Volume 2 - CH 5.2

Chapter 2-5 : Magic Stove Ⅰ (part 2)

Fortunately, because most of the Collectors left this village, we were able to find an empty table for four of us even though it was lunch time.

Iris-san put the iron plates on the table, sat down and took a breather.

「Fiuh….」(Iris)

We also sat at the table, and then I called out to Diral-san.

「Diral-san, can we get four lunch sets?」(Sarasa)

「Okayー Hm? By the way, what’re those iron plates for?」(Diral)

Diral-san, who came to receive the order, looked at the iron plates on the table curiously.

Well, people don’t usually carry iron plates around.

「Ah, this is the main material to make a magic stove. I’m going to make one at home.」(Sarasa)

「Heeー So you will finally be able to cook at home, huh?」(Diral)

「Yes, but the one who will cook is Lorea-chan.」(Sarasa)

「Hoho… Lorea, huh? I guess you will rarely come here to eat then.」(Diral)

「Un, I’m sorry, but I think so. If I lived alone, I might still come here even though I had a magic stove since I’m not that good at cooking.」(Sarasa)

My cooking skills haven’t improved, it was the same as when I was 10.

Even though my dishes look normal, they’re not very delicious.

I’d like to improve my cooking skills, but I’m busy with the store and studying alchemy, so I don’t think I will have time for that.

「Hahaha! You don’t have to worry about that. If the number of Collectors increases, my dining hall will be crowded again. But, a magic stove, huh? I wanted to have one, but they’re ridiculously expensive…」(Diral)

「Yeah, it’s hard to buy since it costs you at least 120,000 reas.」(Sarasa)

It’s not a price ordinary people can afford.

Even though you don’t have to prepare firewood to use it, it’s just too expensive.

It’s not worth buying especially if you live in the countryside like this where you can easily collect firewood.

「Eh? You can buy it for 120,000 reas? I once asked Daruna but he said the cheapest one was 200,000 to 300,000 reas.」(Diral)

「Ah, I was talking about a small magic stove for home use. By the way, how big is the largest pot you’re using here?」(Sarasa)

「Umm… The biggest one is about fifty centimeters in diameter.」(Diral)

That’s a huge pot.

Well, it’s a dining hall, of course they’d need a huge pot like that.

The magic stove that I plan to make is about thirty centimeters wide, so it’s over half as big as Diral-san’s biggest pot.

I don’t think you can put a pot that big on a small stove.

However, if I make it a bit bigger, it might be possible.

「I think a fifty centimeter pot will be….. around 150,000 reas, maybe?」(Sarasa)

「Really? That’s a lot cheaper! I wonder why Daruna made such an expensive offer.」(Diral)

「……….」(Lorea)

Lorea-chan made an awkward expression after Diral-san said that.

She must be thinking that her dad tried to rip Diral-san off.

「Don’t worry, Lorea-chan, Daruna-san wasn’t trying to rip Diral-san off… Diral-san, the price was that expensive because it included shipping costs. A big magic stove is about 100 kilograms, you know? And there was a risk it would break during the shipping.」(Sarasa)

In order to prevent a bad rumor that could damage Daruna-san’s reputation, I explained to them properly why the price was expensive.

It would be bad if this conversation caused discord in the village.

I would feel bad for Lorea-chan if that happened.

The iron plates to make a magic stove must be large and thick, so the finished product would definitely be quite heavy.

The time and effort to make a large magic stove wasn’t that different from making a small one, but the shipping would be much more difficult.

Therefore, the price that Daruna-san offered to Diral-san was fair. Not too expensive, and not too cheap.

「Look at these iron plates. They look heavy, right? This is the material for a small magic stove. Just imagine how heavy a big magic stove is.」(Sarasa)

「I see… So yours is cheap because it has no shipping charges?」(Diral)

「Exactly. But if you want a magic stove, that means you’re confident in the amount of magical power you have, right?」(Sarasa)

「Yeah, and I’m not alone. I have my husband with me, so I don’t think there will be a problem.」(Diral)

The magical power consumed is proportional to the firepower, so a large magic stove in a dining hall will consume twice as much magical power as a small magic stove for home use.

Moreover, unlike a small magic stove for home which is usually only used when we want to eat, the large magic stove in a dining hall will be used almost all day long.

People with little magical power will get exhausted, but Diral-san and her husband seem to have a moderate amount of magical power.

Well, people who can’t use magic can only make use of their magical power to activate artifacts and magic tools, so I think it’s better to make use of it if you can since it will save you money to buy fuel.

「150,000 reas, huh… It’s not impossible, but… Hmmm….」(Diral)

「I can make it for you anytime~ Magic stoves are convenient~ They don’t require firewood and can be used freely~ They don’t use fire, so you won’t feel hot even in the summer~」(Sarasa)

I talked like a merchant who was trying to sell a product to a customer.

