I'd been spending all my time at the shelter. That probably made it feel as though time was passing faster.

'That's not a good thing.'

Gaining experience was good. But that aside, I hadn't learned anything that could help me escape. Adapting and escaping were two different matters.

Still, it hadn't been a complete waste. I'd learned something extremely valuable: don't even think about escaping in winter. The moment an avalanche swept me away, my life would be in danger.

CRACKLE! CRACKLE!

"Keen."

"Ng."

I was working on the overall design for my shelter when Mama Raccoon and the baby gathered by the campfire. Papa Raccoon was off working, which explained his absence, but why had these two come?

'What's that on the stick?'

The stick in the baby's paws caught my eye in particular. Something was skewered on it.

As one question led to another, the baby carefully held up the stick in both paws. Then it glanced at me and approached cautiously.

"Keen."

The baby offered me the stick it had been cradling so carefully. For a moment, I wondered if it could handle fire like Papa Raccoon, but that wasn't it.

I could clearly see a golden-brown roasted grub skewered on the stick.

Most creatures in the Forest of Four Seasons were impressively large even when young. The baby raccoon alone was already the size of a small dog. And the grub on that stick was no ordinary size either.

"... You want me to eat this?"

"Ng."

When I pointed to myself and asked, the baby answered in the affirmative.

Wondering what was going on, I looked at Mama Raccoon. She had both paws clasped tightly together, with a look that said, Please accept my child's kind gesture. How could a raccoon even give me that look?

'I'm not so sure about bugs, but... '

I couldn't reject such a kind gesture. If I just closed my eyes and ate it this once, I'd manage.

"Thank you. I'll enjoy it."

"..."

The moment I thanked it, the baby scampered away and hid behind its mother. Apparently, it was shy around strangers. Still, judging by the little head peeking out from behind Mama Raccoon, it was waiting eagerly for my reaction.

I couldn't crush a child's(?) hopes like that. It was a gift from my neighbors, after all.

I inspected the surprisingly well-roasted grub, then popped the whole thing into my mouth. At least it was cooked, so I figured it would taste like protein...

SQUELCH!

"..."

... Or so I'd thought, until I heard an incredibly ominous noise. From inside my mouth, no less. At the same time, something wet and sticky began dribbling out of it.

Was the problem that I'd applied human standards to an animal? Or had the baby accidentally undercooked it because it was still young?

I forced myself to keep chewing, suppressing the revulsion and the urge to gag rising from my stomach.

'... Right. In an emergency, I'd have to eat these raw.'

I couldn't disappoint the baby, so I soldiered on. Swallowing was the biggest crisis. Even calling the taste and texture the worst in history wouldn't do them justice.

"D-delicious!"

"Keen! Ng!"

"Keen."

I gave a big thumbs-up, and the baby bounced up and down with joy. Mama Raccoon patted its head, but kept casting wary glances at me.

That pretty much confirmed it. The baby had given me an undercooked grub.

Baby raccoon gave me a present

Wild Grylls

(Photo of the baby raccoon offering a stick)

(Photo of a fat grub skewered on a stick)

Turns out that wasn't the end of the neighborly gifts. The baby raccoon roasted this over the fire itself and gave it to me lol

It was a little undercooked, but I powered through and ate it.

└Heavenly Demon Every time I see them, I think the same thing. These creatures know their manners.

└Sword Masta Blegh. Why is that grub so huge? Is that because it's from the Forest of Four Seasons too?

└Wild Grylls Probably? Everything here is huge.

└Did the bug taste good?

└It looks so plump, it actually seems pretty tasty.

└Ugh... Are there actually people who like eating bugs?

└Don't knife-ears eat them? They've got that nature-loving image. They must eat bugs too.

└Let's Grow Trees What! We don't eat bugs! Elves like meat too!

└Elves eat meat? I can't picture that.

└That's probably just a stereotype. Knife-ears are damn good at politics. That's how they got their nature-loving image.

└Yeah, from what I know, they made good use of that image by positioning themselves as the opposite of demons. Plus they've got the World Tree.

└They still get loads of shit for planting trees, so that image does exist. But they don't eat bugs lol

└What do dark elves eat? Living in the desert, they can't have much meat either.

└All Hail the Sun Who needs meat when you've got sweet dates lol

└There are sooooo fucking many dark elves who got diabetes from those lmao

└Those really are sweet. One of their top exports.

└So, Grylls. Was it good? It looks nice and plump and tasty.

└Wild Grylls One bite and all its guts burst and spilled out of my mouth.

└AAAAAAARGH!!!

└GAAAAAAH...

└Ugh... Just imagining it makes me want to puke.

└So did you finish it?

└Wild Grylls How could I not, with the baby raccoon watching so hopefully? I forced it down.

└That baby raccoon was trying to screw you over lmao

└Pure evil lmaooo

└It was a devil raccoon all along lolol

└Devilcoon lmao

└Starlight Lady That's strange. As far as I know, raccoons normally wash their food in water before eating it. Why would it roast it over a fire?

└Someone still doesn't understand the Forest of Four Seasons. There's a reason for everything.

└Starlight Lady And what is that? If you're going to spout nonsense again, go away.

