By the Grace of the Gods (LN) - Volume 6 - Chapter 23

Chapter 4 Episode 23: New Year’s In This World Is Busy Too

Now that I was back in town, I had a lot on my plate. First, I stopped by the laundromat to see what had happened while I was away.

“Boss, welcome back.”

“Hello, Carme.”

Upon coming to Bamboo Forest for the first time in five days, Carme greeted me. He was standing near the employee entrance.

“Were you waiting here for me?”

“I only vaguely knew when you might return, so no. I was watching them.”

“Who?” I looked inside, and saw a few unfamiliar women carrying things around. “Are they new employees?”

“Yes, we hired them for busy periods only, just as we discussed previously.”

“I see.” So they were new part-timers.

“There are a number of other things to report. Please wait in the office.”

There wasn’t often that much to report, and reports were normally about routine goings-on at the laundromat, so I wondered what else there could be. I waited in the office until he showed up, carrying a thicker stack of documents than usual.

“Shall I start with the usual income report?”

“Please do.”

This was nothing I hadn’t seen before; the numbers all looked normal. Our income hadn’t particularly increased, but there didn’t seem to be any problems. The list of supplies we needed looked fine as well, so I permitted them to be purchased. There were no issues in the report from the Lenaf branch, either. Carme was on top of most things, so my job mostly involved checking his summaries and giving permission for his plans. Compared to my old job, this was a breeze. Eventually, we got all those documents taken care of.

“Thank you. Next, there were a few messages for you. First, there have been some changes regarding the problems you were concerned about between the slums and the public office.”

“What happened?”

“Ultimately, the public office made some concessions, and the people of the slums have calmed down.”

“I see.”

That came as something of a relief. I asked for further details, and it sounded like the public office investigated the unlawful use of the town square by the homeless population and decided to allow them to dwell in select places.

“The public office’s general plans haven’t changed, but now they’ve shown that they wouldn’t take the drastic measures the denizens of the slums feared they would. Plus, more of them seem to be accepting the public office’s employment assistance now. A lot of them are still wary and keeping their distance, but it’s safe to say that public relations are improving, slowly but surely.”

It sounded like there would still be issues in future, but the situation had been stabilized for now. I felt like it would be a good time to visit that cafe again, so I could see Arnold; he did say he went there five days a week.

“Anything else?” I asked.

“Serge of the Morgan Trading Company sent you an invitation.”

The invitation was for a meeting with the Jamil family. Just as Roche mentioned yesterday, this was a profitable time for merchants. They got more orders from their regular customers for New Year’s, and the nobles got busy with parties at the same time, so many merchants took this time to send greetings to all the nobles. Serge was acquainted with many nobles, so he needed to get started on contacting them early. He planned to meet with the Jamil family in Gaunago next month, and he was inviting me to come along.

“What do you think?” Carme asked.

“I’m not sure if I should even go. I do appreciate the invitation, though.”

“I understand your concerns. Our business is coming along nicely, but we’re still newcomers. There’s no shortage of merchants seeking a relationship with the duke’s family, so it would be difficult for such a new company to get their attention. Well, at least that would usually be the case, but I believe you’re already on their good side, so I think they could spare some time for you if you so wished. If you can pay them a visit, I don’t see what harm it would do. It’s common to bring guests to these events, and I don’t think you’ll be too conspicuous if you’re attending with Serge. You could be mistaken for a servant, but that happens.”

It would be a simple enough affair apart from that, so I considered taking Carme’s advice. “I’m assuming I need to get dressed up and bring gifts?”

“Yes. For clothes, I’ve found some tailors as well as off-the-shelf clothing stores. I have a list here for you.” He was always one to work fast. “The question now is, what should you pick for a gift? Most business owners will send something related to their business.”

“All we’d have to offer is deodorizing fluid, really.”

“I can get some wine if you want a safe pick, but I think you would do well to find something more unique to yourself.”

“You might be right.”

We each decided to search for gifts.

“Next, look at this list.”

“Looks like it’s all medicine.”

“Guildmaster Glissela from the merchant’s guild is buying these drugs for a higher price than usual. If you happen to have any or know how to make any, I would very much like for you to take those to the guild. This is the best time to turn a profit for everyone, including us.”

“Are these drugs in higher demand from nobles right now?”

“They’re stocking up in case of emergencies, yes.” I suppose they were rolling in so much dough that they could just do that. “This is the final topic, but Tigger from the equipment store says that the prototype is complete. He wants you to come to his store at your earliest convenience.”

I’d forgotten that I asked him to make adventuring equipment out of slime materials. “Got it, I’ll give him a visit soon.”

“That’s all for my report.”

“Thank you.”

