Land of Dolls
Satou here. In ancient times, dolls were sometimes used in place of humans or as tools for cursing people. These days, though, I think they’ve been firmly established in a partner-like position to bring happiness and comfort.
“It’s a dragon egg, sir!”
Pochi, a little girl with dog ears and a tail who wore her brown hair in a short bob, shouted with her eyes sparkling.
She was cradling an egg with the speckled pattern often seen in dinosaur movies.
We were visiting the “Land of Dolls,” Lodolork, our third stop since Parion Province, where we were initially sent to deal with a demon lord.
Most of the passersby wore light clothes suited to the temperate climate of the region; men and women alike had colorful cloth draped from one shoulder and wrapped around their waists. Judging by the fashion, this area probably specialized in textiles and dyes.
“Pochi, we didn’t pay yeeet?”
Tama, a girl with white hair, cat ears, and a tail, grabbed Pochi’s shoulder to stop her.
It was hard to believe from her cheerful expression that she’d just recently been lamenting the betrayal and loss of Sorijeyro the Sage, who she had admired as her ninjutsu teacher in Parion Province’s “Village of Adepts.”
“Oh no, sir. Pochi did an oopsie-daisy, sir.”
Pochi hurried back toward the stall with Tama.
The crowded street market didn’t slow them down in the slightest as they nimbly wove their way between shoppers.
“I’m sorry, sir. Pochi wants to buy this dragon egg, sir!”
Pochi apologized to the stall owner.
The Inland Sea Common Language, which was similar to the language spoken in Parion Province, was used popularly along with the local Lodolork Language. I acquired both skills, but the former was derived from Flue Empire Language and seemed like it would have more practical use, so I only put skill points into that one.
“Heh, I was wondering why a rich-looking little lady would run off with my merchandise. That egg’ll cost ya ten gold coins.”
I got the impression that there wasn’t that much discrimination against demi-humans in this kingdom.
Maybe it was because of all the animal plushies that were sold here, true to the nickname “Land of Dolls.”
“Wowie!”
“T-ten gold coins, sir?”
Pochi peered into her coin purse, looking distressed.
She couldn’t possibly have enough. The pocket money I gave Pochi and Tama when I did a currency exchange in the Lodolork Kingdom port was only around one gold coin per person.
On top of that, my AR display told me that the Dragon Egg Pochi was holding was really a Wyvern Lizard Egg. According to my “Estimation” skill, its market value was just one silver coin. Besides, it’s not like you’d be able to buy a real Dragon Egg for ten gold coins anyway.
“We’ll buy it for one silver coin.”
“Come on, that’s the worst lowballing I ever heard.”
“Is it, though?” I whispered in the owner’s ear. “That’s about right for a Wyvern Lizard Egg, wouldn’t you say?”
The man broke into a cold sweat and agreed to my price immediately. I’m sure my “Haggling” and “Fabrication” skills helped, too.
I accepted the egg from the man and handed it to Pochi.
“Be careful not to drop it.”
“Yes, sir. I’m going to hatch this egg and become a Dragon Knight, sir!”
“Ooh, très bieeen?”
I quickly sewed up some cloth to make a belt for Pochi to carry the egg in.
Even though I tried to do it discreetly at the side of the road, there were curious eyes gathered on me by the time I was done.
“Master, which of these larvae is the cutest? I inquire.”
Luckily, the blond, busty Nana gave me an excuse to leave. She was a homunculus who was only born a little over a year ago, although she looked like a high school–aged human.
The larvae in question turned out to be two stuffed animals at a nearby stall, one a penguin and one a dog. They were both round and equally adorable.
When I said as much, Nana looked flummoxed and started examining the plushies intently.
“Penguin.”
Mia, whose aqua hair was tied up in pigtails, offered her opinion in a single word. Her hood shifted, offering a glimpse of her slightly pointed elf ears hidden beneath.
“The bisque dolls in this kingdom are on a whole other level!”
Arisa, a reincarnation, looked just as adorable as the princess-like doll she was holding up at the neighboring stall. Her purple hair, which was despised in this world as an ill omen, was hidden under a blond wig.
“These ones would make good souvenirs for my dear comrades Shizuka and Hikaru, don’t you think?”
Arisa showed me two dolls designed to look like pretty young boys.
“Sure. I bet they’d like those.”
“I’ll save these two for them, then. It’s awfully hard to choose from all the wonderful dolls in this kingdom.”
The sage had set up Shizuka to be worshipped as a holy woman, forcing her to transfer skills for him by overusing her Unique Skill until she turned into a demon lord. The whole ordeal sent Shizuka spiraling into a deep depression. Now that she was free from the sage, she was staying in our secret base near the Shiga Kingdom, making doujins with the former ancestral king Hikaru.
