This is something I have been feeling since a bit before heading to Lorel, but…there have been times when the gazes I feel on me in Tsige feel a bit ticklish.
The kinda gaze of ‘that guy has done it’.
‘He managed to rise up’, kinda gaze.
Not the eyes of people seeing a young merchant who has momentum, but the eyes of people seeing a successful person who managed to rise up and strengthen their foundation.
There were a lot of gazes of jealousy.
Especially in my case where the people around me are so exemplar, and because of my strong connections with Rembrandt. It simply can’t be helped.
Also, I have been going out a lot to places like Rotsgard and the 4 major powers.
Not that long ago, there were a lot of troublesome merchants, adventurers, and people with no affiliation who would come to the company and try to cause trouble thinking that I am someone who can be easily tripped, or someone that’s simply riding in their momentum.
Those kinds of people have decreased drastically.
But well, Tsige is currently in war for the sake of independence, so, for good or for bad, business is rising explosively.
The people are now probably leaning more to the side of sucking up to the Kuzunoha Company to profit.
But it is just that, when I walk in the city, I feel like Tsige has acknowledged me.
“Look, it is Raidou. In the end, that guy skipped the intermediate part and went from rookie to one of the big stores.”
“Hey, I have never heard of someone who has accelerated continuously without tripping a single time and has achieved great success in this place.”
“His initial incompetence now feels like it was an act to deceive his surroundings. He hired demi-humans, debuted as a miscellaneous store, the moment he opened the store he went off to the Academy Town, and they would deal mainly with products of the Mist Town which had an uncertain circulation amount… Even though there were only self-destructing elements…”
“…In the world, this place alone had the foundation to accept demi-humans. Because he had the powerful backing of the Rembrandt Company, he had no problems prioritizing the creation of connections in the Academy Town. He must have heard from somewhere that the Mist Town would become a big factor in Tsige. At the time when he returned to the city together with Alpine, their default route had been decided. In the end, the ones who succeed in society are the ones who are liked by the successful ones… That’s all there is to it.”
There’s someone who is slightly on conspiracy territory, and there’s also people who know about my beginnings.
Even so…they may not have accepted the Kuzunoha Company, but I am happy that there have been more and more people who accept us.
Now then…
“The place where Rokuya-san is waiting is here?” (Makoto)
“Yeah. Ufufu, just how important does he think he is by calling Waka-sama? Thanks to that, we haven’t eaten much today.”
“…You came here with me because you wanted to thank Rokuya-san for something, right? It is not the ‘payback’ kind of thanks, right?” (Makoto)
Just in case.
Yeah, I gotta confirm just in case.
I received a message via the Adventurer Guild from one of the legends of Lorel that has come to Tsige, Rokuya-san.
He could have just contacted me directly through thought transmission. He went through the trouble of doing it via the guild.
It must mean that it isn’t an urgent situation, and he is interested in the matters of the city.
Leaving aside his appearance, looking at only his actual age and the time he has been active, he is an old person that’s been around for centuries.
“…Ah, yeah, right. Today I will just be giving him a normal thanks.” (Mio)
“Before, you said that you would bring pain to him… Mio, you understand, right? It is okay, right?” (Makoto)
“Yes!” (Mio)
At the side of the Adventurer Guild, there’s one of the famous locations of Tsige, the food court.
There’s stores and food carts lined up, and the seats and tables placed in the plaza closeby can be freely used by anyone. It is a place that’s filled with an astounding amount of people, regardless if they are adventurers or not.
By the way, this is a really popular place for Tomoe, Mio, and the Kuzunoha Company too.
As a place where people gather on the daily, you would normally be worried about the security, but maybe the location being by the side of the Adventurer Guild is working its effect, there’s only light crimes like pickpocketing every now and then, but it is mostly a safe place where families can bring their childrens to.
There was a period of time when Tomoe and Mio would loiter around here frequently, so even the scary-looking adventurers trembled at this, and the crimes decreased -which is the joke I have heard.
Rembrandt-san apparently donated the plot of land to the city to make the food court and the plaza a reality.
It has now become one of the places that the people of Tsige always come to, and as a result, it has increased the profits of the city greatly.
This is one of the number one places for food and the profit margin of food carts is apparently incredible, so there’s a lot of people every week who would have their eyes glow and would participate in the business.
Well, our objective today is to go to the restaurant that Rokuya-san is in.
