Chapter 156 - Various Earthly Matters
"Oh? What a strange texture..."
Is it delicious?
"Yeah. The taste is sweet and creamy? And the aroma is really good."
What Lupi dug up for me during the daytime game, with her 'dig here, dig here,' was this:
[Sabumaro]
A mushroom that grows underground. When it grows large, it appears on the surface, but it becomes hard, so smaller, softer ones are preferred for eating.
Cooking: Sweet, rich, and has a unique texture.
For a moment, I thought it might be truffles... but I've never actually eaten truffles.
For the evening game, first things first, dinner, so I immediately used it.
"Woof!"
"Wait a moment."
Simply stir-frying it with [Forebit] meat and [Lexon] already made it quite delicious.
This mushroom might be one of those ingredients that makes good food even better.
"Here. Be careful, it's hot."
"Woof-woo!"
Lupi is eating it happily, and I want to use it in various dishes, but cultivation might be a bit difficult...
.........
......
...
"Alright. Well, I guess I'll start from around here."
Could you explain what you're planning?
"Oh, yeah. Um, you see..."
I planned to set up the water system and drainage around the earthen floor, which I hadn't finished for the live stream.
Though, it's just digging a ditch and creating a small retention pond before it flows into the spring, that's about it.
"I'll dig continuously from here... and around here, maybe a one-meter square retention pond. Only the supernatant will flow out... and into the spring."
Walking with a shovel, I explained the planned layout to Mion.
The ditch would be about 30cm wide and deep. I'd line the inside with [Stone Pavement], something like that.
I see. It's quite a distance.
"Right? I wonder if a [Civil Engineering] skill would have been useful at a time like this..."
In the end, I'm still clueless about the [Civil Engineering] skill.
Shou-kun. I think there was a geology book in the cabinet; why don't you read that first?
"Oh, I'm sorry! I completely forgot..."
I was supposed to check that, but I completely forgot.
After that... oh, right, I forgot because Sweee led me to help the [Fairies].
I put down the shovel, entered through the back door, went downstairs to the first floor, and opened the cabinet.
"I think I put it around here. Is this it? 'About Soil, Stone, and Rock,' right?"
Yes, that's the one.
Reading it here wouldn't be ideal, so I brought it upstairs for now. The weather's good, so I'll read it outside.
First, I opened the cover...
"Um... 'About Soil, Stone, and Rock ~[Applied Earth Magic]~'... huh?"
Is it magic?
"Seems so. Or rather, it looks incredibly like a specialized academic book, can I even understand this?"
It certainly doesn't look like a book a high school freshman could understand. No, wait, it's magic, so anything goes, right?
Shou-kun, your skill.
"Ah, that's right."
Um... is it [Applied Earth Magic]? Search for 'Magicology'...
"Found it! [Applied Earth Magic]. It's uncommon."
Uncommon means it requires 4 [SP].
I currently have 19 [SP] left...
What will you do?
"I'll take it. I probably should get whatever skills are available from the books here."
From a game perspective, they should have provided things that would be necessary later, and I should have read it earlier. So, I acquired it.
"Looking at the skills, [Applied Magic] also has Water, Fire, and Wind."
Should we look for other books?
"Taking all of them right now might be a bit tough..."
I have 15 [SP] remaining. Since Water, Fire, and Wind are 3 skills, that's 12 [SP], so I could take them all.
First, the [Civil Engineering] skill.
"Yeah. Um, the [Civil Engineering] skill is... no."
It didn't work. I'm sorry.
"No, no, Mion, you don't need to apologize."
It's not this one... no, wait.
"I'll read it properly and try to raise the skill level. Didn't the [Spirit of the Divine Tree] require a certain [Farming] or [Botany] skill level?"
Yes.
"[Civil Engineering] skill also requires... [Applied Earth Magic] Level 5 or higher as a prerequisite? Something like that seems possible."
Since it's 'Applied' magic, I probably need to raise the basic level too. It feels strange if Basic is Level 3 and Applied is Level 5.
I see.
"Since it's just reading a book, you can watch Bell-bucho's live stream..."
It's fine. I'm watching you.
Ah, yeah, okay...
.........
......
...
[Applied Earth Magic skill level increased!]
"Phew. Now both are Level 5..."
Good work.
Academic skills level up quickly if you spend time reading books.
Well, probably only up to Level 5, I guess.
"Aren't you bored?"
No. Shou-kun, you talk to yourself when you read books.
"Huh?"
Mion said with a somewhat amused tone.
Was I muttering to myself without realizing it?
No, I think I do say things like "Ah~" or "I see"...
How's the [Civil Engineering] skill?
"Oh, that's right. Um... it's here! I can get it!"
Congratulations!
[Civil Engineering] skill, it's Uncommon, so 4 [SP], huh.
There's no option not to take it after coming this far.
Alright...
"I took it... but I don't really understand it. Well, I guess I have to do something with it."
Shou-kun, it's almost 11 o'clock.
"Ugh, tomorrow is school already. I guess I'll stop."
I should have read the book earlier...
By the way, Bell-bucho and Seth-chan are waiting in the [Club Room] (virtual).
"Huh? About the [Civil Engineering] skill?"
No, it seems something happened. They said they wouldn't take up much of your time.
Something happened, what could it be? Did they go to check on the [Gnome Village] during today's live stream?
Well, whatever. Let's go to the [Club Room] for now.
*
"I'm home."
Welcome back.
Brother, welcome home! You are quite early today!
"It's test week, you know."
Miki is supposed to be in test week too, but... it's probably useless to say anything.
There's time until dinner, so I'll brew some tea.
"Hm? Were you studying?"
"Nay, this is not study. I was compiling some research results."
"Research results?"
"Indeed. I had intended to tell you once it was more organized, but it matters not."
What Miki had been researching was a kind of survey about product quality, with the help of her guild members.
"So, what were the results?"
"Simply put, there is a difference in quality between those who merely know the technique and those who also put it into practice."
Huh? What does that mean?
Sensing that I wasn't quite grasping it, Miki elaborated.
"For example, if I were to say, 'While the [Blacksmithing] skill allows one to forge weapons, a finer product is made by one who can also use that weapon,' would that perhaps resonate with you, Brother?"
"Ah... I guess so."
"According to Jinbee-dono, it is said that the importance of common skills across various production categories is high. However, we still lack sufficient samples in that area."
Miki looked at me.
"That's highly probable. In my case, I simply do everything myself, so I have nothing to compare it to."
Hm? Wait.
If I had acquired [Applied Earth Magic] and [Civil Engineering] skill yesterday, building the storage would have been much easier...
"What is it, Brother?"
"Oh, sorry. I forgot to tell you I got the [Civil Engineering] skill."