“By the way, Master. The gossip about Parion Province all seems to be in line with the official announcement, don’t you think?”
“I guess compared to the stories about Hayato the Hero defeating a demon lord, rumors about the pontiff retiring, and the sage’s downfall probably aren’t as exciting?”
The sage’s ambitions ended with him trapped inside the Evil God’s Prison, and we’d already defeated the green greater demon that was apparently working with him.
The scandalous news that Pontiff Zarzaris and the sage had both been transformed into demon lords hadn’t reached the neighboring lands, thanks largely to the efforts of Cardinal Dobbunaf. He and the Holy Sword wielder Sir Mezzalt, who was now the captain of the Holy Knights, were now leading the efforts to rebuild the province.
“It’s too bad Mezzalt gets all the glory, while there’s basically zero rumors about us.”
Arisa shrugged disappointedly.
The hero’s party were the main topic of interest, as well as the locally famous Sir Mezzalt. Other than that, everyone else involved—our party, the black knight, the Saga Empire warriors including the two samurai—was hardly ever mentioned at all. On the rare occasion that we did come up, we were usually just referred to as “the brave warriors from Shiga Kingdom.”
Unlike Arisa, I had no complaints about that treatment. Fame would just get in the way of our sightseeing trip.
I did feel a little bad that the girls weren’t getting any public acclaim, but they were still young. Sooner or later, they were bound to get famous even if we tried to hide it.
“Oho! I spy a little boy doll in shorts!”
Arisa closed in on the doll like a bird of prey swooping down on its next victim.
“What is this spice called?”
“That’s numbing wasabi. If you use just a little, it’ll really bring out the flavor of a dish.”
Meanwhile, Lulu, a gorgeous girl with long black hair and Japanese features, was peering into jars of spices and herbs at another stall.
As a lover of cooking, she seemed very excited to have found a new kind of seasoning.
“What do you think, scalefolk lass? Our spears are all handmade in Stelork, the Land of Smithing.”
Down a side street, Liza was gazing intently at a spear from a stall lined with weapons. A glimpse of her orange scales, a mark of her tribe, was visible on her wrists and neck.
While the main street mostly consisted of stalls selling dolls, ingredients, and so on, the side street had some stalls selling weapons and armor mixed among normal metal utensils and tools.
“This is a very unusual metal. I thought it was rusted at first, but now I see that the steel appears to be tinted with red.”
“Heh, you got a sharp eye to figure that out on your first time seeing it. S’called redsteel, an alloy made exclusively in the Land of Smithing.”
That piqued my interest, so I decided to join in on the conversation.
“The color is very different from scarlet ore. Do they use some kind of special material when they forge the steel, perhaps?”
Since my AR display also called it redsteel, it was probably a different metal entirely.
I suspected it was another fantasy metal made with alchemy, like the blacksteel used in the black armor of the Saga Empire.
“Ga-ha-ha. Buddy, that makes it sound like you’ve seen the legendary metal with your own two eyes, ya know.”
I have, and I’ve forged it, too.
“So how much is this spear?”
“Two hundred gold coins.”
“That’s just ridiculous!” Arisa butted in, popping up out of nowhere. “Even Magic Swords don’t cost that much!”
When did she get here? She was looking at dolls just a minute ago.
“How about twenty gold coins?” she countered.
“Come on, that don’t even cover the cost of materials.”
“Thirty-five gold coins, then?” I chimed in.
Judging by the price my “Estimation” skill showed me, that should still leave the man with plenty of profit.
I tried flowing some magic power through the redsteel spear, being careful not to use “Spellblade” by accident.
“It’s not bad at conducting magic, but it doesn’t seem as sharp or sturdy as a mithril alloy sword.”
They must have used magic-conductive material for the handle as well.
“Can’t ya go a little higher?”
“I’d be willing to pay thirty-seven gold coins at the most.”
“Sold!”
I exchanged the Lodolork Kingdom gold coins for the redsteel spear, which I handed to Liza.
“I shall gladly carry this for you.”
Liza politely accepted it, producing some cloth from her Fairy Pack to wrap around the spearhead.
“I’m not asking you to carry it—I’m giving it to you as a gift.”
“Th-thank you very much, Master…!”
Liza looked uncharacteristically flustered.
“You’re bright red, Miss Liza.”
“Arisa, it is not kind to tease, I declare.”
“You’re right. Sorry, Miss Liza. That spear really suits you, too.”
Our group walked around the market together, stopping for lunch at a restaurant recommended to me by the gourmet-loving Cardinal Dobbunaf.
