Fairy Tale Chronicles

Translator: Reflet

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That day, the Adventurers’ Association was in an uproar from the early morning onward.

「First ya need to gather ‘n separate Dulk branches ‘n leaves, tearing the bark off them branches. Then ya mince the Age stems ‘n Dulk leaves into fine pieces and and crush ’em till they look like this. Ratios matter here, so don’t make the mistake of mixin’ ’em. Whatcha need are only Aslin roots ‘n Age stems, so dispose of anything else as ya see fit」

Following Hiroshi’s instructions, Haruna and the other members had been facing off against the mountain of materials they had scraped up yesterday. Several potion makers had come to assist them in dividing up the materials.

「So everything other than the Aslin roots are just your everyday first-aid antidotes」

「That they are. That type of antidote has always been weak, but can still work against most poison because of its composition」

「Then what about this Aslin Root?」

「It works very well against miasma-type poison, but it’s still a powerful medicine, so its regular effects as an antidote hafta be weakened. But if ya just mix ‘n brew it then it’ll lose some of its effectiveness against miasma-type poison, which is why there’s a need to make some adjustments via alchemy」

While answering questions from the youthful potion makers, he began skillfully processing the Aslin roots. Even though he had the largest amount of raw material, he was the quickest among any of them in processing the ingredients, displaying just how far apart their skill levels were.

「This is a processing method that has not been seen before. What exactly is it?」

「Right. Well, actually, as long as ya have rudimentary knowledge ’bout alchemy ‘n enchantin’ then it ain’t difficult, so I encourage ya to study it when ya got the time. ‘Course, I can tell ya whatcha needa know, but a little learnin’ is a dangerous thing, so I recommend learnin’ it from the proper individuals. And if ya properly learn it then it’ll spread around」

「Understood」

Smiling wryly at the facts that Hiroshi was saying, the youthful potion makers showed their agreement.

「Azuma-kun, what do we do with this bark?」

「Just leave it after ya finish tearin’ it off. Cause we need that ‘n the roots for a bit of special processing」

「Roger. And then we just grind the leaves and stems, right?」

Receiving instruction from Hiroshi, Haruna proceeded to begin grinding. While glancing at her doing that, he finished processing the roots and began working on the large amount of bark. He used magic to dry it, minced it, then grinded it, making it into powder and measuring the amount. Voices of admiration rang out as they watched the skilled process unfold.

「Where’s the distilled water?」

「We have it prepared here」

「In that case, I’ll do that work instead, so please do me a favor and prepare a hearth and cauldron」

「Understood」

He gave instructions to Anne, earnestly grinding the thinly-minced leaves. The members who were not potion makers were taking at most fifteen minutes’ worth of breaks, yet Hiroshi was able to continuously do it faster than them without taking a single break. And of course he had an amount of work to do that was many times more than them. While true for any field, there was a hopeless gap between veterans and amateurs in skill level.

「Now that the preparation’s over, just gotta brew it all together」

While carefully measuring it, he began tossing the ingredients into the now-boiling distilled water. First he tossed in two cups of the grinded Age stems into the two-handled pot, stirring for ten seconds for them to mix. Afterwards, he mixed in the bark of the Dulk branches, stirring them again for about fifteen seconds. Once he confirmed that the color of the mixture had shifted, he tossed in simultaneously the grinded Dulk leaves and crushed dried Aslin roots as he softened the flame, pumping in magic while stirring it earnestly for about forty minutes. Gradually, the color began to change, and he removed the cauldron from the fire once it was a light blue hue.

「After that ya put the respective amounts in bottles and yer done」

While absorbing away the heat via magic, he divided them into unused or washed two-handled pots for bottling and proclaimed it nearly finished.

「I’ll help. How much should I put in?」

「A bit before the top. Ya don’t hafta be super precise」

「Roger that」

Just as Hiroshi had instructed, they continuously filled the bottles using a ladle and funnel. As expected from Hiroshi or the potion makers, despite directly pouring from the pots, nothing escaped the containers, flowing smoothly through. All of the guild members also put the lid on tight, sealing the bottles fairly well. Three hours after the procedure, around eleven o’clock, over three hundred antidotes had been completed.

「I think this is more ‘n enough, but whadda bout you?」

「Yes. This should be good enough, even considering the amount of knights on campaign」

「Well, in terms of both ingredients and equipment, anything more ‘n this is a bit too difficult, so if it doesn’t last then I’d say give up」

「Understood. I will convey that」

Once he had told Anne what was necessary, he moved to the Association’s store corner, looking for a pickaxe and hatchet he could use for excavation or harvest.

「I think I’ll go with this ‘n this for now?」

This was only up until he began making them himself, so he merely selected whatever looked distinct enough. He followed up by using discretion to find a burly bag that could fit a lot of ore in it.

「Speaking of which, ain’t there a place that lends out tools fer forgin’ and whatnot?」

「And if there isn’t?」

「Well then I’d have no choice but to make makeshift ones and step it up a bit at a time……」

「But that’ll take us longer……」

「Ain’t nothin’ we can do ’bout that. Either way, if we need good equipment then eventually we gotta procure decent weapons ‘n tools」

She sighed at Hiroshi’s words. In this case, procuring proper equipment meant using a workshop and making the equipment yourself. So basically they would have to quickly get out of the inn and search for a wide-enough building. Or they would have to buy just that much land, gather resources, and build it themselves.

