Chapter 76

When the morning sun began to shine, Kikuhime logged out.

"Damn it, I was looking forward to seeing the sunrise over the sea!!! Nemi!!!"

Leao said as he logged out on the beach. I wonder if he's okay with that. Not only the place where he logged out, but also the fact that he forgot about coming from the west gate of Fast to Sekan.

Leao and Shin gave us a large amount of seafood as a thank you for the cooking.

Petro brought the money for the shopping at the market, and Ochazuke brought vegetables. Kikuhime gave us a feather pillow.

Is this a suggestion to use the bedding made in the hidden formation and sleep comfortably outdoors?

Ochazuke and Petro organized the items and put them up for consignment, saying they would produce a little more and send them to Fast by transfer.

"I wish we had been sent when we came."

"If we had transferred by magic, Ochazuke would have come along for free."

"Oh, I see."

"Since I've reflected, don't leave me behind, okay?"

Now, before looking for a mount, let's go see how the store is doing.

If things go well, the architect and carpenter Trin should already be there. Most of the activities here start with the sunrise and end with the sunset.

"Good morning."

"Good morning."

As expected, the diligent Trin was already there. The store was almost ready, with most of the furniture already in place. His skills are amazing.

"It's almost done, huh?"

"I heard about the warehouse, so I left the back door open. What would you like to do with it?"

Looking at the back, only the area around the back door was untouched. I remember we were going to make it a wall.

"I want to be able to go back and forth between the back warehouse, so please add a back door."

"Should I connect the walls as well?"

"Hmm..."

The warehouse, being a warehouse, is larger than the store. Unfortunately, it is in such bad condition that it needs to be completely rebuilt. Since we're at it, I decided to have the warehouse side slightly reduced to create a backyard. There is no place in this town where knights can train or swing their swords without reservation, except for the training grounds.

Backyard? Inner courtyard? It might become a shady area with poor drainage, so I asked for a culvert.

"Instead of a culvert, how about planting Keiju, which absorbs a lot of water? It's tough and doesn't require maintenance. It's a tree that grows extremely slowly and is often planted in places where it would be a problem if it grew too large."

"Is there such a tree? I want to use the yard for exercise, will it get in the way?"

"The trunk will never grow larger than a woman's leg. However, the roots spread in a net-like pattern about one meter underground, so no other plants can be planted where the roots reach."

"Then I'll go with that."

As soon as the decision was made, the employees who had been waiting started their work all at once. Before I knew it, the back door was cut out, plastered, and a wooden frame for the door was being assembled.

"The warehouse side seems easy."

The land plan was already completed, and I stated my preferences while Trin added them to the plan. He drew a straight and accurate plan without using a ruler. The scale seems to be correct, but I wonder if it's a skill or a craftsman's technique.

"The underground warehouse also seems easy, it's really impressive."

"We have a team of skilled people, so we get direct requests from the Commercial Guild. Old merchant houses and residences are respected, so we don't recommend changing the basic structure, but the back warehouse has no history, so it's easier to decide what to keep and what not to."

His skills are impressive, but so is Trin for having such employees. He seems to have various skills himself.

1st Floor: Store with counter and wine rack

Break room and mini kitchen. Back door and

Hall with stairs (with a lock)

Material storage

2nd Floor: Brewing equipment

Basement: Wine cellar

Do I have the wrong impression that wine cellars are usually in the basement? And I haven't decided what to do with the third floor. A restaurant would fit the layout, but I'm not interested in that. Customer service and management are too much trouble. I'll probably use it as a storage room for raw materials. The materials will be bought from the Commercial Guild.

After that, I asked Trin to introduce me to a workshop that makes counters and shelves for the store. I told them to match the color to the original pillars, a slightly glossy dark brown, and to keep it simple. I left it at that. It's better to have a unified look on the first floor rather than choosing each piece of furniture individually.

I thought about what to do with the furniture for the third floor, which is planned to be my room. But then I realized that I'm comfortable at the inn and the food is good, so I don't feel like moving out. I plan to build a house in a place I like someday, but I've already settled into the inn in Fast.

A attic-like room and a skylight from which you can see the stars are attractive, but I can predict that I'll return to the inn after a few nights. For now, I asked for a bed and a table and chairs for eating in case the inn is full.

For the production equipment, I will provide the plans and preferences and have the Commercial Guild supply the high-end equipment. After all, the rent is free, and the transfer array and storage magic items are provided by the Commercial Guild. It would be bad to not spend the money for the production equipment of an alchemist's store.

It seems like it will be done by the time I log in tomorrow. I could see that other stores were also being worked on by carpenters.

I went to see the store with Asha's mask, looking suspicious. I thought Trin was amazing for completely ignoring me the first time we met, but then I realized that adventurers often wear eye patches or masquerade-style masks. Maybe it's a trend among foreigners.

Asha's mask has the eye part cut out, but it doesn't obstruct my vision. I wonder if the player-made eye patch is the same. I've never worn one, so I don't know.

