A Date in the Karisoto District

Rokuko gave me a bright smile.

"…Congratulations on getting married?"

"Like hell. It's not me, it's Kyou."

"It's a joke, a joke."

Rokuko giggled and poked at me, teasing. …Yeah, she didn't seem angry.

"Now that Narikin's been informally settled as the Pope, the position of his wife is a pretty big perk, isn't it…?"

"True, but Narikin himself is our pawn to begin with, and Rokufa's already there too."

"You can even turn things down with, 'Since the second wife, Kyou, isn't around, we can't discuss taking a third wife' — that kind of thing, too."

"Ah, so it works as that kind of breakwater too."

"Yeah, so I'm not the least bit angry, see? There's no point being angry at you, Kehma."

Hm? Maybe she really is angry after all?

"…Well, the one at fault is the Saintess."

"…Right. The Saintess."

If the Saintess hadn't pulled anything weird, none of these problems would have come up.

In other words, the one at fault is the Saintess. No doubt about it.

"And so, a date! Let's go on a date today! Win back my favor!"

"Sure. So that's how it connects, huh. Well, whatever. Wanna head to the Karisoto District? There are some newly opened shops too, so let's go take a look."

"Let's go!"

And that's how it was decided.

＊　＊　＊

The Karisoto District. A district you could honestly just call a town, the one Soto built up while we were away.

The official line is that it's still just one district of Golen Village, but at this point it's basically a full-fledged town in its own right, with square, three-story buildings lined up neatly.

Meanwhile, the original Golen Village had… come to be treated as an upscale residential area.

"But isn't the architecture over here clearly nicer?"

"That's because the buildings over here use slime concrete."

"Ah, come to think of it, they're rebuilding things in the village too."

Apparently the houses that originally stood in Golen Village are getting rebuilt with slime-concrete foundations and the like as well. Kusaan's work never lets up, so he's screaming for joy.

"Doesn't our inn need rebuilding too?"

"The [Dancing Doll's Pavilion] had its foundation made out of stone from the start."

The stone foundation was made via [Create Golem] to begin with, so it was already better than concrete from the get-go. We keep up regular maintenance on it too, so there's no need to rebuild it for a long while yet.

"…"

"Hm? What's wrong, Rokuko?"

"This stone is just slime that's been petrified, right? Doesn't that mean it could maybe be undone with the [Divine Alarm Clock]…?"

"It's fine. I've set slime concrete as exempt."

"So it's not that you can't do it."

Apparently if it's completely dead, it stays stone and can't be undone, but… even after a year or two of being petrified, they can still be saved. The insides, where the rain doesn't reach, last especially long. Or so it seems.

"Huh. So preservation conditions matter."

"Also, slimes have a weak sense of self, so apparently once they're petrified, they die off pretty fast."

"A sense of self, huh… I wonder how long a human or the like would last?"

"Who knows? I've never tested it, and I don't intend to."

At the very least, kept in a time-stopped state via [Storage], even a statue petrified several thousand years ago should be revivable, I think. No idea about ones left exposed to the elements, though.

"But Kehma, where did you pick up information like that?"

"By way of Soto… well, she probably heard it from Leona or someone like that, I'd guess."

"I see."

While we traded that idle chatter, we wandered into a shop in the Karisoto District that had caught our eye.

What had caught our eye was a goblin stone statue. It was just too exquisitely made.

The place was an ornaments shop, dealing in stone ornaments. …Back in Japan, too, shops that sold gravestones and masonry would make and display stone statues like this, as I recall. I felt a wave of nostalgia.

"Rokuko, it's a goblin stone statue. Wanna buy it?"

"No, why would I want it? …But this is pretty exquisite. It's like the real thing."

"You've got a fine eye, customer!"

Oops, a shop clerk struck up a conversation.

"This here is a goblin stone statue by the peerless master craftsman Sotokari-shi, and Sotokari-shi's stone statues are renowned for looking as if they're alive!"

"Oh my."

"Hoh?"

That was blatantly Soto's alias.

Which means… aren't these actual goblins petrified with a basilisk? The very technique of petrifying slimes to use as a concrete substitute was something Soto introduced, after all.

If so, then the reason they look exactly like the real thing is, without a doubt, that the real things were turned into statues.

Well, I suppose it'd be uncouth to butt in on my daughter earning a bit of pocket money.

"By the way, how much is this?"

"Fifteen silver coins! And within the Karisoto District, we'll even deliver it free of charge. How about one for your bedroom décor?"

Sleeping with a goblin staring at me sounds like it'd be unsettling.

But fifteen silver coins for a single goblin… even if it were a golem churned out with DP, that'd be quite the profit margin.

"Hmm. Not bad at all."

"By the way, Sotokari-shi's works also include little items like these."

"Oh, a little bird. Something like this would be nice too, wouldn't it, Kehma?"

"Yeah."

"These go for one silver coin apiece. Very reasonable."

"Huh, more of a bargain than the last one."

"Mmm, but all gray is kind of… It'd be nicer with some color."

"Ah, we have those, we have those. There's a lot of demand for them too."

So they did exist. Colored stone statues.

What the clerk brought out next was a painted stone statue. Rather than a single color, it had been carefully painted to match the bird's coloring, so it really did look just like a real bird.

Since merely petrifying something should leave it all gray, you could call it a fairly elaborate piece.

"Ohh… that's amazing."

"This is the colored little bird, five silver coins. We've only got a small amount in stock, and there's no telling when we'll be able to restock."

"Oh my. Your stock comes in small numbers?"

"No, it's a hot seller, so they fly off the shelves. Fitting, since it's a bird!"

Hahaha, what a clever turn of phrase.

Since it was a good opportunity, and to help keep the village economy turning, we decided to buy one.

…When I checked it with [Create Golem], it had no internal organs and was properly a stone statue. Hmm, I wonder how basilisk petrification actually works. If there's a gap, does it get filled in?

"That was a rather interesting find."

"That Soto, earning pocket money like this…"

"Maybe dates with Leona cost money? Well, if she's earning it herself, it's not the kind of thing I'd butt in on. And it doesn't seem to be a crime either."

She really is a self-reliant daughter. A little too self-reliant, even. She's even using an alias like Sotokari to guard against having her identity exposed, it seems.

We left the ornaments shop and went on with our date.

…And wouldn't you know it, every time we peeked into a shop that caught our eye after that, we'd hear yet another name in the same vein as "Sotokari-shi": "Karini-sama," "Risotto-jou," "Nisoto-dono."

As expected of the Karisoto District, I guess… she's really doing whatever she pleases, huh??

Well, since she seems to be lawfully delivering goods to shops and providing recipes, there's nothing to get angry about, but… Soto, aren't you a bit too multitalented?

"My daughter's too much of a genius, isn't she?"

"There must be some kind of trick to it. …No, there's a real chance she's doing it all herself, though."

After all, my daughter, as it were, is a being who's gained knowledge of the future and the like.

For now, maybe I'll ask her about it once we get back.