I Shall Survive Using Potions! Volume 3

by Funa

  “Is the owner here?”

  “Yes, that would be me.”

  “What...? Oh, no, that’s not what I meant. I’m not asking for the current person in charge, but the main proprietor of the business.”

  “As I said, that would be me. Signing the lease, paying the rent, purchasing the goods, selling them, and being harassed by military men is all my responsibility.”

  “Wha...”

  I wasn’t sure if his second surprised reaction was from the fact that I was the owner, or because he was being talked back to by a child.

  “So you’re Layette?”

  “No...?”

  “““Huh?””” They all had blank expressions on their faces.

  I didn’t name it “Layette’s Atelier” instead of “Kaoru’s Atelier” just for this sort of reaction! I think...

  “Just don’t think about it too much... It’s just a name!”

  I had a feeling he’d demand to see Layette if I told him there was someone else by that name, so I quickly made up an excuse.

  “Oh, I see... Then let me ask you something. Can you tell me in detail about the medicine being sold here that cures soldier’s disease?”

  Huh? That was what he wanted to ask about? Why was a military officer asking about some plain old medicine for athlete’s foot?

  “Well, there’s not much to say, it’s just medicine... The supplier and manufacturing methods are trade secrets. If you’re going to tell me to give those up, I’ll have to ask you about classified military information in return.”

  “What! Well... I suppose you have a point.”

  I thought he’d get angry with me, but he responded to my coldness with a bitter smile. Maybe he was a surprisingly reasonable person?

  “Then let me change the question. Is it possible to purchase this medicine in bulk?”

  If he was here for business, that was another story.

  Customer service smile, customer service smile... Why are they all pulling back? Pisses me off!

  ...Well, I’m used to it by now, having lived with this face for twenty-seven years.

  “Certainly, though my supplier does have a limit. Oh, and the army will not be able to replicate it. Even if they learn the manufacturing method, we certainly aren’t making excessive profits with these prices. If you gather the ingredients, separate them, boil them, refine them, mix them, then boil them again all at the army, it will likely be much more costly than purchasing the stock here. Though I doubt you’d know how to find the herbs required to make it in the first place. You’d need to know not just the region, but which trees to check, or whether they’re at the riverside, in the forest, at mountain top, or in the sandy soil...”

  “I suspected as much. It was highly doubtful you were making much profit at all, selling them at three small silver coins a bottle. In fact, you’re in the red with just the price of the bottles alone... Though I’m sure the cheap ones are for gaining publicity, and serve as bait to get them to buy the more expensive medicine...”

  Wow, impressive! He read into the excuse I’d prepared in case someone asked about this! Well, I supposed anyone could figure that out, unless they were an idiot.

  I’d considered raising the prices and offering partial refunds for trading in the bottles, but decided against it. I didn’t want to take back any bottles they touched with the same hands rubbing all over their athlete’s foot! Who in their right mind would?! I was helping them with the cheapest option by providing a relief measure for those who didn’t have much money anyway.

  Hm? How was I helping them when I’d be draining money from them for the rest of their lives? Because I’d be giving them motivation to work in order to buy more medicine. Be a NEET no more! I was helping them greatly by giving them that extra push. It was a certified act of charity.

  It’d also help my financial situation at the same time, so the relief measure went both ways.

  “Though even three silver coins isn’t expensive by any means. The bottle priced at three silver coins would recoup the losses from the lowest tier, then the customer works their way up to the bottle priced at one small gold coin, where you must be gaining your profits...”

  Such an astute analysis! He wasn’t an officer for nothing!

  ...Too bad he was completely wrong. Though I figured no one could create unlimited bottles and medicine for free, so I couldn’t blame him.

  “Ahaha, well... Oh, that reminds me. If too much of the medicine is being made, the plants necessary to make the medicine may be wiped out in this region. That may force me to relocate in search of a new place to harvest the ingredients...”

  The officer visibly frowned. Just how much of it was he planning to buy...?

  In any case, that should’ve prevented him from placing orders in unreasonable quantities or asking about the manufacturing method. Good thing I’d come up with excuses beforehand just in case...

  “Then how many bottles can you provide per day?”

  “What? Per day?”

  That’d be rather inconvenient. Making the medicine wasn’t an issue, but I’d already told the other customers purchases were limited to two per person, and it’d be annoying to deal with a mob of soldiers coming to my shop every day.

  What to do...

  Oh, I had something to ask first.

  “Um, are you the military officers for the royal army?”

  I had to confirm who these soldiers were. Hopefully they were part of the medical team of the royal army. If not...

  “Ah, I apologize. I’d been asking so many questions without even introducing myself. I’m the second battalion commander of the royal army, Lieutenant Colonel Vonsas. These two are my corporals, Tyde and Mericus.”

  “What...?”

  I was aghast. Not only was he not part of the medical unit, judging by his title, but...

  “U-Um, how many battalions does the royal army have? And how many officers are...”

