Chapter 37: The smell of colour from the magic stone
“I want horses. About three of them. The mansion is located too far from the city and Diana was also, 『I don’t like walking. My legs feel sore』 and was throwing a tantrum one way or another. That way, Diana will be able to have a horse for herself too. So you see.” [Jirou]
“…….no matter what, that is too much, goshujin-sama.” [Diana]
The next day after finishing a total of 12 decanters in the drinking party, while everyone was riding in the carriage that was heading towards the mansion, I was trying to give it my all to convey my desire to own the horse to Hetty-san. I felt bad for Diana but, I decided to try making use of her, showing the other party that she absolutely wanted the horse. The reason being, the house of Solo’s backup was pretty much for the sake of Diana.
Although Diana frowned on hearing my somewhat exaggerated speech, there was no other ways that I could think of if I wanted to get three of them at the same time. This was the only way! Probably.
“Aaa, yes. Horse……horse is it. I comprehend. The we’ll prepare three horses for you. Urgh….” [Hetty]
I did it! My request was approved easily! I was pressing her for the answer while she is still in a hungover state so, could that be the cause of my victory!?
By the way, Rebecca-san was on such good terms with Hetty-san that they were having hangover at the same time. I could hear her murmuring, “I went over overboard and drank too much…….” every now and then.
“Thank you very much. It would be fine after the maintenance of the residence is completed. I’ll be counting on you. Hey, thank her too, Diana!” [Jirou]
“Since we’ll be getting them anyway, I prefer a white one.” [Diana]
“Marina, has never ridden a horse before, so I’m a little nervous if I am able to do it.” [Marina]
Requesting for something like a white one, isn’t she being selfish now!? Is that’s the case then I would like a black one! I would like to try naming one as Kokuoh-Go. 1
Although, we should be able to handle it somehow if we were to receive a first-hand lecture from Rebecca-san who has already owned a horse. If the worst comes to the worst, we could also employ those who have experience in managing the horses.
Upon reaching the mansion, the construction work today appeared to have already begun. Quite a number of workers could be seen busily working.
First of all, I ensured that the door to the basement was properly locked. A major cleaning was apparently done yesterday. Even though it didn’t seem like they have started anything large scale yet, they were carrying the diatomaceous soils for walls and quite huge looking lumbers to the garden so they were probably going to start painting the walls, extend the building and build the stable now.
Just watching all these made me look forward to the completion now.
While looking around the mansion, I suddenly recalled that I have planned to check out the attic once the workers come in.
There were dust all over so I didn’t really want to enter there by myself but, it should be fine once I leave the cleaning to the contractors. I immediately went over to Hetty-san so I could borrow several skilled workers.
The door to the attic was opened (by a group of young workers) and the dust-filled room was then invaded (by the group of young workers).
I understood it well that I should’ve done so from the start……..
At one glance, the items remained were a small chest, a black box and a cabinet. It was possible that the insides were bare but, I guess I’ll just inspect them in spite of the dust.
First, I’ll open the black box. 2/3 of the box appeared to be filled up with black dried-up nuts, each of them resembling an oversized acorn. They were probably something like emergency rations. When I was about to reach out my hand for the nuts for closer observation, one of the young workers said, “Ah, that’s a fire nut. It will ignite fire easily so please be careful when you touch it.”
What the heck do you mean by fire nut? How am I supposed to take it if I don’t touch it? Apparently, it would be fine if I were to pick them up using a fire tong. These nuts are a kind of portable fire starter that are popular among adventurers, but they are not something that are really out of the ordinary. However, considering that it has the ability to trigger fire as soon as one touches it using bare hands, it must be quite a high performance nut.
The contents of the cabinet were, only several pieces of cloth. White, blue, red, green, yellow……There were several dozens of different coloured fabrics inside. Since I didn’t have any plan to use these cloth, I just left them as is.
Lastly, I examined the chest.
These are not spirit stones but gems. As far as I knew, the spirit stones here are not as beautifully cut as the gems that are sold over-the-counter in the shops in Japan. The ones here look like slightly polished ores and the sizes are as big as a fist.
I didn’t understand it well but, I invoked ‘The Mirror of Truth’ on the blue gem in my hand. It would be good if they were actually something valuable.
【Type】
Magic Stone
【Name】
Heart of Blue
【Commentary】
The magic colour 『blue』 can be added to the subject with this magic stone.
【Magic Properties】
Reflection D
【Spirit Blessings】
None
【Owner】
Jirou Ayase
The name Heart of Blue are so commonly used!
Even so, this gem appeared to have reflective properties as well. It might be really convenient if I were to use it on my shield…..
Although, it was a little unfortunate that my name was already listed as the owner. If this had gone well, I would have the opportunity to know who the previous owner of this residence was.
In addition to the blue coloured gem, there were also other primary coloured gems like red and green mixed in as well. Metallic coloured ones like gold and silver as well as marble-like and transparent gems could be seen among them too.
I should examine them one by one at a later time in the future. Nevertheless, they proved to be quite good finds……… It would be a great idea to add them to my armours if there were any of them that possessed the properties to increase defence.
