Quite a few days had passed since we posted the notice saying that we were hiring, yet not a single person had applied. That was despite the fact that I had made the employee benefits considerably better than those offered by other shops.
“The fact that you’re a noble probably has something to do with it, Young Master. Think about it. Would a commoner really want to work under a noble in a shop? If you think about it, it isn’t all that different from recruiting servants for a noble household. In that case, it would be much more comfortable to simply work alongside other commoners.”
“Ah, I didn’t think of that!”
“The fact that our shop is doing too well probably plays a part too. Frankly, I’m only doing this because I’m your escort knight. Who in the world would willingly want to work at a shop this busy? It’s exhausting.”
Damn this status-based society.
At least servants working for noble households were paid more than employees at ordinary shops, so there might be some appeal in that. But as someone running a business, I could not afford to pay that kind of salary.
“Hmm. What should I do? This is becoming a problem.”
One had to be careful when hiring employees.
If I rushed to hire someone only for sales to drop once the novelty of the opening wore off, it could put us in an awkward position.
We might end up overstaffed.
That was why I had intended to watch the situation for a while before recruiting anyone. And yet, even as the initial opening rush gradually faded, our sales had not fallen nearly as much as I had expected.
‘Am I supposed to laugh or cry about this?’
It was certainly something to be happy about.
But now that I knew finding employees was harder than expected, I could not help becoming a little impatient.
Fine.
I had to admit what needed to be admitted.
This was clearly my mistake for failing to account for the differences between the modern world and this one.
“I suppose I won’t be getting a junior after all. I thought I might finally escape being the lowest-ranking one....”
I consoled Isaac and finished the day.
The next morning, I stopped by the grocery store before opening the shop. As before, the place was packed with customers, and time flew by in a blur until closing approached.
For the record, no one had applied for the job today either.
Isaac looked strangely lifeless as he counted the day’s earnings.
Did he really want a junior that badly?
“I heard you were hiring.”
That was when Howard entered the shop.
Isaac’s face, which had brightened for an instant, immediately stiffened again.
With a sudden suspicion, I asked Howard,
“Lord Howard, did you come for an interview?”
Isaac poked me in the back.
“Y-Young Master. No. Absolutely not.”
“We desperately need someone right now. If we can hire someone, we should take whoever we can get.”
“Even so, I absolutely refuse to have Lord Howard.”
“Do you have any idea how difficult it would be to find someone as capable as him? That man is unbelievably quick when it comes to anything involving money. Besides, weren’t you desperate to get a junior?”
“You’re telling me to make Lord Howard my junior? No matter how badly we need someone, this is too much. If I had Lord Howard working under me, I’d be so stressed every day that I wouldn’t even live out my natural lifespan!”
“That’s what he says, Lord Howard.”
Howard furrowed his brow deeply.
Then he let out a disbelieving laugh, glanced back and forth between Isaac and me, and replied curtly.
“Even if someone held a blade to my throat, I would have no desire whatsoever to work here.”
Isaac let out a relieved sigh and smiled.
I clicked my tongue in disappointment before asking Howard,
“Then why did you come here?”
.
.
.
.
.
.
I sent Isaac home first so he could make time for his swordsmanship training.
I could handle closing by myself, and there was something I needed to stay behind and do anyway.
I had to make syrup from the hazelnuts I had bought at the grocery store that morning.
In the modern world, it would have been more cost-effective to use commercially available syrup flavored with artificial hazelnut essence. But since there were no ready-made products here, I had no choice but to make it myself.
‘What diligent academy students.’
I had only been able to get the hazelnuts thanks to Yulia and the other students.
They had subjugated the monsters in Aranta, allowing the Genova Merchant Company to deliver hazelnuts to the territory much sooner.
“You said you came because you were curious about something. What was it?”
I asked Howard while crushing the hazelnuts.
He stared at me for a moment before shifting his gaze to the hazelnuts.
