Chapter 276: Shopping Time with the Girls.

“Faster! My whelpling, you need to produce your flames faster! With [Volcanic Blaze], you need to learn how to produce fire from anything and everything if you want to realize its full potential!” Mother instructed me, pushing me to snap my fingers faster and faster.

Snap, snap, snap; the sound of fingers rubbing against each other echoed inside this clothing store. Every time I did so, fire was created not through my scale-dust, but through my mana. One snap on the left hand and a fire erupted, and when I did it with my right hand, the fire on my left disappeared, replaced by one on the right.

Meanwhile, my ten parallel minds were controlling the scales around me, picking up the clothing the store clerks were handing over to me. With Svena helping out, I was almost able to dress myself using my scales alone. Sadly, the clerks weren’t as excited since they were scared my fire could catch onto the clothing.

“M-Mother, do we really have to practice this right now?” I pleaded to Mother to stop since I could see the clerks looking at my flames nervously.

“No. Clothing is important since your appearance must be impeccable for a dragon of your status, but you could just make dresses using your scales. Your training is more important than wasting time like this, Hestia.” But Mother was strict.

Dammit, for an immortal, you really treat time as any other mortal!

Regardless of Mother’s helicopter mum-like behavior, today has been a pretty busy day for me. Mostly ‘cause I had to go around the city a lot to do some mandatory stuff, which I couldn't have done yesterday when we first arrived in Gleisvale.

For example, Aurora had to register ourselves at the hunter’s, mercenary's and mage’s guilds. Similar to how we did it in Griffonpeak, it was there to let the guilds know we were around and to allow us to take on jobs if we needed them. While we weren't legally bound to register at the hunter’s guild — although we still did so, as we were a company — it was a requirement to keep our guild membership for the mage’s guild.

Maverina, the mage’s guild master in Griffonpeak, told us we had to do it. If a mage’s guild was around in a city, mages had to make sure to announce their appearance since the magical capital, Aleistunum, was responsible for managing them. And they did it through the mage’s guild. “Laws and restrictions,” I told myself.

I was also annoyed that I had to announce any custom spells I made for myself, but I do admit they were useful in Griffonpeak when we needed an enchanter for our catalysts. Still, now that we had Tamae around, she could handle our enchanting needs. If it weren’t for raising Master Kush’s prestige as a mage’s guild member from me being acknowledged as his apprentice, I would have probably wanted to hand in my membership just with how annoying it was.

Speaking about memberships, Mother and the twins were less enthusiastic about being “bound down by human laws.” In Griffonpeak, I had suggested we get them some party bracelets and also a membership with the hunter’s and mage’s guild, but they rejected that idea. At the very least, I managed to persuade them to get IDs despite the fact that they thought it was redundant if they could simply introduce themselves.

When we went over to the mage’s guild today, the guild leader had already known of our arrival — as did anybody else with any amount of influence in this city, apparently. He was pleased to meet me and that I was a member of the guild, but imagine my surprise when he was actually brazen enough to demand that Mother and the twins had to register, stating it was the law of the lands.

Suffice to say, Mother “put him into his place.” In fact, the whole building was “put into its place.” I had the feeling no matter how many fire mages they hired, they wouldn’t be able to use that plot of land anymore until Mother forgave them and dispelled the ice around it. For a bunch of smarty-pants arcanists, the guild leaders of these mage’s guilds were pretty up their asses.

Can’t wait to tell this story to Maverina. Would remind her of that time I made the Sarlenzia company raise the price of fulinoe leaves just for them! Ha, making back our ‘compensation fee’ and more was pretty funny. Hie hie~

Anyways, after all that guild business, we were now going around upholding the “promises” I gave the representatives I met yesterday. First, a bunch of merchants wanted to do business with us, so I just sent Amelia, Ellaine, and Haruka with the twins guarding them to handle that stuff. Ellaine could handle herself well enough, but better not take any risks after what Saori told me yesterday about cartels being supported by senators.

With that annoying part delegated to people with a better aptitude to it — I wasn’t running away — it allowed me to visit the shops who just wanted to sell us things to possibly “promote” them. Like clothing, jewelry, and even that pastry store our merchant trio told me about yesterday.

That pastry store was our first visit and I had to agree with what those three told us. The pastries were nice to eat and delicious, using a lot of sugar, cream, and butter to elevate it into dessert heaven. Still, I didn’t think we would lose out to them, but I could see why they were selling well.

