Chapter 27: Complaint

“Is the manager here?” a portly, middle-aged man asked upon entering the shop.

If he’d been a normal customer, he’d check out the product shelves or ask if we had a specific item first. Therefore, this man was not a “normal customer.”

I smelled trouble. But he didn’t seem like a noble, so I doubted it’d end up being too big of an issue. Maybe he had a question about a specific medicine, or some other business with me...

“Oh, yes, that would be me...”

“No, not the hired shopkeep. I want to speak with the proprietor.”

Well, if he’d done even a little research, he would’ve heard about the child(ish-looking) manager here. Though I guess it was natural to assume I was hired as a salesperson and someone else was in charge of stocking medicine and paying the rent.

“...Yes, I am the manager and owner.”

“What!”

Yup, already used to that reaction...

“So you pay the rent here, stock the medicine, and sell it all?”

“Yes, I do. Can I help you?”

“...”

Huh, what’s going on? He went quiet...

“Then tell me who your supplier is.”

This again...

“Do you really expect a seller to blab about their supplier and products so easily? What, do you think I’m stupid just because I’m a girl? Are you a noble from somewhere?”

I was thoroughly annoyed at this by now, so I dropped the pretense.

“I-I am not a noble. I’m from the association.”

Huh? But there shouldn’t be any organizations like a Merchants’ Guild spanning across industry and commerce here...

Taxes were to be paid directly to the government. There were gatherings based on occupations, like the Blacksmiths’ Association or Bread Baking Research Association, but membership for those groups was solely optional. Besides, in this town alone, there should’ve only been five other medicine shops besides Layette’s Atelier.

“What is the association called? What type of organization is it? How big is it? And, uhh, how many members are in it?”

“Ugh...”

Why was he stammering now?!

“The Medicine Shoppe Association! Many of the medicine shops besides this one have joined already!”

“Huh...?”

So... three shops? If four had joined, he’d have said “all but one.” If five had, he’d have said “all of them” had joined already.

“...I decline.”

There was no reason to listen just because three shops went off and made a group. Not one bit. Their members could go ahead and follow whatever regulations they decided on. It had nothing to do with the rest of us, and they had no power to enforce anything.

“Why?! This is an official order from the...”

“Um, that doesn’t mean anything to anyone who’s not in your association. And what happened to the other two shops? Oh, if I join forces with the remaining two, we’d have an even power balance...”

“Wha...” The man became flustered.

Why was such a meaningless social gathering trying to enforce things for their selfish reasons anyway?

“So obviously you’re all going to tell me all of your suppliers, buying prices, compound ratios, and secrets too, right?”

“What?! There’s no way I could do that!”

He noticed Layette looking at him like a piece of garbage and cast his eyes downward, finally seeming to realize how ridiculous his demands were. The look of contempt coming from a pure young girl seemed to be pretty effective.

At least he was still familiar with the concept of “shame”...

“Why go through all this trouble...? We don’t carry any medicine that would work on serious injuries or illnesses, and besides our featured soldier’s disease medicine, we only sell things you could practically get anywhere else, like antidiarrhetics and antiseptics.”

“But that soldier’s disease medicine is a huge deal! People normally won’t buy medicine unless they’re injured or sick, but that can be sold indefinitely. And starting from the army, you can make various connection with hunters, field workers, and some nobles, leading to the sale of other medicine. Not only that...”

Huh? But I wasn’t making connections or upselling anything...

Oh, he meant that was what he would do.

“How can normal medicine be so effective?! Why should we get accusations of our products being a sham that deliberately don’t cure people so we can make more money? Sure, we dilute it a little, but it’s still somewhat effective if you drink enough of it!”

Ah...

I made my medicine to be effective, so of course they’d work. But I hadn’t been making anything that could instantly fix serious injuries and illnesses like the Tears of the Goddess and other potions. The medicine’s effects were meager, like curing stomach pain or preventing wounds from festering...

Wait, I guess it’d be pretty obvious with repeated use or when compared to medicine bought at other stores. It’d be clear to see the difference in efficacy and reliability...

Hold on, what did this guy just say?! He dilutes medicine that’s already pretty weak...

Hmm, what to do...

I couldn’t give him my supplier or manufacturing method, of course. Like, I literally couldn’t. Neither of those existed.

Hmmmmmm...

I got it!

“Very well, I’ll see what I can do. Please give me a few days.”

“Ah, so you understand now! Then hurry up and make the preparations!”

“Yes, now, please give me the names of the shops who have joined the Medicine Shoppe Association...”

