Campfire Cooking in Another World with My Absurd Skill: Volume 5 Read online

  After that, they hammered me with questions as they ate. Personally, I didn’t become an A-ranked adventurer on my own merits, so I just dodged all of those questions as they came, though. But I did feel a little guilty. Everyone was looking at me with admiring eyes, after all. With all that happening, everyone eventually got full and that was the end of mealtime.

  “Ah, right. What are you all doing after this?”

  They responded by saying that they were planning on walking back to Nijhoff, now that they had refreshed themselves.

  “You gave us some really good food, Mukohda, so we’re gonna eke out a last spurt of energy.”

  “Yeah, we were really tired until just now, but with all the good food we just ate, we’re back to 100%.”

  “He’s right. If we try, we can make it back before sundown, too.”

  “Yeah. Even if we don’t, we can just camp out in front of the gates and get in tomorrow morning.”

  “Indeed. We can probably make it all the way there, after all.”

  Hmmmm, walking really would take that long, huh? And it really would be impossible to have everyone ride Fel...... Ah!

  “Sui, can you get big enough to let these five ride you and move?”

  《Yeah, it’s fine. But Sui can’t move as fast as Uncle Fel, though.》

  “I see, I see. Then, can you give them a ride?”

  《Okay. Then, Sui will get bigger.》 As soon as Sui said that, it got as big as a wagon.

  “Woah! The slime got bigger!” The five of them were surprised that Sui grew suddenly.

  “Okay then, you guys get on Sui.”

  “““““What?”””””

  “I mean, you’re all so tired, won’t it be tough walking back? We’re going back to Nijhoff too, so let’s just go together. Now, now, just get on.”

  When I said that, they all hesitantly got onto Sui.

  “Make sure you don’t fall off.” I was, of course, on Fel’s back. “Well then, let’s go back.”

  With those words as a trigger, we set off towards Nijhoff.

  Sui, with the five adventurers on top, was fast. Of course, it couldn’t bring out as much speed as Fel could, but Sui went twice as fast as any carriage. The five adventurers riding on top of Sui were making a huge fuss of it.

  “Heeeey, I can see the town!” The other members of the party reacted to that with surprise, saying, ““““What, already?!””””

  Thanks to Sui, we all got back to town while it was still light out. Since we came riding up to the gates with Sui still huge, the gate guards were all a little frightened. But, I was still A-ranked and they remembered me, so we got in without trouble. Of course, I had the five of them get off Sui before entering, and had Sui return to its normal size.

  “Okay then, Mukohda, is it fine to meet up in front of the Adventurer’s guild tomorrow around noon?” Anton asked.

  “Yeah, can you do that? Sorry, though, for having you all show me around on your precious day off.”

  We talked a lot, and ended up making plans for the five of them to show me around town tomorrow.

  “My family’d be happy if I brought customers, anyway.”

  “My family, too. They’d be a bit surprised that I brought a huge earner like an A-ranker, too.”

  It seemed that Anton and Brigitta’s families owned workshops, and they planned to introduce me. I wanted to buy a bunch of dinnerware anyway, so I would take my sweet time looking around.

  “Well then, see you tomorrow.” With those words, I split up with the five of them.

  Tomorrow, after I get my money from the Adventurer’s guild, I’ll have the five of them show me around.

  ◇　◇　◇　◇　◇

  As soon as I entered the Adventurer’s guild, the employees probably contacted the guildmaster, as I didn’t even have to go to the receptionist; Jöran came over immediately.

  “Ohh, I’ve been waiting. Well then, there’s the matter of your meat, so let’s go to the storehouse, eh?” I followed Jöran over to the storehouse. There, Horace was waiting.

  “Okey-dokey then, why don’t I start explaining the particulars of this transaction? But, before that, I guess I should hand over your share of the meat. Horace, is it ready?”

  “Yes, of course. Uhmm, here’s the meat for the black serpent and giant dodo, as well as the two cockatrices.”

  I took the meat Horace handed over as he said that and stored it in my Item Box. I was out of poultry; this refilled my stores a bit, and it would also be the first black serpent meat in a while, so I was feeling pretty good.

