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Chapter 363: Insect Repellent

I hurriedly 【Teleport】back to my house after we returned from our horse riding trip, and immediately set to work on making an insect repellent drape for Ruta.

Black spirits seemed to be involved, so I used fabric with a black spirit repelling magic circle drawn on it. It’s a simplified version of the one I saw at the temple in the fortress city. I researched how to narrow down the scope of effect in the spirit library and modified the circle accordingly. It might come in handy when we’re resting during our excursions in the forest or in the Labyrinth.

The magic circle in the temple doesn’t get rid of, drive away, or block the black spirits from coming, but instead emitted an aura that the black spirits hated. It wouldn’t work on black spirits that rage and force their way in, nor would they block spirits that could tolerate the things they don’t like.

In order to cover the entire city, it would require a colossal amount of either mana or manastone, whichever was used.

The blocking types of magic circles consumed mana and manastone the most, and no one could consistently provide mana or money or assets to purchase manastones. Thus, this type of magic circle was only used temporarily when they’re sure that black spirits were coming, and only in narrow spaces, apparently.

That’s why these circles are also drawn on the pedestal of the fake bough enshrined in Canum’s 『Fae’s Bough』. Since this town doesn’t have a genuine bough, they could only pour mana into the fake one through the magic circle on the pedestal.

Still, some black spirits manage to slip through despite having that in place. It’s remarkable that Canum can maintain a comfortable atmosphere within the town. I’m not sure what’s the original reason this time, but it seems the town’s sewage is to blame.

Alright, I’m done.

The horse blanket won’t repel normal horseflies, but it would repel insects possessed by black spirits. Well, It can also probably protect the areas covered by the cloth against ordinary bugs, and besides, the stalls also have insect repellent placed in them. For the meantime, the suit could repel bugs in an area as big as the horse-riding area of the rental stable with Ruta at the center.

I dunno about humans, though. Well, it’s mostly the humans’ fault that black spirits are generated in the first place. Ah, but it’d be nasty if bugs start coming up from the sewers through the toilet, so I’ll also install one in my Canum house. How about Ash and the others, would they like one too?
Well, I guess it’s fine since it won’t be in the way. It’s tiny, after all.

And so, I knocked at the kitchen door and called out to Butler, and handed him a black spirit insect repellent — a handkerchief with a bell attached to it.

「Noth, here, some insect repellents. Put them in the restroom so your bums won’t get bitten by bugs. 」

I don’t like being bitten by bugs, and I hate itchies. Moreover, I often see people scratching themselves when I go outside.

「Insect repellent… Is it? 」
「Yup. Can you put one in the rental house too? 」
I sew the magic circle in the inner part so that it wouldn’t be obvious to the guests using the toilet. The manastone is hidden in the bell — or should I say it’s more like a gamelan ball.

「I see, so a manastone is attached to it… 」
Butler seemed to marvel at it.

「Bugs are swarming the sewers now, right? Even if the toilet is designed so that ordinary bugs and the foul smell won’t come up, I’m worried about the current situation. 」

Ash and Butler both have spirits so they’re probably fine; their spirits are both bigger in size than insects possessed by black spirits. Spirits won’t recklessly approach them if it’s obvious that they would lose, but it won’t hurt to be careful.

Ash told me that an investigation team would be dispatched to the sewers. There’s a high chance that the spirits would run away here after being chased.

「Jean-sama. 」
「Hm? 」
Butler grinned as he called my name.

「Could you please spare some time this evening to visit Dinosso-sama and Retze-sama? And if possible, Hauron-dono too. 」
「Yeah, I’m okay with that? I don’t have anything pressing to do after giving Ruta his horse blanket. 」
And so, the schedule for tonight was set.

Ash also told me that Dean is back, so we’re probably gonna discuss our trip to Es, huh. Ah, wait a sec, why is Butler smiling so formally like thatt!?

「No way, am I gonna get lectured!? 」

Butler was smiling!
「What is it? Or is it because of this!? 」

Butler was smiling!!

「It is just an exchange of information. 」

Butler was still smiling as he bowed to me!!!

… I sensed danger, but I could only give up and go to the rental stable. I hid the circle properly when I made it, you know?

「Ruta! You broke it again, didn’t you? 」
I patted Ruta’s neck as he nuzzled me.

I already heard a scream even before Ruta came to view, so he probably broke the fence of the riding fence again to come to me. Well, this is the second time today. Maybe it’s better to increase the deposit…

Ruta let me brush him in the grooming area. The stable hire told me that Ruta has been well-behaved since I’ve been here so he called the farrier, who then started to tend to Ruta’s hooves.

The farrier is someone who trims and balances the hooves and puts horseshoes on them to reduce wear and tear, and they also check the health condition of the horse’s legs. If the hooves weren’t balanced, or if the horses are pushed beyond their limits, the legs tend to get inflamed, apparently. He gave me Ruta’s health certificate.

I draped the horse blanket onto Ruta after grooming him. The other horses in the rental stable were also wearing horse blankets, but theirs weren’t as high quality as his. It’d be a problem if someone tries to buy Ruta because he stood out, so I had no choice but to disguise Ruta’s blanket and make it similar to the ones the other horses wore.

Working horses seemed to be treated more precisely than humans, though. Well, horses are more expensive than humans.

「Thanks. Here, repair fees — no, I mean, this is separate from the keeping fee, so please make new blankets for the other horses too. 」
I handed a huge sum, enough for buying fabrics for the hire’s clothes and the horses’ blanket.

It’s customary here for employers to give their employees clothing allowance once or twice a year. It would depend from store to store; some provide pre-tailored ones, some give normal day-to-day clothes, and others hand the fabric as is.

Alright, what should we have for dinner?
I couldn’t help but feel uneasy about what’s going to happen later. Retze diligently visits the Guild regularly so I’m pretty sure he’d be able to tell us something about the sewer bug incidents.

I also wanted to know what’s going on, but even so, I believe that it’s better to finish dinner first before discussing sewer related stuff.