August was a resident of Village One.
He occasionally traveled to the shop Maruura in Shashato City to serve as a substitute for Marcos and Paula. His specialty was yakitori. His technique for slowly grilling the meat over charcoal, combined with two types of sauces he had refined through constant trial and error, had earned him a stellar reputation. Apparently, among certain circles, the days August spent at Maruura were known as "Yakitori Days."
"Two types of sauces?" I asked.
"A soy sauce-based sweet glaze and a salt-based sauce. I also keep several varieties of salt on hand for customers who prefer to season the meat themselves."
"I see. Are there any problems?"
"We’re facing a shortage of skewers. Right now, I make them myself whenever I'm back in Village One, but I also need time for my sauce research..."
"Would it be possible to have the Nyunyu-daphnes or the Harpy Race help you?"
"The Nyunyu-daphnes have been helping, but they're already spread thin with the curry powder production. As for the Harpies... well, their hands are a bit clumsy. Or rather, they don’t exactly have hands."
That was right. The Harpy Race had wings instead of hands.
"They could technically make them using their feet, but since we’re talking about food..."
"Yeah, let’s not do that," I agreed.
I was pleased to see that a proper sense of hygiene had taken root, but the skewer shortage remained an issue. Normally, that kind of repetitive work was considered a job for children, but the children in Village One were still far too young.
"Come to think of it, the Lamia Race Leader mentioned she was looking for work for the Lamia children. If you're okay with them, should I introduce you?"
"Yes, please. That would be a huge help."
"Right. Anything else?"
"There's also the matter of the price."
"The price?"
"Yes. The cost of the chicken itself makes the skewers expensive. Furthermore, since we have to purchase the birds whole, we end up with an imbalance in how much of each part we use. That fluctuates the price as well."
Currently, the price per skewer varied wildly, ranging anywhere from five to twenty Medium Copper Coins. Apparently, such a vast price difference made the accounting process a nightmare.
"I see. In that case, let’s standardize the price per skewer."
"Eh?"
"Vary the length of the skewer depending on the cut of meat. As long as the length doesn't interfere with the grill, of course."
"Ah, I see your point."
It would increase the labor involved in making the skewers, but that was a task we could leave to the Lamia children.
"Furthermore, you can adjust the volume by skewering other items between the meat."
"Between the meat?"
"How many pieces of chicken are you putting on a single skewer now? Eight? Cut that down to five and put green onions in the gaps."
It was the classic Negima style.
"This way, you can reduce the amount of meat used and keep the price consistent."
"I-I see! That's brilliant. I'll give that a try and see if I can't stabilize the price."
"If you need to increase green onion production, I'll arrange it on my end."
"Thank you, Village Head."
"Now, returning to what we were discussing at the start..."
"That bit about me being a Hero? Oh, stop pulling my leg. Hahaha!"
He wouldn't take me seriously.
It had been confirmed that several Heroes were living among the residents of Village One. I wanted to notify them officially, but I felt that summoning them just to drop that bombshell would be too formal and intimidating. Instead, I decided to visit their homes personally.
However, I immediately met with opposition from my advisors.
"Is the Village Head trying to earn merit points by making personal visits?" they asked.
No, no, I was just planning to drop by their houses.
"Those whose houses the Village Head doesn't visit might feel neglected or dejected..."
I was eventually persuaded to change my plans. Rather than just seeing the potential Heroes, I decided to conduct individual home visits for every single household in every sub-village.
It was one of those situations where I had accidentally created an enormous amount of work for myself. Maybe I should have just summoned them after all? Then again, there had been a certain distance between me and the residents of the various villages lately. This would serve as a good way to bridge that gap while camouflaging the Hero notifications. There were likely some who wanted to keep their status a secret, anyway.
Regardless, once the word got out that I was doing home visits, a massive cleaning frenzy began in every village.
...I felt bad. I had unintentionally increased everyone else's workload, too. Since it was a sweltering summer day, I made sure to tell everyone to be careful of heatstroke.
And so, the home visits began. I put the Village of the Great Tree on hold and started with Village One. I tried to stay focused on delivering the Hero notifications, but the results were... mixed.
"Will this help with raising children? No? Then I don't need it."
"I did realize I could generate lightning, but the rabbits in the forest dodge it easily. Even if you tell me this is the power of a Hero, it’s not very useful..."
"Currently, the Mild Faction and the Spicy Faction are at odds. Now that the Extra Spicy Faction has joined the fray, the situation has become incredibly complex. Here, this is my proposal for the Curry Powder Production Increase Plan to settle the dispute. Please, take a look. A Hero? If I become one, will my wife finally join the Mild Faction? No, I respect that spicy is spicy, but 'extra spicy' is at a level where it’s not even food anymore..."
"The spicy spice is complete! By rubbing this on, both karaage and yakitori become incredibly hot. Curry too, of course. Hehehe. Oh, be careful—it’s essentially a hazardous substance. It’s dangerous if it gets in your eyes."
"A Hero? Me? ............Please, I beg of you! Please don't kick me out of the village! This is my home! Please don't exile meeeee!"
"My husband and I shall be Heroes for the Village Head. If you order us to slay the Demon King, we shall do our best. If you tell us to keep our status a secret, we will take it to our graves. Now, give us your orders! ............It would really make us happy if you gave us a command... Yes, sir. We will continue to cooperate with Acting Village Head Jack and work toward the prosperity of Village One."
The Hero notifications yielded no significant results. For the most part, the residents hadn't even noticed their Only One Magic.
Well, I told them all that they shouldn't hesitate to come to me if they ever needed to talk.
For now, I suppose I'll move on to the next house.