Preparing to Open the Food Stall

The plaza with the food stalls was quite close to the market, and Ronnie and I reached it soon after leaving the market. Then we headed toward our stall. Fortunately, the stall I had rented was near a well, so it was in a pretty convenient location.

Next to us were an old man selling soup and a young man selling skewers. Since they were right next to us, I hoped we could become friends.

"Ronnie, here it is!"

"Whoa! So this is Leon's food stall. I'm getting kind of excited!"

"This is pretty exciting, isn't it?"

Having my own food stall was even more exciting than I'd expected.

"Then let's get ready."

"Yeah. What should we do first?"

"First, let's fetch some water to wash the cooking utensils."

"Got it! ... Leon."

"What?"

"We don't have a bucket to fetch the water in."

"Ahh! I forgot!"

I thought we'd prepared everything, but we stumbled right at the start! I guess we'll have to buy one... It's not very far if I run.

"What should we do?"

"I'll go buy one."

"Leon, wait! Aren't there any other things you've forgotten?"

Anything else...

Ah!! We don't have any firewood, so we can't light the fire.

I'm completely useless. We can't do anything without firewood!

"Ronnie, I forgot the firewood too."

Come to think of it, how are we going to start the fire? What element does Ronnie have, anyway? If he doesn't have the fire element, we'll have to buy flint too, right?

I've forgotten way too many things.

"Ronnie, by the way, what element are you?"

"Me? Fire."

"Oh! That's just like you, Ronnie! Then you can use Fire Starter, right?"

"Yeah. I don't have much magic power, so I can only use Fire Starter a few times, though."

"It's a huge help that you can use it at all."

Then let's go buy firewood and a bucket.

"Then I'll go buy firewood and a bucket."

"Okay. Thanks."

Just then, laughter came from the old man's soup stall.

"Hahahaha... You two are too funny. You're opening a food stall, but you forgot firewood and a bucket..."

"You don't have to laugh that hard... It was just a little mistake!"

I shouted that toward the old man's stall.

"Was it really a little mistake? That's a pretty big mistake, isn't it?"

It's not like we couldn't just go buy them! I was about to ignore the old man and hurry toward the market, but I couldn't start running.

Because the old man had already come over to our stall and was holding out a bucket.

"Here, use this."

"Huh? But isn't this yours?"

"I've got another one, so I don't need this. Take it. Good luck with your stall."

This old man was an incredibly good person!!

Sorry for thinking about ignoring him!

"Thanks, sir!"

"No problem. You can take some firewood too, while you're at it."

This guy is the best.

Just as I was deeply moved, a voice called out from the stall opposite us.

"You can use some of this firewood too."

It was the young man selling skewers.

"Can we use yours too?"

"Of course. If you boys are in trouble, I can't just leave you to fend for yourselves."

"Thanks, mister!"

They were both way too nice!!

"Ronnie, we're lucky the people next to us are such nice guys!"

"Yeah! Thank you both so much!"

"No problem. Do your best."

"We're rooting for you."

Ronnie and I were fired up and started preparing with enthusiasm.

First, we fetched water and washed the cooking utensils. Once we'd finished laying out all the utensils, we brought out the ingredients.

We also got the fire going while we had the chance.

"All right... Then I'll teach you how to make them. There are two types of crepes: pork salad and honey-butter. The batter is made the same way for both, so I'll start by teaching you how to make it."

"Got it. Please teach me!"

Ronnie was highly motivated. At this rate, he'd learn it properly.

From there, I taught Ronnie how to make crepes while showing him the quantities I'd worked out during the test batch the other day.

Ronnie seemed to have some cooking experience from the orphanage and was better than I'd expected. He struggled a little with the mayonnaise, but once he got used to it, he'd be able to make it quickly. At this rate, he'd be fine on his own next time.

"Yep, and that's finished!!"

"Whoa... Is it done already?"

"Yes! Try it."

"Then... Thanks for the food."

Ronnie took a big bite of the pork salad crepe. His face gradually changed to one of astonishment.

"L-Leon, why is this so delicious? It's amazing!! This will definitely sell!!"

"You think it'll sell?"

"It definitely will! The sauce is delicious. It's mayonnaise, right? It's a lot of work to make, but if it's this delicious, I'll make as much as you want!"

Ronnie kept eating the crepe while excitedly praising it—a pretty impressive feat.

"I love this. I'd be so happy if I could eat it every day."

"I'm so happy you like it that much. Now try the other one too. This one is a sweet crepe, so it's dessert."

"I've barely ever eaten anything sweet... Thanks for the food."

Ronnie took a bite of the honey-butter crepe with an expression of deep emotion, then froze in place.

Um... Is Ronnie all right?

"Ronnie, what's wrong? Didn't you like it?"

At my words, Ronnie vigorously shook his head, tears welling up in his eyes.

Huh!? Why?!

"I-I... I've never eaten anything this delicious before. It's sweet... It tastes like happiness. I want to let my little sister and everyone at the orphanage try it too..."

