Disclaimer: My editor had some problems, so right now I don't have one, this is an un edited chapter, read at your own risk
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Chapter 6 Preparing for Business
--The next day.
Now that we knew about the market, we were ready to start our business. First, we had to build a stall booth...
At first, I was going to construct an assembled booth and build it on site, but there was no need for that.
I can craft it in my room at the inn, and when it's done, I can just shove it in the item box.
Before that, I was getting a little nervous about my money, so I decided to put some small silver coins into the recharge window.
I wondered if I could charge it in the local currency. I was afraid to try it.
The message 【Deposit made】 came up, and 5,000 yen was added. Apparently, the rate I had assumed was correct.
Well then - I'll add one more small silver coin, and deposit 10,000 yen in total. My balance is now a little over 54,000 yen.
I had bread and milk for breakfast, and took out the sour Linyo I bought yesterday and peeled it. The lemony taste is a good wake-up call.
It looks like it's rich in vitamin C.
Well, let's make it then - first we need a blueprint. I pull out a piece of paper and buy a pencil to draw the blueprint. I also need pencils to mark the wood for processing -- 500 yen for a pack of six 2B pencils.
To sharpen the pencils, I also buy a cutter, which costs 200 yen.
I bought 2 meters of thin square lumber for 500 yen each, and decided to assemble a box 1 meter wide, 2 meters high, and 1.5 meters deep.
I used to do DIY Sunday carpentry in my former life, so I can afford this much.
Ten pieces of square lumber cost 5,000 yen, and 16 pieces of L-shaped metal fittings to be attached to the corners to increase the strength of the box assembly cost 1,200 yen. A set of screws for wood is 800 yen.
You can turn the screws by hand, but it's a lot of work to turn so many screws. I knew I would need an electric screwdriver.
It's a little underpowered and looks like a toy, but it works surprisingly well.
I used screws to hold the wood together, but the screws seem to be over-technological…
However, if you look at it from a distance, it looks like a nail, so I considered it safe. Also, if you suddenly use screws in the woodwork, the wood will crack, so you need to make a pre-drilled hole.
For that, we need an electric screwdriver. Then, I bought a set of drill blades to drill the holes -- 1,000 yen.
When I clicked the "Buy" button, the luggage began to fall, followed by a clatter of lumber.
I was a little taken aback by the usual violent way the luggage fell.
"Well, let's do this…
I need a saw to cut the lumber. I chose a folding saw with a replaceable blade, which is convenient because I can change the blade when it stops cutting -- it costs 1,500 yen.
This blade saw is hard to sell, but there are non-replaceable double-blade saws available for about 2,000 yen. This might sell well.
There are a lot of wooden buildings in the city, so I'm sure they have saws.
First of all, mark it with a pencil, but this time, I don't have a tape measure. A curved ruler is an L-shaped ruler used for measuring and drawing lines on materials.
A curved ruler costs 500 yen, but if you want to draw a line on a longer piece of material, you can use a Sumitsubo (Chalk Reel).
Measure and mark a square piece of wood with the tape measure, drill a hole in it, and fasten it with a screw. Then screw on L-shaped brackets for reinforcement.
Even if you push the completed box assembly a little, it will not wobble. However, it is a thin piece of wood, so if you lean on it, it will break.
What to do about the roof? The sun is pretty strong, so if you stay in the stall for a long time, you will probably get sunburned. Considering this, it would be better to have a roof.
While searching for a good material, I found a hemp cloth for 1000 yen. I bought it and fixed it to the wooden structure with a straw rope - the rope cost 900 yen.
But seriously, they sell everything.
Oh! Looks good!
But the L-shaped bracket attached to the corner is still noticeable… It looks a little out of place…
I bought another piece of fabric and cut it long and thin with scissors. I wrapped it around the corner to hide the L-shaped bracket and tied it with a rope.
"Oh, that's good, isn't it?
Now that the booth is finished, I need a table to put my products on. I searched for a table, but I found a cheap one made of aluminum frame.
I found a table that would fit in this world, but it cost more than 10,000 yen. It was a bit expensive. –So, I decided to make one.
