Jigglypuff's Diary

The Next Day

“Ugh, ughh… my, my head… It, hurts…” [Rheinhart]

I couldn’t see Elia and the others yesterday, so when I woke up today, I went over to their room to check up on them. There, I saw Rheinhart-san, suffering from a hangover.

“Ara, good morning, Ryouma-kun.” [Madam]
“Good morning, everyone.” [Ryouma]
“Ryouma-kun…” [Rheinhart]
“Looks painful. Should I make you some medicine?” [Ryouma]
“Mind if I ask you to…?” [Rheinhart]
“No problem.” [Ryouma]

Using warp, I went over to different stores to buy the things I need. First, I dropped by at the chemist to buy the ingredients. Then I went to the grocery to look for a fruit. When I found it, I bought it and went back to the lodging. As soon as I got back, I immediately concocted the medicine, and a fruit juice that can be drank with it.

“Here, please drink this. Then afterwards, please drink some water.” [Ryouma]

It would’ve been great if I was able to buy some Japanese persimmons, or some of the clams used for miso soup though. There were plenty of otherworlders in this world, so there should probably be some somewhere, right? I guess I’ll go looking for it next time.

“Th… thanks…I’ll drink it…” [Rheinhart]
“I think it would be better if you don’t drink alcohol too much, Rheinhart-san.” [Ryouma]
“I’m ashamed… yesterday was… ugh… it hurts…” [Rheinhart]

From what I’d gathered after listening to the groaning Rheinhart-san. It would appear that in order to curry favor, some of the people in charge continued to give them liquor and extravagant food, one after another.

The madam may have been fine, but Elia was a different story. Elia had only just recently become able to drink alcohol legally, and was still not used to it. Because of this, she was not able to pace herself.

That’s why there were also people who tried to stop them from making her drink too much, but because some were just too persistent, Rheinhart-san ended up drinking a lot in her place.

When I heard that, I became worried. Elia, are you alright with that kind of stuff? When you grow up, won’t that kind of stuff increase? I’m alright, since I won’t get hangovers or end up dead drunk because of Tekun-sama’s divine protection. And while I don’t know how much alcohol my body can take, I still have my experience from my previous life.

Speaking of which, should I test how much I can drink with this body?

While I was thinking that, I saw Rheinhart-san drink the medicine and the juice. Seeing that, I left the lodging.

It’s a bit late, but I’ll go to store. And then, after checking the store a bit, I left.

Afterwards, I decided to also go to the abandoned mine, since there’s something I wanted to try out. And along the way, also catch some slimes.

But before going, I thought I’d to the guild to get an herb collection quest, since it’s pretty convenient to collect the herbs along the way.

“Hello, Meilin-san.” [Ryouma]
“Ara, Ryouma-kun. Are you here to take a request?” [Meilin]
“Yes, since the employees have already become capable enough to take care of the shop on their own.” [Ryouma]
“To think that you’re actually already able to have your own store and hire people at your age, you’re quite the successful little boy, aren’t you?” [Meilin]
“It’s because my luck is good.” [Ryouma]
“Really? Ah, while this isn’t a request, I think it might be good for you to hear this.” [Meilin]

Not a request?

“What are you talking about?” [Ryouma]
“Actually, there’s a party of five adventurers that came from a different village. But the thing is that party actually came here to bring a rare slime they caught.” [Meilin]

What!?

“Can I hear more regarding that?” [Ryouma]
“Catching a rare beast, or providing information regarding the locations frequented by rare beasts, will normally get one, a sizeable reward from the tamer guild. And so, that party went to the tamer guild with a rare slime they’d caught, and they tried to sell it. But let alone be compensated poorly for the rare slime, their hopes for a transaction weren’t even entertained.

Because they’re still young, it would appear that they weren’t privy to the fact that despite being rare, almost all types of slime aren’t purchased. Your heal slimes are a different story though. Anyway, in the end, that party, having spent a lot of money to come here, looks to be at a complete loss on what to do.” [Meilin]

“In other words, you want me to buy that slime from them?” [Ryouma]
“Exactly. Well, what do you think? Want it?” [Meilin]
“Yes, very much. Could you tell me where that group is staying at?” [Ryouma]
“They’re staying at a cheap inn over at the east district, called Badger Inn. And the name of their group is, ‘Bridge of Scheme’.” [Meilin]
“Thank you very much. I’ll go now.” [Ryouma]

I immediately left the guild, and hurriedly went towards the Badger Inn.

I was able to easily find the Badger Inn, but… from looking outside, it looks really worn out. What is this supposed to be? An abandoned building? Anyway, for the meantime, let’s try to enter…

When I entered the inn, the man at the counter bluntly said this.

“Welcome. You a customer?” [Man]
“I have business with the ‘Bridge of Scheme’ that’s supposed to be staying here. Are they here?” [Ryouma]
“They are.” [Man]

As he said that, he pointed towards the door to the right.

“They’re eating over there at the bar that doubles as a cafeteria. One of them has been drinking since daytime while complaining, so watch yourself.” [Man]
“Thank you very much.” [Ryouma]

A bit blunt, but he’s a nice guy. I open the door, and enter the cafeteria. When I got inside, there were only five customers. Seeing that, I immediately understood that they’re the party Meilin was talking about. All of them looked to be around the latter half of their tens.

“Excuse me, are you the members of the party known as, ‘Bridge of Scheme’?” [Ryouma]

“Mn? And you are?” [Adventurer]
“Please excuse the late introduction, my name is Ryouma Takebayashi. I am a slave magic user and an adventurer.” [Ryouma]
“Hah! You? A brat like you is an adventurer?” [Adventurer]
“Stop it, Thayne. Sorry, this guy’s mood is a bit bad…” [Adventurer 2]
“I heard that you brought a rare slime with you, and failed when you tried to sell it to the guild.” [Ryouma]
“Yeah, and what…” [Adventurer 2]
“Hahhh!!? Then what, bitch? You came here to pick a fight!?” [Thayne]

The guy called Thayne, stood up, and walked towards me. But his party members stopped him.

“No, I didn’t come here to pick a fight.” [Ryouma]
“What? Then I guess you came here to make fun of us, huh!? For even a brat like this… fuck this shit!! Yeah, that’s right! We’re morons! We thought we’d make a killing by selling a rare magical beast, and we even went so far as to spend a lot of money just to get here. And in the end we couldn’t even sell it and made a huge loss instead!! But why do we have to be made fun of by a bitch like you!!?” [Thayne]

As Thayne said that, he broke down crying. Looks like he’s completely drunk. A bad case of persecution complex to go with it too.

“Thayne” [Adventurer 2]
“Calm down” [Adventurer 3]
“I’ll take Thayne to the room. He can’t talk like this after all.” [Adventure 4]
“I’ll go too.” [Adventurer 5]

The two men, who I’m unacquainted with, took Thayne to their room.

“Let’s do this again. We are the ‘Bridge of Scheme’, and I’m their leader, Shin.” [Adventurer 2]
“And I’m Gai. Sorry about Thayne.” [Adventurer 3]
“It’s fine.” [Ryouma]
“Thanks. Then, what business do you have with us?” [Shin]

Oh, right. That’s what’s important! Who cares about whether there’s a drunk or not!

“Just as I’ve mentioned a while ago, I would like to purchase the slime.” [Ryouma]
“That slime?” [Shin]
“I’m happy that you want to buy the slime, but why? We were laughed at a lot by the tamer guild, you know?” [Gai]

“It’s because I’m gathering slimes and researching them. Because of that, I want to acquire rare slimes.” [Ryouma]
“You’re gathering slimes? That’s quite odd. But just as Gai had mentioned, we’d be grateful if you took it off our hands.” [Shin]
“So you’ll let me purchase it, then? How much will it be?” [Ryouma]
“Right… how about you decide. After all, we were told by the tamer guild that a price can’t be attached to it, so it’s quite difficult for us to name a price.” [Shin]
“As long as you can pay it, anything’s fine. After all, we’re leaving tomorrow anyway.” [Gai]

“Is that so? Then, could you show me that slime? If it’s one of the slimes I’m already raising, then I’ll buy it cheaply. But if it’s not, then I’ll pay plenty for it.” [Ryouma]
“Alright, that’s fine.” [Shin]
“Give me a sec, I’ll bring it out now.” [Gai]

As Gai said that, he stood up from his seat, and came back with a box after 3 seconds.

“There’s a slime inside this. Carefully take a look.” [Gai]
“Excuse me.” [Ryouma]

I open the lid while being careful, and took a look at the slime in there.

That slime was dark red. And compared to normal slimes, its body was a lot more muddy and closer to liquid. After I’d confirmed that, I closed the lid.

“How is it?” [Shin]
“It’s not one of the slimes I’m raising, so I’ll put a high price on it… Excuse me for asking, but may I know how much you’ve spent until now?” [Ryouma]
“Around 5,000 suits. We cut as much as we could on our expenses, but we couldn’t cut it any further than this.” [Shin]

Hearing that, I took out a small gold coin from my ‘Item Box’.

“Then in that case, I’ll pay double of that for 10,000 suits.” [Ryouma]

When they heard that, the two couldn’t help but be flustered.

“Seriously!?” [Gai]
“Is it really ok to buy a slime for 1 small gold coin?” [Shin]
“Of course. After all, it’s thanks to everyone that I’ll be able to acquire a new slime.” [Ryouma]

There’s nothing regrettable about getting a new slime for 1 small gold coin!

“I, I see… we don’t have any complaints here either.” [Shin]
“Then in that case, please take this.” [Ryouma]

I hand over the small gold coin to Shin-san.

“Certainly.” [Shin]
“Then, I’ll be taking this slime. Thank you very much.” [Ryouma]
“The one who should be thanking is us.” [Gai]
“With this, our concerns regarding money will be gone. I guess Thayne should calm down too.” [Shin]

Well, it’s not like I don’t understand how that guy feels… after all, there was also a time where I didn’t have any money, and was extremely worried.

Speaking of which, isn’t there a lucrative request that should be coming out soon?

“By the way, if you want to make some money, then I think it’ll be better if you stay in the town for a bit longer. From what I hear, there’s an outbreak of a certain monster that will occur in a nearby swamp. And apparently. that monster can be sold as ingredients for a high price. As long as you’re able to ignore the stench, then it should reap you plenty of profits.” [Ryouma]
“Really?” [Shin]
“Yes, please confirm it at the guild. And while I’m not privy to the exact date of the outbreak, it should be soon.” [Ryouma]
“You’ve saved us!” [Gai]
“Thanks for the information. Isn’t there anyway we can repay you?” [Shin]

I don’t really need any thanks though. Oh right. Since it’s like this, I could try advertising.

