Chapter 5: I Also Tried Being a Merchant

Today, I was thinking of making food that I could stock in my Item Box to be cooked and eaten quickly at any time. The smell would linger and build up if I was to do it in my room, so I borrowed the inn’s inner courtyard.

I guess I should start with the stuff I’m stocking up. Let’s start with the miso-pickled orc general meat.

I put some miso tare and the meat into a vinyl bag to marinate. By doing this ahead of time, it became possible to quickly cook miso-grilled meat at any time.

After that, I got to work on the fried foods that had been a staple lately. I separated the portions into one for frying later, and the other for preparation to be fried at any time. Of course, I would be using the same two flavors as before. I used the black serpent, rock bird, and giant dodo meats, and prepared half of each flavor.

Because I was going to make large amounts of both flavors, I also prepared to steam some rice in the meantime. I steamed the rice after washing the grains and letting them soak in water for a little while.

Since I was no longer even remotely in need of money, I went all out and bought a new stove and clay pot. I only bought one stove — along with the ones I already had, this would make three stoves, and it didn’t seem like I’d be able to manage any more than that at once. It’d be a waste if I burned anything.

So, I used the three stoves to steam rice, and while that was happening, I continued to prepare the miso marinated meat. This was tough work, since taking Fel and Sui’s appetite into consideration, I’d have to make a huge amount.

Meanwhile, I made sure to toss the entire pot with rice inside into my Item Box once the rice was finished steaming. With that, it was now possible to enjoy fresh rice at any time.

After that, I started steaming even more rice on the three stoves. As for the finished rice, two of the pots would stay in my Item Box, and one of them was left over for me to make rice balls with.

“Whew~ Finally finished all that prep.”

I took out one of the pots of rice that I had thrown into my Item Box to keep from cooling in order to make rice balls.

“For rice balls, I’ll go with the common regular seaweed, the brown seaweed that you mix in, salmon, and baby sardines for fillings, I guess.”

Buying the ingredients using my Online Supermarket, I continued to make more rice balls.

Their shapes are a little off, but that just means they have charm. Really, I want to make these with mentaiko or something, but that’s too much trouble. I have more to make after this, too.

“Fuhahahahaha!! I’ve wanted to try this ever since I saw it on the Online Supermarket~.”

What I saw was a hand-cranked mincer. They were selling it as a cooking tool. So now I could make my own ground meat.

I was planning to make Hamburg steak. Just like karaage, I knew of basically no one who hated it. You can make it lots of different ways, after all, such as with cheese, with Japanese flavorings, or even boiled.

But first, I needed to make a large amount of ground meat. Since ground meat could be used a lot of ways, I wanted to prepare a lot of it. I started off with minced bloody horn-bull.

Fill the mincer and crank, fill the mincer and crank...... After repeating that loop countless times, I had finally made enough minced bloody horn-bull meat. But, it still wasn’t over. Next, I needed to mince the orc general meat. Just like the bloody horn-bull meat, I filled the mincer and cranked over and over again until I was done.

“Whew~, so tired... But now I can make Hamburg steaks.”

But first, I need to mince these onions...there. People either have their onions on their Hamburg steaks raw or cooked. Personally, I’m always raw since it’s less effort.

My plan was to make the patties 60% bloody horn-bull and 40% orc general. Now then, let’s get to mixing the ingredients.

I mixed some panko in a bowl with some milk. Then, I mixed together the ground meat and onions, an egg, and some salt and pepper. After separating them into appropriately sized pieces, I lined the patties up on a tray, wrapped the whole thing, and stored it in my Item Box. After repeating this several times, I had finally finished. At the end, I also tried stuffing the patties with meltable cheese.

All that was left was to cook the fried foods and patties and store them so that they could be eaten immediately at any time.

After heating up the oil, I fried half of the marinated meat. I double fried it this time as well for added crisp.

After I finished frying large amounts of karaage, I also fried some pork and chicken cutlet since I already had the oil ready. I also tried adding cheese in the middle of the chicken cutlet. Both the pork cutlet and the cheesy chicken cutlet fried up nicely; I made a large amount of these too.

“Good, good. This is going nicely. I have the oil, might as well make that too.”

I opened my Online Supermarket and bought some frozen French fries.

Since this was all unplanned anyway, I took the opportunity to get both thin-cut and thick-cut with skin. Fries would make a great side dish, and there was also the added benefit of being a great snack to go with beer.

I heated up an extra-large portion of the fries. “This should be enough for the fried stuff.”

Next would be the Hamburg steaks. This time, I was making the orthodox homemade version with ketchup and Worcestershire sauce.

Pressing a little indentation into the middle of the patty, I cooked it in my frying pan. Once both sides were seared over, I added water, put a lid on the pan, and steamed it.

