Chapter 8: Shopping in Exy Town (Part 2) TL:
PF:
Commoner"s work… isn"t this their livelihood?
For a young lady, touching soil can feel gross, right?
When I"m in serious mode, Lana swings her shoulders and turns with a motion that looks like a door that runs out of oil.
"Eh, eh? Etto… enjoying a slow life? Something like gardening? Um, did you have that kind of hobby?"
"Hee? Is it something unusual to enjoy as a hobby?"
"I think so?"
"………"
What do you mean? But I don"t want to dig deeper…
But it"s not a hobby that endorsed for a young lady.
In [Sergigios], gardening is a popular hobby. But back home in [a.r.s.egios] where the upper echelon didn"t want to be exposed to the soil like a commoner, it"s kind of strange for a Duke"s daughter to enjoy gardening as a hobby.
Moreover, for a high-ranking domineering, stubborn young lady in the cla.s.sroom?
And I stare at her as she began to cold sweat. I think it"s fine as long as she"s aware of how unusual it is?
"I want to make a field. It"s nice to be motivated."
"I-is that so?"
"Yup, I remembered the field. And I was thinking of buying a chicken. But I don"t think I have enough money."
"Chicken? Why?"
"If you have chicken, you will get eggs, right? And it can be used for emergency food."
"E-emergency food…"
Anyway, there should be a river near our place. Should I buy a fishing rod?
If I can get my hands on the thread, I can make it myself, though.
Should I make it myself?
Anyway, I will get the chicken in the next opportunity.
"Finally! The newlyweds over there!"
""…..!!!""
Surprised, I can feel my shoulder jerks.
Unconsciously I started to look around.
For some reason, when our gaze meets, I can feel how impatient Lana is.
Maybe someone was calling us?
Looking back, I can see the boy who called us.
"Yes, the newlyweds over there!"
""…..!!!""
"Ah, sorry for surprising you."
""!?""
The child who spoke to us looks like 7 or 8 years old.
He wears patched clothes and wooden shoes.
However, for a boy, you can say he looks pretty.
Eh? What is this child doing?
Is it okay for a child to wander around alone?
I think it"s okay because people around me greet me with "Yo!" or something like that… but if you do that in lower part of [a.r.s.ergios], you can get kidnapped?
"Hey, hey. I"m Waz. I work with livestock in this town."
"! Oh, is that so? Actually, I want to buy a chicken. But if I do that, I won"t be able to repair my home. Next time I"ll come to you, can you show us your place?"
"Nice timing! Ne, ne. Are you the one who sell hair clip called [Scrunchie]? Recently, I heard that not only n.o.bles but us commoners could also buy it?"
[Scrunchie] …that was the hair ornaments named by Lana.
Sewing an elastic rubber into a tubular cloth and makes it crumpled, you can tie your hair using it. The hair ornaments look cute, and it"s popular with women.
If you lower the quality of the cloth, you can sell it to the commoner.
We are selling the product for n.o.ble for 20 copper coins.
Meanwhile, we will sell the product for 10 copper coins targeting the commoner.
It"s too cheap for the n.o.bles, but the maids spread it using word of mouth, there have been so many orders in the past month that the production hasn"t caught up.
At first, I sold it for 10 copper coins to the n.o.bles and 5 copper coins to the commoners. Even if Carleigh nii-san hire more workers in the production, they still won"t make it in time, so they had to raise the price.
I didn"t realize that it will become so popular that I had to do that.
You can make many soaps in one production, but the demands also increased.
No, I don"t think the soap will be popular too.
"10 copper coins. What is it? Do you want to give it to a girl you like?"
"No, my mom"s birthday is coming soon! I was looking for a present for her. If it"s 10 copper coins, I can afford it!"
"….."
"!"
Ah, is he a little angel?
! Here"s the thing… Lana is putting her hand on her mouth trying not to squeal. And I"m considering doing the same.
"Ah, I see. That"s great. In that case, I will receive your order. And I might need your help after this."
"If you were talking about chicken. And if you are okay with a chick, we had a healthy one that just born. What do you think about exchanging goods, big brother? Usually, you can get a chick for 10 copper coins."
"Hoo, really?"
"W-well…"
This brat is stubborn, huh.
Not that I dislike that kind of person.
"I understand. Let"s do that. By the way, how much is an adult chicken that can lay eggs right away?"
"They"re 50 copper coins! But it also depends on the quality of the chicken. That"s the average price. Right now we have 30 chickens. Twenty of it will become adult soon. The younger ones are cheaper, but they can"t lay eggs yet. For male broiler, the cost is about the same as the adult chicken. 10 eggs are sold for 10 copper coins. 1 copper coin per egg. And you can get a bag of chicken feed for 30 copper coins."
"Humph."
No, I am not going to lie that he"s as good as my younger brothers.
"We also have cow, sheep and goat available. The cow and sheep are around 50 silver coins. And you can bring the goat home for 30 silver coins. If you are interested, I recommend you get the goat! You just need to feed them gra.s.s, and they can produce milk and cheese."
"Ah, I can see the appeal in that. The gra.s.s is easy to get in our place and it"s gonna be like all-you-can-eat for the goat."
"R-right."
"But sheep is also a good choice. You can shear their fur then turn into threads, and you don"t have to buy your cloth since you can weave them on your own."
"We won"t need scrunchie manufacturing cost any more if we do that."
