Opening a Shop

Side story: A business trip

My name was Ifrus.

I was a man born into a minor noble family in the Demon King Kingdom.

My eldest brother inherited the family business, so I had to support myself.

Fortunately, the Demon King Kingdom recognized my talent for civil administration and hired me.

I worked for forty years straight.

During that time, I married and had a son. My son turned twenty this year.

Unlike me, my son was blessed with both strength and magical power, and had prospects of becoming a general of the Demon King Kingdom.

That was truly something to celebrate.

However, until recently, my son had been complaining about the Demon King Kingdom's current system and secretly participating in political movements.

I had been agonizing over whether to report him to the Demon King, but then he suddenly quit.

Had something happened?

His smile had become brighter than before. Perhaps something good had happened to him.

Could he have made progress with the bakery girl he had secretly loved for so long? If so, that would be something to celebrate.

In any case, it was wonderful that he was no longer involved in suspicious activities.

Now, back to me.

About five years ago, I was appointed magistrate of Shashaato.

Shashaato was a territory under the Demon King Kingdom's direct control, and one of the country's leading commercial districts.

Its recent development had been particularly striking.

Being sent to serve in a place like this left me half pleased that my past efforts had been recognized, and half anxious about the heavy responsibility I bore.

I did not want to fail.

I wanted a peaceful life.

With that mindset, I had carried on until today.

I had only one principle.

When I did not know how to judge something, I followed precedent.

I avoided doing anything without precedent as much as possible.

If I absolutely had to do something without precedent, I sought instructions from the royal castle.

It was embarrassing to admit, but I had spent these years avoiding responsibility as much as possible.

I had never even considered getting ahead.

Safety came first at work, and doing a reasonable amount was enough. Naturally, my income was only just sufficient too, but I was not greedy.

I knew my own capabilities very well.

The position of Shashaato's magistrate was too heavy a burden for me.

Perhaps I had that mindset to thank.

So far, no major problems had occurred.

That being said...

Why was Lord Leg, one of the Demon King Kingdom's Four Heavenly Kings, standing before me right now?

Lord Leg handled finances.

What was going on?

I had done nothing against the rules, financial or otherwise.

Had one of my subordinates taken a desperate risk? Give me a break.

No, that would actually count as a failure of my supervision.

But my subordinates... just what had they done?

As far as I remembered, none of them had money troubles...

"Will that be all right?"

"Y-yes."

No, no.

Rather than keep imagining the worst, I should hear him out first.

I could think about how to respond afterward.

The next day.

General Glatts, one of the Demon King Kingdom's Four Heavenly Kings, appeared before me.

Why? How? Had something happened that involved him?

Could the flames of war have reached Shashaato?!

I had to recruit soldiers immediately.

No, first I had to secure somewhere to evacuate.

Shashaato had been thriving recently, and its population had grown.

Although evacuation would take time, there were plenty of ships.

They should be able to handle it.

"Can you do that?"

"Ah, y-yes. We have about twenty ships available for immediate use. May I ask roughly how much time we have?"

"Huh?"

After General Glatts came Lord Randann.

Lord Randann, who oversaw the Demon King Kingdom's domestic affairs, was my superior's superior.

I could count the times I had spoken to him on one hand.

The last time we had spoken was...

When he came for the martial arts tournament held in Shashaato Town, I believed.

"Welcome."

"Thank you for your hard work."

As I recalled, it had ended in about two seconds. I still remembered it.

No, no, no, I was not angry.

I was grateful to have a superior who did not require socializing.

Why had Lord Randann come here? Was he going to remove me from office? Please reconsider!

Having already met Lord Leg, General Glatts, and Lord Randann, three of the Demon King Kingdom's Four Heavenly Kings, perhaps I would also receive a visit from the last of the Four Heavenly Kings-Earl Chrome.

Although I probably had not failed in receiving the previous three, I could not call those visits great successes either.

After all, each of them had arrived without warning. I would prepare in advance.

Since it might be wasted effort, it was hard to assign the task to my subordinates.

So I cleaned the room myself.

The desk's position... here should do. There was no dust on the curtains.

I had the maids' everyday diligence to thank for that.

It was fortunate that I had prepared.

The person before me now was the Demon King.

No, since my head was lowered, he was not before my eyes. Before my head, perhaps? Hahaha.

Why? How? I had hardly ever met the Demon King before, had I?

Huh? I could raise my head?

No, no, no, please let this humble servant keep his head lowered.

Answer directly? That meant speaking directly to you, correct? I couldn't, couldn't, couldn't.

I was exhausted.

These past few days had worn me out.

I might have aged several years all at once.

But how had this happened?

The Demon King, Lord Leg, General Glatts, and Lord Randann had all used different words, but they had said the same thing.

"A guest is coming to visit the Goroun Company. You must not be rude to that guest under any circumstances."

Who was coming?

A king from another country? I had heard of no such plans.

Besides, if it was a king, he should go to the royal capital, not here, shouldn't he?

Was a prince or some dignitary from another country coming on a private pleasure trip?

Ah, I see. That made sense.

After all, my superiors had told me to guard the visitor discreetly, accommodate them wherever possible, and not get in their way.

Strange. What was this person coming to do? If it was just for pleasure, surely they would not talk about accommodating them or getting in their way?

I contacted the Goroun Company.

They, too, were busy preparing to receive that guest.

Someone very important?

The company president was directing things personally.

They promised to contact me as soon as the guest arrived.

All I had to do was greet them at the start.

There was nothing else in particular I needed to do, nor did I intend to go out of my way to do anything.

Lord Leg had already arranged the personnel for the discreet guard detail.

Although they were nominally under my command... giving them orders would probably do no good. Everyone acted on their own.

All I could do was stay out of their way.

Some might call me uncooperative, but that was better than running around blindly and holding them back, wasn't it?

Just as I was about to have a cup of tea, someone pounded on the door.

"The Goroun Company sent word. It seems they've arrived."

"I see."

The discreet guards Lord Leg had arranged were already nowhere to be seen.

I had to hurry over too.

So I took the carriage I had prepared in advance to the Goroun Company.

This carriage had been a gift from the Goroun Company, and it was extremely comfortable.

Would letting the visitor ride in this carriage please him? No, no, no, I must not force it on him.

I would lend it to him if he wanted it.

"I'm Marcus."

"I'm his wife, Paula."

The Goroun Company had two guests.

A young human couple.

A farming couple?

No, no, no! What an idiot I was!

I took a careful look at the couple's clothing.

At first glance, their clothes looked ordinary, but they actually had a subtle sheen. Moreover, the material was of high quality.

Making ordinary clothes from expensive fabric? How outrageous. They seemed extremely wealthy.

No, perhaps they wanted to conceal their identities.

In that case, although they called themselves husband and wife... they could also be a master and his maid.

Still, I should treat them as a married couple here. I must not be discourteous.

Strange.

The woman who called herself Paula carried herself with great elegance.

Was it the other way around? Was the one playing the wife the mistress, and the husband her attendant?

No, no, no, I had to discard my preconceptions! Stop thinking!

These two before me were a married couple, and honored guests of the Goroun Company.

"I am Ifrus, magistrate of Shashaato. Welcome to you both."

Good, a perfect greeting!

Now, I just had to skillfully draw out their purpose here, then stay out of their way!

Just then, the president of the Goroun Company came

before me... what was it?

"These two guests apparently intend to do business in this town."

Business... business? Was that some kind of code? I had never heard of it.

"Though this may cause you some trouble, we hope you will lend us your assistance."

No, I didn't understand.

"What exactly should I do?"

If you didn't know, you had to ask. Pretending to understand was the most dangerous thing.

Please, president of the Goroun Company, give me an answer!

"At one of the four corners of the southern commercial district, there's a place used to store the town's materials, isn't there? Could you do something about that?"

Wonderful. That was clear.

"Leave it to me. I'll send people to move everything out and clear the space right away."

"Thank you very much. We'll pay the cost later."

He said later, but who knew how many years that would be?

"Understood."

After I bowed, the president of the Goroun Company walked over to the other two.

The man who called himself Marcus was asking the president of the Goroun Company something.

I wanted to eavesdrop, but not listening was probably the right choice.

"Lord Michael, does the governor come to greet anyone who opens a shop in Shashaato?"

"Hahaha, hardly ever. Anyway, will you be all right with the shop?"

"We've practiced with the village chief many times. Leave it to us."

"Good luck. That said, getting the premises ready will take some time, so do some sightseeing until then."

"We'll spend all of tomorrow sightseeing. We'd like to use the remaining time to prepare to open the shop. Sorry, but we don't know our way around..."

"I've already arranged for one of my subordinates to guide you, so make good use of them. After all, we're the ones who asked you to come open a shop."

The next day.

"What's all this money?"

Money bags covered my desk.

"The Goroun Company brought it as payment for the land."

My secretary answered.

Payment for the land? Huh? That was strange.

"Quite a shock, isn't it? It's more than twice the market price. The Goroun Company really is rich."

Uh...

I decided not to think too much about it.

Side story: A woman of Village One, Paula

My name was Paula.

I had chosen the name myself, but I liked it very much.

My real name? I couldn't tell you that.

So I was Paula. A woman who had once lived in the back alleys.

Life in the back alleys was hard, and I had only a few happy memories.

Most of those happy memories involved Marcus. When we met, Marcus was a boy about my age.

But he had more experience living in the back alleys than I did. Now he was my husband.

Thinking about what would have happened if I hadn't met him frightened me.

The turning point for Marcus and me was meeting Lady Fushu.

I'd heard before that she kidnapped children, so at the time, I thought we were done for.

But when I saw the people she had gathered, I felt relieved.

Jack, the leader of the back alleys, was there too.

Marcus was dependable, but Jack was even more dependable.

If he hadn't fallen for Moti, I would definitely have pursued him.

Lady Fushu spoke to us about relocating and said we would even be given houses.

There was no way anything that good could happen. Did she think we were ignorant and was making fools of us?

But would someone important in the Korin Religion lie?

I was wary, but the others... yes, they were wary too. Of course they were.

Still, we decided to accept Lady Fushu's proposal.

"We couldn't disobey her" was one reason, but her proposal was simply too appealing.

What appealed to me most was that we could learn many things before relocating.

And for free.

They would teach us reading, writing, arithmetic, and etiquette. I was so moved.

Besides, even if the relocation was a lie, what we learned would still be an asset.

Knowing arithmetic made finding work easier. If we could write too, we could even hope for better pay.

As for etiquette... I didn't think it was necessary, but I often heard about people getting beaten for offending nobles.

Learning it couldn't hurt.

Those six months were busy, but fulfilling.

The relocation was real.

There was a place called Village One a little way from Big Tree Village, where we would be given houses and work.

They had plenty of food ready too.

And they wanted us to become residents there.

The surroundings were a little frightening, but the guards were reliable.

Compared to life in the back alleys, it was paradise.

I would do the work they gave me properly... that was what I had thought, but I couldn't manage it. I kept failing.

But they didn't get angry or drive me out because of it.

The village chief... oh, by village chief, I meant the chief of Big Tree Village.

Village One had no village chief, only someone called the "acting chief."

This village chief wanted us not to rush, and to find work that suited us.

Thank you, village chief.

The others who hadn't done well, just like me, nodded vigorously too.

We had to work hard, for the village chief's sake as well.

And so we gradually grew accustomed to village life.

Farming, papermaking, pressing oil, extracting sugar, and making salt.

Progress was slow, but there were more things we could do.

When the pigs were entrusted to us, I worried a little that we wouldn't raise them well, but everyone worked hard.

Though the men got a little too emotionally invested...

Oh, right, speaking of those men.

When we first arrived in Village One, none of us could even set foot in the forest, but now they could go inside.

Jack could even defeat a rabbit with tusks all by himself. He was truly amazing.

Marcus was working hard too, but apparently he couldn't do that yet.

But don't push yourself. Don't do anything dangerous.

Look, Kurichi was telling you to be careful too.

Kurichi was one of the dogs guarding the village... no, an Infernal Wolf. I had named him.

I was frightened at first, but I knew they were protecting the village, and sometimes they brought us prey they had caught in the forest.

When I wanted to express my thanks, I realized I didn't know their names.

After I asked the village chief, he showed me the pack of Infernal Wolves.

Yes, naming every single one was impossible.

So I gave him a name myself.

I had asked the village chief's permission first, so Kurichi was happy too.

Kurichi went to other villages as well, so sometimes we couldn't see him, but whenever he came to Village One, he stopped by to say hello.

That was how close we were.

Marcus always obediently did what Kurichi told him too... but why did he listen to him more than to his own wife?

A year had passed since we relocated.

We had plenty of firewood ready, so even the winter cold was nothing to fear.

Occasionally, people from Big Tree Village or the other villages came to check on us, so we didn't have to worry about food either.

Of course, we weren't just sitting at home playing.

We worked bamboo into all kinds of small items.

I was proudest of my baskets. They were light and sturdy. I put a lot of care into their design too.

I had to offer the best one to the chief of Big Tree Village.

After we finished planting at the start of the year, we kept busy with daily life, and summer was approaching before we knew it.

Oh, right.

Had you ever seen a castle floating in the sky?

Amazing, wasn't it?

It was incredible that something so big could fly.

Even that castle belonged to the village chief. Quite a shock, wasn't it?

Ah, the reason I suddenly mentioned the floating castle was that its position gave us a sense of the seasons.

It was to the north in winter and the west in spring. Apparently, it made one circuit around Big Tree Village every year.

So now that the castle was toward the south, summer was approaching.

It was around then that the village chief had something to discuss with the settlers of Village One.

"Shashaato... was it?"

I'd never heard of the place.

But apparently it was one of the largest commercial cities in the Demon King Kingdom, and a port city.

I was told most of the fish we occasionally ate was bought there. Oh...

According to the village chief, someone doing business in Shashaato had apparently invited him to open a shop there.

The village chief wanted to accept, but he had no one he could entrust with the responsibility.

Apparently, that was why he had come to us.

Because we could read, write, do arithmetic, and knew etiquette.

We'd never had a chance to show it before, but knowing that the village chief knew made me happy.

And Lady Fushu.

Thank you.

If the village chief was asking, we would give it our all!

We would have to leave Village One for a while? That was fine.

You were fine with it too, right, Marcus?

Before we answered, the others raised their hands too.

Everyone probably felt the same. We couldn't lose.

There was no point sending a whole crowd, so only one married couple would be chosen.

Jack volunteered too, but he was the leader of us Village One settlers, so he was automatically excluded.

That left nine couples.

All we could do was pray that the goddess of luck would smile on us.

Thank you, goddess of luck.

Apparently, if opening the shop went well, we could receive a Reward Medal. I wanted to use the Reward Medal to ask the village chief to make a statue of the goddess of luck.

Well, first we had to go to Shashaato, so we needed to prepare to move... though we hardly had any personal belongings.

I'd already told Kurichi we would be away from home for a while... ah, please don't look so sad. We would definitely come back.

We also had to say goodbye to the others in Village One. Yes, we would do our best.

Marcus and I went to Big Tree Village first.

We would spend a month there preparing to open the shop, or perhaps I should say taking lessons.

The village chief was so busy, but apparently he would teach us himself. We had to work hard.

The shop the village chief wanted to open would sell food.

It wouldn't sell anything complicated, just one dish.

In that case, that dish would be the key.

Could I make it?

No problem.

It was a dish we had made once a week ever since we moved to Village One.

I see. Just what I would expect from the village chief.

That dish would be a huge hit, without a doubt.

Huh?

Then what were we going to learn?

How to hire people? Serving customers? Hygiene? Calculating taxes?

There was so much to learn. It was hard.

Marcus... yes, he was doing his best.

Oh, the reason we took a hot-air balloon to the floating castle during our lessons was that the village chief invited us there for a change of pace.

We definitely weren't there to play. Though it was fun.

Flying for the first time felt wonderful...

It was a little cold. I'd dress more warmly next time.

After a month of lessons, we headed to Shashaato.

An important person from the Demon King Kingdom sent us there with teleportation magic.

I'd known the village chief was amazing, but he really was incredible.

And that incredible village chief was opening a shop.

We would carry out our mission without fail!

You understood that, didn't you, Marcus?

What a wonderful smile. That was my husband for you.

