Novice Alchemist 2-26 part 1

 

Chapter 2-26 : Business Competition Ⅲ (part 1)

 

We decided to collect all the fangs today and hired other Collectors to get rid of the corpses tomorrow.

「Anyway, shall we start collecting the fangs?」(Andre)

「Okay. Everyone, I’m counting on you.」(Sarasa)

「「Roger!」」

We started collecting the fangs and put the processed corpses at the edge of the cave.

We were working while chatting at the beginning, but eventually we ran out of topics and worked silently.

After a while, Kate-san stood up and stretched out. She then looked around and sighed.

「Hahh… I can’t see the end of this…」(Kate)

「Ahaha… We unexpectedly killed too many.」(Sarasa)

It’s been a few hours, but we haven’t even collected all fangs from bats’ corpses around our feet, so I can understand why Kate-san complained. The other members also occasionally stood up and stretched their bodies.

Several hours later, we finally finished collecting all the fangs. I think it’s almost sunset outside. We really have been working all day in this cave.

「「It’s overー！！！」」

Iris-san and Kate-san shouted at the same time, while the male group exhaled with relieved expressions.

「Good work, everyone.」(Sarasa)

「Store Owneー Woops. I mean, Shinjini, you too. Good work.」(Iris)

「Haha, it’s okay. It’s almost dark outside, so I think the other Collectors have returned home.」(Sarasa)

「Sheesh… Just how many bats we have killed, really…」(Andre)

Andre-san looked at the thousands of bat corpses we had piled up at the edge of the cave.

Kate-san and I looked at the pile of the bat corpses too and tilted our heads.

「I have no idea… I stopped counting after a few hundred.」(Sarasa)

「Me too. I was too tired to keep counting…」(Kate)

Looks like no one managed to keep counting until the end.

「We don’t know the exact number, but there are several thousand for sure.」(Sarasa)

「It seems so. By the way, Shinjini, how many people would you like to hire tomorrow?」(Andre)

「Let’s see…」(Sarasa)

Looking at all these bat corpses, I don’t think limiting the number of helpers is a good idea.

I will make a lot of money from all these fangs, so I’m sure I will be able to pay the people.

「Andre-san, can you ask all the people you trust? All of them. Of course, you don’t need to force them if they don’t want to.」(Sarasa)

「Only the people I trust?」(Andre)

「Yes. I’m hiding my identity by disguising like this, but in case they find out who I am, we can tell them to keep it a secret.」(Sarasa)

After I said that, Andre-san, Gil-san and Gray-san looked at each other and sighed at the same time.

「The people I trust are mostly veteran Collectors, you know? And I bet they will find out who you are at the first glance.」(Andre)

「Yeah, no one can fight with magic in this village except you.」(Gil)

「It’s pretty obvious.」(Gray)

「Eh…? Is that so?」(Sarasa)

Everyone nodded.

「Uuu… So my efforts preparing this outfit was all for nothing…?」(Sarasa)

「N, No, not really. I don’t think hiding your face and changing the way you talk at the entrance were useless.」(Gil)

「He’s right. I bet all the new Collectors didn’t know who you were.」(Gray)

Ahh… In other words, all the veteran Collectors knew who I was, huh…?

For some reason, the image of all the veteran Collectors at the entrance laughing inwardly at me popped in my head.

「…Oh well. I will continue to act as Shinjini anyway. That aside, let’s talk about money. How about we divide the money from selling these fangs equally?」(Sarasa)

「Ho, Hold on. If we get that much, the Collectors who will be working tomorrow will envy us.」(Andre)

「That’s right. We’re grateful, but you just have to pay us as much as we usually earn daily. Well, you can add up a little if you want.」(Gil)

「Besides, you were the one who killed most bats. We have no complaints.」(Gray)

「But… Are you guys really sure?」(Sarasa)

「Of course.」(Andre)

「Well, if you say so. Honestly, I need money to pay the people who will get rid of the bat corpses tomorrow, so that really helps me. Thank you.」(Sarasa)

I don’t know how many people will come tomorrow, so I need to prepare as much money as I can to pay them.

I also want them to help me sell the fangs, so I need to prepare their commission for that as well.

「Iris-san, Kate-san, how about you?」(Sarasa)

「Umm, now that Andre-san and the others don’t want to get that much, we can’t just ignore their generosity and receive more money than them.」(Iris)

「That’s right. You can pay us as much as you pay them.」(Kate)

「Alright then. I will pay all of you three times as much as you can earn in one day. How about that?」(Sarasa)

「Sounds good. By the way, is it really going to be okay if we leave all these bats’ corpses here today?」(Kate)

「Yeah, there will be no problem. We will deal with them tomorrow when we have more people. Oh, right. Anyone want to bring those fruits?」(Sarasa)

When I said that, everyone turned their gazes to the pile of fruits that caused all these troubles, and then they stared at Gil-san.

Being stared at by everyone, Gil-san raised one hand and smiled embarrassedly.

「U, Umm… Now that we have killed the bats here, we can take those fruits, right?」(Gil)

「Yes, at least until the end of today because this area should be filled with other Ice Fang Bats tomorrow.」(Sarasa)

If there are no bats in the inner area, the younger bats will come and fill the area. They move deeper and deeper as they age.

「Oh, really? That’s nice to hear. I don’t know if I want to eat them but they can be sold at a high price, right?」(Gil)

「Well, yeah, if there are buyers who want to buy them though. However, transporting and storing them will be difficult because they will start melting as soon as you take them out of this cave.」(Sarasa)

The fruits won’t melt here because the inside of the cave is pretty cold.

「Hmm, then it’s impossible for us ordinary Collectors to collect them…」(Andre)

「Andre-san, I’m always ready to take orders to make freezers, by the way.」(Sarasa)

It’s difficult for people who can’t use magic, especially ice magic, to take the fruits out of the cave, but they can do it if they have a portable freezer.

「Umm… Will the money we earn from selling the frozen fruits be enough to pay for a freezer?」(Andre)

I thought for a moment and replied to Andre-san.

「Yeah, maybe… but like I said, if there are buyers who want to buy the fruits.」(Sarasa)

「Ah, I knew it! We can’t sell them if there are no buyers after all…」(Andre)

Ice Fang Bats’ frozen fruits are certainly difficult products to handle.

You must keep them in a cold place all the time. Moreover, the number of people who can buy them is limited.

It’s difficult to make money from those fruits unless you have some big merchants and aristocrats to help you.

 

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