5th day of the monster subjugation and 1st day of the store construction.
“Ryouma, help me, nyaa…” [Miya]
During lunch break, while I was resting after eating, Miya-san and the others came. Behind them were Jeff-san, Asagi-san, and Raypin-san. Everyone was drenched in blood.
“Can you get rid of all this blood? It stinks and I can’t stand it.” [Mizelia]
“Did you happen upon goblins again? You sure did things gaudily.” [Ryouma]
As I said that, I ordered the cleaner slime to clean all 7 of them.
“Wow, it’s all so clean now… Ryouma-kun, your cleaner slimes really are convenient.” [Mizelia]
“Thank you, de gozaru. Lunch would have been difficult in that state.” [Asagi]
“Good grief, if only Jeff didn’t work so sloppily, de aru.” [Raypin]
“I apologized already, didn’t I?” [Jeff]
I heard them out while they ate, and apparently, they found a new goblin nest and crushed it. From the looks of thins, they were probably Survivors of the goblin village we destroyed just recently. The problem started after the battle when they were about to dispose the corpses, as Jeff-san suddenly had a stroke of genius to penetrate the dead goblins with his spear and throw them to one corner.
“It was great and all that he was able to get rid of the corpses quickly, but we were worried that the pile of corpses might tumble over, so we came back to check on it. Unfortunately, just as we were talking to ourselves, the whole thing suddenly fell, de gozaru.” [Asagi]
Even if they could dodge the corpses, they couldn’t dodge the blood. In the end, Raypin-san received a direct blow from the goblin corpses.
“Must have been tough…” [Ryouma]
“Indeed. If not for you, we would have had to eat while reeking of goblin blood.” [Gordon]
“It’s really amazing that your slimes could get rid of goblin filth so efficiently.” [Syria]
“Thank you very much.” [Ryouma]
It was then that it occurred to me that I haven’t told them about the laundromat yet.
“Speaking of which, do you remember that laundromat we talked about 3 days ago?” [Ryouma]
“Yeah, what about it?” [Jeff]
“I decided to go through with it.” [Ryouma]
“Seriously? When are you opening?” [Jeff]
“I still have to prepare the store, so it’ll still be some time in the future. The price will be 1 medium copper coin just as we talked about before.” [Ryouma]
“Store? You’re going to have your own place, de aru?” [Asagi]
“Yes, a merchant I’m acquainted with advised me to get my own store. I’ve already registered at the guild and bought the land with the bounty from a bandit I killed some time back. I’ll be getting employees from the guild and the merchant who advised me will also be helping me, so I’ll still continue working as an adventurer.” [Ryouma]
“I see. I’m surprised to hear that you’ll be having a store at your age, but when you think about it, it only makes sense. We’ll be enlisting your services, of course, but I’m sure the other adventurers who know how amazing your cleaner slimes are will also enlist your services. The odds of word spreading about a stranger store are also pretty high. Once word catches on, you’ll probably have a hard time managing the store if you were just by yourself, de aru.” [Asagi]
“I don’t think it’s completely impossible to handle alone, but it will definitely prevent you from working as an adventurer.” [Syria]
“Indeed. Everything ended up a lot bigger than I was expecting, but it’s good that I’ll still be able to continue working as an adventurer. I’ll inform you when the store will be opening, so please drop by. My store will also be providing discounts for bigger groups.” [Ryouma]
“Nyaa!? Before I knew it Ryouma-kun’s already turned into a merchant, nyaa!” [Miya]
“He has always spoken politely, so it doesn’t feel out of place, de gozaru.” [Raypin]
We talked like that over meal, then we did in the remaining hours of the day.
“This will be your land.” [Serge]
“It really is big.” [Ryouma]
After adventurer work ended, I visited Serge and checked the land I purchased.
Before me was a 2-story broken building and a plot of land that was slightly smaller than the practice field for little league baseball.
I guess it’s about 20m x 100m? If it’s just the size were talking about, then it’s probably bigger than Serge-san’s store.
I thought it’d be a bit smaller from the map, but it seems that’s not the case.
