Published: August 2, 2025
Simultaneous update of four chapters today.
This story is the third chapter.
～Side Dragon Horse～
After savoring delicious bread and charcoal-grilled meat, Ms. Karla called me over.
“Manager, there’s something I’d like to discuss regarding the second store.”
“Yes, what is it?”
“To be frank, our funds are abundant thanks to sales and medical expenses, so shouldn’t we consider opening a branch soon?”
“Already? Isn’t managing a store something that requires longer-term study?”
“That’s true, but Kokin and the others were researchers originally, so reading, writing, and arithmetic weren’t a problem for them. Usually, besides those skills, you’d need to spend time learning procurement, negotiating with other stores and customers, and various other things. But in this store’s case, there are neither competing businesses nor customer negotiations. So, Calm and I have prioritized teaching them how to respond if problems arise. They’ve also learned the basics of bookkeeping, so I believe the fastest way now is to let them gain experience through actual work.”
“...In other words, you want to open a branch not only to increase income but also to use that branch as a training ground for future managers.”
“Exactly. Of course, at first, Calm or I will temporarily work at the branch to give guidance and decide whether they can be entrusted with it long-term. There’s one more thing.”
She handed me some documents. Glancing through, it looked like a summary of income and expense reports so far.
...It has income and expenses from opening day up until yesterday, but… hmm? The pages continue.
Beneath the income report was a table titled “Income Forecast,” and there were many sheets stacked as if repeatedly rewritten. Judging by the feel of the ink and paper, they were written quite some time ago.
...I guess that’s because I was promoting and demonstrating the store everywhere indiscriminately when we first opened. There’s a large discrepancy between the forecast and actual figures. ...No, even more so, the visitor numbers used to calculate the forecast were based on assumptions referencing customer fluctuations in unrelated industries (…).
“...Could it be that this is information gathering for future business plans?”
“Excellent deduction. Currently, we’re the only ones primarily doing laundry. It’s an extremely rare occupation. Because of this, we have little benchmark information, so we’ve been making all sorts of decisions on income and expenses on the fly... feeling our way through management. Specifically, responding well enough not to lose customers and sales beyond expectations.
At present, our results exceed forecasts. However, even if results are good, it still means we aren’t ‘accurately predicting future trends.’ Therefore, we’d like to open another store now to gather more information and help create more accurate forecasts and management plans.”
Even before Kokin and the others came, the work somehow managed... and now others have become more efficient. Plus, this is like a training period rather than suddenly handing over responsibility, so if that’s the case, it’s fine. The frequent attacks have also calmed down, and the store has guards. I can go out alone without problems, and if we’re going to continue this store, it’s also good to prepare places to take in the increasing number of cleaner slimes somewhere.
I can take care of any surplus slimes. Although, to be honest, I don’t really know how many slimes I can contract with. There’s no visible limit yet, but how long that will last is unknown. With that in mind, increasing stores and Beast Tamers has benefits beyond just finances.
Personally, I think franchising would be fine. At least better than a scenario where excess cleaners are culled to protect store secrets! But that’s probably far off, and even then, name recognition will be necessary.
Or rather… maybe I still feel more like an employee than a manager. Hard problems come without warning. No matter how unreasonable the demands, we push through and meet deadlines. That’s been our job… I’m truly glad Karla and Calm are here.