Once the chemicals were done, I decided it was a good time to stop and have lunch with everyone. There’s still plenty of plesiosaurus meat left to eat, so there’s no problem. I’ve heard that moles can apparently eat anything, but this will be the first time they’ve tried something cooked. Although it was only grilled with salt and pepper, so you could barely say that it was actually cooking, but…
”””””Mogu mogu~♪”””””
The moles were all delighted. They even danced to show their thanks. They are going “mogu mogu” while having their meal, so I feel like they’re eating well. [TL: “mogu mogu” is the Japanese onomatopoeia for munching/chewing food, and is also the sound that the moles make, so this is kinda a play on words?] Well, since we’re done eating, let’s continue the work. The chemicals were poured onto the exterior of the vinyl pipes we made and properly applied.
”Alright, now the coating is done. The pipes should repel monsters.” ”Unyu-!” ”Mogu-!” ”Mogyu~” ”Mogugu~” ”Moguggu~”
”Mogu~”
Uni and the moles were cheering. It’s nice to get this sort of reaction. It’s worth it. Now, let’s once more get into the pipe-laying work. A path was dug using the magic excavator. We even got the moles’ help. First, the magic excavator made a rough path, then the moles did the fine-tuning.
Uni also created clones from the earth and laid pipes. The work was finished early since everyone worked together. Next, we should check if the pipes really won’t get attacked by monsters. I used the radar function to check the surrounding’s data. You can tell by the response that there’s monsters in the area. We hid and watched for a bit, and then the ground lightly rose with a rumbling as something moved forward. That must be one of those gigantic earthworms. But, when it got close to a pipe, it turned back. Good, now I’ve made sure monsters won’t attack the pipes.
”Now there shouldn’t be any problems with the pipes.” ”Unii” ”””””Mogugu~♪”””””
Uni and the moles were happy about the successful pipe construction work. Now then, I’ve been so carelessly absorbed in work that it’s already started getting dark. We should return home soon… hm? This is… I checked the radar one last time, and found a weak response about 500 meters away. It doesn’t seem to be moving at all, but it’s certainly a living thing. Hmm, seeing this seems to have piqued my interest.
”I’m a little interested in this reaction.” ”Uni-!” ”””””Mogyu~! Mogu~!”””””
Uni and the moles seem to be encouraging me to go if I’m curious about it. It’s already gotten quite dark, but the magic excavator is equipped with a magic light, so we don’t need to worry.
After Uni and the moles got on, we went toward the response while lighting the way.
”It’s around here.”
I shone the light at the place where the weak response appeared on the radar. And then, there it was. This is, a dog? No, the ears are long and a bit rabbit-like. Anyway, its a small, fluffy animal. And also, it has a red gem fitted in its forehead. It’s fur is blue like the sky. It has such a cute appearance, but right now it has collapsed and is struggling to breath. I got off the magic excavator with everyone and got closer to check how things were. Feels a bit hot. Does it have a fever? I’ve never seen this kind of animal before, so I’m not even sure what its normal temperature is like, but I’m sure that this isn’t normal.
”Moguu~” ”Mogu mogu~” ”Unii”
Then the moles spoke about something, and then Kubota and Iseki brought over something they picked.
”Mogu~!” ”Unii!”
According to Uni, the moles apparently said that this could be used as medicine to treat this condition.
The moles are very knowledgeable when it comes to medicinal herbs. They went through the trouble to get this, so I’ll take this pup home with me. We can’t just leave it here. So, I immediately tried to take this little animal onto the excavator and return, but…
”Kishaaaaaaaah!”
A huge snake attacked, slithering through the rustling vegetation. Oh dear, it won’t be so simple to return after all. But I’ve already gotten on the magic excavator. I operate the lever and hit it with the bucket.
”—!?”
The gigantic snake is blown away. It’s not very strong, huh. However, it’s good that I noticed it. If I hadn’t, I’d be in that snake’s belly right about now. Right, then let’s return to the prefab with this pup…
[TL: Added an illustration to Chapter 12, which shows the moles in one of their discussions, with Uni in the background. Go check it out]