The Business Begins
A few days had passed since the commotion at the weapon shop.
My room was now more cluttered with things than it had ever been before.
There were weapons, of course, along with healing potions and antidotes. Kitchen utensils, farming tools... all kinds of things.
At first glance, they were just old, worn-out tools.
Their usefulness seemed long gone, as though they were simply waiting to decay...
But to me now, they all looked like mountains of treasure.
"Everyone~! Do you want to be useful to people?!"
(Yeah~)
(I can work twenty-four hours a day~)
(Motivated, energized, fired uuup~!)
(Maybe... I can do my best~)
(I've still got plenty of years left in meee~)
Thanks for all the enthusiastic replies, everyone.
These tools might look old, but the materials were all first-rate.
They'd definitely sell.
All right! Time to sell, sell, sell!
"Dyrel's rise to the top begins now!"
"... Nothing's selling!!"
By the time the sun had set and darkness had fallen...
Today's sales:
Zero.
(Aww~)
(Some days are just like that.)
(Waiting around isn't so bad either~)
(Happiness doesn't come walking to you~)
(I've got a feeling it'll come running at full speed~)
While I was the only one drowning in despair, they all sounded like a bunch of old folks relaxing on a porch.
"Come on, everyone! Dream bigger! You're all going to see the light of day again!"
(((Hoeh~)))
… You guys are seriously laid-back.
Damn it, why!? Why isn't anything selling!?
I put all the merchandise out in front of the house! I even wrote the prices on tags!
Every single one was made from the highest-quality materials and was an amazing tool!
So why!?
As I sat there quietly weeping, the door suddenly opened.
"What's wrong, Dyrel? You look completely withered."
"Lufen..."
Ah. That smell. Auntie’s stew.
All of a sudden, I realized how hungry I was.
Come to think of it, I hadn't eaten a thing since this morning.
I moved everyone off the table and took a seat.
Lufen looked around the room and shrugged in exasperation.
"You've collected nothing but junk... I'll give you this, though… you sure know how to take action."
"Don't call them junk. Every one of them is overflowing with motivation. Right, everyone?"
(That's riiight~!)
(You'll never find anyone as motivated as meee~!)
(We're all super amaziiing~!)
(Rawr~!)
See?
"Don't give me that 'See?' look. I can't hear them, remember?"
… Fair enough.
"Still, judging by the looks of it, nothing sold."
"S-Shut up. It's only the beginning."
It was only the first day. This didn't even count as a setback.
I turned my face away from the busybody.
Lufen picked up a cloth lying nearby and started polishing a knife.
"I think... if you keep doing things like this, nothing's ever going to sell."
"... How do you know?"
I was putting good merchandise out in front of the house. What was wrong with that?
I shot her a resentful glare.
She ignored it completely, continuing to polish the knife as she glanced sideways at me.
"Because you're underestimating business."
"......"
I couldn't say a thing. I wanted to argue, but she was absolutely right.
Seeing me fall silent, Lufen set the knife on the table.
"Dyrel, do you want this knife? Do you absolutely need it right now?"
"... No. I don't."
"That's demand. If there's no demand, it doesn't matter how good something is, it won't sell. And if it's an old knife instead of a brand-new one, that's even more true."
Demand… I see. So that mattered too.
"And most people in this town aren't rich or poor. They're ordinary folk. They don't have money to waste on things they don't need."
"T-that's true..."
It was obvious once you actually thought about it.
Sorry, little guy, but at first glance you really did just look like an old knife. The others were the same.
If I were the customer, I probably wouldn't buy any of this either.
"Then... what should I do?"
"I ought to tell you to think for yourself... but you're hopelessly ignorant about how the world works, aren't you? So I guess I'll roll up my sleeves and help you."
"Huh!?"
Without thinking, my eyes were drawn to her abundantly endowed chest.
(Looks like it's finally time for these triple-digit beauties to shine~?)
"Triple digits!?"
"How do you know that, you idiot!?"
Her face turned bright red as she hugged her chest to hide it.
I'd always thought they were huge… but seriously? That's insane. Scary.
"N-No! Your boobs just started talking on their own...!"
"Huh? Even body parts can talk? How does that work?"
"Don't ask me."
I seriously had no idea how it worked.
I guessed that if it was made of matter, I could probably talk to it.
"A-anyway! I'm off work tomorrow too, so I'll help you! For today, just go to bed already! See you tomorrow! Good night!"
Bang! She slammed the door shut behind her.
… Am I even going to be able to sleep tonight?
What do you think about this chapter?
