Chapter 3
–Morning Chores–
A gentle shaking… I think.
Ah, I must've fallen asleep again.
"Raithe, it's morning. Time to get up."
Through the retreating fog of sleep, I recognized the voice Jake's mom.
Consciousness began to return, and I remembered what I was doing before I fell asleep. After Jake went back to sleep, I spent a fair amount of time familiarizing myself with the descriptions of my abilities and used the [Lore Screen] to read up on the items, places, and information that Raithe and I had come into contact with. It was interesting comparing Raithe's understanding of various things against the information and descriptions provided by the [Status Screen] …uhm …magic? Yeah, [Status Screen] was probably a form of magic since using the ability did seem to continuously use up a small amount of mana.
I rubbed my eyes open, stretched a bit, and scrunched up into a sitting position. "Good morning, Ms. Reina."
"Before he went out on his morning chores, Jake let me know that you've recovered and seem able to move about just fine.” She paused for a moment, giving me a look as if seeking my confirmation.
I nodded. Jake wasn't in the room, so he must've left without waking me up. He did warn me that he needed to get an early start.
"And so, since you're going to be living here, you'll need to do your portion of the chores around the house. After you eat, I'm going to have you accompany Alisha this morning and she will teach you what you will be responsible for. After lunch, you'll be coming with me into town where we will do some clothes shopping and formalize your status here in the village."
Reina motioned to some folded clothing items sitting on the desk, and continued, "Your clothes from before were ruined, so I asked Jake to provide some of his old clothing for you to wear today. I'll be in the kitchen cooking you something to eat. Alisha will be waiting as well, so try not to take too long getting dressed."
Reina turned and left the room, leaving me by myself.
My thoughts drifted back to last night's reading and one of the surprising things I'd learned was the name of this world: Aetheria. I came across it in the entry for The Queen of the Fae:
The Queen of the Fae - A faery spirit that resides in the Mist. As part of the cycle of reincarnation, she watches over souls and guides them to their new lives in Aetheria. Some souls will curry her favor and receive a blessing during their reincarnation. It is said that the Queen of the Fae is more likely to reward those of virtue and those who have suffered through misfortune.When I read the lore entry, I couldn't help but think that she played a bigger role in this world than I had originally suspected, but I still wasn't sure what to think about it. In any case, keeping in mind that Reina and Alisha were waiting, I motivated myself to get up and get going.
I pushed away the sheets and got up from the bed, then did some more stretching and some quick bending and reaching exercises to get the blood flowing. I was still sluggish at first, but once I got moving things were fine. In fact, they were better than fine. I wondered how long it had been since I was a youth, because moving around in this body felt amazing, especially when compared to the expectations of my existing common sense.
After straightening the bedding to make the bed look nice, I went over to check out the clothes that Jake had left for me. There were three items: a simple faded-blue coarse-woven tunic, linen undershorts, and a tea-colored pair of coarse-woven breeches. The clothing was designed to be worn loose with drawstrings laced at the openings: collar, wrist, ankles, and waist. The fabrics were light, but durable, and suitable for working or playing in. Unlike the high-quality bedding, the clothes gave off a decidedly more spartan feeling. Yet even so, they were better quality than anything Raithe had owned before.
I was not particularly keen on wearing another guy's underwear, but there was not much I could do about it. At least everything was clean and smelled vaguely of flowers.
I should just be thankful and hurry up.
I stepped into the undershorts, tied the drawstring, and shrugged out of the long nightshirt. After folding the nightshirt, I neatly placed it on the bed. The breeches and tunic readily fit once the drawstrings were pulled snug enough and tied. Good thing I had Raithe's memory of how to tie drawstrings, or this might've been problematic.
There wasn't a mirror in the room, so I opened up the [Dressing Room] window and checked on my appearance. The blue looked rather nice against my lavender skin. I wondered if Jake was thinking of that when he picked out the clothes… better to not overthink it.
My hair was messy, so I used my hands to fix it—ah, I want to wash my hair and face. And, if I'm going to keep my hair long like this, I should buy or make a comb, I thought.
I considered how sinister my rueful smile looked last night and decided that I should keep the [Dressing Room] window up and use it to monitor how my expressions appeared throughout the day.
There was the downside that I would need to pay attention to my mana consumption (and Jake was probably going to make fun of me again once he figured out what I was doing), but this way, I would be able to practice keeping my expression neutral and also practice making more charismatic smiles when interacting with others.
