Testing It Out
When we arrived home, I heard a voice saying “Welcome back,” and turned to see Grandmother.
Huh? Is there something on Grandmother's shoulder?
“Is that a fairy on your shoulder, Grandmother?” Brother Chris asked.
“Ohohoho, well spotted. It’s a fire fairy. Her name is Cherry.”
A fire fairy? And it has a name?
“Grandmother, don’t tell me…”
“Thank you, Hardt. I made a contract with her,” Grandmother replied with a smile.
Grandmother… where did you meet a fairy?
“Was it the power of the ornamental knife, or your power, Hardt?” Brother Gerald wondered.
It’s not my power… I think.
That night, as we gathered in the living room, Grandfather explained how he met the Tonitrus and ended up forming a contract.
“Father, did you name the Tonitrus?”
“Yes. I made a contract with the parent Tonitrus. Since the parent and child act together, I got permission to name the child as well,” Grandfather said, patting the Tonitrus beside him.
“The parent is Kamui. The child is Levin.”
Light radiated around Grandfather and the Tonitrus.
Suddenly, Grandfather burst out laughing.
“Alright, alright, I promise. It’s nice being able to talk with Kamui.”
“Grandfather, did Kamui say something?” Brother Gerald asked.
“He insisted I must build him a private hot spring in the new town.”
Wait, wasn’t that supposed to be if Kamui won the duel, the private hot spring would be built in the forest's hot spring area?
“Ah, when you were persuading Kamui, Hardt, you mentioned that if he became a familiar, maybe he’d get his own hot spring in the new town.”
So Kamui remembered what I said when I was recruiting him and took the chance to press Grandfather for it. Win or lose, he maneuvered it so he gets his own hot spring—pretty sly.
“Grandmother, how did you end up making a contract with Cherry?” I asked.
Apparently, Alraune had ridden Fiamma to the mansion to ask Mother for help, saying, “Mama, one of my companions was captured by bad humans.”
Cherry didn’t live in the forest, but in a warm part of the country with other fire fairies. Normally, they stayed in warm caves and avoided going outside. But part of the cave collapsed, and as they escaped, Cherry got separated from the others. While searching for them, she was discovered and captured by bad humans.
It seems they planned to pluck her wings at first, but overheard that fairies fetch a better price when sold overseas, so they hid her and smuggled her here.
Fiamma happened to pass by, Cherry pleaded for help, and her companions were contacted to rescue her.
The adventurers argued that fairies are like monsters, so they should be free to sell them, but when their belongings were searched, a ton of contraband turned up, so they were arrested for smuggling.
When they asked Cherry if she wanted to return home, she said she didn’t know if her companions were still there, and didn’t want to risk being captured again.
Grandmother offered, “Would you rather live in the forest, or make a contract with me?”
Alraune vouched for our family’s trustworthiness, and Luan and Lucia, who were with Mother, told her what life in this house was like. So Cherry decided to make a contract with Grandmother.
Come to think of it, when we visited the World Tree, Alraune didn’t mention any of this. I wonder why.
“Hardt, why did you assign the fire fairy to Grandmother's ornamental knife?”
“Brother Chris, Grandmother never went to the forest, and I’d already chosen fire and ice for Fiamma (Ripka) and Glasshawk (Ciel), so I searched for a different species after settling for fire element.”
“Whether it’s your power or the ornamental knife’s power, it doesn’t matter. But now that every family member has one, no more ornamental knives,” Father declared, wanting to avoid more complications.
I doubt a fire fairy contract is something you can just make casually. But if some hidden power is at play, I can’t call it a coincidence anymore. So, I agree with Father’s ban.
“Grandfather, Grandmother, it’s a promise—you’re overseeing the hot spring town, okay?”
“Of course, it’s a promise. Plus, the Zumya scales from the hunt will sell for a fortune, so we’ll have plenty of funding.”
“Zumya scales are that popular?”
“Usually, we hunt Zumya around ten meters long once every few years. Their scales always fetch a high price. But this one was over twenty meters, with large scales. And with the White Dragon's auction attracting foreign merchants, the scales will sell well, especially to those who lose the bidding war.”
Makes sense. If the scales are as tough as dragon scales, merchants who lost the auction would definitely want them.
“Hardt, you need to scout the land yourself to find suitable hot spring locations. It won’t happen unless you get moving,” Father reminded me.
Right… I have to walk around a wide area to find hot spring sites… goodbye, free time.
I spent five days exploring potential sites, walking in a zigzag pattern to cover as much ground as possible. I didn’t know if the stone tablet would reveal multiple locations or just one, so I had to be thorough.
In the end, the stone tablet indicated only one place.
It was closer to the capital than to Eminira, in a grassland area with a pond.
With the location decided, the next steps were planning the town’s size and layout before construction of the hot springs could begin.
What do you think about this chapter?
