Chapter 33: The smell of the hairdressing products from the other world’s flea market

The maintenance team that Hetty-san organized was a large unit that consisted of 30 people in total. Riding in Hetty-san’s black horse-drawn carriage, the entire big unit headed off to the mansion. What the heck is this!? Is the house of Solo’s financial power something equivalent to a monster?!
They did not have heavy machineries or anything similar here so how could it possible for them to get it done in a month time? That was what I thought but, it should be feasible with this number of people I guess…..

After some time, the maintenance team managed to arrive at the mansion safely, despite surprising the group of villagers who were farming during their journey. Come to think of it, this should be Diana’s first time coming to this place.
Should I guide her around the mansion once before the maintenance starts?

“Goshujin-sama, is there a mansion in the inner part of the forest? This forest seems to be deeper that I thought. Although, it is something that I am glad about.” [Diana]

“Well there is a reason to this but, I’ll be happy if you like it.” [Jirou]

Thus we proceeded on.
After a short while, Diana who was following suddenly halted.

“……? This feeling is…..” [Diana]

“What’s up? Why did you stop all of the sudden.” [Jirou]

“I don’t really have much confidence in this but…..I detected the presence of a skilfully concealed spirit magic. This might possibly be…….a barrier.” [Diana]

“A barrier, is it?” [Jirou]

A barrier is something like that, isn’t it? It is a wall of defence or something that was often seen appearing in manga or games. I wonder if it was related to the reason why no one has found out about the existence of the mansion here.

“What happens if there is a barrier? In the first place, what is a barrier?” [Jirou]

“……..I do not really understand it too but, there doesn’t seem to be a wall here in actual and, it’s probably not some kind of spell that makes one unconsciously retrace their steps too……” [Diana]

Hmm…..?
It appears that everyone was going in and out as usual though.

“So is this barrier still in effect?” [Jirou]

“Yes. It should still be functioning, goshujin-sama.” [Diana]

Myself aside since I came from the inside, it appears that Rebecca-san, Sh.e.l.lo-san, Marina and Hetty-san were able to go in and out normally. I wonder if it was possible when they were with me because I knew the way. Sh.e.l.lo-san didn’t seem to be aware of the existence of the road to the mansion too.
In other words,…..it could be because I was guiding them or there could be other conditions that that needed to be fulfilled first……Well, I should be able to verify it eventually. At any rate, I didn’t even know why a barrier was erected from the beginning. Was it done by the former residence of the mansion?

Thus we reached the mansion by foot as is. It would be good if Diana likes it.

“Goshujin-sama, it’s wonderful. This place is filled with just as much spirit power as the elf’s hometown. Even the places that Priestess has informed me are much inferior in comparison to this place.” [Diana]

Rather than the mansion, she seems to have preferred the place itself. It must be pertaining to the story about how they require a place with dense spirit power to take their own pace so they can recover their spirit magic.
Wait, in other words, that day wouldn’t come anymore!? I felt lonely now as your master.
While I was groaning there by myself, feeling depressed that her mating season wouldn’t come anymore, Hetty-san called out from behind.

“Jirou-sama, will it be alright now? Let us start with the maintenance of the mansion today. First of all, we would be developing the lane to the entrance, then the maintenance of the garden. The repairs of the mansion and other secondary facilities is scheduled to be the last.” [Hetty]

“Ah yes. I’ll be counting on you.” [Jirou]

Well, that’s true. Presently, we could barely bring in just one horse and there was no place available to park the carriage. It might be a good idea to work on the path first.

“Goshujin-sama, how do you intend to develop the path and work on the maintenance of the garden? Could it be that you’re planning to cut down the trees?” [Diana]

I wonder if it’s NG to cut down the trees to the elves. (NG = No good)

“If that is the case then you don’t need to go all the way to cut them down actually. All I need to do is just to move them away and it’ll be settled.” [Diana]

“Move them?” [Jirou]

“I’ll move the trees to another location. Even though I’m still in the midst of the guidance, I can still use this degree of spirit magic.” [Diana]

O-Oh. I see….
I have never thought of that actually. I see. We could also move the trees here to another place……

Thus, I consulted Hetty-san about this, and decided to leave the task of moving the excessive trees away to Diana using her spirit magic.
It sounded like an amazing magic in my opinion. However, according to Diana, it was not at the standard to be cla.s.sified as magic to the high elves. Apparently, it was just 『requesting』 the plants to move through the spirits…..
I wonder how capable would she be once she is able to use her spirit magic again after the guidance ends……… I’m looking forward to it and yet I am afraid of finding out at the same time.

As she chanted some kind of incantation, a pale pink light enveloped Diana’s whole body. In that present state, she then touched the tree that she wanted to move…….

……Hahaha, what’s this?
The tree uprooted itself from the earth and crept away using its roots as legs, slowly moving and disappeared into the depth of the woods. It’s so fantasy.
No, it’s an unbelievable spirit magic waa.

