RQF 01 - Fetching New Brick Oven
--- Quest ---
Fetch a brick oven from Italy, by TheOneWhoDreams
--- Story ---
--- Italy ---
It started with a movie.
It wasn't fantasy, since neither Yuki nor Zaria felt like watching CGI.
It wasn't a thriller, since the limitations of humans made watching tedious.
It wasn't sci-fi, since neither of them like over-teched settings much.
It wasn't a drama, since those were tedious and usually just talking would solve most of them.
It wasn't romance, since those could be boring.
It was horror, due to how obnoxious the cast was, both were cheering for the monster, though.
However, there was one scene that intrigued them both.
At a restaurant, the chef was Italian and made pizza in a real brick oven.
"Kon!"
"I made it in one of those before, actually, remember the time I made an oven myself and how many times we redid it until the heat was just perfect?"
"Kon kon."
"I feel like eating Pizza now."
"Kon kon kon."
"Get a real one from Italy to make real pizza? Sure why not."
"Kon," Yuki jumped on Zaria's p.
The floof picked the vixen up and teleported.
--- Italy ---
In Italy, the duo was reminded of something they had forgotten.
Time zone differences. They had been watching the movie at midnight, which made it afternoon in Italy. Luckily for them, anyway.
"We need to stop being so spontaneous, any idea where to go?" Zaria asked Yuki.
"Kon kon?"
While weird, nobody really cared about the fox eared and fox tailed foreigner. The white fluffy fox was more interesting. Though the white foreigner wasn't wearing shoes for some reason.
"Internet research first, I guess."
The duo teleported back.
--- Japan ---
There were various types of brick ovens made especially for pizzas. Wood, gas, coal, electric, and differences in size naturally. Additionally, there were standalone, indoor and outdoor, and isoted versions.
"What about this one?" Zaria pointed at one, "wood or coal, rge enough for up to four family sized pizzas, pretested, and from a small family store?"
"Kon kon kon~"
"A smaller one? You want it outdoor?" Zaria rose, there was an outdoor cooking space in their shrine, there was enough space left over to accommodate a rge oven, "that will look weird, we seem to have made everything else Japanese style."
"Kon kon?"
"Accessorize it? But that will change the heat distribution."
"Kon!"
"That might work, I guess I will need to enchant the wood so it doesn't burn down in case it is hotter than expected. Want to finish the movie first? This seems to be a rger project."
"Kon~"
The duo returned to watching TV.
---
The next morning, neither of them rose early. They ate, ignored their cravings for pizza, and went back to researching.
"Kon!"
"Hmm?"
"Kon kon!"
"Oh, that is bad, I guess we need to look for pre-made ones, unless you want to wait three weeks for them to build and test the oven?"
"Kon!"
"Me neither," Zaria agreed. It made sense that they built ovens to order, but three weeks was too much to wait.
"Let's try something different, maybe a restaurant is selling their old one?"
Restaurants were selling ovens, but those were not standalones, or too modern compared to what the duo wanted.
"That's it, I am done," Zaria rose, "I want an oven and pizza. It is time to scry our target."
"Kon!" Yuki completely agreed.
They took a silver mirror, and Zaria cast her scrying spell. Target; a nice four pizza, or two family pizza oven, even heat distribution with a front back variance. Additionally, for sale, restoration if damaged was possible.
They found a target. Only, it wasn't opened yet. Ten o'clock te morning in Japan was two in the morning in Italy. They had eight hours until the artisan opened.
"Since we are making pizza, let us get the ingredients over there as well. Now what do you want on yours?"
"Kon kon kon, kon kon."
So another shopping list was created. Olive oil, sami, ham, cheese, and flour. The tomato sauce, garlic oil, and herb mix they were going to make on their own.
Zaria passed the time by sweeping the shrine.
Hours ter, and a skipped lunch, the duo was ready.
It was time.
--- Italy ---
"Hello, I want to buy one of your pre-assembled outdoor ovens," Zaria greeted.
The young man, possibly a son or sales clerk, looked at Zaria with slight confusion.
