Foreigner Volume 9, Chapter 196

Volume 9 Chapter 196, Demonic Dragon ~ 11

　That day, Vance returned to his home near the workshop in a good mood.

　He had been working tirelessly yesterday on an unusual request by an unusual person, and the entire workshop had been working on it. He gave all the people in the workshop who had pushed him too hard a time a day off and allowed them to drink as much as they wanted for a day or two at the Red Hammer Pavilion that Satoru had left for them as a reward.

　The owner of the Red Hammer Pavilion opened the sake barrels to the workers who drank and ate without any reservation, as promised, despite their many complaints. Vance himself, who is an old acquaintance of the owner of the Red Hammer Pavilion, joins the party to thank the workers for their hard work, and his wife, Eldy, gives him a warm look as he returns home in a good mood despite being cursed by the owner of the Red Hammer Pavilion.

　His wife knew better than anyone else that this longtime companion, one of Arsweta's best craftsmen, was one of the best in the country in terms of both prowess and drink. They have had many troubles because of this, but the couple has lasted a long time because the wife values her husband's self-esteem above all else and has supported him.

　Eldy did not blame her husband for coming home drunk and in a good mood but handed him a piece of parchment.

「Dear. I have a letter for you.」

「Hmm?」

　He is usually a difficult man, but when he gets a drink, he smiles. Vance, who had a big smile on his face today, immediately dropped his eyes when he received a scrap of parchment.

「Oh. From Satoru? He's already on Palmidda.」

　It was yesterday evening when Satoru left. It would have taken 10 days on foot, but he had already arrived at Palmidda, a neighboring country to the east, in a little over a full day. It was not surprising and predictable considering the estimated cruising speed of the Yamato, but Vance still had to be surprised.

　Vance's expression turned serious as he read the text with a big smile on his face.

「......Murgh」

「What's the matter?」

　Vance handed a scrap of parchment to his own wife, who had brought him a mug of water to sober him up.

「Read it.」

　No wife would steal a letter addressed to Vance personally. Eldy, being a sensible wife, naturally assumed that she had not read it, and once again gave his wife permission to read it, and Vance crossed his thick arms and began to groan. Eldy looked at the difficult face of her husband, who had been in a good mood just a few moments before, and looked down at the letter. Eldy immediately hit on the cause of her husband's difficult face, and she, too, raised her eyebrows.

「Is it possible that the water coming out of the factory town is doing something bad to the towns downstream......?」

　The dwarves, as a race, are also almost incapable of using water magic, and the town of Deligrande is poor in water resources. A small spring a short distance away, two wells in town and a small river called the Jaw Water Stream provide everything. Therefore, water is the same price as ale or even more expensive than ale. Even so, water is indispensable for the ironworkers, and they manage to get it by sharing the scarce water resources.

　Basically, water in the factory town is supplied from springs outside the town. The water is allocated in order from the workshop with the most skilled craftsmen, and by the time the water reaches the lowest level of craftsmen, it is said to be visibly dirty, and the water that can no longer be helped is dumped directly into the water stream in the chin. That water is doing bad things to the towns downstream ― a possibility, Erdy believes, is certainly possible. Eldy remembers that Vance was quite annoyed by the poor quality of the water in the early days of his independence.

「Send a letter to Dahl's house to use as little river water as possible for the time being.」

　Vance, who had been folding his arms in thought, glanced at his own wife. Downstream from the Jaw Water Stream water flow was the royal city of Liese. He was worried about his great benefactor who lived there. The letter from Satoru says as much.

「You really trust him, don't you? About that Satoru-san. You can send a letter without even confirming it」

　Eldy returned, half stunned. Satoru said lightly that he would send a letter, but the price depends on the distance to the destination and the amount of text. Even though it was from a neighboring country, Satoru's letter had a good amount of text and probably cost about 8s (Shillings). It is basically too expensive for the average person to afford. Vance's workshop is said to be the best craftsman in the country, and he earns a good amount of money, but he does not have the luxury of being able to send out letters at will.

　Vance handled his own beard to Eldy's dumbfounded voice.

「Well, ...... I trust him. He's a man I consider a friend. And he has things and knowledge that are out of this world, you know?」

「Oh my. You think very highly of him. I'm jealous.」

「Oh, come on. Don't be jealous of a man.」

　Vance responded to Eldy's playful voice in a very serious manner. Dwarf men cherish their families, but at the same time, they are willing to risk their own lives to help a friend whom they recognize as theirs. It is the Dwarf man who speaks of family love and friendship in the same breath. For this reason, they are not easily accepted as friends.

　A human man who has won the friendship of a difficult husband for a short period ― even Eldy is interested.

「Anyway, if it's true, Hannah is in danger. It's best to tell them as soon as possible.」

「Yes, yes」

　Eldy responds quickly and comes up with the text of the letter. In any case, the sun has already set and the small Sorcery Guild in town has closed up store. The letter would have to wait for tomorrow.

　But her husband stood up with a clap of his hands on his knees and reached for his cloak and a lantern with a shutter. He is going to go out as soon as possible.

