Chapter 20 - 020_New Root Power
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020_New Root Power
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Manas of the Hacklehoff Trading Company came to Garusu Village in Dedel Territory.
Before receiving the Galim Syrup at the Galim Syrup Workshop, Manas visited Rodney.
"This is what you ordered, Rodney-sama."
"Sorry to trouble you, Manas."
"Not at all. You've given me good business, so this is nothing."
What he received from Manas was Life Light Stones produced in labyrinths in other territories.
For Rodney, who could obtain Root Power reliably through oral ingestion, as long as he had Life Light Stones, he could gather various Root Powers. That's why he had asked Manas to purchase the Life Light Stones he wanted.
"So, how much did it come to?"
"There is no charge."
"Huh?"
"To convey the chairman's words, he said it's a gift for his grandson."
"If he were here, I'd force the payment on him, but giving it to you would put you in a spot. Understood. Tell him I'm grateful for the gift from my grandfather."
"Actually, there's one more message."
"What is it?"
"He says he wants you to come say thanks in person before winter."
It was a scheme by Hacklehoff, who wanted to see his grandson's face. As a grandfather, he wanted to meet his adorable grandchild.
"Yeah. Tell him I'll come to Bassam after the harvest."
"The chairman will be delighted."
Manas loaded the Galim Syrup at the workshop and went home.
After that, Rodney stopped by the brewery to check on the brewing process.
"Germination has been confirmed, so I've moved them to the drying room."
This young man was the second son of the retainer Hortus, named Domeas. He was working as a Marie-de craftsman in a small town called Kerupe in Zabalujeen Territory when Rodney called him back and made him the head of the brewery.
"Beer brewing has only just begun. Don't be afraid of failure and make delicious beer."
"I will do my utmost with sincerity."
Although it was his first time making alcohol from shishikamu, Rodney evaluated that Domeas was doing well.
"After drying, grind them. I'll come again."
"Yes. Understood."
He had explained the method at the beginning, but the fine details had to rely on a craftsman's intuition. So Rodney vowed that even if Domeas failed, he would not blame him.
And since he had entrusted the brewery to him, he intended to trust and wait for the beer to be made. Of course, since Domeas would be unfamiliar with everything in the first production, Rodney taught him what he knew each time.
Next, he inspected the construction site of the new lord's mansion. They had just started on the foundation, but its size was incomparable to the current house.
Then he headed to the coast. Several boats were out at sea fishing. Since they were small fishing boats, they fished in coastal waters. There were no ships capable of deep-sea fishing in Dedel Territory.
On such a peaceful coast, Emilia and Yulin were there.
Even though it was a sandy beach, Emilia was moving at overwhelming speed. To Rodney, it looked as if she was gliding across the sand.
On the other hand, Yulin did the opposite—she swung a greatsword at a massive boulder. The greatsword, brought down from the highest stance, split the boulder clean in two. Furthermore, she lightly manipulated the greatsword to chop the boulder into pieces.
"You're at it. It seems you've mastered using Root Power, and that's the best."
"Look, Big Brother! I'm incomparably faster than before!"
"This power is amazing, Rodney-sama."
Emilia obtained 'Acceleration', and Yulin obtained 'Monster Arm'. The two did not obtain these Root Powers from Life Light Stones, but rather Rodney shared his own Root Powers.
After the fierce battle with the Black Lulmil discovered on the third floor of the Abandoned House Labyrinth, two Life Light Stones remained. He hadn't expected it to drop two Life Light Stones, but since it had split into two, he tentatively accepted that it dropped two.
When Rodney orally ingested those Life Light Stones, he obtained the Root Powers 'Combine' and 'Separate'.
'Combine' is a Root Power that connects one thing to another, and 'Separate' is a Root Power that can separate things that are combined.
Rodney used 'Separate' to separate 'Acceleration' and 'Monster Arm' from himself, and then used 'Combine' to attach 'Acceleration' to Emilia and 'Monster Arm' to Yulin.
Since Rodney himself could obtain 'Acceleration' and 'Monster Arm' again through oral ingestion, he intended to give good Root Powers to his retainers and soldiers in the future.
There were two problems. The first was the intense pain from oral ingestion. Even when obtaining that Root Power again, that intense pain occurred. This was a significant negative factor.
The second was that even if he 'Combined' a Root Power he had to someone, he could not combine a second Root Power. However, if he 'Separated' the first, he could 'Combine' a different Root Power.
He thought it was highly likely that the capacity was one, but when Yulin's Root Power was 'Combined' to Rodney, he was able to 'Combine' multiple. He didn't know the reason, but as a hypothesis, he thought it might be because he was the owner of 'Combine'.
Furthermore, he was able to 'Combine' Root Powers with Root Powers. He was able to 'Combine' 'High Heat Bullet' and 'Flame Bullet' to create 'High Heat Flame Bullet'.
