Chapter 94

For dinner, I gathered a large amount of alcohol and meat from the house to make it like a farewell party for Ridi. Although it might be strange to call it a farewell party since she was a guest, we had shared a life together to some extent. By the way, she even tried to pay for her stay, but we decided to offset it with the magic knowledge Riki taught her. In a world where humans can't use magic unless they have a family name, the knowledge of magic is quite valuable, so I'm not sure if this offset is fair, but Ridi seems to feel that the cost of sword repairs is a bit short, and we both agreed on this, so it's fine.

"This time, there were many things of great interest, and to be honest, it was fun. I don't think it's good for repair requests to come too often, but if there are other things I need help with, I would like to entrust them to this workshop."

Ridi said this at the end of the farewell party.

"Please do favor Eizou Workshop."

I also smiled and replied.

The next morning, Ridi was absorbing magic from the forest. She said it was "for the magic to hide her body on the way back." Although elves can handle powerful magic, I think solo travel is still dangerous, so I wondered if Ridi was also very skilled with a sword. However, she used the magic to become invisible on the road and only revealed herself near the city, so it seems she can't do much more than basic self-defense. She even said she used the magic to get from the forest to my place.

So, the five of us, including Ridi, had breakfast together, and when Ridi finished her preparations for departure, we all decided to see her off to the entrance of the forest. This way, she could conserve her magic a bit more.

Sermia led the way, followed by me, Ridi, Riki, and Diana. Since we didn't have a cart today, I brought the spear I used to defeat the bear, just in case. Thinking about it, it would have been better to schedule the delivery for today and escort Ridi to the city. I was a bit careless, but if there's a next time, I'll do it that way.

Nothing particular happened on the way to the forest entrance. We encountered some small animals like birds, but they didn't pose any threat. I had a slight hope that Ridi, being an elf, might be able to talk to the forest animals, but nothing like that happened. Apart from needing magic, being skilled in its use, and having a long lifespan, elves are basically no different from humans...

"Thank you all so much."

Ridi extended her right hand.

"Thank you. We look forward to your return to this house."

As I said this, I gently shook her hand.

"See you again!"

"I'll practice my magic handling before I come back!"

"Next time, teach us some elf sword techniques too!"

The three of them held Ridi's right hand, expressing their reluctance to part.

"See you again!"

Ridi bid farewell in a surprisingly loud voice. We waved until her figure became small.

"She's gone."

Sermia muttered. Although she was originally a lone wolf (a tiger, actually), she apparently felt a bit of sadness when she let her guard down with someone.

"Well, she'll probably come back if she wants something made."

"That's true. There are a lot of things only Eizou can make."

When I followed up, Diana took over. And so, we returned to the forest.

The round trip to the forest entrance takes about four hours, so we used most of the day. Therefore, we decided to take the rest of the day off after lunch. Of course, I planned to transplant the mint.

Last night, Ridi told me,

"If you're going to transplant it, it's better to grow it in a pot or something."

So I decided to do that. I made a hole in the bottom of a medium-sized unused earthenware pot, put the mint with its roots in it with soil, and placed it outside. I laid a tray made from leftover wood underneath. Since it's wood, I'll need to check it from time to time.

"Check it from time to time and cut the stems that touch the ground and start to root."

She also said this, so I'll check it either before or after my evening practice. It might be better to move it to a window inside the house when I'm away for a long time. It would be a bit scary to come back and find the whole area covered in mint. I intended to use it as a filler plant until I decided what to plant in the field, but if seeds or something come from Ridi's village, having too much mint might be a problem, so I'll let it grow moderately.

By the way, we don't have a balcony. We hang laundry on a rope stretched between tall stakes in the yard. Of course, there's no roof. We don't have clothespins, so we hang or drape the laundry on the rope. Since there's no roof, we can't do laundry on rainy days, even if it doesn't rain much.

Even if it's in the shade, we can do a bit of laundry if we can hang it, and we can also cool off there during the hot season in the forest. When the number of potted plants increases, we can place them there too. It seems there are quite a few benefits to building one. Although the storage area is a priority, I'll suggest building it to everyone once that's done.

After that, I spent the day tilling the soil in the courtyard to prevent weeds from taking over again.

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