Chapter 359: Unexpectedly Useful
「This is? 」
「I don’t know. The spirits wanted me to plant these, so I did. It’s still growing, so no flowers yet. 」
I answered Auro.
The spirits brought some sort of seeds to me, so I just planted them as is. They’re probably closest to wisteria, I guess? The tendrils have some soft-looking pea green leaves growing on them. But then, for a wisteria, the branches are far too intricately branched out. The plant is quite lush and it overflows through the lattice and extends to the floor.
I hadn’t been taking care of it that much, but it’s quite sturdy. It can even withstand the salty sea breeze. Come to think of it, even though sea breeze blows through the island, thanks to the cool breeze spirits and spirits of the breeze rustling through the leaves, both born from the cold, flowing water, the areas exposed to seabreeze were few.
Oh well, the seabreeze in this place is quite refreshing and not sticky, so I guess it’s fine.
「Next is the workshop. 」
We parted with Seabird-kun, then we climbed down the stairs in a single file. We’ll probably gonna see him again when we go back.
The workshop room also contains the shelves holding my collections. The height of the ceiling is almost double that of the other rooms, but it doesn’t really have that liberating feeling because of the ceiling-to-floor shelves that lined the walls. There’s a passageway connected to the middle area of the staircase, allowing a view of the top part of the shelves.
「An aerial corridor? It’s gorgeous, albeit short, and you can’t tell how they built it, judging from the structure. 」
Soleil looked down from the top flight of the stairs.
Several differently-sized spirit lamps glowed faintly. They’re installed here and there, casting shadows onto the room. The lighting is quite romantic for a workshop, but it’s bright enough. Maybe it’s because our eyes had adjusted to the dark, but it felt like even Nalluahdid’s vicinity would be far too bright under the noonday sun.
「The ambience has considerably changed. 」
Auro.
「Soleil-sama, allow me. 」
Faramir called out to Soleil, who then slowly moved forward.
「I’m fine, I can see the floor now, there’s the floor… Give me some house slippers! 」
Soleil had been mumbling, but she vigorously requested the slippers.
「Ahh, yes, yes. 」
I opened a tiny door on the stone walls, revealing the place where I put the home shoes. Since the staircase is narrow, they weren’t slippers but shoes that cover the heel and don’t easily come off instead.
「Please. 」
Faramir arranged enough shoes for everyone on the floor.
The Earthkins had extensively improved this workshop too, so it has become even more beautiful and convenient. They even installed a ladder that moves along the rails attached to the shelves to make it easier for me.
The aerial corridor that Soleil mentioned and the hand railings are made from black iron that began the process of transforming to spirit iron. The wooden fixtures like shelves and ladders came from the Goddess’s Giant Tree. Despite being a workshop, this room took the longest time to renovate.
By the way, when you move the shelves, you’ll find the secret room, and when you move the shelves in the secret room, you’ll find a secret passage. I won’t tour them there, though!
「Wait, the items that are casually sitting on the shelf… Why do I feel like all of them aren’t supposed to be stored so casually like that… 」
Soleil started trembling!
I tried arranging my collection as soon as I could, but I can’t believe she said I just chucked them in there. I did spend time carefully arranging the angle so that they’ll look cooler, you know?
「Is this the ink used for drawing magic circles? It’s presence seems impossible to ignore, and simply looking at it doesn’t seem to suffice. 」
The ink Auro was staring at was indeed for drawing magic circles.
Spirits were already swarming the ink even without writing the letters yet, so I guess it’s an excellent ink suited for drawing magic circles that attract spirits to make them do special tasks.
I haven’t processed the ink I got from the deities, but I’m thinking of doing that in the 『House』. Yeah, it’s better to process it there so that I can deal with the aftereffects and strange phenomenon that might happen if more spirits than this swarm that ink.
「This is Es… 」
Soleil swayed as she looked up at the shelves.
「Oy, why did you randomly shove all these manastones in the box? The goodies are mixed with the bad ones, you know. 」
「They’re divided by color, you know. 」
I retorted to Kiel’s grumbling. Actually, I was fed up trying to line them up, so instead of housing my collections, that particular area is reserved for materials that I can use for making something.
「Uwuwu. The things that should’ve been placed in special individual boxes are mixed with the manastones that are crushed when used…. 」
Faramir already placed a cushion beneath Soleil’s knees even before the latter weakly collpased.
Faramir really excels in superb timing and placement, huh.
Kiel supported the tottering Soleil as we moved to the area supported by the lowest spirit iron and surrounded with glass.
「By the way, the Maritime Guild expressed their thanks. Ever since this tower had lights installed in it, the incident of shipwrecks in the vicinity of Nalluahdid decreased, apparently. 」
Soleil recovered. She’s standing properly, although she’s still pale.
「They probably use the lights on this island as a landmark to identify the locations of shallows and rocky areas. Ships are constantly arriving at Nalluahdid ports even at night, and there are also instances when ships moored at a distance awaiting morning would also move unexpectedly, pushed by the waves caused by other ships. 」
Auro explained.
The waters between Tarya and Cavil Peninsula are also ridden with reefs and sandy shoals when you get closer to the islets and peninsulas, although not as much as the area around this island.
The islands other than my own and Nalluahdid aren’t well illuminated since they can only use small lamps, and they don’t leave the lights on the entire night.
My tower is the anomaly in the midst of that. It’s a hassle removing and installing manastones one by one, so I left them open 24/7. The spirits attracted to the manastones and summoned by magic circles gather in threes and fives at the end of the day. They would settle into the round glass vessels that served as their beds, and their presence gave a faint glow.
The tower has glass windows all over the palace, and this room in particular is almost entirely surrounded with glass, except on the cliff side.
I thought I’d be scolded for wasting money, but it seems my tower has taken the role of a lighthouse, apparently.
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.