So, I went to Shangri-La to find a board to use for the table top, but I couldn't find anything good. However, they do have cheap plywood panels.
Conpanel is short for concrete panel. It is actually used to make frameworks for pouring concrete, but it is often used for DIY projects because it is affordable.
Plywood is also an over-technology, but at a glance it looks like a regular board, so it should be fine.
Besides, if we hang a linen sheet over it like a tablecloth, you won't be able to see the grain of the boards, so let's go with that.
I've decided on a plan, but I don't have a suitable material. The closest I could find was a 60cm x 90cm sheet that cost 1500 yen. The length is good, but the width should be 50cm. ...... should be cut.
I drew a line with a tape measure and started cutting with a saw. If I had a circular saw, I could do it in one go, but I don't have electricity.
The saw's loud sound rang out. --Of course, Azalea came flying from below to see what was going on.
"Kenichi, what are you doing?"
"Oh, I'm building a small booth."
She seemed surprised to see a wooden frame with a roof that was being completed.
"Ehh? You can do carpentry too?"
I thought it was a bit strange thing to ask, but I replied.
"Well, yeah. I didn't damage the room, and I'll clean up the wood shavings later, so don't worry about it."
"Wow, you have a lot of unusual tools."
She was curious about my carpentry tools.
"Don't touch them, they're dangerous."
I cut the top board and added four more pieces of rectangular wood. I cut them to 80cm long and fixed them as four legs.
"What's that? That's amazing!"
Azalea was thrilled to see my electric screwdriver.
"It's a magical tool. Don't tell anyone about it."
Then her hand reaches out again, and I give her one of the Lynyo and one of the Lynns I bought yesterday.
"I don't like these, they're too sour. Make it a Linker."
I don't care. I put the Linyo in the item box and took out one of the sweet Linkers.
"Hehehe~"
Azalea had a smiling face, but she was a very clever girl. In a world like this, if you don't have a little bit of smarts, you're probably a sitting duck.
I set up a table in the booth and bought a chair - a round-topped stool, 3000 yen.
On the right side of the table, set up a wooden shelf -- 2,000 yen. Pass a round stick through the shelf, and secure the left side by hanging it from the wooden frame with a rope.
I'm going to hang my products and flyers on it to appeal to people.
"Hmmm, that's pretty good, isn't it?"
"Wow! It looks like a shop."
"It doesn't just looks like one, it's a store."
In addition, I drew a picture of a bed and hung it on a round stick since I had paper and pencils.
"TYUKOBETU^DO ARIMASU SS//7" -- Used bed available, 7 small square silver coins (35,000 yen)
Most of the letters are in romaji, but there is a mark on the top for prompting sounds such as ッ. SS is small square silver coins, S is silver coins, and G is gold coins.
"What's with the bed?"
"I bought it."
"Fuu~ you're already doing business. That's amazing, I don't know how to do it at all…"
Well, I can't give you any advice, because I don't know what I'm capable of.
I buy a pair of wooden clothespins to hang the picture on the bed - 200 for 1000 yen. As I was holding the picture with the scissors, Azalea shouted again.
"What's that? I want one. They're for holding laundry, right?"
"Yeah, do you have something like that?"
She told me that she had something that looked like a clothespin made of a thin piece of wood split and tied at the end with a string, but it didn't hold the clothes well and they fell right out.
"Will you sell these too?"
"Yeah, I could sell them -two for about a copper."
Seeing her reaction, I thought these could be sold; selling two for 1,000 yen when 200 cost 1,000 yen seems like a pretty rip-off, but if these things don't exist, it's worth it.
The original is cheap because it is mass-produced, but if you wanted to make this by hand, I think it would be worth the price.
Besides, it's not over-technological, since it could be made in this world if we wanted to imitate it.
When I looked at Azalea, she had a covetous look on her face.
"Here's your silence money, I'll give you four."
"-more, 2 more"
"All right, six. It's a business secret, so don't tell anyone."
She nodded silently, holding the clothespin.