“Then in that case, please come over to my store. As a sideline, I opened up a laundry agency… though it turn out to become way bigger than a sideline.” [Ryouma]
“Laundry agency?” [Shin]
“Yes. You can get whatever clothes that fit into a bag, bought from the store for 1 medium copper coin, washed. Moreover, there’s a special option for adventurers that will clean armor and equipment, for only 1 medium coper coin and 5 small copper coins.” [Ryouma]
“There was such a store?” [Gai]
“Alright. It’s cheap too, so we’ll give it a shot.” [Shin]

“Thank you very much. The store is located at the east district, before the residential area. There’s also a lot of adventurers that come, so if you’re lost, just ask someone and you should find the way.” [Ryouma]
“We’ll definitely go.” [Gai]
“Thanks for everything.” [Shin]

I took the stone box, left the Badger Inn, and then headed towards the abandoned mine. After all, that’s the best place to perform slime research. I also won’t have to pay attention to my surroundings.

The first thing I did when I got to the abandoned mine, was to start the production of the waterproof cloth. Today’s quota is 50 sheets.

I’m here anyway, so if I don’t do it now, it’ll be my loss.

After I finished that, I went to taming the slime. I gently open the lid of the stone box, gazed at the slime, and then contracted it. Afterwards, I used ‘Monster Identify’ on it. At which, this came out.

Bloody Slime
Skills

The problem is its feed. Since its feed is blood, I wonder what I should do.

“I guess I’ll hunt a suitable magical beast.” [Ryouma]

I order the slimes to play by themselves without going too far, then I take the bloody slime with me to go hunting.

When the slimes got my orders, there were dozens of slimes who took out some staff and spears for practice purposes, and started practicing.

… Looks like there were some zealous slimes…

Several slimes assembled and started practicing the staff techniques, spear techniques, and Taijutsu I had taught them. The slimes performed the techniques I thought them, form after form, learning by rote. And then, there were also slimes that sparred against each other. It feels like their movements are gradually becoming better.

While I was thinking that, I went off with the bloody slime to find some prey. And after some time, I found a horn rabbit.

I took out a bow and arrow from my ‘Item Box’, then with one hit, I felled the horn rabbit. Afterwards, I went over to the corpse of the horn rabbit, then I let the bloody slime eat. When the bloody slime got my order, it slid closer to the horn rabbit’s corpse, and then it began to suck the blood coming from the wound.

Bloodsucking, huh? Well, there’re also living beings that sucked blood back in Earth. Like, mosquitoes or fleas… Come to think of it, there was also a bird that drank blood, right? I guess it feels something like that…!?

While I was observing the bloody slime, I tried to form a conjecture regarding its ecology. But while I was doing that, the bloody slime, whose body was already closer to liquid than other slimes, made its body even more like liquid, then it entered the horn rabbit’s body.

“It entered the body through the wound?” [Ryouma]

Unexpected…

To start off with, the bloody slime’s body was already not sticky, making it different from the other slimes. But now it started to become even less muddy as it became silky like liquid. And like that, it entered the blood vessels of the horned rabbit, and stuck itself to the blood as it sucked it.

“This nature is again quite different as opposed as to the other slimes. There was actually a slime like this.” [Ryouma]

While I was being shocked by the bloody slime’s behavior, the bloody slime went out from inside the horn rabbit’s body… Its color was dark red, as if someone had just blown out blood or something. It’s a little ghastly.

After I confirmed that the bloody slime had fully gotten out, I used ‘Identify’ on the corpse of the horn rabbit.

How is it?

Corpse of the horn rabbit.
It is possible to extract the horn, the meat, and the pelt.
Because it was felled in one shot by the nock of an arrow, the horn and the pelt have received little damage, and are thus, considered a high quality commodity.
It has also had its blood drained as soon as it was killed, causing the foul smell to decrease. Because of this, the meat is considered to be a high quality commodity.

I get the horn and the pelt, but what’s up with the meat? Drain? Is it referring to the bloody slime’s ‘Bloodsucking’? It’s that, right? I can’t think of anything else aside from that. But while it’s good that it’s a high class commodity, it doesn’t have any diseases, right?

As I thought that, I used ‘Identify’ another time to look for diseases. Seeing that there were none, I was relieved.

As an adventurer and as a hunter, I think this ability is really convenient.

When I got back to the mine, I took apart the horn rabbit’s body. When I tried cooking and eating it, I found out that its stench had really gone down, and has become really delicious. The stench disappearing might also have something to do with its ‘Deodorization’ skill.

… Does this mean that in order to make a slime evolve into a bloody slime, I’ll have to make it drink blood?

“Then I guess, I’ll have to gather some blood… but how? It’s not like I could go harvest a huge amount of beasts and magical beasts from around here…” [Ryouma]

If I mobilize the slimes, then I should be able to gather a significant amount. But then, the ecosystem here might be affected. And I’ll also end up ruining other adventurer’s jobs.

“Oh, I got it! I should try talking to Zeke-san.” [Ryouma]

Zeke-san is a butcher. Since it seems he also buys meat from adventurers, it might be possible to have him drain and put aside some blood for me. I should talk to him when I get back.

After that, I went back to the abandoned mine. At which, I suddenly remembered that I had forgotten to capture some slimes.

So I went around looking for some slimes. And in the end, I was able to catch 3 from the tunnels.

After I had tamed them, the cloths still weren’t finished drying. So I decided to try out an experiment.

Even if you deduct the sales of the bags, it’s still around 20,000 suits. This too, is thanks to the cleaner slimes and to everyone.

“Speaking of which, what about the others?” [Ryouma]
“They’re gathered at the employee lounge, and are confirming the earnings.” [Karla]
“Confirming the earnings?” [Ryouma]
“Because the earnings for today have medium copper coins, and small copper coins mixed up, they are currently segregating those while calculating and confirming that the amount is correct.” [Karla]
“So it’s something like that? In that case, let’s go help out.” [Ryouma]
“Please don’t, that’s servant work…” [Karla]
“It’s fine, it’s fine. Even if it’s only in name, I am the boss of this store. I’m also everyone’s comrade when it comes to this job. So I’ll help out.” [Ryouma]
“I understand. However, Ryouma-sama, you are not a manager by name, alone. You are the real boss of this store.” [Karla]

Together with Karla-san, I headed towards the employee lounge… is what I’d like to say, but really, the room is right next to us.

“Thanks for you hard work.” [Ryouma]
“Boss, thanks for today.” [Karma]
“Thanks for today.” [Fina, Jeanne, Maria, Li Ling, Fei]

When I entered, Karma-san was the first to greet me. Afterwards, the other five followed. There is a huge amount of copper coins lying on top of the big table. Looks like they’re counting by hand, one at a time.

“Thank you very much for all your hard work, everyone. It’s really a huge help to me, that I’m able to leave all the work to you guys.” [Ryouma]
“There’s no such thing, you know? After all, this store is treating us really well~” [Jeanne]
“Exactly, Ryouma-sama. Being able to do this much, is only a given, since we were hired as workers after all.” [Karma]

At Karma-san’s words, everyone in the room nodded. Karla-san, who was behind me, also nodded.

“I see. Thank you for that. Then, shall we continue? You were counting these coins, right?” [Ryouma]
“Yes. However, just with us, alone, it should be fine…” [Karma]
“The more hands, the better. Besides, this is a huge amount.” [Ryouma]

Today’s earning is 26,036 suits. And all of that is in small and medium copper coins. In other words, 1 suit, and 10 suits. That’s why it’s only natural, that there’d be so many copper coins.

“Then in that case, please, over here…” [Karma]
“There’s a spot beside me, Ryouma-sama.” [Fei]
“Excuse me.” [Ryouma]

I sit beside Fei-san, and begin counting the copper coins. Still, this is taking quite a bit of time… If you include me, with all 8 of us, the work should go faster, but…

And then, after around a minute of working like that, something hit me. Or rather, I remembered. There was that thing that could be found in a bank, wasn’t it?

I quickly take out a bag of quicklime. As I did that, the other seven looked at me. Without minding them, I used ‘Identify’ on a small copper coin. What is the diameter and the thickness of this coin?

Small Copper Coin; 1 Suit
The smallest coin; made out of copper. Diameter: 0.9cm; Thickness: 2mm

Alright! I’ve changed my opinion. I might actually be able to use this new ‘Identify’.

“Boss? What are you doing? Using ‘Identify’ on the coin… are you actually checking for counterfeit money?” [Fei]
“No, I just thought I’d make a tool.” [Ryouma]
“Tool?” [Fei]
“Please look. ‘Create Block’” [Ryouma]

Using ‘Create Block’ I transform the quicklime, into an oblong building stone. But I made the insides of the building stone, hollow, turning it into some sort of box. I remove one end of the box with ‘Break Rock’, with this, if you incline it, then the object inside will fall.

Furthermore, I use earth magic on the part that has become hollow, and cause a 5×10 square, with each grid extending 1 cm in all directions, to swell and make lines. The height of the swollen part is 2mm. With this, one copper coin can enter one grid.

When I used ‘Identify’, this is what happened.
Building Stone (Quicklime) Length: 14cm Width: 7cm Height: 1cm
Quicklime that has been hardened with earth magic. The shape has been warped according to its maker’s will.

Good, it’s a success!

“Boss, what is that?’ [Karma]
“You use this, like this.” [Ryouma]

As I said that, I put the two copper coins I was holding, inside the building stone. I pin down the end, and shake it, left and right. The coins made a jingling sound, and when all the coins fitted into the grids, I let go of the part I was holding, and the coins that couldn’t fit into a grid, went back to the mountain of copper coins. After that, I had Fei-san count the copper coins that managed to fit into the grids of the building stone.

“Fei-san, can you count these copper coins?” [Ryouma]
“Alright, I’ll count them.” [Fei]

And so, Fei-san began to count. When Fei-san got close to finishing, his eyes gave a piercing gaze.

“50 pieces. Exactly 50 pieces. Boss, you made another convenient tool, huh?” [Fei]

As Fei-san said that, Karma-san, Karla-san, and Li Ling-san all noticed the advantage of using this building stone. The 3 girls didn’t seem to notice, though. So I had them count, next. I quickly put in, the copper coins, shake it, and then distribute the remaining copper coins to the three.

“Umm… it’s 50.” [Jeanne]
“50.” [Maria]
“It’s 50 here, too. How come?’ [Fina]
“Currencies are generally decided by their thickness and size. So exactly 50 pieces are able to fit in the grid, within the building stone. In other words, if you put small copper coins into this, it will be exactly 50 pieces.” [Ryouma]
“Amazing!” [Fina]
“Ryouma-sama, could you also make that for us?” [Karma]
“Of course.” [Ryouma]
“Eh? Eh??” [Jeanne]

Looks like one of the 3 girls, Jeanne, still couldn’t get it. These guys are clearly hardworking people, but it would appear that they’re bad at thinking. Well, it looks like I was at least able to make Fina-san and Maria-san understand the benefits of this. And so, the two began explaining to Jeanne about the building stone.

I went back to the bag of quicklime, and used ‘Create Block’ to make several building blocks, and then distributed it to the others. After that, I also used ‘Identify’ on the medium copper coin, and then made several building blocks that can fit a hundred medium copper coin, and then distributed them as well.

The result of that, was that we were able to proceed smoothly. And without even taking 10 minutes, we managed to count everything.

When we finished counting, I noticed that it was mostly small copper coins. I thought there would be more medium copper coins, but as it turns out, there’re more customers that pay with the small copper coin.

After that, I asked about the state of the store. Like, if there’s anything troubling them or something.

