Free Life Fantasy Online-Chapter 12

12

I log back in.

Time-wise, it’s noon inside the game.

“Welcome baack~.”

“I’m back. Is Ertz-san on lunch break now?”

“Yeep.”

“Then I’ll be going to do some shopping. I’m thinking of making a soup.”

“Should I make bowls in that case?”

“Ah, yes please do.”

“Leave it to mee~.”

After logging in, I asked Primula-chan who was there, to make some bowls for the soup. Now let’s go find some store with vegetable ingredients.

A soup with just the onions and cabbage I have on me would feel too lonely.

For a boar stew… there is no soy sauce or miso, so… this is troubling.

Instead trying the stalls, let’s go take a look inside of the stores.

“Welcome.”

A young woman is attending the store.

Compared to the stalls lining up outside, the store lined up ingredients in a much cleaner manner.

Stands sell ingredients as they were gathered, but the store did process the ingredients a little… is how it feels? As a Japanese, I’m more familiar with the store style.

Honestly, their price is not very different.

More importantly, there was something that got me interested more than vegetables have.

They dealt in ingredients other than salt and pepper.

Do stores deal with more luxurious goods?

Spices here were far more expensive compared to vegetables, salt and pepper were quite cheap compared to other spices.

“Bay leaf and olive oil… also virgin oil, hm…?”

[Material] Bay Leaf　Rarity: No　Quality: C

A seasoning mainly used to remove bad smell from the meat.

10 uses possible.

[Material] Pure Oil　Rarity: No　Quality: C

Commonly used Olive Oil.

50 uses possible

[Material] Virgin Oil　Rarity: Ra　Quality: C

Top quality Olive Oil.

What Outsiders call Extra-Virgin Olive Oil.

50 uses possible.

A bag of Bay Leaf costs 50...

One Pure Oil bottle costs 250...

One Virgin Oil bottle costs 3000…

As expected, the extra one is way too expensive.

If I remember well, bay trees and olive oil’s production area was nearly the same. Which means, it comes from the same place over here too?

“Are you looking for seasonings?”

“Are those two coming from the same location?”

“Yes, they are. They are a specialty of the Southern Inbamunt.”

“Inbamunt… the port in the South, wasn’t it.”

“Yes, if you want to buy some, now is the time.”

“Now is the time… are they going to be out of stock?”

“The Coatl that started living near the road is getting in the way, so...”

“Ahh, so the distribution is being crushed.”

“Yes… it won’t run out completely, but due to escort costs, the price will grow and the stock will definitely decrease...”

This is, well, that. It’s about the bosses that are in East, West, South and North.

North has the Golem, East has a bear, West has a snake and South - a Coatl.

In other words, it will start affecting the distribution system soon...

In any case.

“Do you have any recommendations for seasonings to use with a Boar Meat?”

“Oh, in that case you should use Bay Leaf. First put in meat and bay leaf, then remove the scum before putting in vegetables. One piece for two people’s portion is the common amount used.”

"I see… so bay leaf is a must have...”

[Material] Kuuel　Rarity: No　Quality: C

Baked El that’s often used for sprinkling over cuisine.

10 uses possible.

[Material] Shiiel　Rarity: No　Quality: C

Baked El that’s often used for sprinkling over cuisine.

10 uses possible.

[Material] Elru　Rarity: No　Quality: C

Commonly used oil devoid of smell that is extracted from El.

Called by Outsiders the Salad Oil.

50 uses possible.

[Material] Elnta　Rarity: No　Quality: C

Commonly used oil extracted from El.

50 uses possible.

These are… black sesame and white sesame seeds.

Elnta is the one commonly known Sesame Oil, while Elru is raw Salad oil.

“Then I’ll take 10 of Bay Leaf and… five each of Kuuel and Shiiel, one each of Pure Oil and Elnta, and two of Elru.”

“Coming right up!”

Price-wise Virgin Oil is, well, I can’t say that I can’t afford it but… with my Cooking skill, it’s still too early. I am currently in the middle of raising it, after all.

Other than that, I also purchased onions and cabbage, carrots and yams, as well as garlic.

Let’s take 20 of each vegetable. ...Why only potatoes were renamed to yams? Is this some perversion of the person who set this?

...Players will call them potatoes anyway I bet.

“Thank you very much~.”

I left the store and returned to where Primula-san and Ertz-san were.

“Oo, you’re back. I got your bowls.”

“Ah, Ertz-san. Did Primula-san go for a lunch?”

“Yeah, and she left me to take care of her stall.”

“So you can do things like that.”

“I don’t recommend it though. Trust is required for it… is all I’ll say.”

“I see.”

Speaking of which, do they know about the distribution trouble? It’s a fairly important issue.

“By the way, I just heard from a store clerk that it looks like the distribution is going to start stagnating, goods will grow scarce and prices will go up, did you know about this?”

"...Seriously?”

“I heard about the goods from the port town in the South, but the reason behind it is was the Coatl that lives on the way there.”

“Does that mean, no way… eh, all four sides’ towns will…?”

