CH 45

45 Spirits and Dragons

I eat dinner, take a bath, deal with everything else and log in.

Now, let’s make some tofu. Is what I thought, but I need to have a box made by Primula-san or it will end up having a deformed shape.

Oh, a whisper from Ske-san.

『”Princess, let’s hunt some before sleep!”』

“In Barberg?”

『”That’s the plan.”』

“Very well.”

I can do crafting tomorrow, let’s go hunt now. I will confirm the new crafting kit tomorrow.

Let’s order a box and cloth for making tofu from Primula-san and Dantel-san. Looks like it’s possible to buy it from a clerk at Dantel-san’s store. This helps.

I jump to Barberg, form a party with Ske-san and Alf-san to play with some ostriches and go to sleep. They are pretty sweet, those ostriches. I need to think of solo-hunting them.

I wake up in the morning and take my time eating breakfast and doing things. I log in to the game after that.

I go to the library, let’s progress with homework.

“Welcome, miss.”

“I’ll be in your care again.”

After greeting the old man, I take several books and head to the courtyard. After occupying a single table, I start with homework. When my concentration breaks, I take a break and read a book… I raise my «Linguistics» with this until noon.

By reading here I can learn the in-game setting, so it’s unexpectedly interesting. Also, it is possible to read fairy tales also existing in real. I wouldn’t read those without an opportunity like this, so they might be good for leveling the skill.

...I’ll end here for today. The pace at which I do the homework is faster than usual. It seems that rather than do it bit by bit, it’s better to concentrate and do it all at once. Although it is homework, it only serves as confirmation of things we have learned, as not to forget it.

Now, today’s books are… about spirits and dragons.

Spirits exist all over, but they never show themselves. In general they are friendly, and it is said that they are strongly related to magic.

As a result of cooperating with a Spirit-User and asking their contracted spirit, we have learned that they without doubt have an effect on magic, but from their perspective they are not interested in it and cannot explain details. Above all, the spirits that we contract with are usually very curious and playful Young Spirits, and conversation with them is difficult like a conversation with a child. By all means we would love to cooperate with a Spirit-User that has contracted a higher class spirit.

Since spirits seem to have three tiers, they are separated into Young Spirits, Spirits and Spirit Kings. Their appearance differs and the higher class they are, the more human they appear. When you meet one that looks just like a human, be careful. Spirits are not an existence humans can win against. Fighting them is ill-advised.

Spirit Kings are an even higher existence than that, they are the few oldest spirits, also called primordial Spirits. They haven’t been confirmed by us, but spirits say they do exist, so they probably do.

Spirits have a different sense of values and are said to be the messengers of gods. Their job is to keep the balance between elements. Be careful when interacting with them.

It is said that Fay have come into existence from Spirits which have become more human and closer to nature.

So Fay have been derived from Spirits… is what this means?

Angels known in real life are here classified as Angel race, but game’s angels… it’s best to perceive Spirits as the messengers of gods? Not as the ones who lead human races, but as those who work to maintain the balance between elements.

In general they do not bother with humans, and while they appear to humans sometimes…it usually is for forming a contract or to warn them, so it’s rarely a happy event. The number of warnings is overwhelmingly higher than contracts.

Speaking of a man’s romance, the strongest species… Yes, I mean Dragons.

Although Dragons rule as the top of the ecosystem, there are both strong and weak among them. World sure is harsh.

The dragons among dragons, the top among Dragon race are the Pureblood Dragons. It is possible to speak with them, and they almost never leave their territories. Adult purebloods are usually 40 to 60 meters long, have four legs and have wings.

And speaking of pure blood, there are also mixed bloods. Mixed Blood Dragons are dragons whose blood has been diluted and are weaker than purebloods. With that said, they are still dragons, so there is no change to the fact they are strong. They are up to 40 meters long. Their appearance is varied and it is said they adapt to the place they live in. Or it rather, that they had to adapt to their habitats… is what I should say. Pureblood Dragons do not change their appearance, they are so strong that they do not have to.

