"Ambition, Demonic Hope, and Good Forecast!" (Kaoru)
"Wapiko or the engine company? Which is it?" (Reiko)
Hmm, I'm so happy that there's someone who understands the joke and will comment on it...
"Well, I was thinking it was about time we started our 'secret business'..." (Kaoru)
I told Reiko, who looked shocked.
Yes, my "official job" had already reached its limit.
No, it's not that we ware at an impasse, but rather that there was a limit to the amount of work that two women in 15-year-old bodies, one 9-year-old girl, and one 6-year-old boy could do.
Moreover, we were not a black company, and we didn't have to go through hardship to save money.
...Of course, we needed to earn the money we need to live, but we were making enough even in the current situation. We owned our own house, so we didn't have to pay rent, and we were tax-free, so that was a big help.
Sales of processed seafood and seaweed products, toys, and handicrafts were going well, and the fields would soon be ready for harvest. If I spread my "Growth Promotion Potion", there would definitely be a good harvest.
Furthermore, I carved away the cliff behind the building to store the item boxes, made stone steps, and created a large depression on the inside of the cliff at a moderate height, a space about the size of 4-5 tatami mats. ...Yup, I created a "place to fish".
The spot was carved into the cliff, so we could fish even on rainy days.
I didn't know if the rain would affect the catch though. I was told that fishing was affected by many factors, including water temperature and the tides, but I didn't really understand. I wondered if the rain would dilute the salt concentration on the sea surface and cause noise...
Anyway, instead of just buying fish at the market, we could prepare a fair amount for ourselves to eat.
I didn't have to worry about parasites or toxins because I had the bracelet I made previously.
Ah, although Mine and Aral could eat poisonous fish or fish that seemed to have dangerous parasites here without any problems, I had to strictly discipline them so that they didn't do the same thing in other places. It was a matter of life and death, so I had to be strict about that. ...I hope they don't make the mistake of eating pufferfish liver somewhere else...
"Kaoru, that's dangerous. Even here, wouldn't it be best to avoid eating anything poisonous? If you accidentally do something like that, there's no going back, right..." (Reiko)
"Hmm, I guess that's true after all..." (Kaoru)
Regardless of our own safety, if we thought about the safety of the children, was it too dangerous to get them used to foods that were "Delicious here, but will kill me if I eat them anywhere else"?
I guessed I had no choice but to give up on my plan to indulge in pufferfish as an amateur cook...
"Let's have that kind of thing together in our secret underground hideout, just the two of us." (Reiko)
"Oh, really?" (Kaoru)
Reiko, did you also want to eat 'Absolutely Safe Pufferfish Dishes'?
But, I've heard rumors about, where an extreme world that goes beyond the ordinary "The poison makes you feel an unbearable tingling sensation"... I mean, surely it'll be okay if I have my potions or Reiko's healing magic?
Thinking that, I looked at Reiko's face, and she was smiling. ...Maybe she was thinking the same thing as me...
Anyway, that's why the production and sales of the products were going well, but with the current number of staff, there was no labor force to make any more products. The black market was enough only in Reiko's mind.
Our Little Silver is a white company!
So, the status quo would remain the same for the time being. If a copycat product appeared and sales declined, we could think about it again then.
Well, I had a lot of ideas for new products, so even if someone copied me, it was no big deal. Besides, I couldn't lose in terms of the quality of my processed products, or the design and variety of my crafts.
And then there's the "underground business"...
It was not like I was going to start a hitman thing or anything.
…Well, I think we could do it, but…
Instead of the current "Small-scale wholesale to retail stores," we wanted to run a larger-scale business that would not draw too much attention.
When I said large-scale, I didn't mean large quantities, but rather handling a fair amount of items with a fairly high unit price.
If we stood out too much, people looking for our money and know-how would come, right?
Even if they didn't come now, if they thought that we were "worth taking a little risk"...
As expected, everyone there looked underage, and everyone except the youngest was a girl, so they definitely would be easy targets...
That's why I was going to start in secret for now... Well, the information would probably spread eventually anyway, but as long as I took some kind of countermeasure before then, it should be fine.
So, why would I start doing something like that?
Yes, the current situation was already more than enough to make a profit, and if an emergency came up, I had the gold coins from my "old earnings" in my item box, and I could also make some money with the potion containers...and in the first place, it was unlikely that I or the people I was involved with would suddenly need a large amount of money due to illness or serious injury.
