Soap Part 2
Part 12
Why is that? I know it might sound stupid from me because I already told
that a number of times, but it is an option that we simply cannot allow
ourselves to take, because with that many people around on every floor (the
higher floors might have less people, but at this point in time this is purely
my speculation and not a confirmed information) there will always be the
danger that someone might see me either using magic or swinging Durandal
around, and we cannot afford to go to the higher floors where there would be
less of them too fast without proper preparations. Should we try doing that
after all and take the risk? Or should we stop and continue at our current pace
that is relatively safe and risk-free?
Putting that musings aside for the time being, we made a round around the
Veil Labyrinth's lower floors where I got my MP back after taking out a few
Kobolds and Green Caterpillars. Since I have my Bonus Skills that give me
more EXP for defeating enemies and lowers the amount of EXP required for
Level Ups, then maybe if I gain enough levels with the Mage Job, I will get
so much MP that what we are doing right now will no longer be necessary?
Well, I guess I will just have to wait and see, and remain patient until then.
Another thing that I sincerely hope will improve with time, would be my
speed of switching between sets of equipment whenever I reset my character
from a Durandal-focused build to a magic-focused one, because I have to do
it every single time whenever there might be people around in the Labyrinths.
All for the sake of keeping my abilities and OP sword a secret from others.
That being said, did my Bonus Skills list contained something like a Skill that
allowed you to keep like two sets of different items that could be switched
between at any time? Because I don't think it did, which is a kind of a shame,
because that would be very useful in our current situation, not to mention that
it would be pretty neat to swing Durandal at one moment only to change it to
wand and magic on the spot.
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「Ugh, if it'll always take so long to prepare, then I am afraid we will be
forced to only take baths once a week at best.」
「"Once per week"? What does that mean, master?」
「… It means once or twice every ten days.」
「Is that a big issue?」
「Not as much an issue as… you know what? Nevermind.」
That was a small conversation that happened between us when we went to the
Labyrinth so that I could recover my lost MP for the second time. Well,
instead of a conversation, I guess it would be mor accurate to say that it was
just me complaining while Roxanne listened to me without saying as much as
a word. As such, I am sure that even though she would never have said that
out loud, Roxanne is probably thinking that I must be some kind of unhinged
weirdo who uses incomprehensible words that no one besides me
understands. It's a good thing that she bought my story about me hailing from
a distant eastern country (which is not technically wrong, by the way, since
back in my old world, Japan was an eastern island nation), because I can
always explain it by saying that this is how the people of that land to the east,
whatever that land can actually be, talk during their everyday lives. Also, this
exchange of ours allowed me to discover an interesting tidbit of information
about this world: even though they have something akin to a calendar that
allows them to track down the progress of time needed to know things like
when will be the day of collecting taxes or when the first day of spring will
arrive, there seems to be no concept of a week here, which admittedly is
pretty weird, but ultimately I guess it should not hinder any of my plans for
living here all that much.
When we got back home and resumed the process of filling the bathtub, the
temperature of the entire room began to steadily rise, until at one point the
entire bathroom was basically turned into a sauna, that's how hot and steamy
it actually got, to the point where it was getting a wee bit difficult for me to
breathe. For the time being I asked Roxanne to wait outside of the bathroom
since I didn't want her to get affected by the heat, since just by staying in that
steaming hot room for a while I have become so drenched in sweat as if it
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was a scorching-hot summer day. I worked on filling the bathtub like that
until I almost ran out of MP again.
「Here you go, master. Have yourself a towel to wipe all of that sweat off.」
「Thank you, Roxanne. You're just too kind.」
When I left the room to avoid turning into a dried-up, shriveled mummy,
Roxanne was already waiting for me outside with a clean towel in tow. I
gratefully took it from her and used it to wipe the sweat off my face.
「What do you want to do now, master? Are we going to the Labyrinth one
more time?」
「Yeah, you got that right. We are heading to the Labyrinth alright.」
With the washcloth that she gave to me, I wiped the sweat off my face and
neck. I probably have some of it on my back as well, but there's no time for
me to be worrying about something so trivial when we need to go to the
Labyrinth again. Come to think of it, how long have we been repeating the
cycle of me filling the jugs with water, heating them up, filling the bathtub
until I run out of MP and going back and forth between our house and the
Labyrinth to replenish it? Was it an hour, two hours or even longer? I don't
really know, but I do know one thing: if I am willing to go to such lengths
just to have a bath with Roxanne, then it has to mean that I am a huge pervert.
But you know what? I am perfectly fine with that. If having a willpower of
steel and determination to go through with anything that is necessary to
complete the goal you have set out to do makes you a pervert, then I will
gladly become one.
After going back from the MP recovering trip I continued the work of filling
the bathtub, until finally it looked like there was enough water in it for us to
have a nice, long soak. It took way more time than I would have liked it to
take, but hopefully the end result is going to be well worth it. All that is left
to do now is to prepare a few spare jugs with hot water, just in case that the
current amount of it was not enough after all.
「Alright… I think… I think it is finally ready.」
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I declared with a triumphantly panting voice after walking out of the
bathroom. Right now, the bathtub is filled with hot water in about ninety
percent, give or take, resulting in the entire room being filled with piping-hot
steam. It's a shame that this room does not have a window or any kind of
ventilation shaft in it, because that way we might end up getting light-headed
in no time.
「Thank you for your hard work, master. You look tired, are you sure you
don't want to rest for a bit?」
「Thank you for worrying about me, but I'm fine. Since we still have some
time, let's use it to go to the Labyrinth one more time and then have dinner
once we return. And once we are done eating, then we can have a bath
together.」
I got another washcloth from Roxanne and wiped the sweat off of me once
more. It only occurred to me in the middle of it that I could have not done
that since I am going to enter the bath in a few moments. But first we have to
eat dinner. Only then after we finish eating we will enter the bath. The
bathtub should be able to keep the water heated for some time, so we do not
have to worry about arriving in the bathroom after dinner only to find an icecold bath.
「Uhm… Are you sure it is okay for me to take a bath together with you,
master?」
「Of course it is okay for you to do so, Roxanne. After all, I have ordered this
bathtub to be made the way it is made with exactly that intention in mind.」
Part 13
However, there is one major downside to the process of making such Rabbit
Fur Coats. In order to make just a single coat from Rabbit's Fur, you are
going to need quite a large number of them.
「Hmmm? I see, I see.」
(Who would have guessed that such an underwhelming item can be used for
something s useful?)
I thought to myself while dangling the newly-obtained piece of Rabbit's Fur
before my eyes.
「I hope it goes without saying, but having a seamstress create such a coat is
not a small and cheap undertaking either. Since the seamstresses have to sew
together many pieces of Rabbit Fur, some of them pretty small and some of
them the exact opposite, the process itself is always taking an exceptionally
large amount of time and effort from them, so they always charge a lot of
money for it and that eats away most of the profit they are making from them,
and that is also why they are not commonly seen on the streets, even in places
such as the Imperial City.」
「And the shops compete with one another to see which one will be able to
create the best coats in line with the current fashion trends?」
「Trends?」
「No, it's nothing.」
Putting the matter of the fashion trends of this world aside, there is no way in
hell that various clothing stores would not compete with one another to see
which one can deliver a better product that will net them the most money
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possible. It does not matter whether it's my old world or this new, game-like
one, because of there is one thing that always remains unchanged, it is how
fierce the competition in the women's fashion department can get without
any rhyme or reason to it whatsoever. To that end, I wonder if this world has
its own equivalent of that one organization form earth that would try to
protect the Slow Rabbits from being hunted for their fur? I can totally see that
happening, but… no, on second thought, let's not go there.
「Do you want a Rabbit Fur Coat, Roxanne?」
「No, not really.」
Fuck. There goes my dream of seeing Roxanne is a soft, fluffy coat. Ad she
ruthlessly denied it without a second of hesitation.
