Episode 116: Shall we walk through life one more time? (4)
As I was busy, the day of the banquet quickly approached.
Jiselle also decided to forget about work and rest comfortably today.
“Sometimes I wish I could just have fun and relax.”
Jiselle also likes to play.
During his days as the King of Mercenaries, he left all the bothersome tasks to his subordinates and only did the things that seemed fun.
But now I have so much to do that I don’t have time to have fun even if I wanted to.
“Tsk, I need to sweep it all away quickly so I can rest easy.”
Jiselle walked slowly into the banquet hall, grumbling but smiling broadly.
The banquet hall at Fenris Castle was not very large, but since there were only a few vassals and servants, there was no problem holding a banquet.
Although some of the vassals objected, saying that it was beneath their dignity and that they should not bring in servants, Jiselle pushed ahead regardless.
He was of the opinion that when playing, it was more fun if everyone played loudly.
“It would be fun to build a really big square later and gather all the people of Yeongji.”
I would have liked to invite the people of Yeongji this time too.
However, even if the territory had few people, it was impossible to bring all of the residents into the castle.
Feeling sorry, Giselle distributed alcohol and meat to each household.
The people of the lord who got free alcohol and meat, and the servants who got to experience the banquets that only the nobles enjoyed, both happily praised their lord.
Since it was a poor estate with nothing to do, everyone, regardless of age or gender, waited for the day of the banquet.
Except for one group.
Claude and the wizards gathered in a corner of the banquet hall and whispered among themselves.
Their faces were dark and dead.
“Please, just one person… … .”
“There must have been people who experienced side effects.”
“You can’t miss a single one. You have to find them and make it a draw.”
They were desperately looking for people with side effects, clutching at straws.
It wasn’t the kind of behavior that one would expect from someone who always pursued reason and rationality, but it did indicate that they were anxious.
‘The Goddess may not have sent the Demon King, but she may have sent me at least one pimple.’
Claude opened his eyes wide and stared at the entrance to the banquet hall.
The intention was to carefully examine the faces of the people coming in.
* * *
As the basic food preparation was finished and the hastily assembled orchestra took their place, Jiselle entered the banquet hall.
“You haven’t started yet? Just start roughly. What’s so difficult about playing?”
Normally, the tallest person would appear last, but Giselle doesn’t care about that.
When the lord sat down on the chair and started to tear at the meat, the servants shouted in confusion.
“Let’s get started!”
The orchestra played the song in a hurry.
Beep! Beep! Beep!
Since they were a group of people who were hastily gathered, their skills weren’t all that great.
I was barely able to get the pitch right, but when I suddenly started playing without time to prepare, even that didn’t work out.
Rattling!
As soon as the door opened, people who had been waiting for the banquet to begin rushed in.
Although they were not dressed as extravagantly as nobles, they all wore clean clothes and seemed to have put in a lot of effort.
Another thing they had in common was that they all had shiny, glowing faces.
“Ah, ahh… … .”
Claude ended up turning his head away.
My eyes feel sore, and I’m sure it’s because of the lighting.
It’s not that I’m crying because I feel like I’m going to lose!
“Ah… … sir.”
Claude chewed on the curse and scanned the people entering the banquet hall intently.
Clean here, clean there, smooth.
Although there were differences in skin color and wrinkles, not a single person’s skin condition appeared to be bad.
The only ones who were not in a good mood were the wizards who were looking around with anxious expressions next to Claude.
When almost everyone had gathered, Giselle raised her hand to stop the music.
To be honest, it was hard to hear because my ears hurt.
“I appreciate everyone for doing their best in the busy work of Yeongji. You will continue to be busy in the future, so please get some rest until tomorrow.”
It was a very plain banquet, but everyone nodded their heads in agreement.
It was now a well-known fact that the lord was not a nobleman with much ostentation.
Giselle said with a strange smile towards Claude and the wizards.
“You all probably know that the governor of the territory and the magicians made a bet with me.”
When the topic of cosmetics came up, my son-in-law became as quiet as a mouse.
It was finally time to confirm the outcome of the bet whose outcome was obvious.
“I guess the evaluation of cosmetics is bound to be subjective. I think most of you here have used them.”
Jiselle leaned back in her chair and spoke in a leisurely voice.
“If you have any side effects, come forward. I will give you sufficient compensation.”
No one came forward.