“Mushroom steak, yummy.”
“This Lodol chicken with honey teriyaki sauce is delicious, too.”
“I really like the wild plant-and-mushroom stir-fry.”
“Liver paste ruuules?”
“The roasted Mr. Deer is tasty, too, sir!”
There must not be much farmland in Lodolork Kingdom; normal vegetables were very expensive and didn’t taste particularly great. On the other hand, foraged food like wild plants, mountain birds, and especially Mia’s beloved mushrooms were delicious.
There was seafood as well, but that was standard in all the nations around the inland sea, so we didn’t eat it much.
“Thanks for waiting! Here are those extra mushroom steaks.”
“A very welcome addition, I declare.”
I cut up the mushroom steaks, which were slathered generously in honey butter, and handed them out to everyone.
“Cave mushrooms are in season right now. Eat ’em up while you can!”
“Is it possible to purchase these mushrooms as souvenirs?”
“Head to the market on the mountain side of the city. The seaside is all seafood.”
In addition to the wide variety of these specialty mushrooms, they were nearly basketball-sized, making for a wonderfully filling meal.
Since Mia seemed to like them a lot, I had better stock up.
“Here’s the mobba skewers and round steaks!”
Several more waitresses came over with big platters of food.
They were all stacked with meat dishes made from a long-bodied wild animal called a “mobba.”
“Delicious. I wish it had a bit more bone, but it’s still nice to chew on.”
“Om-nom-nom!”
“Munch munch, sir.”
Liza used a knife and fork to cut up and eat her food, while Tama and Pochi just stuck their forks into big pieces of meat and tore into them with their teeth. Their faces were nearly on top of the plates.
There was a loud thunk, and Pochi jumped up.
“That was close, sir. I almost crushed Mr. Egg there, sir.”
I guess that sound was the egg bumping against the table.
“Why don’t you just take the egg belt off?”
Pochi shook her head firmly. “I can’t, sir. The leopard lady told me that mommies carry their eggs or babies in their tummies for a long time, sir.”
This “leopard lady” was probably one of Pochi’s fellow slaves back in Seiryuu City.
“It’s fine if it’s just for a little while.”
“Okay, sir…”
Pochi nodded, but right as she was about to untie the belt, she stopped and patted the egg lovingly instead. “Actually, I think I’ll just keep it here, sir.” She clearly thought of herself as the egg’s mother.
“Arisa, won’t Mr. Egg get hungry if it doesn’t eat anything, sir?”
Pochi tilted her head, fork in hand.
“No, it’s fine. It has food inside the egg.”
“Really, sir?”
“Yeah, all you need to do is keep it warm. So just relax and eat your meat, okay?”
“Yes, sir! Pochi is eating for two now, sir!”
Everyone smiled at Pochi’s slightly off-the-mark declaration.
After this fun mealtime, we acquired mushrooms and other ingredients at the market, then decided to check out the city’s tourist spots that the waitresses told us about.
“It’s a big bronze statue, sir!”
“Why is it missing an arm, I wonder?”
One of the landmarks was a bronze statue of the kingdom’s first king. It was enormous, nearly fifty feet tall.
“That’s ’cause of those Sobal bastards.”
A rugged craftsman spoke up in a gruff voice.
Despite his stern appearance, he gave an oddly friendly impression, perhaps owing to the bear-face applique on the back of his work jacket.
“Sobaaal?”
“That’s the land next to ours. As a fellow artisan, I gotta respect Sobalork’s furniture craftsmanship. But I hate them and their blasted war-crazy king.”
According to the craftsman, the bronze statue’s arm was blown off by a Sobalork cannon when they attacked the kingdom.
“You don’t hear of kingdoms attacking each other very often. There’s no monster territory around your border?” Arisa asked.
“Nope. Lodolork here and Sobalork used to be the same kingdom, till three hundred years ago when the two princes fought and split it into two. The older brother made Sobalork, see. Every couple years they attack us, saying they’re gonna ‘ennecks’ Lodolork and make it back into one kingdom. Although before that, Lodolork used to do the same thing to Sobalork, I s’pose.”
“Ennecks”… Ah, does he mean “annex”?
“Plus if we fight too much the ol’ red dragon shows up, so they hardly ever invade all the way to the capital. Most recent time was big trouble ’cause some bastards at the border betrayed us. Lucky the pontiff in Parion Province sent Sir Mezzalt and some Holy Knights to mediate, and they chased off those no-good Sobalork freaks for us.”
Now there’s a name I wasn’t expecting to hear in this story.
Come to think of it, I’d heard before that Parion Province mediated conflicts between other nations.
