This is way too bad for education!!

With Dea at E-rank, I decided to entrust him to Blade-senpai for a bit.

"Dea-kun. I've got some business to take care of. Have Blade-senpai teach you the ropes in the meantime. Buy him drinks and he'll tell you everything — guaranteed good senpai."

"Oi, Karina, you want us to babysit?"

"Hey, barkeep! Drinks and snacks for the senpai. Oh, and cover Dea's meal too."

"Leave it to us, Karina. We'll take care of him."

I like how quick they are on the uptake.

"Nice to meet you, Dea."

"N-nice to meet you, Blade-san."

"If you lay a hand on Dea, you'll have me to answer to."

"I don't touch other people's women… er, boys. Either way, I won't."

Good. I left the guild.

Next stop: my lotion buyer, Shun Lai Pavilion, of course!

Sorry, Dea — Shun Lai Pavilion is way too bad for your education!!

It's for grown-ups only!!

I might accidentally stay out till morning, but I can count on the senpai!!

With a spring in my step, I arrived at Shun Lai Pavilion.

It wasn't open yet since it was still daylight, but I was here to make a delivery. I knocked on the back door.

"Excuse meee."

"Oh? Karina, is that you? So you made it back safe."

"Harumikazuchi-oneesama! Long time no see! I'm back and I brought lotion!"

"Oh? Come in, then. Can't pour you any booze right now, but I'll make you some tea."

Ehehe, still a gorgeous face. Great personality, too. And that perfect bust and those legs.

I followed her inside. The glossy fox tail swaying before me was beyond tempting. I wanted to fluff it, to sniff it. Gotta resist…!

"Well, show me. Not junk, I hope?"

"Here you go."

I set out 33 pouches of lotion. They covered the table.

"… I did ask you to pick some up… but this many?"

"More is better, right?"

"I never said how many… Let's check the quality… Hm."

She wet a finger, dipped it in the powder, and tasted it.

She nodded thoughtfully as she evaluated it. I was getting nervous.

"Excellent quality… At a silver per bag, there's no profit in this for you."

"Yeah, it's basically at cost. I negotiated a small discount, so that's my margin."

I mean, normally you'd be deep in the red once you factored in transport and labor costs.

"… You sure you're cut out for business? I figured you'd skim two or three bags for yourself. And people usually cut the product to pad the volume."

"It was your request, so I went all-in, Onee-sama!"

"Good grief, what a handful."

Harumikazuchi-oneesama shrugged, really leaning into that "good grief" vibe.

"… At this quality, we can use less per service. Three bags for four silvers… forty-four total… I'll round it up to forty-five."

"Eh, really? Yay, how big-bellied of you!"

"Hah!? You calling my toned belly fat!?"

"I'm sorry!"

I practically fell to my knees in apology. Right, don't call women "big-bellied."

"But really, forty-five silvers?"

"Don't worry. I can sell some to the neighboring shops and make my money back."

"Huh, so that's how it works."

"Come now, let's close the deal before I change my mind."

We settled it via the Merchants' Guild token. Delivery complete.

"Oh, right — Onee-sama, I made this."

"Hm? What's that odd stick with a ball on the end?"

I pulled out the massager. Entirely wholesome.

Dea helped build it.

Not erotic in the slightest, but I was sure this shop could use it.

"To use it… here's the switch, and it vibrates, so…"

"Hmm? … A vibrating device. A 'denma,' huh. It does hit the shoulder nicely. Heavy chests cause such knots."

"You can use it on places other than your shoulders, too. For example…"

"… Huh? H-hold on. Using it there…!? D-doesn't that hurt?"

"Want to try? I also have a mini version. There are only a few prototypes for now, buuuut…"

After a hands-on demo and sales pitch, she bought a prototype set for five silvers. Yep — time to properly source materials and make production models.