Chapter 23 - Episode 23: When the worst parts disappear, other bad aspects come into view.
Episode 23: When the worst parts disappear, other bad aspects come into view.
Once all the toilets and slimy stone floors were cleaned, other problems started to emerge.
“It stinks… I can’t sleep.”
In this country, baths are basically done with hand towels, and it’s normal to wear clothes all the time… Rather than washing them, people cover up with perfume. It’s unimaginable in Japan, but the things sent here are mostly second-hand clothes with the unpleasant smell of sweat and perfume, not brand new clothes. Frim-chan, who is very popular, has received a lot of them… My room is starting to get crowded, but it feels like my nose is going to die.
――――… Housing is losing to clothing in the necessities of life.
It’s really not good.
“Frim, are you okay?”
“No, I feel like I’m about to collapse.”
“What’s wrong?”
“There are some parts I want to fix, can I propose some improvement ideas?”
“Uh, sure?”
They say lack of sleep impairs thinking, but it seems to be true. I went from my room to the boss’ room due to lack of sleep and kept throwing out improvement ideas I had always been thinking about.
Calculating money here is basically hell with copper coins. There are copper coins broken into several types, copper coins rusted black, and polished copper coins. It might be better to just throw them into some unused broken or holey bottles and weigh them to get a rough estimate rather than sorting them out. I don’t like cutting my hands with copper coins anymore, and my fingertips turn black. Sometimes there’s a sticky mysterious liquid too.
If the gambling den had a unified dress code for employees, it would give a better impression, wouldn’t it? When you think of a gambling den, you might think of bunny girls for some reason, but as long as there’s a unified uniform, that’s fine.
It might be interesting to have pets compete rather than people fighting in bets, and if more women come with cute animals for entertainment, the men might behave a little more refined and the status of the gambling den would rise.
And most importantly, since the death rate of slaves has decreased, why not use the surplus slaves for cleaning?
Before going to bed, I clenched my fists and passionately explained.
“I, I didn’t expect you to think so much about the gambling den… You really are different. I thought this was enough.”
“When there are few people, there are few things that can be done, but boss, you’re now a big boss who commands hundreds of people. You should leave what you can do to capable people. Even if the boss counts the money in the end, if sorting it out is a bother, slaves can do it.”
“But won’t they steal? Is it safe?”
“If you make sure there’s no hiding place, have them work naked or in cages to prevent things from being taken away, and check for hidden money with guards and inspections at the entrances and exits, it should be fine.”
“I see… Well then, what about this laundry business? Isn’t it better to sleep now?”
“By doing the laundry at my place, I thought it might encourage return guests to stay at least one night. I hardly use it, but there are a lot of people who sleep there and go home, so I thought I might do it as an innkeeper.”
“Got it. Got it, so go sleep for once.”
“… Can I sleep here?”
“Well, you can, but it might be too noisy to sleep here, you know?”
“It’ll be fine.”
Right now, there are sweaty gorillas in the boss’ room, drinking and laughing loudly. But they and the boss are just a little sweaty and boozy… But it doesn’t smell like hell condensed with sweat and perfume left for years. I decided to sleep on the sofa that was unused and available.
“Good night, boss.”
“Uh, yeah.”
———-
When I woke up, it was quiet. The guards were quietly gambling.
They looked at me with something akin to resentment. …Did I do something wrong?
“Good morning, did I fall sleep here?”
“You were tired, you’re still a kid.”
“Sorry for sleeping during work!”
“Kids grow up by eating and sleeping. Eat as you like, and after eating, explain the improvement ideas you mentioned before going to bed.”
“Huh? …Okay.”
――――― It seems like I messed up before going to bed.
So, I decided to establish a laundry department. I called Olmiroi, Talarine, and Markea, whom I knew.
“Nice to meet you.”
“When you say laundry, what should we do? I’ve never done it before.”
“Markea, with her strong beastkin blood, I think she has a good sense of smell. Ultimately, she will check if the smell has improved and watch the slaves who work.”
As expected, even if you force people to work, some won’t. It’s inevitable to create superiors and monitor them.
“Understood.”
