Part 9: Osaka’s Auntie Builds a Hot Spring
Chapter 36: Other World Questionnaire Survey
Translated by Zzonkedd
Edited by Gumihou
About half a year after the miso and soy sauce brewery began near the Royal Capital, Haruna came for an inspection visit. She collected a bit of trial product onto a plate and tasted them on her tongue.
“The flavour is getting better. Or should I say, it’s amazing how much better it had gotten in just half a year, ya…”
Within the warehouse, there were a few huge barrels that looked like squatting giants and Haruna thought, “Surely only professional miso makers with at least a decade of business would have hardware like this in their warehouse…”
Haruna was no professional when it came to the fermentation business, but even she knew that this pace was unnatural.
“I’ve hired some fermentation experts to handle that part of the business,” said Karen, looking especially gleeful at being praised.
The experts in question were three elves wearing uniforms with the words [Yakomai Fermented Food] printed on it. Karen was more than happy to introduce her special employees.
“The elves have great knowledge in fungi and fermentation methods. Not only that, they have special magic that promotes the fermentation process too, which is why I specifically hired them for the job, wa. Soon, our soy sauce will be ready for sale.”
“Really? That’s a great relief, wa! I’m saved, wa!” Haruna was so happy that she grabbed Karen’s hands excitedly.
“Haruna-han, isn’t this a little fast…”
“With this, we’ll soon be able to spread miso and soy sauce to the world, wa! Isn’t it exciting?”
Haruna’s hands felt very warm around Karen’s. Not because of its size or the sword callouses from being a knight. Karen was just at the age where she tethered on the cusp of womanhood and from her point of view, it was as though her entire world was wrapped up in Haruna’s hands.
“I really came here to talk about something else, but to be able to hear such great news is too lucky, wa~”
“Something else? What could it be?” Karen immediately stuck herself closer to Haruna. “Haruna-han, could it be that… you’re interested in… me?”
“No, it has nothing to do with you.” All the strength left Karen’s body and she collapsed to her knees. Even when it came to sensitive topics like this, Haruna was not the type to hold back.
“I want to implement the next stage of my plans for the store, nen.”
“Next stage? Don’t you have enough stores already? Not only do you have shops that sell products, but you’re also opening up restaurants all over the place now.”
“I want to set up stores in other dungeons. For now, the only stores that are opened in other dungeons are set at Level 1, which is kind of meaningless, don’t you think?”
Karen nodded fervently.
“As a member of the Yakomai family, you should also have access to information on other dungeons, right?”
“Aahh, so that’s why you’re looking for me, na… I suppose so? Sure, take whatever information you like. Seriously, you’re such a meanie…”
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Haruna collected the information she wanted from the Yakomai and picked out a few dungeons she considered good prospects for a dungeon shop. These were dungeons that had not been fully explored yet, fraught with hidden dangers and challenged by many Adventurers. After all, a business needs customers, it’s not like she could sustain a shop with less than 10 customers a day.
For the time being, she narrowed the choices down to five promising places.
Meanwhile, she had the Adventurer’s Guild cooperate by getting Adventurers to answer a set of questions. The questionnaire was meant to verify what the Adventurers wished to purchase in the respective dungeons. Though Haruna was no stranger when it came to challenging a dungeon, she was only really familiar with the Old Saxon dungeon. She figured that she should be familiar with the individual quirks of each dungeon to better fulfil the needs of her customers.
Sometime later, the results of the questionnaire were sent to Haruna. She spent the day sorting out the data with Natalia at the town office.
The most common opinions are as follows.
Question: What are the main challenges Adventurers face when challenging a dungeon?
- It’s troublesome to bring provisions. Water is especially tricky.
- Returning to town covered in dirt and grime feels awkward, it’s even worse when covered with monster fluids.
- No time to rest.
- No toilet.
- Having to leave a good item because there’s no place to keep it.
- Feel lonely when soloing a challenge.
Most of the issues could be solved through the standard [Haru-chan’s Adventurers Departmental Store]. Basic needs such as food, water, rest areas and toilets were already taken care of, which was probably why the store was prospering so well.
A store with a lively Kanban-musume to talk to was enough reason for most solo Adventurers to reach the store. In fact, a lot of Haruna’s regulars were solo players who aimed to reach the store rather than clearing the dungeon itself.
This probably had more to do with Haruna’s personality, but the dungeon shop [Haru-chan] was more like a meeting place than a mere store. If she could replicate similar products and services at the other dungeons, it could also be considered as good social work beyond commercial gains.
“It certainly looks like [Haru-chan] is more than just a store that provides basic needs to people,” said Natalia with some satisfaction. “At this rate, shops at other dungeons should also be a success.”
“That’s true, however there are still some things we are not able to overcome.” Haruna tapped her finger over one of the items on the survey results.
- Returning to town covered in dirt and grime feels awkward, it’s even worse when covered with monster fluids.
“Well, it’s a normal result when it comes to adventuring, but some people are really bothered by it…”
It was perfectly normal for Adventurers to end up covered in dirt and grime, not to mention the sour stink of sweat. Obviously, if you were the type to care about this you wouldn’t be an Adventurer. However, there seemed to be some who are a bit of a stickler about their hygiene.
“Especially ladies like me who worry about being presentable when returning to the surface, wa.”
“No, I’m actually worried about these people complaining about the toilets.”
“Why would they? Isn’t it great that they could expel the dirty things from their bodies? It’s always better to be clean than dirty, yan.”
“… What? I suppose matters could be considered this way…? Wait, am I the strange one here…?” Natalia grew confused trying to make sense of what Haruna was saying. “Wh-whatever, anyway, from what I can see women are not the only ones concerned about their cleanliness. Quite a lot of male Adventurers do not want to be seen as the ‘dirty guy’ in town.”
Well, from the numbers alone, one out of three Adventurers actually cared about what the public thought of them.
“How about preparing a wet towel for them? That alone would make quite a difference, don’t you think?”
However, Haruna did not seem satisfied. “Things like wet towels are too boring. Let’s find a solution that’s more fun and enjoyable.”
Haruna checked her status once again.
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Haruna
Level 85
Occupation : Swordsman
SP : 645
MP : 464
ATK : 532
DEF : 493
AGI : 523
INT : 240
Humility : 2
Boke : 744
Tsukkomi : 264
Magic :
Fire Magic
Wind Magic (Rokko Oroshi)
Healing Magic (Hotel New Awaji)
Benishouga Tempura Magic
Umeda Dungeon Building Magic
Simple Dimension Control Magic
(Candy etc will be issued. Some types of Osaka produce will be issued)
Others : Divine Protection from Bilike
Poison Nullication
Paralysis Nullification
Anti-Giant (Attacks against Giants will always be critical)
Mid Level Dragon Slayer (Dragon Breath Nullification)
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“Ah? I hadn’t paid much attention to this skill, but I think it will be very useful here, na.”
“Which one are you… Your magical ability is all over the place, I just don’t get it at all…”
“Here, this Healing Magic. It says ‘Hotel New Awaji’, get it?”
However, Natalia was still not entirely sure what Haruna was trying to say.
“With this, I can probably make a hot spring, ya.”
[Gumihou: Wait, a hot spring? Isn’t that too amazing?]
