Chapter 188: Just One Person
「T-The objet d’art… 」
「It’s for back pain relief, right? It’ll work properly, don’t worry. 」
Soleil is flustered so I said that.
「Do you have any idea how much that’s worth…! 」
「Blow it up for those two, so times two? 」
「…Tsk. 」
Soleil is glaring at me while on the verge of tears.
「A objet d’art that a master craftsman carved for years and you just!!! 」
「Please calm down. It’s true that leaving the pendant as it is will lead to a needless strife… 」
Faramir tries to pacify Soleil.
Actually, that pendant is something that I just carved flippantly. It felt as if I was carving veggies or soap, because I have good tools made out of materials I got from monsters plus my extraordinary strength. Jade is also pretty soft, after all. This won’t be possible if the stone was something that easily breaks with the wrong amount of force.
「Even the glass, why store it in a shed…!? I nearly fainted because of the shock, while the construction workers really fainted! 」
「That place has a lock, right? 」
I properly locked the shed where I stored the glass to prevent the kids from entering. It’ll be bad if they get injured.
「It’s barely passable! And this glass, it doesn’t break no matter what you do with it. We have to adjust the window size so the glass can fit! I don’t know just what sort of Gold-rank you’re acquainted with, but all these things aren’t something you can handle so sloppily! Just think about how much they’re worth… ugh 」
「Please calm down, we’re talking to the Feudal Lord. 」
「Nah, it’s fine. By the way, just call me Nii-chan. It’s confusing having two Soleils, right. 」
Ordinarily, there’s a clause in the contract stating the employee should 「show respect 」to the employer, so I change that part to 「don’t disrespect 」. It’ll be troublesome if they have to prostrate themselves in front of me to show respect, after all.
「Auro and Kiel are being lukewarm about this…! And now, even you, Faramir…! 」
「I apologize. We do feel surprised, but it doesn’t last. Changelings don’t get fixated on things that do not interest them, so… 」
Faramir apologizes expressionlessly to Soleil’s tearful complaints.
「By the way, Nii Chan sama, are you really fine employing me? 」
Faramir changes the topic overbearingly.
「You’re gonna add honorifics on that? You’re Soleil’s maid, so isn’t it fine as long as you get along with Soleil? Wait, is it because you think you can’t do your job, or else you’ll quarrel with the other employees? 」
I’m known by Lot’s o’ Names…. Ack, got another one and it’s Chinese style — Ni Chan!
「You’re our Master, the Feudal Lord, after all. I’m usually expressionless even with matters concerning Soleil-sama. I’m a black spirit changeling, after all. The average person usually gets creeped out. 」
「I’m already used to folks who are expressionless. If you’re a black spirit changeling, then does that mean you get the urge to do something bad? Or will people be affected just by being in the same place as you? 」
I’m used to it, given that my choices were usually either a blank face or a scary face. (T/N: Ehem, Ash)
「There’s nothing in particular… 」
「Then isn’t it fine? Soleil said she’ll be the go-between for your relationships with humans. 」
Yeah, I’m totally leaving that to her. Right, I employed Soleil precisely because I want to completely leave everything to her!
「Why of course. 」
Soleil looks like she’s regained her composure as she energetically nods in agreement.
Good, the issue with the pendant and the glass has been successfully glossed over!
And so, I return back to the citadel after all that fiasco. It’s already past noon but I’ll have my bento lunch now. I sit on the edge of the empty well and take out my packed lunch. The menu for today is grilled leek miso rice balls, salmon rice balls, pickled daikon radish, and fried dried whole albeit a little smallish pilchard. Time to replenish salt in my body, right. Ahh, I really want some bamboo, even a bent one will do, I don’t mind.
I gobble the fragrant leek miso rice ball, crunch on the pickled radish, chomp on the dried whole sardine, and take a huge bite from the soft, fluffy salmon rice ball. A sip of strong green tea refreshes my palate.
Alright, back to work. I climb on the board and lower myself by loosening the coiled rope on the winder, spinning it around. Hahh, even the flickering tiny flame inside the lamp feels hot. Actually, I can also summon a spirit, but I don’t know what effect it’ll have on the formation, so better not to. It’ll be scary if an unimaginable effect is added, after all.
And so, I endure the heat while diligently scribbling away, carving the wall’s stonework while drawing the magical circle. Uh, I won’t suffocate at this rate, right?
Yeah, it’ll be alright, Retze and I will explore the forest during the day tomorrow. If I make that my focus and do my best today and tomorrow, then I’ll be able to finish it by then. Ahh, but won’t it be nice if I make a mosaic around the well?
The interior of the well is made out of marble. I specifically requested it even though it’s expensive so that I can engrave the magic circles on it. For some reason, this country’s civilization is also advanced enough that they can make the seams as invisible as possible whenever they’re working on marbles.If they use marble for tiles, the tile joints will almost be completely unnoticeable. And when they stack it up to make a pillar, the result will look as if it’s made out of one whole block.
Ah, but in Japan the tile joints should be thick, otherwise they’ll hit each other and break during an earthquake.
Thanks to that culture, the interior marbles are beautifully and neatly made, making it easier for me to engrave. Also, not sure if the masons took an extra mile, or whether there’s a lot of marble left over, the exterior of the part of the well above the ground is also completely covered in marble. They made it so beautifully, so it’s only natural that you’d want to beautify the surroundings too; that’s part of human nature.
Hmm, but arranging mosaics is more tedious than drawing the magic circles, right. Okay, maybe I can ask the spirits to help me after I’m done with the formations. Alright, what design should I do?
NEXT CHAPTER
RELEASE RATE
I Got Transferred in the Middle of a Mountain
Speed up schedule by 10 hours
Current schedule: Every 80 hours
Thanks for the treat.