「Excuse me～」

「Yeees?」

The woman in charge of the store, Myuzzel, rushed over to the counter in a big fuss when she heard Hiroshi’s voice.

「So this is all I want」

「All right. Please wait a moment, okay?」

She started calculating it on some blackboard. It wasn’t like it was a flat fee, and all she had to do was add the prices, so why was she throwing multiplication in there?

「Pickaxe and hatchet along with two bags in total will be sixty-five Chrones」

「Why so cheap?」

「We entrusted you with a rather sudden job, so think of it as a little service. As for the reward, we are currently in the middle of negotiations with the country, so please come again another day」

「Got it. Guess I’ll gladly take the discount」

Of course there was more to this, but it also wasn’t anything to be on guard about. He had already stood out too much yesterday and today, so of course people would have their eyes on him. So there at least shouldn’t be an issue with taking the merit.

「So I have a question」

「Okay, go ahead」

「Is there anyplace near here where you can get iron ore and whatnot?」

「Ore, you say……」

Myuzzel thought to herself a bit when Haruna asked that.

「Right, so I hear you can find a little bit midway up Mt. Renne up north in the cliffside area～」

「A little bit?」

「Yes. No doubt you can find some, but apparently the quality and mass are nothing special, so it never really made it as a mine～」

When Myuzzel said that, the two of them thought a bit.

「So why ore?」

「Well, it’s nothing important, but we were thinking we might get cheaper equipment if we brought along the ingredients. Also, according to Azuma-kun, there seem to be alchemy or enchantments that you can use ore for, so we thought if we gathered them, it would be a good first step to becoming independent」

「Ahh, I see. I was under the impression that you intended to procure the armaments yourself as well」

The two of them couldn’t keep complete poker faces after Myuzzel had said that. Her smile was now a little different, and they realized their slip-up, but it was too late. However, this much was to be expected of a member of the Adventurers’ Association, no matter how unsuspecting they seemed to be.

「Well actually, though it is rare to see anyone of Azuma-san’s capacity, it isn’t all that unusual to see some adventurers who to a certain degree make their own potions or armaments～. There are even those amongst the potion makers who have become adventurers in order to gather ingredients themselves or those who are learning how to forge in pursuit of easier-to-use tools」

「What are you getting at?」

「There are things related to forging in the Association’s equipment, so if necessary, please do let them know」

「……Understood」

They were after all two young high schoolers. Even if they had more than enough battle prowess, they were not sly enough to outwit an adult in this fashion. Hiroshi and Haruna realized it was futile to hide things from the Adventurers’ Association, so they gave up.

***

「Around here」

Upon reaching the area they had been told about, Hiroshi mumbled as they looked up at the cliff. It was the sort of mountain where normally only hunters or people in search of ingredients for potions would come, and there was almost no trace of what you would call a path, so the two of them had ended up having to walk endlessly along the animal trail. Since they both had higher-than-average resistance than regular people, they did not sustain any injuries from branches or thorns, but Haruna’s clothing was frayed here and there, still desperately ripping a branch off from the tips of her hair.

There had certainly not been small issues like this in the game, so even inevitable things like this were enough to convey that this was reality, and that was enough to overwhelm them. There were of course elements in which clothing could get dirty, but not to the point where sleeves or cuffs would loosen. Of course, this did happen from time to time in battle with destruction, but they would never end up catching onto tree branches or anything like that. It was deeply frustrating.

「I guess it’s to be expected that in a place they say doesn’t even have any promising prospects, there wouldn’t be any proper trails……」

「Well yeah」

「Come to think of it, I’ve seen you sweeping around with that hatchet. Have you been gathering potion ingredients?」

「Somethin’ like that. Well not just potions, but there are also things that can be used fer alchemy or as catalysts fer processing clothing」

Hiroshi said as he gazed up at the cliff. He seemed to have immediately begun excavation. To put it bluntly, Haruna had no clue as to what area had ore, but doubtless, the eyes of a craftsman were different.

「So you found some?」

「It’s nothin’ special, but I bet if we purify it then we can use it」

That unreliable response was all that returned to her when she had inquired from Hiroshi as he was beginning to dig into the cliff with his pickaxe. With that being said, he had a fine smile on his face and she found herself astonished that such a loser could make a face like that.

「You can keep doing what you’re doing, but I want you to hear what I have to say……」

「What?」

「I figured I’d apologize while I still can. I’ve been telling a bit of a lie until now. Sorry.」

「What kind of lie?」

「Remember how I initially said that I practically didn’t retain any familiarity with the land here?」

「Come to think of it, ya did say that」

On the third day as they were moving to Wulls, Haruna had definitely said something like that.

