Chapter 400: The Shakoki Dogu Once More
After listening to Kokuzan-chan and Uncle Oiwa’s stories, I ended up receiving a pitch-black pine tree as a souvenir. No, what I really wanted was ebony.
I returned to the lake where the Dogu resides via Teleportation, and it was time for a late lunch. I had planned to work on turning the ebony into timber in the afternoon, but it seemed that wouldn’t be possible today.
I opened my basket-style lunchbox, revealing three rice balls and some side dishes: salmon, chili leaves, and grilled cod roe. There was also a rolled omelet, sausage, karaage, and shiba-zuke.
I had also prepared some dried sardines and tempura rice balls, but I found myself choosing ingredients that felt nostalgic for outdoor rice balls.
Since it was a bit cold, I decided to drink some miso soup. Should I go for pork miso soup or sake lees soup? I can just store the soup in the bowl as it is! So convenient. Thanks to that, I’m always running low on dishes.
In the end, I chose the sake lees soup and took a gulp. Carrots, daikon, konnyaku… the ingredients were almost the same as the pork miso soup, just with salmon instead of pork. I could have used the leftovers to make the soup, but this time I made sure to include actual salmon fillet for a proper meal.
Oh, I ended up overlapping the rice ball and the salmon. Well, the grilled salmon and the fluffy bits in the sake lees soup are quite different, so I guess it’s fine.
As I felt warmth spreading through my chest and limbs, I took a bite of the rice ball. The crispy seaweed gave off a delightful aroma. The rice was delicious.
At times like this, I find myself craving those bright red sausages, but unfortunately, I had opted for the expensive ones, and there were none in the Pantry. Well, I could always dye them, I suppose.
After finishing my lunch, I headed into the Dull-Colored Lake to fulfill my original plan. As I swam through the cold, dark water from the desolate Northern Lands, I emerged into a surprisingly bright world.
Once I dove to a certain depth, the water above me transformed into a deep blue. Vivid greens, yellow-greens, and reddish leaves surrounded me. The beautiful aquatic plants extended delicate leaves that were even more intricate than those on land.
As I moved, I created a current that made the plants sway gently, releasing the bubbles they had been holding. They seemed to be photosynthesizing well, but I wondered what the light source was in this deep place.
It felt as if the water and the aquatic plants themselves were faintly glowing. It was a truly mysterious place. Small fish darted around in unison, performing a dance. Upon closer inspection, I noticed Spirits mingling among them.
As I named the Water Spirits, I emerged into a place dense with trees and began searching for the Dogu.
Ah, there it is.
“Um, I’m here to bother you again.”
The Dogu, half-hidden in the shadow of a Great Tree, quickly tried to conceal itself behind the trunk, only to peek out from the other side. The Dogu was quite large.
“I came today with a request. I’d be grateful if you could exchange the ebony here for this soil.”
I pulled out a hemp sack from Storage. Inside was the black soil imbued with Pal’s power.
Today, I had five sacks. The current I created swept the soil into the Dogu’s eyes one after another. I wondered how it worked—was the Dogu consuming it?
Just like last time, empty hemp sacks floated out from its eyes and were returned to me.
Then, with a sudden motion, five or six trees were uprooted. They were all massive trees, each from different spots, as if it was considering their arrangement.
“Ah, no. If you uproot too many, they’ll disappear. Just the ebony, please. —Oh, you’ve already uprooted them? That’s fine then. Thank you!”
I just had my first conversation with the Dogu!!!
But before I could process that, it shot off with a flurry of bubbles, reminiscent of a balloon losing air. I stood there, a bit dazed.
“Thank you.”
I called out another thank you in the direction it had vanished.
Wait, it’s back in the shadow of a Great Tree at about the same distance! When did it return!? It’s so big yet moves so quickly, and its actions are just too mysterious.
“Thank you! Next time, I’ll bring soil unrelated to trees. Oh, I received a black pine from Kokuzan; would you like one?”
I called out toward the direction of the Dogu, which was acting suspiciously.
“It’s this kind of tree.”
I pulled out the large, pitch-black pine I had received from Kokuzan. It might not match the girth of the Great Trees here, but it was perfectly straight.
Once again, a current formed, and the black pine was transported to where one of the Great Trees had been uprooted.
And then, my magic power was drained all at once. Dogu, you could have given me a heads-up! I had already given a lot of my magic power to the Spirits for various requests today!
I had just lost a significant amount to Kokuzan-chan, and I had also made a contract with Uncle Oiwa, not to mention the Spirits of the giant pine trees, both large and small… Wait, was it comparable to Kokuzan-chan!?
I had a lot to say, but the Dogu had already vanished, splashing water everywhere, while the Atmosphere Spirits surrounding me were worried and lifted me up.
With a splash, I emerged from the lake and was carried onto the shore.
“Thank you.”
Though I received a service, I didn’t have the luxury to spare any extra magic power. Instead, I took out a Magic Stone from my pocket and cracked it open.
As the magic power contained within the Magic Stone wafted into the air, the Atmosphere Spirits absorbed it.
The Magic Stone was infused with the power of the Black Spirit that had possessed a Demon Beast. It seemed that if used repeatedly in the same place without purification at the Temple, it would carry the influence of the Black Spirit, but this amount would naturally be purified.
I lay sprawled out, rolling around for a while to recover my magic power.