Next after pureblood and mixed blood are… pseudo dragons called Sub-Dragons. They grow up to 20 meters long. They adapt to their surroundings even more and take various appearances. Wyverns can be said to be the representative of Sub-Dragons. They look like a small and inferior version of Pureblood Dragons and have adapted to the sky.

Some of the Pureblood Dragons are called Ancient Dragons. Just as the name suggests, they are an old species, and it does not mean they are grandpas or grannies.

In order of strength: Ancient Dragons, Pureblood Dragons, Mixed Blood Dragons, Sub-Dragons.

The most common are Sub-Dragons. Following that are some of the Mixed Blood Dragons. Ancient Dragons and Pureblood Dragons can be spoken with. Sub-Dragons cannot be communicated with. Mixed Blood Dragons - depends on the particular individual.

From what I have heard, Pureblood Dragons and Ancient Dragons don’t have much to do, and sometimes take human form to mix among humans. I would love to, by all means, speak with one of them.

Speaking of Wyverns, Dinight Empire has a famous Dragon Knight Corps that uses Wyverns. Dragon Knights is a star occupation. The road to becoming one is narrow as it requires one to command a Wyvern and ride it.

Dragons, hm? I haven’t seen one yet. No, game-wise it would be troublesome if there were dragons all over.

Four legs and wings. In other words, it’s best to think that the classic dragons are Pureblood Dragons. Ancient Dragons’ appearance is described… Though, based on the way it’s written, one can surmise that they look like Pureblood Dragons.

In the post scriptum there is information written about the Dinight Empire’s Dragon Knights. Speaking of which, someone did say on BBS that they are close to getting to the South.

Well, whatever. Let’s continue reading fairy tales.

I have lunch, then visit Primula-san and Dantel-san’s stores.

First, I received a cloth from the clerk at Dantel-san’s store that I’ll use to make tofu. Certainly it is what I ordered.

Following that, I go to Primula-san’s store. Since Primula-san also has summer break, the person herself serviced me.

“Yahoo~.”

“Hello. I came to buy the box.”

“Here, a tofu box~.”

What Primula-san took out, was a wooden box with holes in multiple places. In the back it had skate-like legs thanks to which it was standing a little high. It must be to allow excess water flow through.

I received four of them, I spent 10k in total, including what I paid at Dantel-san’s store.

“If you’re making tofu, does this mean you made miso~?”

“Yes, I did actually. There was no malt so this might be a natural one. I have yet to use it.”

“How about wine~?”

“That one is now aging. I did prepare mead as well and that one’s name has already changed… so I think it’s ready?”

“Ohh~! Everything’s going well.”

“I plan to make tofu now and release information on the board about the mid-tier Cooking Kit in the meanwhile.”

“Mid-tier, huh~? Speaking of which, ol’ man also said something about smithing’s mid-tier.”

He poured money into the store… the housing facilty’s smithing tools and put the mobile kit’s upgrade aside. But then, an event is announced.

I see. The next event is a survival on the event field, if he cannot use his store’s workshop, he will have to use the crafting kit.

“So, we found smithing and cooking so far~. If possible I would like to acquire mine before the event starts~. What will you take, Princess~?”

“Cooking Kit, most likely… I planned to take Alchemy Kit at the start, but Ske-san will bring one.”

“Ahh, a PT of three?”

“That is the plan. Are you going with Ertz-san and others, Primula-san?”

“Yuup~.”

As expected. It would be nice if we could meet up early on, or even be able to tell each other’s position. In survival we have to cooperate or we might be done for.

The event starts soon, on the next Saturday… I will be able to raise my combat and Cooking Skill during the event, so I should raise skills other than that.

“Well, I’m off to investigate the new Cooking Kit and to make tofu.”

“Take care~.”

I leave Primula-san’s store and… where should I do it? Everyone has a store now, so there is no point in going to the street with player stalls. The central square… ahh, there was something like crafting facilities, right. ...But it’s a pain, so I will go to the central square.

