Putting the Plan into Action—Daytime

And so, the next morning.

I woke up, got ready for the day, and realized that I hadn't tested the barrier magic tool I had made yesterday. That's right—I had been so sleepy that I went straight to bed after making it.

I needed to test its performance to make sure it worked properly. With that in mind, I asked Roger to leave me alone in my room for a while and began testing the barrier magic tool.

I took the magic tool I had made yesterday out of my Item Box and activated it. A barrier appeared with the magic tool as its starting point, slid outward about one meter, and stopped.

Oh, it worked! But even though it was technically a success, I could see at a glance that there were some problems.

The biggest problem was that there were no barriers above or below. Even if the sides were protected by barriers, there would be no way to avoid something thrown from above. There was also a gap below large enough for a sword to pass through. ...This wouldn't do.

I needed to add barriers above and below too. Adding one above would be easy enough, but what about below? There was ground beneath it, so... What should I do in that case? Would the barrier stop if it hit something? No, it seemed like it would probably destroy whatever it hit.

Hmm... Perhaps I should make the barrier stop moving whenever it touched something. If I did that, the barrier would stop as soon as it touched the ground and should protect against attacks from below as well.

All right, that's what I'll do. Once I'd made my decision, I changed the magic imbued in the tool and completed the barrier magic tool.

Then I activated it as a test. Yes, it was perfect, if I do say so myself. But there was one final problem: the color of the magic stones.

Magic-stone colors changed according to the magic attribute imbued in them, and apparently the Space attribute produced black. It wasn't an ominous black, but an extremely beautiful one. Still, this was clearly a color change unlike anything seen before. Ronnie would probably wonder about it. But I'd have to keep it secret. I was sure Ronnie would refrain from pressing me too hard.

All right, now that everything was settled, all I had to do was give the magic tool to Ronnie. Relieved that it had been completed without incident, I let out a deep breath.

I immediately called for Roger and had him prepare breakfast. I had been researching without eating, so I was extremely hungry.

After spending such a hectic morning, I was now walking toward Ronnie's house. Roger had offered to take me there by carriage, but for some reason, I felt like walking today.

Summer was gradually approaching, but it was still a pleasantly warm spring day, and the occasional cool breeze felt wonderful.

I walked along, feeling the change of seasons, and eventually reached Ronnie's house.

"Ronnie, I'm here!"

"Coming! Good morning, Leon."

When I called out through the door, Ronnie immediately answered and opened it for me.

"Good morning. Are you ready?"

"Yeah. All that's left is to carry the supplies to the cart."

"Then why don't we head to the stall now?"

"Is that all right? It's a little earlier than usual."

"Yeah. We're giving things away for free today, right? I want to prepare more than usual, and since we'll be making them in a different size, I think we should practice a little first."

"I see. That makes sense. Then let's carry the supplies out."

We brought the cart to the front of the room, and I loaded the supplies Ronnie handed me onto it. We finished preparing everything almost immediately.

We were ready to leave, but then I realized I had forgotten something.

"Oh, right. There's something I want to give you, Ronnie. Can I come into your room for a moment?"

"Sure, but...?"

Ronnie looked puzzled about why I wanted to enter his room, but I went in with him and pretended to take something from my pocket as I pulled the barrier magic tool out of my Item Box.

"I want you to wear these at all times, Ronnie, and never take them off."

"These are a ring and a necklace... Are they magic tools? Why are they black?"

"Yes. They're magic tools to protect you if anything happens. If you find yourself in danger, touch the ring to the necklace to activate it. Don't separate them until the danger has passed. While the magic is active, dangerous people won't be able to approach you, so escape while keeping it activated."

"You're giving me such an incredible magic tool...? Actually, I've wondered about this for a while, but magic tools can only be imbued with magic that actually exists, right? Is there really magic that powerful?"

As expected, Ronnie was curious. He was smart, so that was only natural. But precisely because of that, I was sure he'd know not to ask questions about things better left unasked.

If I told him it was a secret this time too, he'd probably accept that. I wanted to tell Ronnie the truth, but I still couldn't... I really wished I could graduate from the Royal School soon.

"It's a secret of the ducal family, so I can't tell you yet. I'm sorry..."

"I-I see. In that case, I won't ask. Actually, don't tell me!"

Ronnie said that desperately. Apparently, he had no desire to hear a secret of the ducal family. I understood. If I were in Ronnie's position, I definitely wouldn't want to hear it either.

"Yeah, I won't tell you for now. But will you keep these with you?"

"Yeah. Thank you, really. I feel much safer now."

"I'm the reason you're being put in danger, after all..."

"That's not true! I'm doing this because I want to, so it's not your fault, Leon."

"I see... Thanks for saying that."

"It's the truth."

"Yeah. Then let's do our best together today!"

"Yeah!"

After giving Ronnie the barrier magic tool, we left his room, went to the market to buy supplies, and then made our way to the stall.

"I'll prepare the mayonnaise, so could you take care of the other preparations, Leon?"

"Got it."

Once we reached the stall, we worked silently together and quickly finished preparing to open for business.

Then it was finally time to advertise the free giveaway.

