Chapter 8 – The First Collision (Part 2)
Yashiro released his hand from Ginette"s mouth. *suhaa* — immediately afterwards, Ginette took a deep long breath.
“Don"t talk!” (Yashiro)
Hearing that, Ginette nodded once more without making any sound.
Well then, I told her that I would do something about this situation, but where should I begin…. Hmm? It"s not like I made a move because there was someone in trouble in front of me. I moved because I can see a profit in this situation.Yup. If thing goes as I planned, I can also throw some s.h.i.ts at the commerce guild.
I haven"t completely understood the rules of the Judgement of Spirit though. Oh well, I can use this small-time villain in front of me for a training partner. However, there"s still something bothering me….
Yashiro glanced at Estella.
I guess she can provide me with some support at least.
“Estella, help me a bit!” (Yashiro)
Yashiro beckoned Estella, and she obediently came walking towards him.
Close! You"re way too close!
Estella finally stopped walking just before their noses touched each other.
“Did you make Ginette cry?” (Estella)
“Th-There"s no tears spilled, so it"s safe!” (Yashiro)
“………… can you solve this problem?” (Estella)
“If you cooperate with me.” (Yashiro)
“………… if thing works out, I will consider it never happened.” (Yashiro)
“Well, thanks…. Or rather, what"s your deal here?” (Yashiro)
“I"m her girl friend.” (Estella)
Come to think of it, when I was in middle school, those girl friends group was also this annoying.
“Hey! Can you not talk to Miyo-chan?”
“I think you"re just being a nuisance to Miyo-chan!”
“If you want to say something to Miyo-chan, say it through me!”
Who the h.e.l.l are you girls!? The person I want to talk to is Miyo-chan…. Do you think you"re her guardians or something!?
Whoops! I remembered the guardian of my first love — Miyo-chan, and got a little irritated. Girl friends are sure annoying in any world!
“If you"re failed…. I"ll stab you…!” (Estella)
Estella flashed a knife (around 20 cm in length) that could only be called a murder weapon.
…….. as expected, j.a.panese girl friends have not done this far. I will do my best because I don"t want to be stabbed.
“Mr. a.s.sunto, player change!” (Yashiro)
“Oh, I"ve never seen you before. If I may ask, what kind of relationship do you have with them?” (a.s.sunto)
“I"m Yashiro who has been working in Hidamari-tei since yesterday. My last name…. I can"t tell you because of a certain reason.” (Yashiro)
{Why do you imitate me?} (Estella)
{I just don"t want to give my full name to such a guy.} (Yashiro)
{I think you should honestly say that you"ve fallen for me} (Estella)
{Hahahaha, nice joke! Tell me that again after your chest size changed to B-cup.} (Yashiro)
{Stab…?} (Estella)
Yashiro distanced himself from Estella who sounded so serious with her words. He then stood between Mormatt and a.s.sunto.
{Yashiro…….. will you be okay?} (Mormatt)
Mormatt whispered to Yashiro.
I don"t need your concern…. You self-destruct crocodile…!
“Before we talk about the vegetable price, I have a request for you.” (Yashiro)
“Oh, what is that?” (a.s.sunto)
Hearing that, a.s.sunto"s expression softened.
He must be thinking that he still has advantages in this negotiation — No, must be thinking that I"m not a threat, and he can add more favorable conditions in this flow.
“Currently, there are 11 merchants who supply the ingredients to Hidamari-tei, we want to unify them.” (Yashiro)
“Hmm….” (a.s.sunto)
a.s.sunto seemed to be choosing his answer.
The unification of suppliers will lead to the decrease in the guild revenue. The reason is because the transportation cost will be reduced by ten shares. Well now, what will his answer be?
“I can"t decide it myself. I have to talk to each merchant personally first.” (a.s.sunto)
Yup, I knew it! Then, the next time he will say something like — “If you end the contract with this merchant, you won"t be able to procure this product.” to threaten me. But in fact, it was all their schemes. This would be an effective threat to weak business owners who have no connection.
“Understood. Then, for a start, Hidamari-tei want to end the contract with you.” (Yashiro)
“Are you sure? If you end the contract with me, the Hidamari-tei won"t get the supply of vegetable anymore.” (a.s.sunto)
See that!?
