Chapter Twenty-five: An Arithmetic Tavern with the Scent of Mugwort
Yes, the power of sweets was truly great. When Ms. Aria exclaimed "I love it!" and hugged me, burying my face in her voluptuous chest, it was an indecent result, but I have no regrets. Mr. Ed and Mr. Xenon also seemed pleased, so even though the cookies in the tupper were almost gone, I’d say it’s all good in the end…
While nestled in Ms. Aria’s bosom listening to the conversation, it came up that they gathered a few more ruby fungus than required for the delivery, so they suggested heading back to the town of Ellarge a bit early… Mr. Xenon’s remark was "We can’t be too greedy, after all." For this request, the client agreed to purchase any surplus at the same rate as the required amount, so we made quite a bit of money. Apparently, they urgently needed a sizeable quantity, exclaiming "Sometimes, the occasional supply just isn’t enough!”
It was a really good deal, I think. Mr. Xenon really snagged an awesome request there… Amazing! But listening closely, it seems requests are on a first-come, first-served basis. So you pick which request you want from the guild’s request board and submit it… kind of like a “karuta” card game? Also, since the request board is constantly updated, if your timing is right you can accept great conditions like this time.
"The total reward this time was 3 silver coins. 20% of that goes into the shared pool.”
"Um… so, that means the joint fund is 6 copper coins… and then we divide the remaining 2 silver coins and 4 copper coins into 5 equal parts, and then I return 40% of that…”
“It’ll be…”
"Wait, wait! Don’t tell me yet, Mr. Ed! Um… 2 copper coins and 8 iron coins, plus 8 pennies… is that right?”
"…Not wrong, but we don’t use pennies much… Why don’t we just drop the remainder from the shares? Sound good, Ville?”
"Yes. Let’s discard the fractional amount for the return, and the rest can be Rin’s share.”
"Eh… just a moment, please? So then, deducting 10% of the rounded-down fraction from 4 copper coins and 8 iron coins per person… would leave me with 3 copper coins and 2 iron coins, right?”
"Exactly. There you go, Rin, that’s your share!”
"Ooooohhhhh! My first earnings in this world! Yaaaay!”
After being sent off by Sheila waving and saying "Well done on the quest delivery!" we settled in at the Wildcat Pavilion for a celebratory drink… and I’m sitting here calculating everyone’s shares! Thank goodness, the four basic arithmetic operations are universal…!
Geez… it’s been a while since I used my brain like this… memo pads galore! People good at math can probably do it mentally, but unfortunately, I was never on good terms with arithmetic or math!
As I diligently work out the calculations with pencil and paper, everyone else is enjoying drinks, snacks, and conversation with me.
Mr. Ville grins at me as if to say "Well done!" and neatly stacks some coins in front of me. Three copper coins about the size of a 500-yen coin, and two slightly smaller iron coins. The first money I’ve earned since coming to this world… it’s my salary!
Oh, but first, I should pay back half of the two copper coin room charges I borrowed from Mr. Ville yesterday… I went to hand one of the copper coins back to Mr. Ville, but…
"Not now. That’s a third of your total assets! I won’t be so heartless as to take that.”
"Eh… but I’m worried about being in debt…”
"You never know what could happen, so save it up for now. Give it back once you’ve built up some savings, alright?”
Mr. Ville gently pushes my hand away as he sips what seems to be ale from a large mug. Guh. There’s that earnest side of him!
Well, his reasoning made sense, so I’ll pay him back once I’ve saved up a bit more!
…But wow, my first earnings… money I earned myself… By common sense, no one can scold me for spending reasonably out of this money.
I call over a passing waiter and order a fruit water.
The fruit water yesterday was delicious, so I thought I’d treat myself again with my first paycheck.
"Say, Rin. What did you plan to do with that mugwort?”
"Ah! I was going to dry it and make moxa from it! I wonder if it’ll work the same in this world…”
"Moxa? Made from mugwort, is it some kind of medicine?”
"Not exactly medicine, more of a tool… For starters, I’ll pack them into bags and make something like a heat pad, you know, to help with body coldness or provide stimulation.”
“Body coldness!”
The grinning Mr. Ville, who had downed his mug in no time, suddenly looked over at me, seeming to recall the "low-profit margin" comment from earlier.
Xenon, who with his fair features seems knowledgeable about medicinal herbs, also showed interest as he turned toward me.
Of course, I couldn’t just outright say I wanted to use it for direct moxibustion—the Eastern medicine practice of burning it on the skin for stimulation! That would be a bit too intense to bring up. But I probably shouldn’t jump straight to direct moxibustion with homemade moxa anyway. I should start with indirect methods like box moxibustion or moxa heat pads first. Eventually, I’d love to learn techniques like rolling cigars to make stick moxibustion though!
And the one who reacted to the mention of "warming the body," a key benefit of moxibustion, was Ms. Aria. From holding her hand yesterday and today, I could tell she seems to be sensitive to cold. Even through her clothes, her body feels cold, which is pretty severe if you ask me.
"For warming up, you can use moxa with rock salt, and… maybe some dried citrus peel or herbs, a little warming, and… putting it on your stomach or back can feel really nice.”
"…Rin… make it? Can you make that right now?”
"Right now!? Well, I have to start by drying and crushing the mugwort into moxa first, so right away isn’t…”
The beautiful woman with slightly flushed cheeks and moistened aqua eyes full of longing gripped my hand… Her doll-like beauty still flusters me when she gazes at me like that! But seriously, Ms. Aria’s hands are still so cold…! I can’t blame her for wanting it right now… I mean, I rarely feel cold myself, but I do understand how tough it can be when your body feels chilly in the winter mornings… I used to hear from clients about how uncomfortable it could be when their bodies were cold…
But you know… making moxa heat pads will likely take some time. I mean, I have to start with making the moxa itself, and then there’s the trial and error process… It might take quite a while…
"…Drying… crushing… With Eddie around, it’ll be okay…! I’ll help too, no holding back!”
"Yes, if it’s for Aria, I’ll do my best too!”
"How intriguing… some local therapeutic method?”
"…Give it up, Rin. Once they’re interested, there’s no turning back.”
Before I knew it, the lovey-dovey couple had gotten invested, the elf smiled meaningfully with his fist covering his mouth, and the Oni sighed while gazing at me with a mix of emotions…
…Somehow… even though I’m not cornered, I feel cornered…
I really wished I could have time to enjoy the subtle peach flavor of the fruit water that finally arrived…. Yup…
Thank you so much! I'm so happy I can read this and almost catching up with the manga. I was in despair waiting for the manga to update and looked for the novel for more.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the chapter!
ReplyDeleteRepeating myself but yeah, this is going a bit different from the manga! I was expecting a plot point in the forest and got something completely different! It makes sense though, Rin needs to establish herself more in the group also MOXA I want I want to see how she revives her old career in this world!