A week had passed since the demolition of the orphanage began. The roof and walls had already been removed, and the workers were now dismantling the support pillars and flooring.
“Hey, kid. These pillars are still usable. If we cut away the rotten sections, the rest of the wood is perfectly sound. We’ll haul everything over to the woodworking shop later.”
One of the adventurers called out.
“Thank you. I really appreciate it.”
“Don’t mention it. We’re the type who hate letting good materials go to waste. If it helps the orphanage, everyone’s happy to lend a hand.”
Thanks to the cooperation of the adventurers at the demolition site, a respectable amount of usable timber had been salvaged. Some of it would be reused by combining shorter pieces together—for example, as table legs or parts of new furniture.
Even the children from the orphanage eagerly joined in, offering ideas on how the reclaimed wood could be put to good use.
“Pull the ropes tight!”
““Yes, sir!”””
Work on the church had progressed just as steadily. The old floorboards had all been removed, and the cleaning was complete. Inside the church, measurements were being taken so the new timber could be cut to size, while the master carpenter barked instructions at two young carpenters.
Meanwhile, the statue of the Goddess is also undergoing restoration. Putty had been carefully applied to its cracks, and it is now left to dry. Thanks to Ao dissolving away only the grime on its surface, the statue had regained much of its original luster and now gleamed beautifully.
At this rate, the restoration would be finished before long, and the church might even reopen sooner than expected.
Scrape… scrape… scrape…
“Oh! Ao’s already finished another one!”
“Wow! Ao’s way too fast.”
The craftsmen could only stare in disbelief as Ao continued his work at an astonishing pace.
Now that things at the construction site had settled down, Ao and I finally had time to work on what we’d originally planned. Using the leftover scraps from the woodworking shop, we began carving small wooden statues of the Goddess. It’s a excellent practice for controlling Wind Magic, but since I’d spent the past several days doing nothing but cooking, Ao had become much more skillful with the spell than I was.
There is no point rushing. If I got impatient, I’d only ruin the carving, so I carefully guided each cut.
Once we’d finished making a reasonable number of Goddess statues, I planned to move on to carving wooden plates, forks, and spoons.
Shu, shu, shu.
Meanwhile, Fran and Horn sat beside Ao and me, happily painting pictures. They’d been working hard every day until now, so I figured they deserved a chance to relax.
Tak, tak, tak, tak, tak.
“You’re all quite skilled with kitchen knives.”
“We have to. Otherwise, we’d lose to Shun as women.”
“Shun is exceptional even compared to other men. His cooking is simply on another level.”
“And Ao-chan is an excellent cook too, isn’t it?”
The conversation drifted cheerfully through the workshop as everyone continued working with their hands.
Today’s lunch was being prepared by the women. Under Toria-san’s guidance, they busily worked through the preparations. Sue had become a much better cook than before, and both Casey-san and Telma-san handled their knives with impressive skill.
“Ooh… something smells good.”
“So today’s lunch is the young ladies’ cooking, huh?”
“Heh, there’s something special about a home-cooked meal made by women.”
Drawn in by the delicious aroma, the workers gradually gathered around.
I was just about to set my carving tools aside when a large carriage rolled into the work site. One glance was enough to recognize it. It belonged to the Margrave’s family.
This is translated by Yume Neiji. Kindly read at yumeneijiworks.com
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