Chapter 76

Summary of the previous episode ------------------------------------------------------

After a few days of earning with the new magic bag, we heard from Diora that the land deal had been finalized.

We handed over 300 gold coins as payment and 50 dried dindles as a thank you to Diora, and obtained the land.

"Finally, we have our own land! Applause! Clap, clap, clap!!"

As soon as we received the land deed from Diora and entered the room, Yuki started clapping and we followed suit.

"That's not very emotional!"

Despite our efforts, Yuki seemed dissatisfied with our reaction and waved her hands up and down to show her discontent.

"Well, it's not like it's a big deal. It's only been about a week, right?"

"True, but... If I said, 'We ventured into a dangerous forest, gathered rare mushrooms, and slew several giant monsters over three meters tall, and earned the money to buy this land,' wouldn't that be a bit more moving?"

"True, but maybe it's because the orcs weren't that dangerous."

Since we didn't overcome any significant danger to get the land, the emotional impact was thin.

If this had been something like, "I saved 3 million yen from my part-time job to buy it," it would have been quite moving. But then again, it's not easy to save that much from a regular part-time job. It's pretty tough for a high school student to earn 600,000 yen alone.

"Well, regardless of how it happened, we're landowners now."

"Wait, Toya, are you a hemorrhoid owner? I'm not, though?"

"Right, there's no toilet paper in this world, so it's tough—wait, hemorrhoids, that's not it!"

Incidentally, there is no toilet paper in this world, but the toilet situation isn't as bad as you might think.

The toilets in the inn are made by alchemy and automatically incinerate waste. While the waste doesn't completely disappear, the residue only needs to be cleaned out once a year or so, even at the inn level.

The smell is almost negligible, which is a big help for us. In most ordinary households, the toilets are simple pit latrines, so they do have a noticeable odor.

"Yuki, getting the land is great, but we need to build a house first. Time is running out."

"Oh, right. I talked to the carpenter about it, so I'll give you a quick rundown."

Apparently, Yuki had already inquired about building a house when she went to the carpenter's for Aera's sign.

According to her, ordinary people in this world don't have detailed consultations like in Japan when building a house.

They don't draw detailed blueprints, make models, or use 3D floor plans on computers.

They just tell the carpenter their budget, a rough floor plan, and what rooms and facilities they need, and leave the rest to the carpenter. If anything is missing or additional facilities are needed, the carpenter will add them.

"It's a bit disappointing, but what can we do?"

Yuki seemed a bit dissatisfied as she explained, and Natsumi nodded in agreement.

"Right. I was looking forward to choosing my own wallpaper and interior decorations, and picking out a system kitchen and bathroom when I build my own home..."

"In our case, we don't know the norms for houses in this world. If we make too many detailed requests, we might end up asking for things that don't exist, so it can't be helped."

In Japan, there are designer apartments and houses where the design is so impractical that it's hard to live in, but they look good. It's surprising and alarming how such places exist.

People who buy such properties probably have plenty of money. Since it's a place where they'll live for decades, ordinary people can't just replace it because they don't like it or find it hard to live in.

"Well, in any case, there are no system kitchens or unit bathrooms in this world, so there's nothing we can do."

"There's no wallpaper either. We can choose curtains and furniture, so we can be a bit more flexible there. It will cost more, though."

"We need to earn more. By the way, we don't have enough to order the house yet, right?"

"Yuki, is the payment upfront and in full?"

"No, it's usually about half upfront, I think."

"If that's the case, we're fine. We can put up 600 gold coins, so the budget can be up to 1,200 coins. Honestly, we have enough funds to cover it by selling the orcs in the magic bag, so there's no need to worry."

"We do have a fair amount of orcs saved up, so even if we can't go hunting due to rain until the house is built, it won't be a problem. Of course, if we can't go hunting, the construction will also be delayed."

"Let's order the house as soon as possible and decide what kind of house we want as a group."

"Sure. I don't have many preferences, but I'd like a functional kitchen, even if it's not as fancy as Aera's."

"I want a private room. If I could be a bit extravagant, a place to train indoors would be nice."