「So half of it was true, but half of it was false」

「What’re ya getting at?」

「I can’t easily forget about places I’ve been to once or things I’ve heard or seen. So I actually remember the majority of the geography of Farlane. It’s true that it was more than four years ago when I walked around that area, and that it’s been around two years since I’ve been to Wulls though, so I really don’t know anything about the buildings」

「I seee. But don’tcha think it’s a little weak to say you were lying based off of some buildings? Plus ya really didn’t seem to know the roads very well」

「You’ve been studying me, I see」

「Well yeah, that’s cuz firmly observin’ ‘n keepin’ suspicious feelin’s in the back of yer head is the trick to protectin’ yerself from yer natural enemy」

「Natural enemy……」

Haruna was shocked that Hiroshi would say something like that. Did he seriously hate being with her that much?

「And I ain’t really singlin’ ya out, Toudou-san. I just in principle don’t like to associate with gals」

「……I did get that vibe when you talked to Anne-san or Myuzzel-san」

The first time as well as the recent incident, Hiroshi was after all quite visibly pale and had goosebumps whenever Anne or Myuzzel would get close. The only time when he wasn’t like that would have been when he was focusing mostly on what he was working on. Leaving aside Anne, who could have easily mistaken it for regular anxiety on the first day, Myuzzel likely knew that Hiroshi not only had anthropophobia, but was also suffering from a serious degree of fear toward females.

「Maybe yer the one who’s studying me」

「Well we are in the same boat. If we don’t figure out things about each other like who we are, what we like/dislike, and what kinds of burdens we have, it’ll lead to potential unnecessary trouble and disaster」

「Right. Sorry that ya have to deal with me in the same boat」

「Don’t be silly! I really am glad that you’re my partner, Azuma-kun!」

She panickedly denied what Hiroshi had just mumbled self-depreciatively. In all honesty, it was no exaggeration that she was extremely fortunate to have Hiroshi as her partner in this land where you couldn’t tell your right from your left. Even if he did have gynophobia, that meant she would never have to worry about her chastity being threatened, and even if that weren’t the case, he was the most trustworthy person in this situation, and best of all, he made most things himself. Haruna could not find it in herself to do something as evil as complain about such an amazing partner.

「Don’t hafta be so polite. I’m aware that it’s incredibly rude to ya when I call ya my “natural enemy”」

「I don’t intend to press further, but something crazy must have happened to you before, right? So if that’s how it is then it can’t be helped」

「Sorry ’bout that」

「If anything I’m the one who’s sorry. I want to avoid putting any pressure on you, but I can’t really do anything about……」

「Nah, I say there’s nothing fer ya to apologize about. If anything I almost want ya to say somethin’ like “If yer a man then act like one!”……」

「No, I can’t say that……」

From Haruna’s viewpoint, Hiroshi’s “issue” was at the point where he needed to see a counselor or get psychosomatic medicine. She could seriously feel a sense of danger about his situation, like if she even made one step out of line, he might retreat into being a shut-in or quarantined in a psychosis ward. To be in the same class as him last year and not realize whatsoever that such a precarious person was in her vicinity, she was reminded that she had a long way to go in terms of observation and understanding.

「So, returning back to the other topic. What didja mean by sayin’ that you remembered the way but didn’t remember it as well as ya thought?」

「There’s of course the fact that VR and real life are different things, but the biggest reason is that the terrain was different from how I remembered it」

「I see, I see. Like what?」

When Hiroshi asked that question, she thought of an easy example.

「There was a hill on the way to Wulls, right?」

「Yup」

「Well that wasn’t there in the VR version」

「Ya sure?」

She nodded with a serious face at Hiroshi’s skeptical words. At that time, she had tried acting gung-ho with everything they did, but internally, she had actually been in quite the shock at how clearly different the terrain was from her memories.

「Yeah. The minute we stepped onto the road, the castle gate should have been visible, but I confirmed that the topography was different when I saw that hill blocking the view」

「So when ya tried to previously go in the opposite direction of the road……」

「It was because if we cut through that way, it should have been possible to make a shortcut to Wulls’s northern gates. But if we had gone that way, we would have definitely ended up lost」

「’S that right」

Hiroshi could care less about what she was saying, so he merely went along with the conversation while continuing the excavation. Noticing that, Haruna sighed and cut to the chase.

「So Azuma-kun, how much do you remember about the initial game settings?」

「I’d say practically nothin’」

「Which means you didn’t remember hearing the term “Visitors from the Unknown Continent”?」

「Was that even part of the game?」

「Yeah. By the game’s terms, we’re supposed to have faster growth than that of the average person in this world」

Hiroshi was impressed by Haruna’s recollection. Although he had said that he didn’t remember trifling details about statuses so that the conversation would go by smoothly, it went without saying that he certainly had a firm grasp on Haruna’s statuses and the lower decimal points of her skill levels. Although there wasn’t really any use remembering them…

「Well, if ya think ’bout it, even if ya pack in twenty years o’ trainin’, it don’t mean that yer skill level will rise proportionately」

「Yeah. I agree. So leaving aside the fact that we can use the abilities we learned in-game, the next issue is whether abilities or skills can still grow quickly」

「Yer right. But before that we hafta figure out how we even check that. Not like we can just check our statuses like before」

「Very true. Even if we were to test it out by practicing, it’s not like we can tell the difference without an objective way of measuring it」

「There wasn’t never any significant difference between raising one or two attributes after all」

Haruna nodded wryly as she watched Hiroshi digging into the cliff. Before she knew it, there were a large amount of boulders rolled over at Hiroshi’s feet. He appeared to be differentiating them as he dug, since looking closely, there were two mountains of boulders that had formed.

