Chapter 24

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The house that Gurai and I built received a lot of praise from the village's Beowulfs.

"Hey, hey, hey, is this wall made of metal?"

"Yeah."

Ram touched the metal siding on the exterior, amazed.

"Wow, it's like a castle."

"No, even castles have stone exteriors. This has even better defensive capabilities, doesn't it?"

"No, no, it's not that thick of metal."

Ram and Bagoz, along with the gathered Beowulfs, were discussing our house animatedly.

By the way, I just realized something from my own words—what time of year is it in this country right now?

Judging from the temperature, it seems to be around the transition between spring and summer.

"Man, lately Mako's doing things that are way out of the ordinary... I'm almost not surprised by anything anymore."

"Yeah, building such an amazing house in just one day... It's really something."

"No, it's not just my effort. From making the materials to assembling them, Gurai was there to help. And Mau, Meala, and Orchidea also lent a hand."

I said this to the Beowulfs, who were smiling wryly.

They looked at Gurai, who was cutting the leftover wood from the construction into firewood in the distance.

"Mako is one thing, but Orchidea and Fressa... There have been more non-Beowulf races in the village recently."

"Yeah, but they're not bad guys, and I welcome them."

"Me too, me too."

The Beowulfs nodded in agreement.

Then, one of them suddenly remembered something and spoke up.

"Hey, Mako! Check out the fields! The vegetables we planted two days ago have grown a lot!"

Everyone tried to pull me to their own fields.

"Over here, over here! Look and tell us what we need to do to make them grow even more!"

"We're going to keep making more vegetables!"

"Yeah, let's do it!"

"Sure, let's do it!"

...But, everyone, sorry.

I've been up all night for the past two nights.

I think I can rest in the new house today, right?

---

A few days later—vegetables from the village were being shipped to the market city through the head of the Weeble family.

The head was also very enthusiastic.

His high-energy personality seemed to resonate well with the Beowulfs in the village, and even minor disputes didn't arise.

The fact that beastmen and humans are conducting transactions involving significant amounts of money without any issues is, in itself, quite remarkable, isn't it?

"Lord Mako, if there are any other specialties from this village besides vegetables, we can transport and sell them in the market as well."

"Huh? You can do that?"

One day, the head made this proposal.

Until now, we had been transporting goods to the market city once a week and selling them, but he offered to act as an intermediary.

...But, what would be good?

We can't just sell wild herbs, mushrooms, fruits, or dried meat and fur from the mountains like before...

"How about flowers?"

At that moment, Orchidea came over with a bouquet in her hands.

"Seeing beautiful flowers could heal the hearts of the people in the city, don't you think?"

"Flowers, hmm, they are indeed beautiful."

"Yeah, if they're flowers grown by Orchidea and Fressa..."

At that moment, an idea popped into my head.

"That's it! Orchidea, let's make flower arrangements!"

"Flower arrangements?"

---

Flower arrangements, in simple terms, are like ikebana made by combining multiple flowers and plants.

Using pots or baskets, several types of flowers are planted together—artistic creations.

Of course, they can also be nurtured with water and fertilizer.

"Is this okay, Mako?"

"Yeah, thanks, Gurai."

I received the basket made from tree bark that Gurai had woven.

I had made one in advance and had him make a few more based on it.

Gurai, as always, did an excellent job.

"So, what do we do?"

"We plant flowers to make potted plants."

"Inside this basket?"

"Sounds fun~"

This time, I decided to make them with Meala, Mau, Fressa, and Orchidea.

I would be the instructor.

Hmm, it brings back memories—during my time at the home center, we often held potting classes for families during summer vacations.

"Yeah, we put soil in this basket..."

We used the nutrient-rich soil from the village's fields, which I had enriched with my liquid fertilizer.

We planted the flowers and plants grown by Orchidea and the others, arranging them with a balanced color scheme.

"Mako, like this?"

"Exactly, Meala, you're good at this. You have a good sense of color."

"...Not really."

Meala blushed and turned away.

So cute!

"Look, look, Mako! The blue flower and the red flower are Mau and Meala, and the most beautiful white flower is Mako!"

Mau arranged the flowers to represent us.

This kid is so innocent and heartwarming.

"Lord Mako! I'm sorry, I can't do it well!"

"It's okay, Fressa. You're doing great. Adding a yellow flower here might improve the balance."

"Understood!"

Fressa worked hard.

"Lord Mako, how about this? I tried to convey strength by sharing my power."

"Wow, that's amazing..."

Orchidea's creation... it was like a huge ikebana piece you might see at an exhibition.

In a way, it had the highest artistic value.

"Yeah, everyone did a great job."

"...Mako, I made this."

Gurai brought over a small animal figurine he had carved from wood.

Wow! This is really great!

"Thanks, Gurai! You really are a capable man!"

"..."

Gurai, as usual, scratched his head.

Placing the wooden figurines of rabbits and cats that he had made into the flower arrangements made them even cuter.

"Cute!"

"Amazing! Can we sell these in the market!?"

"I hope so."

The head of the Weeble family also praised the flower arrangements we made.

"Fantastic! I've seen countless paintings, jewels, and treasures called masterpieces, but this work, which expresses a garden in a small basket, conveys the fragility and nobility of plants, and has a sincere power to heal our polluted hearts—"

"Sorry, head. Your review is a bit too long."

The head took the harvested vegetables and the flower arrangements we made back to the city.

I hope the people in the city will like the beautiful flower arrangements made by our kids.

---

"Massive, massive, massive, massive, massive response, Lord Mako!"

"Whoa, you scared me!"

The next day, the head appeared in the village and ran over, shouting.

He had apparently run from the carriage to the village.

He must have wanted to tell us so badly...

"Fantastic, everyone! The vegetables are still a huge hit! They're selling like hotcakes! Most importantly, the flower arrangements and the wooden figurines made by Lord Gurai are very popular! We're getting a lot of inquiries from the children and women in the city!"

Wow, this is amazing.

The Beowulfs, Mau, Meala, Orchidea, and Fressa were overjoyed to hear this.

Of course, I was happy too.

"By the way, Lord Gurai..."

The head then quietly approached Gurai.

"Actually, there's a request for you, Lord Gurai... They want you to make wooden statues of the popular dancers in the city, and they say they'll pay whatever it takes."

"..."

Gurai, it seems you're getting requests like a figurine artist...