Chapter 8: The Company’s Initial, Hard Struggles

Chapter 8: The Company’s Initial, Hard Struggles

Hmm, morning already.?

The red, morning sun was ascending from the other side of horizon.

The thirteen slave girls curled up while sleeping, as if drawing a circle around the small campfire.

Could it be that we camped outside without returning back to the inn yesterday?

I enjoyed camping like its supposed to be, but my body wasnt used to it.

Today, we are lucky, as the weather is clear, but, it couldve been a different story had it rained.

Was she doing some morning practice? Louise, who had woken up earlier than me, was swinging her saber while reheating yesterdays soup with more meat novelhall.com

Once we finished the breakfast and woke up the children, everyone looked to be still craving for food. Thats good, otherwise, they wouldnt be able to work.

Watching these girls eating, I thought I had to provide them with bedding, in addition to food.

I shall teach them how to produce soap.

Anyways, money is what is needed in order to advance, so I had to focus on earning more income.

The slave girls arent used to making soap.

Teaching something requires perseverance, so theres a high chance I might not succeed.

However, failing to make a product, like detergent, doesnt necessarily mean it will go to waste. Not to mention, if the number of workers increases, our job will progress significantly.

Why didnt this idea cross my mind earlier? I lamented.

Louise, brought her two disciples with her and went hunting for food and the raw materials for making soap.

Following that, Lyle-sensei took the flower girl with him and searched for herbs, edible wild grasses, and firewood, needed for both preparing food and composing the scum for soap.

At the very least, two weeks are necessary for producing soap.

I wanted to improve the quality of the soaps by letting them rest and dry for a bit longer, but I had the feeling I needed money as fast as possible.

I know that this may sound rude, but right now, my income depends solely on how well Louise and her disciples can hunt monsters.

For some reason, I have been constantly protected from the hostile surroundings by Louise and am indebted to her. Nevertheless, you could say this is an obvious thing when it comes to trading, no?

Having her pass to me all her earnings without any complaint, I felt there was no excuse for me.

And I also need to pay the rent for borrowing the Rods horse.

I decided to return my favors owed by tenfold to everyone once our business has started to thrive, so I bought up daily necessities for that to happen.

These will become necessary for our initial investment.

Everyone, gather!

The girls gathered after I gave them the signal to stop their tasks.

First, I decided to wash them clean.

With these dirty-looking appearances, they wouldnt even become shop assistants.

Despite saying so, there were other things that required money, so, I didnt have the sufficient budget for letting everyone here enter a bathhouse.

Thats why, I decided to put up a tent in the wasteland outside the city and groom them there.

Sensei, Im relying on you.

Ahaha, you sure are a slave driver, arent you? Right. Come, water!

Lyle-senseis magic, which is water based, can absorb water from the atmosphere, so its pretty convenient.

Perhaps, I should create a water supply with his magic?

The moment Sensei drew water into a large pot, we heated it using firewood. After that, Louise transferred the hot water into wooden buckets.

Lyle-sensei and I distributed the steaming, hot water between the children and proceed to clean them.

Hey, were going to start from your hair, so take off your clothes.

Umm, but, Master, isnt this, one of your precious goods for sale.?

As I used a bar of soap and produced foam, one of the girls became modest.

Somehow, her modesty didnt feel like that of a child.

Dont be reserved. You wont be able to do business, less you take care of your appearance and make yourself pretty, right?

I guess, master is right. Im sorry for that.. and, thank you for using this expensive item on me.

This slave with the amber colored eyes was the first girl to offer me help with my business.

It may be that she wanted to become useful by doing commerce, since she had previously been a child from a family of traders.

I was troubled by her weird sense of obligation, but, being able to tell the value of this soap I was wasting on her, perhaps I could expect something from her in the future.

Now that you feel indebted to me, you better earn to pay it off I neatly washed her hair while having this wicked thought.

I had never used a bar of soap before, despite having seen it, as I belonged to those who would bath themselves with body soaps. However, being able to use this solid soap for the first time since I arrived in this world, I was surprised to see how well it foamed.

Well, maybe its because the soap uses natural components.

One of its materials is a monster, but still.

As the other girls hair got washed, the gray dirt sticking to them gradually fell off and their hair recovered their base color.

I could tell that the one I was in charge of had orange as its base color.

And then, a pair of ears slipped out abruptly from within her hair.

Eh, whats that, ears?

Ah, Im sorry, my ears suddenly popped out. Its difficult to wash my head with them sticking out, right?

Master, thank you, for these pretty clothes.

The slave girls raised voices of joy and gratitude, which made me put on triumphant airs.

What we prepared for the girls were sets of apron dresses.

I thought they would look like Alice from Alices Adventures in Wonderland, so I purchased a large number of these clothes.

As one would expect, its important to emphasize the visual aspect, so I had to stress their cuteness.

These children clothes, which I bought for the girls, gave a high impression about them. However, it was thanks to this citys production area that used woolen fabric based on Ests goats, as well as the citys vigorous distribution of clothes, that I was able to purchase them at a cheap price.

