'Good morning boss!　Today I got up at 5:00 a.m. to be up and made my lunch. I'm going to do my best to work in a way that will put my most disciples to shame!　Oh, and my dad said he'd come say hi to the boss when he had time!

Oh. ...... Oh.

　Etoi has been very excited since the first thing in the morning.
　It's the first day, so I've been meeting him in front of the guild at 9:00 a.m., but he's been waiting for me for about an hour now. He's a guy who's good at math, but he's a waste of time.

　Today, Rebecca couldn't come because she had to run some home business, so me, Deanna, and Marina are here at the shop. Deanna and I were yesterday and today, and it's a little awkward.

'By the way, Etowah, you're wearing some pretty clothes. Where did you get that from?

　Yesterday I was dressed in a simple linen dress, but today's outfit is ............ simply put, it's a "sailor suit".
　The jacket is a half-dressed white sailor with a dark blue collar and cuffs embroidered with a geometric pattern. The tie was light blue. The skirt was a miniature pleated skirt, also dark blue.
　No matter how you look at it, it's a sailor suit. I've never seen anyone wear something like this before, but since there are maid outfits, that means there are also sailor outfits: ...... or ......?

Thank you. This is a Canaanite national dress. I only wear it for special occasions, but my dad told me to wear it on a sunny day.

　Folk clothes!　My sailor suit!　What's going on in this other world.
　No, no. When you think about it, you lose. Cats in school uniforms are what they are. That's what it looks like.

"Etowah. Don't suck up to me.

What's wrong with you?

　Yeah. I guess there's a difference in meaning. It should be more of a Yankee-type sailor suit. And the length of the skirt is different.
　It can't be a pussy!

All joking aside, they look great. I'd love for my boys to wear them, too.

　But it's almost perfectly made, and if you can mass-produce this thing over here and sell it in Japan, you could make a lot of money. It would be nice to make dead copies of the famous Japanese uniforms and sell them: ............. No, that's indeed risky. I'm not sure if that's as risky as it sounds.
　--It's a lot cheaper than making them in Japan, so let's think about that direction as well.
　I've sold a lot of old clothes to NetOkku, but it's okay to make and sell new ones.


　The store is doing well with a steady stream of customers.

　We're trying to adjust our products so that we don't make too much money (basically, we only sell plain cotton and small items), but with the presence of Etowah, it's time for us to go a bit further. It's still a stall, but it would be nice to rent a shop and sell more high-end fabrics and yarns. I still don't have enough money to own a store, though.

　Etowah is quite handy when I let her do her work, she's learned to cut fabric quickly and has learned a lot about the products.
　At this rate, he'd be able to take charge of the shop in no time as a seller. You can't trust a thirteen year old, even if he is a beastman, with this messy corner of the marketplace. ...... That's the only thing I'm worried about.

　At any rate, the store's daily sales right now are roughly about 1,500 ells. It's a very good idea to be able to have a good idea of the value of the product itself. The merchandise itself has value, and if something goes wrong, Etowah alone won't be able to help. Hostage taking, kidnapping, confinement, assault ......, I guess you should also consider those risks ....... It's not Japan, .......
　I think of ...... as something like that, but in reality, this city is so safe that it's troubling.
　I've only been to Hong Kong on a school trip abroad, so I don't know what it's like to be in a place where it's not so safe, but Elishe is really the same as Japan.

　By the way, what do they do with the sales money, they keep it in the bank. It's not a bank, but a chamber of commerce(guild), and you can deposit the money at the counter with your guild card.
　Only the guild card is always over-technical, which bothers me. It's totally a cash card, except there's no ATM.


Etowah, how's the safety of this area really like?　As far as I know, Elishe is very safe, but I don't live in the city.

Security?　It's very good. And my dad, who's a member of the military police in Elishe, said it's not as good as it was 20 years ago.

Not many muggings, pickpockets, muggings, chases, etc.?

'They're certainly not around here. I don't know if it's out of town or in a deserted area, but at least it's safe during the day.

　From the market to the guild, it's just one main street. You won't be walking at night because you won't be going down an unpopular street and the shops close before dark.
　Hmmm ....... Then I might be able to leave it to Etowah eventually. That's what I was originally planning to do.


　In the afternoon, Etowah's father really came to say hello.
　He introduced himself to Etwa as her father, and in a surprisingly sullen voice, he said politely, "I'm a daughter with a tendency to be careless, but it's nice to meet you," but I was troubled to find that he didn't look much different from Etwa.
　She seems to be over 30 years old, but she's also about 150cm tall, and above all, she's a cat. The age of a cat is hard to tell by its appearance, and I heard that applies to Canaan as well. Canaanan seem to be able to tell each other's age by their appearance, but it's impossible for humans. I don't know if I'm allowed to say this, but they're just plain cute.