Anyway... um, village chief, what was this?

"Funds for opening the shop. You'd be in trouble without money, wouldn't you?"

That was true, but... um...

First of all, thank you for trusting us enough to entrust this money to us.

And then, there was also...

Marcus couldn't carry these bags of gold coins by himself.

Were prices in Shashaato higher than I'd expected?

And there were the cart and all those crops you'd prepared.

Those were ingredients for the shop, right?

Could we make that many servings?

No, no.

I couldn't lose heart.

We'd use it all up.

It would be a piece of cake, since we were making curry.

Heh heh heh, it was sure to win everyone's hearts.

Side story: A man of Village One, Marcus

My name was Marcus.

I was a man.

Sometimes people called me Makushi or Makashi, but I didn't particularly mind.

I was fairly strong, quick on my feet, and reasonably good at delicate work.

Though I wasn't the best at any of those things, people had called me an all-rounder when I lived in the back alleys.

But in Village One, where I lived now, I'd become a jack of all trades, master of none.

No, perhaps I was worse than that.

It made me want to sigh over my own uselessness again.

But the village chief... oh, by village chief, I didn't mean the chief of Village One, but the chief of Big Tree Village.

Village One had no village chief. Instead, someone called the "representative" filled that role.

Back to the subject... even with someone like me, the village chief hadn't given up. He encouraged me, saying I simply hadn't found the right job for me yet.

He was such a good man.

And he wasn't just powerful, but rich too. He also had many wives.

My old self might have gotten angry out of envy, but now I could honestly admire him.

That was the sort of person the village chief was.

I even thought he ought to live more extravagantly.

Yet the village chief worked harder than anyone. He was truly impressive.

Perhaps that was why.

Big Tree Village, where the village chief lived, had grown very prosperous.

Village One needed to work hard too. We couldn't lose.

Well, our populations differed, so we couldn't catch up right away... but we would someday!

The days passed like that until, one day, the village chief gathered everyone because he had something to tell us.

He was opening a shop in Shashaato. Could anyone go there to run it?

We wouldn't move there permanently. The plan was to take turns.

That was the situation.

He was very sorry when everyone was still getting used to living in Village One-the village chief bowed his head to us.

With the village chief going that far, I couldn't refuse.

But I had a wife.

I needed to discuss it with my wife, Paula, first.

I looked beside me, and Paula already had her hand raised.

What about discussing it?

Her eyes looked displeased, as though she were saying, "What are you doing? Hurry up and raise your hand."

We were lucky.

When lots were drawn to decide which couple would go to Shashaato, Paula and I won.

Thank you, God.

And so Paula and I prepared to leave for Shashaato.

Since we weren't moving there permanently, we left our home as it was.

The tree elves would look after it.

I thought we would head straight to Shashaato once we finished preparing, but we didn't.

Apparently, we would take lessons in Big Tree Village first.

Indeed, thinking it over, neither Paula nor I knew how to run a shop.

That was the village chief for you.

And the shop would be... a restaurant?

Paula's cooking and mine were only average, you know.

Would we hire a cook?

We would only sell one dish?

Oh, I see.

A curry shop?

In that case, Paula and I could make it, and we could vary the toppings so people wouldn't tire of it easily.

It sounded workable.

But then, what would we be learning?

Paula and I arrived in Shashaato with a great deal of luggage.

Since we traveled by teleportation magic, it felt as though we arrived the moment we left Big Tree Village.

If I had any complaint, it was probably that I wished I could have experienced a little more of the journey.

No, I shouldn't think too much about it.

Lord Beezel, thank you for sending us here with teleportation magic.

Lord Michael, thank you for coming out to greet us.

Excuse me, I'd like to find somewhere to put our goods first...

Before I could say it, Lord Michael's subordinates were already enthusiastically carrying everything into a warehouse.

Apparently, people would take turns guarding it too.

Was this when I should say... thank you?

Just as I thought we were about to discuss our plans for the immediate future, a visitor arrived.

He seemed to be Shashaato's governor.

This town was under the direct control of the Demon King Kingdom.

The governor, in other words, was the highest-ranking person here.

But he was very humble and showed no sign of looking down on us.

He made a very good impression.

He was very interested in where the clothes Paula and I wore had been made... could he be interested in fashion?

Lady Zabuton had made them herself, so we couldn't part with them.

Come to think of it, the village chief had given us some cloth that he said was for greeting gifts.

With people around, it wasn't convenient to hand it over now, so I would ask Lord Michael to pass it along later.

Though we probably wouldn't have many opportunities to meet the governor, I still hoped to establish a good relationship.

Now then, our tentative plan was to spend today and tomorrow sightseeing in Shashaato.

We would look around from a visitor's perspective.

This wasn't relaxation.

First, we needed to understand the customers' point of view.

Those were the village chief's instructions.

We also needed to investigate market prices.

We were originally supposed to set the price by adding labor costs to the cost of the curry ingredients, but the village chief said it wouldn't be good if that price differed too much from market prices.

Apparently, neither too expensive nor too cheap would do.

It was quite difficult, but the village chief instructed us to start by setting the price a little below the average cost of lunch in town.

That was why we ate out... but the guide Lord Michael had assigned us paid for all our meals in advance while we were sightseeing, so we had no idea what they cost.

"Please don't worry about it. It's all on the chairman's instructions."

Besides, all the places where we ate seemed very fancy.

Well, the food in Big Tree Village tasted better... but I knew I shouldn't say that aloud.

It was just that I'd had a little

hope, so I was a little disappointed.

I soon began to miss the soy sauce and miso we often used in the village.

If I had gained anything, it was the conviction that curry would be popular here too.

Lord Michael took us to the site of our shop.

It was one of the four corners of a fairly busy intersection. There was a large empty lot here, two hundred meters on each side. In terms of the village chief's fields... about sixteen plots, perhaps?

"So, where will the shop be?"

"Right here."

Lord Michael pointed to a corner of the empty lot, right beside the intersection.

"Here? In such a good location?"

"I'm the one who asked you to do this, after all. Of course I'd prepare a location like this."

"I see."

There was plenty of foot traffic. Around us... there were many shops.

But this corner alone was empty, making it feel a little deserted.

I see.

Perhaps he had some plan to develop this land and wanted us to lead the way.

We would have to work hard.

"We'll handle constructing the building. Since you're selling food, fire will be essential, correct?"

"Yes. Water too."

"Understood. We're close to the sea here, so there aren't many wells. I'll have a drinking-water line laid for you."

"Sorry for the trouble."

I didn't know much about construction, so I left it to Lord Michael.

The village chief and I had already agreed on that.

I needed to get busy with what I could do-preparing to open the shop.

First, hiring people.

Though Paula and I should have been enough, the village chief had instructed us to be sure to hire local people.

Apparently, it was to avoid certain troubles.

We didn't know anyone in Shashaato. Should I ask Lord Michael for help with this too?

No, I couldn't ask him to do everything.

I had to take some action myself.

Hmm? Paula? Who were they?

My wife had brought over about ten girls.

...Prospective employees, then.

Understood.

The village chief had mentioned it, so I assumed she knew, but they couldn't work in the shop looking like that. First, she should have them take a bath.

We would pay for the water and firewood.

Towels to dry themselves with... we'd buy some.

"New clothes too, right? Understood."

Paula and I spent the night at the inn Lord Michael had arranged for us.

We felt rather awkward bringing a dozen or so prospective employees inside, so we found another inn at random for them to spend the night.

The village chief had told us to give the employees generous allowances.

In some cases, we would also need to find them somewhere to stay.

Had he foreseen something like this happening?

That was our village chief for you.

Although we had brought cooking utensils, tableware, and the like, we were still short of a few things.

I asked Paula to buy what we lacked while I took care of some miscellaneous business.

The prospective employees Paula had brought probably lived in the back alleys, just as I once had.

But from what Lord Michael told me, this city apparently had an organization that looked after such children, providing them with work and meals.

I thought Paula probably hadn't noticed that part.

So I needed to have a talk with them.

Mentioning a back-alley leader like that brought a world full of violence to mind...

But the negotiations were surprisingly peaceful.

So towns like this existed too.

The Demon King Kingdom.

Before coming to Village One, I had thought this place was full of vicious monsters... apparently not.

Though there were a few more colorful characters here than in human countries.

It was nothing, really. Still no match for "Big Tree Village."

Now then, there was plenty to take care of before the building was finished.

I borrowed the kitchen and courtyard where we were staying and tried making curry.

The village chief had given us several tasks related to opening the shop.

First, keeping the flavor consistent.

That could only come with practice.

Next, adding ingredients available in Shashaato to the curry.

I had already found some promising leads while sightseeing.

Seafood curry made with seafood. That ought to be the best choice.

But I couldn't rush it. I had to try it first.

The village chief had warned me that being too confident in myself was dangerous.

Finally, making the residents of Shashaato happy.

We were opening the shop at Lord Michael's invitation, but that didn't mean they wanted us acting arrogant. The village chief had told us to remember that we were imposing on someone else's territory.

I needed to keep that firmly in mind.

Speaking of which, who were those people who had been watching us for a while now?

The inn's employees... no, there were guests too.

They were all looking at what was in front of me-

The freshly finished curry.

It hadn't simmered long enough yet, and I hadn't cooked any rice...

Would the inn's bread do?

"If you'd like a taste, take some bread..."

I didn't even get to finish.

It looked like I wouldn't have to worry about finding taste testers.

Ten days later.

Lord Michael called me over.

He said the shop's exterior was finished and he wanted to discuss the interior.

A very large shop now stood on what had been an empty lot two hundred meters on each side.

It was big.

Really big.

Startlingly big.

It was a single-story building, but the roof was high.

About as high as an ordinary two-story house.

Despite that, it had no walls and was open on all sides.

So people could enter from anywhere?

Since it hadn't been decorated yet, the pillars supporting the roof stood out.

There were toilets too.

There was at least a wall to keep them out of sight of the seating area. So that was what it was for.

Then, in the middle of the shop, there were the counter and kitchen...

I had never seen a counter thirty meters long on one side before.

And that counter formed a square?

Then the counter was set at a forty-five-degree angle to the shop's four sides.

I see.

That was probably to give the people inside the counter as wide a view as possible.

There was also a passage for employees to come and go.

Did the water come in through channels laid along the roof?

Amazing.

There was a large room in the kitchen that served as a food storeroom.

There were even a break room, changing room, and employee toilets?

I see, I see.

The smoke from fires in the kitchen... would be drawn upward through the chimney and outside... and it was designed so rain wouldn't cause any problems either.

I thought as much.

Some parts looked like magic tools...

Um... I should check.

Yes, checking was important.

"Lord Michael."

"There's no need for 'Lord.' Please call me Michael."

"Um... then, Mr. Michael."

"What is it?"

"Is this whole place our... 'Big Tree Village's' shop?"

"Ha ha ha."

He laughed. Just as I thought.

Good thing I hadn't jumped to conclusions.

We were only borrowing a corner of this kitchen.

Yes, that had to be it.

"With the trade association's help, the lot opposite is also slated to become a 'Big Tree Village' shop. We're negotiating for the remaining corner lots too... eventually, all four corner lots at this intersection should be 'Big Tree Village' shops."

"..."

"Also, next door to this shop... or rather, across the road. Yes, that place still under construction. That isn't a shop. It's going to be your residence, Mr. Marcus. Beside it will be the employee dormitory."

Was something wrong here?

Village chief, I had pictured a small shop.

That was what you had in mind too, wasn't it?

I remembered the original plan being... something just a little better than a stall?

During our practice serving customers, hadn't he also said there would be around ten customers at most?

Wasn't this a bit of a problem?

No, no. This was no time to stand around in a daze.

I had to respond.

I recalled the village chief's words.

Don't overreach, and don't do anything reckless.

Yes, just because the shop was big didn't mean it would fill up.

Don't panic.

That was our village chief for you.

Had he even foreseen this?

Ah! Right, he had told me to bring that along so I could make good use of a space this large!

I see!

Once again, I realized just how impressive the village chief was!

Mini bowling, which was very popular with the children of "Big Tree Village." Even adults got hooked on it.

With this much space, we could set up several lanes.

Though

I'd only brought three sets... right!

Have the people of this town make them. Understood.

Good.

First, divide the shop into four sections.

Since each had its own counter, that would be easy.

Northeast, northwest, southeast, and southwest.

The southeast section faced the intersection on the main road, so that would be the dining area.

We would put tables and chairs there.

Even divided into four, each section was still quite spacious.

The northeast section would be the games area, with mini bowling.

There would be tables and chairs there too, but fewer than in the dining area.

The layout would focus on mini bowling.

We would start by operating only those two sections.

After all, we didn't know how many customers would come.

An empty shop with nothing but tables and chairs looked rather desolate.

I told Lord Michael... no, Mr. Michael all this and gave instructions for the interior.

There was even a basement? Amazing.

Huh? There was also an underground passage leading to the planned residence? Oh, ohh.

At any rate, I would ask Paula to recruit more employees.

It probably wouldn't get that busy... but remembering what had happened when I tried making curry made me uneasy.

Better to be cautious.

Cooking utensils, tableware... I wanted to get more, but I was also afraid they wouldn't get used.

Although the village chief had told us to spend freely, we couldn't waste the money he had entrusted to us.

"Speaking of which, Michael... sir, the cost of buying the land and constructing the buildings..."

"I've already received it from the village chief. I'll have the deeds delivered later."

"..."

My name was Marcus.

I was the acting manager of a shop that would soon open.

Why was I only the acting manager?

Because the village chief was the manager.

Could someone like me shoulder the heavy responsibilities of acting manager?

I had to work hard. And I absolutely couldn't damage the village chief's reputation!

Side story: Gordy of Shashaato Town

My name was Gordy.

As a local boss in Shashaato, I considered myself reasonably well-known.

That said, I wasn't in charge of all of Shashaato's underworld.

I was more like a subcontractor's subcontractor.

Still, even as a subcontractor's subcontractor, I had more than fifty subordinates and considerable influence. If I counted the ones who hadn't officially joined... two hundred... no, three hundred.

So sometimes, I wondered if it was time to move up.

Then I received word.

A number of the girls who lived in the back alleys under my protection had been hired.

What was going on? It was certainly good news that someone had hired them, but finding them work was my job.

If I didn't check things properly, there was no telling how they might be treated.

There were no idiots in Shashaato who would break the rules.

The ones who broke the rules were outsiders who didn't know them.

I see. So it was those people mentioned in the notice?

I'd been told not to touch them, but I had my reputation to consider. They had to follow the rules properly.

I wanted to pay them a visit right away, but they were staying at a very expensive inn.

Their guards were capable, too.

I probably wouldn't get to see them even if I went. In that case, I would have to catch them wandering around town.

I sent a few of my subordinates to watch them.

They came back immediately. Apparently, someone terrifying had threatened them.

Hey, hey, come on, you lot.

Even someone as easygoing as me could get angry.

Who was scarier, me or the person who threatened you?

Huh? The other person?

I was standing right in front of you, and you said that without the slightest hesitation? That actually hurt a little.

Oh, the other person was so terrifying there was no comparison?

I see... all right. Go home and rest for today. Don't worry, I'm not angry. Sorry, I shouldn't have asked you to do such a strange job.

Right, let's forget about this.

The next day.

One of the people mentioned in the notice came to visit me.

That gave me a fright. I hadn't expected it at all.

I scrambled to gather my subordinates, only to remember that almost all of them had been called away by an emergency summons early that morning.

Apparently, there was a building that needed to be put up in a hurry.

It wasn't just our people. Every available man in the neighborhood had rushed over. All I had left were five girls around ten years old...

Yes, I knew you wanted to protect me, but please don't. It really wouldn't look good.

You didn't have to try so hard. We had a reliable guard dog, too.

Huh? Out on a walk?

W-well, nothing for it. Let's pretend nobody's home. We couldn't because we'd already answered? Good point.

...Sigh.

The reason I hadn't answered the emergency summons early that morning was that I'd been searching for people all night, worried that the girls hired by the man before me were being mistreated.

I'd wanted to forget about it, but I couldn't.

After finally finding them and hearing from them that they were being treated well, I'd breathed a sigh of relief and gotten a little sleep... now I was wide awake.

Right, first I had to think.

