102-Jenga between trips




 
 It was the second day after we left the city of Kikka.

 We were stopping to rest our horses at a lake in the wooded area between Kikka and Esports.

 In the distance, large, pale green mountains lined up as if to surround us.

 Looking at them like this, you can see that there are differences in the same green color depending on the distance and the type of horse. Slightly different greens for different types of plants. The yellow-green color of slightly young leaves. There is a brownish-brown color that seems to be dying. Or a green color that is somewhere in between.

 It's fun to look at the branches and leaves colored with such subtle colors.

 In order to emphasize the gradation of such green, the brightly colored flowers and nuts are also beautiful.

 It is interesting to note that even in the same mountain scenery, there are subtle differences in the plants that live in each region.

 If you listen carefully, you can hear the occasional chirping of birds. The cool sound of fish jumping up and down.

 You can enjoy nature not only visually but also audibly.

 It's wonderful nature.

 Now, I could just lie down on the grass and take a nap, but that would be too hard to sleep at night.

 Even this morning I was tempted by the pleasant sunshine and fell asleep halfway through the day. If you take any more naps, you will certainly not be able to sleep at night.

 Then you will get into a bad rhythm of waking up in the night and going to bed before morning.

 Moderate naps are fine, but excessive naps should not be taken. It must be done in moderation.

 It's still a bit cold to get in the lake to play.

 So I sit in the sunny back of the truck and work on something.

'Master Alfried. What are you doing here?

 Irvine wandered over with a basket in his hand, probably curious about my appearance.

 There were many wild vegetables and mushrooms in the basket. All the other adventurers and merchants have gone to get the gifts of nature like this.

'We're making Jenga,'

Jeng Hua?

 I am now using earth magic to create a rectangular box and pile it up in a tower shape.

 That's right, it's a recreation of a very famous table game in my previous life.

 It's an 18-tiered tower made up of three rectangular-shaped parts in each direction.

 It's easy to make, as long as you can use earth magic to generate a rectangular box, so I did it.

'Is this a game of piling up these square parts?

 Irvine climbed into the back of the truck and picked up one of the rectangular parts.

'No, those are building blocks. Well, we can play with them like that.

So how do we play this?

I'm getting ready to explain it to you now, so just give me a minute.

Oh!

 While receiving Irvine's blazing gaze, it took a while to build up the rectangular building.

 Finally, the eighteen-step tower was completed.

''Oh! You stacked them up nicely! So what do we do now?

'We're going to take these stacked parts out one by one and build them up. You have to repeat the process and build it up so the tower doesn't collapse.

 A picture is worth a thousand words. It's not a very hard rule to follow, so I'll actually pull out one of the pieces and stack them up.

'Oh!' I see. It's simple and straightforward. I'm next.

 Then Irvine laughed happily and reached for my hand, but I pecked at it.

What do you mean? I'm going to be next in line.

You can't take the top step until you get three of them.

 Then there's no danger of it collapsing or anything else, just building up. It's not a game.

Oh, I see you've thought this through.

 Why is it interesting when it's so comparatively simple to make and rule, like Reversi and Jenga? I think the person who first invented it is a genius.

 I guess the secret to its popularity is that anyone can do it easily.

So, let's do it this time!

 Irvine leans over and reaches for it.

 Irvine chooses the bottom end of the row first.

 This guy has a habit of being an amateur and an umpire.

'Ooh, I'm out. You're going to have to build this up.

 Irvine tries to pile it up randomly with a hefty smile on his face.

 It's the first move. It's only natural that it doesn't collapse.

By the way, if you collapse when you stack them up, you're out.

Say it fast!

 Irvine retracts his arms with a jolt.

 By the way, Jenga is a game that requires you to calculate the center of gravity, so where you stack the parts is also very important. It's obvious that if you stack parts on the right side of the board, even though the center of gravity is clearly tilted to the right side, it's natural for them to collapse.

 Well, it doesn't matter too much because it's the first move.

 Irvine carefully places the parts on the ground.

''Huh ... well, this is as easy as it gets.



 You're not going to be able to do that.


 It was a while before I continued like that.

'Ah! Ah! Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!

 Irvine has suffered his second major collapse of the day.

 Irvine's tragic cry echoed across the idyllic lake.

'Yes, Irvine loses!'

'Godd*mn it! Not again! Why is it falling apart? You need to step up to the plate!

 The way he scratched his head and shrimped and screamed hysterically at me was sickening.

'Don't complain about the tower,'

'Godd*mn it! Again!

 Irvine pulls himself up at once from his shrimping position and closes in on him.

 Their faces are close.

'Yes, yes, all right, load it up quickly.'

Oh, yeah!

 Irvine scavenged the scattered parts, and I gathered the parts that flew away from me.

 Then it occurred to me. Why did I have to collect these parts? I'm not the one who lost.

Hmm? What's going on?

 Irvine turns to me, wondering if I've stopped holding my hand.

 I respond to that with a big grin on my face.

What do you mean, "What's wrong with you? You expect me to pick that up when I'm a winner? Ha! You were the one who brought down the tower, weren't you? Come on, just pick up the scattered parts and get on with it!

Tenmei! You're a talker! Next time I'll say that line, I'll say it myself! I'll make the nobleman crawl like an ugly beggar!

 Irvine spat out as he got a blue streak.

 If I let this guy be the winner, I'm sure he'll have a terrible time, so I definitely don't want to lose.

