Otoko Nara Ikkokuichijou no Aruji o Mezasa Nakya, ne? Chapter 281

Year 7446, Month 12, Day 28

After traveling to the capital the other day, everyone split up to do their own things, the faster ones even left last night. One night pa.s.sed into this morning, after breakfast Miduchi and I went to the sausage factory and then she left go shopping saying, "I'm going to Tukerin-san's place for greetings with a bit of a "year-end gift"." I said I would pay a visit to Tukerin's clinic after I finished my business as well so we'll meet up there.

First off is going to the castle with brother and the others to make rubber deliveries.

With this we've almost completely finished taking orders from the first knight group. Starting next time we have orders for four suits of armor from the first knight group and the remaining seven suits are all from the second knight group. Though I say that, it's not as if this is the end of our relations.h.i.+p with the first knight group. Only about 60% of the knights and squires have purchased the rubber armor our family makes.

I'm sure the remaining 40% will order a suit even if their current armor is still usable once the period comes where they can get the subsidy from the knight group and there's some people who are already using it that will probably buy a new suit again in seven years when they can receive the subsidy again.

In comparison to the leather and metal armor that they've used up until now it's a flaw that rubber armor runs out of durability in fewer years. However, the merits are that it's cheaper than metal armor, light, and the defense isn't all that lower, furthermore the cost of repairs are so cheap it's not even worth comparing them. It's really great that it's thanks to that we were able to form and maintain this business relations.h.i.+p for so long.

It's unfortunate that it's not as flashy as platemail and full plate armor, so it's not very good for appearances. Probably just in that regard no matter how effort we put into it I don't think we can win. Well, ebonite plate has a pretty good gloss to it as well. Though the color is just a bit..It's too plain.

That's why for the above-mentioned reason there will definitely remain a need for metal armors. Certainly I'm sure that by being pressured by our rubber armor the number of orders they'll get will fall considerably compared to before but they'll never run out completely. Adding to that as well, after all the defensive capability of metal armor is still higher. Though it's heavy. Of course, there was also the idea to just add a thin layer of metal to the surface of the plate portions as well.

However, if we end up going that far...I already discussed this with brother and father before but we came to the conclusion it wouldn't be very profitable.

It's better to just gradually spend a number of years continuing to push the name of the {Bakuddo Brand}. In regards to the production amount as well, even if we increase it it's thought that around double the current amount, or at greatest 2.5 times more would be the limit. Even then in the next 10 or 20 years we should be the largest armor maker in the country. I wanted to wedge into a corner of the oligopoly of the market and control it to some extent but it's not like I want to buy resentment from monopolizing it.

In any case, starting next time we'll primarily be doing business with the second knight group. Unlike the first knight group which can receive a subsidy payment every seven years for half the price of their individual equipment, the second knight group only gets a 30% subsidy everyone seven years so it's expected that the percentage of members who make orders will be far less than the first knight group.

However, the total number of members is a completely different set of digits. In the second knight group there's five times the amount of cavalry knights than the first knight group at 500 people. Even when it comes to the infantry squires they have 20 times the number at 1,000 people. If it were to come to the third or fourth knight groups then the number of people increases even further. Supposedly there's no subsidy for personal equipment for the third and fourth knight groups but even then when it comes time for them to replace their armor I think that eventually about 10% would purchase our armor.

If we take the order cycle into consideration then I don't think there would be any major effects on the market even if we raise the number of orders we take by a few suits next year. After all, it seems that a workshop that makes platemail from start to finish is at it's limit with just two suits per year. Even when it comes to the specialized workshops at best they can manage five suits. That's why it's extremely expensive. It's far too expensive so there's countless knights who can't afford it and end up just enduring with splintmail, bandedmail, scalemale, or even in the worst case just chainmail.

The people who were aiming to deal with are those sorts of people or those who dislike metal armor because of the weight. Even in the first knight group, I'm sure there's probably people that won't purchase our armor because it's too plain. But, almost all of the people that don't use rubber armor say they're envious of light armor. Though I'd be happy if the number of customers increase.

................................

After splitting up with brother and the others who are returning to the company I started heading towards Sandak Company. I wanted to ask about the progress of that one ring and about the magic nullifying amulet.

First off, in regards to the ring but I was handed a sealed letter. There's a family crest of some place on the wax seal but I'm not familiar with family crests so it doesn't matter at all. I don't have much interest in which places n.o.ble wants to purchase it.

"Fufu...You're well versed in the moral code even though you're young."

After simply saying a single line of, "Please allow me to take a look at it." and without taking a very good look at the family crest, immediately opening the seal and taking the letter out, the company president commented that when I was placing the envelope on the table so the family crest can't be seen. That's right. I have no intention of breaking into Sandak Company's business area at all.

I gave a single bow to the praise and opened the letter.