「Dear...」

「I have a few things to talk about. First, is the Craftsmen's Guild.」

　Eldy looked down at the parchment in her hand after sending her husband off with a small smile, even though the sun was setting and it was getting dark.

「If you have anything to say, please send a letter to Sheryl Maylander at the Coogan residence in the Noble Town of Ares ....... I wonder if that Satoru guy is making women all over the place.」

　――That point is not so wrong.

　Anyway, to support her husband who is on the move, his wife is also on the move.

　＊　＊　＊　＊　＊　＊　＊

「We're back」

「Oh, welcome back」

　It was just before sunset when Rico and Solor returned from their horseback ride to the nearest town, Palmidda. Satoru was relieved to see them safe and sound, although he knew that nothing had happened since he had not heard from them since they reported that they had left the town. Once the sun goes down, monsters and beasts crawl around in the fields. The danger level would simply increase. He knew that Solor was with Rico, so there would be no problem, and he also knew that they were approaching here with his natural 【Search】 from time to time.

　Rico dismounted from her horse lightly and Satoru offered Rico a small papyrus.

「Here it is. Just in case. It is a copy of the letter I sent to Vance-san.」

「......Hm, there's no problem」

　After quickly reading and checking the letter, Satoru nodded and turned his attention back to Rico and Solor. Especially the possibility that the water coming out of the factory town could be bad, the message to Darl in Liese about it, and Sheryl's contact information in case of any problems ― those three things should be clear.

「And? What about the important thing?」

「It was a bit of a struggle. I'm glad Solor was with me.」

「?」

　Rico explained to Satoru's question with a wry smile.

　The slaves who work as scavengers are very cautious and don't open up easily because they know they are disliked by ordinary people. Rico was able to hit the scavengers quickly through her connections at the Thieves' Guild, but when she offered to give up some of the slimes, they were suspicious of her and didn't make conversation with her.

　Rico thought it was troublesome, and Solor showed her how to scoop the separated slime directly into her hand.

　Even the lowest level of slaves rarely touch the slime that disposes of feces directly with their hands. This is because they know it is unclean. Therefore, slaves who handle them are automatically regarded as the lowest class, but Solor did not care about that and touched them.

　That is how she gained their trust.

「The slime takes the filth inside and drains fresh water out of the body. The outer part of the slime is fresh water, so there is no resistance to touching it.」

「But it's not so easy, is it?」

　Rico smiled. Aside from urine, feces are also considered unclean and hated by the people of this world. The feeling was strengthened by the numerous epidemics of plague and other diseases caused by poor sanitary conditions during the time of the Ancient Magical Kingdom.

「In the latter period of the Kingdom of Magic, there was a popular beauty treatment in which harmless slime was cloaked on the skin...」

「Wow. But, it might be a little difficult because many people nowadays think that slime is unclean.」

「...... Hmmm. I guess they hate scavengers that much.」

　Satoru himself believes that there is no rank in the profession, as long as it is a proper job. It's the same with scavengers. No matter how much they are despised as the lowest class, if there is no one working there, towns and villages will continue to become dirty. Even today, if there are no cleaners to dispose of feces and urine, it would be more than just an inconvenience.

「If it is Master's feces, I also think there is nothing wrong with eating it.」

「...... Sorry, I'm afraid I don't have that much taste.」

　Solor's comment made even Rico, who loves Satoru with a blind eye, pull back with a start. Even Satoru, as expected, has no taste for scat, so he just smiled bitterly, but Solor must really be delusional about Satoru.

　Satoru looked at the small unglazed jar about the size of a basketball that Solor was holding and said, "Hee"

「Oh, it really does look like slime.」

「Hmmm? It's Slime, though?」

「Oh, that's not what I meant. Well, it's hard to explain, but in the world, I was in, there were these squishy toys.」

　Fluorescent gel toys sold at night stalls and party goods. Satoru remembered them. Of course, Satoru was not of the generation when these toys were popular, but he still had memories of buying one at a summer festival he went to with his father, before Alice was born. Rico has a curious look on her face.

　Satoru, who was too lazy to explain further, put the wooden lid back on the jar.

「Well, for the time being, We're going to use that jar, and if we run out of options when we're flying, we'll put it in that jar. I'll make a device for it tomorrow or the next day or two.」

「A device?」

「Yeah. Well, you'll just have to wait until it's done.」

　Rico smiled troubledly at Satoru's grinning and boasting.

「I-I'm looking forward to it, but I'm afraid of it. ......」

　Knowing the bottomless depth of Satoru's knowledge of other worlds, Rico had no choice but to reply in that way.

　The dinner that night was a stew made of rabbit meat, which Isolde had handled with a round stone in her vagina and Liz had cooked, and cheese, which had been given to them as a souvenir but had been left untouched. Rico and Minerva were surprised at the unfamiliar taste, but it was so good that Minerva wanted a second helping.

　Liz was relieved to see how satisfied everyone was with her dish, but with the arrival of Rico's next cook, Satoru's chance for culinary revenge seemed to be getting further away...

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