by Funa
The military had many connections, from the head of noble families to their children, and many, many more. Of course, this would include well-known merchants as well. Count Oram had tried to take control of the soldier’s disease medicine to make connections with these merchants, but this incident would turn them into enemies instead. This would be a fatal blow for a noble, not only for himself, but for his family and entire faction. In fact, his faction would likely cut ties with him immediately out of fear of becoming associated with the whole ordeal.
Should I have been making such aggressive moves against a noble? Well, this country was quite proper, and even nobles couldn’t bring harm to a commoner for the purpose of monetary gain. If such a practice were to be accepted, it’d become impossible to do business with nobles, as every rich merchant would be getting attacked for their wealth. This would ruin the kingdom’s entire ecosystem.
But what if he lost his temper from being mocked by a little girl and ordered his guards to murder me? Well, Francette and Roland saw Emile come in with the noble and his guards, so they’d been positioned to draw their swords and attack ever since. They were acting like normal customers, but even an amateur like me could tell they were focusing all their senses to watch the guards for any hostile movements.
The bodyguards likely knew this too. They’d been sweating profusely for a while now.
It seemed Count Oram wasn’t going to make any stupid moves and decided to give up. The guards seemed rather relieved knowing he was going to withdraw quietly. I guessed people past a certain level could tell by their aura or something that some people shouldn’t be messed with.
“Damn, I took that girl too lightly! I suppose pushing any further would only tarnish my reputation...”
The count seemed to understand when it was time to fold. As with most matters, it was much more important and difficult to know when to withdraw and when to move forward.
Many couldn’t stand to lose the funds they’d already invested or hope for a shot at a big comeback, and only made their losses worse by not admitting their failure. But the count at least had that much sense in him.
“I will sell your shop back. It’s too much trouble to keep that property for the petty sales from boxed meals. It would only lose me money than gain any. I don’t need strange rumors going around about me either... Though I don’t know how many people you’ve hired to pull off such a feat... I won’t bother you any further, so return to your original location and, uh... you should make sure false rumors don’t start spreading. Right.”
Ah, so he was putting up the white flag and asking for mercy. Then I supposed I’d comply.
“Very well. And you wouldn’t be selling it back for a higher price, would you? It would be common courtesy to offer a very low price, considering the inconvenience caused to everyone from your unreasonable actions and demands.”
“Ugh... O-Of course. Naturally, that goes without saying...”
He seemed rather bitter, but reluctantly agreed. I doubted he’d be lowering the price too much, but I wanted to let the old couple who were happy about selling it for a high price and the realtor who went through all the guilt to have something out of all this.
Count Oram left soon after. I had Emile return to the main store right away. Belle was likely worried, so I didn’t want to leave her wondering what was going on.
I then asked the realtor to come by the branch store in the afternoon. The count had said he’d go see the realtor directly, so I wanted to ask about the results. I couldn’t begin moving again without confirmation, and I wanted to know how the conversation went.
It was unlikely he’d try something at this point, but there was the possibility of the realtor trying to come out on top from all this. He was a victim from all the trouble he went through this time around, but all he did was obey the count’s orders, so the majority of the profits should be going to the old couple who owned the main store, and me.
I mean, really.
And I shouldn’t have to trouble myself by going to see him. He should be coming to see me.
“I apologize for all the inconveniences...”
It wasn’t really the realtor’s fault, and I understood it may have been hard to decline a count trying to get their way. And the count’s offer wasn’t bad by any means, so the realtor was only doing his job as the middleman by selling it for a price they’d agreed on.
I understood.
I understood, but...
“You could have backed me up a little...”
Yeah, I couldn’t help but think that. He probably wasn’t expecting me to accept those terms, but the count surely had another line at the ready, and would’ve pressured me more and more. It was that one trick where you’d offer ridiculous terms, then trick the customer into thinking you were giving them a good deal by compromising with slightly less ridiculous terms.
Since I easily accepted his initial offer that was obviously going to be turned down, we were able to sign a flimsy contract that was easy to poke holes in. His final version was likely going to be much more polished.
But hindsight was always 20/20. It would’ve been one thing if he showed any effort to protect his client, but he brought the count right over without giving me any sort of warning to provide a chance for me to think up a plan. He could’ve offered to bring the count by at a later date or send someone to warn me, or any number of other opportunities.
And so, I asked the apologetic-looking realtor about the count.
“What did Count Oram say to you?”
“He asked me to buy back this property.” He began answering my question without seeming particularly bothered by it. “At first, he asked for the same price he paid previously and offered an inconvenience fee for the original owners and me, but I couldn’t tell them to buy it back when they’ve already begun preparations to move into the city where their son and his family lives. He did purchase it for a great deal... Therefore, I told the count as such and we decided to purchase it ourselves. In other words, rather than acting as an intermediary for this property, we are now the owners.”
Huh, he seemed awfully happy about that...
