Even though the gray stones with which this building was made looked sturdy, Daren wanted something that looked better.
Daren wanted the shop he owned to appealing to look at. If people felt more comfortable shopping somewhere, they would have a higher chance of buying more.
Color.
Color is something that is lacking in every day, medieval life. There are not enough colorful dyes for clothes or pottery. The process of making dyes was slow and did not produce much.
What Daren wanted was to paint. He wanted to paint his shop in a bright pink color. This would require the system's help.
"System, what materials would you need to create enough pink paint to cover the exterior of my store?"
[ System would require the following materials which are readily available in this world: Pink stones, flour, salt, and water.
These ingredients will make a simple paint. The ingredients to make advanced, industrial paints are not readily available in this world. ]
"How about the quantities? I asked for how much of this stuff I would need."
[ The system does not need to calculate the number of resources as any missing resource will be made up with the ability { Internal Factory } using energy.
(One of the consciousness' of the system is currently asleep so the system can not run full calculations of things.)
Based on the system's analysis, the energy that this world label as "Force" can be used to create any resource possible.
Creating these resources using { Force } takes lots of time and large quantities of energy.
This is why the system recommends that the user provides more materials rather than energy. ]
' So what you are saying is that { Force } is something that could be used to create anything? It's basically the building block of all creation like atoms then. '
[ The system recognizes "Atoms" as the basic building blocks of all things in the host's world but { Force } is not atoms.
{ Force } is basically a replacement or substitute for atoms that are closer to what you recognize as magic. ]
"So it really is magic. And here I thought that I can ground this world magic in science when it really is nothing but the magic of sorts. I wonder if the system can find out the secrets to { Force } when it gets better."
For now, Daren's plan was on hold. He could not prepare to plan out the changes to the building until he could get his hands on the [ Internal Factory ] ability.
He would not only be able to make high-quality soap but also create a building that people could not take their eyes off of.
Tonight, Daren had to kill as many thieves as possible to stock up on souls and blood.
This would allow him to save up for both the [ Internal Factory ] and [ Soul Masking ] abilities.
Daren starts to roam the city and getting a feel of how it was actually like to live in Igrit City.
He felt that the mood in this city was delightful when he entered for the first time. The people seemed content, they had smiles on their faces and it did not seem like they were being oppressed.
It is known quite well that people in power quite often abused the lower class that did not seem to be the case in this city.
Based on what he had gathered from all the soul's memories, Daren learned that there was literally only one noble in this city.
This noble is known as Marquess Andrew Hendrix. He has two sons by the names of Maxwell and Adam, and a wife named Margret.
The family of four was known to be quite nice to commoners and did not mistreat them in any way. The Marquess is a knowledgeable person who preaches values of equality and has maintained the economic integrity of Igrit City.
The two sons are quite young with the oldest being 9 and the youngest being 7. Both of them attended private lessons at home so they would not leave the house often.
The only information they knew about these two was that they liked to practice sword fighting and eat tasty desserts.
The Marchioness was a merry person who would go out into the market at least 4 times a week to look for things that caught her eye.
With the positive outlook of the marquess and his family, this city has been thriving with its heavenly atmosphere and large amounts of wealth.
Daren decided that he would not leave this city anytime soon and would try to establish a foothold in such an important location.
Not only was the atmosphere relaxed, the economy great, the nobles being accommodating but the large amounts of information that flowed in through merchants were immeasurable.
Hundreds of merchants from all over the human realm would enter this city not only with products but with information on the economic and political situations in other nations.
Igrit city was also a way important gateway into the deeper regions of the Gigantus Empire.
From Igrit City, Daren could spread his claws deeper into the central sections and capital of the Gigantus Empire.
Keep in mind that this nation is the current overlord of 1/3 of the human realm's economy.
If Daren could claw into its underworld, he could maneuver all of humanity with ease.
Daren had most of this mapped out in his head already.
"The actual fun has not even started yet." though Daren as he laughed maniacally at what he foresaw.
Daren arrived back at the Star Bear Inn a little before lunchtime so he could update Celina on his plans.
Daren's room had its curtains fully closed with only a couple of thin rays of light that could enter. The candle on the bedside table was glowing brightly.
This gave the room and calming ambiance.
Inside the hotel room, Celina was constantly changing outfits in front of a large mirror which she bought during her shopping spree yesterday with a price of 15 silver.
The mirror was 2.5 meters tall by 0.7 meters wide. It had a silvery-coated frame that had fake, aqua-colored jewels embedded in its frame.
Click! Creak!
Daren opened the door by using his keys only to be greeted by the sight of Celina in a dark blue swimsuit.
The swimsuit highlighted the round shape of Celina's chest and the firmness of her behind.
Her perfect curves and moon-like skin was glowing in the darkness were a blessing to mortal eyes.
It made Daren feel like he had just witnessed a goddess getting ready to take a bath near the lake at night.
Daren was trying to calm himself to no avail as could not stop the blood that was dripping from his nose.
This mesmerizing sight was soon cut short as Celina wore their matching couple outfit in a blinding instant.
"So this is what you do when you are bored?" asked Daren while holding his nose with a handkerchief. He was trying to stop his blood from pouring out.