「All of the members of my race, the Wolfkin, have a naturally high resistance
to the cold, so there is no need for me to be wearing a coat to keep myself
warm.」
「So you are saying that your kind is strong against the cold, huh?」
「Yes, that is the quality that all of the members of the Wolfkin race are born
with.」
So, this must be that specific race's special racial ability. In other words, even
if it will be cold outside, Roxanne should be fine as long as she will have
some light clothing on her. Also, now that I actually gave it some thought, it
would definitely look odd and out of place if she who is my slave were to
wore something that is almost exclusively reserved for high-class ladies.
Imagining it right now, light clothing might be what really suits her. I think
that the ones that would look especially good on her would be the ones that
would expose a lot of skin and properly showed off how curvaceous her chest
is.
「Well, in that case, I have a proposition for you, Roxanne.」
「Of course, master. What is it?」
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「Since you are so resistant to cold, then how about I hug you to keep myself
warm at night from now on?」
「Ah… yes, most certainly. If I can be of use to you that way, master, then I
will be more than happy to do it.」
She sounded a little bashful, but one glance at her wagging tail was enough to
tell me what were her true feeling about this.
「Great, it's decided. Now then, since we are already here, why don't we go
hunt the Slow Rabbits and try to get as many Rabbit Furs as we possibly can?
This time, feel free to guide us to the place that has as many of them as
possible, okay?」
Since Roxanne already told me that there seems to be not as many people as
usual here, I made sure to properly use that occasion to hunt the Slow Rabbits
on the seventh floor of Quratar's Labyrinth until late in the morning. Since I
took a map of this floor with me we do not have to worry about exploring this
floor and we can divert all of our attention into hunting monsters by asking
Roxanne to take me to the place where there was a lot of them and there was
not many people nearby. Admittedly, despite its undeniable repetitiveness, it
was an activity that I have enjoyed more than I was expecting to be. Maybe it
was because now that I knew that there is nothing rushing me to go to the
next floor I could simply turn off my thinking and focus entirely on swinging
my sword and shooting magic around. Hunt Slow rabbits and collect their
fur, go to the next place where they are present, and then rinse & repeat, that
was a pattern that we were currently following. Thanks to that, we have
managed to aquire more than an entire Item Box section's worth of Rabbit
Furs and my levels have also risen accordingly, so I guess this particular
Labyrinth bout was a success through and through.
Having completed all of the objectives we have set for ourselves for now we
returned home and made breakfest, after which we made our way to the
Imperial City.
Just a short walk away from the Imperial City's Adventurer's Guild we
happened upon a clothing store that looked promising. It was a solemnlooking one with large, expensive-looking double doors located at the first
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floor of a magnificently-decorated building. The door itself were constructed
in such a way that they could be both pushed forward and pulled backwards,
and from what I was able to see when people were going in and out of there,
the inside of the store itself was also quite large, because the ceiling looked
like it was close to three meters, and the polished stone floor made the entire
establishment look more bright and welcoming than your typical shop with
"normal" floors. No matter how you look at it, this is a store that sells only
luxury goods, and it is exactly because of that that I hesitated go inside. So
far we didn't have any incidents where we were kicked from the store or
denied entry based on our looks alone, but this is not Veil or Quratar, this is
the Imperial City we are talking about here.
「Master, there seems to be a poster placed here. It says that this shop is
buying the goods that people are willing to sell.」
As we stopped some distance away from the entrance, Roxanne found a
poster placed on one of the walls. If this is really about buying things that
people want to sell, then depending on how much they would be willing to
pay for our Rabbit Furs, it might very well turn out that we have already hit
the jackpot.
「Really? What exactly is written there?」
「Uhm, let's see… "All the customers wanting to sell Rabbit Furs, lease enter
the shop through the side entrance. Do be advised that the shop will only buy
the furs in batches of one hundred units". That is what it says.」
Well I'll be damned, talk about uping the scales here! To me it looks like
they only want to do business with serious traders, because that quantity
barrier will instantly shoot down any small-time buyers (read: people like us)
who only want to sell a few of the Rabbit Furs for some quick money. *Sigh*
but you know, a part of me kinda expected something like that, except a little
less blatant and upfront like that. Just a moment ago I remarked that this is a
store that looks like it sells luxury goods, right? So maybe that is why the
owner of this store or whoever was responsible for putting that poster up
assumed that no run-of-the-mill Explorer or Adventurer would even think of
coming here? And also: seriously, you only accept one hundred units of fur
and more? That is way more than we have on us at the current moment, so
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there is no point in even walking into that store now. Even if we filled the
entire Item Box with just Rabbit Furs and nothing more, we would still have
to carry an number of them in our backpacks, denying ourselves the
possibility of getting any other items, and that would be too
counterproductive.
Part 14
「Unfortunately we do not have a hundred of them, so we will have to collect
more and come back to sell them later. In the meantime, why don't we go for
a little stroll around the shopping district before we will go back home?」
「Alright. Where do you want to go?」
「Let's go check what is over there and see where the road is going to take us
from there.」
We could have backtracked to the Adventurer's Guild and see what other
things the main street had to offer, but my gut feeling was telling me that it
might be more beneficial for us to go and explore the places that were off the
beaten path this time. Who knows, maybe we will find something nice in
there? At times like these, it's better to just trust your own curiosity and go
with the current and see where it will end up taking you.
Even though we have entered a side street, it was still filled with a number of
small shops. As expected of an Imperial City. This place really is on an
entirely different level in comparison to other cities.
「What's that over there?」
「What are you looking at, master?」
「That store over there, the one with all the weird… mushrooms… and plants
and all… is this an ingredients store? Or perhaps a food store?」
The store that I was talking about had a bunch of mushrooms and other
weird-looking plants on its display. And also fish skeletons and jars with
liquids of various colors and densities.
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「Maybe this is a drugstore? Or perhaps a pharmacy that also sells items and
potion ingredients?」
「No. It doesn't seem to be the case here. Look.」
Looking into the back of the shop from the entrance, there were also dried
lizards and frogs, and even a bat hanging upside down. Overall, I say it was
pretty disgusting.
We had no need for any of those obviously dubious items, and honestly, I
don't know if I would get my hands on them even if somebody paid me for it,
so we just walked past it without ever looking back. It would be a whole
different talk if that place was also selling potions or medicinal slaves, but no,
it does not look like that in the slightest. The only purpose all of those
creepy-looking things might have is to be used in some definitely sketchy
rituals, and if that's the only thing this place has to offer, then it is in our best
interest to stay as far away from it as possible.
Well, even in modern Japan, there were still people who would be willing to
buy such occultic shit, so the demand for such things must be even bigger in
this medieval world, but I do not count myself among the ranks of the freaks
who enjoy things like that. Even if that store was selling something as simple
as a cold medicine, I still don't know if I would be willing to drink it out of
fear that something poisonous might have been added there without my
knowledge.
Continuing our stroll, we passed by a certain shop where I instinctively
stopped dead in my tracks when the aroma that was wafting from it reached
my nose. Hmm, this smell, I feel like I have smelled it before, but where
exactly… no… no way… could this be… no, Michio, keep it together. You
don't know if that assumption of yours if on point or not, so let's start by
confirming it first.
「Huh? What is this place? A jar store?」
I tried my best to hide my expectations and racing heart under the guise of
genuine surprise when I threw that question into the air.
「I think it is probably a store that sells seasonings.」
From the looks alone it was not at all obvious that this store, located a fair
distance away from that previous, sketchy-looking one might have been the
one that sells seasonings, and I certainly would not have been able to tell
without having a closer look at it first, however, the smell of some of the
jarred liquids has definitely reminded me of Japan! As weird as that may
sound.
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「Welcome. We are selling various fish sauces in this shop.」
The old woman greeted us and explained what was the purpose of her shop
without us even asking, meaning that she must have been listening to the
conversation between me and Roxanne.
「Fish sauce, huh?」
No wonder that it reminded me of home then. This might just turn into a
discovery of the day!