  “So I’ll start explaining the particulars of this sale. First is the cyclops; the hide comes out to 180 gold. Since there really was so little damage to the hide, making the condition really good, I marked it up a little for you. Then, the eyeball is 58 gold. There was some real slight damage on it, so sorry, but I had to lower the price for that.”

  They did mention the eye already yesterday. There was nothing to be done. Well, it’s not like I needed the money. Also, even lowered, I was still getting 58 gold, which was more than enough.

  “Then there’s the magic stone. This one will be 215 gold.”

  Ohh—, that’s A-rank for you. Just one is 215 gold, huh?

  “And then the reward for defeating the cyclops is 350 gold.”

  Ohhh, the materials from the cyclops and the reward for killing it combined is quite the sum, huh? I’ve got plans to get shown around town after this, and I plan to buy a lot of dinnerware at that time too, so this’ll turn into some “war funds.”

  “And as for what you brought in, all of the black serpent’s parts combined, with the hide and poison sac and magic stone, amounts to 80 gold. Then, the giant dodo: this one didn’t have a magic stone, so it’s just 12 gold. And taking the meat from cockatrices leaves only their feathers, which will turn into 4 silver for you.”

  I really just wanted the meat, but it turned into quite a lot of money here too, huh?

  “All in all, that’s 895 gold and 4 silver. Would it be alright to pay in large gold coins this time, too?”

  “Yes, please.” 895 gold and 4 silver, huh? That’s a lot of money.

  “Alrighty then, this is your 89 large gold coins, 5 gold coins, and 4 silver coins. Please make sure it’s correct.”

  “Uhh... 1, 2, 3...... Yes, it’s correct.”

  “The requests had been sitting around for a while, but you cleared them up very fast. That really takes a load off these old bones. Thank you, truly, Mukohda.”

  “No no, I already promised I would, after all. Also, everyone enjoys these requests, too,” I said, looking at Fel and the others.

  “Ho! Ho! Ho! I see, I see. You’re a rising star of an adventurer after all, Mukohda. Do your best from now on too, eh?”

  Even if you call me a rising star...... all those expectations are heavy. And it’s pretty much all thanks to my familiars, too.

  “Okay then, I’ll take my leave.” After exchanging pleasantries, we left the Adventurer’s guild.

  After leaving the guild building, the five young adventurers were already waiting.

  “Yo, you’re all early.”

  “Yeah, we did gather a little early.”

  “Well then, let’s get going, shall we?”

  “Yeah. Then first up, this way.” Everyone started walking towards the direction Anton pointed.

  ◇　◇　◇　◇　◇

  The first place I was shown to was a store that dealt in all sorts of ceramics, named Iida Trading Company.

  “In terms of good taste and stocked wares, this store is the best even in Nijhoff.” All five of them agreed as they introduced the store. According to them, this store could get anything made anywhere in Nijhoff, or something.

  “Mukohda, the Iida company is over there.” The place Anton pointed to as he said that was a store just as big as everyone claimed it to be. As I entered, an employee quickly approached.

  “Welcome...... Huh? Aren’t you... the owner of the Sevalier Workshop’s fourth son......?”

  “Yes, I’m Anton. It’s been a while, Mr. Iida.”

  “Ohh, I see, I see. So your name’s Anton.”

  “We’re showing our senior adventurer, Mukohda here, around town, so we stopped by.”

  Judging from what was being said, this person seemed to be the owner of the company. And Anton’s a fourth son. This world gives favor to the firstborn son, so there’s no way a fourth son would be able to inherit the house. That’s harsh... Well, that was probably one of the reasons why he became an adventurer, though.

  “Mukohda, this is the master of this company, Mr. Iida.”

  “Mr. Iida, this is the A-ranked adventurer, Mukohda.” Anton took the part of the middleman and introduced us.

  “Ho~h, an A-ranked adventurer, huh? I see, I see.”

  I don’t know what he means by that, but I feel like I’m now locked in his sights......

  “I-I’m Mukohda. Pleased to meet you.”

