After finishing our grilled fish by the ancient river, Charlotte and I agreed that there was no point wasting any more time.
This forest might be beautiful, but it was still the Forbidden Forest.
We needed a permanent place to live.
Somewhere we could rebuild the married life that had been torn away from us on Earth without constantly being disturbed by the outside world.
“Ryuu, let’s find somewhere flat! I want a big front yard where I can plant lots of flowers!” Charlotte said excitedly, clinging tightly to my right arm.
Her silver hair swayed gently with every step as we ventured deeper into the forest.
I smiled faintly and activated my special vision, allowing me to read the essence and structure of the surrounding terrain.
“Yes, Your Majesty. Let’s survey some potential lots today.”
Our search turned out to be anything but easy.
About thirty minutes into our journey, Charlotte suddenly let out an excited squeal and pointed toward a small valley surrounded by natural stone pillars.
“Ryuu, look! That place is so aesthetic! There’s a giant flowering tree in the middle!”
My eyes followed the direction of her finger.
In the center of the valley stood an enormous tree covered in softly glowing pink flowers.
Beautiful petals drifted from its branches, scattering across the grass below.
It was incredibly romantic, almost like a location from one of those dramas back on Earth.
Charlotte was already about to run toward it when my analytical instincts detected a dangerous fluctuation hidden within the air.
[Essence Detection: Carnivorous Plant, Level 45 / Status: Mimicry Trap]
Sret!
I grabbed Charlotte by the collar just before her foot crossed the boundary of the valley.
“Wait. Don’t go in there. That’s not an ordinary tree.”
Before Charlotte could even ask what I meant, the beautiful flowering tree suddenly went berserk.
Its branches twisted violently, transforming into thorn-covered tentacles that lashed through the air.
Then, right in the center of the tree, a gigantic flower opened.
Rows of slimy, saw-like teeth filled its maw. Find the original chapter at g.com.
The flower hissed furiously after its prey had failed to approach.
Charlotte stared in shock, her beautiful face turning red with annoyance.
“Ugh! And it looked so pretty! That monster totally gave me false hope!”
“It wouldn’t be very nice if our house ended up smelling like a dead plant monster. Let’s find somewhere else.”
I casually guided her back in the opposite direction.
We found our second potential lot fifteen minutes later.
It was a vast, flat grassland with no large trees blocking the area.
Sunlight poured down beautifully, and a gentle breeze swept across the open field, making the entire place feel incredibly peaceful.
Charlotte put her hands on her hips and nodded with satisfaction.
“What about here, Ryuu? It’s perfect for building a little wooden cottage, right?”
I remained silent for a moment, using my logical mapping abilities to trace the geographical coordinates of the surrounding area.
After analyzing the natural energy flowing through the region, I shook my head.
[Analysis: Water Source Absent / Nearest Distance: 4.5 KM]
“The place is nice, but it’s way too far from the river, Charlotte. It’s more than four kilometers away. If we lived here, you’d have to walk all that way every morning just to wash clothes or water your garden.”
Charlotte immediately imagined herself carrying buckets of water around in an Isekai world.
She shuddered.
“No way. That’s not aesthetic at all. Imagine having to suffer just to wash clothes. Nope! Let’s keep looking!”
We continued searching for our third potential location.
This time, we discovered a highland surrounded by pine trees.
The air was cool, a small spring flowed nearby, and the soil looked incredibly fertile.
We both breathed a sigh of relief, thinking our search for a place to build our home was finally over.
“Looks like this is the perfect spot…”
BRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!!
The grass cracked apart.
Then, a second later…
BOOM!
A gigantic wormlike creature burst out of the ground, its body as thick as a car, spraying black mud in every direction.
Its circular mouth was packed with thousands of rotating saw-like teeth, releasing a deafening roar.
“Ryuu! There’s a freaking giant worm!”
Charlotte shouted in panic, instinctively using her Telekinesis magic to lift both herself and me slightly into the air, keeping us out of the path of the flying mud.
I narrowed my red eyes, watching the essence flowing through the writhing monster.
“Seriously? You had to interrupt me while I was surveying our future home?”
[GRAVITY MAGIC: 0]
I snapped my fingers.
In that instant, the law of gravity surrounding the giant worm completely collapsed.
Its enormous body suddenly became weightless.
The massive creature floated helplessly into the sky like a balloon whose string had been cut.
The worm writhed wildly in panic as it continued rising higher and higher, until eventually it disappeared beyond the clouds.
Charlotte released her Telekinesis, allowing both of us to land smoothly on the ground.
But the moment we looked down, we both let out a long sigh.
The beautiful highland that had been so neat and peaceful moments ago was now completely ruined.
Massive holes had torn through the earth, leaving behind muddy craters created by the worm’s underground tunnels.
“Ughhh… The ground looks like a road full of potholes back on Earth,” Charlotte complained, pouting as she stared at the muddy craters.
“We can’t build a house here. The foundation would have holes everywhere.”
“Be patient. The laws of nature in this forest are pretty wild. Come on, let’s search one more time.”
I took her hand again, trying to cheer my wife up.