Chapter 78: Chapter 78
Belissar nodded. Honestly, the process didn’t seem that different from mead-making besides the mana and the burning roots. Under Juosiutik’s watch, he started mashing up some healing herbs and pouring his mana into it.
“Um, is it supposed to be glowing?”
She picked up the bowl. The herbs were glowing...or rather, glistening in the sunlight. If she looked closely, she could see a viscous, golden liquid leaking out of them. She narrowed her eyes.
“Why exactly did you put honey into the mix?”
Belissar tilted his head.
Juosiutik shoved the bowl in front of his face.
It had been a legitimate concern. Chief Rohsuak wasn’t the youngest, so the tribe should not depend on things only she could do for their survival. But, fortunately, they had found their home before then. They could dry wood for fire-making and wood-working the normal way now, her method had dropped from crucial to merely convenient.
So, Chief Rohsuak used her abilities for the first round of lumber, giving her people immediate access to dry wood. With that, they could begin building homes for the first time since before she became chief. Once the basics were set up, she could take a step back and wean them off of her powers.
And, perhaps more importantly, they could now trade construction-ready wood to any other parties who may require such materials. She started to grin at that thought before shaking her head. This process had been a joint effort by her people, therefore the rewards of this trade must be for the community. And since she already had some honey of her own, she definitely could not justify taking any from the community’s share.
She figured she better start rationing her personal store...
Juosiutik was staring at the ground.
Belissar waved his hands about.
“No, um, it’s...not really ok but, um, no one got hurt so no harm done?”
Juosiutik didn’t move.
Belissar shook his head.
“It’s, um, fine...since nothing else caught fire this time, at least...”
Juosiutik still didn’t budge.
“The chief keeps telling me I need to calm down. But I never learn. I absolutely should have expected that mana honey would resonate with fire radish. That should have been obvious. But no. I went and acted stupid. After lecturing you on the complexities and dangers of potion-making.”
Belissar heaved a sigh and shook his head. But, well, this seemed to be a thing for the girl and he didn’t know what else to say to her, so he figured he’d just let her recover on her own.
There had been a big commotion when the fire broke out, but fortunately it was contained within the pot. Still, if the flowers started catching fire the whole Flower Meadow may have burned quickly, so it was quite concerning. Belissar...may not have been so understanding if the Flower Meadow hives were threatened by such a mistake. And speaking of the bees, he again had to reassure them that Juosiutik was not intending to harm him...after which they began looking for shades, having associated him lighting fires with incoming purifications.
It got Belissar thinking. Fire had been his ally for now, but would that always be the case? A brush fire could race across an open field like the Flower Meadow with surprising speed, so even a small fire could quickly burn the whole thing down. In that regard, Belissar had been a bit careless with his fire pit plans and it had been extremely fortunate he had never tripped while carrying a torch.
It would be a good idea to think about digging a fire ditch or something, at least around the hives, the Memorial, and the Shrine of Bees. He or the bees might drop a torch, the bear people might do something with fire accidentally...or otherwise, or a shade might show up with black flames or something like that. It was a vulnerability he should prepare for...particularly since his Tower lacked water sources at the moment.
But all that thought also brought something else to mind. Belissar turned to Juosiutik.
“Hey, you wouldn’t happen to have extras of that fire radish, would you?”
Juosiutik stopped mumbling to herself for a moment.
“Huh? Um, well, yes, but they’re kind of important. It’s hard to start fires underground, you know?”
Belissar tilted his head.
“But, um, aren’t you moving into the purified area? So, you aren’t living underground anymore?”
Juosiutik looked at him for a moment before tilting her own head.
“In that case, I'd like to trade for some.”
Juosiutik crossed her arms and nodded.
“Well...I’d need to check with the chief but...what did you have in mind?”
Belissar rubbed his chin.