By the Grace of the Gods (LN) - Volume 6 - Chapter 38

Chapter 4 Episode 38: For the Future

It was night by the time I returned to Gimul. When I stopped by the laundromat, my employees greeted me.

“Were you having dinner?” I asked when I saw them at the table.

“Would you like to eat too?”

“It’s raining outside, you must be cold. At least have some soup.”

Starting with Chelma, all the women stopped eating to get some food for me. I happily accepted the soup and swallowed a spoonful. It warmed me from the inside out. “Thank you,” I said.

“It was nothing. We’re glad you’re back.”

“What was the job you were on?”

“It all started pretty abruptly.”

I explained how I happened to run into someone at the guild who was looking for a missing person, how I took his request, and how I ended up finding the person.

“Then I took him to Keleban, said hello to my acquaintances there, and came home.”

“Glad to hear that you saved him!”

“That was certainly some good fortune. I also delivered the goods he was supposed to deliver, and the weapon shop owner understood he had been hurt, so he should still be able to get work in the future. Oh, that reminds me,” I said, opening my Item Box. “Carme, look at this.”

“A list of magic items?” he said. “And the Dinome Magic Item Workshop worked with the Morgan Trading Company on the magic items sold at the Founding Festival, didn’t they? I hear they’ve been expanding their influence as of late.”

“I figured you’d know something. They were some of the acquaintances I spoke to. I have a personal connection to them from before; they wanted me to pick some magic items.”

When I visited Dinome, he asked how he could thank me for the music boxes, since they were making him a fortune. I asked him to develop a clock with an alarm function, but to my surprise, they already had one in the back of the store. It was made before I even ordered it. They said it was probably my idea, which confused me a little until they mentioned that Serge told them about it. I did remember telling Serge about it when I showed him the music box. But a single new clock was apparently not nearly enough to pay me back for the fortune they made, so they asked if I wanted anything else.

“But I have everything I’d need for camping and such already, and none of it is broken or anything, so I couldn’t think of anything I would need. I got that list of magic items from them, so if you see anything on there that the laundromat could use, just tell me and I can get it.”

“How many could we ask for?”

“He just said to ask for everything we’d want. I figure that if we ask for too much, they’ll tell us about it. Besides, if there’s something we really need, I wouldn’t mind buying it ourselves. We have money to spare, don’t we?”

“Yes, we have more than enough capital.”

“Good. If you don’t mind, could you ask the other employees about what they might need? I’ll contact the Lenaf branch to ask them.”

“Understood.”

■ ■ ■

“Show me too, Carme!” said Jane.

“What’s on there?!” asked Maria.

“If there are any magic items that could help with security, I want that,” said Lilyn.

“Agreed. Not that we need anything, but I would be curious,” said Fay.

All of the employees seemed interested. They passed the list around and mentioned magic items that drew their attention.

“I’ve heard of these ‘stoves’ before. I’ve never used one, but they’re supposed to make it very easy to adjust heat. I’d love to try one if I could. There are plenty of other rare cooking tools here too.”

“I knew you’d want those, Chelma. You do cook every day, after all. But I might like to try it out myself.”

“It’s starting to get cold out, so maybe some sort of heater would be good.”

“A magic item could save time on collecting firewood.”

“Dolce, you don’t have to collect firewood for use here. We’ll buy it. Still, a magic item could potentially save us some money. We’ll have to look into that and see if there’s anything good.”

The discussion took place over a warm and lively meal. Once dinner was over, Carme told me that he had a few reports to give and that I should come to the office. I guess I came back to work at a bad time, so I was forcing him to work overtime.

“I’m sorry,” I said.

“I would hardly consider this overtime. The first report is about the formal wear you ordered the other day. The tailor informed us that your clothes will be done in three days. You’ll be able to pick them up at any time after that.”

I thought that was pretty fast, but it was only the suit that would be done by then. The necktie pin wouldn’t be finished for another week. Either way, that was still fairly quick.