"Today only, you can have one mini crepe per person for free! If you're interested, please come on over!"

When I called out loudly, many nearby people came over despite their suspicions.

The first person in line was a young man.

"Is it really free?"

"Yeah, it's a mini crepe, and it really is free. Which kind would you like?"

"Free, huh? That's generous! I'll take the pork salad. I've been curious about them for a while, but they're a little expensive, so I couldn't afford one. Thanks."

"If you like it, come back and buy one next time!"

"Sure, I will."

People continued arriving one after another. My calling out to them probably helped, but the wooden sign we had written on and propped up might have helped as well. Since we were close to the central district, quite a few people around here could read.

We'd only put it up for this plan, but it might unexpectedly lead to more sales in the future too.

While I was busy working, five large, rough-looking men appeared. Three of them sat down and occupied the space in front of the stall, while the other two joined the line.

This was... blatant interference with business. They were even more intimidating than I'd expected. Had Ronnie really been running the stall alone with people like this showing up...?

"Ronnie, those are the men, right?"

"Yeah."

When I asked in a low voice, Ronnie nodded.

"Then let's give the two in line their crepes first, and then give some to the three sitting over there as well. I'll take theirs to them."

"Got it. Pork salad?"

"Yeah. That sounds good."

Ronnie made crepes for the other customers while preparing three additional ones. At last, it was the pair's turn.

Ronnie handled the two men.

"Which kind of crepe would you like?"

When Ronnie asked, the two men put on vulgar grins and pretended to deliberate over which one to buy.

"Hmm, which one should we get? But they're expensive. We ain't got any money, right?"

"Heh heh heh. That's right. We don't have any money, so we can't buy one, can we?"

"But we still want to try one."

The two men continued talking without moving away from the stall. So this was how they wasted time and interfered with business. It really was troublesome. More than that, the way they talked was irritating.

Ronnie spoke loudly to the two men with a bright smile.

"They're free today, so you don't have to worry about money! You two come to the stall pretty often, right? You're always unable to buy a crepe because you don't have any money. Try one today—it's free! You two are the reason I decided to hold this giveaway. Thank you!"

As Ronnie continued saying this with a radiant smile, the two men's faces turned bright red, and their expressions twisted with rage.

"W-Why, you little brat! Don't make fun of us!"

"I'm not making fun of you. Crepes are a little expensive, aren't they?"

"W-We can buy as many as we want at a price like this!"

"Really? But didn't you just say you didn't have any money?"

"W-We never said that!"

"Then I must have misheard you. Either way, they're free today, so go ahead and eat one. You don't need any money!"

Ronnie said that loudly again and forcibly handed each of the two men a pork salad crepe.

"Make sure you eat them. Oh, and those three gentlemen sitting over there are people who couldn't buy crepes because they didn't have any money, right? You three can have some for free today too!"

After Ronnie said that, I took the crepes over to the three men and handed them one at a time.

"Here you go. They're free today! You can't usually buy them because crepes are a little expensive, right? Enjoy them as much as you like today. And once you're able to earn some money, I'd be happy if you came back to buy one!"

I said this with the most innocent, guileless smile I could manage.

The three men stood there dumbfounded, apparently unable to understand what was happening, but the voices of the other customers around them seemed to bring them back to their senses.

"So those men wanted crepes that badly even though they don't have any money?"

"Crepes aren't cheap, but they're still affordable once in a while if you work normally..."

"Maybe they have a lot of children."

"Or maybe they lost their jobs..."

People were having conversations like that while sneaking glances at the three men.

After hearing them, the three men stood up with their faces bright red, still holding their crepes. The nearest man raised his arm and tried to punch me, but just before he swung, he apparently realized that this was a crowded plaza. Somehow, he lowered his raised arm and quickly walked away.

He had been straining so hard that a blue vein stood out on his forehead, and he had clenched his hands so tightly that they seemed to be bleeding.

After that man left, the other four followed him and departed as well. Every one of them glared at me with murderous eyes as they left.

Judging by their reactions, they were extremely angry. This might succeed exactly as planned. They'd probably go to their employer next. Hopefully, the employer would shift to trying to destroy the stall.

The biggest problem would be if their anger turned toward me or Ronnie. If they tried to harm me directly, it wouldn't be a problem at all. Ronnie was another matter. He had the barrier magic tool too, so he should be safe, but there was always a chance something could go wrong.

For that reason, if the men didn't show up tonight, we would close the stall for a while. I would have a carriage take Ronnie to and from the stall as well.

Well, there was no point worrying about things I couldn't know yet. For now, I was just glad everything had gone well.

I took a moment to relax, then returned to Ronnie and spoke to him.

"Ronnie, that means the plan worked, right?"

"Yeah. I think it went well."

"I thought so. I'm glad. Then why don't we finish up early and head home?"

"Yeah! There's only a little batter left to prepare, so can we finish once it's gone?"

"That works."

"Thanks. Then let's keep going a little longer."

After that, Ronnie and I devoted ourselves to handing out free crepes. Once we were finished, we quickly packed up the stall and returned to Ronnie's house.

All that's left is the night watch. Let's do our best!