Chapter 40 – Raising Funds Part 1
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Translator: SFBaka
Editor: Thor’s Stone
Not good! This is definitely bad! I did say ten times the usual pay grade, didn’t I? Why the heck did I run my mouth like that? The money on me is considered our party funds! Come to think of it, I’m actually flat broke right now.
I was just so glad they decided to fight with me, so I got too into it and made a huge blunder. But I just can’t go back on my word and tell them it’s actually two or three times the pay grade instead.
(Nanom, can you display the salary and benefits of a standard space marine?)
A table indicating the salaries of different ranks in the imperial military popped out on a virtual window.
Um, for warrant officers, I need… Hey! It’s basically the same as my salary ain’t it!? I see. They may be NCOs, but they were technically only two ranks below me, so the salary rate isn’t that different. Wait a minute. I’m actually a commodore now, ain’t I? Uh, lesse… Commodore… Hm. I see. Even though I got promoted, the increase wasn’t really that drastic huh. Well, it was double than the rate for a first lieutenant, so I guess it was still pretty substantial.
Let’s see. If you want to check in at a regular hotel in the empire, you’ll have to fork out at least ten thousand Credits. In this city, the normal rate for staying at an inn is one hundred Guineas.
Let’s assume that one Guinea is roughly equivalent to a hundred Credits then. The salary rate for a warrant officer is three hundred twenty three thousand Credits. So, when converted to Guineas and multiplied by ten times, it’ll become thirty two thousand three hundred Guineas. This is bad! I’ll have to pay both of them sixty four thousand six hundred Guineas every month! What should I do!?
Oh, wait!
(Iris!)
『Yes, Captain.』
(How much is my current accumulated salary!?)
『I have already transferred it to your bank account yesterday.』
I checked my status page and found that the money really was deposited properly. Oh! So, apart from my previous salary, bonus pay for getting promoted was also added in, making my total assets about one million credits! Geh. This ain’t right!
(Uh, I kinda wanted the amount to be converted to Guineas y’know.)
『As you well know, there is no precedent for paying salaries using local currency. In addition, there are no longer enough resources to produce any counterfeit money on the ship.』
(But I’m gonna need military funding for the coming operation y’know?)
『Providing Selena and Sharon the money they currently have on hand has already strained our available resources. Please procure funds locally.』
(Fine! I understand.)
There’s no point in venting my frustration on Iris.
I guess all I can do right now is borrow the party funds, make some magic tools, and then sell ’em.
I don’t have anything else worth selling anyway.
Hm? Wait a minute. I still have some of those shaped memory PET bottles stashed away. I already don’t have any problems with securing drinking water, so I don’t really need to keep them around. And if I got into a situation where I would need one or two, I’m sure Selena and Sharon have brought some over from the ship as well.
When Cleria first saw the PET bottles, she was quite surprised, so I think it’ll fetch a good price at least. I’ll just package it as some sort of mysterious ancient magic product or something. Guess I’ll need to pay a visit to Tarus-san later.
Oh yeah. I’ll bring a sample dryer as well and give it to him as a present. Maybe I’ll even land a large order if I manage to impress them with it.
Selena and Sharon said they’ll be observing Cleria and Elna’s sparring earlier, right? I’ll go out for a while then.
(Selena, Sharon. I’m gonna go shopping for a bit. I’ll come back right away.)
((Understood.))
It’s still early in the morning, so I think Tarus-san hasn’t gone out of his manor yet. Tarus-san and Jonas-san rarely go to the shops under them anyway, so I’ll just head straight for the manor. It’s been a while since I last paid a visit.
I found Willy doing some early morning cleaning by sweeping the yard in front of the manor.
“Good morning, Willy. Are Tarus-san and Jonas-san present?”
“Alan-san! Good morning. Yes, the both of them are inside the mansion.”
“I see. So, can I ask you to call out Jonas-san for me then?”
“I understand.”
“Good morning, Alan-san. May I ask what matter you wish to discuss today?” Jonas-san inquired.
“I actually wanna show you some things. It would be great if you can make some time for me so I can present them to you.”
“Of course. We’ll take a look. I presume you also want to show them to the Master, correct? I’m sure the things you want to show are quite something since you personally came for a visit.”
“Yes, please. Thank you for making time for me.”
I followed Willy and was brought to the meeting room inside the manor. I was then served some tea. Tarus-san and Jonas-san entered the meeting room soon after.
