"Fei-san, one Li-mien and one vegetable stir-fry, please."
"Boss, what’s the matter? You just got back, but you look a bit worn out," Fei remarked.
"Well, a lot happened..."
After Belle-san and I found the lost child, we had initially taken them into our care. We searched the immediate area for a while, but since the parents were nowhere to be found, we ended up taking the child to the Guard Force branch office. However, a new problem arose there.
The child refused to be separated from Belle-san.
She was accustomed to dealing with children and had managed to soothe them when they were on the verge of tears, but... well, it was something else entirely. I didn't realize a child could scream that loudly. To make matters worse, the guards at the branch office were much like me—a group of men without children of their own—and everyone was completely at their wits' end.
In the end, we had to rely on Belle-san to stay. For a while, I supported her by running errands and buying food, but eventually, she looked at the clock and began to look troubled.
The church was holding a bazaar to sell dolls made by the orphans and items donated by the neighbors, and her shift to watch the stall was fast approaching. However, she couldn't just leave the child, and she was clearly uneasy about leaving them with us, given how inexperienced we were.
And that was how I ended up covering her shift at the bazaar.
"Why did it turn out like that?" Fei asked, sounding confused.
"She told me that just delivering a message to the others would be enough, but I thought I could at least help out a little. Then, for some reason, the moment I started helping, the place got incredibly busy. A few troublesome characters showed up, too."
Most of the customers were polite, but there were exceptions. To make things worse, the festival atmosphere had encouraged some groups to drink a bit too much. They came in shouting things like, "A toast to Lord Tekun!" while trying to stumble into the chapel, which was closed to the public. They weren't rowdy teenagers at a coming-of-age ceremony; they were grown adults, and I really wished they would show a bit more decorum.
Furthermore, the bazaar was primarily run by the children cared for by the church. While there were adult volunteers and members of the Guard Force present, a series of minor issues coincided to cause a temporary staff shortage. Because of my youthful appearance, the others treated me like one of the children needing protection. However, it was difficult for the young women there—who were clearly just ordinary citizens—to deal with hulking, drunken men if they weren't used to it.
So, out of goodwill, I did my best not to undermine the authority of the volunteers or the guards. I handled the customers at the very front alongside the children while keeping a sharp eye on the situation. I spent my time sprinting to the warehouse to restock items and then rushing back to serve customers. When things got truly out of hand, I would jump in and restrain the troublemakers.
However, since I was acting right in front of the children, I had to practice some self-restraint. Even though the drunks were a nuisance, I couldn't exactly treat them with the same severity I had shown the assassins who had attacked me previously.
To be honest, the constant need for tact made the whole ordeal much more draining than usual.
Since coming to this world, I had lived a mostly stress-free life. Perhaps that was why this long-absent feeling of fatigue felt twice as heavy... Was this proof that I had gone soft? I considered trying to reclaim the mindset I had back in my previous life, but I had a feeling that doing so would only lead to a bad outcome.
"In any case, thanks for the hard work. Here is your Li-mien and vegetable stir-fry. Sorry for the wait!"
"Thank you."
For now, I just wanted to eat.
I took the tray in exchange for the payment and looked for a seat. Since the Semroid Troupe performed their acts periodically on the stage, the food court was quite crowded. I couldn't find a seat as easily as I had this morning.
"Ryoma-sama!"
"Ah, Serge-san!"
I heard my name and spotted Serge-san waving his hand. He appeared to be having a meal as well, blending in with the general crowd.
"If you are looking for a place to sit, please, join me."
"Thank you. I appreciate it."
I decided to take him up on the offer.
"So you were having a meal as well, Serge-san?"
"Yes. It allows me to observe our stall, and the food here is delicious and reasonably priced. Most of my employees have been eating here as well."
"I'm glad to hear that. It looks like your side is doing quite well too."
I could see a large number of customers gathered at the Morgan Company stall.
"Thanks to you, the flow of customers has been constant. Having a shop where people gather certainly helps, but above all... oh, perfect timing. Look over there."
I looked in the direction he indicated and saw a shop clerk and a customer in the middle of a disagreement. The customer was holding a music box.
"Come on, just one more won't hurt, right?"
"I am terribly sorry, sir. This product is currently limited to three per person."
"I'm asking you for a favor here! I want to bring them as souvenirs for my daughter, my son, and my two brothers' wives."
"Sir, if I may ask, how many times have you visited our stall today?"
"Huh? This is my first time!"
"Is that so? I could have sworn I saw you twice before..."
"Must be your imagination!"
"Do you think so...?"
"……Fine, I get it!"
The man set the music box down and hurried away.
"Was that...?"
"Likely a reseller. Since we began selling the music boxes, we've been targeted by people of that sort. We've implemented quantity limits to prevent hoarding, but there are many resellers who try to come back multiple times throughout the day."
"Will it be alright?"
"Don't worry. We've brought in extra staff to ensure the general customers aren't impacted, and we've accounted for the existence of resellers in our business plan. If they spread awareness of the music boxes through their actions, we will simply use that to open up new sales channels."
Serge-san omitted the finer details since there were other customers around, but his voice was full of confidence.
"So, everything is going according to plan."