  If I’d asked these questions of military personnel on Earth, I may have been questioned under suspicion of being a spy. But in this world, the number of soldiers wasn’t something you could really hide, and it was something to be flaunted with pride rather than be kept a secret. The citizens of the kingdom and neighboring countries were sure to know this information already, so I doubted it’d be a problem now.

  “Ah, the royal army consists of ten battalions, totaling 10,000 men. Though a little less than half of them aren’t combat personnel but support troops, such as transport soldiers and administrative officers.”

  As expected, the lieutenant colonel seemed unconcerned as he described the size of the army. He seemed to realize I knew next to nothing about the army and went into great detail for me too. Maybe he thought this would be necessary knowledge for doing business in the royal capital and was lecturing me out of kindness, or maybe he realized why I was asking the question...

  It was probably the latter. He must have suspected what I’d be asking next.

  The lieutenant colonel explained that in the royal army, squads consisted of nine soldiers, which was the smallest type of unit. Forty men consisting of four squads, a platoon leader, and three assisting corporals made up a platoon. Four platoons made up one company, and 640 men consisting of four companies plus personnel from the command division and supporting personnel made up one battalion. There were ten battalions, from the first to tenth. He also added that there were other divisions such as transportation, training, instruction, and other such supporting and subsidiary branches. With all of those people combined, there were about 10,000 in total. There were ten times the number of citizens they had to look after.

  Though this wasn’t just any capital city, but the royal capital itself. Goods, money, and personnel came in from throughout the kingdom. The king had direct control over the area and the army here, and the royal army had to protect more than just the royal capital. The troops headed by the lords of each region were unique in a variety of ways. The lieutenant colonel’s explanation had co
nfirmed my apprehensions.

  “So this means the royal army has nine other battalions, with nine battalion commanders, who are of equal rank as you...? Would there be a chance they’d all come to this shop demanding the remedy for soldier’s disease?”

  “Absolutely. I doubt they would come in person, but I can say with certainty they would send over their subordinates.”

  “Whaaat!”

  What nonsense is he saying with such a straight face?!

  “D-Does this mean I’m going to have this conversation nine more times? With people who will insist I prioritize sending medicine to them?”

  “Oh, I’m sure of it. We may be a part of the same army, but each battalion is a rival to one another. We would all want to secure any good product for ourselves. And this wouldn’t be limited to battalion units; I assume companies and platoons will come in individually as well.”

  “Whaaat?!”

  This was bad...

  This lieutenant colonel seemed respectable enough, but I suspected there were people in the army who were pushy and believed every citizen should automatically obey them. If people like that began demanding I supply them with all my medicine, it’d be difficult to deal with. Not to mention that my shop would be saturated with soldiers if even a small unit of them decided to visit at once. I didn’t want to get involved in all this, and I definitely didn’t want to deal with arguments between different units.

  A civil war within the royal army. The cause? Medicine for athlete’s foot. The girl who was the root of all this gets executed as a spy from another kingdom.

  Arrrgh!

  I began panicking at the horrifying thought as the lieutenant colonel spoke to me.

  “Don’t worry. This is why I, a battalion commander, took my time coming here in person. The other units will likely send over a corporal or someone of a similar rank, so you can tell them you’re making deliveries under the order of Lieutenant Colonel Vonsas, the second battalion commander, and direct them to me. I doubt anyone would be willing to challenge you after that. As well, I don’t plan on hoarding it all for myself. I will distribute it to everyone else for the base price. I would only ask the other battalions for small favors in other fields.”

  ...How dirty! So this must have been how he climbed the ranks in the army!

  But something just came across my mind...

  “Um, what if someone from another unit came in as a normal customer instead of a representative of the army?”

  “What?”

  “What?”

  ““Whaaat?!””

  It seemed the lieutenant colonel wasn’t so impressive after all...

  After discussing it further with him, I ended up deciding to deny any customers who would try to buy in bulk as a representative of their unit, and anyone who came to purchase as an individual would be limited to two bottles. He agreed to put out an official notice stating soldiers could only purchase the soldier’s disease medicine through military channels. Otherwise, I wouldn’t be able to deal with the long line of soldiers that would surely form in front of my shop every day. There may be those who would sneakily buy some in civilian clothes, but I didn’t mind if it were just a few of them. So long as they didn’t obstruct my business, they wouldn’t be too big of a problem.

  If they did do something like that, their colleagues, seniors, and superiors would find out and punish them, so I doubted many would attempt it. The lieutenant colonel said they could get medicine and treatments from the military medical unit for free, so there shouldn’t be too many people willing to go through all that just to spend money out of their pocket. I didn’t know how reliable the predictions of a “noble-born elite field officer” were, but all I could do was pray he was right.

  As well, I’d make deliveries for orders made by the second battalion once a week. It was a bit hard to sell in bulk at my shop after explicitly saying we were a retailer and not wholesale, since I had to consider how it’d make me look. Besides, I wanted to go out and about sometimes instead of being cooped up in my shop all the time.

