Chapter 71.2
Chapter 71.2
Chapter 71: That time when I did some chores
TL: kizen
ED: Filip/Gecko
I woke up at the usual time the next day . Since I forgot to bring soap when I went to the hot spring the previous day, I went back again to wash my body and relax .
「Ohー, Caam! I haven’t seen you in a while!」
「Hey Facile, it’s been a while . I went to a port town after all」
「I see」
Facile dived into the spring after saying that . With her momentum, some of her feathers fell off into the water . I just found the culprit, didn’t I?
「Oi Facile I have something to tell you」
「What is it~?」
「First of all, don’t jump into the hot water since it causes your feathers to come off . Also, don’t just leave with your feathers all over the bath . Push them out of the water at least」
「Hmー? I already somewhat do that you know?」
「That’s still not good enough . See? Now go ahead and pick them up and throw them away」
「Alright」
It’s still morning but I’m already tired……
After that, I had my breakfast then met up with Root-san, Antonio-san, and Adrea-san at the plaza to discuss the location of their workplaces .
「It would be alright if the church and the clinic are located in the middle of the planned village site, right?」
「If I remember correctly, there should be a well around here . The area around the well should flourish, right? It’s fine with me if it’s a bit further away as long as it’s facing the street . Either that or a place where there’s lots of traffic so that injured people can easily get there」
「That’s right, there should be a market constructed in this area . Because of that, I won’t mind if it’s located at the corner of this area where the workshop is」
Adrea pointed towards the corner of the plaza as she said that .
「Well, a church stands out so that’s fine . As for the clinic……」
Having a neat and clean image is important after all .
「I think we should mix lime and soil to turn it white then plaster it onto the walls so that you can immediately recognize the building . I will symbolize cleanliness as well but what does Root-san think?」
「I think that’s alright . If that’s the case, I think it would be better if we make sure that all of the clinics we’re going to construct on the island from now on will have white walls」
Well, I guess adding a red cross wouldn’t really work here .
「That’s right . Let’s do that when our population increases even more in the future . The next thing to consider is the foot traffic but right now, the only places people go to are this area and the coast . However, I plan to make a road along the stream that supplies water to that lake we made over there . I want it to reach the lake at the foot of the mountain since I’m thinking of building houses there once our numbers increase」
「Well then, since the planned road layout is decided, I guess it would be alright to just build the clinic somewhere alongside it . Please mark out where the continuation of this road will go」
「Rogerー」
With that being said, I went and cut down a few trees using my imitation chainsaw magic westward along the stream to show the approximate location where the road should go .
「Alright, if that’s where it’ll go then this area should be……」
Root-san started driving stakes to the ground then decided on the approximate dimensions of the area before drawing marking lines with a stick .
「Antonio-san, should the clinic be even wider? This is about the same size as the one from where I live though . Caam says that it’s fine to expand it sideways as long as it doesn’t stick out on the road」
If a house sticks out on the road, it’ll get in the way and would ruin the landscape so I just want the road to just be a road .
「O-oh, isn’t that more than enough? There’s not a lot of humans and demonkin on the island right?」
「Alright then, it has been decided . As for the church…」
Root-san walked into the corner of the former Demon Lord’s castle construction site and began measuring by the eye then started driving stakes on the ground . The clinic is also located at one of the corners of the construction site so it’s located diagonally to the church .
「If it’s like this, thirty people can fit inside but do you need more?」
「N-no, it’s more than enough . It’s bigger than the church I was in before after all」
「Is that so? This place will become an industrial zone so we can make it a bit wider you know?」
「No need . This is already enough」
「How was the church constructed? I’ve heard that there’s a place to pray in front but is the area behind being used as the clergymen’s living quarters?」
「Eh? Uh, it’s alright as long as there’s a cooking area and a place to sleep so you don’t have to make it any bigger」
Her voice is starting to sound panicked .
「Is that so? Well, I guess we can just add an extension if it’s too cramped . Well then, that’s the church decided . I apologize for the inconvenience but until the construction’s finished, the church and clinic operations will be conducted underneath the blue sky」
「Well then, shall we go back to the coast?」
「Sure」「Understood」
When we got back, I decided to borrow a corner of the fields to plant the seeds and seedlings that I bought .
「Caam-san, what kind of seeds are those?」
Wild herb group leader-san asked me that with great interest .
「There’s cucumber, tomatoes, carrots, lettuce, and peppers . I don’t have a lot of them so I need to grow these carefully or it will all become a waste . Cucumber, pepper, and tomatoes continuously grow after the first time they bear fruit so there won’t be any problems as long as they are able to grow properly . As for the rest, they need to be planted again after they get harvested . I also want our supply of those plants to increase so we should just save their seeds then replant them again around the same time after the next cycle of seasons . If the weather in this place is hot all the time, we’ll be able to produce them all the time round」1
「Tomato, huh? That’s great . I can eat a number of them as long as there’s salt you know?」
「I would also like their seeds so please set them aside if possible . Well, it doesn’t really matter since you can still grow them by planting the damaged ones and those that have gone bad . I just hope that there won’t be heavy rains」
I looked at the sky while worrying about the storms that I’ve never experienced before but heard that occur on this island .
