NOVEL WEB Chapter 33: Meeting a certain acquaintance again
"THIS. IS. AWESOME!" Hikari yelled at the top of her lungs.
We are currently on the bell tower. The same tower I used to climb for high ground during the Liberation Quest.
Compared to when I was doing the Liberation Quest, however, the view of the city from up here is simply majestic right now.
And this is the view at night. I wonder what the view would look like in the day or some other time besides night?
After a dozen minutes of admiring the view, we climbed back down to ground level and proceeded to carry on with what we came here to do: Buying additional ingredients, seasonings and spices for cooking after that.
Hence, our next destination was the marketplace, which has become a night market run mostly by players due to the time. Apparently, most of the shops run by NPCs are closed at night. Allowing players who act as merchants to swoop in and take any vacant spots in the marketplace.
Hopefully, we can find a store that sells cooking ingredients.
With the marketplace being quite a widespread area, the three of us decided to split up to search for an ingredient shop faster. And while I was strolling around in one area...
"Oh hey! That you, Yoru?"
...A familiar voice called out to me. I turned and saw that it was Diego behind the counter of his shop.
"Sup." he waved to us as we approached him for a minute.
"Hello there, Diego. Running a shop in the city this time, I see."
"Yup. That's right. No need to do business outside of the city now that you've liberated it." he said. "Congratulations." he then added. "I did not expect you to actually solo and clear it before Red did."
"Thanks. I wasn't expecting that either. Honestly, looking back, I think I would've died if it weren't for your magic buckler."
"Haha. That so? Well then, what cha here at the market for? You're looking for something, aren't you?" Diego asked. Which implores me to answer, believing that he could help.
"Yeah. I'm actually planning on trying out the cooking system in the game."
"Ahh... that. I have tried doing that before." Diego remarked. "So I'm assuming that you're searching for a shop that sell cooking ingredients then?"
"Yup. I hunted some meat earlier with my sister and her friend. But now, we're looking to buy other ingredients here. So, you know any shop that sells what we need?"
"Sure do!" Diego leaned over his counter and pointed down the road on his right. "There's a food vendor NPC, whose store is just down the road here. It will be open all night long, so there's no need to rush."
"I see. Thanks a lot, Diego."
"Hey, no problem, Yoru. Also, you might want to get an item called a Portable Kitchen. They are necessary if you plan on cooking a lot in the game."
"Well that makes sense. So where can I buy them?"
When I asked, Diego smirked and giggled as he yelled. "Right here, of course!" he then pulled out a hollow cube from his inventory and placed it on the counter. "I told you that I tried doing that before, right? So here is the Portable Kitchen that I own. It's second-hand so I'll sell it to you at an extremely low price of... 500 gold."
"Wait... it's actually really low."
"Yeah... To be honest, it's kinda a waste of space in my inventory."
"Oh. So you're just disposing of your trash onto me, is that it?"
"Hey now, don't think of it like that. 500 gold is practically free, you know. Better than spending 1,000 gold at the general store in Lily Corvo, that's for sure."
So the original price cost double of what he's offering...
"Fine... I'll take it."
"Glad doing business with you then~!"
I passed Diego the money, and he handed me the item. Though a transaction was made, our chat was not over just yet.
"By the way, Diego, what is the game's cooking system like?" I asked.
Because I wanted to know how it works, I decided that asking Diego, who had experienced it, would be wise.
"Well, it's kind of like cooking in real life. So if you can't cook in your house, you can't cook in the game." Diego answered, putting my mind at ease since I am experienced in that field, so there's nothing to worry about.
But he wasn't done explaining the system to me yet. "I said 'kind of' though. Since you'll still need a good amount of Dexterity and Agility in your stats to produce some good food."
"Oh wow... Really...?"
"Yeah. Each of the crafting systems in the game requires two specific stats to make the result of your product better. Smithing requires Strength and Dexterity; Alchemy requires Intelligence and Luck; Enchanting requires Vitality and Intelligence; Cooking requires Dexterity and Agility like I've said. And since my build is based off Strength and Dexterity, Smithing is more for me than Cooking."
"Uh huh.... Got it... Then I guess I'm putting the Attribute Points I got into Dexterity, I guess."
I opened up my status window and invested my Attribute Points into Dexterity without a second thought.
Diego, who was watching, then asked. "So what's your Dexterity and Agility now?"
"30 and 80 respectively."
"I see. Well, you'll need more than that if you want to make some good ****" Diego remarked. Then, he smirked again. "Good thing for you, I've got just the equipment to boost those two specific stats!" he said, pulling out his wares onto the counter for me to see.
