The mansion maintenance team that Hetty had organized was a large force of 30 people. With Hetty's black carriage in the lead, the large unit was advancing toward the mansion. What's this? Is the Solo family's fortune a monster!
It's not like there's any heavy equipment or anything else, and the maintenance will be done in a month or so? I also thought, but if there are this many people here, it will be over. ......
We arrived safely at the mansion while being surprised by people on the street and villagers working on the farm, but this is Diana's first time in the mansion, isn't it?
I'll give you a tour of the mansion before construction begins.
Master, is there a mansion behind here? It's deeper in the woods than I thought it would be, which makes me happy.
Well, it's a long story. I hope you like it.
And so we move on.
After a while, Deanna stopped.
'......?' This feel is ......
What are you doing here, all of a sudden?
''I'm not sure, but there's a hint of cleverly hidden spirit magic at ....... This is probably a ............ ward.
Warding.
Warding is that thing. Is it the kind of thing you often see in comics and games, like a defensive wall? I wonder if it has something to do with the fact that no one knew there was a mansion here?
'What happens when there are wards? What are wards anyway?
...... I don't know much about it either, but there doesn't seem to be an actual wall, and it's probably the kind of jutsu that can be unconsciously turned back: ......
Hmmm ......?
But it seems like everyone comes and goes rather normally.
That's why I'm still alive, this ward.
Yes. It's supposed to work, master.
Aside from me coming out of the middle, though, Rebecca, Shero, Marina, and Hetty were all able to get in normally. Maybe it's because I knew the way. And Shero-san didn't seem to know about the path itself that led to the mansion.
If that's the case, then ......, I wonder if it's because I led them there or some other condition: ....... Well, we can verify that eventually. I'm not sure why the wards were set up anyway. The previous resident of the mansion may have set up the barrier.
We arrived at the mansion on foot. I hope Deanna will like it.
It's wonderful, master. This place is as full of spirit power as the elven village. It's as good as the place I was taught by the priest.''
Deanna says as soon as she sees the mansion. It seems that this place was better than the mansion itself. It was said that if you take your time in a place where the spirit power is strong, you can recover your own spirit power or something.
In other words, if you do that, you won't be able to have those days and mating season! As a master, that's a bit rusty, you know.
As I was groaning about the lack of mating season, Hetty spoke to me from behind.
Jirou-sama, if you don't mind? So, from today, we will start to work on the house. First, we're going to work on the entrance path, then we'll work on the garden of the house, and finally we'll work on the house and its ancillary facilities.
Oh, yes. I look forward to working with you.
Well, you're right. If you don't build a pathway, you can barely get a horse in there in the first place. We wouldn't even be able to get a carriage into the grounds.
Master, what do you do to maintain the path and garden? Are you going to cut down a tree by any chance?
What a question to ask Deanna.
Was cutting down a tree not an elfish thing to do?
If that's the case, don't bother cutting them off, just have them move on.
What do you mean, we're moving?
'Let the tree move you elsewhere. Even I can use that level of spirit magic while I'm guiding you.
Heh, heh. I see. .......
I honestly hadn't thought of that idea. I see, the trees over here move .......
So, after consulting with Hetty, we decided to ask the unnecessary trees to leave using Diana's spirit magic.
I have a feeling that it's pretty amazing magic, but according to Deanna, this isn't much more than magic for a high elf. They just 'ask' the plants through the spirits to 'beg' .......
I wonder how much more this guy can do ...... when the guidance is over and he can use his original spirit magic, I wonder how much he can do. It's as scary as it is fun.
Bumming and chanting what looks like a spell, Deanna wears a pale cherry red light all over her body.
When Deanna is in that state, when she touches the tree she wants ...... to move.
...... haha, what is this?
It's not just a matter of time before you're able to get your hands on a new one. It's a fantasy.
It's not just a matter of time before you find yourself in the middle of the night.
It's not a good idea.
'Thank you, Deanna, for getting a dozen days' worth of work done at once. Thank you.
