Chapter 53: The Typhoon and Marbles (1)
Rain poured down. This wasn’t just any rain.
It was a powerful storm brought on by a tropical cyclone—what some would call a typhoon or a hurricane.
For convenience, let’s call it a typhoon.
In any case, this fierce wind and rain had descended upon the autumn skies of Grayke City.
**Whoooosh!**
The strong wind shook the restaurant’s walls, howling eerily. The wind’s mournful wail always had an unsettling effect.
It didn’t seem like a typhoon strong enough to uproot trees or send signs flying through the air, but one thing was certain: there wouldn’t be any customers braving this weather to visit.
**Whoooosh!**
The wind rattled the restaurant door again. Although all the doors were shut, the fierce rain managed to seep in little by little.
“Grrraah! Grrraah! Grrraah!”
“Did someone die or something? Why all the fuss?”
The dragon, in a fit of frustration, called out to me. When I frowned, she frowned right back at me.
“This wind is noisy. It keeps rattling and banging! Can’t we just stop it already?”
“No… Please bear with it, Dragon. It’s not good to alter the natural flow of things. If you mess with it too much, it could have unintended effects elsewhere.”
A dragon casually altering the weather could lead to a giant tidal wave crashing down on another town. The butterfly effect—the idea that a butterfly flapping its wings could cause a storm on the other side of the world—applies everywhere. Altering the weather is a dangerous act.
Nature is a terrifying force. More terrifying than a dragon.
Trying to defy such a force and play god is sheer arrogance.
Of course, it would be different if Rurin’s life were at stake because of this rain.
“Is that so? If you say so, then fine. But this wind is a nuisance.”
Rurin grimaced and tossed an empty beer can into the trash. It was obvious that the butcher shops and markets were all closed, meaning we couldn’t go out shopping either.
So, it’s a perfect holiday.
It was only midday, but the dragon, who had just woken up, was already complaining about the noisy wind. The restaurant was effectively closed for the day.
This is the perfect time to catch up on some housework I hadn’t been able to do.
As I was about to head upstairs, the dragon popped open another beer can. The wind intensified, shaking the door even more.
**Rattle, rattle, rattle.**
Being on a hill, it seemed we were more affected by the wind than the city below. Geographically speaking, Grayke City was somewhat sheltered by Mount Grayke and the hill where our restaurant stood, offering some protection from the wind.
**Crack.**
To my surprise, the door started to shake and crack. It was made of wood, so it wasn’t particularly sturdy. Brick would have been the best building material, but the wooden doorframe and restaurant door were problematic.
“Hmm.”
It’s not good to alter nature’s course. But protecting ourselves is hardly a bad thing, right? Defending my restaurant from the wind shouldn’t cause a butterfly effect, should it?
I’m definitely not contradicting myself here.
“Rurin, what are you doing?”
“Drinking beer!”
Somehow, the dragon had already opened another beer can and was sitting at the bar, munching on something.
“What are you eating?”
Rurin held out her hand to show me. She was holding jerky. When did she find that in the pantry?
“If you’re going to chew on it, why just hold it in your mouth?”
Rurin, perhaps too lazy to explain while chewing, took the jerky out of her mouth and started to shout.
“This! Putting it in your mouth and letting it slowly soften while drinking beer tastes better than just chewing it. Hehe.”
“Oh, really?”
She nodded enthusiastically.
She proudly explained her unique way of eating jerky, then put the jerky back in her mouth, squinting her eyes in satisfaction.
She looked so happy it made me feel happy too. For some reason, just watching her was enough.
No, no, focus.
I gathered myself and spoke to the dragon again.
“Rurin, could you put a protective barrier around the restaurant? The wind is getting a bit too strong, and I’m worried.”
“A barrier? That’s not what you said earlier.”
“I’m just protecting the restaurant. I’m not tampering with nature, am I? It’s not like nature is deliberately trying to destroy our place.”
“Is nature trying to destroy our home? If it did, I would fight nature. What’s yours is mine!”
“Exactly. So, could you please set up a barrier?”
“Understood!”
With the jerky still in her mouth, Rurin began to channel mana. Soon, the rattling noise ceased completely.
The rain that had been seeping in disappeared as well.
Thanks to the barrier, the restaurant became incredibly quiet. A peaceful calm settled in.
“I’ve set up a barrier around the restaurant walls. Perfect, right?”
“Seems that way.”
“Hehehe, now pet me, human!”
Rurin leaned her head over the bar counter toward the kitchen. I had no words. Well, she did do the job, so I suppose I should reward her.
**Stroke, stroke.**
I gently petted Rurin’s black hair from the top of her head down to her nape, and she squirmed with delight. Her smile stretched from ear to ear.
“Your hands are warm. I like that.”
“That’s good, but stop drinking beer and get up. Now that the barrier is up, I can relax and get some housework done.”
“Housework?”
“Yes.”
Sensing that it was something bothersome, the dragon tried to make a run for it, but I quickly grabbed her by the scruff and led her upstairs.
“Hey, I’m feeling sleepy!”
“You just woke up! Enough nonsense, please.”
“Noooo!”