"What else do you expect me to do? I could just sit down and watch shows but I feel like I need a break to absorb what happened in episode 58 of 'Your Mother Gave Birth to My Son?'. The part where the minister showed his daughter's panties down the assassin's throat made me want to do the same to you for leaving me here."
Celina was a little upset for not being able to go on another trip through the city to see all the sights like the market. She especially wanted to visit the city park that had an assortment of beautiful trees.
"First of all, that episode alone is responsible for a year worth of unending memes. My jaw was aching for two days straight and my voice was gone for a week because of excessive laughing.
Secondly, you know that you have to appear somewhat sad or your never-ending smiles just make it hard to make my sad stories believable. "
Daren knew that Celina was complaining just because she wanted to and knew exactly why she had to stay in the room. This did not mean Daren would not defend himself though.
"Hmph. Let me order whatever I want for lunch and dinner and we're even." Celina proposed.
"Sure. You can never go wrong with this inn's menu anyways." Daren approved her proposal. He could not find any fault with the meals he's had here in the last three days.
"Yaaay!" screamed Celina like a child and ran out the door.
Daren locked the door behind him and ran after her.
When the two got down to the dining hall, Rusky and Arlene were already seated at a table with two empty chairs.
Celina went to give her order to Lilith while Daren sat down next to Rusky.
"Is she feeling better?" asked Rusky.
"Yeah. She just needed a little bit of time to cope with suddenly being very far from her sibling. She is a strong girl though and I know that she will keep fighting." Daren knew that he had to lie to Rusky about his origins until the day he could be 100% sure there would be no harm to them from knowing about it.
"Did you guys already order?" Daren quickly changed the topic.
"Yeah. She told Lilith to send our food with yours. By the way, is little sis Celina going to give the order today?" Arlene asked. She was curious about what this new little sister of hers would eat.
"I told her to let loose and treat herself to whatever. It would make her feel better." Daren confirmed.
While the group was conversing, Celina approached the counter and started reciting her order.
"I'll take 5 bowls of Earthen Boar stew, 3 bowls of Capa Rice, 1 bowl of mashed potatoes, and 2 plates of roasted Goat meat." Celina put down 15 silver for the food.
She had paid about 3 silver extra because she found Lilith to be adorable.
Lilith was taken back by how effortlessly Celina put in such a large and expensive meal. She even put down the coins smiling and confidence, just like how her husband did.
"Can I call you big sis?" asked Lilith with her golden puppy eyes.
"Ah. Of course, you can. I'm big sis Celina. What's your name?" Celina was glad that the little girl wanted to call her big sister.
Celina wanted her own sister to awaken from the systematic slumber so she could watch dramas with her.
"I'm Lilith!" said Lilith with her sweet voice and cute, chubby face.
"That's a beautiful name. Hey, how about you let this big sister rub your cheeks."
"YES!!" accepted Lilith with a scream. She really would love this goddess of a big sister to rub her cheeks.
"Heehe." Celina was having a fun time squishing and rubbing her soft and pudgy cheeks.
Lilith could feel only the warmth of Celina's soft hands as of she was getting a heavenly massage.
After about a minute or so of turning Lilith's cheeks bright red, Celina left the counter and went to their table to wait for the food.
As soon as Celina had settled into her seat, Arlene asked a serious question.
"Which one of you carries the money in your relationship?" Arlene's question was asked to see which one of the two was the reliable one.
Before Daren could say anything, Celina took a small stack of coins out of nowhere and opened it. She brazenly showed off the remaining dozen or so of gold coins that Daren had left.
"Obviously it's me. Daren trusts me with every single coin he's ever made." Celina chuckles a little and puts the coins away.
"Hahaha. I knew it! It had to be my little sister. How about my little sister and I go on a little shopping trip by ourselves. I'll show you around town." From the dominant tone in which Celina had always spoken, Arlene knew that she was the one on top.
"No. I am not going to let my honey leave my side any longer. Plus we promised to take a walk in the park today." Daren interjected.
"Hahaha. Then let's all go together!" yelled Rusky as chugged a large glass of beer that was right beside him the entire time.
The food came in shortly and the brother-sister pair was surprised to see how much was on the trays that belonged to the couple.
Celina took 2 bowls of rice and 4 bowls of Boar stew and started chomping down like a bear. She constantly shoved food down her throat and took only small breaks to drink water or to make a delightful expression in appreciation.
Celina was eating like an absolute monster. She was feeding herself like a freight truck that was fueling itself for the long haul.
Even though she had at least twice as much food as everyone else, she finished a couple of minutes before them. Even Rusky, who ate much more than regular people to maintain his giant size could not even dream to beat her.
"Haha. Little sister Celina sure could eat." Arlene's laugh was more of a scared and awkward chuckle. She was intimidated by the fact that she had never seen any women come close to eating like Celina just did.
She would not be too surprised if Celina was a mercenary or cultivator of some sort but the fact that Celina was maintaining such a figure while eating like this was truly astounding.
'Where do all the nutrients go?' wondered Arlene. She liked to eat too but there was no way she could maintain her slim figure if she did so.