162 5.51 Shibata. So Far And Yet So Expensive!

+-==Meanwhile Miroku and Kami==-+

After making 4 stops of one hour break every 3 hours of hard horseback riding, our horses and their bodies could really take a break especially when we were riding since 11 am. We had 2 breaks earlier and decided to set up camp when it was after dark and had found a great location near a raised river bank.

They fished and grilled it over an open fire and ate onigiri. Their horses were lead to the riverbank to drink and offered some corn for the 2 breaks. The had tied the horses near some overgrown grass that was not affected by the end of winter snow and let them grazed peacefully.

They would rest after and suggest taking a 2-hourly watch and break camp right on first light. The night passed without any forms of disturbances, and as soon as the break of dawn, they broke camp and continued their journey.

When the reached the town of Shibata, it was almost 9 am. They trotted inside and had a stable boy take care of the horses while they walked among the ground on foot. They first went in accordance to order and asked the same specific answers and wrote them down so they would present it to us to digest.

They went to the Treasury first, then to the business district and lastly to the property agent's office.

The practices for the treasury remains the same, and there was no need to actually apply for a business permit since our head office was in Kitakata, and the property here was most expensive and influential near the shoreline at the North Zone than the Central Trading District.

They noted of this, since most of the import trade that arrives with very strict control, is from the Sea of Japan. That's where the Northern Gate was the busiest place of all zones.

They saw some prime locales in the northern side and compared with the central district ones that had some vacant locales as well. The difference between the two locales that fit their needs was a total lease amount of 1080 gold for the Northern side while it costs 800 gold in the central trading district.

Northern Gate 65% down-payment 702 gold coins of 1080 gold coins

Balance 378 gold coins

Monthly 6 gold and 3 silvers

Central trading district 45% down-payment of 360 gold coins of 800 gold coins

Balance 440 gold coins

Monthly 7 gold and 3 silvers and 4 coppers

They decided to lock in these 2 locations and will confirm back with the property agent. They were hoping to land a whale today as they walked to a Blacksmith in the central district.

The ambassadors introduced themselves as part of Fasuto Japan KabushikiGaisha and wished to introduce the [Refined Iron] plate to them that was originated in Kitakata and the ambassadors wanted to discuss this with the Blacksmith alliance and gather the Blacksmiths so they could discuss this in one meeting.

The Blacksmith brought the ambassadors to the business district and showed where the Blacksmith alliance was. There were some messengers and it worked like a daisy chain when comes to news and vital information. The head of Blacksmith was there and he held the two pieces of [Refined Iron] which were of better quality than they had in their possession.

He had heard of this plate of [Refined Iron] before but the price was a tad too high. It was offered at 10 gold pieces each due to the distance of travel and transportation. He himself had bought 10 pieces to forge a breastplate and gauntlet and he was very satisfied with the quality and the hardness and durability.

He told the ambassadors that he will contact all the blacksmiths in town immediately to congregate here and they will a meeting. The head Blacksmith informed the ambassadors to make themselves at home. Soon messengers were dispatched all over town and within an hour, everyone gathered at the Blacksmith Alliance building and its been a long time since they had a congregation like this.

Soon, everyone managed to quieten down after some time and the head Blacksmith began the speech, "Good day, fellow Blacksmithers. We have here today, ambassadors from the town of Kitakata that represented the Fasuto Japan KabushikiGaisha. They are here to present to you the [Refined Iron] pieces that had been forged by their Forge Master."

"Here are the 2 pieces, please do evaluate and give me your assessment. They are here to beat the middle man trade thus providing us with one point of contact for their sole distribution of these [Refined Iron] plates."

"Good day, my good men. Our names are Miroku and Kami and we are here to present to you the same products that you had bought from those who wanted to earn extra profit thus lowering your own profit margin and had to increase the price of your goods instead."

"According to records, how many blacksmiths are there in this town with their own locales?"

The crowd murmured as the looked at the plates and was much better than they had purchased from other blacksmiths before. They saw a stamp of the corporation initials and the type of plate and its purity. The piece here was discovered of a finer material than the last one that they had.

"We have a total of 20 Blacksmith shops all around this town. And right before you dear ambassadors, are all the 20 blacksmiths from this town."

"Thank you, our fine gentleman, for pointing it out. I heard that some you had paid 10 gold coins each for this and our head Blacksmith had bought 10 to forge himself a breastplate and gauntlet, is that right?"

"Yes, that's right. If I can get the price lower, even at 8 gold, I would definitely order 500 pieces for myself alone!"

The head Blacksmith roared.

The ambassadors saw a big whale is going to get beached on the shoreline of Sea of Japan.

"How if we offer you a lower price than 8 gold per piece, would you be able to absorb 1000 pieces?"

"Of course! How much are you offering?"

Miroku pointed eight fingers in the air, then Kami closed one and he heard a few people gasped. Then he closed another finger and more people were getting more excited and shouts of disbelief echoed and lastly Kamu closed the other finger and Miroku only held one hand with 5 fingers outstretched.!

"You must be kidding!"

"Just 5 gold pieces each? It's so heaven sent!"

