Frontiers ~Chronicles of Bucket-san’s Detailed Pioneering~ - Chapter 64 – I’ll pour that mysterious purple liquid

I spent a fair amount of time making products both for the quests and for restocking my store.

I think I have waited enough by now, so the Guild probably has some information on the Flower Jungle at least.

It’s probably not much since the area was just unlocked, but superficial information is fine to me.

So… Let’s go to the Guild get all this gear evaluated and see how much is known about the materials in the Flower Jungle!

******

“This is the information about the materials collected at the Flower Jungle so far.” The receptionist told me.

“Thank you.” I replied.

As expected, the Flower Jungle had plenty of flower-related materials.

And similarly to the Eku Labyrinth, there are high-rank materials in this area, so I’m sure the alchemist Pioneers are quite happy about this new region being unlocked.

There are not only flower-related materials though. There are also plant-based materials and soil available at the Flower Jungle, so the Pioneers who have been working on agriculture are probably quite happy now as well.

But well, the people that care about agriculture are those working at the Mizuri Village, so it doesn’t have much to do with me.

However, the exploration of the Flower Jungle has just started, so I can’t be sure that there isn’t anything that interests me there. The information should still be incomplete.

That said, I can’t really do anything other than wait for more information, so let’s just go back to my workshop once the Guild finishes evaluating the items I have made.

Right now it is midnight in-game. Most NPC stores are closed, but the stalls are not.

As I started walking back to my workshop, I started seeing that plenty of player Pioneers who had just returned from the Flower Jungle had opened up stalls, so the path was more crowded than usual.

The Guild didn’t set a market price for the materials of this new area yet, so the people who are setting those stalls are trying to sell the high-rank materials at exorbitant prices.

Well, some people might still buy them even while knowing that they are being ripped off, because there is a real benefit in having access to high-rank materials when trying to make good items.

But I don’t need them at all, so I just bought some food and quickly left the stalls.

******

I finished making all the requested products… There is still plenty of time until the deadline, so I may have rushed it a bit too much.

But surprisingly, making gear according to the standard of NPC stores can be quite exciting! It’s kinda like a game!

Wait, I’m playing a game within the game…? It’s a mini-game then!

In any case, I can deliver it as soon as the NPC store opens.

Though I’ll be going on my second joint collection tour today. This time we won’t be having premium escorts like Mika and Hime, nor will everyone on Works participate.

Still, Lolita and Lulu will participate, with Lolita being the organizer, so there are no issues.

And well, as I want to raise my skill levels to gain extra Skill Points, I’m definitely participating too. The 100th level of Improved Blacksmithing is right around the corner, so I really need to work hard!

There is still some time until the tour though, so let’s make some more gear to restock the store in the meanwhile. After all, I want to upgrade the equipment of the workshop, but I can’t afford it right now.

I really want more intermediate equipment soon…

******

I made iron gear until my logout time. Then, after doing usual stuff such as eating dinner and bathing, I restarted making more items for the store.

But then, I received a message from Lolita and Lulu. It’s apparently related to the library information, since Lulu has yet to give me a reward for sharing it with her.

They suggested discussing it at my workshop, since it’s also the place we were planning to meet up to go to the Joint Collection Tour.

I had no problems with that, so I immediately replied by saying it was fine.

Also, we still had a fair bit of time left, so once we were done with the information exchange, we could just chit-chat… It’s a petite-girls-only gathering!

“We’re here!” I suddenly heard Lolita’s voice from outside my front door.

“Haya-!?” I ended up exclaiming.

That was surprising… Did they send me the message while standing in front of my workshop? She wouldn’t be able to get here this fast otherwise…

“If you were already here, then you didn’t need to send a message.” I told them as I opened the door for Lolita and Lulu.

“No no, it would be rude for a working adult to suddenly disturb Bucket like that.” Lolita said.

“Ah, I see… It surprised me though…” I told her.

“Sorry about that. It’s Lalalu’s fault.” Lulu said.

“What’s with this difference in treatment!?” Lolita exclaimed.

“What difference?” Lulu asked.

“We used to get along so well!” Lolita shouted.

