Chapter 23 Repairs and New Items
When I step out of the dining hall, Sesto, face all red from drinking, takes a deep sigh.
"Go do your best now, Kreis. If you're in trouble, just ask the boss before me. Call me if something happens."
"Thanks. Just call me Tsukumo, okay? It's probably the same as calling you elder brother. Can I call you Sesto too?"
"Of course, yeah!?"
Somehow, Sesto looks like he's about to cry again.
Maybe he's drinking too much alcohol.
"...Such a ladies' man, huh?"
"What?"
Yuruyana, who's been quiet the whole time, looks up at me and mutters with a dissatisfied face.
Maybe he's still mad about me forcefully looking at the picture.
* * *
The brand-new Kreis General Store quietly opened thanks to various people's help and a lot of kindness.
But honestly, I haven't promoted much, so mostly Yuruyana's customers drop by.
And even those aren't many.
So, while that's happening, I hide away in the workshop, messing around with the equipment.
"Time for lunch soon. ...What are you making?"
Yuruyana peeks from the side at the small box I'm fixated on.
"The radio in the dining hall was pretty old, right? Had lots of noise, so I thought I'd send a new one."
In the back of the workshop, there's a storage room filled with lots of blueprints my Grandfather drew.
Just looking at them is fun enough, but I really wanna try making stuff myself anyway.
"It doesn't feel like something a general store should sell, though..."
But Grandfather used to sell those too.
Probably just like me now, he'd set them up types when he was bored.
"Almost done, so hold on a little longer. If you're hungry, go ahead and eat first."
"How much longer?"
"Plenty."
"Got it."
After about enough time, I finish the assembly and head back to the store. Yuruyana is at the counter, reading Grandfather's daily report to pass time.
He looks at me, then glances at the wall clock.
"Really enough time. Tsukumo, you're punctual."
"Yeah, maybe because I got a lot of instructions like that, telling me when to start things."
Thanks to that, I can roughly estimate not just my own timing but also for others I know a little about.
"Eh! You're giving me this!?"
I gave Mako a new radio as a present, and she was the happiest.
Hannah and Mako's mom, Ms. Lilia, looked surprised.
"Are you sure I can have it?"
"Wow, the sound is so different from the old one!"
Mako started the radio right away, and listened to music on the channel she always plays in the shop, ignoring Hannah who seemed hesitant.
"I want one for my room!"
"Buy your own!"
"Okay..."
Hannah watched Mako as she swapped the old radio for the new one.
"Auntie, what's wrong? ...Was I being nosy?"
"No, it's not that. The old radio was given to me by Mr. Momota. Tsuku-Tsuku does the same thing, so I got nostalgic."
It was Grandfather's homemade radio, after all.
But Hannah still looked sad.
She noticed me looking and said shyly.
"The old one isn't broken, so it feels wasteful to throw it away..."
"But it hasn't been working well lately. Customers will be happier with this one."
Mako was annoyed.
"I know..."
It seems she doesn't want to throw away something that reminds her of the past.
Considering there are many old tools and ornaments in the cafeteria, Hannah seems to be the type who can't throw away things she cares about.
So I suggested something.
"How about we fix the old radio too? Mako can use mine."
"Really!?"
"Mako!"
Ms. Lilia scolded her, and Mako pouted a little.
In the end, we cleaned Grandfather's radio, got rid of the dust and oil, and improved the circuit board a bit.
The noise went away and the sound quality got better, and it went back to working in the cafeteria. And Mako got my radio.
Also,
"Hey, grandson! Is it true you can fix Mr. Momota's machines!?"
Regular customers noticed the change in the cafeteria radio's sound, and it turned into a demonstration sale.
Thanks to the people in the cafeteria advertising that I did it, I started getting repair and new orders from customers who bought Arcane Art tools and machines at Grandfather's shop in the past.I had to check the ledger in a hurry to see how much I was charging before.
When work gets busier, stuff you never needed before suddenly becomes must-have.
Yuruyana was watching me groan over my Grandfather's blueprints and notes, looking all curious.
"What's wrong this time?"
"... lacking the materials."
"Aren't they sold here? Even in the capital?"
"Not that they're not sold, but they're super expensive..."
The person asking for help was from the port area further west of downtown, running a food processing shop. They wanted me to make a drying machine using heat to make dried fish.
Thanks to how well they were selling, they wanted to increase the number of machines, and when they heard I could make the same as my Grandfather, they hurried over to ask.
Checking the ledger, sure enough, there were records of 2 sold about ten years ago.
Even those 2 had blueprints kept, and the outside frame was to be made by the factory I visited the other day, so I could make both the outer shell and the circuit boards.
But...
"By the way, what kind of material?"
"Salamander's magic gemstone..."
"Huh..."
Why would they use a core from a magical beast that lives in lava zones?
I crossed my arms, leaning back in my chair, almost falling over, and hurriedly sat up straight.
"Didn't you act pretty slow for a soldier just now?"
"That's the old me. I'd be totally slower compared to when I was active."
Just don't say I fell over──that's an achievement.
"Why don't you just train yourself and go get it?"
"...Honestly, Grandfather probably did the same thing."
"Are you serious?"
Because instead of the purchase money, there were travel and lodging expenses accounted for.
Grandfather was healthy enough that it was like his sudden health crash was a lie, but I think he was a bit too active.
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