Chapter 94: Kicking Out the Freeloaders
As I had expected, my level finally ticked up to 50, and with it came the acquisition of two new skills.
One of them was Barrier Creation.
It was said to be derived from Wall Generation, which meant—at least in theory—that a barrier was an evolved, more advanced form of a wall. Up until now, I had progressed from Fence Generation to Defensive Wall Generation, and then to full-on Wall Generation, watching the walls grow taller, thicker, and more formidable each step of the way. But now… what could this new evolution be like?
〈Would you like to generate a barrier?〉
I nodded without hesitation.
In the very next instant, the walls that had been surrounding the garden vanished. In their place, a completely transparent membrane materialized over the entire garden, spreading outward soundlessly as if it had always been there.
“Wow… it even covers all the way up to the sky,” I whispered in awe.
The membrane formed a perfect rectangular prism, with the garden itself as the base. In other words, it wasn’t just protecting the garden horizontally—it stretched upward, shielding the space above as well.
Previously, fences and defensive walls had only offered planar protection, leaving the garden exposed to anything descending from above. But this… this was different. Surely, this could block even that poisonous excrement attack.
Still, one pressing concern gnawed at me.
“It looks so thin… how strong is it, really?”
Before, I had relied on walls to enclose the garden safely. But this garden lay near a magical wasteland, a place teeming with ferocious monsters. Something like the Blood Elephant could probably smash through a defensive wall without too much trouble.
That was why I had switched to using the walls for the automated garden level-up method: a precaution to ensure that nothing could break through easily.
Even so, if a monster of Atlas-level appeared, it would be hopeless. But such creatures were rare, even in a wasteland like this.
Still, I couldn’t help but wonder whether this transparent barrier would be sturdy enough to replace the wall. Would it hold up in battle? Could it actually function as a true defense?
“Well… guess I’ll just have to test it,” I muttered to myself.
Lighting the monster-attracting incense once more, I waited.
Just as before, I left a small section of the barrier open. Soon enough, monsters began to gather around the garden’s perimeter. A few of them slammed into the barrier, dazed from the impact. Unlike walls, this barrier was transparent, allowing me to see everything happening on the other side.
“Paaaoooon!”
Perfect timing—the Blood Elephant arrived, charging at the barrier with terrifying speed. Its massive bulk hit the membrane and… bounced off effortlessly.
The elephant tried again and again, ramming the barrier with all its might. Yet the barrier didn’t even flinch.
Could it be… stronger than the walls themselves?
Just as that thought crossed my mind, a piercing shriek split the air:
“Kueeeek!”
Reflexively, I looked up. The monster bird had returned.
I couldn’t tell if it was the same individual as before, but it was hurtling toward the garden at breakneck speed.
BANG!
“Kueh!?”
It collided violently with the barrier and bounced back, screeching in pain.
Tilting its head in confusion, the bird circled above, then—without hesitation—rained down its toxic excrement once again.
Splat.
The excrement landed harmlessly on the barrier.
“Kueh?”
“Serves you right. That won’t work anymore.”
But that had only stopped its defensive attack. What about counterattacking? And then it hit me.
“I should use Three-Dimensional Movement.”
Realizing this, I lifted the garden into the air and sent it hurtling toward the bird.
“~~!?”
The sudden rush of the garden toward it caught the bird completely off guard. I slammed it mercilessly against the barrier.
“Kueeeek!?”
“How’s that… oh, it’s fleeing!”
The bird panicked and flew back toward the magical wasteland. I considered pursuing it, but honestly, flying above the wasteland itself felt… a bit too risky.
Besides, the second garden was massive. Using Three-Dimensional Movement in such a reckless way made me pause. Even though I could, psychologically it felt… extreme.
“Imagine hitting a person flying up there… that’d be a disaster.”
Not that anyone was up there—at least, I hoped not—but even the example of Miranda made me wary.
I abandoned the chase and gently landed the garden. Still… the thought that such a massive object could fly in the air normally… it was staggering.
“Anyway, I should check the other new skill,” I decided.
Leaving the monsters to the golems, drawn in by the incense, I turned my attention to Hut Generation, the second skill I had acquired.
Judging from the name, it probably generated a small hut—but I was curious to see how exactly it worked.
〈Would you like to generate a hut?〉
I nodded. In the next instant, a building of exactly hut-size appeared right before my eyes.
It was a wooden structure, roughly the size of a single room. Opening the door and stepping inside, I found a space about the size of my living room at home.
Just one room. There was no kitchen, no toilet, no bath—nothing fancy at all.
“Maybe more like a storage shed or barn? But with my Harvest Storage skill, I don’t really need it for that,” I murmured, inspecting the interior.
Still, if Milk or Pippi grew any larger, keeping them in the first garden would become difficult. Perhaps this hut could serve as their home in that case.
I entertained the thought for a moment… but later that day, when I returned home:
“Heyyy! Bring me more alcohol!”
“Hand me some tomatoes this instant!”
…Yeah. It was definitely time to evict these freeloaders.
Completely comfortable in my house and showing not even a shred of respect, I made up my mind. Using the garden teleport, I forcibly moved the two of them to the second garden.
“This is the second garden, near the magical wasteland. Actually, I have a present for you two.”
“A present…?”
“Yes, here it is.”
Miranda and Bladia looked at the hut with puzzled expressions.
“Is this… a doghouse?”
I said it clearly, without hesitation:
“No. This is your home.”