I wrote up a list of tasks. As we got closer to the end of the year, the amount of work was piling up. If I didn’t list it all off now, I’d probably hate myself in the morning. My highest priority was the visit with the duke’s family; I needed to come up with a gift and order some proper attire. Next, I needed to go to Tigger’s store and I also wanted to take the aptitude test at the tamer’s guild. I could probably fit those two tasks into tomorrow’s schedule. And once I got back home, I needed to survey the mine and feed my familiars. I also wanted to experiment with my bloody slimes, but that could wait. I wanted to create a more appropriate space for my mushroom cultivation project as well.

It looked like I was going to be rather busy. After I wrote down everything I could come up with, I got to work on my top priority.

■ ■ ■

“Is this the place?”

Following the information Carme gave me, I came to a tailor’s store. I could see a few articles of clothing on display in the window. The store didn’t look that big, but the small flower bed outside the entrance gave it a warm vibe, and the balcony on the second story made it look classy. A lot of care was put into the whole store, and it looked kind of expensive. But the classy attire in this world was apparently made to order in general, so I guess that would have to be expensive.

“Welcome,” a genteel man said as I entered the store. He was wearing something similar to a tuxedo. “You’re Mr. Takebayashi from Bamboo Forest, I take it? I’ve been expecting you.”

“You know who I am?”

“I heard from your assistant. He told me you’re going to meet some nobles and that you need clothes for the occasion. Congratulations.”

Carme had told him while he was researching options, I guess. He was very passionate about this particular task.

“Thank you. I’d like to make an order right away, but may I ask for advice on what sort of outfit would be best?”

“Of course. Look over here.”

Against one wall of the store, many sets of clothes were hung up. I doubted all of them were dress clothes, but they were all made of expensive cloth or leather. And there was a wide variety, too.

“These are all examples, but you can reference these when you pick your preferred style, material, and color,” the man said. “Let’s start with the style. Anything from here to here would encompass most dress clothes.”

He pointed out just a small portion of the clothes on display, but it was still more than I could hold in both arms. I looked at each individual set and found that many of them looked like clothes I saw in textbooks on Earth. And they were from a large range of different eras, too. There was even a fancy lace choker-looking thing, which had a radius of about a meter.

“Is that ruff to your interest?”

“Oh, no, it just jumped out at me because it’s so big. Are these popular with nobles?”

“Yes, my noble customers do like these big ruffs. Many of them use these trivial parts of the outfit to display their wealth. When a merchant is wearing bigger, flashier ruffs than them, they may take offense to that. You will need some appropriate attire, but because you’re young, I would suggest you pick something more reserved.”

“I don’t like to stand out too much anyway, so that’s what I’d prefer.” I wouldn’t even know what to say if he asked me to wear this.

“Then, what do you think of this?”

“This?” The outfit he showed me looked like what a prince would wear in a play.

“These breeches and this hose are both made from high-quality silk. Not only do they look great, but they’re comfortable to wear. The quilting on this doublet was finely done by a [etc.]... And the slashes on the sleeves don’t diminish the elegance of the garment, but may show your strength as an adventurer somewhat...”

His sales pitches were endless. When it became clear that I wasn’t interested, he moved on to the next set of clothes. But I couldn’t find anything that looked right to me. The knowledge I’d obtained as I came to this world at least helped me understand what he was saying, but my fashion sense was still no better than it was on Earth. I couldn’t quite seem to comprehend what made any of these clothes special. But then, something caught my interest.

“Excuse me, are those dress clothes?” I asked.

“These? Yes, this is still the dress clothes shelf, but—”

“Let me see that!”

Something was buried among all the lacy clothes.

“Oh, I knew it.”

It was a business suit, what I was most accustomed to back on Earth. Maybe it wasn’t quite as formal as what this event called for, but if they were counting it as dress clothes, then that was good enough for me.

“This was the clothing preferred by a king from a few centuries ago,” the man explained. “It’s said that he popularized these, and they remain popular with some nobles who value tradition. You could wear this anywhere and it would be passable, but it’s not exactly in vogue nowadays. Are you sure this is what you want?”

“Yes, this is perfect. I’ll take it!” I was so used to wearing suits that nothing else could compete; this was the only option for me.

“Understood. So you would prefer a suit, then. Would you also like it to be white like this example?”

“I’m sorry, but can you do one in black or dark blue?” For me, white suits brought to mind comedians or hosts at a cabaret club.

“Black or dark blue? That would match well with your hair and eyes. How would you like the embroidery to be done?”

“Please make it plain, if possible.”

“In that case, you should accessorize it with something. It would add a little more zest.”

“What would be a good accessory?”

“Men usually go with rings or armlets. You could also wear a necklace or earrings, but since you’re wearing a suit, you could use a tie pin adorned with a jewel.”

After that, I still had to choose which material to make the ornament from and what jewel to use. I had no experience with picking out dress clothes in this world, but he explained everything in detail. It all made me feel strangely at ease.