by Funa
Hold on, what did this guy just say?! He dilutes medicine that’s already pretty weak...
Hmm, what to do...
I couldn’t give him my supplier or manufacturing method, of course. Like, I literally couldn’t. Neither of those existed.
Hmmmmmm...
I got it!
“Very well, I’ll see what I can do. Please give me a few days.”
“Ah, so you understand now! Then hurry up and make the preparations!”
“Yes, now, please give me the names of the shops who have joined the Medicine Shoppe Association...”
The man from the so-called Medicine Association gave me the names of the three shops and left with a spring in his step. He was probably full of hopes picturing massive profits rolling in in a few days.
“...Are you sure about this, Big Sis?”
Knowing my potions were created with my ability, Layette looked at me with concern, but yeah, there was no problem.
Come to think of it, Roland and Francette never showed up. It was just one merchant-looking guy, so maybe they thought he was a normal customer, or went off on a date together...
Nah. They wouldn’t do that. I was positive they were watching me from somewhere.
...So creepy!
And so, I exited the shop and looked at the sign posted outside.
“Layette’s Atelier”
Below it, “WE COMPOUND MEDICINE HERE” was written on a different plate.
Hmhm.
＊ ＊
A few days later...
“I-Is the owner here?!”
“Oh, you’re the Medicine Shoppe Association guy from the other day...”
Yup, the guy barging in and screaming was none other than he.
“Wh-What is... Huh? Th-This is...”
Box lunches were on display in the shop, with even more variety than before. There was even a new system in place that allowed customers to choose their own side dishes. In addition, there were drinks and portable, nonperishable foods like jerky and hard bread, along with snacks, cookies and such.
Everything besides the box meals were made to be kept a long time. It was too much of a hassle to cook them every day, and other than the box lunches that would definitely be eaten that day, I was worried about the food going bad.
We’d purchased the ingredients from other stores and made them ourselves without using my abilities. We even offered a service where you could bring in your own containers to fill up with drinks.
“Wha... Th-The medicine! Where is the medicine?!”
“Medicine? Please go outside and check the sign.”
“What?”
The man stepped outside and looked up to find:
“Layette’s Atelier”
“BOXED MEALS TO GO”
One big and one small sign had that text written on them. Next to the entrance was also a note:
“Due to complaints from the Medicine Shoppe Association (Cultivar Drug Store, Veilas Pharmacy, Mertolen Medicine Shop) claiming our medicine was causing trouble for their business by being too effective, we have stopped selling medicine at our store. We will continue doing business selling packed meals, and we hope for your continued patronage.”
“Wha...” The man opened and closed his mouth repeatedly.
“We’ve stopped selling medicine to focus on box meals. Now your problem is solved!” I said as I smiled.
The man began screaming, red in the face. “This solves nothing! All three shops have been getting complaints non-stop, and all of our customers have moved to the two shops that haven’t joined the association!”
Huh?
I wasn’t necessarily hung up on running a medicine shop. I just wanted a place where I could interact with people while seeming like I was making just enough money to live a normal life without flaunting what I’d saved up. It just so happened that a medicine shop was the easiest way for me to do that, and while I didn’t expect the box lunch shop to be a hit, it fulfilled that goal just as well.
I was getting a little annoyed by all the troubles brought in by the medicine shop, and selling box lunches was more fulfilling in the sense that I could see the customers’ direct reactions. The prep work was hard, but at the end of the day, I felt like I did some good, honest work.
Even with the box lunch shop, I was making good use of the powers Celes gave me. I could make meals in bulk whenever I had the chance and store them in the Item Box, where they wouldn’t degrade, so I wasn’t so busy that I was always being chased by time. As the meals were sold, I could replenish them from the Item Box little by little, so there was little to no wasted food. The products were all hand-made by us, so there was a great sense of accomplishment and fulfillment that came with the work.
What a perfect job!
...But why was this old man annoying me with all his whining...
＊ ＊
“What’s the meaning of this?!”
Oh, it’s the lieutenant colonel.
“Meaning of what?”
“Don’t feign ignorance with me! ...Though I suppose there would be no point in denying it. What is this? And what happened to the medicine?!”
Oooh, he seemed pretty mad.
“Oh, I closed down the medicine shop. The reason is just as it was written in the letter sent by my messenger...”
“Stop fooling around! Then I just need to crush this so-called association? Should I crush the organization? Their shops? Or crush the owners themselves?!”
By “crush the owners,” he probably meant physically...
But I had already sent away the association people the other day, so they no longer had anything to do with this.
My shop wasn’t a medicine shop anymore.
