**Dear Past Me,**

  Stop selling products on a whim right now.

  If you don't, you're going to experience hell.

  ---

  "Everything's sold out!! By the way, can't you increase production a bit?"

  "Impossible."

  It's already been a week since I entrusted Teresa-san with the sale of the rice-based lotion.

  The first day wasn't exactly a success—in fact, we sold zero bottles.

  Nel and Amina were puzzled and frustrated, wondering why. But in this world without SNS or smartphones, information doesn't spread instantly, and the credibility of the lotion was questionable.

  I accepted this outcome as natural, thinking it would eventually sell, and maintained a rexed production pace.

  Nel and I continued to grind through the Mochi Dungeon.

  With our levels rising and stats exploding, we could gather materials more efficiently than before. While we were in the dungeon, Amina focused on alchemy.

  We repeated this cycle. Teresa-san had asked us to stockpile as much as possible, so we mass-produced the lotion, with the only cost being the containers.

  The change came on the third day.

  On the second day, we sold three bottles. We were relieved to finally see some income.

  We expected sales to gradually increase, but our prediction was too optimistic.

  On the third day, we sold sixty-two bottles.

  Twenty times the previous day's sales.

  We were genuinely happy. We still had plenty of stock, and with this many sales, it felt like a success.

  But the despair was yet to come.

  On the fourth day, we sold three hundred and thirty-two bottles.

  Five times the previous day's sales.

  What the hell is happening? To me, it's just an ordinary item for cash.

  But apparently, for the women of this world, it's a product they desperately want.

  About 60% of the stock we had built up over four days was gone. At this point, we realized we couldn't afford to celebrate.

  Fortunately, we still had materials.

  Thinking we could manage if we hurriedly increased production, I asked Amina to work hard while I dashed to secure more containers. Nel went solo into the dungeon.

  On the fifth day, we finally ran out of stock.

  The total number of rice lotions we had produced over five days was a little over seven hundred. Amina could make about one hundred and forty bottles a day.

  Beyond that, Amina's mana would be an issue, and we were already far exceeding the amount of materials we could gather from the dungeon.

  At this point, we had accumuted about 56,000 zeni in assets.

  That's 5.6 million yen.

  Yeah, we're earning way faster than pnned.

  The customer base started with Teresa-san's circle—housewives and other merchants—but now, thanks to word of mouth, it includes night dies, adventurers, maids, and women from nearby vilges.

  Yeah, we've completely monopolized the market.

  On the sixth day, we imposed a sales limit.

  We considered raising the price, but Teresa-san warned that if we raised it too much, the customer base would shift to nobles, which would bring its own set of troubles. So, we decided that raising prices would be a st resort.

  Considering our production capacity and the need to barely increase stock, we set the daily sales limit to sixty bottles.

  Yeah, that's less than half of what we've been selling, even less than a fifth of our peak sales.

  But even that small amount was snatched up instantly by the customers waiting at the door first thing in the morning.

  Even with a limit of one bottle per person, we were sold out by morning.

  In fact, Teresa-san, who cheerfully brought the sales report on the seventh morning, confirmed it.

  The total sales so far were about eight hundred and twenty bottles.

  The additional heavy bag of coins we received added to our assets, bringing the total to about 65,000 zeni.

  Facing Teresa-san, who was smiling as if she had some scheme in mind, I calcuted our savings.

  "Lately, my husband says the accessory sales are doing well too. Personally, I'd like a bit more, but is that not possible?"

  Here it comes. The request for increased production.

  "Impossible. The material acquisition rate is too slow, and we need rest too. Plus, look at Amina."

  In terms of the current environment, while the pay is good, the working conditions are borderline bck company.

  If I were obsessed with making money, I would have immediately said yes to this proposal. But since I'm not, I immediately shook my head and showed Teresa-san the reality by opening the stable door to reveal the current situation.

  "..."

  "Seeing Amina, who's usually so bright, now dull-eyed and focused on mixing, do you have anything to say?"

  "...I'm sorry."

  Even though I didn't expect it to sell this well, I started this, so I share some of the bme. That's why I'm hitting the brakes here.

  It's just too much to keep her mixing non-stop.

  Not saying a word, not looking away, just staring bnkly and repeating the same mixing process over and over. Yeah, as someone who's been a game addict, it's a familiar sight.

  The death march of repeating the same quest until you get the required number of items. Once you optimize it, it's just an endless loop of the same task.

  Once you're numb to it, it's fine, but getting to that point is pure pain.

  "So, we can't keep this up indefinitely. We'll stop production once we hit a thousand bottles. After that, restocking is undecided."

  "...Got it."

  If we sell a thousand bottles, we'll make 80,000 zeni.

  At this rate, we can produce that in about three days.

  Once we have that much, we can upgrade our equipment.

  That was part of the pn.

  "What to do..."

  I watched Teresa-san leave with a troubled expression, and a few seconds ter...

  "Hey, Liberta, is it okay now?"

  "Yeah, let's go."

  Amina, still looking tired, asked, so I peeked outside the door to confirm Teresa-san had gone back into the shop and nodded.

  "Phew~ This is the first time I've had to make that face, it's exhausting~"

  With that, she returned to her usual cheerful self and started massaging her face with her wings.

  "Sorry for asking you to act like that."

  "It's fine. If I hadn't, I'd have been stuck making lotion forever."

  "I think we could have earned a bit more."