I open the Cooking Kit… at preview state it already looks fairly different. Well, open up. First let’s confirm what has changed.

The big difference is that there’s now a magical stove in addition to the charcoal one. Furthermore, a magical alembic was added to the sink. The box in the corner is… a magical refrigerator? It works with MAGIC, so it’s MAGICAL. I set up the alembic right away and start making Distilled Water. Also, I put eggs in the refrigerator. It appears I can put in ten different types of items inside.

A magical pressure cooker, magical blender, magical mixer, magical kettle, magical juicer… There are plenty of magic tools here. So this was the reason for that price. There is even a【Water】magic tool. In other words, tap water was added.

Magic tools use Refined Magic Stones processed with Alchemy from Magic Stones to work. When Magic Stones run out of Magic Power they crumble, but it is possible to replenish magic power… it says. So it’s a Magic Power-based rechargeable battery. The Mid-Tier Cooking Kit had a Refined Magic Stone (Small) included. Looks like it can be replaced with a magic stone of higher capacity. ...Should I put in an orb?

...A really unpleasant vision appeared in my head. Let’s give up on using an orb. It would be a horrible sight if everything exploded.

Now, let’s make it.

First, wash soya beans and soak them in water. Use triple the weight of beans worth of water. Depending on the water temperature the time required differs… where’s my thermometer… with this it should take about fifteen hours. Fast-forward time. Seems like fast-forwarding won’t be necessary from here, so I use it on the wine casket.

I take out the swollen soya beans and remove water. Next I need to put soya beans in a mixer together with 1.2× the amount of water. Now, which one do I use? It is supposed to become smooth, so, a blender? I throw in the soya beans together with the water it was soaking in and turn it into liquid.

With this, the so-called “namago” is made, it is then put inside a pot with boiling water. I make sure to mix it as it boils so that it does not burn. Before boiling it’s called “namago” and after boiling it’s “nigo”.

After about ten minutes in boiling water, I remove bubbles that have gathered on top and delicately filter everything… making soy milk and okara from nigo.

I put away okara for some other time and warm up soy milk to about 75~80 degrees celsius. This part of the process is apparently important.

I soak nigari in hot water until it dissolves… there. Now, the problem is the required concentration of nigari, so I try it while leaving notes.

When soy milk warmed up, I put it in. ...So, I slowly put it in while observing it. When it’s mixed I turn off the fire, put on a lid and wait for it to harden.

I pray that it turns somewhat like the final product. Though, I do not pray to god. I think god would be troubled if I prayed to him over something decided by portioning.

I take out the box that I bought from Primula-san and on it I set the cloth I bought from Dantel-san.

After that I separate the clear layer of liquid from on top, move the content to the box, put a lid on top and a weight… a container with water on top of the lid.

Now, to wait until the so-called firm tofu is complete.

“So, what are you doing there, Rina?”

“Ehee. I was trying to look at what you are making without getting in the way.”

“You’re just being shady. You two don’t need to join her in this, you know?”

It was Rina, Nadia-san and Helen-san. They sneaked in about in the middle of the process, but it was obvious to me. I’m leveling «Sensing Danger» and «Intuition» after all.

Well, they came at the right time so let’s have them taste it. I take out a single box, split the content in half and make four portions out of it. The remaining half… let’s put it on【Tableware】together with water. Still, it really is proper tofu.

“Tofu is counted in blocks, but I guess it’s easier to understand when you say “pieces” of tofu.”

“Isn’t the way it’s counted the only difference?”

“Seems like it used to be different, you know? Pieces of tofu they sell now used to be called half a block.”

“Right. So one piece of tofu is half a block now. In other words, two pieces of tofu used to point at one block. And so, to make sure the salesperson knows what you mean, it’s best to say “a piece” or “one pack” of tofu. Even if you don’t get to use this, leave it in mind as miscellaneous knowledge...”