「Does that mean you also sell Shoyu (TL Note: the most basic of the basic
types of Japanese soy sauces that uses wheat as its main ingredient)
here?」
「Shoyu? I am afraid I have no idea what you are talking about, boy. What is
this "Shoyu" that you speak of?」
「No, it's nothing, nevermind. Just tell me what is your most popular sauce.」
When I spoke the word "shoyu", I noticed that it was not translated into
Brahim, so perhaps soy sauces like I know them from back home do not exist
here? That would have been quite a shame, because I was really hoping that I
could someday get my hands on it here. What a bummer. But I cannot lose
hope just yet. So what if they don't have shoyu or anything that would even
remotely resemble it? Maybe they have other fish sauces in stock that are
going to be exactly he same or similar to the ones that I am familiar with?
「Hmm. You said to give you our most popular sauce, but truth to be told, all
of the products we are selling here are pretty popular with the residents of the
capital.」
Oh for crying out loud! You see this, people?! That is exactly why in the
modern times we have this convenient little thing called sales rankings!
Thanks to them, it does not matter if all of the products offered by the store
sell "good", because the rankings will always tell you which ones of these
"good" products will sell better than others and form a nice hierarchy from
the least selling "good" products to the most selling "good" products. That
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way, you won't ever get scammed into buying "good" products that will end
up only being subpar at best and costing way more than you can actually
afford. Popularity, is not the only quality that is important in the business, but
I can see that people living in these times have yet to realize that simple fact.
Unfortunately that is something that I cannot say to a newly-met shopkeeper,
so I have no choice but to keep silent about it, and the only thing I can reply
to her with is…
「Is that so?」
「If you still insist on it, why not try this one then?」
The old lady poured some of the sauce on a shallow plate and handed it over
to me, and I scooped a little drop of it with my finger in order to closely
inspect it before trying it.
「*Sniff Sniff*… !!!!!!」
It has an incredibly strong, unpleasant smell that makes me sick in a second I
smelled it. How about the taste then?
「. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . *lick*. . . ugh . . . my god…」
Not only it smelled so bad that you felt as if instead of going through your
nose it was sticking onto it instead, but it is also incredibly bitter and spicy.
What is this shit even? Rotten natto or funazushi?! (TL Note: Natto: a dish
of fermented soybeans with a very pungent flavor and gluey texture that
is eaten chiefly in Japan and usually served over rice. Natto is prepared
by fermenting steamed or boiled soybeans with a bacteria,
especially Bacillus subtilis natto. Funazushi: A form of sushi made with
carp packed in salt and rice and aged for several years.) In my honest
opinion, this can hardly be called a sauce, or even food! Just look at
Roxanne! She has not even tried it and she is already making faces as if
having to smell it was some kind of torture to her! Not surprising, since her
nose is much more sensitive than mine. It's okay, Roxanne, you don't have to
push yourself to do it, its enough that I had to go through it. I don't want to
see you suffer anymore!
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「Don't you have anything a little bit more… normal in stock? Because this
thing right here is a little…」
「Hee hee hee. It seems that it was an impossible combination after all, just as
I expected.」
Part 15
Just as you expected? So what, you want to tell me that this strange
concoction was nothing more than you playing pranks on us?! The old lady
did not respond at all, and instead passed another plate onto me.
「This sauce right here is truly our most popular product. Try it and tell me
what you think.」
This time the smell of the sauce I was given was also strong, but thankfully
not quite as strong as that previous abomination. Or maybe that's just part of
the old lady's strategy whenever new customers come around: First she gives
them that awful sauce in order to paralyze their sense of taste so that
everything she presents them afterwards would be considered as passable.
Because if that somehow turned to be true, then I have to praise her for how
shrewd and cunning she actually is.
I dipped my index finger int the small plate once more and then licked it with
reservation. Maybe it was because she saw that I wasn't making any funny or
pained faces, but Roxanne soon followed in my footsteps. That was already a
big improvement from how she was not even able to taste the first sauce at all
because she was that repulsed by its small alone.
When I licked it, it reminded me of a Chinese soy sauce with how sweet and
spicy and slightly salty its flavor was.
「And, how is it?」
「I think it tastes good, and it does not have the same unpleasant smell like
before.」
I asked Roxanne for her opinion, and she gave me an affirmative nod.
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She was definitely right. With this sauce, I didn't have that feeling from the
first as if the smell was sticking onto my nose without wanting to let go,
which still clings onto me, burning my nostrils like the stench from badly
prepared Kusaya (TL Note: a Japanese style
salted, dried and fermented fish. It has a pungent smell and is similar to
the fermented Swedish herring Surströmming) And if it felt that bad for
me, then I can only imagine how hard it was for Roxanne.
「Without a doubt, that is the most popular product offered by this shop. You
won't regret buying it, of that I am absolutely sure.」
There are many things that I would like to say to her right now, but once
again, it will be better to bite my tongue and just roll along with whatever she
is saying. If I started shit-talking her now, then there is a possibility that she
might increase the price of whatever sauce I would be willing to buy, and I
do not want that. For my own benefit, I have to keep up appearances.
「So, how much for the sauce?」
「The small jar is 300 Nars. The larger one is 500 Nars.」
「Okay, then I will take one large jar, please.」
Considering what these sauces are, I guess those would be pretty fair prices.
But my hunch about this sauce is correct, then it should be the best possible
seasoning for both meat and vegetables we could have asked for. And since
the large jar of the sauce was actually twice the size of the small jar, having
to pay two hundred Nars in exchange for almost twice as much product
received almost felt like a steal to me. One large jar of Chinease Soy Sauce
(Provisional Name) it is then!
「Thank you for your patronage, young man. Do come back in the near
future.」
The old lady's Job was a Villager, so my thirty percent discount did not
work, meaning that I will be forced to buy the large jar of sauce for its
original price. I placed the sauce jar in Roxanne's backpack, and then we
were on our way out from the fish sauce shop and walked back towards the
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Adventurer's Guild.
While we were on our way back there, we walked past something that looked
like a small park of sorts. It was filled with various food stalls that looked
like the ones that were selling fast foods back in Japan during summer
festivals and such. There was a shop that sold grilled meat skewers, a shop
that sold something that looked like pizza where ingredients were placed on
raw dough and then cooked over flame in a special kiln, sandwich-selling
shop that was selling… well, sandwiches made by cramming all sorts of
things between two slices of bread and many, many more.
「Why are there so many stalIs? Is there some kind of event going on right
now?」
「No, I do not think so. Even if it is, it's nothing that I have heard about.」
Roxanne is probably right. If it was an event or a festival, it would gather
more people around than the scarce few that were present in the small park
around the stalls. But if it is not an event or a festival, then what is it, exactly?
Maybe some kinds street food sale held on a daily basis? There was even one
stall where the only people who gathered there were children. The stall's
clerk was selling some spherical food of brown color. Is this Takoyaki? Or
maybe some kind of candy?
「Do you know what you are selling over there?」
「No, I have no idea. But… *Sniff Sniff* but it is something that smells really
sweet.」
「I see. Would you like to try it, whatever it is?」
「If… if it is not too much trouble…」
Oh my god, how can she be so cute when she is getting all bashful like that?
「Okay, then I will go and buy it. Wait here, it will only take a minute.」
Something sweet is just what I need right now in order to cleanse my palette
after that disasterously bitter sauce that granny gave us.
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Leaving Roxanne's side, I walked to the food stall that was selling that sweet
thing. As soon as I approached, a sweet, pleasant aroma began tickling every
inch of my nose. Yes, this is definitely how a candy smell. I never even
realized how much I was missing them until just now. When it comes to the
brown Japanese sweets, rice crackers are what typically comes to mind first. I
wonder if this is going to be something similar to them, or perhaps something
entirely different?
「How much for the candy?」
「Ten Nars per piece.」
「Then I will take two please.」
When I placed my order, the stall owner immediately got to work. He took
the pot with the sweet-smelling liquid and poured it into a smaller pot and
began to stir it, at first slowly, only to gradually increase the speed and
intensity of the stirring motions. The way it looks like, he is definitely not
making rice crackers. Maybe this is going to be something more along the
lines of the castella mixture?
