“This way, please.”
Having finished breakfast, I followed Lulunese-san to the magic training ground located within the estate.
The first thing that caught my eye was a wall of vivid, gaudy purple. It enclosed a vast area roughly the size of a small park. There was no ceiling, and the ground was unpaved.
From one corner of the grounds, a woman approached with an elegant gait, followed by two maids.
“Welcome, Ryoma-kun.”
“I’m sorry to have kept you waiting, Madam.”
My work for the afternoon was to set up the wedding venue, but since my morning was free, I had decided to spend it improving the sugar scrub recipe. As it turned out, the Madam had decided to join me. Apparently, she hadn't scheduled anything for today, feeling that she needed some time to refresh herself.
I couldn't deny that she deserved a break, but even so, she was a bit early.
“The preparations for the experiment aren't even ready yet,” I noted. “For now, I’m just going to be doing farm work.”
“I want to see the preparation process as well. More importantly, what do you think of our family’s pride and joy? This is our private magic training ground.”
“It’s wonderfully spacious. It looks like I can use magic here without holding back.”
However, there was one thing...
“Are you curious about the walls?” Lulunese-san asked, hitting the nail on the head.
“Could you tell?”
“Your gaze kept drifting toward them.”
“Hahaha... Would you mind if I asked why they’re such a flashy color?”
She offered a polite smile as she explained. “It is because they are coated with a special paint resistant to fire magic, ice magic, and extreme temperature shifts. Until the Young Lady left for the Academy, she practiced her magic here. This was done to ensure her training was as safe as possible.”
“A long time ago, Elia put too much mana into a fire spell and actually melted the brick wall,” Elise added. “We’ve kept it painted like this ever since, just in case.”
I recalled that Elia’s specialties were fire and ice. That made sense. Still, the fact that she could generate enough heat to melt brick if she poured enough mana into it was impressive. I made a mental note of that.
“I see. That makes sense.”
“Since this is our family’s private space, you’re free to use it whenever you like, Ryoma-kun. You can even use Space Magic inside these walls. Besides, ever since Elia went to school, it hasn’t been used much. It seems such a waste,” the Madam said, looking a bit lonely.
“Then I’ll gratefully take you up on that offer.”
With that, I began my work.
“Dimension Home.”
I summoned my slimes from the white hole that manifested in the air—a hundred Sticky Slimes and a hundred Scavenger Slimes.
“There really are quite a lot of them, as always,” the Madam remarked.
“This is the first time I’ve seen so many at once...” Lulunese-san murmured.
I thought she would have seen them during feeding time, but perhaps I was mistaken. I might have had them gathered into their Big, Huge, or King forms back then to hide their true numbers. The maids attending the Madam looked equally stunned. Regardless, I needed to get started.
“First... Break Rock.”
I used magic to turn the well-leveled ground into soft sand, reaching down to a significant depth. I cleared an area about fifty meters square.
“Alright, Scavengers!”
I lined the Scavenger Slimes up at the edge of the sandy plot at fifty-centimeter intervals.
“I’m counting on you, just like always.”
At my command, the Scavengers moved in unison. They advanced by pulling the sand in front of them into their bodies, then spat it out behind them as they moved forward.
“Is this... tilling the soil?”
“Exactly. At first, I had the Scavengers spit out fertilizer and I would plow it in myself, but since I found myself repeating that task so many times a day, it became a bit of a hassle. Now, after I soften the ground with Earth Magic, I have the Scavengers mix the fertilizer inside their bodies as they move.”
Advancing in a perfect horizontal line, the Scavengers left behind mounds of soil thoroughly mixed with moist fertilizer, forming neat ridges.
“A while after I started giving them this task, the Scavengers actually learned a skill called ‘Tillage.’”
“That’s a skill I’ve never heard of,” the Madam said.
“It seems to refer specifically to the act of tilling a field. I think it’s because I didn't have them sow seeds or water the plants; I just made them mix soil and fertilizer over and over again.”
“I suppose if they were doing all the general chores, they would have just acquired the ‘Farming’ skill instead.”
“Right. For the same reason, the Sticky Slimes have acquired a skill called ‘Seed Planting.’”
I distributed the Dante Seeds from my Item Box to the Sticky Slimes. They expertly received them by shaping the top halves of their bodies into bowls and carried them over to the ridges the Scavengers had prepared.
One slime worked each ridge. Moving in a horizontal line just like the Scavengers, the Sticky Slimes used their tentacles to skillfully plant the seeds one by one. Their movements were those of seasoned professionals. Being slimes, their physical speed was slow, but the process was still far faster and more efficient than me doing everything by hand.
“To think slimes were capable of farm work... Please forgive my ignorance,” the Madam’s maid said, sounding genuinely impressed.
“Not at all. Slimes aren't great at carrying heavy things, but they learn tasks surprisingly well.”
The only other tedious part of farming was weeding. Almost any slime would eat weeds, but Weed Slimes specifically preferred them. They would eat the weeds down to the roots without being told, making them perfect for the job. If left alone, they would eventually secrete fluids containing seeds to grow more weeds for their next meal, but as long as I kept an eye on that, they made the work very easy.
“Acid Slimes can even do simple Woodworking if I give them the right commands. And lately, my Drunk Slimes have started imitating me and making Fruit Wine inside their bodies.”
