For the time being, I’ve created the building itself and its entrance/exit to the outside, but that doesn’t mean everything is complete yet.
After all, for now, anyone can move freely between the entrance/exit (to the outside) and the shop’s entrance.
Simply put, this means people can freely enter and exit the floor where the building was created, which can be a bit troublesome.
Therefore, it’s necessary to make it so that people can only proceed along a one-way path between the entrance/exit (to the outside) and the shop’s entrance.
Provisionally, how it will be constructed has already been decided, so all that’s left is to build it. When Floria heard Kousuke’s explanation that it wouldn’t take much time, she had already started moving on another matter.
What was she doing? The shop needs staff, so she went out to search for talent for it. To avoid giving the impression of a connection with Crown, Floria intended to search for slaves in a completely different town.
When Kousuke agreed to use slaves as shop staff, Floria showed her face at Peach’s place.
“Oh? What is it?”
Peach, who was relaxing with Colette after sending her children off to the academy, looked at Floria while tilting her head.
“Ah. There’s something I need your help with. …Could you do some fortune-telling for me?”
“Fortune-telling? I don’t mind, but what kind of content will it be?”
“Hmm. That’s what I’m wondering… How much information should I give you? It concerns the shop Kousuke is making, you see?”
When Peach performs fortune-telling, there are times when she gathers all the information from the start, and times when she doesn’t gather any information at all. The reason for not gathering information is that she doesn’t want to have any preconceived notions, but it’s unclear what criteria Peach uses to distinguish between the two. Therefore, when asking Peach to tell fortunes, they always ask this question first.
Peach nodded at Floria’s words and replied, “Please wait a moment,” as she brought out some cards from somewhere.
Peach has several fortune-telling tools, but she always carries her portable cards with her wherever she goes. After lightly shuffling the cards, Peach turned over just one card from the top.
“Hmm. It doesn’t seem like I need to hear any detailed story. I’ll just proceed with this~”
Floria and Colette, who were watching, couldn’t make any sense of it, but that’s how it seemed to Peach. Floria nodded silently without interrupting.
Actually, at this point, Peach already knew that Floria was looking for something. However, she only knew it concerned the shop, not that she was looking for staff. In that state, she placed several cards in a circular pattern and turned them over one by one. For some reason, Peach then shuffled the cards midway without turning them all over.
“…Peach?”
Floria tilted her head, not understanding. Peach smally shook her head from side to side.
“I have a vague idea of where to go, but it seems I should accompany you too~?”
“What!?”
At Peach’s answer, Floria’s expression became slightly surprised. Floria had intended to go search alone, so that answer was unexpected.
However, that doesn’t mean Floria doubted Peach’s fortune-telling results.
“What about Miku?”
Floria seemed to press the point as she confirmed. Peach looked at Colette apologetically. Colette smiled and nodded in response.
“It’s fine. It’s only for a few days even if she’s gone, right?”
“No. It will take about a night at most… Anyway, thank you~”
Peach lightly bowed her head to Colette, who readily agreed to watch Miku.
Peach lightly waved her right hand to Colette.
“Don’t worry about it. Since it’s related to Kousuke, please let me cooperate to that extent.”
“Alright~”
Peach replied to Colette, knowing that further thanks would be in vain. After all, the children attend the academy during the day, so the burden on Colette wasn’t that great.
When the conversation between Colette and Peach was settled, Floria asked Peach.
“Just in case, why do you need to be there?”
“I just have a feeling that my intuition will be needed~”
“I see. So that’s how it is.”
Floria, who would normally be considered eccentric, nodded with a look of understanding. Anyone in a management layer knows that Peach’s opinions at times like these should be listened to properly.
Floria nodded several times and then continued to ask Peach.
“So? When should we depart?”
“Hmm. The sooner the better~. Is it okay for us to leave right now?”
“No, I don’t mind, but are you alright?”
Floria had been preparing for a long trip from the start, but Peach shouldn’t have had any preparations at all. Floria asked that question, assuming Peach would have preparations, but Peach shook her head from side to side.
“I’m alright~. Besides, as I said earlier, it doesn’t seem like it will take much time.”
“Is that so? Then there’s no problem.”
When Floria nodded at Peach’s words, they immediately stood up. And then, Peach and Floria, who had quickly made preparations to depart, headed towards the room with the Teleport Gate.
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The place Peach and Floria moved to using the Teleport Gate was the royal capital of a certain country. After asking around and visiting various shops that dealt with slaves, Peach sighed.
“–It still doesn’t seem to be there~”
Sensing that their target slave wasn’t there, Floria nodded at Peach’s words.
“Hmm. So we need to start over, is that it?”
By the way, at this point, the two of them had not entered the shops to confirm the slaves. Since Floria knew Peach was searching based on her intuition, she didn’t ask any unnecessary questions about it.
For the time being, they decided to trust Peach’s intuition and look around the town. It was the first time for both Peach and Floria in this town, so they were exploring it with fresh eyes. As they were doing so, Peach suddenly became restless.
“Hmm? Is it about time?”
Noticing her state, Floria said that and looked at Peach.
“It seems so. …This way~”
While nodding towards Floria, Peach began to walk towards a shop that dealt with slaves.
To conclude, Peach and Floria were able to obtain the slaves they desired. What kind of slaves were they? They were debt slaves, a husband and wife who ran a shop but couldn’t pay off their debts incurred for the shop. To acquire them, Peach and Floria caused a minor disturbance, but that’s another story. In any case, the two, having obtained slaves for the shop Kousuke built, took the couple to Amamiya Tower. Upon hearing that their true employer was an Avatar of God, the couple nearly collapsed on the spot, and Peach and Floria hurriedly supported them. The introduction of the couple will be in the next chapter. Should I write about how Peach and Floria acquired the two in an interlude or something? It’s not a particularly significant story… (or rather, it’s so standard that there’s not much point in writing it).