The man from the so-called Medicine Association gave me the names of the three shops and left with a spring in his step. He was probably full of hopes picturing massive profits rolling in in a few days.

“...Are you sure about this, Big Sis?”

Knowing my potions were created with my ability, Layette looked at me with concern, but yeah, there was no problem.

Come to think of it, Roland and Francette never showed up. It was just one merchant-looking guy, so maybe they thought he was a normal customer, or went off on a date together...

Nah. They wouldn’t do that. I was positive they were watching me from somewhere.

...So creepy!

And so, I exited the shop and looked at the sign posted outside.

“Layette’s Atelier”

Below it, “WE COMPOUND MEDICINE HERE” was written on a different plate.

Hmhm.

＊　　　＊

A few days later...

“I-Is the owner here?!”

“Oh, you’re the Medicine Shoppe Association guy from the other day...”

Yup, the guy barging in and screaming was none other than he.

“Wh-What is... Huh? Th-This is...”

Box lunches were on display in the shop, with even more variety than before. There was even a new system in place that allowed customers to choose their own side dishes. In addition, there were drinks and portable, nonperishable foods like jerky and hard bread, along with snacks, cookies and such.

Everything besides the box meals were made to be kept a long time. It was too much of a hassle to cook them every day, and other than the box lunches that would definitely be eaten that day, I was worried about the food going bad.

We’d purchased the ingredients from other stores and made them ourselves without using my abilities. We even offered a service where you could bring in your own containers to fill up with drinks.

“Wha... Th-The medicine! Where is the medicine?!”

“Medicine? Please go outside and check the sign.”

“What?”

The man stepped outside and looked up to find:

“Layette’s Atelier”

“BOXED MEALS TO GO”

One big and one small sign had that text written on them. Next to the entrance was also a note:

“Due to complaints from the Medicine Shoppe Association (Cultivar Drug Store, Veilas Pharmacy, Mertolen Medicine Shop) claiming our medicine was causing trouble for their business by being too effective, we have stopped selling medicine at our store. We will continue doing business selling packed meals, and we hope for your continued patronage.”

“Wha...” The man opened and closed his mouth repeatedly.

“We’ve stopped selling medicine to focus on box meals. Now your problem is solved!” I said as I smiled.

The man began screaming, red in the face. “This solves nothing! All three shops have been getting complaints non-stop, and all of our customers have moved to the two shops that haven’t joined the association!”

Huh?

I wasn’t necessarily hung up on running a medicine shop. I just wanted a place where I could interact with people while seeming like I was making just enough money to live a normal life without flaunting what I’d saved up. It just so happened that a medicine shop was the easiest way for me to do that, and while I didn’t expect the box lunch shop to be a hit, it fulfilled that goal just as well.

I was getting a little annoyed by all the troubles brought in by the medicine shop, and selling box lunches was more fulfilling in the sense that I could see the customers’ direct reactions. The prep work was hard, but at the end of the day, I felt like I did some good, honest work.

Even with the box lunch shop, I was making good use of the powers Celes gave me. I could make meals in bulk whenever I had the chance and store them in the Item Box, where they wouldn’t degrade, so I wasn’t so busy that I was always being chased by time. As the meals were sold, I could replenish them from the Item Box little by little, so there was little to no wasted food. The products were all hand-made by us, so there was a great sense of accomplishment and fulfillment that came with the work.

What a perfect job!

...But why was this old man annoying me with all his whining...

＊　　　＊

“What’s the meaning of this?!”

Oh, it’s the lieutenant colonel.

“Meaning of what?”

“Don’t feign ignorance with me! ...Though I suppose there would be no point in denying it. What is this? And what happened to the medicine?!”

Oooh, he seemed pretty mad.

“Oh, I closed down the medicine shop. The reason is just as it was written in the letter sent by my messenger...”

“Stop fooling around! Then I just need to crush this so-called association? Should I crush the organization? Their shops? Or crush the owners themselves?!”

By “crush the owners,” he probably meant physically...

But I had already sent away the association people the other day, so they no longer had anything to do with this.

My shop wasn’t a medicine shop anymore.

“Well, this isn’t a matter involving nobles or the military. It’s just an issue between professionals of the same industry, so I don’t think you should be stepping in. I don’t think a military officer should be intervening when it doesn’t concern you...”

“It absolutely concerns me, you fool!!!”

Ahhh! He’s actually really mad... Oh no!

I waved both my hands in front of me in a fluster.

Francette and Roland were glaring in our direction with their hands on the the hilt of their swords, so I desperately tried to signal that everything was okay.

