Chapter 462: I Am Willing to Call You the Most Gluttonous Dragon!
After the inspection ended, Ryohei and the others first returned to the luxurious villa in Meguro Ward to pick up Yusa and Pino, then went to Stardew Valley Ranch together.
It was late March, and the temperature in Hokkaido was finally showing signs of warming up. The daily high had broken above 5 degrees Celsius, and the low had climbed back to minus 4 degrees Celsius.
The accumulated snow was slowly melting under the warm sun, the daylight hours were gradually lengthening, and the breath of spring was quietly spreading in the wind.
"Eh—!"
As the group arrived at the small plaza in front of the complex building, several identical figures caught their eyes, and everyone was taken aback in unison.
"What's the situation? Why are there five Tohrus?"
Ryohei thought his eyes were playing tricks on him. He blinked and asked with a face full of surprise.
"..." Lucoa opened the eyelid of her left eye, having already seen through everything.
"I molted."
The original Tohru raised her hand and explained: "There's some magic power left on the shed skin... It seems to be influenced by me, the original body, so they will repeat the things I do on a daily basis."
You molted too? Hearing this explanation, Yurine had a face full of surprise.
"So amazing!"
Second clapped her hands lightly, letting out a cute exclamation. Then she turned her head to look at Jashin-chan and teased: "Jashin-chan, she's more amazing than you! The skin you shed couldn't even move!"
"Tch—! What's so great about that!"
Jashin-chan was a bit displeased. She crossed her arms over her chest, lifted her chin slightly, and said stubbornly: "The skin I shed can be used to make high-level magic potions; it's super expensive!"
"Ah, right, right, right..."
"You guy!"
Jashin-chan clenched her fist, raised it, glared at Second, and struck a posture of wanting to beat someone up.
"Bleh~."
Second stuck out her soft pink tongue and scurried away.
"But why are there four of them? This number isn't right, is it?"
Pino folded one arm across her chest, pinched her fair, delicate chin, swept her gaze over the four expressionless "Tohrus," and chimed in curiously.
Normally, shouldn't there be two?
"I am a dragon who molts several times in a short period of time." Tohru looked at Pino, placed her hand on her full chest, and a seductive, soft moan suddenly escaped her throat.
She closed her eyes, lowered her head slightly, bit her lip lightly, and gripped the collar at her chest, her delicate body trembling.
Accompanied by a burst of riiiip sounds, "Tohru Number Six" appeared right in front of everyone!
"Uh..."
"You can still continue to molt? Truly amazing!"
"That makes six!"
"..."
Jashin-chan looked at Tohru with a face full of envy. If she could molt several times in a row in a short period, how much money would she make!
"Alright! Yusa, Pino, come work in the kitchen with me."
"Tohru, you come too."
Ryohei clapped his hands and called out.
Originally, because they went to inspect the uninhabited island today, they arrived later than usual. If they kept chatting, they wouldn't be able to supply the desserts on time!
"Hai—!"
The called-upon Yusa, Pino, and the original Tohru responded and followed Ryohei into the dessert kitchen.
...
Throughout the day, Tohru successively molted two more times, bringing the total number straight up to eight.
She herself was getting a bit distressed:
"The number of times I've molted this time is more than before..."
The most crucial point was that up until now, there was absolutely no sign of it ending!
The exclusive bedroom at Kobayashi's house was almost running out of space to stuff her and these shed skins!
It was a bit of a headache!
"Since you're distressed about this, how about giving one to me?"
Elma happily ate the cake scraps, pointing at herself while looking at Tohru.
"What!?"
Tohru immediately looked over in shock.
She suddenly crossed her arms and took two steps back, frowning with a face full of disgust: "Don't even think about it! Elma, you big pervert!"
"Eh, e-eh—!"
Elma's movement of stuffing her face with cake scraps paused. Her face instantly flushed red, and she hurriedly stepped forward to explain: "No! I absolutely don't have that kind of thought!"
She just wanted the skin the other party shed to help do chores; how did she become a pervert!
