The next evening, Howard came to see me. What was different from usual was that all the members of the merchant company were carrying heavy luggage, and they had even brought carts with them. It seemed they had finished preparing to leave.
“You’re returning to County of Edwell.”
“That is correct, Third Young Master. We ended up staying here much longer than expected, but we managed to sell all the Glowstones we brought from the territory and earned a substantial profit during the busy season. All of this was thanks to you, Third Young Master, so the head of the family will surely be very pleased as well.”
“Is that all?”
“Pardon?”
“I’m asking whether you really intend to leave after saying only that as your farewell. Don’t you still have something to give me?”
As though suddenly remembering, Howard reached into his coat and pulled out a necklace. It was the necklace bearing our family seal that he had taken from me when we first met in Fence.
“I remember when you readily handed me this necklace, Third Young Master. At the time, I never imagined I would be returning it to you like this....”
Howard smiled pleasantly and personally fastened the necklace around my neck.
The gesture carried considerable significance.
It meant that he acknowledged my potential.
“I will report everything you have shown me—the business acumen you have demonstrated and your prospects for graduation—to the head of the family without omitting a single detail. I will tell him exactly what I saw and felt.”
“Oh dear. If I’d known this would happen, I should have spent more time flattering you, Howard.”
“Hahaha! If I’d known this would happen, perhaps I should have used the head of the family as a shield myself. Then I might have learned how to make Glowstones shine without giving you any investment money, Third Young Master!”
We exchanged jokes and shook hands.
Although our first meeting had not been a pleasant one, parting from him left me feeling somewhat regretful. Perhaps I had grown a little attached to Howard after seeing him so frequently.
“I should be going now, Third Young Master.”
“Wait a moment. It isn’t anything extravagant, but I prepared something for you.”
“A farewell gift?”
“Don’t get your hopes up. It really isn’t anything special.”
I brought out a large box from the shop.
Inside was Edwell Blend that I had asked Lily to package so that the contents would not spoil even after a considerable amount of time.
“I heard you enjoy drinking coffee. This is the Edwell Blend I made. I’ve included the recipe as well, so you can brew it according to the instructions. I considered giving you something else, but I decided that sending coffee would be better since it would also serve as advertising for our shop.”
“Judging by how much you’ve given me, I take it you mean for me to share it with the head of the family rather than drink it all myself?”
“Precisely. There can hardly be a better form of advertising than rumors that my father, the lord of the territory, drinks our coffee. I might eventually open a second branch in County of Edwell, after all, so it’s best to prepare in advance.”
“I actually find this candid side of you far more convincing, Third Young Master. For a merchant, it is only natural to choose a course that can yield profit even from the smallest opportunity, just as you have.”
“It’s a long journey. I hope you arrive safely.”
“Yes. And I wish you good health as well, Third Young Master.”
After exchanging our final farewells, I watched Howard recede into the distance for a while.
Someday, I would probably meet him again in County of Edwell.
If not, perhaps we would meet in Fence during next year’s busy season.
I looked at the shop before me and thought to myself.
No matter where we met again, I was certain that by then, our shop would have grown even further.
“All right. Time to get back to work.”
Just as I was about to head inside the shop, an unfamiliar face suddenly approached from beside me with a broad smile.
“I kept hearing rumors about this place throughout the Academy, so I decided to come see it for myself. It seems business is doing even better than the rumors suggested. I thought they were exaggerated, but my expectations were completely wrong. Hahaha!”
He was a white-haired old man who somehow seemed to know me.
I, however, could not quite remember who he was.
Perhaps he truly was someone I had never met before....
“Maxim Edwell.”
“......?”
“I read the documents you submitted regarding the Graduation Assessment System. There were many impressive points. I found them refreshing, though at the same time, some parts left me rather curious.”
“...Ah!”
“However....”
Only then did I begin to realize who the old man was.
“Today, I am merely here as a customer at your café. So for now, could you brew me a cup of coffee?”
.
.
.
.
.
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― Jeffrey Arnia. He’s the professor of Business Administration, Maxim’s major. He’s famous throughout the Academy for his kind disposition and exceptional scholarship. His course is also one of the most popular among the non-combat majors, so many students admire him.
Those were the words Yulia had whispered earlier when Isaac asked who the old man before us was.
After hearing her explanation, my memories of him gradually returned.
‘We’ve got quite a distinguished guest in our shop.’
His surname alone was enough to tell me which family he belonged to.
He was the elder brother of the duke who ruled the Duchy of Arnia.
‘The duke’s name was Kendrick Arnia, if I remember correctly.’
Primogeniture was generally the rule of succession here, but House Arnia was one of the rare exceptions.
Jeffrey had been born without talent for magic despite belonging to a family of mages, so he had yielded the position of family head to his younger brother.
Even so, he had never resented his circumstances and had instead cultivated his own talents.
He had overseen the territory’s finances and administration, and eventually risen to become a professor at the finest academy in the Empire. Was he not even considered a candidate for the position of the next dean?
“By the way, were the two of you always this close?”
Seated at a table, Jeffrey alternated his gaze between Yulia and me.
Yulia was known as the Academy’s model student, while I had once carried the title of a good-for-nothing. The two of us probably looked like an unlikely pair.
“It just happened naturally. We grew closer while exchanging the things we each needed, I suppose.”
“It’s good to see. There is nothing better than friends being able to rely on one another. And since Miss Yulia is the daughter of someone who went through the process herself, she must be of considerable help to you as well, Maxim.”
“Yes. Yulia has been a great help to me.”