 Well, even if I lose, it won't be a problem because I'll be able to rake it in with my psychic magic and assemble it all at once with magic. Even so, it would be annoying to lose to Irvine, so I won't do it by losing.

 Irvine rakes up the scattered parts of the rectangle and builds the steps.

The parts are here. Come on, Irvine, I'm going to do it.

'Noooooooo! God d*mn it, you purposely hit the steps I made! Is it fun to break down what people have worked so hard to build up!

"Fun--Gohon! You wouldn't do that, would you?

Hey, you almost said you were having fun.

I didn't say.

 I don't know, I just got a lecherous mind.

''If I win, I'll throw the parts away when the tower is complete........!

 What a lot of noise Irvine made while waiting for a while.

'You two have been making a lot of noise earlier, what are you doing?'

 Like Irvine earlier, Aleusha and Ilya came in carrying a basket.

 Just because of the huge difference in the size of their chests, Ilya is ridiculously large.

 Is that a large melon on the edge of the basket? Can you harvest melons in this forest?

It's Jenga, Jenga.

 Irvine, who is building the tower, mutters as if it is of common sense.

 A habit he didn't know anything about earlier.

''Jinga? What's that?

 I explained to the curious ladies.

'Sounds interesting! Let's do it! I was just getting bored with the same view from earlier.

 The bite was pretty good.

'Yes! Um, can we both join in?

Of course. This is a game the four of us can play together, you know.

 Ilya's words of approval as she asked timidly, and the two of them smiled and started to get into the back of the truck.

''Wait! Take your time, man! The vibrations from the weight will cause the tower to collapse.

That's not very nice of you to say to a lady! We're not heavy!


 You're not going to be able to do that.


 The tower collapsed because Aleusha hit Irvine on the head, a happening, but the tower was built again.

'This is made of dirt, isn't it? Did Master Alfried make it by magic?

'Yeah, that's right. It's easy enough to make a rectangle with earth magic.

 As with anything that is previous life, there is a mixture of parts that have been modestly altered in weight. If you change the mass of the soil, it's that simple.

 However, I don't know how much I should mix in, it's not at all clear to me. I'm going to experiment with this by playing with it.

'..........It's a beautiful rectangle. And there's almost no variation in the other parts. I've heard that you can use magic, but you seem to have quite a bit of skill.

Yes, I can't be this precise either.

 Aleusha and Ilya say while sullenly observing one of the parts.

 Really? Well, I don't know how good I am at it or anything, since I'm hardly ever around wizards.

Well, let's do it!

 At Irvine's starting voice, Aleusha puts the parts back on the top row.

''Then the order is me, Aleusha, Ilya, and Alfried-sama, in that order.

Okay!

Yes!

 So, in essence, it's going to progress around the clock. It's easy to understand, but you don't intend to make me last and make it easier to collapse or anything, do you?

 He gaped at Irvine's face and a grin twisted his mouth.

 You bastard. You're a convicted criminal. Did you call for initiation to take the initiative yourself? Oh well. I'm the one with experience, so why am I complaining about this? I'm not going to complain about this.

Let's go, then.

 And we start with Irvine. Already for the third time, Irvine pulls it out with a familiar motion.

 He was so freaked out at first.

'I'll be next.'

 Aleusha leans forward excitedly.

'Do you think we can make it here?'

 The parts are pushed by Aleusha's thin, white fingers, and the parts pop out in a new way.

'You're going to put this on here yes, now Ilya.

Yes, sir!

 Aleusha succeeds effortlessly and urges him to Illya.

 Ilya leans forward as well as Aleusha.

 At that moment, a tragedy happened for Aleusha.

 Ilya, with her large breasts, leaned forward, causing the flabby fruit to sway and crash into the tower.

''Hiyah!''

 The tower collapses in the blink of an eye due to its overwhelming mass and taut chest.

 The collapse of the tower and the transformation of the fruit are replayed in slow motion in our view.

''Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa!

'What?

 Me and Irvine scream with glee, and Aleusha screams like it's the end of the world.

 In the midst of all this, a soft iron ball shatters the tower with ease. The tower collapsed and many parts flew apart.

''Ah! I'm sorry! I just knocked him down out of the blue.

 Ilya bows her head in an apologetic manner.

 However, despite her low attitude, there is one part on her raised chest that asserts her presence.

 It's not just a matter of time before you get to the point where you'll be able to see it.

'What the hell is this chest! If I beat him, I lose, but I couldn't beat him, and I feel like I'm the one who lost! 

 I thought Aleusha stood up and became furious, and then she began to cry wistfully.

 With Aleusha's modest chest, it would be impossible for the tower to collapse.

 There would no longer be no choice but to directly hit her body with her ribs.

''Eeeeeeee! I knocked him down, and I lost. Because I made a mistake in adjusting my pacing...

 The words of the haves can sometimes be cruel to the have-nots.

'I don't need a pause!

 I was secretly gouged out of my chestーーOh, it wasn't there to begin with, was it? Aleusha shouted that and rode to Illya.

 A wizard is all about pauses, though.

 Well, if Aleusha-san were to do the same thing, she'd have to put in a large amount of stuffing or collide with him at zero distance.

''Hiya! Hey, Aleutha! Please don't! Please don't slap me in the chest! It hurts!

That one! So these are the breasts that do bad things!

 Aleusha slaps his big chest as he rides his horse.

 Remember, there's a small child here.

''Well let's just assemble it ourselves for now.

Yes.

 We put it together and played with it for a while, and then the carriage started to start and the tower collapsed again.

 Jenga should do it before bed or when he has time.