CH 182

Wells are usually installed near or inside the main tower because of how important they are. They say that in the olden times, the castle’s lord resided in the main tower given its high defense security, but later on, most of the lords eventually built a separate mansion for themselves. The main tower was then converted into a jail for imprisoning criminals.

This castle also has its own well inside the main tower, albeit buried under rubble from fallen floors and debris. It would cost an arm and leg to excavate a well, almost as expensive as the constructions of the other buildings within the castle, apparently.

Some of the construction workers’ assistants are busy as bees drawing water and carrying it back and forth even now, straight to the bell tower attached to the pavilion. That tower also doubled as a spirit hall in the past. Spirit halls were simplified versions of 『Fae’s Bough』, or maybe it’s more accurate to call it a place of worship. The lords of this castle, or the entire island, rather, worships the spirit of the ocean as their deity.

The belltower has a belfry on the very top. The bell basically functions as a clock; it’s rung to let the islanders know it’s lunch time or something similar. Ah, but it’s now in ruins, all broken and crumbling. Actually, the main tower and the rest of the places that had been built after the wall was completed are already in ruins and it’s quite eye-catching. The old buildings might be difficult to live in, but they’re way more durable than the ones built later on.

Anyway, that aside, let’s go to the spot I requested for drawing water.

「Why are you doing this again when there’s already a well in here? You’ll be uselessly spending a fortune again. 」

「I didn’t ask you to bust through that bedrock, but didn’t say I’ll be making one, alright. 」

I commissioned the workers to dig until they hit the bedrock then make a structure similar to a well. However, the actual stonework for the well was done near the top of the tower.

「The purpose of this is something that eludes my understanding, still, may I guess if it’s a restroom? 」

「And why would it be? 」

Squat toilets, Edo style? Right, I remember the saying that the toilet of nobility lasted eternities, and that they ordered rea~lly deep holes to be dug out for their exclusive use. Do they have that sort of thing here too?

Anyway, back to the empty well I commissioned. The surface part of the well is actually on a platform, kinda like a viewing deck, on top of the tower. If you climb up the narrow stairs, you’ll get to the place where you can ring the bell, but I hadn’t installed the bell yet.

Yeah, I was a bit torn at first since the bell is ridiculously expensive and clocks can be an alternative. But then, after computing it, the wage of a bell-ringer for a hundred years is still far cheaper than buying a clock. Now, I’m torn whether I’ll have a pair of bells that will ring out a melody, or have a few with different pitches installed.

Perhaps I’m hit with nostalgia and just tempted to imitate the king~kong~kang~kong melody of school bells in Japan, but I shouldn’t; might attract the heroes to this place.

「You’re done with the work here, right? 」

Both of them agreed, albeit looking dubiously at me, so I handed the sweets pouch to them and called it a day. Later on, I’ll sneak in and secretly draw magic circles for summoning water. Maybe it’s better to let them see water flowing as early as possible, huh.

I also have to prepare a place for dyeing indigo and proceed on schedule. Apparently, cochineal is an ingredient for red dye, but since the Dye Guild’s keeping it hush, it’ll be better if I stayed out of it. Well, I do remember feeling repulsed when I first found out that the natural dyes used scale insects… natural, indeed.

Ah, right, purple too. They also use scale insects here, but those dyed with shellfish called murex snails tend to be more expensive, apparently, because it’s the color of nobles with extensive family histories with pureblood dating from way way back.

People born in high ranking aristocratic families are said to be 「born surrounded in purple 」— that’s just how much this color is favored by the bigwigs in power. By the way, the process of producing this color is also a trade secret kept by the Dye Guild, but it had to be stopped because of overharvesting the murex snails.

When I looked into it, I found out that you can only get two to three drops of secretion from one shell. You’ll need ten thousand pieces to dye a single shirt, how insane is that. No wonder such an ordinary mollusk is on the verge of extinction now. Apparently, there’s a very slim chance, kinda like once in a blue moon, that you’ll find a murex snail that turned into a monster, and if you find a trihorn murex snail, you’ll be making a fortune by a single stroke.

