"KYYAAAAA!!"

Cute.

"... Hi, Silvia"

It's a bit awkward since she almost dropped the potions, that she was working on this whole time...

"Haaah, how long have you been here, Hiro?"

"Just for a bit, school ended, so I thought I might come to visit you."

"Is that so? I for sure thought you wouldn't come again for a few days at least. Last time, you left me hanging for quite some time, you know."

"Ugh, sorry about that..."

"Well, maybe it's fine now since we are..."

I don't want to have to talk about embarrassing topics like that!

"Actually, I have something I need your consultation with."

"Okay, let's sit down, though."

After entering the break room, I start explaining my money problems to her.

"So, I planned on doing some kind of business in this world, but as you know, I can't keep supervising my business. And I don't have many people I can trust. Actually, there is just you. And you already have a shop, so that doesn't work out."

"Wasn't there a girl in your garden? Can't you have her help you? She looked like she has a lot of free time."

"You saw it, right? All she does is sleep! No way someone like her would look after my business."

"... Right."

"I didn't see anything like some magical slave seal in this world, either. And this kingdom doesn't even have slaves in the first place."

"It's not like you have to go as far as getting slaves anyway..."

"Yes..."

Sigh

Actually, I wouldn't mind, but since they can still defy my orders, I can't fully trust slaves either. I wish magic was more developed in this world... Hmm?

"Did you think of something?"

"Yeah, magic is rather underdeveloped in this world, isn't it? Isn't that mostly because no one wants to share their research data? What if I sold magic research data? As long as I patent my findings, I'm sure the Guilds would gladly take up the work for me. And I'm sure to be able to trust the guild more than an individual."

"I'm not sure if magic is underdeveloped here, what are you even using as a reference? Your world doesn't even have magic, no? But yes, people rarely share their research findings. My mother is also a magic researcher, but her research is strictly for the imperial household of Falgis. So, unless the Empire decides to publish her findings, no one would be able to see them."

"Then I only need to check what is already known and start my work."

"Please make sure not to publish too much. What if you accidentally started some magic war or something? I don't want to live in such a chaotic time..."

"Yeah, I'll keep it to a minimum. If possible, only things that are useful in someone's day-to-day life. After I have some money, I'll think about what kind of business I can start with that. I'm sure I'll find trustworthy people by that time."

"Mm, that's good. That reminds me, the Merchant's Guild actually has a request board similar to the Adventurer's Guild, but they don't offer missions there. Instead, people who are looking for sponsors have their papers on the board. Some of them are store owners who had a bad time and are about to close, some are inventors who are looking for rich people who can invest in them, there are also some people with more complex circumstances... But maybe you can find someone to start your business with there."

"Did you put up a request on there to start your shop too?"

"No, I took a loan directly from the Merchant's Guild, I didn't want to risk having to deal with a bad person."

"Bad person...?"

"Well, yeah, anyone in the guild can accept the request. The guild only provides the request board and works as the intermediary, the contract is your personal business. If you don't pay attention, you might end up with a contract that's forcing a slave-like life on you if you can't pay back your loan. While the guild checks whether or not you uphold your end of the contract, they don't check if it's a fair contract."

"Then, wouldn't everyone just take a loan from the guild?"

"The guild doesn't just give anyone a loan. If they aren't confident that you can pay the loan back at some point, they won't give you a loan. The guild's loan has a higher interest than most personal loans, so most people aren't interested in their loans in the first place. The guild works in a more stable way than personal investors."

"I see, then I might as well try my hand at investing in people."

"Yes, just make sure to not overdo it. You wouldn't want to go bankrupt, okay?"

"Yes."

She is worrying too much.

"Anyway, I'm going to level up a bit. I'll come to see you at night."

"Okay, I'll be waiting for you. Come back after reaching 100 thousand total stats~"

Looking at Silvia's mischievous smile, I feel strangely motivated. After giving her a kiss, I part from her and teleport back home.

My current stats total to almost 74 thousand. Frankly, reaching 100 thousand in a few hours is impossible. Each level up raises my stats by 10 each and gives me an additional 100 Bonus Points. That's 160 stat points per level. I'm missing 26 thousand stat points to reach a total of 100 thousand stat points, that's 163 level ups...

Actually, it might not be impossible...? No, my current level 443, reaching level 606 is just too much in a few hours...

Whatever, I'll just try my best!