Taking out the patty, I made the accompanying sauce. Mixing ketchup and Worcestershire sauce together and boiling for a little until they meld together completes the homemade sauce. I always used nothing but ketchup and Worcestershire, but apparently sometimes people would also put in soy sauce and sugar. That kind of thing differs between families, probably.

Coating the patties with the sauce would complete the dish. I coated the cheese stuffed patties with the sauce as well.

“Right, it’s done!” This should tide us over for a while. At least, I hope.

*Gyyrrrwwllll*

Hearing a massive rumbling stomach, I turned around to see Fel, waiting with drool coming out of his mouth. Sui was next to him as well.

*Sigh*... And I even cooked some meat for them to eat while I was doing this......

Oh well. I gave the two of them some of the patties I just cooked.

“It smelled delicious, but... yes indeed, these are good. Both are nice, but the one with the gooey stuff in the middle is better.”

《It is! This is great. The one with the white goo in the middle is super delicious!》

So cheese is justice in this world too, huh? Well, I’m also in the cheese camp as well. Those were the thoughts that ran through my mind as I joined the two in having a meal out of the freshly made Hamburg steaks.

Ahh~ delicious. I worked hard today, so maybe I’ll treat myself to those fries and some beer... Yeah, that’s what I’ll do.

◇　◇　◇　◇　◇

We’d arrived at the Adventurer’s guild to receive the bloody horn-bull meat and the black serpent meat and hide.

Following after old man Johan, Fel and I headed toward the by-now very familiar storehouse.

Sui, just as always, was inside my bag. Sui took to the bag like a fish to water; it must have been very comfortable.

“Errmm, the guildmaster’s still out talking to Earl Langridge about the mithril lizard and stuff and hasn’t come back. But the reward for the bloody horn-bulls was left to me, so I’ll give it to you along with the money for the materials.”

So the guildmaster’s still with the earl, huh? Sorry for making things so complicated. Must be tough being in a position of power.

“First off, the reward for the quest is 324 gold. So next I’ll be breaking down the contents of your sale. Starting off with the bloody horn-bull horns, there’s a pair each for 58 heads for a total of 174 gold. Then, fifty-seven of their hides come out to 456 gold. And since you’re selling us half of the meat this time, that’s twenty-nine bulls worth of meat for 290 gold. And as for the black serpent you added: the poison sac, fangs, eyes, and magic stone total 79 gold. All in all, that’s 1323 gold.”

The bloody horn-bull’s horns were materials for magic tools, and leather made from their hides were popular as bags and shoes. Now that I thought about it, Lambert had a bloody horn-bull bag in his shop as well. Not to mention their meat was popular, even if it was a little pricey. Their numbers being what they were, it made sense that I made this much money.

“Since you’ve come here, bro, this guild’s made an unbelievable amount of money. Usually for this amount of money, we’d have to make you wait a couple days for it... but as it is now, we can just pay you.”

*Thudclink* *Thudclink* *Thudclink* *Thudclink* *Thudclink* — Old man Johan put five bags of money on the counter.

“Each bag has 300 gold in it, this smaller one here has 123 gold.” Johan said, patting a smaller bag on the left.

1323 gold, huh......? Man, my income’s become something unbelievable. Thanks to Fel, the big earner. I’m still going to get money for the mithril lizard, too.

“Ah, right. I have a message from the guildmaster: ‘We’ll waive the butchering fees for you from now on, so keep coming back,’ is what he says. Also, make sure to come here whenever you have monsters to sell.”

Free butchering, huh? Well for now I’m all good on the meat front, so there’s no plans to send Fel hunting for a while... Still, might as well have them buy it if Fel ever really wants the exercise and decides to go hunting.

“Oh also, here’s the bloody horn-bull meat and the black serpent meat and hide you wanted.”

I received twenty-eight horn-bulls worth of meat and the black serpent meat and hide from Johan. The amount of meat from the bloody horn-bulls was almost off-putting. I stuffed all of it into my Item Box.

Now then, I guess I should just go back to the inn.

I left the guild with Fel and returned to the inn. On the way, we stopped by a general store to get some essentials.

“Fel, I’m going to be heading to Lambert’s store after we go back and I make some preparations. What will you do?”

“I would only be bored in that shed. I will be coming with you.”

“Got it. Then I’ll be in my room preparing, wait a little.” I promptly returned to my room after that conversation.

◇　◇　◇　◇　◇

“Now then, recently I’ve basically been living at that Adventurer’s guild. I’m part of the Merchant’s guild too, at least in name, so I should do some merchant things every once in a while.”

I’d already paid my taxes to the guild, so since I took the trouble to be a member, so I should at least try to do something worthy of the membership. And so, I was once again planning on selling things from my Online Supermarket here.

