The next day.
~Side Ryouma~
After the party yesterday, Carm-san and Carla-san excitedly announced, “We can start as early tomorrow!” Because of that we’re opening the store today.
The time is currently 5 AM.
“Yeah, this might be a bit too early…” [Ryouma]
I accidentally used earth as a basis for my work schedule. Those 2 probably won’t come until later.
Can’t be helped. Let’s kill some time with the slimes.
“Good morning, boss!” [Carla and Carm]
“Good morning, Carm-san, Carla-san. I look forward to working with you today.” [Ryouma]
When they came, I just did a little checking, then we immediately started preparations to open the store. I say ‘preparations’, but all we really did was to let the cleaner slimes enter the room and prepare some change and the bags.
It was Carm-san and Carla-san who brought the bags and the things they ordered this morning, so they’re already being very helpful.
“I’ll be going then.” [Ryouma]
“Take care.” [Carla and Carm]
I have my reservations about leaving the store to them right on the first day, but with leaflets and other advertising avenues being closed, I have no choice but to go to the adventurers and advertise the store myself.
Besides, Serge-san introduced some really reliable workers, so… I guess I’m not needed anymore? Well, that’s why I hired them in the first place.
While I thought that to myself, I dropped by my neighbor before heading to the guild. I have to tell Pauline-san that the store’s opened already.
“Excuse me, is anyone in?” [Ryouma]
The store was open, but no one was inside, so I called out. When I did, Pauline-san came out.
“Coming! Oh! If it isn’t Ryouma-kun. Did you come to buy some seeds again?” [Pauline]
“No. My store, Bamboo Forest Laundromat Agency, is opening today, so I thought I’d drop by to say hi.” [Ryouma]
“Oh. It’s opening already? That’s quick.” [Pauline]
“Yes. It’s thanks to everyone’s efforts. Last time, I handed out some free bags, so please consider using our services. Pleaes let Mary-san and Kiara-san know too. I’ve alerady informed the two employees working at the store.” [Ryouma]
“You hired some helpers?” [Pauline]
“Someone I know introduced them so I can leave the store to them while I work as an adventurer. I’ll also have to rely on my salary as an adventurer to pay their wages until the store gets going.” [Ryouma]
In the end, they even said, “We don’t need a salary as long as you let us work for you!!” But naturally, I couldn’t just let them do that. I’d feel sorry if I did… Honestly, I don’t really understand why they want to work at my store so badly. They’d probably get better wages and have more opportunities to show off their skills if they were ot work at Serge’s. Hmm… Maybe it’s because of my personal connections?
Regardless, it’s a huge help to have their support.
“With how big your store is, I guess it was necessary. Well, do your best. I’ll be rooting for you too, so I’ll give your store a try out today.” [Pauline]
“Thank you very much. Well then, I’ll be going to work.” [Ryouma]
After bidding her goodbye, I left the store and went to teh guild. As soon as I arrived, someone called out to me.
“Ryouma, your store is opening soon, yeah?” [Familiar Adventurer 1]
“How long before it opens?” [Familiar Adventurer 2]
“I wish you’d open it already~” [Familiar Adventurer 3]
I also looked for advise from the people I met in the carriage from the abandoned mine monster subjugation hunt. Apparently, those people were also looking forward to the opening of my laundromat.
“Bamboo Forest Laundry Agency is already open starting today.” [Ryouma]
“Really!?” [Familiar Adventurer 1]
“Yes. We also have a full-body wash that includes the armor and the weapons, so please give it a try.” [Ryouma]
“Alright! I’m definitely dropping by on the way home today!”
I purposelly replied to the adventurer in a loud voice for advertising purposes, then I went to the reception desk to get a herb collection job. I’ll do my rounds around the abandoned mine at the same time.
A few hours later.
I may have left the store in their care, but I was still worried, so I quickly concluded my job and came back.
When I did… the store was already jam-packed despite it being its opening day.
…Huh? T-There’s 20 people standing outside!!?
Panicking, I quickly entered the store, and Carla-san was there to greet me.
“Welcome… Boss!” [Carla]
“Carla-san, what’s the situation?” [Ryouma]
“The store’s a lot more popular than expected, Boss!” [Carla]
“Boss! The neighboring madams brought in their laundry!” [Carm]
Carm-san stepped out from the inner rooms of the laundromat, carrying bags of laundry, and said that.
Anyway, we need to do something about all these people!
“You two look after the customers. I’ll do all the carrying!” [Ryouma]
After giving that order, I started earnestly carrying the laundry and looking after the customers.
But even as we kept up that pace, the number of people still increased. What’s going on!?
