“Anyhow, that plank of yours really does come out with anythin’ ya could dream of, huh, m’lady?” Salamander sounded just a touch sulky as he wiggled his tail.
I couldn’t help but smile slightly at his childishness. “Well...if only that were exactly the case. It would be much more convenient then.”
It could conjure anything having to do with food and the kitchen, but that was where the line was drawn. Having said that, what if I were able to level up my skill...? Maybe the scope of what I could order would increase. Wouldn’t that be rather exciting?
Now that the water was taken care of, it was time to come up with some wind.
As I scrolled through the screen, I started to daydream about some of the things I wanted to achieve. “Once we have found a way to start gardening, I think I would like to make an attempt at DIY...” I murmured to myself.
Alk seemed to overhear me. “‘Dee-eye-why’? And what might that be?” He was currently downing wine straight from the bottle. It ought to have been a frightful sight, but he somehow pulled it off.
“It stands for ‘do it yourself.’ I believe it’s similar to carpentry...”
I envisioned that it might be fun to use tools to create shelves, a desk, or a flowerbed, to give some examples.
“Carpentry? You strike me as far too clumsy to be capable of such a thing.”
Frustrated, I groaned. “I’m talking about at some point in the future! I don’t expect to be a master at it now!”
And I had yet to consider my aptitude for it, thank you very much! There was no reason that Alk should frown at me so intensely! I was quite aware that I wasn’t as deft with my hands as I should like to be.
I ignored Alk’s smirk and went back to my tablet, and that was when I found just what I had been looking for. “Oh! I thought we would be out of luck because it’s not food, but look at these!”
Several cans appeared beside us in an instant, and Salamander frowned at them. “Huh? What’re these round things, m’lady?”
I giggled and picked one up to show him. “These are exactly what I was searching for: canned air!” Naturally, the can was light in my hands, as if it were empty. “This is a can of ice-cold air from a snowy mountain. And this one contains a wind that has blown through a row of cherry blossom trees in full bloom. As for this one, it contains air from the turn of the imperial era!”
Gnome had been completely engrossed in the liquor bottles, but he must have picked up on the sense of curiosity in the air. “I’m sorry?” he asked. “You are telling me that there is air trapped inside those metal tins?”
“Precisely. Although I am fairly certain that these are gag products...” I admitted.
Gnome picked the cans piled up on the altar one by one and scrutinized each in turn.
“It astounds me that you can procure even this...but air will do nothing to satisfy an empty stomach,” Alk reminded me.
“But there is a sense of elegance to it, don’t you think?” I said. “Take this can that may be filled with the scent of flowers, for instance.”
“Elegance cannot satisfy an empty stomach either.” Alk picked up a can between his fingers and snorted derisively at it. It seemed like he wasn’t one for style over sustenance—not that I would have expected anything different!
“I had underestimated you, young lady! To think you would indeed manage to procure both water and air!” Gnome exclaimed excitedly. His hands were now full of cans.
“This’ll hook ’em both,” Salamander said, prodding a bottle of water. “They’ll come runnin’, no question about it.”
“That would be an honor!” I said.
They both seemed confident, so now, I was hopeful that Sylph and Undine would indeed be joining us. Gnome had responded to Salamander’s summons, so if they worked together to call the other two, I was sure it’d be a success!
“You look a little intimidated, Fran. Why not create a spiritorium?” Alk suggested brusquely.
I turned to see that he was staring at me with some indignation. While I was excited, my trepidation must have been plain on my face. “I haven’t heard of that before. What is it?” I asked. Whatever it was, I had the sense that Alk was trying to offer some advice.
“Hmmm... I wonder how many decades it has been since I last heard someone mention a spiritorium?” Gnome asked playfully.
Alk snorted and averted his gaze but otherwise remained silent.
“A spiritorium’s like a miniature garden where ya create the kinda environments we spirits like best!” Salamander explained with a swish of his tail.
“Essentially, they are built with the four elements in mind—earth, wind, water, and air,” Gnome said.
“Really? I had no idea such a thing existed!”
A miniature garden! It sounded awfully exciting, even just from the brief description I’d been given. I was sure I could make a rather stylish one if I were to put my mind to it. First, I would need a box for the garden’s base, as well as containers for the components that would create the various elemental environments. And to do that, I wanted to use parts that would make it look good...and that was when inspiration struck!
The method I had in mind wasn’t quite sophisticated enough to be called ‘DIY,’ but it would certainly scratch the itch I had of wanting to make something.
“I can order a greater variety of items than I thought I could!” I said.
I wasted no time in tracking down and purchasing what was on my mind—a sizable, fancy lunch box and a blue-tinted glass bottle. After that, I ordered several party candles too. Items dropped down around me one after the other each time I pressed the button to order.
The black lacquered lunch box had fallen into my lap. “Let’s see... If I pile up some soil at the edge to create a mound and then place the glass of water opposite...” I muttered to myself as I held it up to eye level. As I did so, I could feel the piercing gazes of everyone around me!