CH 17

C17: Employment

Last chapter of the day. See you tomorrow.

“So, how much do you owe? I’ll cover it for you.”

“I bought the workshop itself for about 30 gold pieces…….”

The value of money in this world is as follows: 1 platinum coin = 10 million, 1 gold coin = 100,000. Silver coins are worth 10,000 yen, large copper coins are worth 1,000 yen, copper coins are worth 100 yen, small copper coins are worth 10 yen.

The price of the workshop itself is about 3 million yen in modern Japan. I hadn’t realized that I had become numb to the fact that 3 million yen felt cheap because of the hundreds and tens of millions yen spent on flood control work.

“I’ll pay you in a minute.”

Nami and Hazuki rolled their eyes at my light-hearted remark.

“Thirty gold pieces, sir?”

“Yeah. I can pay you that much right away. But I’ll deduct it from your wages every month.”

“That’s great. But the workshop isn’t the only debt…….”

Hazuki shrinks her huge body and looks up at me as if she was sorry. You’re still in debt. I can’t help you. I’ll let you dig underground to build a nuclear shelter.

“How much? Tell me.”

“That’s 70 gold pieces…….”

Huh? It’s so expensive!

“What the hell did you spend that on?”

“No!”

I yelled at him and Nami shrank back in fright.

“The tools we developed didn’t sell at all. The more we made, the more we lost.”

“What and how much do you have to make to run a deficit like this?”

That’s some serious shit management! Don’t mass-produce without knowing who you’re dealing with!

“I had no choice! I was absolutely sure it would sell!”

Hazuki was upset with me. She was so swift that I felt pressured.

“Okay, okay, okay. Let me see them. If I can use them, I’ll buy them.”

“Really?”

“Is it true?”

Hazuki and Nami clapped their hands in delight. I wonder how confident they are that they are happy before I even see them.

I was led by Hazuki and Nami to the back of the workshop. There was a large kiln at the far end, with desks and equipment set up across the aisle. From there, we walked through a dusty corridor to avoid stepping on the tools and junk scattered around the corner, and saw a pile of manufactured goods.

“These are our pride and joy!”

Hazuki and Nami proudly show them to me. There were scissors and a single-edged Japanese sword.

Even though I have no particular knowledge of swords, I knew at a glance that it was a great sword. Even scissors require a high level of skill to make. These guys seem to be really good at what they do.

“Well, you seem to understand the advantages of this single-edged sword, don’t you? But this is the one we’re going for.”

Then, Hazuki took out a small iron object that looked like a flat mushroom with a spiraling shade at the end. I had often seen them in my previous life, but this was the first time I had seen them in this life.

“That’s a screw, isn’t it?”

“Do you know it? I thought we invented it, but I guess someone else did.”

“No, I’ve never seen one before.”

“Oh, really? Well, do you know how to use it?”

“Yeah!”

I don’t know if screws are even used in this world anymore, but that doesn’t change the fact that they aren’t seen very often! This screw is going to be a golden egg!

“No choice. I’ll pay your debts, buy your products, and hire you at a higher salary.”

“Really?”

“Yes!”

They were so happy to have found a job that they were jumping around excitedly.

“I’ll even hire your employees, so go get all your employees and get ready to move.”

“Yes!”

I smiled blackly at the two excited people.