In the end, it wasn’t until past 3 that the wave of customers ended. There’s still some customers left, but they’re not that many anymore. Unfortunately, it still takes a lot of times since we have to explain to every customer how the store works.
Apparently, the price I was charging really was low. The customers even had to ask stuff like ‘Are you really going to do my laundry for just that much?’ ‘You’re not going to charge me a separate fee after washing my clothes, are you?’… There were some people who refused to believe too, so it was quite troubling. At one point, so many people gathered that the guards had to drop by to check what was going on.
But that turned out to be a blessing, as the guard went to his boss afterwards and told him of my laundry agency. That boss dropped by and bought two bags and asked to enlist the 35 person course, so the guards could get their laundry washed.
Apparently, until last year the guards have been hiring someone to do their laundry, but the government office told them to cut down on expenses, so they had to stop. The captain of the guards said they were already fortunate that their salaries weren’t cut, but from the sound of things, he seemed a little unhappy about the government office too. Regardless, after that I was told that he’d enlist my service again if he things go well. Did I just get a big contract this early on?
But still… Since opening 8:00 this morning… I think I’ve spent about roughly 3 minutes per person. I don’t know when the customers are going to start coming again, but Carm-san and Carla-sanwork straight without drinking or eating?
…That’s pretty bad, right? I’m fine, but their body won’t hold… At this rate, this store is going to end up as some sort of slave business! I have to avoid that!! I stake it on my prevoius life!
“Good job, Carm-san, Carla-san.” [Ryouma]
“You too, Boss.” [Carm]
“There sure were a lot of people.” [Carla]
“Indeed… It’s a bit sudden, but more people is good, right?” [Ryouma]
“Yes, increasing our customers sooner should be good, but with the current workload, we we’ll need 4 or 6 employees just so they can take turns working and resting. We had to spend more time today because of all the explanations, but judging from the customers’ reaction, it shouldn’t be long before we’ll be as busy as today even without the explanations.” [Carla]
Carlas-san quickly told me how many people we would be needing.
“The customers were elated at the speed and quality of our store’s service, so it should be safe to assume that there’ll be more customers tomorrow. The guild should be able to introduce workers immediately, so long as you post a recruitment notice there, Boss.” [Carm]
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“How much would it cost me if I went ahead and hired some new hands?” [Ryouma]
“120 to 150 suits per day should be enough. That much can allow a person to live normally and even have some left over to save. An initial salary at this level is a very attractive proposal, so people should gather quickly.” [Carla]
“It should be possible to hire some hands for cheaper, but we’re currently in an emergency, so we need to hire new employees ASAP.” [Carm]
“Alright. I’ll go the guild now. The sooner we get those new hadns, the better, after all.” [Ryouma]
“Take care, Boss!” [Carm and Carla]
I decided to trust in the twins’ unfaltering opinion and hurriedly left the store. Solving problems as quickly as possible is best, atfer all.
But just when I was about to leave the store, I happened upon a neighbor of mine, carrying a huge bag, as three others accompanied her.
“Oh, Ryouma-kun.” [Pauline]
“Pauline-san, Leni, Rick, Zeke-san. I see you’ve all gathered today. What are you carrying?” [Ryouma]
“Why we were thinking of getting our laundry washed at your place, of course. We have a butcher, so we have no shortage of clothes stained in blood.” [Zeke]
It was Zeke-san who answered. He was Pauline-san’s husband and worked right next to her flower shop. I used Zeke’s meat for the all the dishes I served during my party.
Normally, when it comes to butchers, anime love to depict them as this muscular giant of a man, but Zeke-san is the exact opposite. He’s not too bad vertically speaking, but he’s thin. Actually, he’s straight up lanky. In fact, he’s so thin, he looks like he’d topple over were a breeze of wind blow him. He’s an unhealthy looking guy.
“I heard your laundry agency could make these bloodstained scraps good again.” [Pauline]
“We were planning to buy some new threads, so we figured we might as well try and getting these washed.” [Zeke]
“Thank you. If I may ask something unrelated, do you have servants at your place?” [Ryouma]
“If you include me, we have 10 all in all.” [Zeke] [1]
“In that case, we have a course catered for groups of more than 7. Please consider taking advantage of it, as it’s a lot cheaper, costing only 1 medium copper coin and 8 small copper coins for one bag meant for 14 persons’ worth of clothes.” [Ryouma]
“Really? That’s great.” [Pauline]
“We’ll go with that then.” [Zeke]
While I was doing some sales talk, Rick interjected.
