BXBX NOVEL Chapter 9 - Best Material For Underwear
Rolling to the flax field, Rino realised how strange it was. Flax usually grew in open areas, and the forest wasn't exactly an open area. Yet, the flax clung around the shrubs in clusters. This was definitely another world. The flax flowers were usually blue, but these flowers were pink.
Rino shrugged. Flax was good for linen, and as long as the cloth did not turn out pink, it was all good. Although it wasn't the most comfortable material to wear, linen made good household items. He could definitely use some curtains to keep the sun out during the day or even a new pouch to hold his things.
With experience, Rino didn't have to mull over the design on the teleportation pad this time. Combining his earth and water elements, Rino used nature magic to grow a new structure to hold the amber in place, marking the centre of the teleportation pad.
He moved to the next location, which was a little further away from the cotton and flax. Rino knew that some nobles with too much time and money on their hand in the other world liked this plant a lot for a different purpose. Initially used for medicine, these nobles eventually got addicted and started growing their own hemp fields. The lich didn't know what was so good about smoking hemp, but doctors claimed it was a good pain reliever among other effects and components. Hemp grew very quickly and was accessible to the poor very easily on top of being very useful. The empire struggled to control hemp production but not here.
Rino thought about what he could do with hemp. Just about everything indoors was made from hemp. He remembered the papers he wrote in, the socks he wore, the blanket he slept under and even his pant strings. The commoners often wore shoes woven by hemp. While it wasn't as warm and comfortable as leather, it was something most people could afford. Hemp was a necessity. Rino was happy it was also here in this world.
Now that he thought about it, without hemp, their archers wouldn't be able to draw their bowstrings either. He finally understood why the king was so vexed, thinking of a solution. To increase taxes on hemp was akin to cutting one's flesh to stave off hunger. Restricting hemp will also lead to riots as basic necessities couldn't be met for clothes. Increasing the price of hemp is also not a good solution. As addiction slowly festered within the city, Rino was now certain that his decision to build that mana bomb was right. There was no hope for humanity. It was all just going to rot.
The water ball rolled past dense trees, and the scenery started to change after two hours. Rino might have a dull sense of smell, but even he could tell that the air was lighter here, and the ground didn't smell as earthy.
Eventually, Rino arrived at the hemp field and gawked. Unlike the hemp plants he was familiar with in his original world that reached only his shoulder, the hemp plants in this world were gigantic! They towered over him three times the height of a regular man. How did anyone harvest this?
Seeing Rino's reaction, Phil gave Ark a hi-five. It was a good idea to make the most useful plant the most difficult one to harvest. Rino had to work harder than this to outsmart them.
Seeing how this might be his first uphill battle, Rino decided to let it go for now. There was no point in worrying for tomorrow. This was his future self's issue. Now, he had to build the third teleportation pad if he didn't want to be cursed by his future self, who had enough to handle on his plate.
With three locations found, there was only one more location to find. Honestly, Rino could not understand why there would be a specific place to find silkworms for harvesting. Should these little buggers be everywhere munching on leaves until they sleep?
So far, everything looked normal in this world, and Rino yawned. It was still considered early for him. There wasn't a teleportation pad back at his temporary abode where he built a little something for his bricks, but it wasn't an issue. All Rino had to do after setting up the teleportation pad at the last location was to jump back to the cotton place and roll his way back. He might have to grab more amber later if he wanted to make a teleportation gate at his temporary home base.
In the darkness of the forest, Rino sensed something ominous and paused. He cancelled the water ball spell and proceeded the rest of his way on foot cautiously. What was that noise? It sounded as if a tree had fallen.
No, to be more precise, it was uprooted. Was it a monster?
As he walked towards the location the map pointed out, Rino saw a huge shadow move in front of him. There was a huge pit, and in that pit, many giant worms were moving, munching on the tree thrown in it. Rino wanted to gag at how disgusting they looked, tearing away at the tree. However, he understood at once what this was.
A monster nest. Something that he hated even when he was still a court magician. Subjugating monsters only led to more side effects.
With a heavy sigh, Rino carefully walked beneath the shadows of trees to avoid getting spotted by the adult moth monsters.
Thankfully, there was a safe spot behind a huge boulder, and Rino dug a huge space beneath the boulder with a hole just large enough for him to crawl from. He quickly reinforced the soil around the boulder and hollowed the insides to dig stairs and a pit big enough for him to stand in.
By the time he hollowed a space beneath the boulder, the place felt rather homey, even if it was a little stuffy. Not wasting more time, Rino quickly used nature magic and grew some huge roots to hold his teleportation amber in place to set up the last pad.
With that, his job was done.
Ping!
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Side Quest #1 (Completed)
Objective: Locate all textile material-gathering spots.
Tutorial here.
Reward: Basic Fabric Crafting Recipe.
Claim your reward here.
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Rino wasn't going to wait. He claimed the reward at once and looked at the recipe needed to make the most comfortable pair of underwear in the world - silk!