A problem had cropped up with the sericulture business in Village Two.
The silkworms refused to eat the leaves we had expected to use as their primary food source. They would only touch the leaves from the trees I had personally grown for them. However, since those trees were still young, harvesting too many leaves would cause them to wither.
We had received a small supply of feed from the Goroun Company when the silkworms were first delivered, so they weren't in immediate danger of starving, but we needed to secure a sustainable food source as quickly as possible.
I hurried to Village Five to place an order for the proper leaves at the Goroun Company’s local branch. I didn't strictly need to go myself, but I had some matters to attend to regarding the new shop I was opening there, so I decided to kill two birds with one stone. Actually, if I’m being honest, the silkworm feed was the priority and the shop check-in was the secondary task.
The order for the leaves went through without a hitch. It would take about two days to procure them, which seemed reasonable since I hadn't expected them to keep such things in stock. If anything, I was surprised they could get them that quickly. When I asked for details, they told me that the specific trees used for silkworm feed grew wild all throughout the forest surrounding Village Five.
Is that so? In that case, maybe I should have just gone out and gathered them myself instead of placing an order. No, looking toward the future, establishing a formal supply line was the right call. I wanted a stable source until the trees I’d planted back home grew a bit larger.
Still, I wondered why they wouldn't eat the leaves from the trees around Village Two. Was it because they weren't mulberry leaves? No, the Goroun Company had provided several varieties, so that couldn't be it. Gordon had mentioned that the silkworms in his previous village were far less picky. If it had only been one or two worms refusing to eat, I would have chalked it up to individual preference, but this was the whole lot.
It wasn't as if the foliage around Village Two was poisonous, right? Maybe it was just a specific species issue. I’d tried searching for suitable leaves back at the village myself, but cherry and plum leaves were a no-go, as were most of the fruit trees. These silkworms were real gourmets.
I did find one type of leaf they were eager to eat, but when Lu and Tia saw what I was holding, the looks on their faces were so terrifying that I immediately gave up on the idea. I wanted my beloved wives to live in peace and harmony, after all.
Hahaha.
By the way, it was the leaves of the World Tree. It was a real shame, especially since the silkworms’ appetite for them had been incredible.
Leaving the matter of the feed to the Goroun Company, I headed over to the shop I was preparing to open in Village Five. The renovations and setup were almost entirely finished; we could have opened the doors at any time.
However, the official opening was still a little ways off. First, I had to train the staff.
I had placed Niz, the shrine maiden, in charge of the shop. When she had visited during the Spring Parade, she seemed to be struggling to find a steady job, so I’d offered her the position after we talked. Yoko had tried to hijack the conversation and scout Niz for her own administration team, leading to a bit of a tug-of-war, but Niz ultimately chose the shop. Yoko grumbled about it, but since she was the one who had practically begged me to open a shop in Village Five in the first place, I felt she should have been a bit more supportive.
Aside from Niz, there were fifteen other staff members. Five were experienced employees from Maruura who had transferred over from Shashato City. They were highly capable individuals who could handle everything from the kitchen to the floor and the ledger. They would serve as the core of the operation.
The remaining ten were locals hired from within Village Five.
"We followed your instructions for the hiring, Shop Manager, but are you certain about this?" one of the Maruura transfers asked me.
Just like at Maruura, I was the official Shop Manager here. That made Niz the Acting Shop Manager. Of course, since my primary duty was being the Village Head, Niz would essentially be running the place as the boss.
Standing just behind the man who had asked the question were our ten new recruits. They were all women. All of them were married. And their ages appeared to range from their forties to their sixties—though the Dwarf wife’s true age was anyone’s guess. I had specifically instructed that we hire housewives who lived in the immediate neighborhood.
"We've done as you asked, but wouldn't we attract more customers if we hired younger women?" the employee continued.
Hahaha. I understood his point, but if we did that, we’d only end up with a shop full of young men.
"Is that so?"
"It is. Besides, I want this shop to be a staple of the community. The first step toward that is winning over the local housewives. In a new neighborhood, having the local women on your side is vital."
"If you say so, Shop Manager..."
"I do. Look, I’m not against hiring younger girls eventually. You're free to hire whoever you want for future openings, but when you do, make sure you consult the current staff first. Your opinion matters too, of course. I'm counting on you."
I decided to change the subject. "By the way, wasn't Niz supposed to be handling the hiring? Where is she?"
"The Acting Shop Manager is over at the West Side Shop."
The West Side Shop was the second location I was planning. I had originally intended to open just one store, but as soon as word leaked that this first shop wouldn't be serving alcohol, people started demanding a second location—the Dwarves of Village Five being the loudest among them. Since Niz had offered to manage both, we decided to move forward with the second branch. However, we were still short-staffed, so that opening was still a long way off.
If Niz was over there now, I wondered if something had happened. Should I go check on her? No, I needed to focus on this shop first.
Niz wasn't here, but the rest of us could still get to work. We spent the day running through service drills and cooking practice, with half the staff role-playing as customers. I wanted the employees to be intimately familiar with the taste of every dish we served. Naturally, I was paying them full wages even during this training period.
The soft opening was scheduled for ten days from now. We would run the shop for about five days and then close briefly to iron out any kinks before the grand opening. I hadn't been able to be this hands-on with Maruura because of the distance, but Village Five was an easy commute from the Village of the Great Tree. I really wanted to make this work.
"Shop Manager. My apologies, there’s one more thing I need you to sign off on."
"Did we forget something?"
"Yes, the shop tent."
Ah, I’d seen it when I arrived, but I hadn't looked closely. I followed the employee outside to confirm.
A sturdy awning was stretched over the entrance, with the words "Sweets and Tea Shop" printed in large, clear letters. It was exactly as I’d requested. People wouldn't come in if they didn't know what we were selling, after all.
And there, tucked modestly beneath the main sign, was the name of the store: "Kuro and Yuki."
I’d named the shop after the two of them. Since it was a sweets shop, I’d considered names like "Cafe Fairy Queen" or "Sugar," but once the name "Kuro and Yuki" popped into my head, I couldn't imagine calling it anything else.
Now that I’d given it their names, I was determined to make it a success.