“The Coatl mob in question is the Southern boss, there is a possibility of that.”

“Certainly, those bosses are getting in the way, so there is a high possibility of distribution stagnating. Two weeks, huh...”

“Considering the possibility of being attacked, it requires courage to travel. If escort costs increase, it means that prices will also increase.”

“But this beats me. Is opening West first the correct choice? Potions are already in a horrible state, so if the distribution with West dies we’ll be done for, you know? And the East was the source of Field Rations, wasn’t it?”

“In any case, the moment distribution stagnates, it’s already a problem. Residents having problems = us having problems.”

“With that said, I’m a crafter. I can’t do anything about a boss. If anything, there is a possibility that this is a type of event...”

“Ahhh, I see. If we beat them, then that’s fine. If we don’t, the distribution stagnation event proceeds… is it?”

“This is an online game, after all. It wouldn’t be strange if it progressed in real time, would it? Residents are so real here, it would not be strange if Residents acted accordingly in this situation. And that would become an event.”

“We don’t know when will it begin, it’s possible we might already be in the middle of the event”

“Agreed.”

There is no announcement. Maybe because there is a possibility of the quest not activating.

Or maybe the quest will activate for players, but Residents are already moving before that.

In the latter case it could be interesting. If we continue to interact with Residents we can prepare beforehand. In other words, we can have an early start for the event.

...But there is no precedent so we don’t know if that is the case.

“Well… today I’m doing Cooking. ...Huh? Can it be that there is no pot in here?”

“There is no pot in the Beginner’s Cooking Kit...”

“How could this be...”

“Go buy a non-beginner’s Cooking Kit. It costs about 7000.”

“Expensive, isn’t it?”

“The beginner’s one is ultimately just for trying out, y’see. The normal one’s contents increase all at once. In general, crafters buy them right away.”

By the way, kits all get upgraded by overwriting with additional contents.

In other words, in the Cooking Kit there is no content of the Beginner’s Cooking Kit. In other words, there is a need to buy them all and merge them together.

You can use them even without merging them, but they will be treated as different items and take more space in inventory, so there is no reason not to merge them.

“Well, it’s pretty much made so because not to make us pay for the same thing twice. The merging work has to be done only at the start, so it’s not that troublesome. I guess we can be grateful.”

“Cooking is one thing, but does smithing’s furnace not change from the beginner’s one?”

“No, you get upgrade parts you put on it and it turns more luxurious.”

“Ohh, so that’s why they get “upgraded by overwriting with additional things”.”

“Because they both get overwritten, and get new stuff. I think Cooking’s frying pan received a lid? I didn’t touch on Cooking so I can’t say for sure, but I think I saw someone use it.”

“Well, let’s go and buy it right away. I do have money I earned from leather.”

“Sure.”

I walk North, to Granny’s general store.

“Do you have a Cooking Kit?”

“Are you going to do it seriously?”

“Yes. The beginner’s one is lacking so many things.”

“Well, it’s for complete amateurs after all. And Alchemy?”

“I haven’t touched on it yet.”

“That so. It’ll be 7000.”

[Tool] Cooking Kit　Rarity: No　Quality: C

A portable Cooking Kit for a novice cook.

I pay and receive the kit before leaving Granny’s store.

Now, let’s go back to where Ertz-san and others are.

When I returned, Primula-san was already back.

The method to merge kits was to drag & drop from either one to another, so let’s merge them right away

And place!

Ta-daah, something that looks like a kitchen has appeared.

“Isn’t it getting way super serious all at once?”

“You might think so, but to do cooking this much is a must have, isn’t it? Also, look well?”

What is it…?

“It's a paper mâché...”

“Yeah! There is no faucet, no cooking stove or induction heating. This is just an evolution of the brazier you were using from the beginner’s one.”

“Does this mean I can do charcoal cooking…? But isn’t lack of water a fatal problem…?”

“You don’t have magic, Princess?【Water】is the tap water here.”

“Ahh, I see.”

The drainage does work… or rather, the water that passes through it disappears. That part received game treatment.

And my new cooking tools are...

A frying pan and a lid. One small pot for a single person. A pot for six people. Lids for both.

What’s left is… what is this cylinder…?

“Oh, this is a cylinder to use with smoking. So【Knowledge of Smoking】is confirmed.”

“Hooh, you mean there will be smoked meat?”

“Looks like it. There is also a bamboo steamer and a plate for steamed cuisine.”

“It changed a fair bit, hasn’t it?”

“Yes. The mysterious frying pan I was using also changed. The frying pan is now iron, and pots are made with copper… I guess from my perspective this is a great help, but I’m not sure about beginners?”

“Is something off with it?”

“These cooking tools can be said to be all of top level, but since they are different from ones with coating on the surface, they require different tricks and know-how to be used well. What is important is just how much does this game reproduce...”

“The time everything takes has been reduced by a lot, but the steps themselves are all reproduced.”

Which means… it is better to test it? In which case, let’s use Elru.

