Chapter 85

Today―――just after 9:00 a.m. on the 28th day of the Autumn Moon, the world underwent a ‘Great Transformation’ at the hands of the God Lydina.

The system of the fictional world called『Atros Online』was incorporated and implemented in another world. When you think about it, it seems like we are experiencing something quite rare.

However, at this point, the only person who knows about this fact is the high priest of the cathedral who received the oracle from Lydina.

Even though the ‘Great Transformation’ that rewrites the rules and regulations of the world is taking place, it does not mean that the people living in this world can see any direct ‘change’ in their eyes.

For most people, today is just another day in the life of the world.

Of course, after today, the priests and priestesses will spread the information through their teachings to the people who visit the temple, so the number of people who know the truth will increase day by day.

In Ludina’s estimation, the contents of this ‘Great Transformation’ will be spread by word of mouth, so it will be known to most people within a month.

―――However, the Duchy of Selsia is the only exception.

The majority of the clergy have already withdrawn from the country, which was excommunicated by Pope Altorius. No one will spread the oracle in the empty cathedral.

It will probably be quite late before the royal princes, nobles, and citizens of the Duchy of Selsia come to grips with this ‘Great Transformation’.

Anyway, in other countries, from today onwards, one can obtain a [Class] by undergoing a ceremony at the cathedral.

Of course, unlike a [Vocation], a [Class] can be chosen freely from the start.

There are a total of 77 [Initial Class] that players can choose from in Atros Online. This time, all of them have been implemented in this other world.

It seems that many people have a hard time choosing one out of the 77 that are available.

Moreover, as is the case with many MMO-RPGs, once a [Class] has been set, it cannot be changed again.

There are a few professions that could be used for crimes, such as bandits and sorcerers. As long as you can’t choose again, I’m sure few people would choose such ‘typical’ professions.

On the other hand, professions such as the Priest, who can use healing magic, seem to be chosen by many people.

In『Atros Online』, the effect of magic is greatly affected by [Wisdom], and the effect of a magic is greatly affected by [Charm], so the amount of recovery from magic is very small while the level is low and the ability value is low.

As well as the [Class], just like in the game, if you grow your [Initial Class] to level 60, you can change to a higher class from there.

However, according to Lydina, it will not be possible for a while to change class to a higher level like Yuri and the rest of the Yuri Empire.

This doesn’t mean that Lydina doesn’t want to allow people to change jobs to the top level. The reason for this is not that Lydina doesn’t want to allow people to change jobs, but simply because she thinks that “even if we implement that level of job change at this point, there won’t be anyone who can reach that level for a while”.

Since there is an issue of how to adjust the game specifications in this world, it seems that Lydina has set the upper limit at [Level 100] for the time being in this world, and does not intend to hasten the implementation beyond that.

Yesterday, Yuri had listened to Lydina’s explanation of this area with a feeling of being a stranger.

For Yuri and the rest of the Yuri Empire, who already have a [Class] and have already reached the extreme level of 200. This is because it doesn’t matter how it is applied in this world.

However, in reality, this ‘Great Transformation’ is not limited to the implementation of [Class].

Yesterday, Lydina also told Yuri something like this.

“The original [Vocation] system that exists in this world will not be altered, but an additional system will be added so that you can learn skills, magic, and sorcery independently depending on your efforts.”

“…? What does that mean?”

“For example, up until now, the skill of [Swordsmanship] was a skill that could only be acquired by those who had a [Vocation] that involved the use of swords.

In other words, regardless of what your [Vocation] is, as long as you continue to make a steady effort to wield a sword, you will be able to acquire the [Swordsmanship] skill from now on.”

In other words, we don’t want to make any changes to the system that we have built into the world now, so it will remain a random lottery-type of [Vocation] in the future.

Instead, we’ve made it so that by training in specific skills, magic, and sorcery, you can intentionally acquire skills–that is, you can virtually ‘pick and choose’ the skills you want.

“I’ve heard that some people in the Yuri Empire have already mastered the skill.”

“Is that so?”

I finished my office work this morning. When I was having tea with Virrey, the <Nadeshiko> who was today’s “love duty”, she told me about it.

