episode_0036

The days of diligently gathering black magic and practicing black magic lasted about a week.

Of course, the goblin and orc skeletons in the blacksmith shop didn’t stop swinging their hammers and producing items.

Black magic was increasing, black magic skills were increasing, more items were available for sale, and the amount of money he had was also increasing.

Of course, there was no decrease. The raw materials piled up in the warehouse decreased, and money also decreased, albeit slightly. Although capital continues to increase thanks to people buying things, it is time to pay Ziena. The moment the steadily rising capital is paid, the brief decrease means it is decreasing.

“Now, salary. Incentives are here.”

Although I felt regretful, I had no intention of breaking my promise. They each put into their pockets 2,500 med, which was the pre-arranged salary, and about 1,000 med, which was an incentive for the items Ziena sold.

As soon as she received the pocket, Jiena took a peek inside and saw that she was smiling brightly.

“Keep working hard in the future.”

“Yes! I’ll work hard!”

Although she had only just taken the first step on a long journey, Jiena seemed to feel some hope in that and was very happy. He even muttered that if he did this, he would be able to escape slavery in about 70 years, not 100 years. I could even hear a little bit of him talking to himself about what he would do once he was free from slavery.

Seeing that he seemed like he would quit his job as soon as he was freed from slavery, he decided to find a way to persuade Jiena somehow. I didn’t mind escaping my status as a slave, but I couldn’t tolerate escaping from my status as an employee.

Of course, since that was still decades away, it was a matter that could be considered slowly. There must be some way.

“Ziena. It’s okay to like things for money, but you have to take care of customers, right?”

“Oh! welcome! It’s Smith Skeleton!”

Still, right now, I was working hard and doing well, so I was very satisfied.

It was clear that Jiena would bring me benefits beyond the salary I paid. And, it didn’t take long for it to turn out that it wasn’t just a prediction. Even though only a few days had passed, the net profit from the items sold by Jiena exceeded Jiena’s salary and incentives.

But it seemed like I couldn’t be comfortable and full of only good things forever.

This is because the sales volume of new products was gradually but noticeably decreasing. Until now, shelves had to be restocked every day, but now there are times when there are items that no longer need to be refilled.

In particular, sales of items such as kitchen knives and small farm tools, which had been considered profitable products until now, were falling. Since it was the best-selling product, we were producing it the most, and even the inventory was gradually increasing.

I was wondering why sales were decreasing, so I checked in various ways, and the reason was simpler than I thought.

The reason was that the demand for the products decreased because most of the people who needed the products I had created so far had purchased them. As products were released to the limit in the limited market, demand was starting to bottom out.

Although bundle merchants and merchants were purchasing them and distributing them to the surrounding area, they were not enough to absorb all of what was supplied from my blacksmith shop.

At least this village, that village, this city, that city. Thanks to the mercenaries moving like water and the wind, purchasing goods, the minimum demand was maintained.

Of course, that didn’t mean the blacksmith shop was in danger of going bankrupt. This is because, instead of a decrease in demand, the number of cases of entrusting maintenance of previously purchased items has increased. Requests came in for things like sharpening blades or returning bent iron products to their original state. The costs incurred in the process were considerable. Sales generated when selling goods are profits only after deducting the cost of raw materials, but maintenance costs are profits in and of themselves.

Thanks to this, even if the production and sales of new products were drastically reduced and maintenance was continued, it was possible to live happily in this village for several decades. However, I had no intention of settling for this situation because it was better to live a life worthy of royalty in the capital, rather than living in the village.

“I need to start a branch.”

So the idea that came to mind was to expand the market. If our village and the surrounding area were a market, it was enough to include other villages or cities in the market. It was obvious that there would be an abundance of raw materials in just a few days, so expanding the market would not be a problem.

“… … But how do you calculate the branch points?”

However, expanding the market itself has become an obstacle. They said they would expand the market by opening a branch and selling products to other regions, but there were questions about how to create or manage the branch.

As I had thought in the past, I thought about creating an unmanned store where you could press the ribs of a skeleton and pay for the goods, but I thought it was still too early. In our village, where skeletons are familiar, there were many people in other places who would be horrified to see skeletons.

“I would rather have Jiena at the branch… … . No, no.”

I thought it would be okay to send Jiena to the branch, but sending Jiena, who could be considered the manager of the main branch, because sales were low was not a good choice.

However, there were many obstacles to finding new slaves. A considerable amount of money and time was spent on purchasing and training, and managing it by placing a curse to prevent one from thinking about other things was also limited. It may be okay to manage a slave like Jiena from a close distance and be away often, but it is not a good idea to leave a slave alone in a place where you may not be able to care for it for a long period of time.

As I was thinking about what on earth I should do, I heard a bit of a commotion outside the blacksmith shop.