“Yashiro-san is still young, so maybe you don"t know it. There are a lot of complicated arrangements among the merchants. For example, I"m in charge of vegetable, so I don"t put my hands on fruits or fish. The same thing applies for the other merchants too. It"s important that you have a balanced relationship between the merchants, for the mutual benefit…. If you think of relying the market, you should change your mind right now. The daily purchase would be impossible because they dislike ma.s.sive bulk buying.” (a.s.sunto)
“If it"s vegetable, there"s also a way to buy it from the farmer directly.” (Yashiro)
“Directly? Hahahaha…!” (a.s.sunto)
Suddenly, a.s.sunto began to laugh out loud
“You can"t do that. That"s impossible!” (a.s.sunto)
Finding something so funny, a.s.sunto couldn"t stop grinning.
“I see. So that"s the reason of your confidence. Direct trading. Indeed, it would be possible to but the vegetable cheaply, but…. that"s a violation of the rules.” (a.s.sunto)
“Do you mean the guild rules?” (Yashiro)
If so, it has nothing to do with me who has not joined the guild yet.
“No, it"s the church rules.” (a.s.sunto)
“Church?” (Yashiro)
Yashiro turned his eyes to Estella who was standing next to him. Understood the meaning of his action, Estella began explaining it.
“In order to protect the income of all professions, the church has created a mechanism to make sure their work doesn"t conflict with each other. For example, it"s forbidden for anyone who"s not a member of fishing guild to catch and sell fish without permission. This is a measure to prevent the price collapse. It"s said that anyone but the decided person isn"t supposed to take a profit from the decided work.” (Estella)
“What if someone violated it?” (Yashiro)
“Judged by the general court…. For most case, the punishment is expelled from the city, but if it"s a serious crime, they will be executed.” (Estella)
Well, that"s scary! In other words, it"s something like poaching and profiteering prevention. Well indeed, if such things go rampant, the market will be destroyed beyond the recovery.
“There"s an exception, however. If you have a permit from each district"s lord, you can do business on a one-off basis.” (Estella)
For those who aren"t a member of related guild, they will need a lord"s permit to sell goods.
“In addition, the commerce guild has signed contract with each producer, and Mormatt-san is prohibited from selling his vegetable to anyone other than our members. In the case of violation, he will be turned into a frog by the Spirit G.o.d"s curse.” (a.s.sunto)
The contract breach will be judged by the Judgement of Spirit, not general court…. Oh right, the contract between the commerce guild and the producers is similar to a promise, so contract breach has the same meaning as a lie.
But in the case of poaching, it won"t be turned into a lie because we haven"t made a contract / promise — I won"t poach, for example. Which also means, this kind of violation will be judged by the general court.
“Do you understand now? Unfortunately, Yashiro-san"s secret measure cannot be implemented. Thanks for the hard work though.” (a.s.sunto)
Yup, that smug face is p.i.s.sing me off. Oh well, just wait! You"re already on the “List of People that Won"t Hurt to Crush” after all.
“Speaking of which, is there a place to sell trash?” (Yashiro)
“Trash…?” (a.s.sunto)
“Yeah. I"m thinking about replacing the desks and chairs in Hidamari-tei, so if there"s merchant who will buy what I want to dispose, can you introduce them to me?” (Yashiro)
“Hahahaha! Yashiro-san is really unique. Of course there"s no merchant who would pay money for mere trash.” (a.s.sunto)
“Why…!? It"s such a waste!” (Yashiro)
“If you think so, why don"t Yashiro-san start that business? Fufufufu…. the trash purchasing business. (a.s.sunto)
a.s.sunto grinned at Yashiro as if he was watching a clown.
Let"s see how long he can keep that face!
“So, how about it? Just as I mentioned earlier, Hidamari-tei want to end the contract with you.” (Yashiro)
I emphasized “I mentioned earlier“, because it will give an impression that the prelude from earlier isn"t related to the matter in hands and there"s still a room for negotiation.
“If you would like to continue the deal, let me present a new price here….” (a.s.sunto)
“No. Let"s end it here!” (Yashiro)
“………… huh?” (a.s.sunto)
a.s.sunto hardened. He made a face that told he couldn"t comprehend the whole situation.
