Chapter 15 | The Assassin’s New Product
I’d decided to stay at home during the time I usually went to visit headquarters so I could focus on preparation for the new store.
Relying on my memory, I was laboring to create a cosmetic that had yet to be invented in this world.
My recollection of the recipe was a little vague, but with my knowledge of chemistry, I had the ability to reverse engineer the ingredients based on their effects. This was actually an item I’d made before.
I’d made it as a gift for my mother once when she’d been upset.
I had many more resources available to me in Milteu than I did when I’d made this cosmetic back in Tuatha Dé, so I’d been improving the recipe.
Before noon, I was able to put together a list of needed ingredients to make the trial product.
Turning in the list to the Balor Company’s supply department would mean they wouldn’t arrive until tomorrow night at the earliest.
“I expected these to arrive tomorrow…”
Not long after noon, the materials I’d requested had been delivered, despite some of them being scarce and difficult to procure.
“Think of it as a message from Balor telling you to hurry up.”
So Balor is responsible for this. If he knew that I was requesting ingredients for a trial product, he’d probably summon me tomorrow and ask for a blueprint for the store.
Balor liked to move fast. He was the type who wanted prototype products made quickly rather than flawlessly. Often, he’d made it clear that he preferred his employees just explain their ideas to him, rather than spend time to make a carefully planned presentation.
This style of management allowed Balor to quickly dismiss ideas he thought would fail, and if he decided a concept had promise, he would have his company support the product while it was still being developed.
“… Merchants are a little scary,” I muttered.
Without a moment to spare, I got to work. Among the delivered ingredients were high-quality olive oil, clean underground water, pleasant-smelling essential oils extracted from different types of herbs, and a variety of medicinal compounds.
With these, I could finally manufacture my killer product.
Olive oil and water obviously did not normally mix on their own, so I had to procure another substance to get them to blend.
At last it was time to start crafting. The various herbs I’d procured afforded me the ability to create an infinite number of variations. Finding a good balance between aroma and effect promised to be quite difficult. I wouldn’t reach the best combination by the end of the day, but I was sure to have a high-quality product before meeting with Balor tomorrow.
Come the next day, I made my way to Balor’s office to see him at the appointed time.
Yesterday I’d contacted Balor, telling him that I’d completed a trial run of my store’s main product and that I wanted to talk. I also asked him to bring his wife, Mira.
When I entered the room, Balor grinned and gave me a slight bow, while Mira narrowed her eyes in displeasure. It was to be expected; she believed me to be her husband’s illegitimate son, sired from a prostitute.
“Father, Mother, thank you for making the time to meet with me today,” I said.
“I knew you were a fast worker, Illig, but I never would’ve expected you to have your featured product ready in just two days,” Balor said.
“This product had better be something truly amazing. If you went out of your way to call me here for something boring, I’ll never forgive you,” Mira snapped.
Having someone show such open malice toward me was almost refreshing. It was far preferable to an enemy who smiled to your face and then stabbed you in the back.
Mira was hiding her face under a scarf. I’d asked her to come today without wearing makeup, and someone with her level of vanity would never have allowed her face to be seen that way.
“I assure you, my product will live up to your expectations. The main offering at my new store will be cosmetic products,” I explained.
“I’m not thrilled to hear that. When it comes to cosmetics, brand matters more than quality. It’s a very difficult market to break into. Even if you manage to land a hit in the industry, products don’t stay popular for very long, making long-term profit difficult.” Everything Balor said was true—I would’ve expected nothing less from such a successful businessman.
“That’s true… For existing cosmetic products anyway. The purpose of makeup is to enhance a person’s physical attractiveness, but that comes at the price of damaged skin. Laboring with soap to remove makeup before you go to bed at night results in damaged skin the following morning. Isn’t that right, Mother?”
“… I won’t deny it, but I still want to look presentable.”
In this world, lipstick, foundation, blush, and many other such products were widely used, but there was no custom yet for using moisturizer or face lotion.
In other words, while the concept of using beauty products existed, the idea of using something to protect the skin from the damage of those products did not.
If you applied makeup without first using moisturizer or face lotion, it would harm your skin. Removing cosmetics from the face also required a lot of soap, which caused the skin to lose excess oil. A lack of oil hurt water retention as well, resulting in the flesh becoming dry and damaged.
Compounding things further was this region’s warm climate. More makeup only made things worse on the skin.
