Chapter 344: A good finding (1/2)

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.