「And anyway, even if we did train, when attributes get higher, the time it takes to gain points and the growth rate for one session just get worse ‘n worse」

「Mhm. That’s another problem all right. I mean, I bet our parameters are quite a bit higher than the average person even if we’re at the lowest」

In the game of Fairy Tale Chronicle, there were three crucial methods for raising attributes without equipment revision. They were raising your character level, raising your skill level, and doing a task that trains the attribute you wish to raise. There were exceptions among expendable rare drops like ones that permanently raised an attribute point by one, but these were the rarest of rares in the game and only four had been found in five years, so there wasn’t much point in listing them.

Incidentally, it was possible for Hiroshi to make said items, but because of the astronomical toll it took on ingredients, he had never made them. There was also the possibility of raising attributes through quest bonuses from time to time, but not only were these scarce; they had a high hurdle of which you had to have completed every grand quest from the second chapter onward, so it was safe to say that it also wasn’t an optimal method.

At a time like this, merely raising a specific ability could only be done by doing tasks related to using your lowest-priority attributes. Since you typically raised attributes when levelling up based on skills or prior tendencies and automatically allotted points to those attributes, low abilities would always be low. And the attribute bonus that you could get from raising your skill points generally strengthened two or more abilities. Also, since the actual task of training your skills was also connected to attribute training, it wasn’t unusual to suddenly find your attributes raised without regard to skill point bonuses.

As you can see, even in the game, where it was relatively easier to do what you pleased than in reality, you still couldn’t perfectly control things while looking at your status, so there was no way that in this reality you could just blindly train without an idea of what your stats were. There would be no way to check for growth.

「In the first place, you weren’t able to subjectively see any effects in ‘FairChro’ until after ten or so attribute points, and yet from everyone else’s point of view, even one point higher made a significant difference」

「Is that right?」

「Yeah. For example, if you had a strength of around 150, then once it increased to 151, basic attack power would go up by about 15. From your own standpoint it would be just 15 measly points, but in terms of weapons, that would be like your attack power having a starter knife added to it. Then when your strength gets to be 300, your basic attack power would increase by 30 or so. It may not seem like a big deal, but when you compare the two proportionately, the average person would see a severe difference with even one point, wouldn’t they?」

「That they would. But wow, Toudou-san. You really know your miniscule number details」

「It’s cause there was a time when I worked together with an acquaintance in order to calculate the correlation between attributes and derivation parameters. By the way, the volume zone at the start of service was from 120 to 180 in terms of character level, and the lowest attributes were from around 150 to 200」

「Which is why ya made the example with attribute points of 150」

「Exactly」

When Hiroshi had stopped digging to marvel at her, Haruna puffed her chest out as she answered a bit pridefully. Speaking of character levels, Haruna herself would also be in the volume zone. Leaving aside the influence of extra skills, attribute points were the highest at 250. Having mastered severe training with support magic and cooking as well as having mastered extra skills relating to lifestyle, her attributes had surpassed the volume zone and were in the lower top category. She had a vast amount of skills that she had learned, and it was impressive to think that she could raise multiple skills in just one battle.

Without skill modifiers, the growth rate for attributes would suddenly worsen once it got past 30, and once it was past 50, there would no longer even be growth apart from levelling up and skill bonuses. Then around 70, levelling up would no longer increase attribute points, and then once past 100 in terms of base points, they would almost not rise at all when levelling up. Since even skills when mastered could only get a total of 15 modifiers, nearly everyone’s attribute points would cap at 200.

This bonus, with the exception of crafting skills, advanced support magic, and every extra skill, was larger than anything else. Each of them had a ridiculous amount of attribute point modifiers that corresponded to difficulty of acquisition or difficulty of training.

Above all, extra skills had a vast amount of modifiers, and mastering them would already give you 4 regular attack-related advanced skills as a bonus. Of course, this only meant that the attribute points with the largest amount of modifiers were high, and it wasn’t like there was a huge difference between the things that rose via support as opposed to normal skills. After all, there was pretty much no skill that only raised one attribute.

Of course, by the time you became enough of a shut-in to where you got to Level 500 or 800, you would easily have enough attribute points to strike 500, 600, etc. In addition to the amount of training compared to the density being different, it was normal to take all of the quest bonuses.

「I don’t care that much, but outta curiosity, what’s the highest attribute as of now?」

「From what I head, the top one is 765, although I’m not sure as to what it corresponds to」

「……Is that right……」

Based on Hiroshi’s dubious expression, Haruna figured that he had 800 or some other staggering amount of attribute points. He did after all have tons of extra skills from crafting, so she wouldn’t be particularly surprised if his armor and constitution had gone beyond a thousand.

「Well anyhow, leaving aside all that」

「Yeah」

「Whaddya think will be affected over here as a result of that?」

「Affected? Well, I have my own thoughts on that」

As Hiroshi resumed digging for ore, Haruna replied while wondering how she could continue the conversation.

