Saving 80,000 Gold in an Another World for Retirement
chapter-198

198. Society 3

Today is the first [Society]’s tea party.

Cosmetics have been successfully distributed, and everyone seems to be practicing their makeup for a while.

Although there are some differences in their skills, they all seem to be working with the maid or studying with the whole family. They refused to give up even after seeing how their faces looked when they put on their makeup as thick as geisha.

Women are scary when they’re serious.

Then, following after the greeting from Mitchan which is the president, I handed out the club rings that just completed.

The center stone of the white gold ring is the finest ruby.

The head of the ring is engraved with [Society], the joining date on the side panel, and the full name of the respective members on the inside of the ring.

Those who wear this ring are sisters and comrades. They will never betray each other.

It can’t be helped If there’s a conflict between their parents, even so, their friendship is immutable and undying.

Yup, in such a spirit, it will bind everyone in this game of getting along.

And since I’m [the one on the administrator side], I’m not bound by the in-game rules. Fuhahahaha!!

…how evil!

No, what am I trying to get by retorting myself?

Ah, white gold is an alloy of gold and white metal such as palladium, which is kinda white but is different from platinum. About 75% gold and 25% palladium.

The white color is giving a calm and unobtrusive impression, and pure gold is soft and easily deforms and wears away. Besides, white gold is cheaper.

These rings aren’t free gifts. They’re loan items.

These are the proof of the [Society] membership, and they have to be returned when the member leaves.

Since the date when the member joined and their names are engraved, they cannot be reused. Each of these rings was made only for one girl and will be scrapped when they leave the association. These rings can serve only one member.

The girls who just received the club ring are staring at their respective rings.

Well, the center stone ruby is, of course, synthetic ruby, but synthetic is not a fake. It has the same composition and structure as the natural one, it is genuine ruby. …It just created by human beings instead of the power of nature.

So, even if it boasts amazing purity, it is treated as [Splendid Jewel], not as [Composite that cost next to nothing]. …in this world, that is.

It is not something that they inherited from their mother like an heirloom that has been passed down for generations. And it is not something that their parents bought for them.

They keep staring at the captivating red jewel on the ring where their name is engraved and made exclusively for themselves…

After that, it’s time for chatting while eating sweets.

Since this is a [tea party], we do both the serious talk and the funny talk while eating the sweets, drinking, and having fun. We don’t do it like a super inflexible meeting.

And it’s time for the examination of membership applicants.

A number is assigned to each of the applicants on the list and have each member to write the number of [Those who they don’t want to join] on the provided paper. Of course, they can write any number. And those whose number doesn’t get written by anyone would be qualified.

And then put the paper in the ballot box anonymously and count the result in front of everyone fairly.

And read out the written numbers one after another. Those whose number is read will be given a cross mark next to their names on the applicants’ list.

And…

Everyone seems to have tried to eliminate those who would likely try to take control of the [Society]. Hence, those who have a hard personality, those who are far older than the current members, those who are politically problematic, and so forth, have received [Nomination] from everyone.

Of course, I do a lot of research beforehand, so Mitchan and I also wrote the numbers of the problematic applicants, so it’s safe.

And…

“It appears that the only one who has been admitted is a daughter of count family, Farenia de Garbarek alone” (Mitchan)

Mitchan declared so to everyone.

The first princess, the second princess, and the third princess who wanted to join were not admitted. Too bad!!

Farenia-chan seems to be a cute, innocent, and obedient girl that can stir up everyone’s desire to protect her. She’s the so-called [Everyone’s little sister].

…I don’t need her because I have Colette-chan, Sabine-chan, and all of the Yamano Maid Girl Corps!

By the way, the ballots were supposed to be anonymous, but actually, it can be easily recognized by the handwriting style.

…of course! No one believes that [No one would know who wrote what on the questionnaires at schools or companies], and write their honest… no, it’s nothing!

