Frontiers ~Chronicles of Bucket-san’s Detailed Pioneering~ - Chapter 65 – It’s big…

I logged in. It was a lot of fun last night, as the second Joint Collection Tour was a great success.

Even if the escorts weren’t as good as Mika, the mobs still did not ever get close to us during the collecting activities as our escorts were experienced.

Thanks to that, the level of my skills has been growing steadily.

Also, since we went to the vicinity of the Mizuri Village on this tour, I was able to look at it from afar and see what it is looking like.

I thought there would only be farmlands there, but there are also quite a few buildings that are either under construction or already finished there.

Moreover, there were considerably more people farming there than I expected. I guess most of them are player Pioneers though, as they all still had their gear on while they did agricultural activities.

You don’t need to worry about sweating in-game. And if you have the appropriate skills, you also aren’t hindered by the weight of your gear during farm work… Still, it is quite unusual to see a bunch of people farming while wearing heavy armor.

Well, with time, special gear that actively helps you when doing agriculture will most likely be discovered, but until that point, the situation will probably remain as is.

Though well, I mostly deal with heavy equipment, so I most likely won’t be the one to create the gear that those people need.

In any case, I’d like to do my next collection tour at the Eku Labyrinth… Sadly, it seems unlikely to happen for the time being. As the dungeon is still being explored, the fee for escorts there is quite expensive, and we’d also need extra escorts when compared to the usual amount.

Regardless of that, after the end of the Joint Collection Tour, we had a girls-only-gathering that lasted until my logout time.

I didn’t have that much time left though, so it was kinda short. Still, it was exciting to hear Mika tell us about how the exploration of the Eku Labyrinth is going. Hearing Hime tell us about how her woodcutting endeavor is going was also quite nice.

It’s a pity that everyone is so busy these days though, so it’s not that easy to make these gatherings… But I suppose it can’t be helped.

After all, Mika is close to finishing the Eku Labyrinth, and Hime is on her last spurt to guarantee the top spot at the event.

And it just so happens that summer vacation will end at about the same time as the event, so Hime and Mika will start going to school again.

As for Lolita and Lulu, they’re already working adults, so their login hours are mostly at night.

All of this will limit the time we have to stay together in-game… Still, if we find the time for it, it would be nice if we could keep on holding those girls-only gatherings. And everyone seemed to agree with the idea.

It is important to take breaks even when gaming, after all.

******

Today’s plan is to make products to restock the store and raise my skill level until midday. Then, once the NPC stores open, I’ll go deliver the requested items immediately.

I still have some time until the deadline, but there are no problems with delivering it early… Or rather, I’m glad that I can get the reward early, as I really want the recipes for those Intermediate Tools, so… Thank you very much for your introduction, Mukaida.

Also, I think this might be a good opportunity to upgrade another one of the equipments in my workshop to Intermediate level. I did check my funds just a small while ago, and I think I can afford it.

After all, selling iron items with two Options in them lets me get a solid profit.

Of course, I need to be careful with those purchases as I can’t run completely out of funds when purchasing equipment, as that would make me unable to buy materials to keep on making items, so… Let’s wait just a tad bit more to buy the new equipment.

And instead, let’s keep on making more items. It’s the same thing I do basically every day, as playing Frontiers is part of my daily routine by now, so… Let’s do this!

******

“And so, I came to deliver it.” I said to the blacksmith.

“Wait, miss… Isn’t it too early? You didn’t use even half the allocated time.

“I mean, I do appreciate the early delivery, but don’t overdo it, alright?” He replied.

“It’s okay, I’m not overdoing it.” I told him.

“Is that so…? Then I guess it’s alright.

“You can leave the items for everyone with me, and I’ll give it to them for you.” He said.

“Thank you very much.” I replied.

After spending quite a bit of time making items to restock the store and to increase my skill levels, I came to deliver the requested products.

This time I went directly to the store of one of the blacksmiths that gave me the quest, so as to not bother Mukaida with arranging a meeting with everyone again.

On a side note, this store is of the same size as my workshop and focuses almost entirely on household goods, with almost no gear being up for sale in it.

