CHAPTER 25 — The Inventor's Shed
📅 5 May, S.C. 1510
👦 Ren — 7
👦 Luffy — 5
👦 Kiro — 7–8
📍 Windmill Village → Ren's Shed
The storm had passed two days ago, but Ren still felt its weight in his chest.
He kept looking toward the beach as if expecting the basins to crumble again.
They held.
But something in him knew—he needed to improve more.
This tiny shed…
This cramped table…
These scattered tools…
He needed a real workspace.
Kiro peered over Ren's shoulder, watching him sketch something on a scrap of paper.
"What's that? A… weird square box?"
Ren shook his head.
"It's a workbench."
"A work-what?"
"Something adults use to build things properly."
Kiro raised a brow.
"You're seven, not seventy."
Ren didn't look up.
"Tools break easily. I need storage. A sturdy table. Shelves. Hanging racks. Ventilation."
Kiro blinked.
"Do you even know what ventilation means?"
"Airflow."
"…Right."
Luffy crawled under the shed table.
"CAN I DIG A SECRET TUNNEL?!"
"No," Ren said without looking.
"WHY?!"
"Because you'll end up in Makino's cellar."
Luffy gasped.
"FREE FOOD!!"
Kiro grabbed him by the shirt.
"No."
PART 1 — THE VILLAGERS HEAR ABOUT REN'S IDEA
Later that afternoon, Ren and Kiro hauled wood planks from the storage hut.
Old man Roji noticed them.
"Oi, what's all this?"
Ren hesitated shyly.
"I… want to improve my shed."
Roji's eyes lit with interest.
"You building a workshop, boy?"
Ren nodded.
"I need space to store salt tools, clay molds, herbs, and… other things."
Mrs. Muri leaned over her basket of vegetables.
"Ren! If you're building shelves, I can give you rope and baskets."
Mr. Wolt approached with folded arms.
"I have spare wooden boards."
Makino walked over, wiping her hands on her apron.
"What's happening here?"
Everyone pointed at Ren.
Makino smiled.
"Are we helping him build something?"
Ren felt his cheeks heat.
"I… didn't want to bother anyone—"
Roji flicked his forehead lightly.
"You're part of our village. Of course we'll help."
Kiro nodded proudly.
"See? I told you."
PART 2 — THE SHED EXPANSION BEGINS
What Ren imagined as a small adjustment quickly turned into a full-blown community project.
Villagers brought:
✔ wooden planks
✔ nails
✔ rope
✔ old shelves
✔ unused cabinets
✔ a toolbox
✔ stones for foundation
✔ clay jugs for storage
Even Luffy contributed… by dragging a plank twice his size.
"REN!! LOOK!! I'M STRONG!!"
He tripped and landed face-first in the dirt.
Kiro clapped sarcastically.
"Truly, unmatched strength."
Makino laughed softly.
Ren watched the villagers work with a strange ache in his heart.
He had never been part of something like this before—not in his previous life, not in this world until now.
He whispered,
"…Thank you, everyone."
Roji waved him off.
"Stop thanking us and start lifting!"
Ren nodded and joined in.
PART 3 — BUILDING THE BENCH
Kiro held two planks steady while Ren hammered the nails carefully.
"Ren," Kiro said, "you're weirdly good at this."
"I watched old carpenters work."
(He meant in his past life… but no one needed to know that.)
Luffy tried helping by hammering nails randomly and created a hole in the wall.
Makino sighed.
"Luffy, sweetheart… maybe go stand over there for a bit."
"OKAY!!"
Luffy ran off and immediately tripped into a barrel.
Ren finished assembling the table:
thick wooden legs
flat reinforced surface
stone slab insert for hot materials
drawer for small tools
hooks for drying herbs
rope loops for suspending jars
Kiro whistled.
"Ren… this is better than my dad's work table."
Ren ran his finger along the smooth edge.
The stability felt perfect.
"Yes," he whispered.
"This will work."
PART 4 — PERSONAL TOUCHES
As evening approached, the shed looked completely different:
✔ new shelves lined one wall
✔ baskets hung from hooks
✔ a window-sized ventilation gap was added
✔ herbs dried neatly in rows
✔ storage jars organized by size
✔ tools placed in orderly fashion
✔ clay and sand divided into labeled buckets
Makino stepped inside and gasped softly.
"Ren… this is beautiful."
Ren blinked.
"It's just a shed."
Makino leaned down and took his hands gently.
"No, Ren. This is your lab. Your space. Your beginning."
A warmth spread in Ren's chest.
Kiro punched his shoulder lightly.
"Yeah. This is where the genius works."
Luffy jumped into the shed yelling,
"I'M HUNGRY!!"
He knocked a bucket over.
Ren froze.
Kiro grabbed Luffy by the collar and dragged him away.
"Out. OUT."
Makino laughed.
"You'll have to Luffy-proof your shed too."
Ren sighed.
"…I know."
PART 5 — NIGHTFALL AND THE FIRST EXPERIMENT
After dinner, Ren returned alone to the shed.
He lit the lantern.
Warm golden light filled the room.
Everything felt… right.
Organized.
Clean.
Mine.
He placed a small clay sample on the table and began examining it.
He noticed things he hadn't before:
tiny grains of river silt
moisture differences
density variations
subtle texture inconsistencies
He whispered,
"…If the grain size is uniform, drying will be stable. If not, cracks form."
His mind linked observations faster than before.
It wasn't a leap into super-intelligence—
but it was the beginning.
A brain growing.
A scientist forming.
A child becoming something more.
Ren wrote in his notebook:
Workshop complete.
"I finally have a place to create."
He closed it slowly.
A gentle happiness filled his chest, soft but powerful.
This was his first step into a bigger world—
and he wasn't taking it alone.
END OF CHAPTER 25