“Hee. There is no point if the other person doesn’t understand. It’s already easy to misunderstand.”

“Well, with that said, let’s try it. I have yet to make soy sauce, however.”

Speaking of which, can I make katsuobushi? No, first I need to search for skipjack tuna.

“Yup, well, it’s tasty?”

“Isn’t it hard?”

“I noticed that when I was cutting.”

“Right.”

“I made nigari from seawater, but the density was a mystery...”

“I see.”

When there is a fluid of bitter water on top and there is too much nigari… yup, it’s slightly bitter. Let’s put in less next time.

“I think this is good in a way, too.”

“Yup, very tasty.”

“Looks like there is no problem with taste. Should I put it up on consignment? With description like “Taste-testing #1. Tofu made with too much nigari”.”

“Sounds good? That should make some people buy out of curiosity, if anything.”

I move all the tofu to【Tableware】, clear the tofu boxes, and make tofu again while adjusting nigari amount. Let’s put everything I made on consignment. Even if I wanted to make miso soup, I have no dashi, so it would be really off. Seafood, hm…?

Even if I stock some, I won’t be able to take it to the event stage.

I soak soya beans in water and fast-forward… oh, isn’t it Mead-san. Let’s call her. Here… over here… ah, she noticed.

“Hello.”

“Hello. Do you have time now, maybe?”

“Well, I do.”

“Then Mead-san, are you an adult?”

“Yes, I am, but why…?”

“Then I would love it if you tried this for me.”

I raise a bottle with a yellow fluid that I put on the ground in the shadow.

“Is it mead? By all means then.”

“It hasn’t matured well yet, but...”

“...Mhm, it’s very tasty. Tasty enough to make me want to buy more, hm?”

Ahh… others can’t even fry a piece of meat, so I guess she can’t make mead for herself? Is what I thought, when «Intuition» reacted to something above me. It appeared as a shadow and the next moment I felt an impact on my shoulders.

“Heya Princess! ‘Sup, Mead!”

“Hey, Ellen.”

“Fu-fu-fu, sitting on Princess shoulders sure is disrespectful.”

A dynamic shoulder ride. All Fay sure are small.

“Punish her? PUNISH HER?”

“Envious, ain’t yaa~”

“KIIIII!”

“Hey, it’s dangerous.”

““SHE’S GONE MAADD!!””

“Uhahaha!”

Rina, agitated by Fairellen-san, started swinging the handle of her halberd… I’m the one in most danger here, you know?

“Hnph!”

“UEAHh!”

“Yah!”

“GUEEHHh.”

I raised Fairellen-san’s legs and dropped her on the ground, then did an additional attack on Rina. I sandwich her between the ground and her halberd’s axe. Well, we are in town so there is no damage, however.

“By the way Fairellen-san, can you drink alcohol?”

“I can, why~~?”

“I used a little of the honey from before and made mead.”

“Wot, there was that!!”

When Fairellen-san floated up, I passed her and Mead-san some mead. I put them in potion bins so there isn’t much, but there isn’t much of Fey Honey itself so it can’t be helped.

“Tastyyy!”

“Ohh, this is...”

Unfortunately we, as minors, can’t drink it. It’s not like we drink alcohol with our real bodies, though. I guess it is caused by adult circumstances.

Still, it looks like it is much tastier than mead made with normal honey.

“Mmhmmm… should I gather more?”

“Ellen, when did you become a honey bee?”

“See, I can make race-specific Fay Honey~.”

“It’s really good. By all means we need you to do your best.”

“Ehhh… the amount gathered with each attempt is real small, so it’s hard to gather, ya know?”

Making mead itself is very easy, so I’m all fine with that… the problem is the ingredient that is Fay Honey. I can’t make any without that ingredient, so we need her to do her best.

“Also… AHH, honey lemon is easy to make.”

“I wanna!”

Rina has responded. Nadia-san and Helen-san also look like they want some.

