Grand Opening (Continued I)

Edward had been agonizing over whether the shop's opening day should be celebrated in grand style. He had no memories from this life of any shop openings, so memories from his Previous Life gained the upper hand. Of course, it had to be a big affair.

Half a month ago, thanks to the convenience of alchemy, Edward had already finished the framework of the entire house. It was not merely the two-story building people saw, but a structure with two floors aboveground and three underground. He had used alchemy to replace the Wooden building frame with reinforced Cement, melding the Cement structure into the bedrock below and digging deep underground. He had excavated an alchemy laboratory, a mechanical manufacturing workshop, a warehouse, and more. The Wooden exterior and interior walls people saw were merely decorative Wooden panels pasted on. After all, he had been an interior decorator in his Previous Life. Edward was rather proud of this.

After another week spent making the necessary merchandise, he was ready to open for business.

Once he decided to make the opening ceremony grand, he spent another week ordering Flower Baskets from florists, buying fabric to make Colorful Flags and an archway, and personally producing printed invitations, flyers, Coupons, and so on.

Later, he realized the opening needed music to set the mood. Originally, he had wanted to hire a band to perform live. But the bands of this life mostly considered themselves artists and were exceedingly aloof—or perhaps he simply had not offered enough money. He visited orchestras twice and failed to hire anyone.

Left with no choice, he took out two recording Magic Crystals he had been saving and asked a band's drummer to beat out a rhythm according to his verbal instructions. Fortunately, he had also known how to play the flute in his Previous Life. After returning home, he made a flute from bamboo. (Note: This world had bamboo, along with some other plants common in his Previous Life. There would be related plot developments later.) Using two Magic Crystals—one to play and one to record—he created magical mixed accompaniment for this life.

Finally, he roughened his voice and imitated the superstar from his Previous Life who had also been named Dehua, singing a song called "Congratulations and Prosperity" in this life's Common Language. Making firecrackers, on the other hand, was quite simple. The sulfur, charcoal, and saltpeter used for gunpowder were all standard materials in the alchemy laboratory.

The results were obvious. Plenty of customers came to the shop today, along with neighbors who had come to show their support. As lunchtime approached, the number of customers gradually dwindled.

Seeing that there were no customers for the moment, Edward began looking through today's accounts. The hardware section had sold the most: thirty-two hammers, twelve axes, seven hand saws, and six pairs of pliers. The daily necessities section had done fairly well too, selling seventeen sets of Stainless Steel plates, thirty-two lunch boxes, fifteen Stainless Steel basins, five Stainless Steel buckets, and six frying pans. Then... there was nothing else?

Edward clutched his head, his face full of Black Lines. Everything sold had been everyday items, cheap little things paid for in single-digit Copper Coins. Not a single one of the alchemy items he had painstakingly made had sold. The place had been packed with bustling customers today, yet his income had not even reached one Silver Coin. He had not even earned back the money spent recording the accompaniment. Had he priced the alchemy items too high?

"Heh, no helping it. I'll clean up before eating." As Edward spoke, he cast a Cleaning Spell inside and outside the shop. Magic really was convenient. In an instant, the firecracker scraps in front of the entrance and the filthy footprints trampled across the floor vanished, and the air became noticeably fresher.

Edward took a round pot from his Spatial Ring. It had a red-and-black base below and a gleaming silver body above, with two handles on either side for easy lifting. He set it on the counter. Lifting the Tempered Glass Pot Lid, Edward casually tossed a Water Creation Technique into it. Pure Clear Water slowly rose within the pot. At the same time, the air indoors felt somewhat drier.

A Zero-Level Trick, the Water Creation Technique. Its principle was probably drawing water vapor from the surrounding air to create Distilled Water, right? It was also pretty good for dehumidifying, considering the humid seaside air. Thinking this, Edward kept adding ginger, red dates, star anise, fennel, cinnamon, and other seasonings.

Edward had discovered these things in potions class. In his Previous Life, these spices could be used as traditional medicine. According to obscure trivia from certain video sites, star anise, fennel, and cinnamon were also used as herbs and Spices in their native Middle Eastern regions. In this life, they could even be used as potion ingredients. It truly made one marvel. Huh? More useless knowledge acquired.jpg

Edward pressed the button on the pot's base twice, then quietly waited for the water to boil. He then took a large platter of paper-thin sliced lamb from his Spatial Ring, along with shrimp paste, fish slices, beef balls, and lettuce. Next came dipping sauce made by thinning sesame paste and peanut butter with water, as well as chili oil. This world had chili peppers, and chili peppers, tomatoes, Potatoes, Corn, and Cocoa Beans were specialties of the New Continent. It was strikingly similar to the American Continent of his Previous Life. What a pity there was no chive flower sauce or fermented bean curd. Edward thought this, then stopped himself from thinking further. After all, this was not a food anime...

Just as the water was about to boil, the glass door in front of Edward was pushed open, and the Copper Bell stuck to it rang out. Edward looked up, only for the visitor to speak first.

"Little Edward, have you eaten? Ah, you're eating... Then I'll come back later." With that, she turned to leave.

"Aunt Delton, don't go. It's no trouble. Come in and eat with us." Edward hurriedly lowered the pot's heat, came around the counter, and caught Mrs. Delton before she could leave.

"It's nothing important. I was about to cook when I found that the pot at home was leaking. You can patch it up here, right?"

"No problem. It'll be done right away." Edward smiled as he accepted the pot from Mrs. Delton, then pulled over a chair and placed it before her. "Please sit. It'll only take a minute."

