Mushoku Tensei (LN) - Volume 20 - Chapter 2

Chapter 2:

The Zanoba Store

ZANOBA WAS NO LONGER a prince. He’d been spending his days pawning off his royal relics so he could build a house near my own—a stout, two-story place. He designed it with figurine production in mind, so the first floor was wide and spacious, like a garage. The living space was primarily on the second floor, where he planned to house Ginger, Julie, and himself. It seemed roomy enough for the three of them. I didn’t know how their relationships would change over time, though; might get a little strange if any of them got married.

Anyway, while he had enough money for now (whether it was from savings or from a royal allowance), it was only going to down from here. I decided to pay rent to him for the Magic Armor production, which I also categorized as research costs. Zanoba accepted the money, but not without some objection.

“I’m not the only one working on this, so I can’t help but feel it wrong to be the one to accept money for it,” he said with a pensively raised brow.

I caught his drift; the creation of the Magic Armor was a team effort between Zanoba, Cliff, and myself. But here, only Zanoba was receiving R&D funding. It didn’t add up.

But by that logic, what really didn’t add up was me. I went out and did work in the Magic Armor, and I was the one getting compensated for it. In other words, I was the only one receiving money from the Magic Armor’s creation until now. A creation that we had all worked together to make. The Magic Armor wasn’t created for financial gain, but it’s in our nature as humans to go at each other’s throats over an extra coin. If I wanted to be fair about it, then I should have paid Cliff, too. Though Cliff was hardly pressed for money, of course, so I wasn’t sure he’d take it.

Well, that aside.

There are times in life where you just have to pay up if you’re asked. And hey, nobody I knew was greedy enough to take advantage of myself. I had enough wiggle room in my pocketbook to be charitable. Yes, we all have a duty to give back when we’ve got some financial freedom.

Either way, I needed the Magic Armor, and I also needed Zanoba’s figurine-engineering skills. It’s only natural to pay money for something you need. And with that, I could consider Zanoba’s lifestyle paid for.

I now stood before the front door of that figurine engineer’s home. I took a deep breath. I’d been told I was free to enter as I pleased, even when the head of the house was absent. But there was one rule: knock before entry. It was simply proper etiquette between two amicable compatriots.

“Zanobaaa, yoohoo! Open up already!” I shouted, calling for Zanoba as I clanged the doorbell.

“Oh, Master. Please, by all means. The door’s already open.”

His response was incredibly quick. However, I needed a little more than that.

“You suuure? Can I reeeally come inside? Watch out, I’m gonna dooo iiit! Stop me while you caaan! Once I get staaarted, I can’t hold myself baaaack!”

Not getting consent last time led to a mishap I nearly could have been locked up over.

“I have no idea what you could possibly be referring to, but I won’t stop you, so do come in.”

“You sure? There’s no woman next to you getting dressed, is there?”

“You’ve nothing to worry about.”

I felt that. I believed Zanoba. That’s right, I’d place my trust in him once again. In the man who never stopped believing in me when I got that diary from the future. If black became white and the world were inverted, I’d know that there was still a lone man worth believing in: Zanoba.

“Okie-doke, here I come.”

I opened the door. This place was Zanoba’s workshop from the first step inside; it was a wide-open space with two work desks amidst a sea of wooden boxes and figurines strewn all over. Zanoba sat in front of one of the desks. Julie was with him.

That alone wouldn’t have been out of the ordinary, but the atmosphere about the workshop was a bit different today. If I had to put my finger on it, I’d say the problem was in where Julie was sitting. Normally, Julie would be making figurines at the desk just a short distance away from Zanoba’s.

But today, she wasn’t sitting at that desk.

“…”

Julie was sitting on Zanoba’s lap. She was sitting on his lap while looking intently at the figurine she was painting.

Zanoba, by the way, was carefully carving away at a Magic Armor part above her head. The scraps of his carvings were dropping on top of her head, but Julie didn’t seem to notice.

“Zanoba… You sure got close to Julie while I wasn’t looking, huh?”

“Hm? Does that pose a problem?”

Julie’s small frame nested within Zanoba’s tall stature. They looked like siblings. Wholesome! You know, as long as the only thing they did in that position was make figurines together… But yeah, it was safe to say that there was no hint of lewdness here. I mean, not that it’d have been a problem for them if there had been. This world didn’t have any age of consent laws, so nobody would’ve held it against him.

