Day 64 â Nighttime, Souvenir Store, the Capital Outskirts Branch, Girls-Only Gathering
We made huge profits. ăI  Frontieră series sold out no matter how many more goods Haruka-kun would make. The Capital seems to  Frontier? Head-over-heels for it? But feeling lonesome from this long-distance relationship it began an affair with the Merchants Confederation! On top of that, the Theocracy is also trying to get closer with the Frontier with a pushy approach! Thatâs just like one of those soap operas! Itâs on the same level of messiness as that title that despite being labeled ăShoujoăhad nothing adolescent about it at all? I donât want such shoujo! [1]
ăGood job~, we made super big profits by super ripping them off, a great opening day? Kind of? The salary that youâve been looking for is going to be paid in kind on a daily basis. Today, we have new bags of all kinds. Well, itâs actually Item Bags? So here comes three items per person first-come-first-served battle royale-like salary? If anyone wants to be paid in cash or manju do tell me~? FIGHT, START? Kind of?ă
ăăăăăăKyaaaaaaaaaa!ăăăăăă
A bustling and lively uproar. Completely exhausted after the crowded business hours, everyone entered the Maiden War, Battle of Payment in Kind!
ăBackpack! I need the backpack! Iâm of the backpack faction! Thatâs what I decided today!ă
ăHey! Trade that with me! I want the yellow one, the yeeellow, it goes with the shoes.ă
ăOh no, thatâs mine? Fate brought us together, but we are being torn apart!ă
It seems to be Multicolor, so you should be able to change the coloration? I want the yellow too! But the shape is important! After all, one can pick only three! Handbag, backpack, and shoulder bag. Since itâs just before the bath, no one is wearing their battle gear. Certainly, if everyone was armed it couldâve been too dangerous for a bargain war. Kuh, only a few backpacks left.
ăDonât pull it~, I got it, I took it first!ă
ăWhere is the register? Where is Haruka-kun? Or rather, where is Haruka-kun (the register)!ă
A storm-like battle has ended. Everyone is lying on the floor, holding bags in their hands.
Everyone is utterly exhausted, but has a blissful smile on their face, holding the spoils of war (bags) in their hands.
It seems Item Bags are incredibly difficult to produce, moreover, Item Bags made by Haruka-kun have incomparably largerăStorageăthan normal, which gets bigger with every new edition that he releases, and they even come with various effects now. Thatâs why he canât mass produce them. In other words, he was making new ones every day, stockpiling for the sake of this moment. Thatâs why everyone is so happy, thatâs why itâs everyoneâs treasure.
ăGo into the bath first? Iâll prepare dinner in the meantime. Today is viking with omusoba, jumbo gyoza, rice balls, salad with fried stuff, and vegetable skewers~. Something to scramble for after the bath? Sort of?ă[2] [3]
ăăăăViking! Is it a sea robbers anniversary day?ăăăă
Oda-kunâs group seems to be currently doing some piracy at the moment? I wonder why the side that is supposed to be protecting, ends up engaging in piracy, burglary, and robbery? Hearing this out of context would totally make us look like the baddies.
Today was an exhausting, but very fulfilling day. Everyone is delighted, carrying the bags they got as their rewards. No one probably remembers about the war anymore. Everyoneâs head is filled with Souvenir Storeâs success story. Sales goals he said⊠There are even bonuses for that! There is no time for some silly wars anymore, we have to sell out and sell off!
Over there, the Princess, the Young Lady, and Maid-san are all smiling, gazing at the bags. Grinning even. After all, these are artifact-tier items that would never be available for purchase by the general public. A highest-quality equipment granted only to close allies. Their value easily exceeds that of the national-treasure-class items, but more importantly, they must be happy to have received such special equipment, restricted only to the friends like itâs a matter of course. All three of them are sitting with teary eyes. They probably didnât notice, but their equipment is long since of the same level as highest quality items meant for the friends. They have already been considered as comrades for a long while? They were recognized a long, long time ago.