“I did ask them to try and make it fast. Now you should get them with plenty of time to spare before the visit to the duke’s estate. The tailors say they will try to make something worthy of the jewel you provided.”

“Sounds like they’re enthusiastic about it,” I said, stating my honest impressions.

“They’ve decided that you’re a valuable customer, I’m sure,” Carme replied with a light smile. “By the way, I suggest you take Fay along as a bodyguard when you go to visit.”

“Why? I don’t doubt his abilities, but will I need him?”

“It’s not for safety. It’s more of a formality.”

Maybe the type of people the duke’s family would introduce me to were the type who always kept servants around. That made sense.

“What about you, Carme?”

“I can’t leave the store, but I’ll teach you the proper etiquette before you depart.”

“I see. Will the store’s security be fine without Fay?”

“I would actually like to hire another security guard just in case.”

“In that case, shall I ask for someone through the adventurer’s guild like last time?”

“That would work, but what about hiring a professional security guard? Under my sister’s guidance in Lenaf, Caulkin’s team has been learning how to run a business quite admirably. When the time comes that they can be entrusted with new branch stores, we’ll want trustworthy security guards for them to hire. This may be a good opportunity to start looking.”

I had heard before that Caulkin’s team was performing well, to the point that we considered giving them a new branch to run as early as next year. There would be a lot of other staff to hire when that happened, so this was a chance to hire some people early and see if they could be trusted, as well as teach them to work the job.

“Then we can do that. In any case, protecting the laundromat should be a top priority,” I said.

“Understood. That’s all for the reports, but next, you have a private message from Caulkin’s team. It seems they’ve made new discoveries regarding slime research, and they have a proposal.”

“Really?!”

“They made two discoveries, both about applications of cleaner slimes.” I was on the edge of my seat already. “First, Lobelia researched the beautifying effects of cleaner slimes. She had one clean her before bed every night and noticed that her skin had improved. She then asked employees to help with experiments and offered full body washes to customers, and confirmed her findings. It seems to be especially effective against acne. Is something wrong, Boss?”

“I’m fine, I just never thought of that.”

Beauty wasn’t something I spent much time thinking about, but that did sound helpful. Cleaner slimes enjoyed eating filth, but when washing the body, that presumably included dead skin and old keratin. And acne is caused by excess sebum that builds up in pores. If all of that were removed, it would help maintain healthy skin. That would have beautifying effects, I guess.

“The details are all in this document.”

“Thank you. I’ll send them a letter containing my thoughts later. What’s the other discovery?”

“Tony discovered another use for cleaner slimes. Considering how they could clean filth from clothes after washing them and not leave any moisture, he had the idea to make them clean the writing off of documents when something was miswritten. They could clean all ink off the paper so it could be used again. Writing mistakes are inevitable, especially when someone is new to the job, so this discovery could prove to save on future expenses. A little caution will be necessary, however.”

This was another blind spot for me. It was a simple enough idea, but I never even thought of it. “Can we pay them a bonus for these discoveries?” I asked.

“Slime research isn’t their job, but I do think their findings will be of value to our business. I agree that they deserve a bonus, but how much?”

At my company in my past life, bonuses were a month’s worth of pay at most. “How much is their income, again?”

“They’re still training to be managers, so they currently make 150 sute per day.”

If so, then working six days a week earned them around three thousand six hundred to four thousand sute per month. But this seemed like it could be helpful to our business, so I wanted to be sure they kept up the good work. About three months’ worth of pay sounded good to cover both bonuses and research funding. I suggested offering ten thousand sute to each of them.

“I was thinking about paying around two months’ worth of their income, but our sales are exceeding expectations and we can consider this an investment for the future. If we’re also using this money to fund research, then I suppose it’s an acceptable amount. I’ll notify them about it,” Carme said.

“Please do.”

That was it for the reports. This seemed like a good time, so I decided to consult with him about what I had discussed with the gods. But without actually mentioning the gods or my past life, of course. Either way, his expression gradually darkened like he was opposed to my ideas. I suppressed the urge to ask him about it and awaited his response.