After that, Deanna touched the tree and walked around, and an hour later, the tree was completely removed from the way. The path is now about four meters wide, enough for a carriage to get through, and the grounds of the mansion have been cleaned up.
There's no concrete or asphalt here, but that doesn't mean there's enough cobblestone to pave the pathway, the pathway is just enough to clear the ground, and the garden is basically just to clear the ground. Or maybe I'd like to have a garden on my spare land. I've been yearning for a little bit of a home garden or something.
After that, we showed Deanna the inside of the house and left the construction to Hetty and we decided to go back to town.
After all, it's flea market day! It only happens once every ten days, and I can't miss it.
The mirror room is locked and I've told Hetty that it's off limits. You're right, I'd have to believe that you're not going to bust the lock and go inside ...... to do it.
...... Well, at least they're not doing any maintenance inside the mansion yet today, so it should be fine.
I'll come back tomorrow to see what's going on in the attic, including a look at the attic.
Then I'll rent it.
With a word from Rebecca, we borrowed a carriage and me, Deanna, Marina and Rebecca headed back to the city of Elishe.
The flea market that takes place once every 10 days in Elishe's town is centered around the central square, and as long as you have a permit from your guild to set up a shop, you can set up a market. It seems that there is also a big flea market held twice a year, and the whole town is used as a flea market. It's hard to see everything when it's that big. Well, I heard it's held over several days, so it's like a festival. It is quite fond of the festival, isn't it, people in this country.
When I sold some things at the auction before, most of them were bought at this flea market, and there were so many kinds of things for sale that we never got tired of looking at them.
Basically, all the items for sale are second-hand, but some of them are handmade by local residents, and some of them are made by vocation holders and are of high quality.
This time, I brought in enough goods to fill a travel bag from Japan, so I'm going to try selling them and see what the reaction is. We'll focus on selling the items that have a good response and gradually build a foothold in the elishee.
In fact, it would be nice to have a pipe with a wealthy aristocrat or something and get rich all at once by selling luxury goods, but that kind of thing seems to be tricky because of that: ....... We have time, so let's do it bit by bit.
We arrive in town and go to the numbered location on the permit.
I already got a permit to open a store in advance from the guild, so all I have to do now is sell it. I wondered if the place where the market would be too far away from the corner, but it's not so bad. This place should be able to sell reasonably well. Maybe.
The flea market itself has been open for a long time, and the place is quite crowded. It's nice to sell them, but I also want to buy some items to put on the Netoque again, so I'm busy!
The sheets were spread out on the cobblestones and the merchandise was arranged.
Deanna, Marina and Rebecca looked at the items they were seeing for the first time with great interest. Well, to the girls, they probably hadn't seen much of any of these things before. I decided not to bring in anything that was too far from our world. I've removed the ones that have packages, and I don't want to miss out on the least amount of consideration.
I finished laying everything out and decided on the prices of the items while discussing them with Marina and Rebecca. Deanna is excluded because she is naive.
All three of them went along with me without asking me where I got it, when I bought it, or any other unnecessary questions. Rebecca-san has always been very discreet about it, though. Maybe I'll tell her the secret tomorrow at the mansion, for goodness sake.
The price is not what I had imagined, but I've priced it all out. Let's go to business!
How much are these gloves worth?
One El.
Huh! I'll take it all.
Hey, kid. You're dealing in very expensive papers. How much are they selling for?
A hundred ells a bundle.
A hundred? There's got to be 30 of them in a bundle. Are you sure?
It's okay. I'm fine.
What's this, bro?
It's called a bamboo-copter, and it's called a...
'Wow! Wow! I'm flying! Interesting!
'Yes, of course. I'll take one special bronze coin.
It's a lovely yarn. How much do you charge for a piece?
Let's see, this one's 10 ells a ball and this one's 30 ells.
'What? Are you willing to pay that price?
'Yes. It's a flea market, so I'm learning.
Yeah. Well, I'll have it all.