When the stall was finished, I bought a broom and a dustpan to sweep the floor. The dustpan was made of tin - two for two thousand yen.
"I want one of those too..."
Apparently, she wanted a tin dustpan.
"Here you go."
"Thank you!"
She hugged me and kissed me, but when she does that, it reminds me of the night ...
As Azalea walked down the stairs, I thought to myself that I was too old for this. However, it's a bit of a surprise.
No, no, no! For now, it's business.
I put the completed crates and tables into the item box, and they were sucked in with no problem.
「All right！」
I was fired up, but the question was what to sell. I need to choose something cheap that I can sell. I check the remaining money - a little over 30,000.
First, plates: four sets of five plates for 500 yen each, 20 plates, and three deep plates for 800 yen each. Three deep plates, also 800 yen each, with a blue line around the perimeter.
They are exactly the same, but the ones with the pattern will probably sell for more.
One knife for 5,000 ~ 6,000 yen. Then, I'll arrange about thirty sheets of Japanese paper that I bought the day before yesterday.
How about a plain white handkerchief - I bought two white handkerchiefs with simple embroidery for 800 yen.
It seems that the price of a white handkerchief increases with the amount of embroidery. I'll buy one with embroidery all around it for 2000 yen.
For the time being, let's try with this. Put all the items into the item box.
I have less than 10,000 left in my account! I'm in serious trouble.
I was ready to go, so I went down the stairs of the inn.
"Kenichi, are you going to the market?"
"Yeah, I'm going."
"Good luck."
Thanks for the support, but I really have to work hard or I'll run out of money. Well, I can get ex-world quality products for a reasonable price. It's not like it won't sell at all.
I have to believe that. If I run out of money for real, I'll try to catch the suspicious guy from yesterday and cross a dangerous bridge.
Only a wry smile comes out of my mouth.
------◇◇◇------
The weather is fine, a good day for business. The first thing to do is to secure a location. Most of the places that do business in the market are stalls.
When the goods are available, they come in the morning, set up store, and leave in the evening. Those who are farmers, for example, bring the fruits and vegetables they have picked in the morning, sell them, and leave immediately.
They have other work to do in the fields, so they can't stay at the market all the time. It would cost a lot of money if they had to hire someone.
The location of the stalls is not designated, but the veterans and the old stalls are almost always located in the center of the market.
In other words, the veterans fill in from the center of the market, and the newcomers are at the very end.
Well, this can't be helped. The newcomers have to keep quiet. If they get into trouble, they won't be able to do business in the market.
I went to the far end of the market and prepared to set up store. I go to the end of the market and get ready to set up shop. I call out to the store next door.
"Is this space available?"
"It's all right."
The person next to me was an elderly woman. A lot of merchants are a bit flamboyantly dressed. They wear a lot of ornaments and accessories.
This woman was also wearing a lot of necklaces. Maybe she was selling them, too.
I took out the wooden crate booth I had made from the item box and aligned it with the stall next to me.
"Do you have an item box, Mister?"
"Yeah, it's small."
"I envy you. You can carry all kinds of things without any help, can't you?"
"Yeah."
Yeah, I guess so. If I didn't have an item box, I'd have to cart all the parts of the store and assemble them one by one.
"If you have an item box, why don't you go to the center of the market?"
"I'm new here, you know. I' m new here, I can't make a big deal out of it."
"It's pretty hard, isn't it?"
I set up the table, assembled the store, and using a white sheet as a tablecloth, laid out the goods.
But the wind was blowing a bit and the paper was flying around, so I bought two 300 yen paperweights.
"Hey, let me see your plates."
The woman next to me approached me again, so I gave her one of the cheapest plates I could find.
"Are these new?"
"Yeah, it's brand new."
"How much do you want for it?"
"Hmm, three coppers."
"I can get more than that."
Well, three coppers might be close to the price of a used plate, but they're 100 yen each.
But for now, I need to sell them at a bargain sale or whatever to secure some cash.
"We've just opened the shop, so we're offering special prices."
Now that we're all set, let's get down to business, shall we?
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