I am also peeking at the stores lightly with Mio and shopping though.
This place is lively and people gather, but it is not like all the things here are cheap.
The food cart we passed by just now was serving the legs of the large land crab of the wasteland and soups, and the prices are in gold coins.
The soup is 2 servings for 1 gold, the legs are small so it is 1 gold, the claw is 2 gold.
It may sound expensive, but the size of land crabs are not that different from people, and the serving volume gets a perfect score.
…No good. My sense of value is breaking. This is expensive.
How much would the food of Asora that sometimes comes in outrageous sizes go for?
The positions of the stores are mostly arranged by price, so if you want to use money, you can end up using quite a lot.
…Yeah, Mio would.
She would use it to an amusing extent.
She is probably a VIP even in Tsige.
Not only does she not care about the price, she also buys an unbelievable amount. If she ends up liking it, she would sometimes send them gifts.
We have gone through quite a lot of sales in order to reach the point we are in now. We have also gotten direct hits every now and then.
“Ooh, Raidou-kun! Mio-san! Over here, over here!”
When we entered the establishment, the air changed into one that is centered around food.
Rokuya-san who visibly looks like the assassin type is calling us brightly.
The place is full as if it were natural, and the fact that it is a restaurant rather than a food cart means that the chef is quite the big deal.
This is a coffee shop though.
It is the kind of food establishment that is hard to tell whether the food is good or bad.
Are they competing with the coffee and tea as well as their light meals?
“It has been a while, Rokuya-san. I heard that you were in the city, but I couldn’t find the chance to greet you.” (Makoto)
“Just from hearsay, I could tell that the Kuzunoha Company and you were busy. I should be the one apologizing for calling you. Now, you two, please go ahead and take a seat.” (Rokuya)
“Please keep it short, okay? There’s quite a lot of interesting dishes here today as well after all.” (Mio)
“Oh? Mio-san, you already have a store, yet, you still have a whole lot of vigor for research? That’s splendid. It is true that the food…no, in other departments as well, Tsige has shown incredible growth. I was shocked too. This karaage here is truly well made.” (Rokuya)
“!”
Rokuya-san takes a piece of karaage and throws it into his mouth.
It is not from the menu of this establishment.
As long as you order something here, most of the places here allow you to bring food from other stores.
And Mio is looking at the karaage.
What an easy to understand interest.
“The food stand I coincidentally stopped by was a big jackpot. It would be fearsome if this is the average of Tsige… Would you like some, you two?” (Rokuya)
He must have noticed, he directs the opening of the bag towards us. Karaage ain’t fair. The fact that just by the looks alone, I can only feel that it is tasty.
“Bird? It is a classic ingredient, but this smell is intricate… *munch*…!!” (Mio)
Mio is making the eyes of a cook.
I will have one.
…Ooh.
This is…impressive.
The tightly packed up thigh meat, and the coating that tastes like the flour sold in markets used for karaage that, even though it is thin, it isn’t too thin and has a crispy texture.
The meat juice that came out when I bit into it was slightly spicy and had a strong taste of seasoning.
“…!”
“It is tasty.” (Makoto)
Mio seems to be pretty surprised too.
It is not a taste you can have anywhere in Tsige.
Even if I exclude that it suits my taste, this is quite the good finding.
“Right? I am the type that likes seasoned and coated ones more than the sauce types.” (Rokuya)
“I get you. Me too. I won’t say that it is bad to increase the taste with sauces, but I really do like the taste of seasonings and flour without dampening the coating.” (Makoto)
“I am happy to have found a brethren. This has a truly good balance, but it is purposely not using something that’s normally used. Could you tell?” (Rokuya)
“…Garlic.” (Makoto)
“That’s right! Even so, it is properly leaving the spicy aftertaste. You need to have a lot of understanding about it in order to reach this level.” (Rokuya)
“Yeah.” (Makoto)
We nodded repeatedly as we continued talking about karaages that are japanese-like.
This karaage that Rokuya gave me was so tasty it reminded me of my homeland.
Tsige is impressive.