What had he come for? Had he found out I'd sneaked in yesterday? Was he here for revenge?

If that were the case, he wouldn't have come openly to my door.

Thinking wasn't getting me anywhere. Since I couldn't figure it out... I'd give him the scare of his life.

Once he knew how frightening I was, he probably wouldn't try anything.

I checked my face in a mirror made from a polished iron plate.

Good. Plenty frightening.

"You've got some nerve coming here."

I lowered my voice as much as I could.

Heh heh heh.

No matter how I looked at him, he was an ordinary man.

He might even burst into tears from fright.

Why?

He greeted me perfectly normally.

Wasn't I frightening?

Huh? He'd come to pay his respects about hiring the girls who lived in the back alleys.

Oh, that was very considerate of you...

If possible, I'd like to check the terms of their employment and such...

Before you answered, though, could I ask what you thought of my face? Didn't you find it frightening?

Flattery like "it has its cute points" wouldn't make me happy.

But he really wasn't afraid.

Could this man...

Actually be quite strong?

I had to check.

If he were registered as an adventurer, I could judge by his rank, but I'd already confirmed yesterday that he wasn't.

That left only the method I'd been using lately to gauge strength.

I could tell how strong someone was from their reactions to certain questions.

That trick had helped me avoid dangerous opponents many times.

I had absolute confidence in this long-used method of self-preservation.

"By the way, did you know they hold a fighting tournament here in Shashaato?"

"Really? I had no idea."

The man hadn't heard of the fighting tournament.

In other words, he didn't consider himself particularly strong.

No, don't rush. He'd only just arrived in this city.

"If you've fought monsters out in the wilderness before, you could try entering."

"Ah... monsters are a bit... I've been warned not to take them on alone just yet."

...Not alone just yet?

In other words, he hadn't finished his training?

Gooood, good. An ordinary person.

The odds that he was an ordinary person had shot up.

That meant I didn't need to fear his fighting ability.

"I see. That's a shame."

"Hahaha. Well, I came here to do business, after all."

Good, that settled it.

He was an ordinary person.

Next... the fellow who'd warned him not to fight. A highly skilled guard would be trouble.

"What about the person who told you not to fight? If he's confident in his skills, why not suggest he enter? I actually recruit participants like that, too."

Perfect. I'd steered the conversation perfectly.

Now, how would he answer?

"That won't work. He's still back in the village. I'll tell him next time I see him."

"I see. That really is a shame."

Good. Excellent.

No problem.

Oh, there was a problem.

I'd been told not to lay a hand on the Goroun Company's guests, including him.

Why couldn't I lay a hand on them?

Well, not that I intended to.

Oh, he'd approached me this time, so that should be fine.

Wait. Who was the terrifying person who'd threatened my subordinates yesterday? Was it that other woman I'd heard about?

"A fighting tournament... Daga

and Guraru would probably be happy to enter."

"Guraru?"

"Hmm? Do you know Guraru?"

"Would he happen to be a beastman? The canine kind?"

"Oh! Come to think of it, Guraru did say he'd been to Shashaato before. Maybe he entered the fighting tournament then."

Was the Guraru he meant that Guraru? The living Martial God Gulf, who'd driven off every one of those fellows throwing their weight around town, then won the fighting tournament with a single wooden sword?

Really? I didn't know the details, but this was Guraru, the man they called the fifth of the Demon King Kingdom's Four Heavenly Kings!

He actually knew Guraru...

"Have you ever fought Guraru?"

"Me? Of course not. At most, I help him practice. Though he does give me a beating."

There were countless people who wanted to learn swordsmanship from Guraru, even nobles...

If the warning not to "fight alone" was based on Guraru's standards, I couldn't let my guard down. No, get to work, my instincts! The man in front of me was dangerous! I absolutely couldn't make an enemy of him! I had to keep smiling at him from start to finish! Also, we wouldn't meet again, would we? Please take good care of the girls you hired!

Just as my guest was leaving, the demon hound I kept as a guard dog returned from its walk.

This was bad. The demon hound barked at strangers, and sometimes even bit them.

A girl was holding its leash. If he let his guard down... no need to worry.

How strange.

The demon hound, which never backed down no matter whom it faced, showed him its belly.

It was doing everything it could to fawn over him. It even wore an expression I'd never seen before.

"What a cute dog. Before coming to this city, I got pretty friendly with dogs, too... oh, wolves, I mean."

Were the wolves he mentioned more frightening-looking than a demon hound?

Better not think about it.

My guest's name was Marcus.

The man who'd taken first place in my personal danger rankings.

I absolutely couldn't get involved with him.

That was what I'd thought, but we met again just ten days later.

Ah, yes, he'd hired girls from the back alleys without going through me again.

No, no, no, since you came to let me know, it's fine.

Hahaha.

The terms of employment were the same as before.

Um, did you only need girls? We had boys, too.

Until recently, they'd been working at a bigger construction site, but the work there was finished...

Oh, so that enormous building was your shop, Marcus.

Hahaha.

Please come to me if you need anything.

Of course, I was only saying that.

I'd only been saying that, so why had he come back?

You needed workers? Understood.

You wanted boys this time, too? We couldn't ask for more. How many?

...With that many, my Back Alley Group would be empty.

I couldn't thank him enough.

If you ever need help with anything, please let me know.

I wasn't just saying that, either.

He sent for me.

I'd told him to ask if he needed anything, but he really didn't hold back.

I had no intention of resisting, so I obediently went to his shop.

It was a huge establishment, currently the most popular in Shashaato.

Everyone was hooked on the food they called "curry."

So there was a huge line.

The Back Alley Group's children, dressed in clean, matching clothes, bustled in and out as though slipping through gaps.

They were all working so hard.

Anyway, he'd called me over because he wanted help keeping order.

To put it simply, that meant organizing the line, stopping people from fighting, and things like that.

I was fairly well known in Shashaato, you know.

Oh well, work was work.

Oh, could I tie this demon dog's leash here? The person who looked after it had been hired too, so I couldn't leave it at our base.

And could I try that curry stuff too? Later would be fine.

It smelled so good.

Side story: Potty, a back alley girl

My name was Potty.

I was one of the women who lived in the back alleys. Well, I was only twelve, though.

My body... still had some growing to do. My breasts were sure to get bigger then too.

My meeting with Miss Paula had been a coincidence.

My day-wage job pounding medicinal herbs had ended that morning, so I'd been planning to go back and sleep when she called out to me.

She asked if I could show her around the area.

Great, work.

But I couldn't jump at it right away. I didn't want to be a guide for nothing.

All right, let's negotiate, I'd thought. As it turned out, Miss Paula was easy to talk to.

Did she know a lot about those of us who lived in the back alleys?

Clutching the coin she'd paid me as a deposit, I started showing her around.

What Miss Paula wanted to know about wasn't the famous shops on the main streets, but the little shops in the back alleys and the boundaries between territories.

Simply put, what to watch out for in the city's darker corners.

I see. It wasn't that she pitied me for my shabby clothes. She thought I'd be able to answer her questions.

I answered whatever I could.

I couldn't tell her anything that would put me in danger, though.

After about three hours of accompanying her, my work was done.

Not only did I get another coin, she even treated me to grilled meat skewers from a stall.

What a nice person.

And with that extra income, it had been a lucky day.

That was what I'd thought until I got back to the place where I slept.

I couldn't understand what on earth had happened.

I slept toward the back of a public materials storage yard, where no materials had been moved in or out for years.

So a lot of other people who lived in the back alleys like me stayed there too.

Mr. Gordy, who managed the place, had made the materials storage yard women-only, so we could sleep in peace. That was the kind of place it was.

Lots of unfamiliar workers were carrying the materials out, with guards standing nearby.

In other words, what I was seeing wasn't a riot or people stealing things, but legitimate work.

Each time materials were carried out, people living inside were driven out too.

It would be dark soon.

No.

This was no time to stand around.

I had to contact Mr. Gordy.

Even contacting Mr. Gordy did no good.

Apparently, these were the governor's orders.

Nobody could disobey. We were in trouble now.

But the governor apparently knew that the materials storage yard had become our sleeping place.

Though they were only tents, he'd at least arranged somewhere for us to sleep; though the food wasn't good, he'd at least provided breakfast and dinner for us.

Still, things couldn't stay like that forever.

Food and lodging would only be provided for a month.

We had to work something out within that month.

Mr. Gordy seemed to be looking for a new place for us too... but it didn't look like he'd find one right away.

Should I have been grateful we hadn't been driven out in the dead of winter?

Tomorrow, I'd have to work hard at finding a job and a new place to sleep.

I'd thought I would never see Miss Paula again, but that wasn't the case.

When I saw Miss Paula picking things out in a shop, I decided I couldn't let this chance pass and spoke to her.

I thought she might have something for me to do.

Even just carrying her bags would be fine. I was a girl, but I thought I was reasonably strong.

That might have been a turning point in my fate.

To get some work, I exaggerated my situation a little, and Miss Paula asked me with a serious expression:

"Do you only want work for today? Or do you want steady work?"

That went without saying. Of course I wanted steady work.

"I see. Then, a server... that means carrying food to customers in a shop and clearing the tables. Could you do that? It'll be hard work."

Hard work? Hard or otherwise, I didn't mind as long as I had steady work.

Of course, she'd pay me properly, right? Miss Paula nodded and said, "Of course." But since I'd be a trainee for the time being, she couldn't pay me very much.

That made sense. Even if I thought I'd work hard, normally I couldn't expect to earn a full person's wages right away.

That wasn't Miss Paula being stingy. It was common sense.

After all, I was the one being taught. There was no reason for me to get paid as much as someone who could do the job properly.

But she said she'd feed me during work hours. Miss Paula really was a good person.

Was it all right for me to keep such good fortune to myself?

Thinking of the other girls in the same situation made me feel a little guilty.

No, that was wrong.

I just had to work hard and make it easier for the other girls to get hired.

That resolve went to waste.

"You have friends, don't you? Bring them along."

Was Miss Paula a goddess?

I went to the girls who'd slept in the materials storage yard.

Because boys

could find work more easily.

Sorry, but this time, girls came first.

Including me, there were ten of us.

Was that a little too many? Well, we'd deal with that if it really was.

It would be enough just to get Miss Paula to remember our faces.

So everyone had to wash their faces before we went.

Miss Paula didn't even frown when she saw us. She hired us all on the spot.

I couldn't thank her enough.

After that, we also introduced ourselves to Miss Paula's husband.

He looked friendly... Huh? Was the person standing beside him someone important from the Goroun Company? No way.

Miss Paula's first order to us was to bathe.

Were we that dirty? That wouldn't do?

I wiped my body three times with a wet towel. It really had been ages since I'd last washed my hair.

Next, we washed the clothes we'd been wearing all this time.

While doing the laundry, we wrapped ourselves in towels.

Yeah, this was bad. No matter how many times we washed them, dirt kept coming out.

If we kept washing, they'd tear. What should we do? When we consulted Miss Paula, she got us a change of clothes.

Was it all right for us to wear such pretty clothes?

Huh? There were too many to wear. Clothes for tomorrow? What did she mean, clothes for tomorrow?

I was shocked.

So you were supposed to change clothes every day.

We did a lot that day.

Rather than working, we were probably having our abilities checked.

Whether we could read, write, do calculations, greet people properly, and shop.

I could recognize about thirty characters, but I couldn't write or do calculations.

There were so many things we couldn't do that everyone started worrying Miss Paula would abandon us.

But Miss Paula arranged a delicious meal for us.

And at a very respectable restaurant, too.

Though I'd been near its back door before, I'd never gone inside as a customer, so I was nervous.

The restaurant had a menu, but I couldn't read any of the words on it, so I left everything to Miss Paula. Though I couldn't read it, I knew the prices marked beside them were high.

Everyone else followed my lead.

The food was so good.

I'd never imagined anything this delicious existed in the world. By the time I came to my senses, my plate was empty.

Who'd eaten my share? Probably nobody. I'd simply been too focused on eating.

If I'd known, I would have eaten slowly and savored the flavor.

After the meal, Miss Paula had us take a lesson.

Apparently, there were a lot of things we needed to learn.

What we learned that day was about money.

Was our teacher an acquaintance of Miss Paula's? This person looked a lot like someone important from the Goroun Company too...

There was no way someone like that would come and deal with us.

Gold coins, silver coins, and copper coins.

It was my first time seeing a gold coin. It glittered and was so pretty.

I'd seen silver coins at Mr. Gordy's place. Though I'd never touched one.

I was familiar with copper coins.

Unlike the other coins, copper coins came in large, medium, and small sizes.

When people simply said copper coins, they meant medium copper coins.

Small copper coins were also called tax copper coins, and officials were probably the only ones who used them.

When we got small copper coins, we'd gather ten and exchange them for a medium copper coin.

There was no fee for exchanging small copper coins for medium ones, but exchanging other coins cost a fee. Money changers were sneaky, weren't they?

Not counting exchange fees... ten small copper coins made one medium copper coin, and ten medium copper coins made one large copper coin. One medium copper coin could probably buy a big loaf of bread. For me, that would be one meal... no, two. It was a lot of money.

Street stalls, for example, usually charged between one and three medium copper coins.

A cup of alcohol probably cost one medium copper coin too. Though I'd never bought any.

Even I knew all that, but I hadn't known that a hundred large copper coins made one silver coin.

A hundred silver coins made one gold coin.

In other words, one gold coin was... um... a lot of medium copper coins.

Miss Paula, who was listening beside us, told me it was a hundred thousand.

Just what I'd expect of Miss Paula. She could even do calculations.

Huh? We could learn to do it too? No way.

So much really happened that day.

It was getting dark, so I was getting ready to go back, but Miss Paula had arranged a place for us to stay.

She said it would be dangerous to go back dressed so nicely, wouldn't it?

Now that she mentioned it, she was right.

If we slept where we used to, no men would come near us, but things were different now.

There probably weren't any bad people here, but we still had to protect ourselves.

Huh, that wasn't what she meant... take a look at ourselves?

What did she mean? Without another word, she pushed us into the dormitory.

Two people to a room. Unbelievable.

With a room this size, it wouldn't have been strange to cram all ten of us inside.

This bed... could we sleep on it?

So much had happened that I accidentally forgot.

I needed to contact Mr. Gordy.

I'd made him worry. I was really sorry.

So please, don't pop up out of nowhere.

Mr. Gordy was a good person. His only flaw was how terrifying he looked.

People said even crying children would fall silent at the sight of him.

I'd thought I was used to him, but I still couldn't handle being caught off guard. Especially when he woke me in the middle of the night.

I thought I might never wake up again.

The girl sharing my room... was sound asleep.

Wasn't he going to wake her?

It was enough that I was awake. I see.

I explained what had happened between Miss Paula and me to Mr. Gordy.

It seemed Mr. Gordy had sneaked into the dormitory because he was worried about us.

Thank you.

I was really sorry I'd forgotten to let him know.

Starting the next day, our lessons began in earnest.

So yesterday's lessons hadn't counted as proper lessons.

They taught us one thing after another that we'd never known before, leaving us no time even to be surprised.

After a few days, even though we still couldn't read or write, we could recognize simple words.

We could handle simpler addition and subtraction, too.

Everyone worked hard so we wouldn't disappoint Miss Paula.

I'd thought the lessons would end there, but they were going to continue.

Yes, I'd do my best.

And then there were more things to do, too. Our job was to serve meals to the customers.

So we had a lot to learn... huh? Didn't we need to practice carrying plates?

What we learned was how to take customers' orders and pass them to the back, as well as collect payment.

Were we allowed to handle money?

"Does anyone want to get thrown out for stealing a little money?"

Of course not.

The lessons were hard, but as long as we stayed with Miss Paula, we didn't have to worry about food or a place to sleep.

The pay was so high that I wondered if we were getting too much.

To keep us from worrying, Miss Paula paid us every day.

Though after ten days, I got scared of carrying so much money and gave it to Miss Paula for safekeeping.

We were taken to our workplace.

I was shocked.

First, there was the location.

It was the materials storage area where we'd used to sleep.

A huge building had gone up there... or would it be better to say it now had a roof?

I'd heard before that the boys had gone to help with some big construction project. Apparently, this was it.

The whole place was Miss Paula's husband's shop.

We were going to work here? Really?

Even after we went inside, it didn't feel dark.

