ITSUJITA ~ C39

 

Chapter 39: Why we make it ourselves

 

 

"Shirou Onii-chan, we've made a lot of survival matches."

 

"Yes, I did. I think I made a little too much."

 

Right now, Aina and I have a pile of homemade survival matches in front of us.

After counting the empty boxes, we realized that there are 13 empty matches boxes (each box contains 40 pcs of matches).

In other words, we had made 520 survival matches.

 

"...... Did we overdo it a little?　Are you OK, Aina?"

 

As I relaxed by twirling my wrist, I asked Aina who is standing next to me.

 

"Hmm...... Aina is a bit tired."

 

She said this and leaned her head against me.

Recently, Aina has become a little sweeter to me than before.

I don't know the reason, but I'm happy to think that it's a sign that she trusts me.

 

"I'm sorry for making you feel tired this early morning."

 

"No, Aina is fine."

 

"I see. But don't push yourself too hard.

 

"OK."

 

Aina nodded and shifted her gaze to the homemade survival matches.

At first, we made some mistakes, such as not being able to light it properly and putting the wax too thick.

But as we continued to make them, we gradually got the hang of it and improved the quality to the point where we could sell them as a product.

 

"Shirou Onii-chan, why did you suddenly teach Aina how to make the survival matches?"

 

Aina is leaning against me and asks.

I'm sorry, Aina.

It's actually also my first time made survival matches.

 

"You know, some old people are living on the outskirts of town, right?"

 

"Yes."

 

"Young people can get construction jobs, but old people can't, right?"

 

"...... Yes."

 

Since Aina lives on the outskirts of town, she probably understands the situation better than me.

She makes a sad face for a moment.

 

"That's why I got this idea to let those old people who don't have jobs earn money by making survival matches.

 

"Eh?"

 

Aina-chan made a surprised face.

I puffed my cheeks at Aina.

 

"Do you think that the survival matches you just made can be made by old people?"

 

"Hmm... I think so!　Because even Aina could make it easily, so I think Grandma and Grandpa can make it too!"

 

Aina gets up and looks up at me.

Her cheeks are red, probably because she's excited.

 

"You think so?"

 

"Yes!"

 

Aina clasped her hands and nodded her head.

 

"So, Aina-chan will be the teacher who teaches the old people how to make survival matches."

 

"OK!　Aina will be the teacher!"

 

Aina-chan raises her hand.

 

"Thank you. Now I need to decide the selling price......."

 

I cross my arms and ponders.

The current selling price of matches is like this.

 

4 copper coins for a small box of 40 matches.

 

55 copper coins for a big box of 800 matches.

 

50 copper coins for a box of 25 survival matches.

 

The big-box matches are popular among the town's residents, and the survival matches are popular among adventurers.

The survival matches are so popular among adventurers because they can be lit regardless of whether they get wet or blown by the wind.

However, 50 copper coins (5,000 yen) for 25 matches is not an affordable price for adventurers with little money.

 

This is where homemade survival matches come in.

They are not as good as the ready-made survival matches. They are not windproof, but they can still be lit even when wet.

 

I'm sure the adventurers would love to use these matches.

I just need to decide the price of these homemade survival matches.

I had to set a price somewhere between higher than regular matches and lower than ready-made survival matches.

 

"Hmmm............80 matches for 50 coppers, I think?"

 

The cost of a match is 46 yen for the match, 110 yen each for the candle and nail polish. The total material cost is 266 yen.

After deducting the cost of materials, the profit is 4,734 yen.

From here, I'll have to figure out how much I should pay the old people on the outskirts of town for production costs. ...... Yeah.

I'll try to discuss it with Karen.

 

"Shirou Onii-chan, when is Aina-sensei going to start work?"

 

"I'll discuss it with Karen-san and once she agrees, we'll do it right away. I'll talk with her after work."

 

"Yes!"

 

Aina-chan put on a wide smile.

At such timing.

 

--Knock, knock.

 

I heard someone knocking the door.

Oops, that's not good. I was so engrossed in making survival matches that I forgot to open my store.

 

"Aina, if you're tired from making matches, you can take a day off today."

 

"No. Aina will work too."

 

Aina shakes her head and gets up from her chair.

 

"Shirou Onii-chan. I'm going to open the store, OK?"

 

"OK. Thank you."

 

Aina runs to the store's door and flips the door sign to "open for business".

Then, she greets the customers who are waiting outside the store.

 

"Welcome!"

 

Aina opens the door and welcomes them.

Today's business begins. It's the start of a new day.

 

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