“Something troubling?” [Maria]
“There’s nothing in particular, right guys? ~” [Jeanne]
“This store treats us well, so naturally, we won’t have any complaints.” [Fina]
“Anyone who would have the galls to complain while working in a store like this, is just too spoiled.” [Fei]
“Really? Isn’t the salary too chea–!!” [Ryouma]

Not good. I forgot to give them a rest day! What employee benefits!? I actually made them work without letting them rest!

“What’s wrong, boss? Your face suddenly became pale.” [Fei]
“… I forgot about giving you guys a rest day.” [Ryouma]

When everyone heard my words, they doubted their ears. And then, Jeanne-san yelled.

“Boss! You couldn’t possibly be thinking of going so far as to even give us a rest day!?” [Jeanne]

Eh, what’s with this reaction… isn’t that a given? Well, it’s not really something I should say after I forgot about it, but…

As I take a better look, everyone seemed to be same, and was giving me looks of surprise.

“I think it would be better if you guys had at least one rest day in a week. Have a fixed holiday, once every week, and then by alternating with someone…” [Ryouma]

When I said that, the three girls suddenly became really happy. I was a bit confused at that reaction, and so Karla-san explained it to me.

“Boss, amongst those who leave their homes to work, there aren’t many who are able to get rest. In the case where they don’t possess a certain ability, they get exploited, and are even paid poorly. But, in this store, it’s completely different. Not only are they treated well, they are even given a high salary. With these kind of conditions, it’s only normal to assume that they won’t be given any rest days.” [Karla]
“Moreover, not having a rest day is not only limited to workers that came from somewhere far. Even small stores and groceries, don’t have any rest day except for special events. After all, if they were to give out rest days, then the management will have a harder time. So it isn’t strange at all for there to no rest days.” [Karma]

In other words, stores that can barely get by, huh? Well, there are those kind of stores, too.

“When we went out of our village, our parents apologized to us a lot, you know? “Sorry for pushing this painful job to you,” they said.” [Jeanne]
“I heard that if we were to be hired by someone bad, then forget about being paid dirt cheap and being exploited, even our chastity would be in danger.” [Maria] 

This world handles their employees pretty bad, huh? As I thought that, I looked over to Karla-san…

“Employers that pursue a physical relationship do go against the law, but unfortunately, there are employers that do such things. There’s not that many of them, but still, as an employee, it’s something that one needs to watch out for.” [Karla]

Well, there was also sexual harassment in the previous world. So I guess this is one thing that won’t change, regardless of whether you change worlds or not.

“My store treasures its employees, and aims for a healthy management. So everyone, please rest assured.” [Ryouma]

When I said that, everyone broke into smiles, and said, “Please take care of us.”

Regarding the rest day, they said that it’s a waste to make it now, since we can’t interrupt the flow of customers right now. So it was instead decided, that they would take a holiday in shifts, one day at a time.

While we were having that discussion, I noticed that the time was approaching 9 o’clock, so I bid everyone goodbye, and went back to the lodging. I ended up out late again, so I might get scolded.

When I got to the lodging, Elia and the others had already gotten home.

I leave my belongings in my room, and went to Elia’s room.

There, I heard from Sebasu-san and Rheinbach-sama, that they were welcomed by the public office, today. Several scandalous things had happened, so from the looks of things, it seems that they were trying to curry favor.

Naturally though, such a thing wouldn’t have any effect. And in the end, it turned into Rheinbach-sama giving a sermon to the people in charge.

Several of the top brasses of the public office had already been arrested and fired. And as for the others, they had their pay reduced. But on top of all that, people were hired to manage the members of the public office, including the new heads. Looks like, from here on, the public office will be strictly managed by those guys.

When I asked whether those guys were from the village.

“Well, the town obviously lacks people to manage the town, so…” [Sebasu]
“Unless, we more or less beat the guts of a decent person into them, and train them, we won’t be able to supplement the town with enough usable man power. After all, there’s a limit to the number of people that we can really trust.” [Rheinbach]

Is how he replied. Makes sense…

By the way, because Elia was apparently given wine, she is already sound asleep. Even during my store’s opening party, despite having only drank one glass, her face became flushed. It seems she isn’t very good with alcohol.

Rheinhart-san and the Madam also seem to be asleep already, so I decided not to overstay and cause them trouble, so I left.

“Then in that case, after having prepared the production, it should be possible to get 45~90 sheets finished in a day. But because it takes time to dry, it might be less.” [Ryouma]

When I said that, Serge-san’s countenance brightened.

“Actually, it would already have been enough to make 10 in a day. To be able to do more than that, I’m very grateful. If that cloth is turned into rain gear, then it should sell quickly. When we run out of cloths at that time, the price will skyrocket.
As long as the increase in price isn’t too big, then it’s all good. But if the price becomes too high, problems can also occur. So, let’s store up on waterproof cloths and store them in my storage and in your ‘Dimension Home’.”
“I understand. Should I start making it now?” [Ryouma]
“Yes, please” [Serge]
“Then in that case, I’d like to buy some cloth materials.” [Ryouma]
“I’ll prepare it for free. When you come with the waterproof cloth, I’ll hand over the payment for the treatment. How much will the treatment be?” [Serge]
“I’ll leave it to you. Please put a fair price for the waterproof treatment.” [Ryouma]

When I said that, Serge-san chuckled.

“As a merchant you’d normally try to get price that’s beneficial for you. This way is very good for me, but now the discussion’s turned an unexpected corner. Where will you be treating the cloths? If it’s found out that you’re the producer, things might get complicated. Do you know of a safe place to treat the cloths? Otherwise, I can prepare one.” [Serge]
“I plan to do it in the abandoned mine.” [Ryouma]
“Certainly, people won’t go there. But is it alright?” [Serge]

“Yes. I can make a workshop there with my earth magic, people also won’t come, and because I can loiter there under the pretext of being the person responsible for it, I won’t appear suspicious either.” [Ryouma]

Like this, the discussion ended. And I received all of the cloths, 50 sheets all in all, that Serge-san has prepared in his store room. Afterwards, I leave the town and by using ‘Warp’ repetitively I headed towards the abandoned mine. After that, except for the cleaner slimes in the store, I had all my slimes do the rounds for the mine.

After that, I entered the highest tunnel of the mine. In the deepest part of the tunnel, I used ‘Create Block’ and “’Pavement’ to create a sturdy and wide room, as well as a hole for ventilation. Moreover, I use the bricks the ‘Create Block’ produced and made several workbenches.

The structure of the workbench is simple. I piled up bricks to support one end of the cloth and another for the other end. And on the highest brick, I used ‘Break Rock’ to dig a gutter.

On that gutter, I fit a rod made out of stone with ‘Rock’ and ‘Earth Needle’. And then, after spreading the sticky slime’s sticky liquid on the end of that rod, I finished my preparations.

Next, I ordered the sticky slimes to cover the affixed cloth with sticky liquid. And just in case a bug or a cave bat were to come, I put up a barrier and told the slimes to be on guard.

Today, I made 30 of those workbenches.

Come to think of it, the slimes managed to learn staff techniques and spear techniques. When I remembered that, I cut a tree and dried it with alchemy. Using ‘Circle Saw’ and ‘Polish’, I created several rods that have been treated and padded spears. With this, I can begin the training for staff and spear techniques.

After that, I practiced with the slimes.

When practice ended, I had nothing left to do and was quite bored.

Being bored with nothing to do, I decided to take a look at my status board.

Oh? Looks like my Magic Power Recovery Rate UP levelled up from 1 to 3. Is it because I used a lot of magic power when I made the store? Moreover my Slave Magic, Alchemy, Wind Magic, and Electric Magic, all levelled up by 1 as well. It’s probably because I used it quite a lot. Speaking of which, Elia did say she wanted to see a doll I made. Should I make it now? But what should I make?

I then killed time by making an inoffensive doll out of quicklime, and then coloring it with the art materials I got from Sebasu-san.

But halfway through, I ended up a bit too caught up into it. And I almost kept going till it became dark. I immediately put a stop to what I’m doing before I lose track of time. Even under normal situations, I’m the type that easily forgets the time. All the more now that I’m here in a place where I can’t tell the time of day.

I quickly take the 30 sheets of water cloth and the doll. Then with ‘Warp’ I go back to the town.

Before going back to the lodging, I stop by Serge-san’s store, and drop off the 30 sheets of waterproof cloth I just finished.

When I got back to the lodging, I immediately went over to Elia’s room. Araune-san went out from inside and let me in.

“Welcome, Ryouma-san.” [Elia]
“It’s unusual for Ryouma-kun to come by himself to our room. Did something happen?” [Rheinhart]
“Nothing particularly big, but first there is something I want to talk regarding business. Today, I succeeded in making 30 sheets of water proof cloth, and have already delivered them to Serge’s store. I still have some more allowance, so the production rate will gradually increase from tomorrow onwards. As for how far I can go, I’ll have to test it.” [Ryouma]
“I see. That’s good. There doesn’t seem to be any problems with the production rate of the waterproof cloths. And the other thing you wanted to talk about?” [Rheinhart]
“That doll that Elia wanted to see. I finished making it while waiting for the cloths to dry.” [Ryouma]
“Really? Please show me!” [Elia]

As she said that, I took out several dolls from my ‘Item Box’.

“It’s this.” [Ryouma]

The thing I brought out had the difference between rock and wood, but it’s definitely the world famous woodcraft bear. I added my own touch to it though, and replaced the bear with the black bear from the Forest of Gana in order to pass it off as something of this world.

“Oh? It’s a black bear ornament. There’s this feeling that feels like it’s catching fish.” [Rheinbach]

Next, I brought out a few things I made on top of a pedestal I made while imaging the figure of a bottle cap. They were colored figurines of monsters like the cave bat, the cave mantis, and the small rat.

“Amazing… They’re small, but it’s as if they’re the real thing!” [Elia]
“Last is this. The best dolls I made.” [Ryouma]

What I brought out next were several normal human figurines. Only, the model of these figurines are the four members of the duke’s household, Sebasu-san, and the two maids.

“This is me, right?” [Rheinhart]
“And this is me.” [Madam]
“I also have one!” [Elia]
“There’s also one for me, Sebasu, Araune and Lilian.” [Rheinbach]
“These are some truly elaborate dolls… I knew about Ryouma-sama’s skill from seeing the god’s statues, but as expected, Ryouma-sama’s skill is truly amazing.” [Sebasu]
“I made them without having any models, so if you find them to your liking, then it’s my honor.” [Ryouma]
“Ryouma-san, can I take this?” [Elia]
“Of course. If you’re pleased with them, then please.” [Ryouma]
“Thank you!” [Elia]

If she’s this happy, then I guess it was worth it to make them. I wonder what I should make next…

“If there’s another opportunity, I’ll make you another one.” [Ryouma]
“Thank you, Ryouma-san.” [Elia]

After that, I chatted a bit with Rheinhart-san, then I went back to my room. When I got back, Sebasu-san said he’d pay me 10 medium gold coins as compensation for the dolls, but because it was too much, I refused him once.

