CH 146

Chapter 146 – Such a troublesome dilemma

This event is one that lets people make full use of the Party Recruitment System and the Party Auto-Matching System, as those systems allow people to easily set up parties with people from that you don’t know.

However, that doesn’t mean that you can’t play the event while working with a fixed party whose members have already been decided in advance.

For example, the Party Auto-Matching System lets you instantly teleport to the field area, and then return to your original location once you achieve your goal. It would be a waste if you couldn’t use it with a fixed party.

So, it seems like the dev team considered that as well. Basically…

“If you are already in a party, then set the maximum number of party members for the Party Auto-Matching to be the same as the size of your party, you can immediately move.” As soon as Mika finished explained that, she disappeared, leaving behind a teleportation aftereffect.

Essentially, you can set the conditions of Party Auto-Matching to move your own party around… Nothing on the official announcement mentioned this though.

As expected of Mika, to have already figured out how to make good use of the system.

“And that’s how it works. I’m now in the City Buried in the Sand!” Mika told us via call.

“Understood. Well then, do your best.” I replied.

“Leave it to me!” She exclaimed.

This time she’ll be working on capturing the dungeon together with the other Clan for the sake of the event. This was directly connected to the request she made earlier.

Neither I nor the other side wanted to lend our own workshops, but the other side hadn’t thought I’d go as far as preparing a new workshop.

Through Mika, they apologized for the trouble and conveyed their gratitude.

I understood why they didn’t want us to use their workshop, as I didn’t want them to use mine either, hence why they suggested the Rental Production Facility as a compromise.

I didn’t want to use the beginner facilities there though, so I wasn’t okay with that solution.

The other party knew how much it would cost to prepare a new workshop and to purchase new facilities for it though, so they hadn’t considered that I’d actually go ahead and get a new workshop.

In any case, this exchange meeting is an important start for the future cooperation between Mist Knights and Beyond The Faraway Time… However, neither Clan was okay with the idea of letting the other party lead the hunts.

So, since they were at an impasse, Mika decided to come to me, as she thought I’d be able to change the situation in her favor… Though she didn’t tell me about all the details until now.

Both Mist Knights and Beyond The Faraway Time are top clans of their respective countries, so they refused to back down… Essentially, this was a problem created by excessive pride.

I was a bit angry when I heard that this was the cause.

But well, in the end, Mika’s strategy of throwing the problem to me worked on in her favor, as she was able to get the other clan to cooperate after I went as far as creating a whole new workshop.

And on that note, Mika ended up asking me how much it cost me to create the new workshop. After I told her its price, she was shocked.

I mean, it was done cheaply due to the recommendation letter from Mr. Kederick, so I don’t think I spent that much.

However, I seem to be the only one that felt like that.

Did my profits from selling steel gear with two Options muddle my sense of money?

In any case, thanks to the preparing the workshop with an amount of money that made Mika say, ‘Are you for real…?’ we’re finally going to properly cooperate at this event.

Naturally, Mist Knights are going to be the ones leading the hunts, and that made Mika’s mood skyrocket.

She was smiling from ear to ear while she explained how to use the Party Auto-Matching System with a fixed party… Well, I guess Mika really likes being the one in charge.

And she also hates being ordered around by others…

In any case, since a heavy burden was put on me for this whole endeavor, I’m gonna keep 30% of the materials collected by Mist Knights and Beyond The Faraway Time.

The rest of the materials will be used to craft things as a party in order to collect event points during the crafting process too.

Those materials will be collected by having two top Clans from different countries hunt together, so… I’m sure they’ll bring lots of wonderful materials back! I’m looking forward to it!

******

On another note, Works has a chef named Kuuruu.

However, due to real-life circumstances, he had taken a break from Frontiers shortly before I came back from my mini-retirement.

The Kuuruu Restaurant that he owned was also closed during that time, and that was quite disheartening, as the food there was not only delicious, but also gave us nice buffs.

But now, Kuuruu is back! We can eat tasty food again!

