Takumi felt relieved after receiving an accurate reply from the system. As for the layout of the dimensional gate? After thinking about it, Takumi decided to place it next to the new house, facing the great tree from west to east, to ensure that visitors could see the best of his place as soon as they came out.
The door was a stone arch with some runes on it that Takumi couldn't understand. As soon as it was placed, a rainbow vortex lit up in the middle of the door. After placing it, Takumi looked at it for a while. Seeing no other reaction from the door, he continued his work.
After starting the fire, he stored some firewood next to the stove in the house. The firewood consisted mainly of leftovers from building the house. Taking advantage of the fact that it was not completely dark yet, he started farming.
First, a seed drill was used to dig out a two-acre field measuring twenty by ten meters. He walked along the rows, thinking about bean sprouts as he moved. This was something Takumi had noticed when he read the original work. Bean sprouts would grow overnight, so he would have something to eat by morning. Fearing it might not be enough, he used a hoe to work through the other half again.
For another section, Takumi tried to plant some sea vegetables, kelp, and algae, which also grow quickly. If these experiments proved successful, he wouldn't have to worry too much about food until the first official crops matured.
Finally, he built a ladder-shaped wooden frame and placed four three-meter-long pieces of wood across it. While thinking about all kinds of fungi, he tapped them lightly with a hammer. This was a method of growing fungi developed much later in the original work, but now Takumi used it directly. Since the original universal tool speed was so high, the fungi could grow in just a few days.
"Now that the universal tool has been upgraded, the speed should be even faster..."
"In this way, not only do I not have to worry about short-term food sources, but the variety will also be richer."
After finishing his work, Takumi stood up, wiped his sweat, and spoke to himself. After doing this, Takumi transformed the tool into a watering kettle and watered the entire land and the wooden frame.
Finally, he took advantage of the last bit of light. Takumi took the dried weeds back to the house and laid a layer on the fire-kang to use as a mattress. He also moved some wood back to the house, planning to make some furniture at night. After all, the space in the house was now expanded, but it lacked any sense of life. At the same time, water cups, dishes, and chopsticks needed to be prepared.
But the first thing Takumi made was a pillow. It was a pillow crafted like a bamboo pillow. Two pillars locked two oval wooden boards, with a circle of thinned wood chips sandwiched between the edges. The middle part of the wood chips had a certain degree of elasticity and was surprisingly strong. Takumi originally just tried it out, but he didn't expect it to work so well.
"It must have something to do with the wood. These trees are called the 'Incorruptible Great Trees.' They must be quite high-grade wood."
Takumi tried to lean on this bamboo-like wooden pillow and lay comfortably while sighing. It seemed that in the original work, he had never seen anything made of this wood get damaged. Now it seemed that this wood was better than he imagined—strong and easy to use. This was ideal, allowing him to make more delicate items.
So Takumi got up and continued woodworking by the firelight of the indoor stove. Cups, bowls, chopsticks, plates, buckets, and ladles were quickly made. However, since there were no other materials except wood, Takumi could only hollow them out and shape them.
However, the tables, chairs, benches, sofas, and large items such as tea tables and lockers were Takumi's chance to perform. Pieces of Chinese-style mortise and tenon structural objects were made by Takumi, and they even had reliefs. Because there was no entertainment here, Takumi could only gain a sense of accomplishment through manual labor, so the works were as exquisite as possible.
Especially on the largest three-seater sofa, Takumi carved three paintings on the back. On the right was "Summer Harvest," depicting people enjoying the cool air. On the left was "Reunion Under the Moon," and in the middle was "Thousands of Flowers Welcoming the Spring." Needless to say, the harvest scene on the right was a tribute to the old man who founded hybrid rice. He hoped that he could live in the countryside here like a fish in water, with abundant harvests every year.
On the left was a painting of the Mid-Autumn Festival reunion, with three generations enjoying the moon together. The implication was his hope that he could get married soon and have a happy family here. The two coincided with the sun and the moon, corresponding to Takumi's career and family. As for the "Thousands of Flowers Welcoming the Spring" in the middle, it was mostly to show off his skills, as the painting was full of various flowers.
Although Takumi was not a professional painter, he had certain artistic skills, and it was very pleasing to look at. It could be regarded as his hope for this new beginning. He hoped it would be a good start, just like the painting.
After finishing these, Takumi placed all the furniture and went to bed. By the time he finished, it was already very late. At least five hours had passed since dark, and Takumi was already sleepy.
After a night of silence, Takumi woke up energetically early in the morning. Although sleeping on hay was a bit uncomfortable, it was soft enough, and the pillow was reasonably comfortable. It was a good first night.
Then Takumi went out with a bucket, ready to fetch water to wash up. After last night, the water in the well should have filled up and settled. It should be ready to drink now. But as soon as he went out and hadn't walked a few steps, he suddenly heard a voice.
"Hello, can you tell me where this place is?"
Takumi was startled by the sudden words. He turned around quickly and saw a familiar girl. She was about 1.5 meters tall, with black hair tied into twin tails. She was wearing a white skirt tied with a characteristic blue ribbon. She had a very cute face, and with her height, she looked like a lolita, but she had a figure that even a mature woman might envy.
"Hestia?"
Takumi recognized who this girl was at a glance. That iconic blue ribbon was hard to miss.
"You know me? Who are you?"
Hestia asked, slightly surprised that Takumi knew her name. She had just been kicked out by Hephaestus. Apart from the gods, few people in Orario knew her. Then again, was this really Orario? Is there such a place in Orario? Hestia looked at the surrounding forest and the clear sky. She couldn't help but fall silent for a moment.
Only then did Takumi realize that Hestia was the visitor, so he explained: "My name is Takumi. I am the owner of this place; this is my territory. As you can see, I'm pioneering here, and everything is still pretty rudimentary."
He chose to ignore that the Forest of Death was technically the demon king's sphere of influence and simply claimed it as his own.
"The reason why I know you, Goddess Hestia, is because of the door behind you. You came through that door, so I can see some information about you."
Of course, this was just an excuse. Otherwise, it would be hard to explain. Takumi had decided yesterday to use this explanation from now on.
Hestia nodded understandingly, then turned back to look at the dimensional gate curiously and asked: "What is this gate?"
"This is a dimensional gate. It connects different worlds and allows people with destiny to come here. Therefore, this is no longer your original world."
"A different world?!"
Hestia was shocked when she heard this. You know, traveling through worlds is something that even a god like her cannot do! What a powerful force this must be! Hestia did not doubt Takumi's words, because she had actually felt it for a while. The divine power seal on her body had been lifted. So... this was definitely not Orario!