In any case, that could be dealt with later on. For now, it was a shopping trip with the girls and I was fully intending to enjoy it~

“Ark! Jeez, why do these dresses always have to come with a fucking corset or bustier?! Damn, is there something without a corset around?!” The rowdy voice of a certain rebel resounded, nearly drowning out those of others.

“Hmm, oh, you are right. These colors do compliment my hair pretty well. Although, the skirt might be a bit too frilly.” I could hear somebody comment about herself worriedly, which I guessed belonged to our new chef.

“Hmm, the dress is nice but it really doesn’t go well if I get into trouble. The sleeves are too long to use my bow.” Considering she mentioned a bow, it had to be our resident archer.

“Misaki-san, you should not be using a bow while wearing a dress.” And that matter-of-fact tone could only belong to a certain electro wolfkin friend of mine.

After I was done dressing up, I opened the door using my scales and came out of the changing room with Svena and Mother. I looked around, noticing the rest of the girls of Aurora were also done with their changing and over by the mirror to inspect themselves.

The clothing shops had large rooms reserved to try out clothing, divided between private and group intended ones, according to each customer's preferences. These group rooms had separate changing rooms behind doors for everybody’s privacy, of course, but a communal room to inspect each other’s appearances.

“So, how does this one look, guys?” I asked everybody, drawing their eyes towards me.

“This one also has an opening for your wings, huh? They really worked hard to get it finished in a day,” Kohaku commented. She herself was wearing an eye-catching yellow-red dress which made her stand out even in a crowd.

“Jeez, and I thought Sensei could tailor everything fast. Imagine making six dresses for Hesti-chan to try out in a single night,” Kazumi stated, having transformed into her katzune form for right now. With cat ears and a tail, her black dress seemed quite brazen as it was made specifically for katzune tastes, and they liked their clothes to be athletic and free-feeling.

I heard beastmen from Carmaniate, the beastman alliance in the east, sometimes visit or even immigrate using the dwarves’ train, so Gleisvale merchants also put in the effort to appeal to them also. This really was a hub.

Outside of Saori’s, Tasianna’s, Mother’s, Kazumi’s, and my clothes, the formal dresses made for humans ranged from late medieval style, basically Gothic, to slight Victorian. In other words, they loved their corsets to accentuate the breasts and the long, flowy skirts. There were also casual dresses available, but they were similar to what Artorian nobles wear.

Now, for the beastmen dresses they had a more refined beastial charm to them. They were less strict with modesty and could be called risque in a way, although not as much as you would expect from modern Earth’s dresses. Rather, you could say the dresses were there to accentuate the animalistic features we had like our wings, tails, scales, and fur.

I naturally rejected any dresses which even tried to show off my chest 'cause of my missing core, which were three out of six I received from the most noteworthy boutiques in the city. Fortunately, each store gave me both a modest and an eye-catching option, so at least they were being considerate about my tastes.

Speaking about my core, after I had removed it, I noticed a small pebble of crystalized mana had appeared on my chest. Mother told me I had to wait for my core to naturally reform, so this was just the beginning stages. It would take quite a while for it to reform, but even as a small gem, I could probably use [Solar Beam] and enter my overdrive form. Just, it wasn’t recommended for obvious reasons.

Back to the topic of dresses, I already saw Kazumi’s before, and Mother’s dress was pretty similar to mine, only they had the wrong proportions. Mother’s humanoid form was that of a high elf, but unlike most female elves I’d met so far, she was busty. It made me remember how Muraina explained elves were naturally flat and only had their chests grow if they were pregnant or during the first few years after having a child.

Well, she did have a child, so I guess it counts.

“Haaaa, do I really have to get a new outfit?” Tasianna lamented.

I had heard she was nearly groped yesterday when she visited the black market in her usual maid outfit. Honestly, Tasianna was a strong mage and personally wanted her to dress like one just for my fantasy. Just imagining Tasianna looking like a badass mage in some incredible looking robes made me want Saori to hurry up with it.

Regardless, Tasianna’s current dress was also a chance for Saori to learn about elven dress fashion along with how beastmen fashion worked. Although Gleisvale was rarely visited by elves, half-elves were a different question. As such, from the few half-elves who came through the dwarven train, the boutique had a small section reserved for their style.