Edward turned and walked to a square platform behind the counter. It was an alchemy testing table he had set up there. It had a purple obsidian base, turquoise inlaid at its four corners, and a red carpet draped from the middle over all four sides. All it lacked was an open book floating above it. That was right—Edward's mischievous side had acted up, and he had modeled the table after the Enchantment Table from MC in his Previous Life.

He pulled a Stainless Steel plate from beneath the Enchantment Table. Shaping Technique Array Script had been inscribed upon it. Edward placed the pot atop the Array Script, then found a scrap piece of iron and set it on top. A flash of blue light appeared, and the iron fused with the pot. The bottom became as smooth and flat as if it were new, while the grime and grease on the pot's body fell away. The entire pot looked brand new.

Edward handed the pot back to Mrs. Delton and said,

"Please have a look. How is it?"

"Oh my, it looks just like new." Mrs. Delton inspected the cooking pot in her hands, beaming. "Magic really is miraculous. Back then, your father had to light a forge and hammer away for ages before he could fix it. You fixed it in one flash. How much do I owe you for patching the pot?"

"Oh, listen to you. We're old neighbors—why talk about money? We're just about to eat here anyway. Why not eat with us before you go?"

"You won't even take my money. How could I stay and eat here too? Your Uncle and Harry will be bringing the carriage home for lunch soon, and I need to hurry back to cook for them..."

It was already eleven in the morning when Princess Andrea and her cousin Alice slipped out of the Duke's Mansion. After meeting the Grand Duke, the two pretended they had not rested well on the ship, declined lunch, and returned to their rooms claiming they needed to catch up on sleep. They also strictly ordered their Personal Maids not to allow anyone to disturb them before dinner.

The two changed into casual clothes, jumped out the window, climbed over the wall, and escaped. For a Formal Mage and a Great Knight, working together to slip past the familiar layers of guards was ridiculously easy.

They strolled around all the way to City Gate Street, by which point Alice's pockets were stuffed full of all kinds of snacks. Even Andrea was holding a skewer of grilled meat and eating it.

By the time they reached Smith's Alchemy Shop, the skewer of grilled meat had just been finished.

City Gate Street was unlike usual today. The once muddy Dirt Road was gone, replaced by neatly laid bluestone bricks. The scraps of paper covering the ground had also disappeared. Everything was quiet, and the miraculous Small Speaker was no longer singing. It had presumably been put away.

Only when they drew close and looked carefully did they realize that the golden archway was actually a gigantic Cloth Bag. Ropes pulled at all four sides, inflating it until it bulged. In one corner stood something shaped like a snail, buzzing as it continuously blew air into the archway.

Strangely shaped Flower Baskets stood on both sides of the entrance. Looking closer, they saw they were frames woven from bamboo and covered with red cloth. The flowers on top were fake too. After all, fresh flowers were exceedingly precious in this season.

The words on the slips attached to the Flower Baskets were all different. One of them read:

Delton Carriage Company wishes Smith's Alchemy Shop business enough to reach all four oceans.

Another read that Parala Fishing Net Shop wished Smith's Alchemy Shop to cross three great rivers and reach the source of wealth...

The two could not help curling their lips. What kind of grammar was this? Did not all members of magical professions attend General Knowledge School? It sounded like it had been written by an illiterate person.

Princess Andrea took out a handkerchief and wiped her mouth. Then she Pull-ed open the shop's door.

The Doorbell rang once. Inside, four people were seated around the counter, eating. A black-and-red pot sat in the middle of the counter, its broth bubbling vigorously. Plates surrounded it, filled with all sorts of raw meat, fish, shrimp, shellfish, and vegetables. Empty plates in the corner had already piled up half a foot high. An indescribable fragrance filled the entire room, mingled with the scent of Brandy.

The three people outside the counter each held a pair of tongs. They picked up meat, swished it around in the pot, dipped the cooked meat into the bowls of seasoning in their hands, then stuffed it into their mouths. Yellowish sauce smeared all over their mouths as they ate.

The young man behind the counter was pouring wine for a Redbeard with red hair while nagging him at the same time.

"Uncle, have another cup. It's rare for us to be this happy today. Go home this afternoon, take a nap, and get some proper rest. We don't drink and drive, and we don't drive after drinking. There are countless roads, but safety comes first..."

He then turned to the plump red-haired Woman beside him and the freckle-faced red-haired young man nearby.

"Aunt, and Harry, don't stop. Eat more. There isn't much food, so forgive the poor hospitality..."

Only then did the young man notice customers outside. He hurriedly pulled off the napkin around his neck, wiped his mouth, and ran over.

"Hello, esteemed guests. Today is our shop's opening day, and everything is twenty percent off. Please come in... Feel free to browse and buy whatever you like..."

As Edward greeted the customers, he thought, These two have a completely different vibe from everyone else. And their looks are way too stunning, aren't they?

Alice sniffed the air and looked curiously at the table. "Boss, what are you eating? It smells so good."

"This is Hot Pot, a new style of cuisine. It ensures that the freshest ingredients are enjoyed at their freshest." Even as Edward introduced it, he did not forget to promote his alchemy products. "This way of eating must be paired with the new Multi-Functional Alchemy Pot developed by our shop..."

Meanwhile, Andrea walked to the Cold Weapon Area. All sorts of weapons were displayed there in dazzling array, but they were merely ordinary items and beneath her notice. Then, something suddenly caught her eye.