But, just, you see…I did knock, so I wish they could’ve separated a little.

“Nah, you’re a heartwarming sight,” I said as I pulled up a chair from the corner of the workshop.

“So, Master, what brings you here today?”

“About that…”

Of course, I didn’t come to Zanoba’s to talk about the weather. I’d already tasked him with the Magic Armor manufacturing project, but I had another job I wanted to give him that he’d work on in parallel.

“The truth is, Zanoba, I came to inform you of your new position.”

“Huh… Position, you say?”

“Yes, position,” I confirmed as I pulled a single piece of paper out of my breast pocket. I held it up to Zanoba as though it were an offering.

“Ah, pardon my manners!” said Zanoba. He hurriedly plopped Julie down and brushed the scrapings off of himself before gracefully accepting the paper. The guy had a sense of refinement.

“Hmm…” murmured Zanoba. “It says that ‘Zanoba Shirone is to be assigned to the Figurine Sales Department.’”

“Indeed. I implore you to accept.”

“I wouldn’t be unwilling to do so…but did we not intend to postpone that project?”

This reassignment effectively meant that we’d begin moving forward with the plans to sell those Ruijerd figurines that we had made so long ago. He might have wondered why we were doing that now, at this moment. But actually, selling those specific figurines at this specific time was crucial. We were going to be enlisting leaders from around the world while also nabbing every ally we laid eyes on for the battle against Laplace. However, there were a few people whose whereabouts were unknown. Including, yes, Ruijerd.

Ruijerd spent typical timelines on the Demon Continent, but in this loop, he warped with me to the Central one. I hadn’t heard from him lately, nor did I know where he was. I didn’t think there was any chance of the worst coming to pass with him, but the fact remained that I couldn’t meet him and ask for his help right this very moment.

Well, it wasn’t like he was in hiding. We could find him easily with just a little searching. But I couldn’t deny it; he was the first person I wanted to ask for help in defeating Laplace. This was Ruijerd, after all—Laplace and him had a history together. I wanted to do whatever it took to find him and ask him directly. I wanted to give him the chance to get his revenge…

Well, that was half an excuse. Deep down, I really just wanted to see Ruijerd again after all these years. And maybe a mutual goal could set us side by side on the same path again, if only for just a little while. So my motives were selfish, but that was how we began selling the Ruijerd figurines. And hey, it was sure to be faster than organizing a search party. Not to mention that repairing the image of the Superd was something I’d been planning for a while…

I had other excuses for Zanoba too, just in case he needed more convincing. Take, for example, the Magic Armor; Me, Zanoba, and Cliff had all reached a standstill in the development of this weapon. There was a very real possibility that the Version Three wouldn’t be completed at all. But what luck! In came these large-scale plans to sell figurines; reaching the scale required for distribution and sales meant hiring and training engineers. Remember, the engineering techniques for dolls and figurines could be carried right over to the engineering of the Magic Armor. By increasing the number of specialists who understood our engineering and having more iterations for trial and error, we increased the odds of finding a revolutionary breakthrough. Developing talent was key.

“And that about covers the plan,” I concluded. I had just finished explaining all of that in great detail to Zanoba. “While I do have personal reasons for wanting to do this, I want to grow our engineering expertise for the Magic Armor project. I wanted to ask you because you understand this better than anyone else.”

“Hmm…”

“I’ll search the Ruquag Mercenary Band for someone with prior business experience to support you. And of course, Aisha and I will help you to get the first store up and running. So…will you do it?”

“Indeed! It shall be done.”

Zanoba nodded without hesitation and kneeled before me. Julie, after watching from the sidelines, hurriedly took to her own knee as well.

“Grand Master! What is it that I shall do?” she chirped.

“Julie, you are to stay with Zanoba and follow his directions!”

“Okay!”

It looked like Julie was all in as well. We’d be heading into mass production of the first lot of Ruijerd figurines soon, which meant that she’d be working to make Zanoba money. She’d surely be excited to hear that.

“All right then, we’ll go over the details on a later date. That’s all for today.”

“Understood.”

Next, I figured I would bring over that mercenary that I’d had my eye on…

***

Several days later, I returned to Zanoba’s house with two people in tow. On one side was a fearful-looking man in round glasses; he shaped his hair into a 7:3 part instead of a bowl cut. He wore a black coat with yellow embroidery. He was clearly human.