Not surprising, the dresses the elves like to wear were similar to how Tasianna described them to us in the past. Very few materials were used for them and there was a higher focus on looking elegant while remaining minimalist, which reminded me of Earth’s preferences. Showing skin was not a problem for elves.

With Saori’s dress, you could imagine just how much she hated it even if she didn’t admit it to not be rude to the people who made it. Our good wolfkin hated showing off the fur around her arms and legs, and the skirt of a wolfkin dress was usually longer in the back but shorter in the front. The dress she wore was exposing her arms and legs, and I could see how embarrassed she felt.

Chin up, Saori! It’s almost over!

Technically, she could have transformed into a higher [Humanization] form to get rid of her fur, but that would mean she couldn’t use her lightning. Practicality over fashion.

“Urgh, can we just get this over with…” The other person who disliked her dress was Asaka, voicing her unwillingness to wear a corset. I could imagine everybody didn’t want to say it out loud, so we girls smiled wryly as she spoke out what we thought.

Thank goodness beastmen hate wearing corsets too! I thanked the flexible nature of beastmen fashion.

Since all of us were done with changing, we exited the room and walked back to the busy front of the shop. Many ladies were inspecting the clothing in the boutique while their male escorts complimented or praised them, telling them how beautiful they would look in a specific dress.

Speaking about guys, we had our own.

“Yo, boys, we’re done. How do we look~?” I asked the bored-looking Tatsuya, Kyouya, Nishio, and Daichi. Outside of Grimnir, all the men in our company were here.

““““…””””

However, for some reason, all four were silent as they stared at us. Not even a squeak came out of their mouths, but I could see they were focused on us with their widened eyes.

“U-Uhm… do the corsets not hurt?” Was the first thing we heard from them and it came from Tatsuya.

“““““““““…”””””””””

We were speechless.

“… Yes, they are uncomfortable and freaking pain in the butt to wear, so how about you guys say something else so we can get out of them sooner?” Asaka complained to the boys with a tired expression.

Noticing we wanted to hear them talk about our appearances, the boys straightened up their backs.

“U-Well, you girls all look fantastic!” Kyouya was the first to speak out. “W-Well, uh, you guys look very pretty!”

He’s flushed. Cute.

“Hmm! Not perfect, but still better than nothing!” Kohaku grinned and gave him a peace sign. “Now, Kyouya-kun~ Who is the one you like the best, hmm?”

“Wha-What?!”

“Ohh, nice one, Kohaku-chan!” the blond-haired katzune-wannabe Kazumi responded with a thumbs up. “Kyooouya-kun~ Who is it, hmm? Me? Hesti-chan? Or, maybe you’re into Sensei~?”

“Kazumi-san…” Saori glared at the tricky kitty.

Buuuuut, not to say it wasn’t any less awkward for poor Kyouya as he tried to think of something to say. Stammering around like that, Kohaku and Kazumi giggled as they witnessed their teasing successful. We girls can be quite mean, huh?

Patting his shoulder, Kohaku then turned her attention to Nishio. “No worries, Kyouya-kun. Just watch how somebody else answers that question. Nishio-kun, how about you? Who do you think looks the best?”

“Tamae-san.” His answer was swift like a storm! “The lime green with the combination of yellow on her dress really compliments your purple hair, Tamae-san. Very natural while giving you an aura of a caring person as none of the colors stuck out too much. They fit perfectly. It’s a sight for sore eyes. You’re quite enchanting.”

“O-Oh! U-Uhm, thank you very much, Nishio-kun. That’s really nice of you to say. I didn’t think I looked that good, to be honest. But hearing you say that to me really made me happy.” A bright smile graced Tamae’s face as she giggled embarrassed with a bright blush on her face.

“Whew,” Kazumi whistled. “Damn. Smooth. I wonder if Tama-chan finally caught on or not?”

Oh, right. Nishio had a crush on Tam—

“But, I think Melloxtressa-sama looks better than me. The cyan and white colors of her dress makes her feel so approachable even if they aren’t very warm colors. Like a breath of fresh air, you know.”

“Oh, why thank you, Tamae. I do agree with your apt description. The tailors really did a fine job with this dress, despite not knowing me that well. Still, a bit too tight, but they didn’t manage to guess any of our sizes correctly, so I am able to forgive them.”

