Free Life Fantasy Online-Chapter 11

11

So, I log in and appear in the Eastern forest’s Safe Zone...

Nnn… I guess Ertz-san isn’t in-game at this time. It’s not even 6 a.m. yet.

There is no one in the surroundings, so let’s do stretches while I think about what to do today.

I have 9 pieces of Boar Leather… sweet.

Since I accumulated a fair amount of meat, how about I do some «Cooking»?

Which means…

I need to go back to the town, then buy some spices and vegetables.

Let’s do crafting today.

«Cooking»

【Knowledge of Frying】【Cooking Wisdom】

Knowledge: allows you to do mentioned type of cooking.

Wisdom: adds a system assist when cooking. Increases food-type ingredient drop rate.

Hm, I see.

The way it’s written… it means that I can only fry food at this point? It says allows it, so if you have no knowledge, you cannot do it.

Hnn…? Which means that if you don’t have «Cooking», you can’t even fry meat?

So, if you want to cook something you need to take «Cooking». Otherwise, you just don’t. Taking Cooking when you don’t plan on actually cooking, is not a choice.

Especially considering that Field Rations apparently are very cheap. ...Though not very tasty.

Alright, let’s end my core training - stretches - and go back to town while beating enemies and gathering.

On the way to town it has turned 6 a.m. and in-game it has become morning.

Conversely speaking - I head to the town while being burned by sunlight. If possible, I want to raise my automatic recovery Skill, so it’s better for me to play during daytime.

It feels like it’s going up really fast, but considering it has been two weeks since the game started, it’s still too low. Initial skills apparently go up to 30, so it has finally reached half way.

The stat increase from Skills’ level is higher than that of the Base level, so leveling up in Catacombs isn’t the best idea. The only saving grace, is evolution for Inhumans.

I arrive in the town and first go to the union to report. Then, I receive a new set of same quests and leave the union.

As expected, there were few people at this early hour. I don’t mind it being easy to walk, however.

Let’s head to the merchant district to buy things necessary to do «Cooking».

Umm… food stores… there are several of them. Seems like their wares differ slightly but… right now I can only make fried food.

The problem is how is it decided?

Mashed Potatoes are eventually deep-fried, but since there is no microwave oven, there is a need to boil and steam them...

So even if I had Knowledge of Deep-frying, but without boiling and steaming it would fail, then this is fairly difficult. Well, it would probably fail.

So, I should think of foil-wrapped frying and fried food, yes?

...Well, let’s fry some meat.

I purchase salt and pepper.

One Salt cost 50, Pepper 100 each… This is expensive. I bought 30 of each and paid 4500… this kind of hurts. However, one of them can be used 10 times, so it’s 300 uses for both.

Let’s buy some onions and cabbage as well. Both of them are ~similarly named to their real names.

10 for each, so I bought 10 each. I don’t plan on using them yet, so it should be enough for now.

Okay, let’s log out and eat breakfast… and deal with everything else.

I log in again, it’s 10 a.m., nighttime in game.

Oh, Ertz-san logged in. Let’s head to him right away and sell things.

“Good morning, Ertz-san.”

“Hm? Ohh, Princess.””

“I brought some leather.”

“Ah, I’ll buy.”

10 of Boar’s Leather turned into 20k. Truly sweet.

“By the way, did you see the official?”

“The site? No, I haven’t...”

“They say they’re doing the first official event y’know?”

“Ah, is that so. It is possible to check the site from inside the game, yes?”

“Yeah, you caaan.”

The first official event… announcement of Combat Tournament… is it.

There is some more time until it starts… looks like they will do it in the fourth week of game service.

Right before the summer break.

“Are you participating, Princess?”

“No, I’m not interested in PvP.”

“I see. Well, there are people like that.”

Let’s ignore the official event.

No change to my schedule, let’s craft today.

Which means I need the Beginner’s Cooking Kit. I open the pouch on the left of my waist and take out a square box with what looked like miniatures inside it.

When I turned this square box toward the ground, it displayed a preview - choose where to place it… is what it meant.

I focused my consciousness on placing it. Then, just as the preview displayed - a small table, cutting board, a large brazier have appeared. The box has disappeared from my hands.

