Rinkage: Hey guys, sorry it’s been some time since I was really busy. A new translator has just joined us, so there’ll be more updates for Netooku. Let’s welcome, Mana o/
She has translated another novel in the past, so do check it out on her site .
Translator: Mana
Editor: The Blacksmith
Proofreader: Rinkage
Character page: (I kept forgetting to update the page >.< aurica’s="" image="" coming="">
Chapter 53 The smell of smooth business in the other world
After that, business went relatively smoothly.
I had expected hara.s.sment from rival stores, but while the fabrics I stocked were nicely textured, they were all thin and unsuitable for the type customers that wanted more durable fabric. This allowed me to differentiate my store from rival stores (as regular fabric stores usually sold thicker fabric). As for what people used them for: lining or tailoring pajamas and undergarments. They were well received. With that being said, sales were not booming (this was according to the plan, in a way). Earnings landed on an average, 1500 el on a good day and under 1000 el on a bad day (a moderately popular store for that market). Most of the customers were women, so as long as the current level of popularity was maintained, I would be able to continue this business in peace.
Considering it was a stall, the earnings were actually quite great.
"Anyway, this might be the limit for the scale of a single store… I could have multiple stores if I wanted to make more money, and there is merit in being able to disperse the risk…In that scenario, should I have the same merchandise or release something different…? I have plenty of products…But I went through the trouble of opening a fabric store, I might as well specialize in fabrics for a while…but then again…It"s fine to increase store numbers, but having to hire people…It will be tough to manage it all…"
"What"s wrong, Jirou? Muttering to yourself like that."
It seemed like I had voiced my thoughts about my business plan out loud, as Rebecca-san heard me. She had come to help out at the store.
Well, since Rebecca-san knew the secret about the mirror already, she should be trustworthy enough to confide in. Yes, I should talk about it with her.
"–And that"s how it is. Personally, I don"t want to do any business that draws unnecessary attention. In terms of products, it"s not as though it"s my dream to become the best merchant in Erishe. If I continued down that path, I"d have to hire tons of people and I"d probably become too busy… If possible, I"d like to work half days while still making a decent amount of income—that would be most ideal."
I admit it. I"m a trash.
But since I"m in another world and all, it"d be a waste to spend all day working!
Even if that weren"t the case, as long as I was the only one capable of stocking products, I had to be extremely careful when proceeding with any business expansions. Stocking aside, all of the storefront duties and net auctions were done by me too. (It didn"t seem like Diana and Marina could help with much. I figured that out pretty quickly.)
If only…no, ultimately, I guess I would have to hire 1 or 2 people that I could take advantage of.
Rebecca-san said she"d help out whenever she was free, but since the sp.a.w.n rate of monsters had increased due to the rumoured "Monster Wave", I couldn"t call her out of her house all the time.
It was too bad, as Rebecca would have been perfect for the job.
"I see. So what are you going to do? If you want, I can introduce you to some n.o.bles I know. There are lots of rich n.o.bles that you could profit off if you have interesting items, you know? You"d have to go all the way to the imperial capital though, so I can"t introduce you until after the "Monster Wave" is over."
"Wow, Rebecca-san knows n.o.bles?!"
"Yes, some past connections. Their t.i.tle isn"t that highly ranked, but they have a lot of money. A libertine who makes a hobby of spending 100 gold coins on rare tamed magic beasts."
100 gold coins, or 100 times 150,000 yen. That was 15,000,000 yen. A whole house.
"So what will you do?"
But even so.
"Err… I"d like you to introduce me eventually, but for now, I"d like to slowly work my way up in Erishe. Could you introduce your n.o.ble to me later?"
I wasn"t at a stage where I could go to the imperial capital and discuss business with n.o.bles yet. I didn"t even know how far the imperial capital was from Erishe…
"I see… Then you"ll have to hire someone after all. There are lots of people who want to work in Erishe… But if you want to leave it all to someone else, you should use the guild office."
"Ah, come to think of it, I heard the guild did agency work like that…"
"Yup. There"re many kids with vocations related to trade, and they bind spirit contracts too. I don"t think it"s a bad idea."
"Kids? You mean it isn"t full of old men who failed at job hunting?"
"There are people like that… but they mainly handle apprentice agencies for kids who just received their blessing."
Apprentice agencies! Come to think of it, the apprentice system was mentioned in my original world"s history cla.s.ses.