“…” Nishio’s grin dropped as he stared blankly at his failed attempt. He sat back down, looking at the floor, crestfallen. Hope couldn’t be seen in his eyes.

Ooof… Poor dude… Now that Mother mentioned, this dress does feel a bit too tight around my waist… Oh shit, am I gaining weight?!

In any case, aside from Nishio, none of the boys could bring out a similar or more eloquent compliment than he did, which, honestly, wasn’t too bad. We only wanted to tease the boys and we got our laughs out of their embarrassment. Flustered and unable to speak is already extremely flattering, if you ask me.

Anyways, before we were finished, Ellaine, Amelia, Haruka, and the twins arrived at the store, looking exhausted after the talks with the merchants. They wanted to tell us what happened, but we decided they needed a break so we pulled the girls from their group into the dressing room and had the clerk get us some dresses.

The boys, plus Shay, stayed behind and waited for us. Once we returned with everybody dressed, we pushed the four new girls into the light for the boys to see. While Ellaine, Amelia, and Haruka didn’t have any problems getting into a dress, helping Beth get into hers was quite tricky since she could only assume a [Humanize (Minor)] form, in other words, she looked like a humanoid wyvern and had wings as arms.

Still, with perseverance and a lot of tries, we eventually managed to do so. Beth didn’t know about the concept of nudity or exposing her skin, so she didn’t feel embarrassed about modesty, but she sure felt awkward. Why? Well, her brother could be quite insensitive about it.

“Fuhahahahaahahah!” Shay laughed out loud. [“Bethlieranha, dress isn’t fitting! Too small, yes!”]

“Kierk?! Urgk!” Beth unfurled her wings and covered her face while dropping her tail between her tail, a sign of surrender for scale-kins.

Oh no, you didn’t! Shaaaaaay!

“Kuek!” Shay stopped laughing as he suddenly flinched back, finally noticing us girls glare at him intently. [“Uhm… I say something wrong?”]

Whether it was due to his lack of ability in stringing words in Common or a general misunderstanding due to wyverns having no idea about clothing in general, we still didn’t let Shay go scott-free for laughing at Beth. After lecturing him, we told the boys to have some boys talk with him.

Beth and Shay were twins and around 93 years old, but their minds were more similar to that of young adults rather than senior citizens, just like how Tasianna was 88 but acted more like an adolescent. Long-living races mature in different ways compared to humans.

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In any case, after we changed back into our normal clothing, our time in the shop ended. The manager of the boutique approached us and wondered if we liked any of the products he and the other two shops offered, but we mentioned most of us wore mana clothing at home so we didn’t need them.

Shocked to hear that, he quickly realized the boutiques forgot Mother and I could transform back into dragons. At the very least, they should have offered mana clothing. He offered to rectify this mistake, but we declined, expressing we learned a lot about the local fashion. As much as the dresses were nice to wear, since we wouldn’t use them as often compared to the easily-maintainable mana clothes, we decided not to buy useless stuff.

After leaving the shop, we saw the sky turning orange so we decided to return to the RV for the day. Once back, we noticed Yorshka and Grimnir enjoying some beer together while Elrick was sleeping on the couch.

When we asked what happened, Yorshka simply laughed. “Haha, the training today was too rough for Elrick! He told me to go harder on him but he couldn’t handle it! Hahahaha! I think he’s falling behind a bit since we haven’t had a good hunting session in a while. Mhmm. The same thing with your kids.”

“Hmm? Oh! Now that she mentioned it, Hestia, how is your [Battle Frenzy]? Any tingling? You haven’t hunted anything for nearly three weeks now,” Saori asked me.

“Oh, don’t worry about it. Honestly, with Kramps helping me out, I think I’ve been getting better accustomed to it. Haven’t felt a need to fight in a while.”

Even after finishing the sloth stage of Kramps’ training, he told me to continue working on maintaining my cool for now until we went to the next stage, which was gluttony. For a Kargryxmor can be spurred into rage due to an insatiable need for power.

With Mother helping me out with my scale manipulation and to find out if [Volcanic Blaze] was an empty vessel magic or not, I also had enough stimulus to not want to fight anything. I wasn’t in danger of suddenly lashing out on anybody for now. It was a relief to me.

“Speaking about fighting, I think it should be time for us to return to the fields,” Tatsuya suddenly pointed out. “Some time to rest is nice and all, but let us not forget that we need to train. Like Elrick, we are lagging behind in levels and training. With the experience boost we got from [Hestia’s Retainer], we need to get out and hunt.”

