Nothing beats a solid sleep, and Rino thought his complexion felt rosier even if he was a skeleton. His bones felt lighter and looked slightly glossier, although it might all be his imagination.
Today, Rino had no quests. Both the Daily Quest and Side Quest were updating. Hence, he decided to work on his little interior decorating project. If it were just an abode for Rino, he wouldn't be bothered about aesthetics. However, he had a very important guest arriving tonight. Noir deserved only the best!
Up above, "Noir" blushed. He didn't think Rino would be such a romantic cat person. If they knew about his source of motivation, they might send a furball over right from the beginning. This lazy lich was a slave to the feline species, and Ace didn't know if he should continue supporting this passion or not.
Rino took a look around his humble farmhouse. The furnishing indoors was sparse. He did not need to eat, so there were no tables or chairs, even if there was a kitchen. That wasn't very hospitable. Cats needed a high place to nap and a warm one to curl up next to. He knew what was missing at once.
When it came to weaving, the Gods were mesmerised by just how deft Rino's fingers were. He did not make any mistakes as he wove the basket quickly. Initially, they could not understand why Rino started weaving a wooden basket, but everyone looked over to "Noir" with a smug grin after it took shape. Rino was so into it that he made a small pillow with cotton stuffing and sewed it twice to prevent the cotton from popping if the cat scratched it up. The pillow was placed at the bottom of this small basket. It came with a small linen blanket with Noir's name embroidered on it.
At this point, Ace didn't know if he could still reject Rino's offer to live with him. However, he was a God with duties to do. He couldn't always be there all the time in his incarnate. There was simply not enough divinity for it.
"Why don't you act like a whimsical stray?" Stephanie suggested off-handedly, taking Ace by surprise.
Everyone looked at the Goddess strangely, and Stephanie quickly defended herself, afraid that she would get flamed again. "W-what? Cats are whimsical by nature! They come and go as they please. That would solve Ace's problems, and if Rino isn't motivated, at least we have someone down there to whip the lazy lich! Or I could use the punishment system. Either way works, in my opinion."
There wasn't a need to compare which method was more effective. Sending an incarnate was more practical and less hateful than the punishment system. Besides, it wasn't as if Rino could not be reasoned with. There was no need to resort to using ultimatums.
"We'll do that then," Ark coughed after seeing Ace's awkwardness.
This was one of the rare instances Stephanie's ideas worked, but nobody wanted to admit it. The Goddess of Life Cycle would simply let it get to her head if they recognised it. Hence, everyone agreed and continued to resume what they were doing earlier. Stephanie felt somewhat ignored when nobody said anything. Even if they agreed, it felt as though she was mistreated again, but the Goddess could not pinpoint why she felt that way.
After loitering around the reflecting pond, she left. The three other Gods heaved a sigh of relief. Rino was really going all out to make his minimalist farmhouse a comfortable place to rest and chill in. Despite the darkness in the house because of the dark curtains, Rino added some lanterns fuelled by fire magic. It gave a cosy glow as the lich added the finishing touches to the cat tree indoors.
It was funny how Rino did not even have a proper blanket, but he made sure Noir had everything the cat would possibly want or need. His love for cats was the real thing, and Ark told Ace to visit Rino regularly.
"He might stop working if he misses you too much. You should arrange some time to see him at least once a week."
Phil agreed. "After today, the agricultural developments will begin. Rino needs all the rest and de-stressing he wants. It's almost eight in the evening, you should get ready. The new quests will be launched at midnight."
Unaware of what the Gods were scheming, Rino was enjoying his interior decorating spree. By the time he woke up and decorated Noir's room, it was already dark. Rino took the chance to make a few cooking utensils in case Noir needed to eat. His pottery skills improved the more he crafted, and Rino thought it might be due to all the bricks he made. Working with clay was very easy, and Rino fired everything in the huge kiln.
Once the difficult part of building the huge kiln was over, Rino started to enjoy pottery a little more. The lich had a lot of spare time, so he focussed a little more on his carving details to make the bowls look a little fancier. Ace did not have an issue with the fine details at first. However, he started becoming a little concerned when Rino included cat designs and his feline name into some smaller dishes.
One by one, the farmhouse started to look more like something someone would live in with a tiny table, grass mat, little stump stools and cutlery by the clumsily made sink. There were poorly made shelves that were not very steady or even. Rino did not have much time to make good wooden planks, so they were slapped together using clay and fired in the kiln for the sake of making something functional for all his items.
If there was one thing Rino appreciated now that he did not previously, it was how useful clay was. Using this material, Rino managed to make himself almost everything from a knife to a spoon. Even chairs could be made from clay, but Rino decided against that because he wanted to make something nicer later. For now, he looked at his sparse furnishings and nodded. This was satisfactory.
He really hoped Noir would like it enough to stay for a while.