As we followed Frey towards the World Tree, its lush leaves scattered like rain.
“Wow.”
The sight was so magnificent that I watched in awe, mouth agape.
Ara and Gomgom, who came along, squealed with delight and jumped around trying to catch the falling leaves mingling with the snow.
“When will they stop falling?”
-They will keep falling for about a week. On the seventh day, the last leaf falls!
“Ah, and dew forms on that last leaf?”
-Exactly!
So, we still had about five days left. Since we had some time, I thought we could first check out the Meluca flowers.
“How are the flowers holding up in the snow?”
-The Apostle Mark2 and the other apostles are taking good care of them!
Hmm, I’d better check them myself.
As we headed to the flower field, Mark2 and Poispois greeted us.
Swoosh~!
Wobble!
Their wiggling greetings were adorable.
“How are the flowers?”
Swoosh!
I couldn’t understand exactly what they meant, but from their tone, it didn’t seem like the situation was good.
“It’s too cold! They’re going to die at this rate!”
“Just as I thought.”
As expected, even though it wasn’t as cold, winter was still winter. The flower buds were larger than before and seemed like they would bloom soon, which was a pity.
“We need a greenhouse.”
With just some metal frames and plastic sheets, building one wasn’t too hard. With plenty of hands, we could probably make one for every field in a day.
“Kyu-seong Kyu-seong! Look at this!”
While planning for the winter, Ara approached holding something in her hand.
It was a leaf from the World Tree.
“It’s pretty.”
“Yes! Let’s gather lots of them!”
The leaves fallen from the World Tree had lost their color and turned transparent. They looked like glass art, and when I touched the one Ara handed me, it felt like a leaf.
“Amazing.”
Wait a minute.
Transparent leaves?
Suddenly, I had an idea and asked Frey a question.
“These fallen leaves will eventually crumble away, right?”
-They remain throughout the winter and dissolve when winter ends!
“Dissolve? That’s incredible.”
I got the answer I wanted.
Maybe we could use these World Tree leaves instead of plastic for the greenhouse?
‘We only need them for the winter anyway.’
There was no strict need to use plastic. Any transparent sheet that could trap heat inside would work. Using World Tree leaves would also be eco-friendly. We had plenty of them, so there was no need to calculate the area for the greenhouse—just use as many as we needed.
“Ara! Let’s gather as many of these as we can and make a greenhouse!”
“What is a greenhouse?”
“It’s something that keeps the fields warm. It’s like building a house for the crops.”
“Oh! We’re building them a house! To keep them warm because it’s cold!”
I needed to bring Bokkeum.
Transporting the leaves would be much easier with Bokkeum.
“Frey, how are the goblins doing?”
-We recently enjoyed the hot springs together! They all loved it!
“That’s a relief. How about we all go to the hot springs together later?”
-Sounds great, Great Lord!
Just imagining soaking in the hot springs amidst the snowy scenery made me feel relaxed.
A soak in the hot springs after finishing work would be even more special.
So, let’s get started with our work first.
I asked Ara to gather the leaves and returned to the field.
When I brought Bokkeum out from playing in the snow and returned to the World Tree, Ara, who was munching on something, stopped.
“Hehe.”
“Is it tasty?”
“It’s delicious!”
Ara was busy gathering the World Tree leaves and eating them. I got curious about the taste. Though no item indication popped up, was it edible?
“Is it okay to eat?”
“It’s fine!”
Confident in Ara’s assurance, I took a small bite of the leaf.
Crunch!
The texture was different from what I expected.
It was crispy, like biting into a cookie.
“Wow!”
The taste was almost bland, with a hint of sweetness at the end.
“What do you think?”
“It’s like a snack! There’s a slight sweetness.”
“It’s delicious!”
Although it had a bit of sweetness, there was no noticeable flavor.
It was enjoyable to eat because of the crunchy texture and the slightly addictive sweetness.
“It’s even tastier this way!”
Maybe it was a seasonal delicacy. Ara put some snow on the leaf and ate it. The crunching sound was delightful.
“Wait, snow?”
Watching Ara eat the snow, I suddenly had an idea.
“Ara, how about I make you some strawberry ice cream with snow?”
“Gasp! Strawberry ice cream!?”
Ara’s mouth dropped open in surprise. Then she vigorously nodded and cheered.
“Strawberry ice cream!”
“We have strawberries, tomatoes, and Layla. We can also make sweet potato ice cream. It would be delicious to make ice cream and eat it with the leaves.”
“Wow! That’s amazing, Kyu-seong Kyu-seong! You’re a genius!”
Well, maybe not that amazing.
By the way, this World Tree really is a giving tree. It provides mushrooms and wood, and even in winter, it’s helpful.
“First, let’s make a plastic—no, a leaf greenhouse for the Meluca flower field.”
“Yeah!”
Ara cheered and took the lead.
Although we didn’t have metal frames, we could probably solve that with the World Tree’s branches.
“Frey, can you help us?”
-Of course! It’s for us, so we must help!
“You heard what I said earlier, right? We’re building houses for the plants to keep them warm. I need your help with that.”
-Leave it to me!
With the confident Frey, we headed to the flower field.
We also brought some Rookies who were spacing out nearby.
~\(。>~<),
-\(^O^~),
The fairies were all outside, running around with their arms wide open, excited to experience winter in a long time.
Their cuteness was overwhelming.
