The trial opening for the Western Confectionery Shop Fairy Fairi began in Village Five.
The plan was for the shop to run for several days, with the first day reserved exclusively for invited guests. We would open it to the general public from the second day onward. After this trial period, the shop would close briefly to address any necessary improvements before the official grand opening.
On the first day, I was invited as well—or rather, as the manager, it was mandatory for me to show my face. However, the true star of the day was meant to be the acting manager, Rorone. Because of that, I decided to bring the children along to keep the focus low-key.
"It's Roro-nee!" "She's wearing her fancy clothes!"
Rorone looked a little bashful as she was surrounded by the kids, but she remained focused on her tasks. Every product served during the trial opening was a flavor that had been tasted and approved by the Fairy Queen herself. Naturally, the reception among the invited guests was excellent.
Since the employees handled the product descriptions, I spent my time moving through the crowd to exchange formal greetings. Even if I intended for Rorone to be the lead today, she was technically only the proxy manager in the eyes of the public. It would have been a breach of etiquette to invite guests and then force the proxy to handle the formal reception. As the manager, I had to fulfill my social duties.
I didn't recognize some of the guests, so I had hoped for Yoko's help, but she was occupied looking after Hitoe, who had tagged along. There was nothing for it; I just had to do my best.
After dinner.
Back at the Village of the Great Tree, Rorone reported that the first day of Fairy Fairi's trial opening had concluded without a hitch. I had actually returned to the village with the children halfway through the afternoon. Since all the invited guests had arrived during the morning hours, I felt I could step away.
The shop had closed to the public in the afternoon, but Rorone and the staff stayed behind to handle various tasks, so she couldn't return with us.
"Was everything truly all right?" I asked.
"Yes. There were no problems at all."
"Do you think you can keep this up?"
"Everything is fine for the time being. I’ll report back if anything happens."
"Right, I'm counting on you."
Rorone wasn't the type to hide things or try to shoulder everything alone; if something went wrong, she would likely give me an honest report. She also had the Angels there as assistants. Still, just because I had entrusted the shop to her didn't mean it was good to leave her entirely to her own devices. I would need to drop by periodically. I decided to ask Sena to keep an eye on Rorone's well-being as well.
"Oh, that's right. How were the uniforms? I was worried since I gave them to you so suddenly yesterday."
I had provided the craftsmen with white cook coats and hats, and the sales staff with white-themed maid outfits and caps. The Angels serving as assistants were given light cream-colored jackets and long skirts.
"The entire staff was delighted," Rorone replied. "They said it helped them get fired up for the work."
"I see. That's good to hear."
"Though I personally felt mine might have been a bit too stylish..."
For Rorone, as the acting manager, I had provided a light green jacket with a long skirt, a white shirt, and a red string tie. She was still wearing it now. Personally, I thought it suited her perfectly.
"You think so? Ehehe..."
The reason Rorone's outfit was green while the others were white or cream was to ensure she stood out. It was a consideration from Zabuton, intended to prevent strangers from underestimating Rorone's authority.
"Also, about those children..." Rorone added.
She meant Zabuton’s children, who were handling the shop's security. To make sure they didn't look out of place, Zabuton had given them their own little cook hats. They were quite adorable. Incidentally, if you flipped those hats inside out, a camouflage sheet that matched the building's colors would deploy. They could hide even without them, but this was likely a mother's concern for their safety.
It was Lu, however, who had enhanced those sheets' magic resistance by incorporating powdered scales from Hakuren. I wasn't the one who came up with that idea, though I did give her the permission.
Anyway, putting that aside...
"How was the reputation of the chocolate? I heard it wasn't bad, but people might have been holding back since they were talking to me."
"They were raving about it. However, as expected, many people were worried about the limited quantity."
"I suppose so. Even I think one piece per person per day is a bit sparse."
However, the cacao harvest was still small. Unless we increased production somewhere other than Village Four, it would be difficult to boost the supply. I wanted a large plot of land, but the area around Village Five was already occupied by ranches and fields. Even the vacant spots were caught up in various development plans. Shashato City was in a similar situation.
