"Have you heard of burgers?"
"Do you think I live under a rock!? With lines as long as a Furagua snake, you'd have to be blind to miss it."
"Have you tried it?"
"Not to brag, but I was one of their first customers. I went there a week ago after we finished fishing. On my way home, I caught the smell of burgers, which led me straight to the stall. There was a promotion where it only cost one coin for some beef and bread, so I jumped at the chance."
The guy narrates it with great enthusiasm.
"What does it taste like?"
The other guy is already interested. He's been eyeing the burgers for a while now, but the line just keeps getting longer and longer. Even before the stall opens, people are already waiting for the food, despite the price increase to 5 coins per meal.
"You're not gonna believe me, but it beats out bread and meat stew by a mile. The flavors blend so well that it could be served in a high-class restaurant! You have to try it to believe it!"
"I want to try it now!" The guy's stomach churns with hunger at his friend's description, but looking at the waiting line, he can't help but sigh. "One day, I'll have to try it."
"By the way, how's your mother?"
"The sun priest came this morning, but no luck. She's still chanting about God. The church advised me to take her to a cathedral in the capital, but I don't have that kind of money."
The guy's face turns bitter.
"Did they know what happened?"
"They told me that my mother must have tangled with a heretic at some point."
"Damn those heretics, if only they'd just stop existing."
The guy could only grumble and feel bad for his friend's circumstances.
"We've made 5 stac today. After subtracting the costs, we'd have around 2 stac in profit."
Hilda reports the earnings to John, who is half-asleep from exhaustion. They've been selling burgers for only a week, but the word has spread far and wide. John can't help but smile; he didn't expect this to work so well.
At this pace, he could rent a small building by the end of the month and open a genuine restaurant.
However, there is a problem. John lacks the manpower to keep up with the demand. It turns out that making over 100 burgers per day is extremely exhausting, even if the ingredients are prepared the day before. He needs to hire more people to fill the work hours, and he can get them for a reasonable price, given that they are commoners.
After opening up positions, many were eager to join, so John decided to hire two people for now, a husband and wife, Jenny and Jeramy.
He teaches them how to operate the stall, and in the blink of an eye, he has two more employees. They earn 5 coins a day, more than the average pay by 2 coins. The increase in employees also boosts productivity, which in turn brings in more money.
Business is going great until one day, a guy shows up.
"Hey, give me the recipe."
A man storms in, disrupting the operation with his butler and knight in tow. John can see that he's some kind of noble.
"I'm sorry, but this recipe is not for sale."
"I'm not buying it! I order you to give it to me!"
The man raises his voice, refusing to give up. John can't help but sigh; he didn't think he'd encounter a brat like this here. The butler and knight at the noble's side grow increasingly tense as John continues to refuse to give up the recipe.
"Who are you?"
John asks, genuinely curious, as he isn't familiar with this guy at all—not from the novel or any basic information he has on hand.
"You dare not know my name? I'm Ulma Huron, the son of House Huron," he says with confidence. However, John still doesn't know who this guy is.
"I don't care. You don't have the right to block my stall."
John says with a dissatisfied look. Meanwhile, he's also racking his brain, trying to recall any information about the Huron family. They're likely a minor noble house, given how little they're known.
"You don't have the right to talk to me, commoner," Ulma says, crossing his arms. "Give me the recipe before things get ugly."
John holds his hand up to stop Hilda from throwing a knife at Ulma. He then reaches into a nearby bag and presents Ulma with a piece of paper.
"I'm kind of a noble myself. Penu Koshav. Now, get out of here before this matter reaches the manor lord."
"You!"
"Guard!" John pretends to call for a guard.
"You'll regret this."
With bloodshot eyes, Ulma starts walking away. John sneers at the pathetic display and continues selling his burgers.
The city won't allow this kind of harassment to happen, especially between nobles. This is why John purchased a noble ID instead of a commoner one. It was twice as expensive, but it was worth every coin.
In this world, commoners are heavily oppressed, and most nobles could ruin their lives in the blink of an eye. Like Ulma here—if John didn't have a noble ID, the guards would be less likely to respond to his call, granting Ulma the freedom to do whatever he wanted.
When selling his burgers, John encounters many such individuals, but most back off once they realize he's also a noble.
John ends the day by selling out once again. Since he's been open for a week, a few copycats have appeared, but none have taken off. They only saw him assembling the burgers, not preparing them, which made his operation look simple to replicate.
However, if they knew what John did, it would be quite easy to copy. After all, John is not a chef; he just cooks a little at home when he has time. He needs to expand his business into other areas before his burgers are fully copied.
At the end of the day, John, the maid, and Theia return to the hotel they're staying at and wash up. They've rented a room for about a month, and John's plan is to have enough to rent an entire building and call it their own.
But with how successful his business venture has been, he's considering moving his plan forward a bit. He hopes he can maintain this momentum for a while longer.