“It has been a while, Tarus-san.”
“Yes, quite. Welcome, Alan-san. I have heard of the improvement to the meals served at Nature’s Bounty. The moment I got wind of the rumors, I was sure it was all due to you, Alan-san. I’m feeling quite regretful, to be honest. I and my family have been planning to have a meal over there actually.”
“Is that so. Well, I did teach them a few recipes, but Verse, the inn’s chef, is also quite skilled you see.”
It seems you can also come to the Nature’s Bounty just to have a meal, and don’t plan on staying over. But the guests who have booked rooms in the inn have priority when it comes to meals, and the prices are also more expensive compared to regular restaurants, so meal-only customers hardly come by, it seems. But I guess Tarus-san and his family can easily afford the meals.
“The things I wanted to show you are these. Um, can I trouble you to fetch some water as well?”
The bottles were in their folded-up state and were still limp when I took them out of my bag. I brought out all three and handed one over to Tarus-san.
“Hm. It’s my first time seeing such a transparent bag. It feels quite strange to the touch.”
“These are actually containers for holding water which my comrades and I managed to obtain recently. It seems they were excavated from some ruins.”
Yep. On this planet, it seems it was usual to find ancient magic tools while exploring ruins. I also heard that the much-valued Artifacts, considered to be the highest class of magic tools, were also excavated from such ruins. If I package these as relics found inside ruins, I bet their value will rise. I’m basically duping them, but these were ultra-rare, practically impossible to obtain goods on this planet anyway, so I guess it’s all good in the end. And I don’t really have any other way to explain how I got them anyway.
Before long, Willy brought over a pitcher filled with water.
“Now then, let’s try to pour water inside them.”
I put some water inside the limp PET bottle, and as soon as I did so, the shape memory material it was made out of did its thing, and the bottles regained their former rigid shape. They can hold a maximum of two liters of water inside them.
“Oh! What’s this!?”
“This is their original shape.”
I handed the PET bottle that had returned to its original shape to Tarus-san.
“How light! And how thin! Just how did the ancients manage to give them such transparency!?”
He passed the bottle over to Jonas-san. The two of them discussed excitedly for a short while. Meanwhile, I filled up the other two PET bottles with water as well.
“They will be fine even if you do this too.”
As I said so, I dropped one PET bottle to the floor.
“”Ah!””
Goods produced by the empire won’t get damaged from something like this, of course.
“They’re pretty tough. But they’re weak to heat, and they’ll also get damaged easily if you poke them with sharp, pointed objects or cut them with a knife.”
I poured the water from the bottle back into the pitcher. I shook the PET bottle a few times in order to get rid of the remaining moisture.
“Drain all the contents like so. Then you can easily fold them into a more compact shape.”
I grabbed the bottle from both ends and pressed them together, returning it to its former limp form.
“Oh! That is quite amazing! Can I also try it?”
“Of course. Please be sure to pour all the water out though.”
(How many times can the shape memory material work?)
『These bottles have passed strict imperial quality control and successfully underwent one hundred thousand durability tests.』
(What about the approximate service life?)
『The manufacturer boasted they were semi-permanent.』
It should be fine then.
“Oh! It has returned to its former shape as well!”
Tarus-san and Jonas-san busied themselves with filling the bottles with water and emptying them as they repeatedly tested the shape memory material function for a while.
“I’m sorry for making you wait. And so, Alan-san. Are you saying you are willing to part with such amazing goods?”
“That’s right. If the price is right, anyway.”
“Oh! Please wait for a moment.”
Tarus-san and Jonas-san immediately began to discuss among themselves.
“Thank you for your patience. How does two hundred thousand Guineas for each article sound?”
Eh!? One PET bottle is already worth two hundred thousand!? Hm. Should I make the deal?
“Is the price perhaps not enough?”
“No, it’s fine. I’ll sell them for two hundred thousand Guineas each then.”
“Oh! Thank you very much, Alan-san.”
“Thank you as well. I’m a bit short on finances, so you’re a big help. And have a look at this as well please.”
I took out the hair dryer I recently made out of my bag and showed it to them.
“This is a magic tool used to dry one’s hair after taking a bath. I recently became a member of the Magic Guild y’see. I learned how to make magic tools from there.”
I pressed the switch on the dryer and showed how it worked to Tarus-san.
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