Volume 2 Chapter 10.7 - Extra 1.3

Volume II Extra 1.3

「Anyhow, I’ll start by makin’ a sewin’ machine.」

「Sensei, how about some good sweets with a special cake?」

「I already had all that planned, rest assured.」

Hiroshi declared his intention to fulfill Mio’s request. It seemed likely that the presents would be discovered by the time he began making a sewing machine, but he had already given up on surprises. Although he did have a working space where he could hide it if he wanted to.

「Can I enter or what？」

「We’re done talkin’, go ahead.」

「Okay, coming in.」

Haruna came in with oranges, haphazardly piling them on the dining table. Fairly soon, the season for oranges would be over. Sure, they had a large storage, but it wasn’t unlimited.

「Oh yeah, while I’m at it, can I ask something?」

「What？」

「I know when Haruna’s birthday is, but what about Tatsuya and Mio？ And tell me about the other people too. By the way, I’m June 13th, and Hiroshi is July 27th.」

「Ah～, right. I’m October 13th, and Mio is September 8th.」

Haruna made a puzzled face as she heard that.

「Mm? What?」

「Well uhh, Mio-chan’s birthday is……」

「What about my birthday？」

「I think that might have been the day she got sent over here…」

「……Really？」

Haruna nodded as she checked the calendar with a weird face.

「I’m pretty sure we got sent here on the first of August, and then we met up with Tatsuya and the others September 10th. And then judging from those dehydration symptoms, maybe it was the second day since you were here？」

「Yup, sounds about right.」

「Then I guess that’s that.」

Nobody knew how to react to the strange information. Honestly, receiving something like that for a birthday present wasn’t all that pleasing. Incidentally, the reason for Mio herself completely forgetting about her birthday despite knowing the date when they had met up was not only because nothing felt very real, but also because she had not had the time to think about it.

「Plus Tatsuya-san did what he did with Barold on that particular day.」

「Right, that is true.」

Now the both of them would be receiving rather dicey presents for their birthdays. Still, Mio at least received the gift of being in healthy condition, so she was more fortunate than Tatsuya in that sense. Plus it was quite simple as to why Tatsuya had forgotten his own birthday- once you become a full-fledged member of society, you rarely thought about your age except for when you had to write it on documents.

「So between Hiroshi and these two, who came here within a thin margin of each other, who do you think is more pitiable?」

Makoto concluded. Furthermore, the Japanese had already explained the fact that there had been a strange time difference since they got sent here to the workers and Artiem. Therefore, no one bothered questioning any of this. After that, the other members’ birthdays were pretty much sorted out, the calendar and dates were set.

「Well anyhow, looks like we’re doin’ Makoto-san’s after Haruna-san’s.」

「I’m good with sake for my present, since I guess doujinshi are out of the question.」

「Well even if we can’t git our hands on some o’that, I can always give ya some paper ‘n ink if ya wanna draw.」

「……It’s somewhat tempting, but I already turned over a new leaf and all so I’ll pass. Plus I doubt I would even have much leisure to just stop and draw.」

Makoto truly did look conflicted at Hiroshi’s comment. Now, of course, the members of the workshop had no idea what was being discussed, since no one had bothered to explain it to them, so their faces looked a bit expectant. But it went without saying that not a single person intended to explain that to them.

「I’d like a dating sim.」

「Yeah, no, pretty sure that’s impossible mate.」

「Man, I really miss Shiori……」

「Ya know, I really do wonder sometimes how we’re gonna accomplish all this in half a year……」

After kicking down Mio’s own request, Hiroshi made a complicated expression when Tatsuya mentioned his deep desire to rejoin his wife. The other members also had rather pained expressions on their faces at how serious Tatsuya was.

「Well first we need to take care of what’s currently in front of us.」

「Right, first let’s actually celebrate Haruna-san’s birthday.」

Haruna had attempted to follow up in a shrill voice to change the mood, and Artiem had (with good intentions no doubt) shot it down. Makoto found herself truly wondering if well-endowed women had more nutrients going to their breasts rather than their brains.

