Chapter 419: Gauge
「So? What will happen if we eat this? 」
Retze asked while fiddling with a bunny apple.
「Apparently, the spirits in the vicinity will graciously lend us their power, and consuming the apple will also make it easier for us to harness the power they provide.」
「I wonder if we lose less mana when getting power from the spirits because we’ve become more compatible with them after eating this thing? 」
Hauron got what I was saying.
「Indeed, something like that. 」
「Can you stop with the formal speech? It’s unsettling when you do that. 」
Dinosso interjected with a grimace.
「Indeed, something to that effect. 」
「You just rephrased it!! 」
Dinosso is being too picky, in my opinion.
「Okay, okay. The spirits become more interested in the person who ate the apple and they’d poke that guy’s belly. Plus, the effect will stay in your stomach even after the apple is digested, so even if you’re not using magic, the spirits’ mana will kinda pile up in your belly.」
No choice but to explain it in detail then.
「Kinda pile up in the belly… 」
「Kinda like flab? 」
Dinosso repeated the last part of my sentence while Retze hit the bull’s eye when he pointed that out.
「Hey, there’s this thing we call ‘dantian’, you know, that point below the navel where you cultivate your mana… 」
「Right, right, the spirits will deposit their mana in your dantian, apparently. 」
【Appraisal 】’s long-winded explanation starting with the words ‘the area around the stomach ~’ was shortened to ‘dantian’.
Hauron’s explanation coupled with 【Language】-san’s effect must’ve translated whatever word it was to 『Dantian』 for my convenience, huh.
「Jean, since you understand, then maybe you could explain it a little bit more elaborately, just a teeny tiny bit, you know, just a wee bit more will do, so…. 」
Hauron looked pained, while the furrow between Khan’s brow was only getting deeper.
Sorry ‘bout that, okay? I do have a plethora of difficult terminology in my arsenal and I can whip up complicated essays too, but yep, I tend to think in more straightforward terms, or should I say I like simple, easy to understand words more when thinking…
Well, I also got a feeling that my simple thinking is wreaking havoc on 【Appraisal】’s results. Ah, but it churns out brief and clear results whenever I ask about something that’s commonly known, though.
「Does it make a difference on the effect whether it’s whole or cut? 」
「Yeah, the effect stays the same, but the amount does. It’s more of a difference in the range of awareness for the presence of spirits ー whether that range is narrow or wide. 」
I answered Retze’s question.
「I see. It doesn’t feel as tough as metal too, huh. 」
Retze was taking a good look at it.
「Yup. It felt quite dense when I peeled it, but I think it still falls under the category of apples, I guess? Or should I say it turned into an apple that you’d give up peeling right from the moment you started? It did seem made out of metal much like how it appeared to be. 」
The kitchen knife that was at par with a spirit sword didn’t work on it, so I sliced it with『Kizenken』.
「… 」
Butler froze with that ambiguous smile of his still plastered on his face.
「….. 」
Dinosso pinched his brows.
「An apple you gave up on, what the heck does that even mean… 」
Hauron’s eyes were glazing over.
「….. 」
Khan imperceptibly shook his head.
「You mentioned bringing more, so does that mean you have lots of this thing? 」
「Ah, no, there’s only two of these golden apples. I told the spiritss not to mess too much with the fruits’ appearance, so I don’t think the trees can grow golden apples naturally, but I bet if I asked the spirits to make some, they’ll grow them thinking it’d be fun. 」
「How about you stop them from messing with the insides as well? 」
「I did ask them to make them taste like proper apples without being mushy. 」
I learned from experience, you see.
「Jean’s additional features are too… So, the others look like your regular apples and taste the same too, but the effect didn’t change; it’s still the same as the golden apples, you say. Oh well, in short, these golden apples are the whimsical creations of spirits and you stopped them from making more, did I get that right? 」
「Yup. 」
The red ones look more delicious than the golden ones, after all.
「You said ‘golden apples’, so that means there were other types too, huh? 」
「Yeah, silver and copper, but they are just downgraded versions of the golden ones. The silver only attracts certain types of spirits, while copper draws weaker mana. 」
And there were apricots too, but let’s just keep mum about that.
「…… 」
「……….! 」
Please stop pulling my cheeks without a word, they’re gonna stretch too much.
「You’re not looking at me in the eye, so that means you’re hiding something ー oh well, if it’s something you can’t take out in front of people like those silver and copper ones then I’ll let it slide. 」
Retze let go with a sigh.
「It’ll be morning by the time I finish telling you every single thing! 」
Strange things had been happening bit by bit in the places that I hadn’t checked! Some of them even do mimicry and camouflage!
「…Why bring only the golden apples then? 」
Hauron massaged his temples.
Gramps Hauron, I soaked some umeboshi in wine, want me to put some on your temples? The stuff in pickled plums can relieve pain, just like aspirin! Not sure if it works if you stick it on, though.
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. 👍