「If memory serves, at the beginning of the game, players were dispatched to random locations and began their journey after the surrounding soldiers approached them and took them to the castle」

「I vaguely remember that, but if I recall, ya accepted various tutorial-like chores around the castle, and then when ya got money fer arrangements as a reward, the game started」

「And that’s where I’d like to start talking about」

「Mm?」

「I know it’s a bit late for this, but I’d like to consult to you about whether we should follow along with the flow of events at the start of the game」

Hiroshi let out a wry smile at how late it was to bring this up. Haruna was the one who had suggested they avoid going to the castle because it was questionable in the first place. With that being said, Hiroshi would have probably brought it up even if Haruna had not.

「Seriously, this is super late」

「I know, I know. And it’s not like we even need arrangement money or any of that」

「I think fer now we should do as planned and start by procuring weapons」

「If you’re fine with that, then I have no objections, but I just feel a bit bad for relying on you and having you shoulder all of the risk……」

「Nothing to be done ‘bout that right now. Besides, if I were the average fighter character, I would’ve had to rely on you fer livin’ expenses and everything in general」

The day-to-day skills were rather looked down upon in the game, but in actuality, if you were blown into the game world, rather than being able to use powerful magic, being able to cook delicious meals would benefit you by far. Rather than having sword techniques that could fell a dragon in one hit, it was a given that it was better to be able to make swords that could kill a dragon and make much more for a living.

They just so happened to be two people who excelled at day-to-day skills, but if they were something like your typical serious fighter combination, they would have unmistakably found themselves in a dreadful situation. Take right now for instance: Haruna had put some light effort into making tasty bread and dried meat she had brought along with them for lunch. If she didn’t have such a skill, she wouldn’t even be able to do this.

「So we know the weapons we want, but what ‘bout armor?」

「What about it?」

「Toudou-san, I’m guessin’ that ya aren’t the type to wear metal armor?」

「Before we even discuss that, is it even possible to make metal armor with what you’ve dug so far today?」

「Probably not with one trip. We still hafta make my tools after all」

「I thought so」

Hearing Hiroshi’s answer, she briefly entered into thought.

「Well, if yer fine with metal armor, then ya don’t hafta hold back. It’s not like we have enough ingredients to make other things, so we’ll hafta come back to dig probably one or two more times」

「Yeah? Well, I certainly don’t need armor all over my body, but in the chest area sounds like it might be decent」

「Breastplate? I planned to do the same fer myself, so I’ll work somethin’ out fer us」

「You sure?」

「I toldja. Said we’d hafta come back here a couple more times. But lemme just say that the materials around here for reinforcing the armor ain’t all that light. It’s gonna be pretty rattly when you walk around. You fine with that?」

「Not like we can help that. I’m grateful to you just for making it for me」

「Understood」

He answered, proceeding to continue on what appeared to be the last part of his excavation work. In the middle of all this, he had taught Haruna the gist of excavation so that she could also begin digging into the cliff, and she had eventually gotten a fair amount of ore piles at her feet. As she worked on this, Haruna became fed up with her hair and very begrudgingly tied it up, which was something new. It was quite different from her usual appearance, but the loser Hiroshi hardly paid it any attention, simply focusing on seeing what he could harvest, so it was practically meaningless to put her effort toward changing her hairstyle, as it would’ve been left unnoticed.

***

「So I’d like to use a smelting furnace and a smithy」

The next day. After finishing up the resident registration they had forgotten, they heard from Anne that yesterday’s suppression plan had gone well as she gave them the reward of 6,000 Chrones. Hiroshi immediately went to the crafting institution administrator, breaking it to him nice and clear.

The man was in his prime, so he never showed any sign of being taken aback. Incidentally, the selling price of the potions was 50 Chrones for one bottle, itemized as 10 Chrones as payment for ingredients as well as to the cooperative workers, and the remaining amount was to be split between Hiroshi’s group and the Association.

The other portion of the money from the 300 bottles was to be circulated amongst the cooperative workers. Being that the effects were instant, they were able to be sold for a higher price than regular antidotes, they were told.

「The furnace will be 20 Chrones with firewood included, and the smithy tools will be 10 Chrones with heat source included」

「……Well ain’t that a dandy price」

「It’s cause once you have the temperature high enough to refine the ore, you need a lot of firewood. Adding to that, you can’t raise the temperature that high in such a short amount of time, which is why we use a special material for processing the firewood. If you’ll be doing something about the heat source yourself, then it would be 8 Chrones along with the smithy」

He did the calculations in his head when the youthful personnel said that. Thinking to decrease the usage of this place as much as possible, he decided on the more difficult method.

「……Alright. Can ya buy the regular firewood here?」

「Oh? So that’s what you decided on. For regular firewood, hm…For the amount that you need, it would be 50 Tirols, I’d say」

「Then, I’ll also pay 1 Chrone as hush money to prevent anyone coming in, so I’ll get the firewood right now」

「Roger that. Once you’ve brought it over, I’ll come see you, so let me know when you’ve started using the smelting furnace」

「Gotcha」

Hiroshi began carving something into each log of prepared firewood. In the middle of his work on this large volume of goods, the cheap knife he had brought with him had broken. It wasn’t good enough quality for maintenance in the first place, so he had neglected it as it declined.

