When I visited a certain room in Kuro’s castle in the Demon Realm, I was greeted by a tall, refreshing man with straight, light-green hair styled in a soft bowl cut—Trois-san.
"Hello, Kaito. I’m glad you came."
"Hello, Trois-san. Sorry for the sudden visit."
"Don’t worry about it; I’m happy you dropped by. It’s not much of a room, but please, come in."
"Thank you."
Trois-san offered a gentle smile. He had the aura of an incredible ikemen and looked cool no matter when I saw him. He filled out his suit-like clothing perfectly, and with his long limbs, tall stature, and kind features... if Ozma-san was the hard-boiled, cool, mature type, then Trois-san felt like a bright and refreshing older brother.
Trois-san belonged to a species called High Trents. By nature, he was supposedly closer to a Spirit, but his appearance was indistinguishable from a normal Human. However, since he had once shown me his hands transforming into wood, his current form was likely the result of something akin to Humanization Magic.
"...So, you mentioned you had something to discuss?"
"It’s not so much a formal consultation as it is something I wanted to ask for reference... Um, an acquaintance of mine runs a diner called Suiren. Are you familiar with it?"
I sat in the chair Trois-san had prepared and explained the reason for my visit. During my last conversation with Kaori-san, the topic of sourcing bread had come up. Since I happened to have some shopping to do at Chromelake anyway, I figured I would visit Trois-san to ask if there were any suitable shops within the Friendly City before I forgot—regardless of whether I actually ended up making an introduction.
"Ah, the otherworld cuisine shop in the Friendly City."
"As expected, you know it."
"Hahaha, well, I’ve more or less memorized all the shops in the major cities of the Human Realm, so I at least know the name."
He said it so casually, as if remembering every shop in the Human Realm was a simple feat... but knowing Trois-san, it wouldn't have been surprising if he had the shops in the Demon Realm memorized as well. Furthermore, while he claimed to only know the name, I had a feeling he probably knew their most popular dishes, too.
"Well, when we met recently, she mentioned that she was thinking about eventually adding a Bread Set Meal to the menu. It’s not set in stone yet, but if she goes through with it, she plans to outsource the bread... Are there any good bakeries you might recommend?"
"I can think of a few. The quality of the bakeries in the Friendly City Hikari is quite high, after all."
"Is that so?"
"Kaito, you’re familiar with the Heaven-Light Prayer, aren't you? During the prayer, devout believers eat white bread, much like they do for the New Year. It’s a common belief that white is a sacred color symbolizing Shallow Vernal-sama. Because of that, there is a significant demand for it in the Friendly City where the Central Cathedral is located. However, baking white bread beautifully requires a great deal of skill, so the bakeries established in the Friendly City tend to be staffed by highly talented craftsmen."
I nodded in admiration at Trois-san’s clear and easy-to-understand explanation. Now that he mentioned it, it was true that there was a custom of eating white bread in the Human Realm during the New Year, so it made sense that it would be eaten during the Heaven-Light Prayer as well.
As I pondered this, Trois-san pulled out a memo, scribbled a few notes, and handed it to me. On it were the names of several bakeries.
"Those are the ones relatively close to Suiren that accept commercial orders. They all produce high-quality bread, so it might be worth shopping there yourself if you have the chance."
"Thank you very much. I’ll pass this along for reference."
"Of course. Though, in terms of sheer quality, I suspect the bread handled by your brand, Nifty, is overwhelmingly superior... but I suppose those are products intended for high-end establishments, so they might be difficult to incorporate into a diner’s menu?"
"Ah—you’re right. Come to think of it, the bread served at our cafe was handled by Canaris-san..."
Consulting Canaris-san was indeed an option... but I had a feeling that if I brought it up to her, she would insist on making a specialized bread just for Kaori-san's shop. Since Kaori-san was still at the trial-and-error stage of "maybe adding it to the menu," I decided to wait until things were more official before offering to introduce her to Til-san or anyone else.
"Speaking of Nifty, I heard Nove and the others were in your care recently."
"Oh, it was nothing. I just happened to be heading to the cafe myself, so I just put in a word with Canaris-san about a seat..."
"Right, you’re friends with the daughter of the Sharon Trading Company. Actually, I’m planning to pay a visit to the Sharon Trading Company myself soon."
"Eh? You are, Trois-san? ...Is it for a business deal?"
"Something like a proposal for a Partial Business Alliance. Our company has been expanding its reach in the Human Realm lately, so we want to strengthen our ties with the major magic tool distributors there, like the Sharon Trading Company. Tetra is quite keen on the idea and has allocated a generous budget, so it’s shaping up to be a conversation of considerable scale."
"Heh, I see... That sounds like quite the undertaking."
I didn't know much about the intricacies of trade deals between major companies, but if Trois-san was heading there in person, it had to be a significant transaction. If it turned out to be a good opportunity for the Sharon Trading Company as well, then as Cornelia-san's friend, I was happy to hear it.
Serious-senpai: "...I see... So the exploding landmine... is Cornelia, then..."