The Wood-Burning Stove

I figured the store had probably stocked this wood-burning stove as a promotional item, only for it to remain unsold.

The wood-burning stove was larger than my Shadow Bag, so there was no way it would fit inside. The chimney looked like it would fit if I disassembled it, so I packed the chimney sections and firewood into the Shadow Bag. I also found some wire and fireproof boards, which I added to the bag.

As I walked around the home improvement store, wondering how to transport the wood-burning stove, I spotted something resembling a large handcart designed for carrying heavy loads.

It was called a two-wheeled hand truck, and apparently, it could transport quite heavy objects.

I pushed the hand truck over to the wood-burning stove, loaded the stove onto it, and secured it with rope. Getting it down to the first floor was difficult, but everything went smoothly after that.

I took a route as close to the sea as possible and made my way back to Shimojo Fortress.

“Kojiro, what’ve you brought back?”

Sakuma asked casually.

“It’s a wood-burning stove. The nursery school’s freezing.”

“Oh, that’s a good find. Want me to help you install the chimney and everything?”

“Have you done it before?”

“Nope, never done it before, but I’m a carpenter, you know.”

“Really? Then I’ll ask for your help when the time comes.”

I pushed the hand truck all the way back to the nursery school. The children gathered around me, all asking what I had brought.

“This is a wood-burning stove. It’s cold in winter, so we need something to keep us warm, right?”

Korechika patted the wood-burning stove with his little hands.

“It’s cold…”

“Right now, it is. But once we light a fire inside, it’ll get nice and warm.”

Elena heard my voice and came out into the yard.

“Welcome back! Did you find any bows?”

“Of course. Here they are.”

I took three bows out of my backpack. A friend who had belonged to the university’s Japanese archery club had taught me how bows were counted in Japanese. Apparently, unstrung bows were counted using hon, while strung bows were counted using hari.

“How do you assemble these?”

“There’s an instruction manual inside, so I think you’ll figure it out if you read that.”

“All right. I’ll read it later. By the way, is that a wood-burning stove?”

“Yeah. The children looked cold, so I figured we needed one.”

“Thank you so much.”

I carried the wood-burning stove into the playroom. Huh? If I placed the stove directly on the floor and lit a fire inside, wouldn’t the floor get scorched? Realizing that, I remembered seeing some bricks at the house next door.

I went over to the neighboring house, which was now vacant, dug up some bricks from its garden flower bed, and brought them back. I arranged the bricks on the floor near a window and placed the wood-burning stove on top. Proper installation would require a hearth pad and heat shields, but since I was only testing it today, I decided to treat this as a temporary setup.

I went to the empty infant room, took the chimney sections, firewood, and fireproof boards out of my Shadow Bag, and laid them on the floor. Then I carried everything into the playroom.

I removed one of the windows near the wood-burning stove and placed it on the floor. I ran the chimney through the opening and secured it with wire. Once the chimney was fixed in place, I used the fireproof boards to cover the gaps around the window opening. I couldn’t seal everything completely, though, so cold drafts still came through.

I’d have to ask Sakuma, who said he was a carpenter, to install everything properly another day.

“Kojiro-nii-chan, is it ready?”

Korechika asked.

“All ready. I’m going to light it now, so stand back a little.”

After making sure the children had moved away from the wood-burning stove, I opened its glass-fronted door, crumpled up some nearby newspaper, and put it inside.

I lit the newspaper with a lighter and arranged the firewood I’d brought from the home improvement store over it. Once I confirmed that the wood had caught fire, I closed the door. I adjusted the air-control lever to let in as much air as possible.

By the time I closed the stove door, the children had gathered around again to watch the flames. The air in the room gradually grew warmer, and I took off the jacket I was wearing.

I told the children they could take theirs off too. Just then, Elena entered the playroom.

“It’s warm in here! You’ve got the stove going.”

As she spoke, she began helping the children remove their outerwear.

One of the younger children started approaching the wood-burning stove. I stopped her by scooping her up in my arms.

“Don’t do that. If you get too close to the stove, you might burn yourself.”

“Burn myself?”

“That’s right. It would hurt a lot, so you mustn’t get too close.”

“Okay, I understand.”

She was an adorable little girl named Meika, around six years old.