　My sales for the day were 1,220 ells. I had to teach Etowah a few things, but it's not a bad number.
　I spent quite a bit of money buying Marina's equipment the other day, so let's make some more money.





　◇◆◆◆◇





　I use horses to get from the city to the mansion.
　Since I bought it at the horse market, I've been trying to travel by horse as much as possible to practice, but I'm still the worst at it.
　As expected of Marina, who has a knight's vocation, is already quite adept at it. She can make them run at a pretty good speed, she seems to enjoy riding itself, and she's eager to practice.
　Deanna was scared at first, but now she's gotten used to it a lot and has no problem at all with normal movement or even light riding.
　And as for me - well, I'm still trying to ride it and walk it as best as I can, and running it is just a slow little run. ...... He didn't seem to have much sense.

　The horses themselves were cute. I'm sure you'll be able to find a great deal more to say about it than you think.


　After finishing work in town, at 4:00 p.m., Etowah and I said goodbye and me, Deanna and Marina rode out of town. When we got back to the house, I had to deal with the auction. I'm the only one who can do the work in Japan, so I'm pretty busy.

　We take the road to the house.
　The horses we are riding are great siblings, three of them costing 20 gold coins. They are trained to be unfazed by a little thing. They don't get excited when they see other horses on the street, and they don't run off somewhere.

　According to Hetty, they are quality horses that can be used as warhorses, and they won't cower even if they are entangled with bandits, and whether they run away or attack from horseback, you can't talk about a fight without such a horse .......
　I was thinking, "People who are up for mercenary work are a bit fussy in their thinking,......, and anything that can be used as a normal moving leg is fine..." and so on.

　The road from Elishe to the mansion is half a wide street, which is reasonably busy and well maintained (and cobblestoned, at least). The stones are sparsely spaced).
　The other half of the road is a trampled ridge path, one that is actually only used by the villagers, us, and the rest of us, Shero-san and Rebecca-san.
　The distance from the town to the mansion is about an hour and a half if we're walking. Right now we're using a horse, so it's roughly 50 minutes. If we can get the horses to run properly, we can cut it down to about half further.


　We entered the footpath from the main road and it was a while later.
　Three unfamiliar men lurked at a little distance from the footpath.
　All of them were wearing swords and were equipped with what looked like crude leather armor. They're the embodiment of roughness, two in their twenties and one in his thirties.

　I was intuitively reminded of the time I used to get tangled up with a Yankee. The way they stared at me without reservation, there was not much difference between that world and this one.
　Words like "opposition," "bandit," "burglar," "robber," and "bandit" appeared and disappeared in my head.

　Normally, it would have been for the best if they had already taken action to escape or taken some kind of action at this stage.
　But even if such a situation comes to pass, you can't act so cleverly.
　I'm just an ordinary person, Marina is a slave who has risen to become a knight, and Deanna is a naive princess. It would have been different if Rebecca and Hetty had been there, but unfortunately they are not here today, which may have been the goal.

　The men stood up and a man of about 30 years old, who seemed to be the leader of the group, called out to them.

I'm not going to be able to get a word in edgewise.　We're a traveling bunch. We're having trouble with our legs. Can I borrow your horse?

　A man grinning and smirking white and blocking the road with his body.
　I replied from my horse.

'No, I can't lend you a horse. It's only a short walk to the city of Elishe. It's only about a Yurka.'

　I'm still not sure if it's a burglar or not, so I'm going to put a check on it at least. It's not a good idea to judge a man by his looks. Maybe he really thinks he can borrow a horse.

'Well, ....... If I can't get a horse to borrow, I don't want one. How about this?　Are you ready to lend me the money?

　Saying that, the leader man who draws his sword and puts the blade on my horse's neck. If the horse can't be borrowed, it means I'll kill it.

　I knew it, or rather, ......, a wild thief.
　It's a good thing that you're not the only one who's interested in this kind of thing. ...... is the kind of person who sees a weak-looking little boy riding a good horse, so he wants to take it.

　Of course I can't afford to lose my horse either.

'Oh, wait a minute, please. I'm getting off my horse now. ......

Huh. You are a very obedient person. I don't hate that kind of person.

'Yes, as expected, it's impossible to fight from horseback. No, really, it's a good thing I've trained for the sword. It's not too peaceful, and I thought you were making a totally unnecessary effort.

What the f*ck are you talking about?

All right, we'll do exactly as we discussed. Pattern B this time. Marina, you know what to do.

'Ugh - ....... The truth is, I'm still not convinced.

I'll do it. Okay, go!

　At my signal, Marina deftly dodges the man who's passing by and runs off. He's good on the horse.

"Hey, hey!　Where the hell are you going?

　Now it's just a matter of buying time.