In any case, it was time I stopped delaying and got on with meeting another new family member: Alisha. Gathering my courage, I stepped out of the bedroom door and quietly closed it behind me before looking around.
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Past the six-seater table, a nice breakfast smell and the sizzling sound of frying came from the kitchen where Reina was cooking. She was wearing a white cloth apron over her usual smart-looking attire and seemed to be toiling happily.
Alisha was sitting at the opposite side of table reading a leather-bound book with a rose embroidered onto the cover. The girl was little—definitely younger than Jake—and her legs dangled from the chair, not quite reaching the ground. She was wearing a cute green dress with an embroidered flower-motif border and a brown work-apron over top of it. Her long, light-brown hair was elaborately braided, similar to her mother's hair style. I wondered if that was something she and Reina did together as mother and daughter when they got up in the morning.
As I took my seat at the opposite side of the table, catty-corner to her, Alisha turned a page. Catching a glimpse, I noticed that the words of the book were hand-written in a flowing script. Alisha looked up from her book, allowing me to see her hazel eyes and her approachably pretty face which was a bit generic in a way similar to her brother. Her eyes showed an intelligence that easily exceeded her age, and I felt slightly uncomfortable as she looked at me appraisingly before speaking.
"Mom says that you're going to be our new brother."
With a clear voice, she matter-of-factly stated the topic of discussion without revealing the results of her appraisal or her own thoughts on the matter—perhaps she hadn't made up her mind yet?
Ugh, why do I feel that was opening salvo of some kind of negotiation? Even though she's a kid, this might be difficult.
I nodded and decided to try presenting myself as grateful.
"Yes. That's what Miss Reina told me as well, and considering my current situation, it's probably the best I could hope for."
"Your current situation…?"
Hmm, if I tell her that village was destroyed by demons and my remaining family was killed, that would certainly make breakfast awkward.
"Well, I don't have any other family, and there's this..." I gestured at my horns and ears. "As to the details, it's probably best to ask your mom."
Her eyes narrowed a bit, and then she seemed to have come to a decision.
"Well, whatever. I don't particularly care as long as you help out with the chores and don't cause any problems. If there's less work for me, then I can spend more time reading."
Gah, how mercenary…
It seemed like I had successfully navigated the negotiations, but as she returned to her reading, I couldn’t help but feel somewhat hurt that she seemed so… disinterested. I decided to try some small talk to make a better impression, quick.
"So uhm… speaking of chores, your mom mentioned that you were going to be teaching me about them this morning, but what is it that we need to do?" I asked, trying not to sound nervous or intimidated.
She sighed and looked up again from her book, "Well there's a lot of different things. It depends on what needs doing. Sometimes, I go out and forage in the woods. Sometimes, I help with cleaning the house and doing laundry. Sometimes, I work in the garden. Sometimes, I pick up things from the butcher or general store. And sometimes on really yucky days, I have to take care of the composter in the basement, but usually chores like that and fetching water from the stream are done by Jake, thankfully."
She paused as if considering something, then continued, "Well, I guess I should also be thankful to you, since I got to have a nice leisurely breakfast this morning and got to do some reading while I was waiting for you to get up." After saying that, she went right back to reading.
While I was thinking about how to make another attempt at dialogue, Reina placed a small varnished wood bowl and matching plate in front of me with a, "Here you go," before stepping back into the kitchen to grab a pair of steaming cups for herself and Alisha.
The bowl contained a light soup with an inviting smell. A delicately carved wood spoon sat in the bowl awaiting my attention. On the plate were steaming scrambled eggs and what looked like batter fried herbs. A delicately carved wood fork, similar to the spoon, graced the plate.
After placing the cups of vaguely herb smelling liquid on the table, Reina put her hand on top off Alisha's head. "Don't mind this one, this precocious eight-year-old has her cute points too," she said and laughed.
Complaining with an annoyed, "Mo~m," Alisha used both hands to push off her mom's hand, meanwhile her book slipped shut, "Ah, you made me lose my place in the book!"
"Haha, what this girl doesn't want you to know is that she was so excited about being responsible for you today that she got up extra early to pick out what to wear and even asked me to braid her hair."
"Mom!" Alisha protested, as she looked down and to the side, before hiding her rapidly reddening face behind her book. Her embarrassed behavior really was endearing.