「So you came all the way here to work?」

「Yup. Besides, if we don’t discuss it first then Elle’s gonna pout, right？」

「Well sure, but……」

Wulls Castle Workshop. Hiroshi had come all the way here with the processed evil ent material to set things up, and Mark couldn’t help but ask exasperatedly why he saw the need to do that. Mark had just happened to be free after an important matter had ended, and was unfortunately there when Hiroshi had suddenly arrived, asking to use the workshop. Plus Layotte was currently monitoring the situation in every part of the country and would not be returning until nightfall. The royalty in this country could go around and about with transportation magic to check on the nobles in their various provinces, hence why Layotte was on a strict schedule.

「So let me confirm just in case. It looks like you’re building something crazy again. What is it this time?」

「Well it ain’t a sewin’ machine, so obviously it’s clothing, mate.」

「Er, I get that, and I do have an idea of what you’re going to make, but……」

「Mark-O, ya can’t just take reality at face value.」

After Hiroshi brushed it off, Mark put a hand on his forehead. It indeed seemed that his predictions were correct, so now he felt like he had a chronic headache coming on.

Incidentally, there were also other lady attendants and castle craftsmen working around them, but because this was private and they knew of Hiroshi’s relationship with the royal family, they sort of pretended not to notice the overtly casual conversation between the two of them.

「But yeah, finally got enough string for fishin’ lines, string to hang smoked meat on, string to bind meat up with spices. I mean, ya can use spirit thread for different things, but yeah.」

「No, don’t use legendary material for something as petty as that……」

「But there’s a truckload of it. Gotta use some of it, mate.」

Mark was truly exasperated at this craftsman who always went too far, muttering something to that effect. Meanwhile, his female attendant secretly questioned whether Mark’s comment was truly representative of all skilled craftsmen. All craftspeople present simply let the conversation go through one ear and out the other, seeing as it would be unrefined of them to butt in. Hiroshi understood what they were saying, but completely ignored it as he began sending in an unbelievable amount of mana-filled thread into the collapsible sewing machine.

「Hiroshi-sama！」

「Oh, sup Elle.」

Finishing the placement of the weaving warp, he had spun the weft around the shuttle when Aearis came flying into the works. She was reminiscent of a puppy wagging its tail when seeing its master. Although, well, she was much more well-endowed than a puppy for her age.

「Hiroshi-sama, is it true that Haruna-sama’s birthday is approaching！？」

「Yup, sure is. So I’m making a lil’ present.」

「Is there anything that I might assist you with！？」

「Well……After I complete this, wouldja be willin’ to put a blessin’ on it？」

「Gladly！」

「How about I help out as well?」

Apparently, not just Aearis, but Alfemina herself desired to help. Hiroshi gave a wry smile and commented as he continued his work.

「Although for you, Alfemina-sama, I feel like the best present would be a background explanation, ya feel me?」

「Please do wait a bit longer. It is rather difficult to find the time to discuss all of that at once.」

「Well it’s true that Aranwen-sama and Alfemina-sama are busy, so I’m fine with waitin’.」

「Please do forgive me.」

Alfemina apologized, slipping back out of Aearis’ body. Alfemina often did descend into Aearis’ body whenever she had a small opportunity, but she could only stay 5 minutes at most, so she truly was busy. Still, it was truly bad for the heart to just see Aearis’ personality shift at the drop of a hat. Mark and his attendant had been long accustomed to this, but everyone else in the works had stopped their work, frozen in place.

「Leaving that aside, what are you making with that cloth?」

「Hm? Oh, I’m just plannin’ on cuttin’ out a suitable width ‘n makin’ a ribbon.」

Hiroshi nonchalantly replied, weaving a plain white fabric. Mark and his attendant were just stunned by the answer. Kneading a bottomless amount of mana into the fabric, using up a bunch of catalysts, adding various magic effects, and all for a simple ribbon? Not just Mark, anyone would feel faint after hearing that. Incidentally, Hiroshi had intended to have the pigment extracted from the magic beasts that Tatsuya was going to defeat, decorating Haruna’s ribbon with a blue and white checkered pattern to match her colors.

