Haruna returned to the surface as quickly as she could . She returned to the town and began to gather food stuff, health recovery medication and other similar things in large quantities .
At that point, her basic capital was about 600 gold pieces . In Japanese yen, that’s about 30 million yen . So there’s plenty of money to buy everything she needed .
“Right, next is the actual shop . Rather than bringing wood down to built something, it’s better to just dig out a space, na . ”
So, Haruna bought a pickaxe and began to very enthusiastically dig out a space at level 13 for her shop .
“Hai ya! Hai ya! Hai ya!”
Thanks to her level 84 status, she was able to just crunch, crunch, crunch, her way through the dirt and rocks, and very easily created a 12 tatami mat (19 . 2 m2) worth of space in no time .
“I wonder if I need to pay rent for dis space . Maa, since no one seems to own dis patch of dirt, it oughta be free!”
Tables would be lined up there .
Adventurers will be able to safely keep their luggage here .
Additionally, nails will be put into the ceiling so that she could hang up her signboard
And thus, [Adventurer’s Department Store, Haru-chan] was born .
Located at the 13th floor of the Old Saxon Dungeon .
This was a fairly difficult floor for most Adventurer’s to reach .
As for her goods, her line up included food items as well as strength recovery items .
Furthermore, at the back of the shop was a long space, especially prepared for guests to rest and enjoy their tea . The so-called tea bush did not actually exist in this world, however, the people in this world had long use other types of medicinal leaves and flowers to make herbal tea . As for hot water, Haruna could use her Fire Magic to boil water . It was a little troublesome to bring water down from the surface, but there really was no potable water in the dungeon .
“Well then, Welcome! Welcome! Tired people seeking rest, welcome! Free rest stop for you~! Herbal tea at 5 bronze coins only . Rusk and bread at 3 bronze coins, water also 3 bronze coins, ya~! All customers will get candy as a reward, de~”
Haruna’s loud voice echoed through the dungeon, it resounded not only on the 13th floor, but was also heard at floor number 12th and 14th .
The shop was quite in demand .
In just two days, there was not a single Adventurer at the Old Saxon town who did not know about the shop .
Haruna personally worked hard to welcome every single customer that came in .
“What’s dis, there are also people like dis in the dungeon? Well, anyone’s welcome here, I guess…”
First, there were the half dead Adventurers who were on their way back to the surface and treated this place like a sanctuary .
Because the monsters here were stronger, the Adventurers at this level also risk their lives a lot more .
When facing her weary customers, Haruna repeated the phrase . “That was dangerous… Thank goodness you made it,” many times . Her shop most certainly contributed to the decline in mortality rate of the Adventurers who explored this dungeon .
For lightweight, less experienced Adventurers, they would almost certainly bring less food as part of their luggage into a dungeon expedition .
Naturally, having less luggage means one was less likely to become tired . However, this was a serious rookie mistake that could get a new Adventurer killed . For people like these, the shop was practically godsend .
At that time, the most popular travel ration was rusk . Old bread would be would be baked to reduce its water content and weight as well as to increase its shelf life . It’s something to stave off hunger . Because sugar was considered a high class item, rusk would normally be sprinkled with salt or oil in order to increase its nutritional value .
On the other hand, [Haru-chan] carried much higher quality rusk .
“Oooh, this rusk, it’s actually sweet!”
Adventurers who ate these rusk unintentionally let out surprised exclamations .
“Are you an underground worm? Dis type of sweet rusk is very famous, you know?”
Just a few days after opening, there were several customers who considered themselves as regulars . These people could be considered heavy users of [Haru-chan’s] products .
In reality, Haruna had no special intention of introducing sugar as a trade product . However, because she had an unlimited supply of candy, it made sense to melt the candy in hand and sprinkle them on her products . Because sweetness was something that’s highly valued in this world, her sales went up explosively .
Additionally, she made a thick syrup out of the melted candy, added water and sold it as sweetened water to her customers .
Actually, this kind of drink already existed in Kansai . It’s something that one can buy at temples . The sweetness level is actually quite mild, and children nowadays don’t really consume this type of old fashion drink any more . On the other hand, since sweetness was a rare thing in this world, this mildly sweet syrup drink was very much appreciated .
Salted kelp was also something that was sold .
At first, it was quite difficult to get Adventurers to accept this product since the culture of eating seaweed did not exist in this world . However, since the salt helped in the recovery of strength, some Adventurers began buying it as energy recovery medicine .
Also, Haruna came up with all sorts of products and services that were especially targeted towards female Adventurers .
Towards the evening, a five member female Adventurer’s group shyly approached . The dungeon was basically a men’s world, and women who attempted it were a rarity .
“Um, excuse me…”
“Ah, please follow this passage towards the end . There are nobody in there now, so please take your time . ”
At the back of the shop was a small passage that leads to a toilet .
As a rule, there were no toilets in a dungeon . Most people would just find a quiet passage free of enemies in order to do ‘their business’ . Naturally, this was especially hard for women .
The toilet facilities at [Haru-chan] was very exciting for female Adventurers . Especially the state of the art water flushing system . Haruna regularly use her Fire Magic to burn off the human wastes and to prevent the toilets from becoming stinky .
Because of all the above reasons, [The Adventurer’s Department Store, Haru-chan] soon became something that’s indispensable to the Adventurers who challenge the dungeon . As an establishment for the dispersion of food and vital resting place, it basically revolutionises dungeon style hunting .
However, the thing that attracted the people most to the shop was actually Haruna herself and her unique personality .
“Ah, you there, you look sleepy, ya na . You should take a nap . Here’s a blanket, na . ”
The exhausted Adventurers were given some light bed linens, and could sleep as long as they like .
“Ah, you’ve woken up . Here, have this orange on the house . Go on, eat up!”
It was pretty rare for people in this world to just give things without taking anything back in return .
[Translator’s notes: On the other hand, Osaka people are pretty generous with their gift giving . Girls traditionally will get themselves a cute little bag by the time they’re in high school called the candy bag and started giving random people sweets . It’s like a rite of passage…]
As a rule, an Osakan Auntie, when compared to the other aunties of Japan are the most meddlesome bunch of people . In her past life, when someone asked Haruna for directions, she would actually interrupt her own shopping in order to bring that person all the way to their destination .
This type of depressingly meddlesome attitude was brought over into this world even after she had turned into a perfectly beautiful maiden . Being a beauty, interestingly, made people overlook this meddlesome attitude as a demerit point, while others saw it as a good thing instead .
Due to the lack of female company in the dungeon, it was only natural for Adventurers to gather in the shop in order to sooth their eyes and feelings with Haruna’s vibrant presence . There was also an informal competition among the men to see who could gather the full set of products from the shop first . Additionally, there were also adventurers who came down, not to challenge the dungeon, but to meet with Haruna .
In fact, a week after the shop started operation, Haruna already received three proposals .
“Haruna-chan! Let’s go and explore all the dungeons in the world together . ”
“Apologies, brother, the only thing that gets dis blood pumping is making money, ne . ”
Despite rejecting all the proposal, Haruna actually felt great joy at receiving every one of them .
As to what level of joy, well, each time she returned to the inn, she would give an [I received a proposal today!] report to Martha .