Chapter 2
Translator: True Detective
Chapter 2: The Guest Who Came Naked
"Hah."
A hunter-specialized laundry full of hot steam, Sanctuary Laundry.
Once again today, without a single customer, I was just swatting flies.
"...Am I ruined?"
I was screwed. No, I was just on the verge of being screwed.
A state where taking just one more step would leave me totally screwed, perhaps?
The hunter-specialized laundry I ambitiously set up three months ago. It was my masterpiece that took a whole six months just to prepare. I was definitely confident it would succeed.
Why did it turn out like this?
For the past three months, the customers who came weren't hunters, but:
It was all just regular civilians.
"Is the location too bad?"
The Sanctuary Laundry I set up was a laundry that had been running since my grandfather's time. Back then, it wasn't a hunter-specialized laundry, but a laundry targeting regular customers.
A small laundry doing neighborhood business. My father, who didn't want to inherit the family business after my grandfather, left the laundry as if running away, and my grandfather's laundry was pushed back by the offensive of franchise laundries and coin laundromats.
I was the one who inherited my deceased grandfather's family business.
In the midst of that, gates suddenly appeared.
My father, who had left home, went missing. Along with my father's disappearance came a sudden debt.
You have no idea how much I suffered trying to pay this off.
I somehow managed to clear it and set up the laundry, but.
"Isn't having no customers for three months straight just too unfair?"
I sat in my chair and sighed, complaining to myself.
"It's not like I didn't hand out business cards and flyers. I handed them out everywhere and promoted the hell out of it, so why on earth is nobody coming?"
Are my skills that untrustworthy?
Even though I handed out thousands of business cards and flyers, I don't even get a common spam call. Unless the world is pulling a hidden camera prank on me, isn't this impossible?
Man, I even sent business cards to Hunters Inc., where I used to belong.
Why isn't anyone coming from there either?
Ah, the Guild Master is abandoning me. What is the point of living any longer?
It was then.
"Boss, that's because you can't read the flow of the times."
With a rustling sound from the sofa next to me, a pink-haired nun sat up.
The only employee of our laundry, Elena.
Sprawled on the sofa reading a comic book, she looked at me while wearing a dingy saintess uniform and chewing on a lollipop.
"Elena, what do you mean I can't read the flow of the times? Laundry is the greatest technique that defies eras. Especially a hunter-specialized one! You know how much money hunters make these days, right? A laundry targeting them is an unconditional jackpot."
Even with just one customer, earning a few million won is a joke. This is the truth.
I thought about it while remodeling the shop.
A regular laundry can never succeed. Even if I operated a laundry dealing with neighborhood people, I couldn't beat the franchise laundries that have grown this massive. There are even coin laundries among our competitors. How am I supposed to beat this as a neighborhood laundry? That's why I changed my route.
To a hunter laundry.
I was confident in my skills. I couldn't help but be confident.
On top of it being a family business passed down for three generations...
[S-Rank: Cleaner] [Laundry and mending can wash not only physical contamination, but also the 'contamination of the soul.'] [You can craft items that help with laundry.]
I even gained an S-Rank skill to boot.
But skills alone weren't enough. Damn it.
Elena looked at me pathetically.
"Boss, you're saying that seriously, right?" "Of course." "Phew, why did I trust a brother like this and quit the religious order..." "Hey, I'm still your boss, aren't your words a bit too..." "You're only a boss if you pay my salary. Right now, you're not a boss, you're Satan."
I had nothing to say. Since there were no customers for three months, I was barely managing to pay the utility bills. Elena's salary had been delayed for days.
"Hah, I got excommunicated and got a job here because I had nowhere to go, and the guy calling himself boss is a wage thief. Oh God, is this my karma?" "Hey, just wait a little bit! I said I'll pay you when a customer comes! Even if just one person comes, I can cover your salary!"
But is 'wage thief' supposed to be used like that?
"And when is that customer coming? Are they coming together with the Lord's second coming?"
