Chapter 36: The Weight of Training and the Sweetness of Rest

Turning my head, I saw more than a dozen people huddled together, thrusting their burdensome faces forward.

It was chilling enough to send shivers down my spine.

“Didn’t you all say you were training?”

“Ah, yes. We need to train. Train.”

“That’s right, we have to train.”

“Sh-Should we loosen up our bodies first?”

They pretended to scatter, only to linger a few steps away, eyeing me while continuing to fidget.

Well, it doesn’t matter.

“I came to deliver this since you were waiting so eagerly.”

I handed the tea tree soap to Cayton.

“It’s a natural soap I made.”

“You’re making soap now? But why give it to me?”

After a very brief silence, Cayton suddenly shouted in an excited voice.

“C-Could it be, that?!”

As expected, Cayton is quick-witted.

“Yes. Washing with this soap will greatly improve your athlete’s foot.”

Cayton clutched the tea tree soap with both hands and bowed deeply to me.

“I sincerely thank you! You’ve saved me!”

“Huh? Even so, saved is a bit much….”

“It’s true. I couldn’t sleep at night because of the itching? Now I’ll be free from that relentless itch!”

At Cayton’s shout.

Suddenly.

“A-Athlete’s foot treatment?”

“Wow! Does using this soap really make athlete’s foot disappear?”

“I didn’t see it at the pharmacy last time; is it a new product?”

Once again, the adventurers swarmed over and surrounded us both.

Why does the reaction seem even more intense than when I promoted the vitality drink? 

“It’s a new product. It just arrived, and there’s plenty in stock, so if you go now, you can purchase—” Whoosh.

Before I could finish, the adventurers dashed off frantically.

Last time, they were suspicious from the start.

Indeed, I picked a good promotional model.

“There’ll be another war at the pharmacy. Bernard has his work cut out for him.”

“I didn’t come to promote this time, but somehow they sniffed it out. Adventurers must have good instincts.”

“More than that, it’s because it’s you, Fabir, that they pay special attention.”

“Me? Why?”

“You cause a storm wherever you go. I heard you made a big splash at the potato eating contest recently.”

“I’m just looking for places that need my goods.”

I smiled awkwardly.

By the way, my eyes had been drawn to the equipment Cayton was wearing since earlier.

“But what is the equipment you’re wearing now?”

“It’s a weighted vest and bands. They put load on the body. Wearing them on the waist and ankles during training helps a lot with agility and explosiveness.”

“Oh! Training with that would make me as fast as a nimble rabbit?”

It was exactly what I needed right now.

Training efficiency on the Floating Island is several times higher, so with this, catching the rabbit would just be a matter of time.

Wait for me, you rabbit bastard. I’m coming soon!

***

I flew straight to the dwarf workshop.

Ting! Ting!

Kadu approached me as I diligently hammered the anvil.

“What are you trying to make?”

“I’m going to make a weighted vest and bands.”

“You make them well even without me teaching you.”

“It’s not like there’s any complicated mechanism.”

When I dipped the heated iron in water, it made a hiss sound. 

The shape was roughly formed, so it seemed I just needed to finish it.

“Ah, and I want to reinforce the pickaxe one more time with this?”

I took out the ruby I had carefully kept in my purse.

“I luckily mined a ruby on the Floating Island—”

Swish.

Before I could finish, Kadu snatched the ruby from my palm in an instant.

“This is!”

Then he observed it with a magnifying glass and widened his eyes.

His eyes shone with pure madness.

“This is the first time I’ve seen a ruby of such high purity! If done well, it could reinforce two levels at once!”

“Two levels? Then I should apply it to the pickaxe right away.”

“W-Wait a minute! Using something this good on a pickaxe? Isn’t that too wasteful?”

“To mine on the Floating Island, I need to invest at least this much.”

There’s no guarantee that the only thing I’ll face in the future is the rabbit golem, so I need to prepare in advance.

“If that’s your thought, then….”

Kadu smacked his lips looking at the ruby. He seemed quite regretful.

“You brought the pickaxe, right?”

“Here it is.”

“You remember what you learned before? Try it yourself this time.”

“Me?”

“The ruby’s quality is exceptionally good, and a pickaxe is something you can handle sufficiently.”

“Then, I’ll give it a try.”

“It’s the second reinforcement, so you have to be extra careful. Even with a high-purity ruby, mistakes aren’t tolerated.”

“I’ll keep that in mind!”

“I’ll assist from the side, so start when you’re ready.”

I took a deep breath and put the pickaxe in the furnace.

Ting! Ting!

I hammered the heated pickaxe and carefully embedded the ruby.

“Concentrate here. Tap gently so it doesn’t break. But not too weakly either.”

It was a highly difficult and delicate task.

About thirty minutes passed while I concentrated all my nerves on the work.

Flash.

A silver glow enveloped the pickaxe.

“I-I think it succeeded!”

“Let me appraise it?”

Kadu took the pickaxe and moved to the table inside the shop. 

The table was lined with magnifying glasses and various strange tools I’d never seen before.

“You appraise equipment yourself?”