I already had an idea of what I wanted to sell. I wasn’t totally sure, but this would probably sell. However, I wasn’t sure just how much it would be worth in this world. So I wanted to consult with Lambert about that. It seemed like Lambert was quite the experienced merchant, after all.

I bought what I was thinking of with my skill: a set of three soap bars costing a copper, and a set of three rose scented soap bars costing 3 copper. I also bought a refill of shampoo with conditioner for 4 copper. Then, I bought refills for shampoo and hair treatment for 5 copper each. I also bought some emergency hair masks, since it looked like those might sell, even if they were a bit expensive at 8 copper.

Oh yeah, I forgot to buy bottles to put this stuff in...... Well, I plan to sell this as a special product, so bottles from the Online Supermarket should be fine.

“Right, now all I’ve got to do is move this all into the bottles and bags I’ve bought.”

I took the soaps out of their packaging and put them separately into small bags. It seemed like soap already existed in this world, so it seemed to me that bar soap would be more familiar, and therefore better, than body wash. I was thinking of selling the three regular bars that cost 1 copper a little cheaper and treating the rose scented soap as a high-class product.

I swapped out the shampoo and conditioner, shampoo, and hair treatment into bottles with cork lids. I had enough for three bottles of each.

The shampoo with conditioner only required washing, so it was for casual use (although since baths themselves hadn’t diffused through the masses, it would only be for those with a small fortune), while the shampoo and hair treatment would be a high-class product for nobles. After all, using shampoo and treatment properly produces a totally different level of silkiness and shine to hair.

As for the hair mask I bought last minute, I repackaged it into a bottle I bought from the Online Supermarket that looked like it would store jam inside. I was also going to treat this as a special product, and claim that, in a pinch, this would make your hair beautiful like magic or something and sell it at a high price.

Right, this should be it.

I figured that these would sell, but I had no idea what price would be appropriate for them. So I thought I’d ask for Lambert’s advice. I was also considering having him try them out and give his opinions. Even if I liked it, I had no idea how people from this world would react to them, after all, since it was a solid bet that shampoo had never even existed until now.

At any rate, I’m just going to have to bring this over and ask Lambert.

Still though, I really want to get in a bath...

Even though I’d gotten used to wiping down my body with a wet towel, as a Japanese person I really feel like I need a bath. If only I had a bath...

◇　◇　◇　◇　◇

“Hello. I’m Mukohda, is Lambert here?”

I had arrived at Lambert’s store, but unfortunately, it didn’t seem like he was in at the moment, and I was greeted by an employee. It seemed like the employee remembered me, as he quickly went to go and alert Lambert.

“Welcome, Mukohda.”

“So I have some black serpent hide that you had said you wanted before...”

“Ohh! I’m so thankful. Well then, this way.”

I was shown into a reception room in the back by Lambert. I sat in a chair when prompted by Lambert, and a maid promptly handed me a cup of tea. From the tea’s smell and taste, it was oolong.

“So then, will you let me see this black serpent’s hide?”

Prompted by Lambert, I pulled the black serpent hide from my Item Box to show to him.

“I see, I see... the hide is beautiful, and it’s in quite good shape.” Lambert continued appraising the black serpent’s hide while praising it to high heavens, saying things like, “Magnificent...”

Apparently getting something this free of damage was rare.

“Since you’ve got something this good, I’ll have to put in some effort as well. How does 50 gold for it sound?”

Heh? 5-50 gold, just for the hide? While I was reeling in surprise, Lambert started explaining his price.

“Just like I told you, this hide’s got very few wounds on it. If there is damage, that area becomes unusable, and it becomes increasingly harder to make things that need lots of leather, like bags. From that point, this hide has little damage and so there’s almost no part of it that would go to waste.”

I see. So from that the price becomes 50 gold, huh? What a surprisingly large income.

“I’ll take that price, then.”

When I said that, Lambert pulled out 50 gold from a room in the back.

“50 gold, please count it if you like.” Just like a merchant, he presented it as a line of five stacks of 10 coins.

“Indeed, I have received 50 gold coins.” I put the 50 coins into the sand snake wallet that I “bought” (was given) at this store and hadn’t used yet because I thought it would be a waste.

“Ohh, that’s from our store.”

“Yeah, I’ve been hesitating to use it since I thought it might be a waste, but since I got this at your store, Lambert, I figured I might as well use it for this.”

“Yes, indeed. This kind of thing exhibits its flavor the more you use it, so it would be best if you kept it in use for a long while.”

A wallet with 50 gold coins in it... it feels like I’m carrying a small fortune, haha. I reigned in my expression when I was about to break into a grin, remembering that I still had business with Lambert.

