Volume 2 - CH 21.2

Chapter 2-21 : Business Rival Ⅱ (part 2)

「So the current condition of Diral-san’s dining hall is kinda disastrous, huh…」(Sarasa)

「Yeah, kinda…」(Andre)

I feel a little sorry for Diral-san.

Her dining hall might have become more prosperous, but sadly she had to work, serving people with stinky bodies.

「Hmm… I think I should start selling deodorant, the items that can remove bad body odor.」(Sarasa)

「Ohh, Store Owner-dono, you can make such a useful item?」(Iris)

「Yup, but there’s one problem… The deodorant itself is not expensive but the container is.」(Sarasa)

「The container is more expensive than the deodorant itself?」(Iris)

「Yeah, because I need to use a container that can spray the deodorant like mist.」(Sarasa)

Of course, you can use bottles for potions and just sprinkle it onto your body, but if you do that, the deodorant will run out quickly. Using a sprayer is way more efficient.

「I see… Then, I think you should make the containers refillable like bottles for potions you made.」(Iris)

「She’s right. As a woman I’d like to buy some deodorant too, but I don’t want it to be expensive. Like Iris said, you should make refillable containers and sell them, then the people who have the containers can just buy the deodorant when it runs out. What do you think?」(Kate)

In the case of bottles for potions, after I collect them from customers, I usually wash them first before I refill them with potions. They have to be completely clean because potions are used to heal wounds. It will be bad if there’s bacteria attached to the bottles.

However, deodorant is different. I don’t think I need to wash the containers, so it will be easier than selling potions.

Kate-san’s idea is not bad.

「Hmm… That’s a really good idea, but… Lorea-chan, if I start selling deodorant, you will get busier. Are you okay with that?」(Sarasa)

「Of course. I don’t mind at all.」(Lorea)

「Thank you. Andre-san, what do you think?」(Sarasa)

When I asked Andre-san, seeking an opinion from a veteran, he groaned and crossed his arms with a slightly troubled face.

「Hmm… I and my party members will definitely buy it, but I don’t know about the other Collectors, especially the newcomers.」(Andre)

「But don’t they bother if their bodies stink?」(Sarasa)

「Nah, I don’t think they care about that. The ones who are bothered are the people around them instead, especially those who are not used to smelly things.」(Andre)

I see. It seems that there are quite a lot of Collectors who are accustomed to smelly things.

However, it doesn’t mean that it’s okay to let people with smelly bodies be around just because you’re also used to it.

I think veteran Collectors who have been staying in this village for a long time will buy deodorant because they need to maintain a good relationship with the villagers, especially Diral-san, but I don’t know about Collectors who are not willing to stay in this village for a long time. They might think buying deodorant is just wasting their money.

Well, there are a lot of stingy people like that around the world. They don’t want to spend money as long as they have no problem with it even though it troubles people around them.

「You know what, there were some newcomers who didn’t want to spend money on things they didn’t think were important, and they lost their fingers while collecting fangs from Ice Fang Bats’ corpses because of that. Hah! It serves them right!」(Andre)

「E, Eh…? Some people have lost their fingers? Seriously?」(Sarasa)

「Yeah. We veterans have given some advice for those who don’t have proper gloves for collecting fangs to buy some thick gloves or Flexible Gloves in your store, but some of them didn’t listen. If only they listened to us and bought Flexible Gloves you made, they wouldn’t have lost their fingers.」(Andre)

It looked like their fingers got stabbed by the fangs because they used thin gloves and carelessly collected the fangs.

「Now that you mentioned it, I think I know those people.」(Iris)

「Ah, the guys who hit on us the other day, right? They’re the type of people who don’t deserve any sympathy.」(Kate)

Ahh… so they like to hit on girls, huh?

Andre-san sighed after listening to what Iris-san and Kate-san said.

Unlike Andre-san who seemed to have a little sympathy for them even though he said “serves them right”, Iris-san and Kate-san didn’t seem to have sympathy for them at all.

It looked like Iris-san and Kate-san were really annoyed by those guys.

Well, for female Collectors, they are quite beautiful after all, so it wouldn’t be weird if some men tried to hit on them.

「I’m not worried about you guys since you know what you’re doing, but in case your fingers get stabbed and frozen, please come to me quickly. If they are still attached to your hands, the treatment cost will be relatively cheap.」(Sarasa)

The potion that grows lost body parts is extremely expensive, but if your fingers are just frozen, it can be healed with a cheaper potion.

「Ou. I would be in your care when that happened. After those guys lost their fingers, most Collectors started buying your Flexible Gloves, so I don’t think similar cases will happen often. After all, people learn from others’ failures.」(Andre)

「Come to think of it, many Collectors came to buy Flexible Gloves a few days ago. Did the incident happen around that time?」(Lorea)

「Most likely. People started running to this store as soon as they heard the news.」(Andre)

Andre-san nodded to Lorea-chan as he said that.

I see now. So that’s the reason why the stock of Flexible Gloves suddenly decreased.

「I want people who enter Diral-san’s dining hall to use deodorant, but that will be hard if people don’t listen… Hmm… Should I sell the deodorant to Diral-san instead? She can install it at the entrance and charge people to use it if they want to enter her dining hall.」(Sarasa)

「So people have to use deodorant before they enter, huh? I guess that’s a good idea. The villagers rarely come to the dining hall lately, and I think it’s those stinky people’s fault. They need to be more disciplined.」(Andre)

「True. However, even if you used deodorant and entered the dining hall, there was no guarantee that you would get a seat since the dining hall was packed with people. It looks like selling deodorant doesn’t solve the main problem.」(Sarasa)

「Ahh… I hope Diral would expand her dining hall in the future…」(Andre)

「Well, that’s up to Diral-san and Dudley-san, her husband, but I think they can definitely expand their dining hall if they want.」(Sarasa)

Diral-san has spent a lot of money to buy two magic stoves from me, but since she has so many customers lately, I think she has enough money to expand her dining hall.

When I went to the timber shop in South Strugg to order some wood to make a refrigerator a while ago, I saw that they had a lot of timber in stock, so I think they will have enough timber if Diral-san wants to expand her dining hall.

If the dining hall becomes larger, Diral-san might employ some villagers, and the village can become more prosperous. Isn’t it wonderful?

「You may be right. I will tell Diral later then. I feel bad for the villagers who can’t enter the dining hall because of us Collectors…」(Andre)

「I will try to talk with Diral-san too. Anyway, let’s put the dining hall’s problem aside and get back to the plan to prove whether that merchant was cheating or not. For now, Iris-san, Kate-san, let me see the Ice Fang Bats’ fangs you got today.」(Sarasa)

「Alright…. There you go.」(Iris)

Iris-san and Kate-san put the bags full of Ice Fang Bats’ fangs on the counter.

「Ah, Sarasa-chan, isn’t it better if you include my fangs too? The more fangs we have to sell to that merchant, the easier for you to compare the price, right?」(Andre)

「Exactly. Then, Lorea-chan…」(Sarasa)

「Understood.」(Lorea)

Lorea-chan nodded and handed me the fangs that Andre-san had just sold.

After that, I appraised all the Ice Fang Bats’ fangs on the counter and recorded their price.

Alright, let’s see how much that merchant will pay for these fangs…

This is getting interesting somehow…