Merry Christmas!
I know this ain't a normal upload day but I already don't bother following that little 'rule' so sod it, enjoy a chapter ^.^ There probably won't be a chapter tomorrow or Thursday for both personal reasons as well as the fact that it's the holidays and I'm entitled to be lazy again! Regular uploads will probably be back on for the 2nd of January, so yay.
Also the recording for writing this chapter has been uploaded, so if you feel like watching a timelapse of me writing this chapter, you can go check that out, it's titled "Writing The Symbolic Weight of Sacrifice Chapter 7", the channel name is Kaiimei with Hinata as the profile picture because she's just adorkable, and also I have a Pat reon who get early access to chapters AND videos now, so yeah.
Anyways, enjoy the chapter, and Happy Holidays!
Chapter 7
After her trip to the commodities exchange, Rosa wandered back towards the market with Kentaro in tow.
Once there, she began to search around the different shops, asking those coming and going about where she could buy some leather and iron. After only a few times, she got a sufficient response, headed to the required shop, and purchased the required leather and iron. She needed a certain measurement of leather to make the forging apparatus, but it didn't have to be in one piece at least, so she was able to buy the leftover scraps of good-quality but useless leather for an absolute pittance, spending a measly 500 Ryo for the required leather. The iron was a bit less forgiving, it had to be actual metal, and considering how metal worked, there was usually no usable scrap metal left lying around, so she had to fork out a whole 4,000 Ryo to buy the iron she needed.
Still, it left her with 5,500 Ryo, whilst the wood and stone she needed could be gathered easily enough. She'd sold her machete and dagger, sure, but she still had 120 points lying around being useless, so she could just barely buy a 'pick-axe' which had the double functionality of, well, a pick and an axe. She would use it to cut down the wood and stone she needed, then she could sell it for more Ryo after crafting the forging apparatus. It'd eat literally all 120 of her remaining points, but that wasn't an issue.
From making traps, she knew that once the apparatus was crafted, it would either be placable immediately, or she could put it in her inventory and store it for later. Of course, once she placed it, since she couldn't actually lift it again, she wouldn't be able to put it away again, but so long as she placed it correctly, that wouldn't matter until far later when she moved to a better location. By that time she could just buy all the resources she needed, and in much better quality, so it wasn't a big deal.
Currently, she had all the leather and iron in her inventory, since she didn't require more than she could carry of each. As for the wood and stone, her plan was to find somewhere with stone and trees, get Kentaro to cut some trees down and cut them into moveable pieces, then have him do the same with the stone. Pile them together, toss the leather and iron onto the top, craft the forging apparatus and store it, then head back into town and place it down.
With that done, she would then be able to simply bring the required resources to the door, craft them without even unlocking it, then head to a shop and sell them for a major profit. Alternatively, she could have the raw resources simply delivered to the outside of the building, since that would save her a lot of time and effort. Craft them into tools, then maybe even set up her own stall to sell items...no, that'd take too much time and effort. No, establishing a fixed price for her tools to shops around the area would be best. Of course, that would rely on a reliable reputation of quality goods, but she already had an in with one shopkeeper, so if the tools she produced were high enough quality, it wouldn't matter.
Taking the lead, the pair ventured out of Keishi and into the dense forest surrounding the capital, Rosa keeping her eyes peeled for rocky outcroppings that were suitable for being mined. It took them at least a half-hour of travel before she finally spied some large boulders in the middle of the forest, and without hesitation she darted over and inspected the stone.
She had no idea exactly what kind of stone it was, having never really paid much attention to geography and the types of stone, but it seemed good enough. Purchasing the pick-axe, she handed it to Kentaro and pointed at the nearest boulder. "Right, I need some stone, so start chipping please. As for exactly how much, uhh, just mine out a chunk of it and we'll see if that's enough. Each piece needs to be movable by the way." Kentaro gave her a stare that was so flat it might as well have not even existed. "I'm being serious, this is part of my plan. I already said, I don't have a ton of time with you. Do you think I'd waste your time mining stone if it didn't serve a real purpose? Oh, and once you're done, I'll need a tree cut down and then cut into movable parts."
He sighed, probably questioning whether she was broken in the head or not, but he still diligently got to work, swinging the pick side of the pickaxe at the rock with strength and speed, each swing taking an entire chunk out of the stone, and making it even more blatantly obvious that he wasn't exactly a normal human being either. With nothing better too do, Rosa sat down with her legs crossed and watched him work.
