Tarea was walking back home from the bathhouse, wearing a fur coat to keep out the cold of the winter’s night.

「Fuuh… It has become cold as of late, hasn’t it.」(Tarea)

Despite being known as the capital of the sun, Talosheim’s winter was colder than the Devil’s Nest forest that she had lived in previously. It wasn’t that Tarea had become weaker against cold temperatures over the past few years.

Nevertheless, as Tarea watched the Ghouls and Undead entertaining themselves and eating food, it occurred to her just how affluent Talosheim had become.

Many would object to Tarea’s opinion. In fact, the Ghouls’ lives might not seem affluent at a glance.

Very few of the clothes they wore were made of cloth; the majority of them were made from tanned leather and fur that had been stripped from monsters, making them look like a tribe of savages. Because the economic environment consisted of primitive bartering, there were no stores of any kind.

There were no resplendent theaters, bookstores selling tomes containing knowledge, restaurants offering delicious foods or anything of the sort.

But the various things that Vandalieu had created surpassed these.

Though board games were considered as entertainment for the wealthy in human cities, Vandalieu had created the simple yet interesting Reversi and distributed it freely.

He had created numerous seasonings that were even more valuable than the Reversi boards.

The walnut sauce and acorn cookies that he had been making since when he had lived in the Devil’s Nest forest weren’t anything unusual other than the fact that he was making them in a Devil’s Nest.

However, the fish sauce and miso that he had created… no, invented after arriving in Talosheim, were astonishing. In addition, he had turned ginger that had only been used as medicine and an unknown plant called wasabi into additional seasonings.

He had created these and then distributed it in significant amounts. Those who wanted more could trade for them at the remains of the Adventurers’ Guild.

Vandalieu himself wasn’t aware of how astounding these feats were. Even Tarea wasn’t confident that she understood just how incredible it was.

However, in human cities, adding seasoning to food had been a luxury that only the wealthy could afford.

Poor commoners would use salt sparingly at most; they almost never tasted sugar. It seemed that things had improved in recent times, but two hundred years ago, when Tarea had been a human, that was how things were in the city she lived in.

But these seasonings were being offered at exchange rates that anyone could afford.

There was no doubt that miso and fish sauce would sell for soaring prices if sold in human cities. Recently, Vandalieu had even started to make kombu dashi and katsuobushi, though the latter was still incomplete.

Of course, the fact that he had solved the fertility problem that affected the entire Ghoul race couldn’t be forgotten.

Personally, Tarea was most happy about the fact that he had repaired every public bathhouse in Talosheim. For commoners, being able to submerge their bodies in hot water up to their shoulders while bathing was as much of a luxury as seasoning their food.

「As long as Van-sama is here, the Ghouls will prosper for a thousand years!」(Tarea)

Vandalieu had performed deeds that made her believe this with confidence.

But that was also why she was feeling anxious.

「How should I close the distance between myself and the great Van-sama?」(Tarea)

Tarea was not a combatant, but an arms smith who created equipment using monster materials. When Vandalieu spent time clearing Dungeons and training himself in unarmed fighting, the amount of time that she could spend with him inevitably decreased.

Vandalieu’s body was small so the only armor he could wear was clothes made of leather or fur, and he was using his own claws as weapons, so Tarea didn’t even have any opportunities to create equipment for him.

He had said that he would refrain from venturing far from Talosheim until Pauvina had developed to a certain extent and Basdia had safely reached the three-month-mark in her pregnancy, but he would be going into another Dungeon before spring.

「I feel the distance, the distance between myself and Van-sama.」(Tarea)

Even while Tarea remained in the city, Basdia and the others were spending significant periods of time with him, fighting for their lives together. Kachia, a Ghoul who had formerly been an adventurer, had recently shown strange movements as well. And it seemed that Zadiris would be accompanying Vandalieu on his next journey into a Dungeon.

How unfortunate. What an unfortunate turn of events this was.

「If I had daughters, everything would be fine, but I have only had sons up until now… Would it be better for me to start having a daughter now? I am only just over two hundred and sixty years old, so it might be… Ah, it is impossible; I cannot give birth to another man’s child in front of Van-sama!」(Tarea)

Vandalieu was currently acting as something like a maternity doctor. Because of that, if Tarea were to attempt to get closer to him by having a daughter, she would surely be found out.

That would be an unbearable shame. She had no idea how Basdia had been able to do such a thing.

When she had asked Basdia herself, Basdia had replied with a straight face,