..To the seller of this ring,

First off, I'm very grateful to you for selling such an extremely valuable magic item.
Also, in regards to how the ability of the ring is determined, I was able to confirm if it actually displayed the expected effects after being equipped. Once again after that by confirming using a special type of spell, I was able to identify that it was a genuine magic item. The ability of it is the recovery of life force. The recovery itself is only at the degree of somewhat promoting the recovery of injuries but there's no difference in the fact that it's of great value.

Once again, I'm grateful from the bottom of my heart that you were willing to sell such a precious item as this to me.

Kingdom of Rombert, Minister of the Right, Marquis of Daurain, Zotoruto..

Well, writing your name on the letter is etiquette even on Orth right.
It can't be helped reading something that's written down.

And, what?!?

Mentioning the name Marquis of Dasurain and that's one of the current ministers.
He's otherwise known as the Head Magician of the Royal Court.
The Director of the Department of Royal House.
He's famous to the point where even I know his name.

Though I have a stronger image of him as a pitiful old man with few remaining years left that was brushed away by Baron Logan when he was begging sister to show him her spells, but as a minister, he's one of those who rules at almost the top in management and politics.
Though I don't know if his abilities are used on the political end.

Additionally mentioning it but just like many ministers in the past, the period he's stayed in office isn't short.
For example, different from his long period of over 10 years in office, the prime minister or Minister of the Left, switched leaders.h.i.+p after a short period of only 2 years in office a couple of years back.
If I remember correctly it was a cousin of the King or something that doesn't even have a proper territory and was just a Duke in name.
Furthermore, the family head of the of the Sandak family is one of the Ministers of the Right, and also holds the position of director of the Department of Territorial Affairs, in essence he's the cabinet minister of dealing with territories. Though officially it was territory record keeper or something like that I think it was.

"..!"

Seeing how I was at loss for words the company president made a gentle smile and said, "I'm guessing you're surprised after finding out who the buyer is, right?"

"..No..Well, I was surprised though.."

Well, just that.
Certainly I was surprised at Marquis Dasurain's name but..Rather than something like that, I'm more interested in this "special type of spell".
This, I'm sure he wouldn't teach me it even if I ask...

Though it would be fine if he just shows me as he uses it once.

"You don't need to worry about it. Since you're being that careful I doubt you would directly try to deal with them in person. It's not strange at all for their name to be written on the letter."

The company president said that but if I can get the chance I'd like to request that he teach me the "special type of spell" or even just show it to me. Of course, if we were doing some kind of business transaction then I have no complaints about going through Sandak Company at all.

Furthermore, in regards to the magic nullifying amulet they're still giving out advance notice about the auction and gauging what kind of reactions they can get for it. Just like this, after gathering information on the initial reaction they'll decide on an actual end date for the bidding as well as the minimum bid price at the same time, then they'll formally send out notice for the auction to start once again.

"It's expected to reach a considerable price."

The company president said while making a pleased face.
It seems he can't disclose what kind of price it could reach to me yet.
If it's too low(less than 100,000,000) then I wonder if it's possible not to sell it?
But it's also good to experience the so-called auction at least once right.

....................................

Before the evening I made preparations to receive the payment and made plans to visit again, just like that I started on my way towards the clinic that the dark elf Tukerin runs. It's still fresh in my how pleased he was three months ago when I tried sounding out selling Baldoggie to them.

After arriving at the clinic and Miduchi who didn't accompany me to the castle or company was drinking tea while chatting with Tukerin and his wife. On the table there's a wooden box filled with sweets from some high cla.s.s store that she purchased as a year-end gift and the contents appear to have already disappeared. Since they're all from the same country, I guess they have plenty of things to talk about. It seems they didn't discuss anything business related until I arrived. That's just like Miduchi.

"Greed-dono. Just the other day, I received contact from my country. If it's possible then I'd be happy if you can sell us 3,500 Baldoggie every month but.."

It might just be my imagination but Tukerin's correspondence feels like it's gotten a bit more polite.
However, just 3,500 of them..Is that all they need?
It's an amount that the current factory can produce just by operating through one of the days off.
I reflexively looked at Miduchi's face but she was nodding with a face as if there's no problem.
Eh?
They increased the number of caravan trips to the capital of Rombertia?
Just for this?

If I remember correctly they have a number of dark elf warriors escorting each carriage right..Since it's weight reaches close to 400kg I guess it would almost completely fill a single carriage huh?

"Of course there's no problem at all. Ah, also, if you wrap them in an airtight rubber cloth and then pack that into linen bags they'll remain delicious to eat even at room temperature for two months. I guarantee it."

I think it's probably fine even at two and a half months but just in case I reported it a bit shorter.

"Oh! That is splendid! It's a great help if the quality can be maintained for a long time."

