Was that really a business discussion?
I feel chills as if I was shown something different, something terrifying though…
I am alone in this reception room.
I entrust my body to the back of the slightly hard leather sofa, take off my shoes, and then sit cross-legged and scratch them.
…Right, it would be nice to make a reception room that requires you to take off your shoes.
Maybe a tea arbour or a japanese style room. It would be nice to have a place with the simple objective of stepping on the carpet.
I feel like tatami mats are the type that choose the people after all… But the scent they give out makes me feel really at home…
“That’s not it.” (Makoto)
I retort to my own thoughts in this room I am alone in.
The ones that were waiting for me in the Wings room were several merchants…
They were.
Now that I think about it, that bunch was weird from the very beginning.
They should have their own work, and yet, they began talking about the current state of Tsige as if filling empty space.
Moreover, there wasn’t a single speck of sharp enquiries peculiar to merchants.
Honestly speaking, it was really fruitless time spent.
Armor, weapons, materials, food, and drinks.
‘Now that I think about it, we have been talking with the top companies more often’, is what they said as they began to deduce their origins. I was waiting for all this pointless talk to finish, and they threw a topic even more outrageous than I thought.
“Please help us obtain the Storage Skill.”
Is what the armor and weapon merchants pleaded.
I honestly don’t understand at all what they were talking about at all, so I asked for a detailed explanation from the merchant team that was made up of around 5 hyuman and dwarf merchants.
I was asked to make the others leave the room since it is the highest secret amongst blacksmith merchants, but I refused.
As if I am going to make people leave and come back on request for every little thing. That’s a pain.
The reason why we placed all those people in this room was because, for good or for bad, our people judged that treating them in this way was plenty enough.
Me creating a discrepancy in that sentiment would only be a bad move.
I am learning too.
When I said that, it seemed like they just gave up on all that secret and stuff, and began talking about the Storage Skill that the Bronzeman Company representative recently obtained which is something that any merchant would die for.
I did hear a bit about this before.
From here on, that company will be the center that will be guiding merchants into getting the Storage Skill, and that goes the same for cooperating with the Adventurer Guild.
And so, these guys failed in the selection of the first group.
They also don’t have the surplus to hire adventurers with their own pockets.
But they want to surpass the others by obtaining Storage first.
This must be what it is like to scatter meat in front of hungry beasts.
And so, because the Kuzunoha Company’s employees are decently strong and have connections with many places, it apparently should be fine to help them out since I was recently on that side of the merchant hierarchy (not like I wanted to).
They already don’t have a shred of awareness as people and merchants.
In the first place, from what I heard of Haku, you need to raise both your levels and mastery of the Job. A Skill that you can obtain after going a certain tier of class ups as a merchant.
When thinking about it like that, there’s nothing complicated about it.
If you have a merchant type Job, most of the branches will learn the Storage Skill eventually.
That’s all there is to it.
If you simply imagine a merchant job in an MMO, the conclusion you would reach would be ‘yeah, that makes sense’.
However…
Even in games, raising a crafting job is harder than a battle job.
In the first place, the battlefield of the merchants is the market.
The reality of this world is that there wasn’t a single merchant who had reached a high ranked Job to the point of learning Storage until just recently.
I think this is also pretty common.
The conclusion is that…there’s no need at all for us to put our hands in this.
The Bronzeman-san’s place and the Adventurer Guild are saying they will be the ones doing it.
There’s no others who are more fit for the job.
Fortunately, there wasn’t anyone there in the bunch who we had a deep connection with that would warrant us to provide them a shortcut.
I just used the previous logic to shut them up.
“I would like you to make a mutual aid association where we share the knowledge of locations we can get materials, and help each other out.”
Is what a merchant that introduced themselves as a member of the raw material merchant group said.
I was about to instantly reply with ‘go to the adventurer guild’, but I barely managed to keep silent.
After that, they began to talk about an organization that was basically as if he was just talking about a guild they are calling mutual aid association.
The respective companies would contribute with their knowledge about money and the materials they are specialized in, and fight back against the top companies buying everything at unfair prices.
I asked why they came to our place to ask for that. What they said was that they felt a sense of camaraderie with the Kuzunoha Company that’s being forced to gather materials by the Muzo Company.
HAHAHA.
On top of that, when I asked what was the project they planned on doing between the merchants, what I heard was talk about regular stalls that you could barely say they have grown some hairs.
If they are thinking of making the Kuzunoha Company join with this and create a mutual aid association, I can easily see them turning into hatchlings waiting for food to fall into their mouths.
It is true that there’s a part where the top companies are buying all the materials at unfair prices by utilizing their overwhelming assets.
There are times when there would be demands where cost and price are broken.
If you yield to that level, you won’t be able to do business properly, and you would end up having dissatisfaction just like them.
I can understand.
But then…just sell elsewhere.
The Dusk Street is gone already.
The market of Tsige has become pretty clean now.
I can say this clearly now that I have actually seen the Muzo Company, but even if they were to oppose selling to them, and sell it somewhere else, there won’t be any retribution.