“Time before that, the great sage stopped the battle with a big-ass spell. We owe Parion Province a whole lot, tell ya that much.”
With that, the craftsman pulled out a holy symbol of Parion from his breast pocket and showed it to us.
Ah, I see. So they evangelize for the Parion faith while they’re mediating.
“You mentioned something about a ‘red dragon’ showing up…?”
“Yep, there weren’t any mediation from Parion Province when I was a young’un. Back then, if battles got too big, the red dragon would come flying in from Redsmoke Island and put an end to the fighting right quick.”
“What do you mean by ‘put an end to’? I inquire.”
“Exactly what it sounds like. The fighting stopped as soon as the red dragon flew in. If you didn’t run for your life, you’d be dead meat. The red dragon would get so excited about fighting that he’d try to join in on the fun and end up roasting everyone on the spot.”
I remembered Hei Long, the black dragon.
It certainly made sense that no normal human would survive if a full-grown dragon tried to join in on their battle.
“Now normally, we’d only start fights when the red dragon was dormant or gone off somewhere, so it were only lesser wyrms and demi-dragons and whatnot that came at us, but they’re still plenty dangerous for folks like us.”
The craftsman explained that there were smaller islands near Redsmoke Island where the red dragon’s demi-dragon minions nested.
“Hey, boss! The lumber auction’s startin’ now!”
“Yep! Be right there!”
The craftsman ran off toward his young apprentice who’d called him.
Feeling curious, I wandered over to watch the auction…
“Those cypress logs are mine!”
“Back off, I’m buyin’ these!”
“Quit hogging all the zelkova, dammit!”
A whole group of craftsmen were furiously jockeying to buy up lumber.
“I’ll knock yer lights out if ya talk to me like that again!”
“Shut up! Go make some more dolls outta mud, why don’cha?!”
“Bastard! You makin’ fun of bisque dolls?! Why don’t you go bang on some rocks?!”
“Wait just a damn minute! Did you just insult stonemasonry? How ’bout I make you a gravestone?”
A few of the men had even started grappling with each other.
“Uh-oh, this is scary, sir.”
“No fightiiing?”
As much as Pochi and Tama frantically tried to keep the peace, the men were too heated to hear them.
Rather than helping them mediate, I was taking advantage of the confusion to buy up a bunch of lumber myself.
“You folks from out of town?”
“Don’t mind them. That’s just business as usual.”
A few women passing by kindly paused to address us, rolling their eyes at the men. They patted Pochi and Tama on the head, praising their kindness before moving on.
I guess this is sort of like the drunken brawls you always see in red-light districts?
“Sounds like these guys just communicate with their fists. Let’s not get involved.”
I led my group away to return to sightseeing.
“Seeing these burnt and broken watchtowers reminds me of the anti-dragon towers in Seiryuu City.”
Liza gazed up at a collapsed tower on the castle wall. Back when she was a slave, she had worked for a while in the gabo fields near the anti-dragon towers.
“Part of the castle wall looks brand-new, I declare.”
“Maybe this is from conflicts with the neighboring kingdom, too?”
“Probably.”
Many laborers were carrying stone to repair the towers. Their defenses seemed to be the highest priority.
There weren’t many golems, only two small ones around ten feet tall. This work was going to take a long time without more of them.
“Shoddy.”
“You mean the Earth Magic? Whoever cast it certainly was rather sloppy.”
Mia and Arisa were looking at a section of the wall that had been reinforced with spells like Hard Stucco and Stone Wall. It was clearly slapdash work, even from this distance.
The caster couldn’t have been very high-level. It was probably practice for a mage in training.
“Many of the monuments are damaged, I declare.”
“I guess it’s probably because they make easy targets during battle?”
There were traces of battle all over the place as we toured Lodolork City.
We heard as we walked around that the battle had been half a year ago now. I guess even in a world with magic, repairs take time in a small nation like this one.
“Found a cat statuuue?”
“There aren’t many dog statues, sir.”
“Rabbit.”
Lodolork was known as the “Land of Dolls” for good reason. There were statues of all shapes and sizes, from bronze to stone, on almost every building and street corner.
We enjoyed the decorations in the residential district as we made our way toward the artisan district, which led to the shop-lined main street.
“A lot of these workshops make wooden statues.”
“I hear the sound of stone being chiseled across the way, I report.”
“Look, it’s a workshop that makes plush toys.”
Through the wooden frame of an open window, we saw people sewing a rainbow array of fabric into plushies. Although most of the plushie-makers were women, I saw a few men as well.
“Master, it looks like they have a shop here, too.”