  “What kind of ceramics are you looking for today?” Iida’s rubbing his hands together... he’s totally planning to get me to buy something. Well, I already plan to buy stuff anyway, so whatever, I guess.

  “I haven’t really decided, but I basically want to see what you have and buy what I like. Ah, they’re planning to show me around to Anton and Brigitta’s families’ workshops later, too, so I’d like it if you showed me what you have from places other than those.”

  When I said that, Iida only then noticed Brigitta it seemed, nodding while saying, “So the daughter of the Dovan workshop is here too. Okay then, I will show you what we have that’s produced by places other than the Sevalier and Dovan workshops. This way, please.” Led by Iida, we were shown a lot of different earthenware. It was worthy of thei
r recommendations, as the selection made my head spin.

  “Oh man, what a selection.”

  “Thank you very much. I like earthenware myself, you see. So I just started stocking them and before I knew it, the store became like this.” The Iida company’s store was truly rife with choice, and they had both the rustic styles of a certain type of Japanese pottery, as well as delicate white ceramics and porcelain, like from Europe. The art and colors on them were varied as well, and I felt like I’d never get tired of looking. According to him, each workshop took in magic and combined it with their own work to come up with their own unique production method. That was why each workshop’s products were so different.

  “Oh......” While he was showing me his wares, my eyes glued onto some particularly large, deep dishes. These ones might be good as dishes for Fel and the others. The ones I was using right now were either wooden, or cheap stuff I bought before from a general store. Even setting Sui aside, both Fel and Dora-chan stick their faces in with such force to eat furiously that the dishes have started to show their age and lose stability.

  It looked like they were all used to it already, but I do think that getting a more solid dish would be a good idea. The one in front of me right now was that certain Japanese-styled pottery, and it had a certain thickness and weight to it, as well, which was nice. Also, I liked the color. It wasn’t flashy, but a calm color that had a sort of taste to it.

  Hmmm, I like it. Let’s buy it.

  I was about to ask Fel and the others what color they wanted, but since the store was filled with fragile things and given the size of the passageways, Fel and Dora-chan were waiting outside. And Sui was sleeping inside my bag, too.

  Geez, I guess I’ll just decide myself. Getting a different color for each of them would make it easier to differentiate; seems like a good idea. What should I get...... Oh, this calm blue color is nice. Also, I like this dark blue, azure, and faint purple too.

  “Do you like it?”

  “Yes. I do think these dishes are good......”

  “Your eyes really are sharp. Those are from the Firmino workshop. They’ve been recently rising rapidly in popularity.”

  I see, I see; “rising rapidly,” huh? “How much is it for one of these?”

  “These plates are big, so 18 gold.”

  18 gold, huh? That’s pretty expensive. But, they’d be expensive in Japan too if they were from someplace famous. And at any rate, I like the plate already... Yeah, let’s buy it.

  “Well then, give me this and this and this.”

  “Thank you very much.”

  “Uhm, will you show me a bit more?”

  “Yes, of course.”

  After that, I had him show me more and more wares, and I ended up with a mug for me, a five-piece tumbler set, and another five-piece set of cups and saucers. The mug and tumbler set were Japanese-styled, and the cups and saucers were European porcelain-styled. I liked the mug because it was brown and had a rustic feel, and I liked the tumbler set because it was grey, like they didn’t bother to paint it and just baked it like that. The cups and saucers had that striking bone-white base color with a pattern of blue flowers painted over it, and seemed very fancy, so I thought they’d be good for when I have slightly higher quality tea or coffee.

  Altogether, the price came out to 73 gold and 8 silver, but since I bought quite a lot, Iida took off the 8 silver. Iida saw us off with a happily-smiling face, saying, “We look forward to seeing you again.”

  The five young adventurers’ admiring looks made me feel itchy, along with their statements of things like, “A-ranks really do earn way more,” or “A-ranks really are rich.”

  “Now then, you’re taking me to Anton’s family’s workshop next, right?”

  “Yes, it’s this way.” We headed towards Anton’s family’s workshop, the Sevalier Workshop.

