3 bar menu

Chapter 350: Truth

Riche and I spent a leisurely day in the Forest House the following day after working on the 『House』. It’s been a while since I was almost depleted of mana, and I worked hard right after that, so yeah I deserve this break.

Today’s menu was soup curry with plenty of meat and chicken that hadn’t been deboned and grilled bell peppers, asparagus, eggplants that had been sliced bigger than usual. I plated the dish nicely and garnished it with fried lotus root slices.

I made the soup curry slightly hotter with spices. Both the chicken and meat were so soft they easily break with a slight push from the spoon.

For salad, I prepared soft-boiled eggs and avocado seasoned with a bit of salt and a dash of lemon, and some mayonnaise. The mild, gentle taste of the salad perfectly soothes the tongue that was tingling because of the spiciness.

Avocados that are rounder than the western pear-shaped ones are grown in regions with extreme varying temperatures. It’s said that they are mildly sweet too.

I opened the windows of my bedroom to let the cool breeze in. I sweated a bit while savoring the soup curry and snuggling in my blankets. Riche enjoyed munching on X-Stick beside me.

And so, I spent yesterday just lounging and taking everything slow. Today’s itinerary is to check the tower on the island.

I was considering moving Ludere’s chilly plate that he installed right smack in the center of the living room that faced the terrace to somewhere else while I’m here. Riche seemed to like it, so it won’t be good to get rid of it, but I have to make sure i won’t freeze indoors.

— Uhh, seems like it won’t work no matter where I put it. Riche spends more time indoors than me, so his comfort is my priority.

What to do? Thankfully, the cold air from the plate rises, so maybe I can make a hearth or something and install it there?

…And then there’s also me that wants to find a way that could simply disable that upward blowing fan function. But then, Riche looks like a cat sitting on a humidifier or an air purifier and it’s so adorable.

Anyway, I reached the tower. The first floor’s storage room stank of alcohol. They must’ve used this floor as their sleeping quarters for the night, although nobody was here right now. Everyone is probably already working on the other floors.

I opened the windows widely to air it out, and let the wind spirits freely breeze in and out of the room while at it. I also collected the empty casks and placed new ones.

The floor was covered with planks. The Earthkins have a habit, or should I say custom, of spilling alcohol when they’re drinking and eating, so they lay down planks in their own residences, which they would change once or twice every year.

They’re known for being meticulous in changing shoes when going indoors and they even dabble in interior designing, so that custom came as a surprise to me. Oh well, I guess spilling things aren’t limited to Earthkins; folks here literally throw their trash on the floor, like, if they peel nuts, they simply let the shells fall. Even cleaning the house is done in that same slipshod way; they would simply gather all the trash and directly throw them out to the streets and that’s the end of it.

Well, littering is explicitly forbidden on this island. I already placed trash cans all over the place, so anyone caught littering will be fined.

Earthkins eat twice a day, morning and night. They would drink lots of alcohol as they gobble meat for dinner while breakfast is usually bread made from kneading and baking a mixture of flour, salt and lard, and they pair it with stewed beans and a bit of cheese. They don’t really eat much of anything else.

I want to tell them to add veggies to their diet, but I held back because Earthkin might have different nutritional needs from other races. Plus, they’re far healthier and more long-lived than your average human.

I cleaned up a bit and replenished the goods, then I went to check the other floors of the tower.

The entrance hall was gorgeous. It wasn’t flashy at all, but since the interior design was improved so that more sunlight shines onto the stairs, the first impression I got from the place is that it was bright and dazzling.

The dining room had a more solemn and dignified impression, but it was renovated in a way that made it easy to use. The wet area like kitchen and toilet didn’t seem that different; maybe they didn’t modify it that much. No one was here, probably because the construction was already over. Ah, but it wasn’t quiet at all, given that singing voices echoed from upstairs.

The improved version of pots, pans and skillets, and other complete sets of utensils I requested were lined up here for some reason. Amazing handiwork — I wonder, can they also make aluminum foils?

I also checked the other floors, but eventually retreated, since they were all fired up as they work, as if to say that ‘even a single millimeter of error is prohibited!!’ They’re burly folks who loved cheering and supporting each other in boisterous voices, so it was really surprising how they could do such dainty and refined handiwork/

Washik, the our island mainstay, cold-sensitive Earthkin, seemed reluctant to mingle with them — turns out it was because he was tone-deaf. Since Earthkins readily burst into singing, he would end up throwing the harmony in disarray, so it was unbearable for him to stay, apparently.

Even the spirits that came to help would vanish if the ambience was spoiled. However, for some reason, they enjoy hanging around when Austanis the goldsmith and Washik do their shouting matches, leading to Austanis’s skills suddenly improving. He would succeed in creating sculptures that he previously failed in making, apparently.

And so, I decided to request that he try making zip fasteners. I’m pretty sure they’re shouting at each other again while doing their trial and error experiments.

Alright, I’ll be in their way if I stay here loitering around, so let’s get going. I want to ask Soleil about income and expenditures and if there’s any dissatisfaction and stuff.

「MiLord. 」
When I finally decided to move and head towards the main building, I met Auro at the entrance.

「Did you have any problems here on the island? 」
「An earthquake believed to have originated in the Spirit Realm occurred a few days ago, but the island was not severely affected. Soleil-sama fainted, and the landlord of the inn who came to handle some matters shrieked and clung to Kiel, and that’s about it. 」

Eh, wasn’t the uncle from the inn a tough-looking, bearded guy with pursed lips…? Oh well, I guess it’s fine, let’s not think about it too much.

「Alright, it’s great if the island wasn’t affected. Not sure which spirits made a fuss, but what a pain. 」
「A relatively huge area experienced the quake, so it’s quite difficult to determine the center of explosion. However, it is possible that several deity-level spirits were involved. We worry that the incident would have an impact on the climate and such, depending on the spirits concerned. 」.

Wasn’t the epicenter at Tarya Peninsula, where my 『House』is? Hmm, for a newborn spirit, Note is surprisingly superior to Auro, considering he managed to identify something that Auro couldn’t. Was it because he looked like Butler? Or was it because Auro is a Changeling so his ties to the Spirit Realm aren’t as deep?

Oh, wait a sec. Several deities…? Center of explosion?

「Are you alright? 」
「Ah, yeah. Really, those spirits are a pain in the neck, huh… 」
I get a feeling that I must’ve grasped the reason why the deities kept on turning away, so I also averted my gaze from Auro.