Minsto was the one to answer first.
“I like it here. I have a good workshop, you, and Suuru. I’m used to the weather here, too.”
“What about you, Suuru?”
“I…”
She hesitated for a long time, alternating between looking at me and Minsto.
“I think I want to try staying here longer. There’s also a problem if we live in the outer world. What if you’re not available, Tila, and we need to go inside the domes? I don’t want to think about it, but in the worst case, if something happens to you, then we’re stuck there forever.”
That was a valid point. Just for my business, all travel that crossed the protective domes had to happen through me for now. This was also something that could be fixed when I mastered the gate spell, but that wouldn’t happen for many years.
“You’re right about that. I have the same issue with my businesses.”
“That’s because you started your businesses on the basis that you’d be able to teleport around.”
Minsto's rebuttal struck the heart of the matter.
“I know, but what can I do? That’s my advantage. Do you think a normal person would own a factory and five stores one year after arriving in a new world with nothing on their back?”
“I think it’s impressive. Even with an unfair advantage, you still worked hard.”
At least, Suuru was always on my side.
“Exactly! That’s why, let’s celebrate with a party all day long tomorrow…”
“No.”
Minsto's immediate refusal was the same as usual. She was too serious and liked working too much. My proposal was mostly a joke anyway. The factory in 2 was built, and she was finishing installing the production lines for the three products. In a few days, we would finally be able to manufacture selnic items, which we could sell in both worlds. The factory would only need about ten employees at the start, which provided a lot of room for scaling up later.
Minsto was to temporarily become the factory leader, taking care that everything worked correctly, and managing the employees, with a real manager seconding her. We had already found the right people, in the same manner I recruited her in the past. That’s why she was quite busy these days, firmly excluding the idea of taking a day off.
“Anyway, back to the topic. Do we all agree to continue living here for now?”
They nodded, and I went on.
“Let’s talk about it again when the house is ready.”
That was the end of the discussion on the topic. Two days later, I was told the shop in Geola was already prepared for me. I went back to the city hall to formalize the transfer and get the title deed before heading there to visit the place.
It ended up being even better than I expected. It was located close to the city center, inside a rich neighborhood, and not far from the commercial district. The shop itself was in a very good state while also being enormous. On top of having large ground space, it had three floors, allowing for so much room that I would need to be inventive to fill all the displays and shelves, which were still here from the previous owner.
It had belonged to an old, rich merchant, who passed away during the disease outbreak. The government managed to buy it from his descendants, who weren’t interested in running a business and preferred selling it for a large amount of cash. What was interesting was that the merchant wasn’t affiliated with the big three trading companies, giving him quite a unique position. He had apparently been here since before the big three became so large, and his base of support was strong enough that even they couldn’t do anything about him.
My selnic items still hadn’t been produced yet, so I wasn’t in a rush to open it on the spot. I could buy normal selnic items from the inner world and sell them here, but I believed it was much better to sell from my brand from the start and avoid confusing clients.
Instead, it was time to recruit trustworthy store employees. Just like my other shops, I wouldn’t be able to stay there to manage everything myself. There was a large difference, though. Unlike my other stores, this place would be located not only in the most prosperous city on the continent, but also in one of its best neighborhoods. Plus, it would sell unique luxury items at very high prices, which meant the amount moved every day would be phenomenal, to the point that running away with the register after a single day might be enough to let a normal person live comfortably for seasons, if not years.
As such, I wanted a bit more than random people I found through recommendations or word of mouth.
Fortunately, I had been prepared for such a thing from the very start. To be exact, the epidemic disrupted my plans royally, but that didn’t mean my efforts were null either. It was time to see if there was any result on that side.
I made my way to the slums, looking for either the boy or the girl. After an initial tense contact, the boy had become a lot mellower after I kept giving them food every day and even gave me his name. The girl, on the other hand, was still the same distrusting kid as ever, not that I could blame her too much for it, judging by their circumstances.
Soon enough, it was the boy who found me, being much more adept in these things than I was.
“Mister, hello.”
“Hi, Aren. How are you doing today?”
“We’re doing good. We can eat our fill with your food. Is there something wrong?”
As expected of a sensitive feline, he immediately felt something was different in my behavior, his ears and tail wagging interrogatively.