“I truly respect the pursuit of beauty. But you’re trapped in a vicious cycle. In order to hide your damaged skin, you apply even thicker makeup, which leads to even more damaged skin. I am going to free people from this concern. That is where my product comes in… I call it moisturizer.”
At those words, Mira bent forward curiously. As someone who clearly cared deeply about her looks, she understood my appeal better than anyone. There was no way she wasn’t interested.
I produced a bottle full of moisturizer. Mira grabbed the jar, opened it, and scooped some out. Moisturizer was actually best used as a set with something called milky lotion, but I decided to sell only moisturizer.
In Japan, it was common practice to hydrate the face using both moisturizer and milky lotion. In America and Europe, most women used moisturizer by itself.
The culture of this land was closer to a Western society back in my first world. I was concerned that consumers would find applying both moisturizer and milky lotion annoying, so I decided to focus solely on moisturizer. By working to increase the water ratio and finding the most effective combination of ingredients, I’d attempted to suss out the most effective formula.
“It’s kind of like liquid, but it’s thick and adhesive. What is it?” Mira asked.
“It’s a cosmetic product that moistens dry skin and keeps it in healthy condition. Makeup exists to exaggerate your beauty, but this is different. This is for healing and protecting your skin as well as bringing out its natural beauty. You’ll understand once you try it. Please rub some on your face.”
While clearly still suspicious, Mira was unable to resist the temptation of something that could make her more beautiful, and she removed her scarf.
Her skin was badly cracked and damaged from many repeated days of applying and removing makeup in a hot climate. She picked up the bottle again and brought the moisturizer to her face. As she slowly spread it on herself, her eyes widened.
“I can’t believe this. I can feel this cream seeping into my skin and moisturizing it. I don’t think I’ve had skin this smooth in over a decade,” admitted Mira.
After seeing his wife’s face, Balor took a bottle and scooped out some moisturizer himself. “This feels like oil, but…it’s too soft.”
“You have a discerning eye. Soft oil is exactly what this is. Using plain oil would’ve been terrible for the skin, but oil with water and other medicinal ingredients mixed in helps to soften and repair the flesh.”
“This is incredible. I can already tell how happy my skin is. The moisturizer smells nice, too.” With skin as cracked and dry as Mira’s, of course it’d feel better after being moisturized. I also went out of my way to mix in ingredients that I knew she was fond of to bring about smells she’d enjoy.
“Moisturizer is like armor for the skin. Please try applying makeup over the moisturizer. With the oil’s protection, your skin will become more resistant to pain even when using the same makeup you’ve always used…”
Before I’d even finished my explanation, Mira was already going through her bag and pulling out a full set of cosmetics. She painted her skin white with foundation and gave her cheeks a red tint with blush.
“Wow, everything went on so easily,” said Mira.
“If you coat your face with moisturizer, you will cover up the unevenness in your skin, enabling other products to adhere more easily. So what do you think of my item?”
“I still despise you, but I have to acknowledge this is a great product. I’m going to take this bottle. And I want you to give me three, no, five more.”
Mira stuffed the bottle in her bag. No matter what I said, I had a feeling I wasn’t going to get it back.
“If my wife likes it, then I’m sure it’s the real deal. Give me the prospects for its success,” Balor said.
“This product will revolutionize cosmetics. All who wear makeup will come to need it. Both to heal and protect their skin.”
I took a short pause for impact.
“This should not be thought of as a competitor for existing cosmetics. From now on, using moisturizer is going to become common practice everyone who wears makeup… You understand the value of that, right, Father?”
This was the reason I chose moisturizer. It could revolutionize makeup itself. My goal had never been to steal customers from existing markets, but instead to create a new practice for anyone who wore makeup.
It was impossible for this to not turn a profit.
“I can’t say that I have a good understanding of makeup. Mira, do you think your friends would want this stuff?”
“I can’t imagine a woman alive who wouldn’t want it. I came here planning to mock and dismiss Illig, no matter what he made. After using this, however, I’m finding it difficult to do so. If it will get me more moisturizer, I’ll even address this bastard child as my own son,” admitted Mira.
“I see, it’s that good of a product…” Balor closed his eyes and deliberated. He let out a slow breath. “Then the Balor Company will invest all of its resources into this new product. Mira, distribute these to your friends and do your best to spread the word.”
“I have a lot of friends, you know.” Mira did not seem eager to share the wondrous lotion with others.
