Dragon Quest IV -- #42. Working Hard or Hardly Working?
0Working harder, not smarter!
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Again, this is... far from ideal, but there's a bit of a learning curve to running your own business. Who could've known?!
To double down on a rather unfortunately nonexistent explanation for how things actually work in your own shop... actually seeing the fruits of your non-labor is more than a bit obtuse, to say the least.
All business is conducted from across the counter, and you'll have to navigate the intricacies of talking to your wife if you want to get anywhere... which is a scary proposition! I mean, she's a girl! JRPG players don't know how to do that! ...Tessie's scary, she can send you to bed without warning, better not mess with her carelessly!
After the somewhat unusual non-standard co-option of normal inventory interface being a bit surprisingly grabby with your inventory (after all, she can't sell what you don't give to her!) and the uncertain terms of whether or not you can expect anything back after being told that it could be sold for such and such a sum... but nothing being given in the immediate timeframe... it's only natural that you might not put two and two together that it's sleep that sets the whole process afoot. Especially if you're a skinflint trying to pump a little more labor out of Laurel and/or Hardie...
When the next day arrives, you can talk to Tessie again... and she'll ask if you want to give her stuff to sell... but nothing about your gains from having given her stuff the last time. THAT comes oddly shoehorned in at the end of the affirmative option, once you've agreed to give her more things. You also don't actually GET that money, despite her claims to the contrary, until the conversation is over. Meaning after you navigate the menus again, even though you will to that point in time appear to have earned nothing for your troubles.
Furthermore, the fiscal gains from having gotten a day's labor out of Tessie were... rather meager, to say the least. It's not at all unreasonable that someone might get a very mistaken impression out of the whole ordeal, because we can see that all the most lucratively-priced goods are more or less totally untouched...
That's right! Her sales are a certain degree of random! Presumably, random among the items she has and run a certain number of times on repeat until the "work day" is complete, all totally offscreen with zero transparency!
Therefore, not only did we have no idea what we were doing with the self-starter of a startup in the item shop bubble... we actually set ourselves up for preposterously low gains for all the trouble. Don't be fooled, Torneko! Give love and/or business a chance!
Still, the passage of time is hard not to feel as being innately counterproductive, since those stooges of ours rather loudly keep track of the days until their release from service... it's not generally going to be the most palatable option to consider frittering away more of it on the data we have now.
Sure, we might've gained more than a couple overpriced pieces of battle loot that would sell for considerably more than we paid to engage Laurel and Hardie in the first place... but the idea of dipping into our savings to hire them again certainly doesn't feel like the right move, especially when we can keep them going at it and earning more in much the same way.
But our goal is to get more stuff! The King wants some VERY particular kit for his guards, and so far the RNG has only seen fit to bless us with part of the order. Actually, if you'll recall, the swords are by far the more expensive pieces of the bargain, so we've been way luckier than it would seem just on the face of things.
I don't want to put too fine a point on things or give away the whole game before it feels like we've even gotten underway... but the swords alone would sell, even at lower prices from selling to other shops, for well more than we need to take care of business.
But then what kind of learning experience would it be if we didn't insist on continuing to do things the WRONG way?! Back to the salt mines with you, Taloon!
... ... ...please bear with me, I promise that I come to my senses and complete the learning process soon enough.
Probably.