There were windows to let in light... but even the places without windows were bright.

Was that magical light?

The furnishings had already been brought in.

Every one of the freshly made tables and chairs was beautiful.

I understood the huge amount of tableware, but what was this board? Oh, we were supposed to put the food on it and carry it to the customers.

Though we hadn't practiced carrying anything. Would that be all right?

The customers would carry it themselves? What did that mean?

We put on matching aprons and began work.

We all stood at the counter, took customers' orders, passed them to the back, and collected payment.

Just like we'd practiced. I hadn't made a mistake yet.

But it was so surprising.

The customers actually came to the counter to order, then carried their food over to their seats.

Was that how this shop worked?

I thought it was strange, but when Miss Paula said, "It's just a slightly bigger food stall," I understood.

It was a very big shop, but what we did really was the same as at a food stall.

I see.

What an amazing idea.

But we probably couldn't have managed otherwise.

After all, there were an astonishing number of customers, as if everyone in the city had gathered here.

Not long before, Miss Paula and the others

had worried that we wouldn't be enough on our own and hired about twenty more people.

At the time, I'd thought, Isn't that far too many? But even that hadn't been enough.

They hired more people after that, and now there were nearly two hundred of us.

Even Mr. Gordy, who'd looked after us before, had been brought in to help.

Still, I could understand why it was so crowded.

After all, the food Miss Paula and her husband made was-

Curry.

They'd let me eat it several times before the shop opened, and it was really delicious.

The first time I ate it, I thought it was spicy, but for some reason, I couldn't stop.

That strange food called rice was delicious, too.

But apparently, the rice was very precious, so they began using it to serve special customers.

Regular customers were asked to eat it with bread.

It was still delicious that way, so even though a serving of curry cost a whole five medium copper coins, the customers kept coming.

Personally, I thought they could charge twenty medium copper coins for a serving of curry.

But then even we would have trouble affording it, wouldn't we? Hmm, what a problem.

Oh, this wasn't good.

I needed to work hard.

The two hundred of us, myself included, had been hired at different times, so not everyone could do the same work yet.

Miss Paula said she wanted everyone to be able to do the same things.

For now, though, we would each be assigned fixed duties.

The jobs were taking orders at the counter, carrying food from the kitchen to the counter, clearing tableware from the tables, washing the collected tableware, and organizing the lines of people waiting to order.

To distinguish us from the customers, we all wore matching aprons, but the people taking orders at the counter also wore matching uniforms.

The uniforms looked like slightly cuter versions of the maid outfits worn in noble households.

Everyone worked hard for the chance to wear one.

Since I took orders at the counter, wearing the uniform gave me a little sense of superiority.

But that sense of superiority disappeared once every seven days.

For some reason, Miss Paula and her husband wouldn't let us work seven days or more in a row. They said we had to take one day off for every six days we worked. And even though it was a day off, we still got paid.

I wondered why, but apparently it was the village chief's order.

The village chief was Miss Paula and her husband's employer.

An incredibly important person.

So great that Miss Paula and her husband always talked about it.

So I didn't disobey.

After working six days, I obediently took a day off.

Though getting paid without working made me restless.

The problem was solved.

Because I got a job looking after the shop's game area.

Playing mini bowling in the game area was free.

So working here didn't earn any money.

In other words, it was the same as not working.

It was a bit of a stretch, but that was how I convinced Miss Paula and her husband.

Rather than saying I'd convinced them, perhaps it was more that plenty of people besides me didn't want to rest.

So we worked in the dining area for six days, then worked... played in the recreation area for one day.

"I'll teach you how to play mini bowling now. First, don't throw with brute force."

It was hard not to get better at mini bowling.

This really was a good place to work.

Still, it wasn't as if I had no complaints at all.

There was the morning meeting every day.

Miss Paula's husband would come before us as we stood in line, then begin his announcements.

"Good morning. First, an announcement: there were two disputes in the shop yesterday. Mr. Gordy quickly settled them, but don't ever think you should handle things on your own. If anything happens, ask the guards sent by the government for help. You absolutely must not get hurt."

"Yes."

"Also, two people are off today with colds. There will be some adjustments to the schedule, so please check yours again."

"Yes."

"We appreciate your willingness to work even when you're feeling unwell, but you mustn't do that. Please tell us honestly."

"..."

"Your answer?"

"Y-yes."

"Now, today's pep talk! Counter team number one, step forward!"

"Y-yes!"

The girl Miss Paula's husband called stepped forward and called out to everyone.

"Welcome!"

We repeated it loudly.

"Welcome!"

I had no complaints about lining up to listen to Miss Paula's husband's greetings and announcements, or about the pep talk.

My complaint was with Miss Paula's husband's closing words.

"Now, let's work hard for the village chief again today!"

I wanted to work for Miss Paula.

Later.

The village chief visited, and I learned just how amazing he was.

Yes, I could accept a lot of things now.

The village chief of Big Tree Village

"Excuse me, my name is Hiraku. Is Mr. Michael here?"

I asked someone in the shop as politely as I could.

"Sorry, please wait a moment. I'll go ask."

The person went farther into the shop.

I asked Guraru beside me.

"This is the right place, isn't it?"

"Yes. This is where they brought me last time I came."

Guraru currently had cloth wrapped around his face and a cloak covering his body.

Apparently, he'd become quite famous after winning the martial arts tournament in this city before.

He hadn't cared much about that at first, but as soon as we stepped into the city, residents surrounded him, and an argument even broke out, forcing us to retreat.

He really was popular.

Still, there were also plenty of people trying to persuade him with things like, "Fight me," or, "I've got a great business opportunity for you..."

By the time we stepped back into Shashaato, Guraru had changed into his current outfit. Although he looked extremely suspicious, he didn't cause the sort of commotion he had earlier.

I was puzzled at first, but then noticed quite a few people dressed similarly.

They seemed to be adventurers. That explained it.

"Hey, sorry. Looks like he's still not here."

The person at the shop seemed to have helped look, but hadn't found him.

Mr. Michael ran a large business. Could he be at another shop?

Oh well. We'd come back another day.

I left Big Tree Village and came to Shashaato Town.

My purpose was to deliver extra ingredients to the shop Marcus and Paula were running.

Not long ago, after hearing about the shop opening, the Progenitor had apparently made a trip to Shashaato.

Marcus and Paula both seemed to be doing very well.

However, what I heard was so different from what I'd expected that I was quite bewildered.

Business booming was a good thing, but that absurd number of employees...

Was the shop doing so much better than I'd imagined that they were struggling? Well, nothing was mechanized, after all. Considering everything had to be done by hand, I supposed they had no choice but to hire more people.

The Progenitor had brought back a letter from Marcus after visiting Shashaato, asking for more ingredients to be sent over.

I'd been thinking I really needed to go see how things were, so I took this opportunity to start preparing for the long trip.

The Progenitor would take me there, so preparing the extra ingredients was more trouble than preparing for the journey itself.

At first, I thought I didn't need anyone with me, but Lu and the others insisted someone accompany me, so I accepted their advice.

But wasn't Shashaato an ordinary port town? Was it unsafe there? Oh, there were monsters in the surrounding area. I see.

We decided who would accompany me.

Naturally, the Progenitor, who would take me there using teleportation magic, would come along.

As for people to transport the goods... Village Two sent six minotaurs.

We had three wagons, so I asked them to help.

Six lizardmen would guard them and help load and unload the goods.

I thought that would do, but everyone said I still needed guards of my own.

I'd thought they weren't necessary, but on reflection, I hadn't visited any other towns or villages since coming to this world.

As for places I'd visited... I supposed there were the Northern Dungeon and Sun Castle.

Everywhere else had been somewhere we'd developed ourselves.

I'd never thought of going anywhere before.

In a sense, this would be my first visit to an inhabited settlement.

I didn't need guards, but I did need a guide.

So the requirement was that they had been to Shashaato.

Frau, Rasuti, Guraru, two lizardmen, and four of the civil official girls qualified.

I'd thought Lu and Tia had been there too, but apparently not.

"I might have been there, but I didn't pay attention to the city's name."

"Same here. Probably... maybe once... I'm not very confident."

Frau, Rasuti, and the two lizardmen had gone there when selling crops to Mr. Michael.

There should have been other lizardmen with them then... but they were already going to guard the minotaurs. I was counting on them.

Apparently, Guraru had been there several times. He'd even gone to renew his adventurer registration not long ago.

The four civil official girls said they had gone to Shashaato as children to buy

things.

Of those people, only Guraru knew his way around Shashaato's streets, so he automatically became my guard.

Sorry for the trouble.

The party would consist of me, Guraru, the Progenitor, six minotaurs, and six lizardmen.

Some people said that wasn't enough guards, but we were going to an inhabited town, after all.

Please don't treat me like a child.

After the Progenitor's teleportation magic brought us near Shashaato, Guraru and I went to say hello to Mr. Michael.

The Progenitor led everyone else to deliver the goods to the shop...

Oops.

I'd assumed we'd get to see Mr. Michael, so I hadn't asked the Progenitor where the shop was.

I was worse than a child.

"For now, let's look around somewhere you know, Guraru."

Off we went. Oh, before that.

"Please give this letter to Mr. Michael."

"Huh?"

The other person looked startled.

"Guraru, leaving a letter for someone to pass along is normal, right?"

"I think it's normal."

What a relief.

I'd thought I'd done something wrong.

Still, I decided to check, just in case.

"This is the Goroun Company, right?"

"Yes, that's correct."

"Then this is the right place. Please pass this letter along."

Lu, Tia, and the others had discussed and written the letter before I left.

I didn't know what it said, but it probably asked him to look after Marcus and Paula's shop.

I handed the letter to the puzzled-looking clerk and set off to sightsee.

The city was more prosperous than I'd imagined.

That was my impression.

The streets were paved with stone, and carriages and wagons frequently raced along them.

Being a port city, it had probably become a hub for transporting goods.

There were lots of people, and the place was lively.

The buildings were generally made of stone or brick, and most were two or three stories tall.

There were four- and five-story buildings too, but few single-story ones.

According to Guraru, rent was apparently cheaper on the higher floors.

I was wondering why, and he explained that only the ground floor had toilets and a place to draw water. That made sense.

Without elevators, going up and down the stairs would be a pain.

As someone who'd been here before, Guraru proved quite a capable guide.

Still, his tour seemed to lean toward practical matters.

Inns, cheap restaurants, expensive restaurants, weapon shops, armor shops, item shops, and training grounds...

I could understand those, but why had he brought me to the Adventurers' Guild?

It wasn't that I had no longing for a life of adventuring with swords and magic, but I didn't think I could make a living at it.

I'd spent all this time farming, after all, and I felt I was suited to it.

Still, I did learn a little about how to commission adventurers.

By the way, Guraru.

How many matches had you fought while I was listening to the young man at the counter explain things?

You hadn't forgotten you were supposed to be my guide... guard, had you?

"They challenged me. You can't blame me."

Guraru and I wandered the streets.

Although we must have been walking for quite a while, we hadn't found Marcus and Paula's shop, and there were still plenty of places we hadn't been.

"Do you know where the market is? I'd like to get an idea of the going prices."

"Ah, there should be five or six. The one in the south is the biggest, but I don't think they sell retail."

"Then where's the second biggest?"

"In the north. You can see it from here, right? There's a big building over there."

"Is that the market?"

"That's the arena. The market should be in front of it."

"All right, let's take a look. But wait until I finish eating this."

"Got it."

Whenever Guraru and I spotted a stall, we bought something to eat.

This was market research.

Marcus and Paula probably did it too, but I had to check everything for myself.

The prices weren't high... but the portions varied wildly from stall to stall.

I would refrain from commenting on the taste.

I was beginning to understand why Marcus and Paula's shop was so popular.

Just as I was wondering which stall to choose next, someone called out to us.

I thought they were trying to sell us something, but that wasn't it.

I recognized that face.

It was the Goroun Company clerk who had agreed to pass my letter to Mr. Michael.

"I-I found you. Thank goodness."

"Huh?"

The clerk suddenly blew the whistle hanging around his neck, then bowed to me.

"Please forgive my rudeness. You are Mr. Hiraku, correct? The chairman is on his way."

What?

That meant the letter had reached Mr. Michael, right?

That was fine, but what did he mean, "on his way"?

A carriage came charging up, then stopped abruptly.

Mr. Michael stumbled out of it.

"V-Village chief. Thank goodness. Truly, thank goodness."

"Has something happened?"

Seeing him so flustered made me worry there had been some accident.

"Ah, no, ahem. First, please allow me to apologize."

Mr. Michael gave a meaningful glance, and the clerk who had called out to me bowed again.

"I didn't realize you were Lord Hiraku, and behaved most rudely. I am terribly sorry."

Mr. Michael bowed beside him too.

No, no, no. Behaved rudely?

I gave Guraru a look that asked, "What's going on?" He replied, "I don't know either."

"Actually, I was in the shop you visited the whole time."

Mr. Michael began explaining, and the clerk, still bowing, added to his explanation.

"This may sound like an excuse, but only certain relatives address the chairman as Michael..."

At that point, I finally understood.

The clerk had thought I was looking for an employee named Michael, not Chairman Michael.

If someone named Michael had been there, he probably would have realized something was wrong, but there were no employees by that name, so the clerk had told me he wasn't there.

From Mr. Michael's perspective, it amounted to pretending he was out.

I see. That certainly was rude.

But...

"After all, I didn't contact you before visiting."

My showing up without advance notice was probably the bigger problem.

So please don't worry about it.

The clerk over there didn't need to take it to heart either.

"Th-Thank you very much."

"Mr. Michael, although he misunderstood, he handled things properly, so please don't be angry with him."

"Understood."

That settled the matter.

I told Mr. Michael I wanted him to take me to the shop.

"Shall we go by carriage?"

Mr. Michael pointed to the carriage he'd arrived in.

"Is it far?"

"No, it's just a little farther ahead..."

"Then I'd like to browse along the way."

"Understood."

Mr. Michael instructed the coachman to head back, then led the way for me.

The clerk from earlier went back, but four other people accompanied us.

Mr. Michael introduced them to me.

"This is my son, Marlon."

"My father has told me about you, Lord Hiraku. I hope you will continue to favor the Goroun Company."

He was a serious-looking man who appeared to be at least thirty-five, and he seemed full of energy.

Apparently, he was the Goroun Company's next chairman.

There was also Tito, who handled the accounts.

And Randy, who was in charge of purchasing.

Both were apparently Mr. Michael's nephews. That would make them Marlon's cousins.

The last one was named Milford, and he was apparently the company's combat captain.

Since monsters and magical beasts attacked people outside town, guards were essential.

Ordinary trading companies only hired adventurers when needed, but the Goroun Company apparently employed them permanently.

He commanded those hired guards.

Apparently, these four had also been running around the streets looking for me.

Sorry for all the trouble.

Milford led the way, followed by Mr. Michael, me, Guraru, Marlon, Tito, and Randy.

It was rather embarrassing to have a group of grown men walking along in single file.

Just as I was about to suggest we stop walking in a line, they told me we had arrived.

It was huge.

Yes, huge.

My first impression of the building was-a roof monster?

The roof was two stories high, but the interior had only one floor... and it was so spacious.

Why was it so big?

Amazing.

It was bright inside, too... probably thanks to skylights and magical lights.

And the crowd in the middle... was it congested? A riot?

Uh... it didn't look like business as usual.

Angry shouts and screams drifted

over.

"Mr. Michael, is it always like this here?"

"No, it should usually be quieter..."

...This was bad.

I hoped our shop wasn't the cause...

I wanted to find out what was happening, but I couldn't.

"Isn't there anything we can do?"

"Hm?"

The Progenitor was there.

Right, he'd arrived here first. Maybe he knew what was happening.

"What caused this?"

"Well... I think it started because they sold out."

"Sold out?"

"Yes. They ran out of curry. Just then, we arrived with more ingredients, and after announcing that they'd make more right away and asking everyone to wait, this happened."

So our shop was the cause...

I wanted to clutch my head and scream, but this wasn't the time.

Since we were responsible, we had to do something about it.

"Anyway... Progenitor, can you make a very loud noise?"

"A very loud noise?"

"Like an explosion. Without an actual explosion, of course."

