Yukinoshita Yukino crossed her arms and smiled elegantly. "Are you talking about food? Please rest assured; although you have a nasty personality, we are still incapable of simply standing by and letting you starve to death in front of us."
"Hehe... ahahahaha!"
Tokisaki Kurumi laughed with great delight, as if she had heard something hilarious. Her face distorted slightly as she displayed her madness.
Yukinoshita Yukino took a half-step back, then feeling a bit embarrassed by her reaction, she questioned with a stern expression:
"What are you laughing at?"
Tokisaki Kurumi licked the corner of her lips with her pink tongue. "Food? Are you talking about human food?"
"You've misunderstood. My so-called food consists of fresh, living lives~. I, the Most Evil Spirit, am an existence that feeds on life. The lives I have 'eaten' are more than you have ever seen."
"Ara ara, are you scared? I love that terrified expression of yours."
Yukinoshita Yukino's gaze grew sharp as she stared intently at the wicked Tokisaki Kurumi. Suddenly, she felt that cooperating with her was no different from plotting with a tiger.
Tokisaki Kurumi's smile was pleasant. "The creatures here are quite formidable. If your strength is insufficient and you fail to bring me a fresh 'life' tonight, I am still willing to protect you."
"As long as you pick one person for me to 'eat,' the rest can survive the night. It's a very good deal~"
Yukinoshita Yukino's eyes turned cold. "Tokisaki Kurumi, you are a demon!"
"Fine, I agree," Natsuyu said.
Shocked, Yukinoshita Yukino immediately turned to look at Natsuyu, hesitating. "Are you sure you want to cooperate with her?"
Tokisaki Kurumi asked with a smile, "I really will eat Natsuyu-kun, you know. Or does Natsuyu-kun want to push someone else forward to be eaten by me?"
Natsuyu gave a slight smile and said with certainty, "I won't do something as wrong as that. I have the confidence to bring you 'food'."
"Yukinoshita, do you lack that same confidence?"
Yukinoshita Yukino answered immediately, "Of course I have confidence."
Natsuyu continued, "If Kurumi is telling the truth, compared to the infinite number of Monsters at night, I think it's safer for us to take the initiative and hunt during the day."
"Since we have to obtain food anyway, catching a living creature for Kurumi along the way in exchange for protection at night isn't an unacceptable thing."
"If it's just capturing prey, I can do it."
Yukinoshita Yukino was persuaded by Natsuyu, though she stubbornly shifted the problem back to Tokisaki Kurumi. "I just don't trust this woman with the Clock Eye."
"I won't pretend I didn't hear such an unpleasant nickname," Tokisaki Kurumi noted with slight dissatisfaction.
Yukinoshita Yukino ignored Tokisaki Kurumi.
Natsuyu said, "Trust takes time to build. We'll start the cooperation with Kurumi first and deal with subsequent problems as they arise."
"If Kurumi proves untrustworthy, we'll terminate the cooperation and stay away from her."
Tokisaki Kurumi raised an eyebrow in surprise. "Is this something I'm allowed to hear?"
Natsuyu spread his palms, his voice gentle. "Openly informing you of our thoughts shows more sincerity than being guarded in secret, right?"
Tokisaki Kurumi smiled. "Natsuyu-kun truly does have a lot of Charm."
Yukinoshita Yukino pondered for a moment, then took a light breath and nodded. "Natsuyu, I acknowledge your point. However, this is a decision that affects the whole group. When Sakuraba Ema and the others return, you explain it to them."
"Alright."
Natsuyu thought to himself.
Tokisaki Kurumi is a Spirit of time; her need for living creatures is likely because she wants to devour their time.
In her defeated state, Kurumi's stored time is probably almost exhausted. If it isn't replenished, something bad might happen.
Like dying, for instance.
From this perspective, the cooperation between Natsuyu and Tokisaki Kurumi was a win-win, where each party got what they needed.
But Natsuyu wouldn't trust Tokisaki Kurumi completely. Even knowing she wasn't purely evil, one shouldn't place their life in her hands.
Logs to serve as fuel still needed to be collected.
He felt the number of tasks suddenly multiply, bringing a mix of motivation and pressure. Wasting more time here would weigh on his conscience.
Natsuyu, showing his drive, said to Tokisaki Kurumi, "We need to go prepare resources. Let's clarify one thing first: these Flower Vines sealing you, they should be difficult for us to destroy, right?"
Tokisaki Kurumi: "Yes."
"Then we'll have to trouble you to wait a while; we're leaving for now. If my other companions return, I hope you can explain that I'm moving together with Yukinoshita."
"Alright, go ahead, Natsuyu-kun."
Tokisaki Kurumi smiled, then lowered her head, her long bangs veiling her face.
She entered a state of suspended animation again.
Perhaps this was to slow down Tokisaki Kurumi's energy depletion?
Lost in thought, Natsuyu beckoned to Yukinoshita Yukino. "Let's start moving."
"I've been waiting for those words."
Yukinoshita Yukino lightly brushed her long hair and smiled elegantly. "Girl-Collecting-Maniac-kun, I will explore the far reaches of the left side. I'll also trouble you to prepare the equipment for everyone."
What a strange nickname.
Though when I played Palworld, I did enjoy collecting every entry in the encyclopedia.
Natsuyu looked at "Yukino Pal Number One" and deliberately countered in a soft, child-coaxing voice:
"Yes, yes, yes, Miss Yukinoshita-who-is-definitely-not-directionally-challenged."
"..." Yukinoshita Yukino silently gritted her back teeth.
...
The task of exploring the environment was quite easy.
Perhaps that was because Natsuyu only needed to stand in one place.
Yukinoshita Yukino, who had to run around everywhere, might not feel the same way.
Away from the Gorgeous Door and Tokisaki Kurumi, Natsuyu watched Yukinoshita Yukino's figure as she explored seriously in the distance, then surveyed his surroundings.
To the right of the starting point, the trees grew denser, with sparse weeds growing on the ground. He predicted that further ahead, they would enter a lush forest zone.
Natsuyu also saw several exposed pieces of Stone on the surface.
Excellent, resources were abundant.
Time to start!
Natsuyu raised his fist and aimed at a large Oak Tree over four meters tall, giving it a light punch.
With his previous Experience, after more than twenty hits, a "Bang!" sounded. The Oak Tree vibrated and split into rounded Logs. Before they hit the ground, Natsuyu had already dodged in time.
Thud, thud, thud, thud.
Four dull thuds followed. This Oak Tree dropped four Logs, which was more than enough to make a Crafting Table.
This Oak Tree is thicker than the first one I punched, so the number of hits required increased as well.
The thought flashed through Natsuyu's mind as he picked up an acorn, marveling at the scene where the leaves and branches had completely vanished.
"Starting the Crafting Table production."
He picked up a Log and broke it down into four pieces of wood stacked together. Natsuyu pressed both hands against the wood and activated his ability.
[Crafting Table Production]
The wood began to twist, automatically snapping, debarking, and stacking. Wood chips flew as the sounds of hammering wood echoed in succession.
After a mere three seconds, the four pieces of wood in front of Natsuyu had disappeared, replaced by a pile of debris and a square Crafting Table nearly one meter wide.