“Yes. I heard that Renge, the deputy commander of <Sakuraka>, has acquired the skill of [Sprint I]. Her hobby is to run along the waterways of Yuritania for hours every morning, and she was able to acquire the skill while doing so.

“I see. It’s a skill that seems to be related to running, isn’t it?”

“Yes.”

Incidentally, it seems that they have also introduced a skill rank system, so the Roman numerals after the skill name probably mean that it is a [Sprint] skill with a rank of [1].

Of course, with further training, the skill rank can be raised even higher.

Yuri didn’t know exactly what the upper limit of the skill rank was. I asked Lydina why, but she wouldn’t tell me.

“I think I’ll do something this afternoon to gain some skills.”

Fortunately, I had nothing planned for this afternoon, except for my annual ‘broadcast’ after the sun went down.

If you want, you can spend your time just running, just like Renge.

“Are there any skills you want, Master?”

“Hmm, yes…”

When I was asked again what skills I wanted, it made me think a little.

I’d like to have any skill I can get my hands on. If I had to pick one, it would be …… what would I want?

“I’d like to have [Cooking] skill.”

“I see, [Cooking]. I’m also interested in production skills.”

“Really? Well then, why don’t Virrey spend some time cooking with me today?”

“I’m so glad.”

She clapped her hands together, and Virrey’s face broke into a happy smile.

It’s worth killing a day’s worth of leisure time to see that happy smile.

“I’d rather feed it to someone else right there, anyway. Villey, can you get me a permit to use one of the stalls? Let’s do it secretly in the central square in front of the palace.”

“Yes, master. By the way, what kind of food will you be serving?”

“Yes… There will be a lot of stalls that use demon meat, so let’s have a sweet stall. Let’s aim for something that makes you want to eat a little after dinner.”

Since the meat of demons is provided free of charge to the widows who run the stalls, basically almost all the stalls serve meat dishes.

Although demon meat is delicious, it is not all that tasty. It would be nice to have a stall that offers a little bit of sweetness.

“Sweet Taste… Is it a stall selling cakes and baked goods?”

“It’s not a bad idea either. I’d prefer something that can be cooked in the stall if possible.”

The stall kit comes with two magical stoves, but it doesn’t have an oven for making cakes and baked goods.

The best part of a food stall is that the food is freshly prepared and served right in front of the customers. If possible, it would be better if the food can be cooked only on the stove.

“Let’s just ask Euro if she has any good ideas.”

“Well, that sounds like a wise decision.”

All of the meals served in the Yuritania Palace, that is to say, the meals for 360 people of the Yuri Empire, are prepared by one person, Euro, who has the [Class] of [Food Master].

If I talked to her, she could tell me about some good sweet dishes that could be prepared at the stall, and she could provide me with the necessary ingredients for them.

“I’ll have you bring the ingredients, okay?”

“Yes. I have plenty of room in my storage.”

As a <Samurai>, Villey has mastered the large storage skill [Samurai Bag].

With her storing the food, I can carry a lot of food at once and the food will not lose its freshness at all while it is stored. She’s a great partner for a food stall.

Yuri and Villey immediately went to the kitchen in the production building and asked Euro, the owner of the kitchen, for advice.

Euro, who had already started to prepare dinner, readily agreed to Yuri’s request and consulted her, hands constantly moving.

“I have a lot of azuki beans that I’ve already boiled to remove the impurities, so why don’t we bring them and serve Zenzai? We also have a lot of rice cakes.”<br />(TN: Zenzai is red beans soup with rice cake (mochi). Source: Google.)

“Oh, Zenzai sounds wonderful. Do you have white bean flour?”

“I’ll have to make it. I have glutinous rice, so if you want me to make it, I can do it quickly.”

“… No, thank you. I thought Shiratama Zenzai would be more appropriate for the season, but it’s not like we have a tradition of moon-viewing here.”<br />(TN: Shiratama is a type of mochi that uses glutinous rice flour to make. Moon-viewing (Tsukimi (月見) or Otsukimi (お月見)), are Japanese festivals honoring the autumn moon, a variant of the Mid-Autumn Festival to celebrate the beauty of the moon. Source: Wikipedia).

