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nAnd then came my turn.

n“As for me, this is what I brought.” Ryouma

nWhat I placed on the table was the cleaner slime’s ‘Deodorizing Liquid’ and the shirt made from the sticky slime’s sticky thread, the stab-proof shirt. I needed products that were related to my laundromat, so I chose a deodorizing liquid and a shirt for my gifts.

nIn order to appeal to them, I included my own impressions of the shirt after using it all this time along with the explanation that Darson of the Tigger’s Arms Store gave me.

n“Thin and light. Even a woman would be able to easily wear this. It seems this material could also be fitted on the other side…” Elize

n“A relatively inexpensive stab-proof material… Moreover, one with performance on the level of metal spider threads. Adding these to the equipment of our territory’s soldiers might be a good idea.” Reinhart

nThere is a catch though. The material is hard to work with, and while it can block against cutting, it can’t block the impact. And if the enemy uses strengthening magic or ki reinforcement, then it might also not be able to their blades from cutting. I made sure to explain that to them.

n“It’s still worth considering, though. It takes a considerable amount of money and time to raise a single soldier… And even if it’s just one shirt, if you have to outfit an entire army with it, the prices quickly add up. But that’s also why good equipment is worth it if it means that a soldier will be able to come back home safely. …Of course, provided that the costs and the performance match.” Reinhart

n“Even just your consideration is more than enough for the craftsman to be elated, I believe.” Ryouma

n“We’ll follow up with you about this on a later date. But for the meantime, I’d like one prepared for each of our family’s members. I’ll give you the measurements later.” Reinhart

n“And this one here is your deodorizing liquid. A product made at your store.” Elize

n“Yes. It’s exactly the same as the ones sold at my store.” Ryouma

nRecently, demand for the deodorizing liquid has been rising.

nAmong the customers purchasing them are ones purchasing amounts obviously not for personal use.

nI read about that from the report from the Renauph Branch Store. I was curious, so I started investigating the matter, and I found out that they were being brought here, to the duke’s family. When I found that out, I decided to gift some to them as well. I have more deodorizing liquid with the maids. The one here is just a sample.

n“This is a big help. The servants will be happy to have this too. There have been a lot of guests lately and the smell of their perfume has been sticking to the furniture and to the clothes.” Elize

nTo be honest, I could have sent these to them if they just wrote to me in a letter…

n“I thought it wouldn’t be a good idea since we needed so much. And if we asked you, you’d probably give it to us for free.” Elize

n“Well, I can’t deny that, but… Alright. Next time, I’ll just give you some extra. As thanks for such a big order.” Ryouma

nIt is a product of the store, after all… And there are other customers too. But yeah. It’s true that I’m not really that attached to it, so I just vaguely smiled.

n“Serge, Pioro, and Ryouma-kun. Thank you for your wonderful presents. As thanks, won’t you have supper with us this evening? Do you have time?” Reinbach

nAs expected, it came. ‘A dinner invitation.’

nTo nobles, this is the season where merchants come one after another to seek their audience. Because of that they can’t spend too much time with just one person. The merchants understand this too, so when we meet the duke, we meet them in groups. We also can’t talk about anything too deep during this audience.

nBut should the merchant and the nobles wish to form a deeper connection, then the nobles will invite the merchants to a meal. A ‘meal’, which is an opportunity for a merchant to garner even more interest for his products, as well as make some small talk. Moreover, there is also a chance that one might be offered ‘to stay the night’. This is a kind of tacit understanding during this time between merchants and nobles. Carm-san fully briefed me on this matter.

nAs such…

n“I would love to accompany you this evening.” Ryouma

nI answered without any hesitation.

n“Great. I’ll inform the cook then.” Elize

nAfter that we left the room.

n“By the way, Ryouma-kun.” Elize

n“?” Ryouma

n…Or at least we were supposed to, but it seems there was still something they wished to discuss.

nI turned to the other two, who were used to greeting nobilities, but they didn’t know either.

n“Ryouma-kun, you’re good at making dolls, right?” Elize

n“I have been complimented at it.” Ryouma

nIt’s a story from before we parted at Gimuru. That brings back memories.

n“And you can sculpt statues of the gods too, right?” Elize

n“I do make them from time to time… Do you need some made?” Ryouma

n“Right. Rurutia-sama, Kufo-sama, and Willieris-sama. We need one sculpture for each of these gods. They need to be a little bigger than a real person. We’ll pay you 10 small gold coins per statue. If you can do it, I’d like to entrust this job to you.” Elize

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