Vol 2 Chapter 20: Darkened Rain part 3

The goblin Énilo and Foin gathered around the fire and got ready to eat the baked potatoes which were prepared by Énilo. Just as they were about to start eating, the ant showed up. It was quite dirty, but it quickly shook the dirt off of its body and then settled down next to Foin.

The ant had been tasked with a unique and different task. While the goblin and Énilo helped Foin in work regarding the underground base, the ant was tasked to dig a hole in the dragon's sleeping area so that they could be in touch should there be any sort of problem. That was the reason why it was covered with dirt.

After quite a tense preparation period, Foin finally managed to sit down calmly and just enjoy doing nothing. Though he had already planned ahead, he just remembered that he had never asked the name of the goblin or the dragon. He felt ashamed and decided to correct that mistake now that they got together.

"Erm... I just realised that I was so immersed in preparing the underground base that I completely neglected proper introductions..."

Foin said as he looked at the goblin and scratched his head nervously.

"So let me formally, and finally, introduce myself... Call me Foin."

He said as he extended his hand to shake the goblin's hand. She was quite surprised and only looked at his palm. Énilo, on the other hand, glared at her, which sent a shiver down her spine, and in the blink of an eye, she grabbed Foin's hand with both of her smaller hands and shook it. This kind of greeting was alien to her, but since her hands were forced, she tried to comply as much as it was possible.

"Oh, Lord Foin! Erm.. My name is Gobu! But if you dislike my name, then..."

She uttered, but she stopped talking due to Énilo's intense glare. She just kept holding Foin's hand nervously until Foin started pulling his hand back, and then she finally let go of it.

The four of them quickly ate the prepared potatoes, though Foin noticed that the taste was different. Almost as if the one cooked by Énilo was of lower quality as it didn't have as strong of a taste as his, but it didn't mean that it was bad.

After the feast, Foin instantly started working on his next project. He knew that the boiler would work just fine, as he felt how much warmer the underground cave had become, but they had no place to sleep yet, and sleeping on the ground, even if they used leaves, would be cold.

As a result, he brought a few larger logs of wood and put them next to one another on the ground. Since he had prepared quite a lot of wood he had spare to use, he decided to use these logs as a basic bed. Since there were three of them, he put them in three different regions, although Énilo only needed a single as she was so small.

He tested both beds in terms of size; though they were both perfectly fine for him, he knew that Gobu would not need such a large one. Still, he kept her bed just as large as his. Now that the logs had been arranged as a sort of layer above the ground, Foin needed to face the last problem: their height.

Although all of them were roughly about as tall as his knee, there were smaller and larger ones, and it was quite uncomfortable to lay on them. Thus, he quickly fetched the axe and started trimming their top. He couldn't describe how tedious it was, but at least he was happy that he could also use the axe to smoothen the surface as well.

"Erm.. Master... Could you fill this bucket with water?"

Énilo flew beside Foin when he had just finished trimming and just started smoothening the rough surface of the logs. Though he was in the middle of work, he put the axe down and looked at Énilo. She was pointing at the bucket which he had brought to the next to the boiler, where Gobu sat and watched the now weaker fire.

"Oh, sure; also, you should put one last piece of firewood on the fire under the boiler, just to be safe that everything stays nice and warm even in the morning. And don't forget to keep the other fire alive no matter what... Even if it is tiny, that is fine."

He explained as he filled the bucket with water using his inventory. Both Gobu and Énilo nodded and did as instructed. So Foin could go back to finish the beds.

He was unsure how long it took for him to finish trimming and then smoothening the logs, but he was done eventually. Just to be safe, he preserved the cut-off wooden chunks and the sawdust as well, thinking that they could still be used for the fire.

With a loud sigh, he stood up. Since he was kneeling for the whole time, his lower body was extremely numb. He could barely walk for a few long seconds, and even after that, he could only bend his leg slowly.

He brought his axe back to its original place and put some finishing touches to the beds. He covered them with grass to make them feel a bit softer as well as mitigate any roughness he had missed.

"Alright, everyone, I think we worked hard for today, so let's go to sleep... Finally, on better beds!"

He had placed Énilo's bed between the other two, and he instantly sat down on the one furthest from the boiler. He slowly leaned back and sighed. It was somewhat more comfortable than the ground, but still, some more cushion would be better, as well as some sort of pillow.

Énilo and Gobu followed his example and got into their bed, and soon, all three of them were starting to fall asleep. All three of them were happy and filled and enjoyed the heat emitted by the boiler. However, later, they realised that the last piece of wood was a bit excessive as they all started sweating as the room started getting hotter.

This marked their first real day underground. Hidden away from the cold winter time warmed by Foin's great new invention, the boiler. This was only the first day, and Foin had already planned quite a number of things for the future, but he was most curious about the plants, and he had hoped that they would bear fruits by the next morning so he could test the new plants more.

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Author's note:

Dear readers!

Thank you for reading the story so far. I do hope you liked and enjoyed it; if you did, please like, rate or share it! Also, please tell me what you think of the story so far; it would be great to hear your opinions.

Due to personal matters, I will not be able to update the story as often as I used to, but I will try my best to be able to update it as frequently as possible.

Thank you for reading, and see you again in the next chapter!