I hung the washed clothes at even intervals across the clothesline that had originally been set up in the yard, as well as the one I had brought from the workroom.
I had washed so much laundry that if there had been even a few more pieces, I wouldn't have been able to hang them all.
Normally, doing this much washing would leave one's hands terribly raw and chapped.
However, with the detergent Marina-san had made, aside from my hands being pruned from being soaked in water for so long, there was no problem at all.
"...This product is going to be a huge help to anyone who does a lot of laundry."
"Really? I decided to make it after hearing what you said, Erik-kun, but do you think it'll actually sell?"
"I think it'll sell extremely well. Haven't you shown it to Hannah-san yet?"
"I told her the concept, but I haven't shown her the real thing yet. It was only finished this morning, and when I went out to tell her after getting something to eat, I got so overwhelmed by the crowd that I ended up crouching in an alley..."
She said that with an embarrassed look, as if only just remembering it.
Right on cue, Marina-san's stomach let out a loud rumble.
"...Ah, that's right. I went out shopping intending to eat, and I still haven't had a thing."
"I already put the groceries into the magic refrigerator before I got to work. The kitchen is all tidied up now, so there's plenty of room to cook."
"Mm, you went through all the trouble of making it spotless, but I guess I'll make use of it."
Marina-san spoke somewhat hesitantly before heading over to the kitchen, taking ingredients out of the magic refrigerator, and starting to cook.
The magic refrigerator was a type of magic tool, its interior kept refreshingly cold.
Because of that, it could apparently preserve ingredients for quite a long time.
Before losing herself in research, Marina-san had proudly mentioned that she had bought groceries in bulk.
"Oh, wow, the mold is completely gone. If I gave some of this to Amanda-san, I bet she'd be thrilled..."
While Marina-san was eating, I decided to clean the bathroom.
Before doing the laundry, I had applied detergent to the mold, and now that enough time had passed, I rinsed it away with water.
To my surprise, some of it had already washed away before I even scrubbed, and the moment I ran a brush over it, the rest vanished in an instant.
Since the inn had a large bathhouse, mold was inevitable no matter how thoroughly it was cleaned.
Scrubbing it was hard work, and Amanda-san had mentioned that she always cleaned it together with Anna-san.
If they had this detergent, it would easily cut their cleaning time in half.
"If the new detergent Marina-san made hits the market, it'll make chore-assisting quests so much easier..."
Among household chore quests, cleaning requests were posted quite frequently.
Baths were only found in wealthy households, so those didn't come up very often.
Dishwashing and laundry, on the other hand, made up the vast majority of requests.
Mulling over these thoughts as I cleaned the bathroom, between the potent detergent and the power of my physical strength and skills, I managed to make the place spotless in about ten minutes.
"...Marina-san, is that your lunch?"
"Eh? Yeah. It is, but is something wrong?"
"Well, no, it's just that the vegetables are still completely whole..."
"Ah, I cooked them properly, you know? I don't really like raw vegetables."
Having finished cleaning the bathroom, I returned to the living room to find Marina-san already eating.
What she was eating, however, was downright bizarre.
While the ingredients themselves were standard—things like carrots and eggplants—she was eating them practically intact.
"Don't you cut them up?"
"Ah, I washed and cooked them properly, so it's fine, right?"
"...Now I understand why there weren't any kitchen knives in the sink. You can hardly call that cooking."
"Ugh... B-But it's edible! I cooked and seasoned it, after all..."
Marina-san offered her excuses, but unable to withstand my deadpan stare, she cast her eyes downward.
"Now I see why you're so frail even though you're cooped up doing research all day. Your diet is a complete catastrophe."
"I-Is it really that bad? B-But you can eat meat just by cooking it, can't you?"
"Meat can be cooked in big cuts, sure, but people still prepare it properly first. In your case, Marina-san, you're just throwing whole vegetables into a pan without even bothering to slice them."
I rebutted her attempt to compare whole vegetables to meat.
"Are you bad at cooking?"
"...Rather than being bad at it, I guess I just find it bothersome. I've always lived with the mindset that since it all ends up the same once it reaches your stomach, you might as well eat quickly without wasting unnecessary effort."
"Cooking is certainly a hassle, but eating delicious food gives you energy for the day. I think it would help you concentrate on your research, too."
"...B-But isn't making a whole meal just for one person annoying?"
It seemed Marina-san was utterly hopeless at everything outside of [Alchemy].
Hearing her say that only reaffirmed my impression.
"It feels like a hassle because you try to cook every single meal from scratch. If you prepare food in advance, your next meal will be effortless, right? That way, you get to eat delicious food with minimal effort."
"T-That's true, I hadn't thought of that... I always ran away from it because it was a pain, but if I made a pot of soup or something, that would last me all day, wouldn't it?"
"Exactly. You have such a wonderful magic refrigerator, so you really ought to make better use of it."
Marina-san was one of my benefactors.
If she kept living like this and collapsed from malnutrition, I would feel terrible.
That was why, even though it was none of my business, I nagged her like this, hoping she might change her habits at least a little.
Leaving the conversation at that, I turned around and headed toward the workroom.