Eventually, after all the stirring he did the liquid has become very thick, to
the point where it began to pile up in the middle of the pot like a small gooey
mountain, causing the kids who watched the entire process of candy-making
from the sidelines to erupt with loud cheers as if they were watching some
kind of magic show. I have to say, that sight even managed to get a small
smile out of me.
When the thing looked like it was ready, the stall owner instantly removed it
from the pot, wrapped it around in some provisional wrapping made from
leaves and passed it over to me. I handed the money to the stall owner and
received my finished order.
Same as with the granny from that sauce shop before, this guy had the Job of
a Villager, so my thirty percent discount did not work.
With the two rather big pieces of candy in tow, I turned around and prepared
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to walk back to Roxanne, but I stopped and glanced at the children who were
looking at the candy in my hands ever since that guy began making it.
「You want one?」
I asked them while eyeing the candy in my left hand.
「U-Umu…」
The girl who stood the closest to me nodded shyly. I do not know these kids,
and there is literally nothing compelling me to do anything for them, and
yet…
「Here, you can have this.」
I handed my candy over to the girl and the other kids.
「Really?! Wow, thank you, mister!」
「Don't mention it.」
There is something truly magical in seeing little kids enjoying simple things
like that. After observing the kids as they went away while happily munching
on the candy, I also left the stall and finally went back to Roxanne.
「Are you sure about that, master?」
Part 16
「Yeah. Besides, I already know how they taste anyway. Here is your share,
Roxanne.」
That's right. I couldn't tell by the smell alone, but now that I see the finished
product I am one hundred percent sure what this candy is.
It is honeycomb toffee. I will probably sound like a piece of useless trivia at
the current moment, but I once tried making it as a science experiment when I
was still in junior high school, only to somehow end up with soap instead.
Even if it was not all that long ago I cannot say that I clearly remember the
taste of the one that I have made, but I am pretty sure that I can say with all
confidence that it would not be the same as, because all I can remember is
thinking that I thought that it did not turn out all that well. And the one I just
bought? I only managed to scoop a little bit of it for myself, but it was
enough to make the bitter feeling in the back of my throat and nose to go
away. That is how I expected a real honeycomb toffee to taste. And as I look
at Roxanne who's happily wolfing down her own piece of it, I get all but
assured that buying it was the right decision.
「Is it good?」
「Yes! So sweet and tasty, it practically melts in my mouth!」
Roxanne nodded vigorously. Good. That is all I needed to hear. Also, I have
to admit that while this honeycomb toffee does not have a start to its
equivalent from my world, it definitely has its own kind of unique taste and
charm to it. However…
Making Roxanne happy with this small gift was definitely worth spending the
money on it, but if I am correct in thinking what I am thinking right now,
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then it might be possible for this little stroll to yield a rather unexpected
result. Now, let's see whether I am right or wrong here…
While we waited for Roxanne to finish eating her candy, I turned to the side
and glanced towards the stall of the candy-maker while pretending to be
looking in an entirely separate direction. What am I trying to do? Well, trying
to see what that guy used to make the honeycomb toffee mixture of course.
In modern-day Japan, honeycomb toffee is usually made when you melt
baking soda in liquid sardine and then heat the whole thing up, causing the
carbonic acid to be emitted and then swell up. Even though the methods
might differ due to the obvious disparity in technological advancement, I
think the candy made on that stall also uses that very same principle, because
the liquid mixture rapidly swelled the moment the heat was applied to the pot
it was poured into.
As I continued to observe the stall owner, he turned his back to me at one
point and opened the box he was keeping at the back of the stall, most likely
the one where he was keeping the ingredients needed to make the candy:
water and two kinds of powders he kept in separate pouches. He then poured
the water into a bowl and added a solid bits from both pouches of powders,
most likely in order to make the base liquid that would serve as the base of
the honeycomb toffee.
This might be the opportunity that I was waiting for, so I am not going to
miss that chance!
I looked at the box and concentrated my sight on the contents of what was
inside it, and then used Identify. What I saw there were essentially two
ingredients: Kobold Sucrose and Shell Powder. Unfortunately, I was not able
to properly identify what that Shell Powder was made of, but my guess is that
is a mixture that uses sugar as its main ingredient. Sucrose is a type of sugar
as well, but mixing two types of sugar with one another would not be nearly
enough to make honeycomb toffee. The main ingredient needed here would
be something that would make the entire mixture rapidly heat up and expand.
When that shell powder was heated, it definitely must have released carbon
dioxide, so I think it is fairly safe to assume that the Shell Powder is most
probably baking soda, or to put it into more technical terms, sodium
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hydrogen carbonate (TL Note: Or to simplify it, sodium bicarbonate).
That being said, these are all my assumptions not based on any concrete
evidence, so I might as well be completely off the mark with everything I
have said just now. The only thing that I know for sure is that the guy has
three main ingredients that he uses: water, Kobold Sucrose and Shell Powder,
but that is about it when it comes to the things that I can be absolutely sure
of. I could always try asking the stall owner about it directly, but since the
method of making it might be his trade secret I highly doubt that he would be
willing to share anything other than the names of the raw ingredients with
me, and even that I am not so sure about. But thankfully, that is exactly what
I have Identify for. With it around, I do not have to worry about silly little
things like people trying to keep the names of ingredients from me. Oh, but
please, do not misunderstand, okay? It's not like I need to know all those
things because I want to start making my own honeycomb toffee (which is
fairly easy: you just have to mix sugar and baking soda with flour, and all of
those ingredients or their substitutes should be available here). No, what I
want to make is something else entirely, but let's leave the talk about it for a
bit later, okay?
「I'm done eating, master.」
「I see. And? Was the candy to your liking?」
「Yes, it was absolutely delicious! Thank you for the treat」
「That's great to hear. Come now, let's go.」
After a short distance, I asked Roxanne in a whisper:
「Say, Roxanne… how can we obtain Kobold Sucrose? Is it another drop
from Kobolds?」
「Yes. I actually heard that this item can be obtained form the advanced form
of Kobolds that can be found on the higher floors in the Labyrinth.」
Advanced form of Kobolds? Does she mean Kobold Kampfer, or perhaps
there will be some other variation of it once we will reach even higher floors
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of in the Labyrinths in Veil and Quratar? I do not know, but that would make
sense since regular Kobolds and Kobold Kampfers we have been fighting up
until now were leaving only Kobold Salt behind them, and no matter how
much of them we hunted, they never dropped anything else, even when the
Cook Job equipped, which made me think that its Rare Ingredients Drop Rate
Up Skill might actually be useless.
「Do you know what a Shell Powder is?」
「It's a fire extinguishing agent. Everybody knows that.」
「Fire extinguishing agent?」
「You… you didn't know about that, master?」
「Back in my homeland we were using very different things as fire
extinguishers, so this is my first time hearing that Shell Powder can be used
for that purpose as well. To tell you the truth, this is my very first time
happening Upon Shell Powder at all.」
More like I didn't know about it at all and just pulled out that excuse straight
out of my ass just now, but it seems to have worked well enough, because
Roxanne did not look like she wanted to question my words at all. So now
would be a good time to get some more information about Shell Powder and
its properties, so…
「Can you tell me more about Shell Powder and how exactly it can be used?」
「Of course. Shell Powder itself is actually an item dropped by the enemies
called Clam Shells. In and out of itself it is not strong enough to negate or
counteract the effects of Fire Magic, but when you apply it to a fire that
already exist, it will quickly extinguish it.」
「And what about totally nullifying the effects of Fire Magic? Is there an item
that can do that?」
「Yes, I was just about to get to that. If you want to completely negate the
effects of Fire Magic, then you would have to use Scallop Extract, Scallop
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Shell's Drop Item, but one dose of Scallop Extract can only negate one Fire
Magic spell at a time, so if you wanted to negate Fire Magic continuously,
you would have to carry multiple Scallop Extracts with you.」
(Hmm, in that case it looks like Shell Powder is something different from the
baking soda that I know about.)