“This is where you’ll be working from now on.”

“A-all right…”

“Listen well, Joseph. It would be no exaggeration to say that this massive project rests upon your shoulders,” I said.

Joseph gulped.

“But you needn’t worry more than necessary,” I continued. “After all, to our great benefactor, this is but one project of many.”

This was Joseph: an anxious temperament and a nasty drinking problem combined to make him frequently pallid, which led to “Pale” becoming a cutesy nickname of his among the mercenaries. Before joining the Mercenary Band, he was a merchant. Merchants in this world typically started their careers as traveling salesmen. If they saved their money and gained enough status in their guilds or trades, they could become the employee or apprentice of a high-profile merchant, and by amassing even more resources and experience, they could finally open their own store. If a store owner could maintain that momentum, they could end up owning a larger store, becoming a company executive, or even being selected as a personal supplier for the royal family.

Joseph seemed to have made it to the store ownership stage, but then he made one big mistake that cost him everything. Whenever he was asked where he went wrong he’d always shut down and go silent. But there was no doubt that it was over a woman; or so Linia had told me. Of course, if you knew Linia’s reputation, her theories had the strength of a wet paper bag. My guess was that his mistake involved alcohol. He might have drunken himself into a stupor and put his hands on a female employee, only to find out it was a setup to get dirt on him… 

Wait. That sounded like what Linia told me.

Never mind.

Either way, after losing it all, Joseph here wandered around until finding his way to the Mercenary Band. According to Aisha, he was incredibly skilled at management and finances, so it didn’t seem like he was lying about owning a store. And considering how high Aisha’s standards for skills were, that praise meant a lot. Well… On second thought, Aisha considered me skilled, so that’s what that praise was worth. Anyway, this all led to him getting picked out from the crowd to be the advisor for the grand opening of Zanoba’s first store.

“A-are you sure?” asked Joseph, his wan face living up to his nickname. “I’ve heard that Mr. Zanoba can be a fearsome individual… That when he gets angry, he’ll flatten people into the ceiling, like pancakes…”

“Joseph, my boy, those are merely rumors,” I reassured him. “In what world would a man slam someone into the ceiling when angered? If someone was truly angry, wouldn’t they slam people into the ground instead? Exactly! The ground’s much harder.”

“Y-you’re right, yeah…”

Of course I was right. Zanoba only slammed people into the ceiling when jumping for joy. His preferred move when angry was an iron claw to the face.

“That said, it’s best to not get him angry in the first place. But that goes for anyone, no? You’ve been a salesman before, so I’m sure you agree that it’s best to keep your customers smiling?”

“No…no, there times where it’s best to anger them.”

“Are there, now?”

“P-people can make poor decisions when they’re angry. Especially enemies. Getting them angry can cloud their judgment and give you the upper hand in negotiations.”

Interesting. Might apply to enemies. But we weren’t talking about enemies, now, were we?

“Is Zanoba an enemy?” I asked.

“N-no! My apologies. I didn’t mean to be pedantic…”

“Oh, it’s nothing to worry about. I was wrong, after all. Yes, some enemies are best handled when they’re angry, very true.”

“R-right… But of course, Mr. Zanoba is no enemy…so I do intend to avoid angering him… It’s just that, when I was with the mercenaries, everything I did got someone mad at me…”

True, he didn’t seem like he’d fit in easily with the reckless heroes that made up our mercenary band. Probably because he was so timid and reserved. I remember how awful he was during my first interview with him after Aisha suggested him to me: the color on his face as he entered the captain’s room had gone past Pale and straight to White, like he was a walking corpse. He started the conversation from the assumption that he was surely about to be punished for some mistake he’d made, so he kept a faint, rictus smile pinned to his lips at all times as he kissed ass. I had my doubts about the guy, to say the least. Even Aisha attempted to walk back her recommendation of him.

He was a salesman dropout. That is to say, he was a screwup. Advice from failures is usually unreliable. If someone didn’t understand exactly why they failed, then they were liable to repeat their mistakes. I was speaking from experience. But failure was also a fact of life. The maturity of someone with a lot of failures to draw from is worth its weight in gold. We’d never grow if we let failure stop us. You didn’t need a hundred percent success rate; sixty percent is still a passing mark, even when the “test” is changing the world.

