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Volume 1, Chapter 15: I start a business in another world.

Set up shop.

I began to seriously consider Her Majesty Adele’s suggestion during the tea party.

I roused myself out of a desperate necessity for good food stemming from the low standard of food in this world. To that end, I asked for help from Alex from the Ashley Company. I gave them the recipe for bread and others so the good food would spread across the world. Thinking about it, though, the recipes only contained text compared to the colorful cooking books full of pictures from my previous world. Would the recipes really spread when people did not even know what they tasted like?

At first, it would probably be spread as a novelty under the Ashley Company name. However, it would be pretty difficult to make something correctly when they had never seen nor tasted it before. They would not even be able to imagine it, as there is no picture for reference. What would happen then, if they made something completely different from the intended product and thought that was how it was supposed to look?

It would be fine if the food they made was coincidentally good. For example, the classic Japanese household food, nikujaga, was said to be a happy accident from an attempt to make beef stew. Although it is different from the original recipe, it became a staple food because of its tastiness.

But happy accidents are few and far in between. If they made something bad based on a lack of knowledge for cooking and it became known as bad food, soon people would not even look at the recipe. Then it would be pointless for the recipes to be circulated.

But if the correct method and taste was provided in my shop, all of those problems would be solved. In other words, I would set up a showroom type of shop.

The color, shape, and taste that cannot be expressed with the recipe can all be understood by eating it at my shop. While a straightforward method to spread food, it seems that is the only way to develop the food culture of this world.

Nevertheless, opening a shop is no simple feat, and it hurts my heart to think about all the trouble I will put other people through. Even so, there is no better way to do this if I am to settle down in this world.

That night, I talked about it with Gil and Tasia over dinner. Tasia jumped right on board.

“How lovely to open a shop! I’ll help!”

Gil on the other hand had a conflicted expression on his face.

“Are you unsatisfied with this family, Risa? You don’t have to force yourself to be so polite about it.”

Gil gazed at me, desolate.

“No, that’s not at all what I meant. While it’s true that I feel a bit bad about being so pampered even though I’m not a child, there is no part of me that is unhappy about living here. I can’t put into words how grateful I am for your taking in a stranger like me. That’s why I want to find something that I can do in this world too. That’s why I want to open a shop.”

I said as I stared straight at Gil.

After a moment, Gil’s face softened and he smiled.

“It’s a relief to hear that from you. I will happily help you too, but please remember that you have a home here.”

“Of course! If you want to quit, you don’t have to push yourself, just quit whenever!”

Tasia agreed with Gil’s words and gazed at me kindly. From the bottom of my heart, I was happy to have been adopted by the couple as I sat there, gently wrapped in the two’s kindness.

That’s how it was decided I would open a shop, and Gil and Tasia began talking about paying all the necessary funds to open the shop under the excuse of “helping.” Somehow I managed to convince them to do so under the title of investment. Well, an investment without interest, collateral or a reimbursement date…

After obtaining Gil and Tasia’s approval, I went to find Alex at the Ashley Company. After all, every man knows his own business best.

I headed to the counter at the Ashley Company. The clerk was the same lady as before.

“Welcome.”

“Uhm, I’d like to meet Mr. Alexis…”

“Do you have an appointment?”

I didn’t have an appointment, but I didn’t have anything to lose so I came anyways. Even though he was my step uncle, he was still the representative of a giant merchant company. There’s no way he wasn’t busy.

“Excuse my rudeness, but you are Miss Risa Claude, yes?”

“Yes, that’s correct.”

Despite only visiting twice, the clerk lady seemed to remember me.

“I will go check with him, so please wait a moment.”

The lady smiled at me and left. I spent a few minutes observing the people coming in and out of the Ashley Company’s first floor.

“Thank you for waiting.”

The lady came back, still smiling warmly.

“The representative is currently in a meeting, but if you are willing to wait he can meet with you later. Would that be all right with you?”

“Thank you so much, I’ll gladly wait for him.”

“Please come this way then.”

She led me to a cosy little room that was probably used for meetings. I quietly sat on the sofa and drank the tea she put out for me. The warmth from the cup slowly seeped into my hands. Staring into the golden colored tea, I turned the idea of the shop over in my head.

