4
“Well then, do we have a deal...?”
It was the following day, the third day of the blue month and our seventh day of business.
Just as promised, Yamiru Suun had returned to the post town, and would leave with a satisfied smile on her face.
“Thanks to this, Mida will be saved. I’ll make sure to tell my younger brothers not to do anything foolish either, so you needn’t worry... Well then, I’ll be looking forward to that day.”
Ultimately, she ended up accepting every single one of our demands.
Yamiru Suun didn’t show even the slightest sign of disapproving the request of having women from the Ruu clan come along to assist me, or to having as many women from the Suun clan assist as possible.
It actually went so smoothly that it ended up feeling eerie, but at the very least, we had cleared away our immediate concerns.
“Alright, let’s put that aside and focus on our work... That nuisance is gone, so shall we finally try selling this?”
Ai Fa retreated to the grove in the rear, while I shot a smile at Vina Ruu as she rotated over to the myamuu giba stall.
“This” had referred to the giba jerky that the people of the forest’s edge ate during the day.
It was a food that prioritized preservation over taste, which made it pretty unpalatable. To be blunt, it just tasted strongly of salt and pico leaves, and was exceptionally tough. I honestly couldn’t even chew through it without letting it soften up in my mouth first.
However, dried meats were already sold to travelers passing through the post town, and I couldn’t say that those were any better. Kimyuus was a bit softer but tasted of nothing but spices, while karon had a taste like high class beef jerky, but it was even tougher than giba meat.
It was possible I would be met with objections, questioning if I was greedily trying to make even more coins on top of what I was getting from selling meals... But if I wasn’t prepared for dealing with a bit of friction, I never would have started this shop to begin with. In order to get the people of the post town to acknowledge the value of giba meat, I would try everything that I could.
By the way, as for the price of the jerky, I saw that karon was notably more expensive than kimyuus, so I set my price with that in mind. The price was roughly 200 grams for three red coins, and the custom seemed to be to sell it in chunks of four or six hundred grams.
Now that I think about it, meat and vegetables sure are cheap. If I treat one red coin as 100 yen, that would make the pseudo-onion aria 20 yen each, the cabbage-esque tino 50 yen, and 100 grams of karon 150 yen... Whereas even a cheap kitchen knife would be 4500 yen, and a pot would be 24000 yen, huh?
It may not have been excessively so, but food still felt awful cheap when compared to leather and cloth goods.
At any rate, jerky took a good bit of effort to make, so it ended up with a fittingly high price. Fresh meat, however, cost way less. According to what Dora told me, even when you were just buying it to use in your own home, 100 grams wouldn’t even cost a full red coin. Kamyua Yoshu had told me before that meat cost more than vegetables, but it was still a whole lot cheaper than it was back where I came from.
That must be why giba didn’t get any attention in terms of meats. In that case, I’d like to at least see giba meat be worth the same amount as karon.
As that thought ran through my head while I shaved off jerky with a knife to serve as samples, a man from Sym wearing a hood quietly approached.
From underneath the hood, I could spy long silver hair.
“Huh? What is it, Shumiral?”
I was certain he had already ordered a giba burger first thing in the morning.
But at any rate, his black eyes were staring straight at my hands.
“Is that jerky, giba meat...?”
“Yeah. I was thinking of selling this from today on, too. If you’d like to try a sample, then go right ahead,” I said, holding out the plate with the shaved off jerky.
Shumiral nodded, then he ate one.
“...How many coins, does it cost?”
“I was thinking of going with the same price as karon jerky. So at this size, it would be six red coins.”
“How much, do you have, now...?”
“Huh? Um, for today I have ten of these chunks prepared.”
Since it was ten chunks of 400 grams, that meant I had around four kilos of meat.
Pretty much only travelers were interested in dried meats to use as rations, so I wasn’t expecting to sell all that much.
I’d like to try out emphasizing taste rather than preservation at some point and make giba bacon...
As that thought ran through my head, Shumiral emotionlessly questioned, “How long, does the jerky, last?”
“If properly stored, it should last for half a year.”
“I see,” Shumiral replied, then he started searching around the inside of his cloak. “I’ll take, all of it.”
“Huh?”
“That will be, six white coins, yes?”