“So, how much did you lowball him for?”
“Huh...?” The realtor seemed surprised.
Don’t play dumb!
That count was after the products being sold at Layette’s Atelier and wasn’t trying to make a quick buck. Sure, there were some poor counts, but this one seemed wealthy, and even had some guards with him. He knew when to back out, too, so he probably wasn’t desperate for money. Most of all, he seemed worried about damaging his reputation from rumors about this incident going around.
...So, he wasn’t stingy about paying the big bucks. I figured the only reason the realtor seemed to be in such a good mood would be because he profited from all this.
“...My rent is going down, right?”
“What?”
“My rent. It’s going down, right?!”
“Huh? Well, uh...”
“My! Rent! It’s! Going! Down! Right?!”
“...Y-Yes.”
All right, victory!
And so, I confirmed that the ownership of the main store had been transferred to the realtor. We agreed the contract for the branch store would be terminated today and that I wouldn’t owe any rent for it. I mean, we’d already agreed to the rent being free the first week.
After the realtor left and closing time came around, I locked the doors and closed the curtains. Then I put the entire shelf of products into my Item Box. The chairs, desks, and everything went right in there. I was intending for it to be a temporary branch in the first place, so I hadn’t brought too much stuff. I still anticipated it taking three to four days, or possibly even longer, but it ended faster than I’d imagined.
Finally, I put a notice on the door:
“The second branch is now closed. We will be selling medicine back at the main store.”
It was only for a day, but a few customers went to the main st
ore and came here after hearing we’d moved. We told them this was only temporary and we’d return, but I figured a notice would still be necessary.
I returned to the main store empty handed, escorted by Emile, Francette, and Roland. I would likely never return to this branch—no, former branch store. Unless some weird noble showed up again or something.
“I’m back!”
It was past closing time for the branch store, which obviously meant the main store was closed too. The door and windows were shut, but left unlocked. There was no way Belle would lock the door before I returned. Inside, Belle was waiting for my return at the register...
Or not.
Huh?
“Ah, Lad—I mean, Kaoru! You’re late! Please, come help!”
Belle emerged from the back after hearing my voice. She was wearing an apron for some reason. She must’ve been pretty flustered, because she almost called me Lady Kaoru instead of just Kaoru, as she’d begun calling me lately.
“Huh? What? Why are you in such a rush?”
I stood there, confused, and Belle yelled, “The meals! We need to start preparations for tomorrow’s box lunches! We won’t make it in time if we start in the morning!”
I mean, we’d done prep work like soaking the ingredients last night for the meals we made today, but...
“Oh, that whole situation with the count is already taken care of. I returned the branch store and we’ll be back to business as usual here starting tomorrow, so we don’t need to do that anymore.”
I thought Belle would be relieved, but she shook her head.
“No, that’s not acceptable. Some of our customers who came in today returned in the evening. They put in orders for tomorrow’s meals already... Their colleagues who came with them put in orders as well. The orders total up to over fifty meals! We can’t simply make just those orders, so we’ll need at least eighty...”
“Whaaat?!”
We’d made thirty meals to sell just for today. That was already hard enough with the prep work the previous night and waking up early to make them. And now we needed to make eighty?
“H-How many did we sell today...?”
“We’re sold out, of course. It was a bit slow to begin without any advertising, but they were gone shortly after as soon as word about our box lunches spread. At this rate, we can sell out even if we make a hundred...”
“Wh-Wh-Wha?!”
Food service was hard work. Purchasing, prep work, cooking, customer service... The working hours alone were simply too long, with little downtime and tons of kitchen work. Miscalculate the estimated sales, and you’d end up with a mass of discarded food items. Though in my case, there wasn’t much loss there thanks to the Item Box.
In any case, I had no intention of staying in the food service industry for long!
“Then why did you start a box lunch shop?” Roland asked after hearing me mutter to myself.
“I wanted to sell something other than medicine and pottery or anything that seemed obviously profitable or desirable to nobles. But I also wanted to sell something that would make customers happy. The only thing I was confident in and could make normally was food... I thought it’d only be for a few days, and thirty a day wouldn’t be a big deal... So why’d you have to go and accept orders for tomorrow?!”
Belle made an apologetic face, but I was being unfair. This morning, we had no idea this would all be resolved in a day, and of course Belle would gladly accept orders if it made the customers happy. She did it for me.
It was true that I’d much rather sell out than have leftovers. Not because of the profit, but because the hard work we put into making those meals would lead to making customers happy. Belle must’ve felt the same way, since we’d made the meals together.
“...Sorry.” I apologized sincerely.
“So, what should we do...”
I grabbed Francette by the shoulder as she tried to sneak out of there.
“You’re not going anywhere.” The more people, the better.
The guys? Nah, I doubted many people would want meals made by them. I doubted Emile and Roland would be of any use here anyway.
