Chapter 40: The Plan
Early in the morning, just after five o'clock, Yuta carefully got up, tidied himself, and then headed outside.
He ate something simple—after all, he was going to be doing manual labor today, and how could he manage without any strength?
He was headed to a construction site. Though he wasn't eager to go, enduring some hardship didn't seem so bad if it meant keeping Hina smiling happily.
By the time Yuta arrived at the construction site, it was already around six or seven in the morning. Some workers were already preparing for the day's work.
Yuta approached a middle-aged man wearing a hard hat. "Foreman, do you need someone to move bricks here?"
"You?" The foreman glanced at Yuta's thin frame and waved his hand dismissively. "With that build, how many bricks could you even carry at once?"
After gaining increased charm, Yuta's body had become much leaner. He looked just like an average student, not someone with much strength.
To address this perception, Yuta thought the best way was to prove his strength.
"Foreman, look at my fist—what do you think?" Yuta clenched his fist and held it between himself and the foreman, showing off his hand.
The foreman gave a disdainful smile and raised his own hand, forming a fist. "Take a look for yourself—whose fist is bigger?"
In terms of sheer size, the foreman's hand was indeed larger. His hands were those of a laborer, quite different from those of a student like Yuta.
Yuta glanced around and found a large sledgehammer that looked like it was meant for demolishing walls.
This kind of sledgehammer was a tool that strong, burly men would typically lift with both hands to use. But Yuta gripped the metal hammer with one hand, slowly raised it, and then smashed it down onto a concrete slab with force.
*Bang!*
Now that was a powerful move. Yuta's single strike left a dent in the ground.
"Foreman, I just want to move some bricks. Do we really need to go through all these conditions?" Yuta tossed the hammer aside. For someone who could single-handedly wield such a heavy tool, asking for a job moving bricks wasn't unreasonable.
Though the foreman looked strong, he definitely wasn't a fighter. Seeing someone Yuta's age with that kind of strength, he instinctively started thinking of him as a delinquent.
What regular student would come to work at a construction site, anyway?
"Alright, you can move bricks, but don't cause any trouble!" The foreman thought for a moment and added, "Even if you don't want to work, it's fine—just this once. We've got plenty of men here, you know that?"
The foreman wanted to avoid any conflicts. Companies like theirs usually had ties to the underworld. But despite that, nobody actually wanted to get into fights—there was no turf to defend, so they tried to avoid trouble when they could.
Yuta, not intending to cause any issues, responded politely, "Of course. Just give me some work to do, and I'll get it done."
"Are you a local student? A high schooler?" The foreman asked, noticing that Yuta seemed unfamiliar and didn't act like someone rough. His attitude softened, and he started chatting with Yuta.
Yuta shook his head. "No, I'm a university student. Just wanted to get some exercise and earn a little pocket money on the side."
"Is that so? Seems like you've got some time on your hands. Why don't you join us permanently?" The foreman saw potential in Yuta. Even if he wasn't interested, bringing more people into the crew came with a commission.
But Yuta wasn't interested in that kind of work and quickly declined.
Seeing Yuta's disinterest, the foreman didn't press further. He simply set Yuta's daily wage and tasks, then moved on to assign work to others.
Yuta got straight to work, diligently moving bricks. Thanks to his enhanced strength and stamina, Yuta was far more efficient than the regular workers. By the time others were halfway done, Yuta had already moved all of his bricks to the designated spot.
Since the bricks weren't immediately needed for construction, Yuta found himself with some free time. Feeling bored, he wandered over to where a painter was working on a wall.
The painter was just an ordinary man, nothing particularly interesting. But suddenly, Yuta had a flash of inspiration!
"That's right! There was a scene like this in KonoSuba where the dimwitted goddess worked at a construction site and painted walls. One of the highlights of the entire series is that foolish goddess, Aqua!"
"I could print Aqua's face on washbasins and sell them. Wouldn't that be perfect merchandise?"
A washbasin featuring the foolish smile of the water goddess Aqua!
My gosh!
This would definitely be a hit!
I'm a genius!!!
Luckily, Yuta still held the rights to the book, so selling a bit of related merchandise wasn't a problem that would concern him.
Now to think of a catchy slogan!
"Aqua Washbasins—selling a hundred thousand basins a year, capable of… capable of what?"
"Flooding Tokyo? No, that doesn't rhyme… Quenching Tokyo's heat?"
Yuta had already figured it out—what he was selling wasn't just a plastic basin, but faith!