I used some baby cribs to create a barrier around the wood-burning stove so the children couldn’t get too close.

A little while later, Director Doi and the others brought in dinner.

“Oh my, it’s so warm! We older folks don’t handle the cold very well, so this is a tremendous help.”

We began eating dinner gathered around the wood-burning stove. Somehow, the children’s smiles seemed about thirty percent brighter than usual. After finishing my meal, I sat in front of the stove to tend the fire, took several Heartstones out of my backpack, and arranged them on the floor.

“What’s that?”

Meika sat down beside me on the floor and asked.

“These are called Heartstones. When you defeat a monster, it turns into a Heartstone.”

“Wow, that’s strange!”

I smiled at her adorable response and picked up an Orc Heartstone. It was a darkness-attribute Heartstone measuring approximately two centimeters in diameter. Since it was larger than a Horn Rabbit’s Heartstone, using it to generate darkness-attribute cloth imbued with a Shadow Space synchronization function would produce a square of fabric measuring forty centimeters on each side.

“Whoa! The stone changed!”

Meika cried out in astonishment. Her shout attracted everyone else’s attention.

“Hey, do it again!”

I continued transforming Heartstones into darkness-attribute cloth, one after another. Once I had accumulated enough, I processed the fabric into a large Shadow Bag. The finished bag measured 200 centimeters long, 80 centimeters wide, and 90 centimeters high.

“I-it turned into a bag!”

“Wow! Amazing!”

The children began climbing into the Shadow Bag and playing excitedly.

Director Doi, Elena, and the other nursery teachers watched them intently.

“That’s incredible. What’s the name of that skill?”

In response to Director Doi’s question, I explained Heartstone Processing Technique.

“Now I understand why you recommended that I acquire Heartstone Processing Technique, Maki-san.”

Director Doi turned her gaze toward Elena.

“You acquired that skill?”

“Yes. Maki-san recommended it because he said it was useful.”

“Hmm. Now I want it too.”

Nakazono, one of the nursery teachers, raised a question.

“But what are you going to put in such an enormous bag?”

“Food and firewood, for example. Since my Individual Level has increased and I’ve gotten stronger, I can carry even heavy things.”

Nakazono looked envious.

“That sounds nice. I’d like to defeat some monsters and acquire skills too.”

“Wait, haven’t you defeated a single Aberrant Beast yet?”

Nakazono nodded. Wasn’t that dangerous? If she continued aging and her body grew weaker, there was a risk she could die from the poison. At the very least, she absolutely needed to acquire the Poison Resistance skill.

When I explained that, Nakazono and Ishigami, the two nursery teachers, exchanged troubled looks.

“But they’re frightening, aren’t they? And I’ve heard it hurts terribly.”

“It definitely hurts, but considering what might happen in the future, Poison Resistance is essential.”

The two women were apparently terrified of Aberrant Beasts. They exchanged glances, still hesitant.

“Elena-san is going to start practicing too, so why don’t you give archery a try?”

“There’s no way I could use a bow.”

I had them try drawing the bows I’d given Elena, but it didn’t seem possible. Both women said they suffered from frozen shoulders.

The director also looked troubled. After all, it was said that once people passed their fifties and their physical strength began to decline, they became vulnerable to the poison released by Aberrant Beasts.

“We’ll have to think of some solution. Would you help us come up with something, Maki-san?”

“Of course.”

Before I knew it, the children had grown quiet. The younger ones were rubbing their eyes sleepily. Elena and the others laid out the bedding and helped the children get ready for bed. Tonight, they could sleep in lighter clothing without worrying about the cold.

As though she had suddenly remembered something, the director turned toward me.

“About the Endo family you asked me to look for… Apparently, they aren’t living in Higashikami Town. Perhaps they’re in Higashishimo Town…”

“But Misaki’s parents have nothing to do with the Mitarai Group.”

The director’s expression grew sorrowful.

“There’s still hope that they might have left the city.”

“If that’s the case, I have no idea how I’m supposed to find them…”

“Indeed.”

The director apparently had no idea how to search for them either.

After the children had gone to sleep, I stayed by the stove, tending the fire while watching their peaceful sleeping faces.

“Such adorable children. I wonder what the world will be like by the time they grow up.”

The director gazed at the children with a slightly sorrowful expression.