Free Web NovelChapter 16: It’s Actually Mine...
I spent the entire night thoroughly enjoying Felica’s body. The next morning, the two of us headed to the academy together.
Felica kept lightly punching me while complaining, "You went way too far!" but she was smiling happily the whole time, so I decided it was fine.
...No, even I have to admit I really overdid it. I should reflect on that.
Despite being sleep-deprived, I finished my duties at the academy. Around 6 PM, I was walking back to the [Suzuya] when I noticed Erika and Marika-san beside me.
When I asked what was going on, they told me the supply of pelts had fallen behind demand.
Marika-san runs Flower Mist, which sells underwear and some sleepwear, but she also operates another store called Flower Garden that sells clothing. It’s a popular shop in the royal capital, popular enough to stay in business there.
However, thanks to my suggestion, they’re now short on pelts.
What I had proposed was bedding and carpets—things completely unrelated to clothing.
...Yes, bedding and carpets.
I’ve never been to other countries, so I can’t say for sure, but in this royal capital, they don’t put much effort into bedding or furniture. Or rather, they do put effort in... but only into appearances.
There are plenty of luxurious, showy items, but they lack practicality. This world has a "shoes-on indoors" culture, so fluffy carpets have limited usefulness. As for bedding, they put zero effort into practicality. Pillows are just straw stuffed in a bag, and comforters are thin pieces of cloth...
Since I also run an inn at the [Suzuya], I couldn’t stop thinking about it, so I made them myself.
Pillows, futons, comforters, carpets... By the way, I made the guest rooms at the inn strictly shoes-off. The bedroom in the living space I share with Neemi is also shoes-off.
If someone asks why I didn’t make the entire living space shoes-off, the answer is simple: it would take too much time.
Back then, I was exhausted from constantly renovating the bathhouse and the tavern kitchen at the [Suzuya]. Plus, dealing with adventurers. Honestly, if my reincarnation destination hadn’t been the instructor role at the raid academy, I probably would have collapsed from exhaustion.
That’s why I suggested to Marika-san: "Why don’t you try making and selling them?"
The two of them tilted their heads, but they gave it a shot and started selling prototypes. They sold instantly. Once something starts selling here, it doesn’t stop.
Since this world has no SNS or TV, everything spreads by word of mouth—and word of mouth is incredibly powerful. Now customers are constantly asking when the next shipment will arrive, and they’re struggling to keep up.
But because they also sell clothing, they can’t use pelts for all their bedding products. Even going through merchants, there’s a limit to how much they can procure.
I suggested they trade directly with adventurers, but they were hesitant.
Erika, who was walking beside me, looked up at me with suspicious eyes and asked:
"Do you really have a way?" freewebnoveℓ.com
"Yeah, you can trust me."
"Trust... you say..."
Marika-san had been busy but came along when Erika invited her, hoping to secure a source of pelts.
As the [Suzuya] came into view, I spotted some rugged adventurers. Their intimidating presence tends to overshadow things, but female adventurers also regularly patronize the place.
I called out to a group of adventurers who were about to enter the tavern.
"Sorry, did you already sell your pelts to the guild?"
"Oh, Instructor! Pelts? Yeah, I was planning to take them tomorrow, so I still have them."
"Can I take a look?"
"Sure, no problem. Ah, they might get dirty—want to do it inside the tavern?"
"Please."
I gave a light bow, and they slapped my shoulder hard, telling me not to worry about it.
The two women seemed confused by our conversation, so I urged them to head inside the tavern.
"Um, what’s going on?"
"...You have pelts?"
Once inside, the adventurer placed pelts from about ten animals on the table. Marika-san examined them closely. Erika joined her and quickly showed a look of surprise.
"These are Silver Wolf pelts, aren’t they!?"
"And so many of them... The skinning is clean, and the size and quality are excellent..."
They probably wouldn’t be this shocked by ordinary wolf pelts.