She wasn't going to take the blame for this!
(╯‵□′)╯︵┻━┻
"Then you definitely want to eat it, right? Elma, you gluttonous dragon!"
Tohru folded her arms, wearing an expression of "I've seen right through you," and pointed at Elma.
"..." Elma's forward footsteps abruptly halted. A tempted look appeared on her face, and suspicious liquid drooled from the corner of her mouth...
"No way! You actually really want to eat it!"
Tohru widened her eyes, genuinely shocked this time!
"You're a bit too gluttonous, aren't you?"
(￣ ￣|| )
Yurine was speechless for a moment, looking at Elma and roasting her.
She truly could bring herself to eat anything!
"From now on, we'll just call you the Gluttonous Dragon." Ryohei walked up to Elma, grabbed her wrist, raised it high, and joked: "I am willing to call you the most gluttonous dragon!"
"Ryohei-kun, how can you smear my innocence out of thin air!"
Elma blushed to the roots of her ears, turned her head, and shouted at Ryohei, her saliva spraying out.
"I'm not, I didn't, don't talk nonsense!"
Ryohei let go of her wrist with disgust, took two steps back, and delivered a triple denial.
...
Two days later, "Tohru's quantity" had increased to fifteen.
However, at this time, her "molting period" seemed to have ended. The very first skin she shed had already lost its mobility due to magic power depletion.
And this afternoon—
"Ryohei-kun, the island development plan has been sent over. Take a look and see if there's anything that needs changing."
Ryohei, who had just finished making today's portion of desserts, was called by Minos. He took the file bag curiously.
"Let me see..."
He said as he opened the file bag and took out a stack of documents.
Looking down—
"We've divided the entire island into four zones for you, with the purpose of each section clearly marked." Minos stood beside Ryohei, leaning slightly against him, pointing at the layout plan in the document and explaining.
Seeing this, Yurine, Elma, and the others also gathered around curiously, poking their heads out to look at the layout plan...
"..."
"The main building complex is located on the gentle slope on the south side. The view here is open and the terrain is flat. Every building is designed with distinct features, and we specifically added wraparound terraces facing the sea."
"The north side is reserved as an environmental protection zone, used to free-range the small animals you mentioned."
"The east side is planned for a pier and warehouse..."
Regarding the pier and warehouse—Ryohei actually felt they were unnecessary because he didn't plan to open it to the public. For them to get there, they basically relied on spatial passages, so they completely wouldn't use a pier.
But thinking about it, he decided to keep them; they might come in handy in the future.
"The west side is a continuous stretch of white sandy beach. In the future, playing in the water will mainly be in this area."
"Mn, that works."
Ryohei nodded, expressing his approval of the planning by the engineering team.
"Regarding water and electricity—"
"We plan to lay some solar panels on the gentle slope on the south side, equipped with three sets of backup batteries, plus a diesel generator for emergencies. This way, even if we encounter continuous rainy days, we won't have to worry about a lack of power."
"The desalination equipment will be installed at the southeast corner of the island, so it won't ruin the seaside scenery. The pipes will connect directly to the main building complex, so there will be absolutely no need to worry about water for daily use on the island in the future."
"..."
"Let's go with this."
Ryohei was very satisfied with this development plan. He looked at Minos and said: "Contracting both labor and materials, arrange the construction team as soon as possible. Should I pay a portion of the project funds to you first?"
"The construction team can be arranged in these next two days. There's no rush for the project funds." Minos smiled and waved her hand.
Afterwards—
Ryohei received a private message from her, stating that she wouldn't charge any money this time, and the materials would be considered her gift. This made Ryohei feel a bit embarrassed; he didn't expect to be living off a woman's generosity again.
Last time it was Lucoa, who dropped quite a few gold coins, and currently, a portion of those gold coins was still stored away in his storage space.
Ryohei wasn't a coy person either. He generously accepted Minos's goodwill and expressed that he would often make beef feasts for her in the future to thank her.
—In the end, both sides were very satisfied!