“Jisamo” was short for the Society of Those Who Pursue Knowledge. According to what the students knew, it was an academic gathering where professors from various fields, excluding the combat-related departments, met once a week.
And tomorrow, Monday, was the day Jisamo was scheduled to meet.
The reason they had all gathered a day early today was....
“Whose house should we meet at tomorrow?”
Being scholars, they generally kept their distance from alcohol.
Yet simply gathering and talking without drinking anything felt rather dull, so they had naturally taken to enjoying coffee instead of alcohol. Inevitably, the subject of coffee came up.
“Wouldn’t the Architecture professor’s house be best? The servant at your place brews extraordinary coffee. I could tell at a glance that it wasn’t a skill he’d picked up after only one or two attempts.”
“Ah, that fellow? He worked at my house for about fifteen years. I’ve always enjoyed coffee, so naturally he had plenty of opportunities to make it over the years.”
“Then let’s meet at your house again. Everyone agrees, don’t they?”
“I’m afraid that won’t be possible. He quit last week. His mother fell ill, and he said he wanted to care for her somewhere with cleaner air.”
“That’s unfortunate. Then what about your house, Professor of Law? As I recall, your servant has quite a bit of experience with coffee as well. Especially the last time I visited, the strong flavor was particularly impressive....”
“The fellow at my house quit recently too. Another noble family offered him an enormous sum and better working conditions, so he left. In all my years, I never thought I’d see a servant get recruited simply because he was good at brewing coffee.”
“Ugh. Then where in the world are we supposed to go this time...?”
The professors’ discussion about coffee continued.
All things being equal, why not conduct their academic gathering while drinking good coffee?
“All right, all right. Rather than arguing over it, why don’t we do things my way this time?”
At that moment, Jeffrey stepped forward.
He looked leisurely around at the other professors before continuing.
“Why don’t we try changing the venue for once?”
“Changing it? How?”
“Instead of endlessly rotating among the same few houses, I’m suggesting we occasionally go out and get some fresh air. You all know that one of my students has been selling coffee near the Academy, don’t you?”
“Well, I’ve heard the rumors....”
The professors’ expressions were not particularly favorable.
That was only natural.
They all knew perfectly well that the student in question was the notorious good-for-nothing whom even his own family had practically given up on.
It was difficult to simply ignore the doubts that arose.
“Does Maxim Edwell truly have a talent for brewing coffee?”
“Talent? Hah! Calling it mere talent would hardly do him justice! Having personally tasted Maxim’s coffee, I would go so far as to call him a coffee genius!”
Jeffrey was notoriously sparing with praise when it came to coffee.
And yet he had gone so far as to lavish an unusually extravagant compliment on Maxim.
“You, of all people, are praising his coffee that highly?”
“I am. Have you ever known me to say something about coffee that I didn’t mean?”
“But I’ve heard that shop is packed with Academy students these days. If old men like us wander into a place like that, who knows what sort of situation we might find ourselves in....”
“Good heavens! How can a professor be afraid of a trend? If we’re responsible for teaching students, shouldn’t we experience what they enjoy for ourselves and try to see things from their perspective?”
“W-well, Jeffrey, you do have a point....”
“If you’re afraid to face what’s fashionable, then simply trust me and follow along! I’ll let you taste coffee of the highest caliber! I wonder whether any of you have even heard of espresso! Hahaha!”
“...Espresso?”
The professors blinked at Jeffrey.
Now thoroughly carried away, Jeffrey puffed out his chest and continued.
“It’s a coffee they sell only at that shop, and the taste is absolutely magnificent!”
It was extraordinary.
For the professors, seeing the normally dignified Jeffrey this excited was every bit as novel as the unfamiliar word espresso itself.
***
As I had once told Isaac, a brand’s image was extremely important.
If I wanted to expand the business not only beyond Fence but beyond the Duchy of Arnia and into other territories, I needed to firmly establish a distinct image for our shop in people’s minds.
― The way you put it makes this coffee sound like some unprecedented luxury. May I interpret it that way?
Jeffrey’s words had made me think.