Yulia’s mother was one of those who had obtained her diploma through the Graduation Assessment System.
Perhaps because of that, Jeffrey seemed to assume that I had received advice about it from Yulia.
‘Me? I don’t think I’ve helped you with anything related to graduation.’
‘Just having you at our shop is already helping me.’
Yulia and I exchanged a glance conveying those thoughts before I turned my attention back to Jeffrey.
When our eyes met, he gave a faint chuckle.
“Don’t look so wary. I didn’t come here today to evaluate you. I really did come simply to have a cup of coffee.”
“Yes. Then I’ll brew you one.”
Whenever I had found spare time, I had worked on the documents regarding the Graduation Assessment System and submitted them.
I had heard that teaching assistants sometimes visited in person to verify what students had written, but I had certainly not expected a professor himself to come.
‘I suppose that only proves how novel the idea of selling coffee is here.’
I was carefully brewing his coffee when Jeffrey, who had been watching me intently, suddenly twitched his nose.
“Coffee from Seiron.”
“You could tell that just from the aroma?”
“I often have to stay awake through the night, so naturally I drink a great deal of coffee. Perhaps because I have encountered so many varieties, I can now roughly distinguish them by scent alone.”
Was he something of a coffee connoisseur?
I was slightly surprised, but I calmly finished preparing the coffee and handed it to Jeffrey.
After all, there were only two coffee-growing regions in this world: Krontea and Seiron.
Still, watching Jeffrey savor the coffee made it difficult to believe he had simply made a lucky guess with fifty-fifty odds.
“Is this the coffee made using the concept of blending that you described in your submitted documents? It seems you mixed all three Seiron varieties....”
I remained silent and waited for him to continue.
I already knew he had a remarkably sharp nose.
Now I was curious about his palate.
“You’ve established the foundation well with balance and body. That likely means you used the most expensive of the Seiron varieties in the highest proportion.”
“And?”
“The sweetness and acidity are well balanced too. To achieve this flavor, you must have roasted the beans fairly lightly to reduce the bitterness characteristic of Seiron. Am I correct?”
“Yes, you are.”
“You tried to create coffee as similar to the Krontea varieties as possible while still reducing costs. I thought the same thing while reviewing your documents, but it truly is a novel idea.”
I barely managed to suppress a disbelieving laugh.
Even during the tasting event in the past, and throughout all the time I had spent running the shop since then, I had never heard anyone evaluate my coffee like this.
His assessment was far more refined than anything I had encountered before.
‘I only explained the concept of blending in the documents. I never mentioned the roasting method or the ratios I used for my coffee. Yet he figured all of that out just by tasting it?’
He was both a noble from a ducal family and a professor.
Considering his age and experience as well, he must have sampled an enormous variety of coffees over the years.
I had expected him to know a fair amount about coffee, but I had not imagined he would be this knowledgeable.
‘Interesting. Why does a Business Administration professor know this much about coffee...?’
Jeffrey set down his coffee cup.
And then I realized something.
Not once while drinking it had he shown a satisfied smile.
‘Something about my coffee must be lacking for him.’
He had said he had not come to the shop to evaluate me.
I was not particularly interested in graduation either, so I had treated him simply as a customer.
And yet that customer was not satisfied with my coffee.
Whatever else I might overlook, I could not simply ignore that.
“How did you find the coffee overall?”
“It was good. However, perhaps because the coffee I normally drink is from Krontea, I personally found it somewhat lacking.”
“Lacking in what way?”
“How should I put it? The coffee was a little weak.”
“So I was right.”
“That answer makes it sound as though you expected me to say that. Should I take that to mean that if I visit this shop again, you’ll serve me even better coffee?”
“Of course. Provided you visit again, Professor.”
“Hahaha! It was only a joke. Taste is highly subjective, after all. Your enthusiasm is admirable, but is there really any need to go that far just for one person like me?”
Jeffrey patted my shoulder encouragingly.
Somehow, he felt more like a professor than a customer now.
“There is no need to try so hard to impress me. Nothing in this world is easy. Business is no exception. And for the son of a knightly family like you, making coffee could hardly have been easy either.”
It seemed the professor had misunderstood something.
Apparently, he thought I was trying to curry favor with him for the sake of my diploma.
“You are already doing quite well. So there is no need to struggle merely to satisfy the palate of one fussy old man. Even Krontea coffee, said to be the finest in the world, tastes weak to me. How could you possibly make coffee stronger than that?”
My competitive spirit flared for the first time in a while.
It reminded me of how I had felt before competing in the World Barista Championship, when I had endured every imaginable criticism of the coffee I made.
Of course, Jeffrey had not insulted me the way those people had....
‘Still, this is making me competitive for the first time in ages.’
Jeffrey seemed to have drunk just about every kind of coffee available.
That was probably why he was so confident that no strong coffee remained that could satisfy his palate.
‘Well, I suppose hand drip is the only extraction method they have in this world.’
But what if Jeffrey encountered coffee made using an entirely new extraction method that did not yet exist here?
Coffee no longer brewed by drip, but extracted intensely under high temperature and pressure.
Something defined by its powerful texture and concentrated flavor....
‘I wonder if he’ll still be able to call espresso weak after tasting it.’
“What if I manage to make coffee strong enough to satisfy you, Professor?”
“...What?”
“If I do, will you give me some sort of small gift?”
“Oh? Interesting. I did not know you had such a stubborn streak. Very well. If, as you say, you truly make such a coffee for me, I will give you a small gift. Provided, of course, that it has nothing whatsoever to do with your Graduation Assessment.”