Arisa led me by the hand into a store area.
“Lots of plushies.”
“They’re very, very cute, sir!”
“Amaziiing?”
Mia, Pochi, and Tama gazed around excitedly at the colorful stuffed animals.
“Oh, this is wonderful!”
“Yes, Lulu. There are so many larvae, I declare.”
The other girls seemed to be enjoying themselves, too. Even Liza, who looked self-conscious that she might be out of place, was still inspecting the plushies with a serious expression.
“It’s a dragon plushie, sir! I want to give it to Mr. Egg after it hatches, sir!”
“Ah-ha-ha, that’s a great idea.”
Pochi held up a bigheaded dragon plushie.
“Oho, looks like we have lots of visitors from far away.”
The proprietress emerged from the back and greeted us.
She appeared to notice Pochi’s egg belt but made no comment about it.
“They’re all very adorable, sir!”
“Glad to hear it, missy. My daughters and I, and the other gals, too, put our whole hearts into making each one of them, y’see. It’s the love and care that makes them so cute.”
Evidently she was one of the plushie-makers.
“I create plushies as well, I insist.”
“Well, isn’t that something? I’d love to see what kinda plushie a foreign gal like you makes, if you’re willing to show me.”
“Yes, shopkeeper. I will gladly show you my plushies, I declare.”
Nana put some of her dolls on the table, which the shopkeeper examined with great interest.
“What an unusual fabric. Feels unique to the touch, too. Oho, so you use stones like these for decorations… Mm-hmm, very educational indeed. Might I ask where you come from, missy?”
“Shiga Kingdom, I declare.”
“My, that’s awfully far away.”
Nana seemed to be enjoying herself, even though she was still expressionless.
“There’s wood statues, tooo?”
Tama scurried over to the wooden figures in a corner of the store.
“Fantasticooo?”
“My hubby and our sons made most o’ those. They’ll even make figureheads if you wanna order one.”
The shopkeeper’s face was full of pride.
From the figures’ faces to their richly detailed costumes, all so lifelike it was hard to believe they were made out of wood, it was easy to see that her family was full of skilled artisans.
“Would you like to take a look around our workshop?”
“Yes, shopkeeper. Please give us a tour, I request.”
Thanks to the generosity of the proprietress, who’d made fast friends with Nana, we got a chance to go in past the store area and see the workshop for ourselves.
There, two sisters who looked like younger copies of the owner were sewing plushies. The elder daughter was making an animal, while the younger was making a bird.
“You can’t be serious!”
Just then, we heard angry shouting behind another door.
“We can’t even make figurines to sell at the offering festival if we don’t have logs! And there’s only a few days left till the festival’s submission deadline as it is! What are we supposed to do now?!”
“Don’t gimme that crap! You think I don’t know that?! That bastard Gobba and that idiot Bascom got into a bidding war and bought everything up at stupid high prices.”
It sounded like the wood-carving husband and sons were arguing on the other side.
“Sorry about those noisy idiots. They’ll quiet down soon.” The proprietress apologized to us, implying that it was normal, and started explaining areas of the workshop to Nana without bothering to intervene in the fight.
Between this and the battle over the lumber earlier, I guess arguments and fights must be an everyday occurrence around here.
“Wait a minute, big brother. It’s not like we didn’t get any wood at all. I know it’s a little thin, but if we carve this just right, we could still make a statue or—”
“Shut up! And don’t call me that! You’re no younger brother of mine!”
“Watch your mouth now, son! You’re old enough to realize there are some things you should never say!”
Hearing her sons’ heated exchange, the proprietress turned furious and stormed into the other room.
“Ralus is just upset ’cause Jes is better at carving than him.”
“What a dummy. Jes is never gonna inherit the workshop, no matter how good he is.”
“Why? Because he’s younger?”
“No, no. Jes is a war orphan they adopted, just like both of us. Only Ralus is their child by blood.”
The sisters explained their complicated family situation to us. We had no idea how to react to this information.
“No need to look so upset.”
“Yeah, war orphans are pretty common around here thanks to the stupid former king.”
“Who cares about people who’re dead and gone? The current king is a pacifist, so the wars will stop soon, I’m sure.”
I learned later that the previous king had repeatedly gone to war in hopes of making the kingdom rich, yet never won a single battle. Eventually, he got fed up and led the charge into an enemy kingdom himself, only to die in the process. If you ask me, it was awfully reckless to go out of his way to a place where he couldn’t use the power of the city core.
“Yeoooowch!”
“Honey! Your haaand!”
“Big brother! Where do you think you’re going?!”
“Forget him! If that idiot wants to leave, fine!”
