In what was once just an ordinary forest, a house now stood.

Now then, let’s take a look inside.

And so, after finishing lunch, it was time to unveil the hideout.

Standing with the cliff to my left, I faced the house’s entrance. Climbing up three steps, I opened the door and stepped inside.

“What the hell is this…?”

I had gone a little overboard and even made a shoe closet in the spacious entryway, but Ivan, standing there in stunned silence, didn’t seem to care. Given that he wasn’t used to taking off his shoes indoors, it was probably unnecessary. Oh, right—he didn’t even have a spare pair of shoes.

“Wow, amazing!”

The living room was rectangular, with its length extending deep into the house. On the right, a large window let in natural light, though a massive tree in the center blocked most of the view. On the far left was a staircase leading to the second floor.

Nir wasted no time settling into a corner of the living room, letting out a big yawn before sprawling out.

“There’s a kitchen, a toilet, and a bath in the back.”

“What about the second floor?”

Phonia’s eyes sparkled with curiosity as she asked.

“Go check it out for yourself.”

“Okay!”

With an eager response, she ran off. Though, all that was up there were bedrooms. There was also a large hidden water tank installed, which, of course, I had already filled to the brim with water using magic.

“It’s so big!”

Her excited voice echoed from upstairs.

Meanwhile, Ivan moved toward the back, surveying the dining kitchen.

“What the hell is this…?”

“I’ve stocked it with tableware and cooking utensils, so feel free to use them. They’re just old ones I used before, so don’t worry if they break.”

“Turn this, and water comes out.”

“There’s a similar one in the bath, so you can take a bath too.”

“O-Oh… Is this some kind of magic tool…?”

His cautious tone made me chuckle.

“No, it’s just connected to the water tank on the second floor. Turning the knob opens the valve, letting water flow down.”

“I-I see… Still, a bath? That’s too luxurious.”

He muttered to himself. Well, I had already built it, so it was too late to complain. In this world, unless you stayed at a high-end inn, you wouldn’t find a bath that required heating a large amount of water. So it made sense for Ivan to see it as a luxury.

…But wait a minute.

“Ivan, can you use fire magic?”

“No… I’m not good with magic in general. Phonia can make small flames, but that’s about it.”

“I see.”

I had completely forgotten. Now that I thought about it, most adventurers didn’t use magic to continuously generate fire for cooking. Even the hot water in luxury inns was produced using magic tools. And now that I considered it, the food we left them might not last long without proper storage… There was no refrigerator, after all.

“Hmm…”

“What’s wrong?”

As I pondered with a hand on my chin, Rio peered at me.

“I was just thinking… magic tools are actually pretty useful for other people.”

“Huh?”

I had planned to check in on the hideout occasionally, but maybe I needed to do it more frequently. It wasn’t too much of a hassle, but it was a bit inconvenient. Fire could be managed, but if I wanted their food to last longer, then there was only one solution.

“Alright, let’s make a refrigerator.”

“Huh?”

Rio and Ivan both spoke at the same time.

And so, here’s the finished refrigerator.

“It’s so cool!”

Phonia pressed her cheek against the refrigerator door, beaming.

“You made this that easily?”

The structure itself was simple. Using the principle of a thermos, I built a large insulated box. Then, I placed a sealed container of ice at the top as a cooling agent. While it couldn’t freeze things, it worked just like a standard refrigerator.

“Make sure to close the door properly after opening it. If there’s a gap, the cold air will escape.”

“O-Okay.”

“Got it!”

The ice I made was quite large, so it should last for a few days.

“If we add salt to the ice, it might lower the temperature even more.”

“Oh yeah, I remember using that to make ice cream before. Right now, just refrigeration is fine, but we could experiment with freezing later.”

“Yeah. If it works, we could even sell it to the Rashiyu Trading Company.”

“Good point.”

We’d need a method to regularly create ice, but if we had a magic tool that could cool things down, that problem would be solved.

Speaking of which, while thermos bottles boasted their heat retention properties, I never heard them advertise cooling capabilities. Someone was bound to figure it out eventually, though.

“…Either way, this means I can store the meat from my hunts here so it lasts longer.”

Ivan seemed to have given up on questioning things and was now focused on practical use. But—

“I’m leaving you with food supplies, so you don’t need to worry about hunting. Besides, other adventurers might take quests in this forest, so it’s best to avoid being seen.”

The staircase leading to the rooftop, which connected to the cliff above, had a cover and was camouflaged with branches.

“You built this huge hideout and now you’re telling me to lay low?”

“Ugh.”

He had a point. Maybe I should remove the windows or cover them up to make it less conspicuous.

“W-Well, as long as you stay near the cliff base, you should be fine… Just be careful. We don’t know what kind of monsters roam this area.”

There weren’t many quests related to this forest on the adventurers' guild’s second-floor request board, so I doubted it was too dangerous. Most quests there were for D-rank or lower. I didn’t expect any particularly strong monsters.

“Anyway, I’ve left food and seasonings here, so you don’t need to go hunting.”

“Got it.”

Good. If something happened to Ivan, Phonia wouldn’t be able to survive alone.

“I’ll check in occasionally, but once we’ve dealt with the Sea Emperor Turtle, I’ll come back for you.”

“Alright… I have nothing to offer in return, but I appreciate you letting us stay here.”

With Ivan and Phonia safely hidden away, we memorized the hideout’s coordinates and returned to the port city of Reblos.