"Ahahaha. Don't worry, just the sound, right? I can do that."

"Can you amplify my voice?"

"That's no problem either."

"Then please do."

"Here?"

"Yes. Mr. Michael, please cover your ears and take everyone to the back. Guraru, sorry for the trouble, but please clear a path when I move. No weapons, and no violence either. These people are customers."

At my signal, the Progenitor produced an enormous explosion sound.

The entire building shook.

"Please don't move, and crouch down where you are~ You might get hurt if you move around~ Please follow our instructions."

My voice rang out, amplified by the Progenitor's magic.

Perhaps startled by the sound, the crowd slowly began crouching down, starting with those near me. Thank you, everyone.

"Good, that's it, that's it. Please crouch down slowly. There's no need to panic~ Actually, we're about to tell everyone here about a very good deal. You'll miss out if you leave without hearing it~"

Some people still seemed uncertain whether to crouch down, but I continued addressing the crowd.

Then I looked toward the minotaurs and lizardmen near the counter.

They seemed to be guarding the counter to keep customers from jumping over it. Thank you.

Behind them were many employees, Marcus, and Paula. They all seemed safe.

I exchanged glances with the Progenitor and Guraru, then headed toward Marcus and the others.

The people crouching down were in the way, but having them move carelessly would cause more confusion, so I resigned myself to making my way forward.

I arrived.

I asked the Progenitor to turn off his magic, then checked that everyone was safe.

"Village Chief, I'm sorry."

"We'll discuss the details later. For now, stand up and repeat what I say."

I had the Progenitor amplify Marcus's voice.

"First, introduce yourself."

Marcus seemed to have calmed down, though he still looked shaken.

No, I'd just told him to repeat what I said.

"Ah, I'm Marcus, the acting manager."

Good.

"We sincerely apologize for the crowding and confusion today. First, is anyone nearby injured? If so, please raise your hand to let us know."

Fortunately, none of the customers seemed injured. Thank goodness.

"We have run out of ingredients and cannot serve curry at the moment. However, additional ingredients have just arrived. We will prepare it as quickly as possible, so we ask our customers to please wait a little longer. Also... as an apology for this disturbance, all curry served for the rest of today will be free."

At the announcement that it would be free, some of the seated audience cheered.

"However, we must also resolve this crowding problem. We sincerely apologize, but please allow us to disperse all the current lines."

We would disperse everyone temporarily.

Then reopen in an hour.

"Even customers who aren't here right now can eat for free if they visit later today. Please go home, invite your friends, and come back together. Sorry for the trouble. We sincerely apologize for today's crowding."

After I had Marcus bow his head, the employees all bowed as well.

"We sincerely apologize."

"Now, please stand up in order, starting from the back. There's no rush. Take your time..."

Now we only needed to disperse the crowd to settle this confusion.

I gave instructions to the lizardmen and minotaurs.

"Sorry for the trouble, but please guide the customers out. Also, if anyone is injured, help them to their feet."

I'd asked earlier, but people would only speak up for someone else if that person had fainted or collapsed.

If someone's hands or feet hurt, we wouldn't know if they kept it to themselves. We couldn't just let injured people leave like that.

"Paula, is there anyone nearby who can use healing magic?"

"Village Chief, I can do it if you need me."

The Progenitor raised his hand.

"Sorry for the trouble. Please do."

This wasn't the time to hold back out of politeness.

"Then, Paula, please check on the employees. No one's hurt, are they?"

The shop's employees were girls and boys far younger than I'd imagined. They were probably only elementary or middle school age, weren't they? Were they hurt? Don't keep it to yourselves. Good.

Come to think of it, was ours the only shop here? What about the others? There weren't any? I see.

Uh... I'd thought we'd need to apologize to the surrounding shops, but I was glad we didn't. Now then...

"Time to clean! This disturbance left a lot of places dirty! Anyone who can still move, grab some cleaning tools and get to work!"

It was just past noon.

A busy day was about to begin.

2 Emergency response

The employees were experienced, so cleaning the shop went smoothly.

Some customers even volunteered to help. I was deeply grateful.

Watching them, I reflected on my actions in the kitchen.

I'd made a mistake. A serious mistake.

Announcing free curry to calm the confusion had been a serious mistake.

I'd misjudged the shop's scale.

I'd assumed this building with its enormous roof was some kind of commercial facility.

And that Marcus and Paula had rented a stall inside to run their shop.

But in reality, this entire building with its enormous roof was Marcus and Paula's shop.

Wasn't it too big?

Though bewildered, I still praised Marcus and Paula for all their hard work so far.

That explained why there were so many employees.

But weren't they too young? Well, there was probably a reason for that, too.

Three sides of the four-sided central counter had been closed off because this was the limit of what they could handle.

When preparing the ingredients, we'd assumed it was a small shop only slightly larger than a stall. Of course there wouldn't be enough.

Switching from rice to bread had been an excellent decision.

They probably couldn't cook rice fast enough without a large commercial pot.

Apparently, they'd asked several nearby shops to bake the bread.

Although they were short on curry ingredients, what we'd brought this time should barely get them through.

After all, they hadn't run out of everything, just some ingredients.

They'd kept cooking, trusting that supplies would arrive... Were they serious about this many huge pots?

And even this wasn't enough? I see.

Offering it for free had been a mistake, but it was too late to take it back now.

For now, we just had to get through today.

I looked at the Progenitor.

He'd been treating the injured, but he had finished.

"Progenitor. Sorry for the trouble, but could you take me back to the village?"

"Why do you suddenly want to go back?"

"To bring reinforcements."

"Hahaha. Then I'll go. Could you tell me whom to bring?"

"No, wouldn't it be faster if I went back myself?"

"Perhaps, but wouldn't it be a problem if you weren't here to give instructions, Village Chief?"

"Mm... true."

"I'll bring them here, don't worry. Um... there's a room in the kitchen, right? I'll use that as the teleportation point."

"Understood. Sorry for the trouble."

I named several people I wanted him to bring as reinforcements.

Next... Mr. Michael.

"Did you need me?"

"I'm truly sorry for getting you caught up in this mess."

"Not at all. You settled things beautifully. Just what I'd expect from you, Village Chief."

"Hahaha. Um, just to confirm, this entire building is under our management, right?"

"Yes."

"And we can use it however we like?"

"Of course."

"I see... Sorry, could you lend me a few people? Preferably people who are good at negotiating. And familiar with this city's rules. I'd like them to help procure supplies."

"Then my son and I will do it."

Michael and Marlon both stepped forward.

"...Are you sure?"

"My plans for today have already been canceled. Please

give me your instructions."

Marlon seemed... fine with it too.

Then Marlon dragged Tito, Randy, and Milford into it.

That was a huge help, certainly... but would the trading company be all right? No, this wasn't the time to stand on ceremony.

"Please help buy the things we need."

First, we could expect to run short of tableware.

We needed large quantities of designs very similar to the tableware the shop currently used.

Next were tables and chairs.

Their design didn't matter.

Barrels that could serve as tables and chairs would work too.

We also needed long ropes, lumber, boards, and large pieces of cloth.

As for the size of the cloth... about three meters square. We needed lots of all those things, especially the large pieces of cloth.

Lastly, oil, wheat, and chicken.

Upon hearing my instructions, Michael and the others immediately prepared to get moving, so I stopped Michael and Marlon.

"Michael, please stay beside me and keep an eye on what I do."

If I did or said anything that would cause trouble for Shashaato, I wanted Michael there to warn me.

After all, I didn't know much about the situation here, and I could very well make mistakes.

"Understood."

I was very grateful for Michael's response.

"I feel a little bad about this, Marlon, but I'll have to ask you to handle the hardest job."

"Huh?"

Marlon, I was really sorry.

"Village Chief, please give us your instructions."

When I looked closely, it was Marcus and Paula, with the employees who had finished cleaning standing behind them.

"All right... Ah, before that."

Behind the employees were some men who didn't look like employees.

Most of them were probably customers who had helped clean... but a few didn't seem to be.

Judging by the air about them, they were the somewhat dangerous sort.

"Who are they?"

At my question, one of the men stepped forward.

He was a particularly frightening-looking man.

Marcus explained:

"Allow me to introduce Gordy. I asked him to help maintain order."

"This disturbance happened because we were a step too slow. I'm sorry."

When I asked, it seemed trouble had broken out near the counter while they were busy dealing with disputes elsewhere.

There were about ten people responsible for maintaining order, with Gordy at their center.

For the space inside the shop... it wasn't enough, but it wasn't unmanageable.

In that case, the problem lay in how the personnel were assigned and their awareness.

Good.

I looked around.

The shop was spacious, divided into four main sections: northeast, northwest, southeast, and southwest.

The southeast section, at the corner where the east-west and north-south main roads met, was the dining area.

The northeast section was the game area, with miniature bowling.

The northwest and southwest sections had nothing in them.

There were tables and chairs around the dining area's perimeter, but they had simply been set there.

Traffic flow hadn't been considered.

I instructed the free minotaurs and lizardmen to reposition the tables and chairs. The aim was to group the tables while keeping passageways clear.

Each block would contain roughly ten tables, with one person assigned to maintain order in each block.

I left it to Gordy to decide who would go where.

Next came the employees.

"To get through this crowd, we're going to use a special work schedule for today only."

"Huh? Um, haven't we already gotten through it?"

One employee frankly voiced the question.

"...I just said we'd be serving curry for free. What do you think people who hear that will think?"

"They'll probably... come here."

"How many people do you think will come?"

"...A lot?"

"Right. The crowds are only just getting started. Let's all pull together and get through this!"

First came organizing the lines.

Previously, separate lines had formed in front of each counter employee taking orders.

That meant customers inevitably had to squeeze past other people several times at the counter before picking up their food and carrying it away.

It must have been quite crowded.

To solve that problem, we'd need to arrange a route for customers to leave easily after collecting their food, but...

We wouldn't address that this time.

After all, it was free this time.

There was no need to collect money, only hand out food.

So the lines would stay as they were.

Spacing the counter employees farther apart to leave room between the lines should do.

Oh, they were called the counter team? Understood.

What other teams were there? Quite a few.

I asked Paula to select suitable people to assign to the counter.

"Village Chief. I've brought some help."

The Progenitor's teleportation magic brought reinforcements.

Five Oni Race maids, two dwarves, four High Elves, six mountain elves, and ten beastfolk.

"I'm sorry for calling everyone over when you're busy, but I'd like your help."

At my request, all the reinforcements nodded firmly. Thank you, everyone.

First, three of the Oni Race maids.

"Please make curry together with Marcus and Paula."

The remaining two Oni Race maids would handle other dishes.

This was to draw attention away from the free curry.

We cleared a space for them beside the counter in the southeast section where curry was being handed out.

Then I had the two dwarves sell alcohol beside them.

There would be no drinks menu; they would sell it by the cup.

We didn't need dwarves to sell it that way, but the image of dwarves loving alcohol was widespread.

So having these alcohol-loving dwarves sell it should attract attention.

As for the beastfolk, I mainly had them help sell the two Oni Race maids' dishes and the dwarves' alcohol, just in case.

"Just in case" meant if Marcus and Paula's shop ran short of staff.

Since it was only for today, I could have had them help from the start, but that would hurt the employees' pride.

Rather than telling people they would fail before they even started and stepping in to help, waiting until they failed before lending a hand was easier for them to accept.

Some might think it didn't matter, but handling that poorly would leave hard feelings afterward. I didn't want to create trouble.

Besides, having backup affected how people felt.

I asked the four High Elves to make partitions to divide the sections.

"We're dividing it into northeast, northwest, southeast, and southwest sections, right? Wouldn't putting up walls be faster?"

"That would be a problem if we needed to move them. The partitions are there so people can see the divisions at a glance."

So they would stand on the floor and be movable.

They didn't need to be very tall.

As for materials... Tito and the others had just brought them.

They had probably enlisted people from the trading company too, as about twenty people carried goods inside one after another.

I asked them to put everything in the northwest section for now.

That would temporarily serve as a storage area.

The mountain elves would improve the northeast section designated as the game area.

At present, the northeast section had ten miniature bowling lanes.

But those alone didn't fill the northeast section.

So I asked them to make new games.

Although I said "make," they weren't that difficult.

The new games were ring toss and target shooting.

For ring toss, people would throw rope rings.

If they got a rope ring around a prize, they could take it home.

Target shooting should have used guns, but we didn't have any, so customers would use bows.

However, that was dangerous, so we'd use toy bows and arrows. After all, amateurs would get hurt using the real thing.

I asked them to build a ring toss area and a target shooting area.

There was no need to rush.

These were for attracting customers in the future.

If they thought of anything new they could make, that was fine too.

"Guraru, I need your help with something."

"Hmm?"

Ring toss and target shooting needed prizes.

Especially prizes that would catch people's attention.

He had bought souvenirs before, so I thought he would be a good choice.

"Got it. I'll buy a whole lot."

"You don't need to buy everything out, but get a wide variety. Also, clearly tell them you're buying these as prizes. Make sure you buy from places that are still willing to sell after knowing that."

"That's fine... but once we've paid, isn't it up to us what we do with them?"

"Not everyone does business just to make money, right? Take the weapon shop you brought me to. If we went ahead and used weapons bought there as prizes, do you think they'd be angry?"

"Ah... true. Understood. I'll tell them clearly before buying."

I gave Guraru money... Since I didn't have much cash on hand, I borrowed some from Michael.

Sorry for the trouble, Michael.

"I'm only giving you the outstanding payment for goods from before. That aside, what are you going to use all that rope and cloth for?"

The rope was for organizing the lines.

I had originally planned to make some posts and wrap

rope around them, but some customers were willing to help, so I asked them to do it.

They were the customers who had helped clean earlier.

I casually asked why they were willing to help, and it seemed they were reflecting on having caused the disturbance earlier.

"Well, the curry's delicious. I'd only be inconvenienced if this shop went under."

"Yeah, exactly. After all this, I'd be angry if we ended up never getting to eat curry again."

I made a sample post and left mass production to them.

Next was the cloth...

We would need it if things went as I expected.

If I guessed wrong, we wouldn't need it.

There was no need for that yet.

People had already begun gathering outside the shop.

The shop was open-sided, so anyone could come in if they wanted.

The reason they hadn't was that the place gave off a "still busy setting up" atmosphere.

Anyway, first we should lay ropes on the ground to mark out paths.

The areas we would open were the dining area in the southeast and the game area in the northeast.

The remaining areas would be cordoned off, with entry prohibited.

I had the minotaurs and lizardmen who had finished moving the tables keep the customers in the designated area.

We weren't ready yet.

"Marcus, how's the curry?"

"No problems. We just bought the bread, and we've already asked them to supply more."

In front of Marcus, huge pots filled with curry and baskets of bread were piled high. It looked fine.

"We'll serve two sizes of curry, large and regular. I'd like to accommodate our customers' requests, but clearing the crowds comes first this time."

"Understood."

Next was Paula.

"The tableware collection team seems to be in charge of collecting the dishes after customers finish eating... but there's no need to rush. In particular, don't take their dishes away the moment they finish."

"Huh? We shouldn't?"

"That would feel like we're urging them to leave, and make them uncomfortable, wouldn't it? Wait until the customers get up from their seats or ask you to collect their dishes."

"Understood."

"And about the water..."

"Yes. As you instructed, Village Chief, we're providing water for free."

To me, free water was common sense, but that wasn't the case in this city. Something to reflect on.

Still, we couldn't put a price on it at this point. We might as well go all the way.

At present, we were handing customers water along with their curry.

"Besides that, pick a few more people to bring water to the customers. Ideally, people who won't be intimidated even by important figures."

Paula chose five.

They weren't tall, but just as I'd requested, they looked bold.

I put cups of water on a cart and had them push it around between the tables.

"Give water to anyone who wants it. If there are any empty cups, please collect those while you're at it."

"Understood."

"We'll start selling the Oni Race maids' cooking and the dwarves' alcohol a little later."

The Oni Race maids and the dwarves were getting ready beside the dining area's counter.

It was meant to spread out people's attention, but they probably wouldn't get much notice at first.

"It's been... about an hour. We're letting the customers in. Everyone, tidy yourselves up and take your positions."

The posts for organizing the queue were ready in time.

Apparently, several of the customers who had helped make them were professional craftspeople. Impressive.

