As soon as the aftermath of the war subsided, merchants with money rose under the name of the gentry class, and some even went as far as purchasing noble titles. This sparked an era where even the nobles, creating trade guilds under pseudonyms, were starting new businesses, completely consumed by the pursuit of wealth.
“F-finally, a customer has arrived.”
The restaurant had a dragon logo as if it were breathing fire, strange wallpaper with skull patterns here and there, and a blood-red floor that looked like it was painted with blood—enough to kill anyone’s appetite.
‘But, this is the place that will fill my depleted mana heart!’
Step one to obtaining mana! Trying to sound as natural as possible, I pointed to the job posting on the door and made my proposal.
“I’m not a customer; I came because of the job posting. Are you hiring?”
“We weren’t really hiring, so I gave up.”
…Of course. Who would want to work in such a creepy restaurant?
“I’d like to work here, though.”
That person would be me.
“Hmm, as you can see, we’re not exactly in need of staff right now. Besides, the atmosphere of this restaurant isn’t quite suitable for a fragile common girl who hasn’t been through much.”
A fragile common girl who hasn’t been through much? Me?
I was dumbfounded, but seeing his reluctance to hire, I made a bold offer.
“I won’t take any pay.”
“…?”
“Just give me a chance. Only for an hour.”
—
Duke Kalinos was walking along Roastery Street, where the merchant guild was located, with his aide.
“Your Grace, this is Roastery Street, where the restaurant directly funded by the Kalinos Merchant Guild is located.”
For a family like his, optimized for monster-slaying magic tools and potion research for healing the wounded, starting a new commercial venture was quite significant.
“Oh, Your Grace, the most important report: a few months ago, the list of duchess candidates from the former Duke Garlno on the eastern continent arrived.”
“Tell them to discard it.”
“Well, Your Grace, the former duke said he absolutely would not give up. He insists on arranging a marriage this time.”
He rubbed his temple, looking tired.
“I told you to gather information on that lady in the shabby clothes.”
“Ah, yes, about that. That’s actually why I brought you to this street. We received intelligence that the lady has come to this area…”
Just then, a cheerful voice quickly passed by them.
“Please try our delicious bread samples!”
The aide naturally accepted a piece of bread.
He chewed on the white bread, tilting his head in confusion.
“Huh, the person handing out the bread… seems familiar.”
“…It can’t be.”
Duke Kalinos stared at him, then turned back again.
—
Twenty minutes later, Duke Kalinos and his aide were still walking along the street.
“Aide.”
“Yes? My name is Petterson, Your Grace.”
“Right, Peter. When I was briefed, that restaurant seemed completely deserted.”
The aide looked in the direction of his gaze, puzzled.
“Huh? Why is it suddenly so crowded?”
The once-intimidating red walls of the restaurant, exuding the ominous aura of the Kalinos family, had been removed. Now, the clear windows showed sparkling clean plates and napkins, perfectly hygienic. But the most surprising thing was the woman inside.
She stood at the restaurant’s door, grabbing random passersby, waving tickets.
“Congratulations! You’ve won an invitation to enjoy dinner for just 0.99 gold!”
“Huh? Really? I thought this place was expensive! I thought it was over 1 gold!”
“No way. Come on in!”
Was this aggressive sales technique unfamiliar to them?
Customers flowed into the restaurant as if they were following the Pied Piper. Petterson, who had subconsciously been about to enter, snapped out of it.
“But, uh, doesn’t that employee seem familiar?”
“…Familiar indeed.”
“Wh-what?”
She was the woman known as ‘Giselle Florette.’ She had definitely been at a social gathering earlier that morning, yet now, in the afternoon, she was working a part-time job usually taken by commoners. And she was doing it very professionally.
‘Just who is this woman?’
Giselle, beaming brightly, walked closer to the open kitchen, visible from the street.
“Oh, kids! Should I show you a fire show?”
A flame suddenly erupted from the pan she held. The sight of fire dancing across the bottom of the pan widened the children’s eyes in amazement.
She was even doing wok cooking.
Even for the battle-hardened Duke Kalinos, this was a rare sight.
One of the children stuck out his tongue and muttered, “That fire show is lame!”
“Really? Then I’ll throw in some juggling! Customer satisfaction guaranteed!”
Giselle twirled the three glass cups as if they were juggling balls. A spectacle so mesmerizing that no one on this street could look away. For the first time in his life, Duke Kalinos took a step back, overwhelmed by someone else’s presence.
“Y-Your Grace?”
“Truly… astonishing.”
“Excuse me?”
He whispered, gazing intently at Giselle as if imprinting her image in his mind. “I have preparations to make. Let’s move.”
He turned and walked away without further thought. Peterson, watching his retreating figure in disbelief, wondered, ‘Why is he acting like that? As if he’s fallen for someone at first sight.’
…Just after that thought crossed his mind, Peterson jolted. Duke Kalinos, interested in a person, no, a lady? That was utterly absurd!
—
“Sales are a whopping 200 times the usual…!”
I smiled at the restaurant owner, whose mouth was wide open in shock. ‘Compared to my past of slaving away like a dog for over ten years to pay off family debt and student loans, this is nothing.’
“I’ll pay you 200 times your usual wage! Oh my, oh my.”
‘200 times the daily wage for a part-timer? He’s out of his mind. No wonder the place is empty under someone like him.’
“You don’t need to do that.”
I glanced at the storage room where the restaurant kept its trash. ‘What I really want is the potion tossed away like garbage in that storage.’
The northern villainous family, the Kalinos Ducal House, known as the ‘Magical House,’ had their domain bordering the land of monsters. As a result, they had to deal with monsters directly at the frontier, which led to their exceptional skills in crafting swords, armor, and potions. However, their naming sense and marketing were utterly terrible as a whole. While their swords and armor were in demand and sold through word-of-mouth, no one knew where to buy their potions.
‘According to the original story, there should be discarded potions here.’
It would seem suspicious for someone to randomly ask for discarded potions from the storage. So, I had subtly laid the groundwork by pretending to help out.
“Oh? There’s something interesting among the potions in there.”
“Ah, those? We’re throwing them out. Why? Are you interested?”
“Not really. The potion bottles just look pretty. They seem expensive.”
After pretending to be fascinated by the potion bottles a few more times, he seemed to think I was dazzled by their fancy appearance.
‘Of course, my behavior is suspicious, but I’ve already distracted him with the promise of 200 times my wage.’
“Just include the potions in the storage as part of my payment.”
“Huh? Well, the bottles are pretty, aren’t they? Sure, if you take them off my hands, that’d be great!”
—
‘Ah, this is it.’
In a dark alley, I quickly scanned the area and downed all ten potions in one go without anyone noticing.
‘A taste worse than pesticide-free cabbage juice, with a sewer-like stench! This is the taste of trash!’
The potion developed by the Kalinos family, “Dragon’s Claw,” was designed to help unlock the latent potential
of mana within the body. Some of the family’s mages used it, and it was developed for commercial use but discarded due to poor marketing.
‘Finally, I can feel my mana rising!’