“So from now on, we won"t buy the vegetables from you anymore.” (Yashiro)
“However…….. are you sure you won"t regret this decision?”(a.s.sunto)
“Well, who knows.” (Yashiro)
“I see…….. fine, then. Do as you like.” (a.s.sunto)
a.s.sunto"s voice suddenly sounded cold.
He seems to be quite annoyed. Oh well, this is just his trick of negotiation. Because if I"ve made him angry this time, I will be dominated during our next negotiation.
After all, in order to negotiate with the people you"ve angered, you"ll need to lower yourself. You"ll also have to listen to some unreasonable demands. I see he"s consistently trying to take advantage of the negotiations.
However, it"s going to be a futile attempt though. There won"t be next negotiation after all.
Maybe because Yashiro"s att.i.tude showed that he still has a hidden card in hands, a.s.sunto flashed an uneasy expression for a moment. He then dragged Mormatt into the topic with an intention to put another restraint on Yashiro.
“Since there will be one less contractor, the guild"s operation will be tougher from now on. This will make it impossible for us to lose even single Ruben, so the vegetable price will be 1 Rb for 10 kg.” (a.s.sunto)
“No way!” (Mormatt)
Because a.s.sunto ut blame on Yashiro for everything, Mormatt glared at Yashiro.
No, look, the price has never changed from the beginning!
“So, will you sell your vegetable at that price?” (Yashiro)
“Don"t be absurd! Are you telling us to die!?” (Mormatt)
“I"m not. You"re in the current situation because of that kind of outburst.” (Yashiro)
Yashiro calmly spoke to Mormatt who lost his cool once more. Seemed to realize that he was at fault, Mormatt didn"t say anything more than that. He made an expression full of despair and was on the verge of crying.
“How are we supposed to live from now on….” (Mormatt)
“You can rely on the field to live self-sufficiently.” (Yashiro)
“I"m doing it. Even now, we only eat the vegetable harvested from this field at home.” (Mormatt)
“Then, this means you can just secure even more vegetable for your family at home, and sell only the surplus to the guild.” (Yashiro)
“Even if I secured a large amount of vegetable, there"s a limit on how much we can consume, they will be just trash in the end.” (Mormatt)
“You better to dispose that trash properly.” (Yashiro)
“Are you telling me to throw away my vegetables!?” (Mormatt)
Mormatt grabbed Yashiro"s clothes and forcibly brought his body closer to his.
Whoa, his crocodile face is scary! He seems to be ready to bite me at any moment.
“Speaking of which, there seems to be no guild that sells or buys trash, so I guess it"s not a violation of the rules if someone establish it.” (Yashiro)
“So what!? Who would buy some trash?” (Mormatt)
“I will.” (Yashiro)
“………… huh?” (Mormatt)
Mormatt showed a perplexed face and loosened his grips. Yashiro used this chance to free himself from him. Yashiro then fixed her collar, corrected his posture, and spoke to Mormatt.
“Tell me if you have a lot of trash. I will pay 20 Rb for 10 kg of them.” (Yashiro)
“What!?” (Mormatt)
So far, he sold 1 kg of vegetable for 1 Rb — 10 kg = 10 Rb. Meanwhile, the price of thrown-away vegetables that Ginette had stocked, is 80 Rb for 10 Kg.
If I pay 20 Rb for 10 Kg of his vegetable, Mormatt can expect twice as much income as before, and Ginette will only pay a quarter of the money she usually spends to buy vegetable. This is a good deal.
“However, since there a limit on the total amount of the vegetable I could accept, consult this with the neighboring farmers by yourself.” (Yashiro)
“Hey, wait a minute!” (a.s.sunto)
a.s.sunto barged into their conversation
“This is a contract breach! This is an obstructionism towards our commerce guild! I won"t allow such things to happen!” (a.s.sunto)
“Really? I"m simply buying trash — something that is of no use, though.” (Yashiro)
“How can such a thing be called trash?” (a.s.sunto)
“It"s trash. I mean, this is impossible for a single household to consume 10-20 kg of vegetable a day, and they"re free to throw them away before rotting, right? Or are you telling me that the guild has the right to determine the total amount of vegetable that the farmers want to use for their own consumption?” (Yashiro)
“No…. that"s….” (a.s.sunto)
“No matter how much vegetable Mormatt will secure for his family consumption, or even when most of those vegetable will be thrown away eventually because was too much, such things are unrelated to the commerce guild, besides….” (Yashiro)
Yashiro pointed his index finger towards a.s.sunto, and then spoke in a firm tone.
