57 Norm Forest (1/2)

Is that... is that an olive grove over there?

Olives? What? Are they good?

They're good when they're salted. But olives are for oil. Oil.

Are they good? Why don't we just take some home?

No, I just told you. It's an olive grove. The olives here are well-kept, so someone must be growing them. Yes.

Yes, olives are very easy to grow, but if you want to have a lot of big olives, you have to prune them. The olive trees here have been pruned properly and it is obvious that someone has been growing them.

”Oh, you know this tree. You know this tree?

Suddenly a voice came from nearby, so Masaru and Adelina stood back to back and looked around, but there was no one there. ....

Adelina... did you see anyone?

I can't find anyone either. I can't find anyone either.

They both tense up and gasp. They were so engrossed in the olives that they kept looking up, but the olives themselves weren't so high up that they didn't pay enough attention to their surroundings to see if anyone was coming.

”Hey! Don't do your standard routine, look at me! Down here!

I followed the voice and looked down to see a small man standing there. He was about six feet tall, with his arms crossed in a pompous manner, but there was no sense of dignity.

”Dwarf? ...No, a gnome?

”Oh, you know us, too. We're gnomes, and we don't get to meet other races very often, but you know us. ”Masaru...

”Masaru... what are gnomes?

A gnome is a dwarf who rules the earth. They're sometimes called spirits, but I think they're about the same as the difference between a man and a beast.

”Well... you seem like an interesting little fellow, only about as different as a man and a beast. You're right, it's not that different, just a little different in body structure. A little...

”A little... Well, that's what it is, isn't it? It's true.

Let it be that way for now, I don't want any trouble or conflict over racism or whatever.

”Your daughter's changing for the better. ”Your daughter is changing nicely.

The old gnome laughs.

”I'm sorry I'm late in greeting you, but I'm Masaru of the race. My companion here is Miss Adelina. Adelina.

Adelina bows as she is introduced. You're probably a superior, right? She called me a boy. ....

”Don't be so formal. I'm just an old bot who likes to tend to the trees here at the Gnome. As I was saying, do you know how to eat the fruit of this tree?

”Yes, I do, sort of. I'm not sure if you know how to eat them or not. What are you doing to consume the fruit?

If you use your map skills, you can see that olives are planted all over a 3km square area of land that looks like Japan's Shikoku Island. It's absurdly large.

”It's a total hobby, and recently some strange bees have been living on the edge of the land to eat the fruit, but I've tried everything and the fruit is inedible. It's a hobby, and I've been planting a lot of them, and the next thing I know, they're all over the place. What?

I'm not sure how many trees I'm growing if I don't know how to use them. ....

I'm not sure what to make of it. You can take all the fruit you want if you want. I don't know.

”I only know how to salt them. First, you wash the olives and put them in water with caustic soda...oh, caustic soda ....

”What's wrong? What's wrong? Are you missing something?

I need a chemical called caustic soda... don't you have any?

I've never heard of it. Never heard of it.

I don't think so... Adelina is shaking her head, of course.