Chapter 40

"Shiro-niisan, we made so many survival matches!"

"Yeah, we did. Maybe we made a bit too many, huh?"

Right now, in front of me and Aina, there's a mountain of homemade survival matches.

Counting the empty boxes, it turns out we used up 13 boxes of 40 matches each.

That means we made 520 survival matches.

"Did we maybe overdo it a bit? Are you okay, Aina?"

While rotating my wrist to loosen it, I asked Aina, who was sitting next to me,

"Um... Aina is a bit tired too?"

She said, and leaned her head on me.

Recently, Aina has become a little more affectionate than before.

I don't know why, but it makes me happy to think that it's a sign of trust.

"Sorry for tiring you out from the morning."

"No, Aina is fine."

"Okay. But don't overdo it, okay?"

"Okay."

Aina nodded and shifted her gaze to the homemade survival matches.

At first, we had trouble getting them to light and sometimes the wax was too thick, but as we kept making them, we gradually got the hang of it and improved the quality to a level suitable for sale.

"Shiro-niisan, why did you suddenly have Aina make survival matches?"

Aina asked, leaning against me.

Sorry, Aina.

Actually, it's my first time making survival matches too.

"Um, you know the elderly people living on the outskirts of town, right?"

"Uh-huh."

"Young people can get construction jobs, but the elderly, who lack physical strength, can't do that, right?"

"...Uh-huh."

Aina, who lives on the outskirts of town, understands the situation better than I do.

She briefly looked sad.

"So, I thought I could have the elderly people who don't have jobs make survival matches and earn money."

"Huh?"

Aina looked surprised.

I scratched my cheek and said to her,

"Think about it, can't the elderly make the survival matches we just made?"

"Of course! Aina could make them easily. The grandpas and grandmas can make them too!"

Aina suddenly sat up and looked up at me.

Her cheeks were red from excitement.

"Right?"

"Uh-huh!"

Aina clenched her fists and nodded vigorously.

"Then, Aina, you'll be the teacher who teaches the elderly how to make survival matches."

"Uh-huh! Aina will be the teacher!"

Aina raised her hand enthusiastically.

"Thank you. The next step is to decide the selling price..."

I folded my arms and thought.

The current match prices are as follows:

- 40 matches (small): 4 copper coins.

- 800 matches (large): 55 copper coins.

- 25 survival matches: 50 copper coins.

The large matches are popular among the town's residents, and the survival matches are popular among adventurers.

The reason the pre-made survival matches are popular among adventurers is that they can light even when wet or in the wind.

However, 50 copper coins (5000 yen) for 25 matches is a bit steep for adventurers who don't earn much.

That's where the homemade survival matches come in.

They're not as good in quality or as wind-resistant as the pre-made ones, but they can still light when wet.

Adventurers will surely feel more secure using these.

The next step is to decide the price for the homemade survival matches.

It needs to be higher than regular matches but lower than pre-made survival matches.

"Hmm... maybe 50 copper coins for 80 matches?"

The cost of materials is 46 yen for the matches, 110 yen for the wax, and 110 yen for the nail polish, totaling 266 yen.

The profit after deducting the cost of materials is 4734 yen.

From this, we need to decide how much to pay the elderly people on the outskirts of town... yeah.

I'll discuss this with Karen.

"Shiro-niisan, when will Aina start being the teacher?"

"Let's start as soon as Karen says it's okay. I'll talk to her after today's business is over."

"Okay!"

Aina beamed with a bright smile.

Just then,

— Knock knock.

The sound of someone knocking on the shop door was heard.

Oops, I got so absorbed in making survival matches that I forgot to open the shop.

"Aina, if you're tired from making matches, you can take a break today."

"No, Aina will work."

Aina shook her head and stood up from the chair.

"Shiro-niisan, I'll go open the shop."

"Okay. Thank you."

Aina ran over and flipped the sign on the shop door to "Open."

She welcomed the adventurers waiting outside,

"Welcome!"

Aina opened the door and greeted them.

Today's business has started. It's the beginning of the day.