“Uhmm, I have something I’d like to consult with you on...”

“With me?”

“Yes. Before that...... I’ve come upon a large amount of bloody horn-bulls, so this is a gift.” Before getting on to the main topic, I presented Lambert with the bloody horn-bull hide I had received.

“Are you sure?”

“Of course. Just as I’ve said, I’ve got a lot.” It might just be to improve his mood, but giving a present makes it easier for me to ask as well.

Lambert accepted with a “Well then...” and the conversation continued.

“To tell the truth, I’m also registered with the Merchant’s guild.” I said as I presented my Iron-ranked guild card.

“Hohh, I see. It’s rare to be registered to both the Merchant’s and Adventurer’s guilds.”

“So what I wanted to consult with you about is whether or not something like this would sell, and if so, how much would be an appropriate price.” I said as I presented the soaps and shampoos I brought with me.

“This soap is...” Taking the cheaper soap in hand, I started explaining the product to Lambert.

“And, as you might be able to tell from its refined scent, is something I’d like to sell at a higher price.”

Lambert sniffed the soap with an interested look.

“This is for washing one’s hair, and if you use this one, your hair will become quite silky. I think this would be very popular amongst women.” When I took the shampoo with conditioner bottle in my hand and explained it, Lambert took some interest in it as well and popped open the cork to give it a smell.

“This one is also for washing hair, but it has a stronger effect than the previous one. So I’d like to give it an accordingly higher price. If you apply this one for a while and wash it out after cleaning your hair with this one, your hair will regain its moisture and gloss, leading to a beauty anyone would surely envy.”

Once again Lambert popped the cork to smell them.

“Lastly, my best, most special product. If one applies this after washing their hair and rinses it out after a while, any hair will become beautiful, like magic.” When I placed the bottle with the hair mask in it down, Lambert picked it up as well to confirm its smell.

After doing so, he closed his eyes in thought for a while. I was a little on edge in anticipation of what he was going to say.

“Mukohda. I’m really thankful that I managed to meet you.”

I wondered what was going on, for Lambert to get so emotional like that.

“Actually, my and my wife’s anniversary is in two weeks, and I was just stressing over what to get her as a present...” According to Lambert, all he had for presents was a women’s bag from his own store. If not that, then some sort of accessory. But then, his wife made a preemptive strike and gave an indirect pronouncement that she’d had enough bags and accessories.

And if he were to give a bag or an accessory just as he had before even with that edict......

To Lambert, the only presents to give were bags and accessories, so he’d been stressing quite a bit about what to get her.

“My wife’s quite fond of soap, and she’s been concerned about her hair as well. If I were to give her the items you’ve just introduced to me, Mukohda, there’s no doubt that she’d be through the roof!”

“Now I won’t have to be ignored...” What are you muttering, Lambert?! Must be tough being married.

More importantly, though, there was a part of Lambert’s speech that had me interested.

“If she’s been fond of soap, does that mean you have a bath?” Even though we were of different classes, I had thought that only noble houses had baths.

“Yes, it was my wife’s only wish that we have a bath in our house.”

Hmmm, so he does have a bath. I kinda want to see what a bath in this world looks like...

And if I could buy one, I definitely would.

“Ah, this might be a bit rude, but could you let me see your bath?” It was a bit rude to suddenly ask to see someone’s bath in their house, but I was so curious that I couldn’t help but try asking.

“Sure, that’s fine.”

Ohh, that was easy.

And so we came to Lambert’s bathroom. What I saw was a large round brown ceramic tub that looked like one of those wooden tubs made big. But the size was enough for me to fit comfortably, so wasn’t it fine?

“This is my house’s bath.” Apparently having a bath in their house was the sign that a merchant was successful, so Lambert wanted to show it off.

“What a wonderful bathtub.”

In reaction to my words, Lambert put on a bashful but happy face as he started telling me about it. Apparently, this tub was made specially by crushing magic stones to dust and kneading it into the tub itself, and so was very expensive. Most people thought of this kind of bath when asked about baths, where magic stones were powdered and kneaded into its construction. Doing so allowed the bath to be harder and retain heat much better. Lambert’s brown tub cost 350 gold at the time, but adding colors or art would raise the already princely cost even higher.

350 g-gold, huh? ...For a bath, that sure is expensive. B-But still, thanks to Fel, I’ve got enough money to actually consider it. Or actually, I just really, really want a bathtub.

For now, I wanted to at least look at some, so I had Lambert tell me of a place where I could buy a bathtub. Apparently the only place to get a bathtub in this town was a large store named the Illario trading company. It seemed like the store here was their main headquarters, and they had branch stores in several different towns. Since I wanted a tub, I decided to pay them a visit later.

