Chapter 21.13

Extra 2.1.

Other hard day of work, done…」

「It’s cold when we’re not moving around…」

Just a few days before the new year. The Azuma workshop interns, who had finished helping with the construction of the soil improvement project in the slums, ran back into the workshop, huddling their chilled bodies for comfort. Mio, who has more of an apprentice than an interns (well more of an assistant, really) had been working on renovating a particular room in the workshop as part of her Carpentry training, ever since the improvement project had taken off.

「Welcome back. Bath’s ready.」

「Thank you…!」

Thanking Tatsuya for his quick work, the group grabbed their changes of clothes before heading to the bathroom. After watching everyone move to the bath, Tatsuya looked to the big boss man who came home a little later than his interns.

「You done for the day, too?」

「Sun’s comin’ down, and we’re almost done with groundwork, anyhow. Ain’t nothin’ the foreman’s gotta do for a while.」

The soil improvement project itself was nearing completion. Luckily, the soil was contaminated only to a depth of 5 centimeters. By gathering everyone who lived in the slums and/or worked on construction, they had removed the contaminated soil by the time the decrepitated buildings had been demolished.

The contaminated soil had been treated in a matter of a few days, too, thanks to the help of any mages from the castle with free time, any civilian who had the skills to contribute, and most of all to the cooperation of many of the priests from the Alfemina Temple. Now, they had returned the purified soil to where it came from, and had started preparing them for farming.

This was a huge project that would have easily taken over three months, but the plentiful manpower and tools, as well as someone like Hiroshi, who had Advanced Construction, handling the foreman, a month was all they needed. Maxing out the Construction Extra Skill, God’s Way, would have allowed for the construction to finish in a week. In the game, a player called Koji Michio had mastered the Construction Extra Skill. He would finish most any construction job in a week. He was just a freak you might see on the internet who liked to dig and pave roads 24/7.

「Anyway, Hiro.」

「Yeah?」

「I get Mio and the interns, but does Haruna really have to do construction, too?」

「She’s the one sayin’ she wants to master sewin’. Just thought she’d be better off with at least Making Mastery.」

「Making Master?」

In response to Tatsuya’s quizzical look, Hiroshi explained the lesser known facts surrounding Crafting.

「I see. I get it.」

「Makes sense, huh?」

「Yeah. I was always wondering why you had Mio doing Construction quests in-game. Mystery solved.」

「I mean, even if you don’t got it, it ain’t nothin’ a little perseverance can’t account for.」

Of course, things like success rates, cool-down times, and overall time consumption was something that perseverance could make up for. When all of those things were a factor, though, it was doubtful that anyone would want to simply persevere in lieu of efficiency.

「And that’d be cruel to ask Haruna of.」

「Ya think so too, brother?」

「Yeah. To be honest, even when I could gather most of the ingredients myself, I gave up on Compounding a third way through Intermediate.」

「Sewin’s worse than Compoundin’ and Metalworkin’ ‘cus other skills come into play.」

Tatsuya could only agree wholeheartedly.

「Speaking of sewing…」

「Ya talkin’ bout Spirit Silk? Can’t do anythin’ with it with the loom we got now. So they’d been stackin’ up in storage.」

「Ah-hah. I was wondering about that, too.」

「If I’m gonna make Spirit Cloth, I gotta make a loom from at least one of the tree-form monsters higher than halfway up Spirit Spire, or from a metal like Orichalcum. Otherwise the thin’ will break before I finish makin’ a single sheet.」

「I’m surprised the spools are fine.」

「Spools, they just got the silk around ‘em. Big difference from a loom that’s gotta craft it into cloth. I mean, even the spool’s would have broke if I didn’t enhance ‘em a bunch.」

What was this thing, steel wires? Tatsuya couldn’t get over the intimidating crafting requirements for a silk that was incredibly soft to the touch.

「Expensive materials all take a lot of hassles, don’t they?」

「That’s why they’re good quality.」

「Hm…」

Tatsuya wholeheartedly understood that rationale.

「Well, let’s leave alone stuff we can’t craft. We just got the call that Elle’s coming over. She’s staying the night, so Layla-san’s prepping the bedroom.」

Hiroshi had a difficult expression to this sudden news. The sun was down, and it was already getting dark outside. Aearis’ birthday was coming up in the new year, but she would only be eleven, then. It seemed a little too late for a child her age to go out.

Layla, by the way, was Fum’s mother. A widow of age twenty five. She was a young single mother, trying her best to raise her seven year old daughter Fum and her five year old daughter Lime. It should go without saying that it wasn’t rare for a woman in this world to bear a child in her late teens.