「Toudou-san, couldja gimme a knife?」

「Yes」

He continued his work upon receiving the knife from Haruna. Her knife’s blade also ended up faltering near the end, but it seemed that he had ended the necessary process. Even without a discount, it was after all an inferior good that could be bought for 50 Tirols, and after using it to fend off and disembowel Berserker Bears, harvesting various things, and scraping off this and that, it was an expected outcome.

Other than the firewood he had finished carving up, there was powder left at the smithy (probably a fire extinguisher), and he used it a bit in order to paint a magic circle on the ground, starting a confusing ritual. Right after it was complete, blue light gleamed within the firewood, then the emblem engraved in the surfaces disappeared. Confirming that, Hiroshi breathed a large

sigh. After about thirty minutes since the personnel had left, the preliminary arrangements mentioned by Hiroshi had finally ended.

「I’mma go call the man」 f𝘳𝚎𝑒𝚠𝑒𝚋𝘯o𝘃eƖ.co𝓂

「Kay. I’ll clean while you do that」

「Please do」

Watching Hiroshi as he went out of the smithy, she gathered wood chips with a broom that were scattered about the floor. The magic circle had disappeared once the ritual had ended, so once she was done disposing of this trash then the erasure of evidence would be complete.

「……You seriously dealt with everything by yourself in this amount of time?」

「It really ain’t that impressive though」

「Well, I have heard from Anne and Myuzzel that you can use enchanting…」

「Exactamundo. Either way, I’d like to keep usin’ the smelting furnace and smithy tools from now on if that’s alright」

He said, handing ten Chrones over to the personnel. He nodded once at the money he had received, then Hiroshi tossed firewood into the smelting furnace and lit the fire. It was evidently a larger flame than what they were usually using, but as if expecting this, the personnel wasn’t partcularly surprised.

「Ya don’t seem perturbed」

「If we’re talking about a guest from the Unknown Continent, it’s to be expected that they’re a bit removed from the average skill level」

「That right?」

He made a wry smile at the man’s reaction, tossing in ore one after the other. Once he had finished throwing in what Haruna had carried over, he also tossed in the knife that had lost its edge along with the hatchet and pickaxe he had used today once he had removed the handles.

「……I get the knife, but was it seriously okay to throw in the relatively new hatchet and pickaxe?」

「Well, I was gonna make ‘em all today anyhoo. Oh, right right. The leftover files or chisels might not be in such good condition afterwards, so I’ll pay up later」

「Just what do you plan to do with them……」

Neglecting to answer the grumbling of the seasoned man, he drew a magic circle midair with his fingertips. Drawn by the light of magic, the design was sucked into the smelting furnace. Hiroshi then aimed the palm of his hand at the furnace, concentrating.

The man and Haruna gazed at this sight as thin cold sweat ran down them. Hiroshi continued the usual refinement procedure as he rushed magic into the furnace. After a decent amount of time had passed with him continuing the procedure with techniques the man was unfamiliar with, he pulled out melted metal from the furnace, putting portions of it into molds of varying sizes and hardening them, creating ingots. It was peculiar to see the usual loser aura he emitted actually vanished at times like these.

「Now then, what next?」

「I think it might be good to make tools first?」

「Darn skippy. Alright, we’ll start with a knife and hammer」

「Knife?」

「Because ya can’t make the hammer handle unless ya make a knife first」

Right after he had finished saying that highly persuasive line, his movement flowed with technique that prevented anyone from opening their mouths in amazement, bringing forth two knives. More experienced people could tell at a glance what was happening. Each time he struck the materials, magic would pour into the blade. It would seem that enchantment was not only necessary for the refinement procedure, but for the forging procedure as well.

「This does it for the knife. Next is hammer?」

Finishing the quenching and tempering of the blade in the blink of an eye, he neatly arranged the shape of the blade with a whetstone. Normally you would make iron and steel metals and affix them to the forge to obtain more rigidity and elasticity, but this time around, he had already enchanted this and that, which was apparently a shortcut.

「Makin’ it the regular way ain’t gonna give us enough time, so I think I’ll appropriate from the hatchet for the handle……」

As he said that, he began procuring tool after tool after extending the time twice midway. The materials he was working with were hard, which just as he had said, contributed to two files and one chisel going dull, but he had already prepared a substitute with the lumber remnants, so it didn’t become anything serious. That being said, the man’s face was twitching from beginning to end.

「Now here’s the real kicker. How much length ya want?」

「Mm, well……」

After he had finished making the hatchet and pickaxe, he began forging the remaining ingots while listening to Haruna’s requests. He began working on it more delicately than before, creating it with a prayer-like sincerity. The amount of magic that he put into it when striking it was also a step above the rest. As they were captivated by by his earnest expression and magnificent handiwork, the beautiful silhouette of the blade was complete. He then created a handle and sheath with the remaining ingredients in the blink of an eye, and there in front of them appeared a sharp, narrow sword with an appearance more magnificent than anything the Adventurers’ Association could supply.

「Mind swingin’ it around a bit?」

「Mm, alright」

She timidly accepted the rapier, carefully unsheathing it from the sheath, and took enough distance before tracing the basic movements. After she had developed a wrinkle in her brow and glared at the blade……

「The centre of gravity seems a bit too strong? Also, it would be a bit more comfortable if you could maybe make the pinky area a little more narrow」

「Got it. Let me see it again」

Answering Haruna’s request, he made various minimal adjustments, and by the time that the lengthened time was reaching its end, he had managed to finish the revisions.

