The market and even the trading post were somehow managing to run in their own way.
Of course, there were small quarrels and incidents, but...
‘This much is acceptable.’
The northerners had always been rough to begin with.
For such northerners to gather in one place and talk about money, yet have only this much commotion, was close to a miracle.
“Still, just in case, tell the soldiers not to let down their guard.”
“Yes.”
Aiden had not the slightest intention of coaxing and soothing people who threw tantrums because they wanted to live without the law.
‘If you commit a crime, you should be punished.’
Because of that, soldiers constantly patrolled around the market and the trading post. And before northern soldiers, each a head taller than everyone else, altruism naturally welled up in people’s hearts, so order was being maintained.
“Um, but Administrator.”
“What?”
“Today, the head cook and all the kitchen staff were dispatched to the market again, weren’t they?”
“They were.”
Unfortunately, since this was only the second market day, intervention by public office was essential again in order to fill the food zone. The head cook had no choice but to be drafted once more.
The one fortunate thing was that, thanks to the considerable profits from the previous market, the kitchen staff had all received bonuses and were looking forward to being drafted this time.
“Then our lunch today....”
“The head cook said he’d bring sandwiches later.”
“Again?”
“What’s wrong with sandwiches? They’re delicious.”
“No matter how delicious they are, it’s already been ten days! Are you not sick of them?”
“You don’t look the part, but you complain about food a lot.”
“Have you never thought that you are the strange one, Administrator, for eating the same food for ten days without saying a word?”
“Hmph.”
However, Jamie seemed dissatisfied with this as well.
“I have plenty of money! I’ll pay, so can we please eat something else today?”
“As long as food fills your stomach, what does it matter....”
“That is an insult to food!”
“What nonsense....”
“Come on, just this once.”
“Did you already find something?”
Since Jamie had gone this far, there was no reason to refuse.
Aiden was the sort of man who could eat spicy stir-fried pork for an entire month without caring, so he wondered what the problem was with eating sandwiches for ten days. Still, he thought that his aide’s work efficiency declining would indeed be a problem, so he nodded.
“Heh heh! I took a look around earlier, and over there, I found a place selling seafood stew and meatballs! They had beer too!”
“No more than two mugs of beer.”
“Who would two mugs even be enough for? Even children would rather not drink at all than drink only two mugs!”
“Have you never thought that children drinking beer is the problem in the first place?”
“What’s wrong with beer? It’s used as a digestive too.”
“That is what’s wrong. Good grief.”
He had not dared touch it yet, but one day, he would have to do something about this absurd medical field too.
‘There’s a mountain of work to do.’
As he thought of the endless work increasing yet again, the corners of Aiden’s mouth twitched.
As expected, thinking about work was the best.
“Five servings are ready!”
“Ooooh!”
The middle-aged owner, who did not lose his smile despite the sweat beading on his brow and the flood of customers, set down the food.
Jamie, who had been shifting from foot to foot while waiting, sniffed as though he would bury his face in the plate and snorted like a wild boar.
“I heard from the others working at the castle that this was incredibly popular at the last market!”
“Really?”
“They said it competed with our head cook’s sandwich for first or second place.”
“It was that good?”
That was a little surprising.
Their head cook’s skill was already so famous that the rumor had spread beyond the lord’s castle and into nearby villages.
It was enough to tempt even Aiden, who had little interest in food.
Dip.
“...Hm?”
“How is it? Good, right?”
Aiden thought there was a reason it had become popular.
‘It’s incredibly stimulating.’
He had heard it was seafood stew, so he had imagined something like a mild clear fish stew. Instead, it felt as though he had been served a spicy fish stew loaded with Cheongyang chili peppers.
“But I think I smell something.”
“Ah. That is probably mustard greens and juniper berry powder.”
“Mustard greens? Juniper berry?”
Mustard was what they used to make mustard sauce, and what were juniper berries?
When Aiden tilted his head, Kalisa unexpectedly joined the conversation.
“When you salt meat, adding juniper berry powder helps keep it from spoiling. It has a refreshing scent, so northerners like it.”
“Oh.”
“Three mugs of beer here!”
“Yes, coming!”
As if he had been waiting for the explanation to end, Jamie ordered beer.
“Please enjoy! This is on the house!”
The owner certainly had a knack for business.
He set out several thin slices of smoked meat, and the other customers who had been glancing at their table immediately began placing extra orders.
“Since this is our first company dinner, how about a toast?”
At that moment, a phrase that should never have come out of Jamie’s mouth appeared.
“Ugh.”
At the words company dinner, Aiden trembled finely, then scratched at his arms as though goosebumps had risen all over him.
“Just try saying that word where I can hear it one more time.”
“Pardon? Which word? Company dinner?”
“Ugh.”
“Do you dislike company dinners, Administrator?”
“Is there anyone who likes them?”
“I like them.”
“Why?”
“What do you mean, why? Well....”
Jamie blinked as though he had never once thought about it before.
“Kalisa, what about you?”
“I also like company dinners.”
“...Liar.”
“Why would I lie about something like that?”
Aiden found himself at a loss for words.
A worldview where people liked company dinners existed?
There was no way that could be possible!
‘Do they not know what a company dinner is?’
Otherwise, how could this be?
“Now, now. Enough of that. Please give us a toast! This is the first gathering of the lord’s castle leadership, so on a grand, national scale....”
“Stop.”
Please, anything but that.
Aiden seriously wondered whether this was what PTSD felt like.
“Ah, do you not like giving toasts? Then I will do it instead!”
