268 - - Episode 266. The Power of Advanced Spirits

The presentation of seasonings and ingredients to Ruby and her friends was successfully completed, although there was an accident when Sylphy lectured them. Ruby looks like she's ready to start cooking, but we'll have to finish decorating the four stores for now. First, let's summon Nomos.

Nomos. Please listen to what Ruby and the others have to say and take care of the interior design.

"Yes, but I don't think I'm necessary since there is a high spirit of the earth there. It's your daughters' store. Why don't you let them take care of it?"

...... I remember that citrine is an advanced spirit of the earth. I never had a chance to meet a high level spirit, so I don't know how powerful they are. But even an intermediate level spirit is quite powerful, so a high level spirit should be able to decorate a store with ease. Well, let's check it out just in case.

"If it's an advanced spirit of the soil, can he decorate a store with ease?"

"Because he is an advanced spirit. He can do most things related to soil.

That's right. ...... right, you're an advanced spirit.

"Then I guess I'd better leave everything to Ruby and the others."

"Yes, I can manage without my help. So I'm going back to the brewery.

"Oh, I'm sorry to have caused you so much trouble."

I summoned Nomos, and now I have to send him home without doing anything. I'm sorry about that, but Nomos seems to be happy to be back at the brewery so I guess he'll be fine.

"That's why, Citrine. I'll leave all the decorating to Citrine, let me know if there's anything you need."

"...... got it."

Not much of a reaction. I was glowing with condiments and ingredients earlier, but you didn't like being in charge of the ...... interior?

"Oh, I'm sorry, Yuta's brother. Citrine is shy. It's not that she doesn't like talking to Yuta's brother or being in charge of decorating the store. In fact, she's happy about it.

Ruby follows me right away, as if she can see that I'm confused. I see, some spirits are shy. I didn't know that because almost all of the spirits I've met so far have been curious and friendly.

And what surprised me the most was how well Ruby followed up with her friends. I had the impression just yesterday that she was not a bad girl, but she tended to run wild and not pay attention to others.

"I'm glad you don't mind. Citrine, you don't have to do anything, if there's anything you want, you can talk to Ruby and the others and let me know."

Citrine nodded her head. If you are shy, you will be able to talk normally once you get used to it. If you try to push too hard before you get to know them, there is a high possibility that they will think you are not good at it. You should take your time to get used to it.

"Well then, let's get started. Let's start with the cafeteria.

"Right!　Let's get started!　Come on, Citrine, hurry up!"

Ruby grabbed Citrine's arm and ran to the cafeteria.

"Sylphy, do you want me to stay with you?"

"Hmm, well, I think we should stay together, don't you?　To be honest, I don't know what they're going to do either, and you're going to give them the seasonings and ingredients when you're done decorating, right?"

I don't mind handing over seasonings and ingredients later, but the words "not knowing what you're going to do" are plain scary. They may not do anything malicious, but they are powerful beings, and if they get a little carried away, it could be a big deal.

"......Yeah, I guess so. I don't think we can touch them, but we'd better keep an eye on them. Let's go."

I followed Ruby and the others as they ran off with Sylphy. I can hear the sound of bustling voices inside, as if they have already started working on the interior of the cafeteria.

"Oh, my God!　What the hell!"

When we entered the cafeteria, we found that it was occupied by a large number of blocks of dirt. I thought they were going to build tables or something to work on the interior.　He calls out to Saffy and Onyx, who were near the entrance.

"Saffi, Onyx. Why is this happening?"

"Oh, Yuta-san, I'm sorry about this morning."

The moment she realizes it's me, Saffy immediately bows her head. I want to believe that the frightened look I saw on her face for a moment was an illusion. I'm sure I'm wrong. ...... Ruby was normal.

"Oh, don't worry about it anymore. "Oh, don't worry about it anymore.

"Yes, since there is no food storage in this cafeteria, we decided to build one first. Citrine is building an ice house in the basement."

Saffy seemed more relaxed when I saw her yesterday, so I guess her morning sermon must have been a little too much for her. Even if I tell him to relax, he won't be able to loosen his shoulders easily... I'll wait until he gets used to it as the memory of the sermon fades away.

"I think there's a lot of dirt in there, though..."

There are blocks of dirt all over the rather large cafeteria. Are they really trying to accumulate that much food?　

"That's what I'm having my room made with. I was one room short and I'm a spirit of darkness, so I feel more at home in the basement."

I see, so they built Onyx's room together. That would explain the amount of soil.

"So Onyx has decided to live in the dining room."

"Yes, you seem to be the busiest, and I think it's safer for you to be around Ruby in more ways."

Somehow I think I understand Onyx's difficulty.