But these were Silver Wolf pelts—the kind considered ideal for clothing. Silver Wolves are also known as "beginner killers." They’re twice as long as regular wolves, reaching two meters in length. If you get cocky after getting used to hunting normal wolves, you’ll die.
While glancing at the adventurer who was blushing at the praise for his skinning work, I revealed the truth. It wasn’t anything particularly impressive, though...
"The mountain nearby... is actually mine."
"...Say that again. What?"
"The mountain nearby is mine. Erika, you really need to do more preliminary research."
"Why is it yours!?"
"Well, even if you ask ’why’..."
I gave a wry smile as Erika pressed closer.
As expected, Marika-san had already switched into full business mode and was negotiating with the adventurers.
The story is simple: instead of a peerage, I received the nearby mountain.
That mountain is famous for frequent Silver Wolf stampedes. It was the same in the game. However, in the game you couldn’t actually obtain the mountain. Every time a stampede occurred, players would get dragged into the event and the heroines would be put in danger.
As a noble, no one would want to own such troublesome land. After all, every stampede would lead to criticism and fingers being pointed at the owner.
When I proposed taking the mountain instead of a peerage, both the king and the prime minister readily agreed.
Of course they would. It meant someone they could easily punish if anything went wrong would own it. There was nothing better for them... Thankfully, they didn’t realize I could turn the situation to my advantage.
At first I thought about hunting them myself, but there were already plenty of capable people at the [Suzuya].
The main reason the adventurers who gathered at the [Suzuya] had been so depressed and rough was because they couldn’t make money.
So I trained the adventurers, gave them permission to enter the mountain, and had them exterminate the Silver Wolves.
Creating the permits through the kingdom didn’t take long.
The adventurers could sell the pelts to the guild for money and earn rank points. Then they would spend that money at the [Suzuya]. The result was profitable operations.
When I explained this to Erika, she sat down heavily in a nearby chair and pressed her forehead as if she had a headache.
Neemi approached with a troubled smile, carrying glasses of fruit juice.
"Erika-san, you must be surprised."
"Thank you. It’s not just surprise... No, actually, you’re the one who surprises me the most."
"Yeah... these past two years, I’ve been constantly surprised."
As the two of them said that, I could only smile wryly. Marika-san, looking very pleased, came over with the adventurers.
From what I heard, when sold to the guild, one Silver Wolf pelt goes for one silver coin. After negotiating to sell to Flower Garden, they settled on two silver coins per pelt.
Rank points would be fine since they only needed to bring in fangs or other subjugation parts for wolf-type monsters.
It would mean an extra stop, but they could earn both points and subjugation rewards, and the pelts would be bought at a high price... For adventurers, it was all good news.
I then told Marika-san that only the adventurers currently gathered at the [Suzuya] had permits to enter the mountain.
Realizing what that meant, she hurried off, her large chest bouncing as she went to gather people and carriers.
"Hey, shouldn’t we tell the others about this?"
"...Ah~, yeah... Damn, no helping it!"
The man who was told this by a female adventurer made a reluctant face but still started moving.
I apologized, and they laughed while slapping my shoulder again, saying it wasn’t the instructor’s fault.
...My shoulder is seriously going to break at this rate.
On another note, there was something that caught my attention: a small figure running around the store energetically. freeweɓnovel.cѳm
Erika noticed where I was looking and also spotted the small figure, staring in shock.
Small, or rather, loli with huge breasts.
Neemi smiled apologetically, placing a hand on her cheek as she explained.
"She came around 3 PM saying she wanted to help. I did a simple interview, but... I never imagined she was the academy’s board chairman."
"...Raid-san, I’d like an explanation?"
I’m the one who wants an explanation, though...
I did say I disliked that kind of relationship, but how did it lead to this current situation?
When I told the two of them about Croana-san, they both let out big sighs.
"You’ll have to take responsibility for that."
"...Yes, you must take responsibility."
I told them I’d take responsibility for the flags, but I still didn’t understand the meaning behind Croana-san’s actions.
They looked at me with exasperated expressions.
...I really don’t get it, though.