  Though secretly, I was thinking how the military HQ would probably have plenty young, elite soldiers, and meeting a bunch of people could be beneficial for finding someone to marry. It’d also be helpful for my safety if soldiers memorized my face and decided they wanted to protect me.

  Very helpful indeed...

  If something were to happen to me, the supply of their medicine would be cut off. They probably would’ve ignored me if some punk was bothering me on the streets, but they’d definitely help me out if they knew me.

  Wait, does this mean the 10,000 men in the royal army would be my personal bodyguards? This is too amazing! Roland and the others are unneeded now! Muahaha!

  “I’ll be counting on you then!”

  With that, the colonel lieutenant and his men departed. Right after, Roland and Francette entered.

  “Was there trouble?”

  It seemed Roland had been watching over me from outside the whole time. He was probably going to charge in if anything happened to me.

  I’m sorry for thinking you were useless.

  “It’s okay, just business talk. Thanks.”

  I’d at least give him some words of appreciation. I didn’t know how long he’d been out there, after all. Francette could’ve even been out there all night... Just kidding, ahaha...

  Wait a minute... Francette? What’s with that sleepy-looking face and yawn just now? And those bags under your eyes?!

  Whoa whoa whoa whoa whoa whoa! L-Let’s just go ahead and drink some of this, Fran. No, no, just shut up and drink it!

  In the evening...

  A carriage seemed to stop in front of the store. Then customers entered.

  “...Hey, is there where that soldier’s disease medicine is being sold?”

  A married couple who were obviously nobility and seemed to be about thirty or so, and their two attendants came inside.

  “Yes, can I help you...?”

  I missed my chance to have Layette flee upstairs. With no other option left, I tapped her head as a signal to have her keep quiet and fade into the background.

  “All right, give me everything you’ve got. You will be sending everything you get in stock from here on as well. The price will be for 30% off.”

  “I decline.”

  “Good. Then first, give me... H-Huh?”

  The customer’s eyes went wide as if he hadn’t expected a mere commoner to dare deny his order. He was probably planning to monopolize my medicine and sell it to the army for a profit or use it for some sort of political advantage... But wait, why would some freakin’ medicine for athlete’s foot be so important?! Were we talking about strategic materials for war here?

  In any case, no way was I letting him take off 30% just like that. Sure, I didn’t have any cost of goods, but that was just by coincidence. Now that I considered myself a merchant, I wasn’t going to let him walk all over me like that. Haggling was a part of business transactions, so I was willing to oblige, though whether we would strike a deal was a different story.

  Trying to force a deal was out of the question. Completely unacceptable.

  I’d be putting an end to that real fast. I could hardly call myself a merchant if I ever accepted such a thing. I only spent about half a year working in my previous life, but I had a high sense of pride for my work and camaraderie for my colleagues.

  “H-How dare you! You think you can get away with opposing...”

  “Bulk purchases of the medicine for soldier’s disease is being handled by Lieutenant Colonel Vonsas of the royal army’s second battalion. Please direct any such inquiries to him. I’d also like to add that we have an agreement so any actions that would obstruct the army’s purchase of medicine will be reported to the lieutenant colonel, and he will be taking care of any such issues...”

  “Wh-What?! You mean Lieutenant Colonel Nevas von Vonsas, third son of Count Vonsas...?”

  “I’m not familiar with his full name, but
yes, it is Lieutenant Colonel Vonsas, the second battalion leader.”

  The nobles went silent for some time, then turned around to leave. But I quickly called after them.

  “Excuse me, madam, would you care for some hair wash or facial remedies while you’re here?”

  “What?”

  I wasn’t keen on making too many enemies, so I didn’t really want them to leave in a bad mood. Plus, I wanted to take the opportunity to start selling the cosmetic stuff that had been sitting on the shelf. I was pretty confident that once people began buying and using such products, they’d serve as real-world advertisements and lead to even more sales.

  “This medicine removes dirt from your hair and makes it silky smooth, and this one makes your skin soft and moisturized! With these, you can regain the youthfulness in your skin!”

  I gave the wife a sales pitch you might hear from a cosmetics salesperson at some department store. She was about that age where women began worrying about their declining skin condition.

  She paused. “I do wonder if you’re telling the truth... Do you understand what would happen if you deceive a noble? You wouldn’t be forgiven just because you are a child.”

  It sounded too good to be true... A small-time shop being tended by a child couldn’t possibly have such a miracle medicine...

  Even with these thoughts in mind, it seemed she couldn’t resist my enticing words. The fact that her noble husband took his time to visit my shop probably helped support the notion that it sold medicine of value as well.

  I left Layette behind the counter and walked out to the floor of the shop. “Please look at my hair.”

  The wife looked at my head with a dubious expressed, ran her fingers through my hair, then moved in closer to smell it.

  “H-Hey, what are you...”

  Ignoring her husband’s words, she stroked my face, rubbed it, then squeezed it between her fingers. My smooth skin wasn’t due to skin care products though; it was due to my youth, being in a fifteen-year-old’s body. I didn’t even use any skin care products in the first place. That stuff wasn’t really needed until about age eighteen or so.