“Thanks to Diana-sama, we managed to get 10 days’ worth of work done. Thank you very much.” [Hetty]

After that, within an hour time, Diana has cleared all the obstructive trees off by walking around and touching each of them. We ensured the lane’s width to be at least 4m wide so the carriage has sufficient room to go through and the surrounding of the mansion has become neat and tidy.
There are no concrete or asphalt here, nor do they use stone paving. Just levelling the ground for the lane and preparing the soil for the garden here would be adequate.
It wouldn’t be a bad idea to make the excessive land into a vegetable plot too since I have always longed for a home vegetable garden.

After showing Diana around the interior of the mansion for a while, we left the construction work itself to Hetty-san and returned to the city.

That’s because, it’s flea market day today! It’s a one-day opportunity in the 10 days so I will definitely not miss it.
I have locked up the room with the mirror, informing Hetty-san at the same time that the room is totally off-limits. As I thought even they wouldn’t break the lock and enter the room by force……….rather than believing that they wouldn’t, I guess it won’t happen.
…..Well, at the least it didn’t seem like they would be renovating the interior of the mansion today so it should be all right.
Including the inspection of the attic, let’s just check them out again tomorrow.

“Then we’ll be borrowing it.” [Rebecca]

After those words, the four of us, Diana, Marina, Rebecca-san and I got into the horse-drawn carriage and returned to Erishe.

Erishe’s flea market that is carried out once in the 10 days would take place at the central square. Once we got the guild to issue the permit, we would able to open up a stall in the market. Nevertheless, even though this was the second big flea market carried out this year, it appears that almost everyone in the city has flocked to the venue where it was held. Judging from the scale, it wouldn’t be surprising even if all the locals were here. Well, this seems to be carried out for several days so I guess it’s something like a festival. The people here must be crazy about festivals.

The huge variety of items sold in auction previously, were also purchased from this flea market. There were a huge myriad of goods placed for sale here that I don’t think I could ever get tired from just browsing through.
The things sold were fundamentally second-hand items but, there were also products that were hand-made by the local citizens among them. Since they were made by those with vocations related to crafting, the qualities are not to be made light of.

This time, I have brought over a huge load of items in my travel luggage from the other side (j.a.pan), with the intention of selling them and getting the responses of the buyers. Thereupon, I could tell which items would be more profitable from the response then focus in those specific goods with the aim to gradually build a foothold in Erishe.

In truth, I had thought that it might be a good idea to bring in tobacco pipes that are usually used by millionaires from the other side, sell them to the n.o.bles here then become wealthy instantly. However, something like this appears to be troublesome in its own way……… I have all the time I want here so, let’s do it a little bit at a time.

Upon arriving, I headed to the location indicated by the number in the permit.
Since I have already received the authorization from the guild beforehand, all I need to do was just to start selling. The place that they have a.s.signed for me didn’t seem to be located in an inconspicuous spot so while I wasn’t sure how the outcome might be, I don’t think that it’s a bad location all in all. If it’s here then the things might sell well to a certain degree. Probably.

The flea market event has actually started for some time so the hustle and bustle of crowds could already be seen here. It would be good if these things sell but, I need to purchase more items from the market to be sold online in auctions too. It’s a busy day!

The merchandises were then lined up on the spread out sheet on the stone pavement.
Diana, Marina and Rebecca-san’s interest appeared to be greatly piqued as they looked through the various articles for the first time. Well, I guess most of the items here were things that they haven’t seen much before. I have brought over things that were rarely seen in this world, just in case. Not intending to miss putting prudence into practice, the items with packaging were first removed before putting them on display.

After displaying all the goods, I consulted the prices with Marina and Rebecca-san first before making the final decision. Diana was excluded since she’s ignorant about the ways of the world here.
The three of them went along with me without asking me all those needless questions such as how I got the items or when did I purchase them. Although, Rebecca-san was originally someone who will not pry into this. I wonder if I should reveal the secret about the mansion tomorrow, as soon.

Hence, even though I found out that the prices were considerably different than what I had initially thought, I eventually finished pricing all the displayed products. Business start!

1 Silver coin = 100 El
1 White Copper coin = 10 El
1 Bronze coin = 1 El

“How much is this glove?” [customer]
“That will be 1 El.” [Jirou]
“Seriously!? I’ll buy them all.” [customer]

“Ou, kid. Aren’t clean papers really expensive? How much are you selling one sheet for?” [customer]
“I’ll sell the whole bundle for 100 El.” [Jirou]
“100!? One bundle has 30 sheets so is that fine?” [customer]
“It’s fine. There’s no problem at all.” [Jirou]

“Oniichan~ What about this?” [customer]
“That’s called a bamboo-copter. Here’s how it, go!” [Jirou]
“Wah! Amazing! It flew it flew! It’s interesting!” [customer]
“Isn’t it, isn’t it? I’ll sell this to you for a special price of 1 bronze coin.” [Jirou]

“This looks like a nice knitting yarn. How much for one ball of yarn?” [customer]
“Let’s see, this ball of yarn cost 10 El while this one is 30 El.” [Jirou]
“Eh? Will it be all right for such a good price?” [customer]
“Yes. This is a flea market so I’m still studying the prices now.” [Jirou]
“Is that so. Then I’ll buy them all.” [customer]

