Chapter 73

――Grinding, grinding, grinding, grinding, grinding, grinding, grinding, grinding, grinding, grinding, grinding, grinding, grinding, grinding, grinding, grinding, grinding

Despite feeling dizzy many times, Kurahito couldn't stop his hands.

Snowhite and Azurona, who were not present, were certainly unable to do this kind of work and were outside.

At first, the villagers who were lying around leisurely only watched the two from a distance, but when Isara, who came to play during a break from helping Ilargi, greeted Snowhite and started to play with Azurona, the villagers approached.

Before they knew it, they had fallen in love with the two.

Both were popular regardless of gender or age, but surprisingly, Snowhite, who was unexpectedly good at taking care of others, was loved by the children, and many children gathered around her fluffy white fur.

At one point, a child played a game where they pulled Snowhite's tail with all their might. Snowhite lifted the child by pulling the tail and held them suspended in front of her nose, staring at them.

Though she wasn't glaring, it seemed as if she was teaching the child something about how to interact with animals through her gaze, and for some reason, the children understood and never pulled again. The parents, except for the one whose child was suspended, watched with a smile, which made this village seem oddly good.

On the other hand, Azurona, who was initially found eerie due to her appearance, stimulated the protective instincts of the ladies with her clumsy seal-like walk using her wing-arms, and now she was constantly played with during the ladies' breaks.

Being accepted was much better than being ostracized, but Kurahito, feeling his own misfortune, was deeply envious of the two.

――Grinding, grinding, grinding, grinding, grinding, grinding, grinding, grinding, grinding, grinding, grinding, grinding, grinding, grinding, grinding, grinding, grinding

Kurahito had been grinding the herbs in the mortar from early morning until noon.

Ilargi had woken Kurahito up before dawn to teach him how to compound the herbs as part of the reward.

However, Kurahito suspected that Ilargi just wanted a herb grinder more than a reward.

He had been grinding dried, semi-dried, fresh, and fried herbs since morning.

"Next is this one."

The mortar was cruelly replaced again.

Kurahito, suspecting it was some new form of torture, couldn't just abandon it, considering it was part of the request.

When it was almost noon, a break was taken.

In this village, there were two and a half meals a day, with a light meal around noon. On the ship, it was a proper three meals.

While the women prepared the light meal, Kurahito stretched, making a series of cracking sounds, and went outside. There, the children were drawing pictures on a rock, showing them to Azurona.

The picture seemed to be of Azurona, and though it wasn't particularly well-drawn, it was a cheerful and childlike drawing.

Azurona, tilting her head, seemed very interested and was looking at the picture of herself drawn on the rock.

Kurahito, curious about what the children were using to draw, peeked over.

The children were using shells.

They were using the round, two-part shells of a walnut-like size skillfully.

There were no adults around. It seemed that Snowhite was left to watch the children while the women prepared the light meal. What a carefree village.

Kurahito asked the children.

"What are these shells called?"

"Is this? You don't even know this?"

Kurahito felt his cheeks twitch but couldn't get angry.

"Sorry. I'm from far away, so I don't know."

"Hmm, these are called White Circle Shells, and they can also be used as bait to attract large-mouthed fish."

The child said this proudly, puffing out his chest.

"Wow, where can you find them?"

"There are plenty around here."

The children pointed to the rocks at both ends of the pier.

"Lunch time!"

With a loud voice from a woman, the children threw down their shells and ran off.

"What are you spacing out for? You have to go too."

Ilargi called out to Kurahito, who was stunned by the children's reaction, like a swarm of spiders.

Kurahito responded with a half-hearted answer, picked up Azurona, and followed Ilargi with Snowhite. In his free hand, he firmly held a White Circle Shell.

After the communal lunch, Kurahito resumed helping Ilargi.

Though it was said to be a village-wide effort, it was only the women, elders, and children.

During lunch, the attendants of the Moon Goddess, who were preparing for the village's defense against pirates, were also present.

The eyes of the Moon Goddess's attendants who saw Kurahito were cold.

In particular, the female bird-person with a white eagle, White Eagle Woman, completely regarded Kurahito as an enemy, while Agasa acted as if Kurahito didn't exist.

The relationship between Kurahito and Agasa, who led the Moon Goddess's attendants, had become a cold war-like state.

The female knight, unlike before, seemed to have a good understanding of the situation from Akikawa and was frowning, trying to figure out how to handle the situation.

In the afternoon, instead of grinding herbs, Kurahito was made to practice basic compounding.

Ilargi taught him the quantities using a balance, and Kurahito took notes.

First, he was made to make three types of medicine, and after Ilargi, like a mother-in-law, gave detailed instructions, he was made to repeatedly make the same medicine, which was more like torture, or rather, training.

Kurahito was taught wound medicine, blood-stopping medicine, and cold medicine. He was also taught detoxifying medicine, but since there was no universal detoxifying medicine, he was taught a medicine that could alleviate the symptoms of various poisons.

For example, a poison that would kill in an hour would be made to kill in a few hours. The rest was up to the user to handle.

Kurahito, at his request, was taught mostly oral medicines, even if they were slightly less effective, to fit in his food backpack. However, it seemed that they could also be used as ointments by sprinkling them directly on wounds or dissolving them in water.

Ilargi said that if he remembered these, it would be enough for a hunter.

After a night of repetitive practice in compounding with Ilargi, the moon was a thin crescent.

Kurahito, who had finished dinner, was at the beach near the pier.

Sitting on a rock, facing the dark, calm sea, Kurahito's hand held a thread of the Great Thorned Ground Spider, with a fishing hook attached to one end, a piece of wood as a float, a sinker, and a White Circle Shell as bait, which had been thrown into the distant sea.

――Splash, splash

At Kurahito's feet, Azurona, despite being in the sea for the first time, was swimming around happily without fear.

It was extremely vulnerable to be in the night sea where one didn't know what might be there, but Kurahito had blocked the entrance to the rock where Azurona was swimming with a large ice block and had checked the sea before Azurona swam, so there were no creatures large enough to eat Azurona.

――Plop

Azurona dove into the sea.

One minute, she still hadn't come up.

Two minutes, still no sign.

Three minutes, just as Kurahito was starting to worry, Azurona surfaced. Holding a small crab in her mouth, she climbed onto the rock at Kurahito's feet and showed off her catch.

Kurahito stroked Azurona's head, and Azurona, looking happy, started to eat the crab.

"You've become so tough."

While watching Azurona, who had become as stubborn as someone, Kurahito muttered.

The village was on edge, preparing for a pirate attack, and fire spirits were floating around the pier for patrol.

While the fire spirits were pat