They looked like they were about to charge in with their swords drawn if I didn’t call them off...

“What about our medicine?! Not just the soldier’s disease medicine, but your medicine is known for being effective, so I had given orders to supply everything from your shop!”

Ahhh! That’s why! That’s the reason that suspicious “association” had suddenly appeared!

“Hm? What’s that look for... Ah!”

Shaddap, I was born with these scary eyes!

Wait, what was with that pause just now?

...Oh, he must have realized all of this was all his fault.

“...”

“...”

““...””

“Oh, uh, well...”

Stare...

“...”

He seemed quite troubled.

Well, I didn’t want to pick on him too much.

“Then I will be selling my medicine wholesale to the two shops that are not part of the association, for 80% of the list price. There should be no problem as long as those shops continue selling it for the same price for 20% profit, right?”

“Y-Yes, that’s fine, but... you would hardly make any profit that way. There is no need to concede to the harassment and miss out on easy profits like that. This could all be resolved with a little pressure from the military. They wouldn’t bother you anymore if I tell them the military and its partners will no longer do business with their three shops.”

Hmm, he may have been right, but I didn’t want them trying to get back at me, and I didn’t care about continuing the business enough to go through all that negativity.

I was worried about someone getting attacked in the night over all of this.

...The concern was mainly for them though.

I wasn’t too keen on seeing Francette or Emile cut a civilian down in front of me.

I had to make sure that wouldn’t happen...

“I make enough profit from the box lunch business, so the medicine will just be a service so as to not inconvenience the customers who have been supporting me. Of course, I’ll be supplying those two shops with medicine other than the one for soldier’s disease as well. If they’ll accept the deal, that is.”

“There’s no way they wouldn’t take such a good deal...”

Yeah, he was right.

“It seems keeping the supplier a secret is how things are done around here, so please keep this between us. If you tell anyone, it’d bring more weirdos my way. If that happens...”

“If that happens...?”

I smiled in response to his question.

“Oh, it’s just that no one would be getting any medicine anymore.”

Why did he flinch and suddenly move away from me before hearing my response? Huh?

＊　　　＊

A few days later, right after opening the shop...

“Is the owner here?!”

What happens twice, happens thrice.

And this time, the number of complainers had multiplied to three.

I’m the one who wants to multiply, damn it!

“Why did you offer your products to the two other shops and not us?!”

What did they want me to say...?

“What? My medicine shop is no longer in business, just like you all wanted. Did those shops tell you they’re getting their products from me?”

“N-No, not exactly...

But they’re selling the medicine that were being sold here!”

“I wouldn’t know anything about that.

Besides, I thought trying to force another business to give up their supply route is strictly forbidden? Even if I did close down shop and gave away my supplier to another shop for a high price, what problem is there? And do you think barging in here and demanding me to give you answers isn’t a problem?

“How about I go to those two other medicine shops and every other shop in town and tell them what you three are doing, and that you think this is proper behavior as merchants?”

“““Wha...”””

Of course they wouldn’t want that.

The other businesses will either frown upon them, no longer work with them, or demand they give up their suppliers in turn as well.

Whatever their reaction, no one would find this acceptable.

“Last time, however unreasonable your demands, it could have been seen as ‘a proposal from a fellow businessman of the industry,’ but this is a ‘baseless accusation and threat against a completely unrelated girl of another profession.’ I have a mind to report this to the authorities.”

If merchants began taking each other out, there would be less tax revenue to be made.

And merchants made far more revenue than the common worker.

In addition, this was the royal capital, where taxes would go directly to His Majesty the King.

...In other words, the officials and guards here worked very hard.

“““...”””

Many pairs of eyes simply stared at the three medicine shop owners in silence.

This was right after opening time.

In other words, it was the busiest time of day for customers to come in and buy their box meals.

Hunters, travelers, military personnel ranking higher than petty officers who lived outside of the barracks, and more.

“Layette’s Atelier, Box Meals To Go” had a rather strong clientele.

Those customers stared down the three merchants with an even scarier look.

Their faces turned pale, and they had no choice but to turn tail and run.

“I’m sorry for the wait, everyone. As a token of apology, everyone here will get 20% off of their purchase!”

“Ohh, so generous! You’re the best, Kaoru!”

“Flattery isn’t going to get you any bigger of a discount, you know!”

“The only thing that’s flat around here is your ches... I mean, nothing!”

The customer must have realized that sounded too cruel even for a joke, and tried to take it back right away.

“You should have just rolled with it as a joke! Feeling bad about it mid-way only made it worse!”

“My bad...”

And so, the shop was filled with laughter.