An A-Ranked Adventurer's 'Slow-living'

Chapter 12: A Relaxing Day

「Here? 」

「Ah. Yeah, that’s good. Let it down slowly」

We slowly lowered the cupboard while matching each other’s movements.

I let out a breath after we properly put the cupboard by the wall near the kitchen.

「Wait a min! Why am I moving the furniture to your home? 」

Toack said as he raised his voice while sitting down on the sofa in the living room, looking completely exhausted.

「Since we’re going to check out the layout of my room for the custom bed, it’s fine to just bring the furniture in at the same time, isn’t it? Our houses are near each other anyway」

「Well, I guess it’s still better than asking the grannies of this village to help you even though they are used to carrying heavy things」

Toack said as he looked up at the ceiling with his head rested on the sofa.

In the end, he’s the one who helped me move, so I hurried and got him some water with the cup I bought from him.

「Here, got you some water, my home’s first guest」

「Wasn’t Flora, who saw you naked, your first guest? 」

Toack replied with a grin after I handed him the water.

「……. 」

To my sudden silent reaction with a sullen face, Toack let out a laugh as he found it amusing and then drank his water.

To roast me like that after I gave him water out of kindness… What a man child.

Perhaps he went ahead and helped me because he didn’t want to trouble the grannies in the village.

While looking at it like that, I filled my own cup and moistened my throat.

「As I thought, with some furniture now, it finally feels like a home」

I muttered as I took a look at living room from the kitchen.

I didn’t have anything in this house yesterday, but now it’s filled with chairs and a stylish table, and even got a cupboard installed.

With this, I will finally be able to live in a civilized manner.

I am glad at the thought of not having to sit and sleep on the floors anymore.

「The furniture matches with this house’s ambiance, I guess it’s a pass. But, since there aren’t any small items around, there is a lonely feeling to it when you look at the room as a whole」

Toack remarked as he sat loosely on the sofa. But, it seems that the furniture he chose did match the atmosphere of this room. He does take his job seriously, after all.

「Well, the small items around the house are almost all made in this village. The villagers will help you make some if you ask them. You can buy something like a carpet that you can put under the table to make it look nicer, and also so that the table won’t scratch up the floor」

Even though he’s being a little too into it, I will still keep his words in mind.

「Yeah, I want some clothes, carpets and a futon」

Originally, I didn’t really care about clothes, but I don’t have enough right now. The clothes that I’ve bought during my journey here are all worn out, so it’s about time that I should buy some new ones.

Just like Toack said, I would like to get a carpet and a futon before he finishes making my bed.

「That field of expertise is what the grannies are most proud of. They can make you anything as long as they have the materials needed」

「Oh, now that you mention it, the clothes that the villagers here wear are pretty fashionable. The clothes of villagers from other villages are much more plain. Are the clothes of the people here all handmade? 」

That’s right; the clothes that the villagers here wear are very fashionable.

Aside from the colors matching, the clothes themselves were all finely sewn as well.

There were flower embroideries sewn on the wrist part of the sleeve and the collar.

They are not clothes that you would think came from a countryside village. It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say that you would need to line up to get them from a high class clothing store.

Toack turned his body on the sofa and shrugged his shoulder, then he replied to my question.

「Look, you know how there are gorgeous flowers everywhere in this village, right? It’s like the grannies say, you’d kill the atmosphere here if you live here while wearing shabby clothes」

「Ah… That is something to think about. Actually, the clothes they wear do fit the flowery atmosphere」

You could say that the flowers bloom all year long here; it’s an aesthetically pleasing scene that is unique to this village.

And not only the flowers, but the people that live here are also gorgeous.

The villagers here all love their village and see the village as their pride.

「Well, it makes me happy as a man when girls walk around in such beautiful clothes. But, it would be bad if I got involved with girls who are obsessed with nice clothes 」

He muttered as he looked into the distance.

it seems that whether it’s in the kingdom’s capital or not, men will all react this way if they were to get involved with a woman who has a strong interest in nice clothing.

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「*Hahh*, That’ll be all for the measuring」

said Toack as he stretched after he finished confirming the measurements of my bedroom and such.

I also had my height measured already for the bed. So with this, his work in my house should be over

「Ahh, thank you」

While Toack was measuring my room, I had taken the cutlery that I bought from him and stored them in the cupboard.

As I finished putting the last plate in the cupboard, I spoke out to thank him for his hard work.

Toack stretched and let out a yawn while looking comfortable. Then, he spoke as he shifted his sight,

「…Hey, while I was looking around in your house, I saw an amazing bathtub」

Ah, I know where he’s going with this from the way he’s talking.

「Ah, that. It’s nice, don’t you think? It’s quite roomy and comfortable, you know? Why don’t you have a bath here later? 」

「Oh, for real?! Then, please let me get in it tonight. It’s a big hassle to prepare a bath by myself so I hardly ever get to take one 」

Toack looked very happy from the suggestion that I made.

Well, since I have the power of magic tools, getting the bath ready won’t really take much.

