Translator: Dj2203
Editor: Dj2203
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It would be nice to have such a cute girl as my little sister…
I think this deeply as I watch Mia Alice, the cat-eared girl (with a tail) happily eating a jam bun.
According to her, as she grows, she could control her demi-human transformation to a certain extent. When she transforms into a demi-human, the characteristics of the animal she transforms into are imbued in her body, and in her case, her hearing becomes extremely sensitive, her sense of balance and physical abilities improve, and she can jump from a relatively high place and land safely.
However, on the other hand, she instinctively became more afraid of fire and was more susceptible to physical burns. Furthermore, her eyesight weakened and her sense of smell improved compared to when she was human. It’s not all good, but it seems like there are two sides to the same coin.
Then Mia Alice spoke.
“Now that I think about it, it’s too difficult for you two to sell bread, so what are you going to do from now on… have you decided yet?”
Yes, the current problem was bread.
No matter how delicious the bread they bought in Japan was, and no matter how much Maon and Mia Alice praised it, there was nothing they could do if they had no place to sell it. And the fact that they couldn’t sell it meant Hangus must be keeping a close eye on them all over town.
There was no qualification required to be a street vendor, but if you try to sell bread, you may be obstructed or harassed, and they had no way to prevent this cancer.
It’s a big mistake to interfere with merchant activities when we should be protecting them. And above all… I will never forget that grudge. I also feel resentment for what was done to me, but I will make sure they (Hangus and Gilliam) regret hurting Maon so much.
But first we had to earn some money, by selling bread, but we had no idea how to do that.
….
Meanwhile, Mia Alice finished eating the bread. Now her ears and tail had retracted, and she looked like a normal girl from any angle.
“The thing in that Jam Bread is… jam. It can only be made in the elf village…”
Mia Alice muttered as if she had seen a legendary item that only appeared in some kind of movie or fairy tale.
Actually, I bought it on a half-price sale (44 yen excluding tax)… I can’t bring myself to say that, so I just give a wry smile.
“Oh, Genta’s bread is amazing! But there’s no one to sell it to…”
In response to Maon’s voice, Mia Alice thought for a moment… and then said:
“If you sell things as a merchant, it gets in the way, right? So, why not just not sell as a merchant?”
Hmm? You don’t sell them? Then how are you going to make money? It feels like I’m being asked a riddle. It’s like when Ikkyu-san was trying to cross a bridge and saw a sign saying, “Do not cross this bridge.” In the end, Ikkyu-san decided that the word “hashi” meant “edge” and not “bridge,” and crossed the middle…[1]
“That… what does that mean?”
Maon asked the girl.
“If we sell it in the city, it will cause trouble. So why not sell it somewhere the Merchants Guild can’t interfere with, and if it’s not for sale, then surely they can’t interfere?”
What does that mean? A place where the merchant guild can’t interfere…? Surely it’s not some kind of dangerous route involving black market dealings…
“I thought of delivering it to the Adventurer’s Guild.”
….
Mia Alice suggested delivering it to the Adventurer’s Guild.
“Maon-san, I think it will probably be difficult for Genta-san to rejoin the merchants’ guild. And you don’t want to go back, do you?”
Both Maon and I agree, although I’ve never been a member.
“I can use a little bit of healing magic, so I have treated injured adventurers before. The injured man received emergency treatment but was not completely healed. Therefore, the man said that he would not push himself too hard until his injuries were fully healed, and that he would avoid dangerous activities such as hunting and instead live off the food he collected and sold. So, if selling bread in town is going to be a nuisance, how about delivering it to the Adventurer’s Guild instead?”
Maon-san groaned in response.
“It’s true that it’s not normal for a merchant guild to have a say in the adventurer’s guild… I’ve heard of them delivering medicinal herbs and ores, but I’ve never heard of them delivering bread…”
“But as it is now, we won’t be able to sell the bread in town, right? I think we should go and sell it to the Adventurer’s Guild. We can negotiate… I’m sure anyone who understands the value of this bread will be willing to listen.”
“I see… Adventurers, huh…? But they’d be out of town selling bread during the day, so I wouldn’t have thought of that.”
“And when you’re selling, you should always make them take a bite. I’ve never heard of bread with anything inside it. And it’s jam, a really sweet, delicious jam with no additives…”
Mia Alice narrowed her eyes in ecstasy. She seemed to really like the jam bun.
However, there were many differences between this world and Japan. There were still many things we didn’t know. Both Maon and Mia Alice were surprised to learn that bread had fillings inside.
Baking sweet bread may require some ingenuity or skill. Or perhaps the seasonings to add flavor were hard to come by… From what I’ve heard, the production system in this world seems to be basically manual. If that’s the case, the production volume may be quite low.
Not only that, transporting the goods was also a difficult task. They were not delivered by truck like in Japan. It was all done by hand. Last year, I came across an anecdote from the Warring States period in a course I took on the subject of Japanese commercial history. At that time, there were checkpoints everywhere, and of course, a toll was charged every time you passed through, and the merchants transporting the goods would pass that on to the price. There may not have been checkpoints, but if goods were transported by hand from town to town, it would take that many days. It would be more expensive, and it is possible that they would be difficult to obtain due to the price.
In Japan, it was only after the Edo period that people and goods began to move and circulate steadily. Furthermore, commercial crops, such as dyes for fabrics, began to circulate only after the world had become relatively stable.
Food and other necessities come first, and luxuries come later. Most people in this town didn’t wear dyed clothes. There were probably exceptions, but it seems that handicrafts aren’t very well developed either.
Not only jam buns, but other types of bread were probably luxury items too. However, my next target was the Adventurer’s Guild. I’ll have to lower my prices compared to dealing with wealthy merchants. How much should I charge?
No, more importantly, we need to see if the Adventurer’s Guild will accept the delivery… If they don’t accept our proposal, we won’t get anywhere.
“I need to get motivated…”
That’s what I thought.
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[1] A Japanese children’s story.