SWNOVELXO Chapter 106
Chapter 106. The New Product In The Wilderness
“What? …But onii-chan, aren’t you going to marry Cherina-sama? What? Why?”
Narnia started saying something strange.
“Who’s marrying whom…
Don’t say such terrifying things. Sure, Cherina is beautiful and has a nice figure. I don’t dislike smart women either. But, well, something’s missing.
…No, no, what am I even thinking?
Women are scary creatures. Remember that.
…Ugh…I just remembered a bad past with vivid images… I feel like throwing up. Yes, women can’t be trusted.
Scary. Terrifying. I remembered.
“…Onii-chan? Your face suddenly looks like wet ground.”
“Huh? Oh, I’m fine. It’s nothing.”
I took out a water bottle and drank. I’ll try not to think too much.
“If you say so… There’s a rumor about you and Cherina-sama, you know?”
“How did that even become a rumor…”
How does everyone even know about me in the first place?
“That’s easy, everyone knows Cherina-sama risked her life to rescue you at the royal castle.”
“Well…”
Yeah, that was quite unlike Cherina, I must admit.
“Besides, onii-chan, you went to rescue Cherina-sama too.”
“Well, yes, but that has nothing to do with marriage. If it were you who got captured, I’d have gone to rescue you too.”
Probably.
“Really?! Then will you marry me?!”
“No way.”
Why does it always end up like this?
“Shobon…”
“Don’t say ‘shobon’.”
It’s already a dialogue-heavy novel… No, this isn’t the time for meta comments.
“Anyway, that’s a misunderstanding. Spread the word.”
“Ehh…”
I placed a candy set on Narnia’s dissatisfied head.
Remaining balance: 5,269,017 yen.
“Onii-chan… Do you think I’m a cheap girl?”
“Yes.”
I answered immediately.
“Ugh! Onii-chan, you idiot!”
She kicked my shin. It hurt more than I expected! I should have activated my aura.
“…But I’ll tell everyone. That onii-chan chose me over Cherina-sama.”
“I’ll counter-intelligence you.”
“What’s that?”
The little girl looked puzzled.
“Never mind. Just clear up the misunderstanding properly.”
“Okay… But onii-chan, you’re going on a journey…”
The little girl looked downhearted.
“In case you forgot, I’m a traveling merchant.”
Though I’ve pretty much forgotten that myself.
“I don’t think you’re just a traveling merchant, onii-chan.”
“I’ll take that as a compliment. We’re off then.”
“Okay. Take care.”
Her usual energetic farewell wasn’t there.
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The street stall was in chaos.
Today, the market square was packed. I thought the reconstruction was going well, but most of those people were there for our stall. This isn’t a joke.
Even while setting up, people were angrily shouting.
There might be fatalities.
Just as I was about to give up on opening the stall, it arrived.
“Akira-sama!”
It was the apprentice boy I’d seen many times over the past few days. Not just him, but also tanned men who seemed to be sailors from Veriero, and even the two guards who had been with Cherina.
“What’s going on? Did something happen?”
I hoped it wasn’t a rebellion or anything.
“We came to help on Madam’s orders! Give us instructions! We’ll do anything!”
The boy rolled up his sleeves, and the sailors followed suit, showing off their biceps. The familiar guards approached.
“Hmph… I don’t like you, but I owe you for saving Cherina-sama. Tell us what you need help with.”
A tsundere!
Seeing all these Veriero people around me, I felt tears well up for some reason.
“…Thanks.”
I had Hagg and Yaralai help with the potatoes, and everyone else organized the lines. They also helped increase the number of crates (for disguise).
With ten new helpers, we opened the stall, and it was chaos.
The stalls on both sides had given up on doing business and negotiated with the Veriero people to lend us their space, then left. Smart people act differently.
We had the crate disguise, and the merchants were running around, so there was no need to fake inventory. As long as it wasn’t too much trouble, we sold as many as they wanted.
We sold and sold and sold.
There were probably plenty of calculation errors and handover mistakes, but there was no time to worry about that.
When we banned wagon deliveries, merchants hired people to carry full loads of goods, showing they were more clever than cunning.
Not just the adjacent stalls but even those further out had pulled out, letting us use their space to sell a massive amount of cassava. We effectively used the space of five stalls.
Without even taking a lunch break, we just kept selling.
Finally, as the day turned to dusk, we finished.
How many thousands of customers came… Certainly more than two thousand. This is no joke…
We packed up with the Veriero merchant group’s help.
We announced that today was the last day for this stall. It’d be sad if people came tomorrow to line up in vain.
Most of those who needed it should have bought it. While there were many merchants in the morning, more townspeople came in the afternoon. With food prices rising, many were buying in bulk.
I heard later that because I sold so many potatoes to the citizens, the merchants who had been hoarding other food started returning some to the market, stabilizing prices somewhat. With no sudden price hikes, Cherina and Bro Sor, the Minister of Reconstruction, would handle the rest.
By coincidence, if I helped, I’m glad.
I gave each Veriero helper two gold coins. They refused at first but accepted. It was cheap considering labor costs.
Yes.
I made a profit. A huge profit.
Skipping detailed calculations, considering the number of symbols and final balance, each customer probably bought about 20kg of potatoes. The profit for 20kg is 2,900 yen. Reversing the math, around 4,000 customers came.
Including all costs, the actual amount of money earned was…
13,067,993 yen.
Remaining balance: 18,337,010 yen.
My eyes weren’t deceiving me… Profit per potato was about 300 yen…
Come to think of it, a profit of 200-300 yen per potato is a high margin.
I was taking a break under the pretense of calculating money when suddenly, a voice echoed in my head. Doesn’t it sound more feminine than usual?
-Quest cleared. New items available in the SHOP –
Phew… Finally. Now I can buy that thing. Luckily, I have the money.
I closed my eyes and displayed the SHOP list. New items were added.
Single Malt (12 years) = 29,800 yen
……
…………
I stood up and took out the quest paper.
“Why?!!!!!!”
I stomped on it.
Until it was in tatters. Until it was powder. I stomped and stomped.
Aura full throttle! Burn, my little galaxy!
“What’s wrong, Akira?”
Hagg, who was cleaning nearby, called out.
“Not-hing.”
“…Doesn’t seem like it.”
Damn it! I’ll quit the Three Gods pilgrimage! To hell with quests!
-New items available in the SHOP –
“?!!”
The sudden voice startled me.
I fearfully opened the list again.
Camper (used) = 1,420,000 yen
“Used?!!!!!!”
My scream was absorbed into the crimson sky.