"I—"

We each shared our opinions, adopted some, and rejected others, and decided on the following:

- 8 rooms in total, including private rooms and a guest room

- 4 rooms for a laboratory and workshop for alchemy and other activities

- A well-equipped kitchen

- A dining room, living room, and a reception room

- A spacious laundry room with a bathtub

We included these features and also mentioned the rejected requests, leaving the rest to the carpenter within our budget.

The budget is 1,200 gold coins, with half paid upfront and the rest upon completion. A slight budget overrun is acceptable if the quality improves, but it needs to be discussed.

In Japan, this would be impossible, but the prices here are different, so it's not an unreasonable request.

From our perspective, the land and building costs are quite cheap. The construction methods are entirely different, so comparing them is a bit off.

Since we're amateurs, it's hard for us to judge what's possible or not, so we decided to consult the carpenter the next day and finalize the details.

◇ ◇ ◇

The next day, the weather was bad, so we took a break from hunting. The women went to the carpenter's together, while Toya and I were given free time.

We were asked if we wanted to come along, but knowing the energy women put into fashion and interior design, we politely declined and chose free time.

"So, Toya, what do you want to do?"

After seeing Haruka and the others off, we returned to the room and sat on the bed to discuss our plans.

"I don't know... Since we have the chance, how about we go see the land we bought? It's spacious, so we can have a mock battle there."

"Toya... You've really become a muscle head... You used to be better, but maybe you're being influenced by your race?"

When I said this and pretended to cry, Toya chuckled and scratched his head.

"Hmm, compared to before, I do find moving my body more enjoyable. In our original world, I couldn't swing a sword as coolly as I do now! Plus, it's fun to see myself improving."

"I understand. It's fun to handle a spear well."

I think most men can relate to this feeling.

When you watch kung fu movies, you can't help but want to imitate the moves. When you can actually do what the characters in movies or manga do, you naturally put in more effort. Of course, we can't do the absurd techniques from some manga.

"Still, the main reason is survival. If I'm surrounded by a few orcs, I'd probably die."

"We're human, after all. We can't swing a sword and create shockwaves like 'swish!'"

"That's the domain of Naoto and the mages."

"Yup, I can't do that with my magic for a while. I need to chant, too."

Technically, chanting isn't always necessary.

The spellbook has incantations, but they're more like aids to solidify the image of the spell. We usually just say the spell name. In fact, we don't even need to do that, but we use it as a trigger to avoid mistakes, similar to shouting 'yaah!' in kendo.

Even with Haruka's [High-Speed Chanting] skill, it's not meaningless. While it does allow for faster chanting, the main effect is that the time from forming the spell to casting it is shortened, probably.

The reason I say "probably" is that there's no way to compare.

Compared to Yuki and me, Haruka's spell casting is definitely faster, but it could just be that Haruka is better at using magic, and the [High-Speed Chanting] skill might not be the reason.

We can also shorten the casting time through practice, which is another reason we can't rule out the possibility. If Yuki or I had the [High-Speed Chanting] skill, we'd know.

"Thinking about it, magic is pretty mundane."

"Considering the classification, we're still low-level mages, I guess."

I don't know if such a classification exists, but at level 3, that's probably the best we can be.

"But Toya, beastmen aren't completely without magic power, right? Maybe you can wrap your sword in magic power and do something like 'Magic Sword!' or 'Magic Blade! Slash!'"

Some magical items made by alchemy use the user's magic power, but even people who can't use magic, like humans and beastmen, can use them. So, everyone probably has some level of magic power.

"Hmm, can I? I can't feel my magic power... How do I do it?"

"I don't know. In my case, I could use magic from the start, so I grasped the feeling of 'magic power' from the sensation of casting spells."

If someone had told me to "grasp the feeling of magic power" from the start, I wouldn't have understood. I understood what 'magic power' was after using magic many times and gradually learned how to manipulate it. It's not something I can easily teach.

"Can't you figure it out?"

"Even if you ask me to figure it out, I don't know... First, we should check if beastmen can use magic power to do something like 'Magic Sword.'"

"...That's true. There's no library... Okay, let's ask Diora when we're in trouble."

With that, Toya stood up, and I hurriedly followed.

"If she's busy, we should stop, right? She's working."

"I know. If she's busy, I'll read some materials in the archive. The one I started the other day."

There's nothing to do if I stay at the inn alone. Even if we can't talk to Diora, reading materials would be a better use of time. I followed Toya's light steps to the adventurer's guild.