I had been distracted by the way her hair was braided and the way she was reading her book, but now that I was paying attention, I noticed that her clothing choice really was well thought-out. It was stylish and cute enough to match her braided hair while still being workable enough not to get in the way of doing chores.
"Ah, I thought that maybe the braided hair was just a usual mother-daughter thing. As things were going, I was getting a bit worried that maybe Alisha disliked me, or something." Looking down at the [Dressing Room] display, I carefully managed the most shoe-gazingly pitiable expression of faerie-innocence-acceding-to-the-cruelties-of-human-reality—and it was an awesome success! All of my control over my facial muscles was required to suppress the smile that was threatening to break out.
Alisha was shocked, and mumbled, "It's not like that."
I noticed the barest hint of a smirk as Reina saw through my act, but she cheerfully played along, saying, "I’m sure Alisha meant no harm. She was probably just imitating a character from one of her books," as she took a seat at the table over by Alisha.
A "geh-" sound came from Alisha as her eyes wandered off to the side.
Haha, so that's what it was. What a funny little sister that I seem to have acquired.
"In any case, you should eat your food, Raithe. It's going to get cold,” Reina chided me.
"Yes, Miss Reina. Thank you for the food."
Turning my attention back to breakfast, I realized just how hungry I was and promptly went about eating. I used the fork to cut the eggs and herbs into bite-sized chunks before scooping first the herbs and then some eggs onto the fork to bring to my mouth. In that way, one forkful at a time, I cleared the plate. Both the eggs and batter-fried herbs were pleasantly tasty without being heavy.
The soup was a vegetable soup and was also nice and light, but somehow from the soup I felt a kind of energy spread into my body…
Hey, wait a second. This feeling is familiar to the chicken noodle soup from before… and also when I was doing my meditation practice…
I looked up in time to catch Reina discreetly smirking as she noticed my reaction when I was sampling the soup from the spoon. She nonchalantly held her cup to her mouth and took a sip of her drink to hide her expression. I glanced over at Alisha, but she was immersed in her book.
I closed my eyes, controlled my breathing, focusing on sensing the mana around me. And, sure enough, there was mana in the soup. It gave off a sense of flowing water imbued with qualities of purity and vitality.
Fascinating.
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I opened my eyes, and saw Reina still carefully watching me—like a teacher watching over her star pupil and waiting to see if he understood the lesson.
"Uhm, is there mana in the soup?" I asked, and Reina cracked a grin.
"Are you studying magic, Raithe?" Alisha looked up and asked with surprise. Her embarrassment from before was replaced by excitement, as she apparently realized that I might be more interesting than a poor pretty-boy freeloader.
This cheeky girl! Just when I was beginning to think she might have an adorable side…
I slowly looked meaningfully at Reina and nodded. Reina's grin got even bigger.
Ah, what have I set myself up for…
"Yes, but I've just started learning,” I quickly hedged.
"That you noticed is excellent, Raithe. The water used to make the soup is infused with mana. That's why I send Jake down to the part of the stream near the ley-line to fetch water each day. Since I've been training Alisha and Jake to use their mana, replenishing their mana each day is important."
While Reina was explaining, I held the spoon against the side of the bowl and carefully drank the rest of the soup.
"By the way, Raithe, it is really something how politely and meticulously you eat. If I didn't know better, I'd suspect that you were raised in a noble household,” Reina noted with interest.
Ah, crap. I messed up.
Raithe certainly never knew how to eat politely like that. Come to think of it… how did I know how to eat like that? It's strange.
Even though I didn’t have any memories from before awakening in the Mist, I still knew what things were called when I saw them—even things Raithe had never seen or heard about before. And apparently—judging from my eating habits just now—I was still able to perform actions out of habit. I wondered if I could have tied the drawstrings on the clothes even without Raithe's memories.
I thought about it some more. With language related things, such as names and meanings, I supposed that my knowledge could have been from the high-level language skill listed in the [Status Screen], but that didn’t explain the habitual actions, or the strange sort of common sense that I possessed, or the well-formed opinions that I had about most things. I wondered if my memory from my old life was still there, but accessing it directly was blocked somehow. Maybe the current situation was more than strange, suspicious even.
Unproductive thoughts aside, how do I answer so that I can get out of this? Perhaps…
"Oh, it was the first time that I've eaten with such fancy tableware, so I was trying my best to be polite. Did I do it right?" I bluffed. It wasn’t lie, as far as I knew.
