Published at 25th of March 2019 9:39 pm

Chapter 83: Gotetsu

After the test, 6 more days pass.

Calling myself a merchant while in this situation where I am not doing any business and only using money. How vexing.

Luckily for me, I have the products of Asora and the armor of the dwarfs. In a sense, I have items that can turn into gold, so in terms of expenses, I probably don’t have to worry that much. It’s just, as expected, having money leave my hands only, feels like a waste. I am a commoner, so I can’t help feeling like this.

Today, we finally received a notification from the Academy about the inn we will be lodging in. A notification telling me I officially passed and a schedule of how many lectures I have in a week. Also, telling me that they want to visit in order to do a formal contract.

They are not thinking about my convenience. It feels like they are talking from a pretty high position. It probably shows how much influence they have in this land. The contents felt like they are telling me they will be suddenly intruding this afternoon or in the morning two days from now.

“Makoto-sama, is it a notification from the Academy?” (Shiki)

It’s Shiki. With two men, there is no need for two rooms. In all of the towns we have travelled, we have stayed in a room with two beds. In this town it is the same. Around him, there are a number of books scattered. He, who loves reading, buys any book he finds interesting when he accompanies me. In this world books are quite high priced, so when I saw the number of books increasing, I asked him if the money was fine. But it seems he has enough savings, so my worries were needless… or not.

Actually, Shiki over-paid. He used stones and jewels filled with magic power as a replacement for money and it was in a quality that a book wouldn’t be able to match. I think that doing a sale of stones would have brought out more money, but it seems that Shiki considers knowledge as something that he must obtain no matter how much money he uses. I thought this thought pattern is dangerous. Wasting money is not good.

“It says today in the afternoon or at morning two days from now. I finally will be able to ask about the store. The merchant guild gave me permission to do business, but when I told them about the Academy, they nailed me saying I had to prioritize that. Also, call me Raidou” (Makoto)

“Tto, right, Raido-sama. The building that will be used as store seems to be a good, so we are lucky right” (Shiki)

“Yeah. The previous storekeeper looks polite and seems to be plenty useful. That such a good store went down is a problem though” (Makoto)

When I went to the Merchant Guild to report, look for a building to use as store and a plot of land, the people related to the Academy took lead and began acting.

In their first greeting they were like that but, maybe it is because Rembrandt-san talked to them about me. Things related to the Merchant Guild proceeded without any problems. They cooperated in looking for a store too, but well, there were a lot of stores available. Ones that were in bad state and also others in good conditions. There were many varied types of stores that were closed.

The ones at the streets were also unique. There were ones that you wouldn’t be able to find unless you know they are certainly there and the buildings that went from the town’s gate to the academy on that wide street were also varied.

The types of stores were numerous too, but the restaurants and armor stores were especially plentiful. There were also stores for general goods and… Night stores. Even in a town centered on research, there are still “those kind” of stores, is what I honestly thought. I don’t have plans on going at all, but the merchant guild onee-san, seeing that we two were men, without changing her smile, not only did she guide us to the place but also told us the incredible services they provided. That lady, she is a professional.

“With how wide the town is, the competition is fierce as well. A place where there are mostly young ones and the quality of customers is special. The changes in fashion are also fast” (Shiki)

“It is scary how possible it is for something that was popular a few months ago to suddenly be seen as cuckoo now” (Makoto)

Scary. If I want to do a restaurant, the best option is to make a staple menu and obtain regular customers. But that I am thinking this way, may be because I am lacking an adventurous spirit. What I can compete with in this area, is with the Chinese food and simple Japanese-style food from my previous world. And if young people are the target, fast food is also an option. Well, it is a pointless thing to think about for a novice like me who can only do simple cooking.

Shiki must have noticed how hard it is to do business here as well. He makes a pondering face. I am happy that he is trying to contribute. Well, I want Shiki to be following me as I move in the Academy, so the time we will be together will increase.

