Volume 4 - CH 10

Chapter 4-10 : Erin-san’s Request Ⅱ

「In other words, if we can mass produce delicious preserved foods that everyone can enjoy, we can sell them to increase this village’s income. I think that’s a brilliant idea. But… Do you even need my help?」(Sarasa)

Erin-san smiled at me who asked her as I tilted my head.

「Of course. I wouldn’t have come here if I didn’t need help from an alchemist. Don’t worry, I won’t ask you to make dried vegetables or something.」(Erin)

「Ahaha… I can cook but I’m not sure if I can make preserved foods. So, what do you want me to do?」(Sarasa)

「Is there an artifact that can make preserved foods? If there’s such an artifact, can you make it for me?」(Erin)

「Ah, I see now~!」(Sarasa)

I was confused at first but of course, she came to ask me to make an artifact. If she was looking for someone who can cook, she would have come to Lorea-chan or Diral-san’s place instead.

「An artifact to make preserved foods, huh…?」(Sarasa)

I’ve never made such an artifact before, so it’s definitely not in volume 1 to 4 of the Encyclopedia of Alchemy.

I just started working on volume 5, so I haven’t checked all the artifacts and potions in that volume.

Honestly, I don’t know if such an artifact exists, but I think I should check volume 5.

「Erin-san, please wait a moment. I’ll be right back.」(Sarasa)

「Alright.」(Erin)

I went to my workshop, grabbed volume 5 of the Encyclopedia of Alchemy on the shelf, and returned to the shop floor with it.

ーDON!

When I put it on the table, it made a loud noise because of its thickness.

「Whoa, what a thick book.」(Erin)

「Hehe, I know, right? Erin-san, just to be clear, I don’t know if that artifact exists. If I can’t find it in this book, then I have to decline your request.」(Sarasa)

「Is that so? Hmm… Okay, I understand.」(Erin)

「Let’s hope we’ll find it here. Alright, let’s see…」(Sarasa)

I started flipping the pages, looking for the artifact Erin-san wants.

This encyclopedia is quite thick but fortunately, the contents are divided into several classifications, so I don’t need to flip all the pages.

I’m looking for an artifact to make preserved food, so I’m searching in the segment of food, agriculture, and industry.

After searching for about five minutesー

「Ah, found it!」(Sarasa)

「Really!?」(Erin)

「Yes! It’s called “Dry Food Maker”.」(Sarasa)

There are many artifacts with weird names because the alchemists who invented them have a weird sense for names.

I’m really glad this one has a normal name that is easy to understand. Thanks to that, it didn’t take long to find it.

Thank you, whoever invented this! Thank you!

I leaned forward and showed the encyclopedia to Erin-san who was sitting in front of me.

「Here, this one. What do you think?」(Sarasa)

「Umm… Sarasa-san, I can only see blank pages…」(Erin)

「Aa… I forgot. Only alchemists can see the content.」(Sarasa)

I was so excited that I forgot that common people can’t see the content of the Encyclopedia of Alchemy.

I have received many artifact orders so far, but Erin-san is the first person who has ordered an artifact I have never made.

「Alright, let me explain about this artifact. First, as the name suggests, this artifact is a tool for making dried foods. It seems that you can make dried vegetables as well as dried meat. However, it is not recommended to use raw meat as it is.」(Sarasa)

「Of course. To make dried meat, first, you need to salt the meat.」(Erin)

「I see. So that’s why dried meat is salty.」(Sarasa)

「Yeah. It’s to prevent the meat from rotting while it’s being dried. However, you just need a little bit of salt, and if you smoke it well, it will taste good.」(Erin)

I recalled when I ate dried meat made from Hellfire Grizzly meat that the villagers made after we defeated the Hellfire Grizzlies. Certainly, it’s quite good.

「The only hunter in this village is Jasper-san, right? Do you think we will have enough meat to mass-produce dried meat?」(Sarasa)

「Don’t worry. Because it’s almost winter, lately, the Collectors in this village sometimes bring wild animals they hunted while collecting materials. They sell the prey to the villagers and the materials to you.」(Erin)

「Hee… I never knew. Anyway, let’s move on. The book says that you can also make preserved food from dishes.」(Sarasa)

「Dishes? What kind of dishes we can use?」(Erin)

「It’s not written in detail but you can use various dishes. Also, it seems that you can use bread and soup as well. However, seems like it requires more magical power to make dried food from broth-based dishes like soup.」(Sarasa)

As a matter of course, people with magical power can operate it with their own magical power, but people who don’t have magical power need to use magic stones.

I don’t know how much magical power you need but naturally, the artifact will need more energy to dry soup.

「You can make dried food from soup? That’s awesome! Without this artifact, I don’t think it’s possible.」(Erin)

「Is that so?」(Sarasa)

Honestly, I’m not sure how it works until I make the artifact myself but somehow I can figure out what dried food made from soup looks like.

You put it in a bowl, pour hot water in, and boom! A bowl of soup is ready to eat!

「Anyway, if you need help with the dishes, I think Lorea-chan can help.」(Sarasa)

As I said that, Erin-san and I glanced at Lorea-chan who has been silently listening to us from the counter.

She tilted her head a little in surprise.

「M, Me…?」(Lorea)

「Yup. You make delicious meals after all!」(Sarasa)

「Hehe, thank you~」(Lorea)

Lorea-chan learned to cook from her mother but recently she started to learn to make various dishes from Maria-san’s recipe book that Master sent a while ago.

Lorea-chan’s cooking skills are still inferior to her mother’s but her knowledge of cooking has surpassed her mother’s thanks to Maria-san’s recipe book.

「Erin-san, Lorea-chan can make various dishes. I’m sure she will be able to help you.」(Sarasa)

「Certainly, I need someone who can cook various meals. The villagers here tend to make the same dishes every day except Diral-san, probably. Well then, Lorea-chan, would you help me with this plan?」(Erin)

「It’s for the sake of this village. I’ll do whatever I can to help!」(Lorea)

「Thank you!」(Erin)

Being asked by Erin-san, the ‘true’ village mayor, Lorea-chan stood up and answered vigorously.