Kochugunshikan Boukensha ni Naru

Translator: SFBaka

Editor: Thor’s Stone

“Hou, this is the first time I’ve seen something like this.”

“By the way, what is your rank in the Magic Guild?” Jonas-san asked.

“Um, I’ve been promoted to A rank.”

I took out my guild I.D. and showed it to the two of them.

“You just entered and are already A rank!?”

“Well, I guess I was just lucky.”

“Tara has just gone for a bath earlier. Would it be fine to let her try using the magic tool?” Tarus-san requested.

“Yes, of course. Feel free. It’s pretty simple to use anyway.”

Tarus-san called a female employee of his and handed the hair dryer to her after explaining its function. He then instructed her to bring it to Tara-chan.

“By the way, how much can that article sell for in your opinion?”

I’m interested in knowing the selling price. I don’t want a potential client to suffer a loss after all.

“If I can’t sell something like that for at least forty thousand Guineas each, I’ll quit being a merchant.” Tarus-san affirmed.

Great. It seems Tarus-san can definitely make money with them as well.

We made some small talk about cooking for a while until Tara-chan excitedly ran inside the room.

“Father! Just what is this article!?”

“Calm down, Tara. Alan-san just paid us a visit.”

“Ara, good morning, Alan-san. But just what is this magic tool!?”

“It is something Alan-san made, apparently. He came to show it to us.”

“Please, father! I really want this magic tool! Take a look at my hair! It’s the first time my hair turned out this amazing-looking after a bath!”

Tara-chan’s hair really did look quite nice and fluffy. It had a bit of a frizzy look last time, but now it has become quite manageable.

“We are going to discuss that right now, so please excuse yourself for a while, dear.”

“Please, Alan-san!”

She pleaded to me quite a few times before walking out of the room. Well, I’m happy I had a prospective buyer though.

“I’m glad she liked it.”

“She isn’t usually like that, but… it seems she has really taken quite a liking to your product. Shall we discuss the price of this magic tool then?”

“Yes, of course. I’ll be more than happy to sell them to you for a fair price. Actually, I hope to supply you with several of these and make it a long term partnership if possible. I’m not very familiar with the market price of goods like this, so can you give me an estimate?”

“My, Alan-san. You certainly should not say things like this to merchants other than me, alright. You’ll suffer a loss.”

Tarus-san and Jonas-san discussed among themselves again.

“How about thirty thousand for each unit without magic stones?”

That sounds way too high. The cost of the raw materials for these things is just one thousand five hundred Guineas each after all. Even considering the total manufacturing costs, it’ll become twenty thousand Guineas at most. The price they quoted easily surpassed ten times the price of the raw materials. And here I thought ten times the price was already pushing it.

“That price seems too much. This is relatively simple to make. So how about twenty thousand Guineas for each unit without any magic stones included?”

“You really are not very familiar with the market value of magic tools, aren’t you Alan-san. Are you really fine with selling it to us for a mere twenty thousand each?”

Since the structure is simple, I’m sure there’ll be knock-offs appearing in the market before long. Of course I would be happy to make a lot of money, but I don’t want to do that at the expense of Tarus-san’s reputation.

“Let’s set the price to twenty thousand Guineas. It’s enough for me.”

“Alan-san. I am going to warn you again. Do not take this kind of attitude when talking to other merchants apart from me. They will easily take advantage of you. …Alright then. We shall purchase them for twenty thousand Guineas each. How many can you make? We shall purchase all that you can produce.”

“Let’s see. I guess about thirty units. I will deliver them in five days. Oh, and I’ll only be able to make them whenever I have the time, so please don’t expect a regular delivery schedule.”

“No, that will be fine. In fact, that would be better when launching out a new product. Since they will be rare goods, we can sell them for more. I’m sure we’ll make quite a tidy profit from selling them.”

“I see. Glad to hear that then.”

“Well then. Here is the payment for today’s business.” Jonas-san said.

He handed me six large gold coins and two regular gold coins. Oh, so they included the payment for the dryer sample I brought. I initially just wanted to use it for a presentation, but based on Tara-chan’s reaction, I guess it’s better for me to sell it as well. I’ll just make another one for my use later on. Hm. It’s my first time getting large gold coins as payment.

“Thank you. I’ll come again to deliver the goods.”

“Thank you very much for the business, Alan-san.”

I left Tarus-san’s manor and immediately shopped around for the materials in order to make those dryers. Like I said, making a hair dryer was pretty simple. Except for the housing and the switch, which have to be commissioned to an outside workshop, the fire-resistant paint, magic liquid for drawing the magic circle, and the magic output stones can all be easily purchased at the Guild.