"What do you mean, Raithe? My dad's woodworking is good and all but calling these 'fancy' is a bit much!" Exclaimed Alisha, but Reina had a flat expression with hooded eyes, saying, couldn't you come up with a better lie?
"Well, I grew up poor, so there wasn't any money for fancy things like forks and spoons—and so, I've certainly never seen forks and spoons with such intricate carvings before, you know. I did have a wooden bowl that I used for soups and the occasional stew, but instead of a spoon, I usually used a bit of hard bread to scoop out the soup in the bottom of the bowl…," I drew upon Raithe's memories as I answered, and tried not to get flustered.
"That's awful, but how are you so good at using a fork on your first time?!" Alisha still couldn't believe it.
Ugh, wasn't she busy readying her book?
"Ah, well my job is set to [Hunter] and I've always been good with my hands, so I just used my imagination, and-" Because I'm just that dexterous, you know. Maybe she'll buy it… or not.
"You're just a kid, and you already have a job like that?!" Alisha exclaimed, interrupting.
"Well…" I stalled, not sure how I wanted to answer.
This hole just seems to be getting deeper and deeper. Though at least the subject has been changed…
I glanced over at Reina and she seemed amused at the mess I was making for myself, but to my surprise she came to my aid.
"Alisha, not all children have the privileged start in life that you and Jake have been given. Considering Raithe's situation, he must have had a very difficult time growing up. He probably had to work hard just to survive."
"No way… I thought Jake and I had it hard with all the unreasonable chores we have to do every morning—oww!" Fortunately, I was saved from pain of Alisha's pitying gaze when she got flicked in the head by her mom.
"What are you calling unreasonable?! Those chores are to help you learn skills and build character. Besides, are you saying you think so little of your family that you don't want to help out around the house?" Reina admonished her daughter.
"Ow, ow. I get it already! Sheesh!" Alisha tried to ward off the lecture as she rocked back and forth in her chair rubbing her forehead.
"Speaking of jobs, Raithe, I am planning to take you by the temple when we go out later, so I don’t mind paying to change your job if you like. Maybe you would like to change it to [Mage] or [Student]?" She offered and winked at me.
Wow, she's willing to go that far for me?
It took Raithe's mom and Raithe a whole year to earn enough money to set his job at the temple. But, while I did want to learn magic, judging from my [Skill Screen] there were a lot of other interesting jobs as well.
That aside, I’ve been sort of wondering for a while now, but maybe Reina is rather wealthy… or at least has enough money that such things are trivial expenses.
"What about me, mom? Will you pay for me too? Jake already got his job changed to [Scout] so that he could train with dad. I'm tired of the [Student] Job. I want to change to something useful like [Mage], or [Scholar], or even [Alchemist],” Alisha interjected, looking hopeful.
"Jake's situation is different than yours because the [Scout] job's skills are mostly [Agility]-based, so the [Student] job is not particularly useful for him. As you already know, the skills of the [Student] job lower the leveling difficulty for all [Intelligence]-based skills, and while I'm not opposed to the three jobs you've mentioned, all three are almost entirely [Intelligence]-based,” Reina explained.
"Argh, but my [Student] Job is already at rank 5, and at the rate things are going it's going to be over a year to get to rank 6! I'm sick of just learning. I want to do things already!" Alisha passionately complained, flopping down on the table, arms stretched out in defeat.
Reina’s expression softened, and she started to give a concession, "I tell you what, Alisha, since you've worked hard and achieved rank 5, to reward your hard work, I'll allow you to change your job, too-"
"Yahooo!" came Alisha’s cheer with her arms raised in victory.
Reina calmly returned to explaining her condition for allowing the concession with a wry smile, "-but, just like Jake paid for his, you have to save up your money and pay for yours as well.”
"Aw… but that'll take forever!" came the return of defeat as Alisha flopped back onto the table.
Witnessing Alisha’s antics and mood swings, I barely managed not to laugh out loud at the ridiculously humorous scene playing out before me.
"You can do like Jake did and sell the extra things that you find when foraging or make items for selling to the traveling peddler or at the shops in town. By the way, the [Scholar] job is not a bad idea considering you are planning to attend the Royal Academy when you turn 12 years old. And, you do like reading, so your [Scholar] job skills should rank up quickly just by us increasing the difficulty of your daily studies here with me,” Reina encouraged her.
"Ugh… more math and history…" Alisha moaned, burying her head in her arms with a grand sigh, all the life seemingly sucked right out of her.
