VRMMO no Shien Shokunin ～Top Player no Shikakenin～

In the inner side of the store, I sat down on the opposite side of Claris-san after she guided me to a place where it looked like negotiations were held.

I was served herbal tea so I brought it to my mouth, but this store is really full of women huh…

The employee that acted as a waitress was also a woman. Obviously, she was a different person from the one that greeted me as I entered the store.

When I asked Claris-san about it, she just replied that it naturally became like that on its own.

「There’s no discriminatory reason like the owner being a woman right?」(Hind)

「There should be no worries in that regard since the one at the top of the country is the Queen. It’s simply because of the products we are dealing with.」(Claris)

Hearing those words, I could sort of guess how things had progressed.

It goes without saying that the capital to set up this store came from the 『Mirrors』, but I believe mirrors are articles that can be used by anyone regardless of gender.

It’s just that, thinking about who would use them more frequently…

The number of males that would use a mirror far more often and for a longer period of time than women would be quite rare right?

For that reason, since the Claris’ Company deals with cosmetics, on average, women will most likely spend far longer time using the mirrors.

「It’s because of the difference in numbers in the genders of the people that wanted mirrors at the start? Particularly when it comes down to hand-mirrors.」(Hind)

「Yes. Since the number of male clients that wanted hand-mirrors were very low.」(Claris)

「So naturally, the number of female employees increased as the number of female clients increased. As a result, following that trend, the number of products to fit the clientele increased and that’s how the shop turned out like this…am I right?」(Hind)

「Seems like I can’t keep anything hidden from Hind-sama…it’s just as you guessed. Before I noticed, I had already stopped being a peddler.」(Claris)

Suddenly stopped she says…it’s true that the name displayed above her head had changed to 『Merchant Claris』.

I believe that it’s quite rare for a NPC to change its name so frequently like she does.

If I remember correctly, she started with 『Second-hand Shop』, then it turned to 『Peddler』, and now it’s 『Merchant』.

When it comes to clothes, she started with garments that made her look like a village girl, which then turned into travelling attire, and now she’s wearing refined attire that fits a desert setting.

「Now that I think about it, is this going to be fine with the promise you made to grandma? If I remember correctly, you were supposed to go around the different countries as a peddler to gain experience, right?」(Hind)

「Once the store settles down and is more stable, I plan to leave everything to the employees and go back to being a peddler. However, you can’t help but be worried right…」(Claris)

Ah, she plans to just leave the store to others, huh?

Should I say that she’s not ambitious enough or that she has good resolution…

Even if I only handed her the rights to it, isn’t this quite a waste?

「…Ah! Of course, I’m really grateful to Hind-sama! I’m really sorry that I have been unable to directly express my gratitude.」(Claris)

「No, no! I heard rumors that you were really busy, it’s also my fault that I didn’t visit myself.」(Hind)

「I heard about your accomplishments in the martial arts tournament! I wish I could have gone there to cheer for you…now that I think about it, the magic that those imperial mages used, could only be used during that time? Even though it would be quite convenient to be able to move between cities with magic.」(Claris)

「I see, that’s what you think about it.」(Hind)

The topics of our conversation were all over the place, however, talking with Claris-san proved to be quite beneficial.

Information that you couldn’t get from other players just kept popping up.

We then returned to our main topic and Claris asked for my opinion regarding what she should do with the store now.

She’s asking a player like me about that huh…let’s see…

「…How about you try sending a letter to grandma?」(Hind)

「To grandma?」(Claris)

「To begin with, the reason that you became a peddler was to broaden your horizons and to gain training as a merchant right? I don’t think there’s a need to obsess over the title of peddler that much.」(Hind)

「If I do that, wouldn’t I be unable to clear the objective of broadening my horizons…?」(Claris)

You need to move around in order to broaden your horizons, she claims that she’ll be unable to do that if she stays in the desert.

However, in order to do that, isn’t it quite a waste to just give this store to someone else after making it so big?

「In that case open another one in another country, a store that is.」(Hind)

「Eh? Do you mean that…」(Claris)

「Let’s make a branch in each country and move between them. I believe if you do that and move between them, you’ll be able to keep your promise with grandma.」(Hind)

If it doesn’t go well, it’s at that point where she should go back to being a peddler.

Doing her best to not get into any debts…whoops, this is turning into a sermon.

Anyway, how about trying to make her business even bigger? That’s the opinion I tried to give to Claris-san.

「I think it’ll be fine if you explain the current situation to grandma and then reach a decision. She’s the senior most reliable and closest to you right? You can borrow some wisdom from her.」(Hind)

「…I’ll think about it. I really appreciate Hind-sama giving me such a valuable opinion.」(Claris)

Her eyes when saying that she would think it over were…

Unless I’m misunderstanding something, they were already brimming with hope and ambition.

「This is the Eishika Cloth I promised you.」(Claris)

What I received from Claris-san was a red cloth that released a wonderful luster.