For some reason, there were only red colored apron dresses on sale.

Ah, could it be because of the rulers taste?- I thought so, but, I saw no problem in these work clothes.

Naturally, I also bought the girls lingerie to match their clothes.

I thought about collecting their old tattered clothes, wash them, and weave into a temporary store tent, but, as I tried to collect the clothes, a small problem arose.

The girl whom I had lent my raincoat to before, due to her clothes being far too torn, wouldnt let it go, claiming it was something she had received.

Certainly, if Im not wrong, this girl is one of the soldiers daughters.

I would feel sorry if I took it against her will, so I ended up distributing gray ratman-made cloaks to everyone.

Again, I was not able to avoid unnecessary costs.

Rain gear is also necessary, considering the fact they might have to work outside. Perhaps, we can call this a part of our initial investment as well?

Judging from what Ive heard from Louise, it appears that a party leader is obliged to provide each of his apprentices with a set of clothes and a pair of boots as a present. Providing ones subordinates with necessities is the duty of an employer, so it cant be helped.

Hiring people is a greatly troublesome thing.

The money was steadily decreasing in my wallet.

While we are at it, I began asking the girls about their names and races after we had finished bathing them, and so,

Sharon, daughter of a trader (Race: A quarter beastman from a dog-type animal tribe.)

Suzanne & Claudia, daughters of soldiers.

Viola, daughter of a flower vendor (Race: A half nymph.)

Roll, daughter of a miner (Race: dwarf)

Colette, daughter of a baker.

Flora, daughter of a harlot.

And Eliza, Melissa, Ginny, Lou, Liddy, Paula, daughters of beggars.

However, despite me asking them, it didnt look like I could memorize all their names.

I managed to remember Sharon, so perhaps Ill be able to learn other names gradually.

The half nymph, named Viola, seemed to possess mixed blood from a water fairy. She was a girl with blue eyes and hair.

When I looked closely, I noticed she had pointy ears, which made me wonder if she wasnt an elf. As I asked Lyle-sensei about that, he gave me this explanation.

Just because someone has pointy ears, doesnt make them an elf. Also, elves have a light complexion. By the way, dwarves, who possess a dark complexion, also have pointy ears. Generally, everyone related to those beings have pointy ears.

They, dont look to be that much different from humans, still.

Certainly, Roll, who is a dwarf, also has pointy ears. However, apart from her red copper hair, which is rare in this area, and her brown colored skin, she doesnt look all that different from a human.

If I were to say, Id have imagined a dwarf as a being with a slightly firm body and short height.

When a dwarf becomes an adult, its face will bear special features, however, in the case of female dwarves, their faces arent that different from humans. Dwarves are known for their strength and firmness, and for having skillful hands, therefore, theyre fit to become a miner or a blacksmith. Nevertheless, Im afraid, female dwarves are bound to live as slaves, as they lack the strength required for physical jobs..

I see. So it was like that?

The reason why this girl was made into a mining slave and was soon going to be worked to death was probably due to her low value.

Be it Roll, the dwarf, or Viola, the half nymph, I think both of them are incredibly cute. Still, unlike a full-fledged elf that can be sold to a brothel for an extra-high price, a nymph, even if its a half, doesnt seem to be popular among the people, despite both of them coming from the same family.

Apparently, around these parts, water spirits are treated as demons that kill people by pulling them into a pond or by crying in front of their houses. Because of that, theyre regarded as beings carrying misfortune and discriminated against.

According to Lyle-sensei, most of these theories are baseless rumors.

Uhmmm, so does it mean, some of them are true?

Still, Lyle-sensei, for there to be a half nymph and half human, thats to say.

Its very fascinating, isnt it? I think its rare for nymphs to mate with humans. Also, this is the reason why humans are afraid of them, but, nymphs are born with a divine protection coming from a water spirit. Its possible that Viola wont be welcomed by local people if we appoint her as a shop assistant, but shes apt to use water-based magic, so she might actually become useful.

I see.

Does Sensei mean to say he will teach Viola herbal medicine?

Apparently, Lyle-sensei, who is a middle class magic user, can feel the presence of magic within people, so its likely he was able to sense something coming from Viola.

Still, as expected, it would be a bad thing for a flower vendor girl to be hated just because she was a nymph.

Everyone probably had their own circumstances as slaves.

Once I looked in Violas direction, she was grabbing the hem of her apron dress while slightly trembling.

With just my impudent look, her blue eyes turned wet, as if wanting to cry.

I was bit scared off, as I had just heard a person would be killed when a nymph cries.

Its probably just one of those urban legends, but.. no good, no good, if I believe that, she will think Im discriminating against her.

I wondered myself whether words of consolation would cheer her up.

However, I would just worsen the situation, were I to make Viola afraid of me, so I decided to entrust her to Lyle-sensei.

I too, want to cure myself of being worthless, but it doesnt seem to be going well, I guess.