A taste of success changes people. I felt that if I could give this man that taste, he’d grow into an exceptional asset. I chose him for this project not in spite of his past, but because of it.

“Our benefactor is forgiving of failures, and he makes sure success doesn’t go unrewarded. If you’re able to make this project a success, you could find yourself managing the mercenary band’s marketing division.”

“Wh-why, I’m not certain I’d be fit for that position.”

“Perhaps. But you didn’t refuse the opportunity. You’re here. That speaks for itself.”

It was quite the profound line to end on, if I did say so myself. 

Well, it was profound until a certain someone ruined it. That “someone” was Linia.

“Don’t sweat it, mew! Zanoba’s like a little bro to mew. Keep your chin up, and if anything happens, just lemme at ’im. I’ll give him the ol’ one-two, mew!”

For some reason, she tagged along when I first set this project up, acting like some business guru the whole time. Considering that her first foray into an honest line of work ended before it ever started, her bluster made her come off as a know-it-all novice.

“Boss… Thank you so much. I feel so relieved.”

Joseph seemed comforted that she was here, and she did have some authority I didn’t want to undermine, so for the moment, I decided to let her talk nonsense without interjecting. She was getting the boot if she got in the way, though.

“Now then, shall we enter?” I suggested. I wanted to avoid any further wavering, so I opened the door.

“Hey, Zanoba, you know that thing we talked abou—”

It was then that I realized: I had messed up. Once again, I had opened the door without knocking. And before our eyes, beyond the door that had opened with a clank, lay an unbelievable sight.

Inside the first floor of Zanoba’s home were Zanoba and Julie, who were sitting down and working on their own figurines. This time, she wasn’t sitting on Zanoba’s lap. That part was fine.

But someone else made me stop in my tracks the moment I entered: Ginger. She was lovingly holding an adorable plush dog.

“Wh-what is it?” she asked suspiciously.

Ginger. With a stuffed animal. Oh no, that wasn’t to say they didn’t belong together, but it was an unexpected sight. I felt like I’d walked in on something. I could have sworn that Ginger had no interest in these sorts of things. Maybe Zanoba no longer being a prince had given her a change of heart.

Yes, after calming down and giving it some thought, it felt natural. Besides, it wasn’t right to judge someone for their tastes.

“Gah ha ha ha! What’s a knight doin’ coddling a stuffed animal, mew?! What is she, a bab—Mew?! Boss, what’s the big idea, mew, just wait a sec—”

I gave Linia the boot.

Incidentally, beastfolk had a form of play in which they practiced hunting on dolls of demons and animals. It was a game that very small children would play. So I couldn’t hold it against her; she wasn’t making fun of Ginger’s tastes. She was just speaking from her experience as a beastwoman. Not to say that her words had no bite. Ginger glowed with unbearable humiliation. I had to cheer her back up.

“Ahem, that’s a lovely stuffed animal you have there. From where might you have procured it?”

Ooh, I sounded a bit like Zanoba there.

“It…was an import from the Asura Kingdom. Its creator was someone named Venger, who used blanket rags to make dolls like this, or something…”

“Venger, eh? Quite a similar name to ‘Ginger,’ isn’t it?”

“Yes. That’s why I’ve taken a bit of a liking to it… Is it really that childish?”

“Oh, by no means. Pay no attention to what some insensitive cat tells you. She has no taste. I believe you should love what you love.”

“Oh… Yes, thank you very much.”

I could tell that Zanoba had a smile on his face as he overheard us. It was the face of a hobbyist watching a friend fall down the rabbit hole of a hobby of their own; he must have been happy to see Ginger take an interest in dolls. Well, a stuffed animal. Not quite a doll.

“Rudeus, who might this person be?” Joseph asked nervously.

“Ah, I’ll introduce you. Zanoba!”

“Right!” Zanoba shouted back. He rose up the instant I called his name, dusted the shavings off of his clothes, and joined us. Julie trotted along behind him.

“This is Joseph. He’s one of the most knowledgeable people in the mercenary band when it comes to marketing. I’m assigning him to be your advisor for the figurine-selling project.”

“Hmm.” A glint of light shone in Zanoba’s glasses. He weighed Joseph with his gaze. Julie imitated Zanoba’s glare in miniature. Cute.

“Master, pardon my rudeness, but may I inquire as to his figurine expertise?”

