Chapter 5
As soon as the effects of the war faded, wealthy merchants began rising as a new social class known as the gentry, and some of them even bought noble titles.
In response, many nobles secretly started businesses under borrowed names.
An era where everyone was obsessed with making money had just begun.
“A-At last… a customer.”
The restaurant’s logo showed a giant dragon breathing fire.
The walls were covered with creepy skull-patterned wallpaper.
The marble floor was painted blood red.
Just looking at the place killed my appetite.
But…
This is exactly where I’ll refill my empty mana heart!
Step One to recovering my mana!
As naturally as possible, I pointed at the hiring notice posted by the entrance.
“I’m not here as a customer.”
“I saw your hiring sign.”
“Are you still looking for employees?”
“Honestly… we’ve given up trying to hire anyone.”
…Well, obviously.
Who would willingly work at such a gloomy restaurant?
“I would.”
“I want to work here.”
That person was me.
“Hmm.”
“As you can see, we aren’t desperately short-handed.”
“And this restaurant’s atmosphere…”
“It’s not really suited for a delicate young commoner who’s never had any hardships.”
A delicate girl who’s never suffered?
Me?
I almost laughed.
Still, he clearly wasn’t eager to hire me, so I made a bold offer.
“I won’t ask for wages.”
“…?”
“Just trust me.”
“Give me one hour.”
Meanwhile…
Duke Vientin Kalinos was walking through Roastery Street, accompanied by his assistant.
“Your Grace, this is Roastery Street.”
“The restaurant directly funded by the Kalinos Trading Company is located here.”
The Kalinos family specialized in magical engineering that slaughtered monsters and potion research that healed the wounded.
Starting a commercial business was a significant change for them.
“Oh, Your Grace.”
“I have one important report.”
“It’s the latest list of candidates to become your wife.”
“It was sent a few months ago by the former Duke Garno from the Eastern Continent.”
“Throw it away.”
“I-I tried to tell him that…”
“But the former Duke insists he absolutely won’t give up.”
“He said this time he’ll definitely get you married.”
The Duke rubbed his temples tiredly.
“I told you to investigate the lady wearing the trash outfit.”
“Ah… yes.”
“Actually…”
“That’s why I brought you here.”
“We received information that the lady came to this street…”
Just then—
A cheerful voice rang out as someone hurried past them.
“Please try our delicious bread!”
The assistant naturally accepted a piece.
He took a bite of the white bread before tilting his head.
“Huh?”
“The person handing out bread…”
“They look strangely familiar.”
“…Surely not.”
The Duke glanced at him before calmly looking ahead again.
About twenty minutes later…
The Duke and his assistant were still walking down the street.
“Assistant.”
“Y-Yes?”
“My name is Peterson.”
“Right.”
“Peter.”
“When I received the report…”
“I was told that restaurant couldn’t attract a single customer.”
Peterson looked toward the restaurant in confusion.
“Huh?”
“Why is business suddenly booming?”
The blood-red partition walls that had blocked the restaurant’s windows and created the gloomy atmosphere expected from a Kalinos business…
Were gone.
Through the clear windows, sparkling clean plates and neatly folded napkins could be seen.
The place looked perfectly clean.
But what surprised them even more…
Was the woman standing outside.
She was stopping random pedestrians and enthusiastically waving tickets at them.
“Congratulations, sir!”
“You’ve won an invitation to enjoy dinner for only 0.99 gold!”
“Huh?”
“Really?”
“I thought this place cost over one gold!”
“Not at all!”
“Please come inside!”
Perhaps no one had ever experienced such aggressive marketing before.
Customers streamed into the restaurant…
Like mice following the Pied Piper.
Even Peterson unconsciously started walking toward the entrance before snapping back to reality.
“B-But…”
“That employee…”
“Don’t they look familiar?”
“…Of course they do.”
“H-Huh?”
It was none other than…
Giselle Florette.
She had been attending a noble social gathering that morning.
Now, in the afternoon…
She was working a part-time job normally done by commoners.
And she was incredibly professional.
Who exactly is that woman?
Giselle flashed a bright smile as she walked toward the restaurant’s open kitchen, which customers could easily see from outside.
“Oh!”
“Little ones!”
“Would you like to see a fire show?”
Flames suddenly burst up from the frying pan she was holding.
The children’s eyes grew wide as fire danced across its surface.
She was even cooking with a wok.
Even Duke Kalinos, who had seen countless unbelievable things throughout his life…
Found the sight remarkably unusual.
One little boy stuck out his tongue.
“T-The fire show’s boring!”
“Oh?”
“Then I’ll juggle for you!”
“Customer Satisfaction Service!”
Giselle effortlessly tossed three glass cups into the air.
No one on the street could look away from her performance.
For the first time in his life…
Duke Kalinos unconsciously took a step backward.
“Y-Your Grace?”
“…Remarkable.”
“…Pardon?”
Without taking his eyes off Giselle, he quietly muttered,
“I need to prepare something.”
“Let’s go.”
Then he calmly turned around.
Watching his back, Peterson thought,
Why is His Grace acting like that?
It’s almost like…
…he fell in love at first sight.
The moment that thought crossed his mind…
Peterson nearly jumped.
Duke Kalinos?
Interested in a person?
No…
Interested in a lady?
That was simply impossible.
“O-Our sales…”
“They’re… two hundred times higher than usual…!”
I smiled at the restaurant owner, whose jaw had completely dropped.
Compared to my previous life—
Working over ten years straight to pay off family debt and student loans…
This much is child’s play.
“I’ll pay you two hundred times the normal wage!”
“Oh my goodness!”
Paying a part-timer two hundred times their wage?
This owner really is crazy.
No wonder his business was failing.
He was far too easy to take advantage of.
“No thanks.”
“I don’t need that.”
Instead…
I glanced toward the storage room where the restaurant kept its trash.
What I actually want…
…are the discarded potions inside.
The Kalinos family…
The North’s infamous villainous house.
A legendary family of mages.
Their territory bordered monster lands.
Because they constantly fought monsters on the frontier…
They became masters at crafting swords, armor, and potions.
Unfortunately…
Their naming sense…
And marketing skills…
Were absolutely terrible.
Everyone knew Kalinos-made weapons and armor were the best.
But hardly anyone even knew where their potions were sold.
According to the original novel…
This storage room contains discarded potions.
Walking in and suddenly asking for unwanted potions would obviously look suspicious.
So first…
I’d built up some trust while pretending to help around the restaurant.
“Oh?”
“Those potions look interesting.”
“Ah.”
“We’re throwing those away.”
“Why?”
“Interested?”
“It’s just…”
“The bottles are really pretty.”
“They look expensive.”
After repeatedly staring at the potion bottles with fascination…
The owner mistakenly assumed I only wanted the fancy containers.
Sure, asking now is still a little suspicious…
But after increasing today’s sales two hundredfold…
He’ll overlook it.
“So…”
“Instead of wages…”
“I’d like those potions from the storage room.”
“Hmm?”
“Well…”
“The bottles are certainly beautiful.”
“I’d actually appreciate it if someone disposed of them for me.”
Ah…
This is the good stuff.
Standing alone in a dark alley…
After making sure nobody was watching…
I drank all ten bottles in one go.
It tastes even worse than organic cabbage juice.
Like filthy sewer water.
Yes… this wonderfully awful garbage taste!
The potion developed by the Kalinos family…
Dragon’s Claw.
It was designed to awaken the hidden potential of a person’s mana.
Several Kalinos mages had originally developed it for themselves before attempting to commercialize it.
Unfortunately…
Poor marketing caused the product to fail completely.
Finally…
I can feel my mana returning!