‘If Seon-ah were here, she would have fainted.’
With the adorable scene behind me, we headed to the flower field.
The fairies, who had been distracted by the falling snow, followed me like a Pied Piper.
“Ara, could you prepare some branches? You know the sticks we used when growing tomatoes? We’ll make them a bit taller than that.”
“Okay! I’ll go with Gomgom!”
-Kwung!
After sending Ara and Gomgom to gather branches, I explained the plan to the Rookies.
“We’ll line up the sticks in a row here and then weave the leaves to place on top.”
-Hehe.
Frey translated my words.
While Ara and Gomgom were fetching the branches, we decided to weave the leaves in advance.
How to weave them? For that, we needed the help of the fairies.
“Oh, you’re doing great!”
The fairies, who usually wore clothes made from the World Tree leaves, seemed to have excellent sewing skills. They didn’t just cover themselves with leaves but tailored them into proper garments.
The fairies who had followed me started chatting excitedly, brought out their sewing kits, and began weaving the leaves Ara had gathered.
I thought it would be enough to weave them roughly, but the fairies were working meticulously, leaving me with nothing to do but watch.
‘Maybe because it’s their own work.’
Though the atmosphere was still bright and cheerful, they were thorough with their work, so I quietly stepped aside.
I should collect some branches too.
Going a bit deeper, I saw Ara busily searching around. Gomgom was struggling with a branch, turning it this way and that with his paws.
-Kwung!
Frustrated that things weren’t going his way, Gomgom furrowed his brow but brightened up upon seeing me.
-Kwung!
“Are you giving this to me? Thank you.”
I patted Gomgom’s head as he proudly handed me the branch.
I wondered if I should hold onto it, but then I noticed a pile of branches stacked nearby.
“Wow, did you gather all these in the meantime?”
“Oh! Kyu-seong, Gomgom found a lot! I gathered a lot too!”
-Kuwang!
Praising the two children, I ruffled their hair and carried the branches.
“I think this will be enough.”
“Do we need them for the field too?”
“Oh, right. We do need them for the field too.”
“Let’s make the greenhouse for the flower field first!”
“Yeah, let’s do the flower field first and gather more branches later.”
Ara carried an armful of branches. I carried another armful, and Gomgom, trying to mimic us, struggled to lift some branches with both arms.
“Here, these are for you, Gomgom.”
-Kwung!
Though he carried much less compared to Ara and me, it was clear he was proud to be helping, strutting towards the flower field.
I couldn’t help but keep watching his waddling figure.
When we returned to the flower field, I saw even more fairies. They were adorably chatting and weaving the leaves, creating a scene right out of a fairy tale.
“Alright, let’s start with this…”
I stuck the branches into the ground as I had envisioned.
“Hmm…”
Something felt off.
For now, I spaced the branches evenly and stuck them in a row.
With the rookies’ help, we firmly fixed them and completed the structure with the branches arranged nicely.
“Hey, the rookies are really versatile.”
-Hehe.
They used randomly gathered soil as an adhesive to firmly fix the branches. Their abilities were quite extraordinary when it came to construction.
While the rookies made the branch frame more compact, Frey shouted out.
-Great Lord! It’s done!
“Let’s take a look.”
I picked up the transparent leaves that the fairies had woven.
The leaf tent was much better made than I had imagined, perfect enough to be used as a blanket.
“Wow, this is nice.”
-I think it turned out well too. Hehe.
We draped the transparent tent over the finished branch frame. The greenhouse turned out splendidly, just as I had envisioned.
“Wow.”
However, the greenhouse was a bit small, so I would have to crawl on the ground to get inside.
It didn’t matter much here since the slimes and fairies managed this area, but for the fields, we’d need to make it bigger.
‘I’ll need to buy metal frames for my field.’
Using branches might be a bit much. While it was possible, buying metal frames would be easier.
“Frey, can you make more of these woven leaf tents?”
-Of course!
“But quite a lot… and bigger….”
-I’ll give it a try! Anyway, since honey production has stopped for the winter, we don’t have much to do. In winter, we mostly just play and eat!
“Oh, I see.”
I should roughly think of the dimensions and relay them to Frey.
Meanwhile, the rookies diligently connected the tent and the branch frame. The fairies and slimes went inside the completed greenhouse.
-(‘`)
-(0~)
They seemed to be reacting positively, but I wasn’t sure how effective it was.
“Oh!”
Ara also bent down to enter and then plopped down inside.
“How is it? Warm?”
“Yes!”
Fortunately, it seemed to retain heat well.
Still a bit concerned, I used a temperature app on my phone to measure the temperature. Comparing it to the outside temperature, there was a clear difference.
“Oh, it really works. Just in case, I should buy some insulation material too.”
The work didn’t take long, so it wouldn’t be too disappointing if it failed. But knowing it actually worked made me feel great.
-Hehe!
“Good job, our rookie.”
I held and petted the rookies, who stayed still like a doll in my arms. Seeing this, Ara suddenly puffed out her cheeks and came out of the greenhouse.
“Kyu-seong is mine!”
-Hehe?
In the end, I had to hold Ara in one arm and gently sway her too. Seeing Ara’s smile return, I couldn’t help but laugh.
“Alright, since we’ve sorted out the flower field, shall we make some ice cream?”
“Oh, ice cream!”
Alright, let’s head back to the field and have a dessert party!
Cliche Novel 