The 4 employees I hired today also wanted to work live-in, so we had to go back to the store. Before leaving, though, the guild master had a few words with me.
“Ryouma, if things keep going like this, I suggest you start thinking of opening a second or third branch in another town. You can open them anytime. Just make sure to consult me.” [Grisiera]
I was taken aback to hear her say the same thing as Carm-san and the others.
Before parting, she hit my back with her cane and encouraged me, saying, “pull yourself together!”
After that I brought the 4 new employees to the store. Apparently, Carm-san and the others haven’t gone home yet.
“Boss, weren’t you going to go home?” [Carm and Carla]
I told them that the new employees were going to be live-ins, then after introducing them, I went my way.
4 days later.
4 days has passed since I hired the new employees.
The 3 girls are very hardworking, while Shermsan’s cooking is delicious. I stayed in the store on their first day just to be safe, but everything went just fine. The other day I cleaned the outer walls and mowed the lawn. Yesterday, I did my rounds around the abandoned mine.
Although it hasn’t even been a week since the store opened, the store income shows no sign of stopping. Every day the store makes enough for a person to live modestly for three months. It’s a bit scary, but it’s only thanks to everyone that the store could become so popular.
They’ll probably do fine even without me, so I can go back to my adventurer work now… Or so I was thinking, but then Serge-san called for me.
“Sorry to keep you waiting.” [Ryouma]
“Ryoumsama. Thank you for coming. Please, take a seat.” [Serge]
“Thank you.” [Ryouma]
“My apologies for calling you out so suddenly.” [Serge]
“It’s alright. My store doesn’t need me anymore anyway. The two employees you introduced to me have been very hard Working.” [Ryouma]
“I see. I’m glad to hear that they were able to be of use.” [Serge]
“I seem to always be in your debt.” [Ryouma]
“It’s the same for me. I have also been making a profit thanks to you. After all, you’ve been purchasing a large amount of bags and daily necessities every day.” [Serge]
“You’ve been a great help so far. And now, the store is doing so well that it’s honestly quite scary.” [Ryouma]
“It has already become a rumor around the block. And it’s getting quite popular even within the guild.” [Serge]
Serge-san took a breath, then he said this.
“But what’s surprising is that there’s still even more room for income.” [Serge]
Seeing I didn’t understand, Serge-san continued.
“It’s about the waterproof cloth, Ryoumsama.” [Serge]
“Ah, right…” [Ryouma]
I forgot…
“Are you aware that it’s almost time for the grell frog outbreak?” [Serge]
“Yes, I’ve heard of it.” [Ryouma]
“Grell frogs are monsters that live in the marsh. Their hide can be used to make armor, while their innards can be used to make good medicine, so they sell for a large sum. Which is why during the outbreak a lot of adventurers start gathering around the marshes that these grell frog inhabit.
So, I was thinking, wouldn’t this be a good opportunity to make those waders that you made out of those waterproof cloths and sell them? Ryoumsama, my invitation to you today is to know how many waterproof cloths you could produce.” [Serge]
Umm… I have about 907 sticky slimes right now, so it would depend on how many cloths are available.
“I will need normal cloths to turn into waterproof cloths, so I’ll have to rely on you to provide those. About how long do you think these cloths will be?” [Ryouma]
“Since I will be providing them, we can make each cloth about 70m long.” [Serge]
If I ask for more than I can handle, it’ll just trouble us both, so I should leave some leeway for myself.
“In that case, if you can provide the cloths, then we can process about 45 to 90 per day. Drying will take some time, though, so there might be less in actuality.” [Ryouma]
When I said that, Serge-san’s countenance brightened.
“Just 10 cloths at the start will be more than enough. Any more than that is a welcome surprise.” [Serge]
“Alright. Shall we start producing them as early as today?” [Ryouma]
“Yes. Please.” [Serge]
“I’ll need to purchase the cloths then.” [Ryouma]
“I’ll give them to you for free since you’ll be turning them into waterproof cloths. When you hand the waterproofed cloths to me, I’ll pay you for the waterproof treatment. How much will you be charging?” [Serge]
“I’ll leave it to you. Please give me a fair price.” [Ryouma]
When I said that, Serge-san chuckled.
“Normally, a merchant would try to get as much money as he could when he has the advantage in negotiations, but this way is a huge help to me. That aside, where will you be processing the cloths? If people were to catch wind that you are the manufacturer, it wouldn’t be odd if some no good people were to be involved. Do you know a safe place where you can work? If not, I should be able to prepare you one.” [Serge]
“I was thinking of treating the cloths in the abandoned mine.” [Ryouma]
“It’s true people aren’t likely to go there, but will it be alright doing it there?” [Serge]
“I’m the person put in charge of it, so it’s not strange for me to be there, and I can also make a large workshop using my earth magic.” [Ryouma]
After this I got the cloths from Serge-san, then I left the store and went to the abandoned mine.
Tl Note: Will post again tomorrow. Oh, and I decided to go with Sherma.