The divisions between the areas were... fine too.

The game area was still far from ready, but that was only natural.

I signaled to the minotaurs and lizardmen blocking the queue, and the customers began moving.

At the head of the queue, several people with "Staff" written in large letters on their clothes held flags.

They were the customers who had helped earlier. Sorry, but we'd need your help right through to the end.

Don't worry, we'd pay you in goods.

Progenitor.

Sorry, could you cast that voice-amplifying spell one more time?

"Everyone, please stay calm and don't run. We have plenty of curry. Please do not run. First, form a single line."

Even as I called out, I was a little startled by the number of people who had come.

Did we... need more ingredients and reinforcements? Ah... making it free really was going too far. Something to reflect on.

Side story: Hou Leg of the Demon King Kingdom

My name was Hou.

I was the sixth daughter of the Leg family, and one of the Demon King Kingdom's Four Heavenly Kings.

My age... I'd given up counting.

Unfortunately, I still hadn't found a suitable partner.

How strange.

My looks shouldn't have been a problem.

My breasts and hips weren't bad either.

Yes, they were average or above average.

The red wings on my back weren't too conspicuous either, and gave people a sense of reassurance. It might have sounded like I was praising myself, but I thought they were beautiful.

As for assets, even a conservative assessment would call me very wealthy.

Quite apart from the Leg family's holdings, I had territory of my own.

My personality... people had said I was a little fierce, but there was no need to worry. I'd adapt to the man.

If he preferred someone cute, I'd act cute; if he preferred someone cool, I'd act cool.

Was my position among the Four Heavenly Kings an obstacle? If someone would marry me, I could give that up too.

So why? Why wasn't there even anyone approaching me for my position, fame, or money?

Was someone getting in the way? Did they have a grudge against me? If so, name yourself. If you were a man, I'd make you my husband. Revenge play was fun, you know. Don't worry.

I'd do my best. Heh heh heh...

Ahem.

Let's drop this subject. It was making me drink more.

Now then, these past few years.

The Demon King Kingdom had a major problem.

"Big Tree Village."

There was a "Forest of Death" within the Demon King Kingdom's territory. It was a village built inside that "Forest of Death."

At first, I laughed it off when I heard about it.

I thought it was a joke.

After all, this was the "Forest of Death."

The "Forest of Death," which we must neither touch nor approach.

Someone had actually built a village in a place like that? How had they managed it?

Even the Demon King Kingdom's elite troops couldn't defeat the monsters and magical beasts that lived there.

I could have believed a dragon had built a nest there.

Still, the Gate Dragon lived nearby, so I would only have laughed and said it was impossible.

Reality wasn't a joke.

There was a village there, and the Vampire Princess Rurushi and the Annihilation Angel Tia, both considered dangerous individuals by the Demon King Kingdom, had been confirmed to appear there.

There was also the Gate Dragon's daughter, Lastismun.

She was more than dangerous; she was a calamity. It was the equivalent of having a natural disaster living there.

On top of that, many Demon Spiders and Infernal Wolves, species considered high-ranking even within the "Forest of Death," had gathered there.

Now reality itself seemed like a joke.

What on earth had happened to make them stay there...?

Still, Earl Chrome was handling the matter, so I put it out of my mind.

I felt I shouldn't get involved.

That was a mistake.

I should have intervened sooner.

Who would have thought that village had such wonderful alcohol!

And Earl Chrome.

To think you'd given that alcohol only to His Majesty the Demon King and the other Four Heavenly Kings, without bringing me any...

I found myself seriously considering how to wage war on Earl Chrome's territory.

If our sides fought ten times, I could win seven.

But I let the matter go.

He had properly apologized, after all.

So His Majesty the Demon King had been involved too.

You didn't need to bow your head so low. I wasn't that angry.

You only needed to hand over all the alcohol you had.

And you'd remember to bring some back for me from now on too, right?

Oh no.

I shouldn't have focused only on the alcohol. I should have asked them to introduce me to some men.

What an idiot I was!

I made a trip to "Big Tree Village" to buy alcohol directly from them.

I certainly hadn't gone to see the festival.

That was a nightmare.

How strange.

I'd only had a few drinks. Heh heh heh.

I had alcohol.

Yes, alcohol was all I needed.

The alcohol here was superb, and there were so many varieties.

People brewed alcohol in my territory too, but they couldn't produce this flavor. How frustrating.

The dwarves here were wonderful. Even without my saying anything, they brought out all sorts of alcohol.

If only their race weren't dwarves... although I didn't mind, they apparently couldn't accept someone without a beard. Growing a beard would be a bit... yes, it wouldn't suit me. What a shame.

Putting that aside, would they try brewing alcohol using a method I'd thought up sometime?

I'd come up with quite a few ideas over the years.

I couldn't do it in my own territory...

Ah, I wasn't the lord. I was just a blood relative of the lord...

...Entrusted with managing a portion of it. Yes, so there were many restrictions.

Besides, even if I became the lord, the residents' livelihoods would have to come first. Even when having them brew alcohol, quantity would take priority over flavor.

Anyway, I'd pay, so please help me with this.

All I needed was the village chief's permission? Understood. I'd send a proposal to the village chief.

I heard "Big Tree Village" had opened a shop in Shashaato. Good news. But it would be bad if they ran into trouble.

I'd have liked to smooth things over for them... but Shashaato's governor was a capable man, so it should be fine.

For now, I'd have a word with the governor.

Next... I'd send guards.

After all, any deaths or injuries could cause relations to deteriorate.

This wasn't just for the alcohol. I was considering the interests of the entire Demon King Kingdom.

Besides, I wanted information.

If the shop started selling alcohol, they must contact me.

Word came from the guards I'd sent to Shashaato.

It seemed the shop had opened without trouble.

It was a curry shop, and didn't sell alcohol? What a shame.

They were buying bread from the surrounding shops to make up for a rice shortage...

I'd eaten curry at "Big Tree Village," and if it tasted like that, it should sell even with bread.

It seemed they were getting along well with the neighboring shops too.

That was good... but had they written the shop's size incorrectly? Was the number of employees wrong too?

The curry shop seemed to be doing very well.

The miniature bowling in the game area was also very popular.

That was the game I'd seen in "Big Tree Village," wasn't it?

They were letting people play for free... I see, was the aim to attract customers?

Quite capable.

I knew the curry was delicious, so there was no need to report on its flavor.

Why had details about the condition of the miniature bowling lanes been added to the reports?

Lane seven was described in particular detail.

There was no point reporting to me how to knock down a split.

It made me wonder whether he was properly doing his job as a guard.

Something seemed to have happened at the restaurant.

Calling it a riot would be an exaggeration, but it seemed to have been quite a major disturbance.

The cause was that they had run out of ingredients and stopped serving curry...

Ah... yes, that flavor was addictive.

I dreamed about it sometimes, too.

Should I find time to go have some?

Ah, before that, I needed to keep reading the report.

The major disturbance had ended peacefully after someone called the village chief appeared.

Huh? The village chief? It said village chief, but did that mean the chief of Big Tree Village? He had come to Shashaato?

No, no.

I couldn't run from reality.

I couldn't escape into drink.

I-I had to keep reading.

So they had calmed things down by serving free curry, turning it into a small festival?

Apparently, the Goroun Company had given them its full support.

According to this report, the village chief could order the Goroun Company around however he pleased, but surely that couldn't be true.

The Goroun Company was a major company headquartered in Shashaato.

Shashaato accounted for a full three percent of the Demon King Kingdom's economy.

Three percent might not sound impressive as a number, but that wasn't the case.

The Demon King Kingdom's royal capital accounted for five percent.

Every other town accounted for less than one percent each.

That was big.

Very big.

Not only that, considering its distance from the royal capital, its influence could be called considerable.

The Goroun Company was prominent enough to represent and sway a town like Shashaato.

And he kept the chairman of that company at his side like a trusted aide, while freely ordering around its next chairman...

Come to think of it, the chairman of the Goroun Company had visited Big Tree Village, too.

Time for a drink.

A maid had arrived at just the right moment.

Sorry, could you get me a drink?

Ah, not a small glass. Use a large one.

I needed courage to read on.

Um... more trouble?

The neighboring restaurants had complaints...

They said the curry's popularity had already taken their customers, and serving it for free had dealt the finishing blow.

Thinking about it, that was only natural.

Was the chief of Big Tree Village an amateur when it came to running a business?

Hmm...

The village chief had already anticipated the complaints?

He had brought the complainants in one by one and built a street inside the restaurant?

And that had solved the problem?

Hmm?

What was going on?

I didn't understand any of it.

Would it be better to go there and check? Hmm...

I read on.

The miniature bowling had been enlarged into regular bowling.

Lane seven was a tough one this time.

It was a pointless report, but it helped me relax.

Also, there had been a bowling tournament, and the writer had won.

What were you doing? Were you actually doing your job as a bodyguard?

The prize was alcohol, and you were delighted?

Well, congratulations.

Alcohol?

Ah! They had started selling alcohol!

I was going to Shashaato!

Side story: Upheaval among the neighboring vendors

My name was Marisa.

I ran a small restaurant in Shashaato.

My husband was an adventurer.

Sometimes he stayed home for long stretches, and sometimes he went away for months to work.

Although he earned good money, I felt it was about time he settled down, and I would discuss it with him.

Usually, though, it ended in a huge argument and went nowhere.

Enough about my husband. What mattered was my son and daughter.

My son, Mark, was fifteen that year, and my daughter, San, was thirteen.

They normally helped at the restaurant, but they also took turns running a stall on the main road.

It was what you might call training.

Really, it would probably have been better to have them work at another restaurant, but both said they wanted to stay and help me.

I was happy they felt that way, but when I considered their happiness, I felt I shouldn't tie them to the restaurant, and we ended up having a huge argument.

"Then I'll become an adventurer."

Hearing that, I could only give in... the condition I proposed then was that they train by running a stall.

The two of them seemed to have come up with quite a few ideas together, and I thought it had been a very good condition to set.

But for the past few days, they had looked miserable.

According to them, a new restaurant had opened and changed the flow of customers.

How silly. In that case, they could just move somewhere else. After all, being able to move was the advantage of a stall.

At my suggestion, my children heaved a deep sigh.

What, they were actually answering their mother's advice with a sigh?

Apparently, to set up a stall on the street, you first had to choose a location and apply to the Merchants' Guild.

When applying, you paid the Merchants' Guild a site fee to obtain the right to run a stall there for a specified period.

So if you wanted to move, you had to apply to the Merchants' Guild again.

In other words, you had to pay the site fee again.

My children explained this impatiently.

I see. Running a stall had its own difficulties. Although I had told them to train by running one, that had been the suggestion of the woman who ran the restaurant next door, so I hadn't known about any of this.

I gave it plenty of thought myself, hoping to help my children.

But I couldn't come up with any good ideas.

If a little thought were enough to produce a good idea, our restaurant would have grown bigger long ago.

Sigh.

It certainly did make you want to sigh.

I usually left the shopping to my children, but that day I decided to go myself. I wanted to see how the stall was doing.

I had heard the rumors, but that restaurant really was huge.

Was this the restaurant whose opening had changed the flow of people and made my children suffer?

It apparently sold a food called curry, but it probably wasn't anything special.

It was only popular because it was something new... still, there really were a lot of people.

If only one percent of the customers here went to our restaurant... no, to my children's stall.

But it smelled so good.

...I had intended to eat lunch at home, but I would scout out the competition.

My name was Mark.

When I was little, food stalls had almost all sold grilled food or very similar soups.

But over the past few years...

The food sold at Shashaato's stalls had evolved. No, not just the stalls, but the regular restaurants, too.

I didn't know why. The veteran vendors said the Goroun Company had a hand in it, but heaven only knew the truth.

Well, that didn't matter.

What mattered was that I intended to follow that trend, so I had started a food stall with my little sister.

We sold grilled lamb on the bone. Although it was a food that had been around for a long time, we

used a certain herb and put a lot of effort into the seasoning.

That made it quite popular, and people from other stalls even came to scout us out.

Business was better than expected, which made me a little proud. I even dreamed that if we kept it up, we might have a proper shop someday.

Days of rain shattered my dream.

Bad weather was a stall's weakness. Rain had a particularly severe effect on customer numbers. When it rained heavily, not opening the stall might have been the right choice.

Sigh. Making your way in this world wasn't so easy.

Shashaato's winters weren't too cold, but they had the disadvantage of considerable rainfall.

Still, there was nothing I could do about the weather.

That was the gods' domain.

I could only do my best at what I could do.

The world was cruel.

The flow of people suddenly changed.

I knew why.

Construction had begun at one of the four corners of the northern district, on what had been a materials storage site.

I didn't know what they were building, but almost all the craftsmen in town had been hired. The laborers, too.

At that rate, the flow of people wouldn't return anytime soon.

I had to consider moving the stall. Fortunately, it was almost time to renew.

How about giving up our current spot and choosing somewhere near the former materials storage site?

At that size, construction would probably continue for a while. If all the craftsmen and laborers gathered there...

The site fee for a corner with plenty of foot traffic was higher, but we should have been able to earn it back quickly.

My sister agreed.

All right, we would move there.

Just as expected, our food was popular with the craftsmen and laborers. Sales over those few days were more than double what they had been at our previous location.

Just as I was excitedly preparing to make up for our earlier lost earnings, construction finished.

How was that possible? So soon? I had thought it would take a year.

And what was this building? A building without walls? Had it gone up so quickly because they had skipped the walls?

It looked like nothing but an enormous roof.

While I was thinking that, they had already started selling food there.

Curry.

Perhaps word had spread beforehand, because business was booming from the very first day.

That huge building drew in all the foot traffic, and everyone walked straight past my stall...

No, it was only because it was something new.

It was fine. Everyone would get tired of it soon. They ought to get tired of it.

So I couldn't panic. I mustn't panic.

My name was San.

I was a cute girl who ran a stall with her big brother.

I could feel a shadow falling over my cute face.

There was only one reason.

The stall's sales had gotten worse. Extremely worse.

Changing locations had been a fatal mistake.

A complete failure.

We had moved our stall because we figured the construction workers would come buy from us, but nobody could have guessed that the work would be finished in no time, or that a restaurant serving such delicious food would open there.

Ah... come to think of it, when we went to the Merchants' Guild to apply for a change of location, they gently suggested that we might be better off staying put.

They must have already known what kind of place was opening. We should have just asked them. Lesson learned.

Once I finished reflecting on that, it was time to come up with a plan.

What should we do?

The right answer was probably to move somewhere else immediately, but the problem was the space rental fee.

We hadn't earned enough to pay the next fee.

There were still two and a half months until renewal. That was plenty of time... but at our current sales, even the next fee would be a problem.

...We weren't going to make it, were we?

My older brother still wanted to keep trying, but wouldn't the right answer be to give up the stall and work at another shop?

Like the one right in front of us...

Their staff uniforms were so cute.

If I worked there too, would I get to wear one of those uniforms?

Some of them only wore aprons. Did you have to prove yourself before you could wear one?

A few days later.

Something big happened.

There was a huge commotion at the restaurant in front of us.

Ah, that wasn't the big thing. It was what happened afterward.

The restaurant was actually serving free curry today.

I had to get in line right away. I'd been interested in it for a while.

Such a lovely smell always drifted over, and all the customers seemed to relish every bite.

The stall? Watching the stall? It wasn't like any customers were coming anyway.

We were temporarily closed.

I had to tell Mom and my brother.

Delicious.

And this was bad. Really bad.

Somewhere deep down, I'd still believed our stall could hold its own, but we'd been utterly defeated. There was no comparison.

Mom used to worry about my brother and me and say a few things, but ever since she tried the curry here a while back, she hadn't said a word.

I'd thought she was watching over us with a gentle smile, but that wasn't a gentle smile. It was a smile of pity. I finally understood.

I looked at my brother eating beside me.

Yep, he'd fallen into despair.

Mom... had gone back to line up for another helping.

No, but what were we supposed to do?

I thought it over as I ate my second helping of curry.

There was nothing we could do.

Our stall's sales weren't zero at the moment.

Some customers came to buy from us because they were still a little hungry after finishing their curry... that seemed to be how it was.

I'd been wondering why, but after eating it myself, I understood.

