Chapter 533

Ordering Ladders
On the way back, we limited ourselves to gathering ordinary herbs and safely returned to town. Just after passing through the gates, we parted ways with Al and the others.

“They hurried home, didn’t they?”
“They were in a real rush~”

Since they wanted to immediately report about the new fluffy companions and the legendary mushrooms, Al-sama and his group dashed straight for the castle.
Yeah… it kinda feels like we’ve just added a whole bunch of extra work for them.

“Well, at least Kaiser made it into town without issue.”
“Indeed. Now I no longer have to sneak about.”

We’d also confirmed that Kaiser’s identification worked properly — though, well, it’s technically a fake that’s also real… which is a bit complicated.

“Anyway, since we got back early, we’ve still got some time. —Hey, can we go place an order at Sol Ojiisan’s shop?”
““Sure~!””
“I’ve no objection.”

Since it was still bright out, we decided to go shopping right away.

““Hello~””
“Ohh, welcome! Been a while, glad to see you looking well. That fellow with you’s a new face, eh?”
“It’s been some time. This is Kaiser — he’s our adventuring companion.”
“I am Kaiser. A pleasure to make your acquaintance.”

It was apparently Kaiser’s first time in a magic tool shop, because he was glancing around curiously.

“So, what brings you lot here today? Looking for some new cooking gear, I take it?”
“Ahaha, right on the mark.”
“Hohoho, I figured as much. Well then, let’s hear what you need.”

Sol Ojiisan spoke as if he’d already known what I wanted to ask.

“Um, I was wondering — do you happen to have a noodle-making machine? Like, a magic tool that flattens and cuts dough into noodles?”
“Hmm? If that’s what you’re after, I think there used to be one made for producing dried noodles… Let’s see… yes, I believe I still have one in the back. Wait here, I’ll fetch it.”

The dried noodles sold in town were all cut to uniform thickness, so I figured a noodle machine must exist — and it turned out I was right.

“Here we go. This is the one. You feed the dough in here, it gets flattened as it passes through, then it’s cut and comes out here.”
“Whoa!”

It was a far more proper magic tool than I expected, and I couldn’t help exclaiming in admiration.

“This looks perfect. I’ll buy it!”
“If that’s fine by you, take it home as is.”
“Thank you! By the way, can you adjust the thickness or width of the noodles?”
“Hmm?”

I’d secured the noodle machine, but… while it’d work fine for pasta, thinner udon, or soba, I couldn’t make things like fettuccine or the thick udon I usually imagine.

“To explain, I mean something like this.”

I pulled out some fried udon and squid-ink pasta I’d mass-produced and stored in Infinite Storage, and handed them to Sol Ojiisan.

“Well now, these look delicious. Hmm, I see what you mean — the thickness and width differ quite a bit. May I keep these?”
“Of course, please go ahead.”
“Oniichan, I want some too~”
“Me too~”
“I as well…”
“Ah, now that you mention it — our lunch was just a light snack, huh?”

For lunch today, we’d eaten sandwiches, rice balls, and skewers while walking, so we hadn’t really had a proper meal. Maybe that’s why everyone was hungry again.

“Alright, how about a little snack, then?”
“Eat!”
“Want some!”
“Of course, I’ll eat too!”
“In that case, could we borrow a bit of space again?”
“Hohoho, go right ahead.”

Along with the squid-ink pasta and fried udon I’d brought out earlier, I added some carbonara pasta and crab soup udon. We split everything among us for a small noodle tasting session.

“They’re all exquisite. Guess I’ll have to put my back into making these tools properly.”
“Yay~ Please do!”
“Now, just to confirm — you want separate magic tools for the thick noodles and the flat noodles, correct?”
“Yes, that’s fine… but, can they be combined into one tool?”
“It’s not impossible, but it’d be tricky. You’d need a mechanism to change the roller thickness and swap the cutting blades. It’d take longer to make, use up more magic stones, and be easier to break. If they’re separate, I can finish each within a few days.”
“Hmm, in that case, please make them separately.”