“Mira, as long as we have stock, please continue to use it and tell everyone you know about it. Give a bottle to each person. If they want more, refuse and tell them that the moisturizer will be on sale soon. Illig, how many can you prepare in a week?” asked Balor.
“Until we can finalize a production system, I’ll be making them by myself, so I can only create about two hundred in one week,” I said.
“I’ve given you permission to hire all the staff you need, remember?” Balor said.
“The problem is that risks the formula leaking. It’s likely other companies will attempt to make and sell moisturizer as soon as we launch this product,” I explained.
“… That’s not like me to get ahead of myself like that. You’re right. Until we can establish the brand, we need to make sure we have exclusivity over this product. I’ll assign two assistants to you whom I have full confidence can keep their lips sealed. Make as many as bottles as you can and send them all to me. Mira will then distribute them to the wives of noblemen and other such wealthy people. In this way, we can work to spread word of mouth among the upper class. Am I correct in assuming that’s why you had my wife come today, Illig?”
“Exactly. A product won’t sell on quality alone. Since the usefulness of moisturizer is so easily understood by using it, maximizing your wife’s connections is the best way to spread word of it. There’s no more effective form of advertising.”
I needed Mira’s help to show my target market the worth of my product. People were resistant to trying new products, especially when it came to items made to put on their skin. If trusted acquaintances used the product first, then they’d want to use it, too. The excitement that would build from hearing about such a useful item would undoubtedly snowball to create a large demand.
That was how business battles were won. It wasn’t nearly enough to create some quality goods and then expect them to magically sell. Oral accounts were especially essential when the target market was upper-class women.
“How long will it take you to put together the production system?” inquired Balor.
“About a month, and there’s a complication. A special drug is needed to make oil and water mix. It’s a secret remedy of House Tuatha Dé, and it must be acquired there. Taking that into account, it will cost this much to make one bottle of moisturizer.” I presented a document estimating the price of each of the ingredients that I needed.
“… The selling price of moisturizer is going to be cheap, but Tuatha Dé is quite far from here.” Balor searched my eyes as if to gauge my true intention.
“That’ll make it harder for the secret recipe to be discovered. I can’t make moisturizer without this particular chemical. It may be possible for me to call an apothecary from Tuatha Dé to have it made here, but that would increase the risk of a leak. As long as the drug is produced in Tuatha Dé, I can keep the recipe hidden,” I elaborated.
“I’ll allow it, then. I’ll leave the negotiation with House Tuatha Dé to you,” Balor said.
“Understood.”
This was my plan to ensure no one else could discover how moisturizer was produced.
The ingredient I used to mix oil and water was called lecithin, a naturally occurring substance found in soybeans.
To make lecithin, you first extracted oil from soybeans. You then filtered the oil to remove impurities and thoroughly mixed it with water until the paste-like lecithin separated from the oil.
Lecithin was used as a naturally occurring emulsifier, and it was capable of causing water and oil to mix. Without it, combining water and oil was impossible.
In the Tuatha Dé domain, I could have lecithin produced in an environment where the information was guaranteed not to leak. Without knowledge of that key ingredient, no other company would be able to replicate my formula.
More important than any of that, I was thinking of my long-term profits for House Tuatha Dé. Ensuring that the house had exclusive rights to production of a key portion of my moisturizer provided me with a good guarantee that the Balor Company couldn’t push me out of the business.
“Illig, I know I’m repeating myself, but we’re going to invest all of our resources into this product. If this succeeds, you’ll become the representative of the new Balor Company brand, and you’ll be famous worldwide. But if you fail, you know what will happen, right?” Balor asked.
“Of course. I will ensure this is a success. All right, I better get to work.”
My main product had been decided, and I’d secured the full support of the Balor Company.
At this point, it seemed impossible to fail. It was only a matter of time until Illig Balor became known around the world as the person who built the Balor Company cosmetic brand.
With a reputation like that, I’d have easy access to any of my targets. Nobles would be fighting each other to have me visit their manors.
What’s more, my success would grant me unlimited access to the Balor Company’s information and distribution networks, plus I’d rake in massive sums of money.
Success was close at hand, ready for me to reach out and grab it. I just needed to stay focused.
I’d joked earlier that I risked becoming the target of assassination attempts myself if I grew too successful; however, it seemed inevitable at this point. Other businesses would seek to eliminate me; my coworkers could get jealous of my achievements; someone might even take me hostage to try to force the moisturizer recipe out of me.
Let them come , I thought. It’ll make for great combat experience for Tarte and Maha.
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