New chapter of Plant Magic Lord is out! (8/10 chapters)

 

 

Northen Piyo

(Thank you for reading at bayabuscotranslation.com)

After that, various things progressed in parallel. Since there were people available, I gave a rough guideline and waited for the results to be completed. If I didn’t do it that way, I simply couldn’t handle it all.

Also, I wrote a letter to Hold. It was something like, “Thank you for your letter and money. I am doing well”. However, I completely ignored any mention of the family headship. I simply skipped over that. There was no specific mention of support or anything in the letter. In this world, communication takes time. Just sending letters back and forth would take several months. If they were serious, someone would come. Then, I would think about it.

Oh yes, one noteworthy thing was that the soil bath improved. Anaria and Iskamina brought improvement plans for the soil bath.

“Hm, it’s for comfortably entering the soil bath on rainy or windy days.” (Elt)

Looking at the design, it was a large tent. However, it was not a triangular tent. It was a large trapezoidal tent.

“Well, we thought about various things, but a simple tent shape seemed best for trying it first.” (Anaria)

“Well, when I think about it, only really dedicated people take a soil bath on rainy days, mogu.” (Iskamina)

The soil bath was good for health because the Dryads regularly entered it to maintain vitality. They also replaced the soil for hygiene, so enclosing it on a large scale was difficult. The Dryads seemed to prefer an open type where light shone in. Considering that, making it a fully indoor bath was not ideal. So, trying a tent style first was worth doing, and it probably didn’t cost much.

Not bad.

“If that’s the case, let’s prepare a tent and if it works well, we can increase the number.” (Elt)

“In the medium to long term, the soil bath might need a major expansion. It’s a pity we don’t have enough hands for that.” (Anaria)

“That is a good thing, mogu. When it gets warmer, it might spread by word of mouth, mogu.” (Iskamina)

Iskamina nodded while emphasizing.

…So cute. If the Nyaff tribe has the obvious cuteness of cats, the Mole tribe has a particular kind of charm.

“Once the Adventurer Guild is settled, I think we can reach out in various ways again. We just have to take care of things one by one.” (Elt)

“Yes. We also need to increase potions just in case when entering the underground passage.” (Anaria)

“There are defense golems, so preparation is indispensable, mogu.” (Iskamina)

“Ah, that’s right. Iskamina, please check on that side of things carefully.” (Elt)

Exploring underground required more equipment than expected. First was light. Without light, it was hard to walk at all. Torches and the like were essential. Water and food could not be found underground, so we had to bring extra. On the surface, survival might allow getting some, but we couldn’t really expect that here.

“Understood, mogu!” (Iskamina)

Iskamina gave a quick salute.  She was very cooperative, including coming up with suggestions for improving the soil bath. I should reflect that properly in her rewards.

 

—

 

A few days after Nana’s visit, in the afternoon, I was eating lunch at home.

The menu was Stella’s exquisite spicy Chinese dish. Really, it was delicious. No matter how I thought about it, her skill was professional level. The person who could control a bat like that could not be clumsy.

However, the real issue was Doubanjiang (spicy bean paste). I didn’t know much, but Doubanjiang was a seasoning made from broad beans, chili peppers, and koji. Of these, broad beans and chili peppers can be managed with plant magic. The problem was koji. It was basically koji mold, which was outside the scope of plant magic. Even Stella needs a chunk of koji mold called seed koji to make Doubanjiang. We had to buy that too. Ideally, making it within the village would be best.

Still, authentic Chinese or spicy food was really good.  On the table were several plates of spicy stir-fried vegetables that I had just been eating. It was a tasting session.

Stir-fried vegetables with varying amounts of seasoning and varying cooking times create very different tastes and textures. Stella’s spicy stir-fry is delicious, but the small bottle of Doubanjiang was running low.

When it was about Elven cooking, Doubanjiang was a problem. We couldn’t get koji. No wonder Elven cuisine was still minor in this world.

“If we keep using Doubanjiang at this rate, it will run out soon.” (Elt)

“Piyo, this spicy one is delicious, piyo.” (Dia)

Dia seemed especially fond of spicy food. Since she started to eat Stella’s Chinese dishes, it felt like her growth rate had increased. Growing taller quickly was good. It was not like she’s growing wider.

Just then, Nana came in. Of course, she was wearing her Cockatrice costume. I had somewhat forgotten after letting her in.

Ah, right, there was something about shedding skin or something like that in the setting.

“Piyo…?” (Dia)

Dia tilted her head at the table.

So cute. But what kind of reaction would she have?

“She went back to before shedding skin, piyo…?” (Dia)

I couldn’t understand at all. It sounded like she was just saying what she saw without thinking. I swallowed hard.

What was Nana trying to say?

But despite my worry, Nana said confidently,

“I’m weak against the sun. When the sun is out, I wear my skin.” (Nana)

“Is that so, piyo…!?” (Dia)

“All the Cockatrices from the far north are like that. They shed their skin at night because it’s heavy.” (Nana)

“The world is vast, piyo… There are friends like that, piyo.” (Dia)

It was totally that, but… nice. Even if a new vampire came, I could explain it as a northern Cockatrice. Since vampires all apparently wore costumes anyway… I might as well just treat vampires as northern Cockatrices. They wore their skin during the day and shed it at night. Yes, until Dia could understand various things, I went with that.

Then, Nana changed the subject toward me.

“By the way, were you eating lunch? I smell the spicy stir-fry we had before.” (Nana)

“Ah, yeah… I’ve been trying out various things.” (Elt)

“That was delicious. I thought the spiciness would come from garlic, onions, and pepper… but it had a sharp kick, yet wasn’t overpowering.” (Nana)

“That’s right. But there’s a problem.” (Elt)

I looked at Stella with my eyes. She lightly nodded back.

Doubanjiang wasn’t exactly a secret. All the real Elves knew about it.

The important part was what came after, making overly spicy dishes easier to eat. Just like authentic Chinese food was adapted to be easier to eat in Japan. That part was the know-how we had to gain. We couldn’t stumble over seasonings before that.

“…We don’t have enough of this seasoning. It’s quite difficult to make it here at this stage.” (Elt)

“You can’t get it normally?” (Nana)

“Leia struggled with it too. It would be tough to find it normally at the market.” (Elt)

It wasn’t that we needed a large amount. One serving probably didn’t require even a teaspoon.

Nana listened carefully, nodding.

“If even Zanzas struggles with it, then the only place it might be is foreign shops. I know some shops that sell luxury goods to nobles…” (Nana)

Oh, is there a possibility? No… that makes sense. She’s originally from the northern country and, like Hold, has connections in the Noble Academy. She has contacts I don’t have.

“I’ll pay money. Could you somehow mediate?” (Elt)

“That’s absolutely no problem. …Or rather, I already said I’d cooperate.” (Nana)

Oh, she’ll cooperate because of that connection. That’s helpful. A good Cockatrice… no, a good vampire.

Dia crossed her wings and nodded energetically.

“Northen Piyo is so generous, piyo…!” (Dia)

Nana seemed a little regretful, but that was probably just my imagination.

Anyway, it was good we found a lead on Doubanjiang. If we could somehow get it, we could cook Chinese food.

 

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