013: Frying pan and Tamagoyaki

September 18, 2020 - 9 minutes read - 1725 words

I pass back through the village square, it’s busy as ever today. Looking for the older woman from the restaurant… lovely ladies are all over the square on a day that I can’t enjoy them.

“Oh, yeah! So I’ve made spaghetti twice now.” Lady A

“Me too” Lady B

“My husband wants to eat it as much as I do? Is that reasonable?” Lady C

“Wow, my husband Mario often eats it too.” Lady A

“Thanks for that bread! It’s unbelievable!” Lady B

It seems that women gossiping about food and husbands is universal. I should be careful with my recipe sharing since women usually have a sweet-tooth. In this world where sugar is scarce, how many arguments will I unintentionally cause? I’m worried that sugar will become even more scarce. I don’t want to make Bartolo’s struggles any worse…

This next recipe shouldn’t cause any issues, I think. I’m getting closer to the blacksmith Logan’s house as I move through the plaza. As a I walked past the mayor’s house at the north of the village, I soon came upon a hut on the edge of the woods. Looks like there’s another hut behind the main one, possibly a warehouse for goods. As I get closer, I can hear a metallic rhythm from the hut.

What kind of person is Mr. Logan? Celia told me that he is prickly on the outside, but not that hard to get to do what’s needed. I don’t know how old Celia is, but I wonder if Logan is older or younger than her. I’m not sure how the hierarchical relationships of the Koriat village function. Hopefully, Logan is just a grumbly man, I think I can work with that kind of person.

“Morning, is Logan around?” Al

I peek into the hut, looking for where the sound of work is coming from. Inside, the hut’s wall is blackened with soot all over. It seems to be away from the rest of the village due to the sound and soot. In the back is a bearded man with a cloth wrapped around his head to keep the sweat out of his eyes. That’s probably Logan.

His body is heavily muscled, since he’s a blacksmith. Maybe fifty years old, though it may from his sweatiness, sootiness and beard stubble. Logan seems to either have not noticed me or has chosen not to notice me, he’s continuing to work on a piece. I chose to wait until he finished before speaking up.

Eventually, he finished what he was working on.

“This isn’t a place for children to play…” Logan

Looks like I’m not welcome, but then again, what’s the likelihood of a four-year-old wanting to hire a blacksmith for a custom item?

“I have something I would like made.” Al

“Is this a game? Please go elsewhere to play.” Logan

Ah, it seems the direct route didn’t work, perhaps I can use a different route. I should have trump card for this situation.

“I see… Mrs. Celia had said that Mr. Logan would be willing to discuss things, but if not, maybe I heard her wrong. I’ll have to go back to her and see what I misunderstood. I’ll go check on that and be back later.” Al

“Just a minute…” Logan grumbles.

Oh good, that was the right trump card.

“Yes?” Al

“You wanted something custom made?” Logan

“What if I was lying about Celia directing me to you?” Al

“If you’re a resident here, you know what lines shouldn’t be crossed. That’s not one I’d want to touch…” Logan

At first Logan was all business, now he seems a bit downtrodden. I will find a way to live freely so I won’t turn into a man like this. I swear it.

“So?” Al

Looks like Logan is willing to hear me out now. Logan has seen some shit.

“What kind of things can you make?” Al

“I regularly make pots, farm tools, knives, occasionally swords. Honestly, I’m best at kitchen knives.” Logan

“That’s a nice variety.” Al

“Village blacksmiths wouldn’t be very useful if they can’t do at least that much.” Logan

“Great. I’d like a frying pan and a knife today.” Al

“You might need a smaller knife, but I’ve got several frying pans in the storehouse already. Do you want one of those?” Logan

“No, the frying pan I’m looking for is square, and the handle is attached diagonally.” Al

I should draw up the frying pan I want on some paper. At first, I thought it was parchment, but it’s just low quality paper. A merchant brings some when they visit. It seems the capital has access to better quality paper. Mrs. Celia has a bound pad of the low quality paper, it seems she’s recording her recipes to teach to her daughter. Will a new village strongwoman ascend in a few years?

Ah well, I’ll grab some of the paper I keep in my subspace and “pull” it out of my pocket. This should let me draw up the frying pan. I’ll to top, side, bottom and isometric drawings.