Oh, that’s right! Before giving it to his wife as a gift, I need to get Lambert to try them out and see how they feel.

“Lambert, please try this out for yourself before giving them to your wife. I’ll leave you one of each. And if you approve, I’ll give you a set for your wife. Also, if you would tell me how it felt to use them and give advice on how much it should cost, I would be very grateful.”

“Certainly. I really should try these out for myself to see if they’re good or not before giving them to my wife.” Lambert continued, muttering, “I mean I can’t even tell how mad she would get if I just handed her something weird...”

Lambert, you must really have it hard......

“Well then, I’ll leave the rest to you.” And so I left Lambert’s shop.

The only question left was how much it would be worth. The soap and shampoo and hair treatments all came in different scents, and if I were to throw in the recently popular non-silicone versions as well, there would be a lot of price ranges I could cover. Even if I were to put this off until later, there was no doubt that it would be a profitable product I could sell outside of salt and pepper.

I’m looking forward to what Lambert thinks of it.

◇　◇　◇　◇　◇

In the inn’s inner courtyard, Fel, Sui, and I had just finished breakfast and were in the middle of digesting.

The inn’s proprietress came over with a boy of around 12 or 13 years of age in tow.

“You have a guest from the Lambert Trading Company.”

At the proprietress’ words, I took a good look at the boy’s face, and found him familiar. It was the boy that was with Lambert when we saved them.

“Uhmm, the president says to come to the store immediately......”

Hm? What’s happening? Why is this boy drooling? Oh, I guess he saw us eating and got reminded of the meal we treated them to on the way back to town. He’s a growing boy, after all...

Right then, let me treat him a little more. “It’s a bit heavy for the morning, but this should be just fine for you since you’re young.”

I quickly roasted some miso-marinated orc general and made a rice bowl of it. The boy’s eyes switched repeatedly between the bowl and my face.

“Boys at your age don’t get full no matter how much you eat, right? Here, eat it.”

“Uh, umm... are you sure it’s okay?”

“I made it for you...”

“Th-Thank you very much!!” Leaving those words, the boy heartily dug into his food.

“I-It’s good......”

He sure looks happy eating that...... I handed the boy some roasted green tea as he finished eating. I chose it because it seemed to be less strong in flavor, and the boy sipped on it after blowing on it to cool it down.

“It was very delicious. This tea, as well. Truly, thank you very much.”

Wow, what a nice kid. The world really is harsh, if a kid only 12 or 13 years old like this has to work. Don’t give in, try your best, kid!

“Uh-Uhmm, the president is still waiting......”

Oh, that’s right. He was sent by Lambert.

He told me to bring Fel and Sui, so the two of them accompanied me to Lambert’s store.

◇　◇　◇　◇　◇

Following the boy and entering Lambert’s store, the man himself came rushing to greet us.

“Mukohda, you’ve finally come! Thank god......”

A woman appeared from behind Lambert, who was making a relieved face. Her age was a little over 30, but she was a beauty with long, olive brown hair and a curvaceous body that gave a very strong-willed impression.

“Dear, you’ve promised to introduce me, yes?”

“Y-Yeah...... Mukohda, this is my wife......” Lambert’s wife pushed him aside and stood in front of me.

“I’m Marie, Lambert’s wife. Pleased to meet you.” Saying that, she lifted the hem of her skirt and gave a neat curtsy.

“You’ve been taking good care of Lambert. I hope you’ll do the same with me.” Marie closed in on me aggressively, continuing with a, “By the way.”

“W-What is it?” My heart couldn’t help but be set aflutter being approached by a beautiful wife like this.

“Actually, about this product......” Inside of the basket Marie was holding were the products that I had given Lambert to test yesterday.

According to the two of them, Marie noticed that Lambert was exuding a really nice scent when he came out of the bath last night and so she interrogated him about it. Lambert tried to play dumb since he was planning to give it to her as an anniversary present, but Marie just wouldn’t give up......

“I mean, my husband was giving off such a good scent out of the bath. Not to mention his hair had become all glossy and silky, even though he bragged about how his family never went bald and he never took care of his hair because of it. There’s no woman in the world who wouldn’t be curious.”

I guess she would be curious if he came out of the bath smelling nice. Especially since girls were sensitive to that sort of thing. Of course she’d think that he used something good.

And so, thanks to her incessant questioning, Lambert spilled the beans.

“When I tried it after hearing about it from my husband, I really was surprised.” Marie excitedly started talking passionately about how nice it was to use. According to her, she used the rose scented soap, and it foamed up well and turned her skin silky smooth, and most importantly imparted a nice scent. And the shampoo foamed up much better than her usual soap and was much more refreshing to use since it cleaned her hair better.

