Volume 2 Chapter 53 part1

The next day.

After readying the store early in the morning, I went shopping to buy some things to welcome our two new employees.

“There’s this many people already?” [Ryouma]

I opened the store at 8 AM and spent about an hour shopping, so it should currently be around 9 AM.

I wonder what time the customers prefer to come. Also, I wonder what time the number of customers peaks.

As I thought that, I entered through the employee-only entrance. I had Carm-san and Fei-san deal with the customers, while I tasked Carm-san and Leelin-san with carrying the laundry. The store is doing fine for now, so I decided to leave everything to them, while I went to prepare fbod.

There’s no telling when it’s going to get busy, so they should eat while they still can.

I kneaded the dough and stretched it, then I covered it with my meat sauce.

Speaking of which, this meat sauce is left over from the party two days ago. I stored it in my custom made refrigerator, which makes use of barrier magic, so it’s been preserved. Just to be safe, though, I checked it with Identify first, and as expected, there weren’t any problems. Serge-san will probably make another fuss, if he catches wind of my refrigerator.

…Or maybe Pioro-san would make a bigger fuss? He did say his company handled food goods.

I sprinkled some cheese, cut onions, and herb over the base, then I put everything in the kiln. While that was cooking, I started working on the salad and the beverages.

After a while I was able to successfully make the pizza.

A delicious aroma wafted in the air and I took a bite from my portion.

…Yep, it’s done. The customers haven’t started to flood the store yet, so the timing is just right.

“Guys, I made some food. I’ll help out, so please take turns with each other to eat.” [Ryouma]

“Thank you.” [Carm, Carla, Leelin, Fei]

I first substituted for Leelin-san and Carla-san, then after they ate, Fei-san and Carm-san substituted with them. Like this all the employees were able to get their break and eat.

But when afternoon came, the situation ended up just like yesterday and the store became jam-packed, so all the employees had to work together just to barely scrape by.

“Good job, everyone.” [Ryouma]

“You too, Boss.” [Carm, Carla, Leelin, Fei]

It’s better than yesterday, but only to the extent that the workers aren’t about to faint out of exhaustion anymore. If even one of the employees are absent, the situation will quickly become fatal. The employees won’t even have the time to eat.

“There were a lot of customers today too. How much did we make this time?” [Ryouma]

“After calculating everything, our income for the day totals to 11,877 suits.” [Carla]

Carla took out her notebook and showed me.

That’s 50% more than yesterday. That’s amazing progress after only one day.

“The store is really doing well.” [Ryouma]

“It’s actually pretty crazy.” [Leelin]

“At this rate, the customers will probably keep on increasing.” [Fei-san]

“You think so too, Fei-san, Leelin-san? Do you think we should hire more hands, after all? We were originally planning to hire 3 or 4 workers anyway. The way things are now, if even one employee isn’t able to work, the burden on the remaining employees will be too great.” [Ryouma]

“It would probably be for the best to get more hands.” [Carm]

“We just asked for more workers yesterday, but it would be a huge help if you could get some more from the guild.” [Carla]

“Alright. By the way, I was thinking of also hiring a cook. Can you hire one from the guild too?” [Ryouma]

When I asked that, it was Carla-san who answered.

“Yes, but why would you need a cook?” [Carla]

“Everyone’s working hard in the store, so you don’t have time to cook, right? So, to remedy that, I thought I should hire a cook.” [Ryouma]

“That’s true, but you should just leave that sort of stuff to the workers.” [Carla]

“But it would be a load off your shoulders if someone specifically meant for that one job were to take care of it. Besides, if you’re going to eat, then you might as well have something good. This is what you call ’employee welfare”.” [Ryouma]

“Well that’s true, but what do you mean by employee welfare?” [Carla]

“Ah… How to put it… Basically, it’s a kind of thinking that says employees should be able to work at their workplace comfortably.” {Ryouma]

They don’t have employee welfare here? Or is it just not popular?

“Ryouma-sama certainly does take care of his employees a lot.” [Carm]

“Even though we’re live-ins, our salary is so big. Conditions this good are very rare.” [Fei]

“With a good salary, a warm and comfortable room, not to mention, and on top of that, good food. Dad and I probably won’t be going anywhere.” [Leelin]

“Glad to hear. Then, can I leave the rest to you? I’ll be going to the guild to get more workers, but I won’t be coming back, as I’ll be going home after.” [Ryouma]

“Take care!” [Leelin, Fei, Carm, Carla]

When I got to the guild, I was brought to to the reception office again, where the guild master interviewed me.

“Did you come to hire workers today too?” [Grisiera]

“The store is unexpectedly doing well, so I have some spare funds.” [Ryouma]

“I see… So, how many are you hiring?” [Grisiera]

“3 more employees to handle the store plus one cook.” [Ryouma]

“A cook?” [Grisiera]

“The store is usually pretty busy, so the employees don’t have time to cook, so I thought I’d get someone to cook for them. At the same time, I figured I might as well make it so that the food is delicious. It’s for health and nutrition too.” [Ryouma]

“You don’t really have to go out of your way to hire a specialist, though. You sure do some weird stuff.” [Grisiera]

“Is it really that strange?” [Ryouma]

“Normally, one of the employees will cook if it’s that busy. Although it’s true you’ll have to hire various employees as your store gets bigger, but it’s fairly rare for someone to specifically hire a cook. Not that it’s a particularly bad idea, though. Wait here for a bit. I’ll look for some promising ones.” [Grisiera]

After waiting for a while, the guild master personally named 4 people and introduced them to me.

“Greetings! I’m Jane!” [Jane]

“I’m Maria~”

“I’m Fina]

“And I’m the cook, Sherma.” [Sherma]

The first three are all young women. They came from a poor village in hopes of making money. Jane-san is lively, Maria-san has a gentle aura about her, and Fina-san looks like a levelheaded person. At least, that’s my first impression of them. Shelma-san is older than the three and feels like a mother.

The guild master picked these people out herself, so they’re definitely good. But even as I thought that, I made sure all the same that they were willing to work. When I did, they all nodded. As for why, some of them heard rumors that the store is really popular, while some of them saw the line outside yesterday. On top of that, the guild master herself told them that my store is safe.

Well, most of the people including me have already been acquainted with the guild master, so there’s indeed less to fear for the women workers.

The three village women are villagers through and through. They don’t have any special abilities, but that’s okay.

Sherma-san’s previous workplace was apparently an inn, so she can’t make luxurious food, but that’s okay too.

Everyone seems to be easy to get along with, so I decided to hire them all.

Just like that my business was concluded. It only took me 10 minutes.

Connections really are important… Seriously.

Tl Note: Better suggestions for Sherma’s name?

Also, PDFs and ePUBs have been updated. Credits to a kind reader and Byggvirr.

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 Sherma-san’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]

“Ryouma-sama. 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, Ryouma-sama.” [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? Ryouma-sama, 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.

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