“…Rokuya.” (Mio)
“How was it? Did you like it too, Mio-san?” (Rokuya)
“Tell me the place where you bought it.” (Mio)
“Hmm, where was it, I wonder. It was the first time I went to that food cart, and it was me just wandering around aimlessly. I might be able to find it if I were to retrace my steps though…” (Rokuya)
“We are retracing them then.” (Mio)
“Hmm?” (Rokuya)
“When food carts sell out, they close. It is already early in the afternoon, and judging from this taste, we have no time to waste.” (Mio)
“No, I called you guys here because I had something to talk about—” (Rokuya)
“Do that tomorrow.” (Mio)
“Oi oi, Mio.” (Makoto)
“…But Waka-sama, you said this karaage was tasty.” (Mio)
“I did say that, but…” (Makoto)
“It was a taste that shocked me to a certain degree too. Even so, not only did Waka-sama say it was tasty, but you were also speaking about it with so much fun… This Mio should by no means let this chance pass by!!” (Mio)
“…Eeh.” (Makoto)
What’s with that incredible hotbloodedness?
I was indeed impressed that they were able to bring out this tastiness without using garlic type spices.
I do think that I would like to have a taste of this but in garlic version.
Even so, to drag around Rokuya-san…that beats the purpose of us being here in the first place.
“…Hooh, I see.” (Rokuya)
Rokuya-san seems to have reached some sort of understanding after seeing our exchange and nods several times.
“Sorry, Rokuya-san. Let’s have the talk first—” (Makoto)
“Waka-sama!” (Mio)
“…No, if that’s the case, let’s prioritize the request of Mio-san. Do you guys have time tomorrow?” (Rokuya)
“Yeah, it is okay with me, but is that okay for you?” (Makoto)
“I won’t be able to make it. I have an astoundingly important job in the kitchen tomorrow.” (Mio)
“Mio…” (Makoto)
That’s definitely her thinking about making a mountain of karaage.
Fortunately, there’s almost no one in Asora who dislikes it though.
“I had no urgent business today or tomorrow, and most of it was me wanting to thank you guys. In that case, granting the wish of Mio-san is within the boundaries of what I came here to do.” (Rokuya)
“…Thank you very much.” (Makoto)
Lately, she hasn’t gotten as pushy as this in regards to cooking when I am present though.
…Thinking about it in that way, it has been a while since I have seen Mio’s selfishness.
I decided to accept the consideration of Rokuya-san.
“Then, let’s leave at once, Rokuya!” (Mio)
“Alright. I remember the path I took, so don’t worry, Mio-san.” (Rokuya)
“What I am worried about is whether it is closed or not!” (Mio)
Rokuya-san stands from his seat while chuckling.
The moment I was going to stand up, he dropped an unbelievable bomb in the shop.
“I see, sorry about that. At any rate, Mio-san and Raidou-kun have finally tied the knot, huh. Man, congratulations. Looks like we will have to celebrate this someday. You did your best, Raidou-kun. It was unexpectedly fast.” (Rokuya)
“…Hm?” (Makoto)
W-What is he saying with such a nonchalant tone without even trying to lower the volume down?!
I ended up letting out a dumbfounded voice!
I could tell that the gazes around were concentrating on us to a crazy extent.
“Ara, thanks about that. Your advice really hit the mark, it surprised me. I was thinking about thanking you in regards to that. But first! We have to secure the karaage!” (Mio)
Mio responded in a calm and cheerful manner?!
Be a bit more embarrassed!
My face is bright red here!
And, for some reason, even though they are directing decently warm gazes at Mio, they are directing annoyed gazes and powerful gazes of jealousy at me which I haven’t gotten in a good while.
Oi, a crowd has been made.
Mio and Rokuya-san have left.
“Haha, then, I will be the guide. Raidou-kun, see you tomorrow. If you guys make something tasty from this, I would be happy if you were to share it with me.” (Rokuya)
“Waka-sama, it has been a while since I have burned with passion like this! The current me won’t make Waka-sama wait for long to taste something like deep-fried food!” (Mio)
I heard their energetic voices from outside the establishment.
No, Mio, fried chicken may be easy to make, but…they are universal.
Yeah, it is indeed tasty.
Rokuya-san left the karaage behind, so that must mean it is okay for me to have them.
The meat juice is nice.
If only the spiral of emotions inside this coffee shop were to somehow be dealt with too.
“Ah, right. I will be coming to this coffee shop tomorrow too. Seriously…?” (Makoto)
Now that Rokuya-san and Mio are gone, I am surrounded by brutal gazes.
I enjoy the coffee and karaage while being basked in this uncomfortable atmosphere.
Yeah, I should enjoy the coffee and karaage separately.