“Total novice.”

“Well, now.” Zanoba raised an eyebrow. “I trust that you have your reasons, Master. Might I inquire as to why you chose a novice?”

This was unusual. Knowing Zanoba, I figured he would’ve accepted Joseph by the second reply. Something along the lines of trusting me to have my reasons, but choosing not to ask what they were.

“Pardon,” Zanoba continued, “but I simply must ask. This work is not mere child’s play to me, you see.”

“I’ll explain, of course.”

Zanoba was taking this job seriously. Joining Orsted’s army was a step toward avenging Pax’s death, and that choice was not made lightly. Zanoba wasn’t putting his foot down just because he didn’t want a philistine who didn’t understand true art criticizing his work.

Right?

“First, as a former salesman, he’s well-versed in marketing. Second, he once failed as a salesman, so he’ll be careful. Last, as a complete novice to the world of figurines, he’ll be able to provide a fresh perspective.”

“A fresh perspective, you say?”

“Yes. The people this project aims to market to aren’t all going to be enthusiasts like you. They’ll mostly be casuals. Some of the people we’re aiming for might lack any interest in figurines whatsoever. The question is, how do we sell to those people? If we come up with an idea that wouldn’t make Joseph here want to buy it, then it wouldn’t sell to other casuals, either.”

“I see! Another brilliant idea, Master. Indeed, sometimes an almost childlike perspective is necessary to spread art.”

Julie followed Zanoba’s lead with a profound nod of her head. I took this to mean that Zanoba had given the okay in his own way. Then again, we hadn’t even done anything yet, so there wasn’t much to greenlight.

“Joseph, this is Zanoba. He’ll be your boss from now on.”

“R-right! A pleasure to make your acquaintance! I promise to put my heart and soul into this work!”

Joseph gave Zanoba the Mercenary Band’s signature bow. It was beautifully done, a sign that Linia had been teaching them well.

“Indeed. I am Zanoba. Let us join hands and blanket the world with figurines.”

And with that, the two men shook hands.

But I had to hope Zanoba wasn’t mistaking the goal of this project here. Spreading figurines was important, but this was also supposed to be a separate source of income from the Mercenary Band, a way to ally with influential business organizations, and a way to train future engineers. Remember? Then again, I had my own reasons too—my goal was to see Ruijerd one more time. Wait, if marketing was the point here, then there’s no reason that figurines had to be our product of choice…

“Now then, let’s talk about the plan to open our first store.”

Introductions were out of the way, so it was time to get to work.

***

“First, these are going to be our main products. We want to sell these primarily to the common people.”

The three of us were gathered around a large desk in the studio that made up the first floor of Zanoba’s house. I placed a Ruijerd figurine and a single picture book on top of it. The book contained the tales of Ruijerd’s heroics that Norn had written.

“We plan to sell the book and the figurine as a set.”

It was an idea that I’d had brewing for a while. Of course, we had Norn’s permission to sell the book. This world might not have had copyright laws, but we should stick to some principles.

“I see…”

Joseph picked up the book and flipped through its pages.

“So…it’s a story about how the Superd weren’t actually terrifying devils, but instead the heroes who lead the world during the final battle? Are you sure it’s a good idea to sell this?”

“We’ve gotten permission.”

“Um… Whose?”

“Lord Perugius’s, of course.”

Joseph frowned. But who else was I supposed to ask? Lord Perugius was the only person in the book who was still alive. He was the only one who could give the rights to anyone’s likenesses.

Not that those rights existed in this world, but still.

“Um… Won’t this draw some flak from the Millis Church?”

“That’s true. There are people who won’t like us selling something that sings the praises of devils. But the Millis Church isn’t the only group that treats the Superd that way. And anyway, the story itself borrows passages from the Millis bible to show how the hero’s actions are right according to its teachings.”

Norn was a follower of Millis, so she sprinkled phrases of its teachings throughout her work. The story was respectful toward the faith; anyone who sat down and read it would come away thinking that Millis was a wonderful religion.

Too bad they wouldn’t accept me, though. Too many wives.

“Is that so… I’m not a follower of Millis so I can’t say either way, but if it does, that should be fine.”

Honestly, I was expecting we’d get Millis Justice Warriors bitching over every “problematic” detail regardless of whether they’d read the book or not. However, taking that crowd at face value is always a waste of time. I wanted this to sell. I wanted to restore the Superd tribe’s good name. If we couldn’t come together, then we’d inevitably fight each other.