"But kids who just received their blessing… wouldn"t they be around 10 years old?"
"They receive their blessing at 10 years old, but the guild"s agency is for 12-year-olds. Also, children from moderately wealthy families will wait until they leave school, so they can be a little older."
I see. But…
"An apprentice is… like a disciple, right? That means I"d be their master. …To be honest, I don"t have any confidence in that… I"m still feeling my own way around."
Rebecca sighed when I said the word "apprentice" with trepidation.
"Jirou, you are too serious. They are pupils, you don"t need to think about it too deeply. You only need to think about making them work for you."
"But it"s not like I can take care of someone else"s kid."
""Once you receive the blessing, the Great Spirit will give you guidance.""
Apparently, in this world, if you have received the blessing you are considered an adult and are pushed out to fulfil your calling by default. Each guild mediates for them. Of course, the Chamber of Commerce and Industry (The merchant’s guild) introduces kids whose calling is related to trade to their new masters. Normally, kids leave elementary school at age 12 and enter society. Only a select few who are wealthy can go on to a higher education. It"s a world with callings, there isn"t much need to go further in school, I guess. Your path is already decided by the great spirit. It"s a constraining world when you think about it.
Well, if that was the case, I"ll just show my face at the guild and find out what I could. A 12-year-old probably wouldn"t scrutinize the stock, I think.
It goes without saying that Aurica"s guidance (acquire another language) would be to learn j.a.panese. But, the language spoken here is heard as j.a.panese to my ears while the j.a.panese that I speak is automatically translated (like a Translation Konjac(1)). So, I was having trouble teaching the language and I was wondering what I should do when —
"Kore wa ringo desu. (This is an apple.). Ringo (Apple). Oooh!" (2)
—I realized that I could actually speak j.a.panese normally if I focussed all my attention on it.
Once I lost my focus, all my words would automatically be translated into the other world"s language, but I could do it as long as I kept my mind on it.
Well, now that I think of it, I had never tried to apply myself and speak j.a.panese this way… Ultimately, I felt pretty lucky that I was now bilingual. It was an unforeseen blind spot.
And just like that, the biggest issue was resolved. I gave Aurica several notebooks, old picture books from home, and some used books and comics I purchased. Aurica was surprised not only at the books and comics but even at the notebooks and mechanical pencils. However, I just told her that they were "items from my homeland", and made her take them.
Aurica was just a kid from the countryside. She would say, "Wow, I didn"t know about these things." and be satisfied.
The issue was, how am I going to teach her? This, of all things, was going to be hard for a high school graduate NEET.
I guess what I could do was to write all kinds of words and sentences in j.a.panese, and the local language in the notebook, and have Aurica decipher it by herself…
Or, it would also be a good idea to speak with Aurica in j.a.panese all the time. Cla.s.ses where we learn English by speaking to foreigners at the train station were supposed to be about fun, or so they say. (3)
It was uncertain whether vocational corrections for secretaries applied to learning new languages (normally you"d a.s.sume better writing and faster shorthand), but it"d be a huge advantage if it did. Since their learning efficiency would be five times as much.
Well, at any rate, it would be slow and steady at the start.
"Kore wa pen desu." [This is a pen]
"Watashi no namae wa Jirou desu." [My name is Jirou]
"As.h.i.ta wa ame ga furu deshou." [It will probably rain tomorrow]
"Watashi wa uma ni noru no ga suki desu." [I like riding horses]
"Onaka ga sukimas.h.i.ta." [I"m hungry]
"Ofuro ni shimasu ka? Soretomo gohan?" [Would you like to take a bath first? Or dinner?]
"Kyou wa mou nemashou." [Let"s sleep now]
"Kyou wa watashi no ban desu." [It"s my turn today]
Okay… let"s leave it at that for today…
The items I put up for auction were successfully sold.
Their bids didn"t reach too high, but most items were within an acceptable price range.
For example…
―――――――――――――――――――――――
◇Antique Leather Bag ☆Authentic Leather ☆Brown – Shipping Included◇
Congratulations! Your item has successfully sold.
Final Bid: 11,300 yen
Total Bids: 32
◇European Secondhand – Antique Embroidered Blouse x2 – Shipping Included◇
Congratulations! Your item has successfully sold.
