381 - - 379 units in storage.

I visited Marie's general store to run some errands before I get too busy with the Gulli father-son relationship. After I promised to collect alcohol for her, Marie's outburst started as usual when I brought out the treasure that was sleeping in my magic bag.

"Marie, calm down! Yuta-sama, we will have a hard time handling a gem of this size out of the blue. Do you have anything a little smaller?　It will bring Marie back to reality."

Well, in the case of the earth, it was expected to be in the class of the great discoveries of the century. However, in a world where labyrinths exist, I had considered the possibility that they might be a little common, but even here they have a bad value. I still have a gem the size of a soccer ball in my magic bag.

I'm so itchy. Just take it out ......1 a little bit, pretend you made a mistake and store it right away, and you'll be fine. Maybe it will open a new door for Marie. Curiosity got the better of me and I gently reached for the magic bag.

"Sonia?"

"Yuta-sama, you looked so evil, what on earth were you going to take out?"

Sonia says very rude things. How did she know?　I don't remember getting close enough to Ms. Sonia to read her actions by her facial expressions, do you?

"Yuta, you surely had a face with a bad idea in it. I could tell."

Well, thank you, Sylphy. I was so curious that I let my curiosity get the better of me, and all my inner thoughts were showing on my face. I was careless. I can't give out an oversized gemstone by mistake. I'll just give you a small gem.

"Ms. Sonia, I'm not sure, but I think you misunderstood me. I was just trying to get the jewel out as usual. Please take your hands off me."

Are you sure?

"It's true."

I answer Ms. Sonia's doubts with my best, sharpest face I can muster right now.

""Pfft!""

I was so hurt. I never thought that not only Sonia-san but also Sylphy-san would laugh at me. I think I'm not handsome, but I'm a little above average looking, so why would they laugh at me?

"I understand. Sonia trusts Yuta-sama. I'll say it again. Sonia believes in Yuta-sama.

That's a surprisingly unconvincing "believe. But if he betrays me after all these assurances, I have a feeling he'll make a fuss about it as if he's the devil's head.

"Don't worry. I'll get it out."

She takes out a marble-sized jewel on the table prepared by Ms. Sonia, followed by a baseball-sized jewel including the one in Marie's hand.

"This is ...... wonderful."

"Yes, I'm not an expert on gems of this class ......, but considering that it's from the labyrinth, I'm sure it's quite an item. How much do you have?"

"If you include those smaller than this size, there are too many to count."

"I see. ...... Mr. Yuta, is there any circumstance under which these gems must be redeemed immediately?"

Marie, perhaps having stowed away a baseball-sized gemstone, has nonchalantly come to her senses and proceeded with her story. She still has a good spirit, doesn't she?

"No, I'm just giving it to you as a thank you for the trouble you've caused me with alcohol. You have plenty of money to spare."

"Thank you for your concern. In that case, I will open a new jewelry and liquor department in the Pollius Trading Company, if you give me some time.

Apparently, the Marie Trading Company has stopped. Would they have gone independent if I'd shown them my soccer-ball sized gems?

"I'm always open to you. But I've only shown you the gems alone.　What about jeweled accessories and precious metal treasures?"

"May I check ......?　Um, preferably something less irritating, please."

By "less irritating," you mean no large gemstones or metals such as orichalcons or the like, right?

"That doesn't sound like you, Marie. I thought you would want the big gems.

"Ha-ha-ha, we'd love to, but the Polurius Chamber of Commerce is an amateur in this field. We can't handle gems that would cause such a commotion in such a state. When we get used to the department, if you still want to distribute, please do so.

He refused flatly.

"I don't mind if I give it to you first, do you?"

"Yes, it is a valuable gem to have, but it costs a lot of money. The rising Porrius Chamber of Commerce chooses to put the money to work for development, rather than laying it down."

In short, they need a lot of money to invest and make a lot of money. There will be a backlash from the jewelry and liquor business associations, so let's hope they don't try to overstretch their reach and end up making a mistake.

I understand. Then, I'll distribute it after you set up the division.

Yes. Yes. I will quickly establish a jewelry and precious metals division and a liquor division.

Marie declares with a snort. I knew it was coming, but I've just created the perfect amount of work.

"Now, let's gather the executives of the Pollius Trading Company for a meeting. Yuta-san, excuse me."

Wait a minute. We haven't received the materials yet, and we haven't received the discarded materials yet. Also, tell me about the giant deerskin rugs!

I don't want you to go on an errand when you're not even halfway done.

"Oh, right. I'm sorry."

I resume business with Marie, who takes her seat once again. But you're dangerously absorbed in the business, forgetting about the labyrinth materials, which can be quite lucrative.

