Chapter 89: No Tea Party is complete without some Cake!

Chapter 89: No Tea Party is complete without some Cake!

No, Im serious, you honestly gave me a fat scare when you stabbed me with those two daggers. Those red eyes with the anime-like red mist, and how you scowled at me like a beast was so similar to your garm mother that chills went down my spine. Look at these goosebumps! I shouted as I dramatically shoved my arms in front of Saoris face, urging her to look.

Your arms are mostly covered in scales, Hestia, and even the bare skin parts are goosebumps-free," Saori said with a glare, pushing my arms away and giving me a swift, but gentle, tap to the head. Still, was I really that intimidating? I guess I went a bit overboard with how I attacked you. I am sorry.

Hey, at least you didnt go crazy and stab me in the stomach or chest, that would be going overboard, I say, I responded while repeatedly stabbing myself with an imaginary dagger, before checking on the fragassa plant before me. And besides, I burned one half of your face off. Were even. Thank goodness that no scar was left behind after I healed you.

Morning came after I had my fight with Saori and Tasianna. Luckily, Saoris [Arcane Fever] ended exactly like the first one she had, during the middle of the night, so I still had some time to catch some shut-eye.

After I woke up, Saori and Tasianna had already woken up and prepared breakfast. We ate and were now working in the garden inside our house.

You might have already wondered how we are even able to grow a garden when winter is so close, right? I mean it is late autumn now, after all, and the temperature has gotten so cold that I had to wear an extra layer of clothing just to go out without having to use [Body Temperature Control] to regulate my body.

So how am I able to keep our plants from dying? Well, remember the heater ball that I made? The one that our group would use to heat up our showers and baths?

Hestias Heater Ball

A creation made by Hestia Atsuko. The ball is packed with fire magic inside a thick, stone covering to maximize insulation efficiency

I, unfortunately, cant make any more ever since I lost my ability to cast fire spells. Technically, I could use [Symphonie des Feuergottes] to replicate it but the intensity of that spell was unideal. I needed a spell that would create a smaller flame to make it work otherwise the ball itself would explode.

I could encapsulate the spell in a larger and sturdier rock ball but that still hasnt worked out after multiple attempts. Even putting scale-dust into it was a foolish idea as they always spark an explosion before burning.

Thankfully, I made a ton beforehand, so the ones we were using right now were from a month ago. However, as wear and tear affected them, our supply would run out soon if I dont figure out an alternative.

You have been doing an amazing job, Tasianna. The plants look healthy and happy, also tending to the garden, Saori began praising Tasianna who is the one responsible for caring for it.

Thank you, Miss Saori, your praises warms my heart, Tasianna replied, wiggling her elven ears in elation. I am very glad to have obtained [Herbalist] while I was doing this in the Belzac forest. The skill is amazing.

Herbalist

A skill that helps the owner in their care of herbs and plants. Allows the user to gauge the needs of a plant and the quality of a plant product. A higher level will increase the precision and information revealed

Think of the skill as a specialized version of [Identify] that only shows the advance or hidden parameters of a plant. Tasianna can learn if the plant had gotten enough water, sun, warmth, carbon dioxide, or even other information like the toxicity of the soil. Some plants even require a certain amount of mana in the ground to grow.

It was an essential skill to have if you wished to cultivate many interesting and fantastical plants youve never seen or heard before.

Remember when I told Tasianna that I wanted to grow certain plants? Well, after that moment, we started our very own garden inside my storage magic during our stay with the lizardmen. As we always had to move around, we had to put the plants inside pots I made to transport them around.

We would periodically take them outside my storage to let them take in the rays and air if we had the opportunity to. Now that we were here in Carine village, our plants havent been inside the storage ever since.

Whether it was fruit or herb plants, they were still growing so we couldnt harvest anything yet. However, once they reach adulthood, I will make a fragassa cake, I swearand Tasianna can make more of those coffee tasting leaves. Sounds delightful.

These will surely produce some money for us if we sell the excess, Saori suggested, wary of our lacking funds. Otherwise, they can solve some of our food expenses. Hestia, you and I have pretty large appetites, after all. I believe Mister Kushlekzar mentioned that recovering Mana would require food.

If somebody wasnt affected by [Mana Fever], a status effect that appears when your Mana reaches zero, one would naturally regenerate Mana from the air and using the bodys nutrients as fuel. [Mana Recovery], or similar skills, accelerated the regeneration process but didnt reduce the cost.

I always thought my large appetite was due to me being a dragon, but I guess my usage of spells and abilities was also a major factor. For example, Mister Kushlekzar and the two of us could eat as much as the saurian warriors, Krim-Slak, Grazlahta, and Akast despite our smaller bodies. The only exception was Tasianna whose mana body had a different biology compared to ours, so she needed far fewer calories per day even after going crazy with spells.

Hmmm, you know, why should we sell the product in their raw form? I mentioned, thinking of the fragassa cake. "Cake, cookies, biscuits, honestly, we can turn everything into pastries and sweets, right? Those have to sell for a higher price, just like a finished good." I suggested with anticipation to be praised, believing this was a great money-making idea.

Oh, really? Tasianna responded while tilting her head, showing her confusion at what I said. Why do you earn more money if you do it that way? Whether you buy pastries or buy the ingredients for it, it should be the same price at the end of the day, correct?

