~Ryoma's Side~
After savoring some delicious bread and charcoal-grilled meat, Carla stopped me.
"Manager, I’d like a word regarding the second store."
"Of course. What’s on your mind?"
"To be blunt, we have more than enough capital from our sales and the medical fees you collected. Isn't it about time we opened a branch?"
"Already? I thought managing a business required much more time to study."
"That is generally true," Carla explained. "However, since Koken and the others were researchers, they have no trouble with literacy or arithmetic. Usually, a manager needs time to learn procurement and how to negotiate with other shops and customers, but this shop has no competition and no need for haggling. Therefore, Caulm and I have prioritized teaching them how to handle problems. They have already learned the basics of bookkeeping; I believe the fastest way forward now is to let them gain experience through practice."
"...I see. So you don't just want to increase our revenue, you want to use the new branch as a training ground for managers."
"Exactly. Of course, either Caulm or I would work at the branch temporarily to provide guidance and judge if they can truly be entrusted with the shop. Furthermore, there is one more thing."
She handed me a stack of papers. Looking through them, I realized it was a summary of our financial reports to date.
The balance sheets from our opening day until yesterday were all there, but the pages continued. Beneath the reports was a table labeled "Revenue Projections." It was a thick bundle of papers, many of which looked like they had been rewritten over and over. Judging by the feel of the ink and paper, they had been written quite a while ago.
It was likely because I had been advertising and performing demonstrations all over the place when we first opened. There were massive discrepancies between the projected and actual figures. Wait, even before that... were the visitor numbers used for these projections based on data from entirely different industries?
"Were you collecting information for future management plans?" I asked.
"You are very perceptive," Carla replied. "Currently, we are the only business focused primarily on laundry. It is an extremely rare occupation. Because of that, we have very little benchmark data. We have managed the shop by feel, deciding how to handle every aspect—including income and expenditure—on a case-by-case basis. Specifically, we've had to adapt just to keep up with the unexpected volume of customers and sales.
"Right now, our projections have been wrong in a good way. However, even if the results are positive, it doesn't change the fact that we haven't been able to correctly predict future trends. I believe that by increasing the number of stores now, we can gather more data to help us formulate more accurate projections and management plans."
The work had somehow gotten done even before Koken and the others arrived, and now everyone was more efficient. Besides, it wasn't as if I was just leaving them to sink or swim; it was more like an internship. If that was the case, I suppose it was fine. The attacks on me had calmed down, and we had high-rank guards at the shop. I could move around on my own without issue, and if I planned to keep this business growing, I needed to find a place for the ever-increasing number of cleaner slimes.
I could just take the extra slimes back myself, but to be honest, I didn't know the limit of how many monsters I could contract with. I hadn't hit a wall yet, but I didn't know when I might. From that perspective, increasing the number of shops and tamers had benefits beyond just financial gain.
Personally, I thought a franchise model might work eventually. At the very least, it would be better than having to cull excess slimes just to keep our trade secrets safe. That was likely a long way off, but we would need brand recognition for that too.
Actually, I might still have the mindset of an employee rather than a manager. I was used to difficult problems landing in my lap out of nowhere. Even if a request was unreasonable, you pushed through and got it done by the deadline. That had been my job in my past life. I was truly lucky to have Carla and Caulm.
"I understand," I said. "Let's move forward with the second store. My job is to decide on the town, acquire the land, and prepare the building, right?"
"Is that acceptable?"
I had reached this conclusion by combining my own thoughts with the advice of Carla, my senior in management. When I explained my reasoning, she smiled with relief.
"Thank you for your understanding. We look forward to it."
"Then I'll leave the staff training to you. I’ll head to the guild to ask about potential locations."
With that, I left the shop and headed for the Commerce Guild.
"Welcome," the Guild Master greeted me.
"Thank you as always. I've come to discuss opening a second store."
"So you've finally decided to expand. I've already prepared a list of recommended towns: Shuchiro, Harken, Lenaf, and several others."
I was grateful she had already done the legwork. Since this was the first branch, I wanted it to be close to Gimul so I could rush over if anything went wrong.
"You'd prefer somewhere close by, wouldn't you? I have those ready too."