"I see."
However, if we do that we will need thread spinner and weaver.
It"s faster if we are making it on our own.
Some time ago, I learned the blueprint at the woodworking shop, and I"ll make it when I can afford it.
"Can we trade the scrunchie for a chick?"
"Un, and the feed is sold separately!"
"Fufufu, you have a good head for business."
"Compared to Regulus-san, I still have a long way to go!"
"Regulus-san?"
"He"s a merchant who started a business in this town! He used to work as a middleman, now he starting his own company. If big brother is going to do business in the future, wouldn"t it better to get along well?"
"Hee… thanks. I heard that"s a good thing."
"Give-and-take is important."
"Hahaha. You know a difficult word."
Are we going to build a company?
I"m sure if we wholesale a lot, business will be possible?
I admit that I"m bad at selling.
Carleigh nii-san said, "You are really good at inventing, so if you ever make something, bring it to me!" But I pointed out to him… anyone can make scrunchie and soap if they know how to make it.
I don"t think it"s that great… anything is fine if it"s profitable.
"I"ll make it and bring it to you in three days."
"Really?! Wow, so quick! Ah, we are in the south part of the town. We also deal in horses and dogs."
"I"ll buy some hay from now on. We already have a horse."
"Oh, you are a former n.o.ble!"
"!"
…Eh?
I thought the fact that Carleigh nii-san is my distant relative is going around.
"How do you know that we are former n.o.ble?"
"Eh? Un. For the past month Carleigh-sama has been in touch with people who do the abandoned ranch maintenance, so everyone in the town knows."
Okay, when I meet him later, I"ll knock him.
"Ah, that"s fine… but it"s true."
I"m good, though. I"m just a nuisance to the Count house.
But, Lana is a Duke"s daughter.
I"d be fine if they looked down on me.
It"s no use thinking of this remark.
If something like n.o.ble"s pride brought up, it"s going to interfere with future relationships.
"Right. Well, that"s true. But do you have to talk about it?"
That"s it!
"………"
"Eh? What?"
"No, it"s surprisingly understandable."
"?"
"And you are from the neighbouring country, aren"t you? The adults said all the n.o.blemen in [a.r.s.egios] looked important, although some acting like they"re more important when that"s not the case."
"Ah, I know what you mean…"
I"ve talked about it before, but I"ve put some precautionary line.
Since Lana is a Duke"s daughter.
Besides, I will frequently visit this town from now on.
Was it necessary to prepare the acceptance from the townspeople?
Eh?
If it happens, maybe…
"Wow, Waz. By some chance, are there any people that think we are bad news?"
"Um… actually, Kurou-san, the one who manages the town doesn"t seem to think of you guys well. The other day when my brother came, he heard him saying that he can"t trust a guy with such a dangerous hair colour with a loud voice."
"………"
Ah, it was me that made him on guard.
It"s back on hair colour again.
In this country the discrimination caused by cla.s.s differences is less than [a.r.s.egios]; what"s significant in this country is discrimination based on appearance.
Holding my bangs, I tried to look at my hair.
Then, I sighed.
"Big brother, if you are worried about it, why don"t you try to dye it?"
"It"s something that reminds me of my dead mother."
"Ah…"
"Oops. Let"s not dye it, then. What if you hide it with a cap?"
"Hmm, that"s a good idea. I"ll consider it."
Look, I"m not going to die yet.
…But, she gave birth to the sixth kids who were 18 years younger than her, making a recovery from childbirth difficult.
My father is a devoted husband; that"s why I can"t push him further than this…
Maybe I need to write a letter after I calm down?
"But, doesn"t it mean that Lana can be trusted?"
"Eh, wh- me?"
"That"s because Lana"s hair and eyes are lucky colour in this country, right?"
"Un! Big sister has a really soft colour. If it"s you, you"ll naturally well-liked."
"Eh…."
Despite being praised by the Drutonil family, didn"t she realize something?
Or does she need someone to explain it, for her to realize?
Well, I suppose you won"t get an explanation normally.
[a.r.s.egios] is all about [social status].
Unlike in this country, your hair and eyes colour doesn"t decide whether it"s good or bad omen.
That"s why, unlike myself, Lana can be happy in [a.r.s.egios] and [Sergigios].
I should"ve expected it.
…Eventually, I will only hold her back, right?
"I s-see… But, etto…"
"?"
I look up, looking at her.
What is it?
"…I think Franc"s warm-coloured hair and eyes are nice, too."
"—……"
I soon as I heard that, I look away.
Ha?
What- just now…
"Thanks."
What was that, what just happen…
"Oi, I"m done with the shopping!"
"Just go die."
"Woahh! All of a sudden!"
The moment I met Carleigh nii-san, I hit him.
Good grief. However preventive they may be, that"s unnecessary.
"That"s for saying we are former n.o.ble from [a.r.s.egios]."
"ah, but that is…"
"I know you mean well, but didn"t you think about the possibility of us getting into extra trouble?"
"Uhh…"
"That"s enough. I just wanted you to think about it, and maybe it could have been counterproductive."
"Y-you"re right. I was wrong… But the guys in this town are all good people! They will open up soon!"
"………"
Tsk! This guy…
Are you really reflecting on it?
t/n: hehe ngaret lagi /shush. Also, what is your recent fav song that you listen on repeat? Mine is this.