Demi was immediately struck with a sense of foreboding, but she forced a smile and said, “Ah, then we must be in one of the fields. Would you mind guiding me to the main buildings?”
House, she was desperately wishing to herself. House, barn. House, barn even with holes in the roofs. House, please at least house. Even shed would be all right. I will accept shed.
But exactly as she’d begun to worry, Glimmer matter-of-factly announced, “There aren’t any buildings.”
Not even a shed.
Not even a shed.
“I thought you said that this was a farm,” she pointed out incredulously.
“It is a farm,” the chicken insisted. “Depending on how you think about it.”
Demi managed to contain a mild shriek and then asked the obvious. “Where are we going to live? Are there any structures at all? Even ruins? Caves?”
“There aren’t any,” the chicken announced, unworried, then added, “Not close enough for an easy walk. Why on earth are you asking about ruins and caves? Surely you don’t plan on sleeping in some place like that. Were you raised in a barn?”
It was surreal to be lectured on appropriate accommodations by a chicken.
“I would absolutely sleep in a barn over outside in the weather,” Demi pointed out, doing her best to keep her temper. “This is spring, isn’t it? It’s bound to rain! And I doubt the temperature will be so comfortable at night!”
“If you’re so worried about the facilities then you ought to just build a house,” the chicken pointed out nonchalantly.
Demi’s eyes widened and this time she could not contain the small shriek that escaped her.
“Alone?” she asked. “With no tools, no equipment, no plans, and no experience?”
At last, Glimmer seemed to be coming to understand her point. He tossed his head and then suggested, “Well, you ought to at least check your inventory. I’m sure the goddess anticipated this and prepared some useful items for you.”
I hope at least one of them is “instant house,” Demi thought peevishly to herself.
If there was at least a tent and a sleeping bag then she’d have something. If she set them up in a good position, then she could make use of them until she could build some sort of more permanent dwelling.
Glimmer instructed her on how to open up her inventory, and she did. She was apparently the only one able to see her inventory screen when it was open.
To Demi’s great relief, there were some things in her inventory.
Item one: pajamas. They were apparently safe and sound.
Item two: Goddess’s Lending Library. Those were probably the books and tutorials that Hollyhope had prepared for her.
Item three: bedding. Demi hoped that this was some kind of sleeping bag.
And most promising of all, given the situation...
Item four: Goddess’s Emergency Supplies Kit.
Demi selected that one immediately and pulled it out of her inventory.
It landed on the ground, in a space where she indicated. She was glad she hadn’t actually had to pick it up or move it herself, since it looked heavy. It was a very cute chest about the size of a steamer trunk.
She unhooked the latches and pushed it open, hoping that it would be filled with the sort of emergency supplies that an emergency supplies kit ought to contain.
Inside the chest, there were snacks.
And snacks.
And more snacks.
And some bottled water and other drinks.
And more snacks.
The entire chest was filled with nothing but snacks. Demi made sure of this by methodically going through every wrapped tea sandwich and box of cookies. There were jarred jams and sliced sausages, sweet pickles and potato salad. It was a very robust array.
Well, at least she wouldn’t starve today.
As Demi silently packed the snacks back into the chest, Glimmer said, “Well, that was thoughtful of her. You’re a goddess, so you have a perfect inventory. Nothing kept inside of it will ever go bad or spoil.”
At least she wouldn’t starve in the next two weeks.
Demi put the trunk back into her inventory.
Then, without much enthusiasm, she pulled out the item marked only as “bedding.”
Out came a tangle of blankets, pillows, dakimakura, books, and manga.
It was what had been in her bed when Hollyhope had summoned her.
It was a little cheering to see that her favorite book had come all of this way with her, along with her beloved Lacey-tan dakimakura. The flashlight had apparently come along with her too. She separated it from the pile and put the rest of it back into her inventory, then put the flashlight in separately.
Well, she had some blankets, some ordinary pillows, a comforter, and a dakimakura. If she could build a shelter for herself, then at least she’d have something to put inside it to help keep warm if it got chilly.
It was lucky that she had the flashlight. That would be useful once it started to get dark. Still, she would have to use it strategically. She didn’t know when she’d be able to replace the batteries. She didn’t even know if they had the right sort of batteries here.
Putting the flashlight back into her inventory, she lamented that it wasn’t the hand crank one that was in her camping kit. She could have used it more freely, even if it did take some physical energy to get it to work.
Thinking of it made her lament that she didn’t have the rest of the things in her Forest Girls’ camping backpack. Having those things would have gone a long way toward reassuring her in the current circumstances.
Take a deep breath, she told herself. The goddess didn’t summon you here just to let you die of exposure.
Probably.
Members of the Council of Demi returned with their own signs that also said, “Probably,” although one of them held up a sign that said, “I am concerned.”
While reflecting on all of the things she wished she had but did not, she made another realization.
She didn’t have any tools.
Not an axe, nor a mallet or hammer, no hoe, no rake, no watering can, not even a hand trowel or a pocket knife. There wasn’t even a bag of turnip seeds in her inventory.
So now she was on a farm with no farm buildings, no tilled ground, no tools, and—
“I don’t even know if there’s a water source around,” Demi said, feeling mentally exhausted.
Forget an idyllic country life. Forget homesteading. She was currently in the “basic frontier survivalism” phase.
“I wouldn’t worry about it,” said Glimmer with characteristic indifference. “But if there is water nearby, then you’ll be able to discover it. Just use divination.”
“You mean dowsing?” Demi asked, raising an eyebrow. “With a forked stick? Does that actually work here?”
“Of course not,” huffed Glimmer, apparently personally offended. “Just close your eyes and concentrate on finding water, and you ought to be able to get a sense of where the closest source is.”
Demi sighed and closed her eyes, concentrating on the idea of water.
After a minute or two, she said, “Well, there’s a river about seven miles to the west, and a small lake thirteen miles to the south. I could feel groundwater here, but it’s pretty far down.”
She shook her head.
“We do have some bottled water, so I think we’d better stay here for tonight. Tomorrow we can plan to wake up early and then decide if we ought to start walking toward one of the other water sources. I”—she wrapped her arms around herself and studied the ground—“I’m just going to have to trust that the goddess put us here for a reason.” She briefly closed her eyes and steadied herself, slipping her hand into her pocket to feel the now-familiar spine of The Shadowstep Alchemist. When she opened her eyes again, she had found her resolve.
There was no point in dwelling on negative thoughts or wishing for things that she didn’t have. She was just going to have to do her best.
It was time to read those tutorials.