"I'm going to get my hands on these, no matter what.!"

These are a few comments that I could think of right now. And it brought the situation to such a height that if one were to drop fon it, they won't know when they will hit the ground.

Miroku nudged the head Blacksmith and asked if he could contain the situation right now.

The Blacksmith took out a Thor's Hanmer and brought it down to an anvil that happened to be sitting in the middle of the alliance-building as a centrepiece.

A loud boom sound was heard and everyone suddenly lost their tongue and voice and found to be dumb. (or dumbfounded). Hahahaha

"Silence! Let the ambassadors speak!"

"I have here with me a sketchpad, all I want to know is your full name and the number of plates that you wanted to order based on cash upon delivery, assessment and verification."

"Please make a proper line, and head Blacksmith-San, your order would be a 1000 pieces right? Kind sir, please confirm by writing your name here."

Kami passed the sketchpad to the Head Blacksmith and he wrote his name as a confirmation order. Seeing their head Blacksmith had signed such a big order, no one dated to order less than 400 pieces.

At the end of the line, they had managed to collect 20 orders and had accumulated a total of 14,750 pieces of [Refined Iron] plates. Not only they had beached a whale on the shoreline of Sea Of Japan but they had fully made use of every single part of the whale to their advantage.

The ambassadors explained and seek their understanding of the big orders. They could only fulfil a minimum of 50 pieces for every one per delivery. One is that they came from afar, with at least 12 hours on horseback ride.

The Blacksmiths were satisfied with the 50 pieces per delivery because they accepted our sincerity and generous offers of not charging any additional charges in S&H.

The ambassadors checked their entries and confirmed that they had not made a mistake and bade to leave for other parts of town for their research.

They were unable to contain their excitement for receiving a HUGE order that they decided to move out in the morning and gave their horses rest in the stables while they head for a local bed and breakfast Inn.

They sent for a messenger and they saw a metal horse he was riding with two wheels. The asked how much to deliver a note to Kitakata Fasuto Japan KabushikiGaisha and he told them that it costs 5 silver. And said he could reach there on his metal horse under 8 hours to and fro.

Miroku wrote "Shibata 14,750 50*20*14,75. Back 2 days" and addressed it to the intended addressee mentioned above and paid the 5 silvers.

The ambassadors were laughing loudly and were ecstatic as they managed to hit an all-time high within a week and garnered more than they could imagine. However, they may be thinking that the corporation may only earn some silvers per piece as the sales they generated would be rotated back into other operational costs.

They decided to take a rest from all these excitement and head out to the cosmetics shops when their bosses had confirmed to take which locale for a long term lease.

To them, the cosmetics would be secondary as they need to organise the plan on how to tackle Shibata as it was a very long journey to get here. They will need to get more info from the messenger on the metal horse that said he could reach Kitakata in 4 hours. That's amazing!

+-==Meanwhile in Kitakata==-+

After an early breakfast in the kitchen, I sat down in my room and tried to get a power nap. If this power nap failed, he would need to perform some taichi after his shower since they had ploughed through the night and managed to clear these following tasks. I took out the sketchpad and strike off the first 4 tasks.

1. Knock out all plates

2. Bring back 9 batches of karada soap

3. Send back empty mould trays

4. Make 3,600 plates

I don't feel sleepy or anything but just lethargic or something that I can't explain. Whenever I showered or washed my face the scent of the Essense truly refreshes, invigorates and rejuvenates the body and mind. Maybe the lack of real sleep is nagging within me. I wonder when would be the time where I could wake up at a much later time.

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Maybe I need some sustenance. When the rooster crow, I saw movements in the house. I called one of the girls over and Izumi came. I asked them if they knew how to make desserts like green or red beans with coconut and glutinous and she answered they had never seen it before.

So I told her to get money from the charity box, go to the market to buy 3 kilos of glutinous flour, 3 grated coconuts,3 kilos of red or green beans, 1 palm sugar and told them that we are going to make a dessert here in the garden.

As Izumi and Fei went to the market, I went to my kitchenette and removed the rocket stove and brought it to the garden. Then I took a big pot and filled quarter full with water and another pot half-filled with water. I made a fire and set the big pot that was half-filled with water on it.

When they came back from the market, I asked Izumi to help squeeze the grated coconut but do not throw away the residue. I told her I need 3 squeezes, the main one, a bit diluted and more diluted squeezes. Then I told her that the green beans she bought needs to be rinsed first.

I asked another girl to bring me a knife and cutting board. Then another girl to help me to bring 3 yams, 5 sweet potato and 5 bananas. I taught the girl how to peel the yam and diced it up and same goes to the sweet potato. The banana we leave it for last. Then I saw a screw pine plant across in the neighbour and asked if I can have a few of those leaves. I took a few of that, washed and knotted them up.

I placed the green beans inside the pot that the water is boiling and added more firewood. I added more water to it and boil it faster so that the beans would break. Once the skin is broken, it would take a faster time to cook. I covered the lid right and let it boil and steam.

