Kujonin

The inn was all messed up like the aftermath of a huge brawl, and Ayl and Velsa were sleeping on the floor using the dragons’ stomachs as pillows . The dragons were also snoring .
Seth was sleeping while sitting in a chair, as if guarding something behind him .
Scattered about behind Seth was food that had been eaten and scattered around .
It seems like he was trying to protect my food, but looks like he failed .
Merumo, asleep while prostrated out on the table, noticed me and woke up .
“Ah, President . Welcome Back . Aah, it was impossible after all . ”
Merumo said, looking at the plate behind Seth .
“I’ll make you something now . ”
So saying, Merumo stood up and headed to the kitchen .
“Sorry about that . ”

After some time, as I was watching my employees and the dragons sleeping, the dragons suddenly began to shine .
“c.r.a.p-!”
That’s right, when the dragons sleep, they return to dragon form .
I hurriedly seized the dragons by the scruffs of their necks  and threw them out the window .
The two of them returned to their dragon forms outside, but they didn’t show any signs of waking up .
Despite losing their pillows and having their heads strike the floor, Ayl and Velsa also didn’t wake up .
Seth was also sleeping like there wasn’t anything going on .
Only Merumo, who was in the kitchen, came to see what was happening, but when I explained she just said, “Aah, is that how it is?” and returned to the kitchen again .
When I tried asking Merumo,
“Did the employees of this inn also run away?”
While I ate the dinner Merumo prepared,
“I don’t really know, but I haven’t seen them since we returned in the evening . ”
“I see…”
I ate dinner, washed the tableware with Clean Up, and then carried my sleeping employees to their rooms .
Only, Merumo was watching the bottle with the ear tick the company is raising .
It looks like when I stopped raising it, it was pa.s.sed on to Velsa, and from Velsa it was pa.s.sed on to Merumo .
“Did the Microscopic Skill appear for Merumo?”
“No, not yet . I wonder if it’s because I’m no good at observation? I don’t think about anything other than it’s cute . ”
Velsa said she got the Microscopic Skill from observing the ear tick, but it just might be different for each person .
As Merumo put bread crusts in the bottle, she watched the ear tick with a sweet and doting face .
Separating from the dangerous Merumo, when I looked into the inn’s back rooms, it was completely emptied .
I can’t help but think, “What should we do about the only inn in the village running away?” but it can’t be helped since I didn’t give them any information, huh?

“Don’t stay up too late . ”
I told Merumo, then went to my own room and crawled into bed .
It seems like there wouldn’t be any complains if I used any of the other rooms, and it seems like it would be fine even if we used an abandoned house, but for some reason it feels like my place to sleep in this villages is this room .
I fell asleep while listening to the sleeping dragons’ snoring outside .

The next day I heard Seth’s shriek from outside early in the morning .
I guess he saw the dragons when he went to go to the toilet .
“That’s right, I haven’t introduced the newbies to them yet . ”
While yawning I got out of bed, left the room, and headed to the stairs .
At just that time, Seth opened the inn door and was just coming in, fl.u.s.tered .
“D-d-d-dragon! It’s dragons!”
“Aah, did Ayl and Velsa not introduce you yesterday?”
“Ah-! Those weren’t just nicknames!?”
“They’re not nicknames . They’re the real thing . My acquaintances . Anyway, it was dragons that burnt up the plantations, right?”
“Well, yes, but, then, I was drinking together with dragons?”
“Yup . Geez, it’s about time for you to get used to this company . ”
“Y,you’re kidding…”
That said, I also understand what Seth’s saying .
When you wake up in the morning and head towards the bathroom, there are dragons the same size as a building sprawled out, after all .
If I don’t deal with this soon, the villagers will begin making a fuss .

I woke the dragons by raising their eyelids .
“It’s morning . Please get up . Use humanification magic or fly north, please . ”
“Wh,what is it? You sure treat dragons roughly . ”
“Sorry . But please wake up . It will become an issue otherwise . ”
“I got it, I got it . ”
Just when I thought Red Dragon and Black Dragon-san were going to just stay like that while opening their mouths widely and yawning, they changed into human forms with humanification magic .
“And so, what are our jobs going to be from now on? Sir Naoki . ”
Black Dragon-san asked .
“From here on I’ll have you act a little violently in the area around the border to the northern country, use humanification magic to sneak out, and then your role will be over . ”
“What, something that simple?”
“That’s right . I think it’s good . ”
“Then, when our duties are over, shall we return after having dinner at Floura’s Margaret House?”
“Umu . Let’s do so . ”

Deciding to forget about the inevitable disaster that will fall the Margaret House for the moment, I realized I didn’t have a map when I went to check the country’s borders on the map .
I had left it in Garcisan’s storehouse yesterday .
It can’t be helped so I went to the church to have someone who knew tell me .

When I went to the church taking the dragons along, it seems like it was the time to offer up prayers .
When I went again afterwards, Pastor Romeo’s friends, who had given the memorial speech during his funeral, noticed us, and when I explained our circ.u.mstances, they drew us a map and told us where it was .
Thanking them, I left the village saw the dragons off .
The dragons, who tried to undo the humanification magic as soon as we exited the church, still seem to be a little sleepy .

In the end, I went all the way upstream of the water ca.n.a.l to send the dragons off, confirmed what they had to do with them, and then parted with them .
“So, this is where we part? If you should ever require our help once again, you can call us any time . ”(black)
“Umu . To be frank, I hadn’t thought we’d meet G.o.d . If it’s G.o.d’s request, call us any time . There is no greater honor . ” (red)
Black Dragon-san and Red Dragon each said their goodbyes and flew off .
I have a pretty straightforward relationship with the dragons1 .
They’re fine with food as a reward, so they’re also existences I’m grateful for .
It’s just, I heard from Ayl later, that they had eaten all the quite expansive amount of food in the item bag .