Perhaps it had merely been his own misunderstanding, but I figured it might not be a bad idea to firmly establish the image of our coffee as a premium product, just as he had suggested.
Coffee recognized by the distinguished professors of Arnia Academy.
It would be difficult to cement that image with Jeffrey alone.
But if every professor at the Academy became a regular at our shop....
‘Then it might not be all that difficult.’
I had been given an opportunity to show the professors what our coffee tasted like.
Holding their academic gathering at our shop.
Jeffrey considered that a small gift, but if I invested enough time and effort, I believed that gift would inevitably grow into something far more valuable.
RUMBLE RUMBLE—!
It was Monday afternoon.
A peculiar vibration suddenly began to rise from somewhere, until it almost felt as though the ground itself were shaking.
“Huh? I-is there an earthquake?”
“Could a monster be attacking?”
Isaac tilted his head in confusion as he worked, while Yulia placed a hand on the sword at her waist in preparation for any possible threat.
The vibration was strong enough for the customers inside the shop to feel it, causing a brief commotion.
But the moment the source appeared outside, the situation changed completely.
“What are all those carriages?”
“Those are all the latest luxury four-horse carriages. Only a handful of the wealthiest noble families can afford those....”
The customers began murmuring among themselves.
The vibration had come from the pounding hooves of ten four-horse carriages that had stopped outside our shop.
One by one, white-haired elderly men began stepping out.
‘They certainly know how to make an entrance.’
Every one of them was a professor at the Academy.
They merely stood in a line with their hands clasped behind their backs, examining our shop, yet an air of lofty dignity seemed to emanate from them.
“Miss Yulia, why are you suddenly sweating so much?”
“I-I couldn’t help it. All the professors arrived at once.”
“Aren’t they professors who have nothing to do with your major anyway? You seem unusually nervous.”
“Th-they may not be directly related to my major, but these aren’t ordinary professors.”
“Pardon? What do you mean, they aren’t ordinary professors?”
Yulia seemed to know precisely who the members of Jisamo gathered around Jeffrey were.
And once I realized what sort of people they all were, I could understand why even Yulia was nervous.
“As I told you before, Professor Jeffrey is the elder brother of the Duke of Arnia and is being discussed as a candidate for the Academy’s next dean. The person beside him is the Architecture professor, and he personally designed the Imperial Palace....”
“Th-the Imperial Palace where His Majesty the Emperor resides?”
“Yes, that one. And the person looking around the shop over there is the Art professor. She was the First Princess’s teacher. Beside her is the Law professor who established the Imperial Court’s code of etiquette, and that professor over there was the first person to successfully research linked spell formulas....”
“Good heavens! Why would such distinguished people come to our shop?”
“Because the Boss asked them to come last time.”
“E-even so, I can hardly believe that all of this could happen because of a single request from the Young Master, even while I’m seeing it with my own eyes.”
Isaac began sweating as he listened to Yulia’s explanation.
A large group of people he might never otherwise have encountered in his lifetime had suddenly appeared before him, so it seemed he could not help becoming nervous.
“Aren’t you nervous, Young Master?”
“Not particularly. If anything, I’m excited.”
“Excited?”
“Think about it, Isaac. Every single one of those people is money.”
I was a little nervous, of course, but I was doing my best to remain calm.
If I became tense and made a mistake here, all my plans would fall apart.
So I needed to greet them with as much composure and confidence as possible.
STEP, STEP—
The professors entered the shop one after another.
I lowered my posture and greeted them respectfully.
“My name is Maxim Edwell. Thank you for honoring us with your visit.”
Now, then....
It was time to make a sales pitch to the professors.
I had already moved several tables together so that the professors could sit facing one another.
As I stepped back and waited to take their orders, I carefully watched their reactions.
‘Some of them seem indifferent, but a few professors are definitely interested in the shop....’
The one who stood out most was the Architecture professor.
Even before entering, his eyes had constantly darted about as he carefully examined the shop’s interior structure.
His lips kept twitching, making it obvious that he had a great many questions.