「The roots might get damaged after all」
「That’s right . Also, the plants’ stalks might break with the wind, especially with the cucumbers because they need to have some kind of net for their vines to attach to or they won’t grow well . If we criss-cross some sticks over there, they’ll be able to grow freely and increase their yield, or at least I hope that’s what happens . I’ve never grown them myself before after all」
「Do you need me to keep an eye on them?」
「I will more or less take care of them but please do that as well」
「Alright, leave it to meー」
「I also bought some cabbage and onion seeds but it’s still too early to plant them . I want to plant garlic as well but I’ll just save it and wait to plant them in the autumn」
「I see . Those need to be planted during certain seasons after all . I’m looking forward to the cabbages since I love the sweetness of their core」
She’s quite a connoisseur, isn’t she……? Your expertise isn’t just limited to wild herbs, is it, Wild herb-san?
「When you harvest the tomatoes, boil them, peel them, then put them in a jar with a cover . After that, you should boil the jar to preserve it . I want to use that to make stew with cabbages, beans, and meat . Although, in the end, their harvest times are different so we won’t be able to eat them unless we store them properly . Well, let’s just start with stewed deer meat with beans and tomato sauce」
「What’s that!? Even the name sounds delicious!」
「Please wait until the tomatoes are ready to be harvested to find out」
「Okay! I’ll do my best to wait! I’m looking forward to it~」
Wild herb-san left with a smile on her face .
I prefer women with that type of attitude but I wonder if the men of this world think the same? Well, she’s the type to go out of control so I guess it would be really tiring to keep her in check . 2
Although, I guess being able to actually get together with your type is already a big deal in and of itself . As for me, I’m good since I was the one who was liked . I’ve already gotten used to being with the two of them after all .
I just came back from the port town so it’s been a while but I should go back to the village soon . I guess I should finish up everything I need to do here so that I can go home .
~Idle Talk~
Maou-sama’s odd experiment
「Root-san, do you have a moment?」
「Yes, what’s up?」
「Can you make me a slightly larger bucket with a lid that perfectly fits it?」
「How big do you want it to be?」
「I need one half as big as a wine barrel」
「Got it」
「How’s this?」
「Oohー, that’s perfect . Thank you」
「What are you going to use it for?」
「I’ll tell you once it’s done」
「Yeah yeah, are you doing something weird again just like what you did back in the village?」
「Well, you can just think of it that way」
「Hmm~ hmm~, hmmー . I guess I should cook this rice I bought first . Iyaー, I didn’t really think I would find this rice-like thing but I thought they might exist in this world since I saw miso and soy sauce at the town when I was younger . It’s the long and slender type so it’s closer to Vietnamese or Thai rice but it’s beautifully polished so let’s just cook it! As for the rest, I’ll just soak them in water」
「Ahー, freshly cooked rice sure is deliciousー」
It’s not as sticky as Japanese rice but rice is rice!
◇
「It should be done soonー」
As I said that, I lifted the cover of the rice I soaked in water yesterday, drained all of the water then steamed it .
After that, I wrapped it in a cloth that has been boiled and disinfected, then wrapped it in a blanket to keep it warm . I haven’t seen any koji mold being sold so I’ll have to do it like this but I’ll just consider myself lucky that I can do this in the first place .
I should pray to god for that .
The next day, I stirred the rice then made sure that it remained heated .
I repeated that for 3 more days then knew that I succeeded because something that looks like white mold starts to grow .
「Thank you god!」
Now then, the next step is to wash the beans that look like soybeans with plenty of water .
When you first add water, the dirt and bad beans float up so I threw them away and made sure that the rest of the beans were thoroughly clean . After that, I soaked it in plenty of water then set it aside for a day .
Once it growed to more than twice its size the following day, I poured the entire thing into a pot with more water then let it simmer well .
You’ll know that it’s done when you can easily crush it with just your thumb and pinky finger . Regular soybeans only take about 4 hours to reach that state but this one had to be cooked a bit longer .
While it was simmering, I combined the koji with salt into a bowl .
After it was done, I mashed the beans with the water it was boiled in to avoid it getting too dry .
Then, I kneaded the mashed beans together with the koji-salt mixture .
There should be no air bubbles inside so I formed it into the shape of a ball then violently threw it into the wooden barrel I had Root-san made for me .
I made sure to press down on the bottom layer before throwing more balls into the barrel .
It would have been nice to have some vinyl wrap to prevent the mixture from coming into contact with the air but since I didn’t have any, once the barrel was full, I spread out some wet paper over the mixture, put on the cover with a large stone on top to weigh it down then left it in a cool and dark place .
If this turns out well, I’ll be able to enjoy some miso . I want to have it as soon as possible so should I just let it ferment for a month? I really want to drink some white miso soup! If I boil and dry the small fish, neatly remove the guts and head, then mix it with dashi and kombu, I’ll be able to drink the wakame miso soup!
「Kukuku…… Buwahaha . AHーHA HA HA HA!!! I really wish I had some daikon and aburaage right about nowー!」
I feel like a Demon Lord at this moment .
With that wonderful three-stage laugh, I receive weird looks throughout the canteen .
TL: The author originally deleted the Idle Talk part but since it was already discussed in the comments, he revised it and put it in . I think it was kinda rushed so it might not be the highest quality writing . He even forgot to put the “Idle Talk” title so I just added it myself .