└Because all the raccoons that washed their food are already fucking dead. Didn't you see the river outside Grylls's house? A frog that spewed deadly poison jumped out of it lol

└That's... convincing!

└The Forest of Four Seasons even makes you defy your instincts. Scary stuff.

└Starlight Lady For once, that wasn't an idiotic remark.

I'd heard that too—raccoons washed their food in water. That raccoon that washed its cotton candy and despaired when it all vanished had been hilarious.

Still, I remembered it stopped washing the stuff after losing it two or three times. They must be quick learners.

Maybe the raccoons here had learned something similar: water was far more dangerous than fire.

'Is that why they can handle fire too?'

As someone had said, it was strangely convincing. It wasn't completely absurd.

Afterward, I took a bite of smoked meat to clear the lingering disgusting taste from my mouth. It was really just to cleanse my palate, so it was more of a snack than a meal.

'Bananas make the best snacks.'

Thinking of snacks reminded me of the banana the gorilla had given me. The one it had tossed at me in place of the fasting pills, as if to say, Take this and get lost.

It had been a truly shameless trade, but the banana itself had been delicious.

Unfortunately, that banana was a local specialty(?) found only in the jungle. I didn't want to enter gorilla territory, so no matter how much I craved one, I'd have to go without.

'Doesn't this forest have fruit or anything?'

There were plenty of mushrooms, but almost no fruit. What little there was didn't look particularly appetizing.

After that brief bout of idle thought, I closed my eyes and practiced my cultivation method. The overall shelter design was more or less finished. All that remained was to wait for the next season. With little else to do until then, training was the only answer.

'The cold is condensing, little by little... '

Separating the cold from my mana was going smoothly too. Everything was difficult at first, but once you found your stride, it got easier.

That didn't mean I was neglecting my sword training. I knew all too well how important balance was.

"Whew."

By the time I'd finished a fair amount of training, it was already lunchtime. Just as I was thinking I should get something to eat, I heard it.

"KEEEEN!!! KEEN!!!"

A raccoon was calling outside. Screaming, rather. Judging by the voice(?), it sounded like Papa Raccoon.

Anxiety surged through me the moment I heard it, and I hurried outside.

There was no one in the yard. The screaming was coming from the raccoons' home. Armed and ready, I headed over.

"Hssss..."

"KEEN!! KENG!!"

As expected, my neighbors were in danger. A huge snake was slithering up their tree.

Papa Raccoon was fighting back fiercely at the entrance to his home, a torch clutched in one paw. Mama Raccoon and the baby were probably inside.

"Hey, you bastard!"

I charged the snake at once. But had it sensed me coming?

TWANG!

Amazingly, it seemed to bend its body slightly, then sprang backward like a spring. Truly incredible elasticity. Exactly the kind of movement I'd expect from a creature living in the Forest of Four Seasons.

"HSSSSSS!!!"

The snake had landed briefly on another tree. It launched itself again, lunging at me. Inside its enormous maw, I could see fangs dripping venom.

Once, that would have panicked me. But I was fairly used to the Forest of Four Seasons by now. I twisted lightly aside to avoid the lunge, then slashed my sword downward.

SLICE!

With aura reinforcing the Heavenly Demon's sword, the blow cleanly severed the snake's body. Not only that, but ice began spreading from the cut through its entire body.

Having fought a steelscale snake before, I hadn't bothered holding back, just in case.

It thrashed and flailed.

CRACKLE!

The snake struggled desperately at first, but soon its entire body froze solid.

I didn't stop there. I cleanly sliced off its head too. That ought to make sure it was dead.

'If a snake that should be hibernating is awake... '

That settled it for me. Winter really did seem to be drawing to an end.

I kicked the frozen head far away and turned around. Papa Raccoon still held his torch in one paw, looking as though he could finally breathe again.

"You okay?"

"Keen."

He bowed his head in apparent heartfelt thanks. His family had poked their heads out of the hollow too, and offered their thanks as well.

'Good thing he had that torch. They would've been eaten otherwise.'

Most animals feared fire, and snakes were no exception. Besides, Papa Raccoon could breathe flames, which must have made the snake wary. With that trick up his sleeve, they had probably been stuck sizing each other up.

I was thinking I ought to scatter some snake repellent around the tree soon when the raccoon family came down.

"Keng!"

Then he tapped the snake's frozen body. Was he suggesting we eat it?

"You want to eat it?"

"Keen."

"Hmm..."

I looked down at the snake. It was big enough for all of us to share. I'd never eaten snake before... but I couldn't just throw away a perfectly good kill.

Leftovers wouldn't be a problem either. I had a refrigerator now, so storing them would be easy.

"Sure. Let's eat."

"Keng."

With my approval, Papa Raccoon went back to his home, gesturing for me to wait a moment. Soon, he returned with something in his paws.

"Keen!"

He'd brought a mushroom. An ordinary-looking brown mushroom. I'd rather avoid eating mushrooms if I could, but he must have brought it for a reason.

A thought struck me. Maybe he even knew what effects it had.

"What does this do? I'm a bit wary of mushrooms..."

"Keen."

Had he understood? Instead of words(?), Papa Raccoon demonstrated.

WHOOSH, WHOOSH.

He vigorously thrust his hips back and forth. He even pumped his arms back and forth with equal enthusiasm.