Tenkomori: The Homecoming Club Conquers Another World

Chapter 91.3 - The Second Year at the Academy - Remedial Assignment (3)

Several days had passed, and I headed to Katie's house.

Through repeated experiments in the forest, I gained a rough understanding of [Earth Wall].

I believed I could handle most situations with it.

Katie's house was located in the back alley of the craftsman district.

A small sign hung on the wall, engraved with the straightforward name "Katie's Shop". It served as a signboard.

Amidst the sounds of work around me, I could hear noises coming from the house in front of me.

It seemed like someone was at home, but based on the sounds and smells.

That person didn't appear to be a blacksmith.

I opened the door and glanced around inside the shop.

What kind of place was this?

The narrow interior was filled with a diverse array of items: jewelry, leather armor, chairs, and even empty scabbards adorned the space.

The shop seemed to have a wide range of offerings.

If I had to classify it, it might be an ornament shop.

The woman noticed my arrival and appeared from the back.

She looked to be in her mid to late twenties, with her hair tied back, and she exuded an aura reminiscent of Rag and Egil.

"Welcome."

"Are you Katie?"

"Yes, that's me, but…"

Katie gave me a skeptical look, and I bowed.

"I am Alter Les Reedwald. I've come under the instruction of Helena, the professor at Cartilard."

"Helena? It's not about that matter, is it?"

"If ‘that matter' refers to repairs, then yes."

As soon as I answered, Katie put her hand to her forehead.

"You must be joking. Can you use [Earth Wall]?"

"Of course. I could use it for the past few days."

Katie sighed and muttered to herself, her words filled with disdain for Helena.

It seemed Helena hadn't informed her about anything.

I guess it was all left to me in the end, as expected of her.

In any case, if the client refuses, I can't do anything.

After a moment of thought, I made a suggestion.

"Well then, I have another task to complete. In the meantime, could you contact Professor Helena for me?"

"That's not what I meant. Do you understand the implications? Repairing with [Earth Walll] involves advanced magic. Being able to cast it is a given; it requires a significant amount of magical power and talent."

Katie said this with exasperation evident in her voice.

It was certainly beyond my expectations.

I was glad we were in my home.

If I ran out of magic during a fight, cheats and speed wouldn't matter.

I'd easily die.

I needed to be cautious when using this new magic.

"Understood. It seems that way. If it's about magical power, I have more than the average person, and I've even created a sturdy stone wall before. Would you like me to give it a try?"

"Try, huh…"

Katie looked troubled but then nodded as if she had an idea.

"Come over here."

Katie is leading me to the back entrance.

It was a small storage area filled with various items and cluttered with wooden crates.

Katie pointed to a wooden fence embedded in the ground, about waist-high.

"Try creating a stone wall about this high here."

"The catalyst… I only have soil. If you want to use stone, I can go collect some."

"Hmm? Soil is fine, isn't it?"

"I understand."

With Katie's permission, I dug up some soil from a corner of the storage area.

Using stone as a catalyst consumed a lot of magical power but resulted in high hardness.

In contrast, soil or sand consumed slightly less magical power and had lower hardness.

Based on my experiments in the forest, even soil would be sufficiently hard for practical use."

The client gave her approval, and I have no objections.

I began stacking the soil and handed Katie the wooden fence I had removed.

Unfortunately, wood wouldn't work as a catalyst; it had to be soil, stone, or sand.

I stood before the boundary and visualized the width and length I wanted.

The fence was lower and thinner compared to the standard [Earth Wall]. But what mattered most was the foundation.

Normally, [Earth Wall] wouldn't easily collapse due to some mysterious principle.

But when I'm using a catalyst to maintain it beyond the duration of the effect, it would fall without a proper foundation.

Both the visible part and the underground aspect were crucial.

I also thought it would be better to round the corners.

Sharp angles were dangerous. I mentally smoothed out the corners from my visualization.

That should do it. It was quite an unconventional activation, but I wouldn't be qualified for repairs if I couldn't do something like this.

When I activated [Earth Wall], a substantial amount of magical power flowed out.

Perhaps because it deviated too far from the standard, it consumed more magical power than using stone.

As Katie put it, this was an application of an application of magic.

I managed to construct a stone wall, albeit losing a significant amount of magic power.

Katie, looking surprised, touched the stone fence.

"You can really do it."

"For now, yes. It's a bit angular, though."

The finished wall still had some sharp edges.

"This should be sufficient, right? And it's harder than Helena's, isn't it?"

"I'm not sure since I haven't compared them. So, shall we proceed?"

"Is your magic power okay?"

"No problem."

"Alright, then, please."

With that, she led me to the warehouse at the back of the shop this time. Katie moved a large plank and pointed to a brick wall with cracks.

"This crack here, can you fix it?"

I approached and observed the situation.

There were quite a few cracks, and strong winds, too powerful to be called drafts, were blowing through them.

The floor was quite dirty, so it seemed to have been in this state for a long time.

It must have been that board trying to pass as a wall.

They were in the same league.

Feeling a sense of camaraderie, I brought in some soil to fill the cracks. Most of the bricks were intact, so a bit of soil should suffice.

I used bricks and soil as catalysts and activated [Earthwall].

Compared to creating a fence, repairing a building was much easier.

The wall disappeared instantly, and a new, smooth stone wall appeared.

"It looks like you've put it back together nicely."

"I believe so, but could you also check it from the outside?"

"Oh, right. I'll take a look."

Katie left through the back door to inspect the repaired area.

Meanwhile, I headed to the storage area and used [Handy Soil] to fill in the holes I had dug.

I still had nearly half of my magical power left.

I had been worried about running out, so I had avoided excessive consumption, but it seemed that using my soil was not an issue.

I should do it that way next time.

"What are you doing while I was gone?"

Before I could finish the hole-filling work, Katie returned.

I explained, and she placed her hands on my shoulders, her expression filled with emotion.

"To think a splendid student could grow from such an unmotivated girl… I'm truly touched, big sister."

"Well, I'm not sure how to respond to that."

"Leave the rest to me. Despite appearances, I can handle at least [Handy Soil]. How about we have some tea?"

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