「At this time, at this time of year? I’m shocked they let her.」

「Apparently, she’s getting a bit bummed out because she getting real busy as the Priestess Princess after her sudden change in environment. It’s settled down enough for her to take off for three days or so, so they’re the ones sending her over for a little R and R.」

「I see. It looks like the palace’s crazy busy. I don’t blame her for wantin’ a break.」

Remember the situation Aearis was in, it was starting to make more sense. Especially now, the position of Priestess Princess had no back-up behind Aearis. Elena, who had the potential for the job, had been too weak from the aftereffect of the poison to withstand rituals. To boot, as the new Priestess Princess, Aearis had to do as many ceremonies and preaching as she could to garner experience. Who could blame Aearis for feeling a little worn out, when she always had such a strong sense of responsibility?

「Speakin’ of, is Makoto-san back yet?」

「She called in a minute ago, too. She’s having drinks with this girl, another adventurer she met on the job.」

「Alrighty. Ain’t my problem if the food ain’t good wherever she’s goin’.」

There was nothing he could object to to what a woman in her twenties was doing in her free time. With Makoto’s strength, there was no need to worry that she would be in any danger from some punks or drunks, even after a few drinks. Besides, regardless of whether she was going to bring home this girl or not, she was obviously going to come back to the workshop for a dessert before she went to bed. They were sure that she would be home at least while someone in the workshop was still awake.

「Don’t you ever wanna go out for drinks, brother?」

「Not today. I’m planning to go out one of these days while I’m gathering rumors anyway.」

「Alrighty. Makoto-san’s bound to ask for somethin’ before bed, anyhow. I’ll come up with somethin’ for dinner that Elle’ll enjoy.」

Then, Layla and Lime came down the stairs.

「The room is ready.」

「Thanks a bunch.」

「I helped!」

「No way! You’re so good.」

Tatsuya petted Lime’s head, as she declared this with enthusiasm. Although Hiroshi was still on guard with Layla, he acted normal around Lime. He had no idea that the women in the workshop were gossiping as to the explanation. Was it because Lime was so young? Or was it because she was more of a hamster to him?

Of course, since he was slightly on guard toward Fum, who was almost as young as Lime, the hamster thing seemed to be the right answer. Aearis, though, might have qualified for the same hamster role, was a little too physically developed, which put some pressure on Hiroshi, much to Aearis’ dismay.

「When’s that princess comin’, anyway?」

Hiroshi said, looking out the window. Seeing that it was completely dark outside, he was concerned about Aearis, whom he had been seeing pretty frequently even after leaving the palace. That being said, she had not visited the workshop since the incident, and she hadn’t met the interns before.

「Good evening.」

Speaking of the devil, Aearis finally arrived. She had changed herself into Elle’s appearance using the item from back when she was in hiding at the workshop. With it being so late in the day, she seemed to have used her own transportation spell rather than walking.

「Hey ya. You’re over pretty late.」

「I didn’t finish my duties until a few moments ago…」

「Then ya haven’t taken a bath, have ya? The girls takin’ one right now, why don’t ya join ‘em?」

Seeing that Aearis was shaking a little, Hiroshi made the suggestion. After finishing rituals and cleansing outdoors, she must have flown over here before even taking heat. In contrast to her cheerful expression, there wasn’t much color in her face.

「Thank you.」

With an easy agreement, she took out her bathing set from her luggage, and handed the rest over to Layla, who had extended her hand timidly, seeing that the visitor was obviously someone with high status. Aearis hurried over to the bath. After watching her with a chuckle, Hiroshi turned to Layla and Lime.

「Layla-san. Could you take her stuff up to the room, if ya don’t mind. Ya should take a bath too, Lime.」

「Okay!」

「Yes, sir.」

With an energetic response, Lime charged for the bath without even taking a change of clothes. Like most people in Farlane, Lime loved bathes. In the slums, she had only taken a bath in her fantasy, but at the workshop, she could take a warm bath and eat strange and delicious meals everyday. For Layla and Fum, too, the workshop was a paradise. So much so that they were nervous if they really deserved to stay here.

「Since Elle’s lookin’ pretty chilly, I think some hot food’s in order.」

「Yep. Something to get the little one’s out of their comfort zones would be great.」

「Then the main course’s gonna be stew, I think. Should we just do terrona?」

「Bulfch wouldn’t be too bad, either.」

While Hiroshi brought up the national meal of Farlane, Tatsuya countered with another traditional dish. Bulfch was a dish where various toppings are stuff inside a dough made out of a sweet-potato-like starch that was harvested around this time of the year in the region. The dish was typical of Farlane, as it relied on the flavors of the ingredients and its length on the grill to deliver on flavor. It wasn’t too high in calories, but was nutritious and filling. Ideal, in a way.