“The bar here used to also serve as an inn, so it also has a guest room and a warehouse.” [Serge]
“I see… Is it really okay for me to do as I please with this land?” [Ryouma]
“As long as it’s within your premises, then by all means. Will you be starting construction today?” [Serge]
“Yes. I would like to cut the grass and demolish the remaining structures.” [Ryouma]
I took out my scavenger slimes from my Dimension Home and ordered them to eat the grass in an area slightly remote from the building. If I leave them like that, I’m sure they’ll eventually deal with all the grasses.
After confirming that the scavenger slimes were doing their job, I erected a soundproofing barrier around the building to keep things quiet, then I carefully collapsed the ceiling of the second floor. By keeping the noise down and taking precautions, I was able to go about the demolition process without causing the neighbors any inconveniences.
After forcibly demolishing the ceiling, I used Break Rock on the walls to change them back into earth, then I ensured that the fragments from the ceiling, the broken furniture, and the walls that have now been turned into earth were safe, and then I threw them all outside and cleaned the interiors of the building.
After that I disassembled the remaining pillars one at a time with Wind Cutter.
My knowledge on construction was at most the little I picked up at my part-time and some things I heard here and there, but apparently, to this world, the ‘little’ knowledge I had was plenty. And from the looks of things, it seems I’ll be able to make a simple building. Disassembling also makes it easy to tell if the building is going to collapse, so the whole demolition process went smoothly.
The construction skill sure is amazing. Not to mention the super convenient magic.
In just one hour, I was able to clear half the grasses and demolish half the building. It was getting late, though, so I decided to go home.
Incidentally, Serge-san was watching the entire time. Because of the slimes and my vast amounts of magic power, the whole thing went by really quickly, causing Serge-san to – once again – be surprised.
6th day of the monster subjugation and 2nd day of the store construction.
“The monster subjugation quest at the abandoned mine ends today. A lot of things happened, but with this, we’ll finally be able to mark this job complete,” the guild master said.
After this I’ll be in charge of it, so I’ll have to make sure to do a good job no matter how busy I am. At the very least, I should do one round around the place until I start living in it.
As I thought that to myself, the guild master summoned me.
“Ryouma, can you come for a sec.” [Wogan]
“Sure.” [Ryouma]
“First, I want to congratulate you for a job well done today. The monster corpses are at the same place as usual. With the completion of this quest, you’re officially an E Rank.
Anyway, I’ve heard from the butler of the duke’s family that you’ll be in charge of this abandoned mine. You’re doing it, right?” [Wogan]
“Yes.” [Ryouma]
“I think you’ll be fine since it’s you, but be careful, alright? Remember to call us whenever you need help. Reporting to us when trouble arises is part of your job too.” [Wogan]
“Alright.” [Ryouma]
“Still, refusing the support of the duke’s family to live by yourself… You sure make some scary decisions.” [Wogan]
“It was worrying how spoiled I was being, so I thought I should refocus my mind.” [Ryouma]
“You’re a kid. Don’t push yourself. Anyways, the real reason I called you is to ask if you’re serious about the cleaner slime laundromat.” [Wogan]
“I am, but… How did you find out about it?” [Ryouma]
“Word has gotten around quite a bit among the adventurers here. It seems there are people waiting for your store’s opening. It’s no surprise, though. After all, most adventurers tend to get dirty easily, and there are many among them who just throw their dirty clothes away.” [Wogan]
“That’s good to hear. I’ll hurry with the store’s construction then. Just wait a little a bit more.” [Ryouma]
“Sure. Speaking of which, I can enlist your store’s services too, right? What’s the price gonna be?” [Wogan]
“Of course, you can. Anyone may enlist my Laundromat’s services. The price is 1 medium copper coin for each personal bag. There are also options tailored for groups of people. If you get that instead, you’ll get a discount.” [Ryouma]
“Oh? In that case, I might have to gather a group… Bluntly asking, how much of a discount are we talking here?” [Wogan]
“If we were to compare a week’s pay for the personal option and the biggest group option, then the discount would be about 20% per person.” [Ryouma]
“That much?” [Wogan]
“I was originally planning to make just enough to get by when I’m not working as an adventurer, so the prices were set cheap. The discount also isn’t a one time thing. You’ll get the discount every time you select the big group option, so if you enlist my Laundromat’s services as a guild, you’ll be saving yourselves a good deal of money.” [Ryouma]
“Well, I guess I’ll really have to find myself enough people then.” [Wogan]
“I’ll be looking forward to making your patronage.” [Ryouma]
After that I went back to town and continued demolishing the building.