But that's why we were planning so many things.
That was, that.
"Do you want power..." that kind of thing.
If I were alone, I could have used my special technique of, "If any trouble arises, run away immediately."
However, when you have a large family, this isn't possible.
Well, that's physically possible. Put everything I need in an item box, blow up the base to destroy the evidence, make sure nothing falls into the hands of the bad guys, and then escape with everyone.
But abandoning everything you had worked so hard to build and running away after being defeated by villains was no fun, and you got tired of repeating the same thing over and over again. Plus, in that situation, you'd be afraid of attracting the attention of villains or those in power, and you wouldn't be able to do anything.
...Yes, it was not our intention to let my potion-making ability and Reiko's magical powers, the powers that Celes bestowed upon us, went to sleep without providing any benefit to the people of this world, and only use them a little for ourselves.
If Celes was the true goddess who managed the people of this world, and if she were to say something like, "God's blessings are not bestowed upon humans carelessly," then that's a different story.
But Celes simply watched over and repaired the distortions of this world... not abstract concepts like the correct growth of people, but literal "distortions in dimensional space"... and was an outsider with no connection to humans.
So, it didn't matter how we used our abilities in this world, which were completely unrelated to the people of this world. Seresu probably didn't care about that.
...Or rather, that's what she actually said.
That's right. So we had no intention of becoming the gods of this new world.
That wouldn't lead to a normal life, and the hyenas would soon be gathered together, and in the end, they would be killed.
So what we're aiming for is to "gain a decent level of self-defense ability that won't easily be exploited... not in the sense of my and Reiko's personal fighting power, but in terms of position."
We were in a position where not only thugs and petty villains, but also wealthy influential people, government officials, and lower-ranking nobles could not easily lay hands on us.
...Yes, to be more specific, I'd say a powerful merchant.
It was not easy to become a noble, and I had no desire to live in a world filled with power, human relationships, and factional struggles.
Besides, if I became a noble, where the hierarchy was clearly defined, I had to obey orders from the superiors, and the obligations were so strong that it was out of the question.
In the first place, since we didn't age, Reiko and I would immediately become suspicious and things would get complicated.
Immortality and longevity were the kind of stories that appealed most to the rich and powerful...
If we were in our 20s, we might be able to maintain our youthful appearance for another 10 or 20 years, but to the people of this continent, we looked like she's 12 or 13, so I guessed that would only last a few years before they started to get suspicious and think, "Those sisters over there never grow up, do they?"
Yeah, I could see why the Vampire clan avoids bringing in children. It makes them suspicious so easily, and it's a pain to have to move so often...
That's why things like "meeting the same person frequently" or "strictly managing the family tree" were absolutely not allowed. We had to live on the outskirts of town and only came occasionally to buy groceries.
It was possible to hide it a little with clothing and makeup, and it was fine to leave it to the children to go out into the town.
Then, after a certain number of years had passed, we might go to another country for a while and then came back claiming to be "Kaoru's little sister" or "daughter"... but no, there was no point in thinking about such a long-term future. For now, I'd just secretly gather my strength, and aim to one day suddenly make my debut on the public stage as a powerful merchant.
The reason we did it secretly at first was because if we ran a profitable business when we didn't have the power, people would definitely gather around us.
...In business, you should always stay in the shadows, conceal your abilities, and make money however you can.
And this "powerful merchant" was the key point.
Definitely not a "big merchant" but an "influential merchant."
I had no intention of building a big store and warehouse and taking on the hassle of storing a huge amount of goods.
Although we were a small-scale merchant, due to the products we handled and our influence, we were not one to be ignored.
We were well-liked by large stores and nobles, had many connections and acquaintances in those areas... and if they tried to mess with us, they'd get seriously burned. I mean, put yourself in a position that made you think that way.
If we could get into that position, we'd be able to live a normal life while doing some slightly "suspicious" and "mysterious" things and helping people.
"Okay, first let’s prepare products that will allow us to have relationships with mid-ranking merchants. After that, we’ll gradually prepare products to gain traction with larger stores and lower-ranking nobles. It started with basic stuff, then gradually added strange products that you don't find around here..." (Kaoru)
"Gradually, strange products!" (Kaoru + Reiko)
Yep, excellent!