Not once did he need to stop, displaying not just his swing strength but also his own endurance. A normal person, if they were swinging full-force at a boulder, would have gotten tired already, but he was still going strong, methodically rearing the pick back and striking, rearing back and striking, over and over again, working out a torso-sized chunk of stone from the side of the boulder.
Once he was satisfied with the giant gouge he had made around one piece of stone, he started to chip away at the stone still holding it in place around the back, grinding it using the tip of the pickaxe, occasionally chipping more stone away to get better access. And then, once that step was finished, he took ahold of the stone, set his legs, and quite literally just ripped the chunk of stone off of the boulder. "If that was an attempt to impress me...congratulations, I'm never arm-wrestling with you no matter how much you beg."
Rosa spoke flatly, slightly staggered as she looked at the rock he'd extracted, then at the rest of the boulder. Still, she pushed that aside and opened her crafting menu as Kentaro planted the rock down at her feet, satisfied with the result. "Cool, that's enough stone to make what I want. Now we just need some wood, so, start with one small tree and we'll just have to see?" Kentaro rolled his eyes, prompting Rosa to shrug. "I don't know exactly how much of this stuff I need, it's all by feeling."
He didn't respond, and instead he hefted the axe side of the pickaxe and began to chop through the nearest 'small' tree. Said tree still had a wider trunk than her thigh, but considering her stature that wasn't exactly a difficult task. Humming, she checked her status screen again, pondering over whether or not increasing her Endurance and Strength would change her physique. She kinda hoped it didn't, because she was thin and lithe, and didn't want to suddenly grow muscles or gain a foot in height and turn into some stupid-looking brute.
Four foot ten was a perfectly acceptable height, and anyone who said otherwise was just jealous.
With a loud crackle, Kentaro finished snapping off a third log from the tree, placing it on the ever-growing pile at Rosa's feet.
Once it was placed, she opened her crafting menu, and this time, she gave him a grin. "Alright, that's good, that's all we need actually." She said quickly, taking out the leather scraps and the pieces of iron, which she laid on top of the stack. Kentaro hefted the worn pickaxe onto his shoulder and watched, not making even a vague attempt to hide his curiosity, not that she cared if he was curious about what she was planning.
With the push of a button, she crafted a set of forging apparatus, and in her mind's eye, she could see a now-blue blueprint for the structure. Instead of placing it though, she opted to put it in her inventory, bypassing the fact she couldn't carry it. It felt...a little bit cheaty, but all it was, in the end, was some convenience since Kentaro could haul back the stone and she was able to lift at least one log, so she could store at least two of them in her inventory easily enough, then carry the third back. "Alright, time to head back to base!" Proudly proclaiming their return, Rosa was met with another flat look, to which she stuck her tongue out. "Look, when we get back, you'll see what I wanted this stuff back...ahh shit, where am I going to put my stuff though? Could 5,500 Ryo rent a small apartment or something for like a week?"
She affixed Kentaro with a gaze, crossing her fingers. "A small one, sure. Two rooms, a bedroom and kitchen, then a bathroom for a toilet and maybe if you're exceptionally lucky a shower." Blinking, Rosa contemplated the fact that showers also existed, having not thought about it. Having a shower would be just about as heavenly as...well, having a shower, they were awesome after all.
Then she affixed onto the other thing he said. Rather than react, she stayed silent, but still, that was very important...an actual, heaven-sent toilet. She had only had to go for number one's so far, but going for a number two wasn't something she was looking forwards to, so the fact that there were actual toilets, presumably with running water if the mention of a shower was any indication, was honestly a life-saver. Well, not really, she would just have to make do without if there were none, but there was no way in hel-...well, in...in Hi no Kuni she was going without toilet paper. "Well, I guess we're going to be sharing. You seem enduring enough to be able to tough out five difficult nights in an apartment with me, right?"
She spoke with mirth, amused by his flat reaction to her words. "Since we're back in civilization, I do actually have my own place to stay. And no, you aren't going to mooch off of me to save money." He said firmly, earning himself a pout, even if he ignored it with ease. Well, that was both a surprise and a bummer. A surprise because he hadn't actually made any allusions towards owning a place, but maybe he didn't want her to know because then she might pester him after his time was up. A bummer because saving money would be helpful in the early stages of establishing herself.