In fact, who would stand before the lord even if there were side effects?
The good news is that there really were no side effects.
“It looks like there isn’t one at a glance. I’ll leave the judgment of the bet to those here. Everyone, tell me honestly about your cosmetics.”
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People who were hesitant at first took notice and started coming forward one by one.
“It really works. I’ve never seen anything like it before.”
“My skin is much better than before. I can definitely tell it’s working.”
“There were no side effects! This is the perfect cosmetic!”
“Can you give me just one more? Please!”
As soon as one or two people started to voice their opinions, everyone was chatting away and praising the cosmetics.
There were many regretful responses saying that since the product’s performance was certain, it would be difficult to purchase it again.
Eventually, the praise for cosmetics turned into praise for the lord.
“This is truly amazing! It was amazing when you showed me your new farming method, but now you’re making this product!”
“This is going to be a huge hit! It’s going to become a specialty of our territory!”
“Please make another one! Now I’ll believe anything!”
The compliments continued without end.
Giselle sat there haughtily, her expression full of satisfaction as if asking for more praise.
As the people grew tired and their praise began to wane, Giselle turned to Claude and the wizards.
“How is it? I think the results are out?”
“Ugh, ugh… … .”
Claude and the wizards’ faces turned pale in an instant.
I prayed like that, but not a single pimple appeared!
I can make cosmetics that really work.
Now there was no room for fear.
Claude looked around with trembling eyes. Everyone in the banquet hall was staring at him, as if waiting for a declaration of defeat.
“under…….”
Claude looked up at the ceiling for a moment, sighed, and let out a self-deprecating laugh.
“Well, I can’t help it. I never thought the Lord would succeed again. Where on earth did you learn such things?”
Whatever the reason, I had to accept defeat.
Because that’s… …a ‘game-changer’.
Of course it was bullshit.
“Okay, I lost.”
Now I’ve been a slave for 20 years.
Well, it was a natural result of gambling with one’s life.
When Claude nodded willingly and admitted defeat, exclamations erupted from those around him.
How can he accept 20 years of slavery so calmly?
He was an extraordinary person who was appointed as the governor of the Fenris territory. This means he was not in his right mind.
Claude shook his head with a helpless smile.
He said, slightly extending his fist towards Alfoy.
“We lost, but we fought well. But it was still a great fight. Right, bro?”
Alpoy, who had been standing there blankly as if he had lost his mind, slowly turned his head.
Claude’s face, smiling brightly and admitting defeat, comes into view.
“Kick.”
Alfoy snickered and brought his fist to Claude’s… …then suddenly opened it wide.
Whoosh! Whoosh!
Flames burst out from Alfoy’s palm.
“Ugh!”
Wendy quickly grabbed the back of Claude’s neck, who was terrified.
I avoided getting my face burned, but I ended up collapsing on the floor.
“Hey, bro! Why are you doing this all of a sudden!”
Claude lifted his head and rubbed his butt.
The faces of Alfoy and the wizards were frozen with a frightening coldness.
“Huh, huh? Wait a minute. Are you going to attack now? In front of the lord? Today is a happy day!”
“Kill.”
Alfoy and the wizards raised their magical power.
Wendy, realizing that the situation had become serious, quickly picked up Claude and ran out of the banquet hall.
Even she couldn’t stand up to twenty-six wizards head-on.
“Catch him and kill him!”
Alfoy and the wizards followed after him.
People just looked dumbfounded at the sudden situation.
Jiselle said, waving her hand lightly.
“Okay, don’t worry about them and have fun. I’ll go catch those guys.”
As soon as the spirit reached Yeongju, the people enjoyed the banquet in peace.
Wendy grumbled inwardly at the regret of missing the banquet and ran around the territory carrying Claude.
“Run! If you get caught, you die!”
“Shut up.”
Alfoy and the wizards, filled with rage, relentlessly pursued the two.
The chase only ended after Giselle intervened and subdued everyone.
* * *
“There is a problem.”
Claude, who had now been a slave for 20 years, opened his mouth with a serious expression.
He looked like a mess, like he had been beaten up somewhere.
“You never have a day without problems, do you? So, what’s the problem this time?”
“It is a cause for celebration that cosmetics have become successful. Anyone who tries them once will be amazed. Please give me some. I will send them to Anna.”
“I succeeded, so what’s the problem?”