Final Bid: 12,500 yen
Total Bids: 55
◇Antique Wooden Shoe Mould – Size 3 (12.5cm) – Rare – Shipping Included◇
Congratulations! Your item has successfully sold.
Final Bid: 4,400 yen
Total Bids: 16
◇Various Antique Patchwork Ap.r.o.n x10 – Shipping Included◇
Congratulations! Your item has successfully sold.
Final Bid: 56,100 yen
Total Bids: 87
◇Natural Wooden Chopping Board – Walnut? – Shipping Included◇
Congratulations! Your item has successfully sold.
Final Bid: 6,350 yen
Total Bids: 29
◇Chain Mail – Authentic Antique – Mens M Size – Shipping Included◇
Congratulations! Your item has successfully sold.
Final Bid: 42,110 yen
Total Bids: 68
◇Antique Bronze Falcon Trinket – 16cm – Shipping Included◇
Congratulations! Your item has successfully sold.
Final Bid: 9,750 yen
Total Bids: 40
◇Antique Buckler – Round Shield – Authentic – Shipping Included◇
Congratulations! Your item has successfully sold.
Final Bid: 13,200 yen
Total Bids: 58
―――――――――――――――――――――――
Only the ap.r.o.n and chainmail sold for higher than what I had expected.
With the ap.r.o.n, I had initially thought that earning 10,000 yen would be good. So, I was definitely surprised about that. I wonder if there are ap.r.o.n collectors out there?
The chainmail wasn"t just chains woven together, it was st.i.tched to a thick fabric with three-quarter sleeves and leather lining. It was comfortable to wear and looked pretty cool.
On the other hand, the buckle was made of leather with a cool design on it, so I thought it would also do well, but it didn"t. I should have used a model.
The bids for the other items rose above my expectations by a fair bit, proving that the overwhelming "authentic feeling" of the other world items resulted in better bids after all. They were probably attracting more attention because I was putting them up for 1 yen, yet they had never ended at a low price.
This time I also had other items like cotton sheets and antique linens on auction, so altogether they made about 200,000 yen.
With this amount, I could restock a lot of items again.
I haven"t been looking at the bulletin board lately as I had gotten slightly tired of it.
Well, the fairy boards weren"t that popular to begin with, and the threads didn"t progress as much without me present. However, the number of users had increased lately since a new web portal was created.
I said web portal, but it was more like an archive of the old threads posted on a site. In a way, it was simply a storage of past logs.
I uploaded a photo of Aurica with a horse from the other day. But with the new users there, the thread was a little different than usual.
―――――――――――――――――――――――
[Serious] The Mirror in My House Connected to Another World #6 [Talk]
264: 1 ◆ Xc544iUoWE
I was surprised a web portal was made
Don"t go overboard
I finally bought some horses
And a village girl
Horse 1
(Image address)
Horse 2
(Image address)
Horse 3
(Image address)
Maid-chan
(Image address)
Maid-chan in charge of the horses
(Image address)
Dinner with everyone
(Image address)
265: Anonymous Fairy
It"s 1! Take me to Alfheim!
I beg of you!
266: Anonymous Fairy
If anything 1"s world is Svartalfheim
Dark elf-wise
267: Anonymous Fairy
The horses lmao
Can you even feed 3
268: Anonymous Fairy
M-Maid… so good…
The modest long sleeve long skirt even more so…
269: Anonymous Fairy
Tbh I"m so jealous of 1 I want to die
270: Anonymous Fairy
What book is Maid-chan holding?
271: Anonymous Fairy
>>270
I"ve seen that book spine before…
272: Anonymous Fairy
Again, I am healed by Dark Elf-Chan"s b.r.e.a.s.t.s
More closeup shots boi
273: Anonymous Fairy
A child is managing that huge mansion alone?
1 is horrible, that"s a human rights violation
274: Anonymous Fairy
Alright! Let"s all sue 1 and protect those girls!
275: Anonymous Fairy
Can reach 100k support
276: Anonymous Fairy
>>270
That has to be Nenaiko Dareda (4)
277: Anonymous Fairy
Are the horses CG too?
Or are they real?
278: Anonymous Fairy
1: "I can"t afford to make everything with CG"
279: Anonymous Fairy
>>276
That"s it!
But why a j.a.panese picture book? Can she read j.a.panese?
