Beastmen Love-Chapter 206: Flower Festival

Astri wonders if she should make salt and sell it slowly, or if she should sell her knowledge to the Emperor and get the ship faster.

She will take time to build everything she needs on the ship. Even if Nature will help her by providing food, she needs to build things to keep everything clean, gadgets that will help her navigate alone, an area to grow crops, and clean water. There are a lot of things to do.

"Once we’re back from the ocean, can you buy me paper? A lot of paper. If it’s too expensive, I can pay with the gems we will get from the first bucket of salt." She asks Kenzou.

"I have gems. I’ll buy for you. Do you know how to write and read?" Kenzou asks her.

"Yes. I do."

"Wow.." Kenzou and Shinkou say together.

"What else do you know?" Shinkou asks, curious.

"Farming." She answers, and then gets more impressed. "Medicine." They widened their eyes so much that it made her chuckle. "I speak 3 languages fluently, but I’ve learned 5. Two of these languages I only know survival words. I know how to draw and paint, it’s the ability I love the most. I know how to build things." She started to count on her hands.

When she looked at them again, they were shocked with their jaws hanging open.

"I think I made my point." She smiles awkwardly.

"Well... It’s better if you don’t expose the things you can do because probably the Emperor will know and won’t for sure want to let go of someone so precious in knowledge. Who would?" Kenzou says, after clearing his throat.

Shinkou had to agree. She’s too precious to be guarded only by a bear. Even if Kenzou has 11 marks, he’s only one male. Astri and Kenzou get ready to leave, and once they’re walking their way to the beach, they see Shinkou taking some things that Astri was carrying and starts to follow them.

"Are you coming with us?" Kenzou asks Shinkou.

"Yes. Not for stealing her knowledge of making salt, but for protection. She’s a female and valuable. You’re strong, but you’re only one." Shinkou says, looking somewhere else, hiding that he has other motives that he doesn’t want to admit.

Astri smiles and nods to Kenzou. Kenzou thinks that if Astri trusts Shinkou, then he’s not the selfish and tricky male that Kenzou thought he was.

Avoiding the common path to not be seen, they arrive at the beach. They do what Astri asks them to do, and then they watch the long process of making salt. While they wait for the water to dissipate, they talk about many things and get to know each other more.

Astri tells them about Aquaterra, the Mermen Tribe, the Dinosaur Kingdom, and also the Beast Kingdom, where she used to live.

Once she starts to stir the salt, they’re impressed to see the salt at the bottom of the pot. When she’s done, she passes the salt to a big wooden plank to let it dry. Then she starts to make the same process again.

Shinkou tastes the salt a little and is impressed to confirm it really is salt.

"I never imagined the process is so easy. It’s long but easy." Shinkou says.

"When Mermen do it, it’s way faster. I saw them making when I visited the Mermen Tribe." Astri mentions.

"But they use the same method?"

"No. They control small quantities of water and remove the salt from it. It’s an ability few Mermen have, that’s why it is expensive and rare."

"I see.. It’s impressive. Though it makes a few per time."

Astri sits down to wait.

"Our pot is small and only I am making. Our production in the United Tribes has bigger pots and more beastmen to stir the salt. We sell to tribes that is far away from the Ocean, and Mermen don’t go." She says.

"You tribe must be prosperous, then." Kenzou says.

"Yes, it is. But I wouldn’t say rich only in terms of gems." She smiles, and Kenzou nods, smiling, too.

She makes an entire bucket of salt, they camp on the beach, but Kenzou and Shinkou don’t sleep to guard Astri and the salt. On the next day, they go back to the Spirit Tree Shrine. Astri made salt enough for Shinkou to sell for at least 10 days.

He traveled to other tribes and sold to them first. The merchants were suspecting that Shinkou stole the salt, but they don’t really care if he did it since it’s good salt. He spent five days away, and he’s back at the Spirit Tree Shrine. Astri was helping Kenzou make a wooden box.