As a result of deciding to ask NPCs for the materials I couldn’t gather myself, I decided to ask her to become the supplier of the materials I needed.

Eishika Cloth is a cloth that’s weaved in low quantities in a remote village called Eishika Village. It’s a very expensive piece of cloth.

The method to weave the cloth is unknown and even the whereabouts of the village are not known. It’s an article that’s shrouded in mystery.

With this, I don’t think the materials I use will overlap with those of the other players…or at least it shouldn’t.

「This cloth is really beautiful…it must have been hard to obtain it, right?」(Hind)

「If I were to be honest, quite. After all, when it comes to merchants in this region, I’m quite the newcomer after all. In order to make connections, I have spent pretty much all the remuneration I planned to give Hind-sama for the mirrors.」(Claris)

「That won’t be a problem. Looking at this cloth, I don’t feel like it was a waste to spend a big amount of money.」(Hind)

「As a result, the goods our company provides has increased too, so I believe it’s something to be happy about but…」(Claris)

The clothes on display within the store seem to be because of the influence of these dealings.

The reward I would have been given for the mirrors should have been pretty high, but let’s consider these necessary expenses.

“Should I explain the expenses in detail?”, is what Claris-san honestly offered to do, but I firmly refused because I was sure my stomach would hurt from listening to it.

Even if it’s a game, it is not nice to look at large amounts of money being spent over and over.

Even though lately, all we’ve been doing is spending a lot of money on agricultural land.

That’s one of the reasons I think it’s better if I don’t know. I also trust Claris-san.

「Thank you very much. If I make another item that I think will sell, I’ll bring it over.」(Hind)

「Really!? Thank you very much, Hind-sama! …Should I write a letter to grandma and send it right now?」(Claris)

「I think that’ll be fine. Well then, I’ll see you another time.」(Hind)

「Yes! Come whenever you want. I’ll be waiting!」(Claris)

I parted ways with Claris-san, who kept bowing down over and over, and I went back to the Guild Home while carrying the Eishika Cloth.

Not forgetting to buy the broad beans or the fish, I also didn’t overlook procuring our daily ingredients.

After returning home, I placed my hand on the door leading to the workshop. From within, the noisy voices of people talking could be heard.

Tobi sent me an email telling me that he would log out to research data, so he shouldn’t be inside.

Which means that these voices…

「Ah, senpai, hi there.」(Siesta)

「Hind-senpai, good evening!」(Lycoris)

「Sorry for barging in.」(Cineraria)

Once I got inside, the first one to notice me was Siesta-chan, who was lying down on the bed.

After that, Lycoris-chan and Cineraria-chan, who were sitting down on chairs while working on something on top of the table greeted me.

They already told me that they were going to use the facilities in our Guild Home so there weren’t any issues but…why is one of them sleeping on the bed…?

「Good evening. Are you three working on what you are going to present in the contest?」(Hind)

「That’s right! Since we are quite inexperienced, we are only making one article! It was Sai-chan’s idea!」(Lycoris)

「Lyco, even if it’s the truth, don’t go saying that we are inexperienced cheerfully…Hind-senpai is giving us a wry smile.」(Cineraria)

「Fuwah…ah, I’m genuinely getting sleepy…」(Siesta)

Looking at what they have on hand, are they making a 『Pillow』?

There’s only one table, so I placed the Eishika Cloth a bit apart from them and started taking out my tools.

「Oh, that cloth has quite a lovely red color! Hind-senpai, are you also going to display something in the sewing category?」(Lycoris)

「Yup. Ah, Lycoris-chan, that part is getting frayed. Isn’t your sewing a bit sloppy?」(Hind)

「What? Aah! It’s true!」(Lycoris)

「Other than that, since it seems like you are using thick cloth, don’t do the final stitching from the marking pin, it’ll end up better if you do it after you finish the embroidery. Didn’t they teach you that at school? Cineraria-chan.」(Hind)

「I think we might have done that…it would be easier if we had a sewing machine, but that won’t be possible, right? Are there any other weird parts?」(Cineraria)

「Eh? Hmm, let’s see…」(Hind)

「As expected of senpai, such a mother.」(Siesta)

「Who are you calling mother!?」(Hind)

As a result, I pointed out a lot of things and it ended up mostly being a group work with us putting in a lot of cotton and finishing the sewing.

This is cotton that the three of them planted in a plot of land we lent them. In other words, it’s a hundred percent natural cotton.

It was carefully sewed so it was fine in that regard, and it was far fluffier than the prototype that Siesta-chan was using until a while ago.

「By the way, Siesta-chan, what are you doing by not helping with the work?」(Hind)

「My job is to make sure that the pillow feels good. I’m a pro at sleeping after all.」(Siesta)

「Ah, right…」(Hind)

What the heck is a pro at sleeping…? I probably wouldn’t understand it even if I asked her so I won’t.