“Oh, Cooking?”

“I accumulated a lot of meat, so I thought of leveling it.”

“A chopping board can be made with Woodcraft, and I can make a knife and frying pan, y’know.”

“My, is that so. In case cooking tools are made that way, what happens to the kit?”

“They are stored within a kit. If you put them inside the storage of the kit, it gets treated as a part of the kit.”

That sounds really convenient.

So cooking tools acquired from other sources can be stored within the kit as well, and if registered, they will appear together with the kit.

This is not limited to cooking and seems to apply to all crafting kits.

However, there was a limit - it is only possible to put one of each type of tool inside. Well, in cooking’s case there are a many types, so there is no need to be bothered about it too much.

Inside, there were three types of pots; big, medium and small. Frying pans and kitchen knives also had several types.

But as expected, you can’t put housing equipment inside a kit...

In the end, kits are made mainly for mobility.

It is possible to carry housing-intended tools around without kits, but if they were put inside inventory, they would overwhelm inventory slots.

“Maybe I should order some when we finally get to mining iron?”

“Well, making them from bronze doesn’t sound too good.”

A customer came to Ertz-san, ending our conversation. I begin cooking.

There are three methods of crafting in this game.

Manual, just like in real life.

Semi-auto, which is aided by the system.

And instant crafting which uses an Art - but this one requires a higher level to use it.

For example - when cutting meat, manual will cut it piece by piece.

When using semi-auto, after cutting one piece, others are automatically cut to the same size.

And instant crafting auto, reproduces the previously registered method to craft items.

Manual, semi-auto, auto. In this order, they have a limit of item quality that an item can have when crafted with these methods.

Manual has no limit. Semi-auto is limited to A. Auto is limited to B.

Most Skill experience is granted by manual, and least by auto… it said.

And so, let’s do it manually. The plan is to level up the Skill after all.

Now, about the meat itself……... Thinking of rarity and difficulty, it’s a good idea to try with Mr. Rabbit.

I should leave Boar and Bear meat for much later. I assume they are for using with around the same level of Skill as their own level?

Let’s take out Rabbit Meat.

Meat has materialized on top of the chopping board.

Seeing the materialized meat I inadvertently stiffen.

“Hey, what happened?”

"...Oh, nothing. I’m just wondering how did that small rabbit turn into a piece of meat of this size...”

“Ohh, yeah. You shouldn’t think too deep into it. One piece of meat is always 1 kg. They said that the range of drops depends on enemy’s size or something.”

“So that was the case after all. Thought so, since Eastern enemies are dropping from two to four at once.”

“Princess, do you have «Disassembly»?”

“I do.”

“Then it’s like that even after the drop is increased.”

“It’s good to have more drops.”

“What are you making?”

“A simple steak seasoned with salt and pepper, I guess? Let’s make one like I usually do.”

Let’s cut the meat right away… cut…

“It’s hard to cut with this knife...”

“Well… it’s an initial one so… hey, WAIT! That’s not a cooking knife!”

“I believe this has a much sharper blade...”

“Is it that kind of problem?!”

“It doesn’t matter, as long as it cuts.”

And slash, I cut with my rapier.

Eventually there should be some high quality kitchen knives, but at this point there are none, so there is no better choice. I can always clean it with【Clean】.

“Heck, isn’t that thick?”

"...Is it? I always cut meat to this size.”

“Kinda noticed with your little sister, but you’re bourgeois, huh...”

“Well… our parents are.”

I take out salt and pepper, then I use【Burn】to put fire to the charcoal inside the brazier. Next, I put the frying pan on of it to heat it up.

“Is there need to resupply it with charcoal?”

“No, I don’t think so.”

“And to extinguish the fire…?”

“Just put it back.”

“I see. I’m thinking about frying it medium... does this game have germs?”

“There is Food Poisoning ailment. ...Got it?”

“…………”

“Rather, if you have【Cooking Wisdom】and【Identification】then it shows when there is a problem.”

“No worries then.”

It looks like the frying pan has grown hot, so I seasoned meat with salt and pepper, then put it on the frying pan.

