Due to a lack of time and energy, the trio did not try to build a grass hut again after reaching the lower altitude of the Black Forest, but spent all their time looking for food.

It's not easy to find the right food in the cold early spring, when all kinds of plants are just beginning to sprout. Although there are also spring bamboo shoots, they do not find bamboo in this area.

Even if most of the wild animals have left their winter shelters to start their activities, they are still at their peak like plants. Wild animals that are scarce and have just recovered from the cold of winter are extremely alert, and even our Sage, in the absence of ranged weapons such as crossbows or bows, it is quite difficult to hunt with throwing knives and the like.

It's not that it's unavailable, it's that it's not cost-effective.

Although meat can replenish a lot of energy, given the difficulty of hunting, even if it does eventually be caught, it may be consumed even more before then, and eventually it will be unable to make ends meet.

Not to mention the dangers that can accompany night hunting. They are not the only ones who are hungry in the wilderness, there are still many tigers, leopards and brown bears in the mountains and forests, and bears that have finished hibernation in early spring are hungry, and it is not uncommon for hunters to become prey.

In a state of survival, blind exploration is a very unwise choice. Every minute of time and energy should be applied to the planned things, taste and texture should be ranked after energy, and if you can replenish nutrients, even relatively boring foods will be eaten first.

It's much easier to rekindle a fire with an open fire, and although it's hard to find completely dry wood on the damp forest floor, that's when the pine resin you've collected comes in handy.

Oil-rich and flammable pine resin is extremely effective as a combustion support, even when the wood is very wet. When the flame burns to a certain extent, it is not so difficult to maintain it.

Take the time to gather the stones around the fire, so that the flames are concentrated and prevent the fire from leaking out. Even in a humid environment, it is still possible to be careless and accidentally set fire to the mountain.

There is also a high chance that a careful search of vegetation will lead to a source of water, but in the case of poor visibility, visual judgment alone is not very reasonable.

What guides you are the subtle sounds of your environment. The sound of running water is easier to obscure, but the sounds made by animals tend to be more penetrating. Any organism needs water to survive, and as creatures that are much smaller than humans, all kinds of insects are usually located close to water.

Therefore, if you look for the place where the insect is singing, you will definitely find it, but at least it is the right direction.

The search for water, which takes a long time and may take a long distance, is in charge of our Sage Gentleman. Henry, a tall man, walked on the forest floor, and could tell the moisture content of the ground just by stepping on his weight. As the footprints get deeper and deeper, the ground beneath your feet becomes softer and softer, and the fact that you are close to low-lying ground can also be easily judged.

The direction is certainly correct, but it is doubtful whether a usable water source can be found. The surrounding environment was very bleak, and the moonlight of the twin stars, which were not bright in the first place, was obscured by the canopy of trees, leaving only a little blue light. Henry circled with his torch, and wherever the fire came, the insects ceased because of the tall intruder, but there was no obvious source of water except for a few small puddles.

"Quack—" The amphibian's cry sounded on the other side, and the sage sought prestige, but the mottled frog was clearly poisonous, and he was a little disappointed, but he didn't show it all to his face.

But where amphibians are present, there should be more than just such small puddles. After some more time, Henry succeeded in finding a waterhole a little farther away, and the light of the fire shone on something sparkling above, and on closer inspection, it was a spring flowing from between the cracks in the mountains.

Judging by the traces of the hard rocks around the pool, this is not a short-term stream that only appears when the snow melts, but a long-lasting spring.

The surface of the water reflected the light of the torches, and the sage's own face was rippled across the surface of the black pool. Because the light of the fire could not penetrate it, at first glance the darkness of the unknown made one wonder if some kind of giant beast was lurking within.

But the man standing in front of the waterhole was Henry Mayer.

If there were some predatory creature hiding inside, it would probably end up being their dinner.

Unfortunately, this scenario did not come to fruition, so Henry came to complete the task of fetching water.

Their water utensils were lost in a series of escapes, but with their wealth of knowledge, it was not difficult to make some water containers. Find a tree that is large enough next to it, pull out a knife and cut a square piece of bark on the trunk, then carefully peel it off, fold the four corners back and fix it with a sharpened piece of wood, and then make a handle by punching the tethers on both sides, and you can make a container for water in a few minutes.

The waterproof bark can hold a lot of fresh water when folded up at the corners, and although it will definitely be damaged by strenuous activity, it can still be held up by walking slowly.

By the time Henry had returned with a basin of water, our Roan girl had already made the fire with Sakura's help, wiped some stones with leaves and threw them into the carbon pile, and then gathered some of the best food of the season - mushrooms.