I stared at Diego in awe at his opportunistic attitude. "You're a shrewd guy, aren't you?"
"I do aspire to be an entrepreneur one day. Gotta learn the trades while you're still young, am I right? Anyways, take a look!" he said, laying the goods out properly for me to inspect.
A pink fluffy apron that increases the wearer's Dexterity and Agility by 40 points.
An armband that increases the wearer's Agility by 20 points.
A fancy hair tie that increases the wearer's Dexterity by 30 points.
A pair of fur slippers that boosts the wearer's Agility by 10%
And there are still more.
"What kind of equipment are these...?" I was bewildered. Seeing as how out of place they look for this game's settings, and also by how good they are.
"They are equipment I made to improve my cooking when I tried it out. Honestly, I would never expect to be putting these on sale because of how off-putting they are. But hey! Here we are~!"
"Right..." I looked at them again and picked out the ones that I liked. "So how much for these?"
"Hmm... Hold on. Let me think for a second." he said, closing his eyes and going into a thinking position for a moment.
Once he was done pondering, his eyes opened and he said. "125,000 gold! How about that?"
"Sure. Why not?"
And like that, another transaction was made between Diego and I.
Finally, we were done talking. And so, I went off to find the food vendor Diego had pointed me to, whereas Diego himself waved me goodbye.
"Glad doing business with you again, Yoru! Hope to see you again!" he yelled, as I looked back at him and waved goodbye before continuing making my way to the vendor.
I had also contacted Hikari and Himeji through a private message while I was walking.
However, because of that small exchange of goodbye between Diego and I, it had caught the attention of other players in the area as many of them began to stare and whisper something, while I simply continued walking, oblivious to the gaze of others around me.
After that, I met up with Hikari and Himeji at the food vendor.
"Thank you for purchasing at my store, Miss Yoru! I hope to see you again." the vendor said after we bought the ingredient.
Somehow, she knew my name as well. How...?
Regardless, we head off to rent a big room at an inn in the city afterwards, so that I can cook in private.
"So umm, what are you going to make, Big Sister Yoru?" Himeji asked.
"Hmm... I'm thinking of making some burgers. Since the ones we ate earlier were nasty." I answered, which seemed to have gotten her excited for it as she bounced with anticipation.
Meanwhile, Hikari was on the bed, eating a jerky she had bought when we were at the food vendor.
They were better than the spider burger I ate at the restaurant....
I used the Portable Kitchen I'd bought from Diego to see how it works.
A mini kitchen was spawned in the room. Consisting of a mini stove; a mini countertop with various kitchen knives and a cutting board; a small cabinet with some pans, pots, woks, and other cooking utensils in them; and a set of plates and eating utensils in another cabinet.
"Oh wow! That is cool, sis."
"Yeah. It sure is."
After admiring the kitchen for a moment, I then opened my inventory to equip the equipment that I have also bought from Diego that will boost my Dexterity and Agility for cooking.
But when I changed my equipment, however...
"Pfffftttt!!"
Hikari suddenly spit the jerky in her mouth out. Whereas Himeji gawked at me in shock.
Then, they both started laughing.
"Bwahahahahahaha! What the hell is with that appearance?"
"What? What's wrong with my appearance?"
"Oh my god. Are you seriously asking that!? Hahahahahahaha!"
"Big Sister Yoru, you look, pfft... very cute."
"Huh?"
Completely clueless as to what Hikari and Himeji are laughing about, I walked towards the mirror in the room to take a look at myself and...
"What the ****!?"
...I was completely taken aback by my current appearance.
"It's a Dark Elf Mommy in a naked apron with a ponytail hairstyle! Hahahahahaha! This is too perfect!"
"How the heck is this allowed in the game!? This is practically nudity!"
"Technically, it's not, since no privates are being shown, thanks to the holy light censoring your butt. So it's totally family friendly. A-Okay!"
"Like hell it is!"
I was mad and fuming. But then I realised something else.
Diego said he made these for when he was trying the cooking system, right? So that means.... Oh no... Don't think about it...
While I was shaking off some unnecessary images in my head, Hikari and Himeji calmed down.
"Anyways, sis, we'll stop laughing now. So could you hurry up and cook us our burgers? We can't wait to eat them, right HimeHime?"
"Ah... yes... and umm...."
Himeji was twirling her fingers for a bit. Then, she walked up to me and asked.
"B-Big Sister Yoru... just for when we're in the game, may... may I call you Mama?"
"No. Please don't."
"Bwahahahahahahahahaha! HimeHime, you're killing me! Hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha!"