To begin with, I used them to pass the time. Plus the materials were cheap. And more than anything, I can’t accept 10 medium gold coins for something like this! In the end, it was decided that I’ll take 2 medium gold coins, but is that really ok?

As I was thinking that, Sebasu-san said this.

“There are plenty of nobles who want to have their own statue made and placed in the town or in their residence. Compared to when those people give out a request to make a statue, this amount of money can be considered loose change. If it’s someone with Ryouma-sama’s skill, then the client would naturally have no complaints.” [Sebasu]

Seriously!?

After that, I went back to my room and wondered what kind of statute I will make next while making the waterproof cloths tomorrow. While I was thinking that, I fell asleep.

The two responded by slightly nodding their heads.

“First, I’d like you both to introduce yourselves. Also, if there are any kind of conditions you wish to have in your contract, then please, do mention it. Let’s start with the man, first.” [Ryouma]

I first called out to the guy on the right. I’ll also have the girl talk later… but honestly there’s something quite concerning about these two. First, their attire. The clothes they’re wearing are quite different from what people generally wear. Those are the kind you’d see in a Chinese movie. And on top of that, that cane the guy is holding, and that girl’s hair ornament…

While I was observing the two, the man spoke.

“My name is Fei. And this is my daughter, Li Ling. We’d be glad if you could hire the both of us.” [Fei]

Wow! They even talk like the Chinese flicks! And to think that they’re actually father and daughter…

“You guys are relatives?” [Ryouma]
“She doesn’t look like me, right? It’s because she takes after her mother. Also, there’s something I need to tell you.” [Fei]

As he said that, he showed me his right leg. On that right leg, there was a brace affixed to it.

“I’m a merchant from a country called Gilmar. We ran away from the country because of the war. And ever since we got here, we’ve had nothing but bad luck as we had our money stolen time and time again.

Since we didn’t have any money at the start, I thought of making even a little by mining. But then the cave collapsed, and now my right leg’s broken. Unfortunately, I don’t have any money to get it healed with magic, so it’s going to take time to heal. Can I still be hired even with this injury?” [Fei]

A broken bone, huh? If I remember right, you can heal that with several casts of ‘High Heal’, or alternatively, one cast of a ‘Mega Heal’. I can’t use either, but my slime can. Though then again, even if I don’t heal him and have him work as a receptionist for the meantime, there won’t be any problem.

“You can work as a receptionist for the mean time, so there won’t be any problem in regards to your leg.” [Ryouma]
“Really?” [Fei]
“Working as a receptionist is also something admirable. As long as you are able to interact well with the customers, there won’t be any problems. As for the salary, is there anything you have in mind?” [Ryouma]
“None. As long as I can be compensated enough to live, then it’s fine.” [Fei]

“I see. Then, next, is the young miss… Li Ling-san, right? Is there anything you’re hoping for?” [Ryouma]
“I’m the same with my dad. The only thing I’m hoping for is to be able to work alongside my dad, and make enough to live on. Also, if you could introduce us somewhere cheap to stay, then we’d be grateful. The place we’re staying at right now is the guild’s temporary lodging. Once we find a job, we won’t be able to stay there anymore.” [Li Ling]

“Since I can’t get any job because of my leg, my daughter is doing some odd jobs to get us by. But with only that, we’re only able to barely hang on. Actually, we barely have anything left. So as long as it’s a place we can live at cheaply, then we won’t have any complaints.” [Fei]

Live-in, huh? Well the employee lodging house I made is free anyway. As for the salary, they did say it’s fine even if it’s cheap, so I guess the salary range I had already decided before will do just fine.

Besides, everyone else aside from these two had already left. And also, I do need some extra helping hands immediately, and the job at my store isn’t difficult either. I don’t think they’ll have any problems with the job.

Moreover, although these two seem to be hiding it, they’re actually quite strong. With that much strength, I can even have them work as guards for the store.

“In that case, there’re rooms for employees to stay at, at the second floor of the store. Would you be fine staying over there?” [Ryouma]
“Really!?” [Fei]

There’s still one more thing left though. Something I need to know no matter what.

Because I believe these two aren’t the type to make an honest living.

In this world there’s nothing unusual about being hired as a guard and killing a few. In fact, I myself have killed 30 bandits. But in these people’s case, the number isn’t something like that. It’s my first time feeling something like this. Is this what they mean when they say something reeks of blood? Forget Japan, ever since coming into this world, I’ve never felt anything like this.

… In the unlikely case where we end up fighting. If it’s just me, I might still be fine. But if I have to protect the guild master while fighting, then things might get a bit rough.

“There’s one last thing I want to know, but…. Before that, guild master.” [Ryouma]
“What?” [Grisela]
“My deepest apologies, but may I ask the guild master to leave the room for a moment? There’s something I need to discuss regarding the store.” [Ryouma]

I said it lightly, but honestly speaking, I want her to leave. I think I was able to get the message across, but…

“Why are you chasing me out? If there’s something up, then just say it.” [Grisela]

Looks like she ended up doing the opposite, and asked me about my motive instead.

“It concerns the store’s secret.” [Ryouma]

While not arousing suspicion from Fei and Li Ling, I try to get the guild master out.

But when I tried to do that, I noticed Fei-san move. I guess he noticed… I’m bad at talking secretly, so it would have been great if it worked. But, it’s not like I expected anything anyway… I guess it can’t be helped.

The tension in the room got worse.

“Guild master. It’s fine. It would appear the shopkeeper’s already noticed.” [Fei]

When he said that, I felt that something was off. What’s going on?

“Shopkeeper, exactly who are you? We may be former killers, but we have no ill will against you or the guild master.” [Fei]

It’s true that I didn’t feel any intent to fight… but did the guild master know about them?

“Guild master, you knew?” [Ryouma]

When I said that, the guild master breathed out a sigh, then said this.

“Of course I knew. I don’t know about others, but before I introduce someone to a job, especially those from other countries, I make sure to properly check them. After all, it’d be bad if I introduced a spy, right?

Don’t worry, these two really did desperately run away from their country. Still though, you did pretty well figuring them out.” [Grisela]

“We even went so far as to disguise ourselves as normal people…” [Li Ling]
“The only ones who’ve managed to figure us out until now are you two. Since you were able to figure us out, you’re definitely not normal. It’s quite curious.” [Fei]
“I don’t have the same insight the guild master possesses, but I’ve been studying martial arts for a long time. Because of that I can tell whether someone is strong or weak. Also…” [Ryouma]
“Also?” [Fei]

“I was quite concerned about the hidden weapons you have with you.” [Ryouma]
“Fei! Li Ling! You two actually brought something like that!?” [Grisela]
“Aiya… you noticed even that?” [Li Ling]
“It’s because a long time ago, things regarding hidden weapons were driven into me, plenty. In this world the scariest living things are humans. They use their heads, trick people, and make others let their guard down. And the instrument used to follow that through are hidden weapons. So in order to protect myself, I studied them.” [Ryouma]

This is something related to my father. But now that I think about it, it is something nostalgic.

“I was hit by those plenty. During a disagreement in the house for one, or during my day-to-day life for another.” [Ryouma]
“Exactly how have you been living until now?” [Grisela]
“You don’t seem to be someone like us though. You’re aura is different.” [Li Ling]
“You’re close, but you’re not. Your aura is like that of someone who only learned the techniques without using them.” [Fei]

They can actually understand my aura to that extent? They’re amazing… these guys.

“True, I did learn a lot of techniques meant for actual combat from my master. However, I was only taught how to use it, and was forbidden from actually using it. I’ve only started using my abilities 3 years ago. And my opponents were nothing but bandits.” [Ryouma]

“It’s the difference in age. We killed bandits who disobeyed the law and traitors back in our country. There was plenty of fighting back in our country and the public order was bad. If we didn’t kill, we wouldn’t have been able to protect ourselves. What we told you a while ago wasn’t a lie. We’re your usual hardworking merchants.” [Fei]

“The master we were serving lost in the war, and our country as well as our work lost its meaning. And then, we came to this country. We haven’t done any job worth boasting. But even then, will you still employ us?” [Li Ling]
“The guild master acknowledges you guys, so it’s fine as long as you guys work normally.” [Ryouma]

I won’t lose out on anything as long as they work. And besides, I don’t have any intention of pursing matters of the past.

“Really? I didn’t think you’d actually hire us even after finding out.” [Fei]
“We even prepared to run away.” [Li Ling]
“Please don’t, if you do, it’ll be troublesome. I’m in need of hands right now… and besides, what’s important is the ‘now’, so I don’t have any problem with your past. Please do come and work for me at my store. Also, would it be alright if I also ask you to work as bodyguards when needed?” [Ryouma]

I doubt there’d be any problem when even the guild master left them alone, despite knowing their situation. After all, the guild master’s insight is greater than mine.

In fact, I feel like she can actually see through the fact that I’m actually a 40 year old uncle… I do hope it’s just my imagination.

“Don’t worry, I’ll work properly” [Fei]
“Just leave the bodyguard duty to me.” [Li Ling]
“Then, I’ll officially hire you two. It’ll be a pleasure working with you two from now on.” [Ryouma]

We all bowed our heads. Afterwards, the guild master spoke.

“You done? If so, then go. I’ve already had a carriage prepared.” [Grisela]
“Thank you very much, guild master.” [Ryouma]
“It’s fine, don’t’ mind something like this. Fei, Li Ling, do a good job, ok? After all, this kid’s store has a bright future ahead of it. And next time, don’t bring hidden weapons with you!” [Grisela]
“If I don’t bring them with me, I won’t be able to calm down.” [Fei & Li Ling]
“How long are you planning to act like assassins!? Aren’t you guys, merchants right now!? … Although they’re like this, they’re not bad people. They won’t commit any crimes. Please take care of them.” [Grisela]
“Understood.” [Ryouma]

“Take this with you too. It’s their resume. Show it to those two from Serge’s, ok?” [Grisela]
“Right… wait a moment, shouldn’t you have given this to me right from the start?” [Ryouma]
“Hee hee hee, I wanted to see how good your eyes were. Everyone else pretty much left, but these two are the prized catch. They can get the job done. Also your insight isn’t bad. It’s not a merchant’s insight though. Well, do your best, ok?” [Grisela]
‘Thank you very much.” [Ryouma]

I left the guild with Fei-san and Li Ling-san, and rode back to the store, on the carriage the guild master had prepared.

When we got back to the store, we were greeted by a huge crowd of customers and two busy twins.

“Welcome home, boss!” [Karma & Karla]
“There’s so many…” [Li Ling]
“This is your store? It’s quite popular, huh?” [Fei]
“I’m going. Karma-san, Karla-san, please receive the customers.” [Ryouma]
“Boss, I’ll work too. If it’s carrying stuff, I can do it.” [Li Ling]
“Me too, if it’s laundry then I can also carry some.” [Fei]

They offered to help, themselves, so I didn’t hold back and took their offer. Fei-san appears to specialize at reception, but it seems he can also work to some extent.

At any rate, like this, we’ll be able to get through the evening rush.

… After a long struggle, we finally managed to reach the store’s closing hour. We put up a note saying we’re closed, and then closed the door.