First clean both the pot for six people and the frying pan… next, put water in the pot and put it on top of the fire.

It’s a pot for six people, so I put in three Bay Leaves just as I was told to. With this I have 9 uses remaining.

After confirming the water temperature I put in Bay Leaves, then and when it started boiling I put in sliced meat, before finally taking out scum together with Bay Leaves. Then I put in vegetables and lastly, check the taste… there.

I retained the unused, remaining chips of vegetables and started frying them on the frying pan. I finished them in between preparing the soup, and left them be.

I only have salt to season it, which makes me a little sad, but it can’t be helped.

Adjusting the taste I gradually stewed it until it completed

〈«Cooking» reached level 15.〉

〈«Cooking»’s【Knowledge of Steaming】was acquired.〉

It displayed x6, so I poured the soup into bowls, emptying the pot.

When I scooped it with a ladle, a single person’s portion was used up, and when I poured, a single person’s portion was added to the bowl.

And then, I start making soup once again.

In general, it’s a repetition of the same work. Let’s do my best mass-producing it.

[Cuisine] Full of Ingredients Brown Boar Soup 　Rarity: No　Quality: C+

A simple salted soup.

Boar Meat has been properly processed, so it has no smell and is easy to eat.

Satiety +25

Contents: Bowl, Spoon

Cook: Anastasia

Tableware: Primula

After eating and taking a bath, I prepared myself to sleep before logging in again for the evening.

As usual, Ertz-san and Primula-san were crafting while selling things on their stalls.

“Isn’t crafting going up kind of fast?”

“That’s just early on.”

“Yup yup, only at the start.”

“Same as other skills?”

“It’s a bit easier to level than other skills.”

“Yeah. I mean, otherwise there would be too few things we could do, right? At first the skill quickly goes up and the number things we can do increase. From a crafter’s perspective, that is where the real thing starts, and we stand on the starting line.”

“Yup, yup. The first stage is to learn this game, and its Skills. Then the second stage starts to be the real thing where you work through trial and error, doing everything you can to get some originality~.”

“I see...”

“If you know the way to do things and all the tricks, then… it’s possible to reach the secondary skill within two, three days. Oh and, you need people who will deliver you materials, too.”

“My «Cooking» has already passed 15, that is certainly possible.”

“Ohh, that’s fast! Once you get the secondary tier Skill, it stops going up fast and is the same as in other online games!”

“If anything, there is the feeling of getting to the real thing when you max out the first crafting Skill...”

Certainly, crafting in online games is often hard to level.

The numbers required for leveling up range from thousands of crafts to tens of thousands.

Well, from Management’s perspective, it would be troubling for them if it was cleared too fast.

While we were talking about this, Honehone-san… a.k.a. Ske-san had come over.

Well, he is a Skeleton.

A PT invite came from Ske-san, so I accept.

“Princess! I safely found it!”

“Eh, there was something?”

“There was! ...A disturbing one.”

“Mine was also that disturbing, but… what was it?”

“Necronomicon...”

"...How many SAN points did you lose?”

“Oh, Princess, you in the know?”

“I lightly read a rule book that Rina bought before.”

“Ah, Akirina-chan. Right.”

Mine was Royal Flesh… well, it was a heart.

So, Skeleton gets a Necronomicon.

It looks like since he learned of it yesterday, he was skimping on sleep as he searched, to finally find it.

“But yeahh, there were way too few hints… And that trial? A work of the devil...”

“My own was hintless and I had to learn by constantly dying.”

“In my place it was a bullshit hard puzzle… But I’m expecting a lot now. Speaking of bones and intelligence test, it must be a Lich, right?”

“You need to raise your level then.”

“I feel like it will still take some time. Well, let’s go with my build as is. I feel like I could not go there until I evolved until this point.”

“So your current race is a requirement? It’s not impossible… I guess?”

“Yup, it is plenty possible that “Mage” was a requirement. What is left is the type of magic that needs to be acquired, and the possibility of Skill build also influencing it.”

“Sounds plausible… it does feel like there would be special evolutions that do not require a key item, which are based on builds.”

“Thinking of unique monsters, it is possible. And not just builds, there could also be playstyle-based emergence?”

“Yeah, that sounds interesting.”

“Without surprises like this, it would be hard for Inhuman population to increase, I guess?”

“Well… it IS full of dreams, isn’t it…?”

“Yeah, true… Did Alf find something?”

“I haven’t heard anything from Aflreet-san yet.”

“I see… well, this should do for today, so I’ll be going off.”

Since he safely found it and has work tomorrow, he will go to eat and go to sleep right away, said Honehone-san and logged out.

...He must have been lacking sleep.

I see Honehone-san off and return to diligent cooking.

First, let’s raise «Cooking» to the second tier. I can do trial and error after that.

I can do «Alchemy» after «Cooking».

When the time to sleep came, I put away the kit, receive proceeds from Primula-san. And surprise, I earned 45k. I am very pleased.

After that, I take a room in an inn, do stretches and log out.

In real, I do stretches and I’m off to sleep.

Good night.