A serving of curry was fairly substantial, but it left you wanting a little more.

Five medium copper coins was cheap for a meal like this, but ordering two servings wasn't cheap anymore.

That was why they came to our stall.

All we could do was target those customers, hold out until the deadline, and earn enough for the next space rental fee.

If we couldn't, we'd close the stall for a while.

We could take odd jobs or do whatever else, as long as we earned enough for the fee.

How about it, Brother?

I didn't think drinking as many glasses of water as you could would hurt a place like this.

They gave that away for free normally.

The free curry was a big deal, but something else big happened afterward.

The nearby stallholders and restaurant owners got together and came to complain to this restaurant.

As for their complaints... honestly, just listening from the sidelines was embarrassing.

"It's your fault our business is doing badly. How are you going to compensate us?"

What was there to compensate them for?

Business was survival of the fittest. Complaining that someone else's business was too good-what did they want? For them to stop doing business?

Besides, who could prove that this restaurant opening had made their business worse?

Even the Merchants' Guild wouldn't back them up on that.

Curious how the restaurant would handle it, I pricked up my ears... and a bigwig from the Goroun Company appeared.

I was so startled that I fell off my chair.

Fortunately, I'd already finished my curry.

It was Mr. Marlon, the Goroun Company's next president.

He helped me up after I fell off my chair. What a nice man.

The people who had come to complain... seemed to recognize him too. Everyone went quiet.

That was only natural.

After all, the Goroun Company was a major trading company that could order the Merchants' Guild around.

If you defied them, you wouldn't be able to do business anywhere in the Demon King Kingdom, let alone this city.

A man of such standing, Mr. Marlon led the complainers to a nearby table.

At first, I thought he was going to win them over with curry, but they started talking business.

...I pricked up my ears.

That wasn't rude.

They shouldn't have talked business where other people could hear.

Or rather, he must have known people would hear him. He wasn't making any effort to hide it.

If anything, it felt as though he was deliberately letting everyone nearby hear.

Mr. Marlon's explanation was complicated, but the gist was simple.

"This establishment still has plenty of space. Would you like to set up shop here?"

Each shop would get a space three meters square.

There were two major rules.

First, you could only call out to customers in front of your own shop.

Second, if you caused a fire or food poisoning, you were out immediately.

"The space rental fee is ten large copper coins a month. If you use fire, that's an additional five large copper coins. Locations will be reassigned by lottery roughly every six months. However, shops that attract large crowds... for example, ones popular enough to have people lining up, will be asked to move to a location we designate."

Ten large copper coins a month? Five extra for using fire, so our stall would pay fifteen? Cheap.

I looked at my brother.

He was frantically checking our money pouch.

But I didn't think we had enough.

For one thing, we'd just paid for meat, and for another, considering our recent sales...

Should we borrow from Mom?

Mom was muttering to herself as she ate fried chicken that cost money.

When had she bought that?

Make sure to save me a piece... no, two!

Ah, but would moving an outdoor stall inside really improve business?

Gathering food businesses together so that people looking for a meal would gather here too?

...That did make sense.

There would also be shared tables and chairs inside.

Water was free too? And with a roof, we wouldn't have to worry about rain?

They also planned to bring in shops selling other things eventually.

It might be good.

"Ah, yes, one more thing. The space rental fee is ten large copper coins a month, but since we've caused everyone so much trouble this time, the manager says the first signup will be free. Try it for a month, then see how things go..."

"We'll sign up! Please!"

The first time was free, so I shouted before Mr. Marlon had even finished speaking.

I knew I was being rude, but I couldn't let this opportunity slip away.

Other people who heard him started raising their hands too.

Mr. Marlon looked at me and smiled.

"Then I'll speak with this young lady first."

Thank goodness I hadn't upset him.

Our stall, which had been outside until recently, moved indoors.

Even with a fire burning inside, the smoke drifted upward. Amazing.

And our sales... increased.

They weren't much at first, but the curry restaurant's manager, the man called the village chief, gave a demonstration.

He dipped the mutton we sold into curry and ate it.

That was a huge revelation.

And it helped us enormously.

"This mutton is delicious dipped in curry too. We can remove the bones if you'd like."

Coexisting with curry.

And...

"If you're tired of curry, how about a change of flavor?"

We'd already earned fifteen large copper coins.

I made up my mind to keep working hard here next month.

My brother seemed to feel the same way.

Side story: Marlon, the Goroun Company's next president

My name was Marlon.

I was the company president's eldest son and the Goroun Company's next president.

I had children, and I considered my life smooth sailing.

If I had any complaints, it was that I was a little busy.

The Goroun Company had more than doubled in size over the past few years.

Dad, weren't you working a little too hard? Not long ago, you'd been saying things like, "Maybe it's time I retired."

When I visited the royal capital a while back, I had the honor of an audience with the Demon King.

The Demon King was impressive. Very imposing.

You'd already met the Demon King several times, Dad? That's my dad for you.

Ah, no retiring. You still needed to keep at it.

If you retired without asking, I wouldn't let you see your grandsons or granddaughters.

Behind the Goroun Company's success over the past few years was a connection to "Big Tree Village."

At first, I thought it was some kind of code.

Perhaps the other party had terrible relations with the Demon King Kingdom, so we couldn't trade openly.

After all, I'd never seen any of the crops they shipped us before.

But Dad insisted that the village existed.

Its location was right in the middle of the "Forest of Death."

He said there was a village inhabited by the Vampire Princess, the Annihilation Angel, the Bludgeoning Angel, High Elves, members of the Oni Race, lizardmen, elder dwarves, dragons, and lots of Demon Spiders and Infernal Wolves.

Was this a bedtime story?

Perhaps he was saying that to scare off our competitors, but I thought he ought to make it a little more believable.

It was a shame Dad wouldn't tell me the truth, but he probably had his reasons. That was fine.

I'd leave that side of things to Dad and focus my efforts on the company.

After I firmly declared that, I was tied up and taken to the Gate Dragon's lair.

I was sorry. I shouldn't have doubted Dad.

Also, I hadn't expected the Gate Dragon to serve us tea.

It was a valuable experience. What wonderful tea. Ah, this came from "Big Tree Village" too? Hahaha.

From then on, I would act on the premise that "Big Tree Village" existed.

So, never mind "Big Tree Village"-please don't take me to the Gate Dragon's lair either.

Having to change my underwear at my age was mentally hard to bear.

Also, please keep what happened this time a secret from my wife and children.

One day, while I was hard at work, Dad called me over.

It seemed terribly urgent. That was unusual.

Dad was always telling other people to stay calm, yet now he was panicking... What on earth had happened?

"The village chief of Big Tree Village has come to this city."

Oh, that was Dad's responsibility. Good luck.

Dad put me in a headlock for the first time in ages.

I-I was kidding! I would help, so let go! Let go!

Unwilling to be the only one dragged into this, I called in my cousins Tito and Randy.

They could blame their bad luck for being in Shashaato.

And Milford, I was counting on him. I really was counting on him.

It probably wouldn't come to needing the abilities of a former rank-six adventurer, but I was counting on him!

Yes, that was a good answer.

He understood the situation, right? Exactly. We had to find this person called the village chief.

Now, let the search begin.

Hmm? They didn't know what the village chief looked like?

Not to worry.

A beastman warrior named Guraru was with the village chief.

Yes, the winner of the martial arts tournament. People called him the Martial God, right?

Not to worry. There was no need to run. He wasn't an enemy, just a way to identify our target.

Guraru was currently dressed as an adventurer.

There had been a commotion near the east gate this morning, right? Yes, that one. Guraru had dressed like that to conceal himself and avoid causing a commotion.

That would make him impossible to identify? No need to panic.

The cloak Guraru wore was bright red.

The village chief's destination was the Shashaato Big Roof to the north.

What was the Shashaato Big Roof?

That huge building that had recently been completed.

The one Dad had discussed with the Merchants' Guild... Yes, that one. The place that sold curry.

They had gone there yesterday too, hadn't they?

I didn't know why it had been named the Shashaato Big Roof, but that should have been the name registered with the Merchants' Guild.

They were used to calling it the curry shop?

I see.

...We would need to make a sign.

Back to the subject.

Anyway, the village chief's destination should have been that curry shop, but he hadn't arrived yet.

From that, we could infer that he most likely didn't know where it was. In other words, he was lost.

According to Dad, things could get very dangerous if we didn't find him soon.

Ah, no, no. The village chief wasn't in danger.

Um... For example, imagine the Demon King's daughter... Her Highness the princess getting lost.

If anything happened to Her Highness, the Demon King would be angry, right? That sort of danger.

Yes, this was serious. I was glad they understood.

Let's do our best to find him.

We met up safely.

Thank goodness.

The village chief seemed to be quite close to Dad.

He looked friendly.

But no matter how I looked at him, he was an ordinary person.

This man was the village chief of that Big Tree Village?

No, I shouldn't doubt it. I mustn't doubt it.

Guraru, standing beside the village chief, obeyed him completely.

That alone proved he wasn't an ordinary person.

My assessment had been right.

When we arrived at the Shashaato Big Roof, there happened to be a commotion, and the village chief settled it immediately.

His handling of it was astonishingly deft.

Then he issued one instruction after another, and in no time, the curry shop was back in business.

A village chief who had lived in a village for years? Was he really not an old hand from some company?

Tito, Randy, and Milford had already become his subordinates.

His calculation speed was extraordinary too, and he knew very well how to put people to work.

Come to think of it... Where had those people come from? They were from the Oni Race, weren't they?

In other words, he had brought them from the village? Then the ones beside him weren't elves... but High Elves? The ones called man-eaters? He had them doing craftwork?

He also had elves with a different skin color making something, and sent that Guraru out shopping on errands...

But why keep Dad beside him? Dad would have had no trouble communicating with the governor here on his own... Ah, to fill in the gaps in his local knowledge? I see.

He not only understood what he lacked, but could make up for it... Amazing.

I had also thought that giving away merchandise for free was going too far, even to settle a problem, but that wasn't actually the case. It was bait.

He drew in customers, then persuaded the other nearby shops in front of them.

And he had me, from the Goroun Company, handle the negotiations.

The cloth he had told Tito and the others to prepare was for deciding the locations.

Simply spreading a sufficiently large piece of cloth over an empty area let people picture how big that space was.

In no time, inside the shop there was

a street.

How could he come up with an idea like that? Wasn't the village chief a little too amazing?

This incident benefited the Goroun Company too.

Not in money, but in knowledge.

I had learned a way of doing business.

Arrange shops in a circle inside the building, and gather customers who wanted their goods.

I had thought gathering businesses of the same kind would hurt sales, but that wasn't the case.

Thinking about it, it was just like a festival.

When similar stalls stood together, customers who wanted to buy those things gathered there.

The village chief had brought that method into everyday life.

Other places probably couldn't copy it immediately.

But the Goroun Company already knew the method. That was a tremendous asset.

There were plenty of little ideas too.

Customers who couldn't read were handed illustrated menus.

Employees who couldn't calculate were given quick-reference calculation tables.

Free water alone, along with tables and chairs people could use without ordering, could draw in customers.

The game area had both paid and free sections, but people could enjoy themselves just watching too.

I didn't know what purpose a currency exchange with no fees served, but judging by how the shops' sales had grown since it opened, it probably wasn't a bad idea.

Even so, since some shops made currency exchange their main business, there would be a limit on the amount.

But the most important thing was the stage.

There were crowds here. Plays or musical performances would work well.

I had thought he would bring in a famous theater troupe or musical ensemble from elsewhere, but he left it alone.

He simply lent out the space, allowing people to use the stage however they liked.

The first performance was a short play by a troupe made up of neighborhood wives.

Even out of politeness, I couldn't call it brilliant, but the atmosphere was very lively.

What the village chief had prepared was a stage, but not merely a stage.

It was a place to present the fruits of people's efforts.

That was enough.

"Dad, it looks like I'm still too green."

"It's nothing. I feel the same way myself. No need to be discouraged."

"I'll work even harder... By the way, can I ask something?"

"What?"

"The player in the lane at the far end... Unless I'm mistaken-"

Wasn't that the Demon King?

"Hahaha, the man beside him is Governor Ifrus. But there's no room for sentiment in a contest. Don't hold back. Give it everything you've got."

"...I-I understand."

The Shashaato Big Roof bowling tournament.

My goal was to win.

I came third.

The man who took first place seemed to be a regular at the shop.

He was good. I would have to come practice often too.

Ah! I got it! Holding tournaments brought in more people who wanted to win them!

Yes, another lesson learned!

3. The village chief's same-day return

Phew, we barely managed it.

That was how I felt.

Good grief, that had been close. Giving away free curry had drawn more people than I'd imagined.

It was all my fault. Even if it had been to quell the commotion, casually saying it would be free had been too rash. A lesson for me.

And to all the employees and everyone who came from the village to help, thank you.

I also had to thank Michael and his group, Gordy, and the other regulars who helped.

Although the idea of putting shops inside the shop surprised everyone, they accepted it.

As for me, I'd originally intended something like a flea market, but it had turned into a food court.

Still, I'd anticipated that giving away free curry would probably draw angry owners of nearby eateries, and had decided to start recruiting tenants from among them, so perhaps this was inevitable.

Progress on that front had been astonishingly smooth.

No, that was probably because Michael's son, Marlon, was so capable. Impressive.

Marlon's cousins Tito and Randy were very capable too. Michael had probably trained them. I envied him for having such a dependable next generation.

My sons too... No, no, for now, I just wanted them to grow up healthy.

The shop normally closed when it got dark, but today it stayed open a little later.

Because we were selling fried chicken and alcohol, the customers were slow to leave.

The free curry offer had ended, though.

"Village chief, won't it be a problem if you don't head back soon?"

The Progenitor said that to me.

When I came to Shashaato, I had promised those staying in the village that I would return the same day.

I would have liked to stay until closing if possible, but it couldn't be helped. See you tomorrow.

I said my goodbyes to Marcus, Paula, Michael, and the others preparing for tomorrow, then returned to the village.

Those who had delivered additional ingredients and those who had come to help returned with me.

Only Guraru stayed behind. There probably wouldn't be a problem, but it was a precaution.

"Sorry about this."

He said not to worry and accepted the task. That was a great help.

After returning to the village, I enjoyed a late dinner.

The shop's employees had taken turns eating, but we had declined.

The atmosphere at the time hadn't allowed us to enjoy a leisurely meal.

Still, we had snuck a few bites... Or rather, taste-tested.

Especially the fried chicken I had asked the Oni Race maids to make.

Since it was competing with free curry, nobody bought any at first.

So I gave some as gifts to customers who helped clean up.

Once people tried it, someone was bound to take the bait.

The employees and I ate some too. So did Michael and his group.

Whose reaction had looked better?

One medium copper coin bought three small pieces of fried chicken. I didn't know whether that was expensive or cheap, but it sold very well.

The beer the dwarves were selling alongside it was also selling briskly.

As a snack to go with drinks, fried chicken was more popular than curry.

I ate as I recalled what had happened, then gave everyone a report after finishing.

I explained why I had come home late.

The Progenitor had already told them when he came back for reinforcements, so it hadn't caused any major confusion.

After telling everyone I would go again tomorrow, I finished my report.

Yeah.

I was glad everyone accepted it.

The next day, the same group as yesterday headed to Shashaato.

It really was all thanks to the Progenitor's help.

The minotaurs and lizardmen didn't have to force themselves to come along, you know? Though I was grateful they were willing to help.

Marcus, Paula, Guraru, and Michael were waiting for me.

The shop was already open, with customers trickling in.

Business hours started earlier than I had imagined.

Were Marcus and Paula all right?

You hadn't stayed up all night, had you?

If Guraru was right, they seemed to have gotten a proper night's sleep.

In any case, I asked the Oni Race maids accompanying us to help in the kitchen.

The dwarves handled liquor sales, just as they had yesterday.

Still, surely nobody would drink this early in the morning... Someone ordered some. Had you been waiting a long time?

Until now, the shop had been selling two thousand servings of curry a day.

At five medium copper coins a serving, that meant daily sales of ten thousand medium copper coins.

Then there were the employees' wages, three medium copper coins per person per day.

Two hundred people... Two hundred and seven, to be exact, so six hundred and twenty-one coins in total.