The piece of meat let out a nice sound and scent as it fried. After it fries for a moment, I move the frying pan away from direct fire and continue to fry. Eventually turning the meat around and put the frying pan back on fire. Next, I move the frying pan from the fire again, and fry it a little longer.

“Ah, there is no lid… and here I wanted to let it lie for a while...”

It can’t be helped, let’s put it on fire for a little longer.

“This should be good enough.”

[Cuisine] A Luxurious Rabbit Steak　Rarity: No　Quality: C+

A 4cm medium-rare steak made with Rabbit Meat, seasoned with salt and pepper.

It was fried carefully and evenly.

Satiety +30

Cook: Anastasia

“Hooh, looks appetizing. The quality is also good enough.”

“I think C+ wasn’t that good?”

“Your «Cooking»’s Skill level is?”

“It went up just now, but it was 1.”

“Then it’s top quality. A crafting Skill’s level, stats, as well as the crafting method and tools used will all influence the quality, after all.”

“So for something made with an initial crafting kit, this can be said to be top quality?”

“In general, the first thing you craft has at most E- quality. There are many people who cook in real, so for cooking it’s often D-. In any case, C+ for the first try is way too high.”

“Must be DEX bonus. Oh, I didn’t buy tableware...”

“Tableware can also be put back into the kit. In this world, it seems that tableware in general is made of wood.”

“There IS glass in this world, isn’t there?”

“There is. There is, but I don’t know nothing more about it.”

“Maybe I should investigate when there is a chance. It’s pointless miscellaneous knowledge now, however. More importantly - utensils. What do I do with this steak?”

I don’t think eating it straight from the frying pan is a good idea...

“Yahoo, ‘ol man!”

“Ahn? Oh, it’s Primula! You came at perfect time!”

“Whaatt?”

“You can make tableware, right?”

“Well, I can but...”

“I will give you this steak, so could you make some for me?”

A rabbit beastman girl looked my way, so I tried luring her in with a steak.

She had cherry blossom pink-colored hair and blue eyes, hm? Looks to be younger than my little sister… a middle-schooler perhaps?

“Ohhh, a steak! I’ll get it done right away, just wait… Oh, what about forks?”

“I want spoons and forks as well. I guess wooden knives won’t work? In which case, should I get metal ones?”

“Ahhh, at this point we can only make bronze ones, y’know? There are no stainless ones, or even silver. After all, we don’t even have iron. Moreover, it’s a waste to make one time-use items from metal.”

“Hmm, this is troublesome… should I cut it with a kitchen knife?”

“For now I’ll make some plates.”

The moment I thought she took out a piece of wood, it suddenly shone with light and turned into 10 flat dishes.

That’s the Art for auto… the【Reproduction】, is it. Looks useful.

“For now, flat dishes and… ones for soup, as well as cups.”

Let’s not retort to one plank becoming dishes for soup and cups.

It’s unproductive. This is a game, GAME.

“Maybe I could manage to make wooden knives? Let’s try.”

“Didn’t you come to put up a stall?”

“Ohh, you’re right! Putting it up now.”

I move the steak I made to a dish and put it away in the inventory. Time stops in the inventory, so it’s still freshly-made when I take it out, which is nice. The only problem is that it takes space.

I put away the kit once, then place it again behind the two’s stalls.

While the frying pan heats up again, I cut the meat, then once it was hot enough I put seasoned meat on. It’s practically impossible to adjust the flame, so I had to take distance from the fire, which was annoying.

If I did this in real, my hands would already tremble from fatigue. I’m an Immortal over here, so it’s alright.

“Okay, let’s try making some knives.”

While I’m at it, I might as well try cooking without a frying pan, do some charcoal grilling… there was a grill net included with the brazier, after all. However, I have never done it before, so I can’t guarantee the quality.

About when I finish making the third steak...

〈«Cooking» has reached level 5.〉

〈«Cooking»’s【Knowledge of Boiling】was acquired.〉

【Knowledge of Boiling】, is it?

I did not buy any potatoes, so I have nothing to boil.

“What happened?”

“Oh, no, I just learned【Knowledge of Boiling】and wondered if there is anything I could use it on...”

“I see. Boiling huh… don’t put anything but salt.”

“Don’t do it!”

“Hm?”

“It’s “boiling” and not “stewing”! Is what everyone says.”

