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Chapter 408: Confirming Several Things

Hello, I’m Jean, the guy who realized just now that paint didn’t exist in this world. They do have painting materials, but they don’t dye the wood well ー no, even the paints that can color fabrics nicely are very rare and expensive, so I actually make them on the island. Yet it completely slipped my mind!

And so, my plan to build an ideal kennel is currently on hold. Hmm, maybe I can build the four pillars of the kennel using the jet-black pine trees that Black Mountain-chan gave me and use the cedar from Dogu for the rest of the house. It won’t be the red and white two-tone house that I envisioned, but black and cedar doesn’t sound so bad.

Oh, dogs tend to gnaw on the kennel entrance, right? Maybe I should also use pine over there, then. Oh, wait, I chose cedar in the first place because it’s commonly used for kennels back in Japan.

The scent of pine might be too much, so let’s have Doggo sniff it first. As for the ebony, maybe there’s no need to do that since it’s Doggo’s preferred wood?

「That’s how it is. So, which one do you like? Expert craftsmen will build the ebony pedestal, though. 」
Since there’s no time like present as they say, I teleported to the underground temple in the desert.

「Ooh? The darker the better, Doggo likes it black! 」
Doggo’s tail was energetically wagging.

「My beloved darling ♡ 」
「…! ]

「Uh, I was asking about the scent, though. Do you have any odor that you hate? 」
Someone was shaking noisily behind me, but I ignored him.

「Doggo is okay with any sort of smell!.. Uh, I’m not a fan of vinegar, but I’m okay with the orange! 」
So he doesn’t like acrid odors, huh.

I let him sniff all the materials just in case, and he said everything is okay. He likes the black pine the most. The pine from Black Mountain-chan had been treated at extremely high temperatures in the Earthkin’s place, so it’s super dense without any moisture at all, to the point that it’s more like an obsidian than a tree.

The ebony was also lovely, with a nice gloss on it, but it seems warm for some reason. Since the desert is already hot as it is, the pine tree might be the better choice because of its colder impression.

By the way, Doggo, the water over the floor is already around 2cm deep ーaren’t you uncomfortable being soaked like that? Are you okay? Is your tummy not cold?

「Ufufuf… 」
「..!!! 」
As for the rattling and clattering behind me ーcan’t hear it, can’t see it, just ignore it. Maybe it’s relief that they can’t do any rated 19+ stuff because the other party doesn’t have his lower half?

「Do you want to switch rooms? Well, everywhere’s under water, though. 」
「Doggo will protect the Goddess of Es, so I will stay in this room where she is in her most defenseless state! 」

…Oh well, the person himself says so, so it’s fine, I guess. I just can’t understand what’s so good about Es ー maybe because she’s the master type?

I don’t really wanna stay here for long, so I promptly left! Next stop, the island. Had to deal with a lot of things in Es, so it’s been a while since I visited the island.

The children’s voices resounded from time to time, but it wasn’t as bustling as the city in Es, although it’s quite open compared to Canum.They get plenty of clear weather days and the sunshine is quite intense here, after all. Even if the skies are covered in clouds, it’s already considered a sunny day in Canum.

One of the waterways by the castle was dyed blue. Seems like the dyeing is going well. In other cities, tanners and dyers are constantly at odds with each other, apparently. That’s understandable. Both of them need water for work, but once either of them uses it, it will become useless for the other party.

Disputes over water also happen even among fellow dyers, like the case with a group licensed to handle red dyes versus the group that uses blue dye.

We don’t have a tannery on the island and the same group of dyers are permitted to dye all colors so there’s no need to fight. I also ignore the secret dyeing techniques and routes for getting materials that they use.

Dyeing is basically done with dried fermented knotweed balls, and they only make reds and purples whenever I get the materials for those colors. As for the techniques and methods that we use, Soleil, Gold and Silver have countermeasures to prevent leakage of information.

The interior of the citadel also contains a lot of secrets, so ordinary people are not allowed to enter. Although Soleil invites important folks from time to time for business deals and negotiations, they aren’t allowed to roam unguided. The workers and craftsmen are allowed to freely walk around the plaza beside the citadel.

This side of the mansion, which is only accessible by going across the bridge, has less foot traffic too.Besides, walls and vegetation block the view or else redirect folks to look elsewhere, plus the work areas are closed off too, so they won’t notice a thing.

Charlie is such a master gardener, huh~ was what I thought, but it turned out there were magic circles on the wall. It’s not that I realized right away that they were there; it’s more like I turned my Sight mode on so I could see the tiny spirits and discovered it after.

There are various circles, from obvious ones to hidden ones. They ‘conceal’ paths that are only visible to authorized people, and they also repel the contracted spirits of other folks.

『What’s that? 』
『Bricks~ 』
『That one helps you like the bricks more. 』

There were a few magic circles that I didn’t know what they are for, so I asked the spirits that contribute to their functions.

It was pretty much nonsense, but I couldn’t help but be curious about it ーoh, it’s just an ordinary brick. What a trap. Is this Gramps’s handiwork!?

「Welcome back, Milord. 」
Grinning Auro suddenly appeared while I was nonchalantly strolling and inspecting the citadel interior.

「I’m back. There’s a lot of work done on this, huh. 」
「Paulor-sama has graciously extended his assistance ー It is truly remarkable that he accomplished this feat despite being unable to See spirits. 」
Auro probably noticed that I was staring at the magic circles because he then explained.

「He seems quite knowledgeable about all sorts of magic circles. 」
And quite mischievous too.

「Indeed. He is exceptionally talented. He seems to share affinity with the Bough too, as his abilities are further enhanced, although his assistant Orlando-dono frets to the point of shrieks from time to time. 」

Ahh, yeah. That Haniwa is guilty of regularly doing shenanigans, after all. I’m glad that Gramps is happily experiencing life with spirits. Orlando-kun, fighting!*

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T/N: Borrowed the Korean expression of encouragement. Everybody, fighting!