Reincarnated to the Past 19: Soapy Arrangement (Patreon)

Reincarnated to the Past
Chapter 19: Soapy Arrangement 

(Warning: Very narrative, time skips)

-VB-

It’s been a few months since I’ve woken up from my brief coma and sparred against Johaken. 

Suffice to say, I had been surprised with myself. I ended up exploring a bit more of my newly forged body by doing a lot of ridiculous things out of sight of the tribe. I lifted rocks that was once out of my weight class, chopped down trees with far fewer swings, and threw things far further, though I did lose just a tad bit of accuracy.

The difference between a 10/10  accuracy before versus 9/10 accuracy now with a crossbow was negligible in my opinion, at least until I encountered someone that was way out of my league or had powers of their own that made accuracy paramount.

I didn’t necessarily keep this newfound strength a secret, which was just as well. The tribe was starting to think that I was a godborn or something like that. It didn’t help that Ghigari was very inclined to share what I shared with him, rather than plotting to kick me out of the tribe. For that, I was thankful and a little wary. 

Thankful because it took less than such rumors for a person to be removed from a tribe in this day and age - as well as after - and a little wary because if Ghigari wasn’t kicking me out, then he had to be planning something else.

For now though, I went back to being a school teacher and continued to bring future innovations to the past. 

The dung fertilizer operation was still ongoing; everyday, the dung pile grew bigger and bigger, as did the smell. To counteract this, I began to dig huge holes and helped my slaves dump all of the dung in there. It would take a year for feces to decompose completely, which meant that they would be ready by the time I got a new power next year. 

Oh, and I began to make soap.

Literally the day after I met with Ghigari and his family, I met with my slaves to see how my “estate” was being run. And obviously, because I’ve had them collecting shit, they smelled really bad. 

Kinda felt bad, honestly. 

After that meeting where my nose complained vehemently about the smell, I went and made soap. 

For this I needed quite a bit of materials. With the help of my slaves, I collected a lot of animal fat - everything from grease to whole swathes of fat I bought - and a lot of ash that no one wanted anyways. 

My entire household worked day and night to process the ash into usable lye through mixing and boiling. Next, we boiled and filtered the grease and all other oils we’ve got. Then, we mixed them up in a hot iron pan and then poured it into a large wooden trough. 

Finally, we let it rest for two weeks.

What came out was a hard lye soap. It wasn’t half as great as the soaps I used in the 20th or 21ste century, but it worked.

My slaves loved them because it made them smell less like shit and more like people.

Ghigari and his mother, the two shrewdest and sharp people in the tribe, noticed the condition of my slaves. Ghigari, in fact, called them “cleaner asses than my elite warriors” and demanded how I kept them clean.

I gifted him four bars of my lye soap and how to use them.

Ureya, being the nosy girl that she was, was there with her dad when I told him how to use it. She then “stole” one for her use. Then the medicine woman “stole” one for her use. Finally, Ghigari’s own wife brazenly took one, leaving Ghigari with only one bar of lye soap.

Well, it worked. Over the course of a single night of cleaning, the leader and his family came out looking far cleaner than ever before.

That’s how I ended up starting a soap business with my slaves doing most of the work, drawing their time away from shit collecting route.

They knew that I knew that they preferred the soap business over the shit business, so they kept mum about the change and did their work. In return, I gave them wages in soap and told them that they were free to trade those soap for what they may desire, if they collect their body’s weight in soap, they can buy their freedom.

Time passed. Fall passed by in a rush thanks to the soap business. Winter came and went. Spring arrived with a flourish of flowers and light rain. 

And then it was summer again.

I got called up to Ghigari’s hut and I went.

I met the chief, and the chief asked me out of nowhere if I was willing to marry his Ureya. 

Even before I got sick, she occasionally visited me to check up on me. At that point in time, Ureya had been trying her best to warm up to me. She didn’t do it to a noticeable degree like many other single women in the tribe now. In fact, she seemed upset every time I was nearby another single woman.

Now, I was keenly aware of how much her attitude towards me had shifted. When I first met her, she was paranoid. Outright hostile and aggressive. Then we took a mission together with Hoktim and she warmed up. 

A battle. Shew grew closer. We even exchanged stories about how the battle went in our respective areas. 

Finally, she smiled around me and brought food, even for my slaves (though, she did this rarely).

I thought about it. I really thought about it. 

Ureya focused on the big picture, a stark contrast to other women, but it didn’t mean that she neglected details. 

So I asked what kind of bride price Ghigari was expecting, because such was the tradition of the tribe.

The man refused bride price on the grounds that Ureya was an “used” woman.

I tried not to frown. Such outlook towards women was an unfortunately common perspective in this day and age, and would be for another two thousand and five hundred years. 

I knew that Ghigari just wanted to make me a part of his family. Politically speaking, I was a respected man of the tribe now, the wiseman and a renowned and accomplished warrior. Religiously, the rumors of my “godborn” status had cemented, and to have his daughter marry me would make not only his family higher in standing even among other tribes but give better chances to his grandchildren through Ureya. Culturally speaking, Ureya was a “spent” good with her own rape counted against her. 

This made her value less in marriage and Ghigari was keenly aware of this. On top of that, Ureya would benefit from my status more than I would from her. Ghigari was, again, aware of this. He knew that he was asking a lot from me (culturally). 

In essence, it was the offer of a father just trying his best to give his daughter what he could give through a man who was loyal to him despite being someone who was definitely stronger. 

I asked for a month’s time to decide. 

Ghigari looked pained as he acquiesced. He thought that he wasn’t going to agree to this.

And honestly, if I don’t agree to it, Ureya would probably remain single unless he married herself much lower to her station. 

But Ureya was too proud for that.

Thus a single woman, she would remain if I refused or someone else agreed to take on a woman in her early twenties - an age where women in this era would have already bore several children - as their new wife.

-VB-

For the first week, I barely met Ureya. It was almost like she was avoiding me. 

But then on the night of the start of the second week, she came to my home in the night.