Royal Academy? Is that something a village family would normally have access to? In any case, this seems like a chance. I wonder if I help out Alisha here or even just cheer her up, maybe it could be a chance for me to improve my standing with her.
"Alisha… maybe I could help you earn the money?" I offered.
"Huh? How?" Her muffled voice came out as her head remained down.
"I can help you forage, and I know how to weave baskets. I can also strip pelts off the animals that I hunt, and I'm able to do a bit of sewing work. Maybe if we work together, you can make enough money?" I replied enthusiastically, suggesting things that I could help with.
Out of the corner of my eye, I caught view of Reina covering her grin with a hand as she tried to hide her d'aw, isn't that so cute? expression. My grimace started to come out, but I remembered: No soul-sucking face! To prevent that, I used the [Dressing Room] and put effort into maintaining as neutral an expression as I could. This was for earning points with Alisha for the future.
"Hmm, I've got a great idea." Reina chuckled, and Alisha raised her head, showing a wary expression as her mom continued with a devious smile, "Well considering how quickly Raithe was able to learn the [Meditation] skill, I'm curious about something. Raithe, do you already have any [Student] skills?"
"No, I don't have any at all,” I promptly answered.
"I see. Then do you have an ability that makes it easier for you to learn certain skills?" Reina revised her question.
I nodded.
I wasn't sure whether or not I should talk about my blessing from the Queen of the Fae, but apparently it was not unheard of for a person to receive such a blessing—at least that's the impression I got from the lore text on the Queen of the Fae. After thinking about it, I decided to tell her.
"Well… it's not actually an ability, but rather a blessing from The Queen of the Fae-" I started to say, but…
"What!? You've got one too?!-" Alisha exclaimed with a look of shock, and then clamped her hands over her mouth, when she realized what she'd let slip: the word too. Apparently, Alisha also had a blessing from The Queen of the Fae.
"… and it's not just certain skills, but all skills…" I let my explanation trail off, as Reina let out an exasperated sigh at Alisha.
"I see. Raithe, I am glad you told me—and it is fine since we are all family here—but you should be very careful who you let know about any blessings that you have. In particular, blessings from the Queen of the Fae, because history teaches that such blessings tend to appear during times of great turmoil, and people in positions of power may seek to make use of you out of fear or to further their own ends. You could find yourself forced into the service of detestable people, and even if you managed to avoid or escape that, if you come to the attention of the public, no matter where you go, people will put unreasonable demands on you. At the worst, you might even be targeted for capture or assassination. Do you understand what I am saying here?" Reina cautioned me with a serious tone.
I nodded. What she said matched with the negatives described for my [Naturally Charismatic] blessing—definitely something I wanted to avoid.
"Yes, ma'am. I understand. I had been wondering if it was something like that,” I replied obediently, properly chastened.
"Now, this does change things some, but it will actually work perfectly into my idea." Reina's troublemaker's grin was back as she continued, "In any case, I was thinking that while the skills in the [Student] job might still be incredibly helpful for you, Raithe, you might achieve more effective growth if you take on a job with an eye toward raising certain attributes, or toward quickly gaining important skills, or preferably both. Keep in mind what you implied before: those with the [Hunter] job have high [Agility]. Well, we will talk more about that later at the temple, the point is that if you're not going to change to the [Student] class, then you need another way to efficiently learn and raise those skills."
Reina paused to make sure I was following. Alisha still had a wary look but seemed a bit confused. Naturally so, since it wasn't obvious what any of this had to do with her. After I nodded, Reina made a grand sweep of her hand and continued into her big reveal.
"And so… since Alisha has reached rank 5 expertise in the [Student] job, we will have Alisha teach you the [Student] skills in exchange for you helping her get the money she needs. There are bonuses when being taught by someone with rank 5 or above, so it's a good deal for you, as well, Raithe. What do you think, Alisha?" Reina asked, clearly proud of her solution.
Alisha paused to consider the offer. She seemed somewhat disappointed by the result after all of that build up, but she didn't seem put off by the idea either.
"Well, I guess it's fine. I don't mind teaching him, but I don't know how much help he's going to be making money, since he did say he was really poor…" Alisha said dismissively as she mulled over the proposal.
Gah. That's a good point. But, that’s a harsh thing to say when the person in question is right there, you know.
"Well, whatever. I've just got to work hard anyway." Alisha concluded, resigned to her fate.