Generally you would first dye the thread for check patterns, but if something happened before Tatsuya’s team came up with the materials, there would not be enough time to re-weave the ribbon, plus Hiroshi also wanted to examine the difference between dying before and after the process. He figured it would be a good idea to weave a normal sized ribbon fabric not just for the occasion, but for a test as well.

Also, he didn’t mention it here, but in order to sew even one ribbon, you needed more than ten magical steel alloyed sewing needles. This was perfectly reasonable, since normal steel sewing needles could not pass through the fabric. Five throwaways would have been enough, but Hiroshi had prepared a lot more because it would have been a waste otherwise. The material in this case was the same wood waste that he had previously used for making the pole axe and heavy mace. Hiroshi had figured he would use them again, so he had prepared a suitable amount. He had also prepared several special cutting blades.

「By the way, Hiroshi-sama…」

「Hm？」

「The other day, I decided to pay a visit to a newly opened soba shop in Wulls！」

「Oh～. So the old man finally opened up shop, eh?」

Hiroshi nodded at Aearis’ report, clearly impressed. He had come to know the shopkeeper during the time he was operating the food stand. The man had once injured his feet at sea, forced to retire. Still, as a former man of the sea, he knew how to easily get his hands on seaweed, plus he had developed a fond interest in soba, so Hiroshi had decided to teach him the ropes, and the proper way to use chopsticks.

「So how was it？」

「It honestly wasn’t as good as where I first tried it, but it’s still one of the best places to get soba. Still, soy sauce is still a high value product, so I do sometimes wonder if it’s good for business.」

「It ain’t too hard to keep soy sauce ‘n miso in stock, believe it or not.」

「Really？」

The people of the royal palace could not hide their baffled expressions. Miso and soy sauce needed to ferment, which was why you needed to know the trick to zymosis. It was slightly difficult with Farlane’s average food processing skills. Only Azuma Workshop was able to produce large amounts, while everyone else was going through a trial and error process.

「By the way, where do you intend to increase production？」

「Elf Village. Seems like they have large amounts of soy beans stored up, so I figure I’ll teach a few o’them how to make soy sauce ‘n miso.」

「Elf？」

「See, Teres’ hometown is a crazy large farmin’ village. So I was thinkin’ of teachin’ ’em how to mass produce soybeans ‘n make miso ‘n soy sauce. Plus it seems they want soy sauce ‘n miso themselves anyway.」

「Really now.」

Aearis seemed somewhat happy to hear that. Now that she could easily get her hands on valuable goods and seasoning, Aearis was happy both as a Japanese food enthusiast and as a princess priestess in training.

「Agriculture……Elves do agricultural……」

「Miso……Elves make miso……」

Mark and his attendant seemed to have received quite the shock from the true lifestyle of the elves. Unlike Aearis, who was the least likeliest person to hold prejudice (for better or for worse), it seemed that these two had a very common misconception of elves. Still, it was understandable that they couldn’t quite connect the noble, superior image of elves with dirty farm labor and mysterious food pastes. The other people there had been only loosely listening, but by this point it was just too much to ignore. Their fantasies about elves had been completely shattered, reflected in their hushed conversation.

「Come to think of it, what happened in Teres-san’s hometown?」

「Well, lots of stuff happened, mate.」

As Aearis had requested, Hiroshi began to discuss what had transpired in Ortem. Mark looked like he was trying to overcome a headache and barely succeeding. Although the members of the royal palace understood that gawking at every little thing Hiroshi did was bad for his mental state, they found themselves powerless as they listened to Hiroshi’s account of what happened. Only Aearis bothered to comment.