"We've established a department specifically for music boxes, and the Dinome Workshop is working hard on mass production. Master Dinome is very enthusiastic about the venture and has significantly increased his workforce."
"Significantly?"
"The Dinome Workshop isn't the only magic tool workshop in Kereban. He has a strong professional network of people he can trust, and he has acquired several workshops that were struggling financially."
"That sounds like a major undertaking."
"Everyone from the masters down to the apprentices joined under Master Dinome exactly as they were, so their daily work and the chain of command haven't changed much. It hasn't been as much of an ordeal as you might think. At the moment, the Dinome Workshop has successfully reduced its individual burden by establishing a broader mass-production system, and the other workshops have stabilized their management now that they have music box work to do. We are assisting them with sales and financing as well."
My agreement with Dinome-san was that he would act as the face of the music box development in my stead. As long as that was upheld, it wasn't my place to complain if he hired more people or merged with other shops. If they had established a win-win relationship, then it was a positive development.
"Furthermore, I believe this acquisition will benefit you as well, Ryoma-sama. Previously, Master Dinome’s workshop could only produce magic tools for Null, Fire, Water, and Light attributes. But now that he has craftsmen from other shops under him, he can arrange for magic tools of other attributes whenever you might need them."
That was a good point. If our arrangement continued, things would become very convenient.
"I expect he will soon be pestering us to see if there's anything else you want made."
"Then I'll have to start thinking. Perhaps I'll have them develop something new again..."
I would provide an idea and have them develop a magic tool, receiving an "idea fee" in return. Then, the newly developed tool would likely spark another idea, leading to another fee. While I would run out of material eventually, it felt like an infinite loop for the time being.
Serge-san must have been thinking the same thing, as he simply sat there with a silent smile.
Before I knew it, I was done.
"Thank you for the meal."
"Oh? You've finished already? That was quite fast."
"I am an adventurer, after all."
If an adventurer took too long to eat, their break would be over before they knew it, or they might miss the chance to eat entirely. Eating quickly while maintaining a conversation was a workplace skill I had honed in my previous life.
"I'm going to go buy some drinks. Would you like anything, Serge-san?"
"In that case, could I trouble you for some of that barley tea?"
"Understood."
I bought two cups of cold barley tea from our stall and returned to the table.
"Sorry to keep you waiting. Here you go."
"Thank you. Ah... yes, this barley tea is truly wonderful. This savory aroma is quite different from black tea or herbal infusions. I find it irresistible."
"I'm glad it's to your liking."
"Even so," Serge-san said, turning his gaze toward my stall. "Your shop has many unusual items, Ryoma-sama."
Now that he mentioned it, it was true. Our stall was selling eight items in total:
Water Fruit Juice Barley tea Li-mien Vegetable stir-fry Dante Seeds Sesame Pastry Hot Dogs
Aside from the water, juice, and barley tea—which were just poured and served—the other five items were chosen based on the survey I had conducted previously.
Among the unusual items, the first was the barley tea. As Serge-san had noted, black tea and herbal tea were the standard in this country, and barley tea was virtually unknown. While something similar might exist elsewhere, like dandelion coffee, it certainly wasn't common here.
Then there was the Li-mien. In this world, traveling abroad was difficult due to safety and financial constraints. Therefore, for anyone outside of a few specific professions, foreign cuisine was a true rarity. Furthermore, Jilmar—Fei and Liilin's home country—was apparently a very dangerous place with almost no diplomatic ties, making its food even more of a curiosity. Many people seemed to be ordering it purely out of interest.
Additionally, Dante Seeds were a delicacy eaten only in very specific regions, and the Sesame Pastry was also an uncommon sweet. This meant that four out of our eight items—half of our inventory—were considered "unusual" by the general public.
Reflecting the survey results from the social gathering had led to this exact result.
"I suppose people grow tired of the same standard fare. I see many people ordering those four novel items."
Looking around, I could see many customers enjoying our food.
"Wow, so this is what Jilmar food tastes like."
"It's different from the usual soup with pasta."
"It's so hot! But it goes perfectly with this cold barley tea. Delicious!"
"I didn't know Semisa could be turned into a jam like this."
The feedback I overheard was overwhelmingly positive.
"By the way, what are your plans for the afternoon?" Serge-san asked.
"I'll be working on sculptures for the stage today."
Because I had been training under Soldio-san of the Semroid Troupe, I had many chances to talk with the members. When I happened to mention that I could do ice sculpting, it piqued their interest. After I gave them a demonstration, the Troupe Leader and the Stage Production Manager were so inspired that they submitted a formal proposal the very next day, detailing how to use ice sculptures as stage decorations.
Since the Semroid Troupe’s daytime program focused on high-energy acts like sword dances and acrobatics, the ice sculptures were reserved for after sunset. They were to be brought out in the evening, when the focus shifted to music, to help set the atmosphere.
"I was planning to install some spare Lighting Magic Tools underneath them to make the ice glow."
"I have received reports from my subordinates. It sounds like quite a spectacle."
"I hope to have them ready for tonight, but... I wonder if I'll actually have the time to watch the show myself."
"True. At this rate, it doesn't look like you'll have much leisure time. Though, from a business perspective, being busy is a blessing."
As we laughed over our shared situation, we realized our cups were empty.