「How’s it feel now?」

「……Yeah, it’s perfect!」

She lightly waved the new blade around like a martial arts demonstration as she said that. Lastly, checking the circumstances of the light-type magic sword when activated, she furrowed her brow in a different manner than earlier.

「What’s up? Somethin’ bad happen?」

「Not exactly bad, I just didn’t get it」

「Whaddya mean didn’t get it?」

Wondering how to answer Hiroshi’s question, she decided to start with her own question.

「These are just makeshift ingredients, right?」

「Well yeah. I fiddled with them a bit, but the materials they come from ain’t very good in the first place」

「……Then I definitely don’t get it……」

「Seriously, get what?」

「Just the fact that these are better than the ones we used before……」

With her saying things that he had no idea how to resolve, Hiroshi was at a loss for words.

「……Well, I’ll at least hear out yer complaints and grievances as we go back to the inn」

「Yeah. Nothing worth discussing here anyway」

「For now, please make do with these replacements for the broken file and chisel. Also, I’d appreciate it if ya kept this between us」

「……I know. No one would believe me even if I did tell ‘em, man」

The man nodded while wryly smiling at what Hiroshi had said. To put it precisely, Haruna’s rapier was more high-functioning than any weapon in the Association, but it wasn’t like there wasn’t anything better. For weapons crafted even cheaply by skilled dwarven artisans, if you were to apply voracious enchantments, it might not be easy, but you could create superior weapons. However, when it came to weapons crafted from the lacking ore in this area, things were different. No one would see this weapon with all of its enhancements and think it to be merely “makeshift”. They would dismiss it as idle gossip.

「We’ll be takin’ our leave now」

Hiroshi lowered his head. After seeing him off with a sigh, the personnel began scraping off the ashes from the heat source section of the now-cool smelting furnace. All of the firewood had been extinguished.

「Seriously, what was all my effort worth? I sooo need to vent」

They were returning home. They were secretly talking using the functions of the Adventurers Card, which in game terms was essentially party chat. Haruna began thrusting her irritated feelings with all her strength at Hiroshi.

「Not much I can do about that though……」

「I struggled to complete a quest and finally got my hands on Chivalrous Thief Alvan’s Rapier. I saved up as much as I could and refine it to +6. Yet now! Do you realize how much of a shock it was to see my precious old weapon that I had cultivated with enchantments just get easily beaten by a weapon that was only made using the ingredients around this first-timer area?」

「Hold up a sec」

He couldn’t bring himself to let that statement go by, so Hiroshi decided to stop her there to confirm.

「What?」

「Wasn’t Chivalrous Thief Alvan a humanoid unique boss?」

「I think so. What about him?」

「The NPCs were sayin’ he was caught. Were you the one who did that, Toudou-san?」

「I guess that’s basically how it went?」

After wryly smiling at Haruna’s answer, he decided to hear what had transpired. To sum up what Haruna told him, it had begun when she was doing her normal plaza performances for money. She had asked if there had been any strange occurrences lately, and then a quest had just emerged with a crime notice. It must have been one of those unique quests that only appeared once in the game’s entirety.

This was yet another strange quest. Suddenly, the chivalrous thief Darl laid eyes on her, and both him and Alvan had competed for Haruna. After he had won, he had pressed on her to be his bride since it was the winner’s right, so she had struck him unconscious and sent him to the authorities. In so far that he was a unique boss, Alvan was absurdly strong, but thankfully, he had revealed nearly all of his attack patterns and cards in his fight with the thief Darl, so she had managed to hold out by countering her opponent’s moves and barely overcame him, or so she said. Another plus was that his physical resistance and magic resistance were low for a boss.

「Yer a tough one, Toudou-san」

「That’s only because I was well-matched. I bet if I were as tough as you, I could have struck him down as soon as his stamina ran out, so wouldn’t this be easier for you?」

「Even though I’m rather removed from that sorta thing, that does not sound righttoo pretty」

「Nah, the winner is always right!」

Hiroshi had meant it as self-depreciation, but Haruna tried and failed to reassure him.

「But I still can’t believe that the starlight I got my hands on after so much trouble would lose to a makeshift rapier, even with its added effects……」

「W-Well, try ‘n bear with it. As an apology I’ll give ya any enchantment ya want as long as it doesn’t require a catalyst」

「Now that just makes me feel even more frustrated or something……」

Haruna had resumed her grumbling. Hiroshi decided to comfort her.

「W-Well, y’know」

「What?」

「If ya’d brought somethin’ like a fully-enchanted god steel rapier, yer rare drop wouldn’t be worth nothin’……」

「Something like that exists too? Wait, and you can make it?」

While taking some distance from Haruna and her rather serious face, he fearfully replied. To further illustrate the situation, he had been continuously keeping his distance the same from her even as she pressed closer.