I can say that for sure.
Muzo-san right now doesn’t have the time to be sticky to this bunch that are like grains of sand.
Rather than stopping to deal with them, it would be far more beneficial to take one step forward in that time, and it would be more comfortable for him.
After the war, Tsige has gotten explosively bigger.
They also have the option now to physically take distance from them and try their hand at a different market.
More so, there’s not a single big raw material company that has enough hands.
They are all lacking enough people that they would search anywhere for more.
At worst, they could close their companies for now, go work at the big places, and learn more.
For example; in the Muzo Company, they would have the chance to learn a variety of things about raw material production.
I explained to them that there’s many better options other than creating a mutual aid association which would perish with just a single blow of wind.
Also, I didn’t forget to tell them that the Kuzunoha Company has no intentions of helping.
“We would like you to lend us the right to set up a store at the station and the plaza.”
The food merchants were straight to the point.
Because of Batoma-san making changes to the way the company alliance works, the merchants that he had been taking under his wing were being steadily cut off.
Until now, they wouldn’t have to do much of anything and would just wait in line to get the benefits he obtained by just participating. A number of them tried to fight again with their own strength, but there’s those that are not doing that and are searching for the next person to back them up.
Of course, the ones here are the latter ones.
And the guys that were trying to create a path to success with onigiri are the former.
I at times feel like helping out those kinds of people.
It was rice after all!
“The weak also have the right to do business! For example; if you let us take over feeding those of the orphanage, a number of us can get some earnings!”
What this one was saying was miraculously not wrong.
But their thinking and the place they put their eyes on are two completely different things.
In the first place, the weak don’t have any rights in this world.
Admitting yourself that you are a weakling has almost no merits and it is foolish.
Of course, it is not like their rights to do business have been robbed.
There’s places where you don’t even need to worry about the location, or you can sell things on the streets, or house to house.
Also, they were talking about the food of the orphanage and all that, but it is not like the orphanage has the money for that.
I understand plenty well now that I look once again at the inside.
There’s absolutely no way that kind of place would go through the trouble of going through a merchant in order to cover for their meals.
It is true that the orphanage has a lot of people, so in terms of a place that needs a high amount of things, there certainly can be business opportunities born.
If we are putting out the Weitz Orphanage as an example, then they already have the Kuzunoha Company.
Why should we do work in order for you people to profit?
This is just too stupid.
The roads and the stations are spreading, and the plans can be confirmed with the Merchant Guild.
I think from the bottom of my heart that merchants that don’t even try to look, learn, or move have no chance of surviving.
Food is an occupation that you can earn big thanks to how flexible it is.
Just at the moment when I was beginning to see all these 10-so people here as beggars…
“Excuse the intrusion!”
“Coming in!”
“Sorry, Raidou!”
Suddenly, Capli-san, Bronzeman-san, and a staff of the Merchant Guild intruded on the room.
“?”
Is it really okay for them to be here? That’s the kind of reaction I had when seeing those two and the staff-san that I rarely see outside the Guild.
I was surprised by the rare combination of people.
“I knew it! Gathering heads!”
“They are really thinking about attacking, huh. I can’t believe it!” (Capli)
“Didn’t I tell you? There’s no medicine to cure idiocy and the illness is widespread!” (Bronzeman)
““?!””
These 3 people who are in complete sync glare at the merchants that came here for their self-proclaimed business discussion.
On the other hand, the people here were frozen stiff and at a loss for words…
“If you don’t want to be expelled, come to the Merchant Guild.”
The staff-san.
A scary cold tone that didn’t have a hint of playfulness in it.
“We are not bluffing here.” (Capli)
“You understand that, right?” (Bronzeman)
Capli-san and Bronzeman-san didn’t hide their anger as they affirmed the words of the staff-san.
After that, they stood up from their seats as if jumping up, and the people that had arrived later than the guild member were threatened by saying ‘this is as far as you go’ and they left instantly.
These two that lead big companies followed after them with light steps that were unlike their age.
They were most likely going to go by coach though.
…They are going to be racing against a coach, huh.
“Excuse us for showing you such an unsightly thing, Raidou-sama. I don’t know what they were wailing about just a few moments ago, but please forget it all.”
In the end, the staff-san bowed cleanly and silently closed the door as they left.
The maintenance of the roads, the station constructions, the exclusive roads for carriages; the general framework and the way to deal with things is being established, and Tsige is starting to expand to the point that it is starting to be recognized as a big city.
Unfortunately, there will be many people who will be shaken off by that speed.
Just like those people.
But it is also true that the amount of jobs will increase proportionally.
I would like these people to widen their field of view and put their eyes on a variety of occupations.
They can stay as merchants…and there’s even the option of being absorbed by a big company.
With this, the business discussions are over!
Man, I really worked hard!
…Wait.
I confirm how high the sun is from outside the window.
I still have time.
Then, I should check out the state of the store as well.
Almost every single day we are selling out, but there are things in the way of selling them that I won’t be able to get unless I see them in person.
Let’s work hard for a bit longer.