“That said, we’re considering where and how to most effectively sell these… Joseph, we’d like to hear your honest opinion.”

Joseph looked back and forth between the figurine and the book as he thought. Eventually, he raised his head and gave it to us straight.

“They won’t sell. Not like this.”

Well now, this was a surprise.

“Now, listen—” Zanoba interjected with a threatening step forward.

“Now, now, give him a moment,” I said as I held Zanoba back. I wanted to hear the guy out.

“First off, books are never going to move. There aren’t even that many people who can read. You plan to sell this to casuals instead of enthusiasts, no? It could garner a few sales from the nobility class, but if your target audience is commoners, then it’ll be quite difficult…”

So, it’d only sell among nobles and enthusiasts, huh? That would’ve been fine if our only goal was money, but I was after something else. It’d defeat the purpose if the book could only reach a limited audience. Hmm…

“Master, might you have forgotten something?”

“Hm?”

A glint of light shone across Zanoba’s glasses. Not on purpose. His glasses just reflected more light after he stepped forward.

“I believe you once suggested that we could attach something like this along to the book…”

Zanoba took the book Joseph was holding and flipped through it. He stopped on the final page; Joseph held his breath as Zanoba spread its contents out for the rest of us.

“Is this…a reading worksheet?”

Oh, yes. This was a worksheet designed for learning to read. It contained pronunciations, grammar rules, stroke order, and even practice exercises. It wasn’t going to teach someone to breeze through academic tomes, but they should be able to read something simple by studying alongside it.

Honestly, I was pretty proud of it. This felt like an achievement. The theory summarized on that worksheet was what taught Ghislaine Dedoldia, of all people, to read. Enough said.

“Reading textbooks differ from country to country, but this is rather easy to understand. If this comes with the book, then I think we can consider our literacy hurdles cleared.”

Joseph nodded with respect. Aww, you’re makin’ me blush.

However, his gaze grew stern when he considered the figurine.

“But to be perfectly honest, I don’t believe that selling the book and the figurine together is going to work. The people who want the book will be different from the people who want the figurine…”

“Of course,” I sighed. That should’ve been obvious. It could even bother people to be stuck with a bulky figurine when all they wanted to buy was a book.

“But wait,” Zanoba objected. “We can’t know until we try, can we? Considering that it teaches people to read, I’m sure many people would purchase it for their children. Including a figurine to catch their children’s attention shouldn’t be entirely disregarded.”

“I see, children… Yes, that’s an idea.” Joseph nodded at Zanoba’s suggestion. “But in that case, shouldn’t the figurine be a little more palatable to children? This one is just a tad scary.”

Joseph fiddled with the figurine’s head as he spoke, but he shuddered when the figure’s carefully sculpted hair piece popped out of its slot.

“Would this not be perfect for a young boy who dreams of becoming a hero?” asked Zanoba.

“Boys aren’t the only children in the world, though. I think it’d be best to have another figurine that girls would want.”

One that girls would want, huh? I guess something fashionable, like a Blairbie doll. Or maybe something small and cute in a mascot character sort of way? I wasn’t too sure what young girls liked. I made a note to ask Lucie about what she’d want later.

As we worked, I could tell Joseph’s sense of trepidation from earlier had vanished. He and Zanoba seemed to make a better pair than I’d expected. Just to make sure, I tried staying silent and letting them discuss it between themselves.

“So, what format do you plan to sell these in?” asked Joseph.

“For now, we want to sell these normally in a store. Should we have spare stock, we could also start an open-air stall to sell them.”

“A stall, you say? I’m afraid… No, there are many adventurers who can’t read, so that should work. Most didn’t have the opportunity to attend school.”

“Where do you suppose a good location for the store would be?”

“Somewhere with plenty of foot traffic would be a good start, but I’ve been told that gaining more engineers is another goal of this project. In that case, a good place to open the first shop here in Sharia should be the workshop district.”

“We wish to expand our capacity as a workshop. We’re prepared to go into mass production, and if resources allow, we’ll even go right for opening a store on the main street,” said Zanoba.

“Yes, I see that. The problem would be where exactly on the main street we would open the store… We won’t make many friends in the Commerce Guild if we come out of nowhere and throw money around to land a good spot. But location is important…”

“Hmm. Then perhaps we could consider the Asura Kingdom?”