"Hmmm, I thought you would be more excited, Alisha. After all, [Teaching] is also one of the skills in the [Scholar] job, and you could get valuable experience. Well, I suppose since you don't have the [Scholar] job yet, I can teach you the [Teaching] skill to get you started,” Reina offered, looking disappointed.
"Um, mom, it's getting late you know, and there's still a lot to get done before lunch.” Alisha, apparently not having much interest, changed the subject and refocused the conversation in a more productive direction.
"Ah! That's right. We'd better get on to the discussion about the chores." Reina shifted in her chair to face me, "I mentioned it a bit earlier, but as part of living in this house and being part of this family, everyone is expected to do something to support this household, and that includes you kids. There aren't any freeloaders here. We each work hard to provide food for meals, supplies for the house, and help with maintaining the house."
She paused for a second, carefully meeting my gaze before continuing, "Now, I don't expect you kids to go out and hunt dangerous animals for meat, though in your case, Raithe, I would not put it past you to be capable. Instead I only ask that you go foraging in the woods for mushrooms, forest greens, and firewood. Jake is something of an over-achiever in that he goes fishing when he draws the water from the stream.
“Other than food, firewood, and water, the daily chores are doing the laundry, mending the clothes, cleaning, supplying mana to the magic appliances in the basement, and working in the vegetable garden. Once a week the compost needs to be moved from the composter to the garden.
“I will leave dividing up the work to you kids. The whole house doesn't need to be cleaned each day—just the common areas. The bedrooms are each person's own responsibility and the basement can be cleaned once a week. Alisha will teach you the details. Keep in mind, you will want to get all your chores done during the morning if you want to join Alisha's studies and magic practice in the afternoon. So, any questions?"
Hmm… that explained why the floors were so clean. Frankly, it was a lot to take in and sounded like a pain, but if Alisha and Jake were able to keep up with it, then I should be able to as well. Plus, the listed chores were all things that would raise skills, so it wasn’t all bad.
"No, once I get used to the routine, I think I will be fine. I can ask Alisha and Jake if I have any questions.” I confirmed my acceptance with a nod.
"Good. But don't overdo it, especially since you've just recovered from a life-threatening injury and you did lose a lot of blood. Now, because we're running short on time today, and because I will need to start on lunch as soon as Jake gets back with the fish, I will take care of cleaning the kitchen today. So, go ahead and get started on the other rooms," Reina said as she got up and cleared the dishes.
"Okay, Raithe, let's start with the bath and the toilet. Follow me. I'll show you were we keep the cleaning supplies," Alisha said, hopping down from her chair and pushing it back under the table. She tucked her book into the front pouch of her brown cleaning apron and led the way.
The bathing room was a room that I hadn't seen yet, and I was really surprised by its luxurious design. Apart from the polished stone sink with its mirror and blue water-crystal situated along the wall to the left of the door and the floor made out of the same dark-colored cut stone as was in the toilet room (and the ever-present log-cabin walls), the contents of the room were excessively luxurious, maybe even to the extent that one would see in a royal palace. I wandered around the room slightly overwhelmed as I tried to take it all in.
The main feature was the bath. Opposite the door, counter to my expectations of an iron-ringed wooden-barrel style tub, was a massive-looking room-length polished-stone tub made of the same material as the sink. The entire front of the tub was decorated with a sculptured relief of two lyre-playing mermaids, each positioned on opposite sides with their fish-like tailfins stretching toward the center, and an ocean scene spread out between them.
Astride a raised area of the tub made to look like carved rocks were twin metal dragon fixtures facing into the tub with crystals grasped in their mouths—a blue crystal and a purple crystal. Embedded between the fixtures was a red gem, that—judging from the red crystal heating poles around the house—was probably for keeping the tub warm in the winter when soaking.
Decorative jars made of various materials were arranged on the left and right-side ledges of the tub and a four-legged, wood stool that I imagined was used by Reina to sit on when washing Alisha's hair in the bath was placed in front of the tub.
I moved closer to get a better look at the inside of the tub and breathed out a, "Wow. This bathing room is really amazing."
Even the inside of the tub was sculpted. The interior surface had been carved out to resemble the shape of a sea shell. The sea-shell-shape fanned out from the deepest spot beneath the twin dragons, becoming shallower as it reached the sides of the tub. At the bottom of the sculpted, stone tub’s interior was a round, slotted metal drain recessed enough to allow for a stopper.
