Manuke FPS Chapter 146

Published at 14th of July 2021 06:54:37 PM

FPS 146

Kay:  I remmebereddd.

In the second district of the Capital, I sat on the coach seat with Matlsan as he held the reigns. We proceeded through the district to the Marida Company headquarters… 

At first, my purpose for creating my second persona, Shaft, was to hide my first persona, Schwartz, for when I did things publicly. But what about this current situation? The impact of Garo’s Labyrinth being subjugated alone was great. However, the popularity of masks similar to the kevlar mask had become insane. Also the increase in theatrical performances too… Wasn’t it a little overkill?

Somehow, feeling the hyped-up atmosphere, I saw the Marida Company headquarters. 

As expected, the guards who stood by the warehouse on the first level did not wear a mask. They wore coats similar to what I was wearing. As far as I can remember, I hadn’t worn it when I came through before though… I couldn’t speak for others, but spring was approaching and the day’s temperature was rising, so it shouldn’t be so cold that you’d want a coat. 

“We arrived.”

“Company Chairman! Thank you for your hardwork!” 

One of the guards who stood in front of the warehouse noticed Maltsan and approached us. He looked at me sitting beside me. I think I was meeting this one for the first time, so he didn’t seem to know who I was because of the mask covering my face. 

“Do you know where Marida is?”

“Yes, she is in the store.”

“Tell her that Shaft has come.”

“Yes, Mr. Shaft, underst—…”

The guard’s mouth went stiff mid sentence… 

“It’s been a while, Shaft-sama.”

After I was brought through the reception room of Maltsan’s residence, Marida, Maltsan’s wife, came. It seems she was working by the look of her appearance as she put her long brown hair down as she wore a white blouse and blue trousers. Behind her, the maid Maltia pushed a tea wagon. I had met her before, she had long straight black hair and was in her mid-twenties.  She was in charge of the family’s care. 

Both the Malta couple and I sat on the sofas in the drawing room, with a table between us while the maid prepared tea. 

“It’s been a long time, Shaft-sama. I heard that you like tea very much, so I brought you freshly picked tea shipped from the production area.” 

Meltia talked about the tea and poured it into the tea cup. It was a transparent light orange, similar to Darjeerling tea. The mellow scent of the flowers and fruits had a strong scent, which I enjoyed. The taste of tea tends to be light, but if you steam it slowly in hot water, the taste will strengthen. The tea culture in this world was still developing, but meltia seemed to have steamed it slightly longer. 

“Here you go.”

“Thank you.” 

Though I replied, I still wore my mask. I didn’t pick it up right away and waited for Meltia to leave the room. Perhaps she realized I didn’t want to show my true face, she left the room after she poured a portion for the couple, saying “If you need anything else, please let me know.”. 

Below the table, I secretly opened the TSS and removed the zombie face beneath the mask through the avatar customization. Afterward, I removed the mask and exposed Schwartz’s face to Marida. I hadn’t met her as Schwartz yet, but considering the future, it would be more convenient if she knew who I was. I had already taught Bil-san, the manager in Barga, thus I didn’t see a reason to hide it from Marida. 

“Oh my, your real face is more normal than I expected. In the Capital, Shaft-sama’s face is a hot topic, especially among women.”

“I usually show a different face with the help of magic tools. I showed my real face now after thinking about the future. My real name is Schwartz, not Shaft. Please keep it all a secret.”

“Marida, Schwartz-san’s magic tool is amazing, usually – to put it simply – looks like the face of an undead. There is a good reason why he wears a mask. Among the company, only Bill and I know of this matter.”

“I understand, I swear I’ll never speak of what is under teh mask, Shaft-sama and Schwartz-sama, however I recalled I heard that name somewhere… Oh, maybe it’s that map shop Schwartz?”

Visit readel.me for extra chapters.

Map Shop Schwartz… At the Garo Labyrinth Harvest festival, the labyrinth that’d been left unattended was suddenly subjugated. And it’d been done under the power of a single mercenary. Without saying, it attracted a lot of attention. Moreover, the mysterious mercenary Shaft had suddenly reappeared again and made the capital prosperous, but disappeared after the subjugation. He did not appear at the festival. Thus, it furthered the mystery and brought more attention.

The map that was distributed for it was as accurate and clear as anyone had ever seen. And it covered up to the 20th floor. Since the creator was also shrouded in mystery, it was secretly attracting attention like Shaft, which seems like there was a search for the marker in the shadows. 

Eventually, a man named Schwartz, an adventurer, was mentioned. It seemed that was the conclusion the investigators who worked for the big companies managed to come to. Before, no one knew of the adventurer and it seemed to have been changed to Map Shop Shwartz. It seems that was the name that circulated in circles, despite it being inaccurate. 

“I see… I’m sure I provided the map for Garo’s Labyrinth, but I have no intention of acting as a map shop. I planned on exploring and subjugating labyrinths in each area. However creating the map is a different issue.” 

“I see… I understand. Let’s end this matter. Minnea will be back from the academy soon, so I’d like to talk about some business by then, is that okay?” 

After we took a break with tea, the talks began.

Some theater-themed performances were being performed on their own, but the idea of the portrait rights and personality rights were still in their infancy here. Similarly, trademark rights were considered sparse, but the products related to Shaft sold by the Marida Company had a seven-percent share prepared. 

I was curious about the product, but the lunch box was sold as a labyrinth lunch. They even sell a ‘black bento’, a black painted box, now. It is said that they also produced cheap baskets of lunch boxes and the black box was the more luxurious version. For the time being, I got the new black bento box. 

Furthermore, there were different face masks that imitated my kevlar mask. At the beginning, only black ones were made. As time went on, it seemed like the other companies followed suit before masks began to change in shape and color. 

And it is said that masked balls had become a popular time of party with the nobles. They hide their face and identity while dressing up bright and indulge in gossip and small talk. The kind they normally could never speak of in public, even the kind that included secrets related to the kingdom. 

From here on, it was a new type of business. Matlsan and Maridsan asked a question, such as where my tomahawk was made. That kind of question. 

I was at a loss for this question. They say demand for throwable hatchets like the one I used was growing. However, the blacksmith guild had many things to research, such as weight, material, and the weapon’s center of balance. Apparently, it was far from being close to Shaft’s hatchet. 

Then, their idea was to trade directly with my supplier. However, my business partner was the VMB shop. 

I did not want to be a weapon merchant in this world. I knew that anything other than a firearm could be handed over, even the hatchet, but it was still a weapon. So I decided to fell one to Maltsan as a research sample. We continued our talks with a few more topics being brought up but Maridsan was interested in the wine I’d brought out of the RV. She argued that if the taste was high-class, it’d be wasteful to leave it be. So she suggested I sell it. 

But how do you sell a wine with an unknown origin and harvest date? 

“Let’s say its wine born in the land where the mysterious ‘Black Nobleman’ was born and raised. You don’t need a label. If you are aware of the alcohol content, we can sell it with a black label attached. As for the brand name, how about wine from Shaft — Shaft Wine?” 

No, it’s certainly the wine from the RV from VMB, born in the world I was from, but shaft wine… Felt like a counterfeit… 

Maltsan also started to consider this idea, and decided to sell it as a hidden alcohol that would be known among the aristocrats and wealthy. To recover my CP that had been exhausted in the battle with the Pirate fleet, I needed to earn a stable income … This situation made me realize once again that the Marida Company was indeed one of the largest companies in Kurtmerga. 

Chapter end