By the way, the store next door seems to be Elias's. I wonder how to react. Should I knock down the wall and say, "Hi, hi, I'm your neighbor!"? I won't do it, but it might be funny.

Still, at first, it was said that there was a one-store limit in Jears, but the conditions for producers seem to have loosened, perhaps because the trend of adventurers transferring to other countries has increased. I wonder if it's a bad idea to show what can be done in the future and only dangle a few achievements as a carrot.

In any case, it seems that the professional producers are satisfied with one store. The ones who want more are probably the professional merchants. I don't think they'll use me as an advertisement for that direction.

While thinking about these things, I came to Ayl.

I'm also attracted to the library, but today I haven't fought yet, so I'm looking for a mount for fighting. No, that's not right, it's a fight for the purpose of getting a mount.

I knew the enemies inside the city's barrier were weak, but I thought if there were mounts, they would be outside. So I ran from the capital Alzna to the northeast to the town of Albal, opened the transfer gate, and visited the shrine of Tasha, the main deity of Albal. I looked for a place to stay for tomorrow's travel, had lunch, and went outside the town.

I chose this direction because there is a path to Fusou, an unseen land of rice, on the edge of the continent, which is bordered by the Caldmos Mountains.

A monkey-like monster with abnormally large eyes and mouth, jumping from tree to tree faster than the eye can follow, and spitting fireballs when it stops moving, the Eil. It's troublesome if you're not used to it, but once you stop trying to follow it with your eyes, predict its trajectory, and swing your sword, it becomes much easier. I constantly use [Presence Detection] to predict how the enemies on the map will attack and move. When it's difficult to predict, I use [Lure] to limit the Eil's movement and make it easier to read the trajectory.

After two hours, three hours, I could defeat them by slashing in the direction I sensed without predicting the trajectory. I think this is possible because of the speed boost from the Boots of Gale.

As I approached the Caldmos Mountains, the ground changed from soft soil to hard rock mixed with soil. The roots of trees that failed to burrow into the soil crawled on the surface, making the footing even worse. Moss-covered rocks and trees with ferns growing where there was no soil, a fantastic and appealing landscape. The [Carry] skill I obtained is a good thing, thanks to which the bad footing is not a problem. In the real world, I would be exhausted after one or two hours, no matter how appealing the landscape.

《You have obtained the skill [Mind Eye] for defeating 500 enemies faster than your level without using area attack skills.》

[Mind Eye] is a combat-specialized version of the wide-ranging detection skill [Presence Detection]. Its performance is influenced by [Presence Detection] and experience. It can also detect hidden enemies using [Stealth], [Silent Steps], and [Presence Dilution], which can fool [Presence Detection]. I think it's a good skill, like a sword master being able to detect a ninja hiding in the attic.

By the time it got dark, I could move without straining, gathering and mining along the way. [Logging] is apparently a skill obtained in the circle, but unfortunately, I don't have it, so I don't know if the logging points are on the trees with good branches.

The sky was clear tonight, and the stars and two moons could be seen through the treetops.

Still, without a rest area or a barrier to create one, exploring distant areas is difficult. I like to go where there are no paths, but even if I return to the road and log out, I can't say for sure that I won't be attacked by monsters.

I thought about asking Galahad and the others for their location by email, but it won't reach them in the dungeon. I remember they said they would contact me when they came out, so they are probably still exploring.

Since I have a day off tomorrow, I thought I would explore a little more and return to the town if I didn't see a mount. Then I found a suspicious shrine.

The entrance was half-covered by tree roots and looked quite old. I hesitated about whether to enter. If I enter, when I use the [Return] spell, I will probably return to the entrance of the shrine, not the town of Albal.

It's a hassle, but what if the mount is obtained through a quest in such a shrine? According to Galahad and the others, the possibility is low, but it's not impossible.

"Mr. White."

"Why are you calling me outside of combat?"

"Well, what do you think of this shrine?"

"It's suspicious!"

"Thanks for the straightforward opinion. Should we go in?"

"Why is it like that?"

"It's a morale booster."

When in doubt, move forward! But, depending on the mood, retreat!

I went through the entrance of the shrine with White.

The narrow tunnel-like passage became faintly lit as I moved away from the entrance. The passage was slightly downhill, and no enemies had appeared so far.

Just as I started to think it might lead to an underground empire, I saw a door blocking the passage.

"Another suspicious door."

I stopped stroking White and spoke.

"The door has a barrier pattern carved on it, it won't open unless the conditions are met."

The door had a pattern that looked like tree branches or peacock feathers, with a slightly larger circle in the center, and six branches or feathers, each ending in a circle, surrounding the circle.

"What could the conditions be? Is it a cliché mechanism like inserting a gem into the circle?"

The barrier appears again. If I take the [Barrier] skill, I might be able to read something. The circle part is flat, not indented. As I thought this and touched the door, the circle part lit up one after another, and the door split vertically. Well, it would be a problem if it split horizontally.

"I opened it by accident."

"Why...?"

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