Then there was the Meleo breeding grounds I had visited recently. There were magic beasts and monsters there, but there was plenty of open land. We could probably establish a large cacao plantation there. The hurdles would be securing permission, finding labor for maintenance and harvesting, and the fact that it would be too far for me to manage personally.
Well, there was no point in just mulling it over. I'd try consulting Beezel. For now, we would keep the chocolate quotas as they were. Even if I wanted to fix the problem, my hands were tied for the moment.
"Rorone, do you have anything else?"
"Let me see... If no problems arise, I intend to continue the trial opening for about five more days. Would that be all right?"
"Yeah, no problem. I'll leave that to your judgment. As I've said before, I'm not worried about making a massive profit right out of the gate. I just want you and the staff to build up the shop together without overextending yourselves."
"Yes! I'll do my best!"
Ten days later.
The Western Confectionery Shop Fairy Fairi officially held its grand opening.
The shop doors hadn't opened yet. Instead, ten small, four-wheeled rear cars with covers were lined up in front of the building. Each car was equipped with a magic item fridge and a cash register, making their purpose for sales obvious. Of course, the goods they carried were cakes.
These rear cars had been prepared specifically for the mobile sales of our confectionery. Each car was assigned two people for escort and transport duties and two for sales. With ten cars in operation, that made a total of forty people. These forty individuals, newly hired for the mobile units and having finished their short-term training at Fairy Fairi, were lined up neatly in front of the shop.
Rorone stood before them.
"Everyone is present. Very well—Car No. 1 through Car No. 10, commence operations! Be safe out there!"
At Rorone's signal, all forty saluted in unison and began to move.
"Car No. 1, heading out!" "Car No. 2, departing!" "Car No. 3, moving out!"
Each team pushed or pulled their assigned rear car toward the heart of Village Five. The cars were heavy because of the cargo, but they were actually magic items that assisted with the rotation of the wheels—magic-powered assist-equipped rear cars. Since Village Five was built on a small mountain with many slopes, this was a necessary feature. The Mountain Elves proudly claimed they were masterpieces, particularly boasting about the gear ratios.
Frankly, I had thought it might have been easier to just make them float and push them like the floating garden, but that would have required Lu's constant cooperation. Since she had focused all her energy on the magic items inside the shop, the Mountain Elves had to take the lead on the carts. Thinking back, I had ended up asking quite a lot of them this time. I needed to think of a way to properly convey my gratitude.
The rear cars heading toward the center of Village Five moved to their pre-determined locations and began advertising and selling the cakes. One might think this would keep customers away from the actual Fairy Fairi shop, but customers weren't exactly flocking to the building anyway.
In reality, the shop was in an inconvenient location, as the trial opening had confirmed. That was the whole reason for the mobile sales. If the customers wouldn't come to the shop, we would take the shop to them. Additionally, Yoko wanted more confectionery shops within Village Five, so this served as a survey to find the best spots for future branches. We were tracking which locations and times resulted in the highest sales.
Lastly, it was a countermeasure against reselling. Because Fairy Fairi was so out of the way, people had been buying cakes and selling them elsewhere in the village. I wanted to overlook it since they weren't charging exorbitant prices, but these were fresh cakes meant to be eaten on the day of purchase. It would be a disaster if someone handled them poorly and caused food poisoning, so we had to get ahead of the market.
By the way, the Goroun Company resells our chocolates, which have a much longer shelf life, so we don't consider that a problem. That was something we had cleared in advance.
For the time being, Fairy Fairi would serve as the main workshop for the mobile units. While we promoted the cakes and the brand through the carts, I was content to patiently wait for the area surrounding the shop to develop.
Sometime later.
Behind the rear cars selling cakes in various parts of Village Five, one could now see other carts selling tea.
"It seems that eating cake makes people want tea," Rorone reported. "They are selling remarkably well."
It seemed they weren't missing a single business opportunity. I found her initiative very encouraging.
In front of the escalator
Raimeiren: "To think you'd be cowed by a mere trifle like this."
Yoko: "It's floating! It's actually floating! They're using levitation magic! That's cheating!"