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Chapter 42 from “Miniature Garden Chemister part 2 – Miniature Garden”
“Hmm, we’re not selling well, are we?”
“There are no customers in the first place.”
We had woken up early and came to the busy market.
Because the ocean is not nearby, the main products were mostly vegetables and meat, but you could also find some river fish here and there. In addition to that, there were also stalls for adventurers.
There are various people, such as merchants who do the stocking, and people who do the shopping. In the midst of all this, I was determined to take the flyers I made yesterday and try to conduct business in the marketplace.
I pulled a cloth on the ground and arranged various types of potions on it. Ikuru and I also sat down and started our business, but…no people had come.
Was it because the price was too high after all?
<High Potion> 500 Rill.
<Garnet Potion> 900 Rill.
<Mana Potion> 1,500 Rill.
<Marine Potion> 2,300 Rill.
<Princess Potion> 1,000 Rill.
There were 20 of each type in stock.
The type of potions and their prices were written on a piece of paper. Although it was within the market range, there were very many adventurers who just looked at the prices and walked away because it was not cheap as usual
Hmm, business is a difficult thing.
“We’ll just have to call out to them from here…! Welcome!”
I stood up and decided to call out to the people on the street. Ikuru stood with me.
As we were both talking to each other, I noticed that we were attracting a lot of looks. Mostly towards Ikuru. That’s right, I hadn’t paid much attention to it, but Ikuru was actually quite a handsome guy. All the girls on the street were looking at Ikuru, but he didn’t seem to care about them at all. I wonder if he was just used to it by now? Well, not many woman would call out to someone just by looking at them.
Oh, but is there such a thing as reverse dating in this world?
“Oh my gosh, these garnet potions are so cute!”
“Welcome!”
About 30 minutes after the first call… finally, we had one customer!
Apparently the potion bottles were so cute that it stopped her in her tracks. Giving quick look at the person the voice came from, I saw that the person was a woman…no, wait, a woman…not? Is it?
“Welcome. These may seem a little expensive for the market, but the effects are outstanding.”
“Oh my…that’s good…How much will it recover?”
“The high potions will recover 1,300 MP and the garnet potions will restore 3,500 MP. We’re selling them at a discount today because we’re also advertising a shop.”
“Well, that’s quite an effect!”
I had frozen slightly, so Ikuru responded in a matter-of-fact tone instead. No, no, because I had thought it was a woman, I was surprised to find out that he was a normal guy. If this was a feminine-looking guy on the outside, I could understand why…but I was a little surprised that a normal man was using feminine speech. He looked like an adventurer in leather armor with a sword strapped to his waist! (*** T/N: This this person looks like a man, but he uses the female form of speech in Japanese, so Hinami was shocked when she looked up and saw a person that didn’t match the voice/speech)
Rather, it’s amazing how completely unfazed Ikuru was…
“Thank you very much!”
“I’ll come back again!”
“Huh!”
While I was mulling it over, Ikuru was selling the potions.
“What are you doing, Hinami-sama?”
“No, it was just so unexpected that I couldn’t move…!”
“I’ve sold one High Potion, and one Garnet Potion.”
“Oh, thank you…!”
“Better pull yourself together.”
I was upset with myself.
It couldn’t be helped, I’d have to show them better next time. It wasn’t like I was working part-time all the time! Continue, I continued raising my voice, saying ”Welcome~!” Come to think of it, all the clerks at clothing stores have high voices, don’t they? I used to work at a coffee shop part-time, so I’m not good at imitating that kind of voice, but I wonder what kind of voice is best to use when calling out to someone. For now, though, I’m just  using my normal voice.
“Well if it isn’t Hinami!”
“Oh, Alfred-san…!”
“What are you doing, in a place like this?”
Alfred-san was walking towards us through the crowd, dressed in a knight’s uniform. It was worn but well dressed, and his red hair, which was tied back, was very eye-catching. I greeted him “Good morning,” while explaining that I was selling a limited number of potions (20 each) at a discounted price before my shop opened. I was a little uncomfortable with the money.
“I see…So is the shop ready?”
“Yes. I even ordered a signboard yesterday! It’s a magical wood sign, and will bloom over time.”
“Magical wood, that’s really great!”
Apparently, Alfred-san likes it too, and grows more excited at my story. That’s right, Alfred-san also rides dragons, and is definitely a person who likes these kind of fantasy items…! However, because Alfred-san was born and raised in this fantasy world, doesn’t that mean he should be  more used to these kind of things in general?
“In that case, I’ll give you a decoration made of magical wood next time!”
“Wait, why are you doing that all of a sudden!?”
That’s too sudden, Alfred-san! Where in that conversation did it suggest that I was supposed to get a present…! As I look at him with a troubled expression, he responds, “Don’t worry about it.”
No, no, no, no, no…!?
“I’m only giving it to Hinami because I wanted to give it to her,  so don’t worry about it.”
“No, no, I’ll definitely worry…”
I wonder if this is just something normal for aristocrats…!
I can’t just accept such a luxurious item!
Not listening to me at all, Alfred-san says, “Look forward to it” and looks down at the potions.
Come to think of it, wasn’t it only a month ago that I sold a bunch of potions to Alfred-san? Could it be that they’re already gone or something…?
Apparently my prediction was correct. “I want the same number again as last time.” he said.
“I don’t have enough right now…can it wait until after the shop opens?”
