159 5.48 Time To Roll Out The Goods, Gentlemen.. (1/2)
Both of the ambassadors in both towns began to ask how many cosmetic shops in Aizuwakamatsu and Yonezawa and discovered that there is an equal number of 15 and 12 respectively.
They went into each cosmetics shop and asked who was the proprietor and the locale name so that they would be in touch with them when the time comes. Each of them was curious about what these ambassadors were up to and they slowly explained their purpose.
They spun tales that the cosmetic shop in Kitakata had been assigned as an agent to solely distribute 29 types of Scented Karada Soap, 1 type of Kurin Detergent laundry powder and 2 types of Furoa Kurina Powder. They also explained that the arrival of 10 types of Scented Liquid Hae Shanpu, porcelain soap dish as well as metal Hangers to hang their clothes instead straight from being laundered and need not be folded.
They explained that the Scented Karada Soap could be used for their hands and face too and it was as if the person using it was showering in perfume. The smell was enticing and sensuous. The way the ambassadors describe it made the proprietors wanting more to see the samples and to make their orders.
They repeated these to all 5 cosmetic shops and they were eager to participate in being the distributor for such luxury items. Furthermore, seeing those men in their kimono and a dangling shiny and polished medallion around their necks, the proprietors realised that these men of high status.
The proprietors were told that the ambassadors would bring the samples and show it to them and their minimum orders for each order would start at 100 pieces each. They explained to the proprietors the reason why they had noted the names and locale so that they could update for their CEO.
After they had visited and repeated the whole process, they decided to stay at a local bed and breakfast since they have some more matters to attend to tomorrow.
+-==Meanwhile in Kitakata==-+
Hiko-sama and I had just ended the fireworks display and after the so-called advertising for the lady boss' business, the crowd started thinning out and the 6 girls and both of us sat at the garden while the 2 security headed inside the warehouse to continue the making of the paper bags.
We had supper heated up by the girls and some that we had bought from the yatai. I asked the girls if they would mind performing overtime work since we need to move the production line a few notches higher since the demand and supply are extremely one-sided at the moment.
The girls understood the dilemma and would like to help out as much as possible to move things up. I told them that the overtime work would be performed in the warehouse and they would start to pack the Kurin and Furoa Kurina in their respective packages.
The girls understood and would readily help out as much as possible. I asked one of the girls to fetch a rice bowl from their kitchenette and I find that it would be sufficient to use it as an estimate gauge as the weighing scale was hard to procure.
I instructed the girls to use the rice bowl as a gauge, use a knife to level it and fill the contents. After that, they need to glue it and pack on the pallet first and I used several papers on how the arrangement would be so that it would not be unbalanced and topple.
The girls immediately understood and told them to wait in the house as we go about our tasks first. The girls nodded and waited for us at their home.
Hiko-sama and I took the balance 3 handcarts that was filled with weapon parts and welled it inside. I told the guards to finish their work in the garden and leave the bundles of completed paper bags on the pallet first since there would be another 2 more pallets to go. The guards complied and went out.
Its time to get to work! We wheeled the 2 handcarts inside the operations room and sat cross-legged and soon we entered the Realm of Mind. I swiped the present soap producing facility to the Blacksmithing one.
I displaced the contents of one handcart on the ground near the smelting pot that was still sitting in the bed of coals and wheeled the empty handcart next to the readied [Refined Iron] plates. Hiko-sama and I started to knock out all the plates and dumped everything in the handcart and we managed to fill about 300 over pieces inside it.
I repeated for the second one and we repeated the process of dumping the balance plates into the other handcart. We soon logged out and return to the real world. We pushed the handcart that had been filled with [Refined Iron] to the end of our room while we returned back to the Realm of Mind to settle the labelled sacks of Detergent that had been placed accordingly on the pallets.
We then logged off and the three pallets were before us in the real world. Hiko-sama operated the pulley system and hoisted the pallets one by one just a few inches from the ground and pushed it to the centre of the warehouse. We repeated the process till 3 pallets were inlined with a space of 2 feet between each other.
We sealed the operations room and stepped out and called the girls in. Since there were 6 girls, every 2 girls were assigned to each pallet. I advised them not to make mistakes and both Hiko-sama and I placed an empty pallet behind the sacks.
I called the guards that had completed their tasks and told them to carry the bundles in and place them according to the right scent. The girls helped out with the other 2 types in their house.
Once it is confirmed and finalised that everything is in order, the girls started their work and told them once the tasks are complete, they just need to shut the main door. The two guards took a stool each and sat in front of the main door holding the 2x4 timber on their laps.
We went back to the house and shut the doors and into our rooms. Hiko-sama took off his pocket watch and removed his kimono while I changed to a gi after removing the pocket watch too. This is the first time I had seen Hiko-sama bare-bodied and it carried quite a number of deep scars that were slowly healing.
After a while, we went back to the Realm of Mind and I visualised some more moulding plates for the [Refined Iron] to make a round figure of 1,000 plates to be processed one time.
We arranged the moulding sets properly in 5 stacks before I start firing the furnace and pumped the bellows. I placed the scrap parts half full into the smelting pot and pumped the bellows until the bed of coals and the smelting pot turned red hot and slowly melted the scrap parts inside.
Since we do not have to properly clean the scrap parts, the impurities and slag accumulated at the insides of the smelting pot and I slowly removed all of them before confirming that it is ready to be poured into the moulding sets and the production begins!
Placing the parts, removing the impurities and slag, waited for Hiko-sama to pour out the contents and then stamped them when it's cool and while waiting I cleaned parts as much as possible.
We both dripped buckets of perspiration and used it to clean the parts. NOT! We never stopped for a breather as one moulding set were placed one on top of each other until Hiko-sama said last 5 sets and I stopped putting in the parts.
We both had worked with such fervour that we manically had produced 1,000 pieces of [Refined Iron] plates clearly imprinted in a matter of hours.
The slag and impurities that had since accumulated were cleared using my visualisation and I would not know where it had been properly disposed. Maybe it ended up in someplace by Elias Road for proper disposal or ended up in the side banks of River Thames. Only the author knows where it had ended.
”Let's get out of here, Sensei. But before that, we grab a set of the Karada Soap and see if it disintegrates and disappears in our real world. If it doesn't, then we could bring the whole pallets back! We had been here for almost 6 hours now, and we need to see the progress of the girls in the warehouse.”
Hiko-sama managed to nod his head in exhaustion as we logged off from our meditative sate and returned to the real world.
Our butts were wet with perspiration that it looked like we had peed through the hakama and penetrated to the tatami mat where we sat. I looked at my hands and there it was, a wooden moulding tray with 10 Karada Soap in it.
So at least it doesn't disintegrate in my hands and that means that such wooden moulding tray exists in this era! I showed it to Hiko-sama and he was very delighted, which means the whole first 5 batches can be packed by the girls and then followed by the following 24 scents.
We went to the bathroom, splashed cool water in our bodies and used the Karada Soap to wash our faces. The healing properties of the soap soon refresh and invigorate us back and we felt that we could go for another round of smelting 1,000 of [Refined Iron] plates in the Realm of Mind!