Considering how he let me buy food from him, gave me advice on furniture, and told me how to get clothes and a futon, letting him use the bath would be a cheap price to pay.

「It’s almost lunch time, shall we eat something? Rather, I know nothing about the food here, so it would be nice if you can teach me some ways to cook with these ingredients 」

「….Well, I guess I have no choice. I’ll eat here while we’re at it」

Maybe that reply was the after-effect from agreeing to let him use the bath here tonight, as Toack came in the kitchen looking like he’s in a good mood.

Then, I took out the food ingredients that I bought from him out of the hemp bag, and placed them on the kitchen table.

There were bread, eggs, bacon, broccoli, carrots, onions, potatoes, cranberries, blueberries, cheese and wine, spices, and some vegetables. There was also a fruit that I don’t know about.

「What is this small green fruit thingy? 」

I put the small fruit with round corners in my palm and showed them to Toack.

「Oh- that is called a Goji berry[i]. They grow around my house. They taste a little sour but have a refreshing taste」

I peeled the slippery skin off one and smelled it. There wasn’t a particularly strong smell to it.

「Do you eat this with the skin? 」

「That should be okay」

Since he said it was alright to do so, I threw one in my mouth.

I bit through the semi-hard skin and started chewing, as the sour juice overflowed from inside. Depending on the person eating this, they can definitely have a sour face on them right now from this level of sourness, but it’s true that it does have a nice, refreshing taste to it.

「It really is sour, but it left a refreshing taste in my mouth. This might be good to snack on when you’re tired or trying to remove a bad taste in your mouth or something」

Sometimes I feel like eating sour things when I’m tired. Kiel had often made pickled lemon as well.

「I know, right? It might even go well together with salted fishes, you know? 」

「That sounds good. Let’s go fishing for some next time」

「Ah, now I want to eat some too after talking about it」

While we had leisurely talks like that, he told me about different ways to cook and eat the vegetables which I previously had no idea about.

「Now then, I guess I should start cooking soon. It’s already past lunch time, and it’s just a simple meal」

「That’s right. Other than your order of furniture, I still have to work on the ones for my other customers, so it’d be nice if it were just simple meal」

Therefore, in the mean time, I will try to make a simple dish with ingredients like eggs, bacon, and vegetables that lose their freshness quickly every day.

「Then, let’s make some bacon and eggs」

「Oh, that’s a simple dish, but still delicious」

Actually, I wanted to make a vegetable soup like the one he made, but it would be the evening by the time it’s ready, so let’s just make a light lunch for now.

I have cooked for myself during my adventurer days so this much is something I can handle.

Everyone in my party took a part in preparing meals.

I start by making a fire with flint and firewood, and start warming up the frying pan.

While I was heating up the pan, Toack was chopping up the cabbage with a kitchen knife.

The chopping sound from the knife echoed across the living room.

「It’s a bit early to be cutting the cabbages already… 」

「Ah. I’m too used to it from cooking by myself」

As I looked in blank amazement at the piled up cabbage, Toack answered me while his eyes were still locked onto the cabbage.

It’s too bad the one cooking next to me right now is a man. I’d like to cook with a cute wife in the same way one day.

After the frying pan was heated up, I put a bit of oil in and then threw in the slices of bacon.

The scent of cooking bacon started to drift, and an aromatic smell filled the house.

Other than the sizzling sound that is coming from the bacon cooking, I also heard a mutter coming from next to me.

「That smells good… 」

Then, I broke some eggs on top of the bacon, and lightly seasoned them with salt.

Next, I added just a tiny bit of water into the pan, and covered it with a lid.

This was just a simple dish you make by cutting up ingredients and frying them, but soon it will turn into something delicious.

While I waited for the egg and bacon to melt together, I took out the wooden plates that I bought from inside the cupboard.

This time the dish is to be plated is fried eggs with vegetables and some kind of fruit, so a shallow plate fits this well.

Choosing the right type of plate that I had just bought for the food makes me all excited.

I now understand what Kiel meant when he said a dish starts from the presentation.

I guess he did carefully choose the plates to put different types of food in, but the old me would have never taken notice to that sort of thing.

While I was staring at the plates strongly, I started hearing popping noises coming from the bacon and eggs in the frying pan.

「Oi, how long are you going to stare at the plates for? 」

Toack’s reproaching words came flying at me while he was still cutting some vegetables.

「Oh crap, the eggs are going to be burnt」

I rushed up to the frying pan and took off the lid, then steam rose out.

「…Is it alright? 」

「They are not burnt」

As I felt at ease from the bacon and eggs not getting burnt, I started to pour the food onto the round wooden plates.

Served together on the side with them is thinly sliced cabbage, tomatoes, cranberries and cheese, with bread as the main dish.

「Okay! All done! 」

We immediately put the dishes on the table and took our seats.

Oh, how nice it is to have furniture in the house.

It finally feels like I am living in my own home.

Getting my hands on this house yesterday was good, but I did not do anything other than take a bath.

「Now then, let’s dig in?」

「Ok」

After enjoying the meal with Toack and seeing him off after, I spent the rest of the day by relaxing on the sofa and taking naps.