“H-Hold on a second, please! The Silver Vase is staying in the post town for the month, right? So why do you want to buy such a large amount of jerky?” I questioned, completely caught off guard.
“To sell, in another town,” Shumiral replied, tilting his head a bit. “In Genos, food is cheap. We buy food, and sell it, in other towns.”
Resale, huh?
I see. So it wasn’t just products from their homeland, but also local specialties they picked up from the towns and cities along the way that they sold. Thanks to that, they continually keep on doing business.
“Giba meat, is rare. I’m sure, it will sell lots, in other towns. I would like, more jerky.”
“I see... Exactly how much were you thinking you wanted?”
Shumiral’s eyes shot downward a bit as he mulled it over.
“...If it’s possible, I would like, 60 white coins worth.”
60 white coins... From some rough calculations in my head, that meant around 40 kilos.
Still, the Ruu and Rutim had plenty of excess meat even now, so that would be no problem at all.
“In that case, how about I prepare it all for just before The Silver Vase leaves Genos? If I prepare it right before selling it to you, you should get a full half a year out of it.”
Shumiral’s eyes narrowed, and he looked ever so slightly happy.
“That method, is a big help. Thank you.”
“Not at all! I’m the one who should be thanking you! On top of stopping by for a snack each and every day, you also brought this wonderful proposition my way.”
“Our Silver Vase, and you, have formed a very, good bond. I give my thanks, to the eastern god, Sym.”
With that, Shumiral’s gaze shifted to my side.
Meanwhile, Vina Ruu was staring at the highway and feigning ignorance.
“...Asuta, called you, Vina Ruu. Is that, your name?”
“What of it...?” Vina Ruu answered while glaring at Shumiral and looking like she found this a huge pain.
Shumiral then shook his head, his face remaining utterly expressionless.
“No, I just thought, it was a beautiful name. Well then, excuse me...” Shumiral said, then he raised his hood again and departed.
Vina Ruu haughtily crossed her arms, and I gave a small sigh.
“Hmm, he seemed kind of pained, somehow... Still, he’s seriously becoming an important person in my life.”
“That may be so for you, but it isn’t for me. I told you I just don’t like people whose emotions I can’t read, didn’t I...?”
“Is that so? I feel like it’s a bit of a shame to go and treat him like someone as sketchy as Kamyua Yoshu, though.”
“Yes, he’s completely different, but I still really do find people like you who can’t hide their emotions at all to be far more charming...”
As we had that conversation, Vina Ruu stole a bit of a worried glance behind us.
As always, Ai Fa was still resting in the shadow of a tree about five meters back.
She really didn’t seem to have any energy at all right now.
“That’s why I have a bit of difficulty dealing with people who hide their hearts away like Ai Fa...”
“Hmm... But doesn’t it make you really happy when a person like that occasionally lets their earnest emotions slip through?”
“Is that why you find a woman like Ai Fa so charming...?”
“Th-That’s not what I meant.”
While we enjoyed that peaceful exchange, the number of people passing by had steadily increased.
Just as I was thinking the back half of our fight was kicking off, I spied two familiar faces approaching.
“Asuta, two please!”
“Could I get two, Asuta?”
It was Tara and Yumi, and they had ordered in perfect sync.
The yellowish-brown skinned young woman and ivory-white skinned girl stared straight at each other, with a height difference of about two heads between them.
“Ah! You’re that kid from back then!” Yumi yelled out, and Tara just looked shocked.
“When does ‘back then’ mean?”
“Ah, so you don’t remember? Well, whatever... Still, you seem awful friendly with Asuta.”
“Yeah! I owe him my life!”
That was definitely an exaggeration, but thinking about it, I met Tara during that time with Doddo Suun and Yumi when Mida Suun suddenly showed up. As I pondered how strange fate could be, I set the brazier in place and started sauteing aria.
“Hmm, you’ve sure got some skills, to get even a pureblooded child of Genos as a customer. And then you even sold giba burgers to some old drunks before, didn’t you?”
That second “you” naturally referred to Vina Ruu.
Hearing that, Vina Ruu gracefully shrugged her shoulders.
“I honestly do think it’s a big deal. I mean, your stalls are all the way out here, but you’re earning more than anyone, aren’t you? And there are even a good number of folks from the west coming now too, right?”