“Yeah, that’s square. What are you planning on using that for?” Logan

“A tasty type of fried egg.” Al

“Tastier than normal fried eggs?” Logan

“Anyone can do those fried eggs, for mine you have to have a square pan.” Al

“So, is this right?” Logan

After that, we talked over the dimensions of the pan. I also learned that if I didn’t need the knife right now, it would be better to come back and pick it up with the frying pan. Hmm? I guess it’s better to make a knife for me from scratch than to customize an existing adult-sized knife.

One week later

I’m going back to Logan’s house, since he said it should be ready by now. However, I’m going to use Spatial Magic to make it much quicker. Remember where the blacksmith’s hut is and let’s go!

The scenery of the mansion disappeared, and then I was in front of Logan’s hut. At first, I was unnerved by the changes in scenery when using Transfer Magic, but I’ve gotten used to it by now. Thanks to my daily practice, it’s unremarkable to transfer this distance. Last time, I had be sure to carefully remember the details of the hut, I like to stay on the safe side. My inspection did confuse Logan, he asked if there was anything weird about his hut.

It looks the same as last week. I can hear Logan working from the metallic thumps of his hammer. Looks like he’s finishing up a kitchen knife, maybe mine?

“Oh, you’re here. When did you arrive?” Logan

I came using Transfer Magic, you didn’t hear me approaching like normal, right? This magic would be ideal for an assassin.

“Just now. Have you got the two items finished.” Al

Logan picks up a knife and points to the two square frying pans on the wall.

One has been promised to Celia, while the other will be used in the mansion. I’ll check them over to make sure they’ll work. They look just as I specified. Logan seems to be a bit more accepting of me now.

“Thanks!” Al

“So you do you use it?” Logan

“If you have a kitchen and ingredients, I could make one right now?” Al

“It’s not a large kitchen, but it should have eggs, salt and a little sugar.” Logan

“Sure, I’ll make one for a demonstration.” Al

Logan led me out of the main hut to another smaller hut.

Wait, is this your actual house? I’m glad you don’t live in your workplace. This hut seems a bit less cared for, there are holes in the walls here and there. When Logan enter, he goes over to the hearth and starts a fire. While he’s doing that, I’ll give the holes a bit of repair with Earth Magic. I move around the hut and fix up the various holes. Mr. Logan seems a bit surprised at this point.

“You can already use magic?” Logan

“Well, I can do this. The holes should be taken care of for now.” Al

“That’s quite appreciated.” Logan

“It’s natural since magic can be used to make our lives better.” Al

“Don’t most people use magic to fight?” Logan

“Personally, I’d only use it for self-defense.” Al

The fire has heated up enough so I’ll add some oil to the frying pan then add the eggs. I’ll keep an eye on them as they heat up.

“Huh, you seem pretty good at cooking. Do you want to be a chef?” Logan

“I like cooking, but I wouldn’t want to make it my career.” Al

When the eggs have been cooked enough, I fold the eggs over to make tamagoyaki. I love this shape. I can eat as many fried eggs like this as I could hold. I used to eat these eggs a bunch back on Earth.

“Huh, so this why the pan had to be square?” Logan murmured.

“Have a bite and see what you think.” Al

Mr. Logan cuts and puts a slice of tamagoyaki in his mouth.

“That’s real good. I often eat fried eggs and mixed vegetables, but to think that the texture and taste can be changed so much just by just layering it.” Logan

“Right? The taste changes depending on the seasoning. If this becomes popular, I think you’ll see many more orders for this frying pan.” Al

“There will definitely be more orders. I’ll go ahead and start work on them.” Logan

Apparently, Logan also liked it. On the contrary, why would you make a boring dish that is not delicious?

After assuring Mr. Logan that he would be able to get this dish at Celia’s restaurant, I managed to get away. This could be my next addictive dish. On the way back to the mansion, I dropped by Celia’s restaurant and taught her.

“Get me more eggs!” Celia

She seems to be in a good mood. It’s like throwing the normal menu to the side to prioritize tamagoyaki. Reversi was a hot product in the restaurant and the patrons were weak. It seems the hotshot is Celia’s daughter. I asked if Mr. Logan was normally like that.

“Logan has always been that kind of guy.” Celia

Huh, so that’s Logan.