“Is there really no way? If you don’t have that, where can I get the stuff now?”

“Think again. What if I give up immediately after failing once?”

“The item you requested is… … . Oh, you didn’t get it? Then it’s difficult.”

The sound coming from outside the blacksmith shop felt quite chaotic. It almost sounded like something had happened.

Wondering what the hell was going on, I opened the store door slightly with Jienna, who was also showing curiosity, and looked at the situation outside.

And, I could see countless people coming out onto the streets and expressing their difficulties. As I was looking around carefully to see why, a slightly familiar face caught my eye. In other words, it was a top-tier stock that could be said to be the VIP of our blacksmith shop.

“… … Warlock. It’s been a while.”

“Yes, it’s been a while. But what happened?”

However, the appearance of the upper class was quite serious. He must have been seriously injured, so he had bandages wrapped around his body, and he frowned as if it hurt every time he moved.

“There was a monster attack on the way here. It was originally a safe zone where all the monsters had been wiped out, but I don’t know what happened, but a group of orcs settled in. We were attacked by these guys and lost most of our wagons and ran away to the village.”

Fortunately, thanks to the hard work of the mercenaries, they were able to wipe out all the monsters, but the owner of the merchant said that the damage suffered in the process was severe. Not only was the wagon damaged, the food was trampled by the orcs, and the fabric was torn as the wagon was smashed.

“Then the villagers are in a fuss right now… … ?”

“Actually, it’s like losing almost all of my assets, so I think I should close the top here.”

The owner of the merchant said that there was no possibility of restoring the merchant with the money he had now, and that he would give up on operating the merchant and dismantle the merchant.

Hearing those words, I could understand why people were uproar right now. This was the only merchant that regularly visited the village to sell necessary items, but they were worried because they said that the merchant was disbanding. It was the upper level’s job to obtain things such as insufficient supplies and necessary medicine.

And, of course, I was among the people who suffered when the top was disbanded. This is because high-quality iron ore and raw materials such as coal and charcoal needed to make iron using the iron ore were obtained through the upper level. If the top was dismantled, I would have to move around to get the items.

In addition, the top deals in large quantities at a time in order to sell the products I make to outside parties, and if the top is disbanded, that will disappear. It was as if the opportunity to create a large volume of transactions at once had disappeared.

Since it was not a situation that could be said to be completely unwelcome, I tried to somehow persuade the merchant owner to allow me to run the merchant merchant again.

“But how about trying again? Let me give you some support. If we sell our blacksmith products in other cities, we can make quite a profit.”

“I really appreciate the suggestion, but honestly, I’m exhausted. It’s no longer difficult to worry that thieves will appear every time I go uphill or that monsters will attack me while I sleep. I would like to open a small store in the city and live comfortably.”

The owner of the top immediately shook his head despite the offer of support. No matter how much I tried to cajole, it seemed like he wouldn’t let go.

However, the words of the owner of the merchant caught me a bit. The words that I wanted to open a store were not leaving my ears.

“You want to open a store?”

“Yes. I haven’t decided on a business yet, but since I have experience running a business, I’m thinking about running something like a proper general store. It deals only with goods produced and consumed within the city. I hate going outside anymore.”

It was the owner of the top who even closed his eyes and shook his head as if he would never give up his will.

But I had thought of another plan that could benefit me. I was planning to open a branch, but I was planning to entrust the branch to the owner of the business. The idea was to give goods in return for money as if doing business with a merchant, and have the merchant sell and manage them in the city with a small markup.

It was a win-win because I could get a branch that would generate steady sales, and the merchant could run a stable store in a safe city.

As I brought up the topic, the owner of the top also began to show interest.

“But, I can’t buy things here, right? As I said before, I don’t want to go out and wander around in dangerous places, even because of this experience.”

“Oh, don’t worry about that. If you ask in advance and pay for it, they will even provide transportation. There may be a freight charge compared to previous transactions.”

“… … Are you saying that you even deliver directly?”

“In the current situation, I have to move anyway. If the upper part is dismantled, you have to move it yourself to get coal and charcoal. I can’t not use it, but since I can’t buy it nearby, I have to go get it myself.”

Coal and charcoal were items that had been obtained through merchants until now. They would stop at other cities, bring back coal and charcoal, and sell it to me with a small margin. However, when the top disappeared, there was a need to move directly to obtain coal and charcoal.

It was a better option to just move directly when it was time to recruit and appease other merchants to come to town. In that case, it would be more profitable to move various materials in that condition.

In order to operate a blacksmith shop not just at the village scale, but at the city and even country level, a logistics system was needed anyway. At this time, the plan was to lay the foundation for the logistics system and create a larger market to handle the blacksmith’s volume.