  "Nel, that would have been tough on me."

  The earlier exchange was an act to curb production. I figured Teresa-san, being reasonable, would slow down production if she thought Amina was overworked.

  "Besides, if Amina keeps this up, we'll have to leave her behind when we go adventuring."

  "I know that."

  Our main goal isn't to make this lotion. It's to sell it and move on to the next step.

  "Don't worry, with this funding, we'll make even more money."

  "Really?"

  "Does that mean I won't have to work so hard?"

  "Next time, Nel might be the one working hard."

  Nel seems to think it's a waste to stop now, but the materials for this rice lotion are pretty common. It won't be long before someone copies us.

  "Me?"

  "Yeah, I think the materials will fetch a good price, and we'll need to handle that."

  It's just a temporary trend.

  I want Nel, who's dreaming big from the unexpected profits, to look ahead.

  "Can I look forward to that?"

  "Of course, I haven't seen anything like it in the market."

  To dispel her worries, I put on a confident face.

  "Well, now that we've decided, we have the money, so let's go pce the order."

  "New equipment?"

  "Yeah, no time like the present. We've got tomorrow's batch ready, right?"

  "Yep. We'll deliver it to Teresa-san ter."

  By morning, we'll have the materials and finished products ready. Amina pointed with her wing to a wooden box filled with rice lotion.

  "Alright, let's all carry it and head out."

  "Okay~"

  "Ah, Amina, keep up the tired face, okay?"

  "Okay~"

  Each box holds twenty bottles, so one box per person. Amina started shaping her expression while rubbing her cheeks.

  "This feels weird."

  "We're used to seeing you always cheerful."

  The expression, supervised by me, who's seen overworked office dies, was filled with sorrow.

  "How is it?"

  "Yeah, it's a face that makes you want to tell her to rest."

  "Indeed, even my mom would be fooled."

  But being able to express this much is a kind of talent. Amina might have a future as a stage actress.

  I was impressed by her ability to create a look of exhaustion and sleep deprivation.

  "Eh, I'll carry it."

  "No, if Amina carries it with that face, Teresa-san will get mad at me."

  "True, it might raise suspicions."

  Feeling a bit guilty, I carried two boxes outside.

  "This is tomorrow's batch."

  A knock brought Teresa-san, who had just left, back to receive it.

  "Thank you. And Amina-chan, eat this. It has honey, so it's delicious."

  "Thank you, ma'am."

  Her voice matched her expression, soft and subdued.

  "Yeah, don't push yourself. I'll expin to the customers. What are you pnning to do now?"

  "We're thinking of going out for a change of pace."

  "That's good. Be careful."

  She handed us cookies, genuinely concerned, making me almost confess that we were actually fine.

  The guilt...

  This must be what they mean by "pulling at your heartstrings."

  As we were kindly seen off, our destination was...

  "Hello!!"

  "No more bamboo spears!!"

  Ganji's weapon shop.

  The moment I showed up, the burly man groaned and shouted.

  "Hey, thanks to us, your bcksmithing skill level has gone up a lot, right?"

  "That's a different story!! Why do I have to keep making bamboo spears!?"

  "We're paying you, right? That makes us customers!!"

  "Even if you pay, I don't like doing the same job over and over!!"

  "You!? Acting like that again!! What if you lose business!? These kids have helped you improve and get more work!! You should be bowing your head in gratitude!!"

  "Ouch!! Stop hitting me!!"

  As usual, the scruffy-bearded man was being scolded by his wife, and we couldn't help but chuckle.

  "So, we have an order."

  "What is it this time? More bamboo spears? Or wooden sticks?"

  Scolded by his wife, he reluctantly accepted the order. Despite his compints, he does his job well.

  "First, we want two steel weapons and one staff using a magic crystal."

  "Oh! Steel and magic crystals!! That's great! Finally getting some decent weapons!?"

  Our previous orders were all for the weakest early-game weapons, so he wasn't motivated, but hearing about steel made him happy.

  "We'll provide the materials for a custom order."

  "Steel is avaible, but if you're providing materials, it'll be expensive."

  "We've got the money."

  "Then it's fine. Any other orders? If you have the money, why not get some armor too?"

  "No, the rest is for something else using these materials."

  What we ordered from Ganji this time will be our main weapons for a while. His earlier grumpiness turned into a smile as he wrote down the order—it must be a good one.

  Since we pay well, he trusts us enough to take our orders seriously. The jingling bag of coins probably helped.

  "Is this mithril!? And this?"

  "It's a branch from the ancient magical tree, Eldertrent."

  "A branch from the ancient magical tree Eldertrent!? Where did you get that? It's not stolen, is it?"

  "How rude!! It's a proper quest reward!!"

  "Who would give you kids such a treasure!? Ouch!!"

  "Stop compining!! These kids wouldn't do anything shady!! Just do your job!!"

  "Ouch!! Stop hitting me!! You'll make me stupid!!"

  "Don't worry, you're already stupid!!"

  His eyes changed again when we took out the materials we brought.

  "Alright, so what do you want made? With the number of ingots, the weapons we can make are limited."

  Rubbing his head where he'd been hit, he got down to business. The branch was quite long, but the amount of mithril ingots was small.

  Originally, I pnned to make a spear with these materials, but...

  "A fishing rod."

  "Huh?"

  "Ah, use two for the rod and one ingot for a lure."

  "Huh?"

  We got something unexpected, so we changed pns.