Lulucy Lou. That was the vampire girl's name.
A lot had changed since we met, but we eventually settled on calling her Lu.
Incidentally, her way of addressing me had undergone its own evolution, shifting from "lewd beast" to "animal," then "you," then "Village Head," and finally arriving at "Husband."
Since I had accepted Lu into the home, Kuro and the rest of the pack followed suit. However, I’d let my guard down; Lu fainted the moment she laid eyes on Zabuton and her brood.
Vampire or not, she was still a girl. I suppose it was only natural for her to be startled by a small army of giant spiders. Once she woke up and heard my explanation, she managed to make peace with them, though she still jumps whenever Zabuton sneaks up behind her.
Lu doesn’t live on blood alone; she eats the same meals I do. Tomatoes, in particular, became a favorite of hers. Since her tastes overlapped with Kuro’s, I’d worried they might fight, but they became fast friends over their shared passion—fellow enthusiasts of the vine, so to speak.
Sensing that Zabuton was trying to make a case for potatoes as well, I spent a while preparing dishes that featured both. It was during one of these meals that a shocking truth came to light.
It started with a single question from Lu after she tasted my cooking.
"Don't you use any salt?"
"We don't have any," I replied. "Believe me, I've looked for it."
"……Eh?"
I don't think I'll ever forget the look she gave me at that moment.
Lu led me straight to the well—the very first one I’d dug at an angle. I thought we were heading all the way to the bottom, but she stopped just inside the entrance. She tapped on the wall a few times, then reached out and scraped off a chunk of the earth.
The ground in this area isn't just firm; it’s hard. Because of that, the piece she pried loose felt like a solid stone. Lu took it back to the house, tossed it into a pot of water, and began to boil it.
"If you boil it like this, the salt will come out."
……
"Then you just scoop out the water from the top and let it evaporate. What’s left behind is your salt."
…………
Finally, I had obtained the salt I’d been longing for. For the next few days, I spent every spare moment refining it. At long last, my cooking actually tasted salty.
Apparently, there is a layer of "soil salt"—rather than rock salt—running through the earth around here. It sits about fifty centimeters below the surface. I found myself wondering how a forest could even grow with that much salt in the ground, but Lu told me the plants in this forest are special.
Incidentally, the reason my crops can grow is likely thanks to the Universal Farming Tool. As proof, I couldn't extract a grain of salt from the soil in my fields. I made sure to offer an extra prayer at the shrine I’d built in the great tree.
On a side note, when I checked the site for the planned reservoir, I realized I’d already hit the salt layer there too. I couldn't help but curse my luck—it had been right there under my nose the whole time. Since I’d packed the earth down with the Universal Farming Tool’s Hammer, the salt shouldn't dissolve into the water, but I played it safe. I brought in soil from elsewhere to cover the layer and hammered it again to seal it tight.
Lu can also create clothes using her own magic power. She explained that she’d been naked when we met because she was so weakened that she couldn't spare the magic to maintain her outfit.
Magic. Now that was something. Watching Lu start a fire with a flick of her fingers left me a little spellbound.
Despite her ability to manifest clothes, she’s currently wearing the garments Zabuton made for her. She claims Zabuton’s craftsmanship is superior to the finery worn by high-ranking nobles, and she’s become quite fond of them.
Regarding her appearance, Lu can freely shrink her physical size. During the day, she chooses to look like a middle schooler. She only returns to her adult form at night. When I asked why she stays small during the day, she told me it was to make me "exercise self-restraint."
I thought I was doing a decent job of that already, but… well, I suppose I’ll try to be a bit more restrained.
Now that my household has grown by one, it’s time for winter preparations. It would be a disaster if we weren't ready, but I’ve been planning for this since spring. One extra mouth to feed isn't enough to shake my resolve. If anything, I’m just happy to have the extra help with the harvest. I had Lu focus on the root vegetables that were too heavy for Zabuton’s children to handle.
"I never imagined I'd end up playing in the dirt like this..."
Lu was resistant to the farmwork at first, but after two or three days, she stopped complaining. She’s surprisingly adaptable.
In the quiet moments after meals or just before sunset, I asked Lu to teach me magic. I managed to grasp the theories and the logic behind it, but turning it into a reality proved impossible. According to Lu, I simply have no innate talent for it.
It was a disappointment, to be sure. She told me that even someone without talent could eventually learn to light a campfire if they studied for ten or twenty years, but that hardly felt like a fair trade for the effort involved.
Lu’s own repertoire is quite extensive. She was apparently a fairly famous mage before ending up here, and her years of study allow her to use almost any spell. Of all her magic, the most useful for our daily life has been Light Magic.
She can enchant a spot to stay bright even in the pitch-black of night. She usually casts it before dusk, and the glow lasts until dawn. Best of all, unlike a campfire, the magical light doesn't attract insects. It’s incredibly convenient. The only downside is that it takes a bit of magic to turn it off. Currently, it’s doing wonders as a light source for the outhouse.
"I can do much more impressive things, like Attack Magic..." she’d boast.
Then, in the morning, I’d have her work hard at lighting the kitchen fire.
"No, I mean... that's not what I'm talking about..."
Winter arrived. I devoted myself to various tasks with my new companion until the coming of spring.