But the War of Maidens seems to be still too much for the people of this world. The Princess and othersâ hair is disheveled while their clothes are undone, partially coming off. Alright, letâs bathe! The first experience mustâve been tough for them.
Itâs bathing time. Scrambling for the bath everyone shines up their bodies and then jumps into the water. The Princess and company are also here, so letâs behave a bit⊠The Princess jumped in too?âŠ
ăItâs big, but itâs not that impressive compared to the White Weirdo or Murimuri Castle, right?ă
ăHe seems to have no intentions to operate here for long? So he didnât bother with it that much.ă
ăEhm, Iâm pretty sure this is the most splendid bath in the Capital? Even the one in the Royal Palace is smaller and more dull.ă
ăăăOh no, our common sense has been corrupted!ăăă
We shouldnât consider the usual to be the ordinary. That act of Creation he calls a side job is terrific enough to destroy a civilization.
The Frontier has passed the middle-age period and began modernization. The eras are going too fast. Our surroundings are already in a magic version of industrial times, simply lacking in mechanization, or rather it might even be a modern era. In some areas things have in a way already surpassed our modern times. This place, this place alone is like another world. Only Haruka-kunâs surroundings are in some sort of a different civilization. He is trying to get back what everyone has lost, but he is mercilessly taking back a lot of extra stuff? None of us lived such an extravagant life there? We are just ordinary people, you know? This is already surpassing the royal lifestyle?
He also recovered in excess what was taken away from the Frontier. This time, he mustâve been planning to take back from the Merchants Confederation, making absurdly excessive profits along the way. A rip-off king hell bent on taking back everything. A murder attempt would leave the opponents massacred instead, stealing would lead to getting robbed, and evil deeds will result in a slew of all sorts of brutal and heinous acts enacted upon the evildoers. While he may be a tyrant ruling through fear, he is also a rip-off king who doesnât know how to give up. He is probably the natural enemy of the Confederation, but if they oppose him they will get ripped off?
ăIâd like to go out and start with the Viking, but the bath is nice too~.ă
ăăăRight~?ăăă
Unless we leave the bath all together Viking War might break out, so the timing becomes important. The Princess and others still seem unable to keep up with Maiden Wars. Maiden Wars are too soon for this world, certainly, the influence is corrupting!
ăI thought that he will either kill or kidnap the Second Prince, but he decided to fight a trade battle through the souvenir store?ă
ăHis target is the Confederation backing the Second Prince, so he is setting up economic warfare against them. Itâs a warning that screwing with the Kingdom will ruin them.ă
Claiming that the Confederation, who supposedly specializes in the economic side of politics, warfare, and finance, has its weakness in commerce, he launched a pin-point attack. Because the Confederation is profiteering off politics and military affairs, their finances canât cope with commerce. If money is taken from the country that makes money without selling actual goods, it will create a deficit, destroy the military, and crush their politics. They will lose to commerce.
According to Haruka-kunâs explanationăMonetary economy, or rather, credit economy is fragile and has its limitations. While itâs convenient, it comes with its own dangers in exchange. I mean, itâs merely a promise that one can buy stuff with the coins? If no one agrees to sell then itâs pointless. Military and politics become a guarantee for the credits, mixing all three gets you profits, but you canât go back to the way things were before. The Merchants Confederation canât fight through commerce anymore, you know? They are simply profiteering without manufacturing, transporting, or trading, so they donât have crafters, transporters, or traders. So if they become unable to solve their problems by throwing money at them, theyâll have nothing left.ăis supposedly how it is?
ăMake them unable to guarantee the money âŠâŠhuh.ăDoes that mean the actual merchants will take back their country?ă
ăThat is the Confederationâs own internal problems? But they will lose their real power. After all, it seems that even merchants have issues with the way the Confederation does business.ă
Itâs because they had such an easy time making money by putting pressure through politics and military threats that they lost the strength to properly do commerce, and thus are resented by the proper merchants. If they lost the only money they had in such a situation, even if they took only a slight loss, it would put cracks into their coalition. They are working together because itâs profitable, but what will happen if it leads to losing money? What if they are made to take losses? Losses piled upon losses to the point of collapse? After all, he is definitely going to press them that far. Trying to make money with the military and politics, only to have both crushed. Their finances canât prevail over commerce, thatâs why they were targeted there.
