The next morning found everyone lazing around in the living room after breakfast. Since I only have to see Orson-san the day after tomorrow, the plan was to take it easy today and go do a little shopping tomorrow for my Magic Stove.
That was the plan, at leastâŚ
âRight, letâs go hunting.â
âHey, havenât you hunted enough yesterday?â
âWe hunted a whole crab but only ate its legs. I want to gather more. Isnât having more crabs better?â
ââOooh! Great idea!!ââ Dora-chan immediately perked up.
âMore crabs means more of the guts, yes? I look forward to it.â
ââSui wants to eat crabby too~~ââ
I glared at them. âHey, why donât you think about why we are in this city?â
âTo catch crabs?â
âTo eat crabs?â
ââTo hunt crabs?ââ
ââCrabby~?ââ
âHave you all really forgotten? We came here to get a Magic Stove! A Magic Stove!â
âAhhâŚâ
âThere are four of you now, donât expect me to cook on a dinky little portable stove. A big Magic Stove is practically a necessity to keep you all fed, you know?! Thereâs only so much pre-made food I could pack and go.â
This seems to finally convince them of the seriousness of the situation.
âU-umu, I supposed it canât be helpedâŚâ
ââUgh, but do we have to all go with you?!ââ
There was a pause.
âSayâŚâ
âNo,â
âBut MasterâŚâ
âNo, if I leave you alone to go outside, youâll overdo it!â
âNuu, what if we only hunt crabs and fish?â
ââWe wonât snatch other Adventurerâs prey.ââ
âWe will be discreet, weâll travel on the water slowly with Sui.â
ââSui catch fish~?ââ
âUghâŚâ I really donât feel comfortable leaving them on their own. I sort of promised the guild master that I will keep an eye on them, but having them walk around all over the city with me is not good either, right?
âKuuhhâŚâ
âWe shall be carefulâŚâ
ââPlease~!!ââ
ââPlease~ Aruji~~ââ
âFine,â I said grudgingly.
âYay!!!!â
âBUT, Iâm going to escort you outside. I will come back to the city alone to do my shopping and meet you later at the place where we cooked the crab legs. Okay? Donât come into the city on your own. This is very important.â
âUmu, fine.â
âThat sounds like a good plan.â
ââYeah, yeah, letâs go already!!ââ
ââYay~ hunting~ fishy~~ââ
âHaahh⌠I hope I donât regret this.â
Please read this at kitchennovel dot com ~
After sending out my familiars, I stopped at the first store on the list that the Merchant Guild had given to me. There were three stores altogether that dealt with large stoves.
Actually, they were really Magic Tools shop, and not a shop that âsells kitchen toolsâ so it was all up in the air whether they would carry the item I wanted. Anyway, since I have the names and directions, it was time to go have a look.
It was weird travelling alone like this. Nobody looked my way at all, it was kind of novel and exciting~
Letâs see, the first store is called Waldnerâs Magic Tools.
According to the directions Iâm given, it should be down this road, turn left and the second junction and, woah, this place is positively crammed with stuff.
When I entered the store, a clerk came up to ask, âWhat are you looking for?â
âUm, Iâd like to buy a Magic Stove. Something with four burners and an oven would be good. If you have something thatâs above that would be fine too.â
âFour stoves and⌠apologies, but Iâm afraid there are very few stores that would carry such heavy-duty stoves in their shop. If you wish to order it through us, we could custom order one for you, but it would take timeâŚâ
âTime? How long?â
âAbout⌠a yearâŚâ
âWhat?!â
âAhem, truly. Currently, the only heavy-duty Magic Stoves are the ones with two burnersâŚâ
âI seeâŚâ
âPerhaps you could check with Rigoniâs Magic Tool or Alfaroâs place?â
âI understand, well, thank you for your time.â
It really canât be helped. I decided to visit Rigoniâs first since it was closer.
âApologies, but the best we have here that fits your requirements is the two burner stove, with a small oven functionâŚâ
Ahhhhh!!!
I could only place my hopes on Alfaro now. If they donât have what I wanted, Iâd have to go to the Royal Capital or something. What a pain.
Luckily I let my familiars go hunting, otherwise, if I had to trudge around the city with them in tow, who knows what kind of complaints they would make by now?
So, I made my way to Alfaroâs.
Woah, the shops along the way to Alfaroâs appeared quite huge and, this place clearly has more of an industrial or specialised wholesale business merchant street. Maybe they would have what I want.
Please let them have it.
I am now in front of Alfaroâs. For one thing, it was more than twice the size of the previous magic tool shops that I had been to. Taking in a deep breath, I stepped into the shop.
A clerk immediately rushed over, his face wreathed with smiles.
âDear lucky customer! You are just in time to witness our never seen before latest Magic Stove that surpasses all other Magic Stoves youâve ever seen or heard!â
âOh? Really?! Show me!!â
Is this some kind of fate? I followed the cheerful clerk deeper into the shop where the rumoured âlatest Magic Stoveâ was stored.
âW-wow!!â
âAhem, our latest ever Magic Stove has not two, not four, but six burners in total! All of which could be activated at the same time! Not only that, but this Magic Stove also has two ovens-â
âKyaa~!â
âC-customer?â
âA-ahem, I mean, wow, this is very exciting.â
âIndeed, with this Magic Stove, catering to a large party at home is no longer a dream-â
The clerk went on and on a bit after that, but I wasnât listening. I had already made up my mind.
âIâll take it!â
â-so this area here is, eh? Ehh?! Dear customer, you wish to⌠buy it?â
âWhy? I canât? Has it been reserved? When can I get one?â
âAhem, no, no, this model is available for sale, but I have not mentioned the priceâŚâ
âAh, money is no issue. For I am an S Ranker!â Well, my familiars are my true source of income, but because of them, I am an S Ranker.
âThis super special Magic Stove is priced only at 1200 gold,â the clerk beamed. âWould you like us to arrange for a delivery?
âHmm, that wonât be necessary,â I said as I reached for one of the many bags of money in my [Item Box].
âOh, sir has an [Item Box]! How convenient. Allow me to ring up your purchase, dearest customer.â
â1200 gold is not bad, my previous stove was 860 gold, and only has four burners and one oven.â
âOh? It must have been a display item. Stoves with more than two burners are only built by special order. Ahem, I shell let dear customer in on a little secret. The noble who special ordered this stove made a fuss about its specs after it was built, citing that we made it wrong just to get out of payingâŚâ
âHow terrible!â
âIndeed, we only received partial payment for the item. In fact, the boss was supposed to collect full payment before we even start on the job, but in the end, we as the employees had to bear the burdenâŚâ
âUghâŚâ
âThatâs only if itâs never sold and ended up as a useless item! Thanks to dearest customer who bought it, we managed to avert a disaster. Hohoho.â
âHohoho⌠ho?â
âThank you very much, please do come again~!â
What an⌠interesting clerk.
[Gumihou: the original ending was âyay, letâs eatâ from the familiars after they trudged around all day after Mukouda.]