Chapter 229

“Actually, I came here today because I wanted to work as an apprentice at Coconut Company for a day.”

Mina’s sudden statement left even the seasoned merchant, Tirmel, unable to hide his confusion.

Of course.

To suddenly show up and ask to work as an apprentice…

“…As an apprentice?”

Tirmel, unintentionally sounding dazed, asked back.

In response to Tirmel’s questioning gaze, Mina, with an expression that suggested she had anticipated such a reaction, began to explain her prepared story.

“Yes. As you know, I am the only daughter of Silverheart Company. Therefore, it is my destiny to work for the future of Silverheart Company. However, I still lack so much to be able to handle the responsibilities of Silverheart Company. That’s why I thought of…”

“Are you saying you want to work as an apprentice at our Coconut Company?”

At Tirmel’s words, Mina nodded and pointed to Yuri, who had been quietly listening to their conversation.

“Yes. My senior at the academy, Yuri Blossom, is already participating in an adventurer’s party as a trainee adventurer to become an adventurer in the future. Hearing her story, I realized that I too need to gain experience now to become a merchant who can carry my own weight in the future.”

At her words, Tirmel nodded in understanding, seemingly grasping Mina’s intentions.

“I see. I understand your intentions. But wouldn’t it be better to do your apprenticeship at Silverheart Company, your family’s business?”

“No. It’s true that my family’s business is Silverheart Company, and I am the only daughter of the family. But precisely because of that, I cannot stand in a fair position as an apprentice if I work at Silverheart Company.”

“I see. Indeed, being the direct descendant of the company head, you can’t expect fair treatment, for better or worse.”

“Please, I won’t ask for any compensation. Just give me the opportunity to learn by working directly in the field as an apprentice!”

Mina bowed her head with a desperate expression.

Of course, it was all a lie.

From the beginning, Mina had already received all the necessary education as a merchant before entering the academy as the successor of Silverheart Company.

For Mina, working as an apprentice now and learning the company’s work was merely a re-acquisition of skills and knowledge she had fully mastered years ago.

But even so, Mina went to the extent of lying to become an apprentice at Coconut Company because she needed to join Coconut Company to help them.

Whether Tirmel knew Mina’s true intentions or not, he quietly observed her before nodding and accepting her proposal.

“…Well, alright. It’s not a big deal. Follow me.”

Tirmel stood up and gestured for her to follow. Seeing this, Mina clenched her fists in secret.

And so, Mina successfully took the first step.

“But it’s surprising that Tirmel accepted your proposal. Coconut Company is going through a tough time.”

Honestly, I thought he would refuse if someone suddenly showed up and asked to work.

However, Mina replied in a voice that suggested she never thought her request would be rejected.

“No. I was sure Tirmel would accept my proposal.”

“On what basis?”

“Because Tirmel is a great goblin, a model merchant! Such a great person wouldn’t refuse a request from a teenage girl like me!”

…Huh?

Wasn’t that answer a bit strange?

But before I could ask what she meant, Tirmel urged us to follow him, and in the process of moving, I missed the chance to ask her what she meant by that.

It was only later that I found out why she was so sure Tirmel would accept her.

And by the time I found out, it was already too late to turn things around.

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.

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And so began Mina, Yuri, and my work as apprentice merchants.

Honestly, Mina aside, I don’t know why Yuri and I have to work as apprentice merchants…

Well, I guess we’ll have to endure it, thinking it’s all for the VIP ticket to Silverheart Company.

And so began our work as apprentice merchants.

“But I don’t know anything about what a merchant should do…”

“Same here.”

“Ah, don’t worry about that. The goal is already achieved just by entering Coconut Company as apprentices.”

Yuri and I were beginners who knew almost nothing about being merchants, but Mina said that wasn’t important.

She said that the fact that the three of us had infiltrated Coconut Company to help them was already the end goal.

“Achieved? Mina, what do you mean by that?”

“From what I’ve observed so far, there’s no problem with how Coconut Company handles its business.”

“But if there’s no problem, why is Coconut Company in a management crisis?”

“That’s exactly why I joined as an apprentice to help Coconut Company. The problem is that this company is made up entirely of goblins.”

“Entirely of goblins?”

“Yes. Not only is Tirmel, the head of the company, a goblin, but even the lowest-level employees who do the soliciting outside are all goblins. And in the eastern part of the continent, the perception of goblins is not good, to say the least. So, just the fact that goblins are doing the soliciting makes people avoid Coconut Company, regardless of what items they sell or at what price.”

