Chapter 62: Guidance Stone and Olesia
  About a month had passed since the party. Eld took out a large Guidance Stone, which he had asked his younger half-brother, Jaylot, to arrange for purchase, from its box. It was a beautiful, transparent sphere about the size of Eld’s head.
 
  “Oh, it arrived, it arrived. I thought it would take longer, but that’s good.”
 
  Carrying the Guidance Stone, he headed down to the basement. And he was startled. Dozens of large barrels were placed at the bottom of the stairs. The fact that this place could hold so many was impressive, but he was also surprised by Mary, who must have placed them here. These barrels contained Olesia juice that she had made herself. They were currently being stored in this place, where the temperature remained constant, for the aging process.
 
  “They’ve increased again. How much did you buy?”
 
  He muttered while tapping a nearby barrel. The Olesia fruit, the main ingredient, had been purchased using the royal family’s name after Al brought a letter from King Balza the day after the party. The letter apologized for the previous day’s incident and granted them permission to shop freely while staying in the central capital, along with a royal identification card. Moreover, Mary had even arranged for regular purchases for several years.
 
  The large Guidance Stone that Eld was holding had also been purchased at that time. Originally, Guidance Stones could only be obtained from the dungeon in Faniaal territory, and they weren’t actually stones, but the remains of monsters. Small ones could be found scattered within the dungeon, but the size that Eld had ordered was something that appeared only once every ten years, if at all. While it might seem easy to obtain by simply defeating monsters, monsters that grew to that size were strong enough to give even Eld a tough fight. According to the letter from Jaylot that was enclosed, it seemed they had managed to acquire the remains of a monster that had died of old age this time.
 
  Eld made his way through the large barrels to his destination. There was another large Guidance Stone there, but it had cracks in several places.
 
  “Well, if I replace this, it won’t absorb magic excessively anymore, so I can grow medicinal herbs in the garden. Though, since it’s already snowing and I can’t cultivate the land, I’ll have to wait until early spring.”
 
  Grumbling to himself, he replaced the Guidance Stone. Guidance Stones had the property of storing magic power. And the platform it was currently placed on was what released that stored magic power. This platform was a type of magic tool, and thanks to it, many other magic tools could be activated.
 
  Eld smashed the old Guidance Stone against the new one. The shattered fragments were absorbed by the new Guidance Stone, allowing the contained magic power to be transferred.
 
  “That’s good. Considering how long the original one lasted, I guess this one will last for about 30 years. I should prepare a new one before that time comes.”
 
  Muttering to himself, he returned to the ground level. When he went to the kitchen, he found Mary with a serious expression, tasting the freshly made Olesia juice. He couldn’t tell if she had been peeling or eating Olesia since morning, but he sighed at the thought that she was still planning to continue making it. However, he knew that if he complained about anything related to Olesia, she would become a demon and press him, so he didn’t say anything in particular. Eld popped a peeled fruit into his mouth. The strong acidity stimulated his mouth.
 
  “Hmm…… sour…… Yeah, it’s not something you eat just the fruit alone.”
 
  Saying that, he put an Olesia fruit from the box into his mouth, skin and all. Olesia was a rather strange fruit; the skin had a strong sweetness, while the fruit itself was sour. Usually, people would wash it thoroughly and eat it whole, skin and all. There were a few who preferred the sourness and ate only the fruit, but they were a minority.
 
  It tasted like an orange but was cyan in color. That’s apparently how it came to be called Olesia. Because it had a stronger sweetness than an orange, it was the standard winter fruit in this country.
 
  “Alright, this is the taste.”
 
  Mary nodded in satisfaction.
 
  “You’ve been making it ever since we got back, but have you finally made one you’re satisfied with?”
 
  “Yeah. The juice we had at the party was delicious, so I was trying to recreate it. I finally did it.”
 
  Eld’s cheeks twitched at the thought that she had even recreated that. He had resigned himself to the fact that she would immediately try to recreate the dishes from the party upon returning home, as it was her usual routine, but to be this enthusiastic about a single juice was bordering on madness.
 
  “The barrels in the basement, are those the failed attempts?”
 
  “They’re failures in the sense of recreating it. But if we’re talking about Olesia juice in general, they’re more delicious than the commercially available ones, so they’re a success. There’s quite a lot, so maybe we could sell them.”
 
  Saying that, Mary drank the juice she had made.
 
  “Well, it would be tough to go sell them in this snow, but if we sell them in the summer, we could make a decent profit.”
 
  “Oh, that’s a good idea. A sour Olesia juice on a hot day is exceptional.”
 
  Saying that, Mary began to clean up.
 
  “If they’re in a hurry, they’ll come to our house, right?”
 
  Eld said, looking out the window.
 
  “What will?”
 
  “The Saintess’ request. It’s been a month, so if they’re fast, they might be here soon.”
 
  It had been snowing for the past few days, so neither Eld nor Mary had gone to the Guild. It was possible that the Guild had already been contacted, but walking on snowy roads was quite a chore. Moreover, this year had been a particularly snowy one. About half of the month had been snow days.
 
 
  “Has it really been that long? You’re right, if they’re in a hurry, they’ll probably come to our house. It’s not far from the Guild. But do you think they’ll really climb the mountain in this snow?”
 
  Mary’s voice made it clear that she was displeased. It wouldn’t be a problem for them, as they could use heat magic, but since they didn’t know how many people she would bring with her, it was a cause for concern.
 
  “Well, all we can do is wait patiently.”
 
  Saying that, he started to help Mary clean up.