When I returned to the inn, Seth had made a light breakfast with the leftovers from last night .
When I had eaten breakfast, the women had also come down to the dining hall .
It turns out that Ayl and Velsa were suffering from hangovers and Merumo had lack of sleep .
Sniffing the scent of herb tea, their heads cleared and Velsa,
“Huh? Where’s the dragons?”
she asked .
“They already went off to do their jobs . We should also eat breakfast and go to work . You’ve already gone ahead with digging the well, right?”
“We have . We’ve already reached a water source . ”
“Next is, how will we draw it up!”
Ayl and Velsa explained as they ate .
It seems the well is quite deep, so drawing the water normally with a bucket would be terrible .
“We should make a pump . ”
“Pump, you mean that?”
Velsa made a gesture like she was using the pumps for extermination .
“Something that was the origin of that . However, I wonder if we have the materials…”

“Bronze, is it?”
Garcisan asked .
We immediately headed to site with the well after we ate breakfast .
Garcisan, parents and children, were already there, using earth magic to continue the work .
“Yes, it’s a material that won’t rust easily and is easy to work with, but do you have any?”
“If it’s that, mah wife might have some, nee, Ah’ll try and ask . Hahaha, as usual, you ask some mysterious things, Naoki-kun . Whatcha thinking of making?”
Garcisan’s tone  was different from the seriousness of last night; it seems he’s completely returned back to the old Garcisan .
“I was thinking I’d make equipment to draw the water up from underground . ”
“I see, I got it . Practice your earth magic for a little while . ”
Garcisan gave the children instructions and guided me to his house .

“Ashley! Ashley!”
Garcisan called out his wife’s name .
“What it it~?”
The Misses said as she came out with dirty hands .
“Oh my, Naoki-kun . My apologies for yesterday . Ah, wait a moment, I was just copying your map . ”
So saying, she quickly withdrew and returned with the map .
“My apologies . We ended up borrowing it . ”
“Oh no, it’s fine . Aside from that, do you have any bronze?”
“He’s going to make equipment for when we draw water . ”
Garcisan explained .
“Oh my, is that so? Then come to my workshop . ”
The Misses, Ashley-san, headed towards another storehouse-like building next to the storehouse the villagers and merchants gathered in yesterday .
I thought it was a storehouse, but looks like it’s Ashley-san’s workshop .
Garcisan and I also followed after her .

Within the workshop were all sorts of implements piled together in a small s.p.a.ce, and on the shelves on the wall were monster bones and skulls and the like, innards and stomachs, and some kind of powder in bottles; all sorts of medicinal items were put there .
“My wife Ashley is an alchemist . ”
Garcisan explained, but do alchemists use the intestines and innards of monsters?
Further inside on a large desk, there was a pile of papers .
Ashley-san put away that pile of papers on the desk, saying in embarra.s.sment,
“There’s stuff everywhere, but please sit . ”
And pointed out the stools .
Garcisan lit the magic stone lamp on top of the desk .
Certainly, since there are shadows of the storehouse that’s next to the workshop, the sunlight doesn’t come in much .
“And so, what kind of thing are you going to make?”
“Shall I draw and explain?”
I took out charcoal and sc.r.a.p paper from my item bag, laid it out on the desk, and drew the parts of a hand pump and explained the construction .
“And so, this part will produce a vacuum, and the water will be drawn up . ”
“So that’s how it is, how interesting . Hahaha . ”
“My word, to draw the water without using magic or magic circles . So there was such a way . ”
Garcisan and his wife admired it .
“How is it? Would you happen to have the materials?”
“I don’t have that much bronze . I also don’t have the abilities to process it . I wonder if there’s someone with the Blacksmithing skill around?”(Ashley)
“Aah, there was a dwarf child, but he’s already become independent . ”(Garcia)
So they did have such a child .
“Could we be able to subst.i.tute it with some monster materials, I wonder? It would be fine as long as it doesn’t rust or get moldy, correct?” (Ashley)
“Well, yes . ” (Naoki)
“For example, the esophagus of a sandworm that lives in the desert would also be fine, perhaps?”
Come to think of it, there was that kind of earthworm monster, naa .
“Stone that Ah harden with mah earth magic also has quite the durability, you know . If it’s the skulls of the monsters around here, it can pierce through . ”
“I see, there was that sort of possibility . ”
“However, the well is quite deep, so will it be alright?”
Garcisan asked about a fundamental issue .
Come to think of it, I hadn’t confirmed the depth .
In order to check it, I headed over to where they were continuing to dig .
While the children were practicing their earth magic at the ground, my employees were tying ropes together .
When I asked what they were doing, they said they were measuring the depth of the well .
“Whatever may be, if you’re going to build equipment, then accurate measurements are necessary, right?”
Velsa said .
You’re absolutely right, but the rope is long . Way too long .
“Is it that long?”
“Try looking with the Search Skill . ”
I forgot .
When I looked with the Search Skill, it was quite deep .
Honestly, I’m uneasy about how the hand pump will do .
Like this, it would be quite tough to provide pasture for the feehorses and water for the villagers and merchants .

“Should we have a windmill to draw the water?”
“”Windmill?””
Behind me, Ashley-san and Garcisan raised the question .