Umm… inside a magic juicer I put a lemon cut in half to make it easy to squeeze out juice. Then instead of pressing a switch I poured magic power in, making it react and start using magic power from the magic stone to work. The lemon was crushed from both sides and juice spilled from the bottom part of it.

“Ohhh...”

“Onee-chan, is this a magic tool thing?”

“Magic Juicer. It was added with the mid-tier kit.”

“Hee… what principles does it work on?”

“Who knows? Identification doesn’t say that much.”

For now, I threw in a few lemons and acquired lemon juice. I split it into cups, added honey and sugar, as well as Distilled Water.

“It’s called by various names, lemon water, honey lemon, lemonade. Also,【Cool】it down before drinking.”

“A lemon squash… there’s no carbonated water. Mm, tasty~.”

“This actually has a Satiety recovery effect… Less than Field Rations, however.”

It might sell as a luxury grocery item, but since it’s easy to make, the profits will be… questionable.

Let’s put Distilled Water in the refrigerator as well.

While everyone chatted as they drank lemonade, I continued to make tofu. A few times more and I will know roughly just how much nigari do I need to use. Let’s leave the taste adjustment for later. To change the taste of tofu, it’s necessary to change beans and water, but that’s clearly impossible at this point.

Does «Farming» have something like【Breed Modification】? Or I guess it would be too vast a field to implement?

“Speaking of which, Fairellen-san, is South impossible as always?”

“Yup, not happening. I get eaten by bird types when I fly over.”

“So, must be by ship, huh.”

“Fighting mid-air battle against higher level enemies is harsh...”

You can get on a ship in Inbamunt, but instead of finding your own, you should get a ride on a cargo ship. Make sure to properly talk with the locals, is what they are telling us.

It appears that the ship is an instance area in itself, and it is necessary to protect it. If everyone is wiped out, you go back to town and need to retry starting from Inbamunt again. It seems like a kind of an event, or a flag, that is required to go to another continent.

On every ship there is a place for one party and the sailors. Even if you fail, Residents will not die, it’s a completely game-like event.

Starting with Inbamunt, the enemies on sea are Lv30~35. Then in the next area enemies are Lv35~40. Then finally there is an area with Lv40+ enemies, which no one has broken through yet. In other words, the sea has three areas.

“We stand on the ship, the enemy charges at us from the sky and the sea, or casts spells...”

“Anti-air is one thing, but fighting against underwater enemies? Rather, considering Lv40+ appears, it’s still fairly ahead of us, isn’t it?”

“Yup, it’s basically impossible for us yet. We need to raise our level in places other than South~.”

“West is also posing problems. Status Ailments really hurt...”

Fairellen-san was in South, Mead-san in the West, my little sister’s party progressed in North - everyone splendidly spread all over.

Currently, North is the easiest one, next being East, then West being the hardest. Enemies in the North move slowly and they can be escaped from. In the East there are horses and similar, so it’s impossible to escape from them, but they aren’t as strong. In the West there is a road, but when you use it you apparently receive Status Ailments coming at you from the forest on both sides.

“The physical ailments are Poison and Paralysis. Mental-type are confusion and charm. Being charged at is on the better side, if they use Charm on you from the top of a tree you end up waltzing into the forest and...”

“Uwhaa...”

“Breaking through in a PT, or by going with inhumans that are immune to mental ailments… is what we are thinking at the current stage of planning to beat it.”

There is a path through, but in exchange, the height at which butterflies with Paralysis fly increases. Because of that, there is higher risk when running through.

And while Paralysis making you unable to move is harsh, the biggest problem are mental ailments - Confusion and Charm.

Confusion causes the target to use Arts at random, and switches arms and legs input. The type of Art used and the timing of usage are all random. You end up using Arts regardless of the fact they cannot reach the enemy. Furthermore, when confused you have friendly fire set as ON. The input can switch your limbs input around, making left your right and vice versa. The moment everything changes is the moment you receive confusion. When you get used to it, you can somewhat move, but you still continue to use Arts at random.

