Choosing the Shop

So we got back into the carriage and continued on, arriving at a location roughly in the middle of the central district. The shops around here had a less upscale atmosphere than those we'd seen earlier, and even servants working in noble estates used them. Well, only the higher-ranking servants. Menial servants apparently didn't earn much, after all.

When I looked around from the carriage, I saw quite a few upscale cafés. This area might suit a specialty sweets shop. The previous area had only had shops resembling high-end French restaurants, so it hadn't quite matched what I had in mind.

After getting out of the carriage and taking a close look at the shop, I saw that it was considerably larger than the previous one. It was also made of brick and looked incredibly stylish.

In this country, noble estates and the homes of wealthy merchants were usually made of stone or brick, while commoners' homes were mostly wooden. So if we were going to run a shop for nobles, one made of stone or brick would be better.

Roger unlocked the door for us, and when we went inside, a spacious area spread out before us. The door was at the far right of the shop, and there was a counter directly in front of us. The left side was quite spacious. There was nothing there at the moment, but it looked like we could turn it into a café area.

"This shop was formerly a café, so it has a spacious dining area. The kitchen is also quite large. The drawbacks are that the kitchen equipment is old and there is no second floor."

So it really had been a café before. That spacious area had probably been the dining area.

"For now, I think this is better than the previous shop."

"Yeah, I think so too. This shop is really stylish!"

Ronnie seemed to like it a lot. The interior was stylish too, not just the exterior. Brick had been used as an accent in the interior, while wallpaper covered the rest of the walls. We could probably use the interior as it was.

I wondered where the door at the back of the spacious area led.

"Roger, what's beyond that door?"

"That is the restroom. A restroom for customers has been installed there."

I see. That might be unusual in this country.

When I went to the back and opened the door, I found a fairly spacious flush toilet. This would be convenient for customers.

"Let's look at everything for now."

I turned to everyone and said that, then went back to the counter. Since the only door left in this space was the one behind the counter, the kitchen and other facilities were probably beyond it.

When I opened the door, there was a hallway, with one door on the right and two on the left.

I opened the door on the right first. Whoa, it was the kitchen. And it was extremely spacious. It seemed to be about three times as large as the kitchen in the previous shop...

"Leon-sama, this is certainly spacious enough."

"The size is more than sufficient."

But the equipment was old, after all. There wasn't even a cooking stove, and the worktables should probably be replaced too. The sink was old as well...

However, I had already planned to remodel the kitchen to make it easier to use, so its age wasn't a major problem. In fact, I wouldn't have to hesitate to renovate it.

"It needs to be renovated, but it's spacious enough, so I think it's good. What do you think, Yoan?"

"I think it's great too! This is spacious enough that it shouldn't be a problem even if we have additional cooks. I especially like how much counter space there is. Making sweets requires plenty of room on the work counter."

"I see. Then should we keep the counter this spacious when we renovate it?"

"Yes. Please do!"

We all looked around the kitchen. Yoan had a serious expression on his face as he seemed to imagine making sweets there.

I headed toward the back of the kitchen. There was a locked door back there. I assumed it led outside, but would it open onto an alley or perhaps a backyard?

As I wondered that and opened the door, I found a narrow backyard, with a gate at the far end. Beyond the gate seemed to be a back alley.

There was nothing special in the backyard, except for an iron door set into the ground. What could this be?

"Roger, do you know what this is?"

"This is the entrance to a basement. It appears to have been used to store food."

A basement! I was thrilled! If we put plenty of ice in the basement, the entire space would become cold and serve as one large refrigerator.

"Can we see inside?"

"Yes. I have the key."

Roger said that, unlocked it, and pulled the hatch upward to open it. It wasn't as heavy as it looked.

"Leon-sama, what is down there?"

"It's a basement for storing food. Do you want to take a look too, Yoan?"

"Yes!"

"Leon, I'll go too. I've never seen a basement before."

"Then let's all go together."

It was completely dark inside, so I cast a light spell and went down the stairs. Once we started using this place, we'd need to install some light orbs.

When I reached the bottom, I found a fairly spacious basement with several shelves installed. The air was cooler than aboveground. It would be perfect if we put ice in here.

"This place is great. If we put ice made by the ice maker in here, it would be ideal for storing food. Sweets spoil quickly, so refrigeration is essential."

But it would be convenient to have a refrigerator in the kitchen too, not just down here. We would also need to add refrigeration to the display cases where we put the sweets.

In that case, developing a refrigerator was essential. But this basement would definitely be useful too.

"Leon-sama, both the kitchen and this basement are excellent. I think this shop is ideal for making sweets."

"Leon, I think this shop is great too."

"That's what I thought too. But let's look at the rooms we haven't seen yet, just in case."

"That's true. There were rooms on the opposite side of the kitchen, weren't there?"

We went back inside the building and looked at the other rooms. Of the two rooms on the opposite side of the hallway, one was a flush toilet, while the other was a large, empty room. The larger room had probably been used as a break room for the employees or something similar. We could put some furniture in it and use it as both a break room and an office.

Yes, this shop was great—really great. It was exactly the kind of shop I'd imagined. If there was one problem, it was that there was no bath. I'd also like a changing room.

Needless to say, personal cleanliness is essential in a restaurant, especially for the cooks. I wanted the employees to change into their work clothes at the shop, and if any of them didn't have a bath at home, I wanted them to bathe before work.

We should install a bath and a changing room. But adding onto the building would be difficult... Hmm, perhaps we could build an extension toward the courtyard. That way, we wouldn't have to alter the main building, and it shouldn't be too difficult a construction project.

Actually, I'd thought through all that even though we hadn't officially decided on this shop yet. But in my mind, I had already made up my mind to buy it.

This shop was close to ideal, and the location was excellent too. There probably wasn't another property that could surpass it.

"Ronnie, I think this is the shop we should choose. What do you two think?"

"I think this place is fine."

"I think it's good too."

"Then shall we decide on this one? Oh, right, Roger, how many other shops were on the list?"

"Yes. There was one more candidate. However, judging by the way you have all been discussing this shop, I believe this one is preferable. The other shop is extremely large, but it is located on the outskirts of the central district and is a somewhat old-fashioned wooden building."

Being on the outskirts of the central district and made of wood was enough to eliminate it from consideration. It might have been a good choice if there hadn't been any better shops, but this one was simply too good.

"Then we don't need to look at the last shop. We'll go with this one."

"Understood. I will take care of the necessary procedures. Starting tomorrow at the latest, you should be able to renovate the shop however you like, Leon-sama."

"All right. Thank you."

I was really looking forward to renovating it. We would listen to Ronnie and Yoan's opinions and turn it into a comfortable space! With that resolve, I steeled myself for the work ahead.