The household goods are mostly metal products, such as cooking pots and frying pans, though there are also some items for agriculture up for sale too, like the ones that were requested of me this time.

And while it may be in a bit of a corner of the shop, it’s still one of the most visible locations within the store, so the agriculture products are actually in a highlighted location. They probably sell quite easily… Well, they definitely do, otherwise there would be no need to request a third party to craft this kind of item.

“Alright, I finished checking the items and they’re all good. As expected of a disciple of Merget.” The blacksmith told me.

“You know master Merget?” I asked him.

He laughed in response, “Of course! I doubt there is any blacksmith Sabrina who doesn’t know him! He is probably the best or second-best blacksmith in the capital!”

As expected of master Merget, who works exclusively for a store as large as the Kederick Shop… Still, I didn’t know he was a famous person.

I guess I was quite fortunate to have him teach me how to improve my craft.

… Ah! Now that I think of it! I totally forgot to ask master Merget about the recipes of Intermediate Tools!

Well, I did get the recipe for five different intermediate tools with this delivery, so I suppose it might not be necessary. I should probably be able to get the rest of the recipes by keeping on doing NPC quests.

So, let’s create a good connection here, “Master is a great blacksmith indeed… However, I’m still far from his level, so please keep on giving me opportunities to improve.” I asked the blacksmith.

“Of course, you have been quite the help, after all.

“We don’t need to go through Mukaida anymore, do we? I’ll just make a request directly to you next time.” He replied.

“Thank you. I’ll be waiting.” I told him.

Although I could only do these quests due to being introduced to those blacksmiths by Mukaida, the next requests will be sent to me directly.

It makes sense, as it would be hard to always need Mukaida’s intermediation, as he too is a working adult already. His login times aren’t as large as mine.

Well, all members of Works still spend a fair bit of time online though.

******

Now that the delivery was finished, it is time to upgrade the workshop’s equipment!

It’s actually quite easy to do that, as I only need to purchase it, then install it myself.

If we were in real life, I’d need to hire a number of people just to put the equipment in the right place, but this is a game. I just need to put the equipment in my bag, then once I’m in the workshop, I can simply put the equipment in a location I want within the workshop’s layout and it’s done!

The only problem is the price of the intermediate equipment, but it’ll be fine since I’m making quite a few items with two options in them, so… Let’s buy this right away!

Today’s equipment is the Magic Synthesizer used in Tool Making! The beginner Magic Synthesizer is not that big, but the intermediate one is quite large.

But that’s okay! I took that into account when buying this workshop! The space is large specifically because I knew I’d need this kind of equipment!

This is my second visit to the store specialized in crafting equipment.

Last time, thanks to Mr. Kederick’s letter of introduction, I was able to smoothly purchase the equipment I wanted, but it seems like there is usually a review process one needs to go through before buying Intermediate Equipment.

The primary purpose of the examination is to check if the buyer can actually handle the equipment bought, so it usually takes some time to go through all the procedures.

Moreover, lots of dangerous goods can be produced with high-tier Equipment, so the sellers want to be sure that they’re not giving it to a dangerous person…

But well, it seems like I won’t be needing to go through any review process at all for buying Intermediate Equipment… The power of Mr. Kederick’s introduction letter is truly amazing.

I’ll still need to go through the proper process when buying Advanced Equipment, but things will be easier if Mr. Kederick can give me a letter attesting to my capabilities.

For this reason, I’d like to keep on doing whatever requests the Kederick store brings me.

******

It… It’s big…

As expected, the process of buying the Magic Synthesizer went smoothly, so after purchasing it, I immediately went back to my workshop and installed it.

I knew how big it was as I saw it when it was still on the store, but it really is big.

But well, this is still important to further improving the rank of future tools I make.

Especially now that I have access to Intermediate Tool Recipes!

In any case, I still kept the Beginner Equipment installed on my workshop instead of selling it. Even if it takes some space in the workshop, it’s better to keep it here for the sake of my summoned familiars. They will probably have a hard time with Intermediate Equipment, so I’d rather have them practice on the Beginner Equipment instead.

And of course, the beginner Magic Furnace is also a part of my workshop, even if I bought the intermediate Magic Furnace from the start.

Well then, let’s start upgrading my tools!