'High Heat Flame Bullet' was something Rodney had used in the battle against the Black Lulmil, but using it required considerable concentration and left him quite exhausted.
That had happened because he forcibly attached Root Powers, but the 'Combined' 'High Heat Flame Bullet' could be activated normally. Thanks to that, Rodney was delighted to have a high-power long-range attack method.
Rodney was also able to hold multiple Root Powers that were 'Combined' from multiple Root Powers, but Yulin and the others could only hold one.
'High Heat Flame Bullet' had a much longer range and higher flight speed than 'High Heat Bullet'. Furthermore, its power was higher, so he had to be cautious when using it, but it could be expected as a trump card Root Power.
Since Emilia and Yulin also said they wanted 'High Heat Flame Bullet', they decided to search for White Lulmils. It was quite difficult, but they discovered two White Lulmils and were able to obtain Life Light Stones.
Rodney gave 'High Heat Flame Bullet' to Yulin and Emilia, and decided to train with the two of them in controlling 'High Heat Flame Bullet'.
'High Heat Flame Bullet' could be activated normally, but without training, its accuracy was poor. Especially, the farther the distance, the worse the accuracy.
Even the two, who easily mastered Root Powers that enhanced physical abilities like 'Strong Strength', seemed unable to display much talent for emission-type Root Powers. Rodney was a little relieved that this was the same for him.
He activated 'High Heat Flame Bullet' toward a direction where there were no ships. The 'High Heat Flame Bullet', flying at high speed leaving a trail of flames, hit the sea about a hundred rom ahead, creating a huge waterspout.
The fishermen in small boats were startled and stood frozen on their boats.
"Big Brother, the fishermen are surprised, aren't they?"
"I'll train 'High Heat Flame Bullet' inside the Labyrinth."
"That's a good idea, Rodney-sama."
They decided to train 'High Heat Flame Bullet' inside the Labyrinth, and Rodney decided to train in 'Kashima Old Style'.
He traced the forms accurately and ingrained the movements into his body. Without that, he couldn't perform the original movements of Kashima Old Style.
When he got home, he decided to orally ingest the Life Light Stones Manas had brought.
He would end up writhing in pain again, but since it allowed him to obtain Root Powers, he did it thinking it was worth enduring.
After several bouts of pain, the Root Powers Rodney obtained were four: 'Strengthen', 'Augment', 'Summon', and 'Gale'.
Among these, 'Strengthen' and 'Augment' were both capable of enhancing the effects of Root Powers, making them support-type Root Powers. In contrast, 'Gale' increased physical speed, similar to 'Acceleration'.
The unique one was 'Summon'. This 'Summon' was a Root Power that could manifest one Selvanui and control it by consuming a Life Light Stone. However, even if he sent back the manifested Selvanui, the Life Light Stone would not return. Therefore, many people continued to control the manifested Selvanui as is.
There were also Selvanui that did not need food, like evil spirits, but summoned Selvanui were alive and required food. Since the cost of food tended to be higher than keeping a horse, one had to consider cost-effectiveness when summoning.
Furthermore, the more powerful a Selvanui, the harder it was to control, and there were cases where they wouldn't obey the summoner's orders. If a summoned Selvanui didn't obey the summoner's orders, it would kill humans at the whim of its instincts, making it quite dangerous.
"Big Brother, what kind of Selvanui do you plan to control?"
"If possible, I'd like to control a Rock Giant."
A Rock Giant was a rock giant with a body length of two rom. As a large Selvanui made entirely of rock, it was fairly famous. Rock Giants were Selvanui from a labyrinth in the southern part of the Kuodo Kingdom, and the yield of their Life Light Stones was quite low. Moreover, those Life Light Stones did not appear on the market, so obtaining them was quite difficult.
"If Big Brother gets a Rock Giant, then I guess I'll get an Iron Cat."
"Life Light Stones from Iron Cats are even harder to get than Rock Giants'."
An Iron Cat was a cat-type Selvanui covered in fur like iron. As a cat-type, it was agile. Since this Iron Cat's Life Light Stones were produced in a labyrinth in a neighboring country of the Kuodo Kingdom, obtaining them was quite difficult.
"But I hear they're cute."
"It'd be nice if we could get one."
"Yeah."
When he asked Yulin what kind of Selvanui she wanted to control, she immediately replied, a Sword Horse. The Sword Horse was a horse-type Selvanui with a smart appearance, popular among knights. It was said that in the royal capital, one-third of the Selvanui walking on the streets were Sword Horses.
However, since he had given the two 'High Heat Flame Bullet' via 'Combine', he could not give them 'Summon'.
If he could master 'Augment' that he obtained this time, there might be a possibility to increase the 'Summon' slot. He intended to train in using Root Powers like 'Augment' during the long winter that was coming soon.
As Rodney and the others were talking about Root Powers, it became noisy outside the house.
Because of the shock from 'High Heat Flame Bullet', fish had been stunned and floated to the sea surface, and the fishermen, who had a bountiful catch, brought fish.