“The material cost is too high to produce in large quantities. But if you produce in small quantities, it’s slow. That’s the problem.”
This cosmetic contains numerous medicinal ingredients.
The most expensive of these was a flower called the ‘Fairy’s Blessing’.
A flower more expensive than its weight in gold, which was also used to treat Gillian’s daughter.
Although the actual amount put in was very small, the production cost was still not cheap.
“It’s okay. You can sell it to the nobles at a higher price. After all, the nobles are the main consumers of that product.”
“The strategy of upgrading is good. But wouldn’t the nobles have to buy it to make money? Even the servants of the castle refused to buy it. Gillian used it out of loyalty. The nobles wouldn’t.”
“Now we need to promote it.”
“How? This is a rural estate, so there are no nobles.”
Jiselle nodded as if she had thought about it.
“I’m going to the capital.”
“yes?”
“All the nobles who enjoy socializing are gathered in the capital. I should build connections there and sell cosmetics.”
“Haa… … The capital’s nobles are known for being picky. Why would they trust you to buy your products? If they don’t sell well, you’ll only end up losing money and not even breaking even.”
“What if we force it to be corrected?”
“yes?”
Claude’s eyes widened. How could it be possible to force a noble to do something like that?
“They kidnap them and keep them captive for about two weeks, and then release them when their skin gets better.”
“Are you crazy?”
“But wouldn’t you be grateful if your skin got better?”
“I’m not grateful… … No, I’m not. I think you’ll think about it after you kill them. You’ll realize it too late. Huh? This wasn’t poison?”
“Hmm, I guess it’s not that great.”
“Of course. Please, let’s live sensibly.”
In fact, Jiselle also realized through this experience that there was definitely something wrong.
Selling to nobles would be very difficult unless you have a reputation like that of the Duke of Delphine.
“Let’s think about that later. Since we have to keep making the products anyway, let’s keep ordering the ingredients.”
“Ugh… … Well, I guess you can’t develop something like this and not sell it.”
Claude is not against selling itself.
There is no product with such a proven effect anywhere on the continent.
The best thing, of course, is word of mouth among the nobles of the capital.
Because they were the ones who set the trends in the kingdom.
If you start selling to the nobles, you will end up sitting on a huge pile of money.
If only the first one or two people would use it. If only that happened, everyone would come and come with money, but that first time was the problem.
“It’s obvious that it won’t sell well at first, so how about making a little less until word of mouth starts to spread?”
“No, just stock up. As soon as someone writes it, it’ll sell like hotcakes. It’ll take too long to get it ready then.”
“That’s true, but… … . The less it sells, the more the deficit worsens. The unit price is too high. If it doesn’t sell well, you won’t even be able to recover the principal. There’s also a limit to how much you can store.”
“It’s okay. If you go to the capital and try it out yourself, you’ll probably find something. If that doesn’t work out, you’ll have to try door-to-door sales. Aren’t there people who sell things that way?”
“… … The sales strategy is a bit messy.”
I wondered who would buy cosmetics sold by a country bumpkin, whether it was door-to-door sales or something.
Even if she had just been promoting cosmetics, it seemed like Jiselle would threaten with a knife to get people to buy cosmetics.
If rumors spread like this, not only Jiselle but also the people around her would lose face.
“Let’s think a little more about door-to-door sales. It would be better to just build relationships with the nobles.”
“I’m thinking about trying that method too. Ha, making friends isn’t easy.”
“… … That’s right. It’s not easy.”
Claude didn’t bet on this one.
Since it is a product with certain efficacy, word of mouth will spread someday.
If you do that, you will definitely have noble people who stick to you and you will become close to them.
However, since that wouldn’t happen anytime soon, it was just a shame to lose money on the inventory that would pile up until then.
“So when will you be leaving? It will take some time to fill up a certain quantity.”
“We should start once we have accumulated enough to sell. We were still making them while testing them, so it shouldn’t take long.”
“Oh, I see. Have a nice trip. I hope you make lots of good friends. Oh, I hope it sells well.”
Claude tried hard to hide his joy and wore a sad expression.
It takes a month just to get to the capital and back.
Considering the time it would take to promote, Yeongju would be away for quite some time.
Claude planned to take advantage of Giselle’s absence to get some rest and soothe his tired body and mind.
‘Please get out of here quickly.’
But the answer from Giselle was like a bolt from the blue.
“What are you going to do? You’re going with me.”
