CHAPTER 268 – STUDYING TOGETHER

While Maxwell and others were off to obtain Marble Spider materials, Finia and I were focusing on our respective homework.
Currently, Finia was in dire distress trying to decipher the homework Maxwell gave her so she could understand the meaning of magic circles.

Normally, fully memorizing magic circles was enough to cast the spells.
However, Maxwell did not consider that a proper way of learning it.
One of his reasons was that, if you did not understand what you were drawing, your range of practical applications would be narrowed down.

I on the other hand was busy assembling a magic circle to carve into the talisman, the other gift I was preparing.
Even if I say talisman, it was not the kind that brought good fortune, but more like a magic tool that could cast Protection continuously.

This magic circle would serve to improve what I received from the God of Destruction, which I would later have Maxwell check to confirm whether everything was alright.

I planned to do this after obtaining the materials, but since I was feeling bad anyway, I decided to use today to prepare the magic circle in advance.

“Lady Nicole, about this part…”
“Hmm, you mean the reason why the crimson magic circle is used as a base?”

I peered at her homework as she asked me.
I was learning under Maxwell so I could teach her this much easily.
I drew near her shoulder and leaned over to look at the problem set and explain as I pointed at it.

“A crimson magic circle designates the strength of magic power, so you use the magic circle of fire attribute.
Because fire by itself signifies strength.”
“So that’s how it was.”
“Similarly, yellow is linked to earth, and signifies stability.
That’s why Gold is used to set the effect duration.”
“Aha!”

She started taking notes with a diligent expression.
Our shoulders seemed to have been touching without realizing it, making me feel a little embarrassed.
She was only five back in my previous life, but now she had already grown enough to look like a girl in her late teens.
The soft sensations transmitted through my shoulders were making me strangely aroused.

No wait, this was too strange.
I certainly have had little experience with women since my past life… Or more like I had none of it, but it wasn’t to the point that I would be aroused by something so trivial.

Finia in question was oblivious to all this.
Since I was a girl now, she was completely defenseless against me.

In the end, I ended up being excessively flustered throughout the half day until Maxwell’s group returned with a successful hunt.

Maxwell’s group returned as the evening arrived.
Cloud and Maxwell were carrying a pole with one Marble Spider hanging from it.
It seemed to be dead already, but it looked quite grotesque.
In fact, Letina was distancing herself from it a bit.

“We’re back! We managed to take it down!”
“Welcome, Michelle.
It seems you played an active part.”

I greeted everyone.
I guessed that Michelle played an important role due to three of her arrows sticking deeply into the spider’s back.

Marble Spider’s threads could be extracted even after they had died.
The raw materials for the threads were being stored inside its body in liquid form, which took on a thread shape after spitting it out from the spinnerets.

Some other spider species apparently could spit it out in a balled-up state and use it to attack too.
At any rate, it worked like that, so it was possible to extract it whether it was alive or dead.

The problem was, the threads spat out by it came with adhesive material, so we couldn’t use it as clothes right away.
However, that adhesive material was quite weak to water, so once we extracted the threads through spinnerets, we could run it in water and coil it on the spool without problems.

“So, you extract threads from this butt part, then soak them through this tub of water and wind it around the spool.”

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Maxwell took out spools and started explaining as he made collecting preparations.

Michelle and Cloud were listening to him attentively.
The two were quite self-interested, so whenever matters concerned their income, they were very attentive.
Letina, on the other hand, was shrinking back at the sight of her first spider monster.

Well, its appearance diverged from that of a human greatly, so I could understand her feelings.

Maxwell’s pools were the types that reeled in the thread by rotating the handle, so if we spun it too fast the mucus could get soaked by water before it managed to solidify and snap.

On the other hand, if you were too slow or your speed was not static, it would result in a thread of uneven thickness.

It took us a while before we managed to reach a stable winding tempo due to all the aforementioned pains.

We failed a bunch of times, but still managed to make about 5 kg worth of thread, enough for making swimsuits.

By that time the day had already darkened completely, delaying our dinner by a bit.
Finia was kind enough to account for that and made dishes that would be okay to eat even cooled.

Then we went to draw water one by one from the well behind, and washed our bodies in impromptu baths made with Earth Wall.

Cloud came to peek midway, but he was easily detected by my perception.
My senses were certainly duller, but not to the point that I would fail to detect someone on the level of Cloud.

Incidentally, I was also aware that he was instigated by Maxwell.
It was something I had gone through myself, so I could understand it.

“I understand you, but I’m not forgiving you.”
“I acted on an impulse! I’m sorry!”

I declared at Cloud as he hung upside down from the cottage’s eaves while tied like a bagworm.

“As punishment, you’ll stay upside down until morning.”
“I’ll die, I’ll really die!”
“Lady Nicole, that is too much…”
“You are too kind, you know, Finia? This idiot has to face the punishment once so he learns it.
Maxwell as well.”
“Umm, that would be too discourteous to Lord Maxwell…”

In consideration of Finia, I ended his punishment in an hour.
As for Maxwell, he had long made his escape.

Still, this whimsical nature of his was quite a pain to deal with.