Chapter 1228: Reconstruction Progress

The promised week passed, so Fran started actively participating in the reconstruction effort.

Fran still wasn’t allowed to do everything herself, so she worked primarily on hunting magical beasts and securing wood. She also used her magic to till the fields.

Thanks to her efforts, we successfully repaired the hole in the outer wall. This alleviated a lot of the anxieties about beast attacks.

The villagers expressed their gratitude and said, “It’s good to see you back in form.” Fran sometimes felt guilty about not helping when she pretended to be unwell, but she understood that it was Sibylla’s way of caring.

If she had been straightforward and said, “I won’t help because it won’t benefit you”, some people might have understood, but others would be dissatisfied.

Even the more understanding ones might change their minds in the middle of grueling labor, and eventually harbor dissatisfaction towards Fran.

In that regard, I think explaining that Fran couldn’t work was ultimately for the best, even if it was a lie.

Sibylla herself had been pondering a lot in the past few days. She must be struggling to find what the knights can do for Raydoss.

Furthermore, Fran still took good care of the children even after she started participating in the repairs. Surprisingly, babysitting seemed to suit her.

「Onee-chan, what’s wrong?」

「Do you have a stomachache?」

「I’m fine. Make sure to cut the grass properly.」

「Okay!」

「Yeah! Let’s do our best!」

Even now, she was working with the children near the village.

The younger children and girls were in charge of cutting down what resembled tall lemongrass. However, this world’s lemongrass seemed completely odorless.

Apparently, they could make mats and baskets by weaving the dried grass.

「Bisdra-chan, hold it up!」

「Kyuo.」

「Bisdra, can you move this over there?」

「Kyua!」

Bisdra was with us too. It seems Sibylla had asked him to protect the children, but he was clearly enjoying himself too.

Rather, this might have been Sibylla’s intention all along. Biscot was freed from his life in Raydoss upon becoming a dragon, so she wanted him to interact with other children.

「Okay, I’ll carry this.」

「Wow! Fran-neechan, you’re amazing!」

「Amazing!」

The children cheered when they saw Fran easily lifting the bundles of cut grass.

Storage would make this transport task super easy. We could even cut down all the grass with wind magic,

But Sibylla wanted the children to get experience participating in village construction, so she assigned this task to them.

The older kids were busy digging for potatoes. They serve as a valuable food source, and the vines could be used as basket materials.

「Whoa, Urushi! You’re the digging master!」

「Woof woof!」

「Uwah! Bleh! You’re getting it on me!」

「So dirty.」

「Woof…」

Urushi went overboard and flung a bunch of dirt everywhere before getting scolded by the children. I’ve been seeing that a lot since we arrived here.

After transporting the cut grass and potatoes to the warehouse, the children’s jobs were done. Back in Raydoss, they would wash up and disband, but a new custom had been established in this village.

「Let’s take a bath!」

「Right!」

「Fran-neechan, can you fill it with hot water?」

「Nn.」

「Yay!」

Bathing in tubs filled with hot water was relatively common in Kranzel, but apparently not in Raydoss. Water was more scarce, and it was generally a lot colder.

It seems stuff like saunas were more common, otherwise they would sometimes wipe off their sweat using the rivers and wells in warm seasons.

The villagers planned to only make a sauna, but Fran put a stop to that. She’s always loved baths, and was never a fan of saunas.

Thus, Fran added an outdoor bath alongside the sauna.

The villagers initially didn’t seem to feel the necessity, but they reluctantly granted permission as Fran passionately spoke about the benefits of baths despite her lack of words.

She understood that her argument alone wasn’t enough to convey the goodness of baths.

Thus, she quickly built the bath with magic in a matter of hours, and had the villagers take turns enjoying it. She generously distributed the body soap we had in storage, and even served chilled juice to any participants.

Now there shouldn’t be many left who don’t understand the goodness of baths.

As a result, the open-air bath became a daily routine for the villagers.

Magical tools handled everything: water supply, drainage, even heating the water. These kinds of tools were reasonably common in Kranzel, so it only took a brief negotiation with Peridot.

「All right! I’m first!」

「Wait!」

「You need to wash up first!」

After getting informed that the water was ready, the children rushed into the baths. Hey, running in the bath is dangerous!

「Urushi, Bisdra, take care of the boys side.」

「Woof!」

「Kyuo!」

Though a bit uneasy, we had no choice but to leave it to them. Oh, and the baths were separated by men and women. This world probably won’t complain if we made them mixed baths, but Fran will be using these too!

Thus, I had no choice but to separate them.

「Let’s go too, Onee-chan!」

「Nn.」

Guided by Mimi, Fran headed to the women’s bath.

「Onee-chan, can you wash my hair?」

「Nn.」

「Aww, not fair! Do me too!」

「Me too!」

「Nn. All right.」

「Hooray!」

Fran’s certainly popular, getting pulled from left and right by the girls. And she didn’t seem to mind the competition either.