Ronnie said that and quietly shed tears. Oh no... As always, Ronnie was just too good a kid! He was going to make me cry too!

"Ronnie, next time we can coordinate our schedules on a day off, can I go to the orphanage with you? Then we can make crepes for everyone. We can call it a gift from the two of us."

"Really? Is that okay?"

"Yeah! In exchange, come visit my family home too."

"Of course! I'll go! Leon... Thank you so much for everything."

"That's what friends do."

"Yeah, that's true. I'll help you too whenever you're in trouble, Leon!"

"Thanks! For now, let's do our best at the stall today."

"I'll work incredibly hard."

Ronnie seemed to have cheered up. That was a relief. Despite his difficult circumstances, Ronnie had grown up to be such a kind, good kid. He was always thinking about his little sister and everyone at the orphanage, and honestly, it brought me to tears.

I wish they could at least eat their fill at the orphanage. But if I said something like that, there were plenty of impoverished commoners who couldn't even get enough to eat... It was a difficult problem.

Anyway, for now, let's focus on doing our best at the food stall!

Oh... Right.

"Ronnie, I made crepes for the old man and the young man too, so let's go give them some."

"Really? That would be a nice way to thank them for earlier!"

Ronnie and I headed toward the old man, whose stall happened to have no customers at the moment.

"Hey, sir! Thanks for earlier."

"This is the food we're going to sell at our stall. They're called crepes. Try them if you'd like. This one is a pork salad crepe, and this one is a honey-butter crepe."

"Oh, thanks for going to the trouble. Is it really okay for me to take them?"

"Yeah! It's to thank you for earlier."

"I was just getting hungry. Thanks."

The old man took an enormous bite, cramming about a third of it into his mouth in one go. What a gloriously hearty way to eat.

"Hmm? Huh? What's this? You boys, this is incredibly delicious!"

"Really!? Yay!"

"The sweet one is delicious too!"

The old man ate with incredible gusto. He really thought they were delicious. What a relief.

"Thanks! Then come buy some next time."

"I definitely will. How much are they?"

"They're four small copper coins each, no matter which one you get."

"I see... That's pretty expensive. But for this flavor, I can understand it, and it's a fair price. It's really delicious."

The old man seemed incredibly pleased, which was great. It looked like we could sell these after all.

"Then let's go give some to the young guy."

"Yeah! Though, Leon, this is the first I've heard of selling them for four small copper coins each. You never told me."

Ronnie gave me a sidelong, reproachful look.

"S-sorry. I forgot to tell you. Considering the ingredient costs, we can't make a profit unless we charge about this much."

"Well, I think the price is fine. I even think we could raise it a little. We're using honey, sugar, and butter, and it tastes really good, so I think we could sell them for five small copper coins each."

Wow... Ronnie really was smart. Most ten-year-olds wouldn't be able to think about costs and profits. He seemed to understand the value of things too.

"I considered five small copper coins too, but I want as many people as possible to buy them and spread the word about crepes, so I set the price at this level."

"I see. Well, I'll go along with the price you decided on, Leon."

At first, I had been thinking of charging five small copper coins too. But rather than just making money for myself, I wanted crepes to help develop this world's food culture, so I wanted to make them cheap enough for lots of people to try.

When people eat something delicious, they want to recreate it, and new things are born in the process.

"Thanks. Then let's go with four small copper coins."

"Yeah!"

Just then, the young man's stall became free of customers, so we went to give him the crepes.

"Thanks for earlier, mister. These are for you!"

"These are what we're going to sell at our stall. I'm sure you'll find them delicious, so give them a try!"

"Thanks for coming all the way over to thank me. I'll gladly accept."

With that, the young man took a bite of the crepe. He froze for a moment after that first bite, then immediately started eating at a pace so fast it made me recoil.

He was really enjoying it... right?

"Hey, is it good?"

"Mmph, 'ery delicious."

I couldn't understand a word he was saying.

"What did you say?"

"J-just a moment... You boys, are you geniuses or something?! I've never eaten anything this delicious before!"

The young man swallowed the crepe stuffed in his mouth, then heaped lavish praise on it.

It really was nice hearing someone say it was delicious.

"Thanks! We'll be selling them right next door from now on, so come buy some. They're four small copper coins each."

"Four small copper coins... That's a little expensive, but it's not unaffordable. I'll definitely come buy some."

"We'll be here. See you around."

After that exchange, Ronnie and I returned to our own stall.

"That was a very promising reaction, so I'm relieved... It doesn't look like we'll fail to sell anything at all."

"We'll definitely be a huge success. It might be difficult to get people to buy them at first because they're a little expensive, but once they try them, they'll definitely come back and spread the word. I think our customer base will keep growing!"

"I see... I hope it turns out that way."

"Yeah! I'll do my best!"

"Thanks, Ronnie."

"That's my line. Thank you for hiring me."

"Then let's work hard together."

"Yeah! Let's open for business."

All right! The food stall is open! I'll work hard from here on out!