“Third Young Master, may I ask you one thing?”
“Of course.”
“Do you truly believe selling coffee will be profitable?”
“Yes, I do.”
“As I watched the tasting events, a thought occurred to me. Perhaps you had been giving away expensive coffee for free simply to draw crowds and pique my curiosity.”
“Ha ha, you even considered that possibility?”
“I do not know where you borrowed all that money, but even if you intend to sell coffee, the ingredients themselves are exceedingly expensive. If you want to make any meaningful profit, naturally, you would have no choice but to set the selling price even higher.”
“You are absolutely right.”
“It would become enormously expensive. Who would pay that much to drink it? Giving something away for free and asking people to pay for it are entirely different matters, are they not?”
“Please, continue.”
“A grocery store sells many different products besides coffee, so it can afford to accept a low profit margin on coffee alone. But a business that sells nothing but coffee would not have that luxury.”
“As long as it sells, would it not still be profitable even at a high price?”
“Coffee is a luxury consumed according to personal taste. On top of that, it is almost exclusively part of noble culture. Naturally, that means your business would cater to a select few rather than the general public.”
Howard seemed to have found his rhythm and continued speaking.
“Furthermore, no matter how wealthy nobles may be, they are not fools. Why would they go out of their way to buy prepared coffee? In most cases, their servants brew it and bring it to them anyway. If so, it would be far more efficient for them to purchase coffee at cost and brew it themselves, just as you do now, Third Young Master.”
He certainly was perceptive. Howard had not merely watched the tasting events. In the meantime, he had already finished analyzing the coffee business itself.
However, there was one thing Howard did not know.
The Edwell Blend.
“Then what if I use inexpensive coffee as the ingredient?”
“If you intend to guarantee a certain level of flavor, then no matter how inexpensive the coffee may be....”
“What if it were coffee whose production cost was nearly one hundred times lower than Krontea?”
“You intend to sell coffee of such poor quality? Do not tell me you used coffee like that for the tasting events as well. Coffee of that quality would not attract noble customers, and even the commoners you managed to draw in would soon lose interest.”
“No. Although I lowered the cost, the quality did not fall nearly as much as you fear.”
I shook my head and began brewing coffee in front of Howard. Once I had finished a cup, I handed it to him.
“Try it first, then reconsider.”
Isaac had told me that Howard, who was responsible for financial affairs, often worked through the night, and that my father, who held him in high regard, readily supplied him with high-quality coffee.
If so, he should have had a reasonably discerning palate.
And if Howard was as calculating as Isaac claimed, I trusted that he would at least be able to determine whether the coffee he was drinking was worth investing in.
Perhaps because of that, I found myself looking forward to his reaction as well.
Unlike the tastings conducted for commoners, this time I would finally hear an opinion from someone who actually had experience drinking coffee.
“How does the coffee taste?”
“Hmm....”
Howard set down the coffee cup.
Then, after seeming to search for something inside his clothes....
THUD—
He took out a promissory note worth ten thousand gold and placed it beside the coffee cup.
As an evaluation of the coffee, it was an extremely satisfying answer.
.
.
.
.
.
.
The ten-thousand-gold promissory note issued under the name of House Edwell was probably about as much as Howard believed he could persuade my father to approve.
“I have squandered quite a bit of money in the past, and I also bear some responsibility as a member of House Edwell, so I am making a considerable concession this time. I trust you understand that, Lord Howard.”
“That sounds less like a concession and more like a threat. As though you intend to demand something else from me someday....”
“That is correct. You heard me perfectly.”
Compared to the profits that could be made from the Glowstones, I was the one taking a loss on this deal, but I decided to be satisfied with this much for now. No matter how well I knew how to use Glowstones, the Glowstone mine itself belonged to the County of Edwell and, by extension, to my father as the Head of House.
That meant there was an unavoidable limit to how far I could push matters. Rather than create unnecessary trouble, I judged it wiser to settle at this level and earn some goodwill from both the Head of House and Howard.
‘This is a society ruled by status. If I gradually improve my reputation as a scoundrel from now on, I may be able to gain even more by making use of the Count’s household and its authority.’
It could be considered an investment in the future of my café business.
Howard seemed to have read at least some of my intentions, because he wore a subtle expression that seemed to say he had been caught in a trap.
