“For now, live here until we get the shop ready. Heinz, check around the Town of Solva for things we can sell, and Fiorina, relearn how to make potions from Grandma Hotaru.”
““Y-yes, understood.””
Once I bought the two slaves, I didn’t really have any more business in the capital… well, whether I did or not is debatable, but I didn’t have any particular reason to stay, so it’s time to move.
Since the two of them have Subjugation Magic, known as Slave Crests, tattooed on their backs, they are obedient to Barbatos-sama’s orders.
I’ll remove the Subjugation Magic later and bind them with Oath Magic.
“These are the first outsiders we’ve had, so everyone, please get along.”
“Yes, milord.”
““Yes, sir!””
That being said, these two will leave again once the shop in the Town of Solva is ready.
Since those preparations aren’t complete yet, they’ll be living here for a while.
“These herbs seem to have high efficacy… it feels wasteful to use them for practice.”
“Even though we grow them in the Farmland, they have slightly less Magical Power than wild ones, you see.”
Grandma Hotaru immediately started showing her around the Farmland.
The land around here has a high concentration of Magical Power, so the herbs and Magical Power plants are all high-performance. Furthermore, the people of the Village, who lived in dangerous areas, have advanced potion-making techniques, making it difficult to set a price that would sell well outside, according to Barbatos-sama and Beatrice-sama.
That’s where Fiorina comes in. It’s not nice to say she’s not very skilled, but it’s convenient.
If she can make potions with lower performance, it will be good enough for business.
“Ice Wolf fangs, so many! And fur too!? Iron Needle Tree needles!? Who would buy this much!?”
“Well, you see…”
“They’re consumables since you throw them.”
“You throw them!? What a waste!”
They’re getting heated over there. Well, I guess they would think that if S-rank and A-rank Monster Materials were piled up haphazardly.
“Kirisaki Boar meat… isn’t this a super high-end ingredient?”
“Oh, it’s delicious! Should we have it for dinner tonight!”
“Dinner!?”
“What, can’t wait? Fine, fine.”
“Wait, don’t start preparing to grill it!? My brain is glitching!”
“Oh? What, we’re grilling it? Should I get the Veggino?”
“Did anyone hide the salt?”
“Fine, fine.”
“Everyone’s cooperating!? Is this normal!?”
This is everyday life. It’s true that they’re A-rank Monsters, but as far as they’re concerned, they’re only judged as ‘delicious Monsters’ or ‘inedible Monsters.’ Monster rankings? That’s just ‘tough,’ ‘somewhat tough,’ ‘not so tough,’ ‘not strong but fast,’ ‘can be used as a weapon,’ ‘useless’ – that’s the level of their oral tradition. This is a Village that had no Adventurer’s Guild and no interaction with the outside world, so that’s how it is.
“How about you, Your Majesty?”
“Your Majesty!?”
“Ah, yeah, don’t worry about the title… I’ll have some.”
“Um, I can’t find anything that seems like it could be sold normally… it’s all high-end stuff.”
There aren’t any weak Monsters that exist in large numbers, after all.
“Well, in that case, maybe crops… or should we sell Magic Stones?”
Selling lower and middle-grade Magic Stones and a potion shop, huh? That’s exactly like an alchemist’s shop.
“The Adventurer’s Guild monopolizes Magic Stones, so that might be difficult.”
“In that case, should we have them make Magic Items using the leftover materials?”
“That would probably just increase the number of high-end products.”
“…Yeah.”
Heinz has a normal sense of things. Wonderful.
“Um, so, for the people of this… country? Town? Village? I guess. If we take orders for salt, wheat, and other things, we’ll prepare them, right?”
“Yeah. We have wheat planted and stockpiled, so there’s no real urgency.”
There are many other daily necessities that are consumables. Everyone in the Village seems to have been managing with limited resources in the Forest until now, but I’d like them to have a more comfortable life if possible.
“The Town of Solva is an Adventurer’s town, so potions are fine, but… few people buy high-end goods. It’s a town where Adventurers gather to obtain those high-end goods themselves.”
“They’re aiming for a quick fortune, huh?”
Heinz nodded at my words.
“If you’re thinking of selling potions, you should make it a shop for Adventurers. People who live in town don’t really want to go to shops that Adventurers frequent.”
“Ah, there’s that, huh? Then maybe equipment that Adventurers use? But I don’t think weapons and armor are a good idea, right? Maybe just Armor Bear undershirts, at most?”