"Look who’s back. Hope you had a nice trip." Astri says.

"I did." It wasn’t a lie; he made more gems than he ever did in his life, but he can’t deny that he missed watching her doing things.

He shows her a pouch with gems. She takes it.

"Thank you." She says, putting the pouch on her side.

"Won’t you if I had put the right quantity of your part?" He asks.

"Why? How can you trust me if I don’t trust you?" She asks.

Astri looks at him with a smile, and he smiles back, but looks away to hide his blushing face. In fact, the quantity is not correct, but for the less. He didn’t take all of his part, only a few gems, because he knows she has a long way to go if she wants to buy a ship.

"You should go bathe if you want to go to the festival tonight, Astri." Kenzou says.

"Oh shoot.. Look at the sun. You’re right. I’ll go, and then you go." She says, standing up, taking the gem pouch, and walking inside the shrine.

She hides the pouch inside a wooden box next to her bed, and then she chooses the kimono she will wear that night. She goes to the bathtub Kenzou built on the back of the shrine, lights a fire under it to warm the water, and then she bathes.

"How much did you make? She doesn’t ask, but I do." Kenzou asks Shinkou.

"55. I gave her 50." Shinkou answers.

"Really? She says you could take half. Why didn’t you take?"

"Because... Well.. I don’t need to explain to you." Shinkou answers, looking away.

Kenzou smiles, seeing that Shinkou keeps surprising him.

"You like her." Kenzou affirms.

Shinkou doesn’t answer, and Kenzou chuckles.

"Like you wouldn’t be interested." Shinkou says, crossing his arms.

"I see her as a daughter. Even if she’s beautiful and kind, I can’t see her with the eyes you have for her. She had suffered a lot, but I can see the small and fragile female she is behind the reliable female she shows us. I want to protect that."

"I see... That’s very much like you, if I think carefully." Shinkou says, and Kenzou chuckles.

"If you want to be around her tonight. You’d better bathe. There’s something I already noticed that she sees as very important, and she likes being clean. She makes me bathe every day."

"Oh... Thank you." Shinkou smiles.

Shinkou is happy that Kenzou is not interested in Astri as a spouse because, since Kenzou is stronger, Shinkou wouldn’t call Astri’s attention ever.

Astri finished getting ready, and when she came back, she smelled great, and Shinkou felt something he had never felt before, that is, smelling a female’s neck. She looks amazing in her new resplendent yukata.

The base of the garment was a soft ivory silk, vibrant cascade of patterns across the fabric that truly caught the eye. In brown, red, and yellow colors, there are plum blossoms and flowers, fans, and hexagonal patterns appear on her shoulder, on the sleeves, and from the waist down in cascades. Across her waist was tied an ornate obi belt, wrapped tight in golden saffron silk, its ends structured into a symbolic butterfly knot at her back.

Her hair was partially tied with a red and golden simple hairpin.

"Oh... I never imagined I would desire a female. Is she this perfect because she’s a Goddess?" Shinkou asks.

"You look beautiful as always." Kenzou says to Astri.

"Thank you. You gave me this yukata, it’s beautiful." Astri says.

Kenzou goes to bathe first, and after Shinkou bathes. When they’re ready, both walk along with Astri to the village. Astri is impressed with how pretty the people organized the village. There are flowers all around, and the lights around make everything so charming. The children are running around, playing, and the merchants are selling special food, like caramelized nuts and fruits with honey. There are several female accessories, more than the last time Astri saw.

"Why are there so many female accessories?" Astri asks.

"At the Flower Festival, the males take the opportunity to buy things for the females they want to become spouses with." Kenzou answers.

"Oh.. Interesting. There are so many cute things. Females must love it."

"Don’t you?" Shinkou asks.

"Well, I think it’s pretty. But I’m not a female who will be bought only by material gifts."

He wonders what is needed to call her attention and conquer her.