The smaller pot I had poured in the glutinous rice and mixed it with my hands to form a dough. Back in my time, we would make a single batch and separate them so we could add food colouring and had yellow, red, green, white glutinous balls.

I stoke on more firewood and the flame rose to nearly to the top of the pot and when I opened it up the steam rise up and I saw the beans had been broken and need more time. I asked the girls to bring me more water and added to it.

The time is already 8 am and it's time for the girls to begin their work. I let them in and showed them that they had 9 different scents today. So they would be wrapping them batch by batch and after knocking the contents out.

They worked 3 pallets at one go and I left them to complete the task and went to the garden. Hiko-sama had just stirred from sleep and he wished to sleep some more but when he saw me cooking something, he joined me at the garden.

"What are you going to cook, kid? You making morning tea or something? Huuaarrgghhh... I want to sleep some more. Do we have any other tasks today?"

"Not really, Sensei...Unless you want to go and patent the Karada Soap in the afternoon. Don't worry, you go and rest some more see you later at lunch"

Hiko-sama walked up straight to the house and went back to sleep as he slid shut his door.

I continued to see how the progress since the water in the pot has slightly evaporated and the beans had already broken in. I poured the 1st coconut mix, palm sugar and screw pine leaves and stirred. The firewood had been fed slowly to maintain a slow heat now and once the contents had thoroughly stirred and the palm sugar had melted, the inviting scent wafted. I poured in the rest of the coconut milk and stirred a bit more and then I dropped in the yam and sweet potatoes that had been diced.

After 30 mins or so, I opened the cover and steam rose up steadily unlike before. I felt the purplish yam had been half-cooked so I slowly took the glutinous mix and made small balls within my fingers and dropped it into the pot.

+-==Parody by Jungle Bells==-+

Glutinous balls, glutinous Balls,

Boiling in the pot,

Some big Big,

Some small small,

Boiling in the pot,

Hey!!!

I completed the 3 kg of glutinous rice that I had made into balls and dropped into the mix. Actually, I need to drop in a few balls then stir if not the whole balls become one big mass of glutinous compound inside the pot!

Last but not least I removed the banana skin and sliced it and into the pot. I stirred and I put the last round of firewood and covered the pot before adding a huge Peck of salt into the big pot. I stirred a few more times and covered it up and let the firewood burn off.

I lifted the lid off and took a small glutinous ball and placed it on my palm and stuff it into my mouth. Chomp... Chomp... Chomp...!

Maybe this is what I was looking for, sweet and savoury, hot and steamy, food for the soul! It was time for morning tea, I called for the girls and they came forward and I asked them to bring their biggest bowls out as well as for the 6 men on duty, so they brought out a dozen bowls and I scooped the food and get them to give to the men first and then the girls.

"Senpai... This is very delicious. The coconut milk is creamy, and these glutinous balls are like mochi, the yam, sweet potato and the bananas and green beans all mixed together, its like a symphony. ... Is this mochi that you prepared, Senpai?"

"I don't know what it is called, maybe it's called kuchi or chichi. Hahaha. The important is you like it. Right? OK, I need to see the men first."

I walked up to the men and they were enjoying the food. They didn't know that the kid in front of them was so humble as to cook their morning tea break. I looked at the empty handcarts that they had finished packing the [Refined Iron] plates and they are in their crate boxes ready to be shipped out soon.

72 crate boxes, each with a number of 50s except for one box that had 46 pieces all had their stencils marked on them. Almost everything had been packed except for the 6 pallets that are being processed now. And 3 had been completed and waiting to be packed and lifted to the 2nd level.

The men would be in for a surprise tomorrow when they see another 3,600 pieces of plates to be packed. And the girls will be going to continue 9 more pallets for tomorrow.

The girls had prepared lunch and were served in the garden for me and Hiko-sama who happened to just woke up and staggered into the bathroom for his shower. He had not taken his shower since last night and right after leaving Realm of Mind, he sent straight to bed after a few cups of sake.

I waited for Hiko-sama to finish his shower and joined him for lunch together. As we were having lunch, a messenger on a metal horse, (that's why Hiko-sama calls it) or a bicycle cam riding up and when he saw the banner on the warehouse door he informed that he had a note from Shibata.

We knew it was from Miroku and Kami and opened up the note and had a surprise of our lives! "HOT DAMN....!!! 14,750. We gonna be busy as hell!!"

We invited the messenger to sit and have a dessert before he leaves and when he tried the dessert I cooked he liked it so much that he had seconds. We asked him what time he left Shibata and discovered that he had left and headed to Aga instead of coming from Oguni which was much more further.

He said he travelled between 3 to 4 hours from Shibata to here. We asked if he had been on duty at Yonezawa and he said it is even nearer from Kitakata to Yonezawa through the mountain regions that would only take like 2 hours on the metal horse. If they took the journey through Lake Hibara it would be 6 to 8 hours on horseback. We drew on the sketchpad and showed that from here to Shibata the route should be this and to Yonezawa the route should be like that.

We took note of it and thanked the messenger and he rode his metal horse towards where he had come from. Sometimes, when we are used to riding on a certain path we won't be able to ride on a new path which happens to be faster than the original one.