In other words, the VR Device temporarily switches the input signal of the limbs it reads. Connects right hand with left, left hand with right. Same with legs.

Charm causes the target to slowly approach the caster. The target becomes free when attacked, but it is impossible to immediately attack the enemy that used the charm. It is possible to hit them with area of effect attacks, however.

“If Status Ailment immune-types… especially the types that have immunity to mental Status Ailments, had recovery items or «Holy Magic» equipped, it should work out somehow.”

“Ah, but can’t you unlock resistances there?”

“You can.”

“Ohh… then the problem is SP, hm…?”

“It is. Taking all of them is a little...”

I make tofu while listening to Mead-san and Rina’s conversation… oh, it came out nicely this time.

“While at it, let’s make silken tofu...”

“You’ll filter the tofu with silk?”

“............”

“Onee-chan, please laugh that one off!”

“Ahh, no… sometime there are people who seriously say such things...”

“BUT I’M ALL RIGHT! The process of making it is different, RIGHT?!”

“Using silk to filter things is not something a sane person does.”

“Sounds~costly~.”

Now, let’s put aside the joke I had a hard time reading and went with the flow.

As for silken tofu, the process is the same up until namago is ready. Starting with the part where namago is changed into nigo, the process changes a little and instead of adding water, namago is boiled in a pot right away. Apparently it gets burnt easy, so I need to be careful.

Once it’s boiled enough, I remove the foam and after filtering I cool down the soy milk.

Next I mix the cooled down soy milk with nigari and… make a box with 【Tableware】into which I pour it.

Now if I steam this, silken tofu will be complete.

【Tableware】sure is useful, isn’t it? I can’t make a tofu box with holes with it, but it’s possible to make a rectangular box. It’s impossible to put in things other than food and ingredients, but it can’t be helped.

“Want to try cold tofu? There is no soy sauce, however.”

“I will have some.”

“Wannaa~.”

I split into portions for everyone and have some myself. ...Yup, the texture has properly changed. Came out very well. The taste is up to ingredients with this one as well~.

“Ahh, it’s been a while since I ate tofu, now that I think of it~.”

“I ate some yesterday. Though, I think this one has better flavor.”

“Do you eat cold tofu for dinner or something~?”

“This makes me want some spicing.”

“I do want to make miso soup, though.”

“Nice~. Miso soup, hmm~? ...It would be nicee.”

Looks like a dish will be added to Fairellen-san’s dinner. And Mead-san ate tofu just yesterday. Our family ate tofu two days ago.

Well, we disband after eating the cold tofu. I was able to confirm everything. Also, I sold the normal mead to Mead-san. Let’s prepare some more the next time I open the kit.

Speaking of which, will I be able to take the storage to the event if I combine it with the Cooking Kit? It does feel like a loophole. I should prepare some soy sauce before the event starts… Also, I should purchase a little of each spice and take them too?

Mm-mm-mm… should I try if I make malt by just leaving beans be? It is necessary for soy sauce… but even if I manage to make it, won’t managing malt mould be impossible for me? If I want to make something of better quality I might have to do it, but I will probably need a home base for that. I won’t be able to do anything if some weird bacteria comes out, honestly… Since it’s something that comes up naturally, I better leave it for later.

Ah, what if the bacteria change depending on what area you prepare it? Ha ha ha, no way… but with this game’s management I cannot say it is impossible. If it’s natural bacteria that is in the air, would it differ depending on the area’s weather?

...I should leave these kinds of things to people who like them. Most likely there will be people who will want to delve deeper into the quality of miso and soy sauce. Let’s just touch up on the possibility of differences existing depending on the area it is made in. If I want them in high quality, I can always buy them from someone who makes them.

For now, I put the Mid-Tier Cooking Kit’s information on the board, put up the trial products on the consignment and… let’s deposit money.

Now, while slowly preparing for the event, let’s focus on leveling skills that are not likely to go up during the event.

I look forward to the survival.