At the Victor Trading Company, I presented Bell’s hair and the scales from Rin and Sera to the chairman and the monster scholar. I’m fairly certain I gave them quite a shock.
That was to be expected, I suppose, once they heard my pets had been dining on Fruit of the World Tree. On the other hand, it would have been a problem if lying to the experts affected the quality of the custom brushes, so I answered every question they asked with total honesty.
As for the Fruit of the World Tree, Sera ate it as well, but only because she wanted to mimic Rin. Since her species had a naturally small appetite, she didn't consume a whole fruit every day; she just nibbled on a tiny amount.
Actually, Rainbow Dragons absorbed magic power from the air through their wings to sustain themselves, so they were light eaters regardless of being a Special Individual. Even an adult Rainbow Dragon apparently only ate two or three nuts a day.
Sera was no exception to that rule. It was nearly impossible for her to eat a whole Fruit of the World Tree, so I usually gave her a specialized smoothie made from refined Fruit of the World Tree juice.
It seemed Sera really wanted to eat a whole one just like Rin, but whenever I actually gave her a fruit, she would get full after just two bites. In the end, the smoothie was the most appropriate choice for her diet.
"I-I am truly impressed. They all seem to be magnificent monsters. There should be no issue with the production, so we will have you select the materials, the length, and the shape of the brushes. We have prepared a catalog here for your review."
"Oh, so I can choose from various materials and different levels of hardness?"
"Yes, we are prepared to accommodate your requests as much as possible. However, I understand that choosing from so many combinations can be difficult. If you give us a vague idea of the 'feel' you are looking for, we can offer suggestions from our side."
"I see... In that case, I’ll take one of every single possible combination, please."
"What!?"
I could imagine which brushes would be suitable for Bell, Rin, and Sera, but there was always a chance I might find an unexpectedly perfect fit by trying something different. If it was possible, I wanted to test them all.
"E-every... every single combination, you say?"
"Yes. Oh, is there perhaps not enough hair or scales to work with?"
"Oh, no, the reason we asked for the hair and scales was to read their respective magic power wavelengths. As long as we record those wavelengths into a specialized magic tool, you are free to take the materials home. There is no limit to the number of brushes we can create... but, well, the thing is, our company’s brushes are intended for the extremely wealthy. A single brush is quite expensive. If we were to produce every possible combination, it would likely exceed 10 Platinum Coins for just one animal..."
"I see..."
"Yes, so if you would care to adjust the order according to your budget..."
"Then, for Bell the Behemoth, I’ll take a full set for both his hair and his horns. For the White Dragon, a set for her scales and her horns—and since she has a bit of hair around her tail, a set for that hair as well. For the Rainbow Dragon, a set for her scales and horns. One of every single combination for all of them, please."
"............U-understood."
The chairman nodded, looking completely dazed by my request. If the estimate for one animal’s patterns was 10 Platinum Coins, then the total for everything I just ordered would be 70 Platinum Coins. That was 700 million yen in Japanese yen, so his surprise was understandable. However, I had no intention of skimping on anything related to Bell or Rin, so the price didn't bother me.
In fact, if I didn't start spending money more aggressively, my savings would continue to grow much faster than I could ever spend them. Anima was incredibly capable, and thanks to her successful investments and funding, she was raking in a fortune. Recently, Nifty's sales had also become staggering. Even though I left the vast majority of the money with Anima, the funds in my personal possession just kept increasing.
Nifty was particularly insane. Despite being a super-luxury brand, Canalis had set it up so that the revenue was essentially pure profit.
She paid salaries to the staff she had created with Shiro-san’s permission, but even with those expenses, the overhead was almost non-existent.
Furthermore, I paid a massive salary befitting her position to Canalis, who acted as the representative of Nifty and managed all three branches. However, she paid almost all of it back to me, saying, "Let’s just call this rent," which meant over ninety percent of her pay returned to my pocket.
Canalis had told me, "I’m fine as long as I have enough money to buy snacks from time to time." If she were saying that out of modesty, I would have pushed her to keep it, but the reality was that she truly had no use for money.
After all, as an Almighty Class being who could create anything she wanted, she didn't actually need to buy things.
Because she had a diligent personality, she just wanted to make sure that when she bought things at stalls, she used money she had earned herself rather than money she had created. Beyond that, she really didn't need it. Between her returning her salary and Nifty’s astronomical profits, my wealth was hitting ridiculous levels.
Besides, I didn't have any expensive hobbies. I didn't collect fine art or precious metals, and I preferred home-cooked meals over super-high-end cuisine. Without a doubt, pet supplies were my biggest expense, so in that sense, this transaction was perfectly fine.
Serious-senpai: "Hmm, but you know... it’ll still take time for these brushes to become famous through Kaito, and they won't be ready right away anyway. Meeting Nizbel and Eingana later is a certainty, but maybe Cornelia’s stomach pain will end up being relatively minor?"
???: "That’s right! If Serious-senpai says so, it must be true (Flag +1). Aside from the two who are already confirmed, there’s no way he’d run into anyone else, right? (Flag +1). After all, this is just a trade city, not even the capital of the Arclesia Empire. There’s no way he’d meet anyone with a higher status than that in a place like this! (Flag +1). Since both Nizbel-san and Eingana-san are relatively sensible people, there’s no way things will get out of hand, right? (Flag +1). Even if Cornelia is a one-hit kill type stomach pain character, meeting just two of the Six Kings' Executives seems like it lacks punching power, so it should be fine, right? (Flag +1)."
Serious-senpai: "............I have a bad feeling about this."