Chapter 234

Too Damn Capable
Today, we were summoned to Lux Village by Village Chief Marcus.

Brother Gerald came along too—he’s been working with Maria on prototypes for shoe insoles he wants ready before starting at the academy, and he’s hoping to collect as much Goosh wool as possible.

As for me, I wanted to ask about those little spiral-crafted boxes, so this trip worked out nicely.

We arrived in Lux Village by evening, so we decided to talk business tomorrow.
After two days of travel from the capital, some rest was very welcome.

They’d already heated the bathhouse for us, so we headed to the public bath.
I got permission to use some of my hot spring powder and poured it in.

It’s always strange—white powder turning the water perfectly clear—but no matter where we are, having this bath additive makes a soak feel like heaven.

Atre, Lucas, and Ripka came in too. They looked blissfully relaxed, though the lack of shallow spots meant they kept climbing in and out of the tub.

“Hardt, mind if I take some of that hot spring powder with me to the capital?”

“Of course. It’ll help with fatigue recovery, especially in the knight course.”

“Yeah, but if I use it all the time, my body might get too dependent on it. I’ll save it for when I really need it.”

Smart—there’ll be field exercises in dungeons and forests, after all.

After we finished, the knights and villagers took turns using the bath.
I’d also given some of the powder to the women’s side so they could enjoy it too—I’ll ask tomorrow how they liked it.

Thanks to the bath, I slept like a log and woke up refreshed, despite two days on horseback.

“Man, hot springs are the best. After the bath, I got sleepy right away and passed out. Woke up this morning feeling brand new.”

“Being able to enjoy a bath just like a hot spring even in this village—that’s impressive,” said Logan.

“Wait, you’ve actually been to a hot spring?” Marcus asked, raising an eyebrow.
Logan’s face froze—uh oh.

So he had been keeping that quiet.
Can’t really blame him—bragging about that would just annoy everyone.

“My grandfather’s been staying in the new district,” I explained. “He invited Logan and the others to take a soak.”

“So that’s why you were late getting back,” Marcus said, already sounding regretful. “Should’ve gone myself…”

Ah—oops.
That explanation was supposed to help, not dig the hole deeper. Sorry, Logan.

“Next time we head to Helios Village, Marcus, you can go,” Brother Gerald said smoothly. “I’ll make arrangements so you can stop by the new district on the way back. Anyway, let’s get to the main point.”

“Right. Sorry about that. The reason I called you is—we found out that slimes can ride on Goosh backs and shear their wool.”

Wait, seriously? They actually managed that?
Apparently, the slimes don’t shave them bald—just remove about half the fur.

Makes sense. A full shave in midwinter would probably kill a Goosh.
Still… that’s ridiculously clever. Slimes are way too capable.

Marcus wanted us to test whether that half-length wool could still make felt fabric.
Also, he said when they bring slimes to the Goosh pen lately, the Goosh themselves approach first.

“You mean the half-shorn Goosh actually come closer?”

Yes—those that have already been trimmed go feed in the forest, while the untrimmed ones stay near the village to eat. He wanted us to see it for ourselves.

When we got to the slime hut, there were two slimes now.
That was fast.

Marcus and the others carried the slimes toward an area where Goosh-favorite trees grew. Six Goosh were already there.

As soon as they placed the slimes on the ground, the little things hopped toward the Goosh and leapt onto their backs.

Marcus set down a large wooden box nearby. Every now and then, the slime would jump over to it, spit out a wad of wool, then bounce right back onto a Goosh to keep working.

“It took quite a while to teach them to spit the wool into the box instead of somewhere random,” Logan explained.

I asked if the Goosh didn’t get wary when people brought the box over, but apparently not—they’d gotten used to it.

Following Logan, we went deeper into the forest, encountering both shorn and unshorn Goosh.

The ones already trimmed seemed lighter on their feet—moving quicker, even.
Logan confirmed I was right.

We kept going, occasionally fending off silver wolves, until Logan suddenly stopped and pointed ahead.

There stood a Goosh noticeably larger than the others.

“Young Master Reinhardt,” Logan said, “do you think your familiars could speak with that Goosh?”

That big one had appeared in the village a few days after the slimes started shearing wool—and had allowed itself to be sheared, apparently.

Since then, it sometimes showed up in this part of the forest.

Logan thought that if we could communicate with it, peaceful coexistence might be possible.
Ah, that’s why he hadn’t mentioned it in the letter—it’s not always around.

I asked Atre if she could talk to it, and he said yes—it seemed to be the leader.

The Goosh was watching us but didn’t move away, so Atre, Lucas, and I approached.
It waited calmly.

Through Atre, I learned that Goosh prefer solitary lives and don’t form herds—they value freedom.

As for the shearing, it said its body felt lighter and easier to move afterward.
It had heard rumors and gone to the village itself to try it.

It also said it would go again once its wool grew back.

When I asked if it feared humans, it replied, “They only want our wool. For now, that’s fine.”

We thanked it for the conversation and left.

“So Goosh are solitary creatures,” Logan mused. “In that case, we’ll just have to plant more of their favorite trees near the village and lure them in for shearing.”

He gave a wry smile. “Looks like it’s not going to be simple.”

What do you think about this chapter?