As soon as the aftermath of the war subsided, merchants with money rose to prominence under the name of the gentry class, and some even went so far as to purchase noble titles. Under this influence, even the nobility began creating trading companies under assumed names and starting new businesses—truly, an era obsessed with making money had just begun.
“Fi-Finally, a customer has arrived.”
The place looked absolutely unappetizing, with its logo design resembling a mad dragon breathing fire, the bizarre wallpaper featuring skull patterns in every corner, and the bright red floor that resembled marble painted with blood. But this is the place that will fill my depleted mana heart!
The first step to obtaining mana!
As naturally as possible, I pointed to the job posting stuck on the door and made my proposal. “I’m not a customer—I saw your hiring notice. Are you hiring any staff?”
“We actually gave up on hiring because no one wants to work here.”
…Of course. Who would want to work at such a gloomy restaurant?
“I’d like to work here.”
That person would be me.
“Hmm, as you can see, we’re not exactly in urgent need of help. And our restaurant’s atmosphere is, well, a bit much for a delicate commoner lady who hasn’t been through hardships.”
A delicate commoner lady who hasn’t been through hardships? Me?
I was dumbfounded, but since they seemed reluctant to hire me, I steeled myself and spoke up. “I won’t take any daily wages.”
“…”
“Just give me a chance. Just one hour.”
* * *
Duke Kalinos was walking down Rosteri Street, where the trading company was located, with his aide.
“Your Grace, this is Rosteri Street, where the restaurant directly funded by the Kalinos Trading Company is located.”
For a family specialized in magic engineering for slaying monsters and potion studies for healing wounds, starting a new business venture was a significant move.
“Ah, Your Grace. I have the most important report. Here are the details of the duchess candidates sent by the former Duke Garno from the Eastern Continent a few months ago.”
“Tell him to discard them all.”
“I already told him, but the previous duke absolutely refuses to give up. He insists Your Grace must get married this time, no matter what.”
He said this while pressing his temple with a tired expression. “I told you to find information about that lady wearing a trash bag.”
“Ah, yes. That’s exactly why I brought you to this street. Actually, we received intelligence that the lady came to this street…”
Just then, a cheerful voice quickly passed by them. “Please try some delicious bread samples!”
The aide naturally accepted the bread. He chewed on the white bread and tilted his head. “Huh, that person handing out bread. I feel like I’ve seen them somewhere.”
“…That can’t be.”
Duke Kalinos stared at him intently before turning around again.
Twenty minutes later, Duke Kalinos and his aide were still walking down the street.
“Aide.”
“Yes? My name is Peterson.”
“Right, Peter. When I received the report, I thought that the restaurant only had flies buzzing around.”
The aide followed his gaze with a puzzled expression. “Huh? Why is business suddenly booming?”
The bright red partition wall that had been blocking the restaurant’s transparent window, creating an eerie atmosphere befitting the ‘Kalinos family,’ had been removed. Through the transparent window, you could see spotlessly clean plates and napkins. It looked impeccably hygienic, but what was even more surprising was the woman inside. She had come out in front of the restaurant door and was randomly grabbing passersby, waving tickets around.
“Oh my goodness, dear customer! Congratulations! You’ve won an invitation to enjoy dinner for just 0.99 gold!”
“Huuh? Really? I thought this place was really expensive? I thought it was over 1 gold!”
“Not at all. Please come in!”
Was this their first time experiencing such aggressive customer solicitation? The customers were sucked into the restaurant like mice following the Pied Piper. Without realizing it, Peterson had started moving toward the restaurant entrance but finally came to his senses.
“B-By the way, that employee looks kind of familiar, doesn’t she?”
“…Of course she’d look familiar.”
“Huh? What?”
To be precise, it was a woman named ‘Giselle Floret.’ She had definitely been at the social party in the morning, but now, in the afternoon, she was doing part-time work that even commoners would do. And very professional at that.
What the hell is that woman’s deal?
Giselle burst into a bright smile and walked closer to the open kitchen that was visible from the street. “Oh, our little customer! Should I put on a fire show for you?”
Flames instantly erupted from the pan Giselle was holding. The children’s eyes widened as they watched the fire dancing across the bottom of the pan.
So she was even doing cooking work. Even to Duke Kalinos, who had been through every battle imaginable, this was quite a rare sight.
A child stuck out their tongue and mumbled. “Fire shows are lame!”
“Really? Then I’ll juggle for you too! Customer satisfaction service!”
Giselle spun three glass cups around like balls with a flourish. It was a spectacular display of skills that absolutely no one on this street could look away from. For the first time in his life, Duke Kalinos was so overwhelmed by someone else’s presence that he took a step back.
“Y-Your Grace?”
“Truly… remarkable.”
“Pardon?”
Duke Kalinos gazed at Giselle as if burning her image into his memory, whispering quietly. “There are things to prepare. Let’s get moving.” He then turned and walked away indifferently.
Peterson watched his retreating figure with bewilderment and thought to himself. Why is he acting like that? Like someone who’s been smitten at first sight.
…Right after having that thought, Peterson jumped in shock.
Duke Kalinos is smitten with a person—no, with a lady? That was absolutely ridiculous, wasn’t it?
* * *
“Sa-Sales are 200 times higher than usual…!”
I grinned at the restaurant owner, whose jaw had dropped open. Compared to my past, when I was so busy paying off family debts and student loans that I worked like a dog for over ten years since my teens, this is a piece of cake.
“I’ll pay you 200 times the daily wage! Oh my, oh my!”
200 times the daily wage for a part-timer? He’s insane. No wonder this place only has flies buzzing around with an owner like that. No wonder he was a pushover who was about to run a business into the ground.
“No, that’s fine.”
I glanced at the storage room where the restaurant temporarily kept its trash. What I really want are the potions thrown away like garbage in that storage room.
The great villain family of the North, the ‘Wizard Family,’ is the family of Duke Kalinos. Their territory was adjacent to monster lands, which meant their family had to directly face monsters at the border. Thanks to that, they excelled at making swords, armor, and potions.
But their naming sense and marketing abilities were collectively the worst. While swords and armor were selling through word of mouth since everyone wanted Kalinos family products, things like potions were at a level where nobody even knew where they were being sold.
According to the original story, there were discarded potions here.
It would be suspicious for someone to suddenly appear and ask for the discarded potions in the storage room. So, I pretended to help with work while laying the groundwork.
“Huh? There are some interesting potions in there.”
“Aah, those are for throwing away. Why? Are you interested?”
“Just curious. The potion bottles look pretty. They seem really expensive too.”
After staring at the potion bottles several times as if they were fascinating, he seemed to think I was enchanted by the expensive potion bottles. Of course my behavior is a bit suspicious too, but I’ve already hooked him with the 200 times daily wage.
“Please include the potions in the storage room with my daily wage.”
“Huh? Well, the bottles are pretty, aren’t they? If you’re willing to take them, that saves me the trouble of throwing them out!”
* * *
Ah, this is the taste.
It was in the dark alley. After quickly scanning the surroundings, I secretly downed all ten potion bottles in one go.
This tastes worse than unsweetened cabbage juice—the smell of a stinking sewer! Pure garbage flavor!
The potion ‘Dragon’s Claw’ developed by the Kalinos family was a potion that helped unleash the potential of mana within the body. Some mages within the Kalinos family had been drinking it, and they developed it for commercialization, but it was scrapped due to marketing failures.
At last, I can feel my mana filling up!
