Yarra’s Adventure Notes
Chapter 997 - 112: The Unclosed House

Chapter 997: Chapter 112: The Unclosed House

Flare pointed out a place that seemed to be a shop selling leather goods. The shop’s roof was made up of six Scaly trees intertwined together. The trunks of these six trees supported the roof like the load-bearing pillars of an ordinary house. Instead of walls, the shop was surrounded by a circle of dense shrubs over a meter tall, tightly packed to block the view from outside. There was a gap serving as a door, allowing free entry and exit without having to squeeze through the bushes, and there were also waist-high shrubs that functioned like windows in human houses, making the inside of the shop brighter during the day. Of course, even without these window-like gaps, the inside of the shop was already bright in daylight, since there was at least a one to two-meter gap between the walls of shrubs and the Scaly tree canopy allowing sunshine to stream in.

"Your shop...uh..." As they approached the city center and the speed of the deer herd slowed from running to walking, Catherine hesitated for a while, struggling to find the right adjective, only managing to say somewhat awkwardly, "It’s very... um, very unique. Aren’t these open-sided rooms uncomfortable to live in?"

"It is a shop after all," Flare responded helplessly. "It’s not meant for living, but even if it were, there would be no problem. You’ll see how comfortable it feels once you have a chance to sit inside."

"But, it’s open on all sides," Lina couldn’t help but point out as she looked at the leather shop. "And what if there’s a downpour? If the rain is blown in by the wind, won’t it flood the inside, soaking people and goods alike?"

"Yes, that’s true," Flare nodded without changing her expression, and asked, "But let me ask you a question: since landing here, have you felt any wind?"

"Huh?" Lina paused, looking around, then at the other girls. They all nodded hesitantly, and Lina could only frown and say in confusion, "Indeed, it seems that there has been no wind since we landed."

"Because there is seldom any wind in the Lost Forest, or it could almost be said there is none at all." As they spoke, the deer herd had slowly reached the side of the leather shop. Pannis leaned over to Lina and whispered, "All other forests have wind, except for the Forest of Death, where the trees are too dense for the wind to penetrate. And even if it does, it’s useless. Do you think that the circle of Divine Gift Trees around the city is just a simple hedge?"

"They also block the wind?" Catherine immediately caught on to Pannis’s meaning and asked in surprise, "If that’s the case, they probably do more than block the wind, right? Maybe they also provide protection from rain and magical beast invasions?"

"They can’t completely stop the rain, only reduce it," Pannis explained. "Nor can they fully defend against magical beast invasions—they just have a deterrent effect on the beasts. If there is a stir of large magical beasts or a beast tide, there would still be an impact. However, the greatest benefit of the Divine Gift Trees is not just to block the wind, but also to protect against fire and lightning. The need for fire protection isn’t that critical since the environment of the Forest of Death is too moist and the Water Elementals are too abundant for flames to spread widely. However, protection against lightning is very important. It often rains in the forest, and the rainfall is characterized by being short but intense, accompanied by a lot of thunder, and these Elves living in trees certainly don’t want to be struck by lightning while asleep at night. Even the stronger ones wouldn’t want to be hit by lightning; it’s always an unpleasant experience."

"How about it, interested in taking a look inside?" Seeing the curiosity in the girls’ eyes, Flare proactively offered, "If you want to go in, I can take you to have a look. Don’t worry, you don’t need to buy anything, so no need to spend any coins."

"Hey, what do you mean by that," Catherine rolled her eyes, shaking her head in dissatisfaction. "Let’s not go in. Going in now would make it seem like I agreed just to save money. Anyway, we still have to prepare for a whole day tomorrow, so there’ll be plenty of time then."

"Heh, as you wish," Flare clearly ’chuckled’ for a moment and led the deer past the shop’s windows. Through the shrub-formed windows, the interior of the shop could be seen. The not-so-spacious shop was mostly furnished with wood. Upon closer inspection, it became evident that it was a paradise of handcrafted goods. There were seven or eight display stands inside, each differing in size, shape, design, and style, clearly not mass-produced furniture but highly personalized. Each display stand was exquisitely made; the exposed surfaces were carved with fine patterns, and the edges were specially crafted into various creatures’ shapes. In the shop, the time and value invested in each display stand were much higher than the goods sold. Should an outsider customer enter, their attention would first be captured not by the merchandise, but by the artistic display stands.

Apart from the display stands, there were other items in the shop that attracted customers’ attention. Wood carvings of various sizes were placed everywhere, from the corners of the room to the shopkeeper’s counter, to the shelves hanging from the tree branches overhead. The largest was a statue of a forest goddess, positioned in the center of the shop, while the smallest ones, no bigger than a finger, were indistinct figures kept in a cabinet behind the shopkeeper. According to Flare, these wood carvings were just something the shopkeeper did when idle and not items for sale. They were meant to be given as gifts with the purchase of leather goods, but most customers were out of luck in receiving them.

With so many things diverting the customers’ attention, it’s clear that it would have a negative impact on business. Over the five or six minutes that the group passed by, the girls didn’t see a single customer enter the shop. However, looking through the shrub windows, they could see that the Elf shopkeeper wasn’t showing any signs of urgency. Instead, he sat lazily behind the counter, humming a simple yet melodious tune, focusing intently on the wood he was carving.

Upon hearing the sound of the hooves, the shopkeeper looked up and glanced outside the window. The girls were sure he noticed the people outside, but he resumed his carving as though he had seen nothing, his attention fully returned to the task in his hands. Before lowering his head again, the Elf subtly nodded to the crowd outside as a greeting.