Part 17
Because there is no way in hell that an ordinary baking soda would have any
magic-stopping properties.
「Would it be possible for the Shell Powder found in Wheat Flour to be mixed
and then heated in order to be used for cleaning purposes?」
「You want to try using Shell Powder in such a way?」
「That's right, if that would be possible, that is. Can it be done?」
「I have never heard of anyone using Shell Powder for cleaning purposes, so I
honestly do not know.」
Damn, so is this something different after all?
「What about Vinegar then? Can that be used for cleaning instead?」
「I have never heard anyone mentioning something like that either.」
I was expecting such an answer from her, but I wanted to ask that question
nonetheless, just so that I could e absolutely sure that I have thoroughly
exhausted all of my options. For that matter, I wasn't even sure if this world
had vinegar in it, but since Roxanne did not react in any strange way when
she heard that word and it got translated into Brahim properly then they must
have it. This is good news, because the only alternative to asking about it
would be to walk round the shops that might be selling it and try every
vinegar-like product that I could get my hands on, and since vinegar tastes
just awful, this is not a prospect that I would be happy about.
In any case, it looks like this world has vinegar and baking soda in it, but at
the same time it does not look like the people in this world know that both of
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those things can actually be used in getting rid of all kinds of stains on all
kinds of surfaces and in removing dirt in general. This is a bit problematic,
but it is not any kind of a major setback for what I want to try out, and as
long as I show Roxanne that she can clean using those two ingredients, I do
not really care about other people still being kept in the dark about it.
Our next stop was the general store where I asked the female clerk behind the
counter if they were selling Shell Powder, and after getting an affirmative
answer from her I also bought an additional two cooking pots (it never hurts
to have too many of them in case one of them ends up getting damaged or
destroyed, and even if it does not, having more spares around is always a
good thing) and a bunch of Kochi fruits. Since I bought more than one
product and the owner of the store had the Merchant Job, this time I was able
to properly utilize my thirty percent discount, saving a nice bit of money that
would otherwise go to waste. When that bit of additional shopping was done
we went back to the Adventurer's Guild where we warped back home.
Now, you are probably wondering what I am I going to be making with all
those things that I just bought, huh? Well fear not, because I can finally give
you the answer you wanted to hear! As I mentioned before, the purpose of
that shopping was not so that I could make honeycomb toffee better than the
one I made as the science experiment back in junior high. I want to make
something a little bit more practical. Using all of the ingredients that I have
gathered… I want to have a shot at making soap. That's right, your eyes are
not deceiving you, you read that correctly. I want to make a legitimate soap
that we could use to clean ourselves up properly whenever we will be taking
a bath.
Truth to be told, I would be much more confident in this whole endeavor if I
had access to some nice rice bran, but I should be able to make do with what
I already have here with me: a mashed Koichi fruit, which should act as a
nice soap berry substitute, since it's vegetable oil contains fatty acids, just
like rice bran oil.
The ingredients I am going to use to make soap are as follows:
1. Mashed Koichi Fruit
2. Shell Powder
When combined, the fatty acids (?) from the Koichi Fruit's vegetable oil (?)
and sodium bicarbonate from Shell Powder's baking soda (?) should create
fatty acids sodium salt, or in other words, your regular, plain old soap.
As for the procedure of creating it, I remember it quite well, even though the
memory associated with it is a rather painful one, much like the most of the
memories of my school life. That day, as per the usual I was left with no
option but to make my science experiment together with the teacher, since all
the other kids in the have already made groups of their own, and even if they
didn't do that, I am positive that every last one of the classmates from my
group would either not talk to me and assign me any tasks at all, or they
would do everything in their power to make me feel miserable and
unwelcome. And what's that? What about making groups in accordance with
the numbers from the attendance list? From the reasons stated above, this
would not have worked as well. I hate to remind myself of this, but I was
mistreated or ignored by pretty much everyone around me. So yeah, there
you have it.
In any case, if you have baking soda, you can make soap. Everything rides on
that particular assumption here. Ideally, I really would have like to have some
bona fide rice bran and pure vegetable oil in order to ensure that the chances
of this little experiment succeeding would be as high as possible, but you
know, beggars can't be choosers, so I will just have to do my best with what I
have been given, and if it ends up not succeeding, there's no point in beatig
myself up over it since that will be my first attempt at making something
from a truly modern world in the one where technology is pretty much
nonexistent. Later, when I will have some free time on my hands, I might just
go t the Imperial City and have a look across various shops to see if they will
have a rice bran, but for now I won't worry myself with it anymore and focus
on the tsk at hand.
Immediately after returning back home, I headed straight to the kitchen with
all of the ingredients in tow. I prepared about half the pot worth of water and
proceeded to bring it to the boiling point. If all goes well, then I might as well
start using this pot and a separate jar I bough exclusively for the purposes of
storing soap in it. Next, I grounded the Shell Powder and added it into the
water which was already boiling.
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「Ooooh, it's frothing! It's beginning to froth!」
The bubbles started forming on the surface of the water and Shell Powder
mixture. So I was right, this is baking soda after all! In the meantime, I was
carefully stirring the mashed Koichi Fruit in a separate container. If this will
be anything like the rice bran, I will have to add in a crapton of it in order for
the whole thing to succeed. I also do not remember the exact amount of the
bran that had to be added, so I will have to make sure to stop adding it
whenever I will deep the amount to be right. I just hope that I won't end up
adding either too much or too little of it, ruining the entire thing as a result.
Next thing I had to do was to mix both the mashed fruit and the water with
Shell Powder together, and when I did that, it formed a brown, muddy liquid
in the pot, and it kept on getting thicker and thicker, to the point where the
simple act of stirring it all in the pot was beginning to seriously tire my
hands. By the looks of it, it seems to have worked better than I have initially
expected it to work. Something is telling me that the soap that I made as a
byproduct of that honeycomb toffee experiment looked more or less like that.
「What is this, master? What are you making?」
Having apparently been done with tending to the herbs growing in our little
garden, Roxanne came over to me and looked at my creation over my
shoulder with a curious look on her face.
「I am trying to make soap, although I have no idea whether it will work out
or not.」
「You know how to make soap? That's amazing!」
「Thank you for the compliment, but as I said, I have no idea if this is going to
turn out alright at all. Worst case scenario, I might have simply wasted all the
ingredients we just bought for nothing.」
Part 18
「Maybe so, but just the fact that you know how to make is is amazing in and
out of itself!」
Well, if I didn't know how to make it then I guess I would have been plenty
impressed as well, but since this is elementary knowledge in modern-day
Japan, I guess knowing the process of how to create soap and what
ingredients is it made of is not that big of a deal.
「Now, I want you to take this here Shell Powder and use it when you will
clean next time. If my hunch is correct and this will work exactly as I think it
will, then all the dirt you will use it on should be coming right off.」
「Really? Is it really going to be that good?」
「Of that I have no doubt.」
「I didn't know about that. Well, in that case, I will go and test it out
immediately. Oh, but… how exactly should I use it? Spread it all over the
floor and wipe with the dry cloth?」
「Sorry to break it to you, but you missed with your guess. It is actually pretty
simple to use it: just dissolve the powder in warm water and then use a damp
washcloth to clean the floors with it.」
「I see now. I will make sure to follow your instructions carefully, master.
Well then, off to the cleaning duty I go.」
I handed the extra Shell Powder that I bought to Roxanne and watched her as
she left the room, all eager and fired up to try the cleaning method that I just
told her about. I still do not know if the Shell Powder really is baking soda
and if it can be used for the cleaning purposes, but if that little cleaning
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experiment fails, I can just buy more Shell Powder and dimply start from
scratch one more time.
Now that I know that the Shell Powder is essentially this world's baking
soda, maybe I will give trying out its various uses a go? For example, during
the ski training camp in junior high we went to Nagano, a prefecture that is
famous for its hot springs, and I distinctly remember that one type of the
springs at the resort we were staying in had something called "baking soda
spring", and I remember that at first I was weirdly cautious of it because, you
know, who in their right mind would go adding a freaking baking soda into a
bath, but after I gave it a try I was very pleased with it, so I think it might be
worth my while to actually give a baking soda bath a try. Also, I feel like I
should mention that the main activity at the skiing camp was skiing alone, so
that was one of the few occasions where I can say that I genuinely had fun
doing something simply because for once in my lifetime I was not forced to
join any kind of group.