I really have nothing to say.
The reason my only employee, Elena, is so sharp is probably due to the fact that her salary is a few days overdue.
I'm sorry. But can't you trust me?
I told you I'll wash it and pay you back!
"Do you know how many franchise companies specialize in washing hunter equipment right now? You've been to Wiz Clean, right? The laundry run by mages." "I've been there."
Market research is essential before doing business. What kind of stores are nearby, how many people pass by, and how many customers have the desire to purchase. How many competitors there are, etc.
Did you think I wouldn't have looked into that?
"Over there, it's done with just a click after putting clothes in the machine. In three minutes, whether it's weapons or armor, all the deep-seated dirt completely comes out regardless of the material, so why would they come to an old laundry in the corner?"
Elena crunched on her candy and dropped a fact bomb.
"That's just roughly wiping it with magic. That level can't wipe out 100% of the curses or contamination residing in the equipment!"
Laundry. It has that flavor that analog sensibility provides.
"It's a realm of delicate sensibility that a mere 'click' can't provide!"
It's not just about removing odors; it's about turning them into clothes you want to keep wearing.
"The unique fluffy smell of freshly washed clothes! Of course, it holds a cozy scent! A soft fit! Plus a bit of warmth! Having a straight shape after ironing, so that when worn, it brings out the proper fit and style of the clothes!"
Because clothes aren't just about simply wearing them. Just because the location is a dungeon doesn't mean one should be careless with their posture and attire.
"There is a realm of sensibility that cannot be brought out with just a click of cleaning magic!"
Why won't anyone recognize that unique realm of sensibility!
"Customers don't know that. It's just important that the curse disappears and doesn't trigger."
I know. I know that.
I know that hunters care more about efficiency than that realm of sensibility.
I set up a hunter-specialized laundry to avoid regular laundry franchises, but I also know that this place is not easy, no, that there are even more terrifying monsters here.
But what can I do. This is the only talent I have.
"I do acknowledge your skills, Boss, but it won't work on hunters who want things done quickly. We need to change our promotion method now." "Change it?" "Yes."
Elena brought her two hands together. Then, a subtle holy power began to rise from her body.
"Let's change the way we distribute business cards first." "How?"
Seeing her talk like this, it seems there's definitely a way. My interest is piqued. But the opponent is Elena.
The only employee who was excommunicated from the religious order and started freeloading at our laundry because she had nowhere to go. The methods she suggests usually have a screw loose somewhere.
"First, we coat the business cards with holy power powder like this."
She coated the sparkling holy power powder onto the mountain of remaining Sanctuary Laundry business cards.
A subtle holy power hovered around the business cards.
"And then we write 'Lucky Charm' on the back of the business card."
Hmm, not bad. I think this kind of image-making is fine?
Piquing the interest of the person receiving the business card was a type of marketing. A method to make them check it once rather than just throwing it away.
It was an un-Elena-like idea for once. Our kid might look stupid normally, but she steps up when she needs to.
Why am I getting touched over this?
"And then we sell this for 10,000 won per card." "...What?" "We promote the laundry, and we get additional income from the money earned by handing out business cards. It's a strategy that kills two birds with one stone. How is it?"
Elena looked at me as if asking how it was, shrugging her shoulders.
That method... It seems similar to the tactics of the church selling indulgences in the past.
Is it my imagination?
"I understand why you were excommunicated from the religious order." "Why? It's a business card containing the power of a saintess, no less." "You mean a scammer, not a saintess." "It's marketing, not a scam. I'm telling you, let's try it once. There's nothing bad that could come from it."
If we did that, the religious order's inquisitors would really come and drag us away. Anything else might be fine, but selling holy power is an absolute no.
"Maybe it's because I squeezed my brain to come up with ideas. My blood sugar is dropping... Boss, how about a whole chicken?" "I don't have money." "Then I'm going on strike with the saintess' blessing? If I do that, the few customers who were coming to this shop will drop off too." "Have we ever had any customers to begin with?"
