136 5.25 Izumi and Riko Makes Their Acquaintance

I walked back home and nearly trudging along with my feet. Frankly, I am getting used to working in such an environment since my previous life I had never worked in such manual labour before except during the time when I was doing parttime work doing upholstery and carpet cleaning work to pay for my daily needs and such back on Liverpool while I was just a student at the local university there and that was in 2002.

Right now, in this era, there were no machines to ease my work and even I'm in an 11-year-old body, but in actual fact I'm nearing my 50's soon! Omagai... Hope my back don't fail me this time.

I reached home and saw Hiko-sama fanning himself at the terrace of the house even when it's still winter time. We both were sweating, even I was the one who perspire more than Hiko-sama.

The moment Hiko-sama saw me, he stood up and called me over excitedly which means he brings good tidings during lunch time.

"Hey, kid. Here's the receipt for today's purchases. And good news, Kuro-san, who is the Blacksmith, agrees to pay the 300 gold coins tomorrow and he committed for 2 consecutive weeks for the [Refined Iron] plates that you had made for him. You really is becoming a tycoon over the wealth that you collect in a month!"

"Thank you, Sensei. You had done very well indeed in completing the tasks." I took the receipts and calculated whatever he had spent. Hiko-sama also handed me the small chest that contains all the 70 silvers and 100 coppers that was left untouched. I calculated and paid him back accordingly including the whole cost of purchase since he would be handling the deliveries and payment at the same time.

Nobody would believe that I could accumulate such wealth at a young age and in a short period of time!

"Here's your saving account book, and as mentioned by the teller, the profit interest rates goes lower once you had accumulated more than certain amount capped."

Hiko-sama went to explain about the prevailing profit interest rates and seemed the higher the savings the lesser is the profit. By the way, using the bank as to store the coins was better than leaving gold coins lying around the house.

The receipt for the furniture shows that it would be delivered in 2 days time. It was also the day when I had nothing to do for the past 2 days after I had cleaned Kami-sama's house.

The flowers, oil and lye would arrive soon during midday. The same goes to the flowers and the sack of green tea too. I excused myself and went into my room to clear the tatami mat, takamura, and my weapon's stand.

I place them outside in the living room to give space for the delivery of the goods that would soon arrive. The small wooden chest that I had received from Hiko-sama was placed inside the takamura along with the coins that I had received earlier from Hiko-sama's Comrades

I joined Hiko-sama at the terrace and sat down with a kettle of cool green tea that I had boiled earlier for lunch. Hiko-sama, as usual, had a jar of yumeshu in his embrace as he drank from it.

"Later, we have some guests coming in for supper and dinner. Her name is Izumi and she's bringing her niece named Riko. The niece is the same age as you while Izumi looked like late teens to me. However, she was the one selling the flowers and I told them you have some projects with it."

"Ah....its nice to have female companions once in a while. I hadn't talk to the opposite gender for more than a week I think. So, are we going out for dinner or we going to eat just like this in the terrace. The furniture would come in 2 days time so let's be more casual and relaxed and eat here in the open, shall we?"

"Yes... Yes... I agree with you. No point we hide our true self and character by hiding behind a fake scenario... Acting so demure and so gentleman-like."

"Sensei, once the items arrived, let me go to the Realm of Mind and place the items there instead. Once everyone had gone, I'd go and store the items there first since the space there was unlimited. Later after supper, I'd go and prepare the items what were perishable especially the flowers."

"No problem, kid. Come, let's have lunch first and we can talk at the same time." and soon, Hiko-sama led me from the living room to the terrace where we sit and had our lunch. From my looks alone, he knew that I was totally drained from my work and didn't have the time to energise myself. It seems that hearing 300 gold coins didn't seem to excite me much.

As we were eating our lunch, the goods that Hiko-sama ordered had arrived and he supervised where to place them and have the delivery boy to arrange them. The coconut oil and olive oil came first. Then next followed by a 5 kilograms sack of lye.

A short while later, a young woman and a girl came by pushing a hand cart with 4 huge basket of flowers. Hiko-sama quickly greeted the young woman by the name of Izumi and then Hiko-sama quickly introduced me to the both of them.

The young lady who delivered the flowers looked sheepishly at Hiko-sama and somehow he looked a bit flustered after being stared at by a young woman for some time. Hiko-sama carried two baskets of flowers and I did the same too.