Okay, the soap looks like it should be done any minute now, and once it will
be completed, I will no longer have to feel uncomfortable after taking a bath
due to not being able to clean myself up properly. But then…
「Uhm… in the off chance that I will run out of it, how do I replenish it? Will
it be enough to add the Shell Powder to the dump cloth on onto the cleaned
surface itself?」
At first Roxanne was jumping with joy with her eyes all sparkly, but she soon
returned to the kitchen with a perplexed look on her face as she asked me
how to use the cleaning Shell Powder properly. Makes sense since what I
handed off to her was a ready mixture of the Shell Powder that has already
been dissolved in the water, so of course she would have no clue on how to
do it herself.
「No. You will have to do what I did just now. If you run out of the water
mixed with Shell Powder, just replenish the water and dissolve more powder
in it. In order to achieve the best possible effect the water has to be warm, so
if you will need it, be sure to come and tell me and I will boil some of it for
you.」
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「Okay. Well then, off I go. This time for real.」
「Sure, take your time.」
For me it is basic knowledge that I don't even have to think about too much,
but I am still forgetting that my viewpoint is biased as hell since I am not of
this world. But now that I have shown Roxanne how to properly clean using
Shell Powder, I have every reason to believe that she is going to put all that I
have shown her into practice and it will become second nature to her in no
time.
「Master, this is so amazing!」
Eventually, Roxanne came running back with her eyes shining like a pair of
stars. It seems like the cleaning with Shell Powder went well.
Finally, the time has come to remove the pot from the heat. Judging by how it
all looked, I guess it was a success, but I ill not know for sure until it all dries
up. And that is going to take roughly an entire day. A little long, but it is not
like I need it right this instant, and since we have plenty of things we can do
to kill time, the actual wait should not be all that long. I moved the pot with
the soap into a shaded corner of the kitchen where the sun would not reach it
and left it there.
After that, we went and entered Veil Labyrinth's seventh floor and continued
our daily exploration routine.
(Okay, set the usual Jobs I usually use for exploring… Job Settings… huh?)
When I performed a Character Reset so that I could equip myself with
Durandal, I noticed that I have apparently unlocked yet another Job:
Alchemist Lv.1
Effects: Increase INT (small), Increase DEX (tiny)
Skill: Plating
A Job of an Alchemist, huh? But when exactly did I get that. . . oh, wait,
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could it be that. . . Alchemist. . . alchemy. . . chemistry. . . yeah, I must have
unlocked that Job when I made soap. After all, my attempt ad making it was
basically a chemical experiment, not a cooking one, so I guess that would
make sense. The condition for unlocking it must have probably been
something along the lines of "triggering a chemical reaction" or something
like that. However, the real question now is what I should do with this Job.
When it comes to the monsters on the seventh floor of the Labyrinth, I cannot
defeat them with one normal strike with Durandal; I need two normal strikes
in order to take them out. However, based on some experimental trial and
error I made during our previous explorations, I noticed that I can actually
kill the monsters with one strike, but it needs to be the one combined with
Warrior Job's Skill, Rush. If I try anything other than that then it won't work,
and I will have to use more than one strike.
But, here is the thing: my usual combination of Jobs is Explorer, Hero, Mage
and Monk, and with my current go-to setup of Bonus Skills I don't have
enough Bonus Points left to add Warrior as a Fifth Job, and I definitely
cannot throw any of the other currently assigned Jobs out because they all
have Skills that I am using pretty much all the time. I absolutely need to have
Explorer around so that I can continue to use its Item Box, Hero Acts as my
main source of increases to all of the stats and its Overwhelming Skill is
useful whenever I have to gain the upper hand over an enemy by having them
move I slow motion/moving so fast that it seems like everyone and
everything else around me moves in slow motion, Mage gives me access to
the Beginner Magic of every element, and Monk is my source of healing
whenever I am not using Durandal as my main weapon and therefore cannot
capitalize on its HP and MP recovery Skills.
If I opted for a less magical and more physical build without using as much
magic then maybe I could remove Monk and only use Durandal for healing,
but if I do that then I am going to lose the additional MP granted to me by the
effects of one of Monk Job's unique effects: Increase MP (tiny), and in my
opinion it's always good to have more MP on hand because more MP means
more uses of offensive Skills and less chance that I am going to run out of it
and end up all depressed.
Part 19
Since Roxanne is able to dodge pretty much anything that comes her way I
guess I do not have to worry about her getting hurt seriously enough,
meaning that I can check how a different setting of Jobs would work. With
that in mind, the Jobs I have chosen were Explorer, Hero, Mage, Monk and
Warrior
After checking this particular setting and confirming that it works quite
nicely for the purposes of recovering MP, I removed the Warrior and set
Alchemist as my Fifth Job. Okay, time to see what this Job's Skill can do.
(Plating!)
When I chanted the name of the Skill in my head, a target indicator appeared
before my eyes, just like with the Warrior's Skills. Basically, it's telling me
that I can choose what to cast Plating on, huh? In that case, let's choose
Durandal as the designated target… or not. On second thought, let's not do
that.
Durandal is an important weapon for me. It is the first Bonus weapon that I
obtained in this world, and the one that has saved my ass from many dicey
situations. It is simply too good for me to be risking using a Skill whose
effects I still don't know on it. For all I know, it might make it stronger, but it
might as well cause the blade of Durandal to become brittle and prone to
being damaged when the plating itself will be removed. So I order to avoid
that, I have to check how it works on something else instead. And since we
are in the Labyrinth, I know just what we should do.
「Roxanne, I want to perform an experiment, so guide me to an enemy that is
by itself, preferably not am Escape Goat.」
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「Understood. Should I look for one right now?」
「Please do.」
At first, I should try this Skill against a monster and see what it will do to it.
Escape Goats are a no-go for that purpose, because the probability of them
running away before I could conduct the experiment properly is just too
great. I need literally anything other than them.
「Oh, master? If you don't mind me asking, could you tell me what kind of
experiment are we going to be doing this time?」
Roxanne asked me while we were already on the way to the location of a
single monster she managed to track down. Ever since she became my slave,
we have performed quite a number of experiments together: the ones
whenever I happened to obtain a new Job and wanted to test its Skills, the
one where I wanted to test how weapons other than Durandal are going to
fare in combat against the monsters, the ones where I tested all the different
kinds of magic that became available to me when I got my hands on the
Mage Job, and now the soap-making experiment and the one we are about to
do right now. Maybe she already got used to me being an experiment-loving
master, and that's why she asked about the current experiment's purpose
beforehand?
「Do you know what alchemy is?」
「Alchemy? You mean the art used by the greedy people to turn metals such
as iron and lead into gold in order to make money?」
So alchemists do exist in this world, huh? But it looks like they are not too
popular, which is really no surprise. If they really can turn ordinary metals
into gold, then that must mean they have a crapton of money. Will I be able
to do that as well as long as I level that Job high enough?
「I-Is that how alchemists are viewed in these parts of the world? Well, in that
case I regret to inform you that the experiment that I wanted to do involves
alchemy.」
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「Huh?! You can make money, master?!」
Roxanne shouts with her eyes widely opened.
「Unfortunately. I only obtained the Job of an Alchemist after I made that
soap, so for the time being the only Skill I can use is Plating, and that is what
I want to test.」
Even if this world is a magical one, the economy would go down to shit in no
time flat if every alchemist could turn metals to gold just like that, so it's
probably a good thing that they cannot do that so casually, or at least I hope
so. Perhaps they can do that, but keep it a secret, just like I do with my
abilities? And if they could, then how would it be done? Can Plating be used
for it, in a sense that they could cover normal metals with a thin layer of gold
and sell it as the legitimate article?