“Ohh, I see. So it fails if you use anything other than salt.”

“When cooking fails it explodeees. Things splatter all over and it turns into a food-terrorist attack, so be careful.”

“Eh, explodes…?”

“Yup, explodes. The inside of the pot scatters all over, be careful.”

Explode… but WHY? Cooking sure is dangerous work.

It is a game, let’s not think of it too deeply.

“Ah, could you make some skewers?”

“I can~. Wait just a moment~.”

“Yes.”

Let’s make another, this time grilling it on charcoal.

First, let’s make one with a similar method… FIRE!

“Ahhh, there’s a terrorist behind us who terrorizes us with the smell and sound of frying meat.”

“There is no alcohol yet, so I thought charcoal grilling would be good...”

While watching to make sure it doesn’t get burnt, I turn it around.

It is a Beginner’s Cooking Kit, but the firepower is fairly good isn’t it?

If I had a complaint, then it would be about its size? Well, it’s good enough for making one portion though.

Luxurious Rabbit Steak has changed into Charcoal-Grilled Steak.

However, the quality has decreased… was it grilled uneven?

“There!”

“My, want to eat some?”

“I will!”

“Then let’s take out the third one that I fried...”

The charcoal-grilled one had D+ quality, and it seems like it’s a little cold, so let’s give her the third steak I made.

“Knife check! ...Hmm, it’s wood, so maybe it would be better if it was serrated.”

Looks like she prepared knives with a normal blade, and one wave-like serrated knife.

They are extremely small, but look to be very well-made.

“Thanks for the treat. Nom… mm delish!”

Looks like it was to her liking.

Even though I only seasoned it with salt and pepper.

Let’s challenge charcoal grilling again.

“It was really tasty! Thick meat is really nice! Let’s give you a meal’s worth of tableware.”

“That is nice of you.”

“Oh, but, there will be a lot of them in that case...”

When you log a tree, you can make logs from it, then from logs you make timber. Timber is then processed to wood planks before those are used to craft the utensils.

One unprocessed tree becomes 3 logs. One log becomes 6 timber. One timber can be used for making 12 wood planks.

Then, from one wood plank it is possible to make about 10 dishes. It can be used to make 100 skewers or 20 spoons, so the material cost is nearly zero.

Moreover, since they are one-time use in general, it does not matter what material is used and there was no need to be picky

“I will provide you with food from now on, so could I ask you to supply me with tableware?”

“Would be happy to, but isn’t it too favorable for me~?”

“Without tableware I can’t level my «Cooking», so it would be a lot of help to me… Having to throw out things I made, even if it’s a game, feels a little bad...”

“MMmmmm… got it! I’m Primula! If you have any Woodcrafting-related problems, come to me!”

“I am Anastasia. If I need something, I will surely come and ask.”

“This miss, she’s Akirina’s big sister.”

“Eh, really?”

“Yes. You know Rina, Primula-chan?”

“I think not just me, but all the beta players know her. I only speak with her from time to time.”

Rina is using metal equipment, so it seems to be more precise to say it is Rina’s PT members that are Primula-san’s regular customers. It’s only natural that in which crafter’s care you are in, depends on the type of equipment you use.

Woodcrafters mainly deal with bows, staves and wands, so Honehone-san is her regular customer. It’s mainly bows and arrows, as well as staves and wands that she sells at her stall.

By the way, considering how she put her stall up next to us, she seemed to be one of the top Woodcrafters.

[Cuisine] A Luxurious Rabbit Steak　Rarity: No　Quality: C+

A 4cm medium-rare steak made with Rabbit Meat, seasoned with salt and pepper.

It was fried carefully and evenly.

Satiety +30

Includes: Dish, Fork, Knife

Cook: Anastasia

Utensils: Primula

Looks like it displays things in fine detail.

When you buy cuisine, it seems like it is necessary to look at what it includes, or you will see hell.

After that, I quietly fried meat one after another.

I received skewers, so I tried to make a Grilled Rabbit(?).

These two are crafters, so they don’t talk to each other during work.

Crafting is pretty hard in this game, it requires a lot of concentration.

I heard that rather than do numbers, it’s easier to get experience when you focus and do crafting well.