I was finally starting to get used to the way she could read my mind.
"Thank you very much."
"The best options nearby are Shuchiro, Harken, and Lenaf. Of those, the town of Lenaf is the closest."
"Is there land available there?"
The Guild Master grinned. "I have just the thing. It’s not as large as your current shop, though."
The property she introduced was about half the size of my current shop, but it was close to the center of town and came with a building in good condition. Looking at the floor plan, it had been a general store and included a warehouse, so it would only need minor modifications. If it turned out to be unsuitable, I could always tear it down and rebuild.
"The building is located diagonally across from Pioro’s shop. I had it inspected, and the structure is solid. No problems there. You'll just have to finalize the paperwork at the guild over there."
"I see. Thank you. I'll go buy that land, then."
And just like that, I had a lead on the new location. Having reliable, expert collaborators really made things move fast.
I immediately returned to the shop and reported the guild meeting to Carla and Caulm. Afterward, I spoke to Koken and the others about the branch, having them promise once again not to let the cleaner slimes fall into the wrong hands. It was part of their official employment contract with the guild, but I wanted to be certain. All three of them agreed without hesitation.
Later that evening, I stopped by Serge’s shop.
I informed him that I would be heading to Lenaf for a while to prepare the new store and picked up a large shipment of cloth. I would be busy preparing for my trip starting tomorrow, so I wanted to stockpile as much waterproof cloth as possible to ensure we didn't run out of stock while I was away.
According to Serge, products made from my waterproof cloth were becoming popular, and sales were strong. The main customers were adventurers and peddlers. Adventurers usually travel light to stay mobile, so they appreciated anything that reduced weight.
As for the peddlers, most of those buying the cloth operated roofless wagons and used it to protect their wares from the rain. Leather cargo covers existed, but they were heavy and bulky, which put a strain on the horses and reduced the amount of cargo they could carry.
If a wagon was too heavy, it was harder to escape from monsters or bandits. Furthermore, overworking a horse was considered a sign of a poor merchant; those who didn't care for their animals were often looked down upon by their peers. The waterproof cloth was light, space-saving, and highly effective, making it an easy choice for many.
I decided to give the sticky slimes extra food so they would multiply quickly. I’d need to increase production soon, and I wanted to spread the workload so no single slime was overtaxed.
With those thoughts in mind, I headed home.
Four days later, my preparations were complete.
I spent that time coordinating with my staff and allies to ensure things ran smoothly in my absence. I also implemented a few changes to the shop’s operations.
First, we were introducing a logo. It combined an image of bamboo and a slime with the name "Bamboo Forest." A craftsman Serge worked with was making a custom branding iron for us to mark our bags. The new store would use these bags from day one, and the Gimul shop would begin phasing them in for existing customers.
Second, the shop would now have fixed days off. Until now, staff had taken rotating holidays, but that meant the team could never go out together. I decided to change the schedule so everyone could rest at once. I planned to put up signs to notify customers a month in advance.
Third was the management of the cleaner slimes. Since Koken and his team were all moving to the branch, the Gimul main store would be left without a tamer. However, that didn't mean I was tethered to the city.
Over the last two months, Maria—one of the three girls working for us—had actually mastered taming magic. Her grandmother had been a mage, and though Maria had lost her and the chance to study magic as a child, she possessed plenty of mana.
One day, after we had become friendly, I suggested she try taming. Under Lobelia’s expert guidance, she practiced on her days off and successfully formed contracts with slimes.
From now on, I could leave the daily slime management to Maria and the others, only stepping in to collect the slimes when they reached their contract limits.
...Actually, do I even have a limit? I’d heard that the legendary founder of the Tamer Guild, another person from Earth, didn't have one, but she was a specialist in that field. Maybe I’ll ask Gain and the others about it next time I see them.
Well, it was time to go.
As I stepped out of the shop, the entire staff was lined up to see me off.
"Well then, I'm off!" I called out.
"Have a safe journey!" they shouted in unison.
I set off through the city. By the time I passed through the gates, the morning sun was high in a crisp blue sky. I began to run down the straight, well-maintained highway. Come to think of it, this was my very first solo journey since arriving in this world.