Make a little money in the black haze market
I’m out of money.
I thought I had just earned some, but for some reason my funds have dwindled to an amount I can’t really show others.
What kind of magic trick is this? Maybe it has something to do with that Great Halper hung on the wall of the room I’m living in, but that’s probably overthinking it. Alright, let’s not dwell on the cause.
But being broke is honestly a problem.
Word is a magic shop is coming to Legol soon, and I’ll need money for that. I also want to buy some fabric for clothes and materials for my personal projects.
I do have a decent amount of undisclosed funds, but I can’t touch those. If I dip into my emergency stash, I’m done for as a person. You have to stay conscious of the red line, and operate within the safe zone leading up to it…otherwise it’s easy for a person to hit rock bottom.
So anyway, since it’s spring I figured I’d take on a nice extermination request.
“Ah…all the crater toad exterminations are already full in every district.”
“For real? Nothing even if it’s a bit far away, Milene?”
“If it was Mr. Mongrel I could have recommended one, but…as soon as they were posted, every party rushed to claim them so they were gone quickly.”
The crater toad is a frog-like monster that appears near water in the spring. Not “greater” but “crater” toad.
They’re about as tall as a human and attack by charging, kicking, and stomping with their massive bodies. Powerful monsters, but like pike hoppers, avoiding head-on combat makes them relatively easy to exterminate.
Their bumpy rock-like warts all over give the impression of being hard, but swords can cut through them just fine as they’re actually quite soft.
Their leg meat has a refreshing taste and is quite delicious, so they’re a popular seasonal food item.
Apparently livestock sometimes gets swallowed whole when attacked, but they’re usually hunted by humans before causing any mischief, so they’re mostly just treated as food ingredients. Probably why they’re popular among guild members too.
…Hmm. They’re lucrative monsters, and their secretions make quality oil which I’d like to stock up on a bit…but I’m too late. Too many guild members these days. Not that that’s a bad thing, but still.
“Guess I’ll just sell some stuff to make some quick cash.”
“I’ll let you know if any good requests come in.”
“Oh thanks Milene, your makeup looks nice today too.”
“Fufufu, it’s the same as always.”
Alright, time to head out.
Money-making isn’t limited to just guild activities though.
Even if I can solo jobs meant for groups, the bronze-rank and below jobs themselves are pretty lousy to begin with.
If you want to scrape together some decent spending money, it’s actually pretty tough. Which is why guild members should aim to get to silver rank as soon as possible. But stubborn guys like me who don’t want to rank up have to establish our own individual money-making methods.
For me, one of those methods is consignment sales.
“Yo Mercurio, business booming?”
“……Hm? Oh. Well if it isn’t Mr. Mongrel. Business is so-so. Not great, not bad.”
I visit the Black Haze Market and stop by a certain street vendor’s stall.
An unusual disheveled blond with some stubble, about 10 years my senior.
This is Mercurio. A shady merchant doing business at Legol’s Black Haze Market who’d look sketchy anywhere.
“Ah, but the gear Mr. Mongrel consigned sold pretty well.”
“Oh, really?”
“All the fire starters were gone. The low base price helped, but I guess word of how handy they are spread. Had similar looking guys coming for a few days straight.”
“No way, that’s a relief. I needed some cash.”
“Blowing it all on useless junk again, Mr. Mongrel?”
“I don’t waste money on useless things. It’s all necessary expenses.”
“If you say so.”
Mercurio chuckles and pulls out some coins from his pocket.
“Here, 1,660 zeni. If you’re selling fire starters again next time, you should jack up the price more.”
“Sure, thanks.”
“Don’t mention it. I take my cut for commission.”
What he handed me were the proceeds from the consignment sales I had with him.
Fire starters. Primitive fire pistons made by carving wood and animal horns. But I guess they sparked some interest.
A simple but fascinating item that burns the tinder by using a rod and tube. Not really something that can be adapted for military use or a promising technology, so I went ahead and put some into production to sell. But huh, so even these are still underpriced…they’re a bit of a pain to make so maybe I’ll bump up the price a little next time.
“So? Mr. Mongrel didn’t just come to collect your money, did you. You invent some other weird thing? Show me.”
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Mercurio looks up at me with eager eyes.
This guy likes money, but more than that he seems to just enjoy the novelty of the merchant business itself running this street stall.
Apparently he gets a kick out of selling products no one else handles, or things that seem worthless, peddling them to any passerby customers. In other words, he’s an eccentric.
Well, I did happen to bring a new product for this weirdo today.
“You got it Mercurio. The product I’m showcasing today is this…here we go.”
“……What is this jagged board, Mr. Mongrel?”
“It’s a washboard I invented.”