At Mina’s explanation, Yuri opened her mouth with admiration and a pure expression.

“That’s right. Even Mina and I were full of prejudice against goblins until recently.”

Yuri didn’t mean any harm and was just giving an example, but for Mina, it was an embarrassing past, so she continued with a flustered expression.

“…Yes, well, the important thing is the prejudice against the goblins doing the soliciting. The best solution would be to eliminate the widespread prejudice against goblins in Astram, but that’s beyond my power and impossible to achieve in a short time.”

Indeed.

At Mina’s words, I nodded in understanding.

“So, the alternative is to have us, who are not goblins, do the soliciting to avoid the prejudice against goblins.”

Mina’s plan was a kind of workaround since a direct approach wasn’t possible.

After all, excluding me, Yuri and Mina were objectively beautiful.

Two pretty teenage girls passionately promoting the store…

It was a simple but effective method.

At those words, Yuri finally seemed to understand Mina’s plan and opened her eyes wide.

“Then, since we’ve joined Coconut Company as apprentices…”

“That’s right. Us, who are not goblins, doing the soliciting. That itself is the goal, so the problem is already solved.”

“…I see!”

“All that’s left is to do the soliciting. And that’s too easy for me, who has received merchant training as the successor of Silverheart Company. Senior Yuri, you just need to watch.”

At Mina’s confident words, Yuri smiled and nodded, and so Mina and Yuri started soliciting with faces that showed no worry at all.

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To cut to the chase, Mina’s plan failed miserably.

The prejudice the citizens of Astram had against goblins was much deeper than Mina had thought, and simply having humans instead of goblins do the soliciting wasn’t enough to change the perception that ‘the company is still run by goblins.’

At best, they could attract a few people who were curious about the goods from the western continent or interested in the two girls passionately soliciting, but that was it.

There was no way to bring about a more dramatic change.

Moreover, there was a problem with the people doing the soliciting…

“Hey, everyone! Don’t just pass by, how about buying this item? This is a specialty of the western continent that you can’t find in the eastern continent! Dried coconut!”

“…Hmm. I’ve never heard of coconut before… So, miss. What is this for?”

“…Well?”

“…”

“Judging by its appearance, it might be something like sawdust!”

“…You’re selling sawdust for money?”

At Yuri’s explanation, the resident looked at her with a strange expression and left.

Of course, Yuri, who had no experience as a merchant and no need to gain such experience, was no better at soliciting than the goblins, except for the fact that she was human.

And the situation wasn’t much different for me…

“Hey. How about taking a look at this item? It’s directly imported from the western continent…”

“Ah, no. I’m fine!”

Apparently, a 2-meter-tall lizardman doing the soliciting had a different kind of intimidation compared to a goblin, causing the opposite effect.

Still, our clumsy efforts could have been supported by Mina, who had excellent merchant skills, if only she had been with us.

That’s right.

If only she had been with us.

But Mina, who had confidently said she was good at soliciting, was now distracted by something else.

“In that sense, a great merchant would rather give up immediate profits to build a friendly relationship with customers, which would lead to long-term and macroscopic benefits. If we do that, customers will become so addicted to our company’s service that they won’t be satisfied with any other company’s service. Hehe…”

“Huh, huh…”

“Mina?”

“Amazing! You’re willing to go through fire and water, even dragon’s breath, for customer satisfaction!”

“Ah, no. I didn’t mean to go that far…”

“Far from being customer-friendly, you’re customer-hostile! Even customer-hating! In a world full of merchants who engage in such services, your altruistic entrepreneurial spirit is truly moving!”

“Uh, uh…”

Tirmel, who had come to check on us as we worked as apprentices.

He observed our work and pointed out a few things to Yuri and me, but that was the problem.

Mina, who was listening to his comments on the side, started getting moved on her own.

As a result, Mina was now holding Tirmel in front of Coconut Company, asking about his management philosophy and exclaiming in admiration at every word he said, leaving no room for soliciting. Instead of working, she was holding back the person who should be working.

There were strange signs even before we started working as apprentices…

Who would have thought that in just a few days, her attitude towards Tirmel would change so drastically that she would be moved by every word he said.

It’s good that her opinion of Tirmel improved, but there should be limits.

And so, Mina was holding Tirmel in front of Coconut Company, not doing her job properly, and instead preventing Tirmel from doing his…

Yuri, of course, couldn’t do a single person’s job properly and kept making mistakes…

And I, while not making as many mistakes as Yuri, wasn’t much help in promoting Coconut Company and just wasted time.

No. At this rate, we’re just a nuisance.