Chapter 102
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: penny
Chapter: 102
Chapter Title: Village Development - 2
-----------------------------------------------------------------
I'll try swallowing the axe whole next time. For now, I decided to make some ice cream to help my family beat the heat.
"Oppa, whatcha doing?"
Thanks to her history with Pring Bread, Clia showed up like a ghost whenever I was making food, wriggling around in my arms.
"Making a snack—ice treats."
There were plenty of icy snacks I could whip up.
I could make kakigori, Japanese-style shaved ice with fruit syrup, or freeze milk using salt.
I went with the latter.
It was the most tedious and boring task.
"Clia, you bored?"
"Yeah! I'm so bored."
"I wanna make something else, so could you stir this stick for me instead?"
"How long?"
"Until the milk freezes."
"Okay!"
She didn't seem to mind working in the cool stone ice house, so Clia stirred the stick just as I'd asked.
With my sister-in-law handling that, I had time to make shaved ice. I took a sterilized knife and shaved the ice.
"Oppa! Ice is flying everywhere."
"Sorry."
Once I'd shaved enough ice, I drizzled wild strawberry juice over the top.
"Hmm... not bad."
I tasted it first, and it was pretty good.
"A drizzle of honey on top would perfect it."
"Heh heh... Oppa, how much longer do I have to do this?"
"Just a bit more."
"Ugh... okay. Clia can do it!"
Dead serious about snack-making, Clia pushed through the arm ache to finish the ice cream.
The finished ice cream was shared among the whole family.
Of course, Clia, who'd worked the hardest, got the biggest share.
"Ugh! My head hurts!"
"Lady Clia?! You can't eat shaved ice like that all at once!"
Helia jumped in alarm at Clia's binge on the bowl of shaved ice.
Luckily, thanks to her Frostkin bloodline, Clia only ended up with a slight brain freeze.
...
I shared the leftover ice treats with our close neighbors.
"Living with you around means I get to experience all sorts of wonders."
"That's a good thing, right?"
"Obviously. You think I'd hate it?"
Tom happily dug into the ice treat.
For a blacksmith slaving away in the forge during this sweltering heat, the treat I offered must've felt like rain in a drought.
Petra, on the other hand, ate hers with a subtle frown.
"You can make stuff like this too?"
"That's an odd question. Why wouldn't I?"
"I figured you couldn't cook, judging by your looks."
"Gasp?! Cooking's the second thing I'm best at after hunting."
"...Don't lie."
Petra looked genuinely skeptical.
"Just wait'll you try my cooking later. See if you can make that face then."
"Heh heh, you've wounded Petra's manly pride."
"Sorry if that upset you, Sian. With all the women in your house, I assumed you didn't cook."
"No worries. Just know this: I lived off my own cooking until we got married."
"Ian couldn't cook?"
"Yeah, that was his one flaw as a father."
He could roughly grill meat over a fire, sure. But nothing more elaborate.
Which meant our meals were mostly bland, low-salt fare.
It was tough on a soul pickled in spicy, salty, sweet Korean flavors.
"Next time, I'll bring some food I've made."
"Hah hah, looking forward to it."
"Sian, you've got quite the ego."
"Petra, take away a man's pride, and you're left with a corpse."
After chatting for a bit like that, I showed Tom a blueprint for real.
It was a design that turned the Curse of Return from the Fangkin curse into a power source.
"You want me to make this?"
"Yes. Can't you?"
"Of course not! Does this look easy to your eyes?"
"I never said it was easy..."
Tom gave his take on the engine blueprint I'd made with Senior Nymph Forest's help.
"My metallurgy skills can't handle parts this tiny. And wood won't cut it for durability."
"What about blackwood?"
"Blackwood would be perfect. Too bad it's a pain to work with."
"Too bad."
If we could build it to spec, it could've powered all sorts of machines as an alternative energy source.
No dice.
"Hmm... I think I could make this."
"Petra? For real?"
"Yeah, I could do it."
Unlike Tom, Petra spoke with total confidence, which made me a little suspicious, but I decided to trust her for now.
"Alright, I'll commission you then. I'll pay generously—just make it exactly to the blueprint."
"Deal. But skip the money. I want something else."
"What?"
"You're becoming an earl soon, right? You could easily hook me up with a forge."
"I could, but you're graduating from Tom's forge?"
"Graduating? Old man couldn't do squat without me."
"Hah hah, Petra, you sure talk big to your father."
"Shut it, old man. I'm ditching this dumpy forge."
"It's full of memories with your mother! I'm not leaving!"
"It's ancient!"
Before their father-daughter spat could escalate, I jumped in.
"How about a compromise? We renovate the forge."
"Fine."
"As long as you make it to the blueprint, that is."
"Got it. Trust me."
With the engine blueprint handed off to Petra, I headed to the Village Chief's house.
...
"Pardon the intrusion."
"Mr. Sian. The chief's still out handling village affairs."
"I see. I'll wait."
"Have some tea, at least."
"Thank you, Ms. Nabira."
I sipped the tea Nabira kindly poured while waiting for the chief.
The Village Chief returned drenched in sweat, still hale and hearty despite his age.
"Live as long as you can."
"What's this, picking a fight like your old man all of a sudden?"
"...Not that. Here, try this first."
"What's that?"
"Ice treats."
The chief picked one up from the cold box I'd brought, juice-infused ice, and gave a brief review.
"Refreshing."
"Made with ice from the stone ice house Tom and I built last year."
"Fitting for one of our village treasures. Thanks to you, I get to enjoy things like this."
"That doesn't sound like much of a compliment."
"It wasn't meant as one."
"Hah hah..."
"You didn't come just to show me this, did you?"
"No, this is just a gift."
Thanks to the Frostclaw tribe's weapons from the northern expedition, ice was no longer scarce at our house.
We could get it anytime, anywhere now.
"I came to make a proposal."
"A proposal... You're about to become nobility by year's end. Does the village chief really need proposals from you? Just give orders."
"Not my style to throw my weight around."
"I get it. So, what's your proposal?"
"Any plans to expand the meeting hall?"
"Meeting hall? It's plenty big already. Why expand?"
"Yes. I think we need room for more people to attend meetings."
"More people... It's not like the village population suddenly exploded."
"Right. I want the women from our households to join too."
"Hmm..."
The chief pondered my words for a moment before asking,
"You plan to give women the authority of household head too?"
"Yes."
Lugeron Village was fundamentally patriarchal.
Not unusual for a medieval-level era, but the village lagged behind other places in women's rights—or human rights in general.
Ridiculous, really.
In a world where anyone could grow strong by training mana, dividing value by gender was pointless.
'Bad traditions like this are best scrapped quick.'
The chief seemed to agree, taking my idea seriously.
In a way, he was enlightened. He'd been tirelessly working to change the village for years.
"Can't cling to old ways in a village hosting the Sex Kingdom's nymphs. Their teachings could shift folks' mindsets some. Plus, with the war since last year thinning our men, timing's right. But it won't be easy. Can't overturn deep-rooted ideas overnight."
"True. But it can be done."
At least before Siel came of age.
"Fine, we'll do it your way. But since it's your proposal, you cover more than half the cost. Nothing in life is free."
"I'll pay for it all."
"You sure?"
"Yeah. Gotta secure my say in the matter later, right?"
"...If you insist."
With the chief's approval, I hired some villagers and started expanding the meeting hall.
The chief was floored by how much bigger it was getting, but I didn't mind.
No big deal, right, Chief?