I went to the workshop I was familiar with and placed an order for thirty five sets of housing and switches. Thirty of those are for the order, two are for me, Selena and Sharon, and three will be for spares. Because I was already a regular, the master of the workshop gave me a twenty percent discount.

Next, I need to head to the Magic Guild. I need to procure fire-resistant paint, magic liquid, and magic output stones. There were no other people inside the Guild building as usual.

“Morning, Lily. I’m here to purchase some materials.”

“Good morning, Alan-san. Chief! Alan-san came for a visit!”

Oh, right. It’s still morning, so the chief should be here as well. But she really didn’t need to call her though.

“It’s been a while, Alan.”

“Nice to see you, chief. I’m here to shop for materials today. I’ll be needing some fire-resistant paint, magic liquid, and magic output stones.”

Lily immediately went to the storeroom in order to fetch the materials I ordered.

“If you need that many materials, then I’m guessing you’ll be using them for an order?”

“Yeah, that’s right. I made a simple magic tool you see. I showed it to a merchant I know. He was really pleased with it and placed an order right away.”

“Can I ask what kind of magic tool it is?”

Oh boy. The magic circle and magic I used for the dryer were straight from the books used in the advanced course. Ah, let’s just wing it. I’ll just say I can remember anything I’m shown even once perfectly or something.

“It’s a magic tool that uses a compound Fire and Wind spell in order to release warm air. It’s used to dry hair that got wet after taking a bath.”

“As I thought, Alan, you’re capable of remembering the exact pattern of any magic circle you see, correct? I had a sneaking suspicion when you asked to see the course materials last time. You also learned about compound magic from there, right?”

Looks like she’s seen right through me from the beginning.

“Yeah. I have a really good memory.”

“So, how much are you selling that magic tool for?”

“My wholesale price is twenty thousand Guineas.”

“My, Alan-san. That’s a bit too cheap, I think.”

“Is that so? The cost for material is just one thousand five hundred Guineas, so I thought it was a fair price.”

“Well, I guess this can only apply to you, Alan. After all, the hardest part of making a magic tool is drawing the magic circle. It’s pretty normal to fail at drawing it several times for regular craftsmen, you know. You’re the only one I know who can draw magic circles perfectly without fail in the first try.”

Oh, right. When I draw magic circles, I just pretty much trace and fill out the patterns Nanom displays for me, so I had it quite easy. There’s next to no chance I’d fail drawing them.

“Can you sell me one as well, Alan? I’m really interested in studying what you came up with.”

“Of course, chief. Thank you very much. It’s a hit with the ladies I know, so I’m sure you’ll like it as well.”

Lily brought out the materials I ordered, so I paid for them straight away. The chief really looked happy when she received the payment.

“Okay then. I’ll come again after delivering the order and give you your share chief.”

“Are you not going to use the facilities on the second floor?”

“The structure is really simple, so I can make them easily back at the inn. But thank you for the offer.”

“I see. I’ll be waiting for your next visit then.”

After dropping off the fire-resistant paint at the workshop where I commissioned the housing and switches, I finally went back to the inn.

Great. I made about sixty thousand Guineas today. Once I finish delivering the dryers, I’ll get to earn another sixty two thousand Guineas. I’ll be able to afford Selena and Sharon’s salaries with this.

When I got back to the inn, I found the ladies having tea in the dining area as usual. It seems they were finished with the sparring. They were busy chatting with each other.

“Welcome back, Alan. Cleria-san and Elna-san are teaching us about swordsmanship.”

Oh boy! I totally forgot about that swordsmanship thing! It was a mistake to tell Cleria and Elna about that trippy ‘Corinth-style’ swordsmanship! Sharon and Selena are going to find out about my dark historyyy! But I guess I really can’t hide it from them for long anyway. I should just come clean with them when they do find out.

“We also want swords for ourselves. It seems pretty handed to have them on hand.” Selena requested.

“According to Elna-san, just having a sword with you will mostly prevent shady people from approaching you.” Sharon followed up.

I see. So it’s primarily for self-defence huh. Well, I guess even if Sharon and Selena had their rifles on them, most people from this planet were not familiar with them and didn’t know they were weapons, so there really was a good chance of some shady characters approaching them. It’s much the same as people from the empire being wary of guys with guns on them, more so if said guns were military models.

“Okay. Let’s buy some swords for you girls in the afternoon then.”

“That sounds perfect, Alan. I also wanted to check up on weapon shops myself.”

Uh, are swords actually expensive? I’m getting a really bad premonition here.