“By the way, Ian.”
“Yeah?”
“Don’t you think you bought too much? It seems like too much to eat at once.”
Danya tilted her head in confusion.
Well, it made sense. She had followed without any explanation, so it was natural for her to be curious.
Danya was a key figure in the ‘Ice Sugar Fruit Project’. She needed a bit more detailed explanation.
“Danya, do you remember eating [Ice Grape] in the North?”
Ice Grape.
It’s a fruit enjoyed by at least counts, dukes, or equivalent bourgeois among the nobility. For commoners or lower nobility, having the chance to eat it even once in a lifetime would be a stroke of luck.
Sweet ice envelops a large bunch of grapes, making it a symbolic luxury item that epitomizes a tangy and sweet delight.
Its unique characteristic was its high price due to being produced only in certain areas beyond the northern border.
He, too, first tasted it thanks to Silvia, and then only at the Northern Grand Duke’s social gatherings.
“Yeah. It was really delicious!”
Recalling that memory, Danya beamed with a broad smile.
“I’m thinking of selling something similar within the academy.”
“But isn’t that an incredibly expensive fruit?”
“Yes, it is.”
“Only someone like Silvia can afford to eat it!”
“No. She can’t eat it anymore either.”
“?”
“That happens.”
An image of Silvia shivering in her office in fluffy bunny slippers came to mind.
Anyway.
Clearing his throat, he corrected Danya’s misunderstanding.
“We’re not selling that fruit. We’re going to make something similar.”
“How?”
“With these fruits.”
They would coat the surfaces of fresh fruits with sugar water to create a snowflake-like appearance.
Having already made similar dishes before, he was confident.
Even if it wouldn’t be on the level of [Ice Grape], they could make ‘Ice Sugar Fruits’ that were comparable.
As he walked around, he realized again that not only the academy but also the markets didn’t sell simple, enjoyable desserts like this.
If they started selling ‘Ice Sugar Fruits’ in such places?
They might need to buy scales to count the money because they would earn too much to count one by one.
The cost of raw materials was minimal, so the net profit would be enormous.
“Hehehe.”
“Ian, you’ve been laughing like a villain for a while…”
“Sorry.”
Ahem.
It was hard to contain his laughter at the path of flowers that lay ahead.
As he tried to compose himself, Danya was struggling beside him.
“Ugh. It’s heavy…”
Danya whimpered.
Her left hand was full of fruits for the project.
Her other hand held tomatoes he bought for her as a reward.
It was hard to help her since his hands were already full.
“Using mana doesn’t seem like a bad idea.”
Depending on the elemental attribute, the efficiency varies, but most elements can enhance physical strength.
With Danya’s grass attribute, it would be like reinforcing her arms with vines.
“If it were the old you, struggling with grass element resonance, it might have been difficult. But now, it’s definitely possible.”
“Yeah! I can do it now!”
Danya immediately straightened her shoulders and raised her nose proudly.
“But relying on magic alone doesn’t make you strong!”
“Strength?”
“Yes. I’ve realized muscles are just as important as magic!”
…Ah.
Now that he thought about it, in the North, Danya and Lina were always with Yerina.
While he trained with his master, it seems Danya was influenced by Yerina somehow.
“Physical training should be integrated into daily life! Hand over your bags to me, Ian!”
He rushed ahead urgently.
“Why are you running away?”
He preferred soft flesh over muscles, after all.
That’s how they naturally found themselves on the street of magitech.
“But how are you going to make ice?”
Danya asked with a sharp tone.
In a world where the concept of ‘freezing’ something was rare, there were refrigerators powered by magic tech, but they were expensive and only maintained a certain degree of coldness.
Ice was the exclusive ability of frost-type adepts.
“We’re going to buy it.”
“…Buy what?”
“A massive refrigerator.”
“?”
Stores lined the streets, large and small.
In addition, there were displays of magitech equipment like an electronics market, catching the eyes of passersby.
“Refrigerators, the cheapest ones are in our store!”
“Buy one get one free!”
“We guarantee the lowest price! If you find it cheaper elsewhere, we’ll refund you the difference!”
Leading Danya, who was lost in the fierce competition of hawkers, he walked straight into a side alley.
Because he knew a store hidden here.
【 Magic Engineering Research Institute 】
Like any hidden gem, the shabby exterior of the store inspired confidence.
It was a familiar place, often visited for magitech-related quests.
As the bustling noises from inside reached them, the sliding door opened, and a woman emerged.
Long brown hair covering her eyes.
An attire that couldn’t be distinguished between pajamas or sweatpants.
Glasses so thick you couldn’t guess how high the prescription was.