Starting with Her Majesty Adele’s suggestion, I came to see Alex impulsively, but I wonder if it will be okay. Once I was alone, seeds of anxiety began to grow.

I wanted to do what I could in this world, but what should I do if it turns out to be troublesome for others, especially if it becomes a stain on the honor of the Claude family? The golden surface in the cup rippled as if reflecting my feelings.

I had previously worked part time at a restaurant, but I had never opened shop before. Could such a person like me really open a shop here in another world? I tired myself out searching for an answer to a question with no answer. I shook my head violently to dispel the anxiety and finished my tea in one go.

After a while, Alex came in.

“Thanks for waiting, Risa.”

“No, I’m sorry for appearing out of the blue.”

I stood up to greet Alex, who smiled and urged me to sit back down.

“What is it today?”

“Uhm, I’d like to ask for some advice from you about something…”

“A new recipe, perhaps?”

“No, uh, I’m thinking about opening a shop.”

“A shop!?”

“Yes, while I think it would be good to keep selling the recipe, it might be hard for people to make something they have never seen or heard of before. That’s why I was thinking about making a shop where they can eat those things.”

“Oh, that’s a good idea!”

Alex was quite astonished, but he wholeheartedly agreed to the idea. Then he muttered under his breath, that could’ve been done, huh. Hm? I looked at Alex, who cracked a wry smile.

“Actually, your bread recipe hasn’t been doing so well. There were people who bought it as a novelty, and some people who I reached out to…but even though I knew what it tasted like, most people couldn’t even imagine what the end product looked like. Some people made it and even brought it to me to try, but it was completely different from the bread you made.”

“Is that so…”

“I can’t try every single loaf of bread that lands on my doorstep either, so I was in a pinch. That’s why your opening a shop is actually a great idea.”

Then he told me what was necessary to open a shop. First, the license to sell things at a shop is given by the country, and it seems basically anyone can apply for it. Application requires a certified employed person or organization to vouch for you, but Alex will do that for me so there should be no problems there. He will also take care of obtaining ingredients and cookware, so the conversation continued quickly.

The problem was where to open the shop. Alex recommended a place on the main road the Ashley Company was on, and brought me to the place in question. It was a two minute walk away from the Ashley Company. Apparently it used to be a hat store, but they just moved so the place was empty. Inside, there were still display shelves from the hat store, but it was very spacious.

“It’s spacious and the location is outstanding! It’s very rare for empty spots to show up on this road, too. You have impeccable timing.”

I looked around the inside of the shop. It really was a location worthy of Alex’s recommendation. It was a first class spot on the central street of the capital.

Honestly, it was too spacious.

“What do you think, Risa?”

“It’s a very good location.”

“Right? How about here then?”

“No…It’s really hard to say this, but I think it’s too good.”

I felt bad, but I told Alex my honest feelings.

“I’m thinking about starting out on my own. While this has more than enough space, it’s too big for one person to manage.”

“I see. I assumed you would hire people and set up a fabulous shoop, but you wanted to do it on your own, huh.”

“Yes. I’m thinking about hiring people when the shop has settled, but for now I’d like to do it by myself.”

“You’re right that this might be too much space.”

Alex looked slightly disappointed as it was such a good location, but he respected my decision.

“Then I’ll introduce you to a smaller storefront.”

“Please do.”

We returned to the Ashley Company, and Alex called the department in charge of estate to come help put together a list of suitable locations. Alex had some things he needed to step out for, so Basil and I went around scouting the locations with the help of the notes he gave us. Although Alex recommended going by carriage, I decided to go for a nice stroll instead.

The road with the Ashley Company was one of the main roads of the capital, and many people were bustling about.

“It’s so busy!”

“Yeah.”

Basil whispered excitedly to me from my shoulder. This was my first stroll in the capital too, and I glanced around while walking.

As I thought, the main roads were mostly luxury stores, and the people on the streets were also in extravagant attire. The carriages parked at storefronts had coats of arms painted on them, so I could only assume they belonged to nobles. You could see the carriage driver sitting at the front, waiting for their masters to come out.

After a while, we reached the square. There was a fountain in the middle, and there were wooden benches installed around it. Many street stalls were set up as well. Their wares ranged from daily necessities to food. When I looked at the food stalls, there was skewered meat, juice, and even the rock hard bread being sold.