"You said it yourself — There"s no merchant who would pay money for mere trash and If you think so, why don"t Yashiro-san start that business? …the trash purchasing business. remember?” (Yashiro)
“Ugh…!” (a.s.sunto)
Blood vein was clearly visible on a.s.sunto"s forehead. Sweating profusely, his smug face was nowhere to be seen anymore.
“I"m just following your advice. I will be working in Hidamari-tei while running this new business.” (Yashiro)
a.s.sunto has been completely silenced.
“Ooo~…. Ooo~…. Does this mean I will get twice as much income as before!?” (Mormatt)
While on the other side, Mormatt was trembling in joy.
“Don"t get carried away, stupid crocodile!” (Yashiro)
“Huh!?” (Mormatt)
Yashiro put an anchor on the floating crocodile.
“I"m not rich enough to save the poor farmers. The price is indeed doubled, but in the end, I will only buy as much vegetables as Hidamari-tei needs. I won"t accept the vegetable other than that. I"ll also have to come up with a good place to talk to the guild.” (Yashiro)
“Oh, right…. I know that, but…. I"m still happy! It feels like my vegetable have become more valuable!” (Mormatt)
This stupid crocodile doesn"t seem to understand at all…. Oh well, it doesn"t matter. Being able to buy vegetable cheaply is a good thing for us, and the farmers will find it somewhat easier if a certain amount of income is secured each month.
Well, at the very least, it"s better than selling all of their vegetable at one-tenth of the old price.
“Well done!” (Estella)
Estella put her hand on Yashiro"s shoulder and sung a praise.
“It"s not a big deal. My opponent was just a small fry after all.” (Yashiro)
“No, it"s a big of deal!” (Estella)
Estella smiled with satisfaction. Yashiro felt somewhat uncomfortable receiving a compliment from her.
“So, from our conversation, is there a part that can be turned against me?” (Yashiro)
“Let"s see………… Yup. I think it"s all safe!” (Estella)
I"m not convinced, but I will trust her words for the time being.
“More importantly, it would better to submit a guild establishment application to the lord soon.” (Estella)
“Guild establishment?” (Yashiro)
“If you start a new profession, you can also open the guild where it belongs to.” (Estella)s
“Do you mean trash collection guild? I don"t need such a thing.” (Yashiro)
“It"s important. If later there"s someone else who established it, you will have to follow their rules.” (Estella)
I see. I have to prevent other people from riding on my idea and enjoying the sweet juice from it.
“I don"t know the procedure.” (Yashiro)
“Free lunch for a week — how does it sound?” (Estella)
Estella said so with a smug face.
Well, that would be a big help to me, but this means I will owe her a favor….
“….. got it. It"s a deal.” (Yashiro)
“Leave it to me. I will finish the procedure today!” (Estella)
Estella tapped Yashiro"s back and ran off somewhere.
This girl…. can I really leave it to her?
Mormatt who was still in an excited state, walking around the field while shouting something incomprehensible. Yashiro just then noticed that a.s.sunto was nowhere to be seen.
Maybe he accepted his lost and decided to pull back obediently…. Nah, I guess things won"t be this convenient for me. He might come to me for revenge later. I must always be ready.
"…………" (Yashiro)
Yashiro turned his line of sight at Ginette. With both hand covered her own mouth, she was patiently staring at Yashiro with her teary eyes.
“Don"t say a word until I allow it!” — it looks like she properly followed this order until the end.
Hmm, I guess she"s about to reach her limit soon…. “I want to talk! Can I talk now?” — her expression is telling me so.
"You can talk now." (Yashiro)
"Yashiro-san!" (Ginette)
Ginette immediately jumped at Yashiro, and he accepted her while enduring a soft sensation around his chest area.