Realising that we were in the midst of lunch outside the house, we could only invite them for tea as they had travelled quite a distance from the marketplace to the house, pushing the handcart. Beads of perspiration also shown on both of the young lady and the girl's forehead.

It was out of courtesy to serve them some refreshments as there was only 2 bento boxes and we were midway having them. The two girls took their drink and thanked us.

"Hmm... Izumi-Chan, remember later to join us for dinner here, at this terrace as we enjoy the evening breeze as well. Riko-Chan, why don't you talk to Himura-kun here? Don't be shy, he is the same age as you too."

The girls nodded as they accepted the invitation and looking forward to the dinner and supper.

"Senpai, what do you do? It seems you are covered with some dirt and all." Riko asked me as she looked at me from head to toe and I realised that I had been doing laundry and settling the ashes from the furnace and kitchen. It was literally had soot on my hair and face.

"Hiko-sama, please don't mind my niece as she sometimes shoots off her mouth despite offending the other party."

"Nah... Its OK Izumi-Chan, this idiot nephew of mine doesn't mind a bit! Haa... Haa... Haa..." replied Hiko-sama as he glanced at me and winked.

"Haa... Haa... Yes, onee-san. Don't worry about me. As for Riko-Chan, it's OK. I may look dirty from the outside but my heart is pure. I'm doing some household chores for the Comrades of Sensei. So I have to the laundry and clean the kitchenette and the furnace so sometimes I don't have time to see myself in the reflection on how I look. The most important part is Trust and Friendship."

Izumi and Riko looked at me with admiration and a mixed feelings of amazement as I spoke like an adult even though I am the same age as the former's niece.

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"It's your full time job then? Do you plan to go to school or anything like that?" Riko asked as she sat near Izumi while gripping her arm.

"It's my full time job for this month only, the next month I do have some projects that's why we gotten so much flowers from you."

"By the way, are you both working full time there at the flower shop? I didn't seem to noticed you when I was walking at the marketplace yesterday all by myself."

"Oh, we had been working at the flower shop for some time now. Actually we both had faced some difficulties before, and decided to move to this village. Hmm... Its difficult for us to say this, but we had moved recently here and staying at the flower shop after it closes."

From the way Izumi was telling that part of conversation, I knew that she had faced more difficulties than I am. Their situation way back was harder than anyone could imagined and only God knows how was their state before. I knew from Riko's eyes that both had not taken their lunch yet and was wondering to myself if they had their lunches or even proper meals daily.

"Hmm... Wait here for a while. I let you have something to eat. Its not proper for our guests to come when we are having our lunch and we do not have anything to offer."

I started to stand up but was stopped by Izumi.

"No... No.. T... There's no need to prepare anything for us, we are good." stammered Izumi in a protest because maybe this was her first time being treated as equals.

"Don't worry, Himura-kun means well. He is going back to the kitchenette to fetch something he had prepared for breakfast and I only managed to have the sweet corn since I was busy running around the trading district running tasks earlier." Hiko-sama reasoned to the both girls as they seemed a bit shaken since they thought that this 11-year-old kid had more sense than the people they had met since they arrived in Kitakata village.

I opened the steamer and found there were still the 2 pieces of sweet potatoes and 2 pieces of steamed bananas on it. I took 2 stoneware plates and placed one sweet potato and one banana each and carried it to the guests. I placed them on the terrace and invited them to eat.

They looked at it and swallowed their saliva. To us, this dish was very simple but to others to have them would define a different meaning.

I saw Riko was tugging at Izumi's sleeve and had a sort of pleading eyes on her and Izumi patted her head and told her, "It's alright Riko, go ahead and take the plate. Don't forget to say grace before eating." and as soon as Riko heard Izumi words, she took a plate and gave one to her aunt and she took another plate for herself.

"Itadakimasu" they both graced and peel off the steamed banana that had gone cold. Actually the colder it is, the sweeter it tastes and same goes to the steamed sweet potatoes too.

The sweetness of the steamed banana soon hit their taste buds and both of them suffered from jawlock. They both squinted their eyes and exclaimed "Oishi!" at almost the same time and smiled and chewed their food slowly as they both savoured the simple presentation of food.

Even if the foods were prepared for breakfast but it doesn't stop them from enjoying it. My heart leaped at their joys of simple things in life that made me almost forget that alot of people takes things for granted and always complain of not getting enough. I nearly choked on my own emotions and I buried my face as I continue my lunch.