Whatever the case, all I want to do now is to check how Plating works.
「I see. I'm sorry forgetting overexcited like that.」
「Don't worry about it.」
The monster that Roxanne guided me to was a single Cheap Sheep. This
should be enough for a test subject. Standing before the monster, I activated
Plating and selected the Cheap Sheep as its target. Now I hope that the Skill
will take effect and won't fail miserably, but I won't know if its going to be a
success or not until I actually attack the damn thing, so let's get to it!
Readying my sword, I ran towards the Cheap Sheep in the same moment as it
began to run towards me as well, most likely after using Rush. Using Rush as
well, I instantly closed the distance between us and swung Durandal down,
but one blow was not enough, so I had to follow it up with another one. Only
then the Cheap Sheep has fallen.
「Hmm?」
「???」
At first glance it looks like nothing has changed, so even if Plating was
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successfully applied to that Cheap Sheep, I have no way of confirming
exactly what kind of effect it had on it. At the very least, I gained
confirmation that it is not an offensive Skill, because it didn't shoot or
generated anything in the area. Either that, or the Cheap Sheep had resistance
towards it, much like Needlewoods have their resistance to Water Magic.
「The result of this experiment was inconclusive, so how about we switch
locations? Let us go to the second floor now.」
We moved to the second level of the Veil Labyrinth, where I switched to my
magic build to conduct the next experiment using magic. Then we found a
lone Needlewood, a perfect test subject. With my current build I should be
able to one-shot it with my magic, so let us apply Plating to it and see what
happens when I attack it.
It survived! The Needlewood survived my attack, so I needed one more shot
of Fireball to finish it off.
「What happened just now, master? It looked like something was limiting the
power of your spell.」
「A limit, huh? Yeah, that about sums it up perfectly.」
From Roxanne's point of view, it certainly could look as if my magic got
weakened, but what happened was actually the exact opposite. It's not that I
got weaker, but the Needlewood got tougher thanks to Plating. By the looks
of it, it must be a Skill that erects a kind of protective membrane around the
target. That is why that Cheap Sheep needed two strikes instead of one to be
killed, even though I was using Rush. The actual percentage of damage
reduction must not be all that great, bur right now my bigger concern is that I
don't know how long this Skill lasts. As long as I don't know that, I cannot
use it as my insurance in battles.
But verifying that should be relatively easy.
「Roxanne, let's find one more lone monster, but this time, I want you to
strike it first before me.」
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「Okay!」
When we happened upon a Green Caterpillar, I attached plating onto it and
then had Roxanne attack it once before firing magic at it. It died in one shot.
It's not that the addition of that Scimitar attack was enough to defeat it, but
rather that Roxanne's attack used up the stack of plating placed on the Green
Caterpillar, allowing my magic to work as it was originally intended. This
gives me certainty that plating is a defensive Skill that can negate one attack,
regardless of it being magical or physical.
Before aquiring Plating, the only means of defense I had were the Wall type
spells, but now my defensive arsenal has expanded, even if only by a little
bit. The exact amount of damage reduced might be level dependent and get
stronger on higher levels of Alchemist's Job, but it can still be immensely
useful to me if applied in the right moments during battles, so you can be sure
that I will be using it for all its worth.
Part 20
After that, we decided to take it easy for the rest of the day, simply exploring
until the end of the evening. The next day, we spend the most of the day
gathering Rabbit Furs in Quratar's Labyrinth so that we could amass as many
as we possibly could after clearing our backpacks and organizing the space in
my Item Box and then sell them in that clothing store we saw in the Imperial
City, and in the evening we switched locations to Veil Labyrinth's seventh
floor where we fought monsters and gained more levels all throughout the
evening, as per our usual routine.
When we got back to our house, I came to check how the soap was doing, but
much to my disappointment, it was not yet all solid like all those bars of it
that I was so used to seeing. I wonder exactly how long is it going to take for
it to solidify properly? In the experiment back in junior high, the teacher used
the refrigerator to harden it almost instantly, but unfortunately, there are no
refrigerators in this world, which means that I just have to wait for it to
harden on its own. But exactly how long is it going to take? A week? Month?
I really have no way of knowing, and I cannot wait for that long either, so we
will have to simply make do with what we already have here.
When we finished eating dinner, we went to the bathroom and began
preparations to make the bath. Today is definitely the day when I will wash
Roxanne using the soap that I have created!
While we were standing there, getting undressed, I kept stealing glances at
Roxanne as she was removing her clothes one after the other. I probably said
that a million times already and am just sounding like a broken record, but
her bombshell body is simply spectacular no matter how many times I get to
look at it. For a girl she is tall and thin, and all of her limbs are slender, not to
mention that her chest is something that other girls her age would definitely
get jealous of. To top it off, she has thick thighs, slim waist and a really
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plump butt adorned with her fluffy, adorable tail; in other words, she has
practically everything that a normal, healthy guy might want in a girl, and
this walking perfection belongs to me and me alone. Huehuehue, I really am
a lucky guy to have someone like her as my partner. But enough digressing,
it's about time to move on to the main event of today's evening.
「Finished undressing?」
I asked, trying to sound as casual about it as possible.
「Yes, I am done.」
「Good. In that case, let us wash each other.」
「Uhm, should I not be the one to wash master first?」
「Normally that would be the case, but not this time. Now that I have made
soap, we have to try if it is working as it should be, and for that, we have to
wash each other up for maximum effectiveness.」
Roxanne expressed some doubts, but I promptly hasted to quell them. It
might be a little bit crude to be saying this, but the only reason why I went
through all those trouble of making the bath, finding a way to fill it with
water and now making soap was so that I could have some nice, soapy fun
with her, so I am not going to let anything stop me now when I am literal
inches away from seeing my fantasy fulfilled.
I want to wash Roxanne as soon as possible. I want to cover her with bubbles
from top to bottom, and I want her to cover me in the same way as well. All I
have to do now is to push her just a little bit more, and she should have no
objections whatsoever about doing this with me.
「So this is going to be another experiment?」
「Yes, exactly. The one meant to test if I managed to create good enough soap
for us to be using it from now on.」
Are those words going to be enough to convince her? Technically they
should be, since I focused on the practical aspect of what we are going to be
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doing in a moment, so she has no reason to say no to it. Come o now
Roxanne, don't fail me now!
「Understood. Then… please go ahead and wash me… master.」
Yes! It seems that Roxanne understood what I was trying to say without me
having to explain it in too much detail, which is definitely great, but with all
of that said, what we are about to do is really going to be a legitimate
experiment, because thinking about it for a moment, I have never done any
tests to see if this soap is safe for the people to use. What if, for example, it
turns out that it is too alkaline to be using on the skin, and Roxanne is going
to hurt herself while using it? If that were to happen, I would have never
forgiven myself for it, so I have to do everything I possibly can to make sure
that such a thing will never come to pass, even by complete accident.
Which is why I have to exercise extreme caution with it.
I soaked the washcloth in hot water and made as much foam as I could by
rubbing it together. Before using it on Roxanne, I am going to test it out on
my own hand first. The foam and the bubbles form relatively easily, so
everything's fine in that aspect. It is certainly not the amount that I am used
to seeing after using shampoos and soaps I had in my old house in Japan, but
for the time being this will definitely make do for us. It's been a good minute
since I applied the soap, and the place where I put it is not tingling or burning
in the slightest, so this soap probably turned out safe for usage after all. Just
to be sure, I applied more of it onto my arm, but there was no problems with
it whatsoever. Does this mean that we have ourselves a green light? Probably
yes.
「Hmm… it does not sting or anything, so I think it should be safe to put it on
our skins. Roxanne, show me your hand for a moment, if you would.」
「I see… okay. Here you go, master.」
Roxanne stretched out her left hand and waited for me to apply the soap onto
it, which I did after a short moment of hesitation. I made an ample amount of
foam and smeared it over a part of her forearm by making piston-like
movements with my fingers. Okay, so far, it does not seem like anything out
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of the ordinary is happening. Her soap-covered, moist skin feels incredibly
good to the touch.