Adventurer work ended before noon, so I was able to completely demolish the building and remove the grass with time left over. This should be enough for the land. Next I should figure out what to do about the building…
As I was pondering that question, I uninterestedly looked toward the street in front of my lot, and there I noticed that a crowd of children had gathered and was watching me from afar.
“Is something the matter?” [Ryouma]
I asked them as gently as I could so as to not scare them. When I did, the youngest boy from the crowd answered.
“You’re not from around here! Who are you!?” [Youngest Boy]
“Hey, Rick! That’s rude!” [Young Girl]
When the girl standing beside the boy heard him say those words, she scolded him, and then the seemingly eldest boy of the crowd bowed his head.
“Sorry about that. Rick is a little mischievous. Also, sorry for disturbing you when you’re working.” [Eldest Boy]
“Don’t worry about it. I was so caught up in work I didn’t notice you until now. And besides, I’m already about finished.” [Ryouma]
I’m more concerned about their age, though.
They are kids, right? They won’t throw me a curve ball like that group of 6 adventurers did, where the smallest was actually the oldest, will they?
”
“Really? Well, thank you. You sure are amazing. You don’t look that much older than me, and yet you can actually use magic.” [Eldest Boy]
“Onii-chan, magician?” [Child 1]
“Adventurer?” [Child 2]
Questions came one after another from the children as they crowded onto me. Their questions were unreserved and full of innocence even as they started pushing against me. I was going to try and answer them, but then the voice of a woman resounded.
“Would you all calm down? If you ask your questions all at the same time, that kid obviously won’t be able to answer!” [???]
When I turned around to the source of that voice, a woman with a good physique was standing there.
“Sorry about that. Seems our kids and the neighboring children caused you some problems.” [Woman]
“They weren’t causing me any trouble, actually. But regardless, thank you.” [Ryouma]
“Oh? It seems you know your manners despite your age. Would be great if my son could learn a thing or two from you. You an adventurer?” [Woman]
“Yes, but I registered just a few days ago.” [Ryouma]
“I see. Well, do your best. Are you here for a job? This lot is a lot cleaner than I last remember.” [Woman]
“Not a job. I’m here to prepare this place to open my laundromat. …Ah, please excuse my belated introduction. I am Ryouma Takebayashi.” [Ryouma]
“I’m Poline. This mischievous brat of a son is Rick. And this tomboy here is my daughter, Leni.” [Poline]
“Name’s Rick. I wouldn’t mind making you my henchman!” [Rick]
“What stupid thing are you saying!? Sorry about that. I’m Leni. It’s nice to meet you.” [Leni]
“I’m Tall. Nice meeting you.” [Tall]
“It’s a pleasure to meet you all. I am Ryouma Takebayashi. Does everyone live around here?” [Ryouma]
“Yes. We all live in the residential area over there. I also work as a florist at a nearby shop.” [Poline]
“We’ll be neighbors then. I’ll be sure to give you a proper greeting in the future.” [Ryouma]
“Don’t sweat it. Rather than that, you mentioned something about a laundromat, yeah? Is that the sort of business where you do laundry in exchange for money?” [Poline]
“Yes.” [Ryouma]
I took out a bag meant for personal use from my Item Box and gave her a brief explanation.
“This is a bag meant for home use. All the clothes you can fit into this bag will cost 1 medium copper coin.” [Ryouma]
When I said that, Poline-san became interested.
“This bag’s worth of clothes for 1 medium copper coin? That’s cheap, alright.” [Poline]
“If you’d like, I could even give you a free trial on our opening day. We are neighbors, after all.” [Ryouma]
“Really? Well, okay. I’ll take you up on that then.” [Poline]
After that I asked her about this neighborhood, then I thanked her and went home.