“Then I will take my leave.”
“Yes. We will meet again if the opportunity arises.”
My transaction with Howard ended with me handing over the method for using Glowstones.
I stared at the ten-thousand-gold note in my hand and fell into thought for a moment. I suddenly had a large amount of money at my disposal, but that was precisely why I needed to think carefully about how to spend it.
GULP—
I heard Isaac swallow beside me.
It was probably the first time a low-ranking knight like him had ever seen such a large sum of money.
“In the end, you succeeded in squeezing the money out of him. Impressive. I truly did not expect you to wring that much money out of Lord Howard.”
“I did not squeeze anything out of him. I received fair compensation.”
“So, what are you planning to spend that money on?”
“That’s surprising. I thought you would start lecturing me about saving it or spending it carefully.”
“I have been watching how you spend money lately, Young Master. At the very least, I trust that you will not squander it on pleasure like you did when you were an idle wastrel. You earned the money yourself, so surely you will put it to good use.”
Isaac’s sincere words pleased me more than I expected.
It felt as though I had finally earned a little trust from someone who had only ever seen me as a scoundrel. At the very least, it seemed the way I had conducted myself around Isaac until now had not been entirely meaningless.
“Then I can spend all of it however I want?”
“...You could at least tell me what you intend to spend it on.”
The first thing that came to mind was, naturally, café equipment.
The academy would open in one week. Griffin’s Workshop always opened earlier than that so it could prepare the facilities, which meant its doors were probably already open by now.
‘There should be a magical engineer there whom I’ve had my eye on for some time. With her abilities, I’m sure....’
The manual equipment I was currently using was extremely inconvenient.
Even if it could not match modern machinery, perhaps combining magic with engineering could at least produce something better than the equipment I had now.
‘Between pour-over brewing and a manual grinder, making a single cup takes far too long. If I can drastically reduce that time, it will be worth however much money I have to spend.’
Naturally, commissioning equipment required money.
I had already been worried about equipment because I had lacked the funds to invest in it, but now that I had suddenly acquired a large sum, that concern had disappeared entirely.
“Commissioning equipment.... For some reason, I have a bad feeling about this.”
“Why? What’s wrong?”
“That means you intend to invest in equipment, does it not? But you have no talent in that area, Young Master. And there is also all the money you lost gambling in the past.”
“Then do you want to keep grinding coffee beans with a manual grinder?”
“I actually rather like it. It helps strengthen my arms. Ever since I started grinding beans by hand, my sword has definitely felt lighter whenever I wield it.”
The more I watched him, the more I realized there was something oddly obsessive about him.
Perhaps this was simply the difference between those with natural talent and those without it. My arms started aching if I used a manual grinder for too long....
“Either way, once you consider labor costs, investing in equipment is actually more economical. Even semi-automatic equipment should be able to do the work of several people.”
“Hmm. Hearing you suddenly speak so passionately about equipment reminds me of something one of my senior knights once told me.”
“What did he say?”
“That a true master never blames his equipment.”
“What nonsense. Isaac, how much is that sword of yours worth?”
“Wh-What? Th-This sword was bestowed upon me by the Head of House, so it is admittedly rather expensive....”
“Exactly. It’s expensive, isn’t it? You said so yourself during swordsmanship training the other day. You said that perhaps because it was more expensive than the sword you used before, training seemed easier.”
“I-I did say that.”
“And you’re still going to claim that a true master never blames his equipment?”
“But!”
“Or could it be that you’re still a novice?”
“...Wow. Young Master, you really are....”
“You don’t want to admit that either, do you?”
“...How do you become more irritating with every passing day? You are making me want to draw my sword.”
“If you ever return to the territory, take another good look at what kind of sword that senior knight of yours uses. He probably tells his juniors things like that while carrying an outrageously expensive sword himself.”
Isaac fell silent, apparently unable to come up with a response.
Of course, there was some truth to what he had said. A true master could probably handle most situations even without exceptional equipment.
But then again.
What if that same master was given exceptional equipment as well?
“Go to the bank and cash this note. All ten thousand gold of it.”
“...Yes, Young Master.”
The next day, I headed toward the far end of the academy’s northern gate.
Just as I had expected, the doors of Griffin’s Workshop were wide open.
All right!