"My, my, thank you so much for all this."
"Today we had a great catch thanks to the lord. Thank you very much."
Mother Sharume and the maid Riti received the many fish.
"Even with all this, we can't eat it all on our own, so take some to the retainers' homes as well."
"As you wish."
So many fish were delivered to the house that they even shared them with the retainers' homes.
The next day, Rodney and the others explored the fifth floor of the Abandoned House Labyrinth. There was a tree bearing fruit deep inside. The fruit resembled apples from his past life memories, but perhaps because this was a remote village in the far north where fruits didn't circulate much, it was something he had never seen in this world. So he simply named them apples.
"Delicious!"
Emilia's cheeks relaxed as she bit into an apple.
"Hey, there might be poison, so don't eat it so carelessly."
"This is fine. My intuition told me so."
Rodney and Yulin smiled wryly, thinking Emilia could be troublesome. But unexpectedly, thanks to Emilia, they were able to taste-test, so Rodney and Yulin also ate the apples.
The apples were slightly more sour than the apples in his past life memories, but the sweetness was also strong and harmonized well, making them delicious.
Rodney decided to bring back a young tree. If it was an apple, it should be cultivable even in cold regions. The problems would be the possibility that it only grows inside the labyrinth, and typhoons.
If it didn't grow outside the labyrinth, he thought they could harvest apples on this fifth floor to enrich their table.
By autumn, around the time harvest ended, the young apple tree had taken root. If it continued to grow, they would be able to harvest apples in a few years.
Rodney, accompanied by Emilia and Sharume, headed to Bassam in Zabalujeen Territory.
They arrived in Bassam without being attacked by bandits along the way, and Rodney went to Count Banyusas's Great Eagle Castle.
Although an order had been issued for the Count Banyusas House to go to war with the neighboring country, the Count was in the Great Eagle Castle. For a great noble, it was normal to have vassals or branch family members lead the army as proxies.
In contrast, for a small, easily blown away minor noble house like Rodney's Forvas Knight House, it was customary for the head or his heir to go to war.
Rodney was exempted from military service for three years due to his father's death in battle, but that would end in about a year and a half. After that, an order to go to war would likely be given to Rodney as well.
He didn't want to go to the battlefield if possible, but if an order was given, he had no choice but to go—that was a noble's responsibility.
"It seems this campaign is a losing battle, Rodney-dono."
"Is that so?"
"In the last conflict, it seems we pushed them back considerably. It means the Jabaru Kingdom is breathing fire to reclaim the lost lands."
The Kuodo Kingdom had been in conflict with the eastern neighboring Jabaru Kingdom for many years. It seemed they had pushed back the Jabaru Kingdom significantly in the battle where his father Beck died, and Count Banyusas expected a severe counterattack this time.
"In a year and a half, the Forvas House may also receive a summons to war, but I hope it will be a winning battle by then."
"A small house like ours can only manage to survive under your excellency's protection. When that time comes, I humbly ask for your favor."
On this visit, he repaid half of the debt he owed to the Count Banyusas House. By this time next year, he would have paid it off completely. With that, he could pour funds into industrial development without any hesitation.
Furthermore, even after the military service exemption expired in a year and a half, since he could obtain Root Powers through oral ingestion, he would likely have far more Root Powers than now.
Since that would increase his chances of surviving even if he went to war, he wanted to obtain many Root Powers even if it meant relying on Hacklehoff.
This time as well, he gave Galim Syrup to Count Banyusas. To take shelter under a great tree, it was only natural to keep the Count's good graces.
He also gave him freshly made beer. He thought the alcohol content was about 10 percent. It was slightly lower in alcohol than Marie-de, a wine-like drink in this world.
Since this beer had Galim Syrup added for sweetening, it became a flavorful beer with the aroma of Galim Syrup amidst the bitterness.
"This foam... what is it?"
"That is the characteristic of beer, Your Excellency."
Count Banyusas smelled the beer and took a mouthful.
"Hmm, it's bitter... but also aromatic... and this fizzy feeling... how shall I put it, it's a novel drink."
"With this beer, the first glass you drink is the most delicious, Your Excellency. So it's better to drink the first glass all at once."
Rodney noisily gulped down the beer in one go, not caring that foam stuck to his upper lip.
Watching this, Count Banyusas also drank it in one gulp. The moment he noisily swallowed, his eyes widened.
"Oh, this is good. This fizziness stimulates the throat, as if it's asking for more."
Count Banyusas seemed to have taken a liking to the beer.
"Beer is most delicious when chilled and drunk on a hot summer day. Unfortunately, winter is coming, but it's delicious in its own way too."
"So it's delicious either way!"
It wasn't easy to chill the beer thoroughly. However, he thought that for a great noble like the Count Banyusas House, there would be at least one vassal with a Root Power like 'Freeze' or 'Cool', so he suggested it.
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