In particular, his gaze had repeatedly settled on one place.
He seemed especially intrigued by the structure of the “bar,” where coffee preparation and customer pickup took place in the same area.
I had essentially reproduced the layout of a modern café, so it was only natural that it would seem novel in this world.
“First, shall we place our orders—”
Just as Jeffrey began to speak, the Architecture professor abruptly raised his hand and cut him off.
“Maxim Edwell. There is something I’ve been wondering about since earlier.”
“Yes, Professor. Please ask.”
“Who designed the interior of this shop? I’ve never seen this kind of floor plan before. Surely you didn’t design it yourself, so I assume you hired a company here in Fence....”
“I designed it myself, Professor.”
“...W-what? You did?”
“Yes. Even before I began the business, I spent a great deal of time considering what sort of structure would optimize movement through the shop. Since the space itself is small, I needed to find a way to use every bit of it as efficiently as possible.”
“And?”
“As you can see, I used the bar to create the effect of dividing the space. But rather than merely separating the areas, I also designed it so that the partition itself could function as a workspace for preparing coffee.”
“Oh? Did you determine the placement of that piece of furniture as well?”
“Yes. I call that the condiment bar. It’s meant to hold things customers might need at any time, such as water, napkins, or sugar, so they can take them for themselves.”
“So you designed it that way to minimize unnecessary movement as well. Simply placing one piece of furniture there prevents the employees from having to walk back and forth over long distances. Hahaha, that is an excellent idea.”
Apparently satisfied with my answer, the Architecture professor smiled warmly.
Then he glanced at Jeffrey before asking me another question.
“You’re pursuing two majors, aren’t you? Business Administration and Economics, if I recall correctly?”
“Yes, that’s right.”
“Have you ever considered changing one of them? You could keep Jeffrey’s Business Administration, of course, but how would you feel about studying Architecture instead of Economics?”
As it happened, the Economics professor was not present.
That was precisely why he could make such a suggestion.
“...You’re asking whether I’d consider changing my major?”
At that moment, every professor’s gaze turned toward me.
In particular, the other professors who had shown interest in the shop seemed to be waiting eagerly for my response.
“I hear you’re only in your second year. You still have plenty of time before graduation, so changing majors shouldn’t pose too much difficulty. The procedure is rather complicated, but as the professor in charge, I could have it processed without delay, so you needn’t worry about that either.”
To be perfectly frank, I did not care what my major was.
Academics had never been my priority in the first place.
“More importantly, are you truly going to be satisfied with things as they are? Judging by how well business is going, won’t you eventually need to expand the shop?”
“That is true.”
“I’m quite generous with my students. A blueprint for an expansion is something I would gladly prepare for a disciple of mine. And that’s not all. Just within the Duchy of Arnia, the number of construction firms I know alone....”
That was when the Art professor interrupted him.
“Did you design the shop’s appearance yourself as well, Maxim?”
“Yes, I did.”
“A design emphasizing cleanliness using only white and gray.... ‘Simplism’ is currently fashionable even in the southern part of the continent, which leads the world in art. However, this is the first time I’ve seen it applied to interior design rather than merely to paintings.”
“Is that so?”
“Your use of color is particularly excellent. You must have had quite an interest in art already. If I had one criticism, it would be that the empty space on that wall is unusually large. I think a framed painting that complements the Simplist aesthetic would fit perfectly there. I haven’t unveiled it publicly yet, but if you wish, I could hang one of my own paintings there....”
Out of nowhere, the Art professor had begun trying to recruit me as well.
I immediately felt the Architecture professor’s sharp gaze turn toward her.
“Wouldn’t Architecture be considerably more practical than Art?”
“Wouldn’t one first need to understand Art before attempting to understand Architecture?”
...At this rate, they were going to start fighting.
It seemed I needed to mediate before anything else.
“Um, Professors. You still haven’t placed your orders.”
“Ah?”
“Oh?”
“Why don’t we continue the conversation over a cup of coffee?”
Things were developing in a rather unexpected direction....
But for making a sales pitch, this situation might actually have been ideal.