One day, I received a letter from Neun-san asking for advice, so I went to her room in Kuro’s castle.
Each of Kuro’s family members living in her castle is given a room, and even though I call them rooms, they are quite spacious because the space in the rooms has been expanded with Space-Time Magic.
In the case of Neun-san’s room, once you entered it, you would be met with a gravel path leading to a bungalow. It was a strange composition to have a house inside a room, but she apparently really wanted to have a porch, so she made a garden and a house in her room.
Well, the space was originally too large for a room, and the walls were magically created to reflect the blue skies and the redness of sunsets, so if Neun-san hadn’t reminded me, I might have forgotten that I was in a room.
Standing in the room, facing the porch, gazing at the simple but neat garden, Neun-san placed a cup of green tea on the table in front of me.[It’s just coarse tea though.]
[Thank you.]
[I’m sorry to call you here so suddenly today.]
[No, don’t worry about it…… You wanted to talk to me?]
When I asked her about the main topic of discussion while enjoying the Japanese atmosphere of having tea near a room with tatami, Neun-san had a mysterious expression on her face.
This consultation may have been more important than I thought…… I have to listen to her very carefully……
[Yes, actually…… “I would like to have some means of earning an income”.][……Unnn?]
[I’m sure Kaito-san’s aware of this, but I’m currently getting my money from the allowance Kuromu-sama gives me.]
[I did hear you mention that before.]
Neun-san…… or rather, Kuro’s family members were given an allowance by Kuro every month. It seemed that most of them didn’t accept it anymore because they already had a means of regular income, but Neun-san still got an allowance from Kuro.
She herself was apparently quite concerned about it, and when I first asked her about it, she seemed to be having a hard time talking about it. Apparently, this consultation was meant to improve her situation.
[……By the way, why are you consulting me?]
[I don’t know many people outside of my family…… and if I talked about this to my family, I’d end up getting paid even for simple help……]
[Ahh~~ I see.]
Neun-san was currently the youngest child in Kuro’s family, and Kuro had told me that she was quite loved.
I also heard how there were some of her family members who would even dare to ask her to help them with very simple tasks just so they could give her money.
[I understand the situation, but it’s quite difficult. Though, come to think of it, I heard about this from Kuro…… but doesn’t Neun-san often accompany Kuro as her guard?]
[……Kaito-san, did you really think Kuromu-sama would need a guard?]
[……I don’t think so.]
[It was just that Kuromu-sama knows I’m worried about this and is looking out for me……]
[I see…… Hmmm.]
I knew what Neun-san wanted, but to be honest, it was quite hard to answer this. If she was trying to earn an income outside of helping her family, her circumstances of not being able to reveal her face will inevitably drag her down.
The First Hero, Neun-san, is one of the most famous people, and if it were known that she was still alive, it would bring about quite an uproar.
It seems that Neun-san also wasn’t very good at disguising abilities like Recognition Inhibition Magic, so it’s quite difficult for her to do any work other than helping her family, lest revealing her identity.
[……Why don’t you make something and sell it? As for marketing it to the public, why don’t you ask Sechs-san or one of your family and give them a portion of the profits?]
[I think that’s a good idea, but I’ve only practiced kenjutsu all my life, so I don’t think I have anything I could make and sell.]
[Ahh~~ Indeed, it would be hard to make something that would sell.]
I thought I had come up with a good idea in the spur of the moment, but indeed, not everyone is as skillful as Alice…… Neun-san seemed like someone who’d be able to create quite a few things……
As I moved my gaze around, wondering what she could make, a hanging scroll on the wall of the room suddenly caught my attention. It was quite a masterful piece of writing…… Something feels out of place about it though…… Ahh, that’s it!
[Neun-san, that hanging scroll over there with the “kanji” written on it, is that being sold somewhere?]
[Eh? Ahh, no, I made that. I couldn’t find any interior decorations that would fit in a Japanese room, so I made one myself. It was just a hobby, but I used to do calligraphy.]
[Your handwriting is very good, isn’t it? I was just thinking…… don’t you think that would sell well?]
[Hanging scrolls?]
[Yes, I think there would be a lot of people who are interested in another world’s culture. One of my acquaintances even made a porch for their garden…… So, I think hanging scrolls with the other world’s letters on it will sell well.]
[I- I see…… If it’s that, it’s certainly not something that can be sold in large numbers, and only to those who are interested in it, so it would be enough for an individual manufacturer.]
[I think you could set the price high for scrolls like these. You could also take orders from people who want to write this or that, but with the other world’s letters. Well, I think it would be better if you consult with Kuro or someone knowledgeable like her about the specific sales method……]
To be honest, I think this was a pretty good idea, and Neun-san herself seemed to like it, as she was thinking about it with a serious expression on her face.
I personally think hanging scrolls are pretty cool, and putting aside whether or not they would fit in a Western-style room, I’ll probably buy a few of her scrolls as a show of support when she actually starts selling them.
<Afterword>
Serious-senpai : [I think being able to write kanji is quite an advantage in a different world.]
? ? ? : [Indeed, just hearing how “these are written with letters from another world!” would make many people want them.]