“You’re drunk, aren’t you? It’s not good to play while being drunk…” Lulu told her.

“I’m not!

“Okay, I’m just a bit drunk…” Lolita confessed.

Considering the somewhat annoying way that Lolita has been talking, I think she must be quite drunk… Or well, maybe not, she might have not been able to even log-in to Frontiers if she was too drunk, so perhaps things aren’t that bad.

Still, the game does have guidelines against playing drunk, and we’ll be having a Joint Collection Tour in a few hours, so… Will things be alright?

******

“Are you really okay with this…?” Lulu asked me.

“Yeah, this is enough. It’s the result of your research after all.” I replied.

“If you’re sure about it…” Lulu said.

“Ah… Uh…” Lalalu muttered.

“Lalalu, go drink some water. It will be pointless, but do try it anyways.” I told her.

“Uh… Thank you… Sorry.” Lalalu replied.

As a result of the negotiations with Lulu, I got rewarded with the results of her latest research. She mostly makes sweets, but as the materials of Frontiers are a bit different than the ones of the real world, research is essential to properly bake them.

And from that research, sometimes she gets some nice materials as byproducts.

Lulu doesn’t give it much value since it’s just a byproduct, but I think it’s plenty. Definitely worth the library information.

Mainly because it will help me properly use the ‘Add’ function like master Merget taught me.

On a side note, Lolita has slumped down on the table as soon as she sat down and didn’t move at all throughout the entire conversation. She only started reacting again after we finished our discussion on the reward for the library information.

She is moving very slowly and her head seems to be hurting as she keeps on holding her temples though… Is this a hangover? I never drank alcohol myself, so I don’t know much about how it feels aside from what I heard from others, but I wonder if it can really lead to a hangover this quickly.

“Are you alright?” I asked her.

“I’m okay… I have a bit of a weak constitution, but don’t worry, I’ll get better soon.” She replied.

“Your weak constitution affects you even in-game?” I couldn’t help asking.

“On Lalalu’s case, it’s probably because it is affecting her head…” Lulu said.

“Ah… Uh…” Lolita could only mutter this in response.

Lulu’s opinion of Lolita seems to have plummeted after this… Probably because she was expecting Lolita to participate in the negotiations too to make sure it’s a fair trade, but I think it will be fine. Lulu seems to be quite forgiving.

This kind of sudden drop in opinion doesn’t happen between me and Mika… Well, I guess it’s because Lolita changed too much once drunk!

******

Lolita was revived from her hangover before the Joint Collection Tour started.

The miracle solution that saved her was a mysterious purple liquid that Lulu forced her to drink.

It was quite the sight to see Lolita rolling on the floor after drinking it due to how bitter the liquid was.

Of course, bitterness is properly felt in Frontiers as it does reproduce taste just like how you’d feel it in real life. The system of the game doesn’t reduce the effectiveness of this kind of thing.

So well, this special drink… There were many fierce people on the forums who tried challenging it once the production method was uploaded, and the result of their challenge was just a giant collection of screams filled with nothing but pure suffering.

Their tales are very convincing when seeing Lolita rolling around on the floor… This is truly a dangerous liquid.

Unfortunately though, it seems to have no effects on mobs.

“Lulu… You’re terrifying.” Lolita muttered while panting.

“It seems to have been effective though…” Lulu replied.

“Well, my headache was definitely blown away by that!” Lolita exclaimed.

“By the way, look at the time. We need to leave soon.” I told them both.

“Eh!? Already!? But I only exposed my bad sides since we got here!” Lolita said.

“Well, that’s just par for the course by now.” I replied.

“Yeah…” Lulu agreed.

“No way…” Lolita seemed to be heartbroken.

Well, we were just playing around.

Either way, we started moving towards the South Gate while we talked like that.

Today’s Joint Collection Tour has only the three of us from Works, but there are other participants from outside.

The escorts most likely aren’t our acquaintances, so a late arrival would be rude to them. Especially because Lolita is the organizer.

In any case, this Joint Collection Tour is scheduled to last about three hours.

I don’t like being late, so if you don’t hurry up, Lolita, I’ll pour that mysterious purple liquid down your throat again.