Mushrooms, which can grow overnight as long as they have nutrients, have a long history of eating them everywhere, and the Land of the Moon is no exception. The girl of Roan has a habit of learning local knowledge everywhere she goes, but this time, because the literature of the Moon Country is restricted even in Padrosi, who communicates with them the most, so she can't start it.

Without local knowledge, it would be foolish to guess by sight, even if it looks similar to the mushrooms in Rigal, and the one you picked might be a highly poisonous or hallucinogenic mushroom.

Fortunately, there are some species that still exist even across the North Rical Sea and the Great East Sea. And these common edible mushrooms constitute the exhausted group of people tonight's supper.

Choose only those that you know for sure, because there are many mushrooms that are extremely toxic, so don't think that you can eat them if you are not sure, and only choose those that you can eat if you are completely sure.

This is the most basic rule for safe harvesting.

The water brought by the sage was placed in a makeshift container made of bark, and after being divided from some other of the same bark, it was placed next to the fire.

The best way to cook mushrooms is to boil them, so that the umami can enter the soup. Unlike metal pots, containers made of bark can't be grilled directly over the fire, which is why Mira cleans the stones and puts them in the charcoal fire.

After chopping the mushrooms with a knife and putting them in the bark pot, the red-hot stones are picked up with two branches and put in to boil the water.

Although the smell of charcoal will also permeate the water, it is fortunate that carbon is good for the human body, so it is okay.

A hot mushroom soup restores energy. After seeing that it would probably not rain again tonight, the three of them laid out some isolations, covered themselves with woolen cloaks around the fire, and prepared to sleep on the ground like this.

When the mist filled the forest and the blue early morning came, the three people, who had not slept well but had somewhat recovered their spirits, got up one after another.

It's also a good thing that they don't have a lot of supplies, and while life becomes less convenient, traveling light also means they don't have to spend a lot of time tidying up.

Last night, after the campfire was re-stirred, I made a pot of hot pine needle tea, and there was nothing left for breakfast, so I didn't have to eat, but I still had to maintain the replenishment of water and temperature.

After taking care of the basics, the three of them tried to explore the edge of the woods, and then found their way down.

This time they had a goal in mind. Because the waterhole that the sage found was not a stream made of short-term snowmelt, but a long-term spring, the possibility of a stable source of water was greatly increased.

At least hunter huts and the like are possible, but they don't usually come close together. Because humans are not the only ones who visit the water, if the hut is built close to it, it will either scare away the prey in the area, or it may be broken into the house by strong bears in search of food, and thus destroy the contents of the house.

But they weren't going to find one of these huts, but they were going to follow the water source down the hill to see if there would be any houses living near the water.

After entering the forested area, the road becomes relatively smooth and not too steep.

The rhizomes of trees effectively prevent soil erosion, so things like flat land and soil accumulate. While care is still needed to avoid falling into natural caves and the like, it is generally faster to move forward.

As the sun gradually rises, the entire area slowly becomes brighter.

As the golden light fell one by one, the group of three people came out of the woods and came to the edge of a cliff.

"Whew-" The much warmer breeze blew and made the hair, cloaks, and corners of their clothes flutter in the wind, and the glittering light dazzled people for a moment, and when they got used to it, they saw a beautiful scene that was indescribable in words.

The treeline at the top of the mountain range, which stretches from far to the paste, is separated by grayish-white mountains that are still covered with snow and tundra, and the bare rocks are so steep that they look like a sword reaching into the sky, glittering in the golden sun.

"I now understand why so many people like to climb mountains. Even the Oiran, who was out of breath due to lack of exercise, couldn't help but speak.

When you stand on the top of the mountain, you can feel the vastness of the world when you look down.

In an instant, all the entanglements and sufferings seemed to be healed by the beautiful scenery.

But only for a moment.

"Let's go, we need to go down the mountain before it gets dark again in the afternoon. Henry was puzzled and stopped the two ladies from continuing their appreciation, and Mira rolled her eyes and Sakura sighed quietly.

Time continued to pass slowly, and they traveled swiftly under the guidance of the sage. When the group of three, who had not eaten much, finally reached the foot of the mountain, perhaps their sense of smell had become acute, perhaps because hunger had sharpened their senses, they immediately noticed the smoke rising from the cooking stove nearby.

"It's the smell of dango!" Sakura said in a rare and hurried tone, and before Mira could react, Oiran took the first step and waved them to hurry up.