Oh right, Tasianna is a fairy, a race that doesnt do transactions with coin. Items and goods were instead traded amongst each other by exchanging favors, labor, or other goods similar to the time before an accepted currency was invented.

The fairies are a carefree race who celebrate a lot, so restricting ones access to certain food or drinks was seen as crazy. Exclusivity was a foreign word for them as even the royal family would share dwarven and elven delicacies to the populace after they return home from an ambassador mission.

The idea of trading goods and labor for money was unknown to Tasianna, which meant Saori and I had to educate her on that subject. Thats why she didnt understand the concept of manufacturing costs which would increase any finished goods final price.

The cost of the raw materials used in the production of the product, the cost of labor as time is needed to produce it, and any indirect costs that are required for the production like rent, water, electricity, etc. As the goal of a successful business hinged on the profit you make per product sold, knowing how to calculate this was important.

Impressed that an idol nerd would know this? Well, its mostly thanks to Papa and Mama as I too asked them the same question when I was younger. Why do sweets cost so much when we can just make them ourselves, Mama?, or Why do tickets to your Orchestra always cost so much, Papa? were a few childish questions I asked them, heh heh.

Hmmm, I think I understand, thank you for your explanation, Lady Hestia, Tasianna thanked me with a bow after I finished explaining manufacturing costs to her. So, because baking a cake requires so much time, and as we need to create funds from it, increasing the price would be smart?

Exactly, I agreed by showing her an ok sign. Charging for only the raw materials would make no sense because we would be wasting our time. The time we use for the baking process couldve been used for something else. Thats opportunity cost.

I should also thank the economics lessons at school for this as I would otherwise never research it by myself.

Hmm, as Tasianna was praising me with Amazing, as expected from my mistress!, Saori was pondering on something. do you really think that is a good idea? The material costs would be high.

What do you mean, Saori? I asked with genuine curiosity. You are already trading in some of our vegetables, fruits, and meat for stuff like eggs, milk, and grains, right? We will be able to keep the cost down with this, especially with how much meat we have. We might have worried about our winter rations in the Belzac forest, but we still have monster meat from our Idol Concert Strategy time.

Our worry for our depleting storage was a real concern when we were still in the Belzac forest as our daily calorie consumption was immense there. Here in Carine village, Ive noticed that we have been eating less of our meat and more of the rice and other products we received from the village.

I say it comes from the village, but Colwyns family was mostly paying for it. One of the reasons why I couldnt exactly reject the offer to give a sermon, as our daily rations have enriched our meals.

Now, with our reduced meat consumption, Saori has been going around the village, trading our meat with any products the village could trade-in. Ive heard from her that villagers would mostly eat dried jerky they made before winter as their main source of protein, so what fresh meat we had was a blessing for them.

They technically had Peolyncian versions of sheep, chickens, and cows, at their home but nobody would think of killing them if meat was still available. Farming animals would produce dairy products like eggs and milk, which would benefit them in the long run. The only animals that would be slaughtered would be pig equivalents. Fatten them up until autumn time and send them to the butcher.

There was the option of hunting monsters and animals, but anything inside a forest was the property of the lord. The saurians and our group have been hunting them but only on the request of Colwyn, where our payment was the monster body itself. Any animals or G rank monsters were to be handed to him, where we would receive additional village products for compensation.

Although I might say any G rank monsters, Colwyn has declined to accept goblin and kobold meat. He called it a sacrilegious act to eat it and showed a bit of disgust when I mentioned that I would keep it as rations. I can understand not wanting to eat them, as they have a peculiar smell, but I wonder why it was sacrilegious, hmmm.

The village doesnt only grow rice, but also wheat, which we can turn into flour. We got some ourselves and if we needed more, we just need to ask. We got eggs and milk, and I believe some of the villagers are turning their milk into cheese, cream, and butter, so no problem on that end. We also have honey and fruits to substitute the sugar part, reducing the costs even more, I counted out the ingredients. I like baking a lot, and my mother especially. She taught me how to make homemade yeast and also how to make cake without baking powder. I can promise you a delicious pound cake that would sell easily.

Saori looked at me for a moment before sighing and muttering, Somehow, this might be a foreboding to our future financial problems.

What is that supposed to mean?

Fine, I do not know about selling, but we can certainly make it for ourselves, Saori said in exasperation. So, what do we do about the oven? You want to make one yourself?

I thought on the idea for a second before responding, Hmm, I could, yes, but I think Ill ask around the village first. There should be a baker around, I think.

With that decided, Saori and I went outside to find an oven. Tasianna stayed home, as usual, to avoid the villagers and take care of the garden.

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Friday, September 11, 2020 2:13:55 AM Germany [Member of Zard Skwad]

Bio: Hey there, AbyssRaven here. I'm just an avid Light Novel and Fantasy story reader who randomly thought of a story and began writing about it.

I eventually found out that I've been spending a bit too much time with building, planning, and researching for the story, that I've decided to just share it with others.

Writing is mostly a hobby for me, but I would still love any kind of criticism to improve on it.

I'm also german, so please excuse anything that sounds a bit weird...I wouldn't mind you pointing it out though.

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