“Fuu… Good job today, everyone!” [Ryouma]
“Thank you for your efforts!” [Everyone else]
“Ryouma-sama, these two are the new hires, right?” [Karla]
“Yes, the man is Fei-san, and the woman is Li Ling.” [Ryouma]
“I’m Fei. My pleasure to work with you.” [Fei]
“Li Ling, nice to meet you.” [Li Ling]
“I am Karma Norad.” [Karma]
“I am Karla Norad. It’s our pleasure as well.” [Karla]
“I actually planned to have them start tomorrow, but they somehow ended up working today.” [Ryouma]
“But of course. After all, you’re allowing us to work here as live-ins.” [Fei]
“It’s only a given for us to help out when it’s busy, right? But that aside, there’s something I wanted to ask.” [Li Ling]
“What is it?” [Ryouma]

“We’ve been carrying laundry, but when does it get washed? We just take the laundry, then toss it into the next room. Afterwards, we just get it back from the slimes.” [Li Ling]
“Now that you mention it, I haven’t explained to you how the store works, have I?” [Ryouma]

I took out a cleaner slime and a goblin’s loin cloth, and presented my usual explanation. When I did so, the two understood the reason why the guild master mentioned that my store had a good future. And after I finally told them, that today was the store’s first day, they were shocked.

For so many people to come on the first day… in my previous life, this much would be on the level of a pachinko parlor, huh? Anyway, it seems that in this world, a store being this popular on the first day is extremely rare. Is it because they don’t advertise?

Well whatever, I’ve finally completed the first stage of the store. I guess, I‘ll go heal Fei-san’s leg now.

I called Fei-san and Li Ling-san over to the employee lounge. I had them sit there, and told them to wait, while I went out to get the heal slimes. When I came back I had two heal slimes with me.

When I told them that the heal slimes were going to use ‘High Heal’ to heal Fei-san, they were shocked. But nevertheless they gave their thanks for being able to receive treatment.

After the heal slimes healed Fei-san, his leg was fully healed. It took 6 times all in all, with each slime healing 3 times because it was a bone fracture, but the slimes still managed to heal him with ‘High Heal’.

“You saved me. I am truly grateful.” [Fei]
“It costs a lot of money to be healed by magic, you know? Is it really ok to receive it for free?” [Li Ling]
“It’s fine. After all, it’s the boss’ responsibility to make sure that his employees are able to work comfortably. Also, the slimes did it, so it didn’t cost me anything. Like this, I think it’s fine to give it for free.” [Ryouma]

Looks like there’s someone in the town who can heal with healing magic, but because of the skill and magic power required, the cost is quite high.

So since it would have been expensive to receive healing magic, Fei-san decided to work at the guild, doing odd jobs, while waiting for his body to heal without relying on magic.

“It would have been great if we were able to bring more money with us, but when we were running away, we ended up using our money as bribe to cross the border.” [Fei]
“Is that why you have no money?” [Ryouma]

“The guards of our country are greedy. It doesn’t matter whether its crime or running away. As long as you bring out money, they’ll look the other way like it’s perfectly normal. But if you don’t have any, they’ll catch you and bring you back to get some reward.

That’s why we couldn’t afford to be stingy. If we did, and the reward for us was higher. Then they’ll just arrest us instead.” [Fei]

“The jobs we did were for the country… so if our identities were leaked out, the reward for us would end up higher than normal people. But there are also doubtful people who catch normal people and interrogate them. The people running away from our country usually use up their money there. After all, there’s no point in being stingy when it comes to your life.” [Li Ling]

That ‘Gilmar’ country sounds dangerous… And she also mentioned that there’s plenty of fighting. Is the country crumbling?

After we talked a bit, I assigned Fei-san and Li Ling-san their own rooms. Then, I had them put their belongings in order.

After that I went to check today’s profit from Karm-san. Today we got a total of 791 copper coin and 8 small copper coins, totaling to 7918 suits. The 18 suits came from Poline-san, who went for the option targeted at groups with more than 7 people. But as for the others, they came here to try out the store and had only bought the individual bags. They looked happy after trying out the store, so I guess they’ll end up becoming regular customers.

As for Karma-san and Karla-san, they too were surprised by the store’s popularity and were shocked to see the profit for the day. After I asked them about it, it turns out that amongst stores without nobles for its customers, a medium sized store would make 4000 suits in a day.

Even if you deduct the expenses from the profit, the earning for today’s opening day still trumps it. Seeing that, they couldn’t help but be shocked.

“This is amazing!” [Karma]
“If it’s like this, then very soon, the store will be able to make profits comparable to a large store without noble customers!” [Karla]
“How much does that kind of store make?” [Ryouma]
“20,000 suits. As a rule, anything more than that won’t be mentioned. If one has nobles as a customer, then one’s profit will greatly increase. Although it’s quite expensive, if one is able to sell luxurious goods, then it’s possible to make a lot.” [Karla]
“Well in my case, I’ve got nothing to do with nobles, but if I’m able to make 2.5 times today’s income, then it should be possible to be on the same level as a large store.” [Ryouma]

“We made this much today, so it should be possible to reach that goal within a month. We also still haven’t received the portion from the guild. If we include them, our customers will greatly increase.” [Karla]
“Perhaps, there might even be a day where our profit for a day will reach 1 medium gold coin.” [Karma]
“Ha ha ha, no way.” [Ryouma]

When you say 1 medium gold coin, that’s 50,000 suits. There’s no way that could possibly happen.

“It’s possible.” [Karma & Karla]

Eh, really?

“This town is a mining town. Because of that, there are plenty of miners and people who deal with iron. Although, the number has decreased substantially because of a big mine being abandoned, there’re still at least 10,000 people, you know?” [Karma]
“Moreover, people won’t come and buy just one bag. While I think it may be difficult to continuously go over a medium gold coin, it should be possible in cases where the adventurer’s guild has just finished a big request.” [Karla]
“I see…” [Ryouma]

It might be possible once.

“Also, if Ryouma-sama were to create another branch in a different town, it wouldn’t be hard to go beyond a medium gold coin every day.” [Karma]
“We’re already talking about branch stores? That’s quick.” [Ryouma]
“That may be so, but it’s not wrong to think ahead.” [Karma]
“As long as you have some able and trustworthy hands, then you should consider it.” [Karla]

Certainly, even though today’s the first day, we made quite a profit. I’ll take note of it. But for now I think I should look at the present.

“Ah, I forgot about it, but here. It’s the resume of the two I’d just hired.” [Ryouma]
“We’ll examine it.” [Karma & Karla]

The twins began to read the resume I handed to them.

“Although they said that they’re ok with a low salary, please pay them 150 suits daily.” [Ryouma]

I did also ask them to double as bodyguards. So it should be fine to give them the highest pay of my anticipated price range.

“Understood.” [Karma & Karla]

After that, I bid goodbye to the four, and then went back to the lodging.

When I got back, I reported the earnings for the first day to Rheinhart-san and the others. When I did so, they were shocked.

Volume 2 Chapter 12

The Next Day

~Side Ryouma~

I went to the store early in the morning today. Today will be the store’s first day so I thought I’d get a head start. But more than that, it’s also because Karma-san and Karla-san will also be coming.

After the gathering yesterday, Karma and Karla went, “We can even open the store for business tomorrow!” Or so the two twins vigorously pushed on to me. And so, I’m opening the store today… I wonder if it was too fast. I could have done things a bit more… nah, vigor is also important, right? I’m the kind who tends to drag things after all…

While I was thinking that, the twins came to the store.

“Good morning, boss!” [Karma & Karla]
“Good morning, Karma-san, Karla-san. Please take care of me from today on.” [Ryouma]

After the twins came, we ran some checks and prepared the store for opening… or so I’d like to say, but really, all we did was allow the cleaner slimes to enter the room and prepare some small change.

Speaking of which, the twins purchased and brought over a lot bags from Serge this morning. Apparently, before going home yesterday, they ordered some from Serge-san. They really helped me out there.

“Well then… I’ll be going.” [Ryouma]
“Take care.” [Karma & Kyle]

I’m going to the adventurer’s guild to do some jobs.

Since the first day, I’ve had a problem with leaving things to other people. But because I wasn’t able to make an announcement because of the leaflets and the advertisements, I made the decision to make an announcement while taking a job from the guild. Serge-san really prepared some people who I can leave everything to… putting it bluntly, I wonder if that means I’m not needed anymore. Then again though, that’s the reason why I hired them in the first place. .

While I was thinking that, I went over to my neighbors before going to the guild. I need to let Poline-san know about the store’s opening after all.

“Excuse me, is anyone here?” [Ryouma]

The store seems to be open, but there doesn’t seem to be anyone inside. So I raised my voice, and Poline-san went out from one of the rooms inside.

“I’m coming, I’m coming. Oh! If it isn’t Ryouma-kun. Did you drop by to buy some seeds again?” [Poline]
“Actually, I came today to let you know that my store, Laundry Agency Bamboo Forest, is open for business.” [Ryouma]
“Oh my! It’s already open? That’s really quick.” [Poline]
“Yes, thanks to everyone. Also I gave the bags for free some time ago, so by all means, please do try out my store’s services. And also please let Mary-san and Chiara-san know as well. I’ve already informed the two clerks.” [Ryouma]

“You hired some people?” [Poline]
“They were introduced to me by a merchant I knew. So I decided to leave things to them while I worked as an adventurer. Also, I need to pay their salaries with my income as an adventurer until the store gets going.” [Ryouma]

Even if you tell me that you don’t need to be paid as long as you’re able to work, it’s only natural that I’d feel guilty if I actually took that offer… But really, I honestly do not understand why they want to work for me that much.

In fact, rather than working at my place, I think working over at Serge-san’s would be far more beneficial… and the salary should also be bigger…. But, it does help me out a lot, so I guess I don’t really have any problems with it.

“Considering your store’s size, I guess it was needed, huh? In any case, do, do your best. After all, I’m supporting you. In fact, I’ll go there today myself to try out your store.” [Poline]
“Thank you very much. Then, I’ll be heading off to work.” [Ryouma]

As Ryouma said goodbye, he left the store and went to the guild. When he got there, someone immediately called out to him.

“Ryouma, will your laundromat be opening soon?” [Adventurer]
“When will it be opening?” [Adventurer]
“It would be nice if it opened up soon~” [Adventurer]

These are people that Ryouma got to know in the carriage from the abandoned mine monster subjugation request. Ever since then, the people Ryouma talked to outside of Jeff’s group had increased. It would appear that these guys are also waiting for Ryouma’s laundromat to open.

“Actually, Laundry Agency Bamboo Forest is already open starting today.” [Ryouma]
“Really!?” [Adventurer]
“Yes. There’s also a service targeted towards adventurers that will clean armor and weapons, so please, do try it out.” [Ryouma]
“Alright! When I go home today, I’m definitely going!” [Adventurer]

In order to announce it, I purposely spoke about the store being opened as well as its location in a loud voice. After this I’ll be going to the abandoned mine to make some rounds. So with that in mind, I also accepted an herb collection request. Like this, I’ll be able to collect the herbs while I go around the abandoned mine.