I have to think about the person who will be minding the store. There is the choice of employing a hyuman, but I still don’t know them that well. Instead of being looked down for strange reasons, it would be better to just bring someone from Asora. In that case, the potential candidates are the Forest Onis. That will depend on whether the training of Tomoe is going well though. If not, the runner-ups are the Arkes huh. I don’t know if they can hide their strength and there is the problem that they aren’t originally human-shaped, so the forest onis are the best choice though. If Akua and Eris looks after the store obediently, they would surely become the poster girls of the store. IF they act obediently. It won’t work. The fact that I am having doubts makes them unqualified already. Also, they are young girls, so trouble with customers will… ouch ouch, *my stomach is hurting*. Because of stress

N? The Forest Onis they sent to Asora seem to be elites, but there were quite a lot who were young. I don’t know how much of their personality has been corrected, but I feel like they may become a seed for trouble. However, the Arkes don’t have experience in interacting with people. No matter which I choose, I feel like it would cause me headaches.

In that case, I may have to think about the possibility of employing a hyuman. Ah, I wonder if in this world there is something like interviews, which lets me look at the abilities of the person in question. I don’t know if interviews are too formal, so when I go to the guild next time, I will ask.

With what happened with those students a few days ago, I am uneasy about employing people without skills to communicate with customers. Well, thanks to that event, I was able to tell the forest onis can easily handle those kind of people with their strength.

“The place we bought is on a big avenue, so at least we won’t be passed by without catching the eye of no one. Also, I think it is a good thing there are no similar businesses near” (Shiki)

“It is because of that, that we bought the place. I don’t know how to advertise a store that doesn’t stand out after all. That part, I will be settling it with money. Medicine as main. After, I will make it so people will be able to order armor as well, so I am counting on you Shiki” (Makoto)

“In what?” (Shiki)

“As the public representative. On the outside, you will be acting as the owner of the store. That’s why on the times like lectures, I want you to indirectly tell them medicine knowledge and the way to use magic medications in practice. That way, a part of our students will be able to tell the quality and effects of our products right?” (Makoto)

“… Publicity. You have already thought about it” (Shiki)

“Only to this extent. You and the Arkes seem to have made various medicines and it is true that their effects are high” (Makoto)

That’s right. Shiki has built more intimacy with the Arkes than with Mio. I don’t know if it could be called the fusion of alchemy and pharmaceutics. They have good compatibility and have made quite the amount of types of magic medications. Some of them even made ambrosia. I don’t intend to put that one out normally for sale though.

Ah, I should think about the line-up of medicines I will be putting out. The general ones like fever medicines and wound medications are a given. An antidote against the poison of mamonos and later I will bring out a drink medication I have thought of. It’s not like I was the one who thought of it, but it is something like an energy drink that is used to recover from fatigue. I thought it would be nice having those here so I made them reality. For the students that are doing their best and the people that work hard, I feel like this will be profitable (until there are copy products of it). *Aim for it, at the bags of the students and the loving white robe*. 目指せ学生鞄と白衣の恋人 Not sure of the meaning

“I want to continue the talk of the store, so let’s go take our lunch. If we do well, we might be able to open it soon” (Makoto)

“Understood. Then for lunch…” (Shiki)

“N. Isn’t Gotetsu fine?” (Makoto)

“That place’s nabe is superb. I have no objections” (Shiki)

We coincidentally found the restaurant Gotetsu where the girl we saved worked in. We have used it a number of times for lunch and dinner. Thinking about the number of days we have been here, I am aware that the amount times we have gone there are quite a lot. The nabe that the shopkeeper says is a specialty of his hometown, tastes quite different from the one of my hometown, but it is still delicious. I liked it because I have memories of my homeland, but Shiki seems to have honestly liked the taste of it. Now, every time I ask Shiki where to eat, he would instantly respond Gotetsu. Tonight I want to check my new store, so this time I designated Gotetsu for our lunch. Even though he likes it, I hope he is not wishing to eat on the same place for lunch and dinner every day. It is something from a long time ago, but in my previous world there was a person who always responded *Ma kukama* マ○クかマ○ when we asked him where would he want to eat. Well, the two are the same kind of store though. After a while, we stopped asking him where he would want to eat. His answer was always the same after all.