I don't know if she's an employee or a superior. Just as she was about to pick up the salt shaker in the corner of the shop and threaten me.
Ding-a-ling-.
The sound of the wind chime cheerfully rang in my ears.
The wind chime used since my grandfather's time. As the wind chime that my grandfather hung in hopes of good business rang, my heart grew hot.
Finally, the first customer today!
In that moment, a rush of heat washed over me.
A hot wind struck, as if the scorching sun of midsummer had been forcibly crumpled into a heavily air-conditioned room.
"Welcome."
As I greeted them, I doubted my eyes.
Because they weren't a regular customer.
Click, clack.
Along with the sound of footsteps, there was the faint sound of the floor linoleum burning and sticking. The one who stepped into my shop was...
A peerless beauty with red hair flowing down to her waist.
I recognized her at a glance. No, would there be anyone who didn't know her in the 21st century where gates and hunters have become natural?
The 21st century where gates appeared. This era where monsters poured out and awakened ones appeared.
Monsters weren't the only things that poured out of the gates. The residents of another world who appeared alongside the monsters.
The same humans of course, but also elves, dwarves, and demi-humans, etc.
They each rode through the gates from different worlds for different reasons.
The residents of another world who poured out of the gates joined hands with modern humanity and took up arms to protect this world. The joining of the other world's residents brought many changes to the hunter frontlines fighting against monsters.
Thanks to that, monsters and gates were no longer a threat to humanity. The current peace could arrive.
And the one who stood at the forefront of that was exactly...
"I came because an employee recommended it, but it's shabbier than I thought."
The woman currently in front of my eyes. A Red Dragon. Carmilla von Ignis.
A high-ranking commissioner of the Heterogeneous Species Alliance. Chairwoman of Ignis Industry.
A powerhouse said to be within the top five when it comes to strength among currently active hunters.
As if this was her own bedroom, she arrogantly lifted her chin and looked down at me.
Outwardly, she looked no different from an ordinary human, but that was because she had perfectly transformed into a human.
I know. Just how intense a flame is contained within her.
"This lady is the chairwoman of Ignis Industry, and the master of the great flame, Carmilla von Ignis."
She snapped open a fan and began to fan herself. Even the wind from it smelled of acrid sulfur.
And Elena, having confirmed the opponent.
"Oh my, welcome. Sister!"
She swiftly threw the salt shaker she was holding behind her back. Then, she smoothed out her saintess uniform in 0.1 seconds and approached Carmilla with the most holy and benevolent expression in the world.
Her voice tone went up to the 'Sol' scale.
"Oh my, goodness. Welcome to Sanctuary Laundry. We are Sanctuary Laundry, providing peaceful rest through laundry."
She completely entered sales mode.
"What brings a dragon here?" "Your eyes aren't blind, I see. To recognize me." "Anyone who makes a living off dungeons wouldn't dare not know Carmilla."
At my and Elena's enthusiastic welcome, Carmilla smiled in satisfaction.
A dragon. And an adult Red Dragon at that.
Why would a big shot among big shots, someone I'd only seen on the news, come to my newly opened laundry?
'I did hand out business cards to Ignis Industry employees, too, but...'
To think the chairwoman would come right away.
I lowered my gaze and scanned her attire.
A red dress that looked like the highest grade silk. Splendid patterns embroidered with gold thread. It was a designer dress that anyone could tell would cost tens of millions, no, hundreds of millions of won.
No matter how I looked at it, she didn't seem like someone who would get her clothes mended. A woman who suited buying new clothes rather than mending them.
Ignis was exactly that kind of person, no, dragon.
However.
Flash!
The system window that popped up before my eyes was telling a completely different story.
[Guest Information Confirmed] [Name: Carmilla von Ignis] [Race: Red Dragon] [Equipped Gear: Tier 7 Illusion Magic 'False Dignity'] [Durability: null / null] [Status: Naked]
Wait a minute. What?
Naked?
Naked?!