I teleported back to Canum while thinking of ways to help the island folks make money. I grabbed a basket and put some white wine and blueberry cheesecake in it. With room to spare I decided to add some eggs, bacon and other stuff before setting off to the neighbors. Today’s the day I’ll enjoy Shiva’s handmade dishes.

「Sorry for troubling you. 」

「Ou, you’re here. 」

「Jean! 」

Tina jumped at me the moment I shut the door, followed by the twins.

「Wait, wait, the eggs in the basket are in danger! 」

「Come in, Jean, sorry I have my hands full. 」

Shiva’s voice resounded from the kitchen.

I set the basket aside and hugged the kids again before moving towards the fireplace. Dinosso’s brushing something on a whole bird that was roasting on the fire. He’s using a feather-duster looking brush he fashioned out of twigs.

「Did you tie sage to rosemary twigs? 」

「Righto. And this here is olive oil mixed with chicken dripping, I brush it on. It’ll be done in a minute or so, so look forward to it. 」

He continued brushing the chicken while turning it from time to time.

Eh, so you’ve been doing this for two hours already!?

「I helped! 」

「We took turns~! 」

The twins happily shouted while I was still in shock; Vak was the first one to declare that followed by En.

「Yeah, I’m excited. 」

「I also helped Mama! 」

「And what did you make? 」

They’re too adorable while flocking around me, so I patted the trio on the head while chuckling.

「Food is ready now.」

「Ou, then let’s transfer this to a plate too. 」

Shiva came out of the kitchen and started setting the table while Dinosso removed the bird from the huge roasting spit and transferred it to the wooden board he was referring to as ‘plate’.

Short pasta tossed in green sauce, roasted chicken, soup, white wine.

「Thanks for the food. 」

Shiva’s dishes are tasty so I’m really looking forward to eating it.

The pasta sauce was made from basil, grated pine nuts, olive oil, cheese and salt — Genovese? The noodles are also made by hand. I like my spaghetti noodles firm, but this springy textured pasta is so tasty and it goes perfectly with the sauce.

Next is the cabbage soup.

「Oh, sour. 」

「It’s sauerkraut soup, is it your first time? 」

Shiva asked with a smile.

「Yup, I was a bit startled. 」

「It’s a regional cuisine from a little up north. I’m not good with sour stuff. 」

Dinosso said that, but he scooped a spoonful, stared at it for a while then ate it in a gulp.

Shiva stewed different meats with sauerkraut for three days. Dinosso also got an extra sausage for some reason, probably to ease the sourness.

「Here you go, chicken. 」

Dinosso sliced me some.

「Thanks. 」

The moment I took a bite, the fragrance of the meat filled my mouth. The skin was crispy, the meat juicy and soft with a hint of lemon’s refreshing zest.

Dinosso pulled some sort of stuffing before he cut it; was that lemon?

「Oh, yeah, Reid’s coming back, did you hear about it? 」

「Ahh, he’s bringing Ash back here, right? 」

「That’s also part of it but… 」

「He wanted to be my groom, he said. 」

「Eh. What a criminal. 」

I unwittingly blurted when Tina said that.

「He’ll be captured? 」

「Arrest him! 」

The twins happily laughed.

「My Tina, that bastard! 」

Dinosso’s gnashing his teeth.

So it wasn’t a joke? But I thought he’s such a gallant knight outside his job!

「According to Chris, Reid is possessed by a unicorn spirit, apparently. Maybe it’s because of that? 」

Shiva titled her neck.

「U-Uni-Unicorn? 」

Wait a sec, wait, that macho horse is a unicorn? Yeah, yeah, I do know unicorns love maidens, but you’re telling me that that thing is a unicorn!?

「Just who the heck decided that huh? 」

Ahh, it’s not my fault that my hand stopped scooping and I ended up retorting that.