It's a beautiful stone. It doesn't look like it's a spirit stone or anything: ...... something about it.
It's called a glass bead.
'Wow ......, I've never heard of that before. ......'
They look great on a string or as an accessory. Today I'm selling them for a special price of 5 ells each.
It's cheap. Okay, I'll take this one, this one, and this one at .......
Oh. That's a nice plate, and it's a set piece.
'I'll sell them one by one. Take a look at them if you like.
"Oh ....... It's not even close, and it's very delicate. And this is a new one, isn't it?
'Yes. It's a new porcelain plate. I'll beat you to it, so how about a gift for your wife? Fifty ells a piece, or two hundred ells for a set of five.
'For that price for porcelain? Are you kidding me? How dare I, of course, buy it. Thanks, brother.
How much for this hammer?
One white copper will do.
How much for this bunch of nails?
One white copper will do.
How much do I owe you for this pen and ink?
I'm only asking for a silver dollar for the whole thing.
'Brother, that was a great sale earlier. It looks like it's almost sold out: ....... That's a lot of sales left over. Hmm? What is this?
'It's ......, take a small amount and spread it on your hands and put it in your hair. Like this.
Oh, whoa, Lyra fat?
Lila? No, it's a special ...... glue to condition your hair.
'Ho, that's pretty good. Fat doesn't freeze you up like this. Oh, how much is this?
Thirty ells per can. How's that?
'Hmmm. It's a bit expensive, but ......, let's get some for a souvenir!
Maido!
............
........................
A little past noon, and what a surprise! It's all sold out! Sold out.
I know I set the price low because it's my first time, but it's been an amazing sale. I wondered if some of them would remain unsold, though. This might allow me to stock up on large quantities of any of the stuff I sold today, and sell a lot of it.
Most of the things we sold today were bought at the home center and the 100-yen shop, and we got our money's worth no matter what we sold, considering 1 liter is about 150 yen per liter in Japanese yen.
Because the first sold military gloves were 300 yen for a dozen. When I sold them at 150 yen per liter, the difference was 125 yen. Because it sold 2 dozen at once, it is 3600 yen for 24 ells. I don't know how much demand there is for military gloves, but if you bring in leather hands and military feet from now on, it looks like you'll make enough money to buy a store.
The item that sold for the highest price this time -- or rather, the one that Rebecca had been aggressive in pricing -- was paper.
At first I was going to buy the 500 sheets of copy paper sold at the home improvement store, but as expected I felt it was too clean to sell in another world, so I opted for Washi. I took off the wrapping of the plastic, tied it up with a paper string and sold it. After all, such a fine art is necessary.
The place where I bought it is still a 100-yen shop. It is convenient to sell anything, even washi. ...... Who would have thought that 10 bunches of that washi would be worth 1 gold coin! I'm afraid of making too much money from ragging, so on the other hand, I might want to be cautious about selling paper: .......
I wonder if there's a demand for clean paper in this world?
Personally, I feel that the most harmless and profitable product was the yarn. I brought in quite a lot of yarn, but it sold out quickly. The materials are so strong.
Well, since the event was more popular than I thought it would be, let's get this over with and go buy some stuff for the next auction.
After that, I'm going to buy a practice weapon for Rebecca to teach me how to fight: .......
I'm finally going to obi sword myself!
◇◆◆◆◇
After visiting the flea market for about two hours, I went back to the inn and put down my purchases and came back out.
So here we go! The next step is to go shopping for weapons.
'So, Jiro, are you sure you want a used one? Weapons are usually better when they're new!
Yes. I was just really curious to see what the used ones were like.
So I was introduced to a shop that deals in used weaponry and armor, in essence, a second-hand tool shop by Rebecca, and I visited.
When I bought Deanna's robe, I found a bargain among the used items, so I figured I could find something like that elsewhere if I looked for it.
I've used it to shop at the flea market a few times, but that's exactly what the 'Mirror of Truth' festival is all about today!