Jamie came to a strange conclusion on his own, sprang up from his seat, raised his beer mug high, and shouted,
“Today’s toast is Donkey!”
Then, out of nowhere, people all around them responded by lifting anything they could hold, whether it was a drinking cup or a meat skewer.
Most of them did not seem to be part of the lord’s castle staff, but they had apparently read the mood and joined in roughly.
Jamie seemed to know that too, but in a booming voice, he went ahead and shouted the call.
“To! Your! And! My! Precious! Meeting!”
“To the meeting!”
“Uoooooh!”
Ah, shit.
Was this workplace harassment?
Aiden sincerely wanted to leave work.
Some time later.
Naturally, the order to drink only two mugs of beer was not followed.
“Bwahahahaha!”
“Please accept a cup from me too, sir!”
“Oho. Gladly! You take one too. This one is on me! Bwahahahaha!”
Jamie had become like a fish in water, racing all around the food zone.
“What the hell is this?”
“Haha! You all worked hard until now. Let’s work just a little harder! Uh.... Pardon? Were you speaking to me, Administrator?”
At some point, Kalisa was also patting the shoulders of former merchant company workers, now Commerce Development Department employees, who had gathered around her, continuously offering them food and drink.
Aiden had never expected much from Jamie to begin with, and he had thought Kalisa would at least be different. But looking closely, they only looked different on the outside; inside, they were exactly the same.
“...Forget it. Go back and have fun.”
“Yes, sir!”
This had definitely been a company dinner for the leadership, meaning a gathering with a full membership of three people. How had it become like this?
Aiden found this situation utterly difficult to understand.
He could accept, in a way, that there were people who liked company dinners. In his previous life too, that was why the damned bad custom never disappeared.
But,
‘There are people who envy a company dinner and sneak their way in?’
Was this a possible development?
“Now, now. Please have some of this too.”
At that moment, the head cook and kitchen staff selling sandwiches nearby made something and passed it over to their table.
“We will join you soon too!”
“Pardon?”
No, there was no need for that.
A familiar kitchen worker set down an unidentified grilled meat dish and winked.
His expression said that he was dying to join the company dinner right away, but customers were still lined up, so they should wait just a little.
“Bwahahahaha!”
“Please calm down and sit for a bit.”
“Pardon? But it is a company dinner....”
“Does a company dinner have to be done with your mind completely gone?”
I am the one who feels like I am going to lose my mind, you disaster.
Aiden barely swallowed the rest of his words and succeeded in dragging the unbridled Jamie down to sit in front of him.
“Please understand, Administrator. Where in the north is there anything fun to do? There are no particular events or festivals, so unless it is a time like this, people have no chance to enjoy themselves.”
Kalisa, who had quietly come over and sat beside them, added her own words.
“There is that too, and northern people are especially full of excitement.”
“Really?”
“Yes. In other regions, there is not much of a culture of eating and drinking together as a group like this in restaurants or on the street.”
“Huh? Then where do people hold gatherings? People must gather in the south too.”
At Kalisa’s words, Jamie asked back as though he could not understand.
“Gatherings are held at private social parties, of course.”
“Ah. Parties.”
Jamie shrugged.
“Kalisa, have you been to parties?”
“Of course.”
“How nice. I have never been to one of those.”
Jamie scratched the back of his head.
‘Wasn’t he supposed to be the north’s second-in-command in his own way?’
As Aiden listened to their conversation, things slowly began arranging themselves in his head.
There was no real party culture in the north.
That was only natural.
Even if they wanted to set out something grand and enjoy themselves, what could they set out when there was nothing?
Moreover, this was not a place where special festivals or events took place.
‘So everyone had been waiting even for a company dinner like this.’
Some people absolutely needed time like this to release their tension and have fun.
To Aiden, they were a type of human being he could not understand.
Was working not far more enjoyable and fulfilling?
Why would anyone spend that time doing unconstructive play, drinking alcohol, and chattering about useless personal matters?
Well, whether he understood it or not, he had no intention of ignoring a phenomenon that actually existed.
“So everyone was waiting only for a company dinner?”
“Well, more or less. Still, the workers at the lord’s castle used to have a company dinner once a season. But this spring, we have not yet.... Heh heh.”
It seemed everyone had been watching his mood since Aiden had taken office.
That made sense. Work had come crashing down the moment he arrived, so it would have been difficult for anyone to bring up having a company dinner.
“No helping it.”
Aiden let out a long sigh.
If they had been waiting for this day so much, how could he heartlessly tell them to stop after only the first round and go home?
Clink.
“Since this is our first company dinner, use this to pay.”
Aiden took a pouch from his coat.
He had brought it in case there was something to buy at the market, and this worked out well.
“You can spend it all, but do not cause trouble. The moment I hear that trouble was caused, company dinners are banned.”
“Ooh, Administrator!”
“And if anyone is late tomorrow, I will not let it slide.”
“Of course not!”
“Then enjoy yourselves and go home safely.”
“You will not stay with us?”
“Wouldn’t everyone be more comfortable without me?”
This was the virtue a superior ought to have.
Give them the wallet and leave the seat.
‘I will go back and work. Heh heh!’
He turned around in such a stylish manner, but then,
“Are we not one! If we die, we die together, and if we live, we live together!”
“What nonsense are you saying? Let go of me!”
“No! Everyone, catch the Administrator!”
“Waaaaaaaah!”
“Don’t grab my legs! Ah, my wrist! You twisted my wrist! Hey, come on!”
Northerners were pointlessly good at unity.