"Gochisosama" the girls again choruses after they had finished the food and was holding to the plates on their laps. I saw Riko's eyes softened abit for the hospitality that had been shown towards them. To both Izumi and Riko, this was their first time to receive such treatment after a long period of time.

I carried the bento boxes back in the kitchenette and I managed to slip 10 coppers in my hands before sitting at the terrace. I held 5 coppers each and placed them on each of their plates.

"Eh... Himura-kun. This is too much. Why are you giving me these coppers? We only earn 2 coppers per day for our daily work but this is way too much. We cannot accept this." protested Izumi as she looked at the coins and then back at me and then back at the coins.

Her body language shows whether to take it or don't take it. If she don't take it she might be afraid I might take offense, and if she does take it, it's my hard earned money cleaning other people's houses.

"I.... I.... Huuuu..... Huuuu....." suddenly Izumi cannot control her emotions and her eyes suddenly reddened as teardrops started to form at the corners of her eyes and streamed down her face. Riko who was sitting next to Izumi also broke into tears as if she knew what was happening our out of fear si xe the former had started crying first.

"Don't worry, Izumi-Chan... Riko-Chan... Please stop crying. Or else the neighbours here thought that we are bullying you or something. See... See...the auntie over there already started to point at us already...." Hiko-sama tried his best to comfort the both of them and he patted their heads in order for them to stop crying.

"Sob... Sob... Thank you so much Hiko-sama and Himura-kun. Sob... Sob... We have a very long tale to tell but I think we can talk over dinner and supper afterwards. You both won't mind, do you?"

"Onee-san, I am an 11-year-old kid, the same age as your niece but my mentality and understanding of other people in the first 10 seconds that I meet is very important as I can see your journey of hardship just by looking at your hands. You had more hardship than me and I knew that even if the 5 coppers didn't mean much to me, but it would mean alot to you."

"I also know that you both were ill-treated and only given one square meal per day with nothing in between. With just 2 coppers per day, how much would it be used to cover your daily meals and needs? Take those 5 coppers and go have a proper lunch on the way back. I just wanted to make sure you won't be hungry again and suffer the same treatment by the following month."

I nodded at Hiko-sama and hoped that what I had said during this time would give him some ideas of what's to come in the near future. Hiko-sama nodded at me back which means he understands what I had said to the two girls and were looking forward to give them a better prospect in life.

Izumi and Riko just sat there and was wide eyed as I explained to them and was near perfect. They indeed were ill-treated and had one meal per day and earlier when Izumi joked with Hiko-sama about spending her dinner, it was part and parcel of gaining customer's liking towards the shop. Never did both of them imagined that they had met with these wonderful God-Sent people before them and felt so nostalgic at the moment.

They pocketed the money I had placed in their plates and placed the plates on the terrace. Too bad our furniture had not arrived yet or else we would have a proper chat.

Hiko-sama also was feeling a bit astonished as it seems I was able to read into people's mind and body language through their main intentions. No wonder Hiko-sama feelings and vision for me was very deep, just like Hiko-sama was regarding me as an adopted son even though he was only 24 at that moment.

Izumi and Riko stayed a bit while before they excused themselves to return to the flower shop as they may have some deliveries to make. Izumi then told Hiko-sama that she would be here by dinner time with Riko and they could have a sharing moment on what actually was happening to them.

We bade them farewell as both of us were anticipating them to join us for dinner and supper later tonight.

"Wah ehh... You really can see through them the first time you meet eh? You are a wonder kid, you know?" Hiko-sama exclaimed as he looked at me with wonder.

"Let me make those things in my room dissappear first or else I've got no where to sleep tonight."

I said as I tried to avoid answering anymore questions and took the two plates and place them in the kitchenette. "Sensei, I won't be long. I just need to bring these items to the Realm of Mind and then return back to the real world. Give me about 15 minutes."

"Ok, no hurry, kid. The house you were cleaning won't run off on its four legs looking for its owner, right?" Hiko-sama reassures me that I would still have enough time to finish up my work at Toshi's house.

I went into my room and immediately went into my meditative state. During my visualisation mode, I cranked it up to bring me into another section where I can see 2 large cauldrons that were meant for mixing the coconut and olive oil together while another cauldron would used to mix the whole 5 kilograms of lye. The cauldron that will be used to mix the two oils were large enough to store 55 kilograms of contents. It was sort of a low cauldron at the height of my waist and a diameter of about 1 meter. The other cauldron for mixing lye was just nice to mix about 20 litres of water.