There was a flurry of full-on screaming and shouting from the other room.
We ran in with the concerned sisters to find the husband bleeding from the hand while his wife and son frantically tried to stop the bleeding.
“It’s the man with the bear applique, I declare.”
At Nana’s words, I realized he was the same person we met near the lumber auction.
“Need healing?”
“Eh? Are you a priestess, missy?”
“Mom, just let her help! We can ask questions later!”
“You’re right, o’ course. We can’t do much to repay ye, but we’d be mighty grateful.”
“Mm. … Aqua Heal Chiyu Mizu.”
Mia’s Water Magic healed the husband’s injury in the blink of an eye.
“Well, I’ll be damned. You’d even give the priestesses at the temple a run for their money.”
“Aren’t you amazing for such a little thing!”
Mia puffed up her chest proudly.
As she did so, her hood slipped back, revealing her ears.
“My word, are you an elf?”
“A real one?”
“Never seen one before.”
The proprietress and her family gazed at Mia in awe.
“Thanks, little lady.”
“Mm. Moves?”
“My hand, ye mean? Yep, moves just fine.”
The man flexed his hand a few times, then turned toward his son: the younger one, who was watching him worriedly, not the older one who’d run off.
“…Jes. You make a figure for the offering festival.”
“D-Dad—I mean, Boss!”
“Don’t get the wrong idea. I’ll have Ralus make one, too. And I ain’t gonna decide who inherits the workshop just ’cause of whoever does better at the festival.”
“But we only have two logs. If I make one, there won’t be any material left for you…”
“I ain’t gonna enter. Hands are a craftsman’s livelihood, and I dirtied mine with blood right before the offering. I can’t use these hands to make a doll to offer to the goddess, now can I?”
“Maybe it’s bad karma?” Arisa muttered under her breath.
“Very well. I’ll put everything you taught me to good use, Boss.”
The younger brother clenched his fist resolutely as he looked at his father, or rather the boss.
At first, I was going to slip away so I wouldn’t interrupt. But now I’d seen something that caught my interest, so I hesitated for a moment before venturing to speak up.
“Were you going to use that thin log there to make a statue, Boss?”
It was about five feet long but only a foot or so in diameter.
“That’s right. There was too big of a bid war over the thicker ones.”
“If it weren’t for that fire, there woulda been plenty of big logs to pick from…”
There must have been a fire at the lumberyard or something. That explained the slim pickings.
“Couldn’t you just cut down a new tree?”
“It ain’t that simple, Mr. Noble. Trees take time to dry out after you cut ’em down.”
“But if you use magic—”
“Drying ’em with magic can warp the wood a smidge. Might be fine for a building, but even the slightest warping can have a big effect on a statue or figure.”
I would think that would still be better than trying to make a figure from such a skinny piece of wood. He’s the expert, though.
“What kind of wood works best for making a statue?”
“Around these parts, that’d be cypress or zelkova. They say the real amazing ‘Sword Maiden’ statue at the royal castle is made from a branch of a giant tree called a Mountain-Tree, but that’s gotta be a fairy tale.”
I had Mountain-Tree wood, and even World Tree wood for that matter.
“Well, I can give you a few pieces.”
From my Magic Bag, which had an expandable opening, I produced a few three-feet-long logs of cypress and zelkova, handing them over to the boss.
“Whoa, would ye look at that!”
“We could make something really special with such nice lumber.”
“Yep, you don’t see wood so fine but once in a lifetime.”
I was glad they seemed to like it.
While I was at it, just for fun, I gave them a round slice of a Mountain-Tree branch.
The base would’ve been way too big and firm, so I went with a relatively soft part from the end of a branch. I normally used the base parts, which were harder than steel, for making wands. They were tough to work with but very good at conducting magic.
“No way…”
“…Whuh.”
The two of them were stunned into silence.
I guess I went a little too far. Good thing I didn’t break out a World Tree branch.
“R-right! I’ll go get my brother.”
The younger brother returned to his senses and started to run out of the room.
“Wait a minute, big bro! If you go, Ralus will just be stubborn about it. I’ll go get him instead!”
“Good point. Are you sure you don’t mind?”
“Uh-huh! Be right back!”
The older sister stopped the younger brother and ran out of the workshop in his stead.
“Min will take care of Ralus. You get to work on the doll. There’s only five days left.”
“Yes, Boss.”
The younger brother examined his log closely, shaving a piece off the end to get a feel for the texture.
The boss watched his work, looking proud.
“Sorry for all the racket. Would you kids like to try making plushies?”
The proprietress brought us back to the plushie workshop, where she and the younger sister started instructing us on making dolls.