However, I don't think I can get back at Ms. Sonia in such a hurry. Well, I was able to make her impatient a bit, so I'll be satisfied this time.

** **

"We've got this warehouse and the one next to it full!"

After discussing with Marie and completing the giant diyer and other formalities, we were taken to the warehouse where they were collecting materials and trash to be disposed of.

And there in front of us were two large warehouses and Marie with her arms outstretched and a smug look on her face ......, two large warehouses that could probably hold at least four assault dragons, If it's full, that's a lot.

And some of the collected trash smells like an athletic club room, as if it is soaked with sweat. At any rate, I'm sure I'll cover my nose and mouth with a towel. It would be great if they could work their cleaning magic on all the garbage, but I doubt they would use it on anything they throw away, so it's hard to say.

"Well, thank you very much. I'll get to it right away."

"Yes. Well, this time we called out to many different places to collect, so I don't know if we'll be able to collect this much next time."

Aside from food scraps, we only collect waste materials that will last for a certain period of time and that don't smell, so the amount of waste materials will be reduced next time, too.

I open the big door of the warehouse and look inside. A large amount of garbage is piled up to the ceiling in a mess. Yes, it's trash, so it doesn't matter if it's broken.

I'm happy and the labyrinth core will be happy too, but it's a bit troublesome to store such a large amount of trash. It would be safer to climb up and store them from the top, since an avalanche might occur if they are stored badly.

Fortunately, there are plenty of footholds due to the large amount of trash piled up on top of each other, and we can climb up without any problem with our improved physical strength. Choose a route that is as gentle as possible and conquer the pile of trash.

There is almost no metal in the trash, as if it is melted down and reused. The most noticeable items are worn-out and tattered leather armor and other protective gear. This garbage is probably due to the fact that this is a labyrinth city and there are many adventurers here. And perhaps because the labyrinth yields a lot of resources, even items that could be of some use are being collected as trash.

In old Japan, they used cloths until they were worn out, so it seems that the labyrinth city is richer than old Japan in terms of supplies. Well, here we are at the top. All we have to do now is to store them all. Be careful not to store large waste materials and garbage, since they may cause an avalanche.

**

"Yuta-san, thank you for your hard work."

"Ha-ha-ha, I'm really tired. I'm glad we didn't have any food scraps, but it would have been hell if we had been greedy and collected food scraps as well.

Even so, the smell of sweat and other things soaked into my armor was damaging, and I felt like I was playing an endless balancing game, which was also tiring on my nerves. I got used to it in the latter half of the game, and next time it will be a little easier to collect them, but I would like to think of an easier way to collect them.

"Hmm, if you want to collect garbage, you couldn't use this warehouse, could you?

I see, even though the warehouses are clustered together, they are not allowed to collect food scraps. Huh?　You don't have to go to the trouble of collecting garbage in a warehouse, do you?

"Marie, next time you will collect your waste materials and garbage in this. Please stop collecting them when you can't fit any more."

"Heh?　Is this a magic bag?　What?　Are you going to collect trash with a magic bag?"

Yes, the magic bag has a large capacity, enough for one warehouse. The amount of garbage will be reduced next time, and it will probably be just right.

It's too bad there were no time-related effects, but it's a pretty powerful magic bag. Now, from now on, it will be easy to receive the magic bag and complete the collection. Ease is a wonderful thing.

"No, no, no, Mr. Yuta, wait a minute. A magic bag that can hold that much is quite rare. Merchants want them so badly they can't wait to get their hands on them. Please don't go collecting garbage with such a bag!"

Marie is lightly teary-eyed. It was quite a shocking proposal.

"But I'm an adventurer who has conquered the labyrinth at the top of my game, so I have plenty of room in my magic bag. Don't you have one at the Polurius Trading Company?"

"I own a few, but nothing as effective as this. A high performance magic bag is not something you can just pay for."

In the latter half of the labyrinth, there were quite a few magic bags in the treasure chests, and there were already enough magic bags left over to distribute to all the disciples.

"Then, shall I give you one of the magic bags?　I don't have enough space for that warehouse, but I do have an extra magic bag that can hold about three normal houses and slow down the flow of time slightly."

"Oh, you don't mind?　No, as I said before, it's valuable.　Especially one that slows down the flow of time is quite rare. We cannot ask you to give them away so easily.

Marie glanced at me while saying that. I had lost my senses because magic bags are usually found in treasure chests, but this is a sight that reminds me how valuable they are.

"It's just that the water cools down a little slower. It won't make much difference. Besides, the magic bag will help me too if the business of the Pollius Chamber of Commerce goes well.

"Is that so?"

"Yes, sir."

Let's quickly round them up, get the materials wholesale, and go home. We also need to buy some furniture for the tea hall on Ukishima. Gulli and his son are keeping me busy.