ăPresident-sama, Iâll wash your back. You have such a beautiful clean skin, so smooth and lovely.ă
ăHya. T-Thank you very much, Shari-sama, but itâs a bit ticklish, eh, no need to go there.ă
After getting warmed up we shine up the skin once again. This bubbly soap is definitely addictive, a product highly endorsed by mushroom addicts. I feel like the more I use it, the prettier the skin gets!
The Princess seems to really like washing backs, so every time we get into the bath she gets very excited. She mustâve always been in the position of the one getting washed, and never could scrub others.
But⊠Somehow, the way she rubs is⊠Weird? Weirdly good? She is strangery skillful, but there is something off about it? Is it because she isnât used to this yet? But why isnât she using a body brush and is doing it with her bare hands instead?
ăI wonder if Oda-kun and the others are okay. He mentioned that they are dealing with the actually dangerous stuff, so wouldnât it be better to go there together?ă
ăBut there arenât enough people here as well~. With this uproar, Iâm sure there will be a line outside by tomorrow morning?ă
ăăăWhooa, the business is booming.ăăă
The Confederationâs aim is to take the Capital, restrain the Theocracy, take over the supply of magic stones, and make a deal with the Theocracy. The bargaining chips are magic stones and the Kingdom.
And while the Kingdom and the Theocracy are glaring at each other, theyâd attack the country of beastmen. The Kingdom, that wouldâve come to aid the beastmen, canât act, and their business rival, the Church, is also too busy. This is the perfect opportunity for them.
If even one of those plans goes well, they will make more than enough profits, and if both do, theyâll hit a jackpot. This is a large profit on a national scale. Someone, somewhere, is going to have something taken away.
Thatâs why crushing both will lead to huge losses. They might be a merchant confederation, specializing in making money, but here we have the Great Demon King of Ripping Off? A regular great Demon King is bad enough, but this goes straight for the money? Thatâs scary, you know?
Looks like Haruka-kun wants to settle the fight in three days. Once it settled, the Confederation will either keep continuously bleeding money, or will have to run away with a heavy loss. Apparently bleeding them forever is more delicious, but it wonât continue for long. Thatâs why itâs a short-term souvenir store. And once the Confederation pulls back, the Capital will lose its supply and dry up. After that comes recapture of the Capital.
And Haruka-kun will return to the Frontier on his own.
For the next thing, that no one knows about yet.
Preparing to face the real opponents, still lurking in shadows.
All alone, Haruka-kun is going to defend the Frontier.
And we still havenât decided whose bras are going to be made today.
All alone, he is going to work on making bras⊠Wait, thatâs just how it usually goes?
[TL Notes:
[1] Shoujo (from Japanese ć°ć„ł â Girl) is a category of works targeted at a young female audience, typically characterized by a focus on personal and romantic relationships. Also, not 100% sure (only 98%) but that description sounds very much like NANA.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nana_(manga)
Itâs literally how the manga opens. And with all of that, it somehow was labeled âshoujoâ despite being more âadult-orientedâ in plot than many âjoseiâ titles. It also fits year-wise with many other references, being early 2000s.
[2] Omusoba â yakisoba served with a thin omelet on top.
[3] Viking (ăă€ăăłă°) â is how they call all-you-can-eat buffet in Japan. Apparently, the idea traveled to Japan from Sweden after a certain hotel manager saw it there, but as one might expect âsmörgĂ„sbordâ was âa bit muchâ so they went with an easier to pronounce âvikingâ, itâs not hard to make the connection between Sweden and vikings, so no need to explain how that idea came up.