In Yuri’s mind, the main ingredient of Zenzai in autumn is the white egg, while the main ingredient of Zenzai in winter is the baked rice cake. However, I don’t think that sentiment can be understood in this world.

“I’m not sure if this world will be able to understand that feeling, besides, Zenzai with roasted rice cake is delicious, so it will be well received by customers. I think that Zenzai with roasted rice cake is one of the ultimate sweet dishes.”

“I can’t deny that.”

Well, you can put grilled rice cake, white bean paste, or nothing at all. The only thing that makes it delicious is that it’s called “Zenzai”.

The Chinese character for ‘zen-yo-ki-ya-kana’ means ‘good luck’.<br />(TN: Please fact check this.)

The ingredients were ready, so Yuri and Villey immediately moved to the square in front of the palace.

This square, located in the center of the city of Yuritania, is also a battleground with the largest number of stalls. Even so, Yuri stall and her friends, who use ‘sweetness’ as their weapon, will be able to fight.

“Yuri-sama!”

“Your Majesty, Yuri! Are you going to be the one setting up the stall today?”

“Yes. You can come and eat later if you like.”

Yuri’s face was already well known from her previous ‘broadcasts’, and she was greeted by almost everyone she met in the square.

Some of the stalls were kind enough to give us a space for one of their stalls, and we were grateful to them for letting us set up our ‘stall kit’ in that space.

We used one stove to make Zenzai and the other to bake mochi.

From both stoves, serve the food in bowls and serve the customers.―――Yes, it’s that simple.

“I’ll bake the rice cakes, so can you make the Zenzai to your liking first?”

“All right.”

Apparently, Villey intended to make the Zenzai according to Yuri’s preferred seasoning.

I took out some of the azuki beans that Euro had already prepared and checked them. They were perfectly cooked and soft to the core, with no bitterness or irritation to the tongue.

The process of making Zenzai consists almost entirely of removing the bitterness and pre-boiling, which together take about two hours. This time, thanks to the Euros, I could skip the whole process, so I started with the seasoning.

For Yuri, I put about 1 kg of sugar into a large pot with boiled red beans and boiling water.

…When you make a lot of Zenzai at once, like this one, you need this much. I was a little taken aback by the amount, but I continued to stir the large pot.

I also added a little bit of salt. About a teaspoon or so. This will give the whole dish a nice flavor.

―――This is all you need to cook it, a piece of cake.

All that was left to do was to put it in a bowl, top it with the rice cake that Virrey had baked, and serve it to the guests.

Perhaps it was the delicious aroma of the azuki beans, but the guests soon began to gather. The service went quite smoothly, thanks in part to the skillful baking of the rice cakes by Villey.

In less than an hour, the pot was empty, but we were confident that if we kept the customers waiting for ten minutes, we would be able to repeat the cooking process and serve them again.

After 7:00 p.m., I continued to serve more Zenzai while also ‘broadcasting’.

Although food stalls have become a common practice in Yuritania. This is the first time I’ve done a broadcast from the perspective of a food stall owner, so I think the audience might have enjoyed it a bit.

On the way to the stall, everyone from the Yuri Empire, as well as Lydina and Arcana, came to eat.

The High Priest of Badantere ate six cups of rice. He is as healthy and daring as ever.

In the end, we ran out of the azuki beans we had gotten from Euro around 10 p.m., and decided to end the sale there.

“Thank you for your hard work, master.”

“Thank you for your hard work too, Virrey. It’s fun to do something like this once in a while.”

“Yes, it was a very valuable experience.”

While she and Villey were working on each other, Yuri did an appraisal of herself.

As I expected, I found that I was able to acquire new skills.

+—-+

Confectionery I – Passive Skill

You’ll become proficient at making sweets, and will be able to prepare tasty ones with finesse.

The confectionery you produce may be given a buffing effect.

+—-+

“………”

“………”

Yuri couldn’t help but look at Villey in silence.

Apparently―――the [Skill] itself that was obtained was a little different from what was expected.