Honestly, even if you tell me to leave the store in your hands, it is the store’s first day, so I’d like to get my rounds over with quickly and go back.

When I got back to the store, what waited for me there was a huge crowd. Even though it’s the store’s first day, there’re already likee 20 people waiting outside!?

I hurriedly went inside the store.

“Welcom– … ah, boss!” [Karla]
“Karla-san, how’re things?” [Ryouma]
“I’m so happy I could scream!” [Karla]
“Boss! Even the neighboring aunties came over to have their clothes washed!” [Karma]

Said Karma-san who came out while he was carrying laundries. At any rate, we have to somehow get rid of this crowd!

“I’ll also help out. You two deal with the reception, I’ll take care of carrying the laundry!” [Ryouma]

After I said that, I did nothing else but carry the laundry and serve the customers.

But even though I kept doing that, people still kept coming. What’s going on!?

In the end, the endless human wave only ended after 3 o’clock in the afternoon. While you can’t call this ‘many’ anymore, I still needed to explain to them how things work ed one by one, and so it still took time.

Anyway, it would seem that this store’s pricing is really too cheap. Because of that I was asked things like, “Will you really wash our clothes at this price?” or “You aren’t going to suddenly demand more money from us after, right?” It was quite troublesome, because there were people that just couldn’t understand. At some point, because of all the people gathered, even the town’s guards who were on patrol stopped by.

However, the guards stopping by was unexpectedly a godsend. When they stopped by the store, the guard’s leader heard about it. Because of that he actually went, to get the group option for 35 people and even bought 2 bags with him.

It seems that they were hiring someone to wash their laundry for them, but because of the public office’s cost cutting, they became unable to do that anymore.

Then, while he said that it would have been fine if only the salary wasn’t cut, he let out a little more of his complaints towards the public office and then said that he’ll come again. Am I already landing big contracts on the store’s first day?

But the store opens from 8 o’clock in the morning, so we spent around 3 minutes per person, right? Also, I don’t know at what point in time people started to come, but the twins probably worked without having lunch until 7 o’clock.

… Isn’t this really bad? I may be fine, but these 2 are… If I leave it like this, I’ll be exploiting my employees! I need to avoid that no matter what!! I swear to my previous life!

“Good work today, Karma-san, Karla-san.” [Ryouma]
“Thanks for today, boss.” [Karla]
“There were so many people today.” [Karma]
“Right, though I do wonder if it’s ok for there to be a sudden influx of customers.” [Karla]
“I believe it’ll be better for the customers to increase quickly. But in order to be able to alternately take rest, we need four to six people. Even though we also had to explain to the customers how the store worked today, by looking at the reactions of the customers, it can be said that even if we were to focus solely on the work without the explanations, the number of people would be still be insufficient.” [Ryouma]

“The customers seemed like they were satisfied with the speed and the result, so the customers will probably increase again tomorrow. By taking applications at the guild, it should be possible to get some help quickly.”[Karla]
“I see… when employing, how much should I put the salary at?’ [Ryouma]

“120~150 suits in a day should be enough. With that much it’ll be enough for one to live on normally, moreover it should also be possible to save up. And because this is exceptional for a starting salary, we should also be able to gather people quickly.” [Karla]
“Then in that case, I’ll be going to the guild now. The faster the better.” [Ryouma]
“Please take care!” [Karma & Karla]

I quickly went out the store. When I got out, there were four people nearby who had plenty of luggage with them. They’re from the neighboring house and everyone seems to be hugging a huge bag.

“Oh, Ryouma-kun” [Poline]
“Poline-san, Reni, Rick, and even Zeke. What is that you’re carrying?” [Ryouma]
“We thought of having these washed. You see, our house is a butcher, so we have quite a number of clothes that have been stained with blood.” [Zeke]

The one who said that was Zeke, Poline-san’s husband. Zeke has a butcher just right next to Poline-san’s flower shop. The meat I bought for the celebration of the store also came from Zeke’s store.

When you think of a butcher for a husband, in anime, you’d normally imagine a big muscular man. But this guy is the exact opposite. His height isn’t bad, but his body is thin. Extremely thin. He looks like an unhealthy guy who’d topple down if the wind were to blow against him.

“I heard from the adventurers that if I bring these clothes to your store we’d be able to get rid of the blood.” [Zeke]
“So we decided to bring out the clothes that we were planning to just buy replacements for.” [Poline]
“Thank you very much. I’m sorry for this abrupt question, but do you have employees hired by any chance?” [Ryouma]
“If you include me, there’s 10 of us.” [Zeke]
“In that case, there’s a special option for 7 people above, so I highly recommend you take advantage of it. A bag for 14 people’s worth of clothes will cost you only 1 medium copper coin and 8 small copper coins, much cheaper than the individual bags.”
“Really!? That’s a pretty good deal.” [Poline]
“Then in that case we’ll take that.” [Zeke]

While I was doing some sales talk, Rick talked to me.

“Hey, Ryouma. What are you doing? Skipping on work?” [Rick]
“Ha ha ha, I guess it can’t be helped if it looks like that. But, I’m not. I’m heading to the merchant guild.” [Ryouma]
“Really?” [Reni]

The one who asked that was Reni.

“The store became a lot more popular than I’d expected, and so if we were to continue like this, we wouldn’t have enough people.” [Ryouma]
“No way!? It’s the first day, you know!?” [Reni]
“Well I did do some advertising, but I honestly still didn’t expect this much to come. So I’m going to the guild now to get some extra helping hands quick.” [Ryouma]
“I’m shocked. That many people actually came?” [Poline]
“Yes, in fact the two people I’ve hired have been working the entire day for 7 hours without rest.” [Ryouma]

After I talked with those four, I left them and went to visit the merchant guild. When I got there, I was brought to the reception room again, and the guild master came to meet me.

“Today’s the store’s opening, but… is there some sort of problem?” [Grisela]
“Yes, it was a lot more popular than expected. Thanks to that I need to hire some more people.” [Ryouma]
“On the first day? Well I’m beat, even I couldn’t have anticipated this… So you came here to get some helping hands, huh? In that case, I’ll go gather some guys who can immediately work starting tomorrow. Once I do, you choose who you want.” [Grisela]

After that, until the people have been gathered in the guild’s meeting room, I was told to wait at the reception room. When the people have finally been gathered, they contacted me, and I went to the meeting room. When I got there, there were 30 people. Some were old, some female, and some male, there were all sorts.

They looked at me and appraised me as an employer. Then after a while, they made a face as if they had seemingly lost interest, and turned their gaze away from me.

Well it can’t be helped because I’m in an 11 year old kid’s body after all… There are definitely people who wouldn’t want to work under me, right? Well, there’s nothing that I don’t understand here.

“Everyone here can do basic calculation. Any one of these guys are able to work at your store immediately.” [Grisela]
“Got it. It’s a pleasure to meet you all, I am the manager of the store, Laundry Agency Bamboo Forest, Ryouma Takebayashi. Thank you for gathering here today, despite your tight schedules.” [Ryouma]

When I said that, the people around made a commotion. After listening to their whispering voices, it would appear that they didn’t think I would be their employer and had just assumed I was a lapdog or something.

Turns out, they actually weren’t evaluating me a while ago.

After my greeting, the tension in the room had clearly gone down. I ignored that and asked a question.

“Umm… Then I’d like to ask a question first. Amongst the people in this room, is there anyone who has something against working at my store?” [Ryouma]

At that question, several objections were raised. They were mainly the younger ones, though.

Even though I’m shorthanded, I have no interest in picking up people who don’t want an 11 year old kid as their boss, or people who will work unwillingly. Because of this, it’s better for me to talk about the salary, last. I’d be troubled if people just crowded over me just because the salary was high. There’s also a lot of them, so I guess I might as well reduce them.

The people who weren’t satisfied left. I told those kind of people that I won’t pressure them if they don’t want to work, and then had them leave the room.

24 out of the 30 people here, ended up leaving the room. The remaining ones were just 6. Well it’s not like I don’t understand why those guys left… in any case I first give my thanks to the people who’ve decided to stay here.

“Then, to the six remaining here, I’ll have you talk as someone who is interested in working at my store. But before that, for telling me that you don’t mind working even for a child like me, I give you all my sincerest thanks.” [Ryouma]

As I said that, I bowed my head once. Then I began to talk.

“Going to the main point. My store, Bamboo Forest, is currently hiring people who can serve customers and carry some things. But even though I say ‘carry’, it really only involves just clothes, so even girls can do it. However, there is one point that you need to take note of. I am not only a shopkeeper, but also a slave magic user. Because of that, there are slimes in my shop, which I am using as helping hands.” [Ryouma]

At those words, the remaining 6 were surprised. Hearing about being a slave magic user seemed to be normal to them, but it would appear that hadn’t thought of slimes being used to help out.

“As such, people who are afraid of slimes, or people who do not like slimes will find it difficult to work in my store. Hence, I would like to know if there is any among you who would find this to be a problem.” [Ryouma]

When I said that, one girl raised her hand up.

“What is it?” [Ryouma]
“Are you using that slime because you lack people? Or will you be using that slime even after you have enough people?” [Girl]
“I will still use it, even with sufficient hands. If I say something like this, there are probably some of you who wouldn’t like it, but I’d like you all to treat the slimes as your coworkers.” [Ryouma]

When I said that, the girl along with 3 others, refused to work with the slimes and left the room. With this, the only ones left in the room, are the middle aged man and the young woman.

Eh? I’m only going to be interviewing these two?

They just simply gathered people who could immediately work, so it’s not like they gathered people who would want to work at my store… but still, this is quite shocking! … Well whatever, I wonder how these 2 remaining ones will go. 

Wereanna – Dog Tribe
Miya – Cat Tribe
Syria – Rabbit Tribe
Mizelia – Tiger Tribe
Asagi – Dragon Newt

Jija = Ginger (in their world)

Also name change. Sorry about this, but when I looked at it again, I realized just how horrible it looked like in English.

Aro-ne to Araune. (For those wondering a long dash in between words in Japanese, means a longer sound.)

Volume 2 Chapter 11

Ryouma brought everyone deep into the store.

“This area is specifically for employee use and customers are prohibited from entering. You can find the reception office, the office, the locker room, the employee lounge, and the toilet, here. There’s also the office kitchenette which will allow the workers to be able to prepare things like tea.” [Ryouma]
“Mind if we take a look?” [Wereanna]
“Please go ahead.” [Ryouma]

When Ryouma saw everyone looking around, he was reminded of the tourist bus tours in his previous life.

After a while, Ryouma brought everyone to the employee lounge. Then he went off to the kitchen to prepare the food while everyone else waited in the employee lounge.

Having been made to wait by Ryouma. The people chatted idly to pass time while feeling a little nervous. However, after around 10 minutes had passed, all of the sudden Wereanna became fidgety.

“Hey, Wereanna. What’s the matter?” [Jeff]
“Sorry, I’m just a bit bothered by something. Something from somewhere… smells really delicious. I think it’s probably Ryouma’s cooking.” [Wereanna]

When the people in the room heard that, they all tried to smell it. But the only ones who were able to smell it aside from Wereanna, were the 3 other beastmen and the dragon newt, Asagi.