“That is exactly what I came to ask about. The hazelnuts. How did you know?”
“Know what?”
“Not long ago, didn’t you speak as though the Werewolves in Aranta would be subjugated easily even though the territory was short on troops because of the war?”
“Ah, that. I may be on a leave of absence, but I’m still technically an academy student. I have access to that much information.”
“I know that’s a lie. The contents of the academy’s class placement examination are not disclosed outside the academy before the semester begins, except to the dean and the department heads. And yet you knew about it, Third Young Master?”
“Were you really that curious? Curious enough to come see me this late at night?”
“Yes. I am. We may not rival Aberen, but I have always taken pride in the quality of House Edwell’s intelligence network. If you possess an even better source of information than we do, I would like to purchase access to it.”
“Hmm....”
My source of information was knowledge of the future.
Information was essentially a weapon when operating a merchant company and making plans, and it could even be used to prevent dangers that had yet to occur.
That was why Howard was saying all this to me now.
If I had some excellent method of gathering intelligence, he wanted me to share it with him.
That was more or less what he meant.
“I can’t simply tell you for free. As you can see, I’m busy right now, so I’ll finish this first and then we can talk.”
“You want me to help you crush the hazelnuts?”
“That wasn’t what I meant, but I certainly won’t stop you if you want to help.”
Howard began crushing hazelnuts alongside me.
Naturally, having another pair of hands sped things up, and we managed to crush all the hazelnuts I had bought from the grocery store much faster than expected.
“Could you pass me that pot? Ah! And it would be helpful if you could bring some water too. Enough to fill the pot about halfway?”
“Ah? Yes, here you—”
“Oh dear! I forgot the sugar. Lord Howard, if you don’t mind, could you bring me the sugar over there as well?”
“Sugar? Ah, there it is.”
With Howard’s help, the hazelnut syrup progressed rapidly.
All I had to do was boil the water, sugar, and crushed hazelnuts together while stirring them thoroughly.
After simmering it for an appropriate amount of time, I strained out the hazelnut solids and left the remaining liquid syrup to cool.
That was all there was to it.
It was not particularly difficult work, but thanks to Howard, I would be able to leave much earlier.
“Now tell me, Third Young Master.”
“About my source of information?”
Howard nodded, his expression brimming with anticipation.
I had actually intended to give him some vague excuse, but he looked so serious that I could not bring myself to do it.
It could not be helped.
In the end, I had no choice but to tell him the truth.
“Listen carefully, Lord Howard.”
I put on an equally solemn expression and continued.
“The truth is, I know the future. Knowing the future is the source of my information.”
“......”
“I’m serious.”
“Th-Third Young Masteeer!”
Howard cried out in frustration, his eyes seeming to scream, ‘Do you think I crushed all those hazelnuts just to hear this?’
Even though, for once, I genuinely had not been trying to trick him....
Either way, I had clearly told him the truth.
Whether he believed me or not was Howard’s problem.
“I’m not lying.”
I shrugged and looked toward the container of syrup sitting in the kitchen.
The hazelnut syrup was finished.
Starting tomorrow, it was time to launch the new menu item!
***
Along with the launch of the new menu item, I made a poster.
Calling it a poster was admittedly rather grandiose. In truth, I had simply drawn pictures and written text on a large sheet of paper, much like the employee recruitment notice, because I needed something quickly.
‘I should ask Lily to make some proper posters later.’
The first customers arrived as soon as we opened.
There were five young men, all wearing academy uniforms.
Judging by the quality of their clothing, they were probably nobles.
My eyes fell on the badges they all wore on their chests.
If I remembered correctly, those badges indicated which club they belonged to....
‘What club was that again?’
As one would expect from an academy, there were numerous clubs within the school.
There were so many of them, and I had never paid much attention to any club unless one of the protagonists belonged to it, so I could not remember.
“Y-You’re Maxim Edwell!”
