Aside from heading to the Hostess of Fertility in the morning, I spent the whole day in my room injecting poison into my body and looking at what among the things I could make now would be profitable.
'...Why do I feel like I've become a drug addict?'
It was a thought that came to mind while injecting more poison as it weakened, noticing injection marks concentrated in one spot.
"Ah, crap... Blood is flowing from my eyes and ears. Did I inject too much?"
Perhaps because I was distracted while injecting, I accidentally injected double the usual amount, and
"Ugh... I can't breathe..."
'Thud!'
My heart immediately started beating abnormally fast, my ears went numb, my vision turned red, and in an instant, all strength left my body, causing me to collapse onto the desk and lose consciousness.
"...Damn it."
Fortunately, since I revive within 2-3 seconds even if I die, I came to my senses quickly, but a candle next to me had fallen over.
"Did the blood prevent it from catching fire..."
The candle falling itself wasn't a big problem, but it happened to land on a pile of papers, so if I had been unlucky, it could have led to a major fire.
'...As the god said, I should switch to magic stone lamps.'
I had been using candles because they were cheaper than magic stone lamps, but after what just happened, I thought it would be safer to change.
"Flint... where did I put the flint?"
I took the flint out of the drawer to light the candle, and suddenly a good money-making idea came to mind.
'...Why did I think of this now? The ignition tools used in this world are all flint or matches that smell bad when lit... I can make it, right? A lighter.'
Above all, lighters are much easier to make than one might think, so it was worth trying.
"Not the cheap gas lighters given out at bars or karaoke rooms, but something like a Zippo oil lighter... If I can somehow make the body well with iron plates, it's worth a try..."
Since the structure is so simple, the materials needed to make it are almost non-existent.
'According to a video I saw on repairing vintage Zippo lighters, all I need is cotton, a wick, flint, and oil, so I just need to get iron plates of appropriate thinness.'
Even all the materials can be easily obtained from around, so I immediately prepared to go out.
"...Huh? Where are you going?"
As I hurriedly left the room, Naza, who was deeply engrossed in research, looked at me and asked.
"A good idea came to mind, so I'm going to make a prototype."
"...If you're saying that, it must be something great. But come back quickly and don't go to the dungeon like yesterday."
"Yes."
After leaving the shop, I headed to the northeastern Main Street, the industrial district of Orario, and
"Welcome!"
I came to the store where I had bought the iron rods used to make the weight bands.
"I want to buy thin iron plates. Do you have any?"
"How thin do you want them?"
"Um..."
Thinking about it, I remembered that both the body and the lid were very thin.
"What's the thinnest you have?"
"Among the products in stock, the thinnest is 1cm."
As I recall, the overall thickness was less than 0.1cm.
"Hmm... Do you sell anything thinner than that?"
"Uh... If you order custom-made, it's possible, but how thin do you want?"
"About 0.1cm thick, around 20 plates..."
Then, the store clerk's expression stiffened instantly, and he went inside the store.
'...Was that too ridiculous an order?'
He returned after a while.
"Phew... Fortunately, he says he can make it right away."
"Oh! Really?"
"But he said it's hard to make them wide, is that okay?"
"How wide are they?"
"He said about 10cm is the limit."
"Ah, that's enough."
"Then... Since it's custom-made, the price is..."
However, perhaps because it was custom-made, it cost more than expected.
'Since it's not mass-produced, it's expensive, but if I establish a framework and ask for regular production, it'll solve the problem.'
After gathering all the remaining materials, I immediately started working, and
"This is way harder than I thought..."
In three hours, I only managed to make the body and the head part where the fire comes out.
"Heating it slowly to bend it into shape without breaking is this tough..."
The square-shaped Zippo lighters commonly seen on Earth are factory-made, so in a way, it was expected.
'...Should I have made it cylindrical instead?'
After that, as I connected the parts I somehow made one by one, four hours passed, and
"Damn rivets... They're a pain to make."
Even screws are small and hard to make, but having to make hollow ones by hand made me almost throw it away midway.
'Click!'
To check if it lights properly, I opened the lid and turned the flint, and
'Click! Click! Fwoosh!'
Contrary to my worries, fortunately, it lit well.
"Now I should show it to my senior and the god."
'Snap!'
When I closed the lid, that characteristic sound echoed, and somehow I felt relieved.
"I, I did it!!"
As I put the lighter in my pocket and went down the stairs, Naza's shout suddenly came, and
"...Huh?"
Wondering what was happening, I headed toward Naza and saw her holding a potion of a color I had never seen before.
"Finally, it's complete!!"
"Fortunately, it was a success."
Seeing Miach applauding to congratulate her and Naza cheering like someone who had achieved a wish, it seemed Naza had also made something amazing.