Now it was finally time to start spending some money.
***
Griffin’s Workshop was quite busy. Around this time of year, it had to begin preparing for business as nobles gradually started arriving in Fence, so everyone seemed completely occupied with getting the workshop in order.
“Young Master. Have you already decided whom you intend to commission? Is there a particular magical engineer you have in mind?”
“Of course. An exceptionally capable one, at that.”
“Then let us go to the third floor. I just asked around, and apparently the senior magical engineers have their private workrooms there.”
“No. I don’t think we need to tire ourselves out climbing upstairs. It looks as though that exceptionally capable magical engineer is right over there.”
“What? Where?”
I looked toward someone a short distance ahead of us, and Isaac alternated his gaze between me and that person with a puzzled expression. He seemed to be checking again whether the person I was looking at could truly be the talented magical engineer I had mentioned.
“Rookie! Did you clean that window frame properly?”
“Ah! I’m sorry! I’ll clean it again!”
“What idiot organized the mana stones like this? They’re supposed to be sorted by grade and size! Don’t tell me you did this, Rookie?”
“I-It wasn’t me, but I’ll reorganize them right away!”
“Rookie! About the synthesis equipment in Block A—could you replace the handle? It’s badly rusted. Please hurry.”
“Yes! I’ll be right there!”
The person we were watching was a woman with long, curly hair who had been saddled with every menial task in the workshop. She wore enormous glasses that nearly covered her face and was sweating profusely.
Anyone could tell at a glance that she was the workshop’s newest recruit.
“Young Master. Surely... you don’t mean her?”
“What do you mean, surely not? What you’re worried about right now is exactly what I mean.”
Isaac’s mouth fell open. I could not tell whether he was genuinely shocked or merely trying to think of a way to stop me again, but his expression clearly showed that he thought this was a disaster.
“I think I finally understand why you always lost money whenever you gambled, Young Master. It wasn’t simply that you were unlucky. Your eye for talent was terrible as well.”
“We’ll find out soon enough whether I have a good eye or not.”
That curly-haired woman was the most talented person in this entire workshop.
I could say that with certainty because I had seen it for myself.
She might be a commoner now, but she had been born into a fallen noble family that had once been renowned as a prestigious house of magic.
Furthermore, she would eventually become the first and youngest female workshop master in the history of Griffin’s Workshop, the finest workshop in the empire.
Of course, because of the trauma she carried, the inventions she created would not be well received for the time being....
‘Even better.’
I needed the inventions she would create in the future. I could also establish a relationship with the future workshop master ahead of time, while she, in turn, could escape obscurity sooner.
Three benefits from a single move.
I waited quietly until she had finished all her menial tasks and was able to take a break. Eventually, she sat down on a rock outside the workshop to cool off, and I approached her.
“Lily Page?”
“Wh-Who are you? No, more importantly, how do you know my name?”
Lily peered warily at me through the shield formed by her curly hair and oversized glasses. Considering her current circumstances, I could easily understand why she was so suspicious.
“D-Don’t tell me! If you came because of the money, I swear I’ll find some way to earn it and pay everything back by next month....”
Just as I had expected.
Apparently, because of all the money she had borrowed to develop her inventions, she had mistaken me for a debt collector.
For convenience’s sake, I decided to play along.
“And exactly how long will that take when you’re stuck doing menial work at the workshop?”
“I-I really can pay it back! Just give me a little more time!”
“I’m not a very patient man. I cannot wait any longer.”
“Th-Then what? Are you going to drag me away?”
Lily looked so serious that I nearly burst out laughing, but I managed to hold it in and decided to remain faithful to the role for the moment.
“Nothing like that. Why don’t we do this instead?”
“...Do what?”
“I’ll buy your talent.”
“...I’m extremely grateful that you would offer so much for what little talent I have, but as you already know, I have quite a lot of debt.”
CLINK—
At my signal, Isaac opened the large purse he had been carrying and poured its contents out in front of Lily.
Lily’s eyes widened at the sight of the glittering gold coins.
“Would this be enough to settle it?”
“...Uh, well. I think that might actually be more than enough.”
As expected, nothing tempted people quite like cash.
Especially for an unknown magical engineer buried in debt, there could hardly be anything more enticing than the sound of gold coins clinking together.