“Olmiroi, please make the slaves do basic laundry. It’s a job to make those who slack off or do sloppy work.”
“….”
Olmiroi nodded silently. He’s unsociable and expressionless, but he seems to care about his sister, and judging from his attitude of protecting me from Logan, I probably am not disliked.
“Please instruct the regular slaves in laundry, Talarine.”
“Understood.”
“Now the siblings are together!”
I understand that the older brother is concerned about his younger sister, and now there’s no chance she’ll be sold off without me knowing. There are also slaves working behind the scenes like Logan.
“Thank you so much for caring about us so much…!!”
“We appreciate it.”
Olmiroi kneels down and lowers his gaze to me. His expression doesn’t change, but he seems genuinely grateful as his words suggest.
Sorting of the regular slaves will be done later, but for now, I’ll leave it to them. So far, I’ve only given orders for basic grunt work when there was heavy soiling, but now I’ll organize and gather people to do laundry more systematically. Well, before that, a little practice. It will take time to decide where to do it, how many people to involve, what tools to use, and who to choose.
“First, let’s see if we can do proper laundry. Since different fabrics have different characteristics, let’s try using these.”
Opening the room, now made difficult by the numerous gifts, I brought in a variety of clothes. There might be some that can’t be washed. The three of us wet them and scrubbed them to check. It feels a bit like abusing my authority for my personal purposes, but it’s just ordinary stuff here… Frim-chan has turned into a bad girl. But there was also a harvest.
The water we use is leftover water from the gambling den and well water. Laundry generally uses a lot of water, and if I can’t provide it due to illness, it needs to continue.
“Water, move.”
I can control the water I produce to a certain extent. I practiced with high-pressure washing. But what about well water and water I’ve already used? When I tried, I found that I could manipulate them.
“Water, hit.”
At the cleaning shop, they used something like ultrasonic vibrations to hit the fabric and remove stains, as shown on TV. I chanted “hit” with the image of beating, but instead of just normal washing, more dirt came out than usual. The fine vibrations are incredibly taxing, but I’ll get used to it as I go along.
Might as well try one more thing. Extracting ozone (O₃) and oxygen (O) from water (H₂O) turned out to be possible. Ozone (O₃) can be used to purify air and wash vegetables. It smells bad and is toxic at high concentrations, but it’s difficult for people to stay in a sealed space where such toxicity is released, and if you leave the room, it’s fine. I don’t know what concentration I’m producing, but ozone (O₃) becomes harmless over time. And hydrogen peroxide (H₂O₂), which is similar, returns to normal water when left alone, so it can bleach and disinfect. Some fabrics may not be suitable, but it’s still better than leaving them damp and creating a creature of odor, so it must be effective. Some fabrics may develop stains… well, it’s better than the smell… Using commercially available detergent also improves things quite a bit. Dirt comes off pretty well with hydrogen peroxide, and I think if ozone is used without putting people in the room where dried clothes are collected, the smell will disappear even more. Ozone’s deodorizing effect is powerful if used correctly.
“It changes color quite a bit.”
“Well, that’s normal for ‘cleaning’.”
Regardless of whether it’s stomping with regular water, ultrasonic water washing, or hydrogen peroxide washing, the color changes quite a bit in each process. I stirred clothes in hydrogen peroxide with a stick lying around, but maybe the concentration was a bit too high? Over-bleached.
“‘Cleaning’?”
“Oh, that’s another country’s term for laundry.”
It’s normal for some fabrics to not be washable even once dyed… Just washing them would only bring out stubborn dirt… Some fabrics may become unusable, but it’s still a department worth pursuing with so many people. It’s clear now how excellent the clothes and detergents sold in modern Japan were. I gave some of the washed clothes to Markea and the others. I can’t use them all, and I want to reduce them. By the time I go from being flat-chested to busty, this breastplate will be damaged, and it’s a shame. I gave Talarine some cute clothes that seem bigger than me. Olmiroi, sorry. It’s something like a sash to wear around the waist since you didn’t have clothes… Not something to wrap around your head or face… Well, as long as you like it. Anyway, the hell in my room has been dispelled… No, should I release ozone in the room again, just in case?