"Well, gimme the pick back then." She said, maintaining her pout and sticking her tongue out as he tossed her the pickaxe. Checking it over, she noted with a nod that whilst obviously used, it was still in perfectly-workable condition, and so she put it in her inventory to sell later. If it sold as well as the machete did, or even just the dagger, that'd be another 6,000 Ryo to spend, which would bolster her reserves. She intended to rent the most garbage-tier apartment in order to keep enough cash back to actually buy the required copper ore, pigskin and wood to start making copper daggers.
Since Kentaro was only around for another five days, she would have to have a supply of wood maintained, so buying such a common resource in bulk, whilst an extra expense, would hopefully still fit into the budget. But in order to discover exactly how efficient her processing of pigskin and copper ore into leather and copper ingots was, she needed to craft them first. She could see what was required, obviously, but had no idea as to how high the outgoing quality or quantity would be. For all she knew, the copper ore would only be processing at a rate of one kilogram of ore to one gram of workable metal.
Hopefully that wouldn't be the case, or else her plans were up in smoke, but she just had to try.
Upon their return to the base, Rosa wasted no time in placing down the forging apparatus.
She also wasted plenty of time laughing her ass off at the expression that was stuck on Kentaro's face for a good five seconds as she basically just conjured up a full forging array out of thin air. He could accept hiding small stuff, sure, but bringing that lot out of nothing obviously went a bit beyond what he could just accept. "Now then, I think it's time to lay my plan out. Here's the TL:DR. First, get copper ore and pigskin, turn those into copper ingots and leather. Then, you will be fetching wood and bringing it back here, where I will turn those three items into whatever that blacksmith lady decides is most valuable to her. Therefore, we all earn money and everybody is happy. Also, uhh, sorry for treating you like manual labor, I just thought this was probably the most efficient way for me to start making some cash with the time I have left with you helping me out. If you'd like, and if this all works, I could pay you for your time?"
Kentaro waved her off, affixing a thin smile on his lips. "I promised to stay with you for a week to repay your kindness. If a little manual labor was enough to force me to go back on my words, I would be a disgrace of a shinobi." Quirking her head a little at the strange word, she shrugged and accepted it, smiling back at him. Of course, she knew in the back of her head that he probably wouldn't go back on what he said, but it did niggle at her mind constantly that he was only staying and helping her because she saved his life, and that he would be leaving soon.
But, with a clap of her cheeks, she put those thoughts in the bin, giving him a wider smile. "Right, well then, if I could bother you to give me a hand, I still need to go get some more metal to make some stuff for making leather, so could you head back out and grab me some more logs. I think I'll only need like two? Or...nah, don't bother. I'll just go get the metal, we can head out there together, I can watch you do your best impression of a muscular lumberjack for my amusement, then I'll work my voodoo magic on the resources to turn 'em into the stuff I need to make leather when there's enough wood piled up."
"That sounds like a better plan, in case I brought back too little, no risk of extra trips being required. Is there anything else you'll need?" Rosa thumbed her jaw, thinking it over. Leather, wood and copper. After some thought, making Kentaro haul wood repeatedly was kind of abusing the spirit of what he had vowed, so she would probably just establish purchasing wood at the same time as leather and copper, which left her with the question of what exactly she wanted him to do. Bodyguard maybe...that was actually a decent idea, since she didn't doubt that once word got out that she was making bank off her suspicious goods, criminals would come knocking, looking to earn their own slice of the pie.
Plus, as a resident, he likely would know how to keep any unsavory elements, be it the guards or the criminals, from poking their nose into her business. Still, he was waiting for an answer, so she shook her head resolutely. "Nah, just some iron and wood. I would just get some iron ore and kill two birds with one stone, but commodities exchanges usually operate on minimum order weights or values, so I can't just go and ask for a small amount. Being frank, I'm not sure if 5,500 Ryo is going to even be enough anyway...hmm, maybe I could sell the pickaxe, you can go hunt something down for me to sacrifice, then I can...yeah, that'd probably work nicely." She ignored Kentaro's inquisitive disposition, closing the door to her new forging apparatus and locking it with the key Kentaro had given her, then tugged on the collar of her jacket. "Alright, let's go get some iron."
