NOVEL NEXT Chapter 41: Rainbow Wood
“This looks like the place.” I looked up at the O’Mooney store sign.
“Can we go back now? And move my nuts.” The squirrel asked.
“No, not yet,” I said and looked at the shop again. There was just one small problem… The door’s too small. I opened it up like you’d open a cupboard and looked inside. Sure enough, there was a little fairy inside, behind the counter, and beside her were aisles of products.
She got out of the counter, walked up to the door, and asked, “What’s a human doing here?”
Oh god, not this question again, I thought. I’ve been getting annoyed with this question. “I want to buy some Rainbow Wood. I don’t have any fairy currency, but I have things you might be willing to trade.”
“We’re always willing to trade. But what do you want to be etched into it?” O’Mooney asked.
“Oh, nothing. I want to buy just the wood.” I said.
“We don’t sell it like that. We sell it as plaques with whatever you want to be etched into it.” She said.
“I don’t want anything etched into it. I want it as raw as possible.” I wanted to do the etching myself.
“We don’t sell it like that. There are laws on how Rainbow Wood can be sold.” She said.
“But there are no laws saying how it can’t be sold, right?” Rainbow Wood is easy to grow and should be easy to obtain, but the queen has put strange restrictions on it. The restrictions are stupid and mostly apply to exporting. It’s an artificially expensive and rare product. It’s hard to get it outside of the fairy world but relatively easy to obtain inside the fairy world.
She stroked her hair. “I guess so.”
“I just need one piece of wood,” I said.
“But I don’t sell it like that.” She shook her head. “I’ve never sold it raw.”
“I can be the first,” I said, smiling. “Why don’t you look at what I have to trade first,” I said.
“Oh, okay.” She said. Fairies wouldn’t pass up an opportunity to trade, especially not one running a business.
I put down the backpack and took out potions, scrolls, and also some of the gems, crystals, and treasures we’d found in the Cockroach-witch’s lair. You never know what a fairy might fancy. She flew down from the door and landed beside my backpack. She picked up a gem and said, “How much rainbow wood do you want?”
“I just need a piece. 2 by 2 by 1 in inches is all I need, but I’ll take one that’s 1 by 1 in feet and 1 inch thick,” I said while showing her the size with my hands.
“Okay, I can do that. And I want this, this, that, and this.” She said, pointing at gems, scrolls, and a nail clipper.
“That’s my nail clipper,” I said.
“Okay.” She looked at me with a blank stare. I don’t think she knows what it is…
“And isn’t this a little too expensive?” Outside of the fairy queendom, I can understand it being this expensive, but…
“I’ll throw in a bottle of fairy dust.” She said with a blank stare. I wasn’t sure if she was being serious, but I needed the Rainbow Wood. It was one of 3 ingredients I needed to forge a proof.
“Fairy dust is useful. Okay, but do you even know what these scrolls are?” I asked.
“Human scrolls.” She nodded her head. “They look well done. This one looks to be about creating a soundproof area. Very finely done. Who made these?” She asked, looking over the magic circuit. Then she sniffed it and asked. “What type of ink did they use? Doesn’t smell like Fish Oil Ink.”
“Hahaha. Just something we humans use.” I fibbed. I was happy to be complimented.
“Hm. I see. It looks like the humans have advanced quite a bit in the last few centuries.” She said, looking over the other scrolls. “And I’ll put in another bottle of fairy dust for this scroll as well.” She said, pointing at another scroll.
“Hahaha.” I laughed awkwardly. I didn’t really need fairy dust. “Okay.” But I went along with it.
***
“Can we go back now?” The squirrel asked as I stuffed the piece of wood in my backpack.
“Yes, we can go back, now,” I said, strapping the backpack on my back. The sun was setting, and I wanted to get through the gate before it was night. “Let’s go, lead the way.”
“Ah, alright.” It jumped on the trees and started running.
As we started heading back, someone shouted, “Wait!” We looked back and saw a fairy man the size of a hand flying towards us. He was chubby and cute. His wings beat like a hummingbird. “Wait!” He shouted again as he got closer. We stopped and waited as he wanted us to.
He caught up to us huffing and puffing, struggling to keep himself afloat. “Wait.” We waited for him to catch his breath. “I saw you.” He needed to keep taking deep breaths in the middle of his sentences. “With the prince. Then with. O’Mooney. I want to trade. Too. For. Those sweets.”
“I don’t have any more sweets.”
“I’m willing to give you.” A fanny pack was tied around his waist. He opened it up and pulled out a big piece of Rainbow Wood. It was a space expansion fanny pack. “Rainbow Wood.”
“I already have all the Rainbow Wood I need. And I don’t have any more sweets.” I said.
“Ah, ah. I can give you other things… Let’s see…” He rummaged through his fanny pack. “I have a skill book my sister gave me. Ah, then I have a flight necklace… What else…”
“Wait, is that [Fear Eyes]?” [Fear Eyes] is pretty amazing, though I can’t use it since I’m not a Fear magician.