I retrieved the gems and returned downstairs to find Diana and Marina waiting there for me. Hetty-san and Rebecca-san appeared to have gone outside for a breath of fresh air. It must be tough getting a hangover……..Well, they did have a little bit too much to drink yesterday.
“Diana, do you know what this is? I found it upstairs but….” [Jirou]
I showed the Heart of Blue to Diana. It looked like a usual gem at the first glance but, seeing that Diana is a high elf, she might be able to appraise it from a different point of view……
“?…..Is this a….gem? It’s really pretty and colourful.” [Diana]
Apparently it looked just like a normal gem to her. Well, in fact, it wouldn’t look like anything else other than a normal gem to people usually.
Iya~ anyway, it’s troublesome, isn’t it? Having a highly in demand appraisal ability in this other world. From now on, I should first appraise every single gem that I come across before doing anything else.
After that, since we didn’t have anything else to do, we left the maintenance work to Hetty-san and went to Rebecca-san’s house.
………No, it might be bad idea to wrap my arms around the waist of someone’s daughter when we’re in front of the father.
But well…..horse riding itself fully provides one with dreams. If I were to ride in tandem with Marina, I could cling to her waist or grope her breasts as I like and if I were to ride with Diana, I could also wrap my arms around her waist or tousled her hair freely.
We have already ordered 3 horses but, there could be a possibility of this mindset embedded in their minds. A master will always cling to the slave from the back when they travel by horse. Should I change the order now? I think it might affect the efficiency of things in the future if I were to prioritize my personal desire instead though.
Just as I was walking around, thinking that it wouldn’t really matter, Diana suddenly appeared with a meek looking expression on her face.
“Goshujin-sama. The law of nature was reversed for an instant just now. There seem to be monsters appearing on the other side of the forest.” [Diana]
“Eh?” [Jirou]
“Considering the location, they will definitely be coming here. If you wish to fight back, you should get yourself ready for battle. If you wish to flee, we can escape to the mansion. There is a barrier surrounding that place so it’ll be safe.” [Diana]
“Eh! Eh?!” [Jirou]
“High Elf is amazing, isn’t it? You are able to detect if there are any monsters coming out. But you don’t need to be that worried about it. At any rate, just return to the house.” [Rebecca]
In contrast to Diana who grew anxious at the sign, Rebecca-san appeared undisturbed. Well, they have mentioned it before that Shello-san and Rebecca-san were the ones who have been eliminating the monsters around here so if Rebecca-san said it’s all right, then it should probably be fine.
Upon returning to the house, Shello-san who has already armed himself was on standby. Although, even when I said ‘armed’, he was just equipped with a Claymore. Protections such as armour or shield and the like were totally ‘factored out’, his attire remained the same as what he usually wore.
To put it plainly, he was just wielding a sword in his usual hunter’s clothing.
“Oh Jirou? The alarm went off a while ago.” [Shello]
“I’ll be fighting off the monsters now.” Shello-san said so in a carefree manner. Well, this was already a part and parcel of his life. It’s their livelihood.
By the way, what alarm was he talking about?
“Monsters appear when there are high mass of demon elements collecting at one place. I think you knew about that too, right? So we have a magic tool to measure the amount of demon elements gathering in the surrounding that will sound off if there are fluctuations in the mass of demon elements. That is the so-called ‘alarm’. It does have an official name I think…..though I forgot what it’s called. But anyway, it’s a really valuable item in its own way, you know? Even though we undertook the job to exterminate the monsters in the surrounding, we were granted with only one of them for our house.” [Shello]
That is quite a convenient tool. I wasn’t sure if the other world should be considered as high-tech or low-tech now.
“It’s almost the time when the two moons overlap one another. There will be more monsters springing out after this period. If Jirou wants to gain some fighting experience, this might be a good time for you to give it a try.” [Shello]
Monster and battle….. It did interest me yet it felt scary at the same time……… I have an impulse to give my weapon performance a try in an actual combat……..Though, I truly want to avoid experiencing a hard fight. Pressure-free! It’s important to feel at ease in a battle too! It’s the real motive of those under the pressure-free training to be peerless warriors too if they could!
“…..It’s almost time. Then I shall go off for a while.” [Shello]
Saying so, Shello-san made his way to the forest. Even with a huge sword over his shoulder, his posture remained relaxed to the very end. I couldn’t feel any kind of fighting spirit from the way he walked.
Rebecca-san on the other hand, went inside the house and returned shortly with a large sized bow and arrow. It didn’t seem likely for Shello-san to fail in defeating the opponents but, it might be just as an assurance—or something.
Shello-san stopped walking after about 100m. After a few minutes, the edge of one section of the forest at which Shello-san was glaring could be seen rustling—-and that fellow emerged from the thick foliage.
Rinkage’s Footnotes1. Kokuoh-Go (黒王号) literally “Black King” is a giant black stallion whom Roah rides on as Ken-oh from the manga/anime, “Fist of the North Star”.