“Well, this isn’t a matter involving nobles or the military. It’s just an issue between professionals of the same industry, so I don’t think you should be stepping in. I don’t think a military officer should be intervening when it doesn’t concern you...”
“It absolutely concerns me, you fool!!!”
Ahhh! He’s actually really mad... Oh no!
I waved both my hands in front of me in a fluster.
Francette and Roland were glaring in our direction with their hands on the the hilt of their swords, so I desperately tried to signal that everything was okay.
They looked like they were about to charge in with their swords drawn if I didn’t call them off...
“What about our medicine?! Not just the soldier’s disease medicine, but your medicine is known for being effective, so I had given orders to supply everything from your shop!”
Ahhh! That’s why! That’s the reason that suspicious “association” had suddenly appeared!
“Hm? What’s that look for... Ah!”
Shaddap, I was born with these scary eyes!
Wait, what was with that pause just now?
...Oh, he must have realized all of this was all his fault.
“...”
“...”
““...””
“Oh, uh, well...”
Stare...
“...”
He seemed quite troubled.
Well, I didn’t want to pick on him too much.
“Then I will be selling my medicine wholesale to the two shops that are not part of the association, for 80% of the list price. There should be no problem as long as those shops continue selling it for the same price for 20% profit, right?”
“Y-Yes, that’s fine, but... you would hardly make any profit that way. There is no need to concede to the harassment and miss out on easy profits like that. This could all be resolved with a little pressure from the military. They wouldn’t bother you anymore if I tell them the military and its partners will no longer do business with their three shops.”
Hmm, he may have been right, but I didn’t want them trying to get back at me, and I didn’t care about continuing the business enough to go through all that negativity.
I was worried about someone gett
ing attacked in the night over all of this.
...The concern was mainly for them though.
I wasn’t too keen on seeing Francette or Emile cut a civilian down in front of me.
I had to make sure that wouldn’t happen...
“I make enough profit from the box lunch business, so the medicine will just be a service so as to not inconvenience the customers who have been supporting me. Of course, I’ll be supplying those two shops with medicine other than the one for soldier’s disease as well. If they’ll accept the deal, that is.”
“There’s no way they wouldn’t take such a good deal...”
Yeah, he was right.
“It seems keeping the supplier a secret is how things are done around here, so please keep this between us. If you tell anyone, it’d bring more weirdos my way. If that happens...”
“If that happens...?”
I smiled in response to his question.
“Oh, it’s just that no one would be getting any medicine anymore.”
Why did he flinch and suddenly move away from me before hearing my response? Huh?
＊ ＊
A few days later, right after opening the shop...
“Is the owner here?!”
What happens twice, happens thrice.
And this time, the number of complainers had multiplied to three.
I’m the one who wants to multiply, damn it!
“Why did you offer your products to the two other shops and not us?!”
What did they want me to say...?
“What? My medicine shop is no longer in business, just like you all wanted. Did those shops tell you they’re getting their products from me?”
“N-No, not exactly...
But they’re selling the medicine that were being sold here!”
“I wouldn’t know anything about that.
Besides, I thought trying to force another business to give up their supply route is strictly forbidden? Even if I did close down shop and gave away my supplier to another shop for a high price, what problem is there? And do you think barging in here and demanding me to give you answers isn’t a problem?
“How about I go to those two other medicine shops and every other shop in town and tell them what you three are doing, and that you think this is proper behavior as merchants?”
“““Wha...”””
Of course they wouldn’t want that.
The other businesses will either frown upon them, no longer work with them, or demand they give up their suppliers in turn as well.
Whatever their reaction, no one would find this acceptable.
“Last time, however unreasonable your demands, it could have been seen as ‘a proposal from a fellow businessman of the industry,’ but this is a ‘baseless accusation and threat against a completely unrelated girl of another profession.’ I have a mind to report this to the authorities.”
If merchants began taking each other out, there would be less tax revenue to be made.
And merchants made far more revenue than the common worker.
In addition, this was the royal capital, where taxes would go directly to His Majesty the King.
...In other words, the officials and guards here worked very hard.
“““...”””
Many pairs of eyes simply stared at the three medicine shop owners in silence.
This was right after opening time.
In other words, it was the busiest time of day for customers to come in and buy their box meals.
Hunters, travelers, military personnel ranking higher than petty officers who lived outside of the barracks, and more.
“Layette’s Atelier, Box Meals To Go” had a rather strong clientele.
Those customers stared down the three merchants with an even scarier look.
Their faces turned pale, and they had no choice but to turn tail and run.
“I’m sorry for the wait, everyone. As a token of apology, everyone here will get 20% off of their purchase!”
“Ohh, so generous! You’re the best, Kaoru!”