“Yes!” He nodded.
“Ah, ah, can’t you get more?” The chubby fairy man asked. “You’re a human right? You were just about to go back to the human world, right?”
“Yeah, but I won’t be able to get it till I reach Delaron. Plus, I don’t know when I’ll come back.” It’ll take me months or maybe longer to get that feather, and in the meanwhile, I have a lot of things I need to do.
“Can’t you send it using fairy mail?” He asked.
You could do that. “How many do you want?” I asked.
“A box. The same as the prince. But if you can send me two boxes, that’d be good too.” He nodded.
“Okay, what’s your address?”
“Oh, that.” He went through his fanny pack, found a piece of paper and a fairy pen, and wrote it down. “There.” He handed it to me.
“Alright. You want a box of sweets.”
“Yeah.” He nodded.
I looked up at the darkening sky, then the paper in my hand, and said, “Okay.” I stuffed the paper in my pocket. “I’ll send it to you.”
“Great!” He smiled happily.
“Well, I got to go.”
“Okay, okay. Send it to me as soon as you can.” He said, smiling.
“Okay, okay,” I said, walking away from him. While I said my last words to the chubby fairy, I signaled with my eyes to the squirrel to start moving. Thankfully, it understood and started leading the way again.
It was only after we’d gone some way and the chubby fairy was nowhere to be seen that I realized we didn’t establish what we’d trade. Or the exact amount. Or anything specific. I had simply promised to send him a box of sweets. I looked over the address and said to myself, “I’ll send him a letter. Ha…” Now, this new thing was frustrating me… “Whatever, I’ll deal with this later.” It wasn’t a big problem.
***
I ended up needing to use [energy manipulation, lightning] to light up our way as the evening got darker. By the time we were out of the gate the sun had long set.
“Ah! Now, what are we going to do! It’s already night!” The squirrel yelled.
“We’ll move your nuts tomorrow,” I said.
“Ah! Ah! Ah!” It screamed. I wondered if I should turn off [translator]. She wasn’t saying anything coherent anyway. “I’m coming with you! I’m not leaving you till you get my nuts!”
“Alright, suit yourself.” It jumped on my shoulder. “Don’t you have family or anything to get to?”
“I want my nuts!” She screamed.
“Okay.”
***
It was already 8, and by the time I trekked out of the forest and to Benard’s house, it was midnight.
Everyone was asleep. Even the squirrel fell asleep in my backpack.
I lightly tapped on the front door, not wanting to wake anyone up… “But nobody’s going to open the door…” I shook my head and came up with a new plan. Use [energy manipulation, telekinesis]. I felt up the door with [telekinesis] and found the lock at the other end. “God, please don’t break the door.” I snapped the lock open from the other side using [telekinesis], and nothing broke. “Oh, thank god.” And I turned the knob, and it opened as it should. Sighing, I walked into the house and locked the door behind me.
I was starving. I put down the backpack and went into the kitchen, and rummaged through to find some snacks. I found some cookies and popped them in my mouth. And looked around for more things to put in my mouth. Then suddenly, a woman jumped into the kitchen with her fists up, in the peekaboo boxing position, ready to fight. “Oh, god.” I almost tripped and fell as I backed myself against the counter.
“Oh, it’s you.” The woman said and put her fists down.
“Mrs. Hat, ah, Horvat,” I said, calming down. She scared the hell out of me.
“Call me Lovise, dear.” She said.
“Ah, okay.”
“Did you just come back from the hike?” She asked.
“Yeah.”
“I’m glad you’re safe. I didn’t get to tell you before, but people get lost up there. We’ve had kids going missing in the woods.”
“Oh.” I could imagine.
“Well, I’m glad you’re safe. Do you want me to cook you something?” She asked, starting to clean up the mess I’d made in the few minutes I rummaged through the kitchen.
“Yeah, but I think I’ll take a shower first. Magically cleaning yourself just doesn’t feel the same.” I said.
“Hmm. You need someone to pump the water if you need to shower.”
“Oh, is that how it works. That’s fine. I can use telekinesis to lift the water and drop it on myself.” I said.
“You still need someone to fetch the water from the well. The boys used up all the water.” She said.
“Oh, okay.”
“Oh, thanks.” I woke her up from her sleep, but she didn’t mention the racket I made at all.
“Alright.” She took out a container from the fridge (magic cooling cupboard), put out its contents in a pan, and heated it up. Then she gave it to me on a plate. “Here, I’ll go prepare the water. Come out when you’re done eating.”
So, I sat and ate. While I ate, I planned out my future course. I needed to increase my mana, level up, recruit more teammates, and make myself richer. There were other things I needed to do as well, but they were the main ones for now. With what I made from the auction, I wanted to buy an estate big enough to have a separate building for my lab and enough land to cultivate certain plants.
I finished up my late dinner and went out to the bathing area.
“Ah, you’re here.” She said when she saw me. She was carrying a bucket of water. “It’s still being prepared. It’ll only take a few more minutes, now.”
