Part 98: Honoring the Promise: A Booming Business

Honoring the Promise: A Booming Business

This is the “twins get rich” ending, which has its own event sequence you have to fulfill.You kick it off by having the twins drop below 10,000 Coll after starting the S Rank exam…


Rich Ending 1

What are you talking about? Oh, you’re right! You know who the culprit is… Right, Dad?

Gah! High quality brushes were on sale. I couldn’t help myself. I’ll pay it back!



Gah, dummy-daddy! You need to stop wasting money!

Yeah, I’m angry too. I just want to stuff him in a barrel and…

Scary stuff!

Bah, what should we do? We don’t have enough for food! We can’t touch the atelier capital, either. I guess it really is back to the soup train!

No, please! That stuff is disgusting!

But we just don’t have the money. You’ll just have to grin and bear it, Sue.

Uwah, Dad! Fine! I’ve made up my mind. I’m going to save up lots of money! So much money that even Dad can’t spend it all! We’re going to be super rich!



Dream bigger, Lydie. We’ll live in a mansion like a castle, and we’ll have butlers and maids! In any case, let’s start saving. Even just a little bit at a time is better than nothing.

After getting 20,000 Coll…


Rich Ending 2

Yes, it’s working! All this money is giving me a tummy ache!

Really? Just this wad of notes? We need to aim higher! To be super, super rich!

Yes! Yes! We can’t become accustomed to this life without money. What can we do to make more? Just cutting back isn’t enough. To be mega rich…

Yes, mega rich! What can we do? A way to make some money? Ah, I know! How about we sell pictures of ourselves? We’re so cute, I bet they’d sell!

Pictures? No, that’ll never work. No one would buy a picture of me.

They would, too! You just need to put yourself out there a little more!

N-No, no way! I’m against that, totally! We’ll save up some other way!

Gah, very well! We’ll just keep crawling along like this for a while, then.

And then once they get 50,000 Coll…


Rich Ending 3

This much money means we can eat all the cake and pudding we want! I can buy every book I want!

Tell me about it! Gorgeous dresses, beautiful rings. We can buy whatever we want!

This is a market economy! Money makes all the difference! Sue, isn’t money great?

You said it, Sister! Money is almost as almighty as alchemy! Once we reach these numbers, though, I just want more! How can we make even more money?

Hmm. Is there someone who can give us some ideas? Who do we know who’s rich… Lucia?



A shop? We already run one of those, don’t we?

No. I mean a larger, more shoppy shop! If we bring in more customers, we can make more money!

I see. To truly become rich, we have to increase our income. Yes, that’s not a bad idea. But can we just go ahead and open a shop like that?

Hmm, maybe not. We should ask Mireille.

Good idea. She’d probably know a lot about that kind of thing, too… Right! Wealth, here we come! To Mireille!

Go, go!



Here’s the thing. We want to make more money, and to do that, we want to open a bigger shop!

We’re here to ask if we need a special permit or something like that?

O-okay, okay. I get the gist, no need to keep shouting. Ahem. If I skip to the end, basically, you need a permit to open a large shop, yes.

Ah, I knew it! Is there an exam or something?

No, nothing like that. You just have to buy a Business License.

Buy one? Spend money to make money, you mean? I guess money really does make the world go round.

How can we make money, if we need money first before we can start making it?

The two of you seem a bit focused on money, all of a sudden. Did something happen? Anyway. We issue the licenses here. One of them will cost you about this much.



T-That’s expensive! It costs that much?!

This is crazy! Just a piece of paper costs that much?!

Heheh… “Concessions”, “vested interests”… The adult world is a lot more complex than you think.

Uwah, really?

That’s the situation, anyway. You need a permit. That permit will never get cheaper. I’ll call in the supervisor of my staff. Talk to them if you want to buy one.

All right. We’ve come this far, so we can’t give up now!



Come on, Lydie… Dream bigger…



After shelling out the 50,000 Coll…



No, Lydie. This is an investment in the future! It’s our golden egg!

A golden egg? Yes! That’s a good way to think about it! The expense hurts, sure, but we’ll make many times this back. Right?

That’s right. That’s the way to think about it!

Yep! Hahah! Let’s go and show this to Dad.

Oh, good idea! Get ready, Dad. We’re going to knock your socks off!



What! That’s a Business License! The one that’s so expensive, people say it’s surely a ripoff?

Yeah, I thought it was too expensive…

What about it? You didn’t buy that, did you?

Yes, we did. Dad, this is the age of the big shops! That’s what we need! We’ve decided to open a big store, bring in lots of customers and become rich!

Alright… If that’s your decision, I’ll follow it. From now on, it’s going to cost you so much you’ll come to think that license was cheap… But oh well, good luck.

…What?

Running a larger store costs more money by itself. Nothing like the small store we run now.

It does? Like what?

First, the construction costs of expanding the atelier. You’ll also need more shelves and things to sell. If you start hiring staff that will cost you, too, and extra syntheses will increase supplies expenses. The tax on a large store is expensive, too. The bill will make your eyes pop! Bring it together and you’re looking at a start-up of millions of Coll. Then there’s monthly costs…

Uwaaaah! Millions…?

I-I had no idea it was going to cost that much…

The world is a harsh place. If you want to get rich, gradual savings might be the best.



Oh. Sounds like it’s time for me to retreat.

Boy… What do you think, Sue?

I-I’m not giving up! Whatever it costs, we just have to make more than that! We’ve already paid for the license! We can’t just throw that away.

Hahaha, you’re right. Now we need to start saving in order to open the shop, then.

Yeah… Getting rich isn’t easy…

After recouping the 50,000 Coll needed for the license…


Rich Ending 4

Sue, what are you doing?

I’m planning the layout for our future shop. I want to get the plans figured out, while we can.

What’s this?! Play-it-by-ear Sue is making plans for the future?



Hahaha, sorry! You’re really passionate about this, though… You really want to be rich?

That’s part of it, but I also think a shop is a good way to become alchemists who work for all. If we make a lovely shop that many people come to, and fill it with alchemy items… That should bring the items we make to even more people, right?

Ah, good point! If we sell a lot of our items, that’s one way to bring them to lots of people!

Right! So that’s why I want to open a big store in the future! Ah, of course, together with you, Lydie. The shop run by two cute sisters!

Hehe, that sounds lovely! In which case, we need to keep on saving our money!

Uwah, I know, I know! No luxuries, economy is key, snacks once a day… And then…

Hehe. A shop with Sue… I sure hope that day does come.

And so it comes to pass…



This is the plan!


Honoring the Promise: A Booming Business







We’ve got plenty of stock today. Please, form a queue!

Hmm. Taking current sales into account, next we will need… this and this. Lydie. Do you have the materials to make more? If not, we’ll need a new contract, quickly.

I don’t think we’ve got enough. Leave it to me, then, I’ll get it sorted!

Okay. Next, I need to go and check on our branch on Soleil Street.

Hahaha, you’re so busy! Are you sure you’re not pushing yourself too hard?

I’m fine. This is all so we can make even more money, you’ll see! Make more money, and open more shops. That’s how we can help the most people! As the beautiful president in charge of this, I can’t stop now!

Hahaha, all very well. But we’ve sold out again!

What? After all those we made? C-Change of plans, Lydie! Start making more, right now!

OK! Hahaha. Making money isn’t easy, is it!