Anyway, I’m not that stupid enough to miss the chance to learn raw information such as personal relationships and ties between houses. Since there are also other tricks besides the handwriting, I will make a human relationship correlation chart later.

And then the photo session using a digital camera.

Everyone not only makes formal expression, but they also make free expressions such as playful expression, etc. Looking at the sample portrait of Mitchan, they realized that it was more effective to attack with various expressions, not just the formal one. …umu, as one would expect.

Instead of explaining how the camera work, I deceived them by saying [I completely remember your appearance through the hole of this tool, and I will instruct the painter later]. Otherwise, I wouldn’t be able to rake a lot of money by selling these [portrait] if they know that it could be completed in an instant.

Well, of course, it costs money, since I will formally ask professionals to process them. Even if it just takes one day to make, it took decades and a lot of money to develop the technique. So, they have to pay for it.

You can try all sorts of cost-saving measures, but if you want to get good results, you absolutely shouldn’t drive a bargain.

Not paying for the technique means not respecting it. No one would put their sincere effort for such clients.

Anyway, that’s why I deceived them as I see fit.

They can order the number of copies as they desire, but of course, whether the pictures are the same or different, they will be charged for each copy. I can save the editing cost if they order copies of the same pictures, but of course, everyone ordered different ones. …damn!

But well, there’s no doubt that this is profiteering, so there’s no problem. There’s even some of them who ordered 5 to 6 pieces for themselves.

And then I take the other orders from everyone.

Yes, they were asked to order liquor and high-quality snacks by their fathers, shampoos, cosmetics, sweets, and other things by their mothers and sisters. And of course, various items for themselves.

Of course, I also delivered the items they requested from the last meeting.

At first, everyone didn’t know what kind of products that are available, so last time, they just ordered something like cosmetics and the likes, but this time, they have lists of various items requested by their parents based on the lineup of products handled by Rephilia Trade that they checked by themselves, and even exceeded the limit of individual purchases.

…yeah, of course, there are limits. Otherwise, I can’t bear it if they keep ordering infinitely.

And, while enjoying sweets and drinks again, this time, gossips about love interests or nobility world, discussions about trending plays, favorite performers, love novels, and so forth were unfolded one after another.

The girls, who seemed to have never thought that there would be a day when they could talk about such stories with someone, were in high spirits that it has become quite troubling…

Hmm, isn’t it possible to sell books from Earth by translating the popular ones, such as OO book or XX series, into the language of this world? Of course at a noble’s price…

But it seems troublesome to write one each of them by hand.

Thinking about the future, it might be better to make custom fonts on my personal computer, assign the letters to the keyboard, and make one for this country’s language. I can also make one for the old continent’s language.

Alright, this will be put on hold. I’ll think about it when I have free time. I can also ask someone to do the actual work.

I don’t have to do everything myself. Just what do you think I’m making money for.

Even if it’s impossible for an amateur, you can pay and leave it to a professional. For that reason, there are professionals who have such specific skills.

Mochi is in the mochi shop, and momo’s companion is Mocha.

(Note: The first part is an idiom, Mochi wa mochi-ya = one should go to specialists for the best results. And the latter part is Magical Princess Minky Momo reference, where Mocha is Momo’s monkey companion. If you write Mochi-ya in hiragana it would be (もちや) and Mocha is written in katakana like this (モチャ), both of them virtually looks the same on paper. So long story short, it’s a wordplay, I guess)

And just like that, the first [Society] tea party was over with great success…

“…so, Mitsuha. Letters are coming one after another from the Royal Palace. Saying [Why you don’t let the princesses join], [This is blasphemy!], [We suspected that this is a rebellion against the Royal Family], and so on. The contents are becoming more and more dangerous as they send more letters…” (Mitchan)

“Ahaha…” (Mitsuha)

Don’t ask me…

Or rather…

“Just because they can’t get into a children’s playing group, they went as far as treating us as rebels!!?” (Mitsuha)