“I have been learning about cooking in the real world, so today we should feast!” Kuuruu told us.

“Wait, you actually went to China to learn?” Lolita asked him.

“… Amazing.” Lulu commented.

“Yes! I learned a lot!” Kuuruu replied.

Seems like he went to China during his break, and he learned authentic Chinese cuisine while he was there.

And now, even though it was a party to celebrate his return, he was the one who made the feast we were eating today.

“Mmm… Delicious! You did great, Kuuruu!” Lolita exclaimed.

“This Chinese confectionery… It’s tasty… I have to research it…” Lulu commented.

“It’s delicious! Also, isn’t the buff a bit better than before?” I asked.

“It seems like it. Apparently, improving your cooking technique can also improve the taste and bonus of your meal.” Kuuruu replied.

“To think that focusing on the actual process can give this kind of benefit…” I muttered.

“Maybe I should try learning from a professional too?” Lolita wondered out loud.

“… Going to classes?” Lulu asked.

“Ah, but… Well, I’d rather be playing on my free time instead of learning.” Lolita said.

“In my case, it’s not really possible to learn proper blacksmithing.” I commented.

“Such a troublesome dilemma.” Lolita said.

“Right?” I replied.

You can craft on Frontiers by using the same processes as in reality.

Of course, skill levels, material ranks, facilities and tools are all very important too, but a certain level of knowledge on the crafting techniques can give you better results than just relying on the system.

Like how Kuuruu improved the taste and bonus of his meals by studying in the real world. It makes me want to try out the real process.

But to me, it would be blacksmithing, which is like… Something I can try learning about, but can’t actively practice in real life, so it would probably lead to bad results.

There are times where your real-world skills might help you out, but I don’t think amateurs should seriously try using real methods.

Kuuruu seems to be a really good cook in real life too, so studying it at home makes more sense to him.

In any case, I actually gave a gift weapon to him to celebrate his return.

——

Royal Steel Kitchen Knife

Dagger/3*/ATK +72/Durability 70

Ceremonial Bonus: DEX +1

——

It’s a weapon that may also be used as a production tool.

I was able to make it mainly because I had already crafted plenty of Royal Steel weapons before trying this.

However, it’s still below the level of advanced tools.

But well, this can also be used as a weapon, so that can’t be helped.

Or rather, its primary use should be of a weapon, since this wasn’t recognized as a tool.

That said, this is still much better than the knife that Kuuruu was using, so he was pretty pleased with the gift.

Everyone gave him envious gazes when he received it.

But nobody tried asking me to give them a gift too, which is part of what makes Works special.

We don’t do things like that. Even elementary schoolers like Mii and Muu understood it.

I was blessed with some really good friends here.

******

On the way home from Kuuruu’s return party, I received a message from Mika.

The contents included the materials obtained from the hunt and the available schedule of the members from the other side for doing crafting with those materials.

All members of Works had just gathered to celebrate Kuuruu’s comeback, so I talked to them about this too.

Everyone was interested in checking out my new workshop, and they also wanted to see the prowess of the top producers of other countries.

And as I needed at least one more party member from our country, I asked if any of them would be interested.

Everyone wanted to participate, so we decided that the Clan Master, Lolita, would be part of the first team.

However, when I talked about the idea of letting future disciples that joined Works use the new workshop, Lolita got angry.

It would be fine if I did that with my disciples, but the same doesn’t hold true to the other people of Works, we couldn’t simply let disciples leech of the achievements of other people in Works.

She was right.

I mean, I’m not planning on taking disciples at all, so I won’t have any use for this workshop once the event ends, so I didn’t think of it from this perspective. But Lolita, who’d be freely benefiting from my investment, would never accept it. It would go against the whole idea of Works.

… Well, I’m still going to receive 30% of the collected materials, so I’m still getting something out of this investment anyways.

In any case, nobody in Works has taken a disciple yet, but Lolita will probably get one in due time.

And if she does, I might follow suit too, since, after all, it would be the decision of the Clan Master!