「Umm……. I want to buy it, but… Sarasa-chan, can you make it cheaper, please?」(Diral)

Diral-san put her hands together, begging me to lower the price.

However, as an alchemist, there’s a reason why it’s hard for me to give her a discount.

「Umm… actually, we have a rule not to lower prices too much because it will disturb the market price. The other alchemists will be mad at me if I sell it cheaply. I’m sorry…」(Sarasa)

「Ah, I knew it. There’s a rule like that among alchemists.」(Iris)

Suddenly, Iris-san said that and nodded as if she was convinced.

「I’ve been wondering why the price of the goods in alchemist stores are not much different from each other. Well, there are still some ‘bad’ stores that manipulate the price too much, though.」(Iris)

「Ahaha… Yeah, I know one bad store like that… By the way, the price will get higher according to the effect of the goods, especially artifacts that have useful effects. Well, it also depends on the materials and the skills of the alchemists, though.」(Sarasa)

This country did various things with the goal of increasing the number of high-quality alchemists such as establishing the Alchemist Training School and giving scholarships and authorities to alchemists with outstanding performances.

「I see. But what if I only ask you for a little discount. Just a little. If you agree, I’ll order two of them!」(Diral)

「Two? Are you sure? Well, if you seriously want to buy two, I can give you a little discount. Let’s say… How about 10% off?」(Sarasa)

If it’s just a little, I think it’s acceptable, right? Right?

「Alright, deal! Two magic stoves!」(Diral)

「Really!? But, shouldn’t you talk about this with your husband first?」(Sarasa)

Even though I ended up giving her a discount, Diral-san still has to pay 270,000 reas for two magic stoves.

That amount of money is equivalent to the annual income of ordinary households.

「Talk to my husband? Nah, it’s not needed. I’m sure he won’t mind. An inn plus dining hall like this requires a huge amount of firewood to cook. If we have magic stoves, we don’t have to bother collecting and storing firewood anymore!」(Diral)

Ah, it reminds me of the huge amount of firewood used during the winter when I was in the orphanage.

Usually, the older children would go to the forest to collect it, and the younger ones would cut and store it.

It was quite a tough job…

I remember because it took a lot of space, we stored the excess firewood in the corridor.

People who can buy firewood from a wood shop anytime don’t need to store that much, but the orphanage couldn’t afford to buy firewood, so we had no choice but to store them just in case.

「Besides, I got extra money from the bears. It was you who bought all the fur, right? Then I have to give a little of your money back!」(Diral)

「Ahh, I see. So Village Mayor-san has already distributed the money, huh?」(Sarasa)

「We also got some money from him! Right, Kate?」(Iris)

「Yeah. The village mayor gave us quite a lot. He said it was because we were active in battle.」(Kate)

Certainly these two killed many bears in battle, especially Kate-san with her bow.

They’re actually quite strong.

If only those veteran-pretending men didn’t get in their way when they went to the Great Sea of Trees for the first time, they would have killed the Hellfire Grizzly that attacked them, and Iris-san wouldn’t have gotten injured really badly.

「That’s why, thanks to the bears, the villagers here became a little richer now. By the way, can magic stoves be used forever?」(Diral)

「Ah, they won’t last forever. Magic stones are expendable items after all. If you use it all day long every day, I think one will last for 30 years. However, if its magic stone is broken, you need to replace it.」(Sarasa)

「That’s more than enough! 30 years is like forever after all.」(Diral)

By the way, only alchemists can exchange magic stones, so if I’m not here and there are no alchemists in this village 30 years later, Diral-san has to go to the nearby town to call an alchemist.

「Ah, one more thing. Because the stove will be put on a wood frame, you need to check the frame regularly and replace it if necessary. It will be fine if it doesn’t get too dirty, but I think it will get damper as you cook. You can ask Geberg-san for the wood frame.」(Sarasa)

「Ahaha! I will if that old man Geberg is still alive thirty years later.」(Diral)

「Knowing that he is strong, I think he will be as energetic as he is now thirty years later.」(Sarasa)

I think Geberg-san is around 70 years old now.

Well, I’m not really sure if he will survive for another thirty years, but I just can’t agree with Diral-san’s joke.

Kuuuuu~~~

Suddenly, I heard such a sound from Lorea-chan’s direction.

「….Umm… Diral-san? When will you make our lunch? I’m sorry, but I’m really hungry….」(Lorea)

「Woops! I’m sorry, Lorea. I’ll make it right away. Well then, Sarasa-chan, I’m counting on you!」(Diral)

「Leave it to me! Thank you for your order!」(Sarasa)

Not long after Diral-san went to the kitchen, she returned with our lunch.

While eating my food, I was thinking of going back to Jizdo-san’s place to order additional iron plates to make Diral-san’s magic stoves.