"Yeah, well, good luck with that. By the way, what do they do with the ice in the ice house?　Since you didn't have an ice genie, are you going to ask Dine to do it for you?"

Since there were no ice stones among the missing spirit stones, there should be no ice spirits among the members of the brewery.

"I can make ice!

Saffy says a little proudly.

"Well, Dine said that it's difficult for water spirits to make ice, but Saffy can do it too.

"Yes, I practiced hard to preserve the food."

......Their driving force is related to food, after all. It's true that being able to make ice is useful for preserving food.

"Oh, Yuta's brother, what should we do with this soil?　Can I mix it with the soil around the building?"

While I was talking with Saffy and Onyx, Ruby, Emme, and Citrine came out of the basement to talk to me, as if the ice room and Onyx's room were finished.

"Oh, I'll take care of that for you."

I guess they dug pretty deep, because there are quite a few blocks of dead earth from the dead lands, passing through the forest soil I brought with me. It would be safer not to mix them.

Then do me a favor!

Ruby asks me to store the large amount of soil blocks in the room in my magic bag. My magic bag is full of stuff that I don't even know when I will use it.

I easily managed to store all the blocks of living soil, even though there must have been a lot of insects in them. Considering that Citrine made the blocks by avoiding the insects in the soil,...... you can see that she is indeed an advanced spirit of the soil, shy but very capable.

...... Oh, I looked at Citrine with admiring eyes and she hid behind Emme. I should stop looking at her.

"I'm done. What's next?　Let me know if you need anything else."

Ruby, Emme, and Citrine consulted briefly, then said they did not yet have what they needed. Then they are going to build a kitchen.

Citrine put her hands in front of her, and the ground began to move. Nomos had made a nice ceramic shape, but I guess it's okay to move it.

（Yuta, don't stare at him.)

As I was observing the interesting thing, Sylphy warned me in a whisper.

（What?　Can't I even look at the technique?)

（He won't make a mistake, but he's certainly paying attention to us. (You're dealing with a girl, you should care about her.)

(Roger that.)

...... I see, it seems that girls are difficult even for spirits. If this were in Japan, would there be a s*xual harassment trial?　At any rate, not wanting to be disliked, I remove the citrine from my gaze and focus on the moving soil.

The moving soil takes shape without hesitation, and a kitchen with a counter is completed. It looks spacious and easy to use. He must be used to building kitchens, because I could feel no hesitation in his movements.

"Now it's my turn!"

Another energetic girl, Emme, raised her hand cheerfully. She was the senior spirit of the forest, wasn't she? What are you doing?　Emme scurries around the interior of the cafeteria. He sometimes looks up at the sky and places some plant seeds on the ground, thinking.

"Okay, that should do it. Citrine, please!

Emme asked Citrine to help her, and Citrine nodded and swallowed the seeds that had been placed in the soil. She wanted to plant the seed.

"Okay, let's go!"

Emme puts her hands out in front of her, and the planted seed sprouts and grows, wiggling and moving. There are usually trees and vines, but ...... why grow plants in the cafeteria? There are too many plants even if they are just houseplants.

Observing without understanding the meaning, several plants start to move as if they have a will, and intertwine with each other to form tables and benches. ...... Is that possible?　It's not like the wood is processed, but trees and vines grow in the shape of furniture.

Yet the bark is smooth and shiny where the food will be placed and where people will touch it. Are those chairs woven with vines?　It's like a hammock and looks comfortable. Genie really can be anything. The leaves and flowers are stylish accents here and there.

Round and rectangular tables, raised chairs for the little ones to sit on, and tables and chairs designed to make it easy for the animal spirits to eat. For a product that was made all at once, there is a great deal of attention to detail here and there. The overall atmosphere is that of a cute diner that looks like something out of a picture book.

(Hey, Sylphy...) You can do this to Dolly, too, right?)

I don't even have to whisper, but somehow I end up asking Sylphy a question in a whisper.

(Well, I guess Dolly can do the same thing, although her sense of humor may be different.)

...... Living tree furniture, huh? That's really cool. I don't know how the tree would feel about being made into ...... furniture, but I'm sure the spirits of the forest wouldn't do anything the tree wouldn't like. Maybe there is some kind of follow-up.

The reason Dolly didn't tell me that I could make furniture out of wood is probably because I've been buying all the furniture I normally would. Not that I'm unhappy with my current furniture, but I'm a little jealous. I'm sure there are still a lot of great skills in the Great Spirits that I don't know about.

By the way, Dolly said she's not too happy about making holes in the trees for the forest animals' burrows. How about growing plants in the shape of furniture instead of drilling holes?　If it looks OK, I'd like to have mine made. It would be nice to have it made in a park or near an altar.