“For the moment, I can’t agree with your proposals,” he said. “Particularly when it comes to hiring former felons. I can understand the reasoning behind providing them jobs, but we’re still in our first year of business. We’re performing favorably enough that we should easily be able to hire as many regular workers as we need. I don’t think we have to go out of our way to hire risky personnel. I would at least wait until we have opened more branch stores and set up a more stable foundation.”

“I guess you’re right,” I replied. It was a natural response. I didn’t think he would accept the idea right away. He was right to think we should solidify our foundation first.

“So I have a proposal.”

“What? A proposal?”

“Yes. I understand how you feel, Boss. To be honest, I think these matters are supposed to be the job of the local government and of the churches. However, I’ve been here for over half a year, and I’ve seen the way you work. Your management style is sometimes shocking, but it also makes some sense. It’s too soon to implement your proposal, but I wouldn’t say there’s any sense in objecting to it outright. We can put it in action when we’re ready. Essentially, I see no problem with the hiring of former felons as an ultimate objective.”

“I thought I would have to push harder, but you accepted that surprisingly easily.”

“You were already willing to hire peasant girls with no particular skills and citizens of the slums, and you treat each of them with hospitality. This doesn’t come as much surprise at this point. But thanks to you, we have all been able to work together in peace.

“I still think this is an idea we will have to be careful about, but I’m glad you spoke with me about it beforehand, and I’m not so averse to it that I would object outright. Some say that a manager needs not only to turn a profit, but to think about the role they play in society, and I’m sure that seeing your work thus far has made me consider that. But like I said before, we need a stronger foundation before we go through with this. If you would be more proactive about leading us toward that, I believe it will be beneficial to our business.”

“I see,” I said. Carme seemed to understand my wishes and how I approached them. He never missed anything. “Thank you. Then what should we start with specifically?”

“What if we tried purchasing slaves?” he suggested. I forgot that was legal here.

“I think I know at least basic knowledge about slaves, but not that much. Can you tell me a bit more about that?”

Carme happily explained. This country had three categories of slaves: poverty slaves, debt slaves, and criminal slaves. Poverty slaves were sold into slavery by either themselves or their families in order to survive or help their relatives. Debt slaves were forced into slave labor if they couldn’t pay off a debt by the deadline. Criminal slaves committed a crime and were forced into slavery as punishment.

“Poverty slaves and debt slaves often end up in their positions due to unfortunate accidents, so if we want to both hire more employees and work toward your ideas in the future, I think this may be a place to start. And criminal slaves are also restricted by special spells that prevent them from escaping or hurting others, so they should present a lower risk than former felons.

“While there are some who end up in slavery due to misfortune, there are others who find themselves there as a product of their own actions. Poverty slaves and debt slaves traded their freedom for the bare minimum required to survive. Some, of course, hope to be released from slavery early. We pay relatively well, so I think we can offer them that opportunity.”

“I see. Is there anything to watch out for while purchasing slaves?”

“It’s illegal to physically abuse them or deprive them of necessities, but you should already meet all the qualifications. It won’t be much different from hiring staff through the guild.”

“Interesting.”

While I was thinking about it, Carme had a question for me. “Do you have problems with slaves?”

“I’d more say I’m just not used to them.”

I knew that slavery existed in this world, but never had any desire to buy slaves myself. But much of what Carme said was convincing. They were normal in this world, and this would be a good opportunity to learn about them. I told him my thoughts.

“Then I suggest that you visit the Moulton Slave Trading Company in Gaunago. Mr. Morgan told my sister and I that they were a safe business before we came to work for you. If we need slaves, I think they would be a good place to look.”

Gaunago happened to be the city where the Jamil family’s estate was located. I could stop by while I was in town. It was so perfect that I had to wonder if Carme had it in mind when he made this suggestion. I looked at him curiously, but he just kept up the same serene smile. He was certainly a dependable assistant. I was determined to thank Serge for introducing me to him later.