“For a craftsman like me, appraisal requests sometimes outnumber making. It’s quite lucrative. By the way, this is the first time appraising a pickaxe.”

Kadu examined various parts of the pickaxe.

“Now you can call it a ‘3-reinforced steel pickaxe’.”

“3-reinforced?”

“Yes, you succeeded in reinforcing two levels at once. As expected of my disciple!”

“I really didn’t think it was possible. I got lucky.”

“It’s not luck. It’s skill.”

“Thank you for the compliment. I’ll work harder to succeed in 4-reinforced, 5-reinforced too!”

“What? You want to reinforce it further from here? Are you planning to make a combat pickaxe or something?”

“Combat pickaxe? That’s a good idea?”

“I can’t stop you. Alright! This is all experience. Go ahead and try making the strongest pickaxe as you wish!”

Kadu laughed heartily as if amused.

Today again, contrary to his fierce face, his smile shone like a girl’s.

***

Returning to the Floating Island, I immediately put on the weighted vest and bands.

“It’s pretty heavy.”

“What are you wearing?”

“Training equipment. I’ll build agility with this to catch the rabbit. But I don’t know where to start. I’d know if I’d done this kind of training before.”

“You came at the perfect time.”

“What?”

“Go north. It’s piled high with the golden poop you like.”

“Oh! The dragon had a good dump while I was away? Perfect timing.”

If all else failed, I was going to drag trees around, but instead, I can haul dragon dung. 

As expected, farming is the best training for me.

Plop. Plop.

I scooped the dung with a shovel, put it in a large basin, and spread it on the field dozens of times.

My body is heavy.

My steps dragged, and every action was sluggish.

“Dragon dung~ Golden dung~”

Humming.

My body was tired, but a tune naturally came from my mouth. 

This was something I enjoyed doing.

Ding.

[The Floating Island’s intelligence is rising.]

Growl.

Working hard made me hungry. Shall I have dinner soon?

First, I washed my dung-soiled hands at the well and headed to the Ice Cave.

Cayton said to always replenish protein after exercising.

I picked up the meat I bought during the day. I also took onions, carrots, and green onions.

“Are you cooking meat?”

“Yes. It’s pork shoulder. I’ll make soy sauce pork bulgogi with this.”

“Bulgogi? I heard it’s incredibly delicious! I’m looking forward to it!”

Where does Elenia hear these things?

Well, she’s lived so long that she probably knows more than me about some things.

First, I thinly sliced the meat and put it in a basin. 

Then I julienned the onions and carrots into bite-sized pieces, and diagonally sliced the green onions and added them.

“Now for the most important seasoning. Just get the ratio of soy sauce and sugar right. It’s the golden ratio of sweet and salty.”

I added sugar, soy sauce, and plum syrup appropriately. 

Then I brought garlic from the garden, peeled it, placed it on the cutting board, and crushed it with the flat of the knife.

Add the garlic, a bit of sesame oil, mix well, and the sauce is done! 

Pour it over the meat and knead it well.

“Leave it for a bit so the seasoning soaks into the meat.”

“Come to think of it, that pickaxe feels somehow different. It emanates a stronger energy than before.”

“Right? I applied the ruby I got last time. It became a whopping 3-reinforced pickaxe!”

“No wonder the energy it emits is extraordinary. But why 3-reinforced instead of 2?”

“The ruby’s quality was good, so it reinforced two levels at once? And I did it myself!”

My shoulders rose infinitely.

“Oh! As expected, your handiwork is no ordinary. At that level, it could be used as a blunt weapon.”

“I was planning to use it for self-defense anyway.”

I haven’t learned swordsmanship or anything, so weapons all feel awkward. 

Farming tools like shovels or pickaxes are familiar, easier to handle, and I think they suit me best.

By now, the seasoning should have soaked into the meat, so shall I stir-fry the bulgogi?

As I stir-fried the meat in the pan, a sweet and salty aroma wafted gently.

“Oh! It smells good!”

Well-cooked rice and bulgogi were served on the table.

The glossy flow from the rice and bulgogi whetted the appetite.

Gulp.

“Let’s eat!”

“I’ll eat well!”

I scooped a spoonful of white rice and put bulgogi on top.

Huff huff!

I blew on the hot rice to cool it and ate it in one bite.

Chomp!

The salty-sweet seasoning and the hearty meat flavor harmonized together.

“This chewy texture of the meat! Moreover, the rich juices dance on the tongue the more you chew!”

“Adding plum syrup removed the gamey smell of the wild boar meat. Instead, the spicy garlic aroma firmly catches what could have been a greasy taste.”

“Give me more rice!”

Before I knew it, Elenia had already finished a bowl of rice.

Where does all that rice go in that tiny body?

I piled white rice high in Elenia’s small bowl again.

“Eat a lot. Should I give more to Dorori too?”

Peep!

“I need to eat more too!”

The taste of rice after working is honey-sweet.

When eating delicious food with good company, the joy doubles.

It would have been nice if the dragon was here to eat bulgogi together; that’s a shame.

Burp.

Good work today too.

After eating, I finished the housework and lay down in the cozy bedding.

Full and body relaxed, it seemed I’d sleep sweetly.