Chapter 4-11 : Erin-san’s Request Ⅲ

 

「Alright. Now the problem is what materials I need to make a Dry Food Maker. According to the encyclopedia, I will need fire-attributed items, wind-attributed items, and ice-attributed items. But…」(Sarasa)

After reading how to make it, I tilted my head. I was a little confused.

However, this encyclopedia is legit, so it can’t be written wrong.

「What’s wrong, Sarasa-san?」(Erin)

「For some reason, I just need a few fire-attributed items, a moderate amount of wind-attributed items, and a lot of ice-attributed items… We’re going to make a drying machine, so I thought we’ll need a lot of fire-attributed items.」(Sarasa)

Fortunately, I still have a lot of Ice Fang Bats fangs, so I have no problem with ice-attributed items.

As for the fire-attributed items, I think I will use some Salamander materials… No, hold on. Salamander materials are precious. It will make the artifact expensive. There’s nothing written about the quality of the materials needed in the encyclopedia, so I think I should just use cheap materials like the Flame Stones we picked up on the volcano.

「Anyway, I already have fire-attributed items and ice-attributed items, but I don’t have any wind-attributed items, so I need to get them first.」(Sarasa)

「I see. By the way, what about the price?」(Erin)

「I can make it cheaper but still, it’s not a cheap artifact, so…」(Sarasa)

Even though the cost of the materials can be lowered depending on what materials you choose, Dry Food Makers are not cheap artifacts in the first place.

I doubt anyone in this village can afford it, even Erin-san.

「As I expected… Sarasa-san, I’m planning to make it a public facility that everyone has to pay to use. Of course, I will subsidize the cost as much as I can so the fee to use the artifact can be as cheap as possible. It will take some time for you to receive the full payment but what do you think?」(Erin)

「I see. Yeah, I’m totally fine with it.」(Sarasa)

「Great! Back in the day before you came here, the villagers hesitated to spend cash. However, after you came here, the number of Collectors keeps growing, and thanks to that, the villagers’ income increased.」(Erin)

「Then I don’t have to worry about the payment. I still need to look for the remaining materials, so it will take some time before I can make the artifact.」(Sarasa)

「You can take as much time as you want but… if you can make it even cheaper, that’ll be wonderful~.」(Erin)

「Fufu. I understand. I’ll let you know when it’s done.」(Sarasa)

I giggled when Erin-san put her hands together and winked at me.

 

***

 

ーBack to presentー

「Ahh, I remember we went to collect some wind-attributed materials. It wasn’t easy… Right, Kate?」(Iris)

「Yeah…」(Kate)

「Thank you for collecting them for me back then. And… I’m sorry for the trouble.」(Sarasa)

While Iris-san and Kate-san were recalling when they went to collect those materials, I lowered my head, remembering when they told me the hardships they went through at that time.

「No, please. I told you not to worry about it. You stopped us but I insisted on going.」(Iris)

「She’s right. It’s not your fault. We wanted to help you, so you don’t have to mind it.」(Kate)

When I needed wind-attributed materials to make a Dry Food Maker, I was planning on ordering some of them from Leonora-san at first.

I could order from Master as well, but I chose Leonora-san because I wanted to maintain our relationship as business partners.

I was thinking of buying the materials instead of asking Iris-san and Kate-san to look for them because those materials don’t cost much money. Besides, I didn’t want Iris-san and Kate-san to take the trouble looking for such cheap materials.

However, before I could contact Leonora-san, Iris-san found out that I was in need of wind-attributed materials. She probably heard it from Lorea-chan.

She immediately came to me and said, “Store Owner-dono, why didn’t you tell me that you need some materials? I’ll go collect them for you!”.

I didn’t want to waste her time on cheap materials, so I stopped her, but she insisted on going.

「I did some research on the place where we can collect those materials, and I thought it would be an easy job, but…」(Iris)

「It turned out to be a hard one.」(Kate)

「W, Well, people grow with hard work and effort, so I think it’s a good thing!」(Iris)

「Do you really think so…?」(Kate)

「…Just a little bit… Haha…」(Iris)

Saying that, Iris-san looked away awkwardly.

「K, Kate-san, don’t blame her too much. I’m grateful to both of you. Because you did your best collecting the materials needed, Sarasa-san was able to make the Dry Food Maker, and thanks to that, my dad’s sales increased!」(Lorea)

According to Lorea-chan, since the villagers could make dry foods with the Dry Food Maker I made, they started to sell their dry foods through Daruna-san, Lorea-chan’s father.

Now Daruna-san no longer buys dry foods from South Strugg and sells them at his grocery store. Instead, he now sells dry foods that the villagers make in other villages and towns.

「I’m happy you said that but even if we didn’t go to collect those materials, Store Owner-dono would have bought them from Leonora-san, right? We didn’t do much, really. That aside, Lorea, I heard that the dry foods sold are varied thanks to you.」(Iris)

「That’s right! We only had dry vegetables and dry meat but thanks to you, we can now eat dry foods made from various meals as well!」(Kate)

To find out which kind of meal was suitable to be made into dry foods, after I finished the Dry Food Maker, Erin-san asked Lorea-chan to make various meals.

At that time, I helped by operating the Dry Food Maker. It requires magical power, after all.

Erin-san used all her money to buy the food ingredients Lorea-chan needed to make the meals, so she couldn’t afford to buy magic stones. That’s why she needed my helpー No, my magical power, to be exact.

By the way, I was the one who tasted all the dried foods. From dozens of Lorea-chan’s meals, most of them were suitable to be made into dried foods.

We were very happy with the results.

「I was just making meals like usual. Sarasa-san was the one who worked the hardest back then. She operated the artifact, and as the taster, she ate all the dried foods we made.」(Lorea)

「Ahaha… I was worried I would gain weight at that time… But, Lorea-chan, you should take the credit for that. Thanks to your knowledge of dishes, the villagers can make delicious dry foods from various meals.」(Sarasa)

「Hehe~ If you say so. I’m happy to be able to help the villagers and make this village more prosperous.」(Lorea)

「Lorea, you’re so mature for a thirteen-year-old girl.」(Iris)

「Iris-san, I’ll be fourteen soon, so I’m not a child anymore!」(Lorea)

Saying that, Lorea-chan put her hands on her waist and puffed her chest.

Now that she mentioned it, it’s almost her birthday.

She said that her birthday is around winter if I’m not mistaken.

Hmm… We definitely have to celebrate it. I’m looking forward to it~

 

TOC


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