Isekai Nonbiri Nouka Chapter 4 - Toilet

Everything that enters the body must eventually exit.

I wondered where to relieve myself around here. I had already prepared the area around my tree crib, so the prospects for cultivation were good, but this presented a dilemma.

While using a cultivated spot might offer a different experience, doing so in an uncultivated area would complicate future plowing efforts.

Feces and urine do eventually decompose into fertilizer, but immediately after their excretion, they are not yet suitable for that purpose.

They must first undergo fermentation.

Alternatively, if I were to till the soil with the hoe function of my all-purpose farming tool, it would certainly become fertilizer. However, I felt a certain reluctance to till my own excrement directly into the ground.

Therefore, having secured a place to sleep, water, fire, and food, the next essential item I desired was a toilet.

A toilet…

For the time being, I decided to position it in the direction opposite from the well, using my tree crib as the central reference point.

It needed to be a considerable distance away to prevent any unpleasant odors from wafting over.

Considering future needs, I began excavating the ground diagonally for about 2 meters.

I had learned from experience that digging straight down would make it impossible to exit the pit.

I widened the interior of the excavation to ensure ample space.

This setup should suffice for several years.

At least, I hoped it would.

To prevent the stored filth from contaminating the groundwater, I used my hammer to compact the floor and walls, solidifying the soil.

Just as I had anticipated, the soil hardened like concrete.

This should prevent any leakage.

Next, I focused on the above-ground structure.

First, I sealed the diagonally dug opening with a wooden board.

This wooden board was processed using the saw and chisel functions of my all-purpose farming tool.

I couldn't discern any difference between this and boards purchased from a hardware store.

Although wood tends to crack if not dried, it appeared that drying was unnecessary after using the saw and chisel functions of my all-purpose farming tool.

The convenience of the All-Purpose Farming Tool was undeniable.

This opening would serve as the access point for removing the accumulated filth from the toilet.

Subsequently, I dug a straight hole from the ground surface down to the estimated center of the underground space I had created.

I reconfigured the all-purpose farming tool into a form resembling a massive corkscrew.

Its length was roughly my height, so I harbored some concern about whether it would reach the underground space. However, as I rotated the enormous corkscrew, it successfully connected with the underground area.

Perhaps I should have employed this method when digging the well?

Regardless, I then fitted a wooden board to seal this hole, which would also serve as the floor.

After that, I created a hole in the floor. I then fashioned a toilet seat and aligned it with the hole in the floor and the opening in the ground.

The toilet seat itself was crafted from a sizeable tree trunk, shaped into a cylindrical form.

It wasn't the traditional Japanese style, but rather a Western-style seat.

It was a compact, sit-down model.

To ensure the toilet seat remained stable and wouldn't shift, I precisely modified the wooden floor and the seat itself to lock them together.

Next… the walls.

Transforming the all-purpose farming tool into a hammer, I drove sturdy pillars into the ground in all directions surrounding the area.

I found myself wishing for greater height when hammering the higher sections of the pillars, but by fashioning a wooden foothold, I managed to overcome this limitation.

The height of the pillars reached approximately two meters.

With the distance between the pillars also around two meters, I estimated I had created a space roughly two meters square.

Wasn't this a bit too spacious for a simple toilet?

No, having extra space was preferable to being cramped.

Complete privacy was somewhat important, so I supposed a slightly wider area was better.

TN: "Full Open" is written in English in the original text.

Yes, yes, that’s right.

I carved grooves into the wooden pillars and then processed wooden boards to create the walls, fitting them securely into these grooves.

I erected walls on all sides, leaving an opening to serve as the entrance.

I hadn't prepared a door, so instead, I arranged some loose wooden planks nearby, akin to a makeshift blind.

Yes, that should be perfectly adequate.

And the ceiling.

There was no ceiling initially.

I enjoyed the sense of openness.

I could always add one later.

For the immediate time, I drew water from the well using a large cup, smaller than a bucket, and seated myself on the newly constructed toilet.

I had managed to fetch water for washing my hands, but where was I supposed to dispose of the water after use…

Ah, a planning oversight.

I hadn't prepared any leaves to substitute for toilet paper.

This was a critical oversight.

I quickly dashed into the forest, searching for suitable leaves that would provide a comfortable experience for wiping.

While I didn't find any ideal leaves, I did discover a particular type of grass that felt surprisingly soft, so I decided to use that.

I sincerely hoped this would suffice…

The urgency of my bodily needs was so pressing that I couldn't afford to experiment further.

….

It was good enough.

What a profound sense of relief.

Following that, I proceeded to construct the ceiling.

Lacking the technology for a slanted roof, I opted for a standard flat one.

A ceiling height of two meters felt unexpectedly confining.

Come to think of it, constructing a two-meter sliding door now seemed somewhat excessive.

In the future, when I build another structure, I will pay closer attention to the appropriate height considerations.

It had become quite dark and inconvenient during the ceiling construction, so I incorporated numerous small windows along the upper portion of the walls to allow for natural light.

For nighttime illumination, I shaped a piece of wood into a brazier-like form and placed ash within the designated area.

Since the brazier is constructed from wood, I harbor concerns about its potential to ignite… I shall implement some modifications at a later juncture.

My intention is to fashion a tank-like apparatus for the purpose of hand ablutions and for the flushing mechanism of the commode… Lacking the requisite technological expertise to engineer a water tank serving as a reservoir, I resorted to felling a substantial tree.

Providentially, the all-purpose agricultural implement facilitated my efforts, yet the exertion involved in transporting water to the tank-like structure proved more taxing than its initial construction.

Existence devoid of societal infrastructure presents considerable challenges.

Nevertheless, the ablution facility has been successfully erected.

A sense of contentment washes over me.