“I’ll help out,” I said and picked up a bucket I saw. “Why don’t you fill it up, and I’ll carry it.”
“No, no, you’re a magician. Leave this to a martial.” She said.
“No, I’m fine. I can use telekinesis if I need to.”
“No, no, you rest. I’ll do this.” She insisted. She wouldn’t let me help. So I sat on a bale of hay and waited for her to set everything up. As she was done filling up the tank, she said, “Why don’t I rub your back. I’ll help you wash up.” She put a bucket of water beside a rock and patted the rock’s flat surface. “Come, take off your clothes and sit down.”
“Ah, that.”
“Don’t be shy.” She said and started taking off her own clothes.
Since she was doing it… I followed a few seconds behind her and took off my clothes. She was an attractive milf with a muffin-top. She was beautiful and gave off a motherly vibe. It was understandable because she had a lot of children. I had no idea how many, but there were a lot of them running around. And she seemed like a good mother as far as I could tell.
Part of me wanted such a simple life. Otto and Sterling would feed me and take care of me, and I’d give birth to their babies one after another. I’m sure they’d love to take turns impregnating me too. I sighed. A girl can’t do that… I got to defeat the demon queen.
Butt naked, I stood in front of her. She was butt naked too. She looked me over, smiled, and said, “Come on, sit down. I’ll wash your back.” She wet her hands and squatted down behind the rock-stool.
“Hm. Okay.” I sat down with my back facing her.
She spread some soap on my back and said, “You magicians have such smooth skin.” When I didn’t respond, she added. “It’s a compliment.”
“Oh, thanks.” She spread more soap on my back.
“Hm. I heard you can cure my hubby.” She said.
“Ah, yeah, I need the ingredients, then I should be able to make the cure.” I didn’t know how much Terrie had told her, but I hoped it wasn’t much.
“Yeah, Terrie told me. She told me it was very expensive, and you’d have trouble getting them.” She said.
“Ah, kind of, yeah.” I didn’t know what Terrie had added, but this didn’t sound too bad.
“She said she’s going to join your group and help.”
“Yeah.”
“That’s good. I was worried she wouldn’t find another group. You know she’s been entering dungeons alone for the past few years.”
“I didn’t know that.”
“Yeah, Benard told me. I’m glad you took her in.”
“It’s nothing.” Her hands reached around the front, and she soaped up my breasts. “Hm.”
“Her powers are, I hear, a little wacky, but she’s a good girl. And she’s strong when it’s needed.”
“Yeah, I understand that. I saw her fight.”
“Oh.”
“Yeah, she looked pretty good. I think when she levels up, she’ll become much better.”
She smiled. “Yeah, I think so too.” She said as she applied soap on my legs and leaned her beautiful breasts against my back. “Do you want to marry one of my kids?”
“What?” That caught me off guard.
“You seem like a good kid with a bright future. And Freddie just turned 14.” She said, rubbing my thighs.
“Ah, that. 14’s a bit too young, isn’t it?”
“Why, do you like older men?” She asked with a tone.
“Ah, no. Not really.” In this world, you’re an adult at 14. So I can understand her already thinking of his marriage. But I wasn’t interested in that. I don’t really have any moral hangups about it. When it comes to the age of consent, this world was in some respects like the middle ages. It’s not that I was holding on to Earth’s moral standards; it’s just that I don’t want to. I don’t want to deal with a teenager. I’m sure there are mature ones, but I’m too old with my previous life and this life combined to still be dealing with teenagers. “I just want them to be at least 18,” I said. Otto and Sterling are bad enough.
“18? Are you 18?” She asked.
“Yeah. But that’s not it. Yeah, that’s it. I mean, I need them to at least be 18.” I didn’t want to have this discussion now.
“Well, I do have Gordy, who’s 20. But I promised him to one of the catwomen.” She said, trying to think of who to give me.
“Mrs. Horvat, let’s not talk about this. I have a lot of things to do, and it’s just not something… I’m just very busy. I have to think of leveling up and improving my adventurer rank.”
“Hm. I guess so. Alright. If you don’t want to talk about it now, we won’t. But let’s keep in touch.” She said and slapped the side of my bum. “Okay, get under the showerhead, and I’ll pump the water.”
“Oh, okay, thanks.” I got under the showerhead while she went out of the shower cabin and pumped the water. I rubbed myself and washed off the soap.
***
It was around 1, and Mrs. Horvat said she’d get an early start to the day. Apparently, she gets up at 3:45 every day. But almost 3 hours early seemed a bit much to me. I didn’t say anything Since I was the one who woke her up early, to begin with. I felt a little sorry, but it was an accident. She wouldn’t even let me pump the water for her, telling me to rest and that she’d use the bucket and cup.
I put my backpack in my room and crawled into bed. I realized that Otto and Sterling were both naked under the sheets. They looked like they’d had some fun before going to sleep. I took a look at Otto with [look-a-look] and noticed, indeed, he was now level 11.
I didn’t spend much time thinking about it since I fell asleep pretty quickly after getting under the sheets.