Kays Translations
Just another Isekai Lover~
Chapter 160: The Secret Behind the New Product
The discussion continued in a reception room at the Garfish Company headquarters.
“About the water-repellent cloth you and Aeris described alongside the magic lantern…”
“You followed Aeris’s explanation, but the prototype failed?” Tauro asked.
“Exactly! How did you know?”
Mardai leaned across the desk toward him.
“If I’m right, the slime bodily fluid wouldn’t remain fixed to the fabric.”
“That’s precisely what happened. The surface never became as smooth as the sample you showed us. Why?”
Tauro looked around the spacious reception room.
“This room should be large enough.”
He withdrew a large workbench from [Magic Storage] and placed it in an empty corner.
“That’s a workbench, isn’t it?” Mardai asked as he rose to inspect it.
“It’s, but it’s also a magic tool.”
“A magical workbench?”
“You know that ordinary slimes don’t produce magic stones.”
“Of course. They’re considered the weakest monsters and aren’t normally worth hunting, although they become a nuisance when left alone because they dissolve many materials.”
“Dissolve…” Tauro paused as a new idea occurred to him. “No, that’s for another time. The important point is that a slime’s bodily fluid still contains a small amount of magic power.”
“Its bodily fluid does?”
“Yes. This workbench contains a magic circle that uses that weak magic power to bind the slime treatment to the cloth.”
Mardai stared at the bench as understanding dawned.
“So that means…”
“Unless the fabric is processed on one of these workbenches, the slime fluid will never properly settle into it. Aeris only watched me make the cloth at home, so she didn’t realize that the bench itself was essential.”
“I see! That’s why our method failed. It also means competitors can’t reproduce the product without the correct workbench.”
“I prepared several magic-circle plates for that purpose. They can be fixed to the top of an ordinary workbench. If anyone attempts to peel one off, the anti-theft function erases the magic circle, so the technique can’t simply be stolen.”
“Could you deliver some to the textile workshop under contract with us? We’ve already gathered so many slimes that, unless production begins soon, the place may turn into a slime farm.”
“That sounds serious. Let’s go there now.”
Mardai had apparently accumulated a large supply of slimes in advance, expecting them to become raw material for the water-repellent cloth.
****
The textile workshop stood far from the Garfish Company headquarters, so they traveled by carriage.
After a long ride, they reached a large property near the city wall. It was inconveniently distant from the commercial center, but the site offered far more space.
“This business originally produced and wholesaled cloth,” Mardai explained as they left the carriage. “Competition nearly forced it to close, so we reorganized it here. The land was inexpensive, which allowed us to combine cloth production, wholesale storage, and a sewing workshop on one site. Since the area is remote, the slimes haven’t caused complaints from the neighbors.”
“The entire property belongs to the Garfish Company?”
“Yes. Land in the central workshop and tailoring districts is expensive and divided into small plots. Here, I could purchase a large site cheaply. The disadvantages are transportation costs and travel time, but the integrated production process compensates for them.”
Mardai had immediately applied Tauro’s earlier ideas about improving efficiency. He had acquired the land, reorganized a struggling textile business, and changed its direction again as soon as he heard about the water-repellent cloth.
Tauro admired that decisiveness, although he wished Mardai had consulted him before collecting the raw materials.
Mardai led him to a remote warehouse filled with stacked barrels.
“Every barrel in this building contains slimes.”
“All of them?”
“Every one.”
“We don’t even know whether the product will sell. Isn’t this far too many?”
“There’s nothing to worry about. The cloth will sell just as well as the magic lantern.”
“The lantern hasn’t reached the market yet either.”
“Have confidence, Tauro. I guarantee this will be our greatest success since Reversi!”
Mardai’s booming laughter echoed through the warehouse.
Tauro decided that the rest was best left to the gifted merchant.