Chapter 356: Things I Wanted to Ask About
「Riche, I’m home. Sorry, I probably reek of alcohol so I’ll take a bath first. 」
I was back to my mountain 『Home』.
Most of the time I play with Riche as soon as I arrive, but I can’t do that for today; bath first.
Besides, Riche had been sniffing me like crazy compared to usual. I’m not sure if it’s because I stink of wine, or because I had been with so many people today.
After my bath, I drank milk then brushed my teeth. The toothbrushes here are usually made of silver or animal bones for their body and horsehair or boar bristles for the brush part. I crafted mine from ivory, or not — it’s made from the fang of a monster, and the bristles are made from bleached boar hair.
Rich folks’ toothbrushes are made from gold, silver, ivory, monster fangs and the price is sky-high. When the handle becomes worn down, they put in a new set of bristles too. Much like the toothpicks, which are intricately decorated, it’s absolutely not something that’s disposable! It’s impressive, really.
Folks who can’t afford toothbrushes put toothpaste powder on their fingers or cloth and use that to brush their teeth, or else they chew on one end of a wooden stick until it frays into a tuft to make a brush. If I’m not mistaken, toothbrushes also existed in Japan during the Edo period.
Toothpaste powders come in jars and they’re also extremely expensive, so some use plain salt. You have to be careful when buying the expensive ones, since some of them are fake with added glass powder, or in worse cases, have pee from boys and girls living in a particular region.
The ammonia in pee could allegedly whiten teeth but I absolutely will never ever try it. And so, I’ve been mixing my own toothpaste powder recently.
「Sorry for making you wait, Riche. 」
Riche was sprawled under the table, but he immediately sprung to his feet and run towards me.
「I’ve brought you a rope that won’t shred to pieces. 」
I already tested the rope that Gamri brought with 『Zanzenken』. I slashed at it twice but it’s still in one piece. I’m not sure if it’s because it’s not really that taut, but it was surprising that it didn’t break at the first try nonetheless.
Actually, I think it’s more because of my skill rather than 『Zanzenken』’s ability.
Gamri told me that the part I was trying to cut is near the end of the rope, but it’s so long that I can’t imagine just how long the original was. It’s an heirloom passed down from their ancestors, apparently. I felt bad taking it all, so I asked him to cut me around 2 meters long including the rope tail.
「… 」
Riche stared fixedly at the rope.
I thought he’d be wiggling his butt and bending down or maybe even snapping in the air out of excitement, but I never imagined he’d have this reaction. He’s strangely docile.
I tried handing it over to Riche, and he immediately started gnawing on it with great gusto. He tried to bite it off, and when it didn’t work, he grabbed it with his paws and started tugging on it. Oooh, he’s more excited than when he was digging holes in the field!
I gave up on playing tug with Riche and decided to leave the rope here so that it’ll be Riche’s toothbrush. With that, I let him do whatever he wanted with it.
***
Riche was still gnawing on the rope when I woke up.
「Morning, Riche. You didn’t sleep? 」
He seemed startled as he looked up at me when I called out to him. You didn’t notice me?
He carried the rope in his mouth the entire time we strolled, and he tried his best to tear it to shreds while I was busy working in the field. It may seem like he’s training, but it’s actually good that he has a toy he can be engrossed in.
We met Mischt.
「Mischt, good morning. There’s something I wanna ask — 」
「Sorry. Ah, but since ‘that’ happen here, those who ‘aren’t paying attention’ shouldn’t know about it, so please don’t worry! 」
Mischt squeezed her eyes shut and clasped her hands as she apologized while floating in the air.
「Ah~ did you guys fight? 」
I wanted to ask her about something else, but I also want to get to the bottom of that incident. She’s talking about this house being the epicenter of the earthquake, right?
「Not really, but… Riche and Van competed, Ludere riled them up, Khadar tried to step in and meditate but got dragged to the fight, Ish and Pal gave up early on and started preparing to disperse the power, Halalfa and I also tried to help them but ended up fanning the flames, so in the end, everybody joined in. 」
I think I heard her end her sentence with ‘~ehehe ☆’.
「…. Oh well, as long as this place isn’t discovered then I guess it’s fine. But please, do it in moderation. 」
「Ye~s. Leave the field, the orchard and the mountain to us, we’re gonna do our best. 」
Is it an attempt at redemption? Oh, so that’s the reason why the newly planted veggies and fruit trees seemed full of life, and even the water running through the canals seem extra sparkly.
「Anyway, I have a favor to ask. 」
「What is it~ ? 」
Micht tilted her head with a smile.
「It’s about the plate Ludere made for Riche, the one blowing cold air. Riche seems comfortable, but the wind is way too cold for me. I plan to make a hearth and install the plate in it, but I wonder if you know a better way? 」
Aside from Love and Whims, Mischt also governs Light and Wind. I wanted to ask her how to deal with the chilling breeze — no, freezing wind.
Mischt seemed puzzled for a second, but she chuckled and taught me a way — or should I say she made one and showed it to me. It was a two-part magic circle that would suck the air in and expel it somewhere else. It’s kinda similar to the water-spouting magic circle that I installed in the wells on the island.
Alright, let’s make a kennel and draw this magic circle on the ceiling this morning. Finally, my room will now welcome spring after that bone-chilling ‘winter’…!! Hmm, where should I install the other part of the magic circle? If we’re talking about hot, then it should be the island, either in my tower’s kitchen or maybe the dining room of my secret house.
***
It’s time for me to meet Soleil and the others, so I hummed happily as I 【Teleport】to the island. I wonder if they’re waiting for me under the shelf I installed for sunshade back in my tower.
「…Hey, what are you doing? 」
Soleil was prostrated face down on the floor when I opened the door of my tower.
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.