“Yes, fortunately. Two of your friends were actually here a little while ago and made a purchase.”
“Hehe. That’s because I’ve been spreading the word all over. I’d bet a ton of young folks have heard of your reputation and stopped in by now, haven’t they?” Yumi proudly boasted.
“I told lots of my friends, too!” Tara loudly chimed in.
Immediately afterwards, though, she looked dejected.
“But they all said they were scared of giba and they wouldn’t come... And that their moms and dads would scold them if they did...”
“There’s no helping that. Folks who have lived in Genos for a long time probably have no interest in eating giba. I figure the only way to deal with that is to just give it time, right?” I said, trying to console Tara as the giba meat cooked.
“Hey, she’s a customer too, isn’t she?! That’s no fair, just acting all polite with me.”
“Huh? Well, there’s the age difference to consider... Ah, and I met Tara before opening the shop. Right, Tara?”
“Yeah!” Tara replied, looking happy again as she gave a big nod.
“Grr, I’m still not happy about it...” Yumi grumbled with a disgruntled look about her. “By the way... How many days have you been running this stall for now?”
“Eh? The neighboring one has been open for seven days now, while it’s been three for this one.”
“I see. Well then, what are you planning on doing next? You’re not just planning on closing up shop after ten days, are you?”
While thinking to myself that she sure was knowledgeable about how the stalls worked, I replied, “I’m not,” with a nod. “At this point, I was thinking I’d like to keep on doing business for as long as I’m able.”
“Well then, how about signing your next contract with our place?”
“Huh?”
“You see, my family actually runs an inn called The Westerly Wind, and we’re also involved with managing the stalls. And my old man may be a real hardhead, but my mom already knows how delicious giba meat is. I’m sure we’d treat you like a normal business partner.”
This was seriously an unexpected proposal.
“The oldtimer who runs The Kimyuus’s Tail has some sort of grudge against the people of the forest’s edge and treats you badly, doesn’t he? And you probably want to keep doing business under more pleasant circumstances, right?”
“H-Hold on a second, please. Milano Mas, the owner of The Kimyuus’s Tail, has a grudge against the people of the forest’s edge?”
“Yeah, though I don’t really know the details. I think his family member or friend or something was killed by a member of the forest’s edge... But in the end there wasn’t any proof, so things were left all unsettled.”
There was an ever so slightly turbulent shine in Yumi’s eyes.
“Incidents like that happen a lot, so nobody trusts the people of the forest’s edge. I mean, if I hadn’t seen that exchange between you and that monster, I probably never would’ve gotten so close to you... But like you said, that’s something that’ll take some time.”
“Right... That really is how it feels.”
I went ahead and prepared the four myamuu giba, holding back a sigh all the while.
“In regards to the contract, I’d like to talk to Milano Mas first. But I personally don’t feel a need to distance myself from him or anything, so I’d like to respect his feelings here. Is that alright?”
“Yeah, of course. Just go ahead and handle it how you want. As long as I still get to eat your delicious cooking, then I have no problems,” Yumi said, once more sporting an innocent-looking smile as she accepted her myamuu giba.
Tara let out an excited, “Yay!” too. Then, when she took off running towards the myamuu giba stall, Yumi’s eyes opened wide.
“Huh? You’re planning on buying even more?”
“Yeah! The myamuu giba are for the men from the cloth and pot stores! But me and my dad are having giba burgers!”
“Hmm... You sure are a hard worker, considering how tiny you are.”
After saying that, Yumi seemed to wait for Tara to finish her shopping for some reason, then they headed back south together.
Their skins were different tones, and yet they still somehow looked like sisters. As I saw the two of them off, I thought in the back of my head about how there were just three days left in my initial ten days.
I had initially thought I’d be plenty satisfied if I could sell somewhere between 20 and 30 meals a day, but it had gone so well that we ended up adding a second cart and selling nearly 150 a day.
We had warded off the threat of the Suun clan for the time being, so for now, I just needed to focus on the shop.
There were seven days left until the clan head meeting. If this shop kept on pulling in results till then, then that should make it easier to show the possibility of a bright future for the forest’s edge at the meeting.
I won’t let things go how the Suun clan wants, no matter what.
With that thought firmly in my heart, I pulled up the leather bag full of giba meat.
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