Chapter 59

The burly shop owner sat opposite, and the old man served tea to each of us before retreating to the side with a tray. Just the old man, huh. The door creaked open, and another old man joined us.

The one with the son is Mr. Wand, the shop owner is Mr. Rodolfo, and the one who came in later is the craftsman, Mr. Miguel.

"Sorry to bother you. Well, I want to make these wooden pieces."

I took out a rectangular block I had made at home with earth magic.

I tried to make them myself, but I couldn't get them all the same size, and they ended up rough. When I tried to make them with latech, it consumed a lot of magic power.

"Hmm? We can cut these out pretty quickly."

"I need 54 of these, as close to the same size and weight as possible. Please sand them so they don't catch."

Mr. Miguel, the craftsman, tilted his head.

"Smooth them out completely?"

"No, not that much. Um, like this."

I showed him a failed attempt.

"Is this no good?"

Mr. Rodolfo picked one up.

"They're not the same size. And they're heavy because they're made of earth."

I stacked three of them, changing their orientation. I gave up halfway, so there were only three layers.

"They should be stacked like this, 54 in total. Then, you pull one out with your finger."

I demonstrated by pulling out the bottom one. Ideally, you pull from the bottom.

"Then, you put the pulled one on top. This is played by two or more people."

Everyone had question marks floating above their heads.

"If they're too smooth, it becomes difficult to stack them, so I'd like them to be just right. Can you at least tell me if it's possible?"

Mr. Rodolfo and Mr. Miguel exchanged glances and nodded.

"Let's give it a try. The process isn't difficult. Making a large number of the same size will be good practice for the young ones. It shouldn't cost much."

"Thank you."

Then, Mr. Miguel and I went over the details while looking at my sample. The size was made by eye, so I asked for a size that would be easy to make. I left the type of wood up to them. I don't know much about it. Scrap wood should be fine, I guess.

"Hmm. Do you have time?"

Mr. Miguel asked, and I nodded.

"I'll give it a try. Please wait a moment."

He seemed to be making them right away. With the measurements in hand, Mr. Miguel went to the back. I couldn't hear any cutting or sanding sounds. I wanted to see how he was doing it.

"Huh? No, that's our technique."

No dice. Mr. Rodolfo, who was doing some paperwork, flatly refused.

I waited for about half an hour.

"This is quite a challenge."

Mr. Miguel came back. He had put the wooden pieces into a box. I guess I need to think about storage too.

"Is it difficult?"

Mr. Rodolfo tilted his head.

"Since they're so small, even a little too much sanding means starting over. Fine-tuning the magic is key."

So woodworking skills also use magic.

I took one out of the box and started stacking them. As expected from a professional. They were perfectly straight and smooth. The stack didn't lean, and none of the pieces stuck out.

"How's it looking?"

"Looks good so far. Let's try playing."

I woke up Koushin, who had dozed off, and we played with Mr. Rodolfo and Mr. Miguel, four of us in total.

I explained the simple rules and we started!

"Whoa!"

Clatter!

Before we could go around once, Mr. Rodolfo knocked it over. His fingers are thick, and he's strong and doesn't know his own strength.

We rebuilt and tried again. It was funny to see the big adults using their pinkies. The balance got more precarious. It was my turn.

"Alright..."

It wobbled a bit. Who did this? I tried to pull it out as slowly as possible.

"Whoa, no way."

Everyone had lowered their voices. I carefully placed it on top.

"You did it!"

"Next, Mr. Master."

"No way, no way, no way."

Mr. Rodolfo gently shook his head. But the game is about knocking it over. Mr. Rodolfo, determined, reached out, but as soon as he touched it, it collapsed from the bottom.

"Ugh."

"Hehe. Mr. Master loses. It's a game like this."

We reset the pieces. They looked great. The weight was perfect.

"So, how much will this cost?"

"Hold on."

Mr. Miguel stopped me. He took Mr. Rodolfo to the corner and they whispered. Koushin, who was stacking the pieces skillfully, shrugged and said, "They probably want to commercialize it."

"Alright. Let's negotiate."

That's what happened. I just wanted to play. I didn't understand, so I left it to them. Like with the cat cart, there's no patent or anything. If I can get something, I'll take it.

Mr. Miguel said, "That's a prototype. We'll finish it properly, so we can't sell it yet!" and took the first one back. I wanted to play with Lada too. They said they'd give me the commercialized version tomorrow.

On the way back, Koushin was in a good mood because he bought a hooded cloak that could hide his face. It's probably just a temporary measure, but if it makes him feel better, that's fine.

It has ears.

It's a hooded cloak with triangular ears for beastmen. When I saw it and thought it was cute, Koushin, without hesitation, bought it for me.

Looking up, I met Koushin's eyes, which seemed to have ears. So cute, damn it.

I was also offered one, but I declined. I don't need any more attributes. Besides, it's a gift from my grandma, and I won't replace it until it gets smaller. We'll see when that happens.

"We have to be careful not to be seen by Gabal."

Koushin muttered, looking far away. What, is he a kemosuke?

"Jenga, right? He'd probably say, 'Why don't you come to my place!'"

"Yeah, that's him."

He would say that. I'll leave that part to the woodworkers to negotiate.

I wonder how the overnight drying is going. What should I make with the clams today? Pasta, maybe. I still have eggs, so I'll do that.