"Yep. My mom was from the capital city of another kingdom, and apparently, she told my dad that if they were going to live out here in the middle of nowhere, that there was at least going to be a proper bath,” Alisha said, crossing her arms and puffing out her chest while continuing with a fair amount of pride, "My mom is one of the best Magic Artificers in Aetheria. She made the tub, the sinks, and all of the magic fixtures in the house herself using her magic and her skills as an artificer."
"Hmm. That would explain the smooth surfaces and complex shaping, but this relief carving..." I mumbled as I felt the tub surface with my hand.
The tub's wooden stopper was sitting on the side of the tub and looked to be made out of a warm-toned and fragrant wood similar to sandalwood. I picked it up to get a closer look at it.
The stopper was polished smooth to the touch and carved to look like a tortoise shell. A braided pull cord was attached for easy use. Turning it over, the bottom of the stopper appeared to use something like an oiled wool rope that was affixed to the underside for making the water-tight seal with the stone.
"Ah, my dad made that. And he made the shower as well—basically all the wood stuff." Alisha motioned to the ornately carved shower stall against the left wall.
I wandered over to the shower stall which was situated in the left corner. It was made predominately of smooth-finished and flush-joined sandalwood planking and hand-carved posts. The relief-carved surface of the door depicted a woodland scene of satyrs and fairies cavorting on the shore of a pond. Leafy, fruit-bearing vines were carved into the rounded posts of the stall. The vine motif was continued with the metal fixture inside, which grasped a purple-colored water-crystal in a twist of metal leaf-covered vines. It was set above normal adult head-height, but if I stretched I could probably barely reach it.
I pulled on the twisted-vine-shaped doorlatch and opened the excessively ornate shower door panel, revealing a simpler but still luxurious smooth-finished interior with a corner soap shelf. At the bottom was a polished stone basin with a square, slotted metal drain. The basin had a lip to keep the water inside the shower stall.
The ornately carved stall door had a sizable gap at the bottom and top but was long enough to hide one’s important parts and was fastened with ornate vine-motif hinges made of the same metal as the magic crystal fixtures. On the latch-side of the stall's exterior was a metal hook for hanging clothes.
Ah, I could really use a shower, I thought as I remembered combing my hair with my hands earlier. I did want to make a good impression when going into town later today.
Letting the shower door close, I glanced around to see that Alisha had carried the stool over toward the shelves on the right-side wall.
The side of the wall nearer to the tub had hooks with terrycloth bath towels, but where Alisha set the stool there was shelving with clean towels, wicker baskets, and wooden buckets. The baskets and buckets presumably contained the cleaning supplies.
Watching Alisha with the stool, I thought that was probably how she turned on the water in the shower, too.
"Now let's get the stuff down and start cleaning." Alisha said, climbing up onto the stool and reaching for a wooden bucket with cleaning tools.
"Ah, Alisha, before we get started on that…," I interrupted and looked back at the shower stall. "I got a late start this morning, so I'm still sweaty, and I'd like to wash my hair. Would it be okay if you waited outside for a few minutes while I use the shower real quick?"
She did stop reaching for the bucket, but looked at me like she was about to reject my request as unnecessary, so I pressed on with, "I know it doesn't make much sense to wash before doing cleaning chores, but your mom is going to take me into town later and since we're already running late, I don't think there will be time later. I'll be real quick, it'll take me less than five minutes."
Alisha sighed exasperatedly and got down from the stool. "Fine. I'll wait outside, but no more than 5 minutes. And, if mom yells at me, you're going to owe me a favor."
"Thanks!" She started to head out the door, but I stopped her, "Umm, Alisha, before you go out, is there any soap that I can use for my hair?"
She made another exasperated expression and muttered as she went over to the assorted jars on side of the tub, "Fine, I guess I can let you use mine. But just this once! This stuff is expensive, so make sure you get your own while you are out. Also, there's a bar of tallow soap on the soap-shelf in the shower. You can use that to clean your body."
Alisha handed me a smallish earthen jar and a bath towel, before closing the door behind her as she stepped out of the bathroom.
Carefully lifting the lid, I found a pale-colored, flower-scented cream inside the jar.
Ugh, it did look expensive. Hmm, maybe things like this were why she had trouble saving up money.