280: Anonymous Fairy
It"s CG anyway…
281: Anonymous Fairy
They"re j.a.panese cosplayers…
282: Anonymous Fairy
They"re censored again
283: Anonymous Fairy
Horse: "I"m not censored, sir"
284: Anonymous Fairy
Someone ID the photos and locate 1"s house already
I"m not above a little crime if it means I can go to another world
The only place where a useless 30 y.o virgin can start life again
Is in another world
285: Anonymous Fairy
Reported
286: Anonymous Fairy
Scary~
Super NEETs are scary~
287: Anonymous Fairy
Must be tough for 1
Finally uploading content only to be targeted by worthless NEETs
288: Anonymous Fairy
>>284
ID it with your special magic lol
289: Anonymous Fairy
1: "No one will judge me even if I kill you in this world, you know?"
290: Anonymous Fairy
So was the horse real or CG?
Anyone good at a.n.a.lysing here?
291: Anonymous Fairy
Well there"re 3 expensive looking horses
If it was a photo taken in j.a.pan it"d be easy to ID…
Seems like 1-san lives abroad so it"s difficult
292: Anonymous Fairy
Image quality is so low it looks like it could be both
Photo or CG, 1 sure is a tease
293: Anonymous Fairy
Upload more photos of Elf-chan
294: Anonymous Fairy
I think it"s about time to post some nudes
295: Anonymous Fairy
1: "There"s no helping it" (Unb.u.t.tons his shirt)
296: Anonymous Fairy
Is 1 confirmed male?
Isn"t there a possibility that 1"s a girl?
297: Anonymous Fairy
>>296
Which was it?
298: Single Me ◆ 4noig329de
I think 1 is a man!
A harem is a man"s dream, after all!
Being part of a merry circle of elves makes me SO JEALOUS
299: Anonymous Fairy
Gross
So gross
300: Anonymous Fairy
1-san is an electronic fairy so there"s no gender
301: Anonymous Fairy
For now I uploaded the images to the portal site
302: Anonymous Fairy
Dark Elf-chan"s a messy eater lol
303: Anonymous Fairy
Dumba.s.s, that"s the moe point
Probably
304: Anonymous Fairy
Even if it was Dark Elf-chan
Noisy eating would break the illusion
305: Anonymous Fairy
The tableware"s the same as the one at my home
I bought mine from a 100 yen shop though…
Is 1 not living abroad?
306: Anonymous Fairy
Prob just a similar product
307: Anonymous Fairy
Even if they are CG models, why would he use something from the 100-yen shop?
Wouldn"t higher quality models be better?
308: Anonymous Fairy
Maybe he just used what he had at hand. lol
309: Anonymous Fairy
So how"s that night business going?
Have you laid your hands on Maid-chan yet?
310: Anonymous Fairy
1: "This is part of the job"
Maid: "Eek!"
311: Anonymous Fairy
Just how evil is 1
Good job, keep going
312: Anonymous Fairy
When will the redhead appear again
I like that person too so upload more
313: Anonymous Fairy
So what about that video?
Mobiles these days can take them too so please
I"ve been waiting for breast jiggling
314: Anonymous Fairy
Am I the only one who"s jealous of the horses?
315: Anonymous Fairy
Yeah, yeah, it"s only you
GJ for having hipster views
316: Anonymous Fairy
You don"t have to attack him for it
I"m jealous of the horses too, you"d have to be really rich in j.a.pan
It"s not really possible for me to own one
317: Anonymous Fairy
Yes sure GJ with the self-defence
318: 1 ◆ Xc544iUoWE
Did you enjoy the photos?
I"ve been busy lately so I couldn"t drop by
I"ll bring some new images next time
Bye~
It felt like there were more believers than before.
The original residents of the site were used to threads like these, so they had a certain level of doubt from the beginning, but there were many new users who were more than willing to believe in it.
Well, if there were really people who would seriously believe in the existence of another world, they"d have to be completely loony.
Now, since the residents have had their elf hunger fed, I guess I"ll upload some priestess images next time.
Footnotes(1) A tool from Doraemon
(2) I changed this to romaji (with the English translation in bracket) so that it"ll be easier for you all to tell the difference
(3) The catchphrase used here is, "ekimae ryūgaku" (“study abroad near the train station”: 駅前留学) This phrase from NOVA, an English language school in j.a.pan.
(4) Famous picture book in j.a.pan