“All right, let’s do this!”
With that, I dragged Francette behind me as I headed into the kitchen in the back of the store.
Oh, but first, I should get the medicine shelves out of the Item Box... I’ll make the guys tidy up the shelves.
Chapter 25: What a Drag...
The morning of the fifth day since we began making a hundred packed meals per day...
We quickly made the things we couldn’t prepare the night before, like food that went bad or lost flavor quickly, and completed the meals. There were a hundred in total: Fifty pre-ordered meals, and fifty for general sales. We’d only taken up to fifty orders beforehand. This was the limit of how much we could make; or, to be honest, it was already past the limit.
It would’ve been easy to make them with my ability, but that wouldn’t feel right. I didn’t mind making medicine with it, but these meals were a different story. I wouldn’t know the answer if you asked me what the difference was, but I, Kaoru Nagase, would not concede that point.
I felt like I had to protect that line, or I was afraid I’d “make a barrel-shaped container full of gold and a little bit of medicine,” or “make a handsome man-shaped container with some medicine in his mouth,” or other godless acts (and by “god” I don’t mean that so-called god, but a real god like one they worship on Earth).
Speaking of those box lunches, we didn’t just make the same one a hundred times; there were variations. It’d be too much trouble to make a big variety of meals, but we did make slight modifications on the side dishes depending on the preferences of whoever made them.
There were ten types of side dishes, and we each picked five of them as we put the lunches together. Not only were they made by Belle, Francette, and me, Layette made some too. While she didn’t participate in the actual cooking, she picked out the side dishes and put them into the containers.
We stopped general sales once the number of pre-ordered meals pending pick up and the number of meals in stock matched, so the pre-order customers who came after had to pick from whatever was left over. If they wanted a specific one, they’d have to come early. Everyone always picked the one with the shiitake-looking mushrooms simmered in sugar and salt though. That really was a great dish, if I said so myself!
Oh, the condiments like soy sauce and sugar were made by my potion creation ability. That was still within the range of acceptability. I had to allow myself that or it’d be too much. There had to be a line somewhere.
We put the boxed lunches out in the shop and had breakfast with the leftover dishes. Francette had woken up earlier to help out, but Roland was still sleeping at the inn. Emile was asleep upstairs too. This meal was just for the girls who helped make the lunches.
I was going to let Layette stay in bed, but she noticed me waking up in the morning and stayed awake ever since. It’s said sleep brings up a child well, so I didn’t want to wake her... But if I got a separate bed, she’d probably get upset.
Hmm...
In any case, the hunters and on-site workers who left first thing in the morning were already here buying box lunches, but... why did the “Kaoru Box” I made have the most leftovers?! Francette’s “Fran Box,” Belle’s “Belle Box,” and Layette’s “Lay-unch Box” all sold better than mine! Why?! I was confident mine had superior volume and balance for each dish! Besides, I was the one who thought up all the dishes and seasonings. This was unacceptable! I decided to ask the customers directly.
“Oh, the Fran Boxes are filling because it’s like whoever made them forcibly stuffed the dishes into the box. It’s just the right amount for us.”
“The Belle Boxes don’t have any fried foods or anything like that, so they’re the healthy option. I cook the horned rabbits I catch on site or the organs of bigger prey I can’t take home, so this is just the right size.”
“The La
y-unch Boxes are adorable. It feels like my daughter tried her best to make it for me.”
“But you don’t even have a daughter, wife, or lover...”
“Shut up! That’s why I like them!”
“...Sorry.”
Huh?
“E-Excuse me, umm... What about the Kaoru Box?”
“Oh, the Kaoru Box? Well, about that... If I had to describe it in one word, it’s...”
“Yes...?”
“““Average?”””
I was dumbfounded. Speechless.
“Oh, I mean, it’s good though. The Kaoru Box tastes good, too, of course!”
The customer quickly tried to make me feel better after seeing my dejected expression.
Of course it’s good! They’re all good, I’m the one who made all the dishes!
Urrrg... Damn it, I wasn’t about to go down without a fight!
But everyone else’s box lunches were specialized for a certain demographic, while mine was for the general crowd. Since I was so used to cooking for my family, I had a tendency to lean toward the average of what most people enjoyed. If I geared my box lunch toward a certain demographic, there may be customers who wouldn’t have anything to buy because they didn’t like meals that were too peculiar.
Box lunches had so much depth to them!
There had to be a good solution. Some way that would make all the customers happy...
Wait, why am I getting so worked up over this?! This whole pre-packed lunch thing was a tool for my plan, and I was only going along with it because it was too awkward to quit. It was a nuisance that took up so much of my time...
But seeing the customers deciding between the options with a serious face, then putting the boxes into their bags with a smile and looking forward to eating what was inside... It just gave me this feeling I never got when selling medicine or when I was an office lady in my previous life. It was... fun? Happiness? Something like that...