“We... are still talking about slimes, right?”
“We are.”
I’d recently experimented with concentrating the alcohol produced by their Alcohol Creation skill to make Fruit Wine as a hobby. Since then, they had started craving fresh fruit as well as alcohol, which was becoming a bit of a financial burden. With winter approaching, the variety of fruit in the markets was dropping while the prices were rising.
“You really do have a remarkable affinity with slimes, Ryoma-kun,” the Madam said with a smile.
“Is that all it is?” the maid asked, looking skeptical. “Madam, to me, they seem like entirely different monsters altogether.”
It seemed my explanation had only deepened her confusion.
“Takebayashi-sama, the others have arrived,” Lulunese-san announced.
I looked up and saw the entrance to the training ground open. A large group of maids filed in.
“That’s... quite a few people.”
There weren't just five; there were at least twenty maids, along with five or six men in butler uniforms.
“While only five girls actually made the sugar scrub, these others are the ones who leaked the information to them,” Lulunese-san explained. “The Head Maid said she intended to use this opportunity to tighten discipline among any staff members who have grown lax.”
It seemed Arone-san was taking this much more seriously than I was.
“Well, having more test subjects is actually a help for the experiment.”
As we spoke, I spotted a woman among the servants who seemed to be the one in charge. She was exceptionally tall, standing a head above the rest. She had a rugged, resolute face—almost like a veteran warrior. Her build was impressive, with broad shoulders and thick, muscular arms that looked like they were about to strain the seams of her clothes. Despite her powerful physique, she was dressed in a standard maid uniform.
Our eyes met, and she began walking toward us.
“Lulunese-san, who is that?”
“That is Libiola. She is a maid who possesses the absolute trust of the Master, the Madam, and the rest of the staff. She is a member of the Greater Monkey-kin. While her features and physique appear somewhat masculine, she is indeed a woman.”
“A Greater Monkey-kin... I see. Libiola-san, it’s a pleasure to meet you.”
“I am Libiola of the Greater Monkey-kin. The Head Maid, Arone, has entrusted me with the re-education of these individuals. I shall be acting as their supervisor during your experiments, so I look forward to your acquaintance.”
Libiola had long legs and a wide stride, arriving before us just as Lulunese-san finished her explanation. When I greeted her, she performed a perfectly graceful, ladylike bow. However, I could sense an underlying intensity that suggested she would be terrifying if she were ever truly angered.
“I look forward to working with you as well.” I decided it was best not to overstep. “Since we’re all here, may I ask for your help with the experiment right away?”
“As you wish.”
First, I had them set up a workspace for prototyping the scrubs. The servants had brought the necessary materials, so while they set up tables and organized the supplies at a distance from the tilled field, I began summarizing the experiment’s goals.
“As for the ingredients...”
“We have an inventory list right here,” Libiola said, handing me a sheet.
My eyes widened. There were seven types of Vegetable Oil and twenty different Fragrant Oils. I had only mentioned this in the morning, yet they had gathered all of this already.
“The staff who attend to guests use Fragrant Oils as a matter of professional etiquette, so we always have a significant stock on hand,” Libiola explained.
“I’m very grateful regardless.”
“So, Ryoma-kun, what sort of experiment do you have in mind?” the Madam asked.
I took a moment to organize my thoughts. “Well, while we have a luxury of materials today, I think I’ll stick to the seven oils plus the Dante oil I’ll prepare later. As for the Fragrant Oils, I’ll start with just two or three of the most common ones.”
“Is that enough?”
“Yes. Fragrant Oils can get complicated once you start mixing them. For today, I want to focus on the physical sensation of the Mumito and the oils. Also, since we have so many participants, I want to treat them as potential customers. I want to gather their honest feedback on how the product feels and what they’re looking for.”
I was an amateur when it came to beauty products. If the product didn't meet the needs of the market, it wouldn't sell. That was a basic business truth.
“I’ll need you all to record which ingredients you used, your impressions, and the reasons why—”
I noticed several of the younger maids looking worried, as if the task sounded too academic or difficult.
“—For example,” I continued, “it can be as simple as ‘my skin is dry, so I want it to feel more moisturizing.’ You don’t need to be formal. Just be honest about what you want. Be as greedy as you like, and just write down your thoughts on paper as you go.”
I planned to use the consensus from their feedback to guide the next stage of product development.
“Thank you for the explanation, Takebayashi-sama,” Libiola said before turning to the group. “You three over there! If you don’t understand something, don’t just stand there eavesdropping—come forward and ask! If you are unsure about speaking directly to the gentleman, we are here to facilitate the conversation!”
“O-Our apologies!” the girls squeaked in unison.
“Good heavens... forgive these ill-mannered children,” Libiola said to me.
“It’s alright. If we push too hard from the start, everyone will get exhausted. I won’t interfere with your discipline, but please make sure they don’t burn out.”
Even with eight oils and three scents, there were twenty-four possible combinations to test. It would take a significant amount of time. I also wanted to try different sugar grain sizes, including some ground into a fine powder.
And so, I took the first step toward perfecting the sugar scrub for the market. I hadn't expected it to turn into such a large-scale operation, but it was a solid start.