“What a beautiful stone. It doesn’t seem to be a spirit stone though…….What is this?” [customer]
“That is a gla.s.s bead.” [Jirou]
“Eh…..That’s my first time hearing it……” [customer]
“Once you string the beads together, you can make it into a lovely accessory. I’ll be selling them specially for 5 El each today.” [Jirou]
“It’s cheap. Then I’ll have this…….this and this.” [customer]

“Ou. Those look like fine plates and they are even in a set.” [customer]
“I can sell them individually too if you like. Feel free to have a look at it first.” [Jirou]
“Oo…… The surface doesn’t seem to be uneven and the workmanship is intricate. Aren’t these new too?” [customer]
“Yes. They’re new porcelain plates. Why don’t you give in and buy them as presents for your wife? One will be 50 El but if you buy all 5 in a set, it’ll just be 200 El.” [Jirou]
“Is that the price for a porcelain article? That’s a lie, isn’t it? Just kidding. Of course I’ll buy them. Thank you, niichan.” [customer]

“How much for this hammer?” [customer]
“Just one white copper coin will be fine.” [Jirou]

“How much for these bundle of screws?” [customer]
“Just one white copper coin will be fine.” [Jirou]

“How much will it be for this pen and ink?” [customer]
“It’ll be 1 silver coin for all of them.” [Jirou]

“Oniichan, all your items seem to be amazingly in demand since a while ago. They are almost sold out now….. This doesn’t seem to be sold yet. Hmm? What’s this?” [customer]
“That is…….put a small dose of it onto your hand and apply it to your hair. Just like this.” [Jirou]
“Oo, ooo, is this Lyla grease?” [customer]
“Lyla? No, that’s……a gel that’s exclusively used to hold your hair and maintain them.” [Jirou]
“Hou, it seems pretty good. Even grease doesn’t harden like this. Ou, how much is this?” [customer]
“The whole can will be 30 El. How about it?” [Jirou]
“Fumu~ It’s quite high but…..I’ll try getting it as a souvenir!” [customer]
“Thank you for your patronage!” [Jirou]

…………
……………………

A little past noon, whoa! I’m sold out of everything! Thank you for all the purchases!

Considering that this was the first time, the prices set were quite generous but, they’re amazingly in demand. I was actually expecting certain items to remain unsold. If this was the case then, it might be feasible to stock those items up in large quant.i.ty and sell them for profit too.

All the items sold today were mostly bought in hardware store and 100 yen shop. Granted that 1 El = 150 yen, I would yield a profit regardless of what I am selling. I would be able to make a killing so easily to the extent of ‘uhhauhha’ state.

The first item sold, the cotton gloves originally cost 300 yen for a dozen. Thus, a pair will be 25 yen. So, if 1 El = 150 yen, the profit will be 125 yen each. Since I sold off two dozen at once, 24 El = 3600yen. Although I’m not sure what are the demand for gloves here, it would likely be profitable if I were to bring in leather gloves or gunsoku (soldiers socks) in and open up a store,

The item that was sold at the highest price this time —to be more precise, the item that was confidently priced by Rebecca-san—-was, the paper.
At first, I was thinking of buying 500 sheets of copy paper from the Home Centre to sell but, as I thought they look too ‘clean’ to be sold in the other world. As a result, I ended up selecting washi. I took off the vinyl wrappers intentionally and tried selling off the string binding the papers too. After all, this trivial technique was also necessary.

The place where I bought them from was naturally the 100 yen shop. They have washi and almost everything sold there so it’s really convenient………Who would’ve believed that 10 bundles of washi could be sold for 1 gold coin! It would be scary if it gets too lucrative so it might be better for me to exercise caution when I sell the papers……….
Rather, are clean papers that sought-after in this other world?

Personally, the goods that seem to yield the most harmless profit were the knitting yarns. I have purchased quite a lot of them but they were sold out instantly. The power of raw material is amazing.

Well, since I couldn’t leave the unexpectedly prosperous place earlier due to the booming business, I quickly cleaned up so I could hunt for things to be auctioned this time.
I was planning on buying a weapon for myself after this so I could get Rebecca-san to teach me how to fight……..
I can finally arm myself with a sword!

After going around the flea market for about two hours and stocking up on various goods, I went back to the inn to leave the things behind before coming out once again.
Now, let’s go buy a weapon!

“Jirou, are you really fine with second-hand ones? Generally new weapons should be better, isn’t it?” [Rebecca]

“Yes. I’m quite curious on what kind of second-hand weapons are available so I would like to take a look at them first by any means.” [Jirou]

Thus, we’re currently at a shop that sells used weapons and armours to Rebecca-san. In short, it was called a second-hand shop but, I had requested her to introduce me to one despite that.
I made a great find among the used items when I was purchasing Diana’s robe the other time so it came across my mind that there might be more if I were to search through them.
I have used it several times while I was shopping at the flea market earlier but, today was certainly the festival for 『The Mirror of Truth』!