Then I visualised 5 low wrought iron stands with a transparent glass shaped bowl that was the height of my knees and a diameter of 1 meter. There were 2 sets of linen cloth that will be used as a sieve and inside the glass bowl was already three quarters filled with water. This will be used to slowly heat up the flowers and what dropped afterwards would be their Essense. It's a long process and it needs controlled heat.

As for this, I visualised a bunsen burner with an LPG tank next to every one of them. Had to use modern technology because everything I visualise could be made up of new and old innovation and technology.

I fired up the 5 bunsen burners and set it to medium heat. I first covered the top overlapping the glass bowl with the first layer of cloth. Then I placed 4 lead weights to each end of the cloth so its suspended on the bowl.

Next I poured the green tea leaves onto the cloth and spread the contents evenly. Lastly I place another of the cloth to cover the leaves.

This i processed the exact procedures for the lavender, jasmine, lilac and roses. The heat would be regulated and the water would not boil over till 12 hours in the Realm of Mind or 4 hours in the real world.

I visualised 5 timers on the LPG tanks that connect to the rubber tubes of the bunsen burners and set it to automatically shut off its has supply 12 hours later. In this way I could be assured that everything would run smoothly and the water would not evaporate at all.

Next I poured the coconut and olive oil into one of the bigger cauldron. I then visualised water to be in the other cauldron and I slowly scooped lye and dropped them into the water. I used a wooden kind of oar-like stirrer and stirred the lye contents. I repeated the whole process until I had used up 5 kilograms of lye in a 20 litres of water. I slowly stirred until it became uniform.

I visualised a large mixer that I supposed to mount on top of the larger cauldron. But before that, the lye mixture was scooped up and poured into the coconut and olive oil mixture. Once I had completely poured the lye mixture, I mounted the mixer.

The mixer had 3 speeds and I chose the lowest one that would be best running by itself for 12 hours for a total of 70 litres of mixture. There was a knob that marked 60 RPM, 30 RPM and 15 RPM.

The good thing about this mixer was that it uses the energy that was around it. And secondly this mixer does not spin its mixing blade in the middle only unlike conventional mixers but this mixer had a small rotary device that actually mixes the contents evenly starting from the sides of the cauldron.

After I had checked and rechecked all the operating mechanism, I felt satisfied and then I decided to log off and return to the real world.

"Are you done? I was surprised to see you managing alone to store those things in the Realm of Mind."

"Not only store them, Sensei... But also setup the whole process. Later I'd get back early from Toshi-sama's and show you how the setup looks like. Now, I'm going back to finish my work and once done I'd rush back here. Is that fine, Sensei?"

"Sure, run along now..." Hiko-sama was still in shock to see the initial barrels, sacks and baskets that filled the entire room and the next found that it had all disappeared.

I quickly jogged back to the intended house and finished up what I could.

---Meanwhile, in the Realm of Mind---

The water was slowly heating up in the oversized glass bowl and steam slowly rose up and heated the contents above. As more and more steam rose up, the flowers and green tea started to be blanched and droplets slowly formed underneath the cloth and dropped back into the water.

The green tea exudes green colored droplets that slowly drip back into the oversized bowl. The lavender one exudes a purplish one, jasmine exudes white ones, the lilac exudes light violet ones while roses exudes cherry red ones.

There were 5 colored droplets that had been exuded prior to the steaming of the contents, and it slowly recycled back into steam and back becoming liquid again. This process was painstakingly slow but its worth the wait and the end results would be a thick concentrated Essense that would be slightly thick and very aromatic and if added with some essential non scented oil it would be readily used as a dab on or rolled on perfume.

Right after 12 straight hours in the Realm of Mind, would then the full Essense be collected and preserved in large transparent bottle and carefully labelled.

The two oils and the lye mixture that had been slowly stirred in the mixture was too early to form. Once the main task for making the soap is done, it would be seperated into 5 equal portions and then stirred after dropping about 50 cc of perfume in a mixing bowl by another mixer.

It will solidify later on as the perfume and natural colourings would be throughly mixed. The state of the solidification would be like churned butter and would be placed into a rectangular moulding set the size of 3x3x3 inches and have it sit for a few hours before taking them out and air dried gently for 3 weeks.

3 weeks in the Realm of Mind would take exactly 1 week in the real world.