I feel like if not handled well, Shiki might turn the same way in this town. That’s why I have to be forward in looking for a new store.

The first time I went to that establishment and saw nabe, I seriously questioned about the existence of otherworldlers aside from me and the heroes. When I tasted it, my doubts vanished instantly though. There were various types, but there were a lot of peculiar ones. I then understood that it would be hard to not get tired of this town. Also, there was no taste of soy sauce.

And also, shopkeeper, there’s no sweet nabe. For me, there is definitely none! When I saw that overflowing cream and ingredients, I honestly thought it was merengue and wanted to escape reality. That I saw Shiki as a being surpassing humanity for eating such a thing, is a secret. Really, thanks a lot for eating it all Shiki. This was the first time I gave up on the food in this world.

The girl working at Gotetsu said her name was Ruria. That she seemed a lot brighter than when we first met must be because she was serving the customers. Looking at that girl who had such cold eyes, changing her attitude and acting so bright while working made me think she is quite level-headed. I haven’t done part-time jobs, so it may be because I haven’t seen people act inside and outside of work. The people doing work probably have to be this tough or they can’t live by. This world clearly discriminates more than my previous one, so one may have to be even tougher.

We went a number of times, but it doesn’t seem she thinks we are aiming for her and she doesn’t seem to be acting wary of us. And in reality, every time we come, we wholeheartedly eat nabe, especially Shiki. At the first times, for some reason she looked at me with a face filled with cautiousness. Maybe because my outward appearance looks suspicious. I do have my mask off, but don’t tell me it’s exactly because I don’t have it on? No, I am probably overthinking.

But she talks, there are no weird parts of her and she is hyuman. Why was she involved with those students? Did she have bad luck, just plain chance? I tried asking and she didn’t talk so maybe it wasn’t coincidence. Then she has some special circumstances? I don’t know.

The two of us visit often and we ask for two menus, so Shiki and I seem to stand out quite a bit in the store. Ruria also remembers our names already. Now when we come, she does some light conversation.

Today too, while Shiki ate his nabe, we talked about us going to the Academy and about finally being able to begin working. She is the first acquaintance in this town to know our names. The place where we are going to open our store is a bit far from here, so when we open, we probably won’t be able to come as often and a part of me is sad about that. Well, if I talk to Shiki about it, the chances of him wanting to come here are high, so we might unexpectedly visit often. In my case, since we are in a center place where we can find varied stores, I want to try out different kinds of food. We might find something resembling konbu and katsuobushi faster than Tomoe. If that happens, it might work as a nice souvenir.

Someday I want Shiki to try the nabe I know of. Mizutaki, shabushabu, sukiyaki, yudofu. Yeah, I also want to eat those.

Ah, that’s right. If possible, I want to do something about the interior design of the store this evening. The design will be done by Shiki to a certain extent and it will also be based on the stores around. In this world, as long as you use magic, there is no definite need to call for a craftsman in order to work on the interior. Shiki can use the earth element and he has just the right kind of magic to use in this type of scenario. When we can economize, it feels plain good.

Not only that, it also becomes good practice for my magic. Lately, I have been living in a constant state of concentration where I can activate my magic at once. Even so, I can’t maintain it for too long and I have tried training in making a strong defensive barrier even if imperfect. I learned not too long ago that in places with special environments like a battlefield where one holds a characteristic state of mind, it is hard to move your magic like your own hands and feet.

Now that the bug has found me once, it is true that I don’t know what might happen and when. I have to pass each day as precious and not waste any of time of it. My life is at stake after all.

Finishing lunch, by the time Shiki and I arrived at the Academy, the students were at lunch break probably thanks to us eating lunch early. Quite a lot of people were coming out from respective buildings. The giant white construction looked somewhat modern-like and also felt a bit nostalgic. It may also be because the nature of it being a school feels nostalgic as well.

Seeing as we are not from here, they look at us with curious eyes (I want to believe it is not because of my appearance). While avoiding them, we head for the designated place.

… That there were people taken aback and some that looked back twice, m-must be because this is an unusual happening.

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