“This product is really wonderful.” Marie held up the hair mask bottle as she said that. “I hear you told my husband that this one ‘makes any kind of hair pretty in one go, like magic,’ so I had to try it. There was no way I could doubt its effects since your soap was so wonderful. And when I actually used it......” Marie stroked her own hair, spellbound.

“My dry and stiff hair that I’d always been worried about became this glossy and smooth.” Marie continued to stroke her hair over and over, still spellbound.

......Marie, just how much do you like your hair?

“I was also surprised. I almost didn’t recognize Marie with her hair so glossy and silky, and with a nice scent to boot. Marie’s beauty has become even more polished, hasn’t it?”

............These damn normies.

“So, actually......”

Yeah yeah, so you want to buy a whole bunch for your wife, right?

“Mukohda, please allow us to sell these in our store.”

............Wha? My eyes went dark with shock for a second when Lambert asked me if he could sell my products.

Doesn’t Lambert run a leather goods store? It seemed like completely the wrong place to sell soaps and shampoos.

“I understand you’re surprised. I also objected, but......” Lambert said, looking toward his wife.

“Are you still going on about that? You just don’t understand. These will definitely sell. You can’t call yourself a merchant if you let products you know will sell go to a different store.” Or so Marie insisted.

“If we were to start selling these, not only noble ladies, but even my friends and common women would come to buy it. There’s no woman who wouldn’t be interested after looking at my hair.”

“Th-That much, huh?”

“That’s right, dear. We’re a leather goods store, but these are separate matters. Just a corner of the store would be fine. Please try stocking some of Mukohda’s products.”

“I-I see...”

“If you don’t want to sell these, I will.”

“N-No, it’s not like I don’t want to, yeah.”

I see Lambert’s been whipped.

“I get it. I’ll believe in you, Marie.”

When Lambert said that, I could hear Marie muttering under her breath, “Ufufufufu, now I can secure my own share...”

“M-Marie?”

“*Cough* Mukohda, sir, will you please allow us to stock your product?”

Marie, you’re really showing your hand, there. Setting that aside, though, having this store sell these was better than I even could have hoped for. I didn’t have a store of my own, and not having to attend to customers myself would be something I’d be thankful for.

“Of course it’s fine. I’m the one who wants to ask you to sell these.”

“Thank you so much! This is good~, truly splendid!” Marie said happily. What would have happened if I’d refused?

......Ughh, I just got the chills. One really shouldn’t underestimate the tenacity of women toward beauty.

“Now now, let’s talk about the details in the back.” Prompted by Marie, both Lambert and I followed her dejectedly.

◇　◇　◇　◇　◇

Lambert, Marie, and I were sitting in a parlor behind the store space. It seemed like Marie was planning on joining in on the negotiations.

According to Lambert, he could not separate store space for my products right away, and was only planning on a small 2-tatami area.

“Personally, I’d like it to be larger, but my husband wouldn’t listen. He was insistent that this be determined by how well it sells...”

Marie seemed extremely disappointed by that, but I understood Lambert’s feelings on this. Not only was it a new product, but it was far removed from what he usually sold in his store. I thought it made sense that he was going to see how it sold first.

“If the space is going to be that small, should we narrow down the number of products?”

Since the store space would be limited, it might be best to start off with only three of the products I gave them. I had given them two kinds of soap, shampoo with conditioner, regular shampoo, hair treatment, and hair masks. Which ones would be best out of those?

“No no, that’s out of the question. We will be selling all of these.” Marie leaned forward and insisted vehemently. “Right, dear?”

Losing to his wife’s pressure, Lambert could only answer in the affirmative.

“The merchandise that Mukohda has brought in is the stuff of dreams for women. Any girl who knows of this would want it.”

What confidence. But it might be true, since it was Marie saying it. She actually tried them, after all.

“I’ll be telling all my friends about it, myself. Of course, if they saw my hair, they’d start asking me about it before I even opened my mouth, though. Ohohoho.” Marie started stroking her own hair in a trance again as she said that.

Yeah yeah, we get that you’re proud of your hair now.

“And as for the prices, what about 4 silver for this soap?” Mary said pointing at the cheaper soap.

W-Whaaat?! But I bought it at 1 copper for 3 of them...

“Marie, isn’t that too expensive?”

“Really? I tried using it to wash my hands, but this one foams up nicely as well, and even though it’s not as good as the other one, it still leaves a nice scent, in my opinion. Please think about the soap we’ve used until now. Not only did they not foam up well, they smelled bad, and they were still 3 silver each.”

“I-Is that right?”

“It is. Thinking like that, this would sell for 4 silver. Personally, I think even that is on the cheap side.”

“I-I see......”

Lambert’s being completely dominated by Marie, I see.

