Chapter 41

When I consulted with Karen, it was decided that we would hire elderly people from the outskirts of town for 35 copper coins a day.

Karen thought 30 coins would be enough, but I added 5 more.

To my delight, all the elderly people living on the outskirts and a few who were looking for work agreed to help with the production of the survival matches.

I borrowed an empty house in town from Karen.

We used that house as a temporary match factory, and Aina taught them how to make the matches.

It took about three days to stabilize production while maintaining the quality of the product, but after that, everything went smoothly.

Production increased rapidly, and finally, we were producing over 10,000 handmade survival matches per day.

Seeing the mountain of handmade survival matches, Aina looked worried and asked,

"Big brother Shiro… can we really sell all of these?"

But I smiled and said,

"Don't worry. Everything will be fine."

Of course, this wasn't baseless confidence or fake cheerfulness.

I had a solid conviction.

And that was—

The bell on the door chimed, announcing a visitor, and a portly man entered.

"Welcome."

Since Aina is teaching at the factory, I'm the only one in the store right now.

"Excuse me, is this 'Shiro's Shop'?"

"Yes, it is."

As I greeted him, the man smiled.

"That's good. I'm glad I found the right place. It was a long journey to get here… Oh, is the shop owner here?"

"I'm the owner, Shiro."

"Ah! So you're the famous Shiro. I'm Jecos, a traveling merchant. Pleased to meet you."

Jecos extended his hand for a handshake, which I accepted.

"Nice to meet you, Jecos. What brings you here?"

"Well, I really want to handle a certain item that Shiro deals with…"

"A certain item?"

"Hehe, this one."

Jecos took something out of his pocket—a small box made of paper, a match.

"I came all the way from the western trading city of Sanossa to get these 'matches.' It was quite a journey, you know? I had to pass through several towns and checkpoints, paying tolls in copper coins each time. I was really relieved when I finally arrived here."

"That must have been tough…"

Ninorichi doesn't charge a tax to enter the town.

But that's unusual; usually, non-residents have to pay a tax to enter a town.

Of course, adventurers and merchants who belong to large guilds and have special permits can get tax exemptions or reductions.

"Yes, it was tough. But I made it to this town, to this shop! …Oh, I'm sorry. I got carried away."

"Don't worry about it. You must be tired from your long journey. It sounds like it was quite an ordeal."

I brought a chair and placed it on the other side of the counter.

"Please, have a seat. I'll get you something to drink."

"Thank you so much, even though I came here unannounced."

"Hehe, normally we'd do business talks in a reception room, but unfortunately, I'm the only one here right now, and we don't have a reception room. So, please bear with me."

I went to the kitchen, made some tea, and returned. I placed two cups of tea and a glass of water on the counter, then sat down.

"Please, have a drink."

"Thank you. Oh… what a wonderful aroma. Not just the tea, but there's a faint, refreshing scent of fruit mixed in!"

Just the smell of the tea had Jecos very excited. He leaned forward, sniffing the tea repeatedly, his hand trembling with excitement.

"S-Shiro! W-What country is this tea from!?"

"C-Country!?"

Now it was my turn to be flustered.

"Um… I think this is Earl Grey. Country… country…?"

Earl Grey is a well-known name, but it's not actually the name of the tea leaves.

Earl Grey refers to tea leaves infused with a citrus scent, a type of flavored tea like peach tea or apple tea.

I know this much, but I can't tell the origin of the base tea leaves without seeing the ingredients.

"Country… country… D-Darjeeling, maybe…?"

I just said a name I knew.

Darjeeling is a famous tea produced in the Darjeeling region of India.

"Darjeeling…? Hmm. I've never heard of a country by that name."

Oh, he's misunderstanding.

Maybe I should just stick with it.

"Hehe, it's from a country across the sea."

"I see. So you got the tea leaves from a merchant who sailed from a distant continent. To give such a valuable item to someone like me… you must be a very generous person, Shiro. Or perhaps you're a very successful merchant?"

"Y-You can imagine."

The truth is, I bought a pack of 12 tea bags for 300 yen at the supermarket.

"…Hmm. I'm not a tea merchant, so I'm not familiar with the value of tea leaves, but with this aroma and flavor, I think it could be sold to wealthy people."

"Really? The tea?"

"Yes. For example, I've heard that the Lord of Janessa in the north, Duke Raisdarm, is a tea enthusiast. He's said to spend any amount of money to get his hands on something delicious."

"Wow, really? For tea?"

"Yes, for tea. …Oh, I'm sorry. I got off track again. I tend to get distracted when something interests me. Um, shall we start the business talk about the matches?"

"Yes, please."

I nodded with a smile, but inside, I was nervous about my first business negotiation.

Here begins my first business negotiation.