  ◇　◇　◇　◇　◇

  “It’s here.” Sevalier Workshop, owned by Anton’s family, was about a thirty minute walk away from the center of Nijhoff. It seemed that the front of the place was a store, whereas the back of the site was split into several buildings for things like the workshop.

  “Come in.”

  Everyone entered the storefront. Fel and Dora-chan were waiting outside once again.

  “Ah, young master, what happened?” An employee greeted us as soon as we came into the store.

  “Olof? No, I just came because I was showing my senior, Mukohda here, around. Can you call my old man?”

  “Yes, please wait a minute.”

  “Mukohda, I’ll go get my dad, so please wait a little.”

  No, he’s probably busy, so you don’t have to bother him over just this, though...

  After a while, the employee Olof came back, bringing along a well-built man that looked to be around fifty. “Yo! Anton. So you brought over some senior adventurer?”

  “Ah, dad. This is the A-ranked adventurer, Mukohda.”

  “A-rank?!! Why do you know someone that high-ranked?!” Anton’s dad was surprised, hearing that I was A-ranked. But, sorry, I’m A-ranked only in name, not in power.

  “Man, a lot of stuff happened, and I met him yesterday. So right now we’re showing him around. I told him that we have a workshop, and he said that he wanted to see it, so here we are. After this, we’re swinging by Brigitta’s place too.”

  “Hohh, is that so?”

  “I’m Mukohda. I met Anton and the others here, and since this is their hometown, I asked to be shown around. Sorry for barging in so suddenly.”

  “No no, don’t hold back here, look around as much as you like. You know I can’t show you the workshop, but this shop is owned by us, so it’s got products that haven’t made it to other stores yet.”

  It seemed that the workshop had trade secrets. Or, rather every workshop had its own secret and unique techniques, so their inner workings were closed off to everyone but those who worked there. Oh yeah, didn’t Iida say that each workshop took in magic and combined it with their own work to come up with their own unique production method? If that’s the case, it’s true that they can’t just show their stuff so easily. It seems that this place has new products since they own the store, so let’s have them show me already.

  Anton’s family, or the Sevalier Workshop, made Japanese-style pottery, and they had many pieces with quiet, sober coloring. It fit my tastes perfectly. The father followed along with me, and explained various things. Among the things I saw, what I especially liked was a newly made indigo colored cup.

  “It was really hard to bring out this color. Also, this one is special. I mixed together and used several different magic stones in the glaze. So if you pour something into it, it’s made to cool the liquid inside.”

  Wow, a self-cooling cup, huh? With both the shape and the color, this thing was basically made for me. Beer’ll probably taste great if I drink it out of this... I want it... “How much is this?”

  “This? ......Hm, about 28 gold, I’d say.”

  At first, I was startled hearing that just one cup was 28 gold. But when I thought about it, he used several magic stones to make this, so the price made sense. Actually, with the magic stones in mind, he might be losing out on this deal. Let’s keep an eye on this while looking at other stuff.

  After looking around at lots of stuff, I ended up liking a five-piece set of pale beige large-ish plates made by the father’s apprentice, and another five-piece set of bowls made by the same apprentice that were colored a deep green as though it was growing moss, which were the perfect size for rice bowls.

  Apparently this workshop was famous in Nijhoff, and while I was looking around, merchants from other towns also came in to stock up on items. I only listened in on their conversations in passing, but it seemed that there was a noble that loved the ceramics made here in this workshop.

  Yeah, yeah. Anton’s dad has good taste, doesn’t he?

  After waffling about for a while, I decided to buy the cup I was interested in, as well as both five-piece sets made by the apprentice. The father’s cup was 28 gold, and the apprentice’s plate set went for 15 gold while his bowl set would sell for 20, so all in all, it would have been 63 gold, but he brought it down to 60 gold for us.

  “Uhmm, sorry.”

  “No no, an A-ranked adventurer will be using our stuff, so I should be thanking you. Keep using our stuff, you hear?”

  “Yes, I’ll be very careful with this.” I made a pretty good purchase.