“Oh, that’s okay. The shop is where this flyer says, right? I promised to go with Thia.”
“Ha-ha, thank you.”
Alfred-san’s sister complex is still alive and well. I don’t have enough potions on hand at the moment, so I’ll prepare them for him at the next opportunity. The handover of the shop will be tomorrow, so I won’t be able to prepare a large number of potions just yet.
“Well, I’d like to talk to you some more, but I have to go now.”
“Speaking of which, you’re in a knight’s uniform…is that your work?”
“Hmm, something like that.”
Somehow, the answer seems slightly vague.
Well, I can’t say a lot about the job description of a knight so pompously, can I? No, I’m not sure if he’s a knight or not, but his clothes look like the types of knight’s clothes I’ve seen in games and cartoons, so…what? Wasn’t Alfred-san a magician?
As I looked at Alfred-san with a question mark hanging above me, I was pated on the head with his hand. Eh? Hey, what kind of development is this…!??
“Don’t look at me like that! I’ll see you later!”
“What do you mean—what do I look like…Okay, see you again!”
Alfred-san walked away before I could hear his response, so it was somewhat awkward. Hmm…I wonder if I am now considered like a sister because I’m a friend of Thia-chan’s. As I was pondering this, suddenly a large number of people…well, five or six of them, gathered around me.
I was surprised by what was happening, but Ikuru once again began to serve the customers with a nonchalant “Welcome!”
Eh, that means a visitor has suddenly arrived…! I also call out “Welcome!” to those who came over.
“You know Alfred-sama?!”
“Wow! Those are some great potions…! Sell it!”
“I want to use the same potions that Alfred-sama uses to recover~!”
“Does Alfred-sama always use your potions?”
“Well uh, yeah, um…”
I was asked a series of questions in rapid succession and became confused, but was eventually able to sort out the content.
“I mean, are these Alfred-san’s fans…? Aren’t these people…! Great, He truly is very popular. Especially considering that he didn’t buy anything from me while we were just standing around talking for a few minutes. But this potency…! He was like a walking potion advertisement, wasn’t he?”
“Yes, yes, these are Alfred-sama’s favorite potions. They’re cheap today, but will be more expensive after tomorrow, so if you want to buy any, now is the best time!”
“Ikuru…”
Upon hearing those words, the assembled adventurers rushed to Ikuru to purchase them. As if to treat it lightly, Ikuru told them that each person could only order one of each type, so they all purchased one of every kind. If I calculated correctly, there were six people, so each person’s purchase of 6,200 Rill x six people would come out to a total of 37,200 Rill. In addition to that, He also sold some to the previous person, so our current sales are 38,600 Rill. Wow, I feel rich already.
“Thank you!”
“Thank you again in the future!”
Once again, I let Ikuru handle the customer service. At the very least, I tried to raise my voice loudly to thank them. Then the adventurer also waved to me, saying that they’d be back. Oh, since they’re adventurers, I thought most of them would have intense personalities, but they were all good people.
“Alfred-san seems to be very popular.”
“That’s right. He is the Blazing Flame Magician, after all.”
“Blazing Flame Magician?”
As I speak with Ikuru as the customers are heading out, he tells me something that sounds kind of like a meaningful nickname.
“Wait, you didn’t know that?” He gave me an exasperated look, but still explained.
“That’s Alfred-sama’s title. Hinami-sama also has a title of divine protection, right?”
“Yeah, there is…God’s blessing.”
“There are two kinds of titles. Those that are acquired naturally, and those given to you by someone. Hinami-sama’s title is a title given by God. Likewise, Alfred-sama’s title was given by the king of this country.”
“Eh! Isn’t that pretty amazing…?”
“Only three people in this country have been awarded a title by the King, including Alfred-sama.”
Whoa!
Only three people were given the title…!
There are so many people and so many strong-looking adventurers. It’s immeasurable to me, but I’m sure it’s even more amazing than I imagined.
“I really met an amazing person.”
“…yes.”
I think Alfred-san who is always climbing higher, but not bragging about it, is quite mature. No, I think it would only be normal if he was bragging about it. If it were my sister Hana, I would be bragging about it 24-7
“Ah, by the way, what’s the other kind of title?”
“It’s a title that comes to you naturally, and is not given by someone else. For example…we often hear about fairy blessings. If you have a good match with a certain attribute, it comes naturally, and you become better at handling that attribute. Other than that, there isn’t much information out there, but it is said that you can get them by defeating certain monsters and so on.”
Oh, I see.
In other words, you can get a title if you get along with the world and it likes you.
But I wonder if the lack of information means that not many people have gotten it? I glanced at Ikuru, and he told me as if predicting my questions. “Not many people have them.”
As expected of a fantasy world. We never had such a mysterious system back in Japan.
While we were talking about such things, another customer came to the stall once again.
“Welcome. Today only, you can get a discount on these potions!”
“Thank you. I didn’t know one could even get such high quality potions at the market…I’d like to buy a whole batch, is that okay?”
“Yes! Thank you!”
Oh, I finally got to serve some customers!
This time the customers were a guy and a girl, both of them were adventurers and were well dressed in their armor. Were they a party?
They both bought all the types of potions.
After that, for a while, customers come and went while chatting with Ikuru.
It’s not that cheap for the market, so not all of them bought some, but they were all nice people as we spoke with them.
And that’s how my stall sold out of everything by lunchtime.