"And then, what should we do about the flavors? Since there's five types do you want 700 of each or all of them in the same flavor?"

After asking that Tukerin was a bit embarra.s.sed as he said, "I would like to request that they're all normal Baldoggie." Yeah. Well I'm sure it's also a matter of individual preferences so that might be the best for starting things off. Ah, or maybe he's embarra.s.sed because they're cheapest? Something like that, I'm not bothered over it at all.

"Also, in regards to the price but is it really fine to sell them to us at 30% of the market price?"

"Yeah, of course it is. It was a request from her, Miduchi, after all. I didn't even take into consideration trying to profit."

Rather~ even if I were to sell them at the market price, normal Baldoggie are 300 Z each.
It's not even enough for the profit to reach 1 gold coin(1,000,000 Z).
It's not like I need to pay the slaves a higher rate for overtime pay working on the holidays so I'm not particularly losing anything, if he's pleased with it then that's all the better.

I told him that if he gives us a notice of the amount they want about 10 days before the expected delivery of the goods then that's fine and left the clinic.

After this is..Ah, that's right.
I need to buy iron ores and the various other ores.
Also, it's the most important thing but it's only obvious for Ra.s.segu and the others as well as the Yotlen family, I need pay the taxes for all of the employees of the {Slaughterers}. When we get back to the company I'm sure Miduchi and I will be flooded with calculations and office work for the rest of today and tomorrow. So troublesome~ I want a calculator.

................................

Year 7447, Month 1, Day 5

Starting tomorrow we're entering the dungeon again.

Things were pretty busy during this New Year holiday.

After confirming the account book and deliveries at the end of the year and taking care of the payment of taxes, Miduchi and bought a large amount of dried fish before entering the dungeon and went to Mila-s.h.i.+sho's place to do magic training. Even after we returned, just like that we flew straight back to the capital again and had to charter a pa.s.senger carriage to carry all of the metal ores I ordered in ma.s.s from the large companies in the capital to our inn.

After that we started doing spell training for the new spells we learned from s.h.i.+sho, {Pyrotechnics}, {Grave.Strike}, and {Ground.Smoke}. Incidentally, I tried asking about the "special type of spell" that was written on the letter from Marquis Dasurain during our training at the end of the year but it was extremely disappointing that Mila-s.h.i.+sho had no idea at all.

If I remember correctly then according to sister, Marquis Dasurain's void magic skill level was just about 7 or somewhere around there so even if it's really "special" I don't think there's any reason why I wouldn't be able to learn it.

Though at the very least, putting aside the extremely advanced spells that the G.o.ds use, I once again reaffirmed that Mila-s.h.i.+sho and the fairies can't cover for every spell that exists in this world. Though even if that is the case there's no difference that she's our important s.h.i.+sho.

Now then, I've already finished making preparations for tomorrow, time to sleep.

"{Pyrotechnics}" Alteration
(Earth Magic Lv 1, Fire Magic Lv 3, Void Magic Lv 4, Consumed MP 10+ Differs based on the type)
A base flame is necessary for the spell to activate(it's fine for the base flame to be one produced with magic or a natural flame).
Firework type: Cause a bright multi-colored explosion of light to happen in an instant and while it will brilliantly burn up it won't be a.s.sociated with any sound. Any living creature that sees this light within a distance of 30 meters has a possibility of temporarily entering a state of blindness.
Smokescreen type: smoke gushes forth from the base flame and forms a smokescreen covering an area of 10 meters. This smokescreen continues for 1 minute times the level of the caster(it's possible for the caster to cancel it at will). Inside of the smokescreen whether it be Infrared vision, X-ray vision, or any vision type skill they won't be able to see through the other side of the smokescreen. All living creatures that enter the smokescreen have a possibility of receiving a penalty of -4 to Strength and Speed. These effects last until the smokescreen dissipates or 2-5 minutes after the target moves out of the range of the smoke.

"{Grave.Strike}" Enchantment.Necromantic
(Earth Magic Lv 3, Fire Magic Lv 3, Wind Magic Lv 1, Void Magic Lv 5, Consumed MP 12)
The caster can surround one desired weapon(otherwise their own fists) that they're touching in a magic sunlight. The brightness is only half that of the spell {Light}. This weapon imbued with light will have a special attack power added when used against {Undead.Monsters} and become a powerful anti-Undead weapon(double damage). The duration of the effect is the level of the caster times 5 seconds.

"{Ground.Smoke}" Alteration.Enchantment
(Earth Magic Lv 1, Wind Magic Lv 1, Void Magic Lv 3, Consumed MP 5)
Allows a volume of smoke equal to the level of the caster times 0.1m^3 produced from a flame to be absorbed into the ground directly under it. The absorption has no effect if there's no ground below it. It's a spell that makes the smoke from a campfire more difficult to find.