She protested with her characteristic whine, “I don’t want to!” but eventually, I dragged her up to the second floor.
The first task for housework was clearly going to be laundry. It was the most daunting task at hand.
The weather wasn’t suitable for cleaning.
And if you think about it, it’s not exactly ideal for doing laundry either, since there’s no sunlight to dry it. But there was a mountain of laundry piled up.
Even though I had teleported to the capital and back, there were all the clothes I’d worn during my stay there, not to mention the laundry I’d put off, so there was quite a bit to do. Might as well tackle it now while I have the time.
Just because there’s no sunlight doesn’t mean we can’t dry the clothes. There are plenty of ways.
The sudden increase in laundry was also due to another reason.
The last time I bought a huge amount of clothes, the sheer volume of laundry naturally increased, and if I wasn’t careful, it piled up like a mountain.
So, most of the laundry in the washroom was Rurin’s clothes.
“What… is all this?”
Rurin looked at the pile of her clothes in the washroom with a horrified expression. Why was she shocked? She was the one who wore them in the first place.
“This is your laundry.”
“Indeed. Then work hard, human!”
“Today, I will teach you the art of doing laundry. You’ve avoided it long enough, haven’t you?”
“I’m a dragon who doesn’t wear clothes!”
“Are you saying what you’re wearing now isn’t clothes but fur?”
“That’s right!”
“Ridiculous. There are too many, so help out. Most of this is yours. I’m afraid of what might happen if I leave you to do it alone, but you can at least help, right? This old lady is getting tired. I’m not getting any younger. How long do I have to keep doing laundry and cooking? Got it?”
“Ugh… Why do you keep calling yourself ‘mother’?”
“So, you’re not going to help?”
Rurin glanced at me nervously, then looked at the pile of laundry. Realizing there was no way out, she puffed her cheeks and sat beside me with a grumble.
“Fine, I’ll do it!”
I demonstrated for her. First, I sprinkled water on the clothes and applied some laundry soap.
The soap, of course, was a modern item I’d summoned.
You need to scrub the especially dirty spots thoroughly.
And since it’s better to rinse everything in one go, I piled the scrubbed clothes up next to us.
Fortunately, the clothes were fairly clean to begin with, so there weren’t any particularly dirty spots. Unless she was drunk, Rurin didn’t spill anything on her clothes. She was actually quite a neat dragon in terms of appearance.
As I said, as long as she wasn’t sleepy or drunk.
When she was sleepy or drunk, she could cause chaos, whether with her clothes or the restaurant.
“What do you think? You can handle that, right?”
“Hehe, is that all? There’s nothing this dragon can’t do!”
Rurin, who had been grumbling earlier, now wore a confident expression as she nodded and began washing the clothes. She mimicked my movements for a while, scrubbing with the soap. Then, after a moment, she picked up something in her hand with a puzzled look.
“What is this? It’s not mine. Hmm.”
In her hand was my drawers. Yes, my underwear.
“Hey, give that back. I’ll wash it.”
“I remember! I’ve seen you wearing this when I sneaked into your bedroom. Oh, your important undergarments. I’ll wash it for you! Hehe.”
With a mischievous grin, Rurin started to wash my underwear with great care. She applied soap once, checked its condition, then applied soap again.
“Ohhh!”
She exclaimed in awe. What on earth is this dragon thinking?
Feeling a bit uncomfortable, I pulled all of my underwear, except for that one pair, closer to me.
Rurin, seeing my interest in the laundry, eagerly tried to join in.
A back-and-forth ensued.
“I’ll do yours! I heard somewhere that I should!”
“No, thank you. Just do your own.”
Like that.
As a result, we ended up covered in soap suds ourselves.
Good grief.
Anyway, with the commotion over and most of the soap work done, I straightened up and stood.
“Now we just need to rinse these with water, wring them out, and let them dry.”
“This is tiring! Let’s use magic!”
“No, we can’t. Magic is too strong; it’ll tear the clothes apart.”
“Hmm, oh! I have a great idea!”
“What is it?”
Rurin grabbed the pile of laundry to be rinsed and ran off.
“Hey! What are you doing? You’ll get in trouble if you do something weird!”
“You should thank me!”
Rurin dashed outside into the typhoon. She set up a protective barrier to keep the laundry from blowing away, then, within the barrier, held each piece of laundry up to the wind. The fierce rain and wind pounded the clothes from all sides.
Oh?
That was actually a pretty good idea.
Although it looked like a crazy person or a lunatic waving clothes around in the storm, it worked.
Our dragon, for once, had a good idea.
“What do you think, human? As expected of me, right? Hehe.”
“Indeed…”
I nodded and followed Rurin’s lead. With the wind hitting the clothes from all directions, it felt like they were getting cleaned just by being held up. You could call it a natural washing machine.
In any case, the rain in this world was completely unpolluted. It was safe to drink if necessary. So, using it for laundry wasn’t a problem.
With that, we returned to the restaurant looking like drenched rats.
“Human, I’m cold. It’s all well and good, but the wind is too cold. Achoo!”
Rurin started sneezing.
In her human form, she couldn’t avoid feeling cold or hot. It was a natural reaction, so I pointed to the second floor and said.