「This is the first time that I have made legitimate soap, so if you start feeling
funny or that anything seems to be off, even if it's just a little bit, be sure to
tell me about it right away, all right?」
「All right. If anything happens, I will tell you about it immediately.」
After smearing the soap on her palms, I moved and did the same across her
entire arms. Enjoying their softness, I slowly made my way towards the
shoulders, and then took a turn to go for her armpits.
「Fufufu~~~… m-master, that tickles… fufufu~~~!」
Smirking at her cute reaction, I grabbed the washcloth and doused it in the
soaped-up water one more time, but I am only going to use it to make more
foam, and nothing else. This is Roxanne's body we're talking about after all,
so I want to experience it in its entirety with my own hands. Then, moving on
from her armpits I made my way down, all the way to the bases of the sacred
mountains. I moved from the bases all the way towards their summits, and
then moving slowly, as if I was covering a canvas with paint I dyed them
both white, as if it just snowed over them. As I wash them, they shake a little,
causing the foamy snow to froth and raise the pinkish peaks even higher. But
soon enough the time will come for this snow to melt and uncover the first
buds of spring waiting patiently under the white blanket.
「Ahh~~」
This is amazing. The slipperiness of the foam, coupled with the softness of
her elastic skin, this sensation is just out of this world.
「Master, it feels so good… ever since I met you, I have experienced so many
wonderful first times, including this one…」
She pants as I move towards her stomach. Roxanne, That's so hot!!!
「Since today is your first time using soap, then as a special service I will
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wash your hair, back and tail for you, but only today. I won't be doing it
tomorrow.」
「Huh? Why not?」
「Because using too much soap can actually damage your hair, and I think we
both would like to avoid anything like that happening to us, right?」
「I see, so that's why.」
Part 21
「Yeah, that is exactly right.」
Or at least that is the story that I heard in the past, back when I was still a
little whelp. And since I have no idea how to make the specialized beauty
products like shampoo or hair conditioners, it would probably be better to let
our hair rest for a few days before washing it with soap again. Yup, this is
what all the kids in Japan were taught ever since they are young, so there's no
reason to stop following that logic now. Preparing to wash Roxanne's entire
body for her, I got a good amount of soap on both of my hands and rubbed
them together to create as much fluffy foam as possible.
First I got it all over her back, and once they were taken care of I carefully
moved to wash her tail, for which I also had to employ both of my hands,
which I then used to ruffle the tail's fur a bit before stroking it politely with
my foamed-up fingers. It felt comfortably smooth, just like when you would
wash a dog's tail. I never had a dog myself, but I imagined that this is how
washing its tail up would feel.
After bubbling her whole body up and letting go of her tail, the time has
come for me to move towards her head. I took a washcloth and used it to
make even more foam than I used when I was going over the rest of her body.
Then I placed it all on top of Roxanne's head and began moving my hands in
stirring motions, as if I wanted to combine the soapy foam and her hair
together.
「You okay there? You're not feeling itchy or got the foam in your eyes?」
「No, I am all right. Thank you for worrying, master.」
I washed not only the hair on her head, but her doggy ears as well. Even
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though I am touching it and playing with it every single day, cleaning it with
soap was a brand-new experience with a whole new set of sensations related
to it. Their front, back, their very base, I gently took care of it and scrubbed
them with my fingers until there was no part of it left unwashed. As her ears
were being washed, bubbles mixed with the droplets of water began to drip
from their tips and hair down onto her body, but she did not see any of them,
because she still had her eyes closed to prevent foam from getting into them.
Now that her entire body has been thoroughly scrubbed with bubbles, I could
take a step back and enjoy the full picture of my work. I have to say, she
looked like a human figure made from bubbles, which got a small chuckle
out of me.
After washing her all over like that, it looks like she is wearing clothes made
entirely out of foam that are similar to the ripped clothing from my times.
Watching her stand before me in this white, bubbly getup is strangely alluring
in its own right. Is it because parts of her body are clearly visible to me, while
others remain obscured from my sight? And beneath all of that foam… there
is this gentle warmth of her body. I can't help but wonder… if I press on it
hard enough, will I be able to touch it directly? To touch her… Roxanne…
「…Ah! M-Master…」
I hugged her without even thinking about it. The need to do this was stronger
than me, and I did not want to do anything to stop myself from doing it. I did
this without thinking, but it can still be bad, so I have to come up with some
kind of excuse, and quick!
「Uhm, you know… this way, we can wash each other up more effectively
without using as much soap. In the country that I hail from, it is a traditional
method of washing between men and women who are close to one another
that allows them to deepen their relationship even further.」
I fed her a bunch of conveniently arranged half-truths.
「Members of the opposite sex really wash each other like that?」
This is not entirely true, but right now I am willing to make every lie possible
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in order to enjoy this bubbly Roxanne for as long as I possibly can.
「I see.」
You see? Well that's great, because I am not ready to give up this soft, slimy
sensation up just yet. I want to continue to touch her and enjoy the moist
feeling of her skin rubbing against mine.
「That's right.」
I declared in order to strongly affirmed the legitimacy of my words.
Roxanne's willingness and readiness to accept each and every one of my
words as honest-to-good truths is both a little disappointing and kinda
terrifying, but it cannot be helped. You know what they say, right? That it is
very rude to be looking a gifted horse in the mouth? Well, my original
intention was to simply have ourselves wash each other up normally, but as
always, my greedy, pervy nature ended up causing me to ask for that much
more. Then again, I should have guessed that it was going to end like that
from the very beginning.
「… who are close to each other, huh?」
「Huh? Roxanne?」
I don't know if I was starting to see things from all the heat and steam of the
bath, but I could swear that Roxanne had a strange glint in her eyes just now.
Could it be that my talk about how this is something that couples that are
close to one another are doing awakened something inside her or caused
some kinda switch to be flipped?
「In that case… can I wash master's body up as well?」
She asked while taking off my towel and shyly wrapping her hands around
my waist!
Her movements are a little bit awkward, but overall, they all feel pretty nice.
She clings onto me moving ever so slowly while she is diligently trying to
cover my entire body with soap. Even my most important part, so I leave it
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all to her and allow her to wash me however she sees fit.
Along with the bubbles that gradually cover my entire body, I can also feel
her massive mountains touching my back, and from time to time, her fingers
also happen to brush against my crotch, of which she takes full advantage,
looking at me with moist eyes and asking provocative things like:
「Am I doing it right?」
「Y-Yes, thank you. Being washed by you feels really good, Roxanne.」
「Fufu, I am glad to hear it.」
Just as I did for her before, now Roxanne also washes every part pf my body:
hair, neck, torso, arms, legs… every last inch of my skin has been caressed
by her soap-covered fingers, bringing me to the very height of satisfaction.
「Look out, master. I will be washing the soap off of you now.」
When she finished washing me, she drew the hot water into her palms and
poured it onto my head, flushing all of the bubbles from my body and into the
water. When I was finally clear of it all after a few such water showers, we
just laid in the tub and enjoyed the sensation of the hot water that was
wrapping itself all around us.
「My skin feels so smooth and comfortable….」
Roxanne says as she washes the soap off her arm and squints her eyes
happily. It looks like she is satisfied with the results of the soapy bath, and if
she is happy with it, then that makes me happy as well.
「We would have quite a problem if it didn't feel that way. I guess that means
that the soap experiment was a success after all.」
「After using so much of it, it somehow feel as if I have been reborn.」
「I'm glad to hear that, but you were beautiful even without using it, so I do
not think it is going to change all that much.」
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「Oh, t-thank you very much…」
I wonder if that was the best thing that I could have said as a follow up to this
entire situation? After all, there is no doubt in my mind that Roxanne was
already stunningly beautiful ever since I have first laid my eyes upon her, but
the soap made her shine even more, so… should I have agreed with her? Or
perhaps said something a little bit more daring? *Sigh* I guess I missed my
chance, huh?But in the end, I guess things have worked themselves out pretty
nicely even without that, so it is all fine.