“Flattery isn’t going to get you any bigger of a discount, you know!”
“The only thing that’s flat around here is your ches... I mean, nothing!”
The customer must have realized that sounded too cruel even for a joke, and tried to take it back right away.
“You should have just rolled with it as a joke! Feeling bad about it mid-way only made it worse!”
“My bad...”
And so, the shop was filled with laughter.
Chapter 28: The Angel Returns
Five days later...
I woke up and quietly got ready for the day, careful not to wake the still-sleeping Layette. I descended to the first floor and opened the wooden window to find...
“Whoa!”
There was a huge line outside.
This wasn’t the first time I’ve had a long queue of customers, but something was off.
In previous cases, there was a clear reason for all the customers lining up, like when the store first opened or when we were having a sale.
But this time, I couldn’t figure out why it was happening.
They were quietly standing out there without making a scene, but they each wore a fretful expression with bloodshot eyes.
“Wh-What in the world...”
I was standing there, frozen, when I heard a knock on the door.
It was clearly coming from a different door from where the line was formed.
I removed the bolt and opened the door, then two men burst into the store.
“Kaoru! I need some strong medicine! Ours isn’t nearly strong enough!”
“This is an emergency! Please!”
They were the owners of the two medicine shops that weren’t a part of the so-called association.
Yes, the ones I made a deal with to supply them with my medicine wholesale.
“What happened...?”
“A disease. It seems an epidemic has been going around. It’s pretty serious, with the number of patients increasing at a rapid pace. There have even been deaths...”
“What?!”
“Fever, headaches, stomach aches, joint pain, loss of appetite, and fatigue. In some cases, people have died in as quickly as ten days. Even using as much of our strongest herbs as possible before the side effects become too big of a problem have barely helped at all. The court head doctor has been working without sleep to no avail. All they could manage to do was close off the royal palace to keep the contamination from getting to the royal family...”
This was bad.
I was running a medicine shop at one point, but I had no knowledge of medicine or medical science.
It would be far too suspicious to use some elixir that could make a dying old man or woman get up and start dancing, and I couldn’t diagnose, let alone figure out a cure for a disease by looking at a patient.
The only thing I knew how to diagnose was beriberi.
You take a mallet and do that thing where you tap them on the knee with it.
...That wasn’t going to do anyone any good.
What to do...
In any case, I had to do something about the long line outside.
“Everyone! I don’t have any medicine right now! I’ll have to assess the situation and figure out what to do from there, so please return home for today!”
They seemed to understand it was unreasonable to have such high hopes for a business that had closed down already, and the line dispersed.
Either they were really desperate to come to my shop, or their expectations were just that high... wait, there were still tens of people in line that hadn’t left.
“Excuse me, but we still don’t have medicine...”
“We’re here to buy your box lunches.”
Oh...
After selling them some packed meals, I closed the doors, wooden windows, and curtains, then flipped the sign to indicate we were temporarily closed today.
I gathe
red everyone for a meeting.
The members were me, the owners of the medicine shops, Layette, who had noticed the commotion and came downstairs, Emile, and Belle.
I had them cancel any work from the guild today to stay home.
Roland and Francette had appeared out of nowhere too.
It was the all-star cast.
...Oh, but I guess Ed and the others weren’t there.
“First, please explain the details of this emergency.”
The shop owners explained the details as I had requested.
According to them, a highly contagious disease had spread in a village to the east of the royal capital, and although exit and entry was closed off in an attempt to contain it, patients were found in the royal capital a few days ago, and the disease spread quickly.
“Apparently, news of the disease and the quarantine on the village was initially suppressed to avoid chaos. In fact, an official announcement about it still hasn’t been made. But there’s no hiding it anymore, and the information has been leaked everywhere. So while we’re running around trying to find a solution, it’s completely unrelated to whatever the authorities are doing about it.”
What was this country doing...?
Speed is of the essence in cases like these.
“How foolish. The royal family here seems completely incompetent,” Roland commented harshly.
It was probably extra frustrating for him, being royalty himself.
A lot of people could end up dying.
As for us, we probably wouldn’t be affected by the disease as long as we drank my cure-all medicine.
We could simply wait for this epidemic to pass, or move to another country.
Even though I had the funds, I had opted to rent out my store rather than buy it precisely so I could pick up and move whenever I needed.
Any interior items I purchased could be thrown into the Item Box.
That way, I could reopen shop at another city with ease.
...Wait, I would never abandon my regulars!
What if people find out who I am? Bring it on! I’ll just run away again!
I decided on that day.
I’ll live the life I want in this world.
I’ll be modest, but I won’t hold back.
I’ll reflect on my mistakes, but I won’t have regrets!