kscans

Chapter 103 - Interlude. The Head Chef, Infatuated

"Yuri-kun… about that knife, are there any left?"

"Hmm?"

I was sure I had given one to each person on the way to Laurenzen. Was this old man saying that was not enough? He did not seem like a greedy person, so Yuri was puzzled.

"No… Adon probably won’t say it out loud… but the truth is…"

Old Man Audel began to explain the situation.

"...So the head chef took it..."

Yuri remembered how eagerly the chef had devoured the french fries and was convinced. That head chef would totally be the type to naturally "borrow" something and just keep using it. If it was for his work, Adon would certainly have a hard time complaining.

"He seems to have resigned himself to his own carelessness… but I just feel so sorry for him…"

"I see…"

While he could make them with Earth Magic, it took a fair amount of effort to infuse them with magic and raise them to the level of a Magic Stone Tool. For one thing, the materials themselves were limited. It might sound strange, but it had to be ordinary soil.

In fact, Yuri had discovered a clay layer near the rock salt mine. Having knowledge of pottery and ceramic products, Yuri immediately tried to make a knife using that clay, but it did not work out well. Well, the knife itself was made without any problems, and it even seemed to have a slightly higher hardness. The problem was the subsequent process of "infusing it with magic power."

In the Forea World, there is a fundamental principle that affinity for magic power is proportional to the length of time a substance has been exposed to magical essence. In other words, substances that have never been exposed to magical essence have difficulty absorbing magic power. Minerals and clay deposited deep underground have had short exposure to magical essence, making them less receptive to magic power. This is one of the reasons why many metal tools, represented by iron, are not compatible with magic.

Conversely, ordinary topsoil is constantly exposed to air containing magical essence, giving it a higher affinity for magic power. As a result, the knife made from clay dug from deep underground had superior hardness to one made from ordinary soil, but its cutting edge when infused with magic was actually inferior.

This was not just because the soil was from the magic-rich Salt-Sour Mountain. He had gotten the same result when he tried making one with soil from Laurenzen. ...Well, the one made from the Salt-Sour Mountain soil, which had been exposed to dense magical essence, did seem to be of slightly higher quality.

He had been rather long-winded, but the point was, he did not want people thinking he could make them indefinitely.

However… Yuri thought. Adon had helped him in various ways, and there was no doubt he would continue to be a help in the future. Also, considering the future, he wanted to build a good relationship with the head chef. Yuri let out a sigh and took a spare magic stone "kitchen knife" from his Magic Bag.



"My… Yuri-kun, I am terribly sorry."

"It’s fine… were you able to get the knife back?"

"Yes, thanks to you. I’m saved. …Our head chef is a fine cook… but he tends to get fixated… and when it comes to cooking, he loses sight of everything else."

That personality sounds subtly dangerous, Yuri thought, as he gave Adon a warning.

"Well, anyway, please make sure the head chef keeps quiet about this, all right? Even though I can make them with Earth Magic, it’s quite a hassle."

"Of course. I’ve told him I’ll take the knife away if he causes any trouble, so the chef shouldn’t try anything foolish."

"Then that’s fine."

Both Yuri and Adon, for reasons unknown, had completely forgotten something. The adventurer party "Lucky Footsteps," to whom he had also given knives… especially the two half-elves who had shown an extraordinary interest.

Elves possess a large amount of magic power, and because they are well-versed in it, they have poor compatibility with metal tools that have low affinity for magic. As a result, they have great difficulty equipping weapons like knives. They can equip items made from the materials of magical beasts like dragons, but those are invariably few in number and expensive. Even if they manage to obtain the materials through their own efforts, processing them is another difficult task. Consequently, for elves, acquiring easy-to-use weapons of their own had become a racial challenge.

What would happen if information about Yuri’s Magic Stone Tools were to spread among the elves and half-elves in such a predicament….

Yuri and the others did not yet know of this.