I never tried any food outside the Claude family, so this might be a good chance to try some. I went to the stall selling skewered meat.

“Welcome.”

The hefty store owner said to me.

“Hello. May I have one?”

“Sure.”

The man gave me a skewer fresh off the grill after I paid.

“Be careful, it’s hot. Thanks.”

The man smiled and watched me leave.

The skewer he gave me had meat cut into five bite-sized pieces, well-cooked and with black marks from the grill. I ate one and leaned the stick towards Basil on my shoulder. She leaned forward to take a bite.

I wasn’t sure what meat it was, but the texture tasted like pork. There was just enough fat, and it was grilled just right. It was seasoned with salt.

“Basil, what do you think?”

“It’s good!”

“Yeah.”

Simple seasonings accentuate the flavor of the ingredient itself. It was surprising that the tastiest food in this world was skewered meat from a food stall that I bought on a whim. The ingredients were good, so simple cooking and minimal seasoning was more than enough for good food. While mulling over the flavor of the skewered meat, I started walking towards my destination.

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I passed through the square into a side street, checking the notes to make sure I was going the right way. There were relatively more tool shops on this street. It was bright and while there were still quite a bit of people, it was calmer than the main road. Stores that gave off an air of old but gold were lined up along the street.

“Is it just me, or are there a lot of spirits around here?”

Looking closely, I could see small children like Basil here and there on the store sign boards and in the alleys.

“Spirits live close to buildings and streets with some history to them. They’re even born there sometimes. Spirits are attracted to treasured things, after all. This looks like that type of street. I like it a lot too!”

“Really? I see.”

It kind of feels like the shrines and temples in Japan. The older shrines and temples really feel like a deity is living there, after all.

I window-shopped the various stores while talking quietly with Basil. Each store had metal antique sign boards that weren’t flashy but really expressed the spirit of professionals.

“Huh? It seems it’s around here…”

I checked the note in my hand and looked at the buildings around me.

“Oh, that one over there?”

I looked in the direction of Basil’s finger to see a slightly sooty house. There was nothing on the sign board.

“It seems so.”

“It’s quite old…”

As Basil said, it felt much older than the house Alex brought us to earlier. It looked like it hadn’t been lived in for a long time. I unlocked the door and let myself in. As expected, the floor was covered in dust.

“It’s covered in dust…”

“Yes. It seems it hasn’t been used for a while.”

I walked further in to see a counter; perhaps this used to be a restaurant. There were stacks of tables and chairs in a corner.

“It seems it was a restaurant before too!”

“Yeah. The interior was left like this.”

I moved to the counter and swept away some dust with my hand.

“Ah, this counter is made with some good wood.”

“Really?”

“And it looks like one whole piece. I think I’ll be able to use this if I polish it enough.”

I went behind the counter and peeked into the back to find a kitchen. There was no fridge or oven, but there was a stove and a sink. The worktable was also quite big and seemed quite usable. I was happy that at least the equipment expenses would decrease a bit.

Although it was not as spacious and gorgeous as the first place Alex had showed me, the location had enough space and even had a homey, cozy atmosphere. I was head over heels for the place.

“This feels like a lucky find for a location.”

“We’ll use this then?”

“Hmm…”

We went to check out around two more places after that, but none felt better than the first. Although there were many places to fix, my head was overflowing with renovation ideas.

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We went to visit the lucky find on our way home. At first I hadn’t paid much attention to its surroundings, but it was neighbors to a magic tool store. Curious, I went into the store. We would be neighbors if I decided to go with this location, so I wanted to say hi as well.

The door creaked open and I was surrounded by magic tools.

“Welcome!”

A girl of around seventeen or eighteen noticed me and called out in a radiant voice. Her honey colored hair was tied into a ponytail, and a few freckles speckled her face. Although you couldn’t call her the cutest of them all, she was definitely charming and amiable.

“Are you looking for something?”

“Oh, no, I don’t have anything specific in mind, but I’m thinking about setting up shop in the empty place next to you.”

“Wow, you are?”

“Yes.”

It seems my reply was a surprise. The girl stared at me, her jaw open.

“But aren’t you younger than me!?”

“…Despite my appearances, I’m twenty two.”

“What!!”

Thus I met my soon-to-be best friend Angelica.