I had thought three medium copper coins a day was too little, but Michael said it was already too much, since we provided all their food, clothing, and lodging. Was that so?

Purchasing costs, including bread, came to three thousand medium copper coins a day.

On top of that, hiring Gordy and the others to organize the lines, waste disposal fees, and assorted other expenses cost about another five hundred coins a day.

So the remaining five thousand eight hundred and seventy-nine medium copper coins were the daily profit. Though the amount wasn't the same every day.

Marcus and Paula had been running the shop for about thirty days, so did that put the profit so far at roughly one hundred and seventy-six thousand coins?

Apparently, the initial investment in tableware, employee clothing, aprons, additional miniature bowling sets, and so on had totaled about three hundred thousand coins, so they were still in the red.

I see.

Certainly, if we included the construction costs, we would probably be overwhelmingly in the red.

No, no, Marcus, Paula, you didn't need to apologize. You were doing a good job.

In fact, selling two thousand servings a day was impressive.

Business hours were... about ten hours a day?

In other words, they sold an average of two hundred servings an hour.

That worked out to three or four servings a minute.

They certainly needed this many employees.

For these employees, we had arranged an employee-only inn... Well, a dormitory.

They all lived in the dormitory.

The dormitory was a three-story building, with twelve rooms on each floor.

Two hundred and seven people were packed into a place with only thirty-six rooms?

That meant squeezing five or six people into each room, but nobody complained.

Apparently, just having curtains dividing the rooms into something like individual rooms was already a luxury.

Was that so

?

Although the dormitory had toilets, it had no bathhouse.

So we had built a bathhouse next to it.

The employees needed to keep clean, after all.

Not all these employees worked during the day, either.

Some helped with ingredient preparation at night, while others managed the dormitory or the bathhouse.

Subtracting those people... there were usually about a hundred and twenty to a hundred and thirty people in the shop.

It had felt like there were even more yesterday, so perhaps they had reached their limits in various ways.

Could it be that we needed to hire even more employees?

Well, things would return to normal starting today, but...

The southwestern district had become lively.

That was because stalls and other things were being moved in one after another.

Although few were ready to open for business yet, the place was full of energy. Of course, there was trouble too.

Gordy would handle it... but we still needed enough people to prevent trouble.

I asked the minotaurs and lizardmen to patrol.

Don't threaten people with weapons. Put down your swords and carry clubs instead.

Michael's son Marlon was also running around the southwestern district. Sorry for the trouble.

The mountain elves continued their work from yesterday.

The High Elves... since they had finished the partitions, they could help the mountain elves.

No... this place was so big.

I looked toward the miniature bowling area.

Hmm, it was the same size as the miniature bowling setup in the village... but wouldn't it be all right to put regular-sized bowling lanes here?

I didn't know the correct length of a regular bowling lane, so I decided the distance based on my memories of bowling when I was young.

After all, nobody knew the correct distance, so even if I got it wrong, nobody would get angry, right?

I had originally planned to remove the miniature bowling setup, but a group who looked like regulars stared at me intently, so I decided to move it instead.

"The more games we have, the better, anyway."

I asked the High Elves to make the lanes.

I made the balls and pins myself.

These were High Elves who could build a house in a day.

In just half a day, they had neatly lined up lanes twenty meters long and one meter wide.

There were ten lanes for now.

There was room for more, but this would do for the moment.

The reason was staffing.

Retrieving the balls after they were thrown and resetting the knocked-down pins all had to be done by hand.

So there was also a sloping channel beside each lane.

It was deeper at the front and shallower at the far end.

The person receiving the ball at the far end could put it into the channel and let it roll back to the bowler.

That should make things somewhat easier.

We also prepared frames to make arranging the bowling pins easier.

They were thick boards with holes cut through the bottom.

By lowering the board and inserting the pins into the holes, the pins could be set in fixed positions.

That should speed up resetting the pins.

As for testing the bowling... the shop's regulars were eager to try, so I left it to them.

The employees in charge of the games area set up the pins, but when they couldn't keep up, the customers went down to help. I was very grateful.

"Not at all. We get to enjoy it for free, after all."

"You could charge for it, couldn't you?"

They really were good regulars.

Still, I had no intention of charging for bowling as it was now.

That was probably because I knew about bowling run by machines.

Despite all the methods I had thought up, returning the balls and resetting the pins still took a long time.

The pace was very slow.

For me, throwing a few balls was fine, but playing a whole game required patience. It took too long.

Well, I could just chat with the people playing with me... but I wanted to keep playing without interruptions.

At present, only the children felt the same way I did.

The other adults took their time enjoying the village's miniature bowling.

Perhaps I lacked refinement.

Ahem.

Still, considering that I wanted revenue to cover maintenance costs... would people buy their own personal bowling balls and pins if we sold them?

If bowling itself could break even, hiring people specifically to handle it was another option.

"Now that the distance is longer, it's hard to get good results unless you keep your posture steady."

"The balls are bigger too, after all."

"How do you use the balls with holes in them?"

"Besides the characteristics of the lane, we'll probably need to understand the characteristics of the balls too, or it'll be hard to do well."

Everyone seemed to be having fun, so perhaps I should hold a tournament sometime.

That should help spread the word.

The ring toss and target shooting games I had asked the mountain elves to make were also taking shape.

For these... I would have Michael and the others try them.

First was the ring toss.

For one medium copper coin, you received five rope rings.

You threw the rope rings at the prizes, and as long as one caught on a prize, you could take it home.

The rules were simple.

"Throwing accurately... is quite difficult."

Michael missed every throw.

Tito landed two rings.

Randy landed one.

Milford successfully landed four.

The rope rings were fairly large, and they only had to catch on something, so the requirements were lenient.

However, there were obstructing poles and walls near the expensive prizes.

Obstacles.

We couldn't let people win them that easily.

Michael and the others felt it would be fine to make it a little harder.

At the current difficulty, people with nimble hands would make a killing. I see.

I asked the mountain elves in charge of the ring toss to improve it.

Would making the rope rings smaller be better? Or changing the obstacles? Adding weights to shift the rings' center of gravity was a last resort.

Next was target shooting.

Customers would shoot at targets with the bows and arrows we provided.

At first, I had intended for them to aim at the prizes, but when we tested the bow's strength, we put a hole in a prize.

So we switched to targets.

The targets were modeled after unpleasant monsters and the like, with point values marked in various places.

For one medium copper coin, you received three arrows.

The prize you received varied depending on your total score with those three arrows.

Places that were easy to aim at were worth fewer points, while difficult places were worth more.

However, the targets weren't stationary.

A mechanism made by the mountain elves turned a rotating platform, making the targets move irregularly.

Although this was a game for enjoying shooting at targets, you shouldn't expect to hit them easily.

"With this bow... is that right?"

If I remembered correctly, Milford used to be an adventurer.

He examined the bow with great interest.

It was a small bow even a child could draw, but we had also prepared larger bows in case anyone objected.

"Is the bowstring so loose to adjust the difficulty?"

"It's for safety. We want even complete beginners to be able to play."

"I see. But isn't this bow too good? You could use it just by tightening the string again. There's a risk someone might take it."

The bow was a secondhand one we had bought in this city.

I didn't think it had been that expensive... but I would still be annoyed if someone took it.

"Also, although you've made it look like a toy, since people will be shooting arrows, you should enclose it with higher walls. You need to prevent any chance of an arrow flying somewhere it shouldn't."

He had a point.

Besides, these walls would keep people from grabbing things and running off.

Yep, we would use them.

Mr. Michael, Tito, and Randy seemed eager to try, so we enclosed the area with simple walls before letting them have a go.

"Oh! It flew! And it went straight!"

"With a bow like this, even I can use it."

"I did it! Right in the bull's-eye! Ten points!"

They were surprisingly excited.

This looked like it would be even more popular than the ring toss.

Nearby, Milford had already bought extra arrows from the mountain elves.

His first batch of arrows... seemed to have all missed.

People accustomed to bows might actually find it harder.

Dividing it into beginner, intermediate, and advanced levels, with different prizes for each level, might also work.

I tried too, but all my shots missed.

It was surprisingly frustrating.

Now, next up was...

Hmm?

Marlon was looking our way.

Uh, I wasn't playing.

This was genuine work... but his gaze didn't seem questioning.

Had something happened?

While I was wondering, Mr. Michael gave me the answer.

The person standing beside Marlon was from the Merchants' Guild.

Chapter 4: Taxes and Trouble

Shashaato's taxes were broadly divided into three types.

A head tax, a land tax, and a harbor tax.

The head tax was levied on everyone who lived here, regardless of age, with each resident paying one person's share.

Those subject to the tax were

people whose homes were in Shashaato. Travelers were not included.

As for those living on the streets... they were excluded and let off the hook.

Last year's head tax had been six large copper coins per person.

Paying this tax entitled people to various services in Shashaato.

Though those services probably weren't what motivated them, very few people fell behind on their head tax.

The land tax was levied when land was bought or sold, and the buyer paid it.

The rate varied depending on the timing and circumstances, but it was usually ten to twenty percent of the market price.

Customarily, it was paid when the change in land ownership was reported.

Finally, there was the harbor tax.

This tax was collected when ships docked in Shashaato.

It was broken down according to the type and size of the ship.

That covered the explanation. Had you noticed?

In Shashaato, if you didn't buy or sell land or operate a ship, the only tax you paid was the head tax.

In other words, business earnings weren't taxed.

Could that really happen? Yes, it could.

At the root of the issue was this world's low literacy rate.

Reading and writing were for important people. Everyone else had no need to read or write.

Though merchants apparently needed to be literate, that only applied to traders who needed it, or the managers and employees of large stores. For stallholders and the managers and employees of small shops, being unable to read or write was normal.

Yes, it wasn't unusual at all.

And did these illiterate people keep daily accounts of their revenue?

The answer was no.

Without accounts, they didn't know how much they had earned or lost.

In that case, how were you supposed to collect taxes from such shops?

Since land and harbor taxes guaranteed the city's operating funds, the officials weren't eager to collect that sort of tax either.

Then could large businesses just rake in the profits?

Some might think so, but that wasn't quite the case.

Certain fees were collected that weren't called taxes because they weren't levied equally, but were very similar to them.

Water fees, disaster prevention fees, garbage disposal fees, and sewer usage fees.

Water fees.

This city had few wells, and its water came through waterways drawn from upstream.

This money covered the maintenance and management of those waterways.

Disaster prevention fees.

If a fire broke out in town, the townspeople worked together to extinguish it.

This money went toward relief for the affected households or medical expenses for those who worked hard fighting the fire.

Garbage disposal fees.

As long as people lived, they produced garbage.

These covered the cost of hiring people to collect and dispose of it.

Sewer usage fees.

The city had sewers, with pools full of slimes at designated locations to purify the wastewater.

This money covered the maintenance and management of the sewers.

Incidentally, wealthier households often purified their wastewater at home before discharging it into the sewers.

These four fees were collected from the users.

Shouldn't this sort of expense come out of the city's operating funds? The governor's answer to that was simple.

"In that case, would you mind if we abolished these four things for administrative convenience?"

In other words, the government would keep its hands off these four services, and everyone would have to sort things out themselves.

The residents thought that was better than having someone meddle arbitrarily, so they agreed.

That had happened several hundred years ago.

Now, the amounts paid in those fees and donations affected the operation of Shashaato's Merchants' Guild.

The Merchants' Guild representative had come to discuss payment of these four fees and donations.

Opening shops inside a shop complicated matters a little, so they wanted us to work something out.

"For water and garbage disposal, we'll determine the amounts based on usage and pay them together..."

"This shop's toilets have a purification pool, so the sewer usage fee shouldn't change, right?"

"The problem is the disaster prevention fee."

"Yes. That's a fixed amount regardless of the shop's size, so the question is how to classify shops inside a shop."

"Stalls didn't pay it to begin with, did they? If they set up inside a shop, do they have to pay a disaster prevention fee?"

"We have considered that, at least, so we plan to charge higher space fees to shops that use fire."

The Merchants' Guild representative, Mr. Michael, Marlon, Tito, Randy, and the others discussed it beside me.

I would leave this to the people who understood it.

No, I understood it somewhat, but I didn't know the local conventions or customs.

After all, I had only heard about it from Mr. Michael.

I told Mr. Michael our policy was to "pay what we owe, as long as the amount isn't outrageous," then waited quietly with Milford.

Oh, Milford had gone back to the target-shooting area.

He seemed to be giving the mountain elves plenty of suggestions about the targets' movement and designs.

I wanted to join that discussion too, but leaving here... didn't seem appropriate. I was the person in charge, after all.

Nothing for it.

It looked like this would take a while, so I borrowed an empty table and chairs.

"Finally, regarding the donation."

Once most of the discussion was over, the Merchants' Guild representative addressed me with a serious expression that said, "This is the main point."

They called it a "donation," but it was essentially sponsorship for the Merchants' Guild.

Each unit was set at one silver coin, and shops above a certain size had to pay.

I had heard about this when we discussed opening a shop in Shashaato, so I wasn't surprised.

Just as I was about to ask how much people generally paid, Mr. Michael stepped in to stop things.

"Hold on. By custom, no donation should be required in a shop's first year, correct?"

"That is true, but this shop seems to have already made quite a lot..."

"Perhaps, but it's far too soon to make an exception on that basis. It would be one thing if we volunteered to pay, but isn't it inappropriate for you to demand it?"

"I think so too, but... I'm sorry. These are orders from above. If possible, we'd like you to donate around a thousand units."

A thousand units... meant a thousand silver coins, or a million medium copper coins?

"You're telling me, to my face... that these are orders from above?"

"Yes. Orders from above."

"I see."

The Merchants' Guild representative and Mr. Michael seemed to understand each other, but I didn't follow.

I turned to Marlon for help.

"Um, the Merchants' Guild as it stands wouldn't defy the Goroun Company. Almost all its senior members are subordinates my father sent there."

The Goroun Company had once been merely one of Shashaato Town's influential companies, but now it was the company that represented Shashaato.

For a shop that the Goroun Company should have been involved with, "orders from above" meant the other party held a position above the Merchants' Guild.

"The city's representative... Governor Ifrus? Is this his idea?"

"No, Governor Ifrus is extremely capable. He wouldn't do something like this. In this situation, 'above'... probably means a noble."

"A noble."

Come to think of it, this was an aristocratic society.

In other words, some noble wanted our shop to pay a million medium copper coins?

However I looked at it, this wasn't well-intentioned.

Was this Merchants' Guild representative in on it too?

"Ah, n-no, he's all right. I think he's probably being threatened."

Marlon directed my attention to the Merchants' Guild representative's hands.

The Merchants' Guild representative kept tugging his left sleeve with his right hand.

Apparently, that was the Merchants' Guild's internal signal for "please help me."

"Milford already went to gather people."

Huh? Milford had gone to watch the target shooting... but at some point, he had disappeared. I see.

Had he slipped away naturally to seek help?

Should I ask the High Elves and mountain elves for help too?

Come to think of it, where had Guraru gone?

Guraru was inside the shop, holding someone captive.

"Marlon, have you seen the person Guraru's holding over there before?"

"Huh? That's... I don't recognize him, but judging by his clothes, he might be a noble."

Probably.

I thought so too.

The Merchants' Guild representative noticed him as well.

"...That's him."

So that man was the enemy?

I waved to Guraru, asking her to bring over the noble she was holding.

We tied the noble up with rope and sat him on the floor.

"You fools! How dare you do this to me! Don't think I'll let you off lightly!"

"Mr. Michael, can I attack him in a situation like this?"

"That would be difficult."

"Then can I demand compensation?"

"Though there was malicious intent, all he's done so far is demand a donation. There hasn't been any actual harm..."

"What about spoiling my mood?"

"I'm afraid not..."

It seemed I couldn't retaliate.

"Don't ignore me!"

The noble was a young man.

By my reckoning, he was probably only in his early twenties.

He liked black clothes and had ram's horns on either side of his head.

Oh, the horns on his head seemed to come off. They were probably accessories.

"Hey, give those horns back! Don't be insolent!"

A small fry.

No matter how I looked at him, he was a small fry.

Actually, I even suspected he might not be a noble.

But according to the people from the Merchants' Guild, he apparently belonged to a noble family with an ancient bloodline.