The Island-Banished Noblewoman - Chapter 21 (Patreon)

Heart-Pounding Pottery (4)
The main ingredient for the glaze would likely be ash made from burning a plant similar to wheat, perhaps a member of the Poaeae family. Plants from the Poaeae family contain a lot of silicates, so using their ash for the glaze creates a sturdy glass layer on the surface of the pottery, making it resistant to peeling and cracking.

Of course, various materials could be used to make glaze depending on the desired color and texture, but for now, practicality is key. Therefore, Marylia decided to make the glaze from the ash of grass-family weeds and feldspar.

So, after sleeping and waking up the next morning, the first thing to do was have a simple breakfast of salted meat and wild vegetables.

"Alright, let's fire up the next batch. I could use a few more Terracotta Golems."

For now, the second batch of pottery was placed in the furnace, and the fire was stoked. There were still plenty of dried pots waiting to be fired. As many as possible should be fired while working on making the glaze at the same time.

"First, let's get to mowing the grass..."

… The grass would be mowed for the glaze. It's a tough job, but it has to be done. Marylia began mowing the grass with a stone knife.

"Oh, look at that, this grass has seeds on it."

Among the weeds, she found a stalk that resembled wheat. Of course, it wasn't as densely packed with seeds as wheat, and it looked rather meager, but…

"Since it's here, I might as well taste it. Ehehe."

Marylia, thinking, "If this can give me even a little starchy food, that would be great!" continued mowing the grass with delight.

… Thinking of it as mowing grass for ash for glaze doesn't inspire much energy, but mowing grass for food! That thought gives energy. Humans are surprisingly simple creatures.

And so, Marylia returned to the base with a large amount of weeds, which were now considered potential food.

After checking the furnace's fire and having the golem operate the bellows… it was time to thresh the seeds from the weeds she had brought back.

First, the seeds were separated and dried. After drying, it would be quickest to grind them between boards, but unfortunately, there were no boards. So, she decided to have a Mud Glem make a stone mill. The golem would repeatedly strike a large stone with a hard stone to create a hollow. This simple, repetitive task was perfect for the golem.

… With that, the processing of the seeds, which might be edible as wild wheat, was temporarily completed. It was time to return to the original purpose of making ash.

"... It shrinks when burned, doesn't it? Of course it does..."

She made ash, but its volume had significantly decreased. Naturally.

"There's really only about a handful left... Hmm, using grass to make ash is inefficient. It would be a different story if I could get grass in large quantities, but..."

When plants are turned into ash, surprisingly little remains. Marylia, with a slightly distant look in her eyes, gathered the remaining ash.

"Well, let's worry about that later. For now, the glaze, the glaze..."

The collected ash was immediately put into a jar. Then, hot water was poured in to leach out the lye. The ash, once fully leached, would be used to make the glaze.

"… It's a shame to just throw out the lye. Let's use it for washing."

Never one to waste anything, Marylia decided to do laundry while making the glaze. She would wash the clothes once the lye had settled and was ready to be discarded.

Marylia spent the rest of the day gathering firewood.

She wandered through the forest, looking for dry wood that could be used the next day. She broke the dry wood with a stone axe and carried it back. It was a tough task, but it had to be done; otherwise, they would run out of fuel, and the furnace wouldn't be able to operate.

The wood cut down earlier still hadn't fully dried. It would be difficult to use it as fuel for the furnace. Although a small fire was kept burning under the woodpile to promote drying, there was still some anxiety about it.

Marylia also gathered some berries before returning to the base around noon. By then, the furnace was in good condition, so she stopped the fire and waited for it to cool.

While eating fish for lunch, she checked on the lye. The ash had settled, so she carefully poured the lye into another jar, then refilled the ash with water. The lye needed to be fully leached out before the glaze could be used, so it would still be some time before it was ready.

"Well, that's fine. Time for laundry... hehe, let's try using soap along with the lye."

Marylia, in a great mood, took a lump of soap wrapped in leaves, tucked the jar of lye under her arm, and headed to the river to do laundry. This was both an experiment to see how well the lye could clean and to test the practicality of the soap. And above all, if things could be cleaned, it would be a great outcome. There was no reason not to be in a good mood.

Marylia quickly undressed and began washing her clothes.

First, she soaked the clothes in the lye. Although boiling them was an option, for now, she just soaked and scrubbed them.