The blond student in front recognized me and froze.
Judging by the way his voice rose and his face twisted, it seemed this fellow also had some unpleasant history with the scoundrel I used to be.
“Welcome. It’s good to see you.”
For the time being, I greeted him politely.
Before he was a fellow student, he was a valuable customer of my shop.
“G-Good to see me, my ass! If I had known you worked here, I never would have come for coffee in the first place!”
“Didn’t you see the signboard? My name was clearly written on it....”
“I thought it had to be someone else! Who would ever imagine a noble running a shop like this? And of all people, it had to be you, the bastard who rode off on my horse at the end-of-term party!”
I stole this guy’s horse at the end-of-term party?
I turned my head in confusion, and Isaac shook his head before whispering quietly.
“I told you before, didn’t I? After Lady Yulia slapped you that night, you ran away so quickly that I had no way of knowing exactly what happened afterward. You were probably in such a hurry that you simply jumped onto whatever horse you could find and fled....”
Then where the hell had that horse gone?
I did not even know how to ride a horse now, but apparently the former Maxim had escaped on one, so I supposed I had to take responsibility.
I could not afford to lose a customer over this.
“You were lucky your family returned my horse personally and apologized. Otherwise, the moment I came back to the academy, I would have hunted you down and beaten you senseless!”
“That’s what he says, Young Master.”
“What a relief. I heard horses have become quite expensive lately.”
I offered the blond student a sincere apology.
Even if my family had already apologized on my behalf, I thought it was only proper for me, the person involved, to do so personally.
Strictly speaking, I had not stolen the horse.
The previous Maxim had.
That made me feel somewhat wronged, but there were other customers present, and I could hardly allow him to keep making a scene.
“Forget the apology. I don’t want anything more to do with you. Let’s go.”
The students who had come with him turned away coldly.
Apparently, none of the others had particularly favorable feelings toward me either.
Perhaps because I had lost an entire group of customers the moment we opened, I found myself wanting to beat Maxim senseless too.
‘At this point, is there anyone at the academy who doesn’t hate me? Why do I get the feeling they’re all going to be like this?’
It was unfair, but what could I do?
This too was ultimately the consequence of the life I had lived as a scoundrel.
“The things written over there are lies too, aren’t they? You stole my horse, and you did nothing but spout nonsense around the academy. I’m sure you wrote that just to deceive people and make money.”
“That? Ah, that!”
The blond student, who had been about to leave, stopped and pointed toward the window.
It was another poster I had put up alongside the new menu advertisement because I thought it would be particularly effective in attracting academy students.
“Caffeine in coffee helps with exercise?”
“That part is true. Caffeine does help with exercise.”
“Ridiculous! Who do you think would believe anything you say, Maxim? Even if there are fools who would fall for it, academy students like us certainly won’t.”
“Do you really think I would commit fraud?”
“Considering how you’ve behaved until now, you absolutely would!”
“I can’t argue with that. But this really isn’t a scam. The other customers here might misunderstand. Do you truly think I would dare conduct fraudulent business in the sacred Duchy of Arnia?”
“Hah. Can you prove it?”
“...Prove it?”
“Yes. Right here, right now!”
Good grief. He was completely unreasonable.
I understood why he disliked me. I had been infamous throughout the academy as a scoundrel, and apparently I had even stolen his horse.
Still....
How was I supposed to prove the effects of caffeine right here on the spot?
‘But the other customers are watching.’
That meant I had to persuade him somehow.
I could not afford to be branded a fraud.
I would have to draw on everything I knew about caffeine to get myself out of this situation.
“So it is a scam. See? You can’t prove it.”
“If you don’t mind, allow me to explain, sir. The reason caffeine can help with exercise is—”
Just as I was about to begin explaining, someone suddenly stepped out from among the crowd and interrupted me.
“I’ll prove it.”
At that single statement from Yulia, the blond student fell silent.