Getting inside the shower stall and stretching to my tippy-toes, I saw that there was indeed a bar of soap on the corner shelf. I carefully placed the small earthen jar next to the soap before slipping out of my clothes and hanging them and the bath towel on the clothes-hook outside the stall.
When I charged up the purple crystal with mana, comfortably-hot water immediately came spraying out. It seemed the crystal heated the water to a set temperature, and like the blue water-crystals, the amount of mana only determined the duration of the water flow.
I used just enough of the creamy shampoo to lather my hair and was careful not to waste any. The tallow body soap which I used to wash my body had an herb sent and was mild on my skin.
Clean and refreshed, I tried drawing out the remaining mana in the crystal, like Jake had mentioned last night. Doing so was a bit difficult at first but wasn't that different from gathering mana when meditating. Eventually, I was able to draw out enough mana to stop the water flow.
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Because stopping the water flow took me longer than expected, I quickly got out of the shower stall, hurriedly dried off, and got dressed. Running my hands through my hair again to straighten it, I once again wished for a comb.
Any case, I'd better hurry up. I thought I heard Alisha's mom saying something to Alisha while I was showering.
I placed jar of flower-scented shampoo back with the other jars and hung the towel back up where Alisha got it from.
Upon opening the bathing room door, I found Alisha sitting on the floor just outside, reading her book. When she saw me, she closed the book and placed it back in her apron’s pouch. I thanked her for the shampoo and told her I'd make it up to her later.
"My mom thought I was slacking off at first, but after I explained she said: 'it's good that Raithe wanted to make himself presentable since first impressions are important.' So, it's fine. I didn't get in any trouble,” Alisha replied, nonplussed.
She stood up and patted the wrinkles out of her clothes, then looked up at me as if considering something and told me, "Raithe, bend down. Let me see how your hair came out.”
I was surprised by the sudden request, but I did as asked, squatting down a bit. Alisha reached up with both hands and ran them through my hair.
"Hmm. You have a good texture and there is some volume to it, but you should let me comb it some before you go out,” she suggested.
"Really? You don't mind? That would really help me out, since I don't have a comb…” I was really happy about the offer, and Alisha seemed pleased with my reaction.
"Haha, of course! Besides, I can't let the hair cream I let you use go to waste, can I? Now, let's get to scrubbing,” came the haughty reply as she directed me to the task at hand.
Alisha went right into showing me what cleaning supplies and tools to use to clean the bathing room and toilet room, and we promptly got to work scrubbing, rinsing, and drying. She had me do a lot of the tall places that she had difficulties reaching—not that I was all that much taller that her in the relative scheme of things. In the end, we still had to use a pole-tool to reach the upper portions of the walls and the ceiling.
Cleaning the rest of the rooms was also hard work, but simple enough to do. The majority of the work was mainly washing and oiling any wood surface… which was pretty much every surface in the house. The ceilings, beams, bookshelves, and wall decorations of each room were dusted of cobwebs and such with a large long-haired brush, and the fabric window treatments were lightly beaten with a wooden paddle to knock loose any dust before washing the floors.
Afterwards, we took the wet towels and washcloths to the laundry room to be washed and dried using the mana-powered washer and clothes dryer. Once everything was dusted, washed, and oiled, and the laundry was done, Alisha showed me to the basement. The entrance to the basement was just passed the kitchen through a trap-door in the floor of the laundry room.
"Down here is the basement," Alisha informed me as her little body somehow lifted the heavy-looking wooden trap door by its pull-rope more easily than expected.
She didn’t seem to be struggling, but I was worried anyway and wanted to test out my own strength, so I grabbed the nearby corner and helped lift it open from the side while being careful to not fall into the square hole that opened up below.
Once opened past vertical, the iron-hinged trap door fell over backwards against the floor. The heavy impact sound of the iron-bound trapdoor on the wood floor was muffled by the pull-rope, but a sound of metal clanking onto wood came from the now exposed side of the trap door.
Looking at the sturdy trap door, I noticed that, in addition to another pull-rope affixed to the underside of the door, there was an iron twist lock with a mechanism that would extend into the slots on the sides of the hole to lock the door from the inside.
While I was looking at the door and down at the sides of the rough-hewn and square-cut stone hole that seemed to go down a fair distance—at least two arm-lengths—before opening up into a wider space below, Alisha came around and lowered herself onto a wooden ladder attached opposite the trap door, descending unconcernedly into the darkness.
Whoa, that's not ominous or scary at all… nope, nope.
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