Kentaro shrugged and began to walk towards the market with her, apparently putting his curiosity down. Well, he probably was still curious, he just knew she wouldn't explain her powers to him more than she already had. Honestly, she appreciated that about him, and it made her feel even sadder that he wasn't going to be sticking around for long. He knew how to not ask questions that she wouldn't answer, and even if he inferred something about her, he didn't voice it, he kept it to himself, as to not ruin their relationship. That was assuming he had inferred anything, but he was a sharp cookie, he probably figured at least a few things out about her.
But, so long as he didn't voice those inferrals, it didn't really matter.
"So, same quality, right?"
Leaning on the counter, Rosa gave the blacksmith woman a smile. "You'll be able to inspect them for yourself once they get made. Besides, if I'm lying, you lose very little. If I'm not, you gain a new exclusive supplier of tools, armor and weapons with high quality guaranteed. Of course, when it's proven I'm not lying to you, if you could put in a good word for me with your materials supplier, I'd appreciate it." The woman narrowed her eyes as she laid down the pickaxe that Rosa had brought out, apparently not appreciating Rosa trying to work her way into her supply.
"Fine, whatever. Quality drops, deal is dropped like a rock. You lie to me about the size of a shipment, deal is off and I get the guards involved. You try to go behind my back to sell to anyone else, deal is off and I get someone to make sure you understand what exclusivity really means." Rosa raised her hand, offering a handshake to the woman, who glanced down at it before grasping her hand with an iron grip, squeezing and then giving her entire arm a shake.
Once her hand was freed again, Rosa flexed it once before smirking. "Sounds good to me. So...?" The woman, who once again she didn't actually know the name of, snorted even as she turned on her heel and headed into her back room, pickaxe in hand. After about a minute, she brought out six sizable iron ingots, leashed together with rope, banging them down on the counter roughly before shoving a hand into her pocket and withdrawing some ryo notes. With one glance, Rosa knew she couldn't actually lift the iron, and so she relied on Kentaro to carry it for her as she scooped up the Ryo and counted it quickly. "I'll be back in...about a day, depending on how my discussion with the commodities exchange goes." She admitted honestly, exiting the shop with Kentaro in tow and ambling back to her base.
It didn't take long to arrive, and Kentaro dumped off the iron in the farthest corner from the entrance. Thanks to her deal with the blacksmith, she had acquired an exclusivity deal with her. She would sell to that shop, and the price of each item was to be established as and when she brought each type to the shop to be appraised. The first item the woman wanted in bulk was actually kunai, the name of the weapon that Kentaro had gotten stabbed with.
Said weapon was actually amazingly simple, and she didn't even need to leave town to make them. All they were was metal and a little bit of cloth, but she could substitute raw pigskin for cloth for an even higher craft rating, so that worked out brilliantly. The money she'd get for each kunai, if it were made of copper, was only 2,500 Ryo per kunai. However, each kunai only weighed a standard 250 grams, so as long as her refining of copper ore was above a level of abysmal, she would be able to happily produce them for a tidy profit.
For instance, if it took ten kilograms of ore for one kilogram of usable copper metal, that meant it'd cost 1,150 Ryo for the ore. 1 kilogram of copper would make 4 kunai, and at 2,500 Ryo each, that was 10,000 Ryo. At a price of 1,150 Ryo per kilogram, divided into four meant each kunai cost about 285 Ryo. A sheet of pigskin was able to be cut up to wrap around eight kunai handles, so 235 divided by 8 for practically 30 ryo. 285 plus 30 meant each kunai had a production cost of a measly 315 ryo. Compared to the purchase price of 2,500 ryo, that was 2,185 ryo of pure, unadulterated profit. Even if she took 30, or even 50 kilograms of ore to make one kilogram of usable copper, she would still make a great profit.
As for the iron, she got that as an extra, since she intended to make a tanning apparatus still, which required iron. The excess could be used to make the next-level proof of concept items, once she leveled up her crafting trait and was able to work iron into actual tools. She was able to smelt iron ore into metal, but couldn't actually use it to make tools just yet, only to make certain structures that downright required it. However, at the end of the day, she was up 25,000 Ryo, which was a fairly high amount but not an unrecoverable sum. Besides, if Rosa did cheat her out of 25,000 ryo, not only would she have to leave Keishi, but Kentaro was a recognized face, and doing anything would be a gigantic slap in his face, plus he'd probably also get kicked out of Keishi for helping her.
No, as she cracked her back and opened up her crafting interface to double-check things, she had zero intention of shitting right where she planned to eat.