「If I tell ya, try not to get angry……」

「What now?」

「If it’s a rapier we’re talkin’ bout, the necessary amount of ore is slim, so I think I made three of ’em for trainin’ and left ’em rolled over in the storehouse……」

「Y’know, I feel like your existence is enough to make most of the players’ struggles meaningless……」

「Ya say it like it’s easy, but ya realize there ain’t no way that it’s easy to make a god steel rapier that ya can cast full enchantment on right from the raw material stage, right?」

Haruna deeply sighed at Hiroshi’s lackluster statement. If he couldn’t easily make them, then why on earth were there even so much as three of those sitting in his storehouse?

「And I don’t mean to brag, but even that rapier was quite difficult to make, I’ll have ya know」

「Saying that after the fact, do you really think that’s going to sound persuasive?」

「Still, in actuality, makin’ them with those ingredients is impossible without advanced forgin’ and advanced refinement. Ya need like fifteen years in-game of studyin’, y’know?」

「Maybe so, maybe so, but……」

Even if making them was up there in difficulty, onlookers would just see it as a pretty easy task. So that was probably why Haruna took such issue with it.

In actuality, most of Hiroshi’s normie friends in the game were intimidated by the difficulty of obtaining the god steel and the necessary quantity and had not ordered full enchanted equipment.

There was also the added fact that the monsters which the rare materials came from were very deadly. Therefore, unless players happen to come across them while hunting for raw materials, they would never purposely look for them.

In addition, he would stand out too much, so he didn’t really use it other than when hunting with close friends. Thus, nearly no one knew he even had such equipment. 24 people in advanced crafting already had their storehouses branded as liable to destroy the game balance. However, if you were to gather up everything in there, there was maybe only 5% god steel in comparison to the actual players population.

Furthermore, unknown to them, boss drop equipment from humans or demihumans would change in number and quality depending on how high quality the weapons the players had from stalls or auctions, as well as the number of players. Therefore, being that nothing was really being sold above the average market price, even the famous sword of the chivalrous thief Alvan wouldn’t match god steel equipment. Heck, it wouldn’t even be as good as a fully enchanted makeshift weapon using Carpentry for the Gods.

「Well, that aside」

「……Mm」

「There’s somethin’ I wanna do later, so I’d like ya to come with me after we get a bite to eat」

「Sure, but what do you want to do?」

「Search for a base of operations that has plenty of space for a workshop, as well as checking for food ingredients, seasoning, etc」

Understanding what Hiroshi was getting at, she nodded earnestly.

「I estimate it’ll be 20,000 Chrones for all the effort. Normal houses are cheap and ya can usually easily get 5 of them, but when it comes to workshops, it’s more costly」

「Even in the game, trying to get things like big shops required an extra digit, right」

「Even saving up would be difficult if ya don’t know how much ya need. That’s why we’re startin’ by confirmin’ that」

「Depending on the amount of money, I assume that my singing will also come into play?」

「Exactly. And then we hafta put some effort into takin’ requests」

Other than Haruna being in a bad mood today, they had taken too much time on manufacturing and this wasn’t the best time to get your hands on requests, so they hadn’t bothered doing their typical adventurer tasks.

「So what about the checking for food ingredients and seasoning?」

「I’m not sayin’ it’s bad or unsatisfying, but the inn’s food is overall sorta sketchy and repetitive with its seasonin’, don’t cha think?」

「I agree. If we’re going to be here in the long stretch, I really want more food taste variety」

「So for that reason I’m thinkin’ we should see what kinda food ‘n seasonin’ is around and make as much as we can ourselves」

「You can make stuff?」

「Ya’d be helpin’ me a lot, but I do think that I can hold my own with most seasonin’」

Hearing Hiroshi’s reassuring statement, she put on a face more earnest than ever before as she nodded. She honestly wasn’t so desperate that she had to eat Japanese food, but she wasn’t about to put up with food that only had salt, sugar, and spice added to it.

It was hardly better than her great-grandparents’ home country’s food. Even the cooking methods consisted only of stew or roast, whereas she had yet to lay her eyes on fried or steamed meals. Apparently, even in regards to fermented food, there was just salt pickling, smoking, cheese, alcohol, and then black tea. There was also fruit vinegar from fruit alcohol, but they saw it as decomposed and had abandoned it.

In regards to fermented products, fermentation was always a thin line with decomposition, so it was natural that you had to risk tasting it in order to progress. As long as convenient, widespread enchantments like Prevent Rot were around, there might not even be a need to make preserved foods. So she could see why fermented foods were such a strange category.

In addition, even though you could always steam things with a certain amount of knowledge and specialized tools, it didn’t sit right with him that most people didn’t fry anything, even though oil for meals had been mass-produced for a while. But it was pointless to question it. That was how things stood, so he decided to do something about it himself.

Happily enough, he knew from yesterday and today’s meals that sugar, spices, etc, were easily going around for even commoners. Also, all of the Farlane region had clean water that could be drunk as is, and since there were all sorts of regions within the country other than desert with their own climates in addition to there being a big port within the city, they could expect rich variation in food ingredients. It wouldn’t necessarily be identical to how Japan was, but doubtless with a few tweaks it would work.

「So in order to enjoy superior food, we best secure a cookin’ place as our first step」

「Right. Let’s do it!」

It had started out as a relatively serious problem, but the two of them deviated further and further from their goal. They ended up devoting any free time at night to make curry powder and mayonnaise, in which the process was going to take a week to complete.