“I agree,” Kyouya nodded. “There is also the thing we found about the potion shop. I don’t think we’ll get as much information as Sensei or Gael, so we’ll try to help by speaking with the adventurers. Some might have frequented the shop and could tell us more.”

Saori’s information on the potion store was pretty worrying, especially with how Tasianna and Uno reacted to that store. For now, we needed information on things.

“Hmmm, if we are talking about training, then we should also continue ours,” Misaki brought up as she looked at the others of The Magical Biscuits. “Tama-chan, I think it would be best if I returned to training, too. Well, Kazumi-chan, Kohaku-chan, Nishio-kun, and I. Working at the restaurant was nice, but we can’t neglect our training.”

“O-Oh, right, that’s true… You should do that. We need to get stronger before the next demonkin attack or if we have to attack them.” Tamae acquiesced to Misaki’s request but seemed troubled, nonetheless. I wondered why.

“Sorry about that, Tama-chan. We’ll still help out when we need to. Right, Kohaku-chan? Nishio-kun?” Kazumi apologized. The two others agreed to it, comforting Tamae.

“Oh yeah, don’t forget to use the company, guys,” I said to those wanting to do some adventurer work, but they looked at me with confusion so I had to elaborate. “Well, isn’t it obvious? We have a nexus and the ability to fast travel. We have teleportation points in Ullistar, Griffonpeak, Cedaraille, and Firwood. The former three have dungeons and the last has access to Belzac forest. Perfect place to hunt monsters for their materials.”

“Ooooh!” Haruka figured out my plan. “Do you mean to use that ‘traveling quest board’ function we could use? Now that I think about it, one of the merchants who wanted to do business was somebody who traded in monster materials since his primary customers were smithies.”

“But, we’ll have to pay taxes to the hunter’s guild if we worked like that, correct?” Kohaku asked.

“Sure, but we can still earn rank points as well as money,” Kyouya replied. “We aren’t restricted to the local guilds and we do need to enter a dungeon soon. Gleisvale doesn’t have a dungeon, only monster-infested areas nearby. Tatsuya and I will stay around, though, to help the others, you four should probably go hunt with Dame Yorshka in the other places.”

Tatsuya agreed to Kyouya’s statement. “We also need to find some information on the ‘Heart’s Desires,’ so we’ll ask some adventurers if we can. However, I personally just want to turn this time into proper training. If that’s okay, hopefully.”

“Oh, in that case, would it be okay if I accompanied you two?” Ellaine raised her hand. “Amelia and Haruka can take care of the business side without me. In addition, Hestia and Tamae are better suited to support them with our future plans for the opening of the Sarlenzia branch in the city.”

She paused as she raised up her ring. “There is also my wish to train with Klea’s power more. I want to get more used to assimilating with her. Without my death-defying necklace, I need to get stronger, too.”

[“Ahh, true. That would be best. A long training trip with two boys sounds great, hiehie. No, but seriously, I do think Ellaine needs to get more training. There are still more powers and I also have to explain to Ellaine how to use ‘Original Sin’ abilities when she gains them. She knows as much about my powers as you do your [Battle Frenzy], Hestia,”] the demon compared my situation with Ellaine’s, making me nod. [“Depending on what we will do, I won’t be around in Gleisvale to detect any demonkin presences, so be careful, dears. Still, when I’m around, you can call me for your training, Hestia.”]

I nodded once again. “It’s decided then. Ellaine, would you mind acting as the leader for those two?”

“M-Me?!”

“Yeah. You’re planning on becoming a knight, correct? Knights need to take a leadership role sometimes, like what Elrick and Yorshka are doing. Tatsuya and Kyouya have lower levels than you, and you probably have more combat experience than they do.”

“B-But— Hold on, am I not younger than those two? Doesn’t that feel a bit inappropriate?”

“I have no problems taking orders, Ellaine,” Tatsuya stated. “Also, I personally think it would be cool to work with you. From one transformer to the other. Well, I don’t like the demon, but I’m okay, regardless.”

“Same with me.” Kyouya showed a thumbs up. “I’m better at taking orders than giving them.”

“Good. It’s settled!” I announced. “Shay and Beth. Would you mind joining them as insurance? Don’t fight their fights if you aren’t needed, though, alright?”