“It"s amazing, Yashiro-san! Everyone…. Everyone will have it easier from now on!” (Ginette)
“Nothing is certain yet.” (Yashiro)
“No, I"m sure it will!” (Ginette)
Ginette seems to be quite happy and she probably has forgotten about the commerce guild. They suffered a loss because we made a profit. Oh well, considering her personality, I think it would be better if she wasn"t aware of such a harsh reality.
“I won"t make dish from the vegetable sc.r.a.ps anymore, but good vegetables!? This is great! The costumers who come to Hidamari-tei will surely be satisfied!” (Ginette)
“Do the costumers really come…?” (Yashiro)
“Of course! There are about five costumers a day!” (Ginette)
So few…. not a good number, but it"s not zero customer at very least. Still though, with only five costumers a day, such a place doesn"t deserve to be called a restaurant.
I guess I have to put extra efforts.
Let"s immediately return and make a plan!
"Hey, guys!" (Mormatt)
Mormatt who was walking around the field excitedly, called to the two of them. In his arms, there was a mountain of multicolored vegetables.
“I"m really grateful to you, so please accept this!” (Mormatt)
“Uee!? T-This is too much! I will feel bad to accept it!” (Ginette)
“It"s fine, Ginette-chan! If there were no Yashiro, these vegetables would be only as worth as crumbs. My income will increase from now on, but more than anything, I"m glad to be able to protect the value of the vegetable. Please accept it!” (Mormatt)
“Still….” (Ginette)
“Then, Yashiro! You will accept it, right?” (Mormatt)
Leaving Ginette who was still refrained herself, Mormatt carried the vegetable towards Yashiro.
Free stuff is more than welcome. With this, I also can cut ties with those vegetable suppliers without worries.
“Thanks, I accept it.” (Yashiro)
“That"s my line. Thank you!” (Mormatt)
“W-Wait, Yashiro-san….” (Ginette)
“Ginette. This is his token of grat.i.tude because he"s delighted that the value of his vegetables has been protected. If you make delicious dish from these vegetables and serve it to your costumers, don"t you think it will make him happier?” (Yashiro)
“My dish…. will make Mormatt-san happier…?” (Ginette)
Ginette looked at Mormatt with an expression of a little hard to believe. Mormatt then answered her with a smiling face.
“That sounds good! My veggies are delicious, so please tell it to your customers through your cooking.” (Mormatt)
Hearing his words, Ginette"s expression immediately brightened.
“Yes!” (Ginette)
Ginette rushed towards Mormatt, and helped him to move the mountain of vegetables into the cart.
Geez, just accept the free vegetables and don"t make things complicated! Your profit will be for me, so don"t hold anything back! I can"t expect to receive a salary at this rate.
You should be glad to get the vegetables for free instead. The thrown-away vegetables in stock will be used for food donation and Estella"s lunch, while these vegetables will be used in the dish for costumers.
Make a profit by increasing the average spending per customer, we"re going to renovate the restaurant as soon as possible so that more customers will come.
If the restaurant is prosperous, various people will come. Then, I will be able to collect information about this city and make connection. In addition, perhaps I will also be able to get information about those who"re doing their business using deception.
Deception is my field of expertise. If those bad guys prey on people Ginette to live, I prey on those bad guys to live. I reign at the top of scammer pyramid after all.
It feels like I can see what I need to do — Help Ginette and rebuild Hidamari-tei.
Strangely, I mean, those are what Bertina and Estella wanted.
That being the case, it would be a good idea to make an impression of I"m a good person while at it. If I can convince them that I‘m a good person, it may be useful to various things.
“Ginette!” (Yashiro)
“Yes.” (Ginette)
“We will rebuild Hidamari-tei.” (Yashiro)
“…. eh?” (Ginette)
“I"m going to make it a popular restaurant that can attract more customers.” (Yashiro)
“…. really?” (Ginette)
“Yeah. There will be a lot of people gather every day at Hidamari-tei — I will turn it into such a place.” (Yashiro)
“Do you mean…. like when Grandpa…. was still alive…?” (Ginette)
How should I know how about Hidamari-tei in the past!?
Her words clogged. Ginette flashed a sad expression for a second but it soon turned into a smile.
"T-That"s right. Let"s do our best together!" (Yashiro)
The tears of happiness spilled from Ginette"s eyes.
..
Well, I will use it to the fullest — this simple, naive, and kind-hearted girl.
Proofreader: _____
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