The preparations for the grand opening are going smoother than I ever imagined.
After all, everyone's been talking about grandpa's stories.
"He really came. Just like Mr. Momota said, 'Keep at it.'"
"Mr. Momota asked me to. Sure, I'll give you a discount."
"You look so much like Mr. Momota, it's nostalgic."
Even the rough-and-tumble folks from the industrial district are in good spirits.
It seems like grandpa went around asking people to help me out if I ever took over the shop.
"Grandpa, how much did you predict I'd do?"
"And thanks for fixing me up too, it really helped."
I'm able to get medicine containers cheap from a glass bottle factory, so Yuruyana is in high spirits too.
"They used to call me 'Mr. Elmer's apprentice' too."
"Yeah, no one asked why I was with Tsukumo."
Moreover, the older folks like Mr. Junce weren't too surprised by the gap between Yuruyana's looks and his skills.
Some even seemed to understand right away when they heard he was Mr. Elmer's apprentice.
"Maybe grandpa and Mr. Elmer had a similar relationship."
"Could be. Well, this puts my mind at ease to start the shop."
Still, I don't want to overdo it right away and fall behind.
I'll deal with the places I missed and the distant suppliers later. For now, I put away the stuff I bought and wait for the inspection.
On the day of the inspection,
"So you're the owner, Tsukumo Kreis. I guess it's really you, the [Maga Ex Machina]."
I was called by an embarrassingly nostalgic nickname from a staff member in a hat and overalls. I was planning to be polite, but I ended up scowling intensely instead.
"...May I ask who you are?"
"It's me! Your old pal! Sesto Toritt from the Arcanist department!"
The man named Sesto took off his hat, pointing at my face with a happy look.
He had a medium build, medium height, and a youthful face that seemed like it'd be adored by older folks, topped with neat short brown hair.
"Sorry, I don't recognize any faces from the Arcanist department."
Too bad, couldn't remember a thing.
"He was that kind of guy, now that I think about it..."
I basically never got along with those half-assed Arcanist types, so I didn't really build any friendships with them.
I was so out of it that even though my memory's not that bad, I couldn't recall a single face.
Getting the boot and feeling down, my shoulders slumped, when Sesto got another dig in.
"What's with that lame nickname?"
Yuruyana, who was trying to behave next to me, added some extra damage.
"It's not like I was called that because someone liked me."
"Arcanist, does that mean from your school days?"
"Not even 'acquaintances'..."
"Don't say anymore. I'm gonna cry."
I'm here for work, holding it together, but man, I really felt like bawling.
Could such an expressive guy really be from the Arcanist department?
"Ah, let's get to work... By the way, I brought the records from 5 years ago too, but the shop part seems unchanged from this room and that warehouse over there, right?"
Sesto pulled himself together, straightened his back, and looked at the documents on his clipboard.
"Yes"
Just as I thought, the underground workshop wasn't registered as part of the shop.
With a military straight face, I nodded firmly, and Sesto checked the warehouse thoroughly, but he didn't notice the door under the mat.
"Looks like there haven't been any major changes in the merchandise since the previous owner's time... It should be fine."
He checked off each item on the form, and finally looked at me and Yuruyana.
"Could I see your credentials, please? I know Kreis has both Arcanist and Arcane Engineer, but what about Mr. Yuruyana? I heard he's an Arcanopharmacist."
"Yes"
Tilting his head and showing a high-pitched, polite business smile, Yuruyana made Sesto flinch for a moment, looking scared and shy, as he took a step back.
"Now, do you have your credentials with you?"
Yuruyana hesitated for a moment, his eyes flickering, before he handed them over reluctantly.
"Yuruyana Silven, right? Hm?"
Yuruyana held onto the edge of the card and wouldn't let go when Cest tried to take it to check the name and details.
"What are you doing? If you act weird, people will get suspicious. Just hand it over already."
The underground workshop was already a secret.
But,
"Can we please check it like this...?"
Yuruyana pleaded with glistening eyes, looking up.
Cest almost nodded but held back hard.
"At least tell me why. It's not fake, right?"
Yuruyana turned his gaze away, pouting as he mumbled.
"The photo doesn't show a cute face..."
Looking closer, Yuruyana's thumb was covering the photo stuck to the card.
"I wanna see it."
I snatched it away without mercy.
"Ah!? What the heck!?"
"Come on, it's not that different. Just a bit younger and hair's shorter."
"You idiot! That's with no makeup!! Give it back!!"
The picture was probably taken a few years ago.
He still had the face of a beautiful girl, but considering how much he cared about going without makeup, he looked more boyish than now.
Even when he stretched his arms and jumped, he couldn't reach my hand held high.
"Um, can we save this for later?"
Did he just click his tongue?
Just because the other person was casual didn't mean it was okay to mess around in a public procedure.
As I pulled Yuruyana away with one hand while he still resisted, I handed the card to Cest.
"Location of acquisition: Suuroi, certified by Elmer Kiurul... Huh!? Male!?"
Seeing Cest's shocked face, which was the most desperate I had ever seen among all the people Yuruyana had gotten tangled up with, I thought, "Here we go again."