"Let's part ways here. Little Yoimiya, keep an eye on your dad these days. Don't rush my order too much—making fireworks is loud and can easily hurt the ears. In a few days, I'll make something to protect his ears for you."
Little Yoimiya nodded. "Mm-hmm, I got it! Thank you, old uncle!"
When they reached the fork in the road where they had to say goodbye, Cid patted Naganohara Ryuunosuke's shoulder.
"Big brother Ryuunosuke, this is about it. Little Eula and I need to head that way next."
Yoimiya's dad knew it was time to part, so he withdrew his arm.
"Yeah, then I'll take Yoimiya home first. Let's chat again when we have time!"
Yoimiya's dad seemed to have a very good impression of the old uncle; before leaving, he even shook the old uncle's hand.
Still, they parted ways here.
The old uncle looked up at the moon overhead and felt that today, the world was still beautiful.
Holding an umbrella for others is the same as holding an umbrella for my past self. Saving others also saves myself.
It's just a shame that my abilities are limited, and there are too few things I can do.
"Old uncle, why do you seem a bit sentimental today?"
Little Eula, holding Kirara in her cat form, noticed Cid's mood.
"Indeed, after all, tonight's moon is very bright~"
Little Eula looked at the moon in the sky, which never seemed anything less than perfectly round.
Was it particularly bright today?
If the old uncle says so, then it is.
The two people and one cat returned to the inn.
...
"Mr. Cid, do you need to prepare any ingredients this month?"
A traveling merchant visited the small wooden cabin where the old uncle had been staying once again.
What greeted him was a chorus of fox cries.
"Kyuu~ kyuu~ kyuu~" A brown fox pushed open the door of the small wooden cabin. What came into the merchant's view was a group of foxes resting inside the cabin.
Strange—why were there so many foxes in Mr. Cid's cabin?
The traveling merchant felt a little puzzled.
Could Mr. Cid have some extraordinary identity? So many foxes living in his room?
Out of reverence for the divine avatars that take the form of foxes, the traveling merchant offered food to the foxes in front of him. After confirming that the owner of the cabin had already left, he politely departed.
Whatever—maybe the foxes just thought the environment of the small cabin was nice?
But those foxes... were almost too beautiful... and too clean...
In the end, the traveling merchant stopped in front of a gravestone with swords planted in it.
He was all too familiar with the style of this gravestone.
It was the very person who erected this gravestone who had opened up the trade route he traveled...
And recently, there hadn't been any new gravestones discovered...
Combined with the glossy, radiant fox immortals in the cabin that were different from those outside...
"It... it's Lord Shura Anyakonsen-shou!"
...
The production of sound can be understood in three parts.
The physics of sound generation, transmission through a medium, and finally reaching the ears.
What the old uncle needed to do was to prolong the transmission of the sound, ensuring that the volume reaching the human ears stayed below a certain level.
At the same time, it had to allow fine, subtle sounds to pass through unaffected and reach the ears.
And ideally, it should also be comfortable when placed in the ears, using a faint Anemo element to maintain hygiene...
Cid the old uncle, as a child taught by Aunt Xianyun in the ways of the Anemo element, was currently using Anemo power to carefully carve the mechanism bit by bit.
This stage required extremely high precision.
To prevent his hands from shaking and ruining it, the old uncle even used a wind-gathering ring to control the amplitude of his body's movements...
Just... this final stroke!
Perfect! The old uncle's brand ear-protection artifact! Complete success!