“Pochi wants to make a Mr. Dragon doll, sir!”
“That might be a little tough.”
“…I can’t, sir?”
Pochi’s ears flattened dejectedly.
“Of course ye can. Just make it in pieces and ye’ll manage, I’m sure. Do your best, and I’ll give ye some pointers.”
“Yes, sir! Pochi will do her best for Mr. Egg, sir!”
The proprietress’s encouragement got Pochi fired up.
She tried to stand on top of her chair, only to knock the egg against the table and panic. Maybe I should add a cushion to the belt later.
“Ye got some real skill there, missy. Make these often, do ye?”
“Yes, shopkeeper. I like to make plushies and give them to larvae as presents, I declare.”
The owner seemed impressed with Nana’s work.
Despite her usual expressionless face, I could tell from Nana’s mannerisms that she was very happy about the compliment.
“If ye make a good one, why not submit it to the offering festival, too? Besides the wood statues, there’s categories for plushies, stone statues, puppets, and other types o’ dolls, too.”
“Yes, shopkeeper. I wish to make a submission, I report.”
“Ah-ha-ha, guess that makes us rivals then, huh?” the younger sister joked.
“I could not ask for a better opponent, I declare. I shall give it my all, I announce.”
Nana’s eyes glinted, and she devoted her full attention to her sewing.
Meanwhile…
“…Owie. I stabbed my finger with the needle, sir.”
“Me tooo?”
Pochi and Tama, who hadn’t done much sewing before, kept pricking themselves with their needles.
When they both tried to solve this by licking their injured fingers, I wiped their hands with a potion-infused handkerchief and put bandages on the wounds.
I made these modern-style adhesive bandages at Arisa’s request.
“Oh, looks like big brother Ralus is back.”
“Go check on him, would ye?”
Noticing a fuss in the other room, the younger daughter went to investigate at her mother’s request.
Always curious, Tama and Pochi peeked in from behind her.
“Looks like we’re in the clear. He’s patting the wood all over and looking pleased.”
“What am I going to do with that boy…”
“Ah, now he’s apologizing for Dad’s injury. Those two really love carving, huh…”
“Oh, it’s all right. That’s how they ought to be.”
I half-listened to the family’s conversation as I inspected my finished plushie. Then I noticed that one of the blue dots on my radar had snuck into the room over.
It was Tama.
“Hey there, kiddo. You interested in wood carving?”
“Aye.”
I practically teleported over to retrieve her, but it was too late. The boss had already spotted her.
“I’m sorry if she’s getting in the way of your work…”
“Nah, s’all right. You gave us this fine lumber, after all. Now, would you like to try carving something, kiddo? We don’t have any use for this skinny log here. Why don’t you give it a shot?”
“Aye!”
Tama nodded and set to work carving the log.
“Would you like to give it a try, too, young master?”
“Well, if it wouldn’t be too much trouble…”
I didn’t want to leave Tama alone, and I was interested in wood carving anyway, so I started carving along with her.
Tama finished making a little deer figurine in no time flat. The boss’s eyes went wide.
“Oho, you got some real talent, both of ye. Studied with someone before, have ye?”
“Tama carved stone statues at a workshop in the royal capital of the Shiga Kingdom.”
“That explains it… This is real nice work, very lifelike. For some reason, it sorta seems like it’d taste real good if ye ate it… Very mysterious charm, that has.”
I tried making a deer statue like Tama.
“Ye work fast, too, young master. Not much artistry there, but very realistic. If ye added a little more sense of movement and expression, ye’d have something special for sure.”
It felt nice to have my work complimented, even if it was only thanks to my maxed-out skills.
“Whoa, Dad likes their work!”
“We can’t let them do better than us, Big Brother.”
“Yep, that goes without saying.”
Seeing this got the two brothers even more determined, and they went back to their own carving.
I suspected the boss was using us to motivate his sons. Still, I didn’t really mind, since Tama certainly seemed happy.
“Say, why don’t you and the little miss join in on the offering festival, too?”
“Are amateurs allowed to enter?”
“They don’t accept submissions from just anyone, but we can submit ’em from our workshop. ’Sides, Karion Temple is hosting this year. They don’t sweat the small stuff, no need to worry.”
“Do you want to enter, Tama?”
“Aye!”
Tama nodded, looking full of competitive spirit.
Although our original plan was to stay two or three days and move on to the next nation once we finished sightseeing, it sounded like we might be staying a little longer.
“The prompt this time around is to make a figure in the image of Goddess Karion, who looks like a little girl. Pick whatever pose ye like, though nothing indecent, seein’ as the model is a goddess and all.”