Owning three separate tools versus a single all-in-one unit — the only advantage of the latter would be saving space. But since I have Infinite Storage, that doesn’t matter. Durability and availability are more important.

“I’d like to ask for about five of each, if possible.”
“Don’t rush it, lad. Let me make one first so you can test it. Once you’re satisfied, we can talk about mass production.”
“Ah, you’re right. Let’s start with one each, then.”
“Leave it to me.”

I’d ordered extra thinking the Ruven family, the Risner family, and maybe even Miss Marcellie from Oswald-san’s place would want one — but yeah, that was getting ahead of myself.

“Well then, next stop…”

After finishing our order with Sol Ojiisan, we headed for the next shop.

““Where to now?””
“Let’s see, what I wanted to buy was…”
““Ah! Fishing rods!””
“Right, the fishing rods. Don’t worry, those are being made in Bailey.”
““They are?””

The kids had fallen in love with fishing after our trip on the boat and wanted rods of their own. But the shops only sold low-quality ones, and it felt wasteful to settle for those.
Ordering custom-made rods would take time, and since we’d soon be heading to the capital, we couldn’t wait around for them. I wasn’t even sure if the capital — being inland — had any proper fishing rod craftsmen.

That’s when Cedric-san and Patrick-san came to the rescue. Patrick-san had already told Cedric-san about our plans to buy rods, and they went ahead and placed the order for us. The finished products would be delivered to the Risner estate and sent along to us.

“Cedric-san said he’d have them delivered when they’re ready.”
““Ohh~””
“Takumi, Takumi! Will there be one for me too?”
“Yup. I ordered four total, including mine, so you’ll have one.”
“Excellent!”

Kaiser seemed genuinely happy to hear that — looks like he’d enjoyed fishing too.
… I hadn’t gotten to fish much on the boat myself, so next time we test the new rods, I’ll make sure to join in properly.

“Oh, right! I was also thinking of buying a ladder.”
““To climb trees?””
“Well, for that or other uses. Since Infinite Storage means it won’t take up space, I figured it’s good to have one just in case.”
““Ohh, let’s buy one!””
“Indeed. But… where exactly does one buy a ladder?”
““... Huh?””
“Takumi, I am unfamiliar with this ‘ladder’ — is it made of metal or wood?”
“““Wait, huh?”””

Come to think of it, none of us had ever seen anyone using a ladder. Maybe we’d just never paid attention?
Either way, we didn’t even know what materials they were made from.

After some thought, we decided to just wander the town and ask around. Surely builders or carpenters would know.
Eventually, we spotted some gardeners who tended the trees at noble estates and asked them. They told us where to find a shop that sold ladders — and even explained that they came in wood, metal, or even monster-material varieties. Bone, maybe? Depending on the creature, that could make a really sturdy ladder.

““Is this the place?””
“Looks like it.”

The shop we’d been directed to wasn’t a small independent one but rather a specialty store. It sold all sorts of craftsmen’s tools, made by various artisans. When something sold, the store kept a small fee and sent the rest to the maker — basically a consignment store.

““There’s so much stuff~””
“Hmm, I see no weapons here.”

Naturally, not everything was for sale — the store seemed to stick to certain categories and quality standards. Still, there were quite a few tools whose purpose I couldn’t guess just by looking.

“Even just browsing this place is pretty fun.”
““Yeah, it’s interesting!””
“Indeed. I’m curious what we’ll find.”

After exploring the store, we managed to find a ladder long enough to reach the roof of a two-story building — though still not quite enough for climbing a Majesta tree. We also found a step ladder perfect for picking fruit just out of reach, which the kids immediately wanted. We bought three of those.

On top of that, we grabbed pruning shears, hammers, nails, saws, small gardening trowels, large shovels for digging… basically every useful tool we could think of.
The clerk looked stunned at how much we were buying — but we just smiled and kept going.

Well, sometimes a little splurging isn’t so bad.

What do you think about this chapter?