Earth Dungeon 32.2

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Chapter 32.2. Vegetables

This time, I ignore Shizuku, who is swimming backstroke, and invite Karin into the room.

"Don't you want to make ice pillars?"

It's early summer, but it must still be hot for a cat. Hananashi looks around the room and pouts. I understand how she feels. I've done it once before too. Putting ice pillars in the room to keep it cool, right?

"If you do that, the room gets humid. It's a pain to clean up the mold, you know."

I bring a glass from the kitchen, use magic to create ice, and hand it to Hananashi. When she looks at the glass, she tilts her head in confusion.

"Do you have any water?"

[Heat]

I press my finger against the ice and send heat into it, causing it to crumble into a sherbet-like texture. I put the sherbet in my mouth. Mmm, it's even more delicious than ice.

"...I'm no longer surprised by what you do-nya?"

With a crunchy texture and delicious taste, Karin eats the sherbet. And we relax together.

[Please reserve those couple-like actions for just the two of us.]

Shizuku jumps onto my lap, her thin legs patting against it, and she protests with upturned eyes. It's a good thing she's not flesh and blood, or people might suspect my sexual preferences. She's adorable, though.

[It's fine. Some 12-year-old isekai people marry diplomats. I thought that diplomat's career had stopped there.]

[If there's such a diplomat, let me know. I want to learn from them.]

[Give me a pearl necklace as a present. That will raise the flag..]

[Heh heh. Good one.]

Exchanging banter through our thoughts, when I see Karin yawn, I decide to bring up the topic. She might take a nap like a kitten.

"Karin, this is the sales report for this month. It's for three weeks, but the end of the month is fine, right?"

"I'll take a look-nya."

I hand her a bundle of papers, and Karin takes them seriously. The catgirl starts to sway her tail and begins to examine the papers.

"The profit margin...is low-nya? Only 20%. But the sales revenue is skyrocketing. When I first heard about it, I thought no one would sell their cores, but everyone is coming to sell-nya."

She glances at me with a questioning look, and I shrug my shoulders. Well, that's obvious. There's no reason for them not to come to sell.

"On an individual level, it's hard to gather enough cores to trade for store items. It's difficult to survive on just bread. If they can exchange it for money, they'll gladly do it. It's hard for a fisherman to sell directly to customers without an intermediary, right?"

"Well, that's true-nya. The more intermediaries there are, the more profitable it is."

Nyafufu, Karin, who has received additional income from her dealings with me, smirks triumphantly. However, she quickly furrows her brow with a troubled expression.

"But the sales are unexpectedly too good-nya. At this rate, we will run out of available vegetables-nya." 

"I see. Is there any way to solve that?"

The documents include the sales figures for the past three weeks. The sales for the first week were 620,000 yen, the second week was 930,000 yen, and the third week was 1,520,000 yen. These figures are if we count the purchase price of cores, labor costs, participation fees for hunting tours, and the sales of dishes and vegetables. The hired employees earn a daily wage ranging from 500 to 2,000 yen. Finally, Karin receives a 20% share of the procurement expenses as compensation. The net profit is approximately 20%.

There are about 700,000 yen in my possession, and the rest is allocated to Karin to buy vegetables and flour. If she were to run off with the money, I would deal with that situation when it happens. It would be unfortunate for Karin, but I want to believe she understands that.

"The area around Amatsugahara Corporation has calmed down in monster attacks, and employees are patrolling, so there are fewer occurrences-nyan. And the rumors about the market in the abandoned city are spreading rapidly. I can handle a maximum of 2 million yen worth of weekly transactions-nyaan. Anything beyond that will attract unwanted attention-nya"

"That's not good, we're in quite a predicament. Is there no other way?" 

Leaning back on the sofa, I wear a troubled expression. That's an extremely troublesome situation.

"If it's seeds or seedlings, we can be flexible and increase the number of fields for cultivation-nya."

"But that won't be enough in time."

"Well, if that's the case, I already know the answer-nya. We should buy the wheat flour and vegetables being circulated by those in the nearby outer city-nya. From what I've investigated, they're being bought at much higher prices by Sakimori than what I can offer-nyan. Oops, I shouldn't have said that-nyaan." 

She says, hiding her mouth behind her hand and laughing to cover it up. But this exchange was what I anticipated. And the next exchange, I wonder.

"I can introduce you to those officials if you want-nya. In return, I want 5% of the purchase price from you-nya. As the amount increases in the future, it's a reasonable fee-nya. Isn't passive income wonderful-nyaan?" 

Karin winks and suggests, and I squint my eyes and nod in agreement. She's quick on her feet.

"All right, that works. Make the introduction."

"Thank you for your swift decision-nyaa. I already have a contact-nyan. Are you okay with potentially attracting the attention of the influential people in the outer town-nyaa?"

"Well, it's a path we can't avoid in the future. It's not a problem."

I should establish connections through this transaction. And then, shortly after, the store will expand its lineup. If I suddenly expand the lineup right after starting the market and face difficulties in procuring groceries, it would raise suspicion. It's best to wait until after the transaction is complete.

Well, it's been a while since I've visited the outer town. I'm sure something interesting awaits me there.