“Nya!? Now that you mention it, it really does smell delicious, nya!” [Miya]
“It’s true…” [Syria]
“Really? I can’t tell though.” [Pioro]
“It’s probably too thin for human noses to smell. So unless you’re of a beastmen tribe, you probably won’t be able to smell it.” [Mizelia]
“No, I can also smell it, de gozaru. Is this meat? Or perhaps a fragrant bread? Well, whatever it is, it certainly smells delicious, de gozaru.” [Asagi]
“Speaking of which, Ryouma-kun’s cooking was really delicious.” [Rheinhart]
“Is that true, Rheinhart-sama?” [Serge]
“Yes, even though he only used a few ingredients, it was something to be remembered. That rabbit meat sauté with the root of jija was so delicious.” [Rheinhart]
“Despite being at that age, Ryouma-sama is already in possession of level 10 domestic chores. Thanks to that, I believe we can expect something good.” [Sebasu]
“By that age, you mean 10 years old, right? He’s really something. Regardless of how easy it is to level up that skill, there really aren’t many who can before the age of 40.” [Wereanna]

After that, five more minutes passed, then Ryouma came back.

“Sorry for waiting. The meal has been prepared.” [Ryouma]
“I’ve been waiting for this, nya!” [Miya]
“You’re slow! You made it smell good and then even made us wait, don’t you know how hard that is for us?” [Wereanna]
“Eh, you smelled it? But I put up an anti-odor barrier… did it get cancelled half way through?” [Ryouma]
“Who cares about that stuff? Hurry, give us some food.” [Wereanna]
“Understood.” [Ryouma]
“We’ll help out.” [Sebasu, Lilian, Araune]

Ryouma gave his thanks, and then took Sebasu, Lilian, and Araune to the kitchenette to carry the meals. As for the drinks, Ryouma ordered the slimes to carry them.

Seeing the slimes act like this, the five members of the merchant guild who didn’t know about Ryouma’s peculiar slimes were shocked. The others, then explained to them to calm them down.

All the while, the food and the drinks were brought in one after another. And when the food had finally been distributed to everyone, Ryouma lead everyone to make a toast.

“Today I’ve called everyone here to celebrate the store’s completion. Thank you for being with me here today. It’s nothing special, but I’ve prepared for you all a hearty meal. Please, enjoy it to your heart’s content. Cheers!” [Ryouma]
“Cheers!” [Everyone]

As everyone said ‘cheers’ out loud, they drank the wine inside their respective glasses. When they did so, Gordon suddenly cheered out loud.

“This wine… isn’t this some high class stuff!?” [Gordon]
“It’s for a celebration after all, so I decided to splurge a bit.” [Ryouma]
“What kind of wine is this?” [Gordon]
“According to the shopkeeper of the wine store, it’s called the Spring of Jamis.” [Ryouma]

When Gordon heard that, he laughed as he looked at the glass in his hands.

“The Spring of Jamis!? I heard it was good, but I’ve never had the opportunity to drink it!” [Gordon]
“Really?” [Ryouma]
“You bought it without knowing? The spring of Jamis is well known amongst wine lovers.” [Gordon]
“Oh, I didn’t know that at all. I just bought it because the shopkeeper recommended it.” [Ryouma]
“You’re luck’s really good. The Spring of Jamis may be cheap price-wise, but because a lot of aficionados want to get their hands on it, it gets sold out pretty quickly, making it hard to get one.” [Gordon]
“I see, my luck, huh? …Ah!” [Ryouma]
“What’s the matter?” [Gordon]
“No, I just realized the reason why I was able to get that wine.” [Ryouma]
“The reason?” [Gordon]
“Yes. Most likely it’s because I have the divine protection of the God of Wine, Tekun, that I was able to buy this wine.” [Ryouma]
“What did you say!? Is that true!?” [Gordon]
“Boy, is that true!?” [Pioro]

When the people there heard that, Pioro and Gordon responded quite strongly.

“Y-yeah. It’s true, is there something…?” [Ryouma]
“I’m envious…” [Gordon]
“I’m envious~, I’m so, so, sooooo envious~” [Pioro]
“Tekun-sama’s divine protection is an enviable thing amongst dwarves. Especially the God of Wine’s protection.” [Gordon]
“Is it better to receive the God of Wine’s divine protection, rather than the God of Craft’s?” [Ryouma]
“Well that’s because I’m an adventurer. Being an adventurer it’s only natural for one’s smithing to improve. Moreover, a guy who relies on a divine protection to make things is a failure as a blacksmith. One should train their own abilities with their own strength.

But contrary to that, any dwarf would want to drink delicious wine. That’s why every dwarf wants Tekun-sama’s God of Wine protection. Having the opportunity to drink delicious wine isn’t something you can help with your own efforts, but Tekun-sama’s God of Wine divine protection can.” [Gordon]

Hearing that, Ryouma understood. Afterwards, he asked Pioro.

“Alright, I think I can understand Gordon-san, but Pioro-san? Do you also like wine?” [Ryouma]
“While I don’t hate wine, I’m more jealous as a merchant. I wasn’t able to tell this to you before, but as a merchant I deal mostly with food commodities. Because of that, I’m envious that you can get good wine easily.” [Pioro]
“So that’s how it is.” [Ryouma]

While we talked like that, Wereanna called out to me.

“Ryouma.” [Wereanna]
“What is it?” [Ryouma]
“Seconds.” [Wereanna]
“That’s fast! You ate it all, already!?” [Ryouma]
“Ryouma, me too.” [Jeff]   
“Me too.” [Hyuzu]
“Me too.” [Wogan]
“Even Jeff-san, Hyuzu-san, and guild mas… Wogan-san? You all eat fast, huh?” [Ryouma]

“It’s because Ryouma’s cooking is so delicious. It’s my first time eating something like this.” [Wereanna]
“Really? Being told that make me somewhat happy for making it, but…” [Ryouma]
“I’m also of the same opinion as that child’s. Ryouma, what do you call this pasta?” [Grisela]
“It’s called Meat Sauce Spaghetti.” [Ryouma]
“Meat Sauce Spaghetti, huh? It’s delicious. Because of my age, my jaws have gotten weaker and I’m no longer able to bite meat well. So I’ve ended up unable to eat delicious food. But this spaghetti’s meat is easy to eat as the meat of this steak is so soft. To be able to eat meat in a long while again, I’m really happy to have come here.” [Grisela]
“I’m happy that you like it. Please eat as much as you want.” [Ryouma]

As Ryouma said that, he prepared the second helping for three people. But just as he had come back with the three’s second helping, Mizelia, Miya, Rheinhart, and Asagi all finished up theirs and asked for seconds.

“I’ve also prepared some desert, so please do leave some room for that.” [Ryouma]

But even after saying that, they didn’t stop at all and everyone asked for more than one refill. Wereanna and Jeff has even asked for seconds 4 times, causing Ryouma to tilt his head as he wondered where they put all that.

After the main meal, Ryouma brought out sliced apple pie, with some black tea to complement it. When they saw that, the people were speechless.

It’s because this was something delicious made with the luxurious honey. This fact shocked everyone. And when they ate it, they were touched. Especially the women, who found themselves on cloud nine.

When the meal ended, Ryouma brought out another serving of black tea. As they all took a short rest from the splendorous meal they’d just eaten, Miya said this.

“Fuha… I ate to my fill, nya. I’m so happy I came, nya.” [Miya]
“I’m happy to see that you’ve enjoyed yourselves. Still you all ate quite a lot, huh? Especially, Jeff-san. Exactly where do you put all that?” [Ryouma]
“Huh? As long as I want to eat, I can eat. Because I have the ‘Eat All You Can’ skill.” [Jeff]
“‘Eat All You Can’?” [Ryouma]

“You don’t know about it? Well it is an unusual skill. With the ‘Eat All You Can’ skill, the amount you can eat will increase greatly once. Because of that you’ll be fine even if you don’t eat anything for a few days after that. I have it because I used to be from the slums and when I became an adventurer and began to make some money, I mostly spent my money on food. Because of that I ended up acquiring the skill.” [Jeff]
“Jeff used that ability along with the resistance skills he got from living in the slums, to take requests that would have been harsh to a normal adventurer, one after another. Because of that he ended famous, nya.” [Miya]
“Jeff-san, you’re amazing.” [Ryouma]

“I just chose a bunch of profitable jobs. There’s nothing amazing in particular about it. Besides, if you try, you can also do the things that I do, right? After all, you even have resistance skills that I don’t have. If you want we can try taking on a request together. Although it’s not really possible unless you raise your rank a little bit first.” [Jeff]
“Then when that time comes, please take care of me.” [Ryouma]

“I’d be grateful too, on behalf of the guild, if you were to take a job with Jeff. Jeff has resist skills, so while that’s a good thing, it also means that he works at a different pace compared to others.

Which is why he always works solo. But amongst the requests, there are also requests that you can’t take alone. He hasn’t been able to take those requests at all.” [Wogan]
“Like what kind of request?” [Ryouma]
“For example, this may be a rank C mission, but in this request you have to dig out some flame crystals from a volcano. Unless you have the foul odor resistance skill, this mission is quite tough. You have to endure the long time it takes to go to and fro the mine, and the long hours of work. And then on top of all that, you still have to be exposed to the rotting egg like smell of the volcano. Moreover, there’s also the light poison that’s present in the entire volcano. Depending on the place, there are people who have died.” [Wogan]

“By light poison… do you mean the kind which causes your eyes to swell and tear up, while in places where the exposure is strong, it causes one to have a harder time breathing?” [Ryouma]
“Yes, that, that. Seriously, you’re really well informed, huh?” [Wogan]
“I’ve heard a little about it.” [Ryouma]
“Well there’s no harm in knowing, in fact, having that knowledge is quite advantageous to an adventurer. Do you know of a way to cope with it? Like an antidote for it or something?” [Wogan]

Even if he tells Ryouma that, because this world doesn’t have any knowledge of such a medicine, and because it’s not possible to create the medicine from Earth here, Ryouma wasn’t able to give him anything.

“Unfortunately, I don’t know of any medicine to deal with the poison in the volcano. What I do know is that the poison is from the volcano’s smoke and from the air jetted out from underground. It may be possible to defend oneself from the poison as long as one covers his surrounding with wind magic.” [Ryouma]
“Just knowing that is more than enough. Still, your grandma who taught you medicine and poison must have been an expert, huh? Even though I’ve been a guild master for a long time, you’ve been surprising me one after another when it comes to poison and diseases.” [Wogan]

When Wogan said that, Ryouma was a little surprised. But he just laughed and agreed, as he let it pass.

After that, Ryouma remembered something and went to talk to Karma and Karla.

“Right, Karma-san, Karla-san.” [Ryouma]
“What is it?” [Karma & Karla]
“I’m grateful that you’ve worked for me so much, but is it really ok? I’ve mentioned it before, but you won’t be able to show your abilities in a work place like this.” [Ryouma]
“Please allow us to work for you.” [Karma]
“It’s true that we won’t be able to put to use our haggling skills, and the accounting is also taken care of easily by the tool Ryouma-sama made. But even then we would still like to work here and learn from Ryouma-sama’s innovative business practices.” [Karla]

When they said that, Ryouma thought that they were really similar to Serge-san.