“A washboard, huh…I see, so you use those grooves to scrub and wash clothes.”
What I presented were about 8 boards. Honestly they’re pretty big, heavy, and bulky so not ideal for mass production.
A washboard is exactly what it sounds like – a board for washing, with rows of ridged grooves across the surface.
You fill a tub with water, then scrub clothes against the board in the water. A pretty simple tool. But for something so basic, it’s surprising it wasn’t invented until around 1800 years ago or so. History is weird.
But without specialized tools to carve those grooves, making them probably wasn’t feasible for mass production at an affordable cost back then.
Once you carve that first groove straight, you can just use it as a guide rail and offset each subsequent plane pass to cut the next groove. Easy if you know how. Any decent shop in this era could probably knock off copies without issue.
“So I take it you actually used it yourself before consigning it to me, Mr. Mongrel. How’s the experience using one of these?”
“Ah it’s not bad. Three times easier than stomping on clothes or scrubbing with sticks and such.”
“Three times, nice. Sounds plausible.”
“By the way, when washing you do it like this, rubbing and scraping like…”
“Ah I see, I see. Got it, so that’s how it works.”
I give Mercurio an air demonstration with the washing motions. Got to show him the pose, otherwise it’ll be tough for him to demo and sell them properly.
“Hmm…might sell to inns or tanneries and such.”
“Tanneries, ah I see…?”
“But I’m sure similar tools already exist at most standard shops. Not sure if this one will really take off or not.”
“So how much would you sell these for, Mercurio?”
I ask, and Mercurio strokes his stubbled chin.
“Well let’s see…making them…I could probably do it if I tried. Getting that smoothness might be a hassle but…not like they’d be huge sellers either. How about testing the waters at 500 zeni a board?”
“500 huh…isn’t that a bit steep? It’s just a board after all.”
“Then 450 to start. I’m good at hyping things up if I need to……if it catches on, more customers might come. Then I’d want extras on hand to sell.”
“If sales are good I can bring you more when I have a chance. But I’ve got guild work too. Plus getting all the boards ready is tricky.”
“If they move well I can source the boards myself……But you know, this invention is surprisingly tame for you Mr. Mongrel. I was hoping for one of those crazy contraptions you used to bring, from back in the day.”
The crazy contraptions, you mean like…?
That ridiculous 10-in-1 knife I paid an arm and a leg to have a blacksmith and engraver custom make?
The one where I completely blanked out on ordering and ended up with the flat and Phillips screwdriver heads overlapping and a can opener all jammed together into a useless abomination?
“Hahah yeah that was a good laugh…you made like 8 of those and only 1 has sold so far right? What are you going to do about the rest, Mr. Mongrel?”
“Well you see…that knife was just born ahead of its time. People will eventually realize its brilliance someday…”
“You still carry that thing around, Mr. Mongrel?”
“Not at all.”
“Doesn’t seem like its time will come anytime soon.”
Guess not, huh Mercurio. You see it the same way too. I agree.
Why did I mindlessly mass produce those back then…?
“Oh right Mr. Mongrel, I heard the nobility district hosts some kind of inventors’ showcase every month. You not interested in entering?”
“The nobility district? Nah, I’ll pass on something like that. Just another plaything for the nobles, I bet.”
“Well that’s probably true. Most likely it’s their attempt to try and smoke out that Lord Chaos fellow. But if a noble were to take a liking to you, maybe you could become their official inventor or something?”
Lord Chaos sure is popular these days. The nobles can’t get enough of him, huh.
But sorry, my office has a strict no-public-appearances policy so…
“As long as I get paid well, I’m fine with that. All that noble socializing stuff seems like too much hassle.”
“Ahahah, already looking down on them before you’d even participate, Mr. Mongrel?”
“Well yeah. If I entered one of those showcases everyone else would just end up looking pitiful in comparison.”
“I suppose that’s true. Kukuku, it would be chaos if the Invention King Mr. Mongrel showed up.”
The nobility district is trying all sorts of schemes, but I’d rather not risk any high profile exposure.
The Earl of Legol himself is probably…well, a decent enough guy from what I can tell at least…
“Well, bring me whatever else you invent next time, Mr. Mongrel.”
“Sure. You keep at it in your business too. Sell those knives and stuff, you hear?”
“Hahah, don’t ask for the impossible now.”
I managed to set up some temporary income and lay the groundwork for the next round.
…Fire pistons and washboards, huh. I guess if I make them they’ll make me money, but…looking at this cash I just got, it’s actually quite a hassle in the end.
More than that, I just wish someone would hurry up and steal the ideas to spread them around already. Things at this level shouldn’t stay confined as product fads, you know?
It’s weird how stuff like this doesn’t really take off and go viral more often…
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