Leave a comment

　The village chief called out to me as I was playing around with Lily.

“Hey, are you done yet?’
“Ah, yes.”

　Sorry, but Lily was just too cute.

“You were the only one who passed this time. So I would like to finish the transaction immediately, is that alright?”
“Sure, I’m fine with that.”
“Then this way. Come.”

　It seems he was leading me to where the eggs were stored. Lily and the others also follow along.

“By the way, the soup……”
“Ah, that? You’re free to have the remainder that’s left in the pot.”
“Thanks. And those black onions you used to make it, is it possible to have some of those too?”
“I apologize, but……”
“I’m not saying that you have to give away the recipe for it. I can also pay you too!”
“…….Sorry.”

　I felt bad. But it was really troublesome to make them.

　The process itself was simple, but it took time. Since it also required constant heat, the fuel cost would be quite high in this world. I had a magic stove so I could replenish it using mana, but it still took really long to make. Due to the above, I decided to decline. Although, I guess I didn’t really list the reasons.

　Eh? Wouldn’t it have been easier to use Creation Magic? Well, it just wouldn’t feel right if I didn’t actually make it……

“Nuu, so it’s no good……that’s unfortunate.”

　It was unfortunate, but there was no helping it. Since it was troublesome.

“Um, Ren……then.”
“Next time, okay?”
“Yes!”

　Lily had become a rather disappointing child. I fed her too much!

“That aside, how were the inns?”
“We couldn’t find any.”
“What?”
“Or rather, there weren’t any inns to begin with.”
“Eh, then where are the merchants who came to buy the eggs living……?”
“I think it was an area around the road leading to the village? It seems that the entire area is being used as a camp, and the merchants are sleeping in their carriages over there.”

　Probably so they could keep watch over their cargo. I see.

“Rather, we had to search for you since when we returned from searching for inns, you and the carriage disappeared, you know?”

　Hahaha. Sorry?
　We arrived at the egg storage place shortly after. An underground entrance?

“Just beyond this.”
“Is this……perhaps a freezer?”
“That’s right. This is the best way to store food for as long as possible.”

　To be frank, I was surprised. I thought it would be a medieval storage method where the eggs would be kept at room temperature, but it was actually properly stored. Well, no, there were still modern foreign countries that were still like that. Japan was just an exception.

　As we went down the stairs, I could feel the surrounding temperature gradually decrease. But for some reason……?

“It’s not very cold~?”
“You think so too, Arisa?”
“So both Lily and Arisa also feel that way?”

　Apparently, I wasn’t the only one who felt that way.

　It was currently June. But it was still unlikely that the amount of snow gathered in the freezer would melt so quickly. So what happened?

“……So you noticed. In truth, last month, there was a person who tried stealing the eggs……he was caught, but he left the door open when he ran away. It was left open for a while until someone noticed and quite a bit of snow had melted by then. Just remembering makes me angry!”

　……What to say.

　In the end, that incident led to the problems regarding the egg storage and forced the village to have less eggs to sell.

　Well, I could only say they were unlucky, but that would be a bit too…….

“We’ve arrived. The eggs are stored behind this door. You can buy as much as you like.”
“Eh, as much as I like?”
“To be honest, you can buy all of it if you can. It would reduce the amount that we could sell in the future. But it would be better to earn as much as possible now. Since it would be bad if the remaining eggs couldn’t be sold.”
“I see, so that’s why……”

　We entered through the door while talking. There were numerous eggs beyond the door. It seemed like quite a lot, but considering the future, the current amount was probably actually only a little.

“In that case, can I choose the ones I want?”
“I don’t care.”

　I used Appraisal to select the eggs. The selection criteria were eggs that were freshly laid and not infected with Salmonella.

　After Appraisal reached level 10, I became able to view this kind of information. It was very convenient.

　I went through and picked out the eggs I wanted. About 30% of the eggs were infected. I didn’t know if that was considered a lot or a little, but it wasn’t a problem since I wasn’t buying them.

“…….You, is it possible you can tell which ones will hurt your stomach if eaten?”
“……”

　I didn’t respond back. It was better not to say anything.

　I finished my screening. I ended up taking about half of the eggs. So about 500? It might seem like a lot, but since I was using them for cooking reasons, even this amount would disappear soon. I would be able to make sweets soon. I wanted ten times this amount.

“……You’re buying that much? Never mind, that helps us.”
“Yes, there’s various things I want to make.”

　Eggs were expensive in this world. When I was at the inn, it cost 1 silver coin each. So about 1000 yen, or a bit more?

　After confirming the total with the village chief, the purchase price was 5 small silver coins each.

　I bought 500. So about 250,000 yen. So 2 gold coins and 5 small gold coins. Expensive!

“Then this is the total price.”
“Yes, that’s right.”

　Anyways, with this I’ve caught the eggs! I could now make various things! Thank you, village chief!

　……Hmm, if I sell some favors here, perhaps he’ll let me buy them next time too?

“Um, this isn’t much of thanks for selling the eggs, but here.”
“Huh?’

　I took out a lot of snow from Storage.

　During the time, when my house was buried in snow due to the snowstorms in January and February, I used it to gather and store all the snow covering my house.

　At that time, it was bemusing to see all the snow instantly disappear and I had used it to gather all the snow around my house. As such, there was a large amount of snow from that time inside Storage.

　To be honest, the amount I just took out wasn’t even 10% of it.

“……..Eh?”
“With this much, it should be enough to last until winter?”
“Wait a moment. What just happened? Huh? What?”

　The village chief was confused.

“Please don’t worry about it. I still have plenty left over.”
“……Hah, it’s too bothersome to even think about it.”
“It’s better not to overthink it. Because this person is quite abnormal.”

　Lily, isn’t that a bit cruel?

“Right……what is in front of me right now is more important than trying to understand something I can’t figure out. Then…..is it really alright to give out this much snow? To be clear, doesn’t this cost more now than the 500 eggs you’re buying from this village?”
“I don’t mind. Like I said before, I still have plenty more left.”
“I see…..thank you. To be honest, you’ve saved us. You are the benefactor of this village! I will return this money. I can’t accept any of this money from you. Rather, just returning the money isn’t even enough……”

　I wasn’t exactly sure what just happened, but did I just get all the eggs for free? Was that really alright? I did feel a bit bad. As such.

“Don’t worry about it. Ah, and have this too.”
“This is……but earlier you said that you couldn’t give this out.”
“That was earlier.”
“……Thank you. Truly, thank you.”

　I had given him the bottle containing the ingredient I used for the onion soup.

　But I wasn’t going to teach him how to make it, nor was I going to show how I had specifically made the earlier dish.

　I was reluctant to give it out a while ago, but in truth, I actually had four more bottles of the same thing left. I had made too many of them at once.

　However, it still took time to make it, which was why I was initially reluctant.

　But if I sell some favors here, I should be able to buy eggs the next time I come, so I guess it wasn’t a waste?