Volume 4 Chapter 2.5

Volume 4 Chapter 2.5

In order to ensure that no one player had an extreme difference in battle, there were a variety of adjustments made in-game, so even if Hiroshi were to go up against someone at level 10 with hardly any skills, he wouldn’t receive no damage like he did over here, and even if Makoto or Tatsuya were to fire at him with one of their strong attacks, they wouldn’t kill him in a single hit with a critical. But in this world, such kind restrictions did not exist. Hiroshi in fortress mode would practically suffer no damage from Makoto, Tatsuya, or Haruna’s highest firepower, and Teres or Artiem wouldn’t be able to so much as scratch him with whatever weapons they used.

In this world, once you got to a certain point, every individual’s power level would come into play, no matter how cruel it was.

「Well, at any rate, right now it’s just an experiment/test run. She can’t make more than the kind o’furnace that individuals can handle, so while her craftin’ ability’ll be higher than most, it’ll only be a one percent difference, I think.」

「And anything beyond that concerns politics, eh.」

「Prolly yeah.」

It probably wouldn’t be enough to disrupt the power balance between the countries. That was what the Japanese people determined based on previous considerations. In a sense, they were right. Just because Forre’s magic steel products increased did not mean that tensions would be rising between the three powers or Midas Federation, nor did it mean that the power balance between the western countries would crumble. However, even if the western countries appeared to be intact, from a global perspective it was not only not that simple, Hiroshi and friends did not realize how much they had influenced the world, or at least would not realize that until they had to later on solve some trouble in the Great Library of Rufeus in the capital, Lorren.

「Well, and so she’s gotta go around talking to people here and there for two to three days, so during that time, Haruna-san, ya should just do somethin’ productive with Bro and the others.」

「Got it. I already have some plans anyway. How about some food for starters?」

「Yup, thanks for making it.」

Prompted by Haruna, Hiroshi expressed his thanks and reached out for the pickled cabbage and river fish. The older members of the group already had edamame in one hand and were gazing intently at the homemade beer.

「Edamame is the best！」

「Yep, beer and edamame go perfectly together!」

Nicely cooled beer and organically cultivated, fresh tasting edamame. The salt amount was also perfect, a happy taste independent of the liquor.

「Tomorrow, I guess I’ll go ahead and work at the stall. Been a while.」

「What are you selling？」

「Hot dogs. We got all these delicious sausages we made, plus I kinda wanted to make something a little orthodox Kansai style.」

「Ah, I see. True, the hotdogs you made using these countries sausages were great.」

In response to Haruna’s answer, Tatsuya nodded as he remembered the hotdogs they ate yesterday. The orthodox kind was certainly good, but the Kansai cabbage and curry powder version was great too. Either one of those could easily sell.

「……I don’t care either way, but don’t you think there might be an alternative to simply rushing to the stall every time we have nothing to do？」

「Oh? But I think that basically sums us up, don’t you？」

「……Mio, you say something too.」

「Edamame and beer, do they really go that well together？」

「Absolutely, but you need to wait eight years, little miss……」

Losing her strength at Mio’s comment from out of left field, Makoto rebuked her. Unfortunately, there were hardly any countries in this world either who would allow Mio to drink liquor out in the open, based on appearance and age.

「When the team’s out doing their own thing, I think we should at least ensure safety.」

「So you’re in agreement with operating the food stand？」

「C’mon, food stands never lead to any issues, as long as you don’t roughhouse with the customers.」

Making a small sigh at Mio’s pointer, Makoto figured “why not” and conceded. In reality, she had no idea what else there was besides food stands anyway.

「While we’re at it, Haru, how about you go with Tatsu and the others to Stiren and help secure a transportation point there？」

「Ah～、I don’t see why not.」

「Are we seriously going all the way to the capital just to sell food……」

Haruna nodded at Mio’s proposal while Tatsuya looked fed up. True, they would eventually have to go to Stiren anyway, but for something like this?

「Seems like the capital would have more strange sausages where those came from, so I say that’s a pretty good reason, right？」

「Alllll right……」

「Fine, sheesh……」

Exasperated at what Haruna had just said, but also unable to deny they liked some good sausage and liquor, the two elder members sighed on the surface while expressing agreement. In the end, they gave in to some of their food cravings (or rather, that was now their main priority in going to Stiren), once again proving how nonchalant these people were.

Meanwhile, in Igreos Temple (main branch)…

「Special delivery～、special delivery～」

「Octogal Dispatch, at your se～rvice!」

「Delivery～、delivery～」

Three octogals had moved to where Nazaria and Igreos were.

「Home delivery～、home delivery～」

「Delivered at the appointed time～」

「Delivered without regard for appointment～」

「Absent～、absent～」

「Takeout～、deliver at another time～」

「Dispose of body～」

「Uhh, I don’t really understand what any of you are saying……」

The octogals did their little game of association as per usual, while Nazaria, not used to these strange creatures, grimaced as she threw a comment their way.

「Letter from Elle-chan～」

「Stamp on the receipt, please～」

「Or a sign, that works too～」

Signing the receipt brought before her by the octogal, Nazaria also took the handwritten letter from Aearis into her hands.

「Safely delivered～」

「We will send the receipt to her in a jiffy～」

「We will standby～」

Having finished their task for Aearis, one of the octogals teleported back to Wulls. The remaining two, upon declaring their standby, were now enshrined atop the heads of both Nazaria and Igreos. It was a little off-putting to see an octogal on Igreos’ head, but he himself showed no signs of discomfort, so it must not be all that problematic.

「……I see, so as a preventive measure for Crest Cave, they’re thinking of building more new smelting furnaces and increasing the amount of refined magic steel.」

「A frontal attack, hm. Truly a great tactic.」

「It is？」

「Crest Cave likely will not go back to being a mine now that it has shifted into a dungeon. According to what we know from Alfemina, it would seem that the underlings of the evil god put up quite a fight. The isolated dimension appears to have been solidified quite quickly this time around. So by that logic, magic steel ore crafting will skyrocket. Indubitably, strengthening one’s crafting prowess with magic steel products is the most constructive option as of now.」

Conveying this information from the god grapevine to Nazaria, Igreos meanwhile thought of his own role in all this. No matter how the pieces would fall, at the moment, things were guaranteed to be terribly busy with Forre’s increase in smelting furnaces.

「Igreos-sama, it seems that Aearis-dono will be showing up here along with Hiroshi-dono tomorrow.」

「In that case, we must quickly set up the production increase of holy fire-baked heat-resistant bricks.」

「Should we tell Her Majesty about any of this？」

「Eh, this is the strong, independent priestess princess we are talking about. No doubt even if one such as myself had not told her about it, she will have known.」

「Then all that remains now is just how the Forre royal family will respond to this.」

「The only thing in their heads is iron. If the amount of refined magic steel is to increase, they will undoubtedly try to push this plan forward without thinking of profit or loss.」

This insistence on iron from the Forre family was also consistent with the entirety of the nation, regardless of status. This disposition (incomprehensible to the other countries) was hiding a lot of Barold’s secretive movements, and just as much so was it troublesome to deal with in regards to diplomatic relations with their allies.

「Either way, this appears to be a momentous occasion for history.」

「Well, it would be nice if it results in something amazing for the world……」

Sighing at Igreos’ excited demeanor as he struck a pose, Nazaria decided to send the octogals back to Wulls with a response and a gift.