With the gods back in their realm, our farm has also returned to its normal state.
It feels like itās been forever since the last time weāve been at peace.
Though the gods ate so much from our menu, thankfully, they didnāt deplete our stocks as much as I thought they would.
This alone was enough of a blessing from the gods.
We can quickly restock thanks to the hyper fertilizer accelerating the cropsā growth.
Well then, now that weāve gotten past that hectic banquet event, letās return to our everyday farm life.
Thereās actually this project thatās been going on since winter.
Platy scolded me for wanting to start another project when we have tons underway, but I canāt help it.
We must start on it as soon as I come up with the idea!
It takes time for each project to finish, so if we donāt juggle multiple projects, weāll never finish everything in our lifetime!
And the new project I started isā¦
Making a sewing machine.
When you talk of basic life necessities, you think of clothing, food, and shelter.
Considering the food we eat, homes we sleep in, and clothes we wear, Iād say all of them are equally important to our farm life.
Only one person provides the clothing for everyone on our farmā Batemy.
Her parents were both tailors, and it just so happens that our farmās demands align with her dream of following their steps and opening up her own clothes store by using the pension she gets from the military as the starting capital after retiring.
Right now, she sews clothes every day for our farm residents.
Except, compared to when we only had a handful of people before, we now have an overwhelming number living with us. She asks for the dexterous elvesā help every now and then, but even then, Iām sure Batemyās load has gotten heavier now.
Hence, Iām creating a machine to help alleviate some of that load.
In other words, a sewing machine!
I saw one of them on TV back in my world.
With the nifty sewing machine, she can finish work that takes several hours in a matter of minutes!
Iāll gift her a sewing machine and make her tailoring life more enjoyable!
ā¦Is what I thought of.
But a sewing machine is typically powered by electricity.
So, I was worried it wouldnāt work or fit in a world such as this.
āSomething powered by electricity seems way too civilizedā¦ā
For starters, itās impossible.
Just when I thought of abandoning the idea of making a sewing machine, I suddenly remembered something.
This is also something I saw on TV back in my world. When electricity still wasnāt discovered, the sewing machines were made to move by the tailors themselvesā¦
I think it had an integrated desk and a pedal you step on underneath to make the needle moveā¦
Not only would it match the medieval setting of this fantasy world, but it also wouldnāt seem out of place!
All right, time to start the manual sewing machine project!
ā¦That was all that I pondered about before the onset of winter.
Itās already late into spring, and I still havenāt finished it
In front of me are just a pile of flop gears, shafts, and scrap metal.
āI underestimated mechanical work!ā
When I first started making it, I thought I could just connect the pedal to the needle to make it move, but as soon as I started, I realized it wasnāt as straightforward.
The basic materials for this otherworldly sewing machine are, of course, mana metal.
Even after lavishly using up the most precious metal of this world and giving it shape with the holy sword, nothing comes together.
Having seen only the outside appearance on TV, there was no way for me to have an accurate grasp of the internal structure and workings, so I was utterly at a loss.
āMaybe I got way too ahead of myself?ā
I resumed working on the machine after the banquet, but I was again confronted with its impossibility.
I need to develop a novel way to go about this if I want to make some progress.
Our farmās residents received various blessings from the gods, but is there any ability to help us out?
āGuess notā¦ā
I already have a gift from Hephaestus, so shouldnāt I ask him for help instead?
āHeās the god of artisans, after allā¦ā
Heās probably the first god I should depend on when it comes to a problem like this.
I went to the altar inside our house and prayed to Hephaestus.
āDear Hephaestus, thereās this machine that makes sewing clothes faster. Please give me a hint to develop it!ā
Then, I offered my usual offering of rice balls.
I donāt know why, but I have a feeling that Hephaestus loves them.
However, it wasnāt just any offering today.
It was in exchange for my impudent request.
I added cod roe into the rice balls I offered to Poseidon the other day.
Now, it has become quite the standard ingredient.
It was a bit of a splurge, but it workedā¦ I think?
As soon as I offered the roe rice ball, the altar began to glowā¦
āIā¦ I love rice balls!ā
With the glowing of the light, a piece of paper landed on my lap.
A huge one, almost as big as a newspaper.
Whatās in it wasā¦
āA blueprint for the sewing machine?!ā
I asked for a hint. Instead, I got the entire answer!
āAre you really all right giving me this for just a roe rice ball? Hello? God???ā
As expected of the god of crafting, heās even knowledgeable about the structure of machines.
We made progress in one go!
Later on, I found out that rewards received from offerings do not violate the promise between the gods of giving not more than one gift to every individual.
Gifts and rewards are two different things, and as long as the intent of the promise is preserved, that is, to not upset the balance of power, itās all right.
They believe that the worldās balance wonāt be disrupted over a fair exchange for something a mortal offers.