“W-Well, it depends on how much Mukohda’s willing to sell it to us for. What do you think, Mukohda?”

Huh? Me? The wholesale price, right? I’m not really sure, but maybe 50% is about right?

“Eh, uhmm, w-what about 2 silver?”

Lambert made a surprised face when I said that. “Nonono, that’s way too cheap. How about 2 silver and 5 copper? Even that’s pretty cheap, though.”

Wha? He’s fine with 2 silver and 5 copper? Of course I’m fine with it, since I bought them at three for a copper.

“O-Okay then, please.” The cheap one went for 2 silver and 5 copper... I’m making money hand over fist.

“As for this soap, the scent it leaves is so nice that I didn’t even need perfume. Mukohda has said that this soap is more expensive as well, so I was thinking we could sell this one at 6 silver a piece. Dear, what do you think?”

“Hmm, I agree with you, Marie, 6 silver is good for this one. This refined scent has just that much value. Also, this would probably be very popular among nobles.”

I was indeed thinking that the rose scented ones would be more expensive, but even so they were three for 3 copper... and now you’re telling me they’re 6 silver?

“And how much will you want for these?”

They’re selling it for 6 silver, huh? Taking the last one into account, 3 silver and 5 copper is about right? “Uhmm, what about 3 silver and 5 copper?”

“Are you sure that’s okay?” Lambert asked me about it instead. But the original price of it was 3 copper for three of them, so to me getting 3 silver and 5 copper was more than enough profit.

When I nodded my head and said, “Yes,” Lambert replied with a, “Truly, thank you so much.”

If Lambert is thanking me for this, does that mean that even this is too favorable for them? I don’t really get it, but it’s no loss to me, so, whatever, I guess.

The talks continued, and the shampoo with conditioner was set at a retail price of 7 silver, and I would get 4 silver. As for the shampoo and hair treatment, since they were better used together, it was decided that they would normally be sold as a set. It would be 1 gold for a set, and I would be getting 6 silver.

It seemed they were going to go with a system where the customer would only have to buy the bottle with the product inside once, and after they’d just have to bring the bottle back to get refilled. They would sell the bottle at close to what it would cost to make it, and the price of that would be added to the total cost, according to Marie. As for payment for supply of the bottles, they would pay the expense for their cost.

This time, I was basically reselling things. The difference between the cost of buying the products with my skill and selling it wholesale would come into my pockets as profit, so thinking like that, the cost of the bottles themselves wasn’t much at all, but being able to bill the expense was something to be thankful for.

“As for this specialty product here, in order to emphasize its prestige, we should only inform people who buy this set about it. It’s something I know since I’ve used it myself, but it really does make your hair beautiful like magic. Taking that effect into account, this one should be 2 gold.”

............*Gulp* *Hooo~* I was this close to spitting out my tea. I mean, 2 gold?!

That hair mask came in a tube, and it was only 8 copper. And that tube of hair mask filled two of the bottles I got from my Online Supermarket. Breaking it down simply, that would mean one bottle is worth 4 copper, but then it became 2 gold...... I was the only one who knew how much it cost originally, but even so I couldn’t help but wonder if it was okay to make this much off of it.

“This effect explains itself, those who know about it will understand. This is worth 2 gold.” Marie was insistent.

But still, 2 gold...

“Not only is this product special, but the glass container it comes in is also wonderful. I took both those things into account when judging the price.”

I see. But the bottle wasn’t even 2 copper when I bought it...

While I was still pondering whether it really was alright to charge this much for things, it was decided that with the bottle (it seems like they thought it was made to order) I would be getting 1 gold and 2 silver per bottle.

“For now let’s sell these on a trial basis. That’s fine, right Marie?”

“Yes.”

From Lambert’s perspective, he only wanted to start stocking them in serious amounts after seeing how much the products would sell. That being the case, he only bought 30 of each product for the time being.

“Ah, by the way, I’d be grateful if both you and your wife would keep it a secret where you got these from...”

I was totally fine with Lambert selling these, but I wanted to avoid random merchants or nobles trying to get me to sell these to them. It seemed like more trouble than it was worth.

“Of course. I believe that these will sell. It would be out of the question to introduce other people to you when we could have this product to ourselves.”

“Yes, that’s right. A good source is like treasure to a merchant. There’s no way we would share.”

Thank goodness... That takes care of one of my worries.

“Also, it’s not like I’ll be staying in this town forever, so are you all okay? Of course when I leave, I’ll prepare as much stock as I can for you......”

Fel was going on about going to the ocean, after all. With that in mind, it seemed like we’d be leaving fairly soon.

“That’s fine. I’ll be coming to buy some a few times a year. As long as I know where you’ll be, at the very least, I’ll be able to go there.” Apparently, Lambert would travel around a few times a year to procure hides.