“W-well, true, securing a store in the Asura Kingdom would draw more customers than Sharia ever could—but once the shipping costs are factored in, it’s impractical. It would take months to travel to the Asura Kingdom from here…”

“If that’s the trouble, then we could simply manufacture in the Asura Kingdom as well. Fortunately, the master and I are old acquaintances with the land’s next ruler. It’ll be easier to work there than in Sharia,” said Zanoba.

Joseph glanced at me. “I was told you were a mysterious bunch, but this is… No, never mind. They don’t call you the Right Hand of the Dragon God for nothing. But yes, attaining some achievements in the Asura Kingdom could make it easier to operate in Sharia, so…”

The two were working out the details between themselves without even noticing that I’d backed off. Zanoba would listen to Joseph’s ideas, offer his kudos, and then summarize his own thoughts. Joseph seemed to be far livelier here than he ever was in the Mercenary Band.

Yes, it was looking like I’d made the right call. Seeing how nervous he was during that interview had me a bit concerned, but he really did love business. Loving something is the first step toward getting good at it. He might fail again…but that’d be fine in its own way.

“All right, I believe that shall settle our plans for now. What say you, Chairman?”

Whoops, I’d spaced out. I glanced at Ginger and Julie for a hint. Julie had a worried look on her face, as though she didn’t quite understand what was going on. Ginger’s expression, however, was unconcerned.

“Ginger, what’s your take?” I asked.

“I can’t say for sure since I’m still early in my studies…but from what I’ve heard, I think it should go well.”

Oh, so she’d been studying. You go, Ginger. I needed to find a chance to keep up my studies as well. And the spare time to do it.

“Good point,” I said “My business studies have been lacking, so I can’t make the call. We should tell our plans to Aisha for now, and if she gives us the rubber stamp, we’ll move forward from there.”

I’d go ask Aisha for her thoughts as reference. Until then, I had a bit of studying to do about trade in this world. It wouldn’t make me more than a novice, though. A novice is better referring to their reading than to their own judgment.

What was important was that I could be content with hiring Joseph as our advisor for now. Our advisor who came with Aisha’s seal of approval, at that. Zanoba, the manager of the project, agreed with the decision. The only action left for me as the leader of the project was to approve it all and wait for the results.

“Zanoba, Joseph, I hate to dump all the work on you, but I’ll let you two handle the business side. I hope you can set this project on the right path.”

“As you wish!”

“I-I’ll try!”

“If you need any resources, personnel, or connections, don’t hesitate to ask. I’ll make something happen for you.”

I wasn’t planning to dump all the work onto them. If anything, I wanted to run this project myself, but there were too many other things I had to do. Handling them all myself wasn’t an option. There were sure to be more ventures that I’d have to trust my employees to operate, so this was an important first step for me.

“Chairman, when the time comes to prepare our store, I believe a name will be necessary. Can you think of an exciting one?”

I ventured, “Uh… The Zanoba Store?” 

“Oh.”

Christened and ready for launch. Of all the things we could name a store, this was definitely one of them.

With the discussion wrapped up, I turned to leave and found my eyes meeting a pair that were peeking in from a crack in the door. Oops.

“Sorry, I forgot,” I apologized as I opened the door. Linia glared at me at first, but she sighed and slumped her shoulders soon enough.

“Well, it looks like Joseph got a warm welcome, so I can’t complain, mew.”

“My, it’s almost like you’ve matured.”

“Of course I have! I’m the boss of the Mercenary Band. It’s part of my job to make sure my men don’t get purrsecuted at their new posts, mew.”

I see, so that was why she tagged along. If that was her motivation, I felt kind of bad about kicking her out. Still, I was impressed that Linia had already started to take her position at the top of an organization seriously. My joy at this development stuck with me all the way home.

***

The Zanoba Store’s first outlet was located in the workshop district. For the building, we modified a warehouse on the workshop district’s outskirts. Our focus in the Magic City of Sharia would be headquarters and workshop duties, with plans to further expand into the Asura Kingdom later on. I’d probably need to call on Ariel for her assistance.

The Ruijerd figurine project was now out of my hands. I was nervous because it was still in its infancy, but I let it go and prayed it wouldn’t end in disaster.