[““Yes, Princess!””] the two agreed immediately.

Outside of Gleisvale, the Centipedeclaw valley was teeming with monsters, making it a good place to hunt. While it didn’t provide the best amount of challenge for experienced adventurers, our goal here was to find information. What better way than to go and ask people who frequent potion shops and alchemists?

“Which means, Gael, Tasianna, and I will handle investigating the area around the ‘Heart’s Healing,’” Saori followed up. “We’ll try to sneak into the shop and get some information. If we manage to find anything, then your three can just continue on with your training. We still have to deal with Shaturein’s request, which probably means interacting with the local gangs. Keep your schedules flexible and stay on guard, in case they want to try something. We already angered a cartel on the first day.”

“Sounds interesting. I’ll come with you.” Surprisingly, Asaka was the one to offer her hand to Saori. “What are you looking at me like that, Segawa-san? You don’t want my help?”

Saori frowned. “… I didn’t expect you to help out.”

Asaka shrugged. “I’m not doing it for you. I’m doing it for myself since I won’t be of any use on Hestia’s side, and I’m not in the mood to go out to the forest again after what happened in Belzac. In other words, I have nothing better to do. And, lastly, the stupid garm spirits want to stay around you. Mind helping me out?”

It really seemed like Asaka wanted to help out.

“… After everything on Earth, it’s hard to rely on you, Hanazawa-san.” But Saori still had a wall in between them.

“Miss Saori, I don’t think it’s that bad to bring her along with us,” Tasianna suggested. “If Asaka came with us, Sir Elrick will, too. He might be underleveled compared to us and a liability since he probably will have a hard time working with people like Gael, but he can probably deal with any goons since he’s a knight of Aurena. Besides, even if you disregard Sir Elrick and her garm spirits, Asaka is smart enough to catch onto details.”

“Well, you’re overpraising me there, Tasianna. I’m not good either in combat, since I’m just a healer with a mace to bash people with. Not like you two with your fancy large-scale spells. However, well— Okay, I don’t have many other arguments, really. I just don’t want to stick inside the RV like a NEET, so can I help out, or not?”

“… Haaaaaaa,” Saori sighed, scratching her head. “Yes, alright. I do not see too much of a problem there. Maybe this trip will help you mature a bit.”

Hehe, even Saori doesn’t want to admit it, she still acts like a teacher around her ‘former’ students.

Which meant, only one group was left — the Sarlenzia group.

“Alright, I haven’t planned anything with the senator, but I have a feeling they will send another representative when they are ready. Since I didn’t go to them today,” I told everybody. “As such, it’s time to prepare for the mission ‘Introduce Earthen desserts to Peolynca Part 2!’ Tamae-chan, I have some ideas for products I want the Sarlenzia company to introduce, so could you help me translate those recipes with the local ingredients?”

“Oh! Sure, that would be amazing!” Tamae’s bad mood disappeared instantly once food was mentioned.

I nodded. “Amelia. Haruka. How were the merchant visits? What did they want?”

“Mostly to provide us with business deals since they knew you were affiliated with the Sarlenzia company. Well, since I went to them, things began to smooth out even more once I told them we were opening a branch here,” Amelia answered.

“We probably left a couple of them disgruntled, considering how they behaved after we announced our plan. It might be a problem for later.”

“Ahh, don’t worry about it. If they don’t want to join us, then they will be left behind. Gleisvale is the city of merchants, so we have to play by their rules to win. If they want to lose, then let them continue thinking we are their rivals. We’ll crush them.” I smirked. “Also, before I meet up with the senators, we need to get information on them. Who are they? What do they do? Their affiliations? Amelia, please, get somebody from House Helvas or Greenveil to help you with the branch opening. We need to get this finished as soon as possible. I’ll handle any problems with the merchant guild with you two, alright?”

It was time for me to act like a proper leader. Hearing me give out all these orders made me feel kinda giddy inside. Like I was finally growing up.

“Hiehie.” Mother giggled, but didn’t say anything so I continued.

“Oh, and I have a plan with the restaurant, so Tamae could you—” But before I could end my sentence, Tamae seemed to have figured out what I wanted.

“If you are talking about serving people food, that might be a problem.”

“Huh? Why? Shouldn’t the chefs and waiters we trained at House Helvas be ready?”