At a glance, the identity of the gloomy woman was clear: a genius magitech engineer, Amy.
In a voice that seemed to crawl, she opened her mouth.
“W-What can I do for you?”
“We heard you’re selling high-performance refrigerators here.”
“Ah. Hehehe…”
Chuckling Amy entered and rustled around before coming out with something the size of a box.
“B-But, it’s ex-expensive…”
Do you intend to buy it or not?
“How much?”
“5, 5 gold.”
In modern terms, the value of a decent foreign car.
For a refrigerator at that price, it was natural that it wouldn’t sell, even with magitech.
“The price…”
“Oh, no. I can’t sell it for less than that!”
Shuffle.
Amy shook her head looking at the floor.
Her head was spinning like a propeller.
“Th-This isn’t intentionally overpriced, right? It’s because it costs a lot to make. I used 99.9999% pure apatite ore to make the circuit and coated it with raymonium… Hehehe. It’s incredibly cold. I wanted to make the coldest refrigerator in the world… Hehe.”
… Selling something like that as a refrigerator, no wonder people wouldn’t buy it.
In fact, this was more valuable than a refrigerator.
Unlike regular magic refrigerators that only cool the inside with cold air, this one maintained even colder temperatures by producing frost elements.
On closer inspection, the core of the device wasn’t about ‘refrigeration’.
It was a device that transformed other elements into ‘frost elements’.
The fact that this gloomy magitech engineer was considering it merely as a ‘cooler refrigerator than others’ showed how she was underestimating it.
It was possible because her goal was originally to create ‘the coldest refrigerator in the world’.
She was a magitech engineer who unfolded adventures as a journey itself, just like any other genius.
5 gold?
The cost of materials would likely be a significant loss.
She probably didn’t account for scavenging materials from various places as part of the cost.
This item could easily sell for 500 gold, not just 5.
… So.
He negotiated a fair price.
— Chink!
Coins poured into Amy’s hands.
As she stared blankly at the sight, her pupils gradually dilated, and eventually, her eyes began to shake from side to side.
One, two.
Counting the coins, she finally spoke with a trembling voice.
“Um, sir…”
“Yes?”
“You gave me, um, ten more…”
“…”
“10, 10 silver coins more…”
I paid 5 gold and 10 silver coins.
“Please deliver it to my home. My hands are full.”
“U-um, really… Th-thank you… for buying this… Hehehe! P-please come again…!”
The additional 10 silver coins were for the delivery fee.
‘Capitalism is a cold business.’
Anyway.
Thus, he managed to obtain all the materials.
◆
Back at his lodging.
He closed his eyes while holding a bunch of large grapes.
“I apologize for using the Snowflake Sword Technique in a place like this, Master.”
After making his apology.
He stood in front of the ‘refrigerator’.
He lifted up the prepared sugar solution through extraction.
At the same time.
— Shooaaahh
Sugar flowers bloomed in the shape of snowflakes.
As they passed through the refrigerator, they turned into frost.
White sugar ice snowflakes scattered.
He waved his hand, filling the fruits with sugar ice snowflakes.
“Phew.”
He handed the [Ice Sugar Snowflake Fruit] to Danya.
“Try it.”
“Yum.”
Danya’s eyes widened as she swallowed one.
Her tail shot up in surprise, then swayed gently.
Success.
“Mmm… I ate it!”
Should he try one too?
— Crunch!
The soft ice snowflakes settled delicately, providing a crispy and sweet texture without sticking excessively to the teeth.
The bursting fruit inside complemented the tartness in the mouth.
… It was delicious.
He was sure without hesitation.
This was probably good enough to open a dental clinic simultaneously.
“I… Ian!”
Danya, who had already devoured two skewers, came back with a handful of cherry tomatoes.
“Do it with tomatoes too!”
He did.
… And the result.
“Ugh, I can’t move anymore.”
Danya, clutching her stomach, collapsed on the floor.
Stroking her protruding belly.
As he packed the snowflake fruits into the ice bag, he advised her.
“… Lie down on the bed.”
“I-Is that okay?”
It might look suspicious if the neighbors saw Danya leaving the house with a bulging belly.
— Oh my, bachelor! Congratulations! Ohoho! Seems like you’re doing well at night! She looked a bit young for a bride, but she’s okay, right?
Just imagining it made him dizzy.
“Yeah. Digest all of that no matter what happens before you go out.”
With a nonchalant reply, Danya had already tucked herself into bed.
“Sniff.”
“… What’s up?”
“Hehehe.”
Danya peeked her head out from under the blanket, asking.
“Where are you going, Ian?”
With the ice bag full of snowflake fruits, he answered.
“To the academy.”
