Chapter 44 - Expensive Trout
Gail returned to his room after morning training session and breakfast. Over there, Misha was happily stroking his head.
"Ehehehe...."
Aina kept stroking my head after breakfast and now Misha too. My scalp will wear out at this rate.
"Misha, I have to go."
"Okay...."
Misha replied with a voice full of reluctance.
"Miguel will be here soon."
When Gail gave Misha a light pat on her hand, she finally stopped stroking his head while looking dejected.
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Miguel arrived, and the group immediately headed to the forest. Arnold seemed like he wanted to come along, but Gail pretended not to see him.
"Hey, baldy."
“Don't call me baldy!”
"Let's stop by my big brother's place first."
Since Miguel said so, the group stopped by Dwan's place before heading to the forest
"Baldy...?"
Not you too, Dwan.
"You keep coming up with all sorts of things one after another. I'm still figuring out how to mass-produce the sitting toilets."
Even as he said that, Dwan seemed very interested in the fishing reel. Gail then drew a picture of a spinning reel and its structure on a piece of wood.
"This is difficult. I'm not saying it's impossible, but it will take a lot of time to make even one unit."
The structure of a spinning reel is quite complex. It contains lots of small parts and gears. Maybe a simple baitcasting reel will be easier to make.
"How about this one?"
Gail drew a baitcasting reel and its structure.
"This one seems easier to make, but these thing called springs and screws...."
In this world, there are no springs or screws yet. Especially the springs and screws used in fishing reels are quite small. Making them manually by hand would be quite a challenge.
If possible, I want Dwan to make bearings, too. However, making a perfect sphere requires a lot of precision. There were only a few countries that could make things like ballpoint pen balls even back on Earth.
"I know they're not easy to make, but springs and screws can be used in all sorts of things, so I hope you'll try making them. I think they could even improve the ride comfort of carriages."
"What? They can be used on carriages?"
"I don't know the structure of carriages yet, but I think I would know what to modify if I saw one."
I have never ridden a horse-drawn carriage in this world yet, but I can imagine how uncomfortable a carriage with wooden wheels, no suspension, and running on unpaved roads. My butt would probably split open. Oops, let's focus on the fishing reels for now.
The simplest reel is a fly reel, but there probably aren't any tapered fishing lines in this world, and even if there were, with this body, casting a fly rod will be a challenge in itself.
Hold on, why not just cast it with magic? That way I wouldn't have to swing the rod. Yeah, this is a great idea.
"Pops, let's put the carriage aside for now. How about this reel?"
"I can easily make this. I will get it ready in a few days."
"Great!"
They chatted for quite a while, and before they knew it, it was already lunch time. Because of that, they decided to eat at a nearby restaurant slash inn before heading to the forest.
"Welcome, are you ready to order?"
The waiter didn't use polite language because this place mainly catered to adventurers.
"What is today’s recommendation?"
"There are two choices; orc steak and grilled trout. Both come with bread and soup."
"Orc?"
"Just think of it as pork. They taste pretty much the same, after all."
"I see...."
But grilled trout, huh. The timing is perfect.
Gail checked the menu. The price of grilled trout was more than double the price of orc steak.
"Is trout really that expensive?"
Gail asked Dan.
"Kid, are you trying to say we are ripping you off?"
"This is his first time eating in a restaurant. He doesn't mean anything bad."
"Oh, I see.... Listen, kid, trouts are caught from a far away place and they will spoil if you don't deliver them quickly. In addition, they're not caught in large numbers. That's why trouts are expensive"
"I see...."
"Young Master, what do you want to order?"
"I always have meat, so I want to try fish this time."
"I see. Are fine with orc steak, Bossman?"
"Yeah."
The group ordered two orc steaks and one grilled trout.
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On the way to the forest.
"Young Master, how was the trout? Was it tasty?"
"Not really...."
The bread was hard and crumbly, and the soup was just chopped dried meat boiled in water. The bread and soup weren't much different from what I usually eat at the mansion, but they didn't go with the fishy trout at all. Luckily, the trout wasn't too big, so I was able to finish it.
"In winter, trouts stay fresh longer, so they are more delicious."
"Don't they use ice to preserve their freshness?"
"There aren't many people who can use ice magic, so they usually just put the trouts into wooden boxes and deliver them."
"They should have stored them inside cooler boxes."
"Cooler box? What is that?"
I guess they don't have cooler boxes in this world.
"You still need ice, but with cooler box, the ice won't melt easily."
"Is that also something from the revelation?"
"That's right. It's something from the revelation."
Hooray for the revelation!
"You should consult it with Big Bro later."
"Yeah."
Speaking of which, there's no styrofoam in this world. Even Dwan probably can't make a vacuum panel.
"I wish I could just make it with magic...."
Dan and Miguel got straight to work upon arriving at the training ground.
Now then, what should I do? I've been told not to train without supervision, and I've already finished building an additional room for the kitchen. What if I surrounded the cabin and the training area with a fence to make it safer? Yeah, let's do that.
A wall fence would feel too oppressive, and I'm worried about my magic power. Let's just line up earth poles around two meters high at intervals just enough to prevent creatures like goblins from passing through.
Gail started erecting earth poles to make a fence around the cabin and the training area with earth magic.
*pops*
*pops*
*pops*
I started to get the hang of it. Let's see, how much magic power I've used.
【Magic Power】: 32/85
Hmm, not bad....
【Magic Power】: 33/85
Oh, it recovered by 1 point. I wonder how long it takes to recover 1 magic power. Let's find out!
1, 2, 3, 4.... 59, 60.
【Magic Power】: 34/85
My magic power recovery is around 1 point per minute, huh. Even if I run out magic power, it will be fully recovered in about an hour and a half. For this kind of work, I won't need potions if I take breaks. There's no need to rush.
*pops*
*pops*
*pops*
Let’s take a break for a while.
*pops*
*pops*
*pops*
It's finished! Just as I expected, the magic consumption decreases if you keep repeating the same magic. I discovered two new things today.
Gail nodded in satisfaction.
"Hey, kiddo, what is this?"
"I built a fence so that something like goblins can't get in."
Gail puffed out his chest proudly.
"That's good and all, but how do we get out?"
"Ah...."
"Seriously, building a fence is fine, but you need an entrance, right? Or are you planning to lock yourself in here forever?"
In the end, Gail destroyed several poles to make a way in and out.