“Yes, they are,” Tamae confirmed, but smiled wryly afterward. “However, they still are refusing to serve their skills to commoners.”

“What?!” Ellaine burst out. “No, you informed us about it before. That’s why the others of the Magical Biscuits were helping out, but are you saying after two weeks after I left Griffonpeak that none of them are willing to help?!”

“Y-Yes.” Tamae looked troubled. Was this the reason why she wasn’t looking so good before. “Misaki and the others knew about it, but I also have to admit I was asking them to help out despite them wanting to stop beforehand to continue training. They really only helped out of the goodness of their hearts, but I can’t continue being selfish. This restaurant is something I wanted, so I need to take responsibility for it.”

“I apologize, Tamae-san.” Nishio bowed deeply, but Tamae told him to stop.

“This can’t be…” Ellaine massaged her temples. “Why aren't Father or Mother saying anything?! Brother? They should know and educate our servants better! This is preposterous!”

“Well, you should know that Duke Greenveil wanted to expand the whole yeast and pastry business, correct? He just made a deal with the new Duke Equevanna, so your family has been too busy helping them. They should be going from Firwood to Cedaraille and then to Ullistar. They told me not to tell you, since you might be worried they might be working themselves to death.”

“Oh goodness…” Ellaine stated anxiously. “What about Barathan? Manuella? They should be helping out.”

“Mister Barathen is managing the new yeast guild in Firwood while Miss Manuella is handling the one in Cedaraille with Duke Greenveil’s head attendant. Any other attendant from the two families are in the Equevanna duchy, to make sure our secrets aren’t accidentally leaked. I don’t think Duke Equevanna would do anything to compromise this new relationship, but neither he nor Duke Greenveil trusts the nobles currently inside the Equevanna duchy.”

The power vacuum was still very much present after the previous Duke Equevanna had to step down and with the whole noble purge. I was sure some nobles would like to ride this storm as if a new age was coming, but I could imagine some rats narrowly dodging the purge. The two dukes were just being safe since losing the yeast recipe to a competitor meant I would lose out too.

“And, since there is nobody I can call to help with this, my restaurant crew hasn’t been doing what I want. I can’t get them to work for the lower city, saying their talents and training were wasted on them.”

“Are you serious?!” Ellaine was outraged. “Josine! Svena! I thought that both of you managed to recruit and hire proper attendants to help out! What is the meaning of this?!”

“L-Lady Ellaine, I am unforgivable!” Josine bowed down with Svena.

“My deepest apologies, Lady Ellaine! Lady Hestia! I was sure we got the best of the best and we also informed them we might also serve commoners. Most of them came from schwertnoble houses or have worked in a magnoble’s house. They were recommended by their former employees!”

“Yes… technically, we promised them that they would be serving rich merchants. Specifically. W-We have made a mistake and forgot to inform them of the lower city restaurant. This is our mistake, Lady Ellaine.”

Oh goodness, so it was a communication issue. Dammit.

“Urgh!” Ellaine covered her face and breathed in deeply. She knew we couldn’t force them if that was the case. She might be a noble, but nobles also had to act like ones especially towards their employees. We couldn’t afford a bad reputation.

“No problem then. Let them work for the noble restaurant, then.”

Which means, we had to adapt.

“Hestia?” Ellaine looked at me in confusion. “So, are you planning on scraping the idea to serve the commoners here and simply focus on the wealthy?”

“Nope,” I stated, confusing everybody. “Tamae-chan, make sure your crew for the noble restaurant will actually work well enough. Their work contract stated something we overlooked, so it is now our responsibility to handle it ourselves. We need to act properly, not them. As such, I will get you people who will help you.”

“You will? From where? Hesti-chan, we can’t just take on random people, since we need to trust these people with my recipes so they don’t expose them. The people Josine and Svena hired are all nice people, and I believe they are enthusiastic about working with us, especially since I think they are planning to stay around after I taught them my recipes. The chefs loved them and wanted to learn more from me.”

That’s good to hear! We won’t force people to stay if they didn’t want to, but we had to make sure they didn’t tell these recipes to others.

“Don’t worry about that. I can get you some helpers who we can all trust,” I assured her before turning to Yorshka. “Hey, Yorshka, mind coming with me to a trip to Griffonpeak and Firwood?”

“Huh? For what?” she asked but I couldn’t help but smirk.

“I’m gonna meet up with a few of my fans~”

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