Meanwhile, she washed her body, unwrapped the soap from its leaf covering, and took out the small, pyramid-shaped soap. She dipped it in water and started lathering it up to see how well it worked...

"Oh my, it’s a success!"

The soap functioned perfectly as soap!

There was a slight odor typical of animal fats, but the rosemary scent managed to mask it well. In any case, a little scent is hardly something to worry about when you have soap that actually cleans.

Marylia lathered her entire body with the soap. Until now, she had only been able to rinse with water, so at first, the soap bubbles would disappear almost immediately upon contact with her skin. However, with persistent washing, she eventually got a nice, foamy lather.

"Hehehe, this feels great~"

Marylia happily enjoyed her bath… This luxury could only be enjoyed during the summer. As autumn approached, it would start getting colder, and bathing in winter could be life-threatening.

… Ideally, she would like to have a bathroom ready by then, but who knows how that will turn out.

Now.

After finishing her bath and feeling fresh and clean, Marylia washed the clothes she had soaked in the lye.

It seemed like some of the dirt had come off. But, for good measure, she scrubbed them with soap as well, and that got rid of even more dirt. Soap truly is a marvelous thing.

She hung the washed clothes to dry on the roof of the woodpile, changed into another chemise, and then began preparing dinner a bit early.

"Since I have it, let's try threshing some of this wheat-like grain."

Yes. In her hands, Marylia held the seeds from the Poaceae family plant she had gathered earlier!

The stone mill wasn’t finished yet, so she decided to thresh just a handful of the grains.

She placed the grains on a stone and ground them with another stone to remove the husks. Essentially, she was peeling the grains.

As expected, the process was inefficient. Many grains didn't shed their husks even after being ground, so she had to check each one individually and grind it again. If the stone mill were finished, the grains would rub against each other and thresh more effectively.

"Well then, I wonder how it tastes. Ehehehe..."

Marylia threw the roughly-threshed grains into a pot, added salted meat and wild vegetables, and cooked it all together. If it turned into a delicious porridge, that would be wonderful, but she wasn't sure how it would turn out.

She simmered the grains for a while. When she thought it was about ready, she decided to taste a grain.

… And then.

"... Oh dear~"

It was a strange texture—hard and unpleasant.

The thin husk remained on her tongue.

And most of all... it had a nearly nonexistent presence!

"It's not very tasty~..."

Despite the effort put into threshing, the result was disappointing. Perhaps if she could polish the grains more thoroughly or grind them into flour, the outcome would be different. However, she didn't have enough of the grains to process them that way.

… Slightly disheartened, Marylia decided to store the remaining grass seeds under the roof, with the intention of planting them in winter.

Although the wheat-like grains were a letdown, grilled salted meat with boiled wild vegetables was still quite tasty. It wasn't anything new, but for now, it made for a decent dinner. Finally, Marylia went to check the furnace.

"Oh my, it went perfectly!"

Inside the furnace, numerous Terracotta Golem parts had fired successfully, with almost no cracks or breakage!

… Since it had turned out so well, Marylia decided to animate the Terracotta Golems before going to bed.

She laid out the parts on the ground, arranging them into human shapes. Not every part was perfect, but by combining them, she managed to assemble four Terracotta Golems in total.

Each one had a slightly different shape, giving them a charming individuality. Some had slightly goofy-looking faces, while others appeared a bit lanky. The distortions in the clay and the shrinkage during firing had given each golem its unique expression, which was part of their charm.

"Alright, let's get you to work... wake up now."

Feeling affection for the golems, Marylia brought the four Terracotta Golems to life.

… The sound of the terracotta pieces clicking together filled the air as they joined to form complete bodies. The golems slowly stood up.

"Looking forward to working with you."

When Marylia smiled, the Terracotta Golems tilted their heads slightly but seemed to recognize her as their master. They clattered over to her, awaiting her instructions. Their behavior was undeniably adorable.

… Of course, these Terracotta Golems likely had very little in the way of self-awareness. But even so, they were still charming in their own way!

So now, there were five Terracotta Golems in total.

Which meant...

"Well then, let's have them keep the furnace going overnight."

Marylia began planning orders for the golems to maintain the furnace’s operation through the night.

And thus, with more pottery on the way, the range of things she could do continued to expand!