〈«Cooking» reached level 10. Gained “1” Skill Point.〉

〈«Cooking»’s【Knowledge of Stewing】was acquired.〉

“Oh, there is stewing. I can make soups now.”

“Stewing was 10, wasn’t it?”

“Yes, 10.”

“Looking good. As long as you have materials, crafting can be continued without moving from a spot.”

“But it’s the materials that are a problem, though~.”

“Well, yeah.”

“Speaking of which, do materials have an internal level for them?”

“They do, of course. Most likely it’s about the same level as the mob it dropped from.”

“And we have roughly the same level as the field mobs~.”

“I see, so what I thought was correct. Since it seems that the success rate decreases?”

“To be precise, the judgment becomes stricter… I think? It’s easier to fail as a result.”

“Hmm… frying is one thing, but what if I fail stewing…?”

“I wonder what. Will it suddenly explode?”

“It’s impossible to take things out during cooking and adjust it, you know…?”

“Since there are few cooks, the investigation on these things hasn’t progressed… there have been just three threads so far.”

So there’s almost no cooks...

By the way, for smiths, depending on the level of the furnace it might not be possible for them to work with some materials. Must be because they can’t smelt particular metal.

For cooking, it must be impossible to do things without appropriate cooking tools, but as long as there are tools, it appears like there is no limit to material usage? Common sense-wise… that is.

“And that’s despite the fact you can eat tasty stuff in game even in the middle of the night~.”

“Indeed.”

“Well, you got a point there.”

“If the taste changes depending on the person who made it, going around eating from stalls sounds nice, but the problem is the lack of cooks.”

“Now that you say it, I don’t see stands… stalls(?) with food at all.”

“Does it even sell?”

“There ARE people who buy it…? Honestly speaking, it’s a luxury item at this point… It’s food, so there will be differences in seasoning preferences? Then how about putting some of it on the stall?”

“Won’t it turn cold?”

“You can see the things on the stall and touch them, but they aren’t the real thing, so it’s alright!”

When you set a stall sale from the inventory, it moves items into the stall slots and lines them up in the store, but they are something like a hologram. It’s impossible to steal them, and the time does not pass for them.

It’s a good chance, so I might as well put it out.

Having inventory full of cuisine is a bit, that...

“What should I do about the price…?”

“How about I price it for you?”

“Then, please do.”

“Thinking of materials and the taste from when I ate… oh, and...”

After taking a glance my way, Primula started to tap something in a window.

Grilled skewers for 200 and steaks for 600 have lined up in the corner of the stall.

Looks like a limit of three per person has been set, too.

Rabbit and Wolf meat seem to be priced the same… but, they’re both small fries, and the only difference between them is their food texture, so it’s fine.

But their meat is pretty much a guaranteed drop, so is it really okay to sell them for this high price?

“Isn’t it kinda expensive?”

“I took the cook into account.”

"...Ohh, I see.”

Hnn? Took the cook into account――?

“――Can it be, because it’s my cooking…?”

“There is no way that food, made by a big-breasted pretty princess, won’t sell! And it’s tasty, too!”

So her glance from earlier was a confirmation!

“Hey, Primula-chan. Could you repair this for me?”

“Okaay.”

An Elf man has passed Primula-san a… huh? A musical instrument?

So there are things like that, too.

...Well, let’s continue cooking.

“Oh, Primula-chan, did you take «Cooking»?”

“Nn-naw, it’s made by Akirina-san’s “onee-chan” who’s behind us.”

“Hee, the one from back then. Is she not in any party?”

“Ah, looks like it?”

“So you didn’t ask. Both sisters are pretty girls, huh. A feast for the eyes, yup. If these are here, it means they are tasty?”

“Yup, they are.”

“Good timing, my Satiety decreased so I might as well try some. Which one do you recommend?”

“Steaks of course!”

*fsshhhhhh*...

"...I’ll have one too.”

When I reach 15… no, when I reach 13 I should try with boar meat I guess?

Let’s fry some more of Mr. Rabbit and Wolf.

“Nmmm, yep. Tastes great. It’s fried well.”

“This is certainly great.”

“Riiiight~?”

“Why are you being all boastful.”

