ITSUJITA ~ C40

 

Chapter 40: And the business starts

 

 

After discussing it with Karen, I decided to pay the old people on the town's outskirts 35 copper coins per day.

Karen suggested that 30 copper coins would be enough, but I added 5 more copper coins.

 

I am happy to say that all the old people living on the town's outskirts looking for a job have agreed to help us produce survival matches.

 

I rent an empty house in town from Karen.

We use the house as a temporary factory and Aina teaches them how to make matches.

It took us about three days to be able to produce matches consistently while maintaining the product quality. After that, everything runs smoothly.

 

The production volume has increased steadily. Finally, more than 10,000 self-made survival matches are produced every day.

When Aina sees the pile of homemade survival matches, she can't help but smile.

 

"Shirou Onii-chan...... Do you think we can sell all these matches?"

 

She looks worried, but I say...

 

"Sure. Don't worry about it."

 

I said and smiles.

Of course, it wasn't baseless confidence or fake cheerfulness.

This is because...

 

The bell on the door alerts me that I have a visitor, and a well-dressed old man walks in.

 

"Welcome to our store."

 

Aina is working as a teacher at the factory, so I'm alone in my store.

 

"Excuse me. Is this Shirou store?"

 

"Yes, that's correct."

 

When I greeted him, he smiled.

 

"Thank God. So it's correct. It's been a long trip to get here....... Oh, is the owner around?"

 

"I'm Shirou, the owner of this store."

 

"Oh! Are you the rumored Shirou-dono? I am a merchant and my name is Jecos. Nice to meet you."

 

The old man, Jecos asked me to shake his hand.

So I shake his hand.

 

"Nice to meet you, Jecos-san. What can I do for you?"

 

"To tell you the truth, I'd like to discuss a certain item that Shirou-dono is selling......."

 

"An item?"

 

"Fufufu, this one."

 

Jecos took something out of his pocket.

A small box made of paper----a matches box.

 

"I came from Sanossa, a trading city in the west, to find these matches. Well, it was tough! My copper coins were decreasing every time I passed through several towns and checkpoints. I was really relieved when I finally arrived at this town."

 

"That must be tough......."

 

Ninorich does not charge a tax to enter the town

, but that is unusual. Because usually, non-residents are required to pay a tax when they enter the town.

If you belong to a big adventurer's guild or merchant's guild, you will have a special permit, so you can get an exemption or tax reduction.

 

"Yes, it was tough. But I've arrived in this town, in this store! ...... Oops. I've strayed off-topic."

 

"No, don't worry about it. Thanks for coming here. It sounds like you had a tough trip."

 

Then I brought a chair and placed it across the counter.

 

"Please have a seat. I'll get you something to drink.

 

"I'm sorry..... For coming without an appointment."

 

"Ahaha, normally we should have a business meeting in a reception room. Unfortunately, I'm the only one in this store right now, and we don't have a reception room. I'm sorry, but please bear with me here."

 

"No problem. It's fine here. Please don't worry about it."

 

I go to the kitchen, make some tea, and come back.

I put two cups of tea and a glass of water on the counter, and I sit down on a chair.

I am facing Jecos and the counter.

 

"Please have a drink."

 

"Thank you. Oh,...... what a nice scent. Not only the tea scent but there's also a hint of fresh fruit!"

 

Jecos is very surprised when he smells the tea.

He sits up and sniffs the scent of the tea again and again.

His hand trembles as he holds the cup, and he seems to be very confused.

 

"Shirou-dono!　What in the world--which country does this tea belong to?

 

"Co, country?"

 

It is my turn to be confused.

 

"Eeeto...I'm sure this tea is Earl Gray. Country... the country is..."

 

Earl Grey is a famous name, but actually it is not the tea leaf's name.

Tea leaves with a citrus aroma are called Earl Gray, a kind of flavored tea such as peach tea and apple tea. I know that much, but I can't tell where the tea leaves come from without looking at the list of ingredients.

 

"Country ...... country ......, maybe it's Darjeeling ......?"

 

For now, I'll just say the name of the tea I know.

Darjeeling is also a famous black tea. It is a general term for tea produced in the Darjeeling region located in India.

 

"Dajirin ......?　Hmmm. That's a country name I've never heard of."

 

Oh, he's misunderstanding something.

Maybe I should just go through with it.

 

"Ahaha, I heard it's a country on the other side of the ocean."

 

"I see. So the tea leaves are obtained from the continent on the other side of the sea. To give me such an expensive thing... Shirou-dono must be very generous. Or as a merchant, you're making a lot of profit? "

 

"I'll leave it to your imagination."

 

The truth is, I bought it at the supermarket. It's just 300 yen per box (each box contains 12 pcs of teabag).

 

"...... Hmmm. I'm not a tea merchant, so I'm not familiar with the value of tea leaves, but with this aroma and taste, I'm sure the rich people would buy it."

 

"Eh? This tea?

 

"Yes. For example, the Marquis of Raithdaam. I heard that Marquis is a tea lover. If he hears about how flavorful this tea is, he'll buy it no matter how much money he has to spend."

 

"Heee. For this tea?"

 

"Yes, this tea....... Oops, I've strayed off-topic again. Whenever I am interested in something, my mind tends to focus on it. Uohon....... Pardon me. Can we start discussing the matches?"

 

"Yes, please."

 

I smiled and nodded in response to Jecos's question.

But inwardly, I am nervous about our first business meeting.

 

Now, our first business meeting is about to begin.