“I understand. It’s reassuring to have someone with plenty of experience work for me, so I have no problems with it. It’ll be a pleasure to work with you from now on.” [Ryouma]
“Please take care of us!” [Karla & Karma]

Replied the two with a smile that covered their entire face. And paying attention to that, was Serge who seemed to be fully satisfied. While all that was taking place though, Wogan secretly asked Grisela something.

“Hey, shitty old hag.” [Wogan]
“What? Scatterbrain.” [Grisela]
“Is Ryouma’s store that profitable? I know it’s a strange store, but…” [Wogan]
“It is. Only, I don’t know to what extent.” [Grisela]

When Wogan heard that, he knit his eyebrows.

“Did the shitty old hag, give him advice?” [Wogan]
“I didn’t give him anything. That kid thought it all up by himself. Besides it’s not something a normal merchant could come up with, and it’s also not something realistic.

That kid is smart, but he doesn’t have that certain inclination to money that every merchant should have. It’s probably because he’s a kid like that, that he was able to think this up. There’s no way a normal merchant would think up a method where he’d give a discount every day and go through all the trouble to reduce his own income himself.

But even if someone were to think of it. Because of the expenses in hiring employees and the results required of a shop like that, it wouldn’t go well. But that kid has those cleaner slimes of his. With that, there’s no reason for his store not to flourish. Really, that kid is quite something.

But that aside, you too need to be careful. While I can provide protection for that kid as a merchant, I can’t protect him from greedy merchants who are indiscriminate in their ways and choose to use violence.” [Grisela]
“I know. Though I do think that if it’s him, it won’t be needed.” [Wogan]
“What?” [Grisela]

“That guy, just a while ago, had a dispute with the members of the Fang of Orbtem.” [Wogan]
“If I’m not mistaken, that’s the adventurer group with 40 hoodlums.” [Grisela]
“Yeah, and during a request, they had a little dispute. What do you think happened?” [Wogan]
“It would have been great if he was able to beat them, but his opponents weren’t limited to just 2 or 3 people, you know? You wouldn’t actually say he beat up all 40 of them, would you?” [Grisela]
“Bingo.” [Wogan]
“… Are you serious?” [Grisela]
“Yeah, Ryouma took on 6 members plus the head, Sacchi, all by himself. While his slimes took on 34 of the members. It was completely one sided. There’s no problem with Ryouma’s abilities. But on top of that, his slimes are numerous. And speaking of which, that guy’s slimes are quite dangerous, you know?” [Wogan]
“… But even then, be careful.” [Grisela]
“… I know that.” [Wogan]

Those two talked like that in a corner of the room without Ryouma noticing. During that time Ryouma fully enjoyed himself with the friends he didn’t have in his previous life.

When everyone was about to leave as the celebration came to a close, Ryouma was told not to push himself too hard.

After that, Ryouma cleaned up after the banquet, left the store, and then took one good look at the store he had just made. Then as he tasted an unspeakable sense of fulfillment that he didn’t have in his previous life, he went back to his lodging. 

As their face met, Wogan couldn’t help but flinch. After he was able to get himself together, he talked to Ryouma.

“Ah, whatever. Ryouma, how does this laundry agency of yours work?” [Wogan]
“Right, currently… Ah, since Karma-san and Karla-san are here as well, I guess I might as well take this opportunity to explain how things work. Then, please come with me. Serge-san and the others, as well.” [Ryouma]

As Ryouma opened a part of the counter, he urged the other five to enter. The five people agreed, and entered with Ryouma.

“First, the customers need to buy one of the bags specially tailored to them. Bags tailored for individuals go for 20 suits a bag. This bag will be used whenever the customer comes to the store, so after purchasing one of these bags once, there won’t be any need to buy again when that customer comes the second time.” [Ryouma]
“Then in that case I’ll take one. I should stuff this bag with my laundry, right?” [Wogan]
“Yes, also, since today is simply a rehearsal for the real thing, today’s request will be free of charge. The bag, as well. So please take it and come again.” [Ryouma]

“Thanks.” [Wogan]
“Next is Karma-san and Karla-san. When a customer comes and pays, please insert the plank corresponding to the price paid into this pole by the counter’s right side.”

Ryouma took out a variety of thin and assorted colored plates from the counter and showed it to them. At the same time he also showed them the pole near the counter where the plates fit and the plate holder.

“What is that?”  [Karma]
“It’s a tool for calculating income. The price in this store has already been decided by the size of the bags, as opposed to the pricing of other stores which is always changing. Moreover there are no prices other than 1 medium copper coin, 1 medium copper coin and 8 small copper coins, and 4 medium copper coins.

For every piece of medium coper coin you receive, please place one black plate into the plate holder for the black plate. This plate holder has a gradation and can take up to a hundred. Whenever it reaches 100 plates, please write a 1 on the paper underneath the plate holder, and then please put all the plates back into the shelf below the counter. Once a day after starting work, you can calculate the income of the store with this.

For example, when you fill up the black plate holder 3 times, and then after having removed the plates inside 3 times. If inside the plate holder 42 still remained, then in that case the earnings for the individual option becomes 342 medium copper coins or 3420 suits.

Seven types have been prepared all in all including the 3 options with the differing bag sizes, the 3 differing laundry prices, and the full body wash service aimed at adventurer’s armors and weapons. So if you check the plates respectively after starting work and adding them, you can calculate the profits.” [Ryouma]

After Ryouma said that he went back to talking to Wogan, but Karla, Karma, Serge, Pioro, and Grisela were all rooted on the spot as they stared at that tool after hearing Ryouma’s explanation.

Ryouma made this tool after remembering how easy it was to calculate the profits at the conveyor belt sushi (Kaiten-zushi) he worked at in his previous life. In that sushi shop, they divided the prices with different colored plates. Then they calculated the prices based on how many plates of a color were there.

Although it was something Ryouma made on a whim, to this world it wasn’t a trifling matter.

The so called arithmetic of this world, despite only really involving the four basic operations, is something that many people are incapable of. People are able to deal with small numbers they use in their day-to-day lives, but when it comes to big numbers such as the tally of the day’s profits, then even merchants find themselves struggling with the calculation.

One reason behind this are the lack of cash registers and calculators. Because of that, there’s no other way to calculate other than to look at the accounting book, check the number of times something was sold, and then add them one by one. Naturally, this takes a lot of time.

However with the tool that Ryouma had just made, even without the discount, it’s possible to easily calculate the earnings for the day. You could say that to this world it’s an exceptional tool to save time.

The price Ryouma is asking for is already so cheap to the people of this world that no one would dare to ask for a discount. With a price like that, no one would complain. But even if there was, they would simply be turned down. Ryouma has no intents of entertaining any further discounts than what he’s already set.

But not only is Ryouma’s store cheap, but its speed at calculating compared to other stores is also overwhelmingly fast, allowing the transactions to end easily. When the five people noticed that, their eyes became sharp. But Ryouma didn’t notice that as he continued to indifferently talk.

“After receiving the payment, please take the bag with the laundry and attach this label, which has been prepared ahead of time and can be taken from the shelf below the counter, to the bag’s lace. When giving the bag to the customer, please confirm the labels to make sure that the label of the customer and the label of the laundry matches.” [Ryouma]

The two plates that Ryouma brought out to attach to the lace is what you’d call an identifier. By attaching this, the store can prevent people from mistakenly taking the wrong bag.

After Ryouma explained that to them, he took the baggage and tossed it into a disposable chute like hole installed on the wall behind the counter.

“The cleaner slimes I’d talked about before are in the next room. I’ve already ordered the cleaner slimes to immediately clean and carry to the next room whatever is thrown into the chute. Like this anything thrown into the chute will automatically be cleaned and then brought to the place designated for the laundries.

Afterwards, all that’s left is picking it up, cross-checking the labels, and then giving it back to the customer. This is how the store will operate from now on. How is it? Are there any questions?” [Ryouma]
“No questions.” [Karma & Karla]
“Then please divide the labor among yourselves, then try to serve the customers.” [Ryouma]

As Ryouma said that, he also urged Karma and Karla to come to the counter. After which, they then took 10 people’s laundries, tossed it into the cleaner slime room, retrieved it, then gave it back to the customers.

If it this was one of the laundromats in Earth, they’d also iron the clothes after washing, but the laundry agency that Ryouma built was made specifically only for cleaning.

All the cleaning were left up to the cleaner slimes. And the cleaner slimes would either go inside the bag or put everything including the bag inside their body, then wash it. Because of this, they were also able to prevent losing laundry. After all, without even taking out a single piece of clothing and finishing the laundry in just one room, it’s only natural that nothing would go missing.

As for providing services other than cleaning, at most there’s only folding the clothes in this world. If that kind of service is desired, then Ryouma could just have someone do it, or do it himself. Or alternatively, hire the people who do their laundries themselves and wouldn’t use Ryouma’s store

“Looks like it’s going fine. Do you have any questions?” [Ryouma]
“Has this really become clean?” [Karma]
“We’re not really seeing the kind of results we’d heard from Serge-sama.” [Karla]

Because the twins said that, Ryouma had them open the laundry they got from Jeff and had them use ‘Identify’ on it. Having understood that the clothes were clean, they felt admiration for the cleaner slime’s ability. They had heard that the clothes from Jeff were covered in monster blood, so they were quite surprised when they found out there wasn’t even a trace of it on the laundry.

After that, Ryouma distributed the bags targeted to individuals to the 11 for free as a service. And because Wogan announced that he will be taking the group laundry option with the staff, Ryouma passed them a giant bag that could take 35 people’s worth of laundry along with 35 individual bags for free.

When they saw that, they couldn’t help but wonder why the individual bags were also given. At that question Ryouma replied,

“It’s a hassle to have your clothes mix up with others’, right? Moreover, I think that the female clients wouldn’t want their clothes and underwear to be seen by others, especially by other men. So as a subdivision, I’ve also included the individual bags. Like this, the laundry won’t be seen by the male staff.” [Ryouma]

At those words, everyone agreed, especially the women. Hearing this, Meilin promised to recommend the store to the other female staff in the guild.

Actually, Wogan did mention about Ryouma’s laundromat to the other female staff, but precisely because of the reason Ryouma had mentioned just now, they declined.

While they were talking like that, the household of the duke arrived. For even the duke’s family, themselves, to come. Naturally, the people were in a slight uproar. And so, all 23 of them were brought into one of the rooms of the store.

Though this may be off topic, because Ryouma had no surviving relatives in his past life, he had no experience in these kind of gatherings. Because of that, it was only when they came here that Ryouma noticed that he had just called the duke’s family whose social position has no relation to his, for a private matter. Thereby perpetuating an unthinkable act showing an obvious lack of common sense.

Normally, it shouldn’t be possible to call the guild masters of the adventurer’s guild and the merchant’s guild. Ryouma planned this event with gratitude to his benefactors in mind, as well as his aspiration to have some sort of social disposition. But when he saw what was happening, he realized how hasty he was and decided that he will secretly reflect after this.