The sales of cola and sanitary pads were like a snowball rolling down from the mountaintop—small at first, but as time went on it grew bigger and bigger, until its presence could no longer be ignored.
The enormous profits from the cola left every merchant guild and trader dumbstruck, especially those peddlers who hadn't signed a contract with Jhin at the very beginning. They were so full of regret their guts had turned green. Even if they wanted to start cooperating with him again now, it was no longer their turn—the major famous guilds had already lined up over at the Adventurers' Guild to book a meeting.
Jhin also adjusted the original ninety-ten profit split appropriately, changing it to eighty-twenty, as a way of rewarding the peddlers who had cooperated from the start.
The sanitary pads, on the other hand, left the major guilds scratching their ears and tugging their cheeks in frustration, because they had no way at all to negotiate cooperation with the brain-addled Crimson Demon Clan. The Clan simply had a "we'll handle all of this ourselves" attitude—from product manufacturing to sales to delivery, they could solve everything by relying on the advantage of being all great mages.
Sanitary pad exclusive stores were established in cities across the continent, and they were all staffed by Crimson Demon Clan members too, giving no one else even a sip of the broth. Black-hearted peddlers who wanted to hoard goods and scalp them were also all sanctioned by these great mages through unknown means.
Relying on the profits brought in by these two products, Jhin raked in several hundred million Eris during this period, which left Megumin grinning foolishly at him every day when she woke up—those crimson pupils of hers had nearly turned golden.
Also because of the explosive popularity of these two products, he was forced to spend enormous amounts of time negotiating with the major guilds and the Crimson Demon Clan, which caused the Gourmet Edifice to enter a semi-rest state. They no longer went out adventuring; instead, they stayed home researching cuisine to make sure Jhin could eat the moment he returned.
Gradually growing weary of running out every day to haggle with those nobles and guild managers, Jhin sought out Kyaru to ask whether this accountant in charge of the Gourmet Edifice's finances had any good ideas.
She was sitting in the living room holding a book of magic. Upon hearing his question, she looked extremely surprised: "You're actually coming to ask me about something this important?"
"I don't know anyone else who's good at management. If not you, then who?"
"This is such a huge fortune—aren't you worried I'll pocket it for myself?"
"Pocket it? Are you short on money?"
"I'm not in any debt."
"Then what would you even pocket all this money for..." Jhin sat down across from her and leaned back relaxedly against the sofa. "The personal funds the Guild gives every month are quite a bit more than even a top-tier guild's, and the food and lodging aren't bad either. I find it hard to imagine you'd still embezzle money under those circumstances."
Kyaru closed the book with a complicated expression, rubbing the cover with her fingertips. Her emerald eyes dimmed somewhat: "You're not wrong about that, but it's still better to keep a bit of guard up around people."
"You're my companion—why would I keep my guard up against you?"
He said it like that, and to be sure, Jhin had indeed been somewhat wary of her at the very beginning. But over such a long time of adventuring and getting along, she had never done anything strange, and she could also normally draw out the Void weapon materialized from her heart, which proved she wasn't being controlled. So naturally he came to treat her as a companion.
"..." Kyaru fell silent for a while because of this remark, and only then lifted her head: "All right, I'll manage these matters for you."
"Thank you. If you feel it's too much work, you can also hire some people you think you can trust."
Jhin reached out his hand, wanting to pat her head as a gesture of thanks, but she nimbly dodged it at once.
"Hmph, I'm not Kokkoro or Megumin—you can't fob me off with a couple of pats on the head. If you want me to manage something this troublesome, you'll have to show a little sincerity, won't you?"
"Fine then, what kind of reward do you want?"
"Aren't you good at cooking? How about you make me some of those little dried fish that cats love every day?"
"Hm? If you want to eat dried fish, just say so. Why use cats as an excuse?"
Kyaru looked at him with the eyes one reserves for an idiot: "Did you forget I'm still feeding a whole bunch of cats in the city?"
"Oh, right, right—if you hadn't said it I really would've forgotten. After all, you never let us tag along with you over there."
"What if they got scared by a stranger? I don't want to go searching for them one by one all over the royal capital."
"Do you need them prepared today?"
"No need. I was already planning to go out and feed them later. Just have tomorrow's portion ready—there are about a dozen or so of them."
"All right." Jhin turned and walked into the kitchen. There were still fish he'd bought earlier in his storage space, perfect for making dried fish.
In a cheerful mood, Kyaru changed her shoes and went out to feed the cats. As always, she came to the secluded corner of the royal capital's park. Even though it was clearly mealtime, the cats weren't waiting for her there.
"Strange—could they have found something fun, so none of them came?"
Kyaru set the paper bag she was carrying off to the side and softly called out to the cats. The method that had never once failed before lost its effect, which made her a little anxious. Worried that they might have run into some kind of danger, she turned to leave this place and go check elsewhere.
"Kyaru, it seems you've been having quite a lot of fun during this time..."
The familiar voice coming from behind made her halt her steps. The anxiety in her heart was overwhelmed by fear. She quickly turned around, lowered her head, and dropped to one knee: "Your Majesty, because... because you wouldn't let me enter the palace—I couldn't even get a letter delivered in—so... so I haven't been able to provide you with any intelligence."
"That was my oversight, so I won't hold it against you. I hear there's an intelligence commission with a very generous reward in the royal capital. Do you know anything about this matter?"
Wasn't that the commission Jhin had posted? Why would His Majesty take an interest in it—could it possibly have something to do with Pecorine?
"What's wrong? Why don't you say a single word?"
"I'm... I'm terribly sorry, I was organizing the relevant intelligence."
"Speak. If it's of no value, then punishment will be unavoidable."
"Y-yes!" Kyaru forced down her trembling body and told this "His Majesty" every bit of intelligence she knew. She didn't even dare lift her head to glance at him once, terrified of being punished for an unauthorized action.
"Interesting... a Hero from Another World has actually met him... Never mind, there's no need to dig deeply into something like that. Doesn't he have a guide appointed by a goddess? Kyaru, bring her here tomorrow. There are some things I'd like to get to the bottom of."
"Your... Your Majesty..."
"Hm? Why that response?"
Black mist rose up from the ground, sliding across Kyaru's neck like the flickering tongue of a venomous snake, as if the very next second it would bare its fangs and run her through. She clenched her teeth and braced herself to be punished: "I... I'll bring her here, but... but I hope Your Majesty... can spare her one small life!"
"Ho~ It seems you've sunk so deep into playing house that you can't pull yourself out."
"N-no, that's not it..."
"No matter, I'll grant you this willful request. Who told you to be such a capable subordinate of mine?"
"Thank you, Your Majesty!" Kyaru let out a breath of relief, lowered her head, rose, and left. From beginning to end she never once dared to lift her head and look at him.
Only after she had left did a single sentence slowly sound in the air: "In any case, once I've finished searching through her memories, she'll be no different from dead."
____
👻🔥Walnut-chan ;) — P@tr3on🔥👻
🔥 New history: Zenless Zone Zero: Rewriting Fate in New Eridu — live on The_Mikudayo
📚 Tired of waiting? Walnut-chan puts you 40 chapters ahead and keeps the translations coming
Help smash these goals:
🎯 100 Powerstones = +1 Bonus Chapter (for everyone)