The boss explained the regulations and gave Tama and me some logs.
Since most of them were too big for a small statue, I borrowed their backyard to cut some of the building logs down to size.
For some reason, a crowd of onlookers gathered to watch me split wood, which was a little embarrassing.
“Ooh, what are you guys up to in here?”
“Tama is a hard worker, sir.”
Pochi came in from the other room, accompanied by Arisa.
Tama was too focused on her carving to respond, so I beckoned them over.
“What are you making for your entry, Master?”
“Hm? Just a normal statue. Since it’s supposed to be based on Goddess Karion, I figured I’d give her a book or some lab equipment.”
According to the documents I had on hand, Karion was the goddess of wisdom.
“Something like this?”
Arisa produced some clay from her Fairy Pack and skillfully crafted a statue of a little girl. It came out great, with lots of detail.
I guess she learned a lot from making a weirdly suggestive figure of me in that pottery class.
“Why don’t you carve one, too, Arisa?”
“I’m good, thanks. The wood chips would get in my hair, and I’d probably hurt myself with the knife or the chisel.”
Arisa shook her head.
“I’m thinking something like this.” Hidden behind the log, I used the Light Magic spell Illusion to create a concept rendering.
“That looks an awful lot like Lulu.”
“Well, since she’s a young girl, I did base it partly on Lulu’s hairstyle and proportions.”
I kept the chest size modest to make the model more childlike.
Unfortunately, even with my maxed-out “Woodworking” and “Carving” skills, I couldn’t reproduce Lulu’s exquisitely beautiful face.
“Could you make it look more like there are flowers scattered around this part? You know, like in a shoujo manga.”
“You mean like this?”
“Yes, exactly. And maybe this part, too?”
I modified the illusion to Arisa’s specifications. While it did make for a wonderful image that an expert modeler could craft into the perfect anime figure…
“I can’t reproduce this with wood.”
“Why not?”
“I think something this finely detailed and delicate would probably break partway through carving.”
“Couldn’t you make it in separate parts and attach them afterward?”
“That would go against the regulations.”
The statues for the offering had to be made in one piece.
“How about using some sturdier material then? I bet you could carve orichalcum if you really wanted, right, Master?”
I had to admit, Arisa was right. A World Tree branch or a piece from the base of a Mountain-Tree branch would certainly be sturdy enough.
“I guess I can try…”
“That’s more like it!”
Arisa snapped her fingers excitedly.
I decided not to point out that she’d used Space Magic to produce the snapping sound.
I produced a log-sized World Tree branch and began carving. Since even the shavings were still useful material, I spread out a mat on the floor to collect them.
By the end of the day, I had carved most of the basic shape; from the second day on, I worked on the decorations and special effects. When the brothers saw my work, their eyes blazed, and they worked on their own submissions with renewed fervor.
I was glad to provide them some extra motivation.
“Nin-niiin?”
“You’re amazing, Tama, sir. Super, ultra fantastic, sir!”
Tama used earth and wind ninjutsu to put the finishing touches on her statue.
Her version of the goddess was remarkably dynamic and fun. It was like she’d modeled it after a younger version of Liza, with a more peaceful version of Pochi’s expressive face. Just looking at the charming figure made you want to dance along with it.
We finished our pieces on the third day and gave them to the boss.
“They’re both contenders for the win, that’s for sure. Young master, what yours lacks in expressiveness and energy, it makes up for in detail and beauty. The curve of her hips is nice, and the hint of the bust is even better. It’s great how you can infer the shape of them even with the loose-fitting clothes. Only someone who’s closely admired a great deal of chests could produce something this detailed.”
Okay, I appreciate the compliment, but you don’t need to make it sound like I’m obsessed with boobs. I mean, not that you’re wrong, exactly.
“And little missy, yours has plenty of passion, even if your technique isn’t as refined as the young master’s. I’ve never seen a figure that makes me want to dance with it.”
“Nye-he-hee…”
It makes you want to dance, too, huh?
“My sons are no slouches, either. They’re in for a helluva fight, though.”
The boss clearly had full faith in his kids, despite what he said. I could tell from the way he gazed at them with his arms crossed that his trust in them was unshakable.
Since there wasn’t much time left because of the fire, the two of them were working hard with hardly any breaks or sleep.
Not wanting to hinder their work, I gave them some special nutritional supplement potions to help them work through the night, and we left the workshop behind.
“We’re staying in Lodolork a while longer, right? Let’s go find something fun to do!”
“Agreed.”
I patted Arisa and Mia on the head, and none of the other girls objected to their suggestion, so we traveled around Lodolork Kingdom sightseeing until the offering festival two days later.
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