Chapter 361 - 304: Rune Language: Temperature

Chapter 361: Chapter 304: Rune Language: Temperature

Looking at the four assembled White Holy Stones that formed the walls of the enormous stone chamber, Shire tugged at his collar. "The temperature is a lot higher than outside. I’m even starting to sweat."

"I set the temperature to early autumn. The elephants should be able to adapt," Agatha said, looking down to fiddle with the Rune Controller beside her. The device had eight temperature presets, two for each season. The stone chamber, which had been cleared out for the elephant herd, was now set to mimic an early autumn day.

Shire reached out and gently patted the enormous White Holy Stone. "This took quite a lot of material."

"Yes, we used quite a bit," Agatha nodded. "If we were to build three more rooms like this, I estimate we wouldn’t have enough material left for the Teleportation Gate."

"We don’t need more for now," Shire said with a wave of his hand. "This chamber is at the entrance to the Fortress. The wind blowing in will carry some of the warm air inside, which should improve the overall temperature a little." For now, they could only build this one "greenhouse" to ensure the elephants had a place to stay.

With this "greenhouse," plus the dozens of goblins sent into the forest each day to gather grass and leaves, Shire believed the elephant herd was unlikely to leave before spring.

Originally, Shire had feared that as the temperature continued to drop, the Elephant Lord would lead the elephants further south. For Shire, this would have been a major waste. Now, the Rune Speech obtained from the Frogmen had finally put his mind at ease. He had named this new set of runes "Rune Language: Temperature."

"But the remaining White Holy Stone is enough to renovate a few stone houses." After thinking for a few seconds, Shire’s gaze shifted toward the Fortress interior. "We need to build at least a few rooms for the little goblins to live in. Their bodies are weak. If it gets too cold, they’ll have a hard time making it through the winter."

He planned to turn two of the stone houses into something like "heated rooms," gathering all the recently born goblins inside to guarantee the clan’s survival rate—and increase the chance of getting an SS Card.

"That’s no problem at all. It will just take a bit of time to complete," Agatha replied, thinking the proposal wasn’t difficult. "I think this Rune Language: Temperature is wonderful, especially for preserving food in the summer."

"Mm-hmm," Shire chuckled. "It’s like having our own giant ice cellar."

In the heat of summer, it was hard for common folk to preserve food. Nobles, on the other hand, built massive, underground ice cellars. They would pay Low Level Mages who could use Ice Magic to cast spells inside, preserving their food and wine. Now, with this new Rune Speech, the clan would have what amounted to a giant cold storage facility during the summer.

This even gave Shire a new idea. ’If the Rune Language: Temperature were carved onto the inner wall of a container, would the water inside stay hot, or could it be kept refreshingly cool?’

"Can you make me a cup with the Runes carved on its walls? Use White Holy Stone," he said, looking at Agatha and voicing his idea.

"A cup? A stone one?" Agatha paused. "That’s a bit difficult. The opening of a cup is small, making it hard to carve..."

"No, it doesn’t have to be a cup. A vat or a large barrel would also work. And of course, you could ask One-Eyed for help. When it comes to carving, I think he’s quite the professional," Shire said with a smile, tapping his fingers. He recalled how One-Eyed had wanted to carve a small wooden figure and had specifically borrowed a Little Tin Soldier from him as a model. Shire had seen the result of his work; the finished head looked quite good. While still a bit rough, it was far beyond the skill level one would expect from a goblin.

"If it’s a large barrel, we could give it a try. You want to test its heat retention?"

"Exactly," Shire affirmed. "The medium for the temperature in this chamber is air. So I was thinking, if we were to change the medium to water, could it also have a heat-retaining effect?"

He was sick of drinking cold water in the winter. If this worked, he could at least have warm water to drink.

"A medium..." Agatha repeated, sinking into thought. "You’ve reminded me of something. I originally thought it was only useful for temperature, but if we introduce the concept of a medium... then many things within a given space could be affected."

"Exactly. If my thinking is correct, we could even build a few huge bathhouses for the clan in the future," Shire said, stroking his chin. A hot bath in the winter—what a delightful thought. That kind of life was something only nobles and the wealthy could experience. Commoners wouldn’t lightly take a hot bath in winter. For one thing, it was a waste of fuel; for another, if you stayed in too long, the water would get cold and you could catch a chill.

"A bathhouse," Agatha repeated upon hearing Shire’s proposal. She then looked down and sniffed at herself. "Speaking of which, I feel like I really need a good, hot bath. I’ve been so busy with all sorts of things these days, I think I’m starting to smell."

Shire smiled and shook his head. He knew Agatha had been busy these past few days, but she was by no means a slob. Despite her current appearance as a Ghost Witch, he hadn’t seen her with so much as a messy strand of hair since they began working together.

Besides, building a few large bathhouses would also ensure the clan’s overall cleanliness. He had already been gradually changing the goblins’ living habits, starting to instill the concepts of hygiene and sanitation into their consciousness. But now that winter had begun, the number of times the goblins bathed had plummeted. Shire had no desire to see all the goblins return to their former state: caked in filth, with bugs crawling through their hair.