If that’s the case, then that’s good for me, too. “Well then, I’ll bring the merchandise to you tomorrow.”

““We’ll be looking forward to your arrival.””

Hmmm, it’s going to get busy. I’ll have to prepare stock for Lambert from now on.

Assuming that I’m going to prepare the merchandise this time, if the orders get bigger, I’ll have to sell them to Lambert in large bottles and have him repackage them at his own discretion. Since bottles are supposed to be a business expense, it should be fine as long as I explain it to them properly.

As for the hair mask specifically, it’s a specialty product so there shouldn’t be too many orders, I think...... If worst comes to worst, I can just sell it to him in larger bottles and hand over the sale bottles separately and have him repackage them later. At any rate, it all depends on how they sell tomorrow. If they end up needing more, I can always just consult with Lambert and Marie. Now then, I need to stop by a general store on the way back and buy some bottles and stuff.

◇　◇　◇　◇　◇

“Whew~, it’s over.” Having finished repackaging all the merchandise to hand over to Lambert tomorrow, I muttered to myself while looking over all the rows of bottles in front of me.

“I’ve been smelling soap and shampoo this entire time, it’s making me really want to just jump in a bath already...”

Well when the money for the mithril lizard comes in, I do plan on looking at bathtubs myself.

“Woah, it’s already this late?” When I looked outside the window, I found that it had already started to become dark.

I guess I’ll head over to Fel and have dinner. Picking up the bag Sui was in, I headed for the kennel.

I feel like eating something hearty today. I have the ground meat, let’s go with that since it’s easy and delicious. Before that, I used my skill to buy eggplants and the tubed sweet and spicy Chinese miso I’d used before.

Now then, let’s get to making that ground meat and eggplant sweet and spicy Chinese miso stir fry.

~◇~◇~◇~

Leave the skin on the eggplants and cut them into around 2cm squares. Cook the eggplant morsels in a frying pan with a larger amount of oil than usual until they’re heated through.

Then, add the ground meat (I made it 7 parts orc general to 3 parts bloody horn-bull) and sauté until the meat changes color. Add extra large amounts of meat for Fel and Sui’s portion.

Add in a little bit of the sweet and spicy Chinese miso mixed with water to the mixture, and let the flavors get to know each other before putting in some potato starch to get rid of some of the excess water and add some thickness to the dish. After doing so, the dish is complete.

~◇~◇~◇~

Looks delicious~

This would be incredibly satisfying eaten with rice, and so, for Fel and Sui’s share, I put the stir fry on a bed of rice on their plates before giving it to them: I served them an eggplant and ground meat sweet and spicy Chinese miso rice bowl.

“Here you go.”

“Mm, what a nice smell.”

《It really is~》

The two of them started eating.

“This is great with this syrupy thing mixed in.”

“Yeah, yeah.” That’s because I made it thick with potato starch, so it sticks to the rice. Nice to see you guys got it.

They looked like they were enjoying it, but this might not be enough for the two of them. Maybe I should bring out that cheese stuffed chicken cutlet I made the other day.

“That isn’t enough for you guys, right? Here, have this too.”

《Ah, that white gooey delicious thing is in here, wow—! Sui loves this white thing—!》

It looks like Sui’s really loving that cheese. If I get some more time later it might be worth it to make some more stuff with cheese.

“Seconds.” Fel quickly demanded more after finishing his bowl.

《Sui wants more too.》

Ahh, Sui too, I see.

While I was making seconds for them, the two were happily enjoying the cheese stuffed chicken cutlet I gave them.

“Here you are.” I gave them their seconds. I also made sure to give them more rice this time around.

Now then, I should eat too. First, a bite. The thick sauce of the stir-fry wrapped around the rice and it was divine.

This really stirs the appetite. The eggplant and ground meat and sweet and spicy Chinese miso really complement each other. Especially the eggplant and miso.

“More of this, too.”

Yeah yeah, more of the cheese stuffed chicken cutlet, right? I handed more of the cutlet to Fel.

《Sui wants to eat more of that thing we ate before. The cooked meat with the white gooey thing inside.》

Ah, the cheese stuffed Hamburg steak, huh?

“The cheese-stuffed Hamburg steak, right? Sui, is that what you want to eat?”

《Yeah. Cuz having that white gooey stuff inside the meat is good!》

Man, Sui sure does love cheese.

“Then, just a little.”

《Thanks, master—!》

Wow Sui sure is cute, isn’t it?

While I was cooking the cheese stuffed patties, Fel asked for a share as well, so I ended up cooking more for the both of them. Smelling the scent of the ketchup and Worcestershire sauce made me want some as well.

The patties were delicious, but I think I ate a little too much.

*Berpp*