Albino, fluffy ears, fluffy ears, weird outfit, white fox on shoulder, barefoot, and no car in sight.
"Yes, please come this way," the man wanted to get them into the office to figure out what was going on. Was it one of those prank TV shows?
"I know which one I want," she declined, "it is this way."
Being led was weird, she led him to a rger outdoor oven, when it should be him who led her. "This is the one."
It was a rger one, more expensive, and had been standing around for a long time, a cleaning and some repairs were probably needed. "It should be ready for pick-up or delivery in a few days."
"No need, I will take it right away, and I can fix the cracks without problems." Zaria declined, magic was such a cheat when it came to repairs.
"It is best left to a professional, as is the instaltion."
"I am from Japan, so any on site repairs will have to be carried out by locals." She informed the man.
"You came to Italy to buy an oven?"
The albino nodded, "if I want to make proper Italian pizza, I need a proper Italian oven and ingredients."
The man mentally changed tracks, this was a rich weirdo. "We cannot cover warranty and on site repairs in this case." He warned.
"That is not a problem."
"Kon~" Yuki agreed.
"Very well, please follow me for the proceedings. How do you wish to pay?"
"Is cash fine?"
"Yes?" The man stopped, "That is around 9000 Euros."
"No problem." Zaria pulled out a still foiled bundle of 100 Euro notes. "Let me check, this is a 100 note bundle," she handed it over. "And here is a business card, you can probably use this for the bill."
"Okay?" The man felt weirded out, but it did not matter, probably. He was going to call his boss anyway. After all, it was best to make sure that everything was fine. Additionally, he had to check every single banknote.
"Since this will probably take a while, is there a good farm or natural produce store nearby?" Zaria asked.
"If you want vegetables, there is a farm about half an hour that way, just turn right after the old bridge. The supermarket is in the town centre."
"Thank you, I will be back soon."
The man watched the woman walk off. He shook his head and entered the building, heading for the workshop. He looked at the packed bundle in his hand and the business card.
His boss was not going to believe him.
---
Zaria returned, carrying nothing.
"You did not find it?" The man asked the foxy duo.
"Oh I did, I bought plenty, their tomatoes are simply wonderful."
The man nodded, she probably sent it off with some truck or something that was waiting somewhere. "My father wishes to meet you."
"Sure, lead the way."
"This way, then."
Yuki and Zaria followed to a workshop. It was still a traditional one. "Oh, you even make your own bricks," that impressed the floof. "I made my st self-made oven with granite, natural rock does have a harder time with heating and cooling, or temperature differentials."
The old artisan frowned at the floof, it was time to test her.
A discussion and probing on heating, cooking, then building, maintenance, and finally pizza started. He was surprised when she pulled out several types of flour and started discussing those with him.
Finally, he decided to sell. He even knocked the price from 9 200 Euros down to 8 500 Euros.
85 green 100 Euro notes and a contract ter, Yuki and Zaria owned a rge outdoor brick oven in need of minor repairs.
"Do you believe in magic?" Zaria asked the older artisan with a smile.
He looked from her ears, to the tail, and then her empty hands that held nothing instead of the returned money and sales contract. "Maybe."
The oven faded away.
"Thank you, in case we need another one, or we have questions, we will visit."
"Kon!" Yuki waved with her paw.
Then both foxes were gone.
"Dad?"
"Son, remember those te movies with foxes that eat people?"
"Those were Korean, not Japanese, I think they are like those from the animes my children watch."
"Hmm, do you think that an advertisement like 'Non-humans welcome!' will help?"
"I don't know, I doubt all of them simply make things fade away."
"Now I want to make a new oven, that spot looks so empty."
The son sighed, his father was very particur about such things.
--- Japan ---
"This looks good."
The fluffy duo appreciated the new oven.
"Repair, Clean."
The oven looked far better now, it must have stood outside for quite a while.
"Time to make pizza!" "Kon!"
--- Quest Complete ---
Reward:One Brick Pizza Oven, required to make real Italian pizza.