“Even those are at a level that nobles would want.”
“No!” Heinz made an X with his hands. He’s got good energy.
“Then should we focus on selling consumables instead? Lower the grade of the meat and make portable rations, or Monster Repellent Sachets?”
We can make portable rations here, and Monster Repellent Sachets are in the realm of alchemists. In other words, it’s Fiorina’s turn.
“I think there are already shops like that.”
“Of course there are. Well, that’s fine. As long as we can earn enough to buy wheat and salt. Ah, I’m not expecting to earn money right away, though. Tell me early if you need money, okay?”
“Y-yes, understood.”
We have a ton of money we got from defeating the Thieves the other day, or rather, there were literal mountains of copper and silver coins.
Apparently, they had been taking money from the people they attacked, but since they were wanted criminals, or perhaps simply because they were serious about their Thief business, they didn’t have the opportunity to spend it.
There were tons of small change rather than gold and silver treasures. It looks like it will be hard to use it all.
“Ah, is it cooked? Let’s eat.”
““Let’s eat.””
“…Let’s eat.”
It’s just grilled with salt, but it’s delicious.
When starting a business, there are things like whether there’s land to buy, what the location is like, and what the interior should be like.
I don’t know anything about that kind of stuff, so I had Barbatos-sama take the two of them to the Town of Solva.
In the meantime, I’ll solve the problems here.
“Is the move itself not a problem?”
“If possible, I’d like to be able to move them without using Shadow Storage.”
There are few Onmitsu who can use Shadow Magic. We also have Magic Bags, but that would mean relying on my belongings. It’s better to let them live without relying on those things as much as possible.
“In that case, moving them by wagon?”
“We got a horse, so we’ll move them by carriage.”
“A horse, like the Unicorn?”
“Isn’t it the other way around?”
Most people have only seen horses, right?
“Well, there’s a tunnel in the mountain, I guess.”
I’ll have the Drones reinforce the interior while digging. Since we might run into Monster Nests or Dungeons, I’ll have the Warrior Brigade escort them.
“Won’t you make a detour?”
“That would take time. Besides, people could enter if we take a detour.”
In contrast, we can create entrances and exits with a tunnel. If there are entrances and exits, we can make gates to prevent people from entering. A mechanical security gate would be more reassuring, but considering future management, it would be better to adopt Magic Locks.
“After crossing four mountains, we’ll have to make a road in the Forest. Considering that carriages will be passing through, we’ll have to choose a road that’s as flat as possible.”
Of course, the ground is uneven, so we can’t make a straight road. Some landfill is unavoidable, but we want to make the road follow the ground as much as possible.
I’d like to scan the ground from above with aerial photography Drones and simulate it, but we’d probably be attacked by flying Monsters.
We also have aircraft, but only I can operate them, and the cockpit and gun turret are separate. Drones can’t be operated because aircraft-related things require a license.
Moreover, aircraft-related operations are very complex. It would take a considerable amount of time to teach people who aren’t familiar with operating machinery how to operate them, so I can’t entrust them with the gun turret either.
“Making a road in the Forest is also difficult.”
“We have to cut down and uproot the trees.”
“I can leave the tunnel digging to the Drones, but I can’t really have them cut down trees in the Forest.”
They certainly have self-defense capabilities, but they’re just Support Drones after all. They wouldn’t be able to handle an attack from a group of Monsters. Fully independent Drones that aren’t operated by people aren’t allowed to participate in combat. It’s for humanitarian and ethical reasons. It’s really old-fashioned.
Even with such old-fashioned thinking, they can’t do it as long as it’s programmed. I have no way to change that program.
“They look sturdy, though.”
“Of course they’re sturdy, but they’re precision machines, you know.”
“I see.”
I wonder if they understand what precision machines are.
More than that, it’s difficult to establish it as a road. It’s a Forest with Monsters, so we have to have carriages go back and forth many times.
“Do we need to develop carriages too…?”
“?”
There are plenty of wagons, but there aren’t any carriages. We have to make them. Fortunately, we have plenty of Monster Materials. We can make lumber from plant-based Monsters that are more durable than ordinary wood, and make tires from Monster hides that are more durable and elastic than rubber.
“Well, first, the initial tunnel digging, huh?”
I need to bore through the massive mountain behind the base. I hope I don’t run into a Dungeon.