“Ryouma-kun what are you doing? You playing hooky?” [Rick]
“Ha ha ha, it probably looks like that to you, but I’m actually on my way to the merchant guild.” [Ryouma]
“Really?” [Leni]
It was Leni who asked that last question.
“The store’s a lot more popular than expected, so now I have to go out and get ourselves more hands.” [Ryouma]
“You’re kidding! On the store’s first day!?” [Leni]
“Honestly, I did promote the store a little, but I never expected it would be received this well.” [Ryouma]
“I’m shocked. That many people came?” [Pauline]
“Yes, our two employees have been working since morning without rest. They went 7 hours straight just like that.” [Ryouma]
After that I left the four and went to the merchants guild. There, I was immediately brought to the reception room, and the guild master came.
“Welcome. Isn’t your store opening today? Did something bad happen?” [Grisiera]
“Well, the store’s a bigger hit than expected. ThanKs to that I need some new helpers.” [Ryouma]
“On the first day? Well, I’m stumped. Even I didn’t expect that… So, I guess you’re here to get more people. Alright. I’ll get a group of candidates that can work as early as tomorrow. You can pick from those.” [Grisiera]
No sooner than the guild master said that, she was out of the room, and I was made to wait in the reception room.
After being informed that the candidates have been gathered, I was led to the meeting room.
Inside was a group of all sorts of people from young to old, from male to female, from human to something else…
Hmm?
“…” [??? and ???]
There’s a strange pair… They glanced at me, but they quickly changed their gaze’s direction forward.
Am I also being appraised? There were also others who glanced at me, but as if they lost interest, they turned their gaze away…
“Everyone here has been taught the basics of arithmetic. You can use anyone here for your store.” [Grisiera]
“Alright. Good day, everyone. My name is Ryouma Takebayashi, and I own Bamboo Forest Laundry Agency. Thank you for taking the time to show up despite your busy schedule.” [Ryouma]
The crowd stirred a little when I said that. From the subdued voices, it seems they thought I was the servant of the their would be employer.
So they weren’t appraisin me. Well, I do look like an 11 year-old kid…
Some of the people in the room quickly relaxed after my greeting. I ignored those and asked them.
“Umm, before we start, I’d like to ask everyone a question. Is there anyone here with a problem working at my store?” [Ryouma]
Bit by bit, more and more voices of dissension raised up. It was mostly the younger ones.
Although we’re in dire need of workers, that doesn’t mean I’m about to take in people who don’t want to work for me because of my age or uncooperative people. Because of this it’s best to leave the talk of wages last. It would be troublesome if people just gathered because the salary is high. There’s a lot of candidates too, so reducing their numbers shouldn’t hurt.
The people who didn’t want to work for me left. I wasn’t about to force them to work for me, so I had them leave.
One, two, three… Huh?
The wave of people leaving won’t stop. Are they in such a hurry to leave? Normally, wouldn’t you at least go through the interview? Although, I was the one who told them they could go…
In the end about 83% of the candidates left, and now, just 5 are left. I can somewhat understand why those left, but…
Anyway, I thanked the people that stayed behind.
“I take it the remaining 5 are willing to work at my store. For that I thank everyone here that you’re willing to work at my store despite my youth.” [Ryouma]
After bowing, I started talking.
“Let’s get to business then. My store, Bamboo Forest, is currently looking for people to carry luggage. You’ll only be carrying clothes, so even a woman won’t have any problems doing the job. If there’s anything to take note of, it’s that I’m a monster tamer. I consider my slimes a part of my workforce, so there will be slimes inside the store.” [Ryouma]
Upon saying that, the remaining five were shocked. Being a monster tamer isn’t anything special, but appparently, they didn’t expect that someone would actually use slimes as a part of his workforce.
“Which is why, if there are people here scared of or hate slimes, it’ll probably be difficult for you to work with me.” [Ryouma]
When I said that, a woman raised her hand.
“Yes?” [Ryouma]
“Are you using those slimes because you don’t have enough hands? Or are you going to be using them even after hiring more workers?” [Woman Candidate]
“I will still be using them even after hiring workers. This might offend some people, but at my store, the slimes are your coworkers.” [Ryouma]
At that, the woman who raised her hand and another woman and man left. Although it was a slime, apparently, they didn’t want to work with a monster, so they left. With this all that’s left is a middle-aged man and a young woman.
Is this all I have left to interview? Did I handle this wrongly?
Although these people were only gathered with the criteria that they could work as soon as tomorrow, it’s still shocking that I was left with only two in the end… I mean sure giving them a bunch of yes or no questions made everything go quick, but… Now, there’s just two left.