"What did you make for senior to cheer like that?"
"It's a potion that can recover both stamina and mind at the same time."
"...What?"
Since I had seen her steadily researching, I had expected that if this research succeeded, something great would be made, but this was beyond imagination.
"Naza calls it the Dual Potion. The last ingredient was something that could only be obtained outside Orario, so it was troublesome, but thanks to the bath bombs you made, we had some leeway and asked a regular adventurer to procure it."
"Haha..."
For just a bath bomb to lead to this, you never know how things will turn out in life.
"By the way, Kai, I heard you were making something too. Is it finished?"
"It's finished. But it's nothing compared to what senior made."
As I said that, I handed the lighter I made to Miach.
"Hmm... There's a slight oil smell."
Miach, receiving the lighter, examined it here and there, then opened the lid, and
'Click!'
"The sound when opening is crisp and nice. But is this inside flint?"
"Try pressing the round thing slightly and turning it."
'Click! Click! Click!'
Since it was Miach's first time using it, and I had made it for the first time, I had made the wheel a bit small, so it didn't light easily.
'Snap! Fwoosh!'
After turning the wheel about five times, the lighter lit, and
"..."
Miach stared blankly at the flame.
"I may have made something, but you've made something no less impressive...?"
While pondering what kind of reaction that was, Naza had already approached from behind me, taken the lighter Miach was holding, and started examining it with interest.
"No horrible smell like matches, and it's small enough to fit in one hand, so it's convenient to carry... How long can this be used...?"
"If used about 20 times a day, it can last roughly two weeks. The duration per use is within 5 minutes; since it has oil-soaked cotton inside and the body is metal, using it longer could build up pressure inside and potentially cause it to explode."
"...Is there a need to use it 20 times a day? Well... Anyway, if it can last two weeks with that much use, it means it can last over a month with normal use... This is an amazing invention..."
'...Is it right to call this an invention?'
After examining the lighter, Naza closed the lid, and
'Snap!'
"Oh..."
'Click! Snap! Click! Snap!'
She started enjoying the opening and closing that everyone does at least once, and
"..."
Miach and I silently watched that sight.
.
.
.
To celebrate the birth of the Dual Potion and the lighter, Miach suggested having a party, but sadly, there was nothing suitable at home, so we decided to go to a modest place I knew where we could enjoy a small party, but
"Hehe~ Perfect, meow!"
"Welcome, meow!"
Somehow, I ended up being kidnapped by the black-haired cat person... no, Chloe, and dragged to the Hostess of Fertility.
"Work hard, Kai... Miach-sama and I will be enjoying ourselves..."
She was even cooking while wearing an outfit similar to the waitresses.
"At least it's not a skirt, but... what exactly is going on?"
"Sigh..."
It seemed this incident was caused by those two cat people working outside the kitchen.
"...So, what should I do?"
Judging by Mia's reaction, it was completely unexpected, so she seemed slightly flustered.
"First, apologize for my daughters' behavior."
"It's not like you did it on purpose. Besides, you're treating my senior and the god, so tell me what I need to do."
"...Then, start with washing the dishes."
"Yes."
Fortunately, before working at my father's friend's convenience store, I had followed my father's advice to learn a bit about social life by working part-time at a restaurant, where the most common tasks were dishwashing and serving.
"Since it's a greasy dish, wipe it overall first and clean the inside thoroughly..."
'Scrub... scrub...'
"For the bowl that held salad, lightly wipe it once and just rinse with water."
As I quickly processed the mountain of dishes one by one, Mia, who had been in the kitchen, was watching me.
"Those are the movements of someone with restaurant experience."
"My father said learning social life helps in living, so I worked at a restaurant before."
"Did you learn cooking then too?"
"No, cooking is just a hobby."
As I washed dishes and occasionally answered Mia's questions, before I knew it, the dishwashing was done.
"Meow~ The new dishwasher is good... Did you finish all that pile, meow?!"
By clearing my mind and focusing on the task at hand, it ended faster than expected, so I helped the busy waitresses and repeated handling the accumulated dishes, and
"Manners ingrained in your body, knowledge of various kinds, and cooking as a hobby to that extent? Were you from a noble family?"
With some leeway, this time I prepared ingredients for the next dish next to Mia.
"Not a noble, but we had some money. My father worked protecting wealthy people, and my mother was a doctor."
"...Why the past tense?"
"Because I can't see them anymore."
'Ah... I'm about to tear up suddenly. I hope they're doing well.'
Lost in thought, I didn't notice, but a few waitresses secretly eavesdropping on my story and Mia's hands preparing ingredients had stopped.
"I won't forget the past, but now is now, so I have to move forward... Well, thanks to my senior and the god, I'm living well now."
"...That's good, then."