The Island-Banished Noblewoman - Chapter 11 (Patreon)

Rain (4)
Thus, Marylia took shelter under the roof.

Fortunately, she had noticed the rain just as it began to fall, allowing her to avoid getting too wet.

"It's good I brought in the pottery. In this darkness, it would be impossible to find and retrieve them."

Feeling the rain intensify, Marylia looked up at the sky of the nearly invisible night forest.

… Yes. This is a deserted island. The only sources of light are the sun and the moon, and nothing else. So, when the sun sets and the clouds obscure the moon, you can't see anything at all! Just like now!

"I'll need to think about lighting someday. Well, maybe after hunting some animals..."

With a sigh, Marylia began to ponder how she could obtain light.

… It seemed difficult, no matter what.

"I'm so bored..."

In the darkness, without any light, there was nothing much to do.

"... I guess I'll just sleep."

Resigned, Marylia lay down in her makeshift bed from the previous night—a spot on the ground under the roof with some straw spread out—and sighed.

"Oh dear, I miss my bed... it was so comfortable..."

Comparing it to the bed she had made just today, she realized how good it was. Resolving to complete it tomorrow, she reluctantly slept on the ground.

And so, morning came.

"Ah, the rain hasn't stopped..."

… Even in the morning, the rain hadn't ceased!

Rain causes many problems, one of which is cooking.

Currently, Marylia relied on outdoor fires for cooking. But when it rains, cooking became impossible!

As a result, breakfast was skipped! A sip of water and a raw bite of Man-Eater stalks, and that was it!

… She yearned for a brick house. Ideally, before winter—during summer, even.

Before dealing with the cold, she needed to protect herself from the rain and wind and have a place to cook indoors!

Well, there's no helping the rain. With nothing else to do, Marylia decided to make some ropes.

She had some vines she had gathered the day before, still in their vine form, stored under the roof. So, she began stripping them to extract the fibers and spin them into thread.

While spinning the thread, she started to sing to pass the time. It was a song the maids used to sing while spinning thread back when she was at the Odeil family estate.

… Around the end of summer, the maids would spin flax thread. When they did this in the sunny garden, the scent of late summer and the maids' spinning song would waft through the open window of the attic, where Marylia read her books.

She wondered how those maids were doing. Ever since she started leading the army, she rarely returned to the estate. Those maids who sang back then might no longer be there.

Feeling a bit lonely, Marylia continued spinning thread by herself.

Around noon, the rain stopped.

In the damp and wet forest, gathering grass for the roof would be inefficient. Just stepping into the rain-soaked grass would make her soaking wet.

"I'm going to make the roof..."

But Marylia was determined to thatch the bed’s roof. This determination could not be stopped.

On a rainy day, expanding the furnace was also impossible. At best, she could start a fire around the furnace to dry it out a bit.

Marylia started a fire near the furnace and lined up wet branches to dry. And then...

"I don't care if I get wet... I'll just bathe later..."

With a somewhat crazed look, Marylia went out to cut grass with a half-smile.

… Yes, she despised the rain that much!

Thatching the roof was hard work. Gathering materials was tough, and attaching them to the roof was even harder. But it had to be done. With rain so frequent, it couldn't be ignored.

This season wasn’t supposed to be very rainy...probably. Given that this area was near the Fractalia Kingdom's coast.

But that likely means storms in the summer.

Preparation for wind and rain must begin now. The past two days of rain made her realize the inevitability of rain.

"Good grief... I have no choice, do I?"

Sighing, Marylia continued cutting grass. She believed she could at least gather enough roof material for the bed and the wood shed today. Probably.

She tied the cut grass tightly with ropes. As tightly as possible, until it seemed ready to burst with tension.

If she didn't do this, the roof material might fall out after thatching. And to withstand the rain, the density of the thatch is crucial. The more densely packed, the better. Though, compressing it reduces its volume, necessitating a large amount of material, which is unavoidable...

"Sigh... I hope this will be enough."

Setting down the bundle of grass she carried back at the base, Marylia looked at the setting sun and sighed again, realizing that it wouldn't be possible to dry the grass before thatching the roof.

Well, if that's the case, there's no choice.

"Time for a bath. Hehe..."

Quickly, Marylia stripped off her chemise and dashed into the river with a "Yay!"

Even though it was after the rain, the river had already calmed down. The flowing water was clear spring water, not muddy rainwater.

This made for a perfect bath. Marylia began washing herself in the river.

"... I wish I had soap..."

Water alone doesn't really clean off dirt. Grime and oil require hot water and soap to be properly removed.

But even just washing off the mud felt refreshing. Marylia spent some time splashing and playing in the river as she bathed.

She also washed her recently worn clothes. Again, it was just a water wash, but without a large container for boiling the clothes, proper cleaning wasn't possible. Ideally, she'd want to boil them with lye to clean off oils and grime, but that would have to wait until she had a large tub or pottery container.

Feeling somewhat refreshed, Marylia then draped her wet chemise over the roofless wood shed like a canopy to dry.

By lighting a fire under the wood in the shed, both the wood and the chemise would dry.

… And then.

"I need to dry myself too. Hehe..."

Marylia climbed onto the woodpile and...

"Oh, this is too hot..."

She quickly got off.

… Even with the fire at a distance, it was too hot on top of the woodpile. Not a viable option.

So, she warmed herself by the fire meant to dry the furnace. The fire quickly warmed her chilled body and dried her wet hair.

While bathing feels good, the drop in body temperature can be life-threatening. Especially with wet hair. Marylia dried her hair with the heat, fluffing it up.

Thanks to the fire, she could cook. Having skipped both breakfast and lunch, she was very hungry. Tonight's meal consisted of fish grilled to a crispy, aromatic edge, Man-Eater stalk soup, and steamed Man-Eater roots cooked by the fire.

"... I'm running out of food again..."

All the Man-Eater buds had been sliced thin and dried, and the stalks and roots were almost gone. While she still had some roots left, the stalks were nearly depleted. It happened quickly.

Hopefully, there would be another suitable monster soon. With this thought, Marylia decided to find the next prey before the Man-Eater roots ran out.

After a night's sleep, the next morning, she chewed on some of the roots roasted last night for breakfast and headed to the field to give the peelings and the leaves used to wrap the roots to the slimes. And there she found three slimes...

"... Do you multiply every time it rains...?"

… Jiggling cheerfully, the slimes had increased to three. Apparently, they did multiply.

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