Chapter 85

Yesterday, because I went to bed early, I woke up with the sunrise and was having breakfast with Sakura for the first time in a while.

"Yeah, Sakura's cooking tastes even better when you have it first thing in the morning."

"Hehe, thank you. There's a festival in town, so I made a bit less, but is it enough?"

"Yeah, it's plenty. By the way, is the festival starting today?"

"I think so, yes."

I forgot to ask for the exact date, but it doesn't really matter.

The festival in Procia is supposed to last for more than three days.

"Alright, I'll head to town if I feel like it."

"Okay. Should we open the shop as well?"

I wonder about that.

I've only transported the apples so far and haven't processed them at all.

"I'll just do some preparation today."

Since the festival lasts for a few days, I made sure to bring in about a thousand apples to ensure we have enough.

That's ten boxes of a hundred apples each, so it was easy to transport, but processing will take some time.

"I've brought in one floor's worth, you know."

"Well, since I mostly leave the transporting and processing to the golems, it's pretty easy."

The golems handle everything from squeezing the apples to filtering the juice.

All I have to worry about is the dilution ratio, which is really convenient.

There's plenty of water suitable for beverages in both Procia and this forest, so there's no need to stress about it.

By the time I finished thinking about this, I had finished my breakfast.

"Itadakimasu. It was delicious."

"Thank you very much!"

"Alright, I'll get ready to head to town."

"Right... Oh, Master, there's some strange magical movement in the sky."

Sakura said this as she looked out the window.

"Strange magical movement?"

"No, rather—it's coming from the direction of the town."

Sakura's range of perception is wide, so she can notice unusual movements in the town.

"Hmm, maybe someone is casting a strange spell in the sky because of the festival."

"I wonder. Ah—something is falling. It feels the same as last time."

Ah, the strange magical movement must be that.

This time, since I'm on the top floor of the house, I can see it.

It's coming diagonally from the direction of the town towards my house.

"Wow, it's coming in on a crazy trajectory. ——Extend and block it, trees."

Just like last time, I extended the trees to catch it.

The star dragon king's scale lost its momentum when it was blocked by the lush trees.

"Man, this scale is huge."

Actually, if these kinds of things keep happening, it might mean that the dragon is about to shed all its skin.

Well, I'm happy to have more building materials.

...A single large rock could only make a small bath.

With two, we could probably make a large bath.

"By the way, where's Hestia? I didn't notice her because I was sleeping, but did she come by?"

Or maybe she's still investigating, even though it's early morning.

"No, she went to the town last night and hasn't returned."

"To the town? Maybe she went to get some equipment for her investigation?"

"It seemed like she was in a hurry..."

"Well, that's fine. I'll look for her on my way to town."

Thinking I might run into her on the way, I used the trees to move the scale to the backyard.

Then, I looked down at the town from the top floor.

It's not too far, but it's not too close either.

"Hmm, it would take a while to walk there. Maybe I'll try out the running wood armor I developed last time."

"Oh, you were working on something, weren't you?"

"It's still in the testing phase."

The distance to the town is perfect for a test run.

So, while I was bundling nearby trees to make it,

"Hmm? Master, something seems off about the town."

Sakura tilted her head.

"Off? What's different?"

"Look at the sky. Isn't there some kind of shadow?"

"You're right. What is that?"

The clouds are breaking and forming strange shapes, making the sky look odd.

"Maybe I'll put on the armor and run over to check it out. Do you want to come, Sakura?"

"Ah, yes. I'll come with you."

With that, Sakura and I went out to the yard and merged with the wood armor we had made.

It's a mobile armor with acceleration devices and springs built into the legs.

"Alright, let's go. ——Mode: Vajra."

And so, Sakura and I ran towards the town.