“Well, let’s put it aside… if possible I’d like to buy my party members’ worth of these?”

“Nooope. This is for popularizing cooking, you need to negotiate with the person herseeelf.”

“I see. Cooking certainly is unpopular… if the amount of cooks increases, we will get to eat better, so I would be grateful. Let’s go negotiate with our cook, then.”

*fsshhhhh*...

Single-mindedly frying meat…is unexpectedly interesting.

The moment you let your guard down, you burn it too hard. Depending on how much you hold it over the fire it might be uneven, and the quality goes down.

Aren’t steaks actually quite hard?

Well, in real life they are simple as well, so it’s hard to cover up blunders.

There it is… Oh, it’s B-. Very good.

Now, it seems like there is a person who wants something from me, so let’s deal with that.

It’s the Elf man who brought the instrument.

“Hello, I’m called Norbert. I am a friend of Akirina-san, but we don’t really talk much? It’s mostly our leader who speaks with her.”

“Good morning. I’m Anastasia. Meaning that… your parties get along?”

“Ohhh… curtsy, was it, that was pretty. ...Actually, we are both top parties, so we get along as such.”

“I see, interaction between top players, is it.”

“Yup, that. So, to move to the main topic, I would like to buy six steaks. For all members in our party.”

“I don’t mind. I have steaks fried on a frying pan, and ones grilled on charcoal.”

“Mmmm… in this game it seems like there would be a difference… Can I have 3 of each?”

“Of course. They are all C+, is that alright?”

“I don’t mind. Is the same price as that of the stall’s okay?”

“Yes.”

I passed six steaks to Norbert-san through trade and received the payment.

“Thank you very much.”

“No no, it’s me who’s grateful here. I’ll eat them together with my party later.”

After seeing off Norbert-san, who has received the instrument for which repairs have finished, I restarted cooking.

I really want an oven for this.

If I at least had a cover for the frying pan, I could make some roast beef...

I’m not certain about how heat insulation will work, so I want to avoid the remaining warmth of the frying pan becoming insufficient… I guess Wolf Meat is one thing, but I could make it work with Rabbit Meat, however.

Looks like I need to think about upgrading my cooking tools. In which case, I might end up buying a house just to get a kitchen...

Well, it’s still early. Let’s think about it after I accumulate some money.

Now, it’s about time I change the meat I use.

[Ingredient] Brown Boar’s Meat　Rarity: No　Quality: C

It has a peculiar taste so it is necessary to prepare it in a special way.

It’s not a good idea to make meat with a peculiar taste into a steak… so, what should I do?

Make a hot pot after all? I do have【Knowledge of Stewing】...hmm.

Should I go shopping?

“My, it’s already this late. I should take a lunch break.”

“Hn? Ohh, it’s noon already.”

“Let’s continue after lunch.”

“Crafting in the afternoon as well?”

“I intend to. I have plenty of meat, after all.”

“I see, I see. I welcome fellow crafters, regardless of crafting field.”

“Then, see you later.”

“Sure, make sure to stretch your body!”

“Yes.”

While speaking with Ertz-san I put away the cooking kit and, leaving Primula-chan behind, as she concentrated on crafting, I log out.

Name: Anastasia

Race: Immortal Princess　Woman　Lv12

Element: Dark

Genus: High Immortal

Family: Royal Zombie

Skill Points: 36

Skills:

«Sword Lv17» «Defense Lv15» «Parry Lv15» «Armor Lv15»

«Light Magic Lv13» «Magic Ability Lv19»

«Sensing Lv15» «Uncover Lv14» «Footwork Lv13» «Cooking Lv14» «Alchemy Lv1» «Gathering Lv13» «Appraisal Lv12» «Disassembly Lv10»

«Identification Lv20» «Discern»

Inactive:

Monster Skills:

«Dark Magic Lv14» «Aura of Darkness Lv10»

«Physical Resistance Lv14» «Physical Immunity Lv12» «Magic Resistance Lv5» «Automatic HP Recovery Lv18»

«Immortal Royalty Lv4» «Royal Authority Lv1» «High Immortal»

Titles:

Elegant and Calm Princess: Improves the impression given to others and makes it harder for them to become wary of you.