The Beastman Continent also had oceans. It was said that there were even beastman tribes living on islands.
The Ur-Shet Tribe was surrounded by mountains, and all the water sources within their territory were freshwater.
The real ocean was extremely far away from them.
However, there was one branch stream whose water had a very high salt content.
The tribe's salt was produced by evaporating water from there, so everyone called that place the "Salt Sea."
Hayoon suspected there might be a salt mine underneath it.
When the time came, she planned to bring tools and dig deeper into the riverbank.
Maybe she could even discover natural brine.
Brine had countless uses.
If she could find some, then at the very least she would no longer need to painstakingly filter plant ash every time she made soap.
And once she eventually found some beans, she might even be able to make tofu.
Just thinking about the taste of tofu filled her with motivation to work even harder.
After tidying up everything at home and making sure the calf was tied securely, she slung a basket over her back and waved toward Minho.
"Haeun and I are heading off to clear the land now!"
Unexpectedly, Minho also walked over. "I will go with you."
"Huh?" Hayoon froze for a moment.
"Are we not clearing land? Let's go."
"You are coming to help too? Will that not delay your own work?"
"It will not. I also need to clear a piece of land anyway," Minho replied calmly. "Most of the pottery is already damaged. I need to fire a new batch."
"Oh, right." Hayoon suddenly understood. "A lot of them already have cracks."
"And..." A rare trace of awkwardness appeared on Minho's handsome face. "When it comes to clearing land, there is not much I can help with. I hope you will not dislike that."
Hayoon immediately replied, "It is already wonderful that you are willing to help. Why would I dislike it?"
The place chosen for the house was only around a thousand meters away from Minho's cave dwelling, so they arrived after walking for a short while.
Neither Minho nor Haeun transformed into their beast forms along the way.
The moment they arrived, a group of black, white, and gray bears came running over with their sub-beastman mates riding on their backs.
Most of these giant bears were over seven meters tall, and some especially huge ones stood more than ten meters high when upright.
As they ran, the ground shook violently beneath them, creating an incredibly imposing scene.
Hayoon even began to suspect that the tribe's ground was so solid because these giant beasts stomped on it every day.
Wait.
Hayoon looked toward the back of the group and slowly widened her eyes.
These were not "little bears" like Haeun, whose beast form was already two meters tall.
These were real baby bears only around one meter tall, with round heads and plump bottoms, bright lively eyes, and soft chubby bodies that bounced adorably as they ran.
The little black bear and little white bear were already cute enough, but there was even a black and white panda cub among them!
Hayoon's attention was instantly captured by him.
Those fluffy little ears, the short tail, the twitching bear ears...
The sight was so adorable that her heart nearly melted.
If not for the cub's father standing nearby, she would have wanted nothing more than to rush over, pick him up, and cuddle him fiercely.
When the giant bears reached a point about one hundred meters away, they transformed back into their human forms.
Hayoon recognized familiar faces like Beom, Leeho, and Sulwoo, as well as some less familiar people, such as the healthy-looking black-haired, gray-eyed man walking beside Yeonhwa.
At that moment, the adorable panda cub was clinging to the man's pant leg and trying to climb onto his back.
Several of Haeun's close friends from the tribe had also come along.
Sulyeon walked at the very front and waved energetically toward Hayoon.
"Hayoon, we came to help you clear the land!"
Seeing so many people, Hayoon felt somewhat overwhelmed, but even more surprised and touched.
"I really did not expect all of you to come," she said embarrassedly. "Won't this delay your hunting and gathering?"
Sulyeon walked over and casually slung an arm around her shoulders. "It is fine if we go a little later. Besides, hunting and gathering every single day is boring to death. Clearing land is way more interesting. Not just me either. My mother is also very curious about the house you want to build, right?"
The final word was directed toward Immo as Sulyeon turned her head.
Immo smiled faintly at Hayoon and said, "Yes. Ever since you asked the tribe for red clay, I have been wondering how you planned to use it. Is it alright to talk about it?"
Hayoon smiled back. "There is nothing that cannot be discussed."
Unlike things such as waist loom weaving or soap making, which could be done privately behind closed doors, the house Hayoon planned to build had to be very large considering Haeun's enormous beast form after adulthood.
Because of that, there was no way to hide it from the eyes of the tribe anyway.
So she might as well openly show everyone what she was doing.
Once her own house was completed, if anyone in the tribe wanted to learn, it would save her the trouble of teaching everything from the beginning.
The moment Hayoon finished speaking, a crowd of beastmen and sub-beastmen immediately gathered around her, clearly just as curious as Immo.
One of them asked, "Do you first shape the clay into the form of a house and then fire it like pottery?"
Someone else immediately refuted the idea